The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,3
it, this connection between us I’d long thought was one-sided.
So, I’d let her continue this little lie about a repair in her room. If this was the only way she’d let me hold her hand, then I’d take it. Maybe that made me just as shameless as her, but I didn’t care right now.
Her hair had grown since she arrived on Torin and the straight edge now brushed the tops of her shoulders. The roots were a lighter color than the rest of her hair, and I’d learned the humans often dyed it different colors. Tabitha had purple hair that she continued to dye, but Justine hadn’t done the same.
Her arms bore colorful tattoos I wanted to trace with my finger. The shape of her body enticed me. She’d been thin when she arrived, but since eating our food, her hips had flared out, her thighs thickened, and her belly was rounder. Her breasts swayed when she walked, and I ached to draw her hard nipples into my mouth. But I was getting ahead of myself. It’d been nearly half a cycle, and she’d only now let me hold her hand.
We arrived at the door to her room, and she stood in front of it for several long moments before I had to prod her. “Should we go in?”
She startled at my question. “Yes! Yes, right. Okay.”
I didn’t show it, but I was nearly giddy as her door opened and I took a step inside after her. I’d never been in her room. The rays of the setting sun still streamed through her windows, and I gazed around at the plaques on her walls. I’d heard Justine could draw, but I’d never realized how talented she was. Pictures hung everywhere—some black and white, while others were colorful. Foreign scenes met my eyes—blue qua with green grass. A small building with white walls and black squares beside the windows.
There was even a picture of a small animal—all black with yellow eyes and triangle ears.
“That’s a cat,” Justine said.
I turned around to find I had stepped right in front of the drawing. Justine stood behind me twisting her fingers together.
“A cat?”
“It’s an animal we keep as pets. That’s my sister’s cat Midnight.”
“What’s a midnight?”
She smiled a true genuine smile that warmed her brown eyes. A small laugh escaped her lips. “Midnight is a time of day—the middle of the night, basically. And it since it’s very dark outside… We sometimes say something is as black as midnight. Hence his name.”
“What’s your sister’s name?” I spoke casually, knowing this was one of the first times Justine ever willingly opened up.
“Fallon,” she said. “She’s ten years younger than me. I practically raised her.” Her voice went low and soft. “Bazel reminds me of her.”
“My sisters were older,” I found myself saying.
“How many did you have?”
“Three. They were…” I closed my eyes, remembering their laughter, their teasing, but most of all how much they cared for me. They were so proud when my aptitude tests showed I was off-the-charts skilled at tech. “They were perfect. Smart and beautiful. They would have done so much good, just like my mother.” My throat went dry at my memories of her. The grief never faded. “My mother seemed invincible to me. I thought she would be able to survive the virus. Even after she took her last breath, I convinced myself she was only resting. She was the best female I’ve ever known, and all I’d ever wanted to do was make her proud.”
Her hand settled on my shoulder. “She’d be so proud of you.”
I closed my eyes briefly as the familiar sense of guilt lodged in my throat. She wouldn’t be, not when I’d failed to the fulfill the promise I’d made to her on her deathbed.
I didn’t want those thoughts in this room with Justine. Pointing to another drawing, I asked, “What’s that one?”
She took a minute before tearing her gaze away from my face to focus on a black and white drawing. It was a face—round with no hair and eyes the shape of upside-down water drops.
She grinned. “An alien.”
“A what?”
“On Earth, we’ve never actually seen an alien—a creature from another planet. But that’s what some have guessed one looks like.”
“So, I’m an alien?”
“Yeah. And I guess I’m an alien to you.”
I took a step closer to the painting and then stood beside it, facing her. I tried to make a stern face. “Do we look alike?”