"Gosh you are so pretty," Marina mumbles, crouching down and touching my face. "I am so sorry if I'm touching you too much, it's hard to stop." She glances over at Cain. "Her soul is unlike anything I've ever felt."

Cain remains at the other side of the room with his arms folded. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Marina says, finally standing and distancing herself. "Were you a twin in your mother's womb? The only one that survived?"

"I don't think so," I say. "If I were, she never told me."

"You think the twin soul joined with hers?" Cain asks her.

Marina nods. "You said she's changing you?"

"I am sleeping," Cain says. "I share her dreams. I have. . . desires."

"Incredible," Marina mutters. "Well, being a twin is one theory. The other, is that she's just a fluke. A once in a millennia occurrence. In fact, I'd go as far to say a once occurrence. There might not be an explanation for it, it just is."

"There has to be an explanation," Cain says, walking closer to observe me. "Completed souls are always strong but they do not change me."

"I just listened to your law announcement, Cain, I can tell that she's changing you," Marina says, eyeing him with concern. "I have searched thousands of planets across this universe and I have never felt anything like that."

"Marina is a planet hunter," Cain says, finally giving me some kind of explanation into what the hell is happening. "She doesn't live on Earth."

"I drop by every month or so," Marina tells me. "To check in. I scout for the next planets for us to inhabit. I feed discreetly. I found Earth around a century ago in your time. It was the closest to the last and I told Cain to come here immediately because of how pure the souls were but he didn't listen." She rolls her eyes.

"If I had listened, Aurora wouldn't have been born," Cain says.

Marina considers that. "True. I'm glad I wasn't there for that solar flare, that sounded immensely hot." She chuckles to herself.

"You're his sister?" I say, flicking my eyes between them. "You were born to the same. . . something?"

"No," they both say together.

"Maybe sister isn't the right word," Marina says.

"It's the right word," Cain tells her. "The translation is accurate. We were created by the same being."

"Not born," Marina says, looking back to me. "Or were we born?"

"We were not born."

Marina laughs. By their reactions I don't think this is a subject that they discuss. That they've ever discussed. "We were created but could not procreate. Trying to explain it to a human with a human language is very difficult. The others of our species are not our siblings, different beings created them, the same beings but different. I think that's the translation. Does that make sense?"

I nod my head, mainly to shut her up. "You grew up together on your original planet?"

"Yes," they say.

"That would have been so much easier to say," Marina says, taking a light breath of amusement. "We don't remember our original planet. I've tried searching and searching for it but. . . it's as though it was never there."

"We only remember each other," Cain says.

"I came to the conclusion that something destroyed it," she says sadly. "Something that wiped our memories of our lives before. And instead of dying we just. . . flew. I haven't encountered any beings like us yet. We do not know what created us, just that we are a very powerful species."

Now it makes sense why Cain dismissed my questions about it. He didn't tell me what created him because he doesn't know. He doesn't remember. He can probably recite to me every planet he's landed on and every species he's become but that's the only thing he can't give me.

"What would you call us?" Marina asks me. "There are many words from the human language that I familiarize with it. Creature. Angel. Demon."

"Gods," I say, looking at Cain.

Cain smiles and looks at Marina. "A god is-"

"I know what a god is, Cain," she grumbles. "I might not have consumed as many human lives as the rest of you but I am not stupid." She winks at me. "I had human knowledge long before he even stepped foot here. I love the elephants. They're not extinct yet, are they?" She looks at Cain sadly.

"Not to my knowledge," Cain says. "Though if the animal-eaters have their way, there won't be any left by the end of the year."

"Damn animal-eaters," she groans. "Make sure they're still preserved for when I next return." She looks back to me with a proud grin. "I am fascinated by standing next to something that is. . . bigger than me."

"Right," I say.

"Have you found the next planet or not?" Cain sighs.

She shrugs, a distasteful look crossing her face. "It won't be as good as this one."

"Nothing ever will."

"Told you," Marina says. She looks down at me. "Are we intimidating you by standing over you? You can stand and we will sit if you prefer that."

"It's fine," I say. "I'm used to it."

Cain narrows his eyes and then crosses the room; I smile to myself as he sits beside me. I don't look at him but my palms are beginning to get sweaty by being close to him.

"I'll um. . . leave you to do your thing," she says sheepishly, backing up to the door. "Join me for dinner later?"

