by Rena Marks
Then Thane passed out cold.
“Thane!” She screamed, as if she could wake him.
He was perfectly still, his leg still bent in that awkward angle. His green skin had a sickly pallor, and drops of moisture dotted his forehead.
Dust went flying when the strange Xeno Sapien took a flying leap over the ditch to land a few feet from her.
Everly held still for a couple of moments—her heart pounding a rapid rhythm. After a bit, she slowly rose. She refused to turn and face him, holding herself perfectly still as if she didn’t want to rile him.
“So nice to…meet you,” he rasped, not caring that Thane needed help. Insanely pretending that this wasn’t the creepiest of meetings, ever.
Her heart thudded in her chest, but she tamped her breathing, forcing it to remain calm and steady, and she stared at Thane passed out in the ditch.
The man next to her inched his arm forward. His hand cleared all her hair over her shoulder as if he wanted to see the profile of her face. She refused to turn, keeping her eyes glued to Thane.
“Thane was right. Beautiful,” he rasped softly. “So beautiful.”
God, what was the response to something like that? The man was ogling her, not even caring that Thane was lying unconscious in a ditch. Was this guy a criminal? A serial murderer? A rapist? And no one yet knew? Perhaps the bodies were still buried. All her distressed brain could think was: Keep him happy.
She swallowed. “Tha—” Her voice broke. “Thank you,” she got out in a whisper.
Her eyes flicked over his shoulder to the ditch. Thane still wasn’t moving.
Move, dammit. Move!
He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. “You smell so good. Sweet, sweet, nectar.” He made another soft rumble deep within his throat. His eyes opened. “Don’t be afraid of me. I wouldn’t ever hurt you—but I want you, Everly.” He shifted his form closer, uncomfortably in her space, so close she could feel his body heat against her back.
Shit. Want her? Want her how, exactly?
Heart pounding, Everly closed her eyes when his hair brushed her face and she stiffened as his cheek brushed against hers. His skin felt hot and his warm breath fanned over her neck, which he’d bared when he’d cleared the area of her hair.
Her breathing quickened. Her voice squeaked. “We should probably check on Thane—”
She gave a high pitched squeal when he barked out, “Don’t say his name. Never say his name.”
She turned abruptly, almost losing her footing he was so close.
He closed his eyes as if he fought against scaring her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so loud.”
“He could be really hurt.”
“He heals fast. Let me study you. I’ve never seen a human this close. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”
He brought his face to the crook of her neck, where he sniffed her scent.
She held stock still, listening to him purr with contentment.
Purr. Who the fuck purred?
What is he doing now? He scared the hell out of her, but she seriously had to get some help for Thane. If she needed to be nice to get this guy convinced to call for help, she’d do it. She jumped a little when he licked her where her neck and shoulder met.
That was personal. That was so personal.
“Uh,” she stammered. There was no way to tell him that was gross. No one had ever licked her before. His tongue had a slightly sandy texture and she fought against rubbing her neck to see if he’d left anything behind. His sharp teeth lightly grazed her skin next, reminding her of the danger of the situation.
Reminding her that his razor-sharp teeth could hook into her at any given moment and shake her like a rag doll.
Just like that, her fear again skyrocketed.
She was alone with a crazed maniac who liked to lick women with his thick, creepy tongue. Who didn’t care that her boyfriend was probably dying in a ditch.
And then he threw his head back and roared.
Chapter Four
Everly stood stock-still.
She hadn’t been raised with any kind of religion whatsoever, but right now, she felt the urgent need to pray to any and all of the gods everyone else did. Anyone that she’d ever heard of. She wouldn’t discriminate. And she promised, as she chanted in her head, to pray every day. Not just in dangerous situations.
There was no way she could run. This scary—whatever it was—was vicious. If Thane couldn’t take him down, how could she? Hell, with his leg broken to that degree, he was lucky he passed out.
