by Erin Raegan
“So okay, I have questions.” I raised my brows and blew out a breath.
“I will do my best to answer them.”
“Chyn has been slowly going insane from this infection and had to take these supplements to counteract it?”
“Yes, he is the last of the original Latari. The others lost themselves to the madness.”
“And that’s the voices he hears?”
“Yes and no. The Juldo infection is a link. That is how I am linked to my Vivian—through the Juldo infection. I hear the voices as well.” He looked at me warily. “Chyn believes them to be his brethren who have joined the gods, and I have no other answer to the strange things I hear. It does not feel like a madness. More like a connection. He believed they die and join the gods, but I believe it is more grounded. They die, but part of them lives on in the Juldo infection. Chyn changed me in a way no other had done before—by taking me to Latari and the infection’s origin. He believes he brought me to the gods and they changed me to a true Shadow Born. But I know it was no sentient being, but the original strain of the infection still thriving on Latari that truly changed me.”
“This is all so hard to believe. So much of it sounds like a virus, but there are aspects of it that make it so much more powerful than a virus. Like, kind of mystical.”
He nodded. “It is very much more than a virus. The Dahk have a Pythe and Pythen, as you are aware. Destined or fated. Mystical.”
I blew out a harsh breath. “So he’s dying then? Is that it?”
Vyr shook his head. “He believes he’s losing himself to the madness. The original Latari perished after the madness took them, but the Shadow Born evolved. Their physical being can survive, but their mind twists. If that happens, Chyn will become destructive and lost as his brothers did. His power and ability cannot be allowed to roam free without control.”
“I don’t understand. Why are we going back to Latari then?”
Vyr looked me over carefully. “Chyn cannot look at his past and reconcile himself with the fact that his home species worshipped a sun and planet as sentient beings. He’s too old, too close and already far too gone in the madness. I believe deep down he can understand that they are not gods speaking to him, but also, I hear what he hears, and I have witnessed them speaking through him. I understand why he thinks they are gods.”
I sucked in a breath. “Yeah, that doesn’t explain the voices that so clearly come from him. Sometimes they’re low. But when he’s really worked up, it sounds like dozens are speaking all at once.”
Vyr shook his head. “I cannot understand, but Chyn is from the original line of Latari. So much of his original bloodline is lost and unknown. He does not share their secrets. They could be from the Juldo infection, but I believe it is far more likely those who speak through him are in fact Latari. Chyn believes they are his fallen brothers who have joined the gods. He recognizes them. And if the Latari are so tightly bound, perhaps they are in this way too—still lost to the Juldo madness, even in death.”
“That’s so sad,” I whispered, looking out the window. His entire species trapped in his mind. Their worst versions of themselves. “He’s been going through this on his own for hundreds of years?”
Vyr shook his head on a sad smile. “Thousands. Perhaps longer.”
We were silent for a while. Vyr took us to the castle, where I packed a bag for myself as Vyr hunted down all the supplements he could find for Chyn. Just him asking me to go with him had affected Chyn so much, he’d had to escape to Latari without getting anything. Vyr had to mist us there, and though I still balked at the idea of it, a sense of urgency was driving me. I knew we couldn’t waste the time to fly there. I just didn’t understand what had set Chyn off so quickly. He seemed fine the day before.
“Vyr? Why have you left Vivian to help Chyn?” I asked, packing the last outfit Chyn had apparently stashed away for me.
“He is my brother,” he replied. “I can be with my Vivian in a moment’s time. Our bond has grown so beautifully, I can feel her and our daughter no matter where I am. My brother needs me now, and I would never leave her unprotected.”
I nodded, turning to him warily. “I have two more questions.”
He nodded knowingly, a small smile on his face.
“You never did tell me why Chyn wanted to take me to Latari so badly, and I definitely have some concerns, considering I could get infected, though I’m starting to think it’s a little too late for that for me already and I guess that leads to my next question. How did you know Vivian would react to the infection like the Latari did and not like every other species that had ever been infected? She could have gotten sick or not reacted at all. But you knew it would link her to you.”
“I knew Vivian would react so positively because for the first time since the Latari, there is another species compatible with the original strain.”
“It wasn’t just that he took you there, was it? It was that you were human.”
Vyr nodded again, holding his hand out to me in question.
I took a deep breath. “One more thing.” I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could ask, “The infection on Latari? It was a drink that made them sick, wasn’t it?”
Vyr nodded. “A berry from the Juldo vine they used to ferment.”
“I thought so,” I replied tearfully.
I had nothing to worry about going to Latari. Chyn had already infected me.
17
London
Vyr held me up as I shook off the intense nausea. “It will get easier.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I looked around at the moon, amazed that it had an atmosphere. My breaths were a little heavier than normal, but it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t particularly notice anything moon-like.
Latari was exactly as Vyr had described it. Dirt and sand, not a tree in sight. But the little berries on the blackened vines covered everything. They weren’t edible, he had warned me unnecessarily. I had no intention of consuming something on this moon. Ever. It was a dark barren wasteland. Though I knew the sun would eventually rise, we would catch a look at the planet, Harmony, first. For now, we were facing the blackness of space, which meant the only light was from the fires Chyn had built when he arrived.
