Independents: Taoree Trilogy #2

by Michele Notaro

  Nolan rolled his eyes at me and wiped some blood from his cheek. “I meant, they were being controlled by a Taoree that was in close range.”

  “What?”

  He sighed. “Really, J, do you ever pay attention when I’m talking to you?” I shrugged a little and he sighed before continuing, “I told you the other day that we predicted this would happen. We predicted that the Legion were going to start sending out small teams to control the Ferals in certain areas in order to lure, capture, or kill humans and Independents by setting traps.”

  “You’re telling me that Ferals are now going to be working together to kill off any remaining humans?” I asked with wide eyes.

  “Yes,” he answered before walking a few steps to Tabby, running his hand through her hair, cupping her neck and kissing her temple. I heard him whisper, “You okay?”

  She smiled at him. “I’m good. You?”

  He kissed her temple again as he whispered, “I’m fine.” The two split apart before Nolan came back over to me. “We need to scout the area quickly for any refugees and get the fuck out of here. You, Cal, Wes, Orrean, Sanjha, and Lee need to scout the west end.” He pointed to my right. “Tabby, Bek, and I are staying here to check for any active transmissions that we can track, and the others are scouting the east end already.” I nodded and he walked over to the others on our team to give them jobs while I followed Wes over to Cal.

  I was surprised when I’d first heard that Nolan was made second-in-command on our team, but I had to admit that he was fucking great at it. Even if I didn’t want to be on the same team as Orrean, who was technically Team Leader. Orr seemed satisfied in letting Nolan handle things today… probably since he hadn’t actually trained with us yet. Idiot.

  I was a little disappointed that we didn’t find anyone hiding when we went quickly through the neighborhood. I’d been hoping to rescue a few humans, but I was still glad we’d been able to kill as many Ferals as we had, and take out those fucking new monsters. I mean, it helped in the grand scheme of things, and if some humans happened upon this town, at least they’d have less to worry about and a better chance of survival. Or they would if the Legion didn’t immediately fill it up with Ferals and bug-robot-things again.

  As we circled back to the trucks, the sound of a gunshot in the distance went off and before I could even react, I was pushed up against the side of a house with my face pressed into a chest that smelled like cinnamon. Another gunshot went off and Orrean somehow pressed himself into me even farther, trying to tuck me under him and cover my entire body with his. I allowed myself one moment of smelling him, and maybe I accidentally pressed my nose into his chest a little farther—not that I’d admit it—but at least I held back on wrapping my arms around him. I couldn’t help myself. He was my favorite smell and I hadn’t been around him in two weeks.

  So instead of hugging him, I took an extra breath, then pushed his chest back as hard as I could to put a little distance between us. I ground out, “What the hell, Orrean?” Apparently I was back to embracing my anger, rather than focusing on my hurt.

  He did that stupid shoulder-roll-shrug thing—that I would never admit to missing—as he said calmly, “There were gunshots.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been gunshots all damn day. In fact, some of them were from my reelian. Why did you press me up against a wall? The shots weren’t even close.”

  He looked away for a moment, then looked back at me with a pinched face. “I was too far away earlier, when you were dragged away…” He sighed and looked down to take a breath before refocusing on me. “It was a natural reaction to protect you.”

  What the hell was I supposed to do with that?

  Orrean and his damn big purple eyes just stood there staring at me, looking like he was waiting for me to yell. He looked sort of pathetic and adorable and like maybe I’d kicked his puppy and he was waiting for me to do it again. Why does he always have to be all sweet and caring all the time?

  “Dammit, why are you always such a wanker?” I asked without any real heat as I ran a hand over my eyes so I’d stop looking at his stupid face.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I mumbled before looking back at him and quietly asking, “Can you try to not… do that again?”

  For some reason, a small smile formed on his face.

  “What?” I asked as he continued making that weird face at me.

  He just shook his head and walked away.

  “He’s so weird,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Not as weird as you,” my brother supplied as we followed Orrean.

