Ulric’s eyes were darker than she remembered them, and no longer fully human. The glint of the animal he’d somehow transformed into still lay beneath the surface. His face was shadowed with a beard.
“I just want to be with you. Is that so bad, Alex?”
“Get away from her!” Damon shouted.
Ulric looked over his shoulder, then met her gaze. “It looks like you’ve already replaced me.”
“I don’t understand what you were thinking. Why would you stow away on my ship? Damn you for being so possessive. You don’t own me, okay? I’m not one of your many possessions back on Anteris.” Alex yelled. She thought she’d already established herself as something more than just another possession. Yet, this invasion of her privacy proved otherwise.
Aleena stepped in Ulric’s path when he approached her. “I think it’s time we get a few things straight. You all look so angry and confused.”
Ulric turned and glared at the blonde woman. “I’ve dreamt about you so many times. Who are you?”
“I’d like you all to meet Ulric Cale. Although, that wasn’t the name I gave him. Someone else had the honor of naming him.” She wrapped a small hand around his arm, forcing him to face her. “He’s the one who’s been slaughtering people on our planet.” Aleena sighed. “It was inevitable and certainly wasn’t his fault.”
“Wait a minute,” Alex said. “You knew he was the one slaughtering your people, and you didn’t do anything to protect them?”
She shrugged and grabbed Ulric’s other hand when he tried to slip out of her grasp. “As I mentioned before, while I was out in the stars, something happened to me.” Tears filled her eyes. “The man who attacked and raped me, not only left me for dead in a back alley behind a market, he also impregnated me.”
“What are you saying?” Damon asked.
“The pregnancy was harsh, painful, and long. I killed a few people in the gardens myself, and the Elders locked me up for the last half of it. After much research, they understood what had happened, but I refused to believe them. That is, until my son changed from a baby into a pup after his second birthday. It was our moon, you see. Paradise forced him to become a monster. Every single night, he would change. I wanted a better life for him, so I went in search of a place without a moon and someone willing to adopt him.” She wasn’t looking at anyone but Ulric. “I found them on a space station called Anteris.”
Ulric tried to let go of her hands, but she held on tighter.
“No, son. Don’t be angry with me. It’s because I loved you so much that I had to give you up.”
A growl echoed around them. “You were raped, and the experience turned you against men. I heard you say it before. How could you have loved a product of such a thing, someone who would grow up to be another man?”
Aleena sighed. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe I despised you, because you reminded me of the filth that had violated my body. Maybe without you, I would’ve been able to overcome the rape and forget it ever happened…but when I carried you to term—”
“Why didn’t you kill me before I was born?” Ulric lifted her hands between them. He was holding on so tight, Aleena’s skin glowed unnaturally white.
“Oh, I tried. Trust me, I did. Though, you wouldn’t get out. There was nothing I could do to purge you.” She paused. “I even tried to kill you afterward, by leaving you out in the jungle, but you always made your way back home before the birds could get you. The strength of the moon was too potent within you.”
The snap of bones filled the silence.
Aleena winced, but Ulric didn’t release her. What had he broken?
Ulric looked around his mother, to focus on Alex. “Don’t look at me like that.”
How else was she supposed to look at him? She couldn’t believe what had happened, what he was. The fact that she didn’t want anything to do with him went beyond the secrets and realization of him being a flesh-eating animal at night. She’d let him go the moment she stepped out of his quarters. She just hadn’t realized it until now.
“Alex, tell me you’ll come home with me,” he whispered.
She shook her head. Pain and anger swirled inside his eyes, but she refused to string him along any longer. A tug of confusion and uncertainty pulled deep in her gut, and she recognized it as Damon’s reaction. Her decision had nothing to do with what had happened here on Eden—not Damon, not the beast, or even getting stuck. Alex turned to look at Damon, wishing he hadn’t gotten caught up in all this craziness. He deserved so much better.
“Don’t look at him! You’re mine,” Ulric growled.
Aleena cried out, and another series of snaps erupted.
“No one walks away from me!”
“Consider this the first time,” Alex whispered.
Ulric’s eyes were rimmed with tears as fur sprouted from his pores. He tossed Aleena to the ground and rushed for Alex, but he was stopped when Damon shouldered him out of the way.
The animal slid near the edge of the crevice Aleena had pushed Elroy into, but he was back on his feet in moments. He surveyed the area with his snout in the air. His lips curled over his fangs, exposing them, seconds before leaping toward Alex a second time.
Ulric landed on the ground with a thump when the laser bolt blasted him in mid-leap.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aleena held the blaster one-handed. The barrel was still smoking when she dumped it on the ground and stumbled forward. She fell to her knees. Her other hand hung uselessly at her side, looking like a rubber glove. Ulric had obviously broken every bone.
Her face was focused on him. Not with love, but with a look of hate marring her usually flawless face. “I never thought I’d see you again, but when I watched you jump out of her ship, I felt it deep within me. A mother never loses her bond with her child…no matter how much I wished I could.”
“Aleena, why did you drag all of us into this?”Damon’s voice was harsh, frustrated.
