“What the hell is this serum for that everyone keeps talking about and what do you mean you warned her?” Alejandro asked, suddenly close enough that he touched both she and Kane.
“He doesn’t know?” Kane gave her a hard look. “He should know. It’s a safety risk and had he had you out in the middle of the desert, too far from base, you’d have died. Alex would have had to stand there and watch it happen. Trust me when I say holding your lifeless body is the last thing he’ll want to do. It’s something you never forget.”
“She looked like she was in excruciating pain when I found her at lunch time giving herself another injection. What’s going on?” Alejandro asked.
Kane gasped. “You took three of them, Deryn?”
Reluctantly, she nodded. “I’m fine. I can still move,” she lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers, “see. Fine now. It didn’t cause paralysis or seizures. We thought it might, we were wrong. That’s good, right?”
“What? Paralysis?” Alejandro asked, sounding shocked.
Kane’s eyes narrowed on her. “You are damn fucking lucky he was there when you did it. You could have overdosed, Deryn. Is that what you want? Do you want to die from the one thing that keeps you alive?”
“Keeps her alive? What the hell is going on here?”
Kane gave her a hard look and ignored Alejandro’s questions, making her feel like a child being scolded. “He needs to know. What if you were attacked and he had to stand there and worry about what was happening with you in the full sun instead of the enemy, Deryn? He could die because you kept things from him.”
Sensing defeat, she put her hands up. “I surrender. It wasn’t my decision to withhold information from everyone here. The general did it. Not me. He had his reasons and now the colonel ... err ... Alejandro is aware I have issues with too much sun. He also healed me within seconds, Kane. Granted, I’ll never let him do it again but still. I’m fine.” She spun in a small circle to prove her point.
Kane gave her a ‘nice try’ look. Not wanting to argue, Deryn put her hands up and smiled wide. Everyone needed to lighten up. “Don’t force me to make you my dance partner again, Kane. I think I feel the samba coming on. One and two and three and four....” She moved to a beat only she heard and grinned as Kane’s eyes widened. “Oh, don’t look so shocked. I know how much you loved it every time my grandmother forced me to learn something new. Though,” she stepped in towards him and moved her hips, “this was one of the fun ones.”
“Your grandmother taught you to do the samba?” Alejandro asked, his eyes as wide as Kane’s.
Deryn shook her head and laughed. The combination of that and the super drink Issac had hooked her up with left her a bit dizzy. Gathering her wits about her, she focused on Alejandro. “Hell no, but she was the one who put me in classes to learn it. She was obsessed with me expanding my horizons.”
“No,” Kane huffed, “she was beyond obsessed when it came to this in particular. Remember the time she told you that your future mother-in-law had been some famous samba and Carnival dancer in Brazil and we ran to my house convinced it was my mother?”
Deryn didn’t bother to hide her laughter. “Ohmygod, that was great.”
“Yeah, we stood there towering over this little Japanese woman who threatened to turn me into a toad if I ever suggested it again. I kept at her for weeks convinced she was lying to hide the surprise that you were my mate.”
“You’re up, kiddo,” Fulk said, appearing next to her and taking hold of her upper arm.
“Next?”
Fulk smiled. “Yep, Vonni did her thing. You do yours.”
Looking at Kane, Deryn bit her lower lip. “Is there a way to make him disappear or turn into a toad? Do you have a mirror? I bet I could set him in front of it and he’d spend the rest of the night flexing.”
Kane lost it. Fulk pretended to be hurt by her comment but ended up laughing all the same. Alejandro was the only one who simply stood there watching her closely. The feeling of being graded was strong but she kept that to herself. Deryn took a tiny step back and shook her head. “I’ll pass on this one. I think the drink you encouraged Issac to give me was beyond straight.”
Fulk lifted the hand with a beer it, sloshing some out in the process. “Looks like the civvie is a wimp and a lightweight.”
Deryn stood there doing her best not to laugh. “Wait, is this the part where I say mine is bigger than yours?”
“That or I could just whip mine out and end the debate,” Fulk said with a wicked grin spread over his face.
