Colun's Passion (Alien Mates Book Four 4)

by Serena Simpson

  Sara glanced up at Colun and then at Joaquin. She didn’t know what was happening, but they weren’t lying. She was someplace other than where she belonged.

  “Is this because I took your power?” Out of the pan and into the fire. Why did she continue to cling to life when everything around her wanted her dead?

  “In theory, yes, but none of us knows what would have happened if you didn’t reach for my power. We may have still ended up here.”

  “Can I give it back to you and say I’m sorry? All I could think about at the time was that I didn’t want to die. Your power was inside of me like an ember, and I followed it back to you before I snatched it and wrapped it around me like a cloak.

  “Sara, I want you to live. I could have stopped you, but I knew it was you, that’s why I did nothing.”

  She smiled at him like a tiny flower bud beginning to uncurl when it realizes that nature isn’t tricking it, and the sun is here to stay. Jim had never done anything unselfish for her. He would have killed her if she tried to take anything away from him. Jim hated her, what a revelation it was for her to wake up and realize the man she married hated her.

  “Thank you.” She cleared her voice afraid it was a little too soft and sappy. “How do we get out of here?”

  “That’s where I come in,” Joaquin gave her a courtly bow. “Only I’m not leading you out. I’m leading you to the trials. Please, follow me.” He took off ahead not wanting to be in the middle of the conversation he knew was coming.

  “What are the trials?” She looked up at Colun, his gray eyes captivating her making her forget to breathe.

  Colun lowered his eyes breaking the connection between them and leaving her feeling bereft for a moment.

  “The trials are where my people go when they wish to become soul-bonded.”

  “Colun, say what? No, Colun, I honestly have no idea what you just said.”

  “You already know that aliens exist.”

  “You’re talking about that monster that hovered over the grass and tried to kill me.”

  “That’s the one. He’s an alien, and he’s not on this planet alone. They look like that because they were caught up in the backlash of their destructive behavior, but we can talk about that later. They are here because they followed a group of survivors to this planet, a different alien race.”

  “Do we have a cosmic sign welcoming all strays?” She smiled up at him, but he wasn’t smiling at her.

  “Your planet is isolated; it’s the perfect place to hide out if needed.”

  She could see that. Earth was the only planet with life on it and you had to travel deep into their solar system to get to Earth, most beings probably just passed them up.

  “So we attract the desperate.”

  “It’s more like you attract those who are running from war and simply want peace, but in the case of the Sudir, sometimes you attract the evil ones, too.”

  “So you’re an alien?” That was the real question. The only question that mattered right now.

  “Yes. I’m an Arbrin/Matra. They use to be two different species on my planet. In the Sudirs greed to have our world, they fused two independent species into one. Fortunately, for us, we work well together and can coexist in one body. I was young, but I am still the product of the fusing. The shock, the pain of being unable to separate struck me on a physical and mental level. Some of the fused ones didn’t make it; they couldn’t accept being one. Maybe I survived because I was so young, or maybe because the Arbrin and the Matra were the best of friends it was already like we were one. Either way, the aftermath of what happened wasn’t easy to live through.”

  “What does being Arbrin and Matra mean?”

  “It means I can change my shape.”

  “Like turn into a cat or a dog?”

  “No, the Matra looks different from the Arbrin. You’re seeing the Arbrin now because this form blends in well with your Earth forms, but I can change into my other shape also.”

  “Alrighty, then.” She wasn’t ready for the fact that he turned into something else. “What are the trials for?”

  “When we find our soul-bond, the one we wish to spend our lives with, we come to the trials. Almost like getting married except there is no divorce. We become united on a spiritual level as well as a mental level. This allows us to talk to each other mentally and to feel the other person.”

  “And when you soul-bond with a lying cheating bastard?”

  “That’s why we come to the trials. It prevents what you are saying from happening.”

  “Colun, why are we here?”