Instinct inwardly screamed at her to turn and run for her life. Her mind knew the reality of that plan. He’d chase, his rage amplified by adrenaline, and he’d attack. A dim part of her wondered what he’d attack for? Was he man enough to have lust? Or was he monster enough to want to eat?
The unpopulated districts of Earth-Ground—after the world wars—to this day were still wild. Animals ran rampant now, since most of the world shunned meat during the health scares of the post war era. She remembered those wild animal lessons and mimicked the frozen stance of a doe in headlights in her horror.
Not that it was a perfect disguise. Inside, her arms and legs tingled with the flood of adrenaline. Her mouth hung open but the scream wasn’t forthcoming, because she couldn’t even suck in a breath. She couldn’t even muster a whimper. Nothing. Her heart beat so rapidly she wondered if he could hear it. Still, nothing passed her lips. She couldn’t even breathe and the spots behind her eyes told her she needed to.
This was the end.
She’d always heard that someone’s life passed before their eyes when they knew they were about to die. In fact, she wondered if her father’s passed when he did. And a year later, when she sat in prison and had received word that her sister died? She wondered again. But there was nothing for her. She wasn’t seeing images of her past flashing through her mind like a movie on fast forward. She didn’t even worry about the children who waited for her stories on the other side of the wall. Her wide-eyed stare remained fixed on the terrifying monster who growled at her.
He was shaped humanoid, but no man had double rows of razor sharp teeth or could scare her nearly to death with that horrible sound that rumbled from deep within his throat, mimicking the growl of a wild beast she’d never seen anywhere but pictures. He appeared strange, beautiful, and at the top of the list, deadly.
It seemed all these Xeno Sapiens were massively muscled. Thane certainly was. But this thing’s muscles rolled under his skin like live, separate entities. Thane was tall, at least seven feet. This one appeared bigger, but she couldn’t tell since he was now crouched on all fours. Gah, he had to weigh four hundred pounds. His arms were thick, his biceps looked to be the size of her head, and his wide chest reminded her of a mountain. His skin was mottled shades of deep blues, grays, olives, even black. Every dark, dank color in existence. His hair was a deep black with thick streaks of deep blue that parted slightly to the side of his face. It shined with health and hung to his waist like a cave-man who’d been treated to a spa. It was simply beautiful. Incongruous, out-of-place…and beautiful.
His face was another matter. His eyes were feline—hooded, with darker skin that draped in an angle at the corners. His extremely long eyelashes were wispy enough to be feathers. His eyes were the color of melted gold and there was no way he could hide in the dark to search for prey. Nope, you’d see him coming from a mile away. His nose flared wide and flat. His cheekbones were prominent and before he crouched, she’d noticed full lips. Now, she could barely see his lips as they were stretched thin into a threatening snarl, as if he forgot he was just speaking to her. In fact, she could only notice the double row of triangular teeth that dripped with saliva like a poison.
“Back up, Everly. He’s too far gone mentally, like he’s no longer human. I can’t communicate with him.” Thane’s voice was soft, soothing, even in his own pain.
Then what he said dawned on her. She knew it. She’d known the Xeno Sapiens were
communicating before Thane passed out. Despite the situation, she wanted to bark out laughter.
He must have sensed something, because his voice sharpened. “Don’t make any sudden moves. Come closer toward me. Do it now.”
Back up? He expected her to move? And do what? Jump into the ditch and break her own leg? Maybe her neck? She realized she had started breathing again like nature just took over, but the breaths were shallow. The pinpoints of darkness cleared up from her vision. She couldn’t force her terrified gaze away from the snarling creature slowly stalking closer, glaring at her with those large, oddly beautiful, completely inappropriate, cat-like glowing eyes. His face was vicious, and he growled at her again. He shook his head back and forth, and saliva dripped like a rabid dog.
Not a dog. These were others. Aliens. Beings bred in a laboratory using bits of DNA from other life forms. Life forms we knew nothing about. God, why was man so stupid? They’d once wanted to re-create dinosaurs and that idea was shut down. And yet, here they discovered another venue of re-creation.
