“Did you find anything special in your room? Anything out of the ordinary?” I asked, ignoring his annoying comments.
He dug toward the bottom of his pockets until something caught his attention. Gradually, he pulled out a small photo and held it in front of him. “Adeline, what’s going on...?”
In the center was a photo of us. It was taken during a camping trip with friends, right before we started dating. We were so much younger, and our smiles seemed to suggest we had the world at our fingertips. “We need to find the front door,” I said.
But the color drained from his face. “I didn’t bring this picture with me, Adeline. Where the hell did you bring me?”
“Do you want to find the exit or not?” I asked.
“After you,” he insisted.
I pressed the button for the lobby and waited until the bell rang above our heads. I didn’t know what we’d find out there, but my deadly scientific curiosity took over. We stepped into the box, stood awkwardly side-by-side. The doors closed loudly, and we glided down. “What would you say if I told you I came in here knowing there wasn’t a real way out?” I asked.
Well, there was one way out. The stone tablet. Possibly. But now that Zane was here, I was sure I wouldn’t get the ending I’d imagined.
“I’d tell you it sounds like you want to get hurt,” he said.
My heart beat like a warning drum, but it only inspired more fantasies of self-destruction and symbolic submission. Inside every good man is a devil waiting to torment, but I had experienced the real deal. I couldn’t come back from what I had seen, felt, and experienced deep inside my core. To keep my sanity in check, I tried to focus on the routine again, but no words came to mind. I was lost, but in so many ways, I had been found and resurrected.
The elevator came to a stop, and I smiled to myself, relishing the idea of giving over to something bigger than myself. Nothing was real these days, but this place was. It glued the world together. And now that I had spent some time in it, I realized it was slowly gluing me together. I needed them to guide me in deeper.
When the elevator door opened, the hazy glow of the lobby appeared. I walked to the door and shook the handle. It was locked, but I knew what to do. Cadmar passed on the information through his touch. His memories were my memories.
I jammed the ancient key into the lock, and my heart sent tight jolts of excitement as I heard the loud metallic click. The door opened, and I could see the forest. A green light emanated from the dense center. It was a sparkling display of beauty. I had to know what it was.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked Zane dead in the eye. “Whether we like it or not. We all get hurt.”
3
Cadmar
I woke when I heard the bright and melancholy song of the siren. Someone had come through the entrance. I searched and found the human then did what I was accustomed to do. I scoured through every memory and feeling of experience, and I took as much as I needed from her soul. When I was done, I appeared back in the outside world, inside the small tent we had lived in for ages. The feeling of shifting through and against time unsettled me, but it happened quite often.
I stared at the bit of open sky, the rip in the center where she had come through. The portal had been opened. Our hunt had begun.
A shiver ran through me, followed by an ache and general longing. I’d had a different life before I had this one. Too fucking different. But this was a new day, and every modern sensation came rushing into me. Every human need, desire, and hope tore through me until incredible pain shook our tent.
I clenched my fist tightly, experiencing human suffering on the deepest level imaginable. I twisted my neck to try and wrest the visions away, but I wouldn’t be able to shut my eyes for another lifetime. She had entered our realm. She called for us, practically begging to be taken. And now, I couldn’t shake the rage of existence away.
We lived for no one. Once, we lived for everything. The sight of that woman made me go insane with lust. Her smell. Her fucking perfect body. The way she looked at my cock in silent wonder. I needed to consume her, had no other option.
She feared our very being, but her curiosity was too strong. She was right to have some fear. There were two sides to us. Good and evil, as the humans might have seen it. But morality didn’t mean as much to us. We were those lower beings’ gods. At least, here we fucking were. We balanced the tides of both light and dark.
The hunger I felt for her was enraging. It had been an eternity since I had any cunt to fuck. How I longed to experience it again.
I was awake. I could move. I could feel the power of my masculinity once more.
“The entrance,” I said, pointing at the sky.
Magnus’s large body darted up, and he let out an enraged roar. He was an actual warrior and loyal to the bone. Salivating, he grew rigid with unabashed hunger. “She’s here. I can smell her.”
My third, Donovan sniffed at the air, nostrils expanding to get in more. His eyes widened with satisfaction. “Cadmar. You have seen her?”
My cock throbbed. After playing with the pet, I found the darkest delights inside her. She had managed to subdue her worst desires for decades, but all of that would change. I had given her more than just a scar to wear forever. I’d shared memories with her. Not all of them, but enough to keep her wanting more. We’d connected.
Soon, she would beg and bow her head in submission to the forces that have guided her into this world. She would come to know our sex as the deepest fusing of the souls known to this universe and the next.
This transference could only occur through self-sacrifice. Pain. Domination. Her total and complete submission.
“I have spent some time with her, but I spared her pussy my rut,” I said.
“But you got a taste?” Donovan asked.
“That I did,” I said, leaving out the details.
My counterparts huffed and growled like beasts. Magnus stood and searched the tent for the opening. When he couldn’t find it, he ripped through the edge and breathed impatiently. “ I need her. Now.”
“She does not see us for what we are.” I remembered her fear.
“They never do,” Donovan put in. “We are but horrifying monsters to the outside world, but the women are always quick to share.”
“She will see us as we are once we claim her for good,” Magnus said.
“This one is different.” I was still half-lost in the pulling dream of her memories. “She worries me. Somebody followed her in here.”
“Impossible,” Magnus protested.
I followed the energy of their entrances as soon as I heard the call. I was taken to his room. But my eyes were blinded from sleep. My senses were dull, and the madness had yet to wash away. I knew at once I had to kill him, but he got away.
