“We need to go downstairs,” Eden said, tugging on his hands in an effort to pull him out of the room and to wherever she wanted to lead him.
“What do you mean?” Pyra asked. “We’re safe here.”
He knew that this was the only place in their surroundings that would keep them secure. These rooms kept them together and gave them supplies and tools that would help them to defend themselves. It would take time for the injured to recover and while that time passed, they needed to stay there. Eden shook her head.
“No, it’s not about us. When I was leaving the hall one of the hybrids that was on the floor grabbed me. It said I needed to save them.”
“Save who?” Pyra asked.
He felt immediately suspicious. There had been times when he had encountered enemies after battle that tried to distract the warriors with pleas for help or false claims of help. These moments were dangerous and put everyone at serious risk. Hearing that one of the hybrids that they had come up against in the hallway had gotten Eden’s attention put him on edge and began to replace the fear that he was feeling with defensiveness and anger.
“I don’t know. It didn’t say. It just pleaded with me to save them and said ‘downstairs’. Those stairs that lead down, the ones that we noticed earlier, it must have been talking about those. We need to go down there.”
Pyra squeezed his mate’s hand, trying to relay the emotion that he was feeling, hoping that he was able to convey his reservations to her without having to speak or to communicate with her through his mind, but she continued to stare at him desperately and pull on his hands to guide him out of the room. He held his place and gently pulled her back so that she couldn’t get further from him.
“Eden, we can’t do that,” he told her.
“Why?” she asked, her voice strained with the emotion that she was feeling.
He could see the pain in her eyes. Pyra knew that she was struggling with what she had seen and that it was deep within her to do whatever she could to help the hybrid who had called out to her. It hurt him to see her go through that, but he also knew that he couldn’t let her relent to the emotions that the hybrid hoped would control her. He had to use his training and knowledge as a warrior to protect his mate and his child, as well as everyone else who had, willingly or unwillingly, fallen under his leadership.
“That hybrid was created as a weapon specifically for the purpose of fighting against us. Anything that they say to you is just as dangerous as them fighting against you.”
“How do you know that?” Eden asked, sounding more desperate, but also now showing some of the fire and abrasiveness that she had had when he first met her. “It was lying there dying. It was asking for help.”
“Exactly, Eden,” Pyra said. “It was dying. It was taking the last chance that it had to find a way to hurt you. It couldn’t do it itself, but it could lead you downstairs where others might be waiting.”
“If there were others waiting down there, why didn’t they come up when we were spending the night here? Why didn’t they hear the battle and come reinforce them?”
Pyra had been accustomed since he first took his place as the leader of the Denynso to others following him without question and giving him respect purely by merit of his station and his size. When Eden first came to Uoria she had been impressed by neither. She had come out of the ship defensive and feisty, resistant to him acting as her escort and guard, and willing to stand up to him in a way that both shocked and aroused him. She had softened considerably in their time together, especially since becoming a mother, but being back on Earth and in the laboratory where her torment by Ryan had started, was beginning to reveal that layer of her again. In any other situation, it might have amused Pyra to experience the fiery woman he had fallen in love with again, but now it only frustrated and worried him.
“I don’t know the military techniques that Ryan has taught them. Just as the Denynso has methods and maneuvers, so do these hybrids. Those that were up in the hallway with us had the commands to go up there and fight us. Those downstairs might have been given orders to stay down there until we got there.”
“These aren’t the Denynso. They have no reason to fight against us except that they were told to. I don’t think it was trying to manipulate me,” Eden protested. “I really don’t, Pyra. It was asking for help. It was desperate. I know that there is something that we need to see downstairs.”
“We aren’t going downstairs,” Pyra said, adding more volume and intensity to his voice to tell her that he was finished with the conversation and that he had made his final decision.
Pyra released her hands and started to walk around her, back into the infirmary so that he could check on the wounded and offer his assistance in whatever way he could. Eden, though, wasn’t ready for the conversation to be over. She wasn’t satisfied with what he had said, and wasn’t going to simply let it go. Showing no hesitation, she stepped in front of him and pulled herself up to the fullest size that her small stature could afford her. Her vibrant orange[sb1] eyes seemed to spark with the energy that they held and her red hair tumbling around her shoulders made her look wild and ethereal at the same moment. Even though she was tiny compared to him, the sheer strength of her presence and the bond between them held his attention and kept him in place.
“What if there really are people down there who need our help?” she asked.
“There is no help that we can offer them,” Pyra insisted. “They are an enemy army, whether they are confronting us in battle or lying in wait for us. We are going to stay right here in these emergency chambers where we are safe and have the supplies that we need to get us through. You are going to stay here and take care of the baby.”
Eden straightened even further, nearly rising up onto her toes as she tilted her head back so that she could look into his face. Pyra couldn’t help but look at his son strapped to her chest with the makeshift sling she had created for him. He was sleeping peacefully, the warrior blood in his veins keeping him calm even in the aftermath of the battle. It was as if, as long as he could hear his mother’s heartbeat, he felt secure and would rest calmly.
