by Octavia Kore
She wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. “Uh, thank you.”
Kythea led her through the archway and out into the courtyard. The night air was cool and she tipped her face up, drawing in a deep breath to settle her nerves. Many of the people within the village had been wonderful to her since she had arrived. Here, she had been lucky enough to find another support system.
Her stomach turned when she thought of all that Gulzar had been through in his life. What kind of people would cast out a child over something that was out of his control? She could still see the contempt on their faces as they had looked at him and it broke her heart to know how long he had endured that. Growing up, she never would have guessed that these things were happening to him.
“Oh, god—” Amanda lurched toward one of the pretty flower bushes along the wall and retched.
“You poor thing,” Kythea said, rubbing her back as she cooed softly.
Amanda gasped, spitting to get the bitter taste out of her mouth. “I’m so sorry about the bush.” She wanted this to all be over. She wanted to get to the domes, to have Zar and Oshen with her so that she stopped feeling so awful.
Kythea pressed her forehead to Amanda’s. “You are almost there. Do not give up.” She pulled back with a smile and glanced over at the open archway. “I will fetch you some water, yes?”
Anything to wash the taste from her mouth would do. Amanda nodded, running her hands over her face as Kythea rushed off. The nights here were strangely quiet. She almost missed the sounds of sirens, cars, planes, even the annoying crickets that liked to hang out beneath her window and sing the song of their people at three in the morning.
Somewhere from within the shadows at the corner of the courtyard came a rustling noise. She glanced over, sure it was her imagination or one of the small bird-like creatures she had sat and watched during the day, but something told her not to chance it. Amanda fled toward the safety of the house, hoping Kythea wouldn’t be far.
Just as she reached the first corner of the house, a clawed hand shot out of the darkness and covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming. A second arm caught her around the waist, pulling her back against a hard chest.
“Where exactly are you running off to?”
The blood left her face as recognition dawned on her. She knew that voice, had woken up from nightmares with it echoing in her head. He growled low in her ear when she struggled, kicking her legs and clawing uselessly at his body.
“They thought they had won. They thought they could hide you away in this backwoods village and I wouldn’t be able to get to you, but I’ve been here watching, posing as one of these fools.” The Grutex’s hot breath warmed her skin, making her shudder as he pressed his face closer. “Time to go.”
He lifted her feet off the ground and spun around.
Stupid! So fucking stupid, she chastised herself as tears welled in her eyes. She should have just gone inside with Kythea, but she had assumed she was safe inside of Zar’s home. Her complacency had put her and her baby in danger.
She was going to die, and no one would ever know what had happened.
Chapter 27
Gulzar
The twin moons were high enough that their light illuminated the statues of the moon gods, bathing them in an ethereal glow. Gulzar tried to calm himself even as his xines writhed in agitation.
“My mate is not a goddess. She has told you all this herself,” he snarled.
“It is but another test!” Drafir shouted. “We will not risk all that we have. We have come too far!”
They were going in circles. No matter how many times he tried to make them understand, the elders were old males, set in their ways and not willing to change or accept that they could have been wrong.
“This is not a test, and it has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that you wish to maintain control.” Gulzar sneered at Drafir as he stood to pace.
“How dare you speak to me that way!” The elder slammed his hand down on the table in front of him, shoving his chair back as he came to his feet. “You are damned! You should not be permitted to speak so freely!”
“The female you are so adamant is a goddess has accepted him as her mate. He is not damned and he never was,” Kyra interjected, stomping toward Drafir. “I failed him for so long, but I will not let you continue to mistreat my son!”
Warmth filled his chest as she turned to him. It was an honor to be seen as one of her own.
Drafir snorted. “Your son? Have you not suffered enough for him? Are the losses of your own young not proof that he has brought this curse upon you?” He turned to the other elders, raising his hands in the air. “You were once a priestess, Kyra. You were respected among our people until you took him in. Gulzar should have been left to die that day as payment for his deeds.”
He saw the flash of pain wash over her face, but it was replaced with sheer determination. “I never stopped being a priestess. That was granted to me by the goddess herself, not by you.” Her hand dropped down, resting gently on her abdomen. “And the goddess has granted me another chance. A blessing.”
“Impossible!” the elder shouted as he looked down at the hand she held to her stomach.
“My only curse was you and your poison.”
Drafir’s face went slack and his mouth dropped open. “How did you—”
“I saw you the last time you tried to poison my food. I came to ask you about Gulzar’s dreams and I saw you.” There was heat in her eyes, barely restrained rage. “The only thing I want to know is why you did it.”
“He was supposed to die, but you … you just could not let that happen.” The elder shook his head. “If you had been successful in breeding again, then the others may not have believed he was damned. It would have undermined our authority. He may have gone on to procreate and risk the life of another female. We could not allow that.”
“So to save one female, you murdered innocents?” Kyra spit on the table in front of the elders. “You all disgust me!”
