“I’ve missed you, too.” She twined their fingers and held on tight, afraid to let go. “Knox has been good to you?”
“Very good. He’s... Nola, he’s my person.” A dreamy expression dawned. “Every day, he risks his life to protect mine. He worships me.”
“Oh, Vale. I’m so happy for you.” And maybe a little envious. I want a future with my Bane! Had he found the note?
Vale added, “We’re going to find a way to stop the war and be together.”
Could the war be stopped? “Have you reconsidered taking the Mark of Disgrace? I hear it’s—”
“No way.” Vale shook her head. “I can’t allow an alien race to rule our world. If the war can’t be stopped, I’ll win it.”
And kill Bane and Zion? Nola almost shouted a denial. “What about Knox?”
“He’ll take the mark. Or we’ll find another way to save him,” she said, then changed the subject. “Has Zion been good to you?”
“He has. And so has Bane.” Her selective mutism allowed her to admit Bane had kidnapped her a few times, but no more. So frustrating! She’d never needed her sister’s advice more, and she hated not being able to share some of the best things to ever happen to her. Bane. Royalty! Sex. Health. Bumbling into an upright position, she said, “What are you guys doing here?”
“There are bombs in the lavender field. Knox is out leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Erik to follow.”
Nice. May he die screaming.
“All is presently well,” Zion said, striding into the room and easing onto the couch next to Nola. He cocked his head to the side and frowned. “I believe Knox will arrive in three...two...”
Knox busted through the door, a giant brute vibrating with malice. Dried blood streaked his bronzed skin, the sight almost obscene.
Zion lurched to his feet, aimed a semiautomatic at his chest and grinned. “Glad you could join us, Knox. We have much to discuss.”
Betrayal marred Knox’s features. He glared at Vale before facing off with the other male. They shouted insults at each other, fraying Nola’s already battered nerves.
Vale leaped up and stepped between them. “Guys. Please,” she said, extending her arms. “Talk first, kill later. If we’re all alive, we’ve got options.”
Ready to make a difference, Nola forced herself to trudge to her feet. She clasped Zion’s wrist, saying, “If you hurt my sister’s boyfriend, I will be supremely displeased.”
“For once, I’m willing to risk it.” Zion kept his attention on Knox. “Whatever you cut me with left a wound on my leg that hasn’t healed. I am not amused.” Despite his words, he lowered his gun and nudged Nola with his shoulder. “Sit, mortal, and don’t get up again.”
Mortal? Why act so formal?
In a quieter tone, he added, “If you ever approach an angry combatant again, or get in the middle of an impending fight, I will... I’ll...”
Ah. That was why. He was tee-icked! Nola arched a brow and replied, “What, there’s no threat bad enough?”
“There is. I’ll tell Bane.”
Ouch. Low blow. “He might not care.” She blew him a kiss with her middle finger, then resettled on the couch.
Vale and Knox openly argued about whether or not to trust Zion.
“Stand down and trust me,” Vale said. “I won’t risk your life, or my sister’s, or our shot at victory. And yes, I realize how contradictory I sound, considering we’re trapped in a murder-everyone situation, but I expect us all to survive this.”
Nola opened her mouth to admit she knew about Vale’s plight as a combatant, but a lie left her unbidden. “Hold up. You’re a soldier in their war? How can that be?” Uh, what the what?
Dark Nola didn’t want to admit what she knew? Or, would an admission somehow invite questions about Bane?
“I’ll explain later,” Vale said, then refocused on Knox. “Please, trust me. I want to be with you. A family, not just surviving, but thriving.”
A family. Vale and Knox. Nola, a friendly outside observer. Suddenly her insides felt like they’d been dropped in an ant hill. First I lost Bane. Now I’m losing Vale.
The petty thoughts shamed her.
Knox flinched. But only seconds later, he softened, his anger completely evaporating, revealing an endless well of pain.
Nola didn’t have to wonder why. She recognized the gleam in his eyes: shattered dreams. He’d just made some kind of realization about his relationship with Vale, and it wasn’t good.
