“Congratulations on finding me but I am not coming home with you. Not yet anyway.”
Her smile tightened and she took a deep breath in an apparent attempt to not lose her patience. “It isn’t a request, Evander. We’re lucky that they give us a long leash and a modicum of trust. If either one of us tests their patience or stretches that trust even an inch,” she pinched both hands in front of him to illustrate the point, “we would both suffer the consequences.”
Evan allowed himself a moment to brood at her words before standing and walking to the bureau. He produced a clean pair of socks and slid them on his feet one at a time. He mentally cataloged the places he’d been to since escaping from his home; he wasn’t ready to go back yet.
“It’s not as easy this time, Evadine,” he said with Zoe in mind.
“Your home is Terra. Your life is Terra. I know you fancy yourself to be some kind of inter-galactic traveler bringing other-worldly culture back to the masses, but that is not your job. We both have responsibilities to Terra, and we need to respect those if we want to continue living as a family.”
He sat on the chair draped with the wet towel and took a deep breath, avoiding her inquiring gaze. “I like it here,” was all he could manage. He knew she was right. It was because of his relationship with both the Queen and King that he was allowed to get away with so much. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they no longer extended him that courtesy.
Eva stood and crossed the space between them and crouched down at his feet with her hands on top of his. She took in the sight of his face for a long moment and frowned, comprehension dawning. “Something is different about you.”
His look was meant to convey a warning but she seemed to misinterpret it. Her face lit up, her eyebrows reaching for the sky as a sly smile spread across her lips.
“It’s not something; it’s someone, isn’t it?”
“Eva, don’t,” he warned, though he knew it would be pointless.
“I’m right, aren’t I? What’s her name?” She jumped up and moved to the bed, tucking her legs underneath her like a child as she sat down.
“It’s nothing worth talking about,” he lied in an attempt to abate her curiosity.
“Liar,” she smiled.
He sighed and shook his head. She was tenacious and not likely to give up once intrigued. “I’m not telling you her name,” he conceded.
“Ah! She exists. So, you’ve met a girl who lives an entire world away. How do you think that will work out?” Her ability to be both annoying and charming at the same time grated his nerves. Sarcastic rhetoric aside, he knew she was only looking out for his best interests.
“I haven’t even thought that far ahead,” he admitted.
“How did you meet?”
“On a boat,” he answered. He pictured Zoe sitting in the plastic chair on the boat, Pacific wind in her hair as she quietly stared out at the water.
“Recently?”
“Yesterday morning.”
Eva’s brows dipped into her face. “You’ve only known this girl a day?”
He cocked his head and glared at her. “We’re not going to talk about it.”
Disappointed, she fell silent and tried to avoid his eye contact. “Irrespective of who you’ve met here, the fact remains that you’re expected to come home. If I come home without you how do you think that will make me look?”
“Tell them you couldn’t find me.” He didn’t care how it would make her look. It wasn’t her job to fetch him.
“They’ll just send someone else to look for you, Evan.” It was an inconvenient truth he had no interest in hearing and he would stubbornly ignore it for as long as possible, the monarch be damned.
“Well, they don’t know where I am, right? So I have some time.”
She scowled at him, stood up from the bed and put her hands on her hips. “You’re acting like a fool!” she admonished. A cursory glance at her and it was as if he was looking at their mother, right down to the way her hands wrapped around her hips. He tried to ignore the stabbing sensation in his chest, knowing that tears would follow if he allowed himself to dwell on the past.
“I just need some time.”
“How much time do you think will pass before the Queen grows impatient and sends someone after you? What do you think will happen when they find you then? The whole of Terra may be under the impression that we live with the Stratons as their guests, but you and I both know that is not the case. We’re their prisoners, Evander; don’t forget that.”
“Give me a day. Go back to Terra and tell Kyra and Owyn that I’m on my way back. Make sure they don’t send anyone after me. The last thing I need is to see Hector or Alcander showing up at my door.”