"Rhex, I hate flying." I looked at the black door to the shuttle. My heart pounded in my chest and I felt panic rising up sharply. I had been able to forget that I was on a ship orbiting Earth because of how solid and stable it felt but a small shuttle ship was a completely different story.
"You have spent the past six days on a spaceship that is orbiting your planet and you are telling me you are scared of flying?" He sounded amused and I resisted the urge to grab him tightly and never let go.
I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached. "Yah." My world felt wobbly as we moved towards the shuttle ship. I could feel the blood drain from my face. I hadn't had a choice the last time I had been placed in a shuttle ship and it helped that I was already scared but this was just me being a coward.
I froze slightly, ignoring Rhex's tugging on my arm as he tried to get me to move closer to the door. "I'm really scared of flying." My voice felt weak and I honestly felt like I was going to black out.
"Are you okay?" His voice was sharp with concern and I swallowed against the breakfast that wanted to make a return appearance.
"Nope." I looked at him and I couldn't stop the trembling that had taken a hold of my entire body. He said nothing but slowly wrapped his arms around me. There was a lot of comfort in the action and I found myself clutching at the back of his shirt. The fabric bunching in my hands.
"We are going to get on the shuttle and I promise I won't let you go until we reach Earth, okay?" The words rumbled through his chest and I closed my eyes tightly before nodding, not trusting myself to speak. He took a few steps backwards and I followed him, clutching him tightly.
I could hear the shuttle door close and the floor jolted under our feet. I squeaked, like a frightened little mouse, if I hadn't had been so terrified I would have been embarrassed. It would be hard to show Rhex how strong I was when the mere thought of flying made my knees go weak and my stomach lurch.
I felt the shuttle start descending and I felt my breathing increase. Flying was stupid, birds flew, humans did not. Space shuttles crashed all the time and killed everyone when they did. If the universe wanted humans to fly it would have had us evolve wings. Rhex didn't say anything but his arms tightened around me and I pressed my face tighter to his chest.
I gritted my teeth as I told myself that it would be over soon but the thought of the shuttle malfunctioning and crashing in a fiery explosion wouldn't leave my head. I focused on my breathing, trying to take deep breaths in before letting them out slowly. It was easy to forget you were flying through space when the ship was gigantic and it never had so much as a bump to let you know it wasn't on the ground.
A rumble moved through Rhex's chest and I was aware he was chuckling. I would have scowled if I hadn't have been so worried I was going to throw up the strange concoction of eggs Rhex had made for me for breakfast.
"It's not funny." I practically croaked the words out and squeezed my eyes tighter, praying the ship would settle down on the Earth quickly.
"You are right. It is really not." His words held amusement and I resisted the urge to push away from him. Getting away from him meant seeing the shuttle flying, meaning I would probably get a huge sense of vertigo and probably pass out. "I am sorry, it is just. You were not this scared when you were being taken to the recycler and you were not scared when Councilman Khos threatened to take your head but you are terrified of the one thing that has a lesser chance of killing you than either of those options." He shook slightly with his silent laughter and I hoped he would choke on his own spit.
"It's not funny." It was a repetition of what I had just said but it was the only thing that I could get out at the moment. He said nothing and after what seemed like an eternity the shuttle jolted to a stop and the door opened. I released Rhex and with weak and wobbly knees, I tried my best exit the small space quickly. I still felt nauseous and I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand before crouching slightly in the hallway.
Rhex reached down, pulling me to my feet and I leaned on him heavily. "Are you okay?" He sounded sincere and I breathed deeply, feeling the nausea and the dizziness fade away.
I gave a quick nod as I was able to stand up without leaning on him. "Yah, it's going to be brutal going back up." I avoided looking at the door and looked up at Rhex whose expression was even.
"I will be with you." He gave a small nod before gesturing to the hallway. I started down it, my heart pounding slightly. It was exciting to be able to see my parents again.
A familiar face appeared at the end of the hallway and I felt a watery smile break across my face. "Liv!" Ami'la's voice was a welcome sound as she hurried towards me as quickly as her high heels would allow before wrapping me in a tight hug. I hugged her back just as tightly. "I thought you were gone. I thought I would never see you again. When Councilwoman Nadila let me know that you had bonded I nearly threw a party." She released me before cupping my face in her hands.