And he had been busy. On dozens of pyres burned the Juldo berry and its thick vines. We were at the top of a dirt hill and just below us was the ruins of a temple. I was wearing another one of Chyn’s silk outfits, this one in pale pink, but Vyr had given me one of Chyn’s long-sleeved cloaks to wear over top. He had said it was chilly on Latari, but he hadn’t said it was this chilly. I could have used something other than sandals, and maybe gloves and a hat. But Vyr was so distressed, I didn’t think my comfort was exactly a priority.
Vyr seemed like an okay guy, Vivian loved him after all. And he really cared for Chyn, like really cared.
“Stay here while I check on him.” He went to go, but I grabbed his arm.
“Wait, there aren’t, like, other things living here, right?”
Vyr grinned and shook his head. “This moon is barren save for the infection.”
I nodded jerkily.
“It will just take a moment.”
“Right okay, I’m fine.” Totally fine.
He nodded and disappeared. I shivered and squinted into the dark, cursing the cold and my own stupidity. What in the actual hell was I doing there? The guy had basically poisoned me and I was running to his side?
I jumped a foot in the air when Chyn appeared in front of me. He was solemn and still sweaty. He took my hand and touched my lips with his thumb, not saying anything, but I got his message. Deep breath. I did so and he smiled softly before taking me directly into the temple.
I weaved on my feet and Chyn walked me to a bench, helping me collapse on it while I put my head between my knees and breathed deeply. It took longer to relax after moving like that twice in a row, but I didn’t throw up.
Looking around the temple, I realized it was falling apart far more than I had
seen at the top of the hill. Half of the temple had completely crumbled away. Where we were sitting, dozens and dozens of little flickering bowls of flames lit the space, and a large fire in the center of the cavernous room cast a glow all along the crumbling walls, revealing hundreds of Juldo vines. Beneath them were carvings, some so faded they had nearly eroded away.
I walked to a wall that had a pile of torn vines on the floor. It looked as if it had been cleared recently. Half of the carvings were too faded to make out, but the other half were smeared in a dark red substance, darkening the images.
I stopped a few feet away, looking at the primitive carvings of a species gathered in a circle and holding onto a wavy snake that resembled the Juldo vines. It had a dramatic head with rows of sharp teeth on one end and a scattering of berries dangling from its body. At the head of the snake, a Latari female knelt, holding her hands in front of the snake as an offering. Behind her stood a male, his entire body circled in dozens of the Juldo vines. In the crowd, the males and females stood in pairs. The males had winding vines on their bodies and the females were clean and bare. Dark and light. They looked alien, but if I didn’t know better, I’d think we were standing in a temple on Earth, looking at ancient carvings of humans. Their faces held only small differences from us, same as their bodies.
Chyn’s hand ran down the carvings, smearing red juice deeper into the grooves. His thumb stopped on a pair of Latari at the bottom of the enormous carving. They stood below the crowd and held what looked like a small bundle. The male stood behind the woman, the bundle against her chest, both of their hands cradling it together. It was a baby.
“My family,” he rasped. I winced at the eerie voices layering his own. They sounded angry but Chyn’s face was stoic.
He’d told me just two nights ago he didn’t have a family, then said not for a long time. And thousands of years was definitely a long time, but for how carefully he circled the couple with his thumb, the feeling there hadn’t been lost.
I looked at him. “The baby, is that you?”
He nodded, stepping away. God, looking at him, I couldn’t believe he had lived that long. What he could do—the abilities he had were already so far out of my scope. Piling on the years and the life he must have experienced—it was overwhelming.
“Why are we here?” I asked.
Vyr stood off to the side, leaning against the wall, but his eyes were fastened on the carvings. He may have been human at one point, but I guessed these were his ancestors in a way now too.
“Vyr told you everything?”
I nodded tightly. “Yeah, you poisoned me.”
He reached for me and I stepped away.
“I needed to know.”
“Know what?” My face flushed and not from the fire. Anger was simmering in my stomach—and also a strange anticipation.
“If you truly were my pair.”
“And infecting me with that stuff was the only way?” I glared at the vines lying at my feet. What were they doing to my body? Was I changing inside? Vivian didn’t look any different than a normal human, no weird growths, but still. “Why not tell me?”
Chyn smirked tightly. “You wouldn’t have consumed it.”
I huffed. “No, no, I wouldn’t have. And now I know never to eat or drink a thing you give me.”
Chyn scowled. “It’s done now,” he said dismissively, walking toward a smoking bowl sitting on a fallen pillar.
“Is it?” I demanded. “Vyr told me all about that pair stuff. You think I’m your pair, is that it?”
He lifted the smoking bowl and walked to another wall, where he waved the smoke against the vines. Ignoring me.
“If I am, that means you need me. Right?” I grabbed his arm, trying to get him to face me. “You need me. Alive.” That was why he needed fifty freaking Juldo to guard me.
His face was cold as it roamed my face.
“All that crap about killing me the other night? Bullshit, all of it.”