Tone gentle, Knox ended the disagreement with four sentences. “My truce with you stands, Valerina of Earth. Now and always. But I won’t be fighting at your side. Today, we part ways, and I take out combatants from the shadows, where I belong.”
Vale drew into herself, clearly crumbling inside. Nola’s heart broke. Knox was leaving her sister the way Nola had left Bane. He must think he would harm her if he stayed. Did he love her?
Knox looked to Zion and said, “I will ensure Vale reaches the final two. As long as you’re guarding her, I won’t target you. If you try to stop me, or hurt her in any way, I will make your death a cautionary tale, and even Seven will shudder with revulsion.”
Oh, yes. He loved her, and he thought he would harm her if he stayed. He’d decided to put Vale’s well-being over his own happiness, and Nola adored him for it.
“Agreed,” Zion said with a nod, and she wondered if he’d had a dream about Knox, too.
Knox wasted no time. He walked away, never looking back, leaving the strong, once untouchable Vale near tears. She peered at the exit, her eyes wide and wounded.
Was that how Bane had looked after reading Nola’s note? She gulped, guilt slicing her good intentions to ribbons. “I’m sorry, Vale,” she said, aching for her beloved sister. “Beyond sorry.”
—Nola!—
Bane’s frantic voice exploded in her head, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. In her note, she’d commanded him not to contact her. Lesson learned. Orders had to be spoken.
Inhale, exhale. She trembled, waiting, afraid she would hear him again—just as afraid she wouldn’t. Hope and dread went to war. But he didn’t speak up again, and dread won.
You know it’s for the best.
Vale donned a brave face and waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing to be sorry about. Good riddance, right?”
Zion eyed the door Knox had vacated, pensive. “Had I not seen it with my own eyes...that man loves you.”
Unequivocally. Knox had looked at Vale the way Bane looked at Nola. Well, used to look at Nola. How would he look at her now?
An-n-nd the dread gained new ground.
Tone emotionless, Vale said, “I don’t agree. But even if you were right, it wouldn’t matter. Sometimes love isn’t enough. And really, we don’t have time for sentiment.” No emotion, and yet her pain was palpable. “Anyway. Enough chatter about Knox. Did you happen to tag any other players with a bot?”
“There wasn’t opportunity.” Zion helped Nola stand. “If Knox created a footpath to the cottage, other competitors will arrive soon. He’ll probably stay out there to pick them off, but I won’t take a chance soldiers get past him and harm Nola. We must stash her somewhere safe.”
“Where can I go?” she asked. “Your base camp is compromised.” With Erik around, all base camps, safe houses and dimensions were unsafe.
“There’s a tunnel beneath the house. Come on.” Vale marched into the kitchen, Nola and Zion following.
In the pantry, her sister kicked away a dirt-stained rug to reveal a secret hatch. So cool! Every house needed an escape hatch.
Zion descended the ladder first, wincing whenever he put weight on his leg. Nola went next, her body screaming in protest, and Vale claimed the rear. Darkness enveloped them—until the tips of her sister’s fingers caught fire, without burning her.
“Oh. My. Gosh,” Nola said. �
��You do realize you are the coolest person I know, right? How is this even possible?”
“One day soon we’re going to sit down and have a nice long chat.” Vale kissed her cheek and strode over to pick up a lantern.
Zion reached out to take the handle—
Boom!
The ground shook, toppling each of them. Because her sister stood directly underneath the hatch, she got hit with the worst of the blaze, an inferno licking over her. Embers burned holes in her clothes, but didn’t harm her skin. Lumber, concrete and pieces of kitchen appliances crashed over her. As she bellowed, agonized, Zion limped over, manhandled the blocks out of the way and helped her stand.
“What happened?” Nola said between coughing fits. Smoke stung her nostrils and tickled her throat.
“Bomb blast,” Vale replied, her eyes wells of fear and concern. “Are you okay?”
Another bomb, courtesy of Erik, no doubt. More proof that life could change in an instant. As if she’d needed any reminders. “I—I’m fine.” Kind of. She didn’t have the strength to stand. “You?”
