Page 46

“I wish I had been dealing with humans. Fucking claws were brutal.” She ran her finger over her cheek.

“May I ask what happened?”

“The wave. It’s a seaborn rut of young adult males. There are shelters for folks who aren’t equipped to deal with locals. They closed my shelter ten minutes early, and I had to face the wave smelling like a female in heat, because I was. Fortunately, I also had peacekeeper training, so I kept any sexual assaults from taking place, but I was in really rough shape. Took eight medics, a lot of prayer, and a ton of power to knit me back together.” She smiled. “That is when I met Kazi. He helped with judgment and got me my settlement. The ancient in that system agreed. I got a ship, and I headed away from that world as soon as I could move my limbs with some control. After that, it has been a whirlwind of pickups and deliveries across the stars. Relaxing.”

“You kept the scars?”

“You are fucking right I kept the scars. I survived a massacre. Everyone has to look at it now.” She gave a ferocious grin. “Trauma medics have to study my scans. Images of me are projected in front of the men participating in the wave. It has had a delightful effect, causing the guys to claw their brains back into their heads.”

“So they couldn’t help it?”

“No. It is a group hysteria event. The season comes, the hormones rise, and the water-born population hits the water, and the sheer force of them creates a wave. The wave hits the mainland and washes through the streets. The guys go looking for stray women, and anyone they catch is pulled back to the sea. They actually carry breathers for them.”

“What happened to you?”

“A wise ass thought that closing the shelter I was assigned to ten minutes early would be fine. I hit the locked door with nine minutes to spare and was busy hacking the door when the wave hit, and five of the fuckers came after me. Humans smell like we are in heat all the time, so I was a great target. They started grabbing, then playing tug-of-war as they tried to pull me to them. The claws drew blood, and I started fighting back. That is when I realized how outclassed I was. I couldn’t sooth them. I was in too much fucking pain, and then everything was just screaming and blood until the wave was over and medics were sent to look for incidents.”

“Shit. Who locked you out?”

“Another human. Celia. She flunked out of peacekeeper training, but she was a gate guard. She got penalized in the extreme.”

“So, you called Kazi...”

“When I was bleeding out on the ground. I screamed for revenge on the psychic plane. Ssrothiss caught the scream, and he called Kazi.”

“Ssrothiss?”

“The ancient who owns Srendek. Lots of mermen and snake men and things that give you a headache.”

“Headache?”

“Tons of psychics.”

“Oh. Got it.” Aya nodded. “When I was in soother training, that got to be a lot.”

“Yup.”

“What were you before?”

“Esthetician. Nails and makeup. You would not believe how soothing folks came in handy. Bitchy bridezillas fell to my wiles.”

Aya grinned. “For some reason, I think every human soother you meet will have been on Earth in a customer-facing position.”

“Likely. Now I have to know, where did you learn to sing like that?”

“Time alone in my own shuttle. I can warble with the best of them. Do you sing?”

“Play. Fiddle.”

“Duet?”

Aya grinned. “Thought you would never ask.”

Matilda nodded, and they headed for the bandstand again. Aya took possession of her fiddle, and they both burst into the soothing relief of music. This gathering of humanity was alive and thriving, and it deserved to be celebrated.

* * * *

Cloudy looked over at her aunt playing and the other woman belting out song after song. She smiled at Hazor. “That’s my aunt.”