“Hey, buddy.” Tor’s hand settled on my shoulder, and I recoiled. “Remember that time Captain Victorius went to the jungle on the dragon planet in search of the king demon?”
I wound my mind back to the comic I’d read. Pictures flashed in my mind as the entire collection played out. I honed in on the particular episode he referred to. “Yeah, I remember. He fought the spiders to save the dragoness last egg. The last hope of the dragon race.”
“That’s the one.” Tor smiled. “We’re doing that too, except we’re searching for a way to save the dying pumpkins.”
I blinked, recalling Knoxe’s brief. The mission to save him, Tor and Astra. “We’ve got to find the special pumpkin seeds, so the fae can replant them.”
“That’s it, buddy.” Tor clapped me on the shoulder and grinned. “Those pumpkin seeds will save our lives. You think you’ll be okay to find them with us?”
I glanced back at the forest. More eyes watched us. Animals twittered and trilled. Strange sounds I wasn’t familiar with. I push them aside to focus on saving my teammates.
I looked back at Tor and blinked again. “I think so.”
“That’s great, buddy.” Tor stood up and moved back to his seat on the other side of me. “You just hang in there. And let me know if you start to go downhill, okay.”
“Okay.” I nodded and returned my attention to the forest. The sounds of it played mysterious and enigmatic notes to me that I wanted to learn. I’d focus on them to keep the darkness away.
Knoxe came to kneel in front of me too. “Pascal. This isn’t a comic book.”
“Lay off, Knoxe,” Astra snapped. “He understands those concepts.”
“I know.”
They glared at each other, their eyes blazing, Astra’s dazzling with a blue fire.
Knoxe turned back to me. “Pascal, we can’t be brought back to life by some genetic experiment or resurrected by a necromancer. This is real life. One life. One death. I need you to be on your game. Got it?”
“I’m on my game.” I glanced at Astra, then at Tor and ended on Knoxe.
“Good. Because I need you.” Knoxe jammed his thumb down the inside of his belt. “I can’t have you lose your shit.”
Lose my shit. His words for a meltdown. Something I couldn’t control when things got out of hand and my anxiety overwhelmed me. Didn’t make me less of a warrior. It just made it hard for me to do my job.
A task made harder when I struggled with my transforming powers, growing stronger by the day, and becoming harder to hide from the warden and magick detectors in the prison. Nobody knew what I was going through. I’d told them a little, but not much, and I’d keep it that way. Then the warden couldn’t lock me up in maximum security, like the other three powerful prisoners, whose powers couldn’t be controlled by the prison’s magick dampeners.
“I won’t.” I straightened and glanced at Astra. I’d do everything I could to keep her alive. “I promise.”
Knoxe nodded at me, sharp and short. He thumped Tor on the shoulder as he climbed to stand and moved back to his seat. “Thanks, man.”
Astra sat beside me, holding my hand, rubbing it. Her touch didn’t bother me so much anymore, the more I got used to her. I was very selective about who could touch me and only allowed those I trusted to do so. Something I wouldn’t permit with Knoxe or Raze.
Each stroke of her finger encouraged the slow burning fire in my chest to twist and expand, setting off an uncontrollable fever. She made my heart beat faster, the tempo of my song to quicken and I felt more alive, full of more power. We had a connection the others didn’t.
I’d never kissed a woman before. Never felt comfortable enough. Having a woman in my space, wasn’t something I’d normally do. But every time I was with her, the urge to put my lips to hers grew, and I found myself thinking about the taste of her lips. I couldn’t stop wanting to be with her, near her, listening to her natural rhythm, which soothed me.
On the other side of her, Tor put a hand on her leg, and she smiled. That was how he showed her he liked her. I didn’t know how to show her I liked her, but I wanted to. So, I copied him, placing my right palm on her thigh. She straightened and looked at me. We’d never touched like this before. I didn’t know if I’d done it right.
“You like it?” I whispered. Her eyelids fluttered and her lips parted. I didn’t know what that meant, if I hurt her, if she didn’t like it. “Did I hurt you?”
Her bright blue eyes met mine. “No.” She was breathless like me.