“The Klimnu were our enemy army, but we helped them when they needed us. The Denynso have no alliance with the Eteri or the Irisa, but we have helped and connected with both.”
“We helped Maxim,” Pyra argued. “He is not Klimnu.”
“There was a time not too long ago when you wouldn’t have argued that,” Eden said. “You were ready to kill him, but you changed your mind.”
“I’m not going to change my mind this time, Eden.”
Pyra was still haunted by the way that he had treated Maxim on Uoria when the younger man accidentally came into contact with the flowers that contained the toxin that started his transformation from Mikana to Klimnu. It had been horrifying at the time, infuriating as much as it was terrifying. They had fought so hard against the Klimnu, battling seemingly endless against the gruesome creatures that had declared themselves the greatest enemies of the Denynso. He had nearly lost Eden to these creatures. Elianna, Leia, and Zuri had all suffered at the skeletal hands of the Klimnu. They were the reason they thought they had lost Jem. He had sacrificed himself to destroy the last two by throwing himself off the branch in Loralia’s realm. Seeing Maxim change so rapidly had proven to Pyra that their confidence at the end of that battle had been premature and their celebration next to futile. The Klimnu could come back at any time. It had taken the birth of his son and a fierce admonition from Creia to show Pyra how wrong he had been in that situation and since then he had learned to respect Maxim deeply. Now that he was in the presence of Maxim’s father, he was even more remorseful.
That didn’t mean, however, that he was going to let his defenses down completely and abandon his determination to stand up against those who threatened his kind or his alliances. It was different with the hybrids. They were not victims of a forced transformation like Aegeus or just another species that was in conflict with the Denynso.
They were ready-made weapons, crafted specifically for the purpose of attacking and destroying the Denynso and anyone who was with them. He couldn’t just relent because one of the creatures had asked for help.
“You don’t have to,” Eden said. She stepped back from him and pulled the baby away from her body as she started across the room toward where some of the women had gathered as they waited to hear news about their mates and friends. “I already have.” She removed the sling from around her chest and held Lysander carefully toward the Zsilvia. “Zsilvia, will you please take care of Lysander for me?”
Zsilvia looked slightly startled, but held out her hands to take the baby. She glanced in Pyra’s direction, but he didn’t catch her eyes. At this point he knew that there was nothing that he could do to stop Eden. She was determined and he could only hope that whatever she had wanted to show him wasn’t dangerous enough to put her at serious risk.
“Yes,” Zsilvia said as she cradled Pyra’s son to her chest.
“Thank you,” Eden said and stalked out of the room.
For a brief moment he considered following her, at least for long enough to see where she was headed, but then he changed his mind. He could only trust that she wouldn’t go into a truly dangerous situation alone. He watched until she disappeared and then turned back to the room. His eyes fell on the man who had arrived with Jem and who had assisted Ciyrs in the beginning of the young warrior’s healing. Distrust and suspicion flared within him and Pyra strode fiercely toward him.
Chapter Three
“Who are you?” Pyra demanded in a low, rumbling voice.
“I’m Jacob,” Jacob, looking somewhat unsure of what the Denynso was asking him.
“Who are you?” Pyra asked again, more aggressively this time. “You just showed up here with Jem without any explanation of who you are or where you came from or how you found him.”
Rilex watched the exchange cautiously at first, but when he heard the fierceness in the massive warrior’s voice he crossed the room to Jacob’s side. Though they had not created much of a bond since coming together, he felt a sense of protectiveness toward Jacob now that they had found themselves thrown into the battle with these unknown creatures. They were among strangers and he felt a sense of connection, the circumstances drawing them closer together and driving him to defend him.
“What’s going on here?” Rilex asked as he looked up into Pyra’s face.
“You,” Pyra said, his voice becoming angrier as he spoke. “The two of you, and that woman, showed up here with no explanation.”
Rilex immediately hated the way that the warrior was speaking to them. He had been alone and under the command of no one for many years, and even before that he had been among the highest ranking and most respected of his kind. To be spoken to like an inferior was offensive at best and enraging at worst.
“Who are you to ask who we are or our intentions?” he asked.
“I am Pyra, the head of the Denynso, and the leader of this group,” Pyra said angrily, his shoulders straightening further as he presented himself.
Rilex felt Jacob tighten beside him and knew that the man was having much the same reaction to Pyra as he was. It was arrogant and pretentious of Pyra to simply assume that his name or his station would strike fear into their hearts and instantly demand their respect and admiration. Though Rilex had read about Pyra and the rest of the fierce, violent Denynso, he didn’t feel that he was entirely prepared for what he confronted when he met them. Pyra was rougher, more agitated than he had expected, yet exceeded what he had envisioned with the control that he maintained and the fearlessness with which he had fought. Neither earned him Rilex’s unquestioning faith and obedience.
“You may lead the Denynso and even those who have joined you, but we came here of our own volition and without any expectation of loyalty or leadership,” Rilex said, trying to keep his voice steady.
“Are you rejecting cooperation with us?” Pyra asked, the threat evident in his voice though he had lowered the volume now.