She sighed, avoiding all eyes. “All I ever wanted was to protect us from the dangers outside.”
“By culling the older population? What exactly did you do to them?”
“Damon, they served the same purpose as Elroy. The same purpose you will all serve, as well.”
Ulric looked up at Aleena with red-rimmed eyes. He’d been crying, and none of them had noticed. Alex felt a twinge of sympathy toward her former lover, but her anger surpassed any pity. It was his fault that she’d ended up on a planet run by a selfish freak.
“What about the prophecy?” Damon continued his interrogation, never letting go of Alex’s hand.
“I made it up.”
“It came true!”
“Yes, Damon. It did. You can imagine my shock when the monitors showed me our atmosphere had been breached by a ship, and I watched it crash into the jungle.” She sighed, looking down at her lap. “When I sent you out there, I didn’t think you’d find anything but a carcass or two. I was wrong on many counts. It wasn’t until I saw Ulric that I realized we were all in a lot of trouble, and that my hidden secret had finally caught up with me. That’s okay. I can clean this up the same way I’ve always cleaned up every other mess.”
“What other mess?” Damon’s anxiety echoed through his fingers and into Alex.
Aleena looked at him, tears cascading down her pale face. “Do you really think we live in the kind of community I try so hard to keep together? Of course we don’t. People disobey me all the time. They constantly break the rules, and I’m forced to deal with them.”
No one said anything.
She released a breath. “It’s hard to rule with an iron fist and make the rest of the people believe we’re living in utopia. I have to do whatever it takes to make things work.”
“That’s despicable!” Damon shouted. “How dare you keep us in the dark about everything?”
“Don’t you dare judge me! Do you have any idea who your parents were? Those bloody gypsies were so easily lured by the promise of credits…” her voi
ce trailed off. “They never cared about you. All they wanted was the riches I lied to them about.”
“What are you saying?”
“Didn’t you think it strange that you’re the only one who can practice any sort of magic within our walls? The only one who can freely wander in and out whenever he pleases?” The calculating look in her eyes made Alex shiver.
“It’s because of my connection to the arcane,” he answered with a shrug.
“No.” Aleena shook her head, making her hair sway like a wave. “Damon, you’re the only one who can connect to the magic holding our fortress together, because the sorcerers who made it were your parents. They gave their lives so I could save ours.”
“So, you killed them?”
“I took you in and raised you as my own. You replaced the son I lost in Ulric. Don’t you think that was payment enough?”
What the hell was this lunatic saying?
“Are you really my mother?” Ulric winced. Aleena had been a much better shot than Elroy—she’d burned a hole right through Ulric’s chest.
“Yes, I am. I promise your sacrifice won’t be in vain.”
“What sacrifice?” A vein in Damon’s rigid jaw pulsed as he glared at Aleena.
Alex couldn’t believe she’d fallen into a planet with an outward appearance of peace and serenity, paid for with vicious lies and cover-ups. Maybe her mother wasn’t the only bitch in the galaxy willing to do whatever it took to secure her own position of power. No matter what the cost.
What Aleena had called Damon’s parents kept echoing inside her head: sorcerers. Sorcery was a completely different thing than magic. Her father had told her about it only once, claiming all sorcerers came from a long line of gypsies who travelled the stars and lived all over the place. They were nomads who spent most of their lives moving from one place to another, selling their wares or smuggling what wasn’t theirs. They also had use of something he called the Arcanae—the force of energy they believed flowed through all of creation and could be accessed via ritual.
The only reason he’d confided this in her was because they’d once crossed paths with a female sorcerer who cut him up pretty bad, without laying a hand on him.
Her heart sank. I can’t believe I didn’t put this together before. Damon had referred to his use of magic as arcane…
She turned to look at Damon, with his gorgeous, caramel skin and glowing, green eyes. If he carried the blood of sorcerers, did it mean her father did, too? Her mother had often referred to him as a ‘gypsy’, but Alex never thought anything of it. She couldn’t believe her life was clicking together at the same time as Ulric and Damon’s.
“Aleena, what are you planning?”
“Hush, Damon. It will all work out. You’ll see. My son can’t stay on Eden, and now that he knows the truth, he can’t go back to his space station, either.” Aleena looked at Ulric with a sad smile curving her lips. “Do you understand why you’re here? You were never supposed to leave your home. I thought your parents made sure of that.”
“They did, but I sneaked out. Besides, they’ve been dead for years.” He paused, licked his lips, and trembled. “I just wanted to surprise her.” He closed his eyes. “It burns so much. Why did you shoot me?”
“Because I knew you would never accept this fate willingly.”
“Accept what fate?”
“Your life is worthless. You have to forfeit it for others,” Aleena answered. “There might not be a prophecy, but the ritual that’ll permanently seal us off from the dangers of the planet is very real.”
“I won’t help you,” Ulric whispered.
“You’re going to stand up, now.” Aleena continued, as if he’d never spoken.
Ulric didn’t resist when his mother dragged him up with her. “I don’t want to die. I can return to Anteris with Alex and forget any of this happened—”
“No, you can’t. I warned them about this.”
