Heart of Stone

by Regine Abel

  Although still traumatized by his mother, I burst out laughing. “So you flew?” I asked.

  He recoiled, an offended look on his face. “Of course I did,” he exclaimed as if the answer had been self-evident.

  That made me laugh even more.

  “And thus, your heroic big brother reputation remained intact,” I said teasingly.

  He hesitated, a strange look crossing his features.

  “What? Something happened?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

  Alkor squirmed uncomfortably on his chair and scrunched his face. How I wished he didn’t wear that disguise right now so that I could see the extent of the discomfort on his real features.

  “I got a little… cocky as you humans say.”

  My eyes widened with curiosity.

  “Oh, this should be good! Do tell,” I said, leaning forward, a smile already stretching my lips in anticipation of his confession.

  “I stabilized about halfway down the gorge Mother had pushed me into,” Alkor said. “I flew back up which, for my fledgling wing muscles, had been extremely demanding. When I saw ban… Marek cheering me from the ground, I got this ridiculous urge to show off. Father told me to land, but since Mother didn’t, I kept going, circling around my baby brother while he chanted my name. My exhaustion didn’t sneak up on me gradually, I just went from king of the sky to plummeting wreck.”

  I pressed a hand to my mouth.

  “I crashed so hard,” Alkor said, wincing at the memory and shaking his head. “Father had to all but scrape me off the ground, while Mother laughed her head off.”

  “Good Lord!” I said, wondering what kind of mad woman had birthed him.

  “Don’t judge her too severely,” Alkor said with a smile. “Duras is a harsh world. Children need to learn to become tough early on. She knew I wouldn’t sustain serious injuries from the fall she also knew would be inevitable. Mother said I was truly my sire’s son, typical show off. A few broken limbs would help set me straight. And she was right.”

  “You broke your limbs often?” I asked, dipping a soup dumpling in the sauce.

  “All the time,” Alkor said before laughing out loud at himself. “See, crashing that first day only enhanced my prestige with my brother. Not only had I flown on my own, but I had survived a deadly crash with a mere fracture and a couple of bumps and bruises. Clearly, I was invincible. Godly even.”

  “Oh God!” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t wait to meet him. Your brother sounds like a riot.”

  “He is,” Alkor said, smiling fondly. “You’ll like Galtan and Sheira as well. She’s the youngest, but she sure loves to bully us.”

  “My kind of girl,” I said.

  He chuckled. “I bet.”

  I sobered and frowned slightly. “But will they be happy to see me?” I asked hesitantly.

  Alkor recoiled slightly and stared at me in surprise. “Of course,” he said as if that were obvious. “You are my Hondassa, my bonded mate. Some of my people live 3000 years and die without ever finding their soulmate. My family will rejoice that Lar blessed me by allowing me to find you.”

  He took both my hands in his and pressed them reassuringly.

  “Duras isn’t perfect. Water is scarce and that can be challenging for food or certain comforts. Seeing so much greenery—as you have here on Earth—is mind-blowing, a true luxury on my home world. But our people are welcoming of foreigners. Many alien species visit our world, some choosing to settle there, be it for their mate, their profession, or simply because it appeals to them. You will not be rejected for not being Durassian.”

  “So I keep you happy, and we’re all good?” I said, trying to hide my relief behind lame humor.

  “That sounds about right,” he said, winking at me.

  “I can handle that.”

  “Good. All done?” he asked, pointing at my empty plate with his chin.

  “Yes,” I said, rubbing my bulging belly while casting a sad glance at the handful of dumplings still sitting in the bamboo steamer.

  He waved at the waiter who promptly approached us. After we settled the bill, we left him a generous tip on the table.

  “Come, you bottomless pit,” Alkor said. Rising to his feet, he took my hand and led me after him out of the restaurant.

  Pleased by the nicely cool evening, we strolled along the streets, his arm around my shoulders, mine around his waist, like two lovers without a care in the world. It was, of course, an illusion, but one I fully intended to enjoy while it lasted.

  13

  Alkor

  After much debate—we seemed to be doing that a lot lately—Brianna and I agreed to call Militza with one of the smartphones she had provided us to let her and Lana know that things were fine, right before boarding the train to Edmonton. With still no sign of pursuit nor any type of suspiciously lurking individuals, we felt confident that we had fooled our enemies. Despite keeping the call fairly brief, Militza confirmed that the Rose Syndicate had not relented in its efforts to break into the club.

  It greatly disturbed me to leave them in this vulnerable position. However, with me now gone, the two sisters intended to file a complaint with the police about random strangers seemingly intent on breaking and entering. They hadn’t wanted to call them while I was still in the club to avoid difficult questions or bringing too much scrutiny on me. But now, they hoped to earn heightened police surveillance around The Darkest Hour, making things more challenging for the Syndicate’s agents.

  As the train raced over the tracks, I devoted a large portion of my time to tweaking my armor and shield, and trying to enhance the perception filter. In the meantime, my mate sat under the domed section of the train, enjoying the view of the landscape while working on the plans for The Darkest Hour. Her determination to see it through baffled me, but it also alleviated part of my guilt for spending so much time training, locked up in our cabin for two—not that she complained.

