by Anna Argent
“But your father didn’t.”
“No. But when I asked about little things, like what the food was like, or what books he read, he would avoid the questions.”
“Why?”
“Maybe to protect me from accidentally saying something that would get us in trouble? It’s the only thing I could think of. I mean, I know he wanted to go back one day once the war was over, so why not teach me the culture?”
Talan had no answers. “Did he keep a journal?”
“Not that I could find. He had a lot of notes on ideas for inventions, but he was careful to write in English if anyone might see it. I think it was to make sure no one ever suspected who we really were.”
“That was smart. If you were identified as coming from a different world, it would have made you a target for both humans and the Raide. He was trying to protect you.”
“I’m sure he was. He always did. But he knew that one day someone would come looking for me. He often talked about us going home with someone. It would be just like him to make the riddle impossible for me to solve without the help of an ally. We should go back to my house so you can look around. You know all the little things about Loriah. Maybe you’ll see something I can’t.” She started to scoot off the bed, but he caught her arm.
“We’re not going anywhere until the windshield is fixed. I won’t have you freezing to death out there.”
“If I go home, I can get clean, dry clothes.”
“And what if Krotian knows where you live? He could be there right now, waiting for you to show up.”
A look of pure rage crossed her face, so potent her whole body trembled with it. “You think that thing is in my home? It could be touching my things? My father’s things?”
She pulled her arm away, and he wasn’t willing to grip her hard enough to stop her. She gathered up her wet clothes and started looking around on the floor.
“We’re not leaving, Zoe.”
“Where are my shoes?”
Talan had a vague memory of Radek picking them up out of the snow where they’d fallen, but he had no idea where he’d put them. “They’re gone. Now drop the clothes before you get wet again.”
“I’m not letting that thing in my house. It tortured me, Talan. It shoved its way into my mind, violating me. And another creature just like it did the same thing to my mother, torturing her until it killed her. I won’t let one of them taint my father’s memory by allowing it in my home.”
“It’s just a building,” he said. “All that matters is that you stay safe.”
Zoe got right up in his face, at least as much as was possible given her height. “It’s my home. My father’s home. And if you won’t take me back, I’ll find a way to get there without you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Zoe was shivering and numb with cold by the time Talan pulled up in front of her house. It didn’t matter that the heater was running full blast, or that he’d wrapped her up in blankets stolen from the motel. Freezing wind had poured through the gaping hole where the windshield should have been, sucking all the warmth from her.
Talan had faced that wind head-on with only his jacket to protect him. She had no idea how he’d managed to get them here in one piece.
His skin was red with cold, making the scars along his tattooed scalp stand out in pale contrast. After stopping the truck in front of her house, he stretched his fingers several times, as if trying to work feeling back into them.
She could tell he was angry. He hadn’t said a word on the way over except to ask for directions. Part of her felt bad that she’d insisted they come back, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Krotian touching anything that had belonged to her father. She hadn’t even been able to bring herself to walk into his office. His things were as he’d left them, and she knew it was because part of her refused to accept that he was truly gone.
“Give me your key and stay here,” Talan said.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going in to make sure no one else has been here. The Raide like to use traps—explosives. I won’t let you blow yourself up.”
“So you’ll go in and get blown up instead?”
“I know what to look for. I’ll be careful. And it will be a lot easier to stay focused if I’m not worried about you accidentally triggering a Raide explosive device.”
The idea of him putting himself in danger made her queasy. Since her father had died, she’d felt so intensely alone that sometimes she couldn’t even breathe. She knew she didn’t belong on this world. She knew she wasn’t human. And while her father had talked about the windows they could use to go home, she had no idea where to find them or how to make sure she ended up on the right planet, and not on some blistering, atmosphereless world, getting sucked into a star going supernova.
Ever since she’d learned who Talan really was, she’d had this deep sense of relief, of kinship. To him, she wasn’t some freaky girl who didn’t fit in. She had a place. A purpose. She belonged.
If anything happened to him, she’d be all alone again.
She grabbed his thick arm. “Don’t go.”
He stared at her hand for a moment before looking at her. She swore she could feel him reading her mind, like he could see right through her. “It’s going to be okay, Zoe. If anything happens to me, Radek will see you home safely.” He placed his phone in her hands. “His number is programmed in. Call him if… we get separated.”
He said it like one man was as good as another. If he died, she’d just switch escorts without a backward glance.
She didn’t let go of his arm. “You’re not interchangeable.”
He frowned at her like he didn’t understand. “Interchangeable?”
“I don’t want Radek to escort me. I want you.” And before she could change her mind, she grabbed his chilly face and kissed him.
His lips warmed beneath hers. The cocoon of blankets fell from her body as she shifted across the seat, needing to get closer to him. Cold air circled around her, but she couldn’t feel it. Her whole body was warming from the inside out, vibrating with eagerness to get more of this addictive man.
