Zaen clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw ached. They couldn’t lose Lucie now. Not when they’d just found her. She was the one person he never thought they would ever meet. They’d accepted their fate, knowing they would die old, unmated men when the miracle had happened. It couldn’t possibly be ripped away. Not now when they had so much to live for.
“There has to be a way,” he said.
Erix shook his head. His mouth tipped down at the edges. “There’s something blocking her mind. It’s leaching the energy from her body. There’s a whole lot of activity right in the center of her brain, but as we speak, the walls surrounding that energy are getting thicker. The thicker the walls get, the more her body will struggle. Eventually her heart will just… forget to beat.”
“If she hadn’t touched the crystal, she’d still be awake,” Juliran said.
Kyel stopped his pacing. “As soon as she touched that damned thing, it was like a light flicked off inside her. One moment she was there, and the next—gone.”
Zaen stopped pacing, deep in thought. The crystal had lit up again at the same time the clouds appeared from nowhere. “What was it the Ozar said? About an entity from another dimension trying to get into ours?”
Kyel’s stare was direct. “It feeds off the electro-magnetic power of the human female mind. Erix, take a reading of her brain.”
Erix worked the hand-screen over her head. The screen lit up with an activity of lights. “It’s off the charts.”
A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. “It’s doing something to her. Feeding off her energy somehow. How can we stop it?”
“The crystal harnesses the same power. When she held it, it acted as a magnifier for that power,” Erix said.
“That’s how this entity is trying to gain entry into this dimension. The clouds. Didn’t Evelyn, the Arabis mate, say something about being held, imprisoned on a beach by black clouds? Riley, the Ozar mate, also said the same thing. It’s happening to our Lucie too,” Juliran said.
Erix’s fingers danced over the control panel next to the medi-bed as a list began to scroll one after the other. “Her body is starting to fail. She will die if I don’t put her in cryo.”
That was the last thing they wanted to do. She would be all but dead, her body in a suspended state, not dying, not waking, not living. Not anything.
“What?” Kyel roared.
“No!” Juliran said.
Kira gasped and fell into one of their fathers’, Emex’s, arms.
“What do you mean, Erix?” Emex said.
“It’s taking over faster than I thought possible. The only way to stop it is to stop Lucie. I’m… I’m sorry. It’s the only way to save her. If nothing is done, she will die.” Erix looked as distraught as all of them.
Kyel’s wrist comm pinged with an incoming message from Tann. “The clouds. They’re expanding and have covered more than half of the city. It seems to be drawing the energy from the crystal.”
This was bad. Very, very bad. It had escalated so quickly. Too quickly.
“Whatever it’s doing, it’s harnessing Lucie’s power to manifest,” Kyel said.
“If we don’t stop it, we’ll lose Lucie and that thing will be unleashed,” Juliran said.
There was a commotion in the background of Tann’s communication. He spoke quickly, his voice thick with tension. “Clouds have appeared over the Ozar Homeland. They started over the Ozar Tower and are drawing all the light-energy from their crystal. The Erion Homeland is also at risk with manifestations over their land.”
“Gods, this is an invasion, only we don’t know who or how!” Zaen paced, too wired to stand still. “Surely their Erion crystal will protect their Homeland?”
“The crystal is not in their tower. They are still stranded and not due back for weeks,” Tann said.
“Gods help us all if it can draw power from all three crystals once the Erion is here. Our planet will be at its mercy,” Kyel said.
Zaen stared at his wrist comm as though it would provide him with answers. “Send word to them, Tann. Keep them away.”
“Of course,” Tann said.
The crystal was not here to protect their Homeland, but that also meant the entity could not access its power as it wasn’t in their tower. Hopefully. A tumult of emotion came crashing through him. He couldn’t even name this enemy, and yet their planet was more at risk than it had ever been. In fact, he didn’t rightfully know, but he had to do something. Anything to stop this thing, whatever it was, from gaining more power. This was all types of crazy and he lacked any experience dealing with such a thing. All he could do was make strategy up as he went.