  I lightly pushed his shoulder in retaliation.

  “We’re going to meet at the trucks. The other team is closer to where the gunshots came from, so they’ll check it out and we’ll head over that way for backup,” Lee said after talking to Nolan with his ricah.

  When we met back at the trucks, Nolan was busy with Tabby and Bek. I walked closer and immediately turned away when I realized they were dissecting a Feral in the back of the truck. Or rather, they were removing the Feral’s brain. Fucking gross. Apparently the scientists back at the base asked for something specific from a Feral brain, or what was left of it once the fucking Qiren melted it. What for, I had no fucking idea, and I didn’t think I wanted to know, either. Ughhh.

  Nolan called out over his shoulder, “Delta team found two humans right outside of town. They’re bringing them back now, but they’re on the fence about us, obviously, so try not to act like total douchebags when they get here… Jeremy.”

  “Me?” I asked, startled that he’d single me out like that.

  “Yes, you. You’ve been moping around and acting like a jerk. Be nice.”

  I opened my mouth to argue and ask what the hell he thought he was doing, but then Cal started snickering and Nolan looked over his shoulder at me with a ridiculous grin, so I knew he was just messing with me. I muttered, “Dickhead.” Nolan laughed and went back to the melted-brain removing thing, so I followed a laughing Cal back to our truck as I pulled out my juhere to start using it, along with my light, to heal the injuries everyone had acquired and not yet healed. Apparently my team was filled with a bunch of stubborn idiots.

  When I got to Sanjha, she moved away from me again, so I said, “Let me heal your arm. There’s nothing urgent at the moment and it’ll only take a minute.”

  She ignored me, but turned and started walking away. I followed after her and said, “That has to hurt, Sanjha. Just let me help you.”

  She glared at me over her shoulder, but didn’t say anything, and didn’t slow down, either.

  “Would you just come on,” I said, starting to get frustrated.

  She still wouldn’t answer me or stop walking.

  “Are you seriously still not going to talk to me, Sanjha? What did I ever do to make you hate me?” I finally asked angrily.

  She turned to me with a fire in her eyes as she quietly, but fiercely stated, “Having a Balu is a gift. It’s something that should be revered and cherished, yet you walk around like it is a burden to you, like you hate it and you don’t want it.” She shook her head at me before storming off. Bek tried to put his arm over her shoulders, but she shrugged him off and stomped over to the trucks, hopping in.

  I looked over at Lee, noticing that he wouldn’t look at me. Then I glanced at the other Taoree on my team, seeing them all looking at anything but me, so I asked, “Do you all feel that way?”

  Lee answered when no one else spoke up, “We don’t understand why you fight it the way you do. You’re lucky to have found your Balu… but no one is pissed the way Sanjha is.”

  “Why is she so mad?” I eventually asked.

  All the other Taoree had started healing one another’s wounds, but Lee stayed with me and whispered, “Sanjha found her Balu when she first arrived at the Independent base.” I furrowed my brow at him because that still didn’t explain why she was so pissed at me. Lee’s da
rk-blue eyes softened before he added, “He did not make it. He was killed on the second mission they went on. He died before they were able to complete their bond, but they had started connecting. She now has to live with the fact that she will never know what a True Bond feels like, and with the knowledge of knowing her one true Balu is gone, but he didn’t take her with him.”

  I let that sink in for a moment, and I swallowed hard before asking, “What do you mean he didn’t take her with him?”

  He gave me a weird look before whispering, “Because their bond was incomplete, she lives on while he is dead.”

  My mouth went dry at that, but I still managed to ask, “Are you saying that you die when your Balu dies?”

  “That is typically the case, yes.” He was staring at me like I was the one saying something crazy-as-fuck.

  All I could manage was a nod before I got up and joined my brothers who were looking at a map. I couldn’t help but glance at Orrean. He had a deep frown on his face, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of me, the situation we were in, or the fact that Lee had told me that if I ever completed the bond with him or whatever, we’d both die if one of us was killed. Why in the hell would he even want to complete the bond with me, if that was the case? I’m a human, and humans are easily killed, especially now, in the fucked-up world we are living.

