Taya shuddered as memories of being locked in Zuhun’s attic came back to her.
“Then we go to his house and rescue them.”
“No.” All eyes turned to look at Gabe.
“He won’t take them there because that’s where we will look first.”
“Gabe’s right. This isn’t about him feeding off of them. It’s about pure hatred because he was mutated when the wife wasn’t and now she has a child, something I believe Zuhun and his kind can never have,” Joaquin agreed.
“Where do you think he would take them?” Rylan asked his twin.
Gabe turned to look at Taya, and they both nodded at the same time.
“The cave. The one Melissa took me too when she tried to drain me of all my energy.”
“It makes sense,” Selma spoke. “It would be his way of telling them they aren’t worth the time or the effort of him hiding them.” She turned and started running towards the B&B.
“Hurry,” she called over her shoulder. “He will want to kill them fast.”
Joaquin held his hand out helping Ruffian to his feet offering a branch of friendship at the same time. Then they ran to catch up with the other.
Gabe gave everyone directions as they piled into several Jeeps.
“Do you think they’re still alive?” Grace asked as Joaquin followed the jeep in front of him.
“I think he won’t want the pleasure of torturing them to be over too quickly.”
She nodded as they came to a stop. They would hike the rest of the way in so he wouldn’t hear them coming.
They walked noting that there were still broken tree branches and places where the grass had been torn up. It looked like a battle had been fought around here, and the Earth was still repairing itself.
They stopped in front of the cave because they wouldn’t all fit. Ruffian walked to the entrance along with Victor and Selma. Joaquin and Grace followed as well as Colun and Sara. They asked everyone else to stay outside until they came back.
Victor turned to look at Cal, he nodded his head and started to move everyone left outside a little further back.
The cave wasn’t that big, but they were able to stand. They walked in to find Ruffian’s wife and son being held up in the air with black bands surrounding them.
“I’ve been expecting you. Although I would have appreciated if you went to my house first allowing me more time with my victims.” Zuhun shrugged and smiled at them.
“Thank you,” he spoke to Ruffian. “I never thought I would get a chance to deal with the traitors to our people, and then you bring me one and her offspring.”
Ruffian tried to approach Zuhun, but Victor held him back. Zuhun tightened the bands around the child making him cry.
“Stop,” Ruffian called out. “He’s just a baby.”
“What do I care?”
“Let him go,” Grace said, refusing to raise her voice and scare the child.
“No.” Zuhun lifted his hand and started tightening the bands around the child.
Grace raised her hands and called on her fire directing it at the bands. Although she was in control of the fire she knew the child would suffer from the heat. All she could was hope that her control lasted long enough to free him without burning him.
“No,” Zuhun snarled. “You can’t have him.”
She gave one more burst of flame and the bands severed. Joaquin dove over the cave floor and slid until his body was under that of the falling child. He caught him to his chest as a loud wail went up.
Ruffian almost hit the floor in relief. Joaquin brought the child to his father before they turned to look at the female; she was in a trance unable to move or comment but her eyes showed that she could see and hear what was happening around her.
Relief brightened her eyes when she saw father and son together.
“I’m not going to let you kill her,” Grace told him.
“I’m sorry I chose the cave; this would be so much more fun if we had room to spread out. You could have joined me, Grace, embraced the fact that you were meant to be a killer. Instead, you threw your lot in with theirs, and now all of you will die.”
Zuhun raised a hand and threw a shield over the entrance of the cave trapping them inside before he swung the female at the wall.
Selma and Sara worked together providing a shield for the female before she hit the wall.
“Why are you doing this?” Ruffian screamed as he watched his wife slide to the ground.
“She betrayed me.” His voice was calm and reasonable as he watched the female spread out in a heap on the floor.
“You don’t even know her.”
“I know her. She’s my sister, Ja’nal. Why do you think it was so easy to abduct her? She was glad to see me. Threw her arms around me and said she loved me. I will always wonder why she couldn’t see how much I hate her.”
“You’re lying. That’s why she’s still alive. She’s the one thing you still love,” Joaquin told him as he walked toward Ja’nal cautiously.
“I know about your ability to see truth in words. It doesn’t work on me. Ja’nal should have been there that day when things went terribly wrong, but she refused to come. Told me it was a mistake. Begged me to go with her, she wanted to hide underground. I laughed at her. We would be victorious.”
Grace directed her fire toward Ja’nal trying to free her from the bonds that Zuhun wrapped around her.
“I no longer remember what we were fighting for. It’s not important any longer. At the time it was the most important reason and Sudir, Arbrin, and Matra were all ready to die to either own it or defend it. Then there were the rest. Those like my sister who thought waging a war against our neighbors and our friends was idiotic. Our king had promised us power.” He sneered as he looked towards Joaquin.
“We would follow him to our deaths if need be. That was the last time I saw her.”
“What happened to the king and his family?” Joaquin asked as he protected Grace.