I couldn’t breathe until she replied. “Good.”
She rested her hand on top of mine, using her fingers to separate mine, sliding hers between mine, linking our hands and squeezing, tight. I groaned as my dick came to life. This never happened with a woman before, and I didn’t know what to do, what normal guys did. My heartbeat shot up. So did my breathing. I wanted everything she was doing to me and more.
Desperate to know her reaction, I read her. By the heightened pitch of her rhythm she liked it. More than liked it. She wanted more. I squeezed her like Tor did, and she let out a soft moan. Knowing I caused this reaction to her set me on fire.
I couldn’t lose her. Not like I lost Jaz. She was the only thing that grounded me, that prevented me from going crazy from the changes in my body.
“It’s just over this pass,” Drezlyn informed Knoxe, from twenty feet ahead of me in the cave. They walk side by side, Knoxe with his headlamp activated.
I didn’t activate mine, preferring to absorb the gloomy landscape, getting inspiration for the comic books I’d started writing about intergalactic warriors, based on my team and I, ideas I’d jotted down in my notepad for off world missions.
Critters scratched and chittered in the dark. Water trickled down the stalactites, hitting me, and I wipe them away. Rock minerals and the dripping water gave off a soft luminescence that made our skin glow a pale blue. Earthy scents mixed with the water and fragrance of the tiny flowers sprouting from the moss and similar small plant life on the walls. Patterned vines curled around the jagged rock structures and climbed the walls reminding me of tiger snakes.
With each step, Drezlyn’s strength regrew, his hunched back straightened, and the bruises on his body faded. A fine layer of plant crept across the back of his neck and side of his face. His skin throbbed with a glow different to ours, as if he drew strength from the cave.
Looking more renewed, he jogged a few steps then stopped. “Eighth cavern on the right.” He held out a hand, gesturing at a cavity in the wall. The fae really wanted his freedom.
Knoxe glanced back at us with eyes that commanded an order to defend him in necessary. “Wait here.”
He entered with the fae and both returned a minute later with three leather pouches each. Judging by the size of the bags, I estimated their weight at about a pound each. A lot of pumpkin seeds.
“It’s all here.” Our leader turned to the fae. “You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain. You’re free to go as agreed.”
Drezlyn cradled three bags under one arm and pressed two crossed fists over his chest. “Thank you. I owe you my life.” He lowered his arms and grabbed the sacks. “I will see to it that Raenyn’s family are safe from the Rarknul.” He bowed and retreated.
We watched him leave in the opposite direction for a few moments.
“Hope Raenyn’s family like pumpkins,” Tor said with a grin. Another of his jokes I didn’t get. Of course, they’d like pumpkin; it was a staple in fae nutrition.
Knoxe lifted his three bags, one he cradled in the crook of his arm, the other he carried. “He only took one bag as insurance. The other two contained coins for him and the family. Payment for protecting them.”
“Fuck man.” Tor wiped his face. “Why didn’t you take some cash?”
“It wasn’t mine to take,” Knoxe replied, tossing Tor a bag and Raze another. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
Astra
Our wagon was missing when we emerged from the cavern, and A
ryan and four of his henchmen waited for us.
My whole body iced over. Flashbacks of the coffin Aryan had thrown me in assaulted my mind. Of the bastard sitting on it, looming over me, the wicked grin on his face, delighting in my torture.
My fingers dug into Tor’s. He wrapped an arm around me and pressed me tight to his side. But that didn’t make me feel safe. He’d failed to thwart them last time. We all had. The fae were too fast and strong and had disabled us in no time. I didn’t want to have to go through that again.
Pascal produced his weapons, and he stood close as if shielding me.
“You’re running out of time,” Aryan snarled. “Where is the prisoner?”
God. Typical cliché bad guy who always showed up before the agreed time to try and screw over the hero, just like they probably intended with us. How did they even know where we were? Dirtbag must have been following us.
Raze growled and stomped forward, but Knoxe held out an arm, stopping him. His body shook, and so did mine, terrified he’d transform in front of the team, or that the fae would hurt him. They were fast and strong. So were Lycans. But I didn’t know who’d win in a face off.