  Or maybe he didn’t want to complete the bond with me. Maybe that was the reason he’d been giving me my space and not even meeting me in my dreams, even though I knew for a fact that I was trying to pull him to me. Maybe that was the real reason he’d held back on telling me about the bond.

  For some reason, the thought that he didn’t want to complete the bond with me made the air rush out of my lungs and my heart race, almost in a panic.

  But I had no right to be upset. Not when I didn’t want to complete the stupid bond anyway.

  Orrean looked over at me, concern clear on his face. He started toward me, but I waved him off. I was fine, I didn’t need him.

  Even as the thought crossed my mind, I almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness. I wasn’t fine, and a part of me did need him. I just wasn’t ready for that part of me yet.

  I climbed into one of the trucks and shut the door so I would stop looking at him and getting lost in those stupid purple eyes.

  Chapter Nine

  That night when we made it back to the Independent base, we brought in the two humans and gave them food, fresh clothes, and beds to sleep in. Then we all went back to our suites to clean up and eat. After I showered, I walked out to the common room in our apartment where everyone else was already eating, including Orrean.

  He stopped what he was doing and stared at me. When I sat on the loveseat next to the couch he was sitting on, he got up and started heading to his room.

  “Wait,” I called after him.

  He looked over his shoulder at me, but didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t have to leave,” I said. “Let’s just eat as a family.”

  His eyes went wide and he whispered, “Are you sure?”

  I shot him a half-smile and shrugged. “Please stay… you’re a part of this family too, Orr.”

  The smile he sent my way was shy, sweet, and hopeful. When he sat back down, he whispered, “Thank you.”

  I ignored that in favor of asking Wes, “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

  My brother looked relieved as he told me what we were having. I didn’t hear a word of what he said because I couldn’t stop sneaking looks at the alien that, for better or for worse, had become an integral member of my family. Even if I wasn’t ready to figure out the whole Balu thing, my family, my entire family deserved to have some happiness in their lives. It wasn’t fair for me to have them walking on eggshells in their own home. This should be a place filled with love and laughter, a place we could all go to relax and be ourselves, where we didn’t need to worry about fucking Ferals or bug-robots or anything else.

  Mandy came into the room and immediately climbed onto Orrean’s lap, and he didn’t even blink. He just started asking her about what she’d learned in school that day and if she’d finished her homework. Wes was talking to Cal, who’d sat on the floor leaning his back against Wes’s chair, and Nolan and Tabby were whispering to each other over at the little kitchen table. Everyone looked happy. For the first time in months, my family was safe and content.

  A pang of loss shot through me, knowing that we were missing a member of our family. Knowing that my sweet, beautiful Colt would never again get to experience this, and that we’d never again get to experience him.

  My leg was nudged by Cal’s toes, so I looked at him questioningly.

  He shot me a little smile and whispered so only I could hear, “He’s always with us, you know.”

  I sighed at that. When did Cal get so good at reading me? “I know,” I eventually agreed.

  “This is nice,” he stated a little while later.

  I nodded and took a deep breath. “It is.”

  He shot me another smile and patted my thigh before he got up to open the suite door because someone had brought our food up to our room.

  Orrean was looking at me when I glanced at him, so I sent him a soft smile, which he returned. I had a feeling he was good at reading me too, and knew exactly what I was thinking.

  I got up to help Cal with the food. Once we’d passed out all the plates, I looked around and realized that Cal had taken my seat, so the only seat left was on the couch, next to Orrean. I shot Cal a glare, but he just grinned and shrugged at me, then the butt shot Orr a wink. I looked at Orr and watched him tense up.

  So I set my plate on the coffee table and plopped down next to Orr, close enough that our shoulders were touching. Then I elbowed him in the ribs. “Just ignore him. That’s what I do.”