He put a halt to the crashing thoughts that weren’t getting him anywhere and applied the logic he knew so well. His mind clicked through scenario after scenario, coming to conclusions that made the most sense.
This hadn’t started until Lucie had touched the crystal. Whatever was happening was linked to her. This entity needed her to manifest on their world. She was the lock as well as the key. Zaen placed his spread hands on top of the screen of the medi-bed.
“She is the catalyst,” Zaen said.
“What do you mean, brother?’ Kyel asked. The muscle at his temple worked as he clenched his teeth.
“It’s using Lucie’s natural energy field to enter our dimension, like the scaled ones the Ozar interrogated said. The Erion’s mate also said that it captured her in a wall of clouds. It can’t be a coincidence. Only this time, it’s gotten smarter. It’s using Lucie and blocking us out so that it has full use of her energy,” Zaen said.
“How do we break back in?” Juliran said.
“We can’t see this enemy. The battlefield is in her mind. We can’t fight it here, but there is only one place where we can fight it at its own game. We enter Lucie’s mind. We attack from within,” Kyel said. It was the only option he could think of. The only thing that made sense.
He only hoped he was right.
Juliran reared back, horror plain on his face. Kyel studied him with a stare that seemed to go right through him as he waited for them to catch up. They would do anything for Lucie, and he wouldn’t suggest they do this unless his scientific mind had run through a million outcomes and spit out the best one. Juliran’s hand hovered over the closed panel that contained their mate. Their only future.
“You know if what you’re thinking doesn’t work that Lucie will die?” Kyel said.
“If she goes into cryo, she might never wake up either and will be as good as dead. We have to fight, brothers,” Zaen said.
“Of course, I will fight until my very last breath.” Kyel levelled between the stares of Zaen and Juliran. “If we don’t succeed, then we will all die.”
“Life will not be worth living without our mate,” Juliran said.
Kira sobbed against Emex’s chest. Their mother went to Kira and Emex and wound her arms around them both. Their two other fathers huddled close, offering their support.
“What do you need, Zaen?” Nolan, their third father, asked.
Kyel slowly lifted his wrist-comm to his mouth. “Tann, have you retrieved the crystal yet?”
“We’re taking it to the lab as we speak,” Tann replied through Kyel’s wrist comm.
“Can you bring it in here instead, please,” Kyel said.
There was a moment of stunned silence, before Tann answered. “Of course.”
Shocked silence reigned over the room as everyone grappled with their horror and the implications of what Zaen suggested.
“Are you absolutely sure this is going to work?” their mother asked, looking between Zaen and his brothers
Zaen squeezed their mother’s shoulder. “It is the only thing that might. If we try nothing, then Lucie is lost.” And with her all hope for themselves and their Homeland.
Unbearable tension filled the chamber as they waited for Tann to arrive. Erix kept his full attention on Lucie’s condition and keeping the meds in the chamber balanced just right. In the n
ext few moments, Tann strode through the doorway with the crystal contained within the jaws of golden pincers.
Zaen turned to Erix and drew a deep lungful of air that bordered on painful. “Lower the panel, Erix. Tann, place the crystal in her hands.”
Erix’s mouth dropped. “But that… that might outright kill her. She is in a very delicate state.”
Zaen ignored the tense muscles straining along his shoulders. He knew there were risks, but there were also no options. This entity was too strong, too... unknown… to fight in a normal manner. “She has to touch the crystal. We all must touch the crystal to connect with it. You know I would not suggest this if there was any other way.”
Zaen levelled a stare between his brothers, reading their stunned expressions, hating what he was going to say, but knowing there was no other way. “We need to go through the shell that is around her mind. All of us. Together. She can’t defeat it on her own. Riley and Evelyn were trapped in the clouds and they were on their own, without the help of their mates to help them fight their way free. The only thing powerful enough to break this shell and the hold it has over Lucie is our mate bond. The four of us. Together. Using the power of the crystal.”