Before she lost her head and they died happy, but hypothermic, she pulled herself back and looked him in the eye. “See? Not interchangeable. I don’t want to do that with Radek.”
Talan swallowed and gave her a slow nod. “I understand now. I don’t want you to do that with him either.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re communicating clearly, though if you’re fuzzy on the details, I could try again.”
A tiny flicker of a smile lifted one side of his mouth. “When you’re warm again, we’ll talk more.”
“If we keep doing that, I’ll be a hell of a lot more than warm.”
He held his big hand out. “Keys. I want to get you out of the cold.”
She’d found her purse abandoned on the truck’s floorboards, and her keys were still inside, along with everything else. She handed them to him and watched as he made a slow circle around the outside of the house.
Without his presence nearby, all the languid warmth of their kiss faded, leaving her shivering once again. Inside, only a few feet away, were her favorite toasty jammies, a fireplace, and several electric blankets. She sat there, longing for home and the warmth it held, but none of that made her half as hot as a single touch from Talan.
She shouldn’t have let herself get caught up with him. She didn’t really know him, and clinging to him simply because he was from her home world wasn’t fair to him. For all she knew he had a pile of women ten feet deep back home, just waiting for his return.
The idea sent a shocking bolt of fury racing through her.
Zoe didn’t do jealousy. She never had. And yet the thought of other women touching him made the green-eyed monster within her sit up and howl. Her usual calm, cool logic was nowhere to be had, leaving her writhing in the unfamiliar emotion.
Talan appeared again, his circle of the house complete. She watched as he studied the front door ca
refully. After what seemed like forever, he slid a key into the lock. Zoe held her breath.
He was risking his life, and she was sitting out of harm’s reach, letting him do it.
Logically, she knew there was nothing she could do to help, and that if she were up there, she’d just be getting in the way. Logically, she knew that she had no experience with traps, explosives or other surprises the Raide might leave behind. Logically, she knew that two of them risking their lives was much worse than only one of them doing so.
Right now, for all she cared, logic could go fuck itself.
Talan went inside and shut the door behind him. Seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness. Even as cold as it was, the sweat of fear beaded up along her spine. She was shaking harder now, but it had nothing to do with the chill.
Lights flipped on through the house, and each one made her gasp in terror, worried it was the start of an explosion. Her heart was beating too hard, and her fingers ached from clenching the blankets so tightly.
Finally, when she could take no more, she got out of the truck and headed toward the house. Maybe she wouldn’t be of any use, but then again, maybe she would. She was smart. She understood technology in a way few people did. If Raide traps were some kind of tech, she had a better than average chance of disarming them.
She opened the front door and nearly bashed Talan in the face with it.
He glowered down at her. The scarred Imonite script on his skull veered downward, making him look even more formidable than usual.
“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
“I was coming to help.”
“You were coming to get yourself killed. I told you to stay in the truck.”
“And the day I start taking orders from you, I’ll apologize.”
His fingers encircled her biceps. He pulled her clear of the door and shut it, backing her up until she was pressed against the wood. His big body crowded hers, and while she was aware that he was trying to use his size to intimidate her, her body read it as something else entirely. She felt her muscles relax and soften. Her eyelids became heavy and her legs went weak. Her mouth watered for another taste of him. Her fingers itched to feel his bare skin slide under them.
“You don’t scare me,” she told him.
“No? Maybe I should try harder.”
The warm, familiar scents of home mingled with the darker fragrance of his skin. They slid into her, wrapping themselves around some primitive part of her brain that told her she was safe. The frenetic pounding of her heart slowed to a deeper, steadier beat. Blood pulsed through her veins, warming her more with every passing second.
“You didn’t find any signs that Krotian was here, did you?”
Talan shook his head. His gaze danced across her face, as if searching for something. “No footprints in the snow. No signs of entrance. No traps.”
Zoe licked her lips, and his pale green eyes zeroed in on the movement. He shifted closer to her—close enough for her to feel the hard planes of his body beneath the layers between them. Rough-edged pieces of metal and solid lumps of glass covered his chest, lining his vest. But none of them could distract her from the heat of the man beneath.
He reached past her and engaged the deadbolt. She was acutely aware of being locked inside with him, and the idea thrilled her down to her numb toes.
“I’m going to get you warm,” he told her. “Then feed you. After that…” He trailed off as if even he wasn’t sure what would happen next.
“After that... what?”
“We find balance.”
Zoe blinked in confusion. “Balance?”
“The key is in balance, remember?”
She did now. Reality circled back in all its unpleasantness, reminding her of their task. “Right. Balance.”
He stepped back, giving her the space to start thinking with her brain instead of her hormones.
“I’ll start a fire.”
He already had, but not the kind he meant. The flames he created were all flickering around inside of her, making her squirm with the need for more of him.
Zoe cleared her throat. “I’ll change into some clothes that fit, and see what food we have in the kitchen. What do you want to eat?”
