“Incredible, isn’t it?” Gray asked in a low voice so as not to awaken Faith.
“To put it mildly,” Tristan agreed. He looked at the chocolate brown falcoran wrapped around his brothers’ arms. It had Faith’s hazel eyes, and pale blue markings on its chest and wings. She would be as beautiful in her falcoran alter form as she was in her human form.
“I’m not sure that we deserve her,” he said, looking at Faith’s sleeping face. “But I will spend eternity trying to become worthy of her.”
“We’ll join you in that,” Gray said.
“We should start by taking care of her,” Jon said as he turned, climbed off the bed, and headed toward the bathroom for clean washcloths. Gray climbed off the bed and followed him, but Tristan continued to gaze at Faith.
She was a miracle. What she’d done for them was a miracle. He would spend the rest of forever showing her how much she was wanted and loved.
Chapter Thirty
Faith opened her eyes slowly, smiling at the feel of hard, warm flesh surrounding her. Without looking she knew that she was sandwiched between Jon and Tristan. The soft, regular popping sounds told her that Bubbles was sleeping just above her head. She reached out for Gray, searching for the unique flavor of his emotions.
“Where’s Gray?” she asked, frowning when she couldn’t sense him anywhere nearby.
“He went to get some breakfast and coffee for us,” Jon said from behind her. “We figured you’d be hungry since you haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon.”
“Nah,” she said, “I’m not hungry. I’m starving.”
Tristan chuckled, his chest rumbling against her cheek, just as the door opened.
“Starving huh?” Gray asked. “Good thing I got here in time to keep you from wasting away.”
Jon kissed the back of her neck, then climbed out of bed. She turned to watch him, her face heating at the sight of his completely naked, and impossibly gorgeous, body. He walked across the room, picked something up from the back of a chair and returned to her, smiling when he caught her staring at him. She grinned back and sat up, accepting the gigantic t-shirt he handed her.
She pulled the shirt over her head and tugged it down, then climbed off the bed. Jon and Tristan both laughed and she looked down at herself to see why. The t-shirt, which obviously belonged to one of them, hung well past her knees, and the sleeves nearly reached her wrists. Tristan got out of bed and began rolling one sleeve up while Jon worked on the other one.
“We’ll go to your room and get you some clothes in a little while,” Tristan promised.
“Okay,” Faith said. “Right now I’m more interested in food.”
“Good thing, since I brought a lot of it,” Gray said from the table where he’d set out the food he’d brought. Faith hurried to the table, looking for her plate, but they all looked the same.
“Right here, “ Gray said, holding a chair out for her.
“Thanks,” Faith said as she took the seat, looking at the food before her uncertainly. It looked like an omelet, which would have been fine except she could clearly see that it had both bacon and cheese in it. There was also hash brown potatoes, which she loved but couldn’t eat, a fruit cup and toast. She looked up when Tristan slid a large mug of coffee to her, and Jon added a glass of juice.
“Um, guys,” she said. “I don’t think I can eat this. Didn’t Joseph fix my breakfast this morning?”
“Of course he did,” Gray said. “But you don’t need it any more. You can eat normally now.”
Faith’s eyes widened, then she laughed. “I’d forgotten. How could I forget that? Wow! Where do I start?”
“Wherever you want,” Tristan replied.
Faith looked at the plate in front of her, then picked up her fork and dug in. She was full far too soon, but she didn’t mind. She’d just eaten food that she thought she’d never enjoy again.
Bubbles leapt up from her own empty dish to Faith’s shoulder and rubbed against her jaw before settling down for her after breakfast nap. Faith reached for her coffee and took a sip, savoring both the flavor, and the knowledge that she wouldn’t have to pay later for the enjoyment.
She looked down at the falcorans on her arms and wished she could see the one across her shoulders too. She’d discovered the
lau-lotu
in the middle of the night when she’d got up to go to the bathroom. Gray had found her staring at them in the mirror, entranced by them. He’d explained how to make them fade, and she’d experimented with it. But she didn’t want them gone. She liked them. She liked seeing them, knowing that they were a part of her forever.
“When can I learn to shift?” she asked.
“Would you like to try it this afternoon?” Tristan asked.
“Yes, I would,” Faith said eagerly.
“We’d do it this morning, but the
Ala-Lahoi
picked up what appears to be another new jump point,” Gray said. “It will take us about half an hour to reach it.”
“All right,” Faith said. “What does that mean, anyway?
Ala-Lahoi
? It sounds Hawaiian.”
“What is
Hawaiian
?” Jon asked.
“An old Earth language.”
“It means
winged lion
in our ancient tongue,” Gray said.
“I get it,” Faith said. “For
gryphon
.” Tristan smiled. “Well, I think I’ll go back to my room and take a shower.” The room went still so suddenly that Faith’s heart skipped a beat. She arched a brow in silent question.
“Faith,” Tristan said, setting his fork down slowly. “The last time you left our sight, we nearly lost you.”
“The last time I left your sight, I was human, I didn’t have Bubbles with me, and Eric Kick was roaming the ship,” she said reasonably. “I’ll be fine.”
“We understand all of that,” Tristan said. “It doesn’t help. Please, Faith, let us come with you.”
Faith reached for their emotions, then frowned. “How long are you guys going to be like this?”
“Like what?” Gray asked too innocently.
“Over-protective, worried, afraid to let me out of your sight,” Faith said.
“Not very long,” Jon answered. “A century or two, no more than that.”
Faith had to bite down on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “Is that all? Just a century or two? You know, in my world, that’s a very long time.”
