“I still can’t believe all of this is real,” Malik said with a shake of his head.
Sathe punched him lightly on the arm. “Well, you better believe it, Malik. Even I know the Dellings don’t connect lightly.”
They tied everything to the saddles, then headed home as night fell quickly. Taylon stopped, smelling the air. There’s snow coming, and a lot of it. It’ll be here soon, he warned.
Angel squinted against the deepening darkness. I don’t want to go too fast. I know you Dellings can see better than we can, but I still don’t want to push it.
* * *
A sudden bright red glowed in Sathe’s hand. This should help, he replied as the wind started picking up, gusting the already fallen snow into a thick white curtain. Sathe tossed the ball out, and it hovered about three feet off the ground, and about five feet in front of them, and they could see clearly enough to pick their way through the trees. Finally, they reached the house; the wind blowing harder, and the snow was really coming down.
Quickly, they groomed all three Dellings, bedded them down for the night, and covered them with blankets. If you guys need anything, let us know, she told Donay.
I will, but we should be fine, he replied. We’ve gone through blizzards before.
She looked at Malik, who was in Laris’ stall. “Do you want to stay up at the house until this storm blows over?”
He shook his head, still rubbing the Delling’s neck. “Actually, I think the apartment’s great. I never even had my own room, much less something that big.”
She smiled. “All right. Oh, just in case the power goes out, there are candles, matches and candleholders in the cabinet over the stove, but everything’s hooked up to generators. It should only take about a minute for them to kick on if that happens. You have any problems, just tell Laris. He’ll let me know, and if you change your mind, we’ll be in the living room.”
“Thanks, Angel. For everything,” he said, his eyes saying so much more.
She hugged him tightly. “It’s no problem, Malik. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She and Sathe struggled against the whipping wind and the blowing snow to the house, and once they got in, she sagged against the door wearily with a heavy sigh. “Jesus, I was just kidding about it snowing ten feet.”
“What are you talking about?” Sathe asked with a raised eyebrow.
She smiled, but it was still sad. “The day of Mom’s viewing, I thought to myself, I didn’t care if it snowed ten feet as long as I could get through the next two days. I didn’t really think it would do it. I guess I should’ve kept a better eye on the weather.”
Sathe smiled, getting them something to eat. “You had a lot of other things on your mind.” He pulled out his cell phone and called Michael. “Hey, Dad, it’s me. I just wanted to let you know I’m at Angel’s, and Freya’s with me.”
“Hey, son. I thought as much when I saw her gone. You got snowed in, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, the snow last night did a pretty good job, and now this blizzard here.”
“The news said it would get pretty bad out there. I think they’ve said about three feet, on top of the foot and a half we’ve already gotten. How’s Angel doing?” he asked.
“Pretty well, actually. I think she’s gotten over the worst of it. She can handle what she’s feeling now,” Sathe replied. “Oh, and you’ll never guess what’s happened. Malik connected with a Delling. It’s a big, grey stallion named Laris.”
“Hold on. What now?” Michael asked, stunned. “He’s Connected?”
“Yeah, so I guess any arguments any of us might have had are now moot,” Sathe replied, then sighed. “And she set him up in the trainer’s apartment over the barn.”
“You’re right. The others shouldn’t have anything to say now. I’m glad everything’s working out,” Michael said with a laugh.
Sathe lowered his voice as he explained what had happened with Kane and Yazmina earlier, prior to Malik’s arrival, and then their discussion afterward. Michael sighed. “And I can promise you, she meant it, too. She would rather be dead than to see herself destroy everything she protected.”
“I understand, now,” he said. “At first, I thought she was off her rocker.” Angel, leaning up against the counter, laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
Michael heard her and laughed himself. “Never that. Go on, get something to eat and stay warm. Thanks for the heads up on where you were at. I love you, and tell Angel I love her, too.”
He passed along the message, and Angel said she loved him, too. “I do as well, and I’ll call you later.”
