Tears spilled down her cheeks again. She was so tired. Her body felt heavy, her bones weary after running away and the stress of everything that had happened in New York.
“Go take a bath and then get some rest. You’ll feel better soon.”
Maia turned away from her father and walked out of his meeting chambers, her ugly pink zebra-striped bag still clutched to her chest. He didn’t know what he was talking about. She could live on Earth and be happy. And when Zander—died, eventually—then she would come home brokenhearted. But that was a better alternative than being here brokenhearted now and missing out on what could be an amazing life with Zander.
As she stepped out of Atlas’s house, the familiar smells of Pleiades hit her. Nothing on Earth—or anywhere else in the universe for that matter—smelled as good as it did here. Scents of stargazer lilies and galaxy magnolias drifted on the breeze. She smiled, inhaling the fragrant winds. People on Earth didn’t even know where the names of these flowers came from.
The grass beneath her feet was soft and fluffy, not a true green, but with undertones of blues. It tickled her arches with each step. How she loved lying on this grass, listening to the roar of the waterfalls. She’d never been anywhere more peaceful and comforting. And yet somehow, she felt emptiness here now that she’d never felt before.
The walk to her house took only a few minutes. She didn’t linger along the way. She wanted to slip into the tub, then into some of her own pajamas and into bed. Her father was right about one thing, after she had a chance to rest, she’d be able to think clearly and would be able to make a decision about what to do from this point on about Zander.
And she’d have the energy to kick Orion’s ass.
Chances are, he’d already sensed she wasn’t on Earth anymore. If he hadn’t yet, it would only be a matter of time before he did. Then he’d come looking for her here. Again.
And this time she’d be ready for him.
She pushed open the door to her house and flipped on the lights. Everything looked as she remembered it. Her books still sat open on the little table in her sitting room, waiting to be read. The flowers she’d collected before vanishing were withered in the vase after weeks of not being watered. She climbed the stairs to the second floor and went straight to the large bathroom off her bedroom.
As the tub began to fill, she dropped her bag on her bed and opened the large doors that led to her balcony overlooking the springs and waterfall. Flower-scented mist rose from the waterfall spray, kissing her skin. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, filling her lungs with the pure air she’d missed so much. Her body responded with renewed energy and vitality she hadn’t felt the entire time she’d been in New York. Could she really go back and leave all of this behind?
One glance at her large bed and the answer was clear. Yes, she could. Because since the moment she’d been whisked away from Zander, she hadn’t felt like herself. She felt as if part of her was stuck in some kind of purgatory—neither fully on Earth nor fully in the stars. She was hanging somewhere in the infinite cosmos between them.
Maia slipped into the hot water of the bath after discarding the knit blanket and laying it on her bed. Turning the faucet off, she leaned back into the water, letting the bubbles cover her all the way to her chin. If she’d had more tears to cry, she would have, but she’d cried so many times already in the last twenty-four hours, they’d all been used up. Her eyes stung, her heart hurt, her mind was still clouded with confusion and indecision.
She drifted in the tub for a while, the warmth of the water soothing her soul even if it didn’t clear her mind. Maybe her father was right and there wasn’t any hope for her and Zander to be together. Isn’t that what she’d been telling herself the whole time she’d been with him? So why couldn’t she accept it for what it was and move on now that it had finally happened?
“Boy oh boy. Whatever it is that’s gotten you this down has got to be pretty bad. I’ve never seen you look so pathetic before.”
Maia opened her eyes at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Electra, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. You’re not looking so good. Aren’t you happy to be home?”
Maia tried to force a smile onto her lips. Her father had already read her the riot act. She didn’t really need Electra coming down on her too. “Of course I am. I’m just tired. Orion found us—me.”
Damn it!
Maia wasn’t ready to talk about her feelings for Zander yet. “And I had to run through half of New York City to get away.”
Electra raised an eyebrow. “Orion found you and who?”
“No one. I said the wrong thing.”
“Liar. You know I can always read you. You may be older,” she smirked. Her sister never missed an opportunity to point that out. “But you’re certainly not wiser. Tell me before I have to turn on the cold water and force it out of you.”
“Don’t bother, I’m getting out. Hand me the towel, would you?”
Electra grabbed the fluffy blue towel from the hook behind the door and handed it to Maia before turning and walking into the bedroom. Her sister sprawled out on the bed on her stomach while Maia dried off and wrapped herself in her warmest robe. She couldn’t seem to get warm.
“So?” Electra questioned, obviously not letting Maia duck out of telling her about what happened when she was away.
“His name is Zander.” Her voice caught in her throat as she said his name. Where had these powerful feelings for him come from all of a sudden? Hadn’t she been the one only a few hours ago who’d been telling him it was over, that they could never be together so get over it? Apparently she couldn’t take her own advice.
“And you have it bad. Okay, so who’s Zander and how did you manage to meet another one of us that makes you look like that,” she wiggled her finger at Maia’s expression.
Maia swallowed the lump she felt growing in her throat. Here goes nothing. “He’s not one of us.” And commence the “you know better than this” speech.
Electra laughed.
That wasn’t exactly the response Maia had expected. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what she thought Electra would feel.
“A guy from New York gave you that expression? Wow. He must have been some kisser.”
Maia sat on the edge of the bed beside her sister. Her shoulders slumped forward with defeat. He wasn’t just a good kisser. He’d been the best kisser she’d ever experienced. And the best she’d ever had in bed too. And the only man who’d ever looked at her with that look in his eyes. But she wasn’t about to admit that to Electra.
“He was.”