  Cal snorted, but Orr looked at me with a little smile, which I returned. Then we dug into our food and I didn’t bother to scoot away, even though there was plenty of room beside me. If Orr cared that I was in his space while he was trying to eat, he didn’t say anything. In fact, he kept shooting me shy smiles.

  After we cleaned up our dinner dishes, I made sure to sit beside Orr again. I’d missed him, missed his calm and peaceful presence. We played cards around the coffee table for a few hours, but I started losing my energy. It’d been a long day, and as nice as it was to spend a quiet evening with my family, I was drained and my eyelids started to droop.

  I jerked my head up when it fell forward. Nolan laughed at me, but I noticed that no one was playing cards anymore, they were just talking. Pretty soon, my eyelids closed again.

  I startled awake when I felt my cards being pulled out of my hand. As I looked around, I realized I was using Orrean’s shoulder as a pillow. I wiped my mouth in case I’d drooled, but in my half-asleep daze, I didn’t move off his shoulder. When he started to pull away, I grabbed his arm and pulled my knees up to rest on his thigh as I muttered, “Don’t go, you’re comfortable.”

  When he whispered, “Okay,” I closed my eyes again, listening to everyone else leave the common room. I didn’t bother to open my eyes when I felt Orrean shifting us around. I didn’t even open them when I felt him lie down beside me on the couch and place my head on his shoulder. He whispered, “Is this okay?”

  I nodded against him, then slid my hand up his chest to the side of his neck. Both of us shivered as our skin connected and I rubbed my thumb over his jaw. “Stop avoiding me, Orr.” I couldn’t be blamed for anything that came out of my mouth when I was half-asleep.

  “As you wish.”

  Right before I fell asleep fully, I whispered, “I’ve missed you.”

  I felt him brush the hair off my forehead and press his cheek there. “I’ve missed you too.”

  That night, I dreamt. Real dreams, not the dream-walking kind. I didn’t feel the need to try pulling him to me, maybe because he was already there, holding me and protecting me like he always did.

  ***

  I woke up in the midd
le of the night feeling warm and comfortable… and lying on someone’s chest. Enimus! I fell asleep on Orrean.

  He huffed out a put-upon breath. “Are you about to yell at me?”

  I winced, even though that was totally deserved, since I’d been such a jerk. I took a deep breath. “No… I’m just…” I had no clue how to finish that sentence.

  He rubbed my back a little, but said, “It’s okay. We can just get up and go back to our rooms.”

  I leaned up on my elbow so I could look at him. He looked sad and hesitant. My hand was still on his neck, apparently having stayed there in my sleep. But I still didn’t move it since I liked that extra contact. My face was only inches from his, so I whispered, “Do you want to leave?” I waited a beat, then asked, “Can we just stay here?”

  He blew out a breath, but nodded slightly, then brushed my hair off my forehead. When he ran his fingertips down my cheek, I closed my eyes at the sensation. Everywhere our bodies were touching was sending sparks through me. I felt my light take notice of his closeness, but I also felt my cock twitch with interest, which made me swallow and look at him again. The way our legs were tangled left little doubt that he’d noticed. He kept brushing his fingers over my cheek and through my hair as I stared at him, unmoving.

  Looking into his gorgeous purple eyes, I was hit with a huge wave of want. I wanted so badly to close that short distance and press my lips to his. I wanted to feel his skin, to taste it. Part of me wanted to forget the past, forget everything going on around us, and just focus on the here and now. But that wasn’t something I could do, and it wasn’t fair for me to just forget about Colt and what we had together, even for only a minute. And I didn’t know how to be with Orrean. Everything inside of me was still just too raw.

  I saw him glance at my mouth and I knew he felt the same pull. I knew that he wanted to kiss me.

  But I couldn’t do it. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. So I bypassed his lips and pressed my cheek to his, then tucked my arms behind his neck and held him tight, burying my face between my arms and his neck. It took him a few seconds, but he eventually enveloped me in his arms, holding me tight.