Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol

my circulation. Flexing my fingers, I try to get the blood flowing back into them.
    “She’s not at all what I expected,” I hear Wayra say from around the curve of the tree.
    “What did you expect her to be like?” Jax asks.
    “I don’t know…whiny. I thought we’d have to listen to her crying the whole way back, but she hasn’t cried once,” he says, sounding confused.
    “She’s fiery,” Trey’s voice says easily. “Wild.”
    “My mouth almost dropped open when she stood up to you, Trey,” Jax says, sounding amused.
    “Mine, too,” Trey replies ruefully. “I didn’t know whether to wring her neck or…” he trails off.
    “Can someone please tell me what that little pink, lacy thing is that I keep catching a glimpse of when she bends down?” Wayra asks.
    “I don’t know what it is, but I have to say that I like it more than I should,” Jax replies, sounding amused, and Trey and Wayra grunt in agreement before the conversation lulls.
    “How did Pan and Arissa die?” Wayra asks, causing my face to lose color.
    “Pneumonia,” Jax says. “That’s what was listed on the medical records.”
    “Pneumonia? What’s that?” Wayra asks.
    “Best I can tell it’s a human type of Crue,” Jax replies.
    “But…Crue is treatable—no one dies of Crue,” Wayra says, sounding confused.
    “Pneumonia is a virus that humans contract. We may have been able to treat them with our medicines, but they had no resistance to it—no antibodies to protect them from it and without our medicines…” he trails off. “It makes me nervous. Kricket grew up on Earth. She hasn’t been exposed to any of our germs. The first thing we have to do when we get her back to Rafe is a battery of inoculations,” Jax says. My heart twists in my chest, hearing that my parents might be alive today if they had stayed here.
    “You mean, she could get Crue and die?” Wayra asks, sounding nervous.
    “Not if I can help it. We keep her away from everyone until she gets vaccinated, after that, she should be fine,” Jax says in a determined tone.
    “Do you think the knob knocker knows all this? She talked to them. There’s no telling what kind of diseases she can get from Kyon,” Wayra says with irritation in his tone.
    “We have to keep her away from them,” Jax says. “Whatever they want, it can’t be good. Her mother was one of their priestesses—that’s higher than royalty there.”
    “Makes you wonder what made her run from them,” Trey says softly.
    “Or what Pan possessed to make her run to him,” Jax counters in a contemplative tone.
    “Hmm?” Trey asks.
    “What makes one run into the arms of one’s enemy?” Jax poses the question.
    “I cannot fathom,” Trey answers, sounding puzzled.
    “Love,” Jax replies, and Wayra chuckles.
    No longer able to hold still without my legs cramping, I stir from my position. Sitting up against the tree, a small groan escapes me as I try to stretch only to be inhibited by my bound hands.
    “Kricket?” Trey asks softly, getting up, he comes to my side, kneeling down. “How do you feel?” he asks, hovering like he’s not sure of what to do. It seems uncharacteristic of him because he’s always so confident. Jax follows him, hovering too.
    “I have to go to the bathroom,” I say, dropping my chin and resting my wrists on my raised knees. I’m grateful that it’s dark because I can feel heat flushing my cheeks.
    “Oh!” Trey says, like I’ve said something extraordinary. “But, other than that…you feel healthy, right? No fever…cough…rash?” he asks. I raise my head a notch, holding out my wrists to him mutely.
    As I watch Trey untie the rope, Jax springs away, coming back with a small package. “Here, this is for…uhh, there’s a diagram, if you need help,” he says.
    “I need a light,” I say, curiously taking the soft bag from him that looks like it came from a day spa. When Jax returns with the light, I get to my feet. I feel light-headed and it