by Kyle, Celia
Eyes open, she dove into a world of glowing letters and tech schematics—a world of letters, numbers, and hidden pathways that led her to… communications.
“I’m in, Penelope.” She spoke to the ship once again though now her voice came over the comm system. It echoed in the rumbling craft, and she felt rather than saw that she had everyone’s attention. In truth, she couldn’t see at all. Not while her mind was integrated with the craft. “What do you need?”
“Look at the pilot.”
Lily turned her head toward where she believed the pilot still sat.
“Now the passenger cabin.”
She did the same, turning toward the back of the shuttle while maintaining the physical connection.
“I see five—Argan, Radoo, Triem, Zafre and Tyff. Correct?” Penelope was all business now.
“Yeah.”
“Then hold on. This is the first time we’ve tried this. It’ll be interesting to see if it works. Wanna take bets?” Now the ship sounded way too perky.
“Penelope…” she growled.
“I’m in your head, Lily. I know you’re not really mad at me.” Then Penelope blew a raspberry.
How the ship managed without a tongue, mouth, or lungs, Lily would never know. Maybe it was just a copy of one of Lana’s kids making the sound.
That was when the proximity warning for the shuttle decided to go off and Lily spared a thought to dip into the sensors. Fuck. Not only had the engines gone down, but it looked like the exterior sensors had been fucked with.
“We’ve only got a hundred feet, Penelope. Do whatever you’re gonna do,” she snarled at the ship and this time she did mean it. They didn’t have time to play around any longer.
“Everyone brace. Transport on the count of three.” Penelope was all professional now. “One.”
“Sixty feet to impact.”
“Two.”
“Fuck. Thirty.”
“Three.”
“Te—” Light flared across Lily’s vision, a flash of white that blocked out everything else. There was no shuttle interface or its sensor array. No flickering lights of blue or green. No hint of the Preor code that’d become a second home for Lily’s mind.
Then, as quickly as the world vanished, it returned.
“—n.” The rest of the countdown fell from her lips as her vision was restored. The white was gone to be replaced by the yellow of the sun and blue skies. The sterilized air from the shuttle was now tinged with the familiar scent of the sea. The unmoving air from the craft was now gusting winds.
And sounds… No more complaining metal. All she heard now were complaining birds.
She’d take it.
Lily squinted against the sun’s rays and glanced around her surroundings, trying to determine her location as well as confirm if Penelope had gotten them all.
To her left, she found the frozen pilot, unmoving with the exception of the occasional blink. Since War Master Taulan had been similarly affected by his first transport, she figured the pilot would be okay.
Then she sought out the others.
As if the shuttle still surrounded them, each male was in the same position he’d occupied on the ship, though now sprawled on the ground. Argan and Triem with space between them. Radoo across with Zafre and Tyff bracketing him.
Everyone looked equally shocked at the sudden change in location, but they didn’t matter. Only Argan mattered. She hoped she hadn’t saved him only to lose him to the shock from the transport.
Lily turned fully, the pebbled ground scraping against her thinly clothed legs. Pebbles? Another glance at her surroundings revealed the rest of her location. She recognized the roof of Preor tower, the home to many Cole-Daven females, Preor warriors, and those warriors who’d found happiness with their mates. Oh, and Lily.
Lily, who still sat on the hot rooftop. While she’d enjoyed Argan’s warmth, the burning roof wasn’t making her feel warm and toasty. Unless the toast was being burnt because she could sympathize with that.
She rolled to her knees, wincing as the rocks dug into the fabric of her pajamas and her skin. From there, she placed first her right foot and then her left, bracing her hands on her thighs while she figured out if she could stand.
So far so good.
Except moving made her head hurt and her breath wheeze, and dizziness decided it wanted to be her BFF instead of Penelope. She shook her head, trying to clear her blurred vision, and soon realized that was a mistake. Mainly because she swayed left and right—whichever direction her head pointed at any one time.
Okay, shaking her head was bad.
Lily straightened and shuffled forward, easing closer to Zafre and Triem. Zafre seemed still out of it, but he’d been a dick to Argan. He could wait a bit. Triem seemed to already be coming around, his blinks coming with increasing frequency as he returned to himself. On her left, Radoo was the same. And Tyff looked to be coming around as well.
As for Argan…
“Argan?” Her mouth was dry, throat scratchy and stinging. That was the problem with interacting with Preor tech. It was so powerful, so alien, that her body forgot to regulate normal processes. Like the production of saliva and swallowing. “Argan? Are you okay?”
She hoped he was okay. Because she really, really wasn’t. The longer she stayed upright, the more she realized that her mind wasn’t bouncing back like it normally did. Her head felt as if it was filled with cotton, clouded, her senses dampened.
Instead of getting better, her dizziness worsened. It sent her listing left and then right again, steps crossing over each other while she fought to remain upright.
“What the…” she mumbled and her foot collided with something. Something large and hard and… she glanced down. “A foot.”
Why did people leave random feet everywhere? Kids could trip and fall off the roof and then where would they be? Stupid foot throw-er away-ers.
