Dark Nine ❈ Dark Nine Universe Bk1 ❈

Chapter Three

We sit outside by a small stream, running between boulders, so the most beautiful silver moss sparkles before us. It's a cute little spot for chatting.

I sit back on the grass, leaning back on my hands, as Mars lays down beside me, spread out, relaxed and eager to speak with me outside of their former prison.

"Speak freely, Diana," Mars asks me so politely, while looking up to the evernight sky. I like that Mars has an obvious awareness of my fears. He is an expert at making me feel safe, which in itself feels strange logically, but I was slowly getting used to his energy.

It's not that Mars was welcoming and super friendly, but I felt his direct permission to be open with him, and I reckon with myself that it's never a bad thing to communicate. Talking is exactly how we'd sort out our dynamic, my place, his mind, my mind, my future. Whatever that may be.

"There is no one here," I murmur, "...what do you guys do... all night?"

"We made this place our home, but we don't stay on Dark Ninth all the time. We are all on the Universal Board, so we travel around a lot," Mars answers, also open about their behaviours.

"It must be nice to be so free," I murmur, "Where I come from, I guess most humans felt free, but I had a strange desire to get out of the hold of Our Tcno. It's strange to know you are a donor for Earth... although I guess that is none of my business. But it is also strange we were matched in Earth's system."

"Our frequencies aligned," Mars explains, "That's how it works. What do you wish for now that you're free of your solar system?"

"Not to die," I blurt out, looking down at him, pointedly referring to his appetite. Mars' handsome eyes hold mine steady and show no sign of an imminent threat, "...you... won't eat me, right?"

"I could," Mars answers while showing off half his razor-sharp teeth again, he is just a lot closer this time and it sends a shiver down my spine, so I look away, "...however, I don't want to... I want to know your thoughts... your desires."

"Well, I want to feel like my potential is fulfilled, so I need to keep exploring the universe – preferably alive and not as a ghost."

"Do you ever think about sex?" Mars asks, raising a curious brow as he draws my attention back down to him. He slowly rests his hands behind his head on the soft grass, awaiting my response.

Now, I find myself amused and quiet.

I smile and say nothing, mimicking him.

Mars looks rather pleased that I have now developed a sense of humour.

"How about you tell me your full intention... with me," I answer him boldly with a question.

"I have no intentions," Mars smirks, giving away the lie, but then he adds, "...other than to ask you questions, Dark Nine... we seek wisdom and need to know how you think."

I notice his slip up in language. We need. They. All of them. Need. If they needed to know me – I should keep my cards close and not reveal everything.

"Do you love?" I ask, putting the question on Mars.

At the question of love, Mars' eyes fire up and his expression hardens. Curiously, it's contradictive. It's passion and it's defence. It's fury and pain.

"Diana, you know nothing," Mars changes his tone as he sits up slowly, "Our concept of love is out of your limits."

"Out of my limits?" I gasp, "My whole life I've done nothing but love. It's in my blood. My species. Humans. We love, one another, each other, and the universe itself. How is love outside my limits?!"