They both said good night, then he went upstairs while Angel was eating. After she finished, she realized he’d vanished for a while. “Sathe?”
“I’m up in the bathroom,” he called back, and she went upstairs. When she got to the bathroom, she stopped in the doorway and smiled.
* * *
The overhead light was off, and he had several candles lit, rose petals floating on top of a steaming bubble bath, and he had soft music playing. “What is all of this?”
He stood in front of her and took her hands in his before kissing her. “It’s just a small way of saying how much I love you.” He let go of her hands, cradling her face gently. “Nothing more, nothing less. I just want you to relax, that’s all.” She eyed him, and he smiled. “I mean it. If sex happens, great. If not, fantastic. I don’t want you to think that’s all I’m worrying about, now that we’re actually sleeping together. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s been amazing, well worth the wait of two lifetimes.” She laughed, and his smile widened. “That right there, your laugh, your smile, it’s worth so much more to me. The sex, I can live without. I did it on Solaris, but that smile, that laugh? Your happiness?” He shook his head. “I need that like I need air to breathe.”
She smiled up at him, then touched his cheek. “I love you, too, Sathe. More than I have the words to say in Elagonian, Solarian, or in all the many languages of Earth, I love you.”
He kissed her gently, then helped take her clothes off, and she stepped down into the tub. He handed her a glass of wine. “Is there anything else her Majesty requires?”
“Only the company of my prince,” she replied, sitting up so there was room for him behind her, and once he’d settled in behind her, she leaned back with a sigh. “Now this is perfect.”
He just smiled, taking her hands in his, then wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head back on his shoulder, his cheek on her hair. With a sigh in unison, they both closed their eyes, and without even realizing it, fell asleep.
Sathe awoke with a start. He looked around, blinking rapidly. The candles had burned down to stubs, and the water had cooled dramatically. He tapped Angel’s leg, and she woke with a murmur, then she laughed sleepily. “I would say that your relaxation plan worked.”
“That it definitely did,” he laughed, both standing up. He handed her a towel before grabbing another for himself. He put on his night pants and tank top, and she slid into a black nightgown. The snow was still falling heavily, and the wind was blowing it sideways. She did a mental check on the Dellings, but they were all sound asleep, oblivious to the blizzard outside. The windows to the apartment were completely dark, except for a flickering coming from the bedroom window.
She checked her phone and she couldn’t believe it was almost one in the morning. “My fingers are all wrinkled,” she said with a laugh.
He grinned, turning up the fireplace in the bedroom, then turned on the TV. The news was calling for the blizzard conditions to continue until almost noon, but the snow was going to keep on until late that night. By the time the storm system left the area, it would have dropped approximately six feet of snow. Angel grimaced, turning the news off and finding a movie.
She laid on his arm chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, a heartbeat that was slightly faster than a human’s, and she breathed a sigh of content. He rubbed her side almost absently with a hand, feeling the slig
ht raises that were all that remained from her almost fatal encounter with the deadliest creatures in the universe, his other arm propped behind his head and pillow so he could see. After the movie went off, she sat up on an elbow, and he had a faint smile on his face. “What are you thinking?”
“That I don’t see how life could get any better. Laying here with you like this? I’ve never been better,” he said.
The firelight caught her face as it flushed, and he took her chin in his hand. “Why are you blushing, love?”
“Because,” she whispered, “you said exactly how I feel. This, what we have right here at this moment, feels like a dream come true. There’s only one thing that could make tonight even better.”
“Oh, and what’s that?” She showed him as she kissed him, starting out slow and gentle, but it quickly grew more urgent. He broke it off. “I said we didn’t have to…” She silenced him with a finger, then slowly trailed it down his throat, then his chest before dragging it down his stomach.
“I know what you said,” she whispered. “But I also know what I want, and that’s you, my prince.”
Without another word, he pulled her gown over her head, and her hair spilled over her shoulders and down her back like burning gold. He rolled them over until she was beneath him. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
“You’re biased,” she replied quietly, her arms around his neck.
