Grounding Gracus (First Wave Book 6)

by Mikayla Lane

  The voice in Rebecca’s head interrupted, “What he means is, a regular human could have your same gift, but the additional energy, created by me, makes yours much more powerful.”

  Rebecca really didn’t need to be beat over the head with it. “I got it, already. It’s a super parasite that does super-duper things. Yay me.”

  Gracus chuckled at her sarcasm, but felt a chink begin to form in her energy. He knew that she was finally beginning to accept it and couldn’t help but feel elated. He couldn’t wait for the bonds between them to strengthen, wanting and needing that closeness between them.

  “You could be a little less of a bitch,” the voice said, irritating Rebecca.

  “Yeah and you could be a parasite sucking out someone else’s brain. Shut up,” Rebecca said out loud, causing Gracus to choke on his laughter. Even Gibly could be heard snickering up ahead.

  Rebecca was oblivious to their humor, her mind was busy trying to understand what was going on. As much as she hated to admit it, she believed the beast was in her head and that it was speaking to her. It was hard to deny it. Even harder to deny was that Gracus had spoken to her in her mind and that she’d been able to run, in the dark, miles through the forest in a very short period of time without breaking a sweat. She was in great shape, due to her lifestyle, but that was a bit much, even for her.

  Rebecca sighed, sucked up her pride and asked the one thing in her head, she never thought she’d say. “What do your people call you?”

  She could feel an intense tingling for a moment and excitement overcome her before it was gone and the beast spoke, “They call me, Lanzedomecanium.”

  “Yeah, fuck that. You’ll be Lanze,” Rebecca said in her mind.

  Moments later, a wave of energy overtook her that was so strong she stopped and grabbed a tree for support. Gracus pulled her into his arms and held her while her body adjusted to the final bonding energy.

  Rebecca’s head felt like it was swimming in energy and pieces of her mind were clicking into place. She felt more grounded, more connected to the world and life around her. She was stunned by what felt like an openness, an expansion in her mind that wasn’t there before. She felt mentally invigorated, as if she finally understood what it meant to feel like one with the universe. It was intense and humbling at the same time.

  Several minutes later, Rebecca calmed down enough to realize that she was being held by Gracus, who was gently stroking her hair and saying, “It’s ok, just breathe through it. It will be over soon.”

  Rebecca took a deep breath and sighed at how wonderful he smelled and reveled in the warmth of his body as she wrapped her arms around him. She kept her mind blank, not wanting to think of anything but how incredible it felt to be so close to him.

  She wasn’t sure if she felt or heard the crackling around them, but somehow she knew it was their combined energy that was sparking and melding together. A part of her was terrified of the thought of what might be happening, while the rest of her was filled with excitement.

  “We must get to the cave,” Gibly said, interrupting the moment.

  Rebecca blushed and jerked back from Gracus, letting go of him. The look of need in his eyes made her want to jump back in his arms, but she could tell by the urgency in Gibly’s voice, that they needed to keep moving. She turned from him with a small smile and continued following Gibly.

  She heard Lanze in her mind. “I apologize, I was unaware of how intense that finally energy bonding would be. But, it is over now,” he said happily.

  “Well, thank goodness for that. I’m over being electrocuted for today,” Rebecca muttered sarcastically.

  She was serious though. She’d had about enough for one day and the day hadn’t even begun. Rebecca was quiet, running the stories Gracus had told her through her mind over and over again. It all sounded so strange, but it felt so right to her.

  Rebecca shook her head and asked Gracus. “So what’s the deal with these Relians? Why are they bad?”

  Gracus grunted at the name coming from her lips. He hated that she even need know of them. “They are evil. A parasite race that has destroyed countless worlds and murdered billions of innocent people among many galaxies. They want to rape your world of its resources and enslave your people,” Gracus said, his hatred bleeding heavily from his energy.

  Rebecca sucked in a sharp breath. “Wow… yeah… nice plan they got. How do you intend to stop them?” she asked nervously, wondering if they were about to get into the woo woo world again.

