Promise

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  “I appreciate you telling me that, but while you’re here, I’ll continue to protect you when I think you need protection.” He caught up to her and grabbed her hand, as if to force his point.

  This guy’s stubborn and almost impossible to reason with. I like him.

  Maybe, Damon was just what she needed right now: a challenge. The same thing Ulric used to be before he decided to simplify everything.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rage surged through Ulric, making his blood boil and skin itch.

  His neck twitched. He watched them hold hands and walk away as if they’d been together for years.

  Alex had never shown this level of familiarity with him. She never held his hand or kissed him in public. She mostly enjoyed being tucked away inside his personal quarters, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the population. Almost like a secret. Is that how she’d thought of their relationship—as a hidden affair?

  Who was this man who dared to touch Alex when she belonged to someone else? Why had he kissed her? More importantly, why did she let him?

  No one should be touching Alex, but me. She’s fucking mine!

  Yet, he’d witnessed the intimacy between them.

  Ulric snarled and felt it rumble deep in his throat. He dropped onto his back legs, digging his claws into the dirt beneath him.

  After crossing into this enclosed fortress, he hadn’t been able to avoid the moon’s glow. Even ducking behind a bush or shrub wasn’t enough to conceal its influence and keep the moon’s invisible fingers from caressing the beast out of him.

  He used the tip of his tongue to pick a piece of meat from between his teeth. Blood had dried on his snout, but he didn’t care. Killing a man with his own hands and then chewing into him should have horrified the human side of him, but it didn’t.

  All Ulric could focus on right now was Alex—how she was slowly slipping away from him, and that another man seemed more important to her than he did.

  Had she even thought about him once, since crash landing here? Did she care about what he’d confessed to her back on Anteris?

  He stayed in the shadows behind the row of trees, as he made his way back to the area where he’d killed the man and discarded him like a lump of meat after being interrupted. The corpse might be cold, but hunger was once again starting to make Ulric’s stomach tense.

  The corpse wasn’t there, though. Just two guys kneeling over the area, scrubbing the concrete path.

  He watched their very methodical way of cleaning for a while and found the swooshing noise of their scrubbing brushes and the constant motions lolling him to sleep.

  With half-lidded eyes, he watched the two guys get to their feet and stare at each other. For the longest time, they didn’t say a word—just stood facing each other like statues. Until the shorter man took a step forward and closed the distance between them.

  What the hell?

  Ulric’s eyes widened when the guys started kissing, but he decided he didn’t want to watch them any longer.

  Instead, Ulric lowered his body, burrowing himself deep into the underbrush. Enough to feel the fur slowly recede into his pores as the moon’s influence slowly subsided.

  Pain tore through him as he tried to catch his breath. Shifting only seemed to hurt when he changed back into a human. It felt as if the moon wanted him to remain a monster by making him realize that becoming a man would hurt him a hell of a lot more.

  He had to change back. It was important to get through to Alex before someone else romanced her away from him.

  He knew she enjoyed spending time with other men, even long into their trysts. Alex was a free spirit who liked to roam and do her own thing, so sharing her body and enjoying sexual satisfaction came with the territory.

  He hadn’t cared about it before. Not until his view of her developed into something else. Not until all Ulric could think about was her returning to his bed, so he could spend more time with her. Not until he started thinking of their time together as making love, rather than just fucking.

  What a fool you’ve been! You thought she was starting to feel the same way about you. Why wouldn’t he assume such a thing? After a few years of noncommittal sex, maybe he’d hoped they’d mutually fall in love. Well, he was wrong. If she was in love with him, she wouldn’t be kissing another man and strolling with him like she didn’t have a care in the world.

  Ulric had been stupid not to realize the truth when she denied his offer to stay with him. She doesn’t love you, and you’re never going to make her change her mind. The sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be.

  He’d overheard the conversation near the dead body he’d had to abandon. He now knew Alex wasn’t accepted by everyone in this foreign place. There was one man who was suspicious of her.

  If Ulric couldn’t convince her that what they had together was worth exploring, he was going to have to do something else to ensure she returned to him.

  After catching his breath and collecting his thoughts, he stepped out of the thick shrubbery. The moonshine and the hunger struck him simultaneously. It burned deep inside his stomach as his body convulsed from man to beast.

  The corpse he’d discarded hadn’t been enough, and now with the rage of seeing Alex with another man, he had to satisfy the need, again.

  His stomach ached for more flesh, more blood. He wanted to guzzle until he couldn’t take any more, gorge on meat and blood to fulfill the desperate need.

  It was the only thing that would help him ignore the pain she’d caused him, but the two cleaning men were gone.

  He paused for a second, positive he could hear the sound of footsteps echoing each other.

  The sound of laughter caught his attention.

  Unable to wait any longer, he swiftly rose onto his four legs and followed the sound. He walked across one path, and then another, all the while trying to figure out why this garden suddenly seemed familiar.