“You’re certain, brother?” Kyel said.
Zaen placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t even suggest this if it wasn’t the last thing we could possibly try. We must defeat this thing head on and putting Lucie into cryo will be more torture for her. I... I don’t know how much more she can take.”
“I’m with you a hundred percent, brother. We will save Lucie and expel this entity from her if it’s the last thing we do,” Juliran said, forever the optimistic one.
Zaen didn’t want to voice his concerns. They were too numerous to list, and he was just going by his gut feeling. Not a good strategy, but it was their only one. He didn’t want to even think it, but it just could possibly be the last thing they would ever do. “Be prepared for anything, brothers. I don’t know what will happen once we all connect through the power of the crystal. Remember, she is trapped in her mind. Literally and figuratively. We will go wherever her mind is. Encounter her thoughts. Anything.” He took a deep breath. “We must also be prepared not to return either.”
The last statement brought a gasp to their mother’s lips. She held a trembling hand in front of her mouth. Her mates, the kings, held her tight, offering her comfort as was their right.
“Are you sure there’s no other way?” Kira spoke, her eyes gleaming with tears.
Zaen hugged their sister close. “There is a risk with anything, but we will find a way, sister. We will save Lucie and we will save our homeland. I… I don’t know how to fight this entity any other way.”
Kira’s arms tightened around his chest. He would do anything for her as well. She had yet to find her mates and form her Quad. Her future was so intricately tied to theirs.
Zaen stepped back and placed Kira into Emex’s arms. “Father…”
Emex nodded, his face grave. “You are brave warriors. Do what must be done, sons.”
Taking a deep breath, Zaen stepped next to the bed where their mate lay. His brothers joined him, taking their place over Lucie.
“It’s time, Erix,” he said. “As the panel retracts, Tann, I want you to place the crystal into our mate’s hands.”
“Then what?” Juliran said.
“Then we all touch it,” Zaen said. After which, he had no idea what would happen, exactly.
Erix pressed the command and the panel retracted into the edges of the bed. The healing mist cleared. Their mate lay too pale. Too still. She had never fully recovered from the torture she had endured at the hands of the scaled ones. Never flourished. She had suffered physical torture, but her mental anguish was wasting her, even though she had everything her body could need. She was already skin and bone, but now she almost looked like a corpse. Her soul was withering, an effect they hadn’t been able to heal, despite their best efforts.
But they would never give up. No matter what it took, they would prevail. She was worth everything, even if she didn’t believe them.
Juliran curled a limp strand of hair behind her ear, running his fingertips along her chin so gently, as though she was made of the finest china.
Kyel nodded at Tann. “Do it.”
Tann carefully placed the crystal into Lucie’s lifeless hands, his face a tense mask. Tann released the golden pincers as the crystal rested into Lucie’s limp hands.
The crystal glowed with the blues and greens of the Erion Homeland, growing brighter and brighter. The lights on Erix’s panel danced. The data on the screen above her head jumped into hyperactivity. The crystal was having an effect, but so was the entity using it.
“Now, brothers,” Zaen said. “There is no time to waste.”
As one, they reached over their mate and curled their hands around the crystal.
Chapter Four
Lucie
Daylight slid over Lucie’s closed lids. She groaned and turned to her side. It was daytime, and time to get out of bed. She was still so, so tired despite having slept. She could quite happily sleep the day away, and possibly tomorrow as well. The princes would probably let her if she wanted to. Truth be told, they didn’t know exactly what to do for her lately, despite their best efforts to help her. She was beyond grateful, but she didn’t even know how to save herself, let alone three of the hottest aliens she’d ever met.