  Gracus grinned, knowing she was going to hate this story. “We’ve got a coalition of forces, here on the planet and in space. We work together with the hybrids and even our beast brothers, the Tezarians, to hunt down and destroy them. We’re finding our own people in the process of assisting the humans. Even if the humans don’t know we exist,” Gracus said the last with a grin, knowing that Rebecca would assume she was being lumped in that category.

  She did. “Hey! I never said I was a non-believer. I specifically said that I did believe in aliens. I’ve seen way too may strange things in the skies out here to deny it. I just never expected it to be so complicated or for them to look like you,” Rebecca said, wondering why the hell she’d said that.

  Blushing deeply, Rebecca added, “You know… more than three feet tall and with normal human features…”

  “Stop!” Lanze screamed in her mind and Rebecca instantly obeyed.

  “Run!” Gibly yelled out from several feet in front of them.

  Rebecca was trying to understand what was happening when something tall crashed through the trees in front of her, with a yowling, wildly clawing and biting Gibly on its back.

  Gracus threw himself in front of Rebecca and drew his weapon, just as shots rang out from beside him. He watched in surprise as the dark one that Gibly was fighting grabbed its chest before dropping to the ground. Gibly jumped lightly to the ground as the body fell.

  “Good shooting,” Gibly said with a smile and twitch of his tail.

  “Thanks,” Rebecca said as she stared at the horrible looking humanoid creature on the ground.

  Rebecca turned to Gracus, who looked a little impressed, and pointed at the creature with her gun. Her hand was surprisingly steady. “What… the… fuck, is that?”

  Gracus ignored her for a second. “Gibly, do a full perimeter search.”

  Leaning down on the ground, Gracus held a light stone to the body until it superheated it dust, before stomping on the body to disperse the ash. He looked up as Rebecca sucked in a sharp breath.

  Gracus pulled her into his arms. “That was something genetically altered by the Relians. It’s called a dark one. Are you alright?” he asked, worrying over how calm she appeared.

  Rebecca held tightly to Gracus, burrowing her head into his large chest. His arms felt wonderful around her and his warmth made her feel better. She took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled away from him at the insistence of her beast, who kept reminding her that they weren’t out of danger.

  She looked up at him and nodded her head. “I’m fine. Really. The annoying thing in my head says we aren’t out of danger and need to keep moving.”

  Gracus still held her hand and instead of letting go, he resumed walking, keeping her hand in his own. Gibly spoke to them both through the Shengari’, warning them that he’d returned, before he broke through the underbrush and skidded to a stop a few feet in front of them.

  “There is nothing else. It is odd. Unless they lost control of it, someone must have sent it,” Gibly said, his wariness obvious in his tone of voice.

  Gracus nodded his head, he’d wondered about that as well. “We need to keep moving. If necessary we can better defend ourselves in that cave than we can out here,” Gracus said as they started moving again.

  Rebecca looked up at Gracus as they walked. “Are there more of them?” she asked, keeping her gun in her other hand. Just in case.

  She sighed when he shook his head and said, “I have no idea. Grai and the others d
on’t think there are very many of them out here. There were five Relians that had been in Blanche’s Diner and they dropped in a possible ten more. So we’re looking at a total of fifteen.”

  He helped her over a large, fallen log and added, “Decano and Amun took out two, the dark one you got, makes three.”

  Rebecca sighed. “So we’re still outnumbered and split up. Great,” she said sarcastically.

  Gracus chuckled at her attitude, only because he not only felt her determination and strength, but he’d watched her put three bullets into the heart of a dark one without blinking an eye.

  “The dark ones are the most dangerous weapon they have and it didn’t stand a chance against you and Gibly, so I think we have the upper hand. Besides, the Relians aren’t beast bound. The clones are not beast species at all. They’ve got size, but not much intelligence,” Gracus explained, before warning her.