  My beautiful Hondassa…

  I still couldn’t believe we were mated. But as much as it warmed my heart, a part of me wondered if she had truly thought it through, and if she would grow to regret it later. Brianna still suffered from a sense of abandonment by both her parents. Unlike her father, her mother had not chosen to leave her, but in death, she had nonetheless.

  In the years since she had reappeared in my life, trying to meet me, I’d spent a bit of time investigating her. She’d closed herself off to most people, never really giving her relationships a fair chance. According to Brianna, most men she’d dated had struck her as not quite honest in their willingness to commit to a serious relationship. I didn’t quite believe all those men had truly lacked on that front. Brianna’s fear of abandonment had driven her to abandon them first the moment she felt on shaky ground.

  It scared me to think she had surrendered so completely to me only because I’d saved her life, thus creating a unique, unbreakable bond between us. I wanted my mate to want me, love me for who I was, not for the sense of safety and stability I could provide. But then, maybe I was reading more into it than I should. Maybe Brianna had fallen as hard for me as I had for her.

  If she changed her mind at the last minute, it would crush me.

  Terrible thoughts of dragging her on board, kicking and screaming, crossed my mind. Once in space, there would be no turning back for her. However, that wasn’t how I wanted to build the foundations of our life together. It wasn’t the Khargal way. The thought of taking a female against her will made my skin crawl and my stomach churn. But my heart ached and my innards twisted at the prospect of a life without her.

  I could stay on Earth to be with her.

  Could I? If it came to that, would I forfeit my one chance to go home and be reunited with my family after a thousand years of waiting? And what of my Warrior’s Oath? I had to report for duty. And if the war continued on Duras, I was honor bound to go home and fight for my people. Turning to look out the window of the cabin, my gaze roamed over the breathtaking landscape outsid
e, so many trees, bushes, flowers, and grass. Duras would not offer such lush exteriors. Earth would never replace my home world in my heart, but I couldn’t deny having grown to love it over the millennium it had offered me shelter.

  Stop torturing yourself and borrowing trouble.

  I smiled, hearing myself speak Lana’s words to myself. I did have a propensity to worry about things outside of my control or that couldn’t be helped. For a blink of a second, I considered underhanded ways of ensuring she wouldn’t back out, like letting her know that her long life, accelerated healing, and increased strength would fade, and she would revert back to a normal human without regular doses of my dassa. Although it was true, I immediately felt ashamed for having even contemplated that possibility. I wouldn’t blackmail her into being my life mate.

  If she didn’t choose to leave with me, I would resign my military commission and stay on Earth.

  But to make sure it didn’t come to that, I ended my training and hopped in the shower. In the twelve days remaining before the rescue, I intended to woo her like no female had ever been wooed before.

  Remembering some of Lana’s tales of romantic evenings with her husband, I squeezed in plenty of ‘cuddly times’ with my mate—as Brianna always called them. She enjoyed watching movies together, both of us naked, with my wings wrapped around us. Despite the roughness of my palms, my woman loved the daily, full-body massages I gave her. But what she enjoyed the most was cuddling in bed with me while I recounted tales of my youth on Duras. Although she still feared her, Brianna was growing fond of my dam, calling her ‘one badass lady.’

  She couldn’t have been more accurate.

  To be fair, my sire was no pushover. As a confident alpha male, he’d never felt threatened by my dam’s strength, content to let her assert her authority, which she never tried to impose on him. Mother would love Brianna and adopt her as a second daughter, which I knew would help fill a void in my Hondassa’s heart.

  Lar willing, she wouldn’t change her mind.

  We didn’t disembark during the couple of stops for people to stretch their legs, in no small part to avoid exposing ourselves to potential prying eyes. Too soon, the train pulled up at the Edmonton station. Feeling confident were weren’t tracked and to spare the charges on my suit’s camouflage, I wore the perception filter and Brianna remained as herself.

  The minute we stepped off the train, I realized our mistake.

  I felt his stare before our eyes met. It had been twenty years since I had seen the black hair and washed out grey eyes of that agent, a few weeks after coming out from forty-four years of deep duramna. As with every time I came out of hibernation, I attempted to touch base with most of my Khargal brothers. I’d found out that Tas was being held somewhere in London. My efforts to track him down almost got me captured by a relentless fiend called Agent Tulip. For some silly reason, the agents of that division had all taken names of flowers or plants.

  But there was nothing pretty or delicate about this specific fiend. What in Lar’s name was he doing on this side of the ocean, and here of all places?

  Tas must have escaped.

  Either that, or he was on to another of my brothers who might be coming through Edmonton as well, on the way to the rendezvous point.

  I averted my eyes as one would when dismissing a stranger whose gaze they had met. But I remained alert, inconspicuously looking for his backup. He wouldn’t have recognized my human disguise. However, Stephen had undoubtedly sent pictures of Brianna to his acolytes. Seeing me by her side, towering over everyone with my 6’7 height, he would naturally draw conclusions as to my real identity.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Tulip walk nonchalantly in the same direction we were heading while calling someone on his phone. Forcing myself to walk at a normal pace, I avoided alerting Brianna while we remained in his line of sight. I could have whispered to her in a tone barely audible to human ears, and she would have heard me loud and clear thanks to the enhancement provided by my dassa. Fearing her expression of shock, surprise, or fear might giveaway that we were on to them, I waited until we entered the building.