“Everly. Pay attention. Help is coming. Back up slowly right now. Just look down at the ground and come to me. You can do it, baby.”
Dimly, she was aware Thane called her baby.
She wished that were true but her body still refused to listen as she silently screamed at it to follow orders. Nothing moved but the rapid swell of her breasts as her heart hammered and air passed between her parted lips. She blinked, now that she was aware, but that was it. Very slowly and consciously, she switched to inhale breath through her nose instead of her mouth.
“Zealish!” A different voice rang through the air. Suddenly she was aware of people—more people around in the area. “Calm down and back away from her. This isn’t you, man. They’re not strangers invading our territory. This is Thane and his friend. A human.” The new voice had a strong, deep pitch.
Zealish? What the hell kind of a name was that? Thinking about such an odd name brought her a bit out of her stupor. Of course. Zee was a nickname for Zealish.
The creature growled again when he took another step closer to her. She wanted to run but her legs weighed a ton as they rooted like tree trunks into the ground. She tried to tear her gaze from the odd golden eyes staring back at her but just couldn’t break the connection.
Invading their territory. Everyone had heard about the Xeno Sapiens. People picked one of two sides. A side promoting fear that they were vicious and dangerous, promoting diseases and change to future DNA of humanity. And the liberal-minded who thought no matter what, they were still human. One of us. Created by us. Allowed them to live in peace, inside their territory.
She’d been one of those, obviously, by her stance at the outer gates. Now? She was re-thinking things. She’d assumed they were mostly human. But invading their territory? That didn’t sound too human.
“Switch your weapons to deep tranq.” This voice was human, and he sounded panicked. “Now. Move it.”
“Zee?” It was the first man again, with the deep voice. The silver one who’d helped pull her up onto the wall. Right now, she couldn’t think of his name, not with the fight or flight instinct tingling through her limbs and making her breath jerk in her lungs. “Listen to me, man. Let her go. She’s here with Thane. You’re not yourself right now. She can’t look away from you or leave because she’s frozen with fear. Calm down and give her space. We can get to Thane once you do.”
Everly swallowed. That’s right. She’d actually wanted to see this city. Curiosity had once run rampant in her veins.
Curiosity always, always got her into trouble. To think, she’d once applied here. No one gave her a reason why her application was rejected, but she was pretty sure she knew.
“Do you hear me, Zee? You’re scaring her and she’s about to fall into the ditch. Do you know how bad you’ll feel when you get your temper under check and realize you unintentionally hurt Thane’s visiting friend? Come on, man. You’re better than this.” Steele sighed. That was his name. Steele. She remembered now. He’d teased Thane, curled his biceps for her. “Let me come get her. Is that all right? Can I come close enough to take her away? I know you’re pissed at Thane for some reason. We’ll keep him back.”
“No,” the monster snarled, spittle flying. He threw back his head and an earsplitting roar shattered the wooded area, scaring birds to flutter frantically into the sky.
Her legs finally worked. Not how she wanted them to, however. Her knees collapsed under her. She hit the ground and remained kneeling like she should be praying. Whatever gods there were obviously mocked her right now.
“Remain calm,” Steele demanded. “I won’t come near. Talk to me, brother. Otherwise, we’ll need to take control for everyone’s safety. You’ll wake up in medbay later, and my mate won’t be too happy with you.”
“Get Thane out of here and leave her for me.” His growly voice was raspy.
“Fuck you, ass—” Thane stopped suddenly, almost as if someone reminded him not to make his presence known. But that couldn’t be, because no one here said a word.
Shit. They all communicated mentally. Every single one of them. It wasn’t just Thane.
Zealish tore his eyes away from her to glare at someone else. “I want her. If he’s not out of my presence, we’ll fight. And it’ll be to the death.” The threat was final.
