Hitting the Target

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Warrior,” the priestess said again, her voice infinitely gentle. “The Goddess feels your grief as her own. She knows your heart is true and that you have borne much pain in the past.”

  “Did she only send me to Ormyu Five to bring down the Great Barrier?” Trey asked, looking up with wet eyes. “It’s a noble cause, I’ll admit. But losing Mia is tearing me apart!”

  “You shall not lose her if your faith is strong,” the priestess promised.

  “Then…will you heal her? If I believe?” Trey asked hopefully. But the priestess shook her head.

  “No, for you have the capacity within to heal her yourself, Trey.”

  “What? No, I don’t!” he protested. “What are you talking about?”

  “Be quiet and let her speak,” his beast spoke up unexpectedly. “Her words are those of the Goddess, Trey. Listen to her.”

  “The one who shares your soul had good advice,” the priestess said gently, apparently not at all offended by his outburst. “And he is also the key to your dilemma.”

  “My beast is the key? Are you saying he can cure Mia? But how?” Trey protested.

  “It is not given to me to tell you all—some things you must find out for yourself,” the priestess told him. “But I will say this—for Mia to recover, all secrets must be laid bare and all three of you must be one.”

  Trey shook his head.

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “I fear that is all I can tell you for now, warrior. Except for this—the Goddess loves you and she always will, no matter what choices you make. For now, farewell.”

  And she glided out of the room, leaving Trey feeling almost as mystified as before she had come in.

  “Well…that is somewhat confusing,” Sylvan admitted, when Trey told him what the priestess had said. “But we all know that those who live in the Sacred Grove are never direct about anything. I think the Goddess wants us to discover some things for ourselves—we learn more that way.”

  “What I want to learn right now is how to cure Mia,” Trey said. “The priestess said my beast was the key and that the three of us had to become one, but I don’t understand how.”

  Sylvan looked thoughtful. “Maybe she was speaking of bonding. It’s true that if you were bonded to Mia, you might be able to absorb some of the effects of the poison and save her that way.”

  “I can’t bond with her when she’s unconscious and can’t feel anything,” Trey objected. “I won’t rape her—not even to save her life. Besides, bonding with a Lei’on Kindred is a tricky proposition, as you know. Our bonding sex is…different from any other type of Kindred.”

  “Of course, Brother—I never meant to suggest you should take her against her will,” Sylvan said, frowning. “And anyway, that still wouldn’t explain how your beast is involved.”

  “Maybe I have to introduce the two of them,” Trey said. “Then maybe I could borrow my beast’s power to heal her with my tongue? Though I don’t know how that would help neutralize the poison since she inhaled it and took it internally,” he added, shaking his head.

  “Yes, but even though she took it internally, the poison immediately migrated to her outer skin and started working its way back in from there,” Sylvan pointed out. “That’s why the subject starts by losing their sense of touch and taste and smell and then the feeling in their extremities first. Only after those stages have been passed, does the poison migrate inward and start attacking the internal organs.”

  “And…has Mia reached that second stage yet?” Trey made himself ask. He was afraid to know the answer…and yet afraid not to.

  To his limited relief, Sylvan shook his head.

  “I don’t think that will happen for a few hours at least, yet. The poison is still near the surface of her body for now.”

  Trey frowned and made a decision.

  “All right. You said you could give her a stimulant to wake her up so we could talk, right?”

  Sylvan nodded. “I can.”

  “Then I’d like to do that,” Trey said. “I want to move Mia to a private suite and then wake her up.”

  “Why?” Sylvan frowned. “What are you planning?”

  Trey took a deep breath.

  “I’m going to do what the priestess said I should do—I’m going to introduce Mia to my beast and tell her the truth about what I am. After that…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll just have to see what happens next and try to have faith, I guess.”

