“I don’t remember crashing. I just remember falling.” And finding the brothers. Smoke and mist. Gone.
“The ship began to shake apart, and you’d disappeared, Aveline. But, I ran. Made it to a pod and landed here. Wherever here is. But I survived.”
Survived. I survived. Everything Marisol said seemed hazy.
“Aveline!” Her sister shook her. “Aveline.”
Aveline blinked. “Why did you kill them?”
“The mists.” Marisol dropped her arms. “They’re dangerous. We were attacked on the higher levels. But we found the fire keeps them away for a while. Not to mention there are the things in the woods. Fire puts them down and keeps them down. The fog will be back, but we’ll be ready.”
We.
Aveline glanced over Marisol’s shoulders to the dark figures. “Who are they?”
Marisol glanced over her shoulder, and when she turned back, she wouldn’t meet Aveline’s eyes. “They landed here, too.”
Even before their masks came off, before the air hissed and their faces were revealed, Aveline knew who she’d see.
Pale, bruised, tired, but the same cruel eyes and sharp features.
“Dr. Bates,” she choked out.
“Aveline.” He dropped the mask at his feet before reaching for the weapon he had on his back. Long and cylindrical, it looked like a metal hose. His thumb flicked something, and it clicked before a small flame appeared inside it. “Who would believe it? It was a wormhole, I believe, that sucked the Concord from its orbit. It shot us through time and space, and somehow, miraculously, we survived. When I landed here and turned on my tracker, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Your code! And then your sister’s! She didn’t move around so much. We tracked her down much faster, didn’t we, gentlemen?”
The guards nodded, looking only slightly less amused than Dr. Bates.
“What a waste of your time,” Aveline said immediately. “Shouldn’t you be worried about survival?”
Dr. Bates waved his hand like he was brushing aside her concern. “I have plenty of time to worry about that. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. Your sister knew you survived. If only she was as interesting to me as you. I’d get into both of your brains. I’d love to study the connection between such close sisters.”
Nausea welled inside her, and Aveline stepped back. “Marisol,” she said and grabbed her sister’s arm. “Marisol, come with me.”
But her sister wrenched her arm away. “Don’t be stupid, Aveline. We can’t survive out here alone!”
The flashlight hit her eyes again, and Aveline blocked the light with a hand. Turning her face to the side, she fumbled for Marisol again. “Yes, we can. Please, Marisol, let’s go!”
Dr. Bates scoffed, and someone else laughed.
“Dr. Bates and the guards, they protect me, Aveline.” Marisol’s voice came from farther away. The light kept Aveline from finding her, but she stepped forward, arm waving about, searching frantically for her sister. “So, I made a deal.”
Aveline abruptly halted, hand outstretched. I made a deal.
“You for me,” Marisol continued, and someone grabbed her. Yanked into a hard embrace, Aveline struggled, only to feel Dr. Bates familiar hand around her throat.
“You for her,” Dr. Bates said.
“I don’t understand,” Aveline got out, but she did. She didn’t need Dr. Bates to explain it. Far away, the wind picked up, rustling the trees in the forest.
“I protect her, and I get you as a reward, but—” Dr. Bates lowered his voice. “I don’t want her.” The light moved, spotlighting Marisol before the guard fired his weapon into her body. Shot after shot unloaded into Aveline’s sister’s body while Marisol stared at her.
Aveline cried out as Marisol fell, body still on the ground.
“What a horrible person your sister is,” Dr. Bates said as the echo from the weapon died away. “Was. What a horrible person your sister was. You know she offered you to me as soon as you came aboard the Concord. And you, fiery little Aveline, you had no idea and stepped in front of her. She’d never have done that for you. Never.”
Broken. Piece by piece.
Aveline had nothing left. No family, no sister. Ettan, Branesh, Aaddhar, and Thanasis had been burned to nothing. Everything had been taken from her.
