Aelyx turned her face, meeting her eyes. “Elire, she wants to hurt you. Don’t give her what she wants.”
His voice boomed painfully inside her head. “Why are you shouting? I’m right h—” Suddenly, it occurred to her that Aelyx wasn’t talking. She heard his voice, uncomfortably loud, but his lips remained sealed, just like in the dream. “What the hell was that?” She bolted back, slamming her head against the locker door.
“Whoa.” Blake’s jaw dropped. “What’s with you?”
“Uh . . .” Cara rubbed the back of her head and thought fast. “I saw a mouse.” She pointed across the hall and clarified, “Over there.”
As soon as Blake stalked forward, eyes fixed on the floor, Cara whispered to Aelyx, “I don’t know what you just did to me, but we’re gonna try it again!”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Good.” Aelyx rewarded Cara with a fist bump that didn’t quite connect. He sat facing Cara on the beige-carpeted floor of his room, which she’d decided was the best setting for their experiment. It’s empty and completely boring, she’d said, so we won’t get distracted. The house was quiet, with Bill working a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire station and Eileen volunteering at the library.
He touched his forehead to Cara’s, stared into her wide blue eyes, and thought of another number.
“One thousand, two hundred and nine,” she said. “But can you stop yelling?”
He sat back, wondering why Silent Speech seemed loud to her. Perhaps her human brain wasn’t equipped to handle it. That would explain why he wasn’t able to fully connect with her cognizant mind. “I’m not yelling. There’s no volume control for thoughts.”
“So it doesn’t seem loud when you talk to other L’eihrs?”
“No.”
“Oh.” She slouched against the bed frame and swirled her fingertips across the carpet. “What’s it like when you hear it?”
“I hear thoughts like they’re spoken. But I can feel emotions, too. It’s one of the ways we know if someone is telling the truth. And we can project images and sensations.” He didn’t realize until then how much he’d missed communicating silently with his own people. During these past few months on Earth, he’d been more vocal than in a lifetime on L’eihr.
“Can I try sending you a thought?” she asked.
“Sure, but don’t expect too much. Receiving information’s easier than projecting. It took thousands of years to refine it.”
Cara nodded, setting her long auburn hair in motion. She leaned forward and gazed into his eyes. Several moments ticked by, but he heard nothing.
He shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Can you send me a picture? I want to see something from L’eihr.”
“Sure.” Aelyx stretched out, considering which memory to use. A moment later, he’d found just the right one. “This’ll be harder than receiving words or numbers, so try to relax your mind.”
“Okay.”
Peering deep into her eyes, he recalled a memory from the Aegis—at the end-of-year games when his peers had cheered him on during the obstacle course competition—so Cara could see his home wasn’t as cold and inhospitable as she thought.
She sat still and focused. “Hey! I don’t see anything, but I feel you. You’re totally pumped! What’s so—” Suddenly, she grimaced and pulled away, holding her forehead between her hands.
“Are you okay?” Aelyx shot forward and steadied her shoulders.
“Yeah, just a headache. It’s not that bad.”
He sat back, inspecting her. “We’ve overworked your brain.”
“What?” Cara’s head snapped up while her brows lowered, forming a slash above her narrowed eyes. “We’ve overworked my feeble brain? Is that what you mean?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He pushed to his feet. “Put pressure on your temples. I’ll be right back.”
“Where’re you going?”
“To make some herbal tea for you,” he called while striding into the hall. “It might ease your headache.”
When he returned a few minutes later, she seemed more relaxed, indicating the headache had passed. Still, they should stop for the day. He didn’t want to hurt her.
“Our brains are physically different.” He handed her the tea. “I didn’t say yours was feeble. I think you have a beautiful mind, Elire.”
“Thanks.” She took the steaming mug. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s all right.” He sat beside her on the carpet and inhaled his tea’s fruity scent. A hint of orange in the brew reminded him of Cara’s shampoo.
“Hey.” She paused to blow into her cup. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have a girlfriend back home?”
“I’ve felt some attachments in the past, but no, I don’t have what you’d describe as a girlfriend.”
Cara cleared her throat and began chewing her thumbnail. “What about Syrine?”
“What about her?”
“Do you . . . um.” She stared down into her mug. “Have a special relationship with her?”
The bond he shared with Syrine had outlasted a dozen other friendships, something he’d qualify as special, but judging by Cara’s scarlet cheeks, she had another type of relationship in mind. “Define special relationship.”
“Well, have you ever kissed her?”
The mental image of putting his tongue into Syrine’s mouth made him laugh. “No. I’ve never kissed Syrine or anyone else, for that matter.”
“What?” She glanced up from her tea, her eyes like saucers. “You’ve never kissed a girl?”
He shrugged. “That’s not how we show affection.”
“Really?”
“Truly.”
“Too bad,” she said over the top of her mug. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Not much, I imagine. I researched it, and it sounds bizarre to me.”
Cara smiled to herself. “Not if you’re doing it right. Nothing’s hotter than a good kiss.”
“Nothing except sh’ellam. It always leads to more.”
“So does an amazing kiss.”
The challenge in her eyes prompted him to say something he probably shouldn’t have. “Care to put it to a test?”
Her pink lips parted in shock.
Was she revolted by the idea? Disappointment knotted his chest. “Don’t worry. If you’re uneasy—”
“I’m not uneasy.” She huffed and set her cup of tea on the floor. “Bring it!”
“You sure?”
“It’s on. You go first.”
Aelyx hesitated a moment, then stood and carried their mugs to the dresser. He offered his hand to Cara and pulled her to her feet.
“Are you wearing a shirt underneath that sweater?” he asked.
She cleared her throat again, blushing. “Yeah, why?”
“This’ll work better if more of your skin’s exposed.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the sweater over her head, tossed it onto the bed, and stood before him in a cream-colored tank top. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Nothing. Just stand still, close your eyes, and relax.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, then shut her eyes and let her arms hang loosely at her sides.
Aelyx’s palms had become clammy, and he wiped them on his jeans, grateful Cara couldn’t see how nervous she’d made him. A wave of doubt crested within him. What if she hated it? What if this confirmed that his attraction to her was one-sided?
“What’re you waiting for?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He stepped forward until their bodies barely touched.