Alejandro growled, making the same noise he’d made earlier. Fulk took a step back and cleared his throat. “Right then, we’ll say yours is bigger.”
“Huh?” Deryn looked to Kane for help and found him staring at Alejandro with a not so friendly look. “Kane?”
He didn’t take his eyes off Alejandro. “What do you need, sugar?”
“You to stop calling me that and then for you to break down these guys’ personalities a bit for me so I know how the hell to take them.” She winked at Fulk. “Oh, and if you could also explain the whole growling thing Alejandro keeps doing that would be great, too. I need a kitty decoder.”
Fulk snorted.
“Keeps doing?” Kane asked, rounding on her.
“Yes. Could you explain it because I’m lost? I can take the truth. So long as the man doesn’t make an attempt to piss on my leg or use my sofa as a scratching post I’m a happy gal.” Deryn reached out and took hold of Kane’s upper arm to keep from falling as another wave of dizziness swept over her.
Fulk burst into laughter and pointed at Alejandro. “Do your best to use the litter box, Colonel.”
“What exactly did you guys give her, Fulk?” Kane steadied her carefully.
“A Double Hitter, why?”
Kane’s eyes widened. “Deryn, how are you feeling?”
“Peachy.” She giggled. “Why?”
“Because they gave you a drink made for a shifter’s metabolism.”
Alejandro went at Fulk. “And a double at that. It’s the equivalent of about eight regular drinks.”
Kane reached out fast and seized hold of Alejandro. “Hey, don’t. Even Fulk wouldn’t have given her that much on purpose. How she’s even upright is a mystery to me. She’s also on medication she already knows she shouldn’t mix alcohol with but she never listens. Hell, she even added another dose of the meds today.” He pulled Alejandro close to her. “Here, make sure she doesn’t fall on her ass. I need to go find Ondrea and get the scoop on what was found at the temple today.”
Deryn snickered as Alejandro took over steadying her. “I can’t believe you didn’t recognize the writing on the temple walls, Kane.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that it’s the language the Avatars used. We even ran into a spirit tomb guard in broad daylight. He spent most of the morning watching us and other stuff before Alejandro sensed him. He was convinced we were thieves. I had no idea he was that powerful.”
Kane stiffened. “Did he hurt you, Deryn?”
Alejandro pulled her closer to him, sending little shockwaves of pleasure radiating throughout her. “I would never hurt her.”
“No,” Kane looked so serious, “not you, Alex. The spirit tomb guard.”
“Nothing was there, Kane.” Alejandro began to caress Deryn’s low back softly. It felt too good to point out, so she let him run with it. “I think the sun may have gotten to me, too.”
“Did you sense danger?” Kane asked.
“Yes.”
Kane closed his eyes slowly and exhaled. “Were you alone with Deryn when you sensed it?”
“No.”
Deryn watched as Kane relaxed a bit. “Good. Maybe it was nothing then.”
“Alejandro forgot to tell you the tomb guard waited until it was just he and I before it spoke to us.”
Kane instantly went rigid. “Did you hear it too, Alex?”
“Nothing was there, Kane. I swear. From everythi
ng I was sensing there should have been something huge right in front of us. There wasn’t.”
Deryn couldn’t suppress her giggles any longer. “Do you often hear voices then, Colonel Sexy? Do you often find your claws bloodied from thin air?”
Alejandro stared down at her with wide green eyes and a semi-shocked-satisfied look on his handsome face. “Uh, no.”
“She called you Colonel Sexy. Can I run get a tape recorder so we can play it for her tomorrow?” Fulk asked, reminding Deryn he was still there.
It was Kane’s turn to make a threatening, growl-like sound. “She will not be here in the morning. Come on, Deryn. You are making a trip back to Earth, now.”
Alejandro pulled her tight to him in a protective manner. “She’s not going anywhere, Captain. Explain yourself.”
