Lunai followed Bliss through the unrelenting crowd. Guards held back screaming fans trying to get a minute of time with Bliss. He smiled the whole way out of the restaurant, never letting the chaos break his public stride. Lunai wasn’t quite as experienced with popularity, her footing faltering slightly as fans lunged in their direction. She stumbled forward as they finally broke through to the other side.

  Bliss picked up the pace once they were out, letting the guards keep everyone in place. Lunai glanced back every few steps to make sure they weren’t being actively pursued into the elevator. She only let her guard down once the doors closed. Bliss scanned his CellPulse and the elevator automatically registered the penthouse as its destination.

  “Is this always what it’s like in public for you?” she asked Bliss. It seemed like an exhausting way to live.

  “Pretty much.” He let out a yawn as if to prove it was just business as usual. “If you don’t like the attention, it wouldn’t be hard for you to avoid it. I don’t really have that choice, but you do.”

  That will depend on how much of your fame rubs off on me. I guess I’ll never be a hybrid human and void siren, though.

  The elevator opened directly into Bliss’s room. Of course, two furry black cats were waiting right in front of the open doors. Lunai’s eyes widened upon seeing her precious Cromble for the first time in a week. The cat chirped happily at her feet and eagerly rubbed against her leg.

  “My BABY!”

  She gathered the creature into her arms and spun around the room. Bliss watched them with a light smile that sparked a hint of warmth in his eyes. Lunai’s leg brushed against Sorebel who followed her closely on the floor. She brought Cromble to the couch and let Sorebel rest next to her. The two cats cuddled her relentlessly. A suitable reward for the amount of time she was forced to be away from solid ground.

  When she looked up, Bliss wasn’t standing by the couch anymore. She found him posted at the oversized window overlooking the city. The cats had calmed down and let her get up from the couch to approach him.

  “You deserve to know the truth, Lunai.”

  The sentence was entirely unprompted, but Lunai was curious about what Entropi had said at the restaurant. Why would Bliss have told her that Armageddon wasn’t a danger to him when it was so provably false? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Lunai assumed he just wanted to soothe his worried mentor’s mind, but perhaps that was naive considering how Bliss usually acted towards the woman.

  “You don’t have to tell me if-“

  “You need to stop doing that.” He put his head in one hand and let out a single, sad chuckle. “You’ll never make it in this business if you don’t make people explain themselves.”

  Maybe it was the influence of the voice that occasionally took root in her mind, but she felt inclined to follow his advice. She took a deep breath in and out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Okay. Armageddon almost killed me. You owe me an explanation too, then.”

  “That’s more like it!” The boastful facade in his voice immediately faded as his body slumped over further. “Here’s the kicker. Armageddon is my brother! I’ve known that since we searched his ship, too. I lied to everyone when I called him a trafficker.”

  Lunai blinked twice to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She slowly backed away and plopped down onto the couch, just taking everything in. She heard Bliss’s breath growing weary in the corner.

  “Not that family can’t traffic each other, of course!” His controlled laugh from earlier turned into something frantic. “My father was the one who sold me to his warlord friends after all.”

  He was fully hyperventilating behind her. She didn’t give in. She couldn’t. Armageddon was his brother. Armageddon burnt him alive. But he wasn’t a trafficker. It wouldn’t have changed anything for Lunai. She still would’ve insisted Bliss stay out of the cage. But he lied to her. He lied to everyone. Only one word managed to escape her mouth.

  “Why…”

  She heard the soft thud of his body settling on the floor. “Crux thought…well, Crux saw the evidence and it only pointed to one thing. I didn’t correct anyone. He wanted to drum up support for the new mission against human trafficking. I let it happen.”

  An answer to just one of many questions. Lunai wasn’t going to bother with making him feel guilty. She was still too lost in her disbelief. “Your brother killed billions.”

  “I’m aware…”

  “Your brother electrocuted you for five minutes straight.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “I’m-“

  “Your brother killed.” Her voice finally cracked through her dissociative mental state. “Your brother killed Surfrista.”

  “I wasn’t going to let him kill you.”

  Is that supposed to mean something to me now? You’re so self-centered, taking this horrible thing humans experience and turning it into something only you own. Even if I knew Armageddon wasn’t going to sell your body, I wouldn’t have told you to suffer for me. You don’t have to be facing human trafficking for me to care, asshole!

  She should’ve said it out loud, but she couldn’t bring the words to her lips. What actually came out was much softer than what was needed. Something that sounded like the same dressed up words people packaged and sold to Bliss every day. Something that didn’t sound like Lunai. Just another empty promise of care Lunai knew his fans threw at him constantly.

  “I still would’ve told you to not to give in to your brother’s threats on my life.”

  The shuffling she heard from behind suddenly stopped. The air went cold around her eerily still senior. “Then you’re an idiot. Only the most pathetic souls would value my comfort over their life. Especially a life as important as yours.”

