by Sarah Marsh
Baelion didn’t have any experience with gulas, but he was shocked at their intelligence. The fact that it recognized the name she’d given it after only a few days was incredible.
With the cub in her arms, Bae lowered her into the shelter, and she explored right away to see what had been left for them that could be of use.
“This one seems much better stocked than the last one.” She pulled a few packages out of the cabinets.
“Luca, will you clear the vines from the windows so we can get some light in here?” he asked his mate before he came down.
“On it.”
“It’s quite likely that some of these shelters have never been used, so they might have more supplies.” He joined her to see what had been left. “The resort wasn’t open long enough to have utilized all of the amenities.”
“Oh my God, are these towels?” she asked with a squeal, ripping open the vacuum-sealed containers. “I am so having the longest shower tonight.”
He laughed at her excitement over something so simple, but then again, after what she’d had to endure since her departure from Sirus, a little comfort went a long way.
Luca dropped down from the hatch with several handfuls of fruit that he placed on top of the cabinet. “Even though it’s rather close to the ground for my comfort, at least we have food nearby. Are there any rations in the cabinet, or shall I go round us up something for dinner?”
Bae would have offered to go hunting, but he knew that Luca enjoyed it much more than he did. Plus, no one wanted freeze-dried meat for dinner.
“No protein, I’m afraid. It looks like you’re hunting tonight,” he answered back, “but can you heat the water for Mari first so she can use the shower?”
“Of course.” Luca smiled, planting a quick kiss on his mouth before doing the same to Mari, making her blush.
How was it that she could still be so surprised at their affection after they’d been together several times? The relationships on her home planet must have strange customs. Shifters were a very tactile race, always touching whenever they felt the inclination. He couldn’t even imagine living any other way, and he hoped that Marisol could accept that about them.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It hadn’t taken Luca long to find them dinner and bring it back fully cooked and ready to eat. A girl certainly could get spoiled this way, that’s for sure. Not that she had any issues with cooking. In fact, she used to love it. She just eventually got tired of all the work it was to make dinners for one, so she hadn’t done it very much in the last few years.
When they’d woken up on a strange planet with strange food, she and the other women had enjoyed tasting all the various cuisines the Coalition had to offer, and the cafeteria at the Courtesan Guild was top notch all the way. A few of them had even begun to try their hand at using the foreign ingredients to make recipes from Earth, having a potluck of sorts once a month.
When Eve visited last, she left them with a chart to match up which food items were the closest match to what they’d used on Earth. It helped quite a bit, but God help Devyn and her quest to make the perfect cheesecake. The things they’d tasted still made Mari shudder to think about it.
“This stuff is even better than the last one you caught. What is it?” She licked the juices off her fingers. The meat reminded her of some kind of chicken, but the flavor was extraordinary.
“It was a very large reptile that tried to make a meal out of me as I was down by the river,” Luca mused as he offered her more and cut up pieces to give to Tigger on the floor. “He almost got the better of me. I’ve never seen so many teeth before. It was quite ridiculous really.”
Mari tried not to think about the fact that she was most likely eating an alien crocodile. At this point, if it tasted like chicken, then that was good enough for her.
After Luca had come back, Baelion had gone out in search of stones to make their pretend fire pit, and Mari had raided every single cabinet in the place to make their sleeping pallets as comfortable as possible. She could tell both men were as dog tired as she was, and no doubt both looked forward to a good night’s rest.
“How do you do that?” She stared as Luca blew a steady stream of blue flame at the pile of rocks Bae had set up.
“Each different type of dragon has glands in our mouths that store our venom. Luca is able to ignite his and control the heat in whichever way he needs it,” Baelion explained as he lounged on the beds she made for them.
“And yours?” she asked, fascinated.
“Mine is a chemical compound that freezes on contact. I can use the straight venom to attack or turn it into a fine mist to control the temperature around me.”
“Wow, that’s so cool.” She sat back to lean into him now that heat was radiating from the stones. “What about other shifters? Do they have stuff like that?”
Tigger had finally stopped licking the leaves they’d used as plates and wandered over to curl up next to her legs.
“No, dragons are the only shifters that have their own venom.” Luca joined them. “We’re also the largest of all the shifter forms. That’s why we’re the ruling body on Dali.”
“Oh, so you’re some kind of royalty?” she asked, surprised.
She instantly regretted her curiosity when Luca’s expression turned to one of pain. Shit, she didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.
“Luca’s family is the head of the shifter council on Dali, but we no longer keep in contact with anyone except his brother, Grae,” Baelion quietly explained.
Marisol felt like an asshole. She’d known that Luca’s family had disowned him. He’d told her as much their first night on this planet. But it still seemed so absurd that they would have done it because of his scars. What kind of family was that?
“Shifter politics are—complicated,” Luca said simply. “When you have to deal with the nature of two very different halves inside of one body, things are what they are.”
She hated that he had rationalized his situation, not placing the shortfall at the feet of those who deserved it. How dare they make him feel as though he was unworthy.
