The Bell of Freedom (King and human romance)✔

Chapter Twenty-One

I've been awake for a while just listening to Cain sleep. My head is against his arm and my legs are tucked up against the couch. The fire has burned out and the sun is rising outside this little world we've found ourselves in. It's a selfish world, filled with greed and desire. I don't want to wake him but I'm eager to use the bathroom and I have no idea where to find one.

Suddenly, he jerks himself awake, panting after another nightmare. He looks down and checks on me, rubbing his eyes before rising from the couch and walking across the room. I sit up.

"How do you stand them?" he says. "They feel so real."

"Good morning to you too," I say.

He smiles as he positions himself in front of the large window, casting a thorough glare at the lands before him. He stretches his arms and I hear something in his body crack. "This is the first planet I've been on that only has one sun. The previous had three, which was why the odds of a solar flare were greater. The specimens called them otorisises, one of only several phrases they knew. Their language wasn't developed as much as the human, it was frustrating to us."

I lean my head back into the armrest. "What were they like?"

"Feisty little things," Cain laughs. "They loved water, most of them spent their lives swimming. They ate these strange kind of shells to survive as they were the only species on the planet. Every disguise we take on is a difficult process. Adjusting to being a lifeform and seeing the world through their eyes is something I have never taken for granted."

"So what's with the wings?" I ask. "We don't have them."

He smiles as he looks back to me. "We have wings no matter where we are or what we become. It is part of our original design."

"Ah."

"It is how we move between planets," he explains. "We wouldn't be able to do it in these physical bodies but once we release ourselves, we can be as fast as your rockets."

"Probably faster," I say. "So. . . which planet was yours?"

He stares at me and I think I've crossed a line but I don't know for sure. He probably thinks all the planets are his. That the moment he claims them, they have always belonged to him and his species.

"I don't remember," he says, his eyebrows creasing with frustration. "I don't remember why we left or how we ever figured out that we could. It was thousands of years ago."

"Something must have created you," I whisper. "And if you're immortal then you couldn't have been born, right? So how did you come to exist?"

"We're not immortal, Aurora," he says instantly.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, apart from the blade you are. Living thousands of years sounds like immortality to me and you have called yourselves that."

"The blade can only kill my species while they are in physical form. If they released themselves they are considered immortal. But they cannot feed unless they form a body. And if they do not feed, they starve, also ending their existence. At some point, we will wipe out the entire life on all planets and my species will die out."

I blink. "Will that happen to you? If you don't feed?"

He shakes his head. "Consuming completed souls is different. Even having a part of you inside of me will keep me strong for a few decades. Thank you for being concerned for my life though."

I shrug with a smile. "I'm more excited about your kind's demise than I am about you living."

He laughs. "Only the completed were ever this honest and brave around me. It's a gift for sure. They're always drawn to me, one way or another."