The wind blew, stronger now, like the roar of the engines on a shuttle. What had started far away had grown louder in a split second. Before Aveline knew what was happening, the guard who held the light screamed.
The light fell to the ground as he was thrown into the air, feet kicking wildly. He soared over the wall, landing with a smash. Then came the click of a fire starter and screams. Louder, the screams reached a crescendo until they cut off and the night was filled with the scent of burning.
Another whoosh of air sent Aveline spinning, and she hit the ground. Another scream, and another. One by one, the guards were picked off, lifted into the air and thrown into the woods to whatever was waiting for them. Aveline choked on the smoke, retching into the ground as it coated her tongue.
“Get up!” Dr. Bates yelled. His hand ghosted across her head before he too screamed. Aveline glanced up in time to see him lifted, higher and higher, until not even the beam of light could reach him. He continued to scream, but he sounded so far away.
Aveline dropped her head to the ground. It was coming for her. Whatever it was. And she wasn’t going to fight it.
Dr. Bates’s scream got louder all of a sudden, and she shut her eyes tight until it broke off suddenly with a loud crunch.
Inside the forest, just yards away, came the repeated click of the bugs igniting the flames in their belly.
Wind ruffled her hair, but she didn’t move. Not because she was trying to hide, but because she didn’t care. What would get her first? The wind or the bugs? Did it even matter?
“Aveline.” A hand touched hers. Warm. Solid. She shut her eyes tighter.
“Aveline.” A different voice. A different hand. This time on her back, stroking her softly. “Aveline, look up.”
What if she did and it was a dream? What if her mind was finally broken like her heart and her body?
“Aveline.” This voice was deeper, more commanding. But just as well-loved. With a deep breath, she lifted her head and met Aaddhar’s gaze. She got to her hands and knees slowly, studying each of them.
Aaddhar. Ettan. Branesh. Thanasis.
“You’re alive.”
“Fire and air,” Branesh explained. “Not a match. But it doesn’t kill us. It sends us apart, in all directions. We have to work hard to return to our Ventos forms, but we can. We did.”
Her fingers trembled when she reached for his face, but Branesh caught her hand, bringing it to his cheek. “I’m here,” he assured her. “We’re all here.”
Aveline choked on a sob, biting her lip until she tasted blood as she tried to keep it inside.
“You don’t have to fight it, little warrior. You survived the battle. You can let go now,” Thanasis stroked a hand along the top of her head, and she fell into his arms. He held her tight, dragging her against him. He kissed her temple, hair, nose. Anywhere he could reach.
“I love you,” she cried, tears catching on her lips as she tried to kiss him back. “I love you all.”
Aaddhar held her next, and then Ettan. Each of them needed to hold her as tightly as she needed to hold them. It wasn’t until she was returned to Branesh, who rocked her back and forth gently, that she said what hurt the most. “My sister.”
“We know,” Branesh said.
“We heard.” Aaddhar’s voice was sharp as a whip. “She doesn’t deserve your tears.”
Maybe not Marisol as she was now, but the sister Marisol could have been, the one from long ago when they were still children and the world hadn’t beaten them down yet, did.
And it was for her that Aveline wept.
“I need to bury her,” Aveline said in a voice that was husky and broken. “I don’t want to leave h
er out here.”
“All right,” Branesh said. “We can do that.”
Aveline didn’t know how, but that night, the brothers found a way to bury her sister beneath the lush grass of Sonhadra. And as the sun came up, she stood with them at the grave, wrapped in their arms. Quietly, she stared at the mound of dirt and forgave her sister for what she’d become.
Aveline wiped her face and met the loving gazes of the men who had chosen her and who made her feel like the best parts of herself. “Thank you,” she said, turning her back on the grave. “I’m ready.”