  He didn’t dwell on it. Not when he spotted a couple holding hands and smiling at each other as they walked toward him. Neither had noticed him.

  “We’re not supposed to be here,” the woman whispered.

  The man smiled. “Don’t worry about it. That just means we’ll have more privacy. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves.”

  She giggled, but the humor died when they stopped in front of Ulric.

  The man took a step back, defensively pushing the female behind him.

  Ulric wasn’t about to let them get away. This time, he would consume as much as he could digest, and while he was at it, he’d leave Alex a little memento. Then, maybe she’d realize he was here and would stop playing with the locals.

  When Ulric leapt into the air, the man raised his arms up in front of him, but he still landed with both paws against the man’s chest, causing him to stumble and pin the woman beneath him. The man struggled but wasn’t much of a challenge.

  When Ulric sunk his teeth into the side of the man’s neck and devoured his flesh, the male stopped moving.

  Ulric drank some of the succulent blood before biting a chunk out of the man.

  The woman screamed and squirmed, still caught beneath them.

  Don’t worry, honey. You’re next.

  The beast couldn’t wait to consume her soft flesh, as well.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The girl appeared to be very young, maybe in her mid-teens. Her blonde hair was almost as pale as her skin. She’d pushed several silky strands behind her ears, and the length hung down to her waist. Her light blue eyes were wide, unfocused, her pupils tiny. She clutched her small hands together in her lap, fingers overlapping each other, and shoulders rigid as she faced Damon. She sat in a chair inside a white room with a curved doorway that opened up into the garden path.

  On her way over with Damon, Alex had noticed the ga
rdens weren’t just situated in one part of the enclosed ‘village’, but were actually interwoven all around it. The endless garden, along with the surrounding walls and linked paths, made this place look like a labyrinth. If she didn’t have Damon beside her, she probably would have gotten lost several times already.

  Although it was still dark out, a feeling of warmth and comfort filled the room. This wasn’t a cold planet. The warm air wrapped itself around her body, and with no one scrutinizing her, Alex was glad she wasn’t wearing her jacket.

  She turned back to the girl, who sat motionless. The constant rise and fall of her chest confirmed she was still breathing. Whatever she’d seen must have been gory enough to make her so shell-shocked, she was practically comatose.

  Even in the warm surroundings, Alex shivered.

  She’d probably been this girl’s age when she last saw her father. The night before her arranged wedding, Louis managed to change the course Lorraine had set Alex on. She’d never had a proper chance to thank him. I was so confused that night. Trying to figure out how she would survive a life of coercion with a guy she didn’t even know and a mother who would oversee every single decision she made, had felt devastating. So, when her father appeared out of nowhere, she’d half-expected it to be a dream.

  The key he’d given her confirmed it had all happened.

  I wonder if I looked the same way this girl does now.

  No, as shocking as losing her father and never knowing what really happened to him was, this girl had seen someone virtually butcher another person.

  “Laurie, it’s all right. You can talk to me about what you saw. I won’t hurt you.” Damon knelt down in front of her. The tone of his voice was soft, and every move he made was slow and precise. “Actually, I’m here to help you. I want to make sure that what you witnessed never happens to anyone, again.”

  Laurie didn’t seem to register his words or proximity.

  Alex leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, determined to stay out of the way and curious to see how he would handle this. Damon appeared to wear a lot of hats around here, but he seemed to apply unconventional and bizarre methods of investigation.

  She was surprised she’d been allowed to tag along. Then again, as long as Damon kept an eye on her, she supposed no one cared where she went. Besides, there didn’t seem to be any clear or organized law enforcement. She hadn’t bumped into a single police-type figure, so far. Well, except for the annoying man, Elroy, who claimed he was the Priestess’s consort and security.

  She couldn’t help but wonder…if they all followed a Priestess and used Damon to read weird shit off dead or comatose bodies, did it mean the structure of this strange society was built on the foundations of mumbo-jumbo? Why live their lives without clear direction? Was the notion of magic a way for Priestess Aleena to keep everyone in line, while skirting any sort of real social structure like other planets and even space stations had?

  On Anteris, everyone had a role, even those who were just waltzing in and out as often as she did. Many visitors were known to be the biggest scum of the galaxy and surrounding planets, but Ulric had established a sense of law and order. There was an active police force and a court. Everyone knew that if you pushed the envelope too far, the authorities would eventually catch up with you.

  Only the worst bar on Anteris got away with a degree of lawlessness. That was why she’d been able to take out a cyborg without being arrested. Though, she was sure Ulric would have gotten her out of trouble, anyway.

  That’s the problem. He bailed her out of everything, fed her the most delectable of dishes, satisfied her every whim whenever she craved it, let her dominate most situations, and covered all of her expenses while she was with him. She’d even stopped paying docking fees for Promise.

  The carefree, skirt-chasing scoundrel who’d first entered her life had somehow morphed into someone else. Into a man who asked her to give up her job, so she could stay with him and do nothing.

