Distant Memory: She remembered everything (Solum Series Book 3)

by Colleen S. Myers

  He let me hold him for another minute more before pushing off my lap and taking a few steps back. His tail lashed and he let out a low growl.

  “That he is alive is a good sign, Beta, but we lost Selmay.”

  My head snapped upward. Damn that girl. Selmay was gone. “Which way did she go?”

  He pointed right. No tracks in the dirt; the ash made it impossible to see far.

  My shoulders fell.

  Finn bumped his left hip against mine. “Better this way. There was something wrong with her.”

  “She’s helped me, Finn. And she’s your grandmother.”

  He dropped his gaze. “Right now, in her condition, I do not believe she would be of help.”

  “What is it we are doing anyways? Texxak’s bidding?”

  Finn shrugged. “I was following you.”

  I shoved him. “Smart ass. Anything we do endangers people,” I said. “He has to be tracking us or something, else why let us go? He wants us to take him to Xade so that he can kill him. We can do that. None of the other Remains will be at risk, and we eliminate our enemy.”

  “And trade Xade for something worse.”

  “Xade is evil. Texxak can be reasoned with.”

  Finn rolled his eyes. “Why do you believe that?”

  “I just do.”

  George growled again, pulling us from the argument. His whole body was tense, and he stared somewhat to the right of where we sat.

  He angled his maw toward me and let out a howl then trotted into the forest in the direction he’d been looking.

  “What is he doing?”

  “I don’t know. You’re the shifter. Can’t you tell telepathically or something?”

  He looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “It does not work that way.”

  George came back into view and grabbed my hand in his mouth gently. He pulled me up to my feet. Once I was up, he took off in the same direction as earlier.

  “Should be follow him?”

  “It is in a different direction than Selmay. I am agreeable to that, but are you?”

  I really didn’t want to leave her, but circumstances gave me no choice. I knew the coreck were intelligent. Once long ago one warned me of ambush by Lora. I had to trust George, as stupid as that sounded. Selmay could take care of herself as she had proved over and over again.

  “I say follow the cat,” I said.

  “Coreck.”

  “Whatever.”

  Finn motioned me ahead of him with his hand. “You lead, I take up the rear.”

  My lips twitched and I moved behind George. “Stop looking at my ass.”

  “How do you know I was looking?”

  “You just told me.”

  I hoped we were doing the right thing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Visibility did not improve the longer we followed George. The first sun set, and the second approached the horizon, bringing night. We wouldn’t be able to follow for too much longer, not without risking life and limb

  George huffed twice and circled back behind us.

  Finn sighed and leaned his hands on his hips. “What is he trying to tell us now?”

  “Again, asking me questions I can’t answer.”

  He rolled his eyes. It had replaced staring as his favorite expression towards me. I guessed that was good.

  I stooped and George came to lean into my side. “Where are we going, baby?”

  He rubbed his cheek along mine, his tongue skimming my neck with sandpaper.

  Eww. I wiped off the drool and sat back.

  Laughter knocked me on my ass.

  I knew that sound.

  Marin.

  When I stared behind me, there he was in all his glory, short hair and all.

  I.

  It.

  It wasn’t fair. He was so damn sexy.

  He appeared uncertain. A smile started on his face, but then when I stared, it fell. He swung his head to Finn and then me. “Hello?”

  I ran to him.

  His shoulders heaved and he lifted me into the air as he twirled me around in a circle. “Elizabeth.”

  We fell into a kiss, and I never wanted it to stop. Cherry and male and mine. I opened my mouth on his for more. He obliged and tilted his head to take the kiss even deeper. His tongue brushed mine, plunging into my mouth. Every inch of him pressed up against me as he let me drop slowly and slide down his body. I’d missed him so much. The last lingering fear that he’d died in the canyon melted away. Texxak hadn’t lied about this. Thank the lands.

  I gripped his face in my hands, coming up for breath.