  “Well…” Sylvan seemed to deliberate. “I wouldn’t normally allow a patient in Mia’s condition to leave the Med Center. But I’ve seen your beast before and I certainly agree that it wouldn’t be good to have any of the patients encounter it.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I believe it looks very like a wild predator from Earth called a lion—there would be panic everywhere and I could never explain that it was a sentient part of you and not a wild beast.”

  “On Ormyu Five they think it looks like a creature called a targen,” Trey said. “And you’re right—it would be hard to explain. Look, Sylvan—just put us in a suite close to the Med Center. I’ll be able to tell if I need to bring Mia back here for treatment.”

  “Yes, of course you will.” Sylvan nodded. “All right—we’ll do it as quickly as possible, before the poison spreads any further.”

  “Thank you, old friend.” Trey held out his arm for a warrior’s clasp and Sylvan took it, then drew him into a tight hug.

  “No matter what happens, I’ll be here,” he said, very low in Trey’s ear and then released him.

  “Thank you.” Trey nodded gratefully. He appreciated the help and support of his old friend and for the first time he felt a glimmer of hope. He just hoped that he could figure out what the Goddess meant for him to do for Mia…before it was too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Mia woke to find she couldn’t move anything—not even her mouth. In fact, she wasn’t even sure how her eyes were staying open. After a moment, they focused and she saw that Trey was sitting on the side of her bed, staring at her with an anxious look on his face. They were in the bedroom all alone, though it didn’t look familiar to her. But it was nicely decorated with a dark green spread and the bed she was in was huge—clearly Kindred-sized.

  Also, Trey was bare-chested and wearing nothing but a towel. What was that all about? His muscular chest and the set of his broad shoulders seemed tense.

  “Mia…little one,” he murmured caressingly, taking her hand in his and squeezing it.

  Mia could see him make the gesture, but she couldn’t feel it. She still couldn’t feel anything—why was that?

  Oh right—the poison, whispered a little voice in her head. You’re dying and the senses—including the sense of touch—is the first thing to go.

  The thought made her feel sad and scared and shaky but of course she couldn’t express any of that—she could only stare at Trey and wait for him to speak again.

  “Little one,” he said again. “I have…a secret I have been concealing from you. And it’s kind of a big one.”

  He paused as though he expected her to answer. Mia wished she could. She wished she could confess the secrets she’d been hiding too. Wished she could tell him she was sorry for everything she’d held back and that she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, no matter what his own secret was. But all she could do was make an indeterminate humming sound in the back of her throat and even that was a huge effort.

  Trey seemed to take the small sound as a cue to go on.

  “I should have told you this earlier,” he said, shame-facedly. “But I didn’t want to frighten you. Do you remember the huge targen-like creature you saw in the park? The one that killed the man who was attacking you?”

  Mia made the noise again. Of course she remembered—how could she forget the huge, shaggy, golden beast who had come to her rescue and then nudged her hand as though asking to be petted?

  “Well…” Trey took a deep breath and seemed to gather himself. “The targe
n—that’s me. He’s part of me, anyway—my beast. And he’s been wanting to come out and meet you—to be introduced to you, I should say—since you first came into our life.”

  Mia stared at him, uncomprehending. Was he actually saying that he turned into the huge shaggy targen she had seen? The one that had seemed to want her to stroke his mane? But how could that be?

  “I know it’s hard to understand or believe,” Trey went on. “Which is why I’d like to let him introduce himself to you now.” He looked at her earnestly. “Now, I don’t want you to be scared. The beast feels about you the same way I do—he loves you—and he would never hurt you, no matter how big and scary he looks. Can you meet him for me, Mia? Can you try to be brave?”

  By now, Mia didn’t know what to think. But the big Kindred seemed so earnest and serious that she didn’t want to deny him. She made the noise again and made a great effort to nod her head—which only succeeded a little.

  Still, Trey seemed to understand her ascent.

  “All right, thank you,” he said, nodding. Rising from the side of the bed where he’d been sitting, he shed the towel he’d been wearing so that he was completely nude.

