“Watch out, Kyel!” Zaen shouted.
The Reptile held a small device in its claws. So fast Lucie barely saw him aim, Kyel shot its wrist off. The device, still clutched in the Reptile’s claws, skidded to Juliran.
“A remote detonator,” Juliran said.
Kyel shot the Reptile’s head. Its skull disintegrated. A fine spray of green coated Kyel’s leathers but he didn’t seem to notice. “Bring our mate, brothers. She is in too much danger here.”
“But… I don’t want to hurt her any more than she already is,” Juliran said.
Kyel hunched behind his brothers. Lucie saw him flinch and moisture gather in his eyes when he looked at her crumpled body. She’d never seen him so shaken. He held out a hand towards her and a tremor worked through his limb. He clenched his fist and drew it back.
“Don’t worry, brother. We feel the same,” Zaen said.
There was another boom. The walls shook. Sparks danced from a rent in the ceiling. Juliran scooped her against his chest, bundling her so carefully she might be made from tissue paper. She groaned and her eyelids flickered open.
“I didn’t mean to jostle her, brothers,” Juliran said, sounding horrified.
“You didn’t, brother. You are being more careful than I ever could,” Zaen said.
“The others. Have to… help… the others.” Her voice was so quiet she didn’t think any of them heard.
“They are safe, mate. They are rescued,” Kyel said.
Her eyes fluttered closed before she went limp again. “Good.”
“Gods. She’s in such pain and yet her first thought is of the other human females,” Juliran said.
“As well as being our mate, she is a rare gem,” Zaen said.
The muscle ticked at Kyel’s temple as they all stared at her cradled in Juliran’s arms. “I don’t know what we did to deserve the gods’ honor, but we are truly blessed, brothers.” An explosion made them all crouch over her, protecting her from the debris that fell from the ceiling. “Come, we need to get to our shuttle.”
As one, they pounded down the corridor and the scene washed away. Back in the bedroom, all three of them stood staring at her.
“Of course, I would be concerned for the others. Anyone would. We’d been caged for weeks with only ourselves for company. Terrible situations build close friendships,” she said.
“You were in terrible pain, Lucie. I’ve seen hardened soldiers mindless in similar situations, yet your first thought was for others,” Juliran said.
She shook her head. She thought she’d shown them who she was, and yet they still didn’t understand.
“She doesn’t believe us,” Zaen said.
“Then we will show her more,” Kyel said.
A garden unfolded around them. She was there, walking down one of the pathways in the palace’s garden. She loved this part of the garden. It was secluded, the pathways filled with exotic flowers. They’d told her the flowers used to glow at night, infused with the Erion crystal’s energy, but they hadn’t for ten long years. Not since the crystal had been stolen.
They were disappointed, but she thought they were still lovely. After all, flowers on Earth didn’t glow. They reminded her of home in a way. They were imbued with perfume and she’d always walked slower than everyone else to smell them.
This day, Juliran, Kyel, Zaen, and Kira had walked on ahead and she’d fallen behind inhaling the scent of the flowers. Kira saw her and trotted back down the pathway.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I got side-tracked,” Lucie said.
“That’s okay. I’m afraid we’re too fast for you.” Kira smiled.
“You’re a lot taller than me. You have longer legs,” Lucie said.
“But the best things come in petite packages,” Kira said. She touched the flower Lucie had been admiring. “These are my favorites as well. They also grow in blue, but the pink ones like this one are rarer. Geralt, our gardener, is talented.”
“We say when you have a talent for gardening that you have a green thumb,” Lucie said.
Kira laughed, the sound melodious. “But grass is blue!”
“It’s green where I’m from,” Lucie said.
“That’s strange, but it would also be beautiful to see… Lucie, I’m so sad you can’t get back home. If only we knew where your planet was, my brothers would take you there.”
A strange expression stole over her face, seen from the perspective of her men, she guessed. At first, it was longing and then it turned into something pensive, then became harsh. She seemed as though she thought of something bad, and then it morphed into something more terrified. Only she knew the run of thoughts in that moment.
She’d thought of Earth, of going home, but then she’d thought of Grant and the way he had used her. How hard she had to work, hours upon hours, while he’d lied to her.
She’d known what he was doing all along. That he used her as his work horse. While he partied and slept around, she was the one who paid the bills and the rent and kept herself tied down, never to pursue her dream of one day becoming a performer. Singing was the only time she had any peace. The only time where she was free. Grant had known that and dangled it in front of her, the golden carrot in the form of his contacts in the music industry that he’d never once mentioned her to them about.
It was only when she’d come home from work early one day and caught him in bed with some stranger that she’d grabbed the keys to her little red car and driven and driven and driven to the middle of nowhere. She’d been abducted and tortured, but then her men had rescued her and despite everything that had happened, they were the bright spot. When they’d told her they were her mates, she’d been astounded, and when she got over the shock, the first strains of hope had woven into her heart.
Then she’d heard the voice in her head that told her she didn’t deserve them. That when they found out who she really was, they wouldn’t want her. That nobody else had wanted her and they wouldn’t be any different. And she’d listened to that voice because deep down inside, where it really counted, she knew it was right.