“Fine,” Vale said, sounding anything but.
“This is Erik’s doing, I know it,” Zion spat.
“We shouldn’t wait for his next trick,” Vale said. “Let’s go.”
“Guys,” Nola began, but Zion understood.
Her swept her into his strong arms and sprinted for the exit. “Once we’re aboveground,” he told Vale as he kept pace at her side, “you’ll stay with Nola, and I’ll confront Erik.”
“Strategy isn’t your thing, is it, hot stuff?” A sword bounced on Vale’s back. “Nola will stay in the tunnel. You and I will head out together and fight side by side, guarding each other’s six.”
I love being discussed as if I’m not present. But the truly sad thing? They were right. She had power over her beasts and warriors, but no others. If she tried to fight combatants, she’d die badly.
Vale wasn’t done. “I must be the one to kill combatants. I absorb their abilities and memories, learning their plans and hiding places.”
How and why did Vale absorb abilities but other combatants did not?
“Memories? Truly?” His brow knit with confusion, but he nodded. “Very well. You will make the kills.”
What had changed his mind? If Vale made the kills, Zion wouldn’t be able to activate the weapons. Plus, Vale would grow stronger. A lot stronger. Not that Nola was complaining. She wanted her sister invincible. But she wanted her guys well, too.
When they reached the exit, Zion set her on her feet and said, “For all the times I’ve saved you, you owe me, Nola, and I expect you to stay put.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll heed your desires. For now.” Because she didn’t have the strength to do otherwise. Must recharge and figure out my next move. There had to be something she could do, anything besides sitting idly by while her loved ones risked their lives.
“You’re going to be all right.” Vale hugged her. “I love you. Never forget.”
“I’m not worried about me.” Only everyone else. “Just...you had better return. Alive, in case I wasn’t clear.”
Vale smiled, but no humor glowed in her eyes. “I’ll return alive. I’m a superhero. Intangy Girl, trademark pending. I pity our opponents.”
They climbed up the ladder, emerging in daylight to face their foes, leaving the weakened Nola in the cave. Alone. Cold. Afraid. A metaphor for her past.
But what about her future?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
How to tame your beast in a day
GET TO NOLA. Get to Nola now! Bane had been tracking her for hours, her note on repeat in his mind.
Dear Bane, aka golden god, aka beasty-boy, aka hot buttered buns,
You’ve touched my life in so many ways. I’ve grown to love and hate you, you wonderful, terrible beast! That’s right. I love you. But I hate you because I have to leave you and this hurts. This hurts so stinking bad. But there’s a reason for it. Are you ready? Here goes. Zion had a psychic dream of the future. He claims I’ll stab and kill you. I don’t want to take a chance that he’s right. You mean too much to me. So, I don’t know if this will work, but here goes. I’m ordering you not to come after me or contact me. I plan to kill Aveline and save Meredith. I know you said you’re keeping me, but think! You’ll have the love of your life back, and you won’t remember me. The All War will transpire, but the new queen will send a different Adwaewethian to Earth. We’ll never meet, but maybe that’s for the best? You can’t miss what you’ve never had, right?
Love, Nola.
PS: This is my least favorite day.
Her tears had stained the paper.
Now, he felt skinned alive. Never meet her? Not a life worth living. He breathed for this woman, and she thought to leave him, because she feared a prediction? She thought to put a new queen in power, one who would send a different warrior to fight in the Terran All War, a man willing to kill Nola at the first opportunity? Nola must have realized the truth, yet she’d planned to sacrifice herself anyway. For Bane. Because she loved him. Loved. Him.
Get to Nola. Just get to Nola.
To give an order life, a royal had to voice it, so he was under no obligation to obey her note. Already he’d attempted to peer through her eyes and speak in her mind, but he’d failed, encountering block after block. He’d decided to track her by scent; all that jasmine and honeysuckle would be a true guide. He would find her. No one kept him from Nola, not even Nola herself. As for Zion’s prediction, Bane didn’t care. So his little princess might stab him. So what? Whatever happened, they would deal.