  He panted in time with me. “Elizabeth.” Damned if there weren’t tears in his gorgeous eyes. He’d always reminded me of a warrior, a bad ass, but right now, he was just mine and vulnerable.

  “I’m so glad you are okay.” I rested my forehead against his.

  Marin brushed his hands down my cheek. “Most of us made it out.” He hesitated. “But there were a few losses.”

  My heart clenched. “Who?”

  “Ute, some of the clan.”

  Finn, who’d walked up beside us while we kissed, fell to his knees. “No.” His shoulders started to shake.

  I knew how he felt. Ute of the sparking eyes and voracious love of history. He was like a father to Finn. He was like a happy uncle to me. He’d been there for me since the start. My eyes watered as I held back tears. “I’m so sorry.”

  I put my hand on Finn’s shoulder. Marin echoed my gesture.

  “The rest of us escaped and got to the forest. They did not give chase. It was almost as if they wanted us to get away.”

  “The flood wasn’t for us, it was for Xade. The labs have underground tunnels to everywhere per Texxak, and he wanted to force Xade out of the underground.”

  Marin nodded and pulled me in tight. “Makes sense. It worked as well. Xade is in the forest.”

  I jerked and glanced at Finn, who looked up at his words. “Xade is near?”

  “Yes.” He placed a finger over my mouth before I could ask anything more. “There is something I have to tell you, though, before we go there.”

  This didn’t sound good. “What is it?” I asked warily.

  “Xade helped take care of our injured and gave us shelter from Texxak. We, uh, well, we have made a truce.”

  “What?” Truce with Xade? Impossible. He would never keep his word.

  Marin’s hands tightened around my waist. “Trust me. For right now, we have an uneasy peace. Please do not upset the balance. Too many of us were injured. Without Xade and the tubes, we would not have made it.”

  I pushed away and stumbled back. Finn caught me and we both faced Marin.

  “You know what he did to me. What he did to Finn and Selmay. How could you make a truce, knowing that?”

  “It was the only thing I could do to save my people at the time. I had to.”

  He stepped toward me, and I took a matching step back. He heaved a sigh. “Please do not be this way, my love.”

  His words made me ache. “I can’t help it.”

  He reached out and touched my face. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I hoped he would forgive me. I’d promised Xade death, and even if the Fost had a peace with him, I did not. Plus, all the Remains were being held hostage to my getting the one thing I wanted. Xade dead. Their safety depended on me. Well, us. I glanced over at Finn. His white eyes were locked on my face. He nodded as if he already knew what I was thinking.

  “Let’s head back to the labs and talk.”

  Marin’s mouth tipped up and he smiled. “Yes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  We were not that far from the labs. When we arrived, guards had been stationed outside. E’mani guards. Clones. I stopped. I reached for a weapon automatically. There was no way I could take another step. I didn’t trust Xade, I couldn’t. Finn growled. This wasn’t right. Why didn’t Marin see that?

  “I can’t go in there,” I said.


  “Me neither,” Finn copied.

  Marin groaned. “You two have to, it is the safest place. We will work out the issues that have come up and make a plan.”

  “Marin, Xade killed my baby. There is no force that would make me take his side. Even if it could save me. I can’t. He... I just can’t. And I certainly wouldn’t go into his labs to talk to him. He knows all the ins and outs, and we were trapped there for years. I don’t want to go back in.”

  “How about I bring Xade out here.”

  I sat and leaned back against the nearest tree. “Okay.”

  Marin gave me a quick kiss before heading into the labs.

  Finn plopped down next to me. “Are we really going to negotiate with Xade, or kill him as Texxak wants?”

  “As much as I don’t want to do what my grandfather directs, I want Xade dead.”

  “Me as well. I’m with you in all of this.” Finn took my hand and squeezed it.

  “Me too.” A nasal voice intoned behind us.

  Holy crap. I fell to the side. Finn whipped around.

  My jacket flapped behind me as I got into Roger’s face. “Where have you been?”

  He blinked in that innocent way of his. “In the labs, where else would I be?”