“We are rejecting nothing,” Rilex said defensively. “We came here. We joined you and fought alongside you in a battle that was not our own. But this was not our intention when we came to Earth. It was never in our plan to encounter a battle or to join an army. We aren’t rejecting cooperation with you, but we also don’t owe you anything, particularly a promise of following you as our leader.”
“Do you have a problem with my leadership?” Pyra asked.
Pyra stepped up closer to him, but Rilex didn’t waver. He simply lifted his eyes further to look into at his face. He tried to decipher the emotion in Pyra’s glare, to understand what he was feeling as everything happened around him. Even though the Denynso were known for being the most fearsome and brutal of warriors throughout the universe, Rilex had never heard them described as cruel or unfeeling. He knew that even with the aggression and ferocity that controlled him, Pyra had to be experiencing his own emotions toward the sudden battle and the aftermath they were all suffering. It wasn’t just anger at the attack or fear of what could happen next. It was the desire to fight, the need for violence and blood, and the determination to eliminate everyone who had threatened him and the people who followed him. A lack of loyalty toward him from Rilex and Jacob wasn’t confusing to Pyra and was likely immediately considered a threat. Without them giving their loyalty and committing to his leadership, he felt out of balance and unable to keep the situation around them under control. Rilex felt the need to break the barrier between them, at least enough to reassure the warrior without compromising himself.
“I have no problem with you leading anyone who is willing for you to lead them, but I am not. I have no leader. Not anymore. That doesn’t mean that I’m against you or that I will resist simply for the sake of resisting, but if I agree not to stand in the way of your leadership of those who have pledged loyalty and allegiance to you, you must agree not to stand in the way of my not being led.”
“If you refuse to be loyal to us and to allow my leadership, how can I know that I can trust you? How do I know that you won’t betray us?”
“I fought alongside you,” Rilex repeated. “Being loyal does not have to mean pledging yourself. To truly trust is to acknowledge that a person has no ties and yet knowing that they will still stand beside you. I am nothing but loyal to Jem, yet he is in no way my leader. I don’t think it’s too much to ask the same of you.”
“Jem was dead,” Pyra said.
Rilex felt his body stiffen at the sound of the words. They were abrupt and startling, uncomfortable in their raw reality. He had known since soon after meeting Jem that his kind back home on Uoria had no idea of his fate when he disappeared, that they most likely assumed that he was gone forever. Actually hearing someone who had known him better than perhaps anyone express the grief they had felt when they thought him dead solidified the thought and made it painful. It took Jem out of the abstract, the imaginary place where Rilex had put him in his mind so that he only existed on his jungle planet. He had come from nowhere and had no past. It was easier that way, less painful than admitting that there was more to him than the time he had spent isolated on the planet where he found himself after transferring through the portal, that he had a home planet, a family, and friends who thought of and missed him. Thinking about Jem that way was too close to thinking of his own suffering and what he had gone through after transferring through the portal in his own stream so long before.
He started to speak, hoping that the right words would come to him. Before he could speak, however, Eden ran back into the room and up to Pyra.
“I need you to see something,” she said.
Pyra turned to look at her, a blend of thoughts swirling in his eyes that told Rilex he didn’t know what exactly to think or feel about what his mate was saying to him.
“I told you not to go down there,” Pyra said.
Rilex took a step back away from them. This didn’t involve him. He didn’t need to know what was happenin
g between them and there were others who needed him in that moment. The Denynso healer gestured at him from across the room and Rilex strode over to him.
“Could you please go to the other emergency chambers and find as many blankets as you can that aren’t being used. The wounded are going to need to stay warm after their healings.”
Rilex nodded and started out of the room and down to the next chamber. Inside was utter confusion, people swarming throughout the space trying to understand what had happened and seeking out information about those who had been injured. Some still didn’t know who had been carried into the infirmary and others were struggling to prevent concerned friends and partners from going over there.
“You have to give Ciyrs space,” one of the women said as she tried to hold another back. “You know that he can’t have everyone in there with him while he’s trying to heal them. I’ll be going back in there to help and I will make sure that he’s alright. Please just stay here, get some rest, eat, and trust us to take care of them.”
“Elianna, please,” the struggling woman pleaded.
“No,” the woman she had called Elianna insisted. “You can’t go in there. There is someone in there helping Ciyrs. We’re doing everything we can.”
“Who is that?” the woman asked. “Who is it?”
Rilex rushed toward her, the desperation in her voice cutting through him.
“His name is Jacob,” he said.
“What?” Elianna asked.
“His name is Jacob,” Rilex repeated. “The man who is in there helping the healer. He’s human.”
The woman looked at him, her teary eyes blinking as if she was trying to clear them so that she could look at him more fully.
“You,” she said. “You came here with Jem.”
Rilex nodded.
“I did,” he affirmed. “My name is Rilex.”
“This is Zuri,” Elianna said. “I’m Elianna. Ciyrs, the healer, is my mate.”
The Alien Uncovers (Uoria Mates IV Book 3) Page 2