98 ∞ negotiations

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Day Nineteen ∞ Tuesday night


DANNY'S MIND REELED, then blanked with the single sentence echoing, Cannot stay here forever... ever... ever...

He should have seen it coming. No... he had seen it coming but refused to acknowledge it. Everything that happened since Friday: the acceptance of the crowning, the fact that she was a queen. Even Atlas had warned him. He was virtually a nobody next to her. 

Stop deluding yourself, Danny, he reprimanded himself. How could he be so stupid to even believe that anything could possibly remain the same after she regained her memory? She'd had a life before him, and now she had a life to go back to—after him. 

"That means that she'll be leaving soon," Gina had said. That felt like eons ago.

He'd known it from the beginning: he'd just been lending a helping hand to a girl in need. Like the good Samaritan he was. Nothing more—nothing less. 

No, it's so much more... 

He may have been a nobody, but now he was her Shield. She was his everything—his soulmate, that piece of him he'd never known was missing until she stumbled into his life. 

He knew what his sister would say. "If you truly love her, let her go. Wish her the best, no matter what happens. If she comes back to you, she's yours; if she doesn't, she never was." Those were her exact words when Marilyn left him for the big life in the big city. 

He remembered loving Marilyn. But he'd never felt for her like how he felt for Mickmi. This was true love—letting go wasn't an option. 

Then I'm coming with you, was his firm response.

Mickmi rested her hand on his. —I can not ask that of you. You have family.

I'm your Shield!

And I will relieve you of the duty... I shall not be the one to force you to follow me.

You're not... His eyes widened as he stared at her. She was trying to do exactly what he couldn't do: let him go.

"We must be prepared to return to my world should we at any point locate a means to do so," she continued, addressing Mr. Gray.

How would you be returning? I thought you said your world is beyond reach. He looked from one to the other. Selina?

Patience. Selina dipped her head at him.

Gray cleared his throat delicately. "I'm sure, given enough time, enough volunteers can be found. What timeframe are we talking about? And how many people?"

Mickmi turned to Selina and Artemae in silent conferral for three seconds before she replied, "We expect to be ready in perhaps two months. We will need 200 young men and women."

Danny's jaw went slack. —But that's like a small army...

"Is there anything else you need? Surely you need materials, machinery, or even fuel?"

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