“Gulzar!” The door of the temple slammed against the wall as Ky burst into the room, her breathing labored. “You have to come! Now!”
She tugged at his arms frantically. “What is it? Where is my mate?”
“We were in the courtyard when she became ill. I only left her for a moment to get water!” Ky rubbed a hand over her face as Kyra rushed forward. “I was just coming back outside when I saw someone take her.”
“Who took her?” Kyra demanded.
“I did not recognize him. He was not from the village.” Ky pulled at him again. “He wore strange clothing. I think he was one of the tainted.”
Gulzar wanted to rage, to ask her why she hadn’t tried to save Amanda, but Ky wasn’t a warrior. She was a priestess, and she would not have stood a chance against a full-grown male.
“We need to find Oshen and then you will show me where they were.” A growl worked its way up his chest as he moved toward the door. “I will deal with you later, Drafir,” he warned.
“There will be no need for that.” Trakseer was glaring at the elder. “I will see to his punishment myself.”
Gulzar hurried out of the temple, Ky and Kyra practically running to keep up with him.
“I will get Viseer and meet you there!” Kyra called as she split away.
The house of the elders was not far from the temple, situated near the large city center. It was where the elders handed out punishments which meant he was all too familiar with it. They rushed past the guards, ignoring their calls for them to halt.
“Ah, visitors. How nice. Have you come to let me out?” the Venium male asked, irritation lacing his voice.
Gulzar smiled. It seemed as if the blessing he had received was finally working.
“Yes, actually.” The male jerked his gaze up in surprise. “Hello, Oshen.”
The Venium narrowed his eyes on Gulzar. “How do you know my name?”
“Our mate used it during the journey.”
“Our mate?” His fushori lit up as he took a step forward. “She is my mate, Grutex.”
“I am not Grutex, and she is mine also. My plates lit when she touched me. This is an indication that we share the same female.”
“The old texts tell stories of the triads formed between our people. They were revered, seen as sacred matings. This is a blessing from Una. For it to happen now, after all this time is surely an omen that we must come together again for the future prosperity of our people.”
“Ky,” he grumbled. “While that is fascinating, it is not what we are here for.” He turned back to Oshen. “We need your help.”
“I refuse to assist you with anything until I see for myself that Amanda is safe and unharmed.”
“Well, that is going to be hard considering that she has been taken,” Ky said.
“Taken?” Oshen slammed his hands against the door separating them, his tail lashing from side to side. “By who?”
“We are not sure, but we believe it may be one of the males you refer to as the Grutex.”
Oshen’s body began to shake violently, his fushori pulsing. “She was supposed to be safe here!”
Ky gasped, stepping back as Oshen’s body began to enlarge before their eyes.
“By the goddess,” he heard her whisper. “The legends…”
Gulzar watched with fascination as the Venium’s body reformed itself, bones cracking and snapping into new positions, flesh tearing and knitting itself back together. The clothing he had been wearing tore, falling to the floor beneath him as his hands twisted into massive paws with deadly claws. He was an Allasso, one of the legendary beasts from their books of lore, guardians and warriors of old who had the power to change forms in times of need.
He had never believed that the stories were true, but as Oshen lifted his head, eyes glowing brightly above a mouth full of long, pointed teeth, Gulzar counted himself a believer. Glowing golden stripes raced down the beast’s back and sides while six long spines arched skyward, pushing up through the skin of his back. They too pulsed with light and Gulzar took a step backward as the beast roared. The spikes on his neck rattled together like a warning and he came forward, all recognition gone.
“Oshen,” Gulzar spoke calmly, hoping the male was still in there somewhere. “Come back. Leave this form and come back. Amanda needs us. For her sake and for both your younglings, I am asking you to return.”
The beast cocked his head to the side before throwing it back and letting loose a heart-stopping howl that Gulzar felt rattle through his bones.
Chapter 28
Amanda
The sound of trickling water would have given her hope at one point, but not at the moment. She was slung over an alien’s shoulder, staring at the ground, and feeling like she might puke every time he took a step.
Keep it together. You’ve got this, she told herself over and over as she pinched her eyes shut.
They had gotten out of the village without anyone noticing, slipping through a hole that had been dug out of one of the outer walls. She had wanted to fight him, to kick and scream when he released her mouth, but she was terrified of what he might do. There was no way she was going to risk the life of her baby by provoking him. There was madness in his eyes, and it seemed to grow every time he looked at her.
Her captor stepped up and over a large rock, jolting her and causing her stomach to roil violently. Don’t be sick. Don’t be sick! She slapped a hand over her mouth, trying her best to push it back, but she knew she couldn’t. In fact, maybe she didn’t even want to try after being taken by him. She finally lost the fight when he rocked her again and emptied her stomach’s contents all down his back and legs.
The male stopped, jarring her again as he pulled her away from his body. Her feet touched the ground and she wobbled unsteadily.
“What have you done?”
“Sorry,” she murmured, but she didn’t really mean it. “You really shouldn’t have been jostling me around like that.”