“So what,” Electra draped her arm across Maia’s shoulders and squeezed her. “No big deal. You need a rebound guy and I know where to find the best kissers in the whole universe and I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t on Earth. No way. We’ll head over to Mars and have ourselves a little girl’s night out when all this other crap with Orion is done.”
Maia pulled away. She didn’t want other guys. She wanted Zander. “I’m not going. You don’t understand.”
“So make me understand.” Electra’s voice was soft and soothing and made Maia want to confide in her.
“I—I haven’t met anyone like him before. He was fun and kind and took care of me and kept me safe from Orion. He dropped everything to be with me—to help me get away.”
Electra was quiet for a moment. “He must be something if he gets to you that deeply and he’s from Earth, which you know is off limits.”
Maia sighed. “He is something else. He’s—otherworldly.”
“No shit. That was a bad joke even for you.”
“Zander would have laughed.” Maia looked down and realized for the first time that she’d grabbed the knit blanket and was now twisting the little stitches in her fingers. Somehow it felt good to hold the blanket she’d been naked with Zander in. It made her feel like she had a little piece of him here with her. “He made me feel something I haven’t felt before in all my eternity and I’m not sure I’ll ever feel it again with someone else. But now I’ll never know because he’s stuck there and I’m stuck here.”
“The way I see it,” Electra started, “there’s only one thing you can do. You need to find a way back to Earth and find Zander. Then you need to figure out a way where the two of you can stay together.”
“But how am I going to get back?”
“Simple. I’ll distract dad and you go hunt down Zeus. He’s the one who sent us all way to begin with and if he can do it once, he can do it again.”
“Sounds like a plan. I have a few things to discuss with Zeus.” Maia held up the pink, zebra-striped bag and dropped it back onto the bed again where it could wait until she had time to empty it.
“He did that to you?” Electra asked, barely containing a laugh.
“Yep.”
“Oh thank, Gaia. I saw it and thought maybe all that pollution in the city had poisoned your fashion sense.”
“Nope. Just Zeus’s idea of a funny joke. And now I’m going to make him pay for making me carry that thing around.” The thought of finally getting her hands on Zeus was enough to bring a smile to her lips for the first time since getting home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Zander made his way down the crowded sidewalks of lower Manhattan, not noticing if he bumped into people along the way or not. His mind wasn’t on walking or getting home, or even that his clothes were horribly uncomfortable after having been in the river then dried on the stone hearth in the house on Governor’s Island.
His thoughts were on Maia and how she’d disappeared right before his eyes.
He still couldn’t believe he’d actually seen it happen. Stuff like that—people vaporizing into thin air—didn’t happen in real life. That was the stuff of sci-fi movies. But it did happen and she was gone.
And he had no idea how to get her back.
The moment he’d been left in that little bedroom alone was the moment the ache in his chest started and it had been growing exponentially worse with every second. He had to figure out a way to get her back here so he could have another chance to be with her.
He also remembered her saying they couldn’t be together.
Why didn’t she feel the same thing he did? How would he ever get over her?
The possibility of living the rest of his life and never seeing her again made his chest constrict even tighter. It felt like it was caught in a vise grip and nothing would make it release.
A neon sign blinking in a shop window caught his attention: Café Cosmos. Inside looked dimly lit, just what he needed for his dark mood.
Pushing open the door, the scent of fresh baked bread and full-bodied coffee greeted him. His stomach growled as if it only now realized he hadn’t eaten in hours. Make that the better part of a day. Maybe if he had something to eat, he’d feel better about losing Maia.
Or he’d have a full belly and an empty heart.
“What can I get you?” a lady asked as he took a seat at the counter.
He skimmed the menu quickly. “Coffee and pastrami on rye.”
“You got it.” She wandered toward the back of the room and through the swinging door that must lead to the kitchen.
As was usual in New York, the café was small and crowded. But this one wasn’t loud. Seemed it was mostly people sitting alone. Few conversations filled the air. He could actually still hear the music playing over the café’s sound system—something that definitely didn’t happen too often in New York.
The ceiling caught his attention next—black as night and full of pinpricks of twinkling light. He felt as if he actually were gazing on the stars through his powerful telescope. Another pain stabbed his chest. Looking at that ceiling certainly wasn’t helping him forget about Maia. Would anything help?
He couldn’t foresee any feasible way for him to get over her any time soon. So what were his choices? Sit and wallow in self-pity. Or do something about getting her back.
He chose the latter.
The woman set a steaming cup of coffee in front of him then slid a tiny pitcher of cream and some sugar packets at him. “What’s got you all in a state like you’re in?” she asked, resting her hip against the bar as she leaned toward him. “Woman troubles?”
“You could say that.”
“I did say that.”
“You’re a wise woman.” He couldn’t hide the undertone of sarcasm in his voice. Normally he’d never dream of being rude to someone when it was completely uncalled for, but today wasn’t a normal kind of day.
“You bet your cute ass I am.” She clicked her tongue at him. She may as well have reached over and grabbed his ass with that comment. And if her expression said anything to him, it was that she was contemplating doing just that. “The wisest in the known universe some say.”
That’s when he saw it.
She was probably telling the truth.
Her eyes twinkled like the lights in the ceiling above. Hell, that was probably the reason why those lights were on the ceiling to begin with—so if anyone noticed the star map in her irises, she could claim it was a reflection. But he knew better than that.
Squinting, he leaned forward trying to get a better look at her star map. He knew without question it was a piece of the universe, but he couldn’t make out which one.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s a reflection from the ceiling lights, sugar. Happens all the time. Nothing to concern yourself with.”