Elena gulped as he started toward her, backing away before she could stop herself.
Hold your ground, Elena ordered herself, stiffening her legs and sneering right back at the Tsavitee.
She was brave. She was courageous. A mantis wasn’t enough to make her cower.
His knowing chuckle a second later made her question that decision. The series of staccato clicks triggered the primitive side of Elena's brain. The one responsible for survival.
Before Elena could react, a slash of darkness and light sundered the room. A figure was deposited in their midst. Right on top of the archaic runes Elena had landed on seconds earlier.
The person rose, sweeping a glance across the room.
The woman's features were as familiar to Elena as her own. They should be. After all, the woman was her egg donor.
Elise's indifferent gaze caught and lingered on the mantis as he frowned at her, looking from her to the rune in confusion.
"Iffli."
According to Elena's studies, that word roughly translated to half-breed. Or waste. Sometimes mutt.
The Tsavitee were fans of words with a multitude of meanings. This one conveyed their utmost disdain toward the person they were applying the insult to.
Elena wasn't a fan of it being used in conjunction with Elise. She might no longer consider the other woman her mother—simply an egg donor—but that didn't mean she was okay with her being insulted.
“You're not due back for months. What are you doing here?” the mantis rasped in a voice that sounded like dry branches rattling against each other.
Emotion moved in Elise's eyes as she looked Elena over. There and gone in a split second.
The mantis reached for Elise's shoulder. “Did you not hear me?”
His hand disintegrated. It happened so fast that Elena didn't register what had happened. Not until his agonized scream ripped through the room.
Elena jumped as fear crawled up her throat.
Elise's gaze was dispassionate, her expression emotionless as she watched the mantis cower in front of her. "I can't tell if you're brave or arrogant."
Elena shook with the need to flee.
This wasn't her mother. It couldn't be. This was someone else. A monster that wore her mother's face and spoke in her voice.
Elena was forgotten as Elise advanced on the mantis.
He backed away, moaning.
"There is a price to pay when you make mistakes," Elise informed him gently.
Fear twisted his features. “Please!”
“I’m afraid it's much too late for that, dahna,” Elise said, using a Tsavitee term that meant unfortunate one.
Elena's shriek was lost amid the mantis's screams. She forgot her earlier resolve, retreating to wedge herself in the furthest corner of the room. She crouched and hid her face against her lap, not wanting to see.
Auntie was wrong. So very wrong. Elise was no hero.
Elena tried to tune everything out as she rocked back and forth, covering her ears and humming to herself to drown out the sounds.
She was okay. She wasn't here. This didn't matter.
A soft touch on her shoulder a long time later made Elena realize how silent the room had gone.
"Let me get a look at you."
The hand on Elena's shoulder slid up to her jaw, forcing her to lift her head to focus on the woman squatting in front of her.
Specks of blood dotted Elise's face, the bright splashes of purple and silver almost obscene against the elegant features of Elena's egg donor. Thick eyebrows and high cheekbones lent drama to her features, turning them into something divine.
Her mother was a beautiful woman. No wonder her dad had fallen for the psycho.
The sight beyond her egg donor made her swallow convulsively before she snapped her gaze back to Elise.
Was that blood dripping from the ceiling? Along with other matter she tried not to think too hard about.
Elena widened her eyes, desperately focusing on her egg donor. Don't see. Don't you dare look again.
"You're okay," Elise whispered.
No, Elena was not okay. She was so far from it she might as well have been in another galaxy.
"What are you doing?" Elena flailed as Elise patted her clothes, working her way over to the bicep where Uncle Jin clung. "Stop!"
Elise easily quelled Elena's struggles, dragging the neckline of her shirt over so she could see the sleeping spawn. Relief showed on her face. "Well done, Jin."
Elena yanked herself out of Elise's grip, slapping her shirt over the lu-ong and holding it in place in case her egg donor tried anything else.
Elise's lips tugged up in a smile that reminded Elena of her Aunt Kira's. It held a similar level of self-deprecation. Acknowledging her faults with a wryness that made you want to smile along with her.
"We don't have much time, little light. There are two things you must always remember." Elise's gaze roved Elena's features with a yearning that Elena might have believed if not for the way the other had pretended she didn’t exist when they were on Ta Sa'Riel. "The first—your Aunt Kira has never made a promise she hasn't kept. She will come for you. She'll tear the universe apart if that's what it takes."
Elena scoffed. "As if I need you to tell me that."
She'd read the old mission reports. She knew what her auntie was capable of and how much she'd suffered when she thought the egg donor and the Curs had died. There was nothing and no one who would stand in Aunt Kira's way when it came to the people she cared about.
Sooner or later, Aunt Kira would come for her. Mercy on anyone who tried to stop her.
The only problem was that the universe was vast. It might take Auntie longer than she could afford.
The smile that lit Elise's face made Elena stop and stare. It was like watching a ray of sunlight pierce a bank of storm clouds. The severity in her features vanishing for a brief moment.
This must have been what drew Elena's father and aunt to the woman all those years ago.
Elise's face softened as she cupped Elena's cheek. Love overflowed from her gaze. "Of course, you don't."
Elena struggled to ignore the tacky feeling she suspected was blood.
"I love you and your father more than anything in this world."
There was such pain and agony in those words that Elena found herself swayed for a brief moment. She forgot the crimes this woman had committed and the cruel manner with which she'd killed the mantis.
All she saw was the mother she'd dreamed about every night since Uncle Jin and Aunt Kira started telling her the stories.
Elise's features lost their gentleness, smoothing into lines of detachment and disinterest as a door formed behind her. She rose, imparting one last piece of advice. "From this moment forward, you’re not to believe a single word out of my mouth or trust me in any way."
What did that even mean?
Elena was still wondering as Elise withdrew to face the Tsavitee general who stepped inside the room.
"Lothos, you're late," Elise said lightly.