  “Keep a neutral expression,” I whispered as soon as we passed the doors. To my relief, Brianna stiffened but her face revealed none of her emotions. “An agent is trailing us. He must have recognized your face. We must find a place for you to put on the filter and for me to go stealth.”

  With so many people pouring out of the train, many were making a beeline for the bathrooms or the souvenir stores. Leading Brianna by the hand, I headed for a corner of the room where the flow of people provided a living wall. Too focused on their destination, no one paid any attention as I crouched, pretending to tie my shoes. Brianna further hid me from view by standing before me. I activated my armor’s camouflage and removed the perception filter bracer before slapping it on my woman’s arm.

  Getting out of here without bumping into anyone would be difficult, but with the masses already pressing against each other in their eagerness to leave, it shouldn’t raise any suspicion. Brianna weaved a path through the crowd with impressive dexterity on her way to the bathroom, but didn’t go in. She turned into the corridor on the left and continued instead to a recessed corner with self-service ticket machines, disappearing from view.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see Tulip trying to get past the sea of humans keeping him from getting to my woman. He couldn’t see her from where he stood, or where she had gone after turning the corner. Looking back in her direction, a grin split my face as I observed a charmingly wrinkled older lady with stretchy, black pants and a red coat with a huge maple leaf—my latest addition to the disguise library—come out from the little nook.

  Walking with purpose, Brianna headed towards the exit and the taxi stand. As per our agreement, she would simply hop in a cab and go straight to our intended motel—if she wasn’t being followed—or to a mall where we would reconvene. I would follow in stealth flight.

  Growing increasingly frantic, Tulip became a bit more brutal shoving his way past the people, earning himself a few tongue lashings, which he ignored. A pretty blonde female, dressed in a black, leather, motorcycling suit walked up to him. He jerked his head towards the bathroom, irritation plain to see on his face. I memorized her face as she rushed into the bathroom, cutting in front of the other women lining up.

  Not wanting to linger any more than necessary, I slipped through the swarm, holding both Brianna’s bag and mine over my head to avoid them hitting anyone. Thankfully, they weighed next to nothing for me.

  As soon as I cleared the automatic doors of the station, I summoned my wings, ran a few steps, and took flight once it was safe to do so. I landed barely two hundred meters later, near the taxi stand where Brianna was queueing for a taxi. Texting her with two bags in hand turned out to be too much of a challenge, but dropping them to the ground would make them visible. Closing the distance between us, I brushed against her arm. She stiffened slightly in surprise.

  “Safe,” I whispered in that almost inaudible tone.

  A discrete smile blossomed on her lips, confirming she had heard me. I stood nearby, out of people’s way, until she got into her taxi and on her way to the motel. One last look at the station revealed the pair of Rose Syndicate agents fuming at the entrance, their heads jerking this way and that, looking for us in vain.

  Resisting the urge to go eliminate the threat, I took flight again and followed the vehicle carrying my mate to safety.

  “From now on, you must keep using the perception filter while we travel,” I said to Brianna, as I spooned her on the motel bed.

  “But it will drain too fast, same as your armor,” she argued.

  I smiled and nuzzled her neck.

  “They will last longer than you imagine,” I said gently. “I’m just overly cautious when it comes to using them. But it can run for a few hours. I have a portable charger so that you can replenish it during your flight to Virginia Falls. It’s not as effective, but it should help preven
t a disaster.”

  “My flight?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder with a shocked expression.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding. “I will fly alongside the plane. It is safer that we’re not seen together. My height makes me stand out too much,” I added quickly when she opened her mouth to argue. “Now that the Rose Syndicate is alerted to our presence in Edmonton, they will be surveilling every train station, bus stop, and airport. They know your face and a wig can only get you so far. Even if you wore a burka, if they see a man my height with a female your height, they will know right away.”

  Brianna turned around to face me, a worried look on her face. “You’re going to be exhausted.”

  I laughed. “No, my love. I can fly for hours over a very long distance without tiring. Carrying someone else is a bit more challenging, but you’re so light, I barely feel it. The real killer is flying with stone skin. It weighs me down a lot and slows my movements. That drains me in no time. That’s why I had been so keen on training lately. All will be well.” I brushed her hair from her face, and caressed her lips with my knuckles. “Is there any way you can speak with a deeper, more manly voice?”

  “You want me to wear a man’s disguise?” Brianna asked, surprised.

  I nodded. “It will draw far less attention to you. The agents will be looking for a female of your approximate height. They are aware of the perception filter but haven’t managed to see through it… yet. If you stroll in as a man in his early twenties or his late sixties, they are less likely to pay you much attention.”

  “Hmm, good point,” Brianna said with a slight frown. “How do I sound? Is that manly enough?”