“The king died that night. His body couldn’t take the conversion to this. At least that was the rumor; the other was that he was killed in his sleep because of what his greed did to us. His entire line died the next day, executed. From that day forth there hasn’t been another king. Now you show up.”
Zuhun threw black bands with the heads of snakes at Joaquin. A hasty shield was erected around him while Grace countered his movement with fire slowly beating back the bands until her fire surrounded Zuhun.
Zuhun laughed even as the fire licked at his skin. The bands around Ja’nal disappeared as he turned his attention to Grace. Victor and Ruffian picked her up and moved her back toward the cave entrance. She took her seating herself on the ground while the males once again went to confront Zuhun.
“You can’t kill me.” He turned to face Grace as he slowly began to devour her fire. “The disaster that made me like this also made it so that very few things can kill me. I will come after all of you time and time again until I finally track each one of you down and devour you. You will never escape my wrath.”
His laughter rang in their ears even as he burned.
Chapter Eighteen
The silence in the room threatened to overwhelm them as they watched Zuhun trying to consume all the flames surrounding him. Colun looked over his shoulder at Ja’nal before he pushed his way to stand in front of Zuhun.
“You have a decision to make,” he addressed Victor and Joaquin. I can kill him, or I can place him in suspended animation.
“He lies, no one can kill me.” Zuhun’s laughter surrounded them once again.
Colun walked up to him and leaned over whispering in his ear. The laughter stopped as the little bit of color he had faded away from his face.
“I have the power to do either. You can argue later that I should have told you and destroyed all the Sudir on the planet. Right now what’s important is what you decide to do with Zuhun.”
“You should have told me,” Victor said.
“Why? What w
ould you have done with the knowledge? You haven’t ascended the throne yet. You’re not king, and I’m not obligated to tell you what I can do.”
Victor straightened his shoulders, and his eyes snapped, but he was unable to refute the truth in those words.
“I understand death,” Ja’nal said from where she was sitting on the ground. “Explain the suspended animation.”
“Zuhun will be held in a state where his body is still alive, but he needs nothing. He won’t be awake or aware of the passage of time.”
“Why would you want to do that or even offer that as an alternative?” Ruffian asked, refusing to look at his wife.
“Zuhun has claimed this territory. He has been here almost as long as we have. He naturally sends out a signal that alerts any other Sudir that this is where he hunts. If you choose to kill him, that will fall with his death. When his signal is no longer heard others will come fighting to take his place. We will once again be at war with only one goal to protect ourselves.”
Colun stopped and looked around the cave before his eyes lingered on Ja’nal.
“If you choose to spare his life, place him in suspended animation, the signal he sends out will continue. There is no guarantee how long he will stay under because his body will naturally work against the process to revive him. He may be under for years, or he may be under for centuries. As long as he is you will have a chance to love your soul-bonded, raise your children, establish your kingdoms. If it works well, he will wake up to a different world than when he went to sleep. You will also know when he awakes; you don't have to worry about being taken by surprise.”
Colun stopped and walked over to Ja’nal. “He will never be the brother you once knew. The bitterness inside of him will continue to grow because it has no other outlet. Unless he dies, you will always have to be on the outlook for him, and you will have to train your children to be on the outlook for him. The brother you loved died; the male you see before you is no longer him.”
Zuhun was trying to move quietly along hovering over the floor as Colun spoke desperate for his body to get closer to Grace’s.
She took several steps backward placing her beside Joaquin.
“I just wanted some more of that lovely fire.”
It sprang to life in her palm, and she tossed it in the air and caught it like a ball before she took it back into her body.
“No.”
Victor and Joaquin walked to the side and began to talk in soft voices debating what was to be done with Zuhun. They gave a final nod and came back to face him.
“Zuhun, we have come to a decision about your fate,” Joaquin said.
“What would that be new king? No one will follow you. They will remember the greed of the last king and seek to take your life as well as the life of your soul-bonded.”
“We believe that death is all you deserve.”
Joaquin lifted his hand and blasted Zuhun in the chest before he lifted him up and hung him in the air.
“You helped to destroy our people. Our planet no longer exists, the Arbrin/Matra planet no longer exist because of you and others like you who followed a corrupt king. Then you brought your corruption to Earth, unwilling to allow us to live and mourn our dead. I have decided your sentence is death.”
“I concur; your sentence is death. You have traumatized not only my family but the citizens who live in Newburg,” Victor said in the voice of a king.
“Kill me, do your worst, others will come. Eventually, you will all die with me.”
“No, your sentence has been downgraded. Although you deserve death; our families deserve life. They can only have that if you are kept alive to continue sending out your threats of death to your people. We have decided to use you to keep our communities safe.”
“You can’t do that. Kill me!” Zuhun screamed as he tried to break the hold they had on him. He struggled his four legs kicking but nothing he could do set him free. “Ja’nal, you can’t allow them to do this to me. I’m your brother, make them kill me.”
She stood rocking her son in her arms. “My brother died a long time ago; you’re simply a sorry copy.” She turned her back on him giving them silent permission for whatever they decided to do.