  “You ran away again.”

  “I ran nowhere. I went to where I always went, and when I came back up, everyone was gone.” He pushed his glasses back up his nose. “That is when I found out about Texxak.”

  He shuddered. “I know Texxak well. You can’t trust him.”

  “We can’t trust you either.”

  Roger shrugged. “Texxak’s cruelty is worse than Xade’s in many ways. He believes he is superior to everyone. At least Xade had a purpose. He sought to make things better.”

  “Better.” I shoved him into a nearby tree. “How did torturing us make us better?”

  “I might have said that badly,” Roger stuttered, looking to Finn for support and getting none. “I meant he had a reason for what he did. Texxak only wants what is best for Texxak.”

  “That is my grandfather you are talking about.” It felt odd saying that.

  “I know. That is why Xade grabbed you.”

  “So you always knew everything?”

  Roger grinned. “I don’t know everything, but I know a lot.”

  “Texxak sent us here to kill Xade.”

  “I figured as much. Xade refused to share his experiments with Texxak these last few years. Conflict was bound to happen eventually. I’m surprised that more of the Progenitors are not here. Texxak is quite popular. But Xade was the brains.”

  “If we kill Xade, then will Texxak kill everyone?”

  Roger frowned. “I don’t think he would kill them. Only the ones that got in the way. No, he would leave Solum be, but he certainly won’t let your friends go. The Remains are of use to him. We were part of Xade’s experiments. He probably figures we know something and can give him insight.”

  “If we don’t kill Xade, will he kill the Remains that are on the ship?”

  “Oh, undoubtedly, and then he would come after you here.”

  No choice then. “So we have to kill Xade.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what? Fight Texxak?”

  “I have a plan for that.”

  “What plan?”

  “I finished my virus. It will kill anyone with a specific E’mani genome.” His eyes flashed happily. “It works.”

  “How do you know it works?” I had a bad feeling about this. “Did you kill Rezi?”

  Roger’s eyes dropped. “Sacrifices need to be made.”

  My stomach churned. Finn held me back when I lunged. “Let us hear him out.”

  No, no. I couldn’t take any more death. Rezi was sweet, so guileless as to be childlike. I stared at my hands. This wasn’t right. None of this was. I had never wanted to be a resistance fighter. Hell, I was thinking about going into history. I was more Ute than Finn.

  Roger backed away with his hands held up.

  Finn said, “We have a task to see to Beta, then we can mourn.”

  “How can we trust him?” I asked Finn. I wasn’t sure if I meant Roger, Xade, or Texxak. None of our choices seemed that great right now.

  “Enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Finn said.

  I studied Roger’s face. “The virus is done? You swear?”

  Roger nodded. “It’s in the labs. I will give you the key. It is in my spot on the third floor. I can show you.”

  “How do we distribute it?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that. We need to get it into the food and water somehow. A small spray will take out those nearby, but we want to make the planet toxic. They will not be able to get any more quarum. It will cripple the fleet eventually. Even the quarum runs out of juice. That is why the Rocians were so important. Their race knew more than any other about it. They were smart though. Once they shunned technology, they didn’t let anyone else learn the science behind what they did.”

  “So how do we do that?”

  “I was thinking a storm. I heard what you did when the clones first came to Groos. You took them all out with lightning and thunder. Something like that could distribute a virus a far distance. Or a ship. Both ideally. If you distribute the virus up high enough and there is a storm, I don’t know. Erin was working on the distribution. I just had to make the virus.” His brows creased.

  I remembered when I first came to Solum, falling from the deck of Xade’s ship. They had decks. If I could get to one of the crafts… “If we used a ship, could we distribute enough of the toxin?”

  “We need one ship and I have a stable vector. Cover this area first then cover the planet. There are places here that I don’t think the E’mani have even explored.”

  “Really? Wouldn’t they have explored their own home before going to the stars?”

  Roger shrugged. “The land is strange, the magic.”

