He was at my side, grabbing my arm before I could even detect his movement. His touch sent a searing pain down my body and I screamed, attempting to free myself from his grasp. I failed. His power coursed through me, and I supposed it was like being electrocuted. It was agonizing. It brought me to my knees, but his ironclad grip remained in place. I was no match for this.
My lungs burned as I fought for oxygen and begged, “Please, let me go. You’re hurting me!”
“I am highly aware of that.” The cruel twisting of his lips made me think he was enjoying my pain.
“You could not be further from the truth. I am simply attempting to teach you some manners Ms. St. Davis. Keeping your annoying mouth shut would be a good place to start,” he snapped, reading my mind.
“Okay!” I whimpered. “I’ll be quiet. I promise. Just let me go...Please!”
He regarded me critically but then released me. I tumbled forward slamming into the cold hard floor. It felt wonderful against my burning body. Pure abject fear then took over, flooding every fiber of my body. Then, violent trembling began and I thought my heart would explode. I felt the tears flooding my eyes. My emotions were going haywire. One second I was angry then I was contrite, now I was terrified. What was happening to me?
“You are reacting to my power. The pain of my touch has caused this cascade of emotions. It can have a psychological as well as a physical effect. It will pass.”
I couldn’t speak. My throat had constricted to the point I was worried about breathing. He continued to assure me it would pass. All sorts of horrible things were happening at once. I was mortified, in pain, frightened and sad. It was overwhelming.
“Breathe Ms. St. Davis. It will pass,” impatience echoing throughout the space. If that wasn’t enough, I suddenly became violently ill, throwing up all over the place.
He bent down and reached for me, but I cringed and tried to crawl away. My body still wasn’t cooperating.
“No!” I tried to scream. “Don’t touch me.” My voice was raspy.
“Fear not,” he said gruffly, “I have repressed my powers. You will feel no pain.”
He scooped me up in his arms but I was shaking so badly I hardly noticed. He placed me on the bed, wiped my face and brow with a soft cloth and wrapped me in the coverlet. I still had no control over my body. My face was wet with tears and I was struggling to breathe normally.
“Be still,” he said harshly.
“I’m trying,” I sputtered.
He placed his palm on my forehead and I began to feel a pleasant warmth spreading throughout my limbs. My shaking subsided and my breathing returned to normal.
“What kind of creature are you?” I whispered, blinking excessively.
He took the back of his index finger and moved to wipe my tear-streaked cheeks. I cringed again, and tried to scoot away from him. My muscles acted like they didn’t know me.
“Do not fear, I will not hurt you with my touch,” he said, his voice softening. He went to the iPad things on the wall and a light beam appeared which must have somehow cleaned up the mess I had created.
His gentleness was at odds with his behavior from moments ago.
“I gave you a small demonstration of my powers because you would not listen to me,” he said as he read my thoughts. “You were acting the childish fool.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. If I didn’t do exactly as he said, he could do that to me again. The thought of experiencing that turmoil again made my stomach contract into a tight ball.
“I will only do that to you if you become exceedingly unreasonable, as you were then. Contrary to what you are thinking, I do not make a habit of torturing creatures nor do I enjoy it,” he informed me.
“What kind of being are you?” I could barely hear my own words as I spoke.
“As I told you on Earth, I am an energy shifter. My kind is a rare species so we try to keep our existence a secret. I am known as a Praestanus. I am comfortable in both of my forms. I can communicate without speaking...as can you. I can suppress my powers so I can touch others without inflicting pain. I can exist in any environment, as I do not require the need of certain elements to survive. It is difficult, yet not impossible to destroy or kill us. You are now thinking that if we are so powerful and difficult to destroy, why are we so secretive about our existence? The answer to that is my species has great difficulty in reproducing. Our infantile survival rate is dismally low.”
“Why?” I don’t know why I should give a rat’s behind, but I was somewhat intrigued by him.
“Because at birth, we can only sustain life in physical form, but we cannot control our strength or power. You may think that it would be greatly diminished in an infant, but it is the opposite for our species. Our infantile powers are so great, yet we cannot control them. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to care for our infants. They are often the cause of their mothers’ deaths.”
I looked at him saucer-eyed, trying to take all this in.
“How cruel to those mothers.”
“Exactly. They want nothing more than the survival of their young but it is often paid for with their lives,” he said with a rueful smile.
“So let me get this straight. You have a baby that doesn’t know how to control or suppress its power and the poor mother tries to care for it and ends up getting killed in the process.”
“That is correct.”
I spoke before I thought. “Maybe that’s God’s way of telling us your species shouldn’t survive.”
His eyes turned black and his voice was laced with menace as he said, “If I were you Ms. St. Davis, I would not verbalize comments such as that. There are others here that would quickly extinguish your life for even thinking such.”
“I apologize,” I quickly said in a strained voice. “I don’t know why I said that. It just popped out.”
“I would highly recommend you curb even thoughts such as that from ‘popping out’ while you are here. Unless of course you have a death wish. I understand from reading your memories that you did at one point. Oh, and Ms. St. Davis, this is not a warning...it’s a threat.”