  “Don’t let your guard down though, their stupidity makes them rash and dangerous. And they usually follow orders unquestioningly. Whatever they are up to out here, they will try to accomplish it.”

  Rebecca snorted. “Yeah, yeah… big bad wolf is loose. Trust me, there isn’t much I’m not currently paranoid about, so I have no intentions of letting my guard down,” she said, waving her gun, still clasped in her right hand.

  Gracus nodded and informed the others about their encounter. They also thought something was strange about it. Two different teams hit, but only by one or two. It was as if someone was testing their defenses and reaction time.

  Gracus didn’t like it at all. Neither did Grai and Scaden.

  *****

  Jalorn chuckled as he looked through the binoculars. His hunch had been right. The hybrid and Valendran were definitely heading somewhere. Even after he’d sent that fool Blint and a dark one after the two Valendran protectors, they’d stayed on the same path.

  The fact that they still didn’t deviate after the dark one attack, assured him that they knew where they were heading and a cave was the perfect place to hide. He didn’t believe for a second that they were moving to high ground to be picked up. No, he thought, they could have already been picked up. Instead, they remained out here.

  While that fool, Caden, got himself killed chasing Grai, he’d take the rest of his men and not only find the cave, but capture himself a hybrid as well. One that had to know something about the mysterious place or she wouldn’t be leading the Valendrans to it.

  He chuckled again. Not only did he have better clones with him thanks to Caden, he’d gotten rid of Blint and the dark ones. Without those fools, he felt a lot more confident that he would succeed. All he had to do was follow the female to the cave.

  If Caden couldn’t kill Grai, then he could always use the woman as a hostage to get away. Hell, Dagog would send him a ton of backup if he thought he could get his brother himself. Either way, this was looking better for him by the second.

  Yes, Jalorn thought, I might be able to pull this off after all.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two hours later, Rebecca, Gibly and Gracus were standing in front of a large, rock outcropping, near the base of Burnt Tree Ridge. Gracus and Gibly didn’t see why Rebecca was so enthralled with the rock and the almost indistinct symbol on it. Until she touched it. The symbol appeared clearly on the rock and was illuminated by blue light. Even Gibly looked impressed as he stared at the display on the rock.

  “That’s a Valendran word for haven… underneath all these other swirls and stuff,” Gracus said as he gestured at the symbol.

  Rebecca didn’t pay too much attention. The energy running through her was bouncing back at her from the rock. There was something else though… something she could feel building in her… needing a way out.

  Suddenly, she exhaled sharply and looked up as three shimmering blue forms appeared beside them. There was a really large, dangerous looking blonde man with long, disheveled hair and deep, blue eyes.

  A smaller, petite, dark haired woman who had both of her hands on the same rock that Rebecca was touching, while another dark haired female had her hand flat on the other woman’s back. It was she, who looked right at Rebecca. And spoke.

  “There is safety. We can protect you. Follow the message in the stones. We will be waiting to help you,” the woman said.

  Rebecca was so startled she yanked her hand back from the rock and the freaky blue hands that had rested near her own. The images immediately vanished. Gracus and Gibly looked just as startled as Rebecca.

  Gracus finally said, “That was Fiorn Erikson.”

  Rebecca looked at him like he was stupid. “That was creepy as hell! Are they ghosts?”

  Gracus looked startled at the suggestion. “I don’t think our people are capable of becoming shades. But, as the planet goes through the energy shift, it is possible that spirits can become trapped. I believe one of your holy books speaks of the dead rising, referring to the trapped shades finally being released.”

  Gibly sniffed. “Fool. It is what happened when the female recorded the message and symbol in the rock. Like the way her grandfather did on the pages of the journal. It’s like a playback button on your comm. Touch it again. You see, I’m right,” Gibly said confidently.

  Rebecca looked at Gracus for a second before she turned back to the rock. This time placing her hand somewhere farther away from where the creepy blue hands were the last time. She still jumped a little when the three blue figures appeared again. Gibly smirked as the scene played out exactly as it had the last time.