And they were seriously hot. Their horns didn’t detract at all, instead lending them a wild edge that made her wish she was actually their mate. That, and their tatts that swirled over their chiseled muscles, and taut bodies honed to perfection with their taste for battle training had her staring at them all day, wondering what it would feel like to touch them. Silk over steel, probably. Soft skin over the surface of strength and hardness.
She’d spent many a midnight hour wondering what it would be like to be the center focus of all three of them. Nobody would bat an eye. In fact, it was their norm—three guys to one girl. She could imagine the way they would touch her, gentle and full of reverence at first, and then when their patience was at an end, they would take her how they wanted. She would probably love every second of it. What girl wouldn’t?
They were also incredibly intense, and when they set their entire focus on her, her brain shorted out. It was as though they could see to the center of her soul. They said it was the mate bond, but she hadn’t felt anything except terror.
That was why she knew she really wasn’t for them. That was how she knew she had to leave them so they could find their true mate. It was a special bond between Quads, unbreakable and precious. They only had one in a lifetime. It was the reason why she’d held herself back. Her heart thumped with the weight of a rock. She had to step aside so they could find their true mate. Even if it killed her, she would do that for them.
The warm embrace of sleep buried her beneath a seductive pull and a wall of white washed over her until there was nothing in her head except whiteness and the feeling of exhaustion. Why was she so tired? She thought for a moment, but it seemed too much trouble and she let herself drift in a sea of never-ending fog. She sank down, down, down.
“Out of bed, sleepyhead!”
Her eyes snapped open. A figure loomed in front of her. “Grant?”
Her boyfriend opened his palms in a placating gesture. He’d just gotten out of the shower. A white towel was wrapped around his trim waist, and his hair was wet and slicked back. A few ends dripped onto his shoulders. “Who else would it be?”
She yelped, bolting upright in bed, eyes darting everywhere. Sunlight filtered through her gauzy curtains, a breeze catching the seam in the middle that never closed just right. Her gaze flew over familiar, faded floral wallpaper on the walls, noting the hole where the door handle had slammed into it one time. Her soft and lumpy bed beneath her. Her bedspread thin, but warmed from sleep over her legs, the familiar canary yellow of the cover singing a happiness she yearned for. It w
as familiar, yet her heart hammered like an anvil in her chest. She pressed her fingers to her temple. “I’m in my bedroom?”
Grant sat, making a dip in the bed, and put his hand on her knee. “Where else would you be?”
She eased her knee from beneath his touch.
He frowned at her movement, and then at her. “What’s going on, Luce? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She tried to think, to work out why she was so confused, but her mind was filled with a blanket of white fog that blocked her thoughts. Even her dream of three sexy men became slippery and waned away. She tried to follow it but as soon as she started to dig too deep, she became stuck as though she waded through molasses. There was something important she had to remember, but as soon as the thought occurred to her, it sank into the molasses and she was unable to grab it.
“I…”
Grant chuckled, the sound grating. “Must have had too much to drink last night.”
“I did?”
His frown deepened. “Sure. We celebrated. Don’t you remember? I met with Donald Stephenson. About you. Luce, we’ve got a real chance. He asked me into his studio next week.”
Fuzzy memories surfaced, indistinct, yet there in a shadowy type of way. That had happened. Grant had secured a meeting with the most sought-after music producer in the country. She had a real chance of being heard, after all this time and all that work. It was finally paying off. She remembered now as everything snapped back into perfect clarity. Grant was helping her. He worked day and night to help her with her music career. Everything he did was for her.
“To hear my sample?”
He caught her chin between his thumb and knuckle. She tried not to flinch by his roughness. “Of course! What else would he want to hear from me about?”
“I… I don’t know.” And she didn’t. Everything was just so fuzzy. If she could just sleep some more, maybe she would wake up with a clear mind. Maybe she would be able to think. She reached for the sea of white so she could drift a little more.
The Erion Triad: A Negari Sci-Fi Alien Abduction Reverse Harem Romance Page 3