  “Because we are dying, Sara. When you took my powers to save your life, you weren’t able to deal with them. They’re killing you and if you die so do I.”

  “We either soul-bond or die?”

  “That’s the bottom line, but it’s not that easy. The trial doesn’t care if we live or die. It only cares about one thing, approving unions that are meant to be. If we are not compatible, if we were never meant to be, then we will die, and the trial will give its blessing to our death. There are no tricks, and you can’t fake it. You have to be who you are one hundred percent of the time and either it’s good enough or it’s not.”

  “I’m not sure I like your world.”

  “I’m not all that enthused about the world you were living in either.”

  She reached out and placed her hand in his. Why? Because it didn’t matter anymore. They were going to die here so she might as well do all the things she wished she was brave enough to do. Like, hold his hand.

  Joaquin gave them a look over his shoulder. “How are the two of you doing?”

  “I don’t know about Colun, but I’m dealing with my imminent death remarkably well.”

  Joaquin just blinked at her before laughing. “Colun, I think she’s a keeper.”

  They smiled and walked on.

  “So if this is my brain, shouldn’t I see things I remember? People, places, and things I miss and wish I could visit again.”

  “They’re in here along with all the things you’ve tried for years to forget,” Colun told her.

  “Stop,” she pulled on Colun’s hand. “That’s my mom.”

  “How old was she there?” Joaquin asked.

  “She was over a hundred. I think it was her hundred and eighth birthday party.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, I’m sure she was my mom. I gave her the party. She died two years later.”

  Her mother was giving her birthday speech. She gave one every year telling the world how proud she was of her daughter and granddaughter.

  “What do you hear, Joaquin?”

  “I don’t think Sara’s mother was one hundred percent human. She was human enough to fool the scans and the test, but I believe she had some alien DNA within her.”

  “That’s foolish, my mom was human just like I am.” She looked at both of them daring them to naysay her.

  Joaquin started walking again taking her past the memory of her mom. She walked past more of her childhood memories and laughed at the moments in her life that were fun and passed up the ones that caused her heartache.

  “Who is that?” Colun asked, staring at the memory trapped in a cell.

  “That’s my ex; I put his memory here so it wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “He isn’t a very nice man.

  “No, he isn’t, he comes back around every couple of years to see if I’m still alive and if I’m ready to invite him back into my life. My answer is always the same. Yes, I’m alive. No, you will never reenter my life.”

  Joaquin stopped before a door. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for trying Joaquin travels. This is where we must part ways. The trials await you through this door. Have a safe and happy trip, oh and die well.” With a flourish of his arm followed by a bow the door opened, and he turned and walked away.

  “Shall we?” Colun gave her a smile, and they walked through the door together.

  Chapter Ten

 
The area around them was beautiful, reminding Sara of the exotic locations she loved to watch on television. There was a waterfall with lush flowers all around. She expected to see a beautiful woman with a grass skirt and a lei welcoming her.

  “I’ve always dreamed of taking a trip to a paradise that looked like this.”

  “Why haven't you gone?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t have an excuse. Every time I thought of going something came up. It wasn’t the right time of year. My funds were low; I didn’t want to go by myself. The crime rate was ridiculous. It was one excuse after the other, and that’s what they were excuses. I used them to keep myself in my comfort zone. I was so busy living life that I forgot to live life.”

  She stood taking in the clean air that was slightly moist indicating that it was summer. A cool breeze ruffled her hair while the sounds of the natural inhabitants came to her from a distance.

  “I wish I had a blanket and a picnic basket. I could see spending time here.”

  “It’s beautiful,” but he wasn’t staring at the waterfall or the flowers. Colun was watching Sara and how her eyes glowed at the unexpected treat. “One day, after this is all over, you should go to Hawaii, rent a bungalow, and enjoy the exotic landscape. Maybe we could go together.”