  He even said he loves me.

  In a way, by caring about her, Ulric made her feel as if he were maneuvering her into a path she wasn’t ready to take just yet. She enjoyed being free to travel around the galaxy in Promise, taking care of business while sightseeing, and checking out what the male population had to offer.

  It was no wonder she didn’t even miss him right now. If anything, she was glad to be away from him, because it meant she could do whatever she wanted with Damon—a mighty fine specimen who was attracted to her and never failed to strike the right chords. No matter what Damon claimed, he was from a planet she would eventually leave. She could have her fun, and then be on her way before she had a chance to develop any real feelings for him, or Damon for her.

  She let go of her thoughts to concentrate on Damon and the girl.

  “Laurie, speak to me. I can help you.” Damon had placed a hand over the girl’s, but she still wasn’t responding.

  “What do you do, now?” Alex asked when he stood up and turned to face her.

  He looked tired, frustrated. “I don’t think she’s going to talk, if that’s what you mean.”

  “So, that’s it? There’s nothing else you can do?”

  “There’s definitely something else I can do. Watch me perform a different type of magic,” he said with a wink.

  “Is so-called magic your answer to everything?” she retorted.

  He shrugged, a smile curving his lips. He seemed to enjoy her discomfort with the subject a bit too much.

  “Have you ever thought that maybe what you’re doing isn’t magic at all, but could be caused by some sort of magnetic field around this planet? Maybe it’s just something in the water, and it makes you think you’re performing magic.” She was clutching at straws, because what he did when he touched her was very real. “Or maybe it’s power from whatever divine deity your Priestess serves.”

  He looked confused. “What divine deity?”

  Alex pushed off the wall. “Uh, the one Aleena serves. Whatever goddess protects your village. Surely, your Priestess spreads the word of some sort of deity, whether ancient or modern?” Even people who used the goddess Aphrodite as an excuse to screw around all the time would worship, make offerings, and take part in rituals in her honor.

  Damon shook his head. “There are no goddesses or gods. We don’t worship any deities. Priestess Aleena is our matriarch—the one who ensures we remain in a safe and crimeless society. It’s all her doing. The power of her leadership keeps our vision clear.”

  “Right.” She couldn’t help but smell a rat in his explanation. Or rather, in what sounded like a brainwashing statement the population was probably forced to recite. Alex didn’t suspect him of lying, as much as she suspected Aleena wasn’t as holy and fair as she liked the population to believe.

  Alex had never met a woman who claimed to be the Priestess of her own church and dogma. It just wasn’t done. Then again, this planet wasn’t on anyone’s navigational maps, so Aleena could pretty much do whatever she wanted.

  Why is Eden off the radar?

  If Promise wasn’t damaged, Alex would be able to access her computer and research a little more about Eden and its moon, Paradise. She had a feeling something wasn’t right, but she didn’t particularly want to keep discussing it with Damon at the moment. Not when he was in the middle of an intense investigation and getting nowhere with this kid.

  “Is everything okay?” He was kneeling down in front of the girl again, but the question was clearly for Alex.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

  Damon nodded, turned back to Laurie, and squeezed her hands in his. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and a flash of color passed from his hands to the girl’s.

  “Alex, are you watching?” Damon whispered.

  She sighed and observed him taking a deep breath. When he released it, the flash of
color was back—amber—and forming an aura around their joined hands.

  Alex felt the urge to move forward, but instead, she blinked a few times when the shimmer spread until it surrounded Laurie and Damon entirely. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes, until the light gradually receded back into Damon’s hands, as if it had never been there.

  He opened his eyes in a rush and sucked in a breath.

  “What the hell just happened?” It had only taken a few minutes, but she could tell he had experienced something.

  Damon released Laurie’s hands and stood. “I just saw everything as she did.”

  “Well, what did she see?” As unlikely as it sounded, she wanted to know what had obviously spooked him so much.

  “As we suspected, Laurie walked in on the attack.”

  Alex sighed. “So, you know who did it, then?”

  He met her eyes, and his darkened. “Not entirely.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a few steps toward her. “Alex, some sort of animal attacked Mony Lin.”

  “That’s a good thing, right? It means you were right. No one in Eden is capable of doing what we saw left discarded in the gardens, and that’s a good thing. Isn’t it?” She didn’t understand what the problem was with this scenario. “It was one of your wildlife.”

  Damon shook his head. “No, Alex. We don’t have any wildlife within the walls. I thought I’d already told you that. Besides, this looked more like some sort of beast, which explains the lust and excitement it felt for the victim’s flesh.”

  “What do you mean by a beast?” The wall behind her suddenly felt too solid, as if it was the only thing keeping her up but would soon close in around her.

  “Alex, some sort of beast attacked Mony Lin with the intention of tearing him apart and feasting on his flesh,” Damon answered.

  He was watching her too closely. She tried not to wince.

  “There’s no way you could know all that just by touching someone’s hand.”