Epilogue
Aveline
Aaddhar and Thanasis had found a place for them on the very edges of Zephyr. Here, the grass was long and Sonhadra’s sky seemed to go on endlessly. At night, Aveline, Aaddhar, Thanasis, Ettan, and Branesh would stare at the stars, trying to guess which one was Earth’s sun.
It was the perfect place for a family, though Aveline hadn’t shared that with the brothers just yet. Ettan would know soon enough. Each night, he closed his eyes, and she was filled with warmth. Then he’d open his eyes and smile, reassured that she was alive and well.
Aveline smiled to herself as she stared out at the land. What would Ettan say when he saw the tiny spark of life she suspected was growing in her belly?
This home, so big and quiet, wasn’t going to stay that way for long.
Aveline was happy. So happy.
Lifting her feet, she placed them on the railing, wiggled her bare toes, and relaxed.
When they’d first come here, it was hard for her to breathe. Her chest was tight with anxiety, and any breeze or sound startled her. But the brothers had stayed close to her side, and slowly, she’d come to see they were safe.
All of them.
Branesh and Ettan had eventually returned to the upper strata of Zephyr to gather what information they could find about the other tribes of Sonhadra. Someday, they decided, they may venture out of Zephyr to see if they weren’t alone.
But not now.
Now was their time.
Aveline tucked her feet beneath her. Thanasis had made this porch. He’d been confused about what she wanted, a space without walls that wrapped around the house? There seemed no point, it didn’t shield her from the sun unless she moved her position all day long.
She assured them she didn’t mind.
So they made it for her. And she was happiest here, with the sun on her face and the sound of the men’s voices surrounding her. It filled her heart.
How had she gotten so lucky?
“Tired?” Ettan asked and slid next to her, kissing her hair. He smoothed a hand across her waist to drag her closer.
“No,” she answered, leaning her head on his chest. “Just enjoying the sunlight. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.” Freedom. Blue sky.
From across the field, wind whipped across the grass. Aaddhar and Thanasis were coming home. Each day they patrolled. They watched for the Creators or humans who had come from the Concord. But so far? Nothing.
Aveline didn’t expect they’d stop their patrols, either. They were protectors—always vigilant. There were times when one or both of them would awaken her with a kiss in the middle of the night before disappearing. It eased something inside them, and she understood that.
Aveline touched Ettan’s hand where it rested on her stomach, lacing her fingers with his. Her baby would always be safe with these fathers.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and Branesh touched her shoulder. “Hmm,” he said, squeezing lightly.
Aaddhar and Thanasis formed at the steps and hurried up, smiles on their faces. “We found something,” Aaddhar said. “Come on.”
Aveline’s stomach dropped, but then Thanasis shook his head. “It’s something good,” he said. “Promise.”
Ettan stared at them but then shrugged. In the time they’d spent together, the brothers had adopted many of Aveline’s habits. Now they shrugged, nodded, and winked as if it was second nature.
Aaddhar reached for her first, lifting her off her feet to rush her across the grass. Soon, the others caught up, all of them tumbling over each other. In the distance, the land rose into steep hills, and beyond that was an expanse she hadn’t yet explored. But before they reached the first hill, Aaddhar stopped, depositing Aveline in the grass. In an instant, he formed next to her and pointed. “Look,” he whispered.
Aveline squinted her good eye and gasped. An animal, four-legged, furred, with a gently sloping neck and black nose, snuffed at the ground. And at its feet, a baby. It curled into a ball, fur still wet while the mother licked him with a dark tongue.
“What is it?” Aveline asked, awed.
Branesh appeared next to her, his smile wide. His eyes sparkled when he met her gaze. “They were extinct long before we were born. Or they were supposed to be.” The name he said meant nothing to Aveline, but she repeated it. Branesh said it again slowly, and Aveline repeated it until she got it right. “Well done,” he said, rewarding her with a kiss.
They sat there a long time, watching the newly formed family. Aaddhar knelt next to her, shredding the long grass with his fingers, gaze fixed on the baby. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Maybe we could approach it?” Ettan wondered aloud.