“I don’t think I’d like it very much on your planet.” She tried to sound diplomatic but couldn’t hide her anger entirely. “It sounds awful.”
“It’s really not so bad as all that.” She could hear Luca’s voice calming as she curled into him and lay against his chest. “It’s a beautiful planet. You should visit it one day.”
“Pass,” she murmured, her eyes getting heavy as the warmth radiating from the stones settled over her. Her stomach was full, she was comfortable, and the scent of Luca and Baelion made her feel safe and cared for. This was the best night she’d had since this mess all started.
* * * *
An eerie noise pulled Baelion out of sleep. It sounded familiar to him, though he couldn’t quite place it. He felt Luca jump to his feet and go toward the window. The moons were still high in the sky, so they couldn’t have been sleeping for more than four or five hours.
“What is it, Luca?” he whispered, not wanting to wake Mari, though the gula cub was now pacing back and forth, mewling softly. That couldn’t be good.
“I could be wrong, but it sounded like that same beast that attacked us at the cave.” He looked worried. “And I think there’s more than one of them out there.”
Baelion swore. He had been afraid that beast was following them. They couldn’t let it trap them in here. They needed to leave immediately.
“We have to go now while they’re still far enough away.” Bae gently woke Mari until she was blinking up sleepily at him.
“Is it morning already?” she asked, confused.
“No, Mari, but we need to leave right now.” Luca began to gather their things. When two more loud noises echoed through the jungle, he increased his pace. “Bae, you’ll take Mari and get to the resort. I’ll lead them away from here.”
“Luca, no,” Baelion protested. “We have no idea how many are out there. You have to come wi
th us.”
“I’ll just lead them away so they can’t track you. I’ll follow shortly—I memorized the map.”
He was terrified at the thought of Luca out in the jungle alone, fighting an enemy they knew virtually nothing about. That beast had been ferocious and quite intent on killing them, his venom had not scared it away as quickly as it should have, and that was only one of them. What if he took Marisol to the resort and Luca never made it out of the jungle? He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to his mate.
“Bae, please.” Luca gently grasped his arms. “You need to get Mari to safety. I promise I will catch up. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”
He looked into his mate’s eyes and knew there would be no arguing with him on this. Luca was an honorable male, more so than most. He would do all in his power to ensure Bae and Mari were safe, but Baelion just hoped that it wouldn’t cost him his life.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marisol was terrified as Luca and Baelion ushered her up through the roof hatch. Baelion’s concern to let Luca go out there alone had made more than clear how much danger they must be in, and she didn’t want him to go any more than Bae did.
“Keep her safe, Bae.” Luca kissed his mate. “And yourself. I promise I’ll return to you both.”
“You’d better.” Baelion rested his forehead against Luca’s and then, with a resigned sigh, stepped back to shift into his dragon form.
“Come, Mari. We must hurry.” Luca pulled her along and settled her into the saddle. The angry screeches coming from the jungle around them sounded even closer now, making her shiver.
“Please, Luca,” she pleaded as he secured her legs and plopped Tigger into the basket in front of her. This time, however, the little bundle of fur cowered low. “Please just leave with us.”
“We can’t have these things following us to the resort, Mari. It will take time to get into the shuttle bay.” He kissed her softly and smiled. “You need to trust me. I will keep you safe.”
She did trust him. Marisol knew without a doubt that he would sacrifice himself to keep both her and Baelion safe, but she was still terrified that something could go wrong and she’d never see him again. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks as she watched him run and jump off the side of the structure, shifting as he went until his dragon form was soaring away into the darkness.
Baelion lifted up and flew off in the opposite direction. Several minutes later she heard an awful sound in the distance, echoing through the jungle. Bae’s head whipped around and he hovered for a second as if debating going back for Luca. She didn’t even want to think about what that might mean. But then he continued on toward the horizon, she couldn’t make much out in the darkness, and eventually the adrenaline left her system, causing her to fall asleep against Bae’s warm neck.
When she woke up again, she was relieved to see the suns beginning to rise in front of them. It was a breathtaking view, and she could swear she could see some kind of large structure off in the distance. They came to a clearing. At one end there was a huge stone arch that seemed to signal the entrance to the main resort, and along the other side, there was a river much larger than they’d seen previously on their travels. Baelion landed heavily, clearly exhausted. It made her wonder how long she had slept.
He shifted underneath her once again, panting to catch his breath. She scrambled off of him and rushed to ease him to sit up.
“Baelion, are you all right?” The exhaustion she could see in his eyes worried her.
“I’m fine, just tired.” His eyes were wary as he searched the sky in the direction they had come from, no doubt looking for Luca.
“Let me go get you something to drink.” She jumped up and ran toward the water’s edge, carefully looking for the plant Luca had shown her was safe. Though when she did finally locate the boyab bush, she had a hell of a time trying to pull the damned leaves off.
“Motherfucker, bastard alien trees.” She pulled up and down, trying to loosen the stupid leaf. The entire bush shook and then, suddenly, it gave and she was tumbled down on her ass, right into the water.