When the male stepped toward her, his hand swinging back like he meant to hit her, Amanda flinched, her hands cradling her stomach protectively. He stopped, cocking his head as he watched her. His nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath before he dropped to his knees in front of her, pressing his face into her rounded belly.
“You are carrying young?”
She swallowed the lump of fear that tried to lodge itself in her throat. “Yes.”
His lips pulled back over his teeth in a snarl just before he let out something akin to a roar. The vines on his head writhed around his neck and shoulders as he slammed his fists into the ground near her feet. With lightning speed, the massive alien took hold of her arm and began pulling her through the woods.
“Hey!” she yelled, trying to pry his fingers from her. He was going so fast that she was nearly running in an attempt to keep up with him. “Cut it out!” She dug in her heels and bit down on his wrist as hard as she could.
Amanda collided with the back of his arm as he turned to stare at her, his head tilting. “Did you bite me?”
“You were hurting me.” She shifted uncomfortably.
He looked down at where his hand was still wrapped around her arm and his grip loosened slowly. “Sorry.”
The apology stunned Amanda for a moment and all she could do was stare. The alien who had attacked her at the lab, who had stalked her not just on Earth, but all the way across the freaking galaxy to steal her away from her mates was apologizing for hurting her arm?
She kept her eyes on the woods around them as they continued at a much slower pace. Now that she knew what was out there, she wasn’t going to risk getting caught off guard by another nightmare animal. With Oshen and Zar, she had felt safe and protected, but the Grutex wasn’t from Venora. The sounds of rushing water grew louder and louder, drowning out all of the other noise around them. When they reached the river, the male turned his red eyes on her and pointed.
“Stay.”
“I’m not a dog.” Amanda crossed her arms over her chest when he released her to step into the rushing water.
Her eyes searched the shoreline for anything she might be able to use as a weapon. She wasn’t fast enough to run from him, but if she could knock him out then she figured she stood a better chance of making it back to the village before he woke up. As luck would have it, there was a large, twisted branch just off to her right. Amanda crouched down, stretching her arm out.
Ignoring the tiny thorns that pressed into her skin, she wrapped her fingers around it and approached the edge of the water. When the male rubbed his hands over his face, she pulled the branch back before swinging it with all of her might. The force of the blow splintered the wood, vibrating up through her arms. She stumbled to the side as she lost her footing, scrambling across the sandy bank to get away.
Instead of falling into the water like she had hoped, the male threw his head back and laughed loudly. The sound made her blood run cold.
“What the fuck?” she stammered, crawling backward in an attempt to escape when he started out of the water toward her. “What sort of crazy ass chitin do you fuckers have? You’re like crabs on steroids!”
He picked up the broken branch where she had dropped it and flung it into the river. “I was right.”
“Right about what?”
“You really are stronger than she was.”
A shudder wracked her body as she watched his eyes roam over her as if she were something delicious he was intent on devouring. Revulsion surged through her as he pulled her up, cradling her against his wet chest like a child.
There was nothing left in her stomach, but that knowledge did nothing to keep the bile down. The bitter taste filled her mouth as she gagged, praying that he would just stop and let her rest or eat something to clean the taste off of her tongue.
The sun was just beginning to light up the sky when she felt his steps slow, and she looked up to see a ship wedged between two large trees. The ship had a triangular frame and four lon
g arms equipped with multiple weapons on the front. It was daunting in size, even with some of the arms damaged and missing sections. Judging by the condition, Amanda assumed they had crashed.
The soil was upturned, and several of the coral shoots that littered the ground had been thrown from the impact. Exposed wires poked out from an open panel and lights flickered on and off beside it. The Grutex set her down, lifted his hand, and placed it beside the door before leaning forward and speaking in a growly language. The ship spoke and then the door disappeared.
Amanda frowned at the empty space, looking up at the Grutex, but he ignored the look and pulled her through behind him. They passed through a series of hallways, each one looking just like the next with no distinguishable features. The ship was like a maze.
A cold, daunting maze.
Anxiety began to curl in her stomach, and she felt like she was going to be sick again. “What’s your name?” she asked, attempting to dissipate the growing terror she was experiencing.
“Xuvri.”
“Zoofree?”
“No. Xu-vri.”
Amanda worked her lips around the word drawing it out in her mind. “Xuvri?”
“Close enough,” he murmured.
He hadn’t been much of a talker during their trek here so she shouldn’t have been surprised when he didn’t volunteer anything further. The room he brought her to looked like some sort of mad scientist’s lab, but that wasn’t what made her breath catch in her chest.
Standing in the middle of the room with its head bent over a table full of vials was the strangest alien she had ever seen. His green skin reflected the dim light, and his black eyes were compound, made up of tiny hexagons. The long mouth that protruded from his face reminded her of a mosquito, and a shiver ran through her. Mosquitos were practically Florida’s state bird, and the life-size representation was even more terrifying than she had ever imagined.