Trusting Zion had been a mistake. The bastard had opened a portal and taken Nola away. Therefore, the bastard would die.
Bane increased his pace, sprinting through a tangle of trees. Sunlight glared over a long stretch of farmland, a smattering of homes spaced out between different animal-laden pastures. The animals sensed him and panicked, bucking around. Understandable. With adrenaline plumping his muscles, Bane already partially transformed, his teeth longer and sharper than usual. The beast rammed his skull, demanding blood.
Boom! The ground shook, trees swaying, limbs clapping.
About a mile up ahead, something had exploded.
“Erik,” he snarled. Smoke wafted through the air, carrying a strange, sweet scent. Vale’s scent. The one she’d acquired after killing a female combatant. Nola was with Vale. If his princess had been hurt...
A roar barreled from Bane. The more he inhaled the scent, the more his blood burned with lust. Focus. Different sounds caught his attention. Grunts and groans. Clangs. Curses. As he shot past another tangle of trees, he caught sight of at least twenty armed men in the midst of violent combat with Vale and Zion. Knox, too, though he fought on the other side of a scorched field.
Deal with Zion later. The armed men had been snared by Vale’s scent. They were more interested in screwing the combatants than killing them.
Nola, where was Nola? No sign of her.
Guess he’d be dealing with Zion now. Bane plowed through the mortal army, tossing soldiers out of his way—after ripping off their limbs, of course. “Girl,” he snarled at the male, half-man, half-beast. “Give. Her. To. Me.”
“Removed her from your vicinity for your own good. Want to live? Stay away from her.” Zion tossed a mortal his way then darted off, disappearing in the trees. Going after Nola?
Frantic, Bane gave chase. He didn’t bother tossing people out of his way, just slammed into them, knocking them down. But Knox stepped into his path, and he wasn’t so easy to dispatch.
For some reason, the male was just as frantic, frenzied and wild; he threw a punch, and Bane ducked, scraping his claws over Knox’s torso, drawing blood. His go-to move.
Rather than strike with his fists, Knox aimed a revolver and hammered at the trigger. Pop, pop, pop. Sharp pain and bliste
ring heat exploded through different parts of Bane’s body.
Drogo roared and rammed at his skull, and it was then, that moment that Bane realized the beast had been helping him all along, giving him the tools he needed to survive. Claws. Wings. Superior strength. Teaching him to battle through pain and distraction. And, when things looked grim, taking over to ensure their survival. They were one and the same.
Bane charged at Knox. More bullets. More pain. He slammed into the other man, who planted his feet and didn’t budge. No matter. Bane gripped his collar and shook. “Where. Is. Nola?”
A tendril of smoke curled from the barrel of the revolver. “Help me...kill mortals,” Knox commanded. “They must die. Make it hurt.”
“Where. Is. Nola?” Bane cared about nothing else.
From a distance, Vale called, “Hey, beasty-boy. Look over here. Look at me. Yo, Bane. You want to talk about Nola? You’ve got to deal with me.”
With a roar, he pivoted to face her. Her words...truth or lie? One way or another, he would find out.
“Come get me, Bane.” She grinned and crooked her finger at him, before running off, calling, “This way. Yes, that’s it. I’ve got the one you seek.”
“Vale,” Knox whispered, his shock clear. “She lives. My valina lives!”
When Bane took a step forward, Knox did his best to stop him. This time, Bane sidestepped him, refusing to engage, and dashed after the woman. Along the way, he scented honeysuckle and jasmine, and nearly wept with relief.
But Vale turned in the opposite direction, moving away from the scent. Did he continue to follow her, in order to catch and interrogate her, or did he follow Nola’s breadcrumbs?
Nola. Always Nola.
He veered, sticking with her scent. He would find her. Nothing and no one would stop him. Then, he would begin the Blood Rite.
It was decided. He’d been a fool to wait. She would become strong enough to stab and kill him, as predicted, but he didn’t care.
He would rather have a few more minutes with Nola, than an eternity with anyone else.
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