"Look at you. I am so proud of you." She blinked rapidly before patting her face. "Look at me getting all teary eyed." She turned her gaze to Rhex and her eyes went wide in shock. "A military man." She smiled brightly before nudging my shoulder with a wink. "He doesn't speak any English does he?" I shook my head and pointed to the translator.
"No. Communication was an issue so he got us a pair of translators. So at least we understand each other." I put my hands in my pockets feeling almost shy. "Ami'la, this is Rhex. My soulmate." I looked at Rhex then back to Ami'la who smiled at him.
"I have been Liv's companion for seven years and you are definitely not the type of soulmate I pictured her having. No offence but you are terrifying. Like I thought Councilman Khos was terrifying but he looks like a kitten compared to you." She looked him up and down. "You need to be terrifying to keep everyone off of Liv. How is that anyway? Are you being treated alright?" The concern was evident on her face and I nodded, trying to ease her fears.
"Councilman Khos doesn't like me and I feel like people are trying to stab me with their eyes but other than that I'm good. Councilwoman Nadila and Councilman Rhess are on my side. Then there is the Soul Maker, Ghilesh who I know. He's really wonderful." I gave her a small smile and she gave me another hug.
"I missed you like you wouldn't believe. Things got really quiet down here after you left. It was strange and I didn't like it." She pulled back and looked at Rhex. "Do you not talk?" The tone in her voice made me chuckle and I bit the inside of my cheek slightly, trying not to smile.
"I speak just fine. I figured you would rather speak with Liv than her over-glorified body guard." There was a slight bite to Rhex's voice and I looked at him a frown on my face. The words would have hurt if I hadn't known he was uncomfortable with the situation.
"Don't sell yourself short, Rhex, I'm pretty sure Liv finds you to be the right amount of glorified." Ami'la gestured down the hallway as my face heated up at her implication. "Okay we have a car waiting for you to take you to your parents and it will take you back later today." She started walking and I followed her, aware that Rhex was close behind me. I rubbed at my wrist, aware that it was bare. I hadn't noticed it until Nadila had pointed it out and now it was hard to ignore.
"Stop." Rhex grasped my wrist. "It is a rather distracting gesture. It reminds me I have to get you a binding bracelet." His eyes were narrowed slightly and I shrugged.
"No need to worry about that right now." I smiled at him, trying to put him at ease. "No judgments here. It's just a habit I picked up, I'll try to stop." He let my wrist go and I resisted the urge to rub at it again.
We followed Ami'la to her office where she had a single file on her desk. "I have been waiting to do this for a long time, Liviya. You have no idea." She pulled out a stamp and pressed it against the top corner of the file before showing it to me. I smiled when I realized it was my file and a big black 'Mated' had been stamped on the corner. "There. I wash my hands of you. My job is done. I never want to see you in my office again." There was a teasing note in her voice and I laughed.
"You wish you could get rid of me that easy." I watched as she placed the file in her cabinet.
"Too late. It's going in the cabinet. It's done. No more of your morbid humour. James Levi actually asked me if what you said was true before he left and I couldn't lie to him." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Poor boy looked horrified. Luckily for him, the next meeting he had was his soulmate so that brightened his day considerably." I could imagine it did but it didn't stop the slight flush that coated my cheeks
"That was a bitchy move on my part, Ami'la. I apologize." I scratched the top of my head with an embarrassed smile and she rolled her eyes.
"Your hair is still too long and there is no need to apologize. Now come on. We need to get you two to the car." She pointed to the door and I gestured for her to go first.
"You want me out of the building so it only seems fair that you get to open the door and kick me in the ass on the way out." I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her. Ami'la was my friend and she had been there for me through seven years of hell. She had been the one to pull me out of my slumps, the one to offer me comfort or to make me laugh when I wanted to do nothing more than curl up into a sobbing ball.
She walked from the room with a nod and I felt the smile linger. Rhex moved to stand beside me. "You two are good friends." It wasn't a question but more a statement and I nodded with a small smile.
"She's seen me at my worst and I trusted her when I hit rock bottom. That type of relationship doesn't stay professional very long. Her entire profession is to make people happy and I was the only one who couldn't be." I started towards the door. "She got a little invested in making me happy." It was nice being on the surface with the people I cared about, where no one looked at me like they wanted to throw me over a balcony.