I nodded as my throat worked convulsively.
I did not wish to die. I realized that now and it slammed into me in full force making my head reel. My experience with Rykerian had changed all of that.
He cocked his head at an unnaturally weird angle. It brought home exactly how “alien” this man was.
“So this Rykerian means a great deal to you then?” He read my thoughts again.
I knew there was no use denying it to him. He could pull anything out of my head if he chose.
I nodded saying quietly, “Yes, he does. He saved me. Literally and figuratively. I wanted to die at one point. Fortunately, I was never brave enough to take my own life. Rykerian’s made me realize quite the opposite now; he’s made me aware of how much I want to live,” I admitted.
A smile spread across his face. “That is good.”
“How so?”
“He will be most eager to accomplish this mission of rescuing my family.”
I giant hand seemed to wrap itself around my stomach and squeeze. The thought of Rykerian putting himself at risk made me want to become violently ill again.
“Ahh, you truly do love him, don’t you?” he asked in awe.
“No, I don’t...well, I think I...oh, I don’t know what I feel! I’m so twisted up over him!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air.
He angled his head again and I saw a band of light project from his eyes. I immediately drew back in fear, but this band enveloped me and I felt no pain. Images of two people began dancing before me. Then the voices came. It was Rykerian and Maddie talking at the house on Earth. He was moving around like a mad man screaming about my disappearance. Maddie was trying to calm him down...trying to comfort him. He was frantic, his eyes wild. He stopped and looked at her and exclaimed, “If something happens to January, I want you to destroy me. If you don’t, I will. I cannot live witho
ut her. She is the sunshine to my rain, the light to my darkness. She is the comfort to my pain, the joy to my sorrow. She is everything to me Maddie.” The images and voices began to fade.
I looked up at Jurek.
“Please let him know I am okay. Please?” I begged. I even reached my hand to his arm and held onto it. The resulting shockwave of pain made me jerk, but I didn’t let go. I only squeezed tighter. His widened eyes informed me of his surprise. He nodded and disappeared. I was left standing there, holding onto to nothing but air.
Chapter 10
The lights in the room had dimmed, as if they were on an automatic timer. I took that as a cue to try to get some sleep. My body had not healed completely from my brush with death so I fell into an exhausted dream-filled sleep.
I saw all the Guardians sitting around the conference table trying to devise a plan, but coming up empty-handed every time. Rykerian kept tearing his hands through his hair and the look on his face brought tears to my eyes. If I hadn’t known completely before this, his actions were convincing of how deep his feelings ran for me. The fingers of fear inched along my spine as my mind raced with all sorts of unacceptable outcomes.
What if they couldn’t figure out a way to get Jurek’s sister and father released? What if someone was killed in the process? What if Rykerian died? I awakened, dripping in sweat and tangled in the bedding. My heart was pounding and I was panting with fear.
The star filled picture captured my gaze so I dragged my enervated body out of bed and walked toward the large window. Was this all an illusion or was I looking out at the universe? As I stared at the view, I saw a light in the distance moving toward me and as it came closer, I realized it was some kind of space ship, much like the ones I saw at the Compound. Was my mind playing cruel tricks on me or was I truly seeing such a thing?
I began to doubt my sanity. I threw my hands against the window and started pounding it.
The screen lit up, but this time it was a male that looked much like Jurek. In fact, he could have been one of the men I saw at the CDC that day.
“Cease your pounding of the screen!” he ordered. “If you require something, you need only to gently tap it!”
“It would have been nice if someone had bothered to tell me that,” I muttered angrily.
“What is it you want?” he asked curtly.
“I... I don’t know! I mean, where is Jurek?”
“He is busy. He is not at your beck and call!”
“Ugh,” I said under my breath.
“If there is nothing you need, please stop disturbing us,” he said through clenched teeth.
What is it with these people, I thought? They expect me to sit here calmly, like I don’t have a care in the world?
“You are a prisoner here. What did you expect?”
“I... I just want to know what’s going on! Ugh! Will somebody tell me something?”
That feeling of electricity struck, and I was beginning to recognize it for what it was. I whipped my head around and there stood Jurek.
“My men are busy. What is it you need?”
“I’m... I’m so, I don’t know. I’m frustrated. I can’t just sit in here and wait. I can’t sleep. It’s driving me nuts!”
Unexpectedly, he started laughing. Not a chuckle or a brief snort. He was downright laughing, bent over at the waist.
“What? What’s so funny?”
He lifted his eyes toward mine and I sucked in my breath. Gone were the silver flecks and shades of midnight blue. His eyes were completely lavender, a soothing, most beautiful shade of lavender and they were stunning.
They were soft and gentle and I felt them tug at my heart. He seemed...nice. Not harsh and unbending but kind.
His head slanted to the right as he stared. Then he surprised me by saying, “Do not get used to this. It is rare that something makes me laugh.”
As I stared at him, his eyes changed back to the color I had become accustomed to.