Deryn drew in a deep breath, savoring the scents of jungle on Alejandro. He was so raw, so powerful that he oozed it making Deryn’s entire body desire his dominance. She wanted him above her, orchestrating their nocturnal movements as they each sought pleasure. Unable to help herself, Deryn ran her hands up his steely chest, wishing there wasn’t a tee shirt between her and him.
Alejandro’s stomach tightened under the weight of her touch. “Doctor, umm, I think we should get you back to your tent to sleep this off.”
He doesn’t want me.
Kane touched her shoulder, drawing her away from the edge of tears. “Deryn, are you armed?”
“Nope.”
“What? You traveled off world into a supernatural hot spot without arming yourself?” Kane asked, sounding shocked. “I taught you better than that.”
Still hurt by Alejandro’s rejection, Deryn pulled back from his embrace, refusing to meet his gaze. “I didn’t want to give them a reason to fear me, Kane. I thought if I came unarmed it would help. I thought they knew already all about me.”
She took another sip of her drink.
Fulk laughed. “Sweetheart, you don’t come across as the least bit threatening. From the minute you arrived we’ve all been worried you’d fall and hurt yourself or walk into a tree while reading a book. You’re human and that makes us worry like hell about you. Just ask the colonel. He’ll tell you.”
She snorted. “Pfft, he damn near got himself killed today with that growl of his. I don’t think I’ll be taking his word on anything anytime soon.”
Kane’s eyes widened. “Explain, Deryn. What do you mean Alex almost got himself killed with that growl of his?”
“Every time he did it, the tomb guard insisted the colonel ... err ... Alejandro was my husband.”
“Your taimar?” Kane asked, sounding sickened.
“Hey, how do you know what it said?” Alejandro tried to pull her back into his embrace.
She giggled. “See, there was something there and you know it.”
“Deryn,” Kane leveled his gaze on her, “did you acknowledge Alex’s claim on you?”
“Did I who and what? No! What claim? I handled the situation. All is better now. I think.”
“Tell me how Alex is still alive. What did you do?” He closed his eyes a bit and shook his head. “Please tell me that you didn’t do what I think you did.”
“Now, don’t go getting your non-underwear wearing self in a bunch,” she pointed at him, “the tomb guard and I had some history by the time he showed up around Alejandro. See, umm. Well.”
“Deryn, spit it out.”
Doing her best to keep a happy look on her face, Deryn stared at Kane. “Fine. It approached me earlier in the day.”
Kane paled. “Did it hurt you? Did it try to...?”
She motioned for him to relax. He didn’t. She went on, “Don’t freak out, Kane. Please.”
“I think it’s safe to say I’m going to freak out. Go on.”
“I wouldn’t have let it that close to me but it looked like Alejandro. Exactly like him. It had on his uniform, vest, same weapons, even his tags were the same. I grabbed them to give to you to show you but I lost them somewhere.” She tried to think about where she could have dropped them.
Kane looked like he was going to shift and light the entire place on fire. “Wait, they really can assume the form of others?”
“No. I think Alejandro has an evil twin who lurks in the jungle waiting to slap unsuspecting women before trying to rape them. Yes. Obviously they can.”
“Get your shit packed, now!” he shouted. “No. Just leave it. I’ll buy new. You’re going home.”
“Kane.”
His eyes bulged. “You can’t possibly think you can argue your way out of this. It tried to rape you using one of my closest friend’s identities. I think that should say it all. Wait? I’m thankful as hell it didn’t rape you but how did you get away?”
“Well, it showed up as someone it assumed I’d listen to without question.”
Kane let out a soft laugh. “Is there a person you’ll listen to without arguing?”
“No,” she said, not missing a beat. “So, me being me, I was like ‘no, I’d rather not take my clothes off and show you my tattoos out here alone”.
“It wanted to see your markings?” Kane looked like he was going to be sick.
“Yeah. I think I shocked it by arguing with who I thought was Alejandro. To tell you the truth, that was hardly arguing when you’re taking me into consideration. Anyway, he, or it, I still thought it was the colonel then, it slapped me hard enough to make my ears ring. I listened to him then because I didn’t want to kick the shit out of your friend.”