“In the world in which you lived yesterday, yes,” Tristan pointed out. “Not in the world in which you now exist.”
“Okay,” Faith said, setting her cup down. “I’m going to let you guys get away with this for a little while because I know yesterday was hard. But I’m talking about a few days, okay? After that, you’re gonna have to suck it up.”
“Suck what up?” Gray asked, frowning.
Faith rolled her eyes and stood up. “That was my toothbrush I saw in the bathroom, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was,” Tristan said. “I brought all of your toiletries over.”
“In that case, I’ll go take a shower while you finish eating. Then we can go to my room for my clothes.”
“We can do that for you,” Tristan said. “We can move very fast, so it won’t take long. You can wait here.”
“No thanks,” Faith replied as she turned and headed for the bathroom. “I think I’d prefer to pack my own underwear if you don’t mind.”
She closed the door behind her, before the Falcorans could argue further.
“Are all females as headstrong as our Arima?” Gray asked.
“I have no idea,” Tristan replied. “It doesn’t matter though. I wouldn’t change a single thing about her.”
“No, I wouldn’t either,” Gray agreed. “I’m just saying that having an Arima may be a bit more complicated than I imagined.”
“At least we will never be bored,” Jon said.
“Yes, there is that,” Tristan agreed. He shook his head. “I don’t know how she expects us to get over our fear for her in only a few days.”
“I don’t think she expects that at all,” Jon said. “I think she just wants us to get over insisting that she not be out of our sight.”
“Oh, well, in that case...,” Tristan trailed off, then smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Either way, it’s not going to be easy.”
“No, it won’t be,” Gray said. “But loving her
is
easy, and for that, I’m willing to face whatever challenges come our way.”
***
Faith stood in front of the viewport, frowning into another huge jump point. It hadn’t taken long for the Falcorans to move all of her possessions into the new, bigger room at the end of the corridor. They even put them away for her, though she had to do a bit of rearranging. While she was doing that, they went to their separate rooms for their own possessions. It seemed strange to her when she thought about it. Yesterday she’d awakened alone in her room. Today she was sharing with the Falcorans. But, strange or not, she knew that it was
right
. This was her destiny, and she was happy with it. Very happy.
“Do you see anything?” Tristan asked.
“Yes, lots of planets,” Faith said. Jon turned on the holographic map and she walked to where Gray stood marking their current location. Then she crossed to the far side of the room and stopped beneath a blue planet.
“Earth,” Gray said, naming the world even though the expression on Faith’s face said she already knew that one. “It takes six weeks to travel from Jasan to Earth. Or it did, anyway. Of course, you already know that.”
“Yep, I know,” Faith said, grinning. “Now it will take what? A week?”
“That’s right,” Tristan said, returning her grin.
“We now have jump points that will take us to the furthest reaches of our own galaxy in a matter of a few days,” Jon said. “Thanks entirely to you, Faith.”
“We’ve found so many in just a couple of weeks that it makes me wonder how many more are out there,” Faith said. “I’m not sure I could find them all if we spent the rest of our lives searching.”
“We have sensor readings for these larger jump points now,” Gray said. “When ships find them, they can discover where they go the old fashioned way. You don’t need to check all of them personally.”
“What’s the old fashioned way?” Faith asked.
“Enter the jump point and see where it takes you,” Tristan replied.
“That’s dangerous,” Faith said, remembering the jump point that led to darkness. “You could end up in a place you can never return from.”
“Yes, it’s risky,” Tristan agreed. “There are many instances of ships entering jump points and never being seen again. But that’s how we’ve discovered the jump points we now have.”
“Exploring the unknown is always a risk, Faith,” Jon said. “Those who take the risk are fully aware of the dangers.”
“I know,” Faith said. “And I understand that. But please, promise me that you will never go into an unknown jump point until I look at it.”
“Of course we promise,” Tristan said.
“That was a little too fast,” she replied warily.
Tristan grinned. “But still true. You are our Arima now. We will never go anywhere that will take us away from you for more than a day.”
“Do you mean we have to stay together all the time now?” Faith asked.
“Good question,” Tristan replied. “I’m honestly not sure of the answer, though. We know that, before Ugaztun was destroyed, most male-sets had accustomed themselves to spending extended periods of time away from their Arimas and their children. It is not in our nature to do that, but they’d convinced themselves it was necessary in order to protect their families. Our male-sets no longer do that, nor are we interested in attempting to do such a thing. You are part of us, as we are part of you. We need to be together.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Faith said. “Just imagining you guys going off for days or weeks at a time makes me feel...bad.”
“Then don’t imagine it,” Jon said. “There’s no reason to as it will not happen.”
“What if you get orders to go somewhere and you can’t take me with you?” Faith asked.
“That will never happen,” Tristan said. “We are now Rami, and that takes precedence over all things in our culture. No one would ever consider asking us to leave our Arima. But, if it will set your mind at ease, I promise you now that we would never accept such orders.”
“Thank you,” Faith said. “It does make me feel better. Now I guess we better get this jump point measured before the task force gets too far ahead of us.”
“Yes,” Tristan agreed. “And after that, we’ll see how well you take to flying.”
Chapter
Thirty-One
Jung Del spent several days as a guest of the Dracons, enjoying his time on the ranch greatly. Especially those times he was privileged to spend with Ellicia’s sons. They had her look, especially around the mouth, and her bright, warm spirit. Hope Bearen, who was both aunt by blood, and mother by heart, to the boys impressed him very much. He couldn’t imagine a better choice of women to raise the sons of Ellicia Daniels. She was quiet, but there was strength in her such as he rarely saw.