“Lucie? What’s wrong?” Kira said.
She shook herself and smiled, but the strain on her face was evident even though she thought she’d hidden it. “Nothing important. I’ll show you something we do on Earth.”
Lucie picked the flower Kira had admired and put it behind her head.
Kira laughed. “You wear flowers like this?”
“If I find something similar, I’ll show you how to make a daisy chain,” Lucie said.
“That sounds exotic,” Kira said.
Lucie glanced up as Kyel, Juliran, and Zaen approached her with flowers of their own. She ducked her head, but now that she was an observer, she’d missed the disappointment on their faces. They’d wanted to please her so badly and she’d shied away and missed their true intentions.
Maybe if she’d lifted her head, she would have seen their happy faces and it might have drowned out the voice. But in that moment the voice had stolen her entire attention and she’d retreated into herself, only offering a timid glance and tentative look before she’d walked away.
The scene faded. “See how thoughtful you are, Lucie. Even when you’re crying inside you made our sister smile and laugh.”
“That’s easy to do. Kira is a lovely woman, who smiles and laughs with everyone,” Lucie said.
“But her smiles and laughter as especially quick when you’re around,” Zaen said.
Lucie clenched her teeth hard enough to make her jaw hurt. “What you’re showing me is irrelevant. Please… just stop. You’re making this harder than it should be.”
“Anything worth it is hard. We can keep on showing you what we see in you. What we knew to be true. Watch,” Kyel said.
“It’s not going to make any difference. It won’t change anything…”
She knew where Kyel had taken her as soon as the white faded to reveal the medi-bay in their warship. That day would be etched in her mind until she died. She’d woken to
a world of white mist trapped inside a coffin. She’d slapped her hands against a slippery surface that had immediately retracted.
The mist cleared and three concerned faces had stared down at her, blue skin that ranged in tone from light blue to midnight. Each had dark hair with green-blue highlights. One was short cropped all over. One had tight curls that clung to his scalp, and the last had short back and sides with a fringe that flopped over his right eye. All their eyes glowed with an unearthly inner green-blue light.
They had lips that looked soft and sensuous and entirely kissable, but their most prominent features were horns that emerged from their temples and curved around the sides of their heads. Crop hair had horns that tipped up at the ends. Tight curls’ horns curved around the sides of his head, and fringe’s horns had a kink that gave him a carefree air, if horns that grew from male heads could ever be described as carefree.
“Mate…” The being with tight curls spoke.
She touched her fingers to her ears. They hung there suspended for a moment, “I can… understand you?”
“Isn’t the translator working?” Crop hair asked.
“I told you not to install it while she was healing,” Fringe said.
“I only wanted to do it to save her pain. She’s been through so much…” Tight curls gave her a look so mournful it brought tears to her eyes.
“Now you’re making her cry,” Fringe said.
“That’s it. Take it out and we’ll do it later, when she’s stronger. I don’t want to put her under any more stress than she’s already been through,” Crop said.
She held her hands out, palms towards them. “No! No, no, no. I… I’m not in any pain. In fact…” She catalogued her body. “I… I’m not in any pain. At all.” A look of wonder flickered across her face. She didn’t realize she was so expressive.
“That is good, mate,” Fringe said.
“Did you… did you heal me?” Her eyes grew large and round and began to fill with unshed tears.
“We did,” Crop said.
She curled her fingers around his wrist. His eyes widened and he went so still he might have been a statue. A tear streaked down the side of her face to disappear into her hairline and he moved so slowly and so tenderly to wipe it away.
“We will do everything in our power to make sure you never cry again,” he said.
Tight curls threaded a strand of hair from her face. “We only want to see tears of joy fall from your beautiful eyes.”
“For you, mate. We will do anything,” Fringe said.
She frowned. “Why do you keep on calling me that name? My name is Lucie.”
“Which name do you mean?” Crop said.
She still had her fingers curled around his wrist and he stroked her skin with the pad of his thumb, little concentric circles that she was finding harder and harder to ignore. She didn’t want to take her hand away. Didn’t want him to stop. Didn’t wonder why she felt an immediate attraction, an immediate connection to him.
To them. All of them.
She pressed her lips together, tilting on the edge of a precipice. She knew that even with the mention of such a small word, it would mean monumental changes to her life. These three men were the lynchpin to something great. Something her soul had been crying for all her life.
“Mate.” Her voice barely came out on a whisper.
All of them looked even more fierce, if that was at all possible.
Crop’s mouth firmed. “I am Kyel.” He indicated to tight curls. “This is my brother Zaen.” He capped Fringe on his shoulder. “This is my brother Juliran. You are our mate and we are yours.”
Her gaze darted between all of them, as though she couldn’t decide which face to rest on. Even though she was naked and vulnerable, and they were thee hulking men with toned muscles and bodies honed for strength and power, she’d never felt so safe. “All three of you?”
Zaen nodded. “We are a Triad, and now we can form our Quad with you. The bond has opened and shown us our connection. We have waited our whole lives to meet you. We didn’t think… We never thought…”
To her surprise, his eyes teared up and he was unable to speak. Kyel put his arm about his brother in a tender display of affection.