“Oh, absolutely,” he replied, then sat up and took his own clothes off before sliding inside her, his mouth on hers. The sun was brightening the sky slightly before he collapsed on top of her. His entire body was shaking, and she cradled him to her chest, combing her fingers through his damp hair, They were shaking as well. Neither of them couldn’t find the energy to move more than a few inches, but it was all they needed, and they fell asleep, tangled in each other’s arms.
* * *
The storm was still raging when they woke up later that morning, around 10:30, and Angel turned on the news. The storm should to be over soon, according to the weather, but right now, the temperatures were only in the low twenties, and the wind chill was almost ten below zero. Together, they bundled up and went to check on the horses. Malik was already in the main barn, and he had already fed and watered them all. He grinned sheepishly at Angel’s exclamations that he didn’t have to. “I might as well earn my keep.”
She just smiled as the three of them went to the other barns to feed and water them, and Angel spent a few minutes with each one. Over sixty horses all together, and Angel knew every single one of their names from the oldest gelding to the youngest foal.
When they finished, she looked at Malik. “Why don’t you come to the house? There’s no need to be by yourself. How did you sleep?”
“Like a rock,” he said, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve slept so well since Kane remembered.”
They made their way up to the house, ditching the muddy and snowy boots by the door, and even Taylon bounded inside the house before they pushed the door closed. “Coffee?” she asked, and both Malik and Sathe held their hands up.
Malik glanced out the window. “Have they said when it’s supposed to stop blowing like this?”
“Soon, I think, but it’s going to keep snowing through tonight,” she replied.
Malik groaned. “I swear, if it wasn’t so hot during the summer, I would move south.”
She laughed. “They have tornados,” she pointed out, and he just sighed, hanging his head.
The three sat in the living room, sipping at Angel’s mixture of coffee and hot chocolate, and about an hour later, the wind finally died down, and the snowfall lightened tremendously. She sighed. “Now, here comes the fun part. Digging out.”
She went to the small garden shed by the back door and grabbed two snow shovels, which Sathe immediately took from her and handed one to Malik. “You’re really going to spoil me, you know that, right?” she laughed.
“It’s what men do,” he shrugged.
“It’s just to the lean to beside the garage,” she said, shoving on her snow boots back on.
“What’s out there?” Malik asked curiously.
“A Snow Cat with a plow blade,” she said, laughing at his face. “With the way our driveway is? We didn’t have a choice if we wanted to go anywhere after the first real snowfall.”
“Ahh, I see. That’s smart, thought,” he said.
Once they got out to the lean-to, Sathe grinned. “I have an idea to make this go even faster.” He laid his hand casually on the large blade, spoke a few words of Elagonian, and in a few seconds, it was glowing a dull red, and they could all feel the heat coming from the metal.
* * *
What normally would have taken most of the afternoon, Malik turned the snowmobile off just an hour and a half after starting. The city and state crews were already at work on the major roads. When Malik got down, Sathe removed the enchantment, and the metal was almost instantly cool, and they went back inside to warm up again.
Malik looked at Sathe, who was leaning against the counter as he and Angel rubbed their hands briskly together. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I never get cold,” he shrugged.
“Ever?” he asked, and Sathe shook his head. “How?”
“The blood of a dragon is mixed in with our bloodline, and besides making us immune to most poisons and venoms, apparently, even to the Wabaku, it also runs hotter than humans and even Solarians. The average body temp of a human is what, 98.6? A Solarian’s temperature runs about 103, and an average Elagonian’s would be about 105. My father, my brother, and mine run about 108-110. That’s just a rough average, of course. It’s one reason Selene and Daniel founded the Universal Hospitals. Both of our bloods are so vastly different from humans, and with all the medical advances lately, it wouldn’t have taken long for humans to discover us.” Sathe laughed. “I’m just a personal walking, talking heater.” Angel proved his point as she stepped into his embrace.
