Finding the Jewel Read online

  They were not thick, crunchy, cylindrical potato chips as Chloe had been imagining—they were some kind of giant bug—a cross between a grasshopper and a Palmetto bug—the giant roaches that lived all over her home state of Florida. These bugs were dark grayish-blue and they had been fried crisp and sprinkled with some kind of bright red seasoning salt.

  “Oh my God,” she said unsteadily, staring down at the “food.” “Oh my God! We ate that! We ate fried eyeball sandwiches and crispy bugs! Oh my God.”

  “As I said, it was not meant for you,” Monk Taroni said shortly. “However, the good news is it should not harm you.”

  “Not harm us? I ate eyeballs and bugs—freaking bugs!” Chloe exclaimed. “The psychological damage alone is enough to put me in therapy for the rest of my natural life! Ugh! Can’t you make it disappear again?” She gestured at the gruesome remains of their “lunch,” grimacing.

  “I will take it with me when I go.” Monk Taroni put the lid back on the tray, mercifully hiding the awful sight, and nodded his head at them. “I am afraid I will be busy attending to my apprentice, Zaroni for some time. But the two of you are cleared to attend the advanced Couple’s Class on Oneness this evening. Enjoy yourselves and I will speak to you tomorrow.”

  He left, taking the floating cart with him, but Chloe still felt sick to her stomach. She swore silently to herself that as long as she lived, she would never eat another piece of invisible food again!

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Oh my God, is it really all the way up there?” Chloe was looking with dismay at the top of the stone ramp they had climbed the night before—or rather, Tark had climbed it while carrying her.

  “Yes,” he said mildly. “It is r-rather h-high up.”

  “Rather high up?” she demanded. “It’s taller than a good-sized building! And you climbed up it in the dark last night while you were carrying me!”

  Tark shrugged. He really didn’t see the problem.

  “I th-thought it would b-be safer than l-letting you walk since you can’t see in the d-dark,” he explained.

  “I don’t think there’s any safe way to get up there.” Chloe looked at the narrow ramp mistrustfully. “It can’t be more than two feet wide and there aren’t even any safety rails!”

  “Does it upset you?” Tark asked. “D-do y-you not like heights?”

  “I hate them,” she admitted. Her face was pale. “I fell off the top of a tall slide when I was a kid and broke my arm. That was it for me—I’ve been scared of heights ever since.” She looked up at him sheepishly. “Sorry to be such a wimp.”

  “Y-you can’t help what y-you fear,” Tark told her gravely. “I w-would rather go into b-b-battle with no weapons than st-stand in front of a group and s-speak.”

  She grinned a little.

  “You know, I have heard that some people fear public speaking more than death. Talking in front of people doesn’t bother me but the idea of climbing up there really does.” She shook her head. “I mean, if I fall off from that height, I could break way more than my arm—I could break my neck.”

  “Let me c-carry you then,” Tark suggested. Before she could answer, he swept her up into his arms and headed for the foot of the ramp.

  “Tark, no!” she protested. “Look how steep it is! It’s not fair to ask you to tote me all the way up there!”

  “I d-did it last night,” he pointed out. Leaning down, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I w-want to, Chloe,” he murmured, for her ears alone. “P-please let me carry you.”

  “Well…” She squirmed restlessly in his arms for a moment before finally sighing and nodding. “All right—if you really don’t mind.”

  “I w-want to,” Tark repeated. He got her settled more securely in his arms and began the steep ascent, which was considerably easier with brighter light to navigate by.

  There were other couples climbing the ramp to the Cavern of Precious Treasures too, he noticed as they went. Most of them looked more or less humanoid but there were a few which were different enough to stand out.

  A couple of Yandi went by, their long blue, telescoping necks swaying gracefully like the Earth creatures called giraffes. Their large black oval eyes were augmented by a third eye—a vertical slit—in the center of their foreheads.

  “Who are they? I mean, what kind of people are they?” Chloe whispered to him, pointing.

  “Yandi,” Tark murmured back softly. “W-with their th-third eye they are said to s-see all wisdom and all f-foolishness.”

  “And those?” She pointed at a trio of bipedal people with greenish-gray skin and long red tongues hanging out of their mouths. They each had three arms—two on the sides and one in the back, between their shoulder blades. They were using their dorsal arm to hold hands as they climbed the ramp, Tark noticed.

  “Those are the Raz-puts,” he told her. “The people whose lunch we ate.”

  “Ugh! Don’t remind me of that,” she begged. “I would never have eaten that stuff if I could have seen it!”

  “W-worse than the protein p-pellets the Commercians w-were feeding you?” he asked, arching one eyebrow at her.

  “Yes, definitely,” Chloe said firmly. “At least the protein pellets weren’t made of bugs and eyes. Or if they were, I didn’t know about it. Ugh!” She shivered.

  Tark thought about telling her he had eaten worse when marooned in space once, when his ship had broken down, but decided not to. Chloe had tender sensibilities and had been extremely upset over what they had eaten. He didn’t want to make her even more upset, especially when they were hopefully nearing the end of their quest.

  If I can just find the jewel, he thought, looking longingly up the ramp. If I can just find it…

  But if he found it and was completely cured, he would have no excuse to keep Chloe with him anymore. He would have to take her back to her home planet of Earth, as he had promised.

  The thought made Tark ache with loss. He loved holding her, touching her, tasting her… his curvy little Elite. He never wanted to let her go! He held her a little tighter to his chest, wishing he could keep her close always.

  He thought of the candid way they had spoken earlier—how he had told her of his past and she had listened without interruption or judgment. Then he thought of tasting her…of the sweet, salty flavor of her honey…her warm, secret scent…the way she had cried out his name and pulled his hair as she came on his tongue…

  Was she only with him because she felt she owed him a favor…or was it possible that there could be more between them?

  The thought woke a hope in him he was almost afraid to allow. It was like a tiny candle flame which might take over him and burn him to ashes with its ferocity. Would Chloe consider being his mate for real instead of just pretending?

  Once I get the jewel, I’ll ask her, he promised himself. I’ll gather my courage and ask if she will stay with me. I know we haven’t known each other long but there’s something between us—a connection neither of us can deny. I’m sure of it.

  It helped to know that she found him attractive and thought he was a good lover. She had said that on her home planet, he would be considered the ideal male. Would she think he was ideal for her? Would she agree to stay with him and let the feeling between them grow…to see where it led them?

  “Oh, look,” Chloe murmured, breaking his train of thought. “There’s Monk Aaroni. Wow—Monk Taroni was right, he really is old.”

  “Oh th-that’s right—you were unable to s-see him last night,” Tark said. “Yes—he does look ancient.”

  But though he looked old and weary, the wrinkled and seamed face of the monk who had founded the Resort of Resonant Oneness was wreathed with smiles as Tark reached the top of the ramp and they came towards him.

  “Ah, my children,” he exclaimed, smiling up at them. “I’m very glad to have you in my advanced Oneness class. Do go in and find yourselves a cubby.”

  “Thank you for having us,” Chloe said politely. “We’re really lookin