  But Mia only had a moment to admire his big, naked, muscular body before there was a shimmer in the air around him. Immediately, he disappeared and the giant targen was there in his place.

  Mia wanted to scream in surprise and fear, but her face was frozen like all the rest of her and all she could do was make that same, indeterminate sound in the back of her throat. Oh God, what was going to happen now? Was the huge targen going to kill her the way she’d seen it kill the agent of The EYE? Was it going to rip her throat out?

  No, don’t think that! Remember what Trey said—the targen is part of him. The targen has the same feelings for me that he does, she told herself. She lay there, paralyzed, trying to believe and to overcome her fear despite the way her heart was pounding.

  The next moment she needed to be even braver because the giant targen leaped lightly onto the bed and laid down beside her.

  Oh my God, it’s right beside me! What am I going to do? Is it going to bite my head off?

  But the targen did no such thing. Instead, it nuzzled against her, nosing at her numb cheek with its vast, blunt muzzle. It started making that low, rusty rumbling sound Mia remembered from their last encounter.

  Its purring, she realized. It’s actually purring.

  Indeed, it sounded like nothing so much as a huge felinis and the way it cuddled against her seemed concerned and affectionate—not at all threatening.

  A feeling of understanding and affection came over her—in a strange way, it was like she had been waiting to meet the huge targen all her life. She was no longer afraid. In fact, she wanted to cuddle with the big beast and take the comfort it was offering but she couldn’t—because she couldn’t move or feel anything. And she never would again.

  Mia felt like crying. Because I’m dying—because the poison is working and soon I’ll be dead and gone forever. Before I really get to love Trey…before I get to know his beast. I’ll be gone…just gone.

  The huge targen seemed to understand her feelings—or maybe she really was crying and he wanted to comfort her—because he licked her cheek. Then her other cheek and then her entire face with his rough sandpaper tongue. All the time he was still purring, his warm breath blowing in her face as he bathed her as carefully as a mother felinis might bathe her kitkin.

  The gentle, loving targen kisses only made Mia want to cry harder.

  “I’m sorry,” she wanted to say. “I’m so sorry I didn’t meet you sooner. I’m sorry I can’t return your love and affection, but I can’t move.”

  Then, to her surprise, she realized she had spoken the words aloud. How had she done that? Also, she could feel the roughness of the targen’s tongue…and the warmth of his breath on her numb skin…her skin which no longer seemed to be so numb, at least where he had licked her. How was that possible? Could it have something to do with his licking?

  “Hey,” she said, speaking deliberately, both surprised and cautiously hopeful to hear the word come out of her mouth. “Hey, do that again, will you? Lick another part of me—let me see if it helps.”

  The targen seemed to understand her, which wasn’t as surprising as it might have been if Trey hadn’t explained that the beast was part of him and already had feelings for her. He nosed the blankets down off her, baring her to the waist and Mia saw that she was nude. Then the targen lowered his great head and, starting at her fingers, licked his way up her entire right arm.

  He did it again and again until Mia began to feel that pins-and-needles tingling sensation you get when a body part has gone to sleep and is just waking up again. Concentrating, she found that she could wriggle her fingers, which were now only a little numb.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed and, with an effort, was able to move her entire arm. “This is good,” she told the targen. “I can move it now—my fingers are only a little bit numb.”

  At once, the huge beast bent his head and took Mia’s entire hand into his mouth.

  Mia gasped and went still as stone. She could feel the dagger-like teeth pressing lightly against the tendons of her wrist as the heat of the targen’s mouth enveloped her hand. He could bite it off with less effort than it took her to bite the end off a breadstick if he wanted to and both of them knew it.

  But the targen was extraordinarily careful with her and though she felt the sharp ridges of his teeth, he didn’t so much as scratch her with them. He only held her hand in his mouth for a long moment and then carefully opened his jaws to allow her to withdraw it.

