by R. R. Banks
"I wasn't meant to be," he answered.
He expected her to pry, to try to figure out more, or to criticize him for not being one of the powerful, fierce men who had a reputation throughout the galaxy. Instead, she smiled at him and got up on the tips of her toes to touch a kiss to his lips.
"We should probably catch up with everyone else before the think that we've been kidnapped. I don't think that they need any more stress in their battle planning."
Chapter Nine
I pondered what Ty had told me as we hurried across the plateau and down the side of the cliff. The rest of the group was already considerably ahead of us and we took off at a run to catch up with them. Even at my height, though, Ty's long legs created a stride with a length that far outdid mine, putting him several steps ahead of me within just a few seconds. I called up to him and he turned back to me. As soon as I caught up to him, he reached down and scooped me off of my feet, draping me over his shoulder so that he could carry me as he ran. I let out a scream, but it quickly turned into a laugh as I bounced along with my head at his waist level.
I was dizzy by the time we caught up to the rest of the group and he finally lowered me back to my feet. He held me stable for a few seconds so that I could get my wits about me again and then we started back toward the compound. Everyone was silent as we walked, each person lost in his own thoughts and absorbed in his own worries. I fought off the ominous feelings that fell over the group, trying to remain positive as we walked. I knew that what we found at the end of that tunnel was going to change everything, and I needed to find as much strength as I could in my positivity before we had to tell them about it.
When we made it back to the meeting hall, I noticed that everyone who had been in the main room was now gone. The long tables and benches were empty and there was a strange sense of tension in the air like the walls and floor themselves knew that something was about to happen and they were bracing themselves for it. One of the warriors rushed out of the room and came back a few moments later carrying several large sheets of parchment and a dark pencil. Leia sat at one of the tables and spread the materials out in front of her. She took a breath like she was preparing herself and stretched and wriggled her fingers. She had the look of an artist who had not drawn in quite a length of time and was trying to get herself back into that flow that allowed her to create.
She picked up the pencil and let the tip hover above the parchment.
"The tunnel was long and narrow," she described, starting the sketch, "It was only a couple of inches taller than Zuri and Samira, and tight enough that we had to walk single file."
"That means that Ullie was not the only one helping the Klimnu," Pyra said, leaning on his palms on the table so that he could watch as Leia drew.
I nodded and picked up where Leia had left off.
"What's strange about the tunnel is that we noticed we seemed to have gone much further than we should have. I called out to Ty, but he couldn't hear me. There's no reason why he shouldn't have been able to hear my voice when I was calling to him from what I thought was just a few dozen yards away. Especially with my voice coming through a tunnel like that, he should have been able to hear me for much longer. The same goes for when we were heading back. He wasn't able to hear me until we were almost at the mouth of the tunnel."
"What do you think that means?" Gyyx asked.
"We aren't sure. What we know is that we walked for a while and then everything seemed to feel different. The tunnel got cold and wet, and then we started feeling moving air."
Leia took the page where she had drawn the tunnel and set it aside, pulling a fresh sheet closer to her.
"Samira had us wait in the tunnel while she went ahead. After a few seconds we heard her calling for us. The tunnel took a sudden turn and when we came around it, the tunnel opened out into what looked like a jungle."
Leia started sketching, her hand moving feverishly across the paper as what we had seen in the subterranean jungle developed under the tip of her pencil. She drew out what had looked like massive trees hung heavily with thick, rope-like vines. The light produced by the torch seemed small once we were out of the tight tunnel and it only illuminated enough of the area to show that the tops of the trees seemed to connect with each other to create one thick, dark ceiling that overhung the entire area.
"How do the trees grow underground?" Pyra asked as we described the forest.
I shrugged.
"We don't know."
I kept describing the underground forest, letting Leia bring my words into visual reality on the page as she sketched the thick roots of the trees that spread through small sections of undergrowth. All around the trees was calm, deep-looking water. Though I couldn't see much of it, I knew that these surroundings didn't have the expansive feeling of being outside. We hadn't managed to go through a tunnel into an outdoor area of the planet. Instead, we were definitely in an underground chamber of the cave, contained within an area of indeterminate size.
"What else did you find?" Ty asked.
His voice sounded strained, like what we were telling him frightened him.
"We couldn't see much, but it looked like there were sections of the tree ceiling that were broken and there was a strange slime dripping from those areas. That's what started the torch going out; a big glob of it fell right on the flame. I got a little on my arm, too."
I held out my arm to show them where the goo had hit, and noticed that the skin was starting to redden. I touched it and it stung. Ty grabbed my arm and looked at the area.
"What's happening?"
I stared at my reddening skin and a memory suddenly popped into my mind. I turned to Zuri and held my arm out to her.
"Zuri, do you remember when you first got home and you had that section of your back that you said had been hurting? I looked at it and it was red and you said it stung when I touched it?"
Zuri nodded, reaching out toward my arm. I pulled it back sharply, shaking my head.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Is that where the Klimnu touched you while you were in the forest?"
