Page 162 of Galaxy Circus Act One

I can see directly into the first few. There is only one person in each. They must have all been separated when they were brought in. Susie is in one, and Mark is in another. On the opposite side, I see Aura, and next to them is Xane. My idiot cousin looks like he heaves a sigh of relief at the sight of me, and I feel a smug grin lift my lips. I’m never letting him live this down. His eyes drift from me to Lila, who is still holding my hand through my mist, and I see him scan her body, his eyebrows jumping with surprise before he gives me a nod of approval. Idiot. Like I care if he approves or not.

“Well, let’s get on with this. Do your thing.” Smith waves his hand in the direction of the two humans, and although I would like to strip his skin from his body for speaking to me like that, Lila squeezes my hand before she drops it, easing the impulse.

Right, must not kill the agent. Diplomacy is probably not a strength that I would claim for myself. I’m a little too blunt, which is appreciated throughout the galaxy, but not so much with these Earth Alien Authorities. It’s why the Adams brothers tend not to involve me with them.

I step up to the first cell, and Smith brings down the forcefield. Before I can send out my magic to assess Susie, Lila pushes me out of the way, and both girls break into sobs as they throw their arms around each other. Thankfully Lila remembersher new superstrength and doesn’t literally kill her friend with kindness. They are both talking a million miles an hour, and I’m having trouble following their words.

“Miss Adams, remove your arms from my prisoner before I shoot you.” I turn slowly to look at Agent Smith, thinking he wouldn’t be dumb enough to point a weapon at my intimate, but sure enough, the idiot is, and my vision goes red. Growling, I thrust my hands out, choosing the least physically damaging way to incapacitate the asshole. The weapon in his hand disintegrates before he goes flying backward, his body slamming against the forcefield of the cell behind him. There, his body starts to convulse from the shocks, and I see his head flop to the side as he loses consciousness before dropping to the ground.

“Xavier,” Eric admonishes, but not too hard, and the grin on his face is the complete opposite of the tone coming out of his mouth.

“He dared to point a weapon at my intimate. He deserves much worse, but I am aware of the delicacy of the situation, so I allowed him to live. I will make sure he doesn’t remember.” I wave my hand and turn off all the cameras in the room, as well as erase the footage of the last couple of minutes while we wait for the girls to calm down.

Finally, the two girls pull apart, their faces streaked with tears, and I allow the mist to pull back from my body now that there are no extra eyes. Susie and Mark have seen my human punk glamour but not my real form, and Susie’s eyes widen as she takes it all in. Her gaze flicks to Xane and back again before she gasps.

“You two look similar.”

I scoff. “Please, he is but a poor imitation of the real thing.” Susie frowns, and Lila smacks me as I see my cousin flip me off from the other cell. He must be able to hear me, but when he says something, the words don’t penetrate. “Well, that’s nota nice way to greet the person who is saving you, Xane. Maybe we’ll just leave you here.”

Lila smacks me again, and I sigh. “You just wait, you’ll be begging me to put him back after five minutes in his company.”

Although I’m acting put out, I’m relieved my favorite cousin is okay. He was my best friend growing up, and I would hate for anything to happen to him.

“Okay, Miss Susie, what is this we hear about you being an alien?”

Susie’s eyes drift to Eric who asked the question, and she frowns. “Wait. Who are you?” she asks, and Eric chuckles again.

“Ah, yes, you would remember me like this.” He activates the glamour he had been wearing when they had first met.

“Holy shit, Grandpa Eric!” Susie exclaims, looking at Lila. “Dude, your grandpa is smoking hot.”

Lila’s skin tone turns a little green like she might vomit, but Eric preens like a damn peacock as he lets the glamour fade away.

“How about we drop all the forcefields so everyone can be involved in the conversation,” Eric suggests and begins deactivating them all.

“Wait.” A blond dude with shimmery skin like a cyborg steps out of one of the cells and stops Eric from deactivating the last cell. “Not that one. Leave it for now.”

I wander down to the cell and peer into it with Eric, but it’s dark, and we can’t see beyond the first couple of feet. Shrugging, we return to the others.

It’s noisy and confusing as the seven captives hug and reacquaint themselves with each other. Eric, Lila, and I stay out of the way while this happens, letting the group have their moment. Lila watches with a small, genuine smile on her face as both Susie and Mark are embraced and kissed by four of the fivealiens. She nudges me, and I lean down so she can whisper in my ear.

“I think Susie and Mark must have given their consent, and from the looks of it, it wasenthusiastic.” She giggles but looks pleased with the situation, and I allow the breath I’d been holding to ease out. All of them look really happy together, and I’m thrilled for my cousin. He deserves all the love he can get. Not everyone finds their intimate, but this much love more than makes up for it.

“Okay, shall we get the introductions out of the way? I want this all to be done by the time the agent regains consciousness again.” Eric steps up, obviously impatient to get out of here. “Aura, it’s a pleasure to see you.” Eric holds out a hand to the Morpheian. They are wearing a male glamour at the moment, which I’m assuming is for the agent’s sensibilities. I also know, like me, they don’t like to show their true form to just anyone.

Aura beams and pushes Eric’s hand out of the way before embracing him, kissing him on both cheeks. “Eric, you sexy man, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Aura gushes, and Eric’s cheeks tinge pink with embarrassment, which is a completely different reaction from when Susie said something similar. “Thank you for coming to our rescue. I’m afraid we’ve been set up.” They drop their arms and let go of a blushing Eric.

“Yes, we had assumed as much. You can share it all with us when we get back to the ship, but it’s Susie and Mark we need to worry about now. What did Agent Smith mean when he informed us that they are both aliens?” The color in his cheeks returns to normal, and his brows pinch together as he tries to figure out the truth.

“Let me introduce you to my family first. I think you know Xane, but this is Crimson and Savannah, and Ricky is our new friend. This is Eric Adams, one of the proprietors of the GalaxyCircus, Xavier Colest, heir to the warlock empire, and…” They trail off when they get to the female still plastered to my side.

“This is Lila, my intimate,” I tell them all, beaming with pride, and Aura’s eyebrows jump.

“Well, congratulations, my friend, that is amazing news.”

“And what he’s also forgetting to tell you is that she is our granddaughter and heir to the Galaxy Circus.” I didn’t think Aura’s eyebrows could get any higher, but they manage to outdo themselves.

“Well, Saturn’s rings, that is simply wonderful news. I know you’ve been searching for her for a long time.” Aura pulls Lila out of my arms and hauls her into theirs, hugging her tightly. “Welcome, child! We are so excited to finally meet you.”