Aveline shook her head. “No. The mom is nervous. See the way she keeps lifting her head to look around?”
“We should go before they sense us,” Thanasis whispered, but even he paused. “I’m afraid if I look away, they’ll disappear.”
“It will have to be enough that we saw her once,” Ettan said, a little sadly. “But Sonhadra is coming back to life.” He lifted Aveline into his arms and nuzzled her neck.
“Like Aveline brought us back to life,” Aaddhar added and dropped a kiss onto her lips before Ettan could spirit her back to their home.
She ducked her head but smiled. “I love you.”
It wasn’t a term they had known when she’d first said it. Aveline would never forget the night they’d spent the first time she’d said the words. She’d defined it, and then demonstrated it with her body. Now, a day didn’t pass without one of them saying it to her.
“My favorite words,” Aaddhar said and kissed her before taking on his Ventos form and flying across the fields.
Thanasis winked and then he was a rosy colored cloud, racing after his brother.
“Ready to go home?” Branesh asked.
Aveline glanced over her shoulder one more time at the mother who was nosing her baby, encouraging her to stand. A bubble of happiness welled inside of her chest. One day she’d have a baby. One day not too far off. “Yes,” she finally answered, and Branesh became a blast of warm air over her skin, rustling her clothes and whipping her hair around her face.
Ettan kissed her, slowly, tongue tracing her lips. Warmth filled her, and she smiled against his mouth. She felt the moment he’d discovered her secret.
Jerking his mouth away, he gasped. “Aveline.” He placed her carefully on her feet and touched her stomach reverently. Aveline raked her fingers through his hair, watching his face. Amazement. Joy. “We’ll tell the others when we get home,” he whispered and kissed her again. He scooped her into his arms, cradling her to his chest before he buried his face against her neck. “My love.” A sudden gust of wind tipped him off balance, and he laughed. Aveline glanced up, watching the rose-colored mist fly away from them.
Aaddhar and Thanasis had waited for them, hovering above the grass and then, when they saw her with their brothers, whirled around them. Together, they traveled over Zephyr to the home that was waiting for them.
Thanasis had been right. Everything Aveline had survived had been leading her here. To Aaddhar, Ettan, Branesh, and Thanasis.
To Sonhadra.
To home.
The End
In the Valos of Sonhadra Series:
Alluvial by Amanda Milo
Tempest by Poppy Rhys
Blazing by Nancey Cummings
Whirlwind by Ripley Proserpina<
br />
Radiant by Naomi Lucas
Shadowed by Isabel Wroth
Undying by Tiffany Roberts
Enduring by Marina Simcoe
Unfrozen by Regine Abel
Author Bio:
Ripley Proserpina spends her days huddled near a fire in the frozen northern wilds of Vermont. She lives with her family, three magnificent cats, and one dog who aspires to cat-hood.
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On the web: www.ripleyproserpina.com
Twitter: @RipleyProserpin
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Books by Ripley:
Midnight’s Crown:
Briar: http://amzn.to/2FVK4IH
Shadow of Thorns: Releasing February
The Searchers Series:
Finding Honor:https://books2read.com/u/4Xg2E9
Finding Nora: https://books2read.com/u/mK9qPB
Finding Valor: https://books2read.com/u/47kvEg
Finding Truth: books2read.com/u/4NRro6
Demon Matched Series:
Matched with a Demon https://books2read.com/u/mgrKwv
Kindle Worlds: Dallas Fire and Rescue
Slow Burn: http://amzn.to/2wlCJlm
Wishes and Curses Series:
Wrath and Ruin: http://amzn.to/2xbt1QY
Revolution and Rising: Releasing this May
Anthologies:
Married. Wait! What?:books2read.com/u/3GYVwL
Snow and Seduction: books2read.com/u/3yZWaJ
Whirlwind_Valos of Sonhadra Page 11