He gave her a scorching look that went all the way up and down her body. Desire left a dark stain across his cheeks and tightened his mouth. “Something sweet.”
Talan turned away, leaving her alone to get her knees working properly. Finally, she found the strength to climb the stairs and throw on some warm clothes. She added his flannel shirt over the top of her sweater as an extra layer of protection against the cold. By the time she was done heating some frozen dinners in the microwave, a huge fire was blazing in the hearth.
She carried out a tray of food and hot tea. Talan had closed all of the blinds and curtains, going so far as to tuck a towel over the top of the front door to cover that window as well. The lights were all out except for a low-wattage lamp that was more decorative than functional.
Her house seemed so different with him inside of it. Smaller, more intimate. There was a strange mix of safety with a hint of danger left behind in his wake as he moved from window to window, checking for trouble.
The glow of the fire and the lamp cast bizarre shadows over familiar objects. Her father’s voracious appetite for books was evident in the walls of bowing shelving, stuffed two and three rows deep. Stacks of even more books sat tucked in corners or under tables. In the firelight, the remains of a gutted laptop she’d been working on seemed less messy and more artistic. The mosaic mural over the mantle—one she’d spent endless hours watching her father piece together in meticulous detail—seemed to glow, catching bits of light on the tips of wires and the edges of broken glass and mirror.
Talan saw her burden and hurried to help her with the tray. He took it from her hands, and she cleared a spot on the coffee table for it to sit.
“Is it safe here?” she asked.
“As safe as it will be until you’re home.” He eyed the food with eagerness. “We can’t stay here long. We will be hunted. I’ll eat fast and then see if anything here helps make more sense of the riddle.”
“Do you really think he’d hide something so precious here?”
He waited until she started eating before digging in. “Where else would he put it?”
“An interdimensional pocket? Or maybe he hid it in the future version of our home. He was always going on about the fluidity of time and space.”
Talan grunted. “If that’s the case, then we’re screwed. I can open a window and jump through space, but time is a different matter entirely. And I can’t even create a window the way the Raide can. I can only open one that already exists.”
“Dad said everything is possible if we work at it long enough.”
“We should assume that he wanted you to find the key, and because of that, would put it somewhere you could reach. If it’s not here, then maybe he left it in the repair shop somewhere.”
“It’s possible. But at this point, anything is, which leaves us where we started.”
True to his word, he ate fast, but sat while she finished her food before rising to his feet and holding out his hand. “Show me your home. Perhaps I’ll see something that will help us find balance.”
Zoe stared at his hand for a moment, marveling at the size and shape of it. Perfectly proportioned for strength, and dotted with scars from work or warfare, it drew her in and captured her complete attention. In an instant, she remembered just how it had felt to have that wide palm cupping her butt as he held her up against him. If she closed her eyes, she was sure she could summon the memory of how each strong finger had pressed into her skin, their length reaching close to where she wanted them, but not nearly close enough.
Those same fingers had stroked the back of her neck, easing away the chaotic tension of fear, and clamped tight against her skin to stem the flow of blood leaking from her.
And she knew, deep down on a level only wome
n had, if he ever got her naked, those fingers would give her the kind of pleasure that would etch itself in her memory forever.
Talan stood, his hand reaching out to her, waiting for her to accept or reject his offer. The look on his face was neutral, almost bored, but there were the faintest lines of tension around his mouth that gave him away. Like the liquid he’d asked her to drink, this was a test, but not for her. He was testing himself, and her decision to take his hand or not was the grade.
In the end, there was only one decision she could make. She couldn’t stand the idea of being all alone again. And if Talan wanted her hand—if that’s what was going to keep him at her side, protecting her from Krotian and his men—then she was going to give it to him.
The moment her skin met his, his fingers closed around hers and he tugged her to her feet. A satisfied smile warmed his face. “Where shall we start?” he asked.
A kiss worked for her. And then they could warm up to more, maybe she could even get her mouth on his skin and see if he tasted half as good as she remembered.
“Upstairs?” he asked, jarring her thoughts.
“What?”
“Do you want to start here or upstairs?”
Her brain finally kicked in, and she realized he was talking about the riddle. It wasn’t like her to be such a scatterbrain, but then again she didn’t usually have such big distractions wandering around either.
“Upstairs is fine.” The bedrooms were up there, and if she could show him those spaces without jumping his bones, then she was home free.
Talan led the way, his gaze searching for something as he went.
“What are you looking for?”
“Traps left by the Raide. I didn’t see any before, but it pays to be cautious.”
That thought was enough to scare her straight, driving away all those delightful thoughts of getting his big body sprawled out across her pretty red comforter.
She watched him move from one room to the next, touching things here and there. Her father’s room was sparsely decorated, with clean surfaces and absolutely no clutter. He’d never been able to sleep with any kind of stimulus around, and even the most mundane object could send his mind into a tailspin of ideas that would keep him awake for days. Besides plain white bedding and a stark glass lamp, the only thing in her father’s room was dust.