“Make no mistake Ms. St. Davis. I am no gentleman nor do I intend to be. So do not allude yourself into thinking I can be changed. I am what I am and it has served me well all my years.
I numbly stared, not quite knowing how to respond. His words shook me out of my frozen state.
“Is there something else you wish? I am busy and have no time for dawdling.”
“Er...right. Well, I need to use the restroom.” I could feel my cheeks flaming.
His head flicked up and down once and he turned to the iPad looking things scattered on the wall. He tapped the first one on the left and the room immediately transformed into a bathroom.
“Seriously. This is incredible.” I turned to look at everything. There was a shower, sink and what I thought was a commode, but it wasn’t attached to anything. I bent down to take a close look. I put my hands on it and pushed down to see if it would move.
“May I ask what you are doing?”
“How does this thing work? It’s not attached to anything?” I kept pushing on it.
“You act like you want to hop aboard and take it for a ride. Just use it and do not worry about the mechanics of the thing. It is too complicated to explain.”
I looked at him and stuck my tongue out. Okay, I know it was childish, but I couldn’t think if anything else to do.
He burst out in laughter. Again. That’s right...he who never laughs, has now laughed twice in one day.
The whole situation struck me as comical so I found myself giggling along with him. He must think I’m dorky as all get out. Trying to push the commode around like a piece of furniture!
Our laughter finally subsided and he gave me the oddest look.
“You have quite an unusual effect on me, Ms. St. Davis.”
“It’s January. My name.”
He formally bowed to me and said, “January.”
I giggled again because I found that action to look comical.
He raised his brows and chuckled. “Enjoy the bathroom, January.” He was gone.
I rapidly took care of my needs when a thought hit me. What if they’re watching me?
I should’ve expected it but I was, nevertheless surprised when I heard his voice.
Have no fear. No one is watching.
How do I know?
First off, I do not lie. Second, my species does not approach a female unless they are invited. So unless you are inviting me January, you have no need to fear you are being watched.
Oh, okay. And just for the record, I’m not inviting you.
I never thought you were.
I stripped and stepped into the shower and...stood there. There was no water nozzle, no knobs or handle to turn on the water...here was nothing but a series of buttons. His voice came to me again, laced with laughter.
It seems I am destined to find humor today.
Yes, at my expense, I thought drily.
Humor is humor January. The top buttons on the left turn on the water. Tap them both simultaneously. The left is hot and the right is cold. The ones beneath them control the strength and type of flow. Play with them if you like. The second panel of buttons are body wash, hair wash, and so forth.
I tapped the two buttons to get started and the water appeared from everywhere...above, behind, in front and on the sides. It was like being in a water park. I couldn’t help but twirl around and laugh. I found the soap and had a bubble of a time. I tapped the next button and started to wash my hair. My guess was the third button would be conditioner and I hoped I was right, because that’s what I used it for. Then the fourth button threw me. I tapped it and at first nothing happened. Then I felt my arms being raised by an invisible string and next I saw my body glowing and surrounded by light. Seconds later, my arms fell to my sides and the glowing went away. I was momentarily confused until I looked at my skin and realized I was totally devoid of any body hair, save the hair on my head. I stood stock still. The hair must have melted off of me. My fingers quickly touched my face, inspecting it for eyebrows and lashes. It was a relief to
find they were still there.
I should have warned you about that last button January.
His voice was laced with laughter.
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that I can be such a source of amusement for you!
My eyes darted around in search of a towel but I quickly realized I didn’t need one. I was completely dry, including my hair. I stepped out of the shower and wondered about my clothing. My eyes landed on a neatly folded stack of white garments. I stepped into a soft pair of leggings and wrapped myself in the accompanying tunic, which was equally as soft.
Tap the first screen on the left when you want to return to the bedroom.
I followed his instructions and I found myself back in the white bedroom.
The large window beckoned me so my feet carried me there. Leaning in to get a better view I tried to imagine how I could possibly be standing and overlooking this glorious arena of stars. Is it real or an illusion?
It is as real as you are.
The felt room become charged with his presence. Every time he came to me, my fears lessened.
“As I said, you have nothing to fear from me January.”
“I am learning that,” I responded, though I was still wary of him.
“Was your time in the bathroom enjoyable?” he asked with a smirk.
My face flamed with embarrassment as I thought about my hairless body. I swiftly turned away.
“Perhaps I should have warned you,” he said.
“Yes, perhaps. Can we please change the subject?”
“Indeed we can. I came to inform you that I will be leaving in a while.”
“What? You can’t leave me here!” My apprehension mounted and I broke into a sweat.
“So you enjoy my company that much?” he teased. “Wait until your Rykerian hears of this.” He laughed under his breath.
“He is not ‘my’ Rykerian!” I shouted.
“You think not?” he challenged. “Have you learned nothing from the silly Vesturions and their ways?”
“They aren’t silly! Besides, when you insult them, you insult me.”
Determinant, a YA Paranormal Romance (Book 3 of The Guardians of Vesturon) Page 19