I remain quiet because I assume she's asking Cain but when he doesn't answer I realize she's talking to me. "Sure," I whisper.

"Great. I'll come get you at seven. I'm making steak. The boy can join too, I wish to meet him."

"Jackson?" I say.

She nods. "Bye."

She exits the room and Cain laughs to himself. "She thinks I'm feeding on you. Don't worry, I haven't told her anything else. I told her everything but not that."

"She's certainly different," I say, turning my face to his. "She's like you. . ." His lips crush against mine before I even have the chance to breathe. The side of his hand tightens around the top of my shoulder and I curl my hands around the back of his neck, surrendering myself into the moment.

We separate suddenly. "I'm sorry," he says. "It's been driving me crazy and-"

"Shut up," I say, throwing my lips back to his.

I feel myself moving along the bed as he grips my waist and pushes me further down it. He relaxes me into a position and then jumps off the bed, walking towards the door.

"What are you doing?" I say.

Cain stands with his back to me and I hear something click as he places the key into the hole of the door. "Making sure we won't be disturbed."

My heart starts to race as I beam at him seductively. He walks back over to me slowly, removing his shirt halfway. I sit up, using my elbows for support as he crawls from the end of the bed, separating my legs as he places his body over me gently.

"Do I have to undress you myself this time?" he says with a smirk, his fingers unclicking the button of my jeans. "That's a change."

"Oh my god," I mutter, slapping my face with embarrassment. "Can we please never speak about that night again?"

He laughs as he slowly drags the jeans down my legs. "This desire is so powerful, it's clouding everything. Aurora, if I'm going too far then I need you to tell me."

I shake my head, keeping my eyes connected with his. "You're not. This day has been perfect, it's been the best day of the last eight years so far. You've given so much hope to the humans, you're recognizing what we really are and I just. . . I feel so safe with you. I can't explain it any other way."

"You want this?" he whispers. "Completely?"

I nod, smiling at the word. "Completely."

He laughs and curves his body over mine, his lips graze over mine softly and then he tugs at the bottom of my shirt, pulling it over my head.

"I've never done this before but I know exactly what I'm doing," he says. "It's very strange."

"That makes one of us."

Am I really going to lose my virginity to a creature? I can't comprehend what is happening. My mind is screaming. I'm telling myself it's wrong, to push him away, to back out now before it's too late. But my mind isn't the only thing in the fight. My soul wants him, it wants him so badly that I can't resist it. My soul is stronger, it's winning.

Cain's fingers slip into my underwear and the fight is no more. My soul declares its place as champion. I become breathless against him, my fingers digging into his shoulders as his lips kiss into my throat. The pressure is so amazing, not as amazing as our feeding connection but it's close. He unclicks my bra with his other hand and then throws it to the floor, all while his other hand is working beneath my underwear. He brings his fingers up and pulls my underwear down my legs. I lay still as he leaves the bed and takes off his pants. I stare at him in wonder as he becomes naked in front of me. The sight of his muscled, tanned body makes my pulse quicken. I swallow as he comes back.

"I have to be gentle," he says. "That's what the souls are telling me."

I nod. "The first time."

"There's always got to be a first," he whispers, leaning over me as he touches my cheek. "We are like one soul, you and I. Impossible as it seems."

"Impossible," I repeat, looking deep into his greenly-blue holes of wonder.

He brings his lips down to mine but misses them and places his hot breath into my throat, and then trails them down to my chest. The heat consumes me whole. My stomach flips with a sexual frustration as he strengthens the pressure in between my legs.

"One last chance to get out of this," he says.

I smile to myself. He suddenly does something so unexpected with his fingers that I unleash a sharp gasp against his throat, my body jerking tighter into his. Our bodies part just slightly to allow room for him to. . . to do that. He kisses me and I close my eyes. The pressure changes, something much bigger causes it. I clench on my teeth from the pain, my nails scraping against his shoulders.

Our lips remain locked together, I force him to remain there until the pain has passed. We move against the mattress, prisoners to this magical and unforgiving moment. He leans back just slightly.

"Your soul pieces are going insane," he says with a chuckle. "I might have to remove them in a moment, they're too distracting."

I laugh, narrowing my eyes with confusion. "What are you?"

He smiles and brings his lips back to mine for one last kiss before a pressure from his fingers makes my entire body jolt into a sensational tremble. "Right now, I'm human."