  Her eyes left the waterfall behind to look at him. She took in his face; he wasn’t laughing at her, and he didn’t have that look that said he was just waiting for a moment of weakness to pounce on her.

  “That might be nice.” She had been alone so long now that the thought of linking her name up with another, of becoming the official we instead of me was foreign to her. Although the more she thought about it, the more she thought she might like it.

  “What do we do now that we are here?”

  “We need to find the door to get into the trials.” They linked hands again and started walking through the lushness of the trees.

  “So we go in, they ask us some questions, and then they determine whether we live or die.”

  “Sara, you know nothing is ever that easy or straight forward. The trial varies from couple to couple. It’s something you can’t prepare yourself for. All you can do is be you.”

  “That doesn’t give me a sense of comfort, Colun; I have failed miserably at being me during my life. I was my mother’s daughter, then my husband's wife, and then I became my daughter's mother. When all that was gone, when those people were no longer in my everyday life, I sat still and waited for them to call so I could once again slip into the roles that defined my life. I don’t know who Sara is and if I don’t know how will your trials know?”

  “I don’t know, but I can understand a little how frustrating this must be to you. I have to believe that the trials see more than the outside persona. I believe they see us soul deep, which may not be comforting to you.”

  “How do you prepare for death, Colun?”

  “You don’t, you fight tooth and nail to survive.”

  The sound of clapping made them turn around to find a large flat area where they just were. There was a large boulder with someone sitting on top of it. And a door that went high into the sky. It looked ancient, giving off the impression of great power.

  “I am with your male, never prepare for death, instead fight to live. Although death is inevitable, it comes for all of us and you should be prepared for the fact that one day you will die. Never let it catch you unaware.”

  He stood and jumped from the boulder landing in front of Sara.

  “What are you,” she asked as she stepped closer to Colun.

  “What am I or who am I? My name is Voyager; I like to hang around these trials. I come for the amusement and the blood.”

  “The blood?” Her body pressed against Colun, his arm wrapped around her giving her security.

  “Yes, the blood,” He pulled back his teeth exposing sharp canines. “Many couples come here thinking they can get out of their current situation by soul-bonding. The trials are not happy when that happens, and they kill them. The blood and gore are fantastic. If your still around, I’ll take you to a couple marked for death.”

  “We’ll pass.” Colun was holding onto Sara tight as her body began to shake the more Voyager talked. “How do we get inside?”

  “I have not finished answering your potential soul-bonded questions. I am a Matra the other side of the Arbrin you are snuggled up against.” Voyager stood in nothing but a pair of jeans.

  He was tall, coming in at the same height as Colun. His chest was wide with ropes of muscle, hair covered him. The hair looked soft and fine; it was short; she bet just long enough for her fingers to play with. His canines were long, and his nails and toes were claws, but he could talk. His face was perhaps the most alien thing about him if you discount the nails and canine teeth.

  He was not human, but he wasn’t unattractive either. He had two eyes and ears; it was the shape of his head that made her hesitate. It brought back to memory the chart they used to show in school with man evolving from monkey to human. He could have been on that chart more advanced than anything they had when she was in school.

  Voyager was obviously intelligent, maybe even witty with a bizarre taste for blood. She gave a shrug at that, everyone liked different things. If she saw Voyager in a dark ally she’d scream and run like the devil himself was after her. If she saw Colun like this, she’d be intrigued.

  “No. no, no,” she whispered to herself. All aliens were off the menu, so why was she still wrapped in Colun’s arm? “Is that what you look like?”

  She looked up at Colun waiting for him to say no.

  “That’s me. I have some silver hair, and I’m a bit older than Voyager but he looks a lot like I do in my Matra form. It's rather uncanny the resemblance.”

  Voyager threw him a smile but refused to comment on why he looked this way.

  “You switch forms often?”