“Who did you warn?”
“I told your adoptive parents that if you ever returned, your fate would be sealed. It’s where I got the inspiration of the dark-haired traveler who would lead us to salvation.” A dry chuckle escaped her. “I never imagined it would come to be.”
“I don’t understand,” Alex whispered.
“It’s simple, really. The sorcerers used some of Ulric’s blood to forge the energy to fuel the barriers, then they used their own to close it.” She dragged Ulric by his arm, forcing him to move on unsteady feet. “I knew we would never be completely safe until I used the blood of my own son, and that of the sorcerers’ son to seal it. It’s the only way.” She lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not taking Damon with you,” Levi said.
Alex looked at Damon. She couldn’t believe this insane woman was willing to kill both men in order to succeed in this insanity. Damon met her eyes with a determined look and offered her a small smile. When she looked away, she found Ulric staring at her. Even in human form, his eyes glowed like an animal trapped in the dark.
He looked so sad, but she couldn’t bring herself to show any empathy toward him. None of the crazy stuff had been his doing. Still, she couldn’t help but blame him.
Ulric broke eye contact and turned to peer into the hole in the ground. “Okay, I’ll go willingly.” His toes skimmed the edge of the light. He turned to look at Alex again, and mouthed, “I really do love you, Alex. I’m sorry you couldn’t love me back.”
She took a step, ready to tell him things weren’t that simple. There may never have been love between them, but the desire which brought them together in the first place had been real.
“That’s a good boy, “Aleena said proudly. “You’ve finally given me something to be proud about.”
Ulric didn’t turn to face her when he said, “Alex, find the bracelet I gave you. It’s out in the jungle, somewhere near your ship. Plug it into your computer and you’ll see just how much you mean to me.”
Alex didn’t know what he meant, but she didn’t get a chance to dwell on it.
Ulric wrapped an arm tightly around Aleena’s waist. “I’m ready.”
“What are you doing?” The Priestess squirmed in his grip, her broken hand caught between them.
“You want to save your people so badly, then you can do it with me.”
“No, let me go. Damon, stop him!”
Damon didn’t do or say anything.
Ulric took a step forward and fell into the abyss, with Aleena still in his arms.
The light engulfed and sucked them down, leaving a mist of blood in its wake.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Even when Ulric felt the flesh being torn from his body one layer at a time, he kept a tight hold of the woman who claimed to be his mother. Everything she’d said to him was true—his parents had told him he wasn’t their biological son, and they warned him about the bad things that would happen to him if he ever left Anteris.
He’d listened to them for most of his life, until falling in love had caused his life to unwind and brought him to the place where it all began.
Everything he’d achieved had been for nothing.
So, taking the person responsible for giving birth to him seemed just. This woman—Aleena—had evil plans, and he refused to let her follow through with them. He wouldn’t let her kill Alex, which she obviously had every intention of doing. By taking Aleena into the abyss, he’d also managed to help others. At least he could move onto the next phase knowing he’d done some good in a fucked up situation.
I hope you don’t forget me, Alex. I’m sure I’ll never forget you.
He also hoped his shapeshifting condition would never affect her.
Even without a physical shape, the light of the moon still managed to caress him. For the first time since feeling the satellite’s call, he opened up his awareness to it, allowing it to grab a complete hold of his very essence.
I don’t care what I become, now. Take me.
Instead of continuing down into the mout
h of the abyss with Aleena, he felt his spirit rise as if it were being pulled by the moon.
Now, he would finally become one with someone. The moon loved him the way Alex couldn’t.
Before he ceased to exist completely, Ulric couldn’t help but mentally smile, trying to imagine what Alex would do when she saw what he’d left for her. Of course, the credits he’d uploaded onto the bracelet would be nothing compared to the inheritance coming her way.
Goodbye, Alex. It was good while it lasted.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The sun beat against Alex’s back. In spite of the many trees, the sun still managed to find them as they trudged through the uneven terrain of the jungle. Is this what the moon did to Ulric? Had it chased him around until it caressed the fur out of him, and he had no choice but to surrender? The thought roused a shiver, because in a sense, that’s what he’d tried to do to her.
Ulric—the man she thought she knew—had turned out to be a complete stranger. Not even entirely a man, either. She found it amazing that even after spending so much time in bed with him, she still hadn’t known a damn thing about him. She’d only skimmed the surface of Ulric Cale and hadn’t thought to dig deeper. Even after all of their exclusive intimacy, she’d never cared enough about him to bother. Why hadn’t she realized this before?
I just hope his being half-animal doesn’t affect me. She’d have to check with her physician and ensure her microchip covered her against every transmittable disease.
“Are you all right?” Damon casually rubbed small circles on the back of her hand.
As good as it felt, she pulled it away. “I thought we spoke about this.”
“We’re alone,” he whispered.
He might be technically correct, but Levi and Milo were just up ahead. They’d left the fortress as soon as day broke, lugging a huge cart with parts and tools to fix her ship. They’d looked so professional and efficient. She couldn’t remember seeing either of the boys so relaxed before.
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