Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three)

by Hales, Wendy S.

  The Aquaties with Greyton and Greycia created a solid line between Roark’s group and the sea itself while Greyton and Greycia faced off with the leaders.

  “You side with those that invade the haven of our school,” Roark spat back. A sharp, jagged stretch of corral grew thick and fast from his clenched fist.

  What the hell? Conlon saw a similar club-like weapon erupt from Greyton’s hand. A quick glance showed every Aquatie were now brandishing such weapons. “Sargon, what is going on?” he asked telepathically through the mentor bond.

  “It’s the rings they all wear. They are made of living corral. When fighting their own kind, they infuse the rings with their stores of solar energy to make them grow rapidly. When they are wounded with them, the sodium carbonate in corral slows healing and weakens them further,” Sargon answered.

  “No!” A female cried, stumbling through the line of Greyton’s warriors. She fell twice before reaching Greyton, Greycia, Roark, and Reesa. “Please.” The female was quite possibly more beautiful than Greycia. Amethyst colored hair roped down her back, tangling around her unstable legs and feet. Conlon wondered if she’d ever touched land before, yet the female bravely inserted herself between the dueling paired siblings.

  With a hard shake of his hand, Greyton snapped away the corral, leaving it lying useless in the sand. The look in Greyton’s marine eyes was one of recognition, shock, hurt, and … wanting?

  “Get back in the sea, DeeAnna,” Reesa ordered as Roark grasped the female’s arm and shoved her behind the two defensively. The girl’s legs did not agree with the rough handling. She landed hard on the sand.

  Oh, shit. Conlon thought when Greyton shoulder-slammed Roark hard in the sternum, tackling the leader. The two tussled, throwing fists at each other, almost like brothers would. Conlon could only stare, stunned. The attitude of the Aquaties on both sides of the battle changed to one of merriment in an instant. The snap of corral clubs being broken off and discarded to the beach accompanied laughter, bets, elbow jabs, and cheering. The rapid shift of Aquatie emotions had always confused the shit out of Conlon.

  Like old friends, Reesa and Greycia helped the poor amethyst-haired female to her feet. The girl thanked them, lifted her chin to the sky, and let out a sound so magical Conlon felt himself lean toward her instinctively. It echoed and reverberated off his skin, only to bounce back from those around him, leaving him awed. He reached up to wipe a tear from his cheek. Deep, profound sorrow nearly crushed his chest.

  Greyton and Roark halted, crawling to DeeAnna’s feet. Greycia, Reesa, and the warriors on both sides dropped to folded legs in the rocky sand. The sound trailed off slowly. DeeAnna looked around. Her gaze lingered with Greyton’s and then moved to Conlon and Sargon.

  “Why are you here?” Her voice held a depth of sadness that was nearly crippling.

  Conlon explained the situation. DeeAnna’s dark purple eyes held sympathy and understanding. She let Conlon finish talking without uttering a single word, and when she did, it left Conlon confused. “Tell me more of this Osiris male holding your family and friend.”

  My family. Conlon held the term in his mind, savoring it. Sargon gave DeeAnna a quick overview of the monstrous atrocities Osiris engaged in.

  DeeAnna’s brows drew together as she listened. When Sargon was done she met Greyton’s upturned, adoring gaze before she spoke to Roark and Reesa. “My leaders, I beg you to aid the Symbiosis of Species Council in this.” Her eyes fluttered closed and Greyton lunged forward. The girl crumbled into his lap.

  Reesa and Roark nodded to each other and rose to their feet. Roark extended his hand to Sargon. “I believe we can help each other. I know where those you seek are holed up. I need your assurance that your Symbiosis of Species Council will aid us in retrieving DeeAnna’s pair sibling, Dean.”

  Once they were unified, the plan formed quickly. Mattie, Eros, Enlil, Sargon, and Conlon would swim with the Aquaties to the iceberg, leaving Irsu, Gord and the rest of the SOSC members to guard the shore. The Aquaties would warm the water around them and share breath beneath the surface. Since Mattie had already learned how, even in seal form she stayed teamed with Greyton. Conlon found himself teamed with Greycia. Her open mouth covered his as she taught him the breathing technique. Conlon was surprised that the process didn’t hold any intimate connotation.