I remembered what she had told me about the night that she ran from the meeting hall and ended up lost in the forest at the edge of the compound. A Klimnu had hung from one of the trees, dangling down to grab at her as she ran past. The experience had terrified her, but it had also apparently left a reaction on her skin.
"The Klimnu touched me more than I care to discuss while I was with them, though," Leia said, looking up from where she was sketching a droplet of the clear slime coming down from the trees, "And I never had a reaction like that."
"Maybe it is like an allergy. Some people react to it, and some people don't. I've never been near the Klimnu, so I don't know what they feel like, but you described them as slimy."
"Yeah, they're disgusting. They're like pale, slimy skeletons with long fingers and really disturbing eyes."
"Could this slime have something to do with that? Could some people be vulnerable to the slime and react really strongly to it, and other people be resistant to it?"
My mind was spinning as my research projects came pouring back to me and ideas started to form in my mind.
"What are you thinking, Samira?" Zuri asked.
She could recognize the look on my face as the one I always wore when things started to make sense to me. She had always been the one to nurture my curiosity and help me use my intelligence to work out solutions, form ideas, and discover new things through my research.
"I'm thinking that I need to get to Eden, Eliana, and Ciyrs."
Chapter Ten
Ty paced through the living room of his house, pausing every few steps to listen closely to see if he heard the door to his shop opening. It had been several hours since Samira and Zuri had run off with Pyra to Ciyrs's shop to tell them whatever it was that she had figured out. He had wanted to go along, but she told him that he should go home and get some rest, that it could be a while before she was finished. He knew th
at there wasn't really anything that he would be able to do to help, but he hated being away from her and not even knowing what was happening. A few times he thought about checking in with her telepathically, but he didn't know what she was doing and didn't want to risk distracting her at a critical moment and possibly ruining her work.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. Pacing around the house and worrying about her wasn't going to do anyone any good. If he was going to be a part of this war, he was going to have to start with being courageous enough to face the demons inside him and take control of the part of his destiny he had run from for so long.
Ty glanced toward the door one last time, and then looked around the room. He would have to start with something small, just to make sure that he could even do it anymore before he tried anything more impactful. His eyes fell on a small plant that sat on the table across the room. It was a bioluminescent fern he often used as illumination at night when he didn't want to access the solar energy collected from the panel on his roof and stored in a small cell that would allow him to do things throughout the home like turn on lights and heat water for a shower. It was nearly morning, but it was still dark enough that the vibrant blue glow of the plant stood out against the shadowy room.
He concentrated on the plant, allowing his thoughts to etch it in his mind. The longer he looked at it, the stronger the outline against his thoughts became until it seemed that everything else in his brain had gone completely black and all he could see was the glowing plant. When he had isolated it enough, he imagined his thoughts sending invisible ropes out of his mind and encircling the plant. He pulled with his mind and the plant trembled. Suddenly a scream in the back of his mind made the plant stop moving and he fell to his knees.
Ty gasped for breath, trying to stop the shaking of his body and hold back the sharp tears that stung his eyes. The scream had been a memory, an echo that he would never be able to forget. He had heard it so many times in the years since it had actually happened and each time it had pushed him further and further away from the power contained within him. So far that now it seemed he may no longer be able to harness it.
"Ty?"
He had been so shaken by the scream that he didn't even realize the door to his shop had opened and Samira stepped into the living room. He lifted his head and looked at her. She ran forward toward him and dropped to her knees on the floor at his side, wrapping an arm around his back and tilting her head down to look him in the face.
"Hi," he managed weakly.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Ty sat back on his heels and shook his head.
"I was trying to do something I haven't done in a long time. I was hoping that it might help the clan during the war, but I don’t think that I can do it anymore."
"Why?"
He looked at her for a long second. He had never told anyone about this before. No one knew what had happened or how it had impacted him as he grew up. Telling the story would be painful and make him more vulnerable than he had ever been, but if there was anyone in the world who he could be that vulnerable in front of and not feel afraid, it was his mate. As safe as he made her feel, she made him feel the same way and he was finally ready, for the first time in his life, to be completely honest.
"My father killed my mother," he said cautiously, gauging her reaction carefully.
"Intentionally?" she asked softly.
"No. He loved her with everything in him. He would never hurt her on purpose."
"What happened?"
Ty drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out. This was a moment that could define his entire future, something that could truly end everything he had built for himself as he grew up and after his parents died. Samira looked back at him with wide, innocent eyes veiled with worry and genuine, deep love.
"My father had a skill that other Denynso don't. It is extremely rare. In fact, since his death, there has only been one other who has had it. One day he was using it and he lost control. My mother happened to be in the path and it killed her. He died less than a year later. Everyone thinks that he got sick, but I know that it was the heartbreak of being without her and the guilt of feeling like he caused her death that eventually just stole his will to live."
"I'm so sorry, Ty." Samira paused and brought her hand to his back to rub it gently, "Will you tell me something?"
Ty nodded.
