Liquid Compassion Read online

  Order chuckled and stroked her partner’s arm. “He is good at things like that.”

  Bits leaned against Turnari and slept. She wasn’t exhausted; she was just tired.

  Her mind blended with Turnari’s as she dropped in and out of sleep. He was always there and waiting with warm thoughts and hope for the future.

  The tiny bodies thudded against her as she walked across the tarmac. Mala was feeding her third daughter and Radin was next to her.

  “Bits! You look great.”

  “Apparently, I over did it, so they had to haul me to Teklan. You were right, the suit stretches.”

  Mala grinned. “I am glad that it worked for you. I have made some alterations to the spray mechanism. I can boost the range and the droplet dispersal. All I need is a few days to get it worked out with your help.”

  Bits felt Turnari loom behind her. “It will be up to Administrator Turnari, but I don’t think that it will be a problem.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Whatever makes you more effective on assignment, Bits.”

  Mabi and Isala looked at Turnari with small scowls. “Why is he kissing you?”

  Bits smiled. “He is my fiancé. That means he is my mate-to-be.”

  The girls let go of her hands and scurried a few feet away. When they came back, Isala put her hands on her hips. “Will you have babies?”

  Turnari nodded, “If we are lucky.”

  “Can we play with them?” Mabi expressed her concern.

  Bits sighed. “If I have children and if they get old enough to run around on their own, you can play with them.”

  Turnari’s mind was vibrating with amusement.

  Their collected group made their way into the base where Bits finally got the baseline scan that would give them a place to start any medical procedures.

  She had come all this way, and now, she knew where she had to start from. It was a huge step forward that involved going back into her DNA.

  Her own bed at the Citadel felt glorious. Kalo had kidnapped Turnari to go through all of the details that had come up while they were gone.

  She lay back on the bed and tried to think of nothing. The shielded walls kept her mind from seeking out anyone randomly, but she focused and found Turnari. He was moving through the Citadel, and he was surprised at her contact.

  A few moments later, there was a knock on her door. She opened it and blinked at Turnari and the bouquet of flowers in his arms.

  “I forgot all about those.”

  He grinned. “Kalo took fanatical care of them.”

  She took them in one arm and pulled him down for a kiss using one of his horns.

  When she released him, he said, “Those aren’t handles, you know?”

  “Say that when we are in bed and I want you in a certain place but am moaning too much to tell you where.”

  His eyes lit with a bright glow. “Fair enough; for you, they are handles.”

  She winked and invited him in.

  He walked inside and took a seat on her bed. “How am I to know that what I feel for you is genuine affection and not a side effect of your talent?”

  She set the flowers down on the table and walked to her bed, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Do you remember what you felt when you first saw me?”

  He nodded. “I do.”

  “Can you track a slow and steady change in emotion over time?”

  He grinned and trailed his claw-tipped fingers across her cheek. “I can.”

  “My talent is sudden and all consuming. It would take you over, and you would know what you feel but not why.”

  “Why did compassion work during the riot?”

  “Compassion is felt by everyone who isn’t a psychopath. Making them into folk with more concern for their community makes them stronger in some ways. It won’t hurt if it dissipates. Something else will take its place. If I had forced you to have affection for me, you would feel a sudden, wrenching change.”

  “I don’t feel that.”

  She pressed her forehead to his. “I know. It is the same on this side.”

  “Good. When would you like to do the debriefing?”

  Bits moved her hand to the closure of her suit. “How about now? You record and I will do all the talking.”

  He reached out and put his hand over hers. “Not yet. I still have a courtship to arrange. Flowers aren’t enough for a woman like you.”

  Bits wrinkled her nose. “I might not ever have the nerve to try seducing you again.”

  “I will take that chance.” He kissed her with a desperate longing that she gained from his lips and mind.

  It was another start by going backward, and Bits really hoped that it wasn’t a trend.

  Good-natured calm could only take her so far.

  Author’s Note

  I wrote Liquid Compassion with a cold. I have been sniffling and wheezing through it.

  I hoped you enjoyed it even if the subject matter was a little weird.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  http://www.violagrace.com

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.