  “I do. Both of my sides need to come out and breathe. In the B&B we usually can be found in either form when we don’t have guests. You never know who will be sitting at the dinner table the Arbrin or the Matra. The soul-bonded don’t blink an eye. The children are used to it. We don’t hide who we are, just like I’m not asking you to change who you are.”

  The back of her neck itched with the need to apologize to him for her reactions in the parking lot. He didn’t deserve that. That little voice in the back of her head that was screaming caution kept her from apologizing, she needed to be sure about him before she was all in.

  “Now about when that door will open.”

  “I want to thank you for explaining the Matra to me. It was helpful.” She gave Voyager a smile that set Colun’s teeth on edge. She could see him bristle, and she liked it.

  “You do not want to thank me yet. I come to these trials to have fun not to make your lives easier. The door is opening; I suggest you do not hold hands when you go through, it will hurt less. That one is on the house.”

  He climbed back on top of the boulder and watched the door with vivid interest as they walked through shoulder to shoulder.

  *~*~*~*

  A claw reached out and grabbed her leaving thin ribbons of red on her arm and her leg. The animal that grabbed her threw her against a wall; the breath knocked out of her. Where was she?

  “Colun? Colun, are you here?” Her voice echoed around the large space, but there was no responding echo. She was alone in the trials and clueless. She stood to realize she was limping a little from the claw marks on her leg, and her arm ached something fierce.

  She looked down the walkways seeing breaks that went off into random directions. The walls were concrete and so was the floor. She looked for a handhold to climb the wall, but there wasn’t any. When she craned her head back as far as it would go and looked up, she realized she couldn’t see where the walls ended. She was in a maze, it was the only thing that made sense.

  What was the trick to getting out of a maze? She read it some time ago and stored it in case she needed the knowledge. At the time she lau
ghed thinking of how highly unlikely that would be. Now she couldn’t remember, it was like cotton was covering the answer she was seeking. Picking a direction she started to walk.

  Maybe this meant she had flunked the trials already, and they brought her here to kill her. Was Voyager sitting up high preparing to see her blood and guts over the walls of the maze? One wall blended into another as she made random turns hoping the opening was just ahead of her. It was the sound of barking that made her stand still. It wasn’t sweet, like a pug or even a pit bull. Maybe what she thought was barking at first was growling, and it was getting closer to her.

  Fear pumped adrenaline into her veins the minute she saw a large shadow on the wall. Her feet flew as she ran, they were getting closer to her. She took a precious minute to look behind her, the yellow eyes of the animals following her were visible. She could see the sharpness of their teeth as drool came out in abundance. They were huge, some form of animal she never saw before. Whatever it was was deadly and coming after her.

  “Please, please, please,” she begged anyone who was listening as she ran. Her leg ached and throbbed. Fire ran through it and still she ran. Her arm hung almost useless at her side, and her breath came out in pants that suggested any minute she was going to fall flat on her face.

  She slowed down, and the animals kept pace with her. They never came close enough to take a bite out of her, but they never let up their pursuit. When she slowed down, they came closer making her run faster, demand more out of her body. This wasn’t her she cried out in her head. She was used to not doing anything. Her house cared for her, how was she supposed to care for herself, to fight off what was coming for her, had always been coming for her?

  She wanted to fall, admit defeat, and accept that death awaited her. And she would have, but her core was solid and strong, and it pushed on declaring she was stronger than she thought. It made her believe she had a fighting chance, so she continued to put one foot in front of the other, but eventually no matter how hard or valiantly she fought, she would have to rest.

  Her legs were rubber, and her heart hurt in her chest. She couldn’t do it any longer. She fell against the side of the wall thinking death was imminent.The wall gave way, and she fell threw it onto a grassy surface. It was the sound of water that made her turn her head. She clawed her way to her hands and knees and crawled until she found a small river running through the land. The claw marks on her arm, and leg were an angry bright red, a small voice told her she was going to lose her limbs. Answering herself, she said if she didn’t get any water it wouldn’t matter because she’d be dead.