"Are you the other Denynso with that skill? Is that what you were saying that you don't think you can do anymore?"
Ty nodded again, feeling the tears building in his eyes again.
"I haven't used it since my father died. Almost 20 years."
"Use it now," she said.
"What?"
"Use it now," she repeated matter-of-factly, "Show me."
She said it with such confidence, such absolute faith that he would be able to overcome this massive challenge; it gave him a surge of determination. Ty stood up again and brushed the tears away from his cheeks. Forcing the sound of the reverberating scream out of his mind, he turned his focus back to the plant. The sun was coming up now and the glow was not as strong, but he let his mind etch it against his thoughts again. The ropes of concentration shot out of his mind and coiled around the plant. He forced his focus to sharpen and in an instant the plant rose up off of the table and flew across the room into his outstretched hand.
Chapter Eleven
I gasped as I saw Ty's hand close around the pot that held a strange looking plant. His eyes snapped to me and I saw his lips twitch before a smile curved them. He let out a short laugh as if he was completely shocked that it had actually worked. I smiled back at him.
"That was incredible!"
He laughed again and looked around the room. A moment later a cushion lifted off the couch and sailed through the air at him. He tossed it at me and I batted it away. Suddenly he took off and ran up the stairs toward his bedroom. I was so startled by his sudden movement that I didn't have a chance to react before I felt a tug in my belly. I looked up at him standing at the top of the stairs and met his eyes. He gave me a mischievous smile and the ground disappeared from under feet. I squealed at the realization that he was carrying me toward him telekinetically, but I barely had time to be frightened before he opened his arms and caught me.
I felt his heart pounding against my chest and his erection pushing into my belly. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I leaned in and nipped at his neck, letting my teeth sink playfully into his skin. I followed the bite with a long draw of my tongue. Ty growled and grabbed my butt in both hands, digging his fingertips into me. He started toward the bed, but I pulled my head back to look at him.
"I am so gross from that tunnel."
He made a moaning sound in his throat and turned, carrying me down a short hallway toward a room I hadn't gone in the night before.
"I guess I'm just going to have to fix that for you," he said.
He lowered me to my feet and I saw that we were in a large bathroom. There was a sunken tub in the middle of the room and a series of marble shelves that looked like a small staircase along the wall beside the tub. Several bottles lined the shelves and I noticed what looked like a soft sponge on the edge closest to the tub.
Ty went to work undressing me, carefully and slowly removing each article of clothing and showering the newly exposed skin with gentle kisses. When I was completely naked, he turned on the faucet and took a bottle from the shelf. He drizzled some of the liquid from the bottle under the faucet and the tub filled with bubbles. They shimmered with an array of iridescent colors and a sweet, sultry smell rose to me. I inhaled deeply and felt his hand come to mine. He led me gently down into the tub and held my hand until I settled onto the seat along one side. I moaned as the warm water came up over my breasts and I closed my eyes, allowing my head to drop back against the side of the tub.
I could hear Ty undressing behind me and a moment later he stepped down into the tub with me. He bathed me silently, using the soft sponge
to tenderly remove all of the grime I felt clinging to my skin from my time in the tunnel and then the hours I had spent in the shop with Cirys, Eden, and Eliana. When he was finished, he placed the sponge on the side of the tub and I felt him settle back so that he sat on the seat beside me. His hand touched my hip and I let the feeling guide me over to him and then up into his lap so that I faced him, straddling his hips.
My breasts brushed against his chest and I felt my breath deepen. The water made our bodies slick against each other, and the concealment of the bubbles increased my excitement as I moved my body against his to compensate for not being able to see it. Ty held me close to him, his head tucked into the curve of my neck and shoulder as one arm encircled my waist and the other hand explored my back and shoulders. His breath was labored as I felt the tip of his tongue touch my collarbone.
"Can I bring you into the bedroom now?" he whispered.
I shook my head.
"No."
"No?"
"Here."
I rolled my hips against him and felt him twitch. He lifted me enough to touch the tip of his erection to my opening and then eased me down until I settled into his lap, cradling him deep inside me. I clutched at his shoulders, whimpering at the intense, full feeling. When I opened my eyes again, he was staring at me, the glowing orange of his eyes seeming to burn into me.
"Tell me again," he said and I knew exactly what he wanted.
"I love you."
He lifted me slightly and thrust hard up into me.
"Tell me again," he growled.
"I love you," I gasped.
"Again."
"I love you."
Ty suddenly stood and lifted me off of his lap. In an instant I was on my hands and knees beside the tub. I cried out as Ty's tongue slid across me, slipping between my folds and concentrating on the throbbing swollen bud at my core. He repeated the action and I arched my back, sobbing at the incredible waves of pleasure he sent through me. Suddenly he knelt behind me and entered me again, pushing all the way inside me in one hard thrust. He buried his hand in my hair and I felt the other hand go to my hip to stabilize me as he pounded into me. I whimpered and moaned with each deep stroke, the intensity of the feelings making it difficult for me to hold myself up.