  When she felt sure Conlon wouldn’t drown, she moved on to the next instruction. He interrupted her. “If Roark and Reesa are the leaders, why did they bow to DeeAnna? For that matter, why did you?”

  Greycia shrugged. “Because she mourned to us, Conlon. It was a call to compassion. Greyton and I knew DeeAnna and Dean in boarding school. There are many of our kind who resist the new symbiotic order. Many of them are down here now. We are lucky DeeAnna interceded.”

  “I thought Aquaties were ruled by monarchy like the Tellus.” Mattie sat down, joining in the conversation.

  “Not for many, many thousands of years.” Greycia adjusted the ring on her finger. “Those of ancient royal bloodlines like Greyton and I can still claim the title of prince or princess, but I don’t know of any who do anymore. We sure as hell don’t,” she added with a chuckle. “It means nothing. Leaders are elected based on the combined ability of paired siblings. Different areas and territories face different struggles. Leaders need to be good at leading their schools through whatever that struggle is. Simple as that. The Fates no longer bless the spawning the way they once did. Monarchy rule fell apart once it became impossible to find spawnmates. That is when the bonds between paired siblings started to develop exponentially.”

  “Is a spawnmate like a bloodmate?” Conlon had never heard the phrase.

  Greycia nodded. “Roark and Reesa’s parents were the last known spawnmate pairing of our species. They were killed during the wars between Aquaties, Tellus, and Volaticus long ago.”

  Talk of spawnmated deaths renewed Conlon’s fear for Stacey. What if they didn’t reach Stacey in time? What if he lost his bloodmate before getting a chance to claim her? Without the bond, her spirit energy and soul would be lost to him in the hereafter.

  Greycia gripped his shoulder, pulling his attention back to her. “We’ll get her back, my friend.”

  He could only swallow hard and pray Greycia was right.

  ****

  Mick lay on the low platform in pitch dark; he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He'd thought his father would kill him quickly. The brutality of torture sunk in before the first lash had struck. It was Seven's specialty. Mick had witnesses it many times, never considering that Seven’s talent would ever be turned on him. The last several hours Osiris had left him in peace. Stacey's lies could only hold Osiris back for a short time before Osiris thought of something else to try in an effort to break Mick's pounded-mental shield … or he realized he and Stacey were more compatible than Stacey let on.

  Osiris would force them to bloodmate. Force Mick to rape her and use Johnny to do it. Stacey might not realize that future, but Mick knew it without a doubt. A thought that repulsed him … and also gave him an erection. Over the weeks in Mesa, he'd figured out that his body responded to their compatibility despite his heart belonging to Mattie. Though he was sure Stacey noticed, she politely avoided commenting. Thankfully, he'd faced the wall and sat in a ball the two times Osiris had brought her near him. Otherwise the evidence of her lie would have been undeniable.

  His wounds had mostly healed. It was his mind that tortured him now. Nude and hypothermic from the cold, he shivered uncontrollably. A rush of heat hit him from below the platform. At first he thought it was his imagination, and then the scent of coconut hit him.

  “Stacey?” he whispered unnecessarily into the dark.

  Her response came from the small space between the wood slat floor and his sleeping platform. “Shh. I'm going to warm you up, then I'll go back.”

  Mick nearly moaned from the warmth. “How did you get in here?”

  “I had a hunch. The cameras never move, so I co
vered the lenses with lipstick, called Osiris every name in the book and waited. When no one came, I figured they weren't operational and the rooms weren’t bugged. I melted the wall between your room and ours. I have a plan, and I'll need your help.”

  “Stacey, if Osiris sees that tunnel—”

  “He'd have to crawl beneath the platform in my room or yours. I hope he does so I can kick him right in the ass.” Her hand reached up and squeezed his forearm a moment.

  Mick knew she was trying to be light. “Do you know what he will expect of us once he figures it out?”

  She sighed. “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea. Of course, when he figures out we are bloodmate compatible, he might not kill us until we can give him more grandchildren. If it comes to that, Mick, you have to promise me you will not feel responsible. No guilt … for either of us. When your child's life is in the balance, you do whatever you must.”