Pascal tensed. A hollow, tinny sound emitted from his tuning forks, but he hadn’t even struck them together to produce the noise. He rubbed them so hard his fingers whitened. His enhanced powers generated the sound.
A shudder rippled through the ground like an earthquake. My knees buckled, but I stayed on my feet. He was ready to unleash a powerful explosion of sound whenever Knoxe said the word.
The fae shuffled and muttered. Two of them glanced around nervously.
“The Goddess,” one cried.
“It’s not the fucking Goddess,” Aryan shouted.
Raze hunched lower, his attack stance.
Tor slipped his hand into mine. A stupid move if you asked the logical part of me, because he needed his hand to fight. But the emotional side of me needed his strength to breathe, to process, to function, when my mind was a nervous wreck.
Knoxe checked over his shoulder at Pascal before tossing a bag at the fae’s feet. “We couldn’t retrieve him.”
“What is this?” Aryan sneered down at it.
“The next best solution to your pumpkin problem,” Knoxe replied.
Something told me that Aryan wouldn’t accept the seeds. The fae was too impatient, too desperate, and needed an urgent solution, rather than wait another year for a fresh crop. That meant lost income and power. Things his superiors wouldn’t tolerate, and his life was likely on the line like ours.
A tick of Aryan’s head urged one of his bodyguards to lean down and collect the bag.
He opened it and examined the contents. “Seeds,” he reported to his superior.
Shadows bunched on Aryan’s face. “That wasn’t part of our agreement! We agreed on collection and delivery of Raenyn and retrieval of his antidote.”
“He’s dead.” Knoxe kept his cool, his voice level and firm. “You got the heirloom seeds he stole. You can regrow your crop next year. Problem solved. Have we got a deal?”
Aryan’s top lip curled. “I don’t make deals with dead men.”
Two-faced creep!
Knoxe took out a dagger with runes that were deadly to fae. He twisted it, letting it hit the dull glow of the forest, and it reflected a soft light. “It’s this or nothing.”
I yanked at my uniform. Make the smart choice, you stupid fae. His business operations could suffer or blossom. But I didn’t think he was the smart type. Just the stupid, greedy type who wanted things his way.
A strange noise came from Aryan. Something like a growl, hiss, and snarl all in one. Reminded me of a crocodile. His face reddened, brows sharp, eyes narrowing to murderous slits. This wasn’t a man used to bargaining. Ever. No one fucked him over in a deal either.
“Kill them and take the seeds,” Aryan snarled.
Knoxe gave the signal with a flick of his finger.
Pascal’s explosion made the ground thunder, ripple, and tear apart. The fae stumbled to their knees. Another sound had them clutching their ears and moaning. It didn’t affect my team because he had directed it at our enemies.
Aryan removed something from his pocket. A small, dark pouch.
I don’t think so.
He wasn’t going to get the upper hand like he did last time. My hands flew up, ready to dissolve it. But he was too fast and released a twinkling powder from the pouch into the air. It struck Knoxe, knocking him out.
Fuck.
The closest henchman rushed at him to snatch the bag.
Equations flickered in my vision as my mind sorted through the chemical components in the seeds and pouch. It landed on one, and I unleashed my magic. The bag melted and seeds trickled out. One after the other they dissolved, too.
“No.” Aryan scrambled over to the last handful of seeds, but his hand hit a carpet of moss on a rock. His hand shifted to grab three nearby.
“Yes, asshole.” I made more disappear. Dissolved them into their chemical elements until they reformed within a few hours. Tucked away for safe keeping.
Aryan glared up at us. “Give me the seeds or you die.”
The remaining two bags were strapped to Tor and Raze’s belts. Both of them charged forward to fight. But Tor was brought to a halt and clutched his neck. He fell to his knees and screamed.
A second later, the bug in my neck shifted under my skin. Splitting pain exploded through my neck and skull. I couldn’t see a thing past the blinding white in my vision. It hurt so bad my stomach rolled and threatened to lurch.