  True. That was the way the Fost hid what was left of their people after the war. I turned to Finn. He’d remained conspicuously silent on the matter.

  “Well?”

  “What about us? The Fost?” He hesitated. “What about you?”

  Roger rocked back on his heels. “I’m not quite sure. The gene was only in the E’mani so the Fost should be safe, but you and Beta would not let me get any blood to compare, so I don’t know if you have the genome.”

  “I don’t ever want to be anyone’s experiment ever again.”

  “Be that as it may, that means I don’t know if this will affect you. If you would give me blood now…”

  “No.” Both Finn and I stepped back at that option.

  “I would rather chance it,” I said.

  “If the land is toxic, you may die or be forced to leave the planet,” Roger said.

  But wait. “Is there a cure or immunization?”

  “I haven’t had time to make a cure.”

  “How can you not make a cure? Isn’t that the first thing people do when they make a virus, or is a cure of no use to you?”

  Unsaid was the knowledge of what he’d done to Earth and most likely many places more. He didn’t care about people, only results. In this case, he was on our side though, because he did hate Xade as much as I did. In his own way, Roger was just as bad as Xade, worse in a way. Maybe Roger would be Xade if we left him be for a few centuries. The idea chilled my blood. Could we do this?

  Roger cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “I’ve been working nonstop to make this disease, and I have tested it extensively. It works. This is our only option now. Xade must die.” His voice dropped and his eyes flared with heat.

  “Is that right, Roger?” Xade’s voice echoed behind us as he joined us by the tree.

  Shit.

  “I know why you are here, Beta. Finn.” Xade moved under the tree outside. “Texxak sent you to kill me, correct?”

  “Of course not,” I lied.

  He laughed, his voice echoing. I remembered every time I heard that laugh. When I
fell off the ship and this all started. When he killed Lara. When he killed my daughter. My fingers curled and I felt my face tighten.

  Marin hurried out behind Xade and moved to my side. “Elizabeth. Calm down.” He squeezed my hand then moved between Xade and myself. “They got away, I told you.”

  Xade shook his head and gestured with his hands. More than two dozen clones flanked him on the right and left.

  Marin held his hands out in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “We had a truce.”

  Finn grabbed his knife. Roger squeaked and moved behind us. Obviously, he was not going to be any help in this fight.

  I gathered my energy and the breeze started to blow.

  Xade tutted. “No, no, Elizabeth. No magic.” He inclined his head to the side, and I saw one of the clones holding Selmay. “Or I will kill this one.”

  “You wouldn’t kill your wife.”

  His lips curled. “She ceased being my wife long ago, you know this.”

  True.

  I felt a hand grip mine from behind, then Roger shoved a package into my hand.

  He leaned up against me from behind. His voice whispered in my ear. “Directions to the virus. Keep this safe.”

  I curled my fingers around the bag he gave me and shoved it into my pocket without looking.

  Xade kept moving to our right, away from the building, circling all of us.

  He pointed to me, then Finn, Marin, Roger. “Did you actually think I would believe that you escaped?” He gestured to the clones, who seemed to be multiplying at an alarming rate. At least forty surrounded us now. “You think we are stupid? There is no escaping Texxak. He is a killer, a master manipulator and strategist. There is no way you simply got off the ship. He let you go, and the only way he would do that is if there were a benefit to him. And the only thing he wants more than a family dynasty is me. I defied him and for him to retain control of the Progenitors, he needs to punish me.”

  Xade moved until he was behind us, and all the clones surrounded us in a circle. “Thus when Elizabeth came back unharmed, I knew she promised to kill me. I was quite hurt actually. And this time, I know only one of us will walk away from this fight. Now, I don’t want to die. In fact, I am getting a little tired of Elizabeth’s attempts to kill me. If Texxak let her come here, to this fight, his need to punish me outweighs his need to have his family. After all, he still has Zachary.” He held up his hands in a ‘gee whiz’ gesture. “So you know what that means, right? It means Elizabeth is of no use to me anymore, and she has to die.”