  Tears filled his eyes. Despite her hardass front, she was still the sweet girl he'd met five years ago. “No guilt.”

  “Exactly. Now let’s discuss how to get the flock out of here before it comes to that.” She fell silent as the door pushed open. Green florescent light filtered into the room.

  Mick’s chest clenched at the tattooed face in the opening. Oh, thank the Fates. It wasn't Seven. His fear shifted from torture to concern for Stacey. Twelve drew in a deep breath and Mick shadowed in preparation to fight his brother.

  “Damn it. What the hell do you think you're doing, Stacey?” Twelve whispered, carrying a glow stick into the room and quietly shutting the door behind him. “Don't attack me, Mick.”

  Mick had maneuvered to stand behind his brother. Twelve's statement halted him from pouncing. He looked at his hand and realized that, with lead embedded into his back and his weakened state, he hadn't achieved full shadow. Why had Twelve not attempted to defend himself?

  The edge of Stacey's arm could be seen under the bed. “I came to warm him, Hawk.”

  Twelve growled and turned an accusatory look at Mick. “Five minutes.” He set the glow stick on the pallet and walked toward the door. “Don’t get her killed.”

  “Get over here,” Stacey barked.

  Mick could not believe Twelve had let Stacey's action go. If Osiris found out, Twelve would be killed. “What did you do to my brother?” He lay back on the palette.

  “Brothers,” she corrected. “Hawk and Scotty like me.”

  “Scotty?”

  “Nine.”

  “Nine is a good male. We were close … once.” Of all of his brothers, Mick missed Nine the most. “They are loyal to Osiris, Stacey. They have to be.”

  “I know. I won't ask them to help us escape, but I think they will turn a blind eye if they can.” The reaction of Twelve lent creditability to her statement. She slid out from under the bed. “Turn over.”

  Mick had already started to flip to his stomach. The nearer he was to her, the harder his manhood pounded, yet his mind abhorred the idea of having sex with her. She lifted to her knees and Mick realized she too was naked. “Damn it, Stacey,” he groaned, turning his face to the wall.

  “I didn’t want to explain why my clothes were wet, dumbshit.” Holding the glow stick, she started pulling lead barbs from his back. “I melted into the wall I think leads outside about a foot until I reached vertical lead and platinum rods. I have no idea how thick the ice is beyond them.”

  Mick flinched when she dug out a deep piece. “So what’s your great plan?” He could feel his back heal rapidly.

  “If I were going to fortify an iceberg, I wouldn’t want to weaken the structure in the process. With that in mind, I heated one of the rods. Sure enough, it slid down few inches. They are suspended, not anchored in the ice. The problem is, it melted a hole too big to cover easily. I had to refreeze the hole with a pail of water after I was done.” Stacey’s hands lifted from his wounds. “Do you feel any, more lead?”

  “No. You got them all. Thanks.” Mick shook his head. “I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

  He heard a crack from the far corner of his cell. “Come here,” she whispered.

  Not like she doesn’t know me biblically anyway. He felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he joined her. A section of the wood-slated floor lifted free, exposing a small crawl space full of crisscrossed wires, cables, pipes. It was about a two-foot drop to solid ice underneath.

  “Hold this for me.” She handed him the dimming glow stick. Without hesitation Stacey carefully climbed feet first into the hole. “I noticed this earlier. I think this room was intended to be for maintenance.”

  Mick watched her lie flat on the ice in the crawl space, noticing she had a tattoo of an incomplete fish over her hip and down her thigh. Within seconds steam started to rise through the hole. Stacey started to log roll against the ice carving out an oblong tunnel the length and width of her body. Within seconds she’d completely disappeared as she traveled through the ice. Holy Great Fates.

  “Shit.” Her voice came muffled from deep in the ice.

  “What?”

  “This is what I was afraid of. I need your help to get out.” She sounded frustrated rather than afraid. “I reached the rods, but as I melted the ice, it took a gravitational sloped course like a slide. Now it’s too slick for me to get back.”