“What my idiot brother means to say is that you are our precious fourth. Now that we have found you, our lives will be brighter. More purposeful. Our days will have meaning, and our nights filled with love. You are the missing piece of our souls that completes all of us, a bond formed and matched by the Fates long before we were even born. We are perfect for you and you are perfect for us. Sweet mate, you are everything to us. Precious beyond belief. Do not doubt the strength of our connection, or the blessings on us,” Kyel said, with a well of emotion that brought more tears.
“Do not cry, mate. Kyel didn’t meant to upset you,” Juliran said.
“No… it’s just that…” Nobody had ever told her she was precious, or cherished, or a missing part of a soul. She hadn’t wanted much in life, but hearing those words was one thing she’d yearned for, and yet, never thought would be said to her.
She cupped Kyel’s cheek, and then Zaen’s and Juliran’s. Looking down at herself, she hadn’t realized the expression on her face when they’d told her. How joyous she looked. How filled with happiness.
She hadn’t told them, but as Kyel had spoken, her heart had filled with the love he’d spoken about. The knowledge that they were meant for each other was undeniable. The truth behind his words so absolute that as unreal and hard to believe as they were, she knew that they were so right together.
And then, her soul had flared so bright and she’d felt so complete that there was no doubt in her mind. She’d smiled up at them, and one after the other, they had kissed her so reverently and so tenderly she had no words for it. Despite the horror of the circumstances, meeting them had been the most beautiful thing to happen in her life.
And then, just when she was going to ask them to make love to her, she saw her entire body stiffen and a look of stark horror wash over her face. Her gaze had turned from warmth and happiness to one of alarm and then sheer terror.
And then her terror had become theirs.
Chapter Fifteen
Lucie
“What happened in that moment, Lucie?” Kyel asked.
Between them, the scene faded, and they were held in a world so white there was no top or bottom, left or right. There was no more to see, but it was also the time for truth.
“That was when I first heard the voice,” she said.
“Lucie… why didn’t you tell us? We would have helped you,” Zaen said. He stepped towards her, but she held out her hand and he hit an invisible barrier.
“Let us come to you, Lucie.”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. “No. I… You have to stay there. The voice said if I told you, it would kill all of you in front of my eyes. It would take you away and then I would be that sad, lonely little girl I’d always been.”
She flickered her eyes up to look at them. Her gaze snagged and her heart lurched at the hurt and sadness evident on their faces. “You… you’re not mad?”
Juliran frowned. “How could we be mad at you, Lucie? We’re never mad at you. This isn’t your fault.”
“You forget, we recognize your soul. You wouldn’t be like this if not for this voice, telling you false things,” Zaen said.
“But it isn’t false. It’s trapped me and now it’s trapped you… wherever it is we are. It’s going to hurt you, and it’s all because me of,” Lucie said.
“It’s not because of you and we’re not going anywhere. As to where we are, this… this is all in your mind. I don’t begin to understand how or why, only that it has you trapped here because it needs you. And it needs to keep us apart. Look at the evidence. Everything it has done, it has done to separate us. To stop the natural progression of our bond. To stop the final mate-sync,” Kyel said.
Zaen frowned as he regarded Lucie, his eyes gleaming dark. “You
’re right, brother. Everything it had done is to keep us apart.”
“That means it fears our mate-sync. And it fears it for a reason,” Juliran said.
“It means our mate-sync is stronger than it is. An entity like this can only fear what is more powerful. Lucie, to save yourself, to save us, we need to complete our bond. We need to mate-sync,” Kyel said.
A slither of unease worked through her bones, “But… we can’t. I feel a bond, yes. But that is because all three of you are beautiful men, inside and out. Your souls shine…” What she wanted to say brought a bitter taste to her mouth.
“But? Tell us, Lucie. So that we may help you,” Juliran said.
“Can’t you see? I’ve been telling the truth all along. I’m weak. I’ll only bring you down. Please… let me go. You’ll find another mate. One that is actually worthy of you.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, but they had to know. Had to understand. “I’m not capable of giving you what you need because I don’t even know myself. Have no idea how to be strong. No idea how to give, no idea how to love and you… all of you… deserve everything.’
“Oh, Lucie. You have given us those things all along, and you didn’t even know it. Look.” Kyel said.
Scenes rolled out around her, one after the other, all of her from their perspective. They’d noticed every little detail, everything she’d done. When she’d offered a tentative smile and had made their hearts bloom. When she’d helped a stranger carry a heavy bag. When she’d offered her night guard a hot drink and some food. When she’d fed the pets, and listened to Kira as she’d talk and talk and talk about finding her own mates, all the while the voice was in her head telling her she wasn’t worthy, that she was everything those selfish people in her life had told her she was. “It was lies, all of the things those people said to you. Lies because they were the lesser people. Because there was something in you, they were jealous of. Look, Lucie. Look at how strong you are. That despite being taken from your planet and tortured and then attacked by this voice, you were still kind and patient and loving. That despite everything dark in your life, you chose the light. You chose love and for that we will be forever thankful,” Kyel said.
The Erion Triad: A Negari Sci-Fi Alien Abduction Reverse Harem Romance Page 12