  Mia worked her fingers gingerly, touching her fingertips to her thumb and then smiled at him.

  “Yes, that did it. Thank you,” she said. “Um, could…could you do more, please? I don’ t know how you’re doing this but I’d like to be able to feel the rest of my body too.”

  The targen seemed more than happy to comply. He licked her other arm and sucked her hand until she could feel again. Then he straddled her and, starting at her waist, began to bathe her torso with long strokes of his broad, rough tongue.

  Mia gave a little gasp as the beast’s tongue swiped over her breasts and sensitive nipples, each in turn. She was surprised to find that a tingle of pleasure ran through her when his heat bathed her there. His breath was warm and spicy and reminded her of Trey—of the wonderful scent that always seemed to hang around him and made her always want to get closer to the big Kindred.

  Well, I guess that makes sense, she thought as the targen continued to lap her front. Since Trey said the targen is part of him. Still, she wasn’t quite sure if it was right to be getting pleasure from the feeling of the huge beast lapping over and around her breasts, paying special attention (so it seemed) to her delicate nipples.

  He just wants to be sure I get the feeling back so he’s being extra careful, like he was with my hands, she told herself and tried not to writhe when the hot, wet tongue dragging over her nipples sent sparks of pleasure through her entire body. Closing her eyes, she remembered Trey sucking her there, taking as much of her tender peaks into his mouth as he could until she moaned and ran her hands through his thick, wild mane of hair…

  She wondered again, was it right to be having these thoughts and feelings when the beast was licking her? But he was part of Trey, wasn’t he? So in a way, wasn’t it like Trey himself was licking her and giving her pleasure?

  Mia still hadn’t really decided when, at last the huge targen seemed to decide that the top front part of her was done. Delicately, he snagged the green spread that covered her in one set of deadly-looking claws and pulled it all the way down, exposing the lower part of Mia’s body.

  “Oh!” Mia gasped. She was afraid that he might start licking between her legs and she really wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But to her relief, the targen went to the foot of the bed and started licking her feet and toes.

  Shortly, Mia was giggling helplessly. Her feet h
ad always been horribly ticklish and the big warm tongue lapping at them was almost too much to bear.

  “Oh no…oh, please!” she gasped with laughter. “Oh my God, that tickles!”

  The sensation of being ticked was even worse because she still couldn’t move her legs so there was no jerking away—she just had to lie there and take it.

  The huge targen made an amused sounding rumble and finally stopped torturing her toes with his tongue. He turned his attention to her calves and thighs and lapped each one thoroughly until Mia could feel them again.

  Once again she was afraid the big beast would decide it was time to start lapping between her legs—an area he had scrupulously avoided, even while lapping her inner thighs which made her gasp and feel hot and cold all over.

  But instead of trying to nose between her legs, the targen nudged her waist impatiently. It took Mia a moment to realize what he wanted.

  “Oh, I should turn over now?” she asked. Which made sense because though the front of her felt almost completely normal, the back of her was still numb.

  The targen made a rumbling sound of ascent and helped her to flip over on her stomach. Luckily, someone had put her hair up or it would have gotten in his way when he lapped her bare back, giving her long, rasping targen-kisses from the tops of her buttocks all the way up to her shoulders and the sensitive sides of her neck.

  Mia found herself moaning as that delicious sensation of pleasure came back. She had never been licked all over her body before and she still wasn’t sure if she ought to be enjoying it, but she couldn’t seem to help taking pleasure in the sensation. The targen’s long, hot licks were igniting her newly-awakened nerves and making her want something she knew she shouldn’t want.

  “Oh,” she whispered into the pillow. “Oh, please…” But she scarcely knew what she was asking for.

  The targen ignored her pleading tone and went about waking up the rest of her body in a business-like way. He licked from her ankles all the way up her calves and thighs and then spent what seemed like a long, long time lapping at her exposed buttocks.