  The door started to open. Mick quickly moved the floor section back and dove onto his sleeping palette, the glow stick beneath him, plunging the room back into darkness. Twelve and Nine entered, closing the door behind them. Twelve checked the room. He must have seen the tunnel Stacey had made between their cells to get in, but he said nothing.

  Nine handed Mick a length of rope. “Don’t tell me anything.”

  Hawk set a second glow stick on the palette at Mick’s feet. “Keep her safe or I’ll whip your ass personally,” he grumbled. Mick gave his brothers a single nod and watched them leave the room.

  Mick opened the crawl space and fed the rope down the slick shaft till he felt a tug. He pulled Stacey back up and out. Incredibly she was covered in sweat, her exhaustion visible.

  “I can’t believe my brothers are helping you.” Mick leaned back against the wall beside her.

  Stacey took deep breaths. He could still feel heat from her. “They aren’t. I mentioned that you wouldn’t hang yourself if you had some rope.”

  Mick couldn’t believe she’d trusted his brothers with her life like that. “I’m surprised they did it.”

  “I had a backup plan. I tied all my clothes together. They are under your bed.” She grinned.

  Mick chuckled. “You’re crazy.”

  She shook her head. “I’m a mother. We will get our son out of this place, Mick. Do you know how to swim?”

  “A little.”

  “Good. I grew up swimming. The water is going to be far warmer than the air.” She crawled back and ducked under his sleeping platform.

  Mick wanted to argue. No way could they swim to safety. It was too far, too cold. As Stacey disappeared into her cell, he heard Johnny’s baby voice echo through the hole before she sealed it with something. Better they try to escape and survive out there than remain in here.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Stacey lay silently in the ice, the rope tied at her waist chaffing her skin. Tears streamed down her face at the echo of a whip striking Mick’s flesh mercilessly over and over. Osiris had resumed his effort to break the father of her child, and she was helpless to stop it.

  Kelly had been able to warn them of people approaching by the movement of the berg … until now. She’d told Stacey a few hours ago she couldn’t feel movement anymore.

  By taking quick naps between ice-melts, she’d made progress. The first time she’d gone back in without the rope tied on. She slid the entire way, gaining momentum till she slammed against the rods and bruised her hip. After that Mick lowered her in slowly and tied off the rope to one of the pipes under the floor, giving her plenty of slack.

  That had only been one of the mishaps. The first l
ead rod she heated too fast. It turned molted and melted into her hand. Mick had scraped it out, but Stacey knew it would be scarred forever. With the metal out of the way, the path through the ice had gone quickly but she still had yet to reach the outside.

  With Kelly as an early warning device, the few times Osiris sent that weasel of a healer in to take vials of blood, she’d been there. She knew what they were waiting for—her ovulation; gauging from her last menstruation, that should be happening any time. Osiris wouldn’t be content to simply force her and Mick to have sex if he found they were bloodmate compatible.

  Stacey knew without a question she wanted to spend her life with Conlon. Every minute her yearning for him grew. The ache of separation made breathing painful. Her dreams were filled with his smile, his laugh, his passion.

  Mick loved Mattie just as much as Stacey loved Conlon. An eternal bond with Mick would destroy Conlon. Plus, Stacey would never want Conlon to have to settle for less than all of her. He deserved better than that.

  The room above fell silent. Stacey could hear the drip of Mick’s blood splash on the wood slates. Finally his shaky voice came to her. “They’re gone.”

  Without a word Stacey opened her psyche and infused her body with heat. Within a few feet a chunk of ice cracked, splintered and slipped away. Icy wind hit her body, sliding out of control through the dark open hole. With a mottled scream Stacey tried futily to stop her descent. Thank the Fates Mick must have heard. The rope jerked and tightened painfully around her waist as she shot out the hole on her belly, feet first.

  Stacey looked over her shoulder at the open sea far below—frozen solid. That explained Kelly’s inability to still feel motion. Without access to the warmer water, Johnny, Mick, and Kelly would freeze to death in minutes. A sob tore through her as Mick started pulling her back into hell.

  “I was wrong, Mick.” Stacey couldn’t contain her tears as Mick carefully untied the rope and tossed it back into the hole.

  He replaced the flooring and pulled her head to his shoulder. “How so?”