Kane grabbed her shoulders. “Deryn, if any man, Alex or not, slaps you and tries to rape you, feel free to kick the living shit out of him. Hell, kill him. I know I will when I get my hands on him.”
“Well, I did fight back but I made sure it wasn’t really him first,” she said, wrinkling her nose. Deryn put her hands up cutting Kane off before he could argue. “I won’t make the same mistake of not sensing if it is Alejandro or not again. I put up more of a fight than it was willing to deal with at the moment. I think it sensed there were a lot of others close.”
Blowing a puff of hot air out slowly, Kane looked as though he might shape shift at any moment. “Okay, now. So, you meet up with it again, later. When you’re with Alex. And it thought Alex was your husband. What did you tell it? How is he still standing and not strung up on a pole, skinned and disemboweled?”
Deryn didn’t have a chance to answer. Alejandro did it for her. “She told it I was her personal head warrior.”
Kane’s jaw tightened and his eyes swirled with flecks of yellow. “You put him under your protection?”
“She did what?” Alejandro asked, clearly stunned.
“She fucking put you and in turn, all the ‘warriors’ beneath you under her protection, Alex. Basically, she is now protecting the entire base. That means if a battle were to occur, they would want her head on a platter as a sign of victory instead of yours.”
Alejandro lifted Deryn’s chin and shook his head. “Why in the hell did you do that? If the thing comes back when you’re alone I won’t know until it’s too late. I couldn’t even sense it until it was almost on us. That’s what you were talking to the monkey thing about, wasn’t it?”
“Hold up.” Kane tipped his head. “You saw Deryn talking to animals?”
“Wait, she does that often?”
“Yes, but never in front of a stranger. Never.” Kane stared at Deryn with a look that told her exactly what he was thinking--don’t fall for Alex, Deryn.
Alejandro drew in a deep breath. “She didn’t just talk to it, Kane. She seemed to be holding a conversation about those tomb guards.”
“No,” Deryn interjected, not wanting them to confuse it all, “not about the tomb guards. About the evil that lurks in the shadows here on this planet. It and its warriors are every bit as powerful as the tomb guards and to be honest, the lines tend to blur on who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. Che told me the evil ones have been watching you all closely for months, just waiting for the
right moment to strike.”
“Che?” Kane asked.
“The little monkey thing. He said his kind are called Checatas. So I call him Che.”
Alejandro touched her cheek, making her body burn with need for him. “What does åricus mean?”
Kane let out a loud snarl-like noise. “Deryn Nava Murray, tell me you denied it! Tell me you did not acknowledge it.”
Alejandro cupped her face fast. “Deryn, what in the hell does that mean? And why is Kane looking like his head might explode?”
She bit back tears as she stared into his green eyes. “I couldn’t let it hurt you, Alejandro. I couldn’t.”
“I can take care of myself and you. I don’t need you doing something stupid.”
Kane snorted. “Oh, trust me, Alex. We can’t fully protect ourselves against these things. Did Deryn deny it when the tomb guard asked if she was an åricus?”
“No. She told it she was one. She even dared it to come and test her. It’s how she got it to go away. She stripped down to next to nothing, showed her markings and basically got in its face. I tried to protect her but I couldn’t see it. I could kind of sense it and the faint drums but I didn’t know where to aim.”
Kane looked like he wanted to kill something. Deryn bit her lower lip and turned completely around to face him, keeping her body pressed to Alejandro’s. “Kane, it kept insisting Alejandro was my husband. It would have killed him. I know it would have. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Dammit, Deryn.”
Alejandro shook his head. “Will someone tell me what åricus means?”
Kane stared at her while he answered Alejandro. “It’s Avatarian for guardian or watcher. It’s big stuff among them.”
“Big like how big?”
“Big enough for them to challenge Deryn if they think she’s lying or if they fear her and, Alex,” he rubbed his forehead, “they fight to the death. If legend holds true, they’re more powerful than almost any of us here.”
Shifter Fated Mates: Boxed Set Page 64