Laughter erupted. “Ahh. My bugs are working.” Aryan’s pleased and smug voice. “You’ll be dead soon. And then I’ll enjoy killing your friends.”
Vibrations pulsed through me, causing my muscles to twitch. The bug crawled under my skin and white-hot pain lanced down my neck. I crashed to my knees and gasped. My lungs couldn’t draw enough air. A pounding rose in my ear, my erratic heartbeat, my body futilely trying to fight the invader.
Tor cried out somewhere to my left. I groped for him but couldn’t find him. My panic scaled up.
Another frequency struck me, and the bug went wild. I fell to all fours, chest heaving, stomach retching from the pain. It scratched my skin, and I shrieked. Pascal tried to help but only made it worse.
Someone fell to the ground beside me. “Astra.” A firm hand on my neck.
“Pascal,” Raze barked.
Everything blurred. I gasped for air as my vision slowly cleared. Hazy shapes fought in front of me. A commotion surrounded me. Grunts, snapping branches, maybe bones, someone’s body thudding on the ground.
Oh God.
I tried to calm my madly tripping heart. Focus on my magic to force The Rarknul’s hand. To bargain for our lives. More equations flickered in my head. I found the one I needed and emitted it. Hot goo dribbled down my arm. My indication I’d melted another bag of seeds.
“Stop.” Aryan’s desperate voice rose above the disorder.
I paused, ready to destroy the rest and the fae after that. My breaths came short and sharp from the pain of the struggling bug in my neck. I didn’t care anymore. Didn’t trust this bastard wouldn’t trick us when he’d threatened to kill us already. Now it was my time to control things. He wasn’t going to dictate the fate of Tor, Knoxe or me.
Things cleared in my vision. Aryan crouched several feet away, holding the stringy remains of the second leather pouch, something I left as a token to show I meant business. With my magic, I could make them all dissolve. But that would seal our fate. No. It was time to negotiate.
“Remove the bugs from the back of our necks,” I spat, punctuating each word. “And you can have the last bag.”
“I don’t take orders from Guardians.” His flash of teeth promised retribution.
Good. So, did I. He’d already taken our casino winnings. Tortured us into a lousy deal. He wasn’t going to screw us over or betray us. I had to save us.
“I will kill you for this
, little girl.” I didn’t doubt his promise.
But I was no little girl. I would kill him before he tried. Wreck everything he’d built, burn his empire to the ground, destroy the Rarknul for good. I just had to convince Knoxe to take out the contract.
“You’ll get what you want when you destroy the bugs,” I croaked. “Otherwise I’ll do more than destroy your precious pumpkin seeds.”
He was an immortal. Strong. Fast. But I could break him down with one equation and never let him reform. But then I’d be a murderer. Punished with further imprisonment if the warden found out.
In the blink of an eye, he had me by the throat, lifting me into the air, choking me. Fear paralyzed me as an onslaught of flashbacks came on. My team went crazy, attacking him. Tor punched him in the jaw. Raze kicked him in the back, almost bringing him down. If it weren’t for the rest of the Rarknul yanking them back, throwing them aside, I might have been set free.
Panic surged in my veins, giving me the power to fight back. My eyes watered and bulged. I scratched him, kicked him with all my muscle, catching him in the gut. He just chuckled and squeezed harder. My throat burned, and I gasped for air. Fighting for my life, I lifted my knee and slammed in into Aryan’s balls. He grunted and hunched forward but didn’t let go.
Pascal threw out his magic and drove three Unseelie away, allowing my team to regain their footing. Tor cut off the arm of the fae that confronted him. Raze twisted the neck of the one that charged him, and the snap rung out loud and sharp. Pascal brought the rest to their knees, clutching the sides of their heads. Tor added his own powers driving them crazy with his illusions.
At my right, Knoxe stood, blinking and rubbing his head. He quickly caught what had happened and staggered to his feet. When he saw me, his eyes lit up with a dark fury. He yanked out his dagger and charged at Aryan, piercing him in the back. Aryan spurted blood and glanced down at the dagger that punctured the front of his chest. Teeth and lips bloodied, he dropped me, and I collapsed.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 39
