Soul Ties

Chapter 46: A Sea of Promises

Letting my limbs stretch, my tail hits something hard, pulling my attention towards it. I rub my eyes to clear the sleep out of my vision. Looking around, I notice I'm back in the pod somehow. I push the door open and step my soaked feet onto the tiled floor, shifting my eyes to the bed across the room. It's empty.

I lift my arms over my head for one last stretch, my tail straightening and going limp, and make my way to the door. To my surprise it's already open. I walk down the hall to the captains chamber to find Scorpius and the captain already there. When I enter the room, Scorpius turns in his chair and smiles. I feel like I haven't seen his smile in ages. Almost like a reflex, I grin back.

He stands and makes his way to me, meeting me at the entrance of the door. "Hey. You're finally awake," he says.

"When did I get back in the pod?"

"You fell asleep in my bed. I was afraid you'd be too thirsty if you slept there all night, so I put you back in the pod so you could sleep better." He catches a droplet falling from my ear in his hand. With that same hand, he rakes it through his dark hair.

"Oh," I utter, stupidly. Why does it feel like I can't talk to him?

"I hope that was okay." One of his eyebrows lift as he looks at me.

"Yes, of course. Sorry. I meant to say thank you. I guess my brain is still trying to wake up." Or maybe because I know how he truly feels about me, I'm more nervous now than I was before. He smiles again and it raises goosebumps on my skin how badly I want to keep seeing that expression on his face.

The captain turns his head to eye us over his shoulder. "We'll be descending soon. You should buckle yourselves in before we break through the atmosphere. Xoven can be a bumpy land."

I clench my jaw down hard. This was it. I didn't know exactly how many days it had been since I left Dalmoria, but that didn't matter anymore. I was so close to the finish line, I was shaking with excitement. Or was it fear that was the true emotion I was feeling? Maybe I was afraid of all the things that could go wrong. I was definitely afraid about the decision I knew I would eventually have to make.

Scorpius leans against the door frame. "Last chance to change your mind," he teases.

"I've already decided. Plus, we're already here, so no point in fighting the inevitable."

He shrugs. "Okay. But if you end up hating it, we can always go to Dalmoria like I know you really want to."

"You just want to meet my mom. You don't really want to go to my home planet."

"Guilty," he laughs. "Come on, lets get you strapped in." His hand falls on the small of my back as he guides me to one of the chairs near the front of the ship. I watch through the giant glass windows the blue part of Xoven take over. The planet is bigger than I thought. Even this section of Xoven we were entering was massive.

Scorpius buckles me into the seat and goes to the chair next to me to do the same. My heart throws itself against my chest, begging to be let out. All of this felt like it was happening too fast and yet not fast enough. I grip each side of my seat as I watch us break through the atmosphere. There was no turning back now.

-

The captain wasn't lying when he said it was going to be a bumpy ride. When the ship finally touches land, I have to force my fingers to unclench from the chair underneath me. As I flex my stiff fingers, trying to get some sort of feeling back into them, Scorpius unbuckles himself and moves to my side. He clicks the release of the buckle around my waist and places his mouth on the top of my head.

"Are you okay?" he asks, his words caressing my skin. I nod just as he brushes his lips against my temple, the feeling electrocuting all the cells in my body. He cups my elbows and lifts me out the seat. The descend wasn't long at all, but with how cramped my legs feel, I couldn't tell the difference.