Steele was calm. “Want her how? You know she’s Thane’s. He requested permission to bring her into the city, remember? You knew this, back when you were…you.”
“Not now.” Damn if his voice wasn’t back to being thick and guttural like he couldn’t control the changes within him.
“What does that mean?”
Very slowly, like a man possessed, his head turned toward Steele. “I didn’t care until I saw her in person. I smelled her. She’s mine.”
Zealish growled again, and his gaze returned to Everly. She swallowed. What the hell did she smell like?
Again, she held her breath when he inched forward. Step by step, she watched his shoulders move up and down as he slinked toward her. He paused about six feet from her—right when she was about to back away. He seemed to know it, because he stopped advancing and stared at her.
She moved her mouth and it actually opened. “Stop,” she whispered. “I want Thane.”
Wrong thing to say. The creature threw his head back and roared like he was in physical pain. “Never, never again say that to me!” he warned, his gaze locked on her. He took another step toward her.
Someone else moved, and Zealish turned his head, tearing his intense gold focus away from her. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as if soothing his confused senses. They snapped open, and he glared at someone behind her. The other one who’d helped Steele pull her onto the fence. The red one. Renegade. “Get Thane out of here if you want him to live.”
Renegade’s voice was soft. “Do you want him to live?”
Zealish seemed startled for a second, and then his head jerked in a nod. Just once. Quick, a drop signaling acknowledgment. “I’ll grab her. Take her out of here, make her mine. You can get Thane.”
“Okay,” Renegade agreed.
What the fuck? Did he just give her away like she was an object?
Her heart raced again. Zee moved another step, and then another. She stopped breathing. He settled on his hands and knees in front of her as if he tried to make himself smaller. As if he didn’t want to scare her. There was no way. The guy was massive and crazy and…just freakish. His face, his voice, his body—all seemed to be changing before her eyes, growing gruffer, deeper, harsher with each minute that passed by.
Zealish raised his head. His face up close was terrifying, all snarling teeth and muscular jaws. But his eyes were still beautiful. She could see swirls of gold that actually moved inside his eyes. Even on his hands and knees, he practically dwarfed her. A dim part of her realized she should stand, make herself larger somehow, less like prey.
He inhaled again, a soft sound purring from his throat. “C
ome with me, Everly. I’ve won and I let him live. You’re mine.”
“I don’t think so, asshole.” From behind her, Thane pitched himself over the ledge.
There was a blur of activity, someone screaming, growls and teeth snapping. She scurried backward and felt someone grab her—silver arms, lifting her, carrying her away. She kicked, looking back over her shoulder. “Thane!”
“Shh,” Steele said in her ear. “Don’t call for him. Don’t make it worse.”
And then, the vicious sounds stopped at once, only heavy breathing filling the air. Another Xeno appeared, wings flapping as he landed from the sky. Nearby, a hovercart stopped when he touched ground as if it was brought by him.
“Shit, he’s fucking huge,” the winged redhead said. “Did he grow?”
“Maybe we need Beast,” one of the humans said.
The winged one shook his head. “The cart is for Thane to get back to medbay. Once Zee is fully under, Robyn’s going to seal him in an electrical pen here to keep him away from others until she can figure out what’s going on with him.”
Dimly, Everly became aware that Thane was loaded into the hovercart. She struggled against Steele.
“Go on,” he said. “You can ride with him.”
Renegade was at the door of the hovercart. He gave her a hand up, and she plopped into a seat next to Thane. Renegade shut the doors and the craft lifted and took off.
Thane was a mess. How the hell had he fought that huge monster with a broken leg? He had darkened splotches of purple bruising on his gorgeous face and red blood oozing from cuts. She gasped.
She’d had no idea he’d bleed red.
“It looks worse than what it is,” he rasped. “I’m really sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. I have no idea what the hell happened to Zee. This wasn’t such a great first date.”
“This was our first date?” She slipped her left hand into his.
He faltered. “Should I have mentioned that?”