  Rebecca wasn’t nearly as scared now as she was fascinated. She took her hand off and placed it on the rock again and again, watching the figures appear and reappear around them. Finally, she stopped and stared at Gracus.

  “Let’s find the next symbol,” she said, a little excited about what they’d find next.

  Gracus looked around them, wondering which way they were supposed to go when Rebecca grabbed his hand and pulled him west, along the base of the mountain.

  “It’s this way,” Rebecca said with a grin.

  Gracus followed, but couldn’t help but ask, “How do you know?”

  Rebecca chuckled. “Because Fiorn was pointing this way.”

  Gracus tried to think back to the image and he was surprised to realize that she was right. Fiorn had been pointing in this direction. He’d been so stunned by the whole thing that he hadn’t paid enough attention to the details. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  About a quarter of a mile later, Rebecca stood next to a large crack in the solid rock of the mountain. It was the only thing that marred what appeared to be a large, smooth section, free of jagged edges. She looked at Gracus and Gibly, holding her hand up to the rock and another severely weathered pattern without touching it.

  The moment they nodded, Rebecca placed her hand flat on the rock and watched the symbol appear clearly and the same three figures pop up in front of them. Even though she was standing in a different place than the last time, touching the rock differently, the woman still looked right at Rebecca as she spoke. It was eerie and Rebecca fought to control the shiver that ran through her.

  “There is safety. We can protect you. Follow the message in the stones. We will be waiting to help you,” the woman said.

  Gracus noted that Fiorn was pointing upwards this time and he searched the side of the mountain for how they could get up. The rough trail was easy to see in the early morning light and Gracus didn’t think there would be a problem trying to navigate it.

  Rebecca took her hands off of the stone and watched as the images disappeared. It was so weird. She felt like putting her hands on and off the rock a hundred times to see it again and again, but knew that now wasn’t the time to play around. Crazy looking creatures and guys with guns were hunting them, she thought with a shake of her head. Who sounded crazy now?

  She looked up at Gracus and saw him point to the mountain trail. Rebecca knew it. Her and her grandfather had come past this same one around ten years ago. And he�
��d never mentioned a word to her. It was she, who had pointed it out to him. Rebecca sighed, pushing aside her hurt. She climbed up on the first set of rocks and headed towards the trail as Gibly hopped up and ran past her to scout ahead.

  She looked up as Gibly disappeared and noted what appeared to be a well-hidden trail. If it wasn’t for the minor rock climb to get to it, it would have been completely hidden. Now that she was on it, it was easy to see that the trail had been well used at one point.

  Now it was overgrown enough that she knew it had been a while since anyone had used it. A few years at least, she thought as she held a branch for Gracus, before continuing up the moderate incline.

  Unwilling to speak out loud and possibly give out their location to another creature, Rebecca decided to practice her mind talking thing with Gracus.

  “It looks like the trail scissors up the side. If there’s a cave we should find it soon,” Rebecca said.

  The strange energy vibration in her head when she spoke was a little odd, but not unpleasant and the responding energy before she heard Gracus’s voice was different enough that she would know it was him by the feeling. She grinned, it was kind of like a different ringtone on your phone.

  “Yes, each new connection you make will have a different ringtone. Because what it really is should be treated as something so common,” Lanze said sarcastically.

  “Look asshole, I’m trying really hard to look for the things that I can relate to in order to deal with the fact I’m a half breed alien freak with a talking bug in my fucking head! So back off and cut me some slack!” Rebecca said angrily, only realizing she’d spoken aloud when she heard Gibly chuckling up ahead and Gracus obviously trying to stifle his own laughter behind her.

  She turned to Gracus with a look of frustration. “How the hell do you turn it off?”

  Gracus smiled wryly and spoke in her mind. “You can’t. A beast is basically a miniature person that lives in your head. Neither of you, can get rid of the other. In fact, your lives are tied together forever.”