“Colun?” Joaquin turned to look at him.
He walked over to Zuhun placing his hand on his chest before he took him to the ground. A scream of pure torture left Zuhun’s mouth.
“The ground is toxic to him. That’s why none of them ever touch it. It paralyzes them and keeps them from getting up again.”
Zuhun flopped in the dirt like a fish out of water but he couldn’t right himself.
Colun stood back and began to spin a web; it was bright yellow and seemed to glow with an iridescence that made them look away. When it was as wide as his body, he lifted his hands, and it moved to cover Zuhun, spreading like a spider web, once it was done it covered his body.
“How will he survive in that?” Ja’nal turned around to see her brother allowing a tear to fall for the person he used to be.
“He won’t need food or anything else; he is as close to death as possible without being dead. He can live like this for centuries without a problem.”
Colun used his gift to make a cell deep within the cave.
“Grace, will you use your fire to make sure the walls are solid?”
She nodded and began to apply fire along the walls getting rid of loose dirt, molding the stone in place until the walls of his grave gleamed.
She walked back out.
“Will the two of you do the honors?” Colun asked Joaquin and Victor.
They picked up Zuhun’s body and placed him inside of the makeshift grave before walking out.
Colun took the dirt he removed replacing the wall making it look like it had never been disturbed. Grace walked to the entrance of the cave and used her fire to break the seal that Zuhun placed on it. They walked out as couples.
“What happened to Zuhun?” Cal asked, looking into the cave before he looked at each of them.
“He’s out of our lives for a while,” Colun said as he and Sara moved past everyone.
“Rylan and Gabe. Go to Zuhun’s house and see what we need to do to clean it up, if Melissa is there set her free. She can either leave town or we will come after her.” Victor gave a command and walked away.
“Who died and made him King?” Rylan said.
“Our father,” Cal replied and followed them back to the Jeep.
“What do we do now?” Grace asked as she looked in the back of the SUV. Ruffian, Ja’nal and their son were sitting huddled together.
“We take them to the B&B and find a room for them. After that, we get some sleep or maybe eat some dinner. Eventually, I think we need to ascend the throne.”
“Do you know how we achieve that?”
“No.” He reached his hand out to covers hers. “We’ll discover it together.”
*~*~*~*
“I can’t believe it’s over.” Grace was tracing the muscles in Joaquin’s chest. Little trails of fire followed her fingers over him.
“It’s just beginning, love, but for a while we don’t have to worry about Zuhun. I for one am happy.” He leaned up to press his lips against hers.
“I know what I would like to do,” he said flipping her body over until she was lying on her back.
“Oh?” She whispered in his ear and opened as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth.
She met his kiss letting her hands roam over the muscles in his arms. A sigh came from her when his lips trailed down the side of her neck placing small kisses there.
She moved her body underneath his until he was lying on her making her breath come fast as she felt his cock growing long and hard.
Turning her over he leaned down and looked at her breasts. The nipples were hardening up from the heat of his skin on hers. He slid down her body enough to give him room to work then he lifted up one of her breasts and bit her right underneath where it connected to her chest.
A ragged moan left her lips as he licked where he bit then kissed it. Taking her into his mouth, he sucked on the underside of her breast giving her a claiming mark that only she would know about. With another kiss, he leaned up and took her nipple into his mouth. It was already semi-hard and ready for him.
Grace thrust her hips up as the pleasure of his mouth surrounded her. She dug her hands into his hair as she felt his mind caress hers.
“Beautiful Grace,” he whispered into her mind as he sucked harder on her nipple making her body rub against him.
With a pop, he switched nipples. She could feel the pleasure he felt as he sucked on her nipple. It went through his body making his cock harder as his need for her grew.
“I love feeling you in my mind,” she said as she rubbed against him mentally.
He slid down her body going straight for her clit. He sucked on it making her squeal with pleasure. Her hands went to his hair, holding him down even as she thrust her hips up. His name came out of her mouth in throaty little gasps.
Taking a finger, he rubbed it against the seam of her pussy wetting it before he sank it deep within her. She throbbed around him and moaned as he added a second finger. She ground against his finger wanting more, but he kept teasing her until he took the finger out and placed one of them in his mouth. He sucked his finger dry with a deep groan before he did the same to the second one.
“Joaquin.” She pulled at him as he rose over her placing his thick cock at the entrance of her pussy. “Yes.”
He sank into her all at once filling her so deeply that she was panting before he began to move. His hips pulled up, and she followed him wanting to keep him deep within her. When he pounded down into her, his cock touching every secret place, a loud moan left her mouth as she asked for more, encouraging him to do it again.
She placed her legs around him moving with him. Each stroke downward made her pant harder as the sounds she was making came faster.
“More, baby, I need more.” Her ragged words spurred him on until he was pounding into her with everything he had and she was giving it back, letting him know how much she loved him.
Joaquin's Saving Grace (Alien Mates Book Five 5) Page 11