“Jesus Christ.” She was now soaked, but at least she did have the leaf, so she hauled herself out of the water and filled the makeshift bowl up to take back to Baelion.
She saw the twitch of his lips as he opened his eyes and saw her, dripping wet and extremely unhappy.
“Problems?” he asked, sitting up once again to accept the bowl she passed him.
“Maybe.” She grabbed Tigger out of his cubby on the saddle and cuddled him close. “Nothing I couldn’t handle, though.”
Suddenly the little cub tensed in her arms and growled low, his paw swiping out over her shoulder at something behind her.
“Marisol.” Bae also growled as his eyes suddenly got tense. “Don’t move a muscle.”
Oh God, what else could possibly go wrong now?
Then she heard it, a sound she would not soon forget: the musical chirping of one of those damned flying little asshole monkeys, sounding way too close for comfort. Then she slowly moved her eyes to the left and saw a colorful blur darting in and out.
“There must have been a nest by the water,” Bae murmured, trying not to startle the tiny animals. “Wow, they really seem to not like you.”
The little fucker had now moved to in front of her face and seemed to be yelling at her in its own language, and even worse, it seemed to be attracting more of its own kind with its verbal attack.
“I can’t use my venom and risk hitting you, Mari. Try not to agitate it, and I’ll try and bat it away.”
Unfortunately, Tigger wasn’t on the same game plan as Baelion, and when the little flying fucker got too close, her cub took a swing at it, catching one of its tiny wings and sending it into a rage. Before she knew it, the little bastard was caught in her hair and she could feel it biting her neck and shoulder over and over again. Baelion rushed to her and eventually nabbed the little jerk, pulling him away, but not before the damage had already been done.
Well, fuck me, brought down by tiny flying monkeys once again. This is just getting embarrassing.
* * * *
Luca had just caught sight of the large clearing that held the resort entrance. They would have to travel on foot from there, as the resort had a sim shield that protected it and ensured none of the flying predators could gain access. He was so relieved to have found them. Exhaustion was setting in, and he must have looked drunk, considering how unsteady his flying was.
He was in pretty rough shape. The gaping wounds across his left side were slow to heal with the movement of his wings interfering. He hadn’t anticipated there being more than two of those beasts waiting for him, but when he attacked, Luca had found they were hunting in a pack of four. It had almost been the end of him.
He’d managed to kill three of them, but not before taking much damage himself. The last one ran off into the jungle, and he was satisfied to let it go if that meant he could get back to Baelion and Marisol.
Luca spotted them on the ground, near the stone archway, but something wasn’t right. Marisol’s body was rigid and unmoving, while Baelion was crouched in front of her as though ready to pounce.
He heard her scream and begin to dance around, frantically clawing at her hair, and when he finally landed behind them with a rough thud, Baelion had caught whatever attacked her and she fainted, falling to the ground in front of him.
“Baelion!” he yelled, dropping to his knees beside her. “What happened?”
“Luca, you’re safe!” Bae took in the sight of him and cringed at no doubt the number of wounds still healing on his body. “It was one of those damned flying things again. I swear they’re out to get her!”
Luca grabbed for the satchel, trying to find the med kit with the antivenom shots as he held her. Then the oddest thing happened. Her arm suddenly swung out and smacked him across the face.
“Goddamned flying monkeys!” she mumbled before her eyes shot open a
nd she stared up at him.
Chapter Thirty
Mari was suddenly awake and very aware she had just hit something much more substantial than that little bastard that bit her.
“Luca?” she whispered. “Oh my God, you’re all right!”
She scrambled around to sit up and hug him tight, so grateful he had come back to them.
“Well, I was all right until you just slapped me, little one,” he mumbled into her hair, causing her to pull back and look at him.
Baelion was already behind him, checking the copious amounts of wounds he seemed to have after his battle.
“I’m sorry. I thought I was hitting that little shithead monkey.” She frantically looked around and saw Tigger throwing the limp little body up in the air and catching it again. “Oh, it’s dead. Did I imagine it biting me again?”
She felt her neck and head and sure enough, there were about a half dozen little bite marks from the little beastie. Mari panicked for a minute, worried that she was going to get sick again, but when the weakness didn’t hit her, she turned back to Luca and Bae.
“I don’t understand. Last time he only bit me once and I was sick almost immediately.” She winced when she got a better look at the long wound Bae was tending on Luca’s side.
“Come here for a moment, Mari.” Luca motioned as he leaned over, then took a deep inhale right along the skin of her neck, making goose bumps rise up all along her arms. “I think it worked, Bae. Already I can scent her changing body chemistry.”
Baelion’s gaze grew wide and then moved down toward her stomach as a small smile formed on his face.
“What?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
“We have planted our seed within you.” Luca now smiled, as well. “The child growing inside of you will make you immune to poisons just as we are.”
“What did you just say?” Mari’s breath caught in her chest. Surely she had misheard Luca.