“Shaa kouva?” Worry tainted Argan’s tone, his voice almost trembling as he tried to suppress his fear. He might be able to keep it out of his voice, but he couldn’t keep it hidden from her—or their connection. “You are well?”
Argan grasped her forearms and her lips curled into a soft smile. Not just because she knew he was okay, but also because he’d kept her from face planting.
“You’re okay.” A statement this time, not a question, and she released a happy sigh.
“I… am. But you do not seem to be well, shaa kouva. What—?”
Lily put her finger against his lips to quiet him. Or maybe more than one finger. It could have been all of them, really. Sensation was gradually abandoning her, control and her sense of touch bleeding away so she wasn’t sure what part of him she touched when she lifted her hands.
“Do me a favor.” She didn’t wait for him to agree. “Catch me.”
Chapter Eight
Argan did not understand how they had transported from the plummeting shuttle to the roof of Preor tower, but he did not need to understand. He merely needed to catch his mate before she fell to the hot surface.
With a single beat of his wings and flex of his muscles, he sprang to his feet, arms outstretched for Lily. He caught her with ease, her weight hardly noticeable as she slumped into his embrace. He swept her up and cradled her against his bare chest.
“Shaa kouva?” he murmured and scanned her face for any hint of her coming around. But she remained unconscious. No, not just unconscious. There was more in her mind.
Pain—throbbing and jolting.
Fear—haunting and overwhelming.
Then there was an odd… sizzling. A sparking in his mind that didn’t hurt yet didn’t feel right.
“What was that?”
“How did we get here?”
“Have we taken our final flight?”
The other males all voiced their questions, but Argan could only focus on Lily and getting her help. Which could not be found atop the high-rise building.
“Zafre, Tyff, get the door open.” He issued orders t
o the younger males before turning to his friends. “Do either of you have a comm connection to Penelope? We must summon Healing Master Chashan. Now.”
“I do not take orders from a Bara.” Zafre’s snarl whipped through the air and hit Argan as if it was a physical thing. “I will not hear the words from someone so dishonorable.”
“If you are not silent, I will send you on your final flight as my mate should have done. Instead, she brought us to safety. Now she requires medical treatment. Open. That. Door.” Argan’s beast stirred, his Bind warming with the dragon’s presence. He pushed against that feral part of him, unwilling to add the agony of the Binds to what his mate already experienced.
“Zafre, this is not the time.” Tyff grasped the male’s shoulder. “A female is injured.”
“A female mated to the Bara.” Zafre jerked out of Tyff’s hold. “Now she is broken like her mate. Argan sen Izz’bara should have been left alone to take his final flight. Perhaps the same can be said for the female.”
The rumbling growl formed deep within his chest and broke free before he could stop the threatening sound. The male believed it was better if his mate died. No. It would be Zafre who would take his final flight. Now.
“Radoo,” Argan called out to his friend, torn between the desperate need to get Lily help and the instinctual desire to beat Zafre until he was no more than a few pieces of blood and flesh. “Can you—”
The maroon Preor glanced at Argan, flashing his bright white teeth and lengthening fangs. “Gladly.” Radoo looked to Zafre. “Time for a trip, little dragonlet.”
In two massive steps, Radoo reached Zafre. A single beat of his wings sent them airborne and Radoo changed into his dragon form mid-flight.
“Will one of you open the door before I risk setting fire to the building?” Smoke escaped Argan’s nose as he spoke, but the pain from Lily overwhelmed any agony the Bind could impart.
Tyff bolted for the door, picking up speed with each step before he dropped his shoulder and rammed into the panel. It blew inward and slammed against the wall with a resounding crack.
Argan followed the male into the stairwell, sensing that Triem watched his back. He did not know what became of the pilot or how he reacted to the transport, but he would worry about the male later. After he’d ensured Lily’s health.
“Penelope!” he shouted for the ship the moment he stepped inside. “Lily is injured. She needs a healer.” Argan thumped down step after step, delving deeper into the heart of Preor Tower. “Have them bring their equipment to her apartment.”
He sensed she needed that. Needed the familiarity of her own space. To be surrounded by items she’d chosen and held dear. Though he’d never visited her home. Or even knew its location. He opened his mouth to ask Penelope but suddenly the information was there in his mind. It flooded his senses, instructing him to exit the stairwell at the sixty-seventh floor and then turn left. There would be only one door…
Tyff kept his quick pace down the stairs, but Argan paused outside the door to the correct floor. He brought back one booted foot and swung it forward, kicking the door until it allowed them to exit the stairwell. The moment it opened, Lily’s scent struck him. It reached out and embraced him in a soothing hug that managed to slow his heart the tiniest bit so he no longer felt as if his heart would burst.
No lights in the hallway guided him, but he did not need them. He simply turned left and listened to the directions in his mind. He traveled down the hallway another thirty feet and then turned right, pausing just in front of a set of secure doors. These weren’t like all the others in the tower. Those were human and created on Earth. These looked like those found on the ship.
“Scanning.” The stilted, buzzing voice surprised him—making him jump. “Identity confirmed. Lily joi Argan King. Argan joi Lily King. Entrance granted.”
When had Lily found the time to update her own security system with news of their mating?