  A backhanded compliment. That was his response. A fucking backhanded compliment. She was really starting to simmer now, and the cats could tell. Cromble crawled onto her chest and licked her nose to ease the tension. It brought Lunai out of her angry chill long enough to take another look at Bliss.

  He looked like an absolute wreck. The side of his head was now fully pressed on the window. His eyes were empty, staring at nothing and no one. Lunai already thought the man was small, but now he looked absolutely tiny, both on the outside and the inside. The man who always looked like he owned the room now looked like he didn’t even own himself.

  Of course, it made Lunai feel terrible, but tragedy couldn’t make up for everything that had happened. The gala itself was built on a farce. No one had to die for this.

  “I think it’s best I left you alone now.” No, it wasn’t. She fucking knew it wasn’t. She couldn’t get past her own hurt. “I’m gonna take Cromble with me.”

  If things weren’t bad enough, a hint of sadness washed over Bliss’s face as she picked up her cat. She turned away before she could witness any tears. It was her turn to be selfish. Sorebel tracked her all the way to the elevator. Cromble squirmed in discomfort. She let the elevator doors close gently in front of her, locking away something that she knew full well could go terribly, terribly wrong.

  “Let’s go Cromble…”

  The whisper was meant to soothe herself more than her confused companion. She had no idea what she was going to do with her at the moment. Her cat carrier was at Bliss’s apartment, and she definitely couldn’t afford a room of her own. Walking on the street with a thrashing cat was not an option. She’d have to find Entropi.

  I hope she’s still here. What am I gonna do if she left already?

  The lobby welcomed her back with an ear-piercing squabble between security and the crowd of fans that still crowded the hotel’s lobby. Thankfully, she saw Entropi with Argalax and Kelang standing in the center of the commotion. She bundled Cromble closer to her chest as she speed-walked towards her friends.

  “Lunai!” Entropi yelled. “What did you two-wait why are you holding Cromble?”

  She didn’t say anything when she reached them. She was worried she’d burst into tears on the spot. The exhaustion on her face said enough.

  “Come on. Why don’t we head upstairs so you can put her down?”

  Entropi took her by the shoulders and gently guided her back to the elevator. She still wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but if Entropi had a room she could use, she wasn’t complaining. They went up to the eighth floor which was mercifully far from the penthouse suite. Kelang and Argalax followed silently behind them in the hall.

  “I got a room for all of you to share, but why don’t we just split the girls and boys, huh?”

  Argalax gave Lunai a solemn nod. “I hope you’re alright, Lunai.”

  “Yeah, let me know if you need anything!” Kelang chimed in.

  She gave them a smile as they disappeared behind the door to their room. Lunai was now sharing a room with the strongest hero in the galaxy right after a devastating fallout with that hero’s precious ward.

  Entropi’s room wasn’t anything special. Better than what Lunai could afford, but far from the fanciest room in the building. It was a standard two-bed room with a small chair and television on the wall. She finally released Cromble and the cat scurried under the bed. She had gone through far too many changes in her environment over the last week.

  Entropi hopped onto the bed by the window and let her helmet hit the pillow. She looked ridiculous, fully dressed up in a luxury queen bed. Lunai followed suit and took a seat across from her.

  “What’d he do this time?” Entropi asked.

  “Armageddon is-“

  “His brother. He told you?” Lunai nodded and Entropi whistled in response. “Damn. He must trust you a lot.”

  “If he did, he probably doesn’t anymore. But I think he just told me because he felt guilty about the gala.”

  “Guilt is a strong feeling for Mtsi. He doesn’t hand it out lightly.”

  Lunai looked towards the woman and realized that she was guilty as well. She knew what was under Entropi’s helmet. If she wanted to retain any sense of self-worth, she’d have to take a beat from Bliss and come clean.

  “You don’t need to wear that helmet. I know you’re human.”

  She wasn’t in her usual state of social grace. The words came out much more callously than she would’ve liked. She plopped down on the bed and let her roots spread across the mattress, making her an easy target if Entropi decides to kill her for snooping. All she heard was the sound of a helmet being thrown off.

  “At least I can sleep comfortably.”

  Lunai turned to see Entropi without her helmet tucking herself into bed. She curled to her side and proceeded to fall asleep immediately, light snoring filling the room. Lunai returned to watching the ceiling, thankful she wouldn’t have to say anything else for the day.

  It would be a good while before she could fall asleep, but her heart settled down slightly. Cromble eventually crawled out from her hiding place and joined Lunai on the bed. Pets probably weren’t allowed in the hotel without special permission. Hopefully Entropi would also take care of any pet-related damage fees.

  Sorry Bliss. I can’t be what you need right now. Good luck with your demons. Good luck with your brother. I don’t think I can handle it anymore.