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on his right and Sinclair Prime on his left. The others ranged down the table, toward the Patriarch.
    All eyes turned to the Patriarch as he signaled to them to join hands for the ancient prayer. It was unusual, but some Alvians still practiced the old ways and Grady Prime had witnessed such ceremonies before. He took Sinclair Prime’s hand with only slight hesitation. He was eager to touch the pretty human female’s skin. The eagerness alone was something to savor—a precious emotion he’d only just learned to appreciate.
    It shouldn’t have come as such a shock then, that when he took her hand, a delicate, musical Hum reverberated through the air. Grady Prime’s heart stopped as his eyes widened. He looked at the beautiful woman, then to the Patriarch who recited the ancient prayer, speaking of the forefathers and the blessed home crystal of Alvia Prime. A slight nod from the Patriarch was the only indication Grady had that the other man had heard the miraculous Hum. It was obvious the human woman heard nothing—the tone was most likely too far out of her natural range of hearing. But the other Alvians all had varying degrees of interest on their faces as Grady Prime looked down the table and started to breathe again.
    The prayer ended and he, regrettably, had to let her go. Immediately the Hum ceased.
    “You are no doubt surprised to find a human among our number, are you not, Grady Prime?” The Patriarch didn’t mention the Hum as the covers were removed from the serving dishes. They all began to hand the platters around the table, serving themselves.
    “I am, Patriarch.” Grady Prime took his cue from his host. If the Patriarch didn’t mention the Hum, neither would he. “Of course, until today I had no idea the Zxerah Brotherhood still existed. This seems to be a day of discovery for me.”
    He couldn’t keep his gaze from the lovely creature sitting on his right. She had dark hair and eyes, her features angular and fine, her bone structure neither symmetrical nor ordinary. Instead, she was extraordinary in almost every way. Her petite frame was lithe and sleek from what he could tell under her plain dark clothing. He wondered what her skin would look and feel like without the concealment of cloth and felt himself grow unaccountably warm.
    “Well said, Grady Prime. Allow me to introduce Gina, the first human I encountered on this planet. She was the first of their number to be inducted into the Brotherhood, but hardly the last.”
    The woman turned to look at him fully, and Grady Prime’s mouth went dry as their eyes met. She spoke, and her voice sent shivers down his spine. He’d never reacted so strongly to any female—but then he’d never Hummed with any female. Ever.
    The Hum was the first of the resonance tests. If a couple Hummed, they could then proceed to the next tests to see if they were in fact, Resonance Mates. While a male might Hum with more than one woman, few would pass the second test—the Kiss. And it was said only one woman for each male would receive the Embrace with a positive result, confirming that they were indeed, true Resonance Mates.
    Grady wanted to try the next test with this human woman, and he wanted to try it now. It was so unbelievable that he should find any woman to Hum with him, that he wanted desperately to see if she could make the crystals glow like the sun, confirming their resonance. That could hardly be done at the dinner table, especially on such short acquaintance. He’d have to find a way. Soon. Or go mad.
    The Patriarch introduced the rest of the people at the table, but Grady Prime heard little. His attention was focused almost entirely on the woman and thankfully, the Patriarch and the others left him mostly to his thoughts while they ate. The others talked among themselves, occasionally directing questions to Grady, which he answered gladly. Otherwise, he did his best to engage the woman—Gina—in conversation.
    She wasn’t shy, but she wasn’t