“Chashan has been summoned. Place her in her bed and stay at her side. Chashan said he’ll work around you.” Penelope’s voice was urgent but low—as if she, too, were worried about Lily.
Though, he should not be surprised. He had spent hours interacting with Penelope while he was detained. He knew she was a caring… being. Person was too far of a stretch for him.
Without error, he strode through Lily’s massive apartment and located her bedroom. The large space was sparse, everything in shades of white with only a bed and dresser occupying the space.
It felt so cold. So empty. Yet Lily’s personality was so full and consumed by the fire of life. How could his mate relax in such a room?
“Chashan and Khaza are at the door. I’ve granted them access,” Penelope kept him updated. Good.
He nodded and moved to the side of the bed, carefully lowering Lily to the soft surface. Lying stretched out on the mattress in this pale room, he realized her skin was almost the same color as the walls. The bright spark of life had seeped from her body while he brought her home.
No. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—lose her now.
Movement near the door drew Argan’s gaze and he found Triem staring at him—him and Lily. “You truly care for her? Even if she is not a mate?”
“She is a mate. My mate.” His dragon would not be suppressed, and fire darted past his lips.
The Bind whipped him with pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony that still slipped from Lily into him. That ache… he understood why his mate could not stand against such a feeling. It was too large, too intense, and he only experienced it second-hand.
Triem’s gaze went to Lily, stayed focused on her for a moment, and Argan was sure he saw a look of utter longing and need on his friend’s face. If the male dared to think he could lay a single claw on his female…
“Step aside,” Chashan barked out the order and Triem quickly complied.
Argan did the same, stepping back so the healing master had a clear path to Lily. Following Chashan was the male’s mate Khaza, a heart master. She cradled the young human bay-bee Eric to her chest.
She gave Argan a soft smile and then a reassuring pat on his arm. “It will be well. This is not the first time. It shall not be the last.”
He swallowed hard. “She has spells like this? Often? And she requires a heart master once Chashan has healed her body?”
By the skies what kind of life of terror had he dived into. He would not give Lily up, but he now imagined countless years being this afraid after she lost consciousness.
Khaza laughed and the baby giggled in return. “No, I cannot touch her mind due to her condition. But she often is annoyed and I have found that she smiles more quickly when I bring Eric.”
“Condition?” Argan’s attention swept from Khaza to Chashan. “What kind of condition does my mate have? She never mentioned an illness.”
Not that they spent much time together before they were bound.
Chashan snorted. “It is a condition of her own making. As is this one.”
The healing master gently turned Lily’s head and lifted her hair to expose the back of her neck. And an odd black snake dangled from her flesh.
Chashan grasped the midnight snake just behind its head where it had pierced Lily and yanked. “And done.”
The healing master held it up and inspected the thin black snake. But it did not appear to be a true snake. No, when Argan eased closer, it appeared to be… “Is that a cord of some sort? How did that cause Lily’s illness? She was in great pain and—”
And he closed his eyes, searching for that odd dizziness and agony that he knew came from Lily, except he found nothing. There was nothing influencing him any longer. The removal of that cable ended whatever torment had plagued his mate.
He pulled it out of Chashan’s grasp and stared at the five-inch length. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not surprised she did not speak of it.” Chashan reached into his pocket and withdrew a miniature scanner. One that had a cord attached. A cord much like the on
e he’d just removed from Lily’s head.
Before Chashan could plug it in, he grasped the male’s wrist, stopping him from moving another inch. “What is this? What are you doing? Why did she have that thing in her head? You will not touch her until I know more. Lily is mine. I will protect her.”
Chapter Nine
I will protect her. Argan’s words echoed in her mind, reverberating in her skull and bouncing off her implants. The implants that still crackled and snapped with every beat of her heart.
The lingering electric charge—unwelcomed by her body—continued to zap down her spine. Her fingers twitched, the small trail of nerves that ran through her arm triggering the tiny movements. Tendons tightened and relaxed, the uneven electrical charge stealing control of her body.
And it’d continue until…
Until she jacked into Chashan’s diagnosti-doc. He had some fancy, clinical name for the device, but Lily had her own for each piece of his equipment. She’d gotten to know each of them, after all. It’d taken a while to figure out what portion of Preor tech she could interact with and what few devices nearly fried her mind.
Chashan growled, causing little Eric to cry. Khaza’s soft whispers soon followed and Lily’s lips turned up at the corners. She’d brought the little bundle of baby, and Lily counted the seconds until Khaza had enough of the two males arguing and scaring Eric. It was funny as hell when the unassuming woman snapped and snarled, turning the big, bad warriors into docile puppies.
“Argan sen Izz—”
“joi Lily King,” Argan hissed. The big guy sounded seriously angry. “By her own claim, we are mates. You will not touch her until you explain your actions.”
Argan’s utter fury suffused her body, sinking into Lily’s bones and taking up residence. And that heat of anger transformed the beginnings of her grin into a smile.
Though his subsequent growl spurred her into motion. She sensed his location within the room—his nearness—and lifted her hand to clasp his. Heated skin enveloped her hand, rough calluses scraping her smooth flesh.