“Was it?”
I swallowed loudly, my ears hot. Wasn’t it?
I wanted him to agree. I had even been expecting it. After the last two days at his side, it hurt much more than I would ever admit that he hadn’t. That I had somehow grown closer to him while he was still thinking about hurting me.
“If I’m your pair, I can save you, right? I can keep you from turning into an alien terminator.”
He turned away from me again and I sighed, blinking at my toes. I rubbed the skin around my bandage. His moods were so hard to keep up with. One minute an asshole, the next, an uber asshole, but sometimes, he could be almost sweet. Or sweet’s distant cousin. Like when that fish female bit me. Where did that guy go so fast? How can he turn it on and off like that?
“So what’s the plan?” I asked quietly. “You infected me with that stuff. Now what? Is your curiosity satisfied? Are you going to kill me after all that anyway?”
I didn’t know why, but all this time, even when I barely knew him, I had never been terribly afraid of him. Like, I hadn’t actually considered that he might kill me. Like I didn’t believe it. But his emotions yo-yoed and he was so dangerous. I barely knew him. We weren’t Vivian and Vyr. We shared no great love that made the idea of being his immune pair partner at all exciting.
I felt the opposite. I was almost averse to the idea. Or I at least felt like I should be.
I didn’t want to be stuck with him for god knew how long. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my possibly freakishly long life as his pair away from my home. Away from my dad. I didn’t want to spend every minute of every day wondering when this alien was going to kill me. How he was going to kill me. Would it be painful? Would it be quick? Would I know when it was coming or would he do it without any kind of sign for me to prepare?
I looked at Vyr helplessly. Why had he brought me here? He watched Chyn, frowning.
Chyn moved through the room, silently clearing the remaining walls of all the vines. By the time he was finished, the floor was a jungle and I was sitting against a wall, hugging my knees. Vyr was still watching, looking concerned but unwilling to interfere.
Vyr could bug off for all I cared. I was officially sick of his distant support to someone who hadn’t decided if he was going to kill an innocent for zero reason. I’d done nothing to Chyn. Maybe whoever or whatever in his head was telling him to kill me, and honestly if he was insane, I could accept that. But I wasn’t sold on this just being a madness. Chyn seemed too calculating for that.
Something else was going on. Something paranormal or mystical or whatever word you would use on an alien moon. What was paranormal to me wasn’t exactly paranormal here. Since learning about aliens and how many there were, and just what they were capable of, I wouldn’t assume anything ever again.
And Vyr may have good intentions or be loyal to Chyn, but I was completely sick of all these aliens dismissing what was happening with me. Not one of them had had the courage to stand up to Chyn and help me. Not one. It really killed my view of the Dahk.
That was a lie. Tohn had apparently tried. Or Chyn was just saying that to somehow play with me again. But the Dahk had done so much to help the human race, and they really had come through for us. But my heart was bruised since meeting their king. Since having so many of them turn their backs on me. I was just one human and I knew that wasn’t enough to get them to risk whatever they were afraid to risk for me.
But the girl who missed her home and her father? The girl who was afraid of dying before she got a real chance to live? Well, that girl was feeling very much alone.
My chest grew tight and I wiped my eyes in frustration. I’d done everything he’d asked. I’d behaved. It had gotten me nowhere.
Chyn suddenly stopped and stepped back, looking at his work. All three standing walls were uncovered and stained in the Juldo berries. The light flickered over the carvings as he walked to a dais in the center of the room. On top of the dais was another small platform with a depression in it that looked like a bowl.
Chyn walked to me and stopped, his boots nearly stepping on my bare toes. He held out his hand for me and I glared at it, hugging my knees and turning my face away.
“Come,” he growled.
I shook my head and he repeated himself. When I ignored his third repetition, he snatched my arm and dragged me to my feet.
“Stop.” I pulled and pulled my arm until the grip of his hand burned my skin, but he wouldn’t let go.
“London,” Vyr muttered in warning.
“What?” I snapped, fighting Chyn.
He looked at Chyn then back, shaking his head.
“I’m sick of this,” I shouted. “What’s going on?”
“You can’t fight it,” Vyr said somberly and looked at Chyn.
Chyn dragged me up the dais and made me kneel in front of the bowl. As he knelt on the side opposite me, I looked at Chyn’s face and saw what had Vyr so nervous. Chyn was sweating profusely. There was a strain on his eyes and his teeth were clenched so tightly, the veins in his neck and forehead were bulging. He looked on the brink of snapping.
But snapping on who?
I had a bad feeling it was me.
I trembled. Chyn took my hand and held it over the bowl, palm up.
“What are you doing?” I asked scared out of my mind, looking down into the bowl. It wasn’t a bowl at all. It was hollow, and the black hole in it went down and down. It was too dark to see if it ended.
“Do not be frightened,” Vyr said from just behind me and I jumped, startled. “It is a custom.”
“What is?” I watched with wide, frightened eyes as Chyn pulled a thin dagger from a sheath.
“The offering.”
“Vyr,” I breathed. “I get you’re trying to help, but could you please stop being so cryptic? Please?”