Now that the storm was over, the Dellings were eager to get out and play, and the other horses seemed anxious about being cooped up in their stalls as well, so they let them out, and there was a stampede as all sixty-eight horses ran out into the vast fields, all of them kicking up their heels. Sathe, Malik, and Angel leaned up against the fence, laughing, as the three Dellings, and Taylon, chased each other through the huge snowdrifts.
They heard a chuckle behind them, and Angel looked to see Damian coming up. “I just wanted to check and make sure you survived the storm.”
Angel grinned. “Definitely.”
Damien’s eyes fell on Malik, and he shrank back slightly behind Angel and against the fence. Laris neighed loudly, racing to stand behind him, his entire posture defiant, his ears laid back. Damien started up at the blue eyes locking onto his. “That’s a Delling,” he stated quietly.
Angel nodded, putting a hand on Malik’s shoulder, and she pushed him forward gently. “The Delling is Laris, and he Connected with Malik just before the storm came in.”
“What?”
Sathe laughed. “Tell me about it. It took me for a loop as well.”
Damien smiled suddenly, holding his hand out. “Well, welcome to the team, Malik.”
Malik hesitated, and Laris shoved his nose in his back gently. Go on, silly. None of them have any reason to hurt you, he said, laughing. Malik smiled to himself, taking Damian’s hand.
Later that afternoon, a wave of exhaustion hit Angel, and she sighed, rubbing the side of her face. “I’m going to take a nap, guys. I can’t hold my eyes open any longer.” She and Sathe went upstairs, and she stretched out on the bed.
Sathe bent over and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to see Dad and get some more clothes, but I’ll be back later.” She gave a faint smile, her eyes already closed.
Malik was downstairs watching TV, but Sathe no longer had any qualms about leaving him alone with Angel, and he went out to saddle Freya. He wasn’t sure how many of the roads they’d cleared yet, so he was riding her to be on th
e safe side.
Silver Linings and Forgotten Birthdays
About an hour later, night was getting ready to fall, and a black vortex appeared in Angel’s room. A pale head peeped in, and Kane smiled to see Angel sound asleep. He crept over to the bed, and she murmured uneasily in her sleep, but didn’t wake.
Moving like lightning, he grabbed her by the throat with both hands, slamming her up into a wall and pinning her there. His hands squeezed tighter, and Angel gasped, wide-eyed, trying to claw at his face and wrists, but her attempts were futile. His grip didn’t ease up as he held her up off the floor with a sneer. “Who needs super strong powers?” Her chest felt like it was going to explode, her lungs filling with fire, and her efforts slowly weakened. “And don’t worry, my little traitorous brother won’t be coming to the rescue. I killed him first.”
He smashed her head into the wall, then suddenly loosened his grip, and she gasped in several painful breaths. She struggled to transform, but she was too weak from lack of air, and the star on her forehead flickered briefly, then faded. He threw her to the floor, then kicked her in the stomach, driving what little air she’d regained right back out again and flipping her onto her back. He knelt over her, a sadistic grin on his face.
Kane wrapped his hands back around her throat, holding it tighter and tighter until her face began going red, and he saw the fear in her eyes. He let go with one hand, unbuckling his belt. He started trying to rape her, and she used the last of her rapidly fading strength to fight him off, but his grip only tightened around her throat, and her eyes rolled back as she started to lose conscious.
* * *
Kane had almost succeeded when his body suddenly jerked and went rigid, his eyes wide, then blood began trickling from his mouth. He fell forward on top of Angel, a huge butcher’s knife in his back, the handle matching those from the knife block in the kitchen. Malik was standing behind him, blood pouring from a head wound and two stab wounds in his chest. He kicked his dead brother’s body off her, and she came to, slowly at first, then her eyes opened wide with horror, and she rolled away, trying to get as far away from Kane as she could, sucking in lungfuls of air.
When Worlds Collide: Solarian Chronicles I Page 15