“Possible. Not probable,” Donovan muttered.
He laid his palm flat against the earth and closed his eyes. A bright light formed around him, pulling all three of us elsewhere. Again, I floated throughout and against the fabric of time, flowing through the tragic memory humans store within their fragile skulls. This time, it was easier to deal with, but it still stung. I saw the darkness of the forest below. I could smell the trees and feel the wind whip across my naked flesh.
Our bodies crashed against the earth, and I slid until I slammed into a number of trees. By the time I was done smashing through the forest, I had taken out at least four.
Donovan stood above me, laughing. “Still haven’t found your balance?”
I groaned and bent to stand. “I’m okay,” I grumbled.
Magnus walked toward one of the trees and started to climb. The tree rustled and swayed from side to side. He jumped out and fashioned a crude knife. “I get her next.”
“Calm down. We’ll all get her soon enough,” I said.
Donovan stooped and huddled close to the cold, damp soil. He dug his hand inside, fishing out a medium-sized sample of earth, worm, and bark. Placing it inside a small bowl, he spit into
the center and stirred with a small blunt instrument. A green glow appeared from the bowl and expanded, flowing to all corners of the night sky.
She’d follow the light, but so would he.
“What are you feeling?” Donovan asked.
“Can’t explain it,” I said, bowing my forehead toward my chest. “But it’s... unexpected.”
“Our intruder,” Magnus said, sharpening his blade with his teeth.
From here to eternity, her desires would be consumed and fulfilled. We would provide her with the loving trust she was so desperate to have. All of her confidence would come back with us, but she needed to accept our needs.
We needed to get to her before it was too late. “I saw him. I lived inside his memories for God knows how long. He is much worse than she thinks.”
Magnus slowly lowered the weapon. “You gave him a scar, too?”
“Accident,” I said.
Donovan laughed, but he still carried a worried expression. “You didn’t tell us any of this.”
I focused on the spot where he’d dug into the ground. “I...” It was so hard to speak. “I have failed the group.”
Magnus stuck the knife into the ground but merely shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t get in the way, we’ll all be fine.”
“His ego is massive,” I argued.
“But is his cock?” Magnus asked.
Donovan chuckled and wiped his hands clean of the green dust. “We can all have a little chat about philosophy before we slit his throat.”
But that wasn’t what I was getting at. I was the one who’d dived into his memories. I knew him from the inside out, but I couldn’t unpack his plans. He knew where to look. I had put her in danger.
“He knows about us. He’s been following her for some time,” I said.
Magnus took the blade back out of the ground and shoved it into a small leather sheath. To shut me up, he simply walked away. “No more discussion. He does not pose a threat to us. Mankind is pathetic. He cannot compete. If he tries anything, I’ll rip his fucking esophagus out.”
Fight against the fire. Become the fire. That was our way. But, sometimes, it was to our detriment to follow our most extreme urges.
Zane’s memories were scattered. The dreams he collected his identity from were worrisome. The memories buried at the very bottom were the most important, and I had found one that seemed to form the entirety of his being.
But I couldn’t get there. Not all the way, at least. Somehow, he had blocked me from entering. That told me all I needed to know.
Zane was taught to hide his energy, and he kept doing it. As an adult, he thrived on manipulation. When he wanted pleasure, he broke the bond of Adeline’s trust, the thing she seemed to value more than anything else. It was worth more than her scientific studies, but he broke it anyway, knowing full well it would shatter her.
He’d never loved her. He didn’t give a fuck about anyone.
Donovan cocked his head back to gaze at the night sky. “We must hurry,” he warned. “We all can take separate ground. Just in case he tries to fuck around.”
Something felt wrong. Very wrong. Zane was tricking her, but she didn’t know it. I had to do something. “Find her means nothing if we die,” I said.
“We cannot die. I’m sure of it,” Magnus growled.
Donovan sighed. “We can. But it’s not likely.”
We didn’t know a goddamn thing about this place. The only thing that couldn’t kill us was time.
“Heed my warning,” I said.
“I live to serve no one else’s rules but my own,” Magnus replied.
In an act of defiance, he held the blade into the air. A bolt of electricity came thundering down before cracking down onto his blade, enveloping him in bright white light. And then he was gone.
Dust clouded my vision, but I could see Donovan walking away. Even he didn’t believe me. “Wait!” I called out.
“You know what happens if we disobey our urges,” he said.
We turned into killers. We gave people the ultimate sleep. “We will lose if we don’t stay together!” I screamed.
But he was gone. They were both gone.
I turned in the direction of the gateway, knowing they were well on their way. “Adeline, be safe,” I whispered. “We’re coming for you.”
4
Adeline
We got about a mile into our trek before Zane stopped to rest. The forest air was cold against the fabric of my clothes, and I wasn’t in the mood to joke around. That shit-eating grin plastered on his face was starting to get on my nerves.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
He shrugged. “This coincidence we have found ourselves in is very weird, don’t you think?”
Groaning, I continued forward. I didn’t know where we were supposed to go. Out here, I had to rely on my gut. My goal here was to find that tablet, but there was something else I wanted to know more about. The beasts.
I needed to make contact with them again. The things he released from my own head left me floored. It awakened the animal inside of me. A warm rush flooded my thigh, spread throughout my pussy. Was it shameful to be turned on by an alien beast from another realm? I needed more answers.
“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s not a coincidence. You followed me here, dickhead,” I said.
Zane was being nice. Extra nice. The type of annoying-nice that only happened when a man was trying to get something. I wasn’t going to trust him right off the bat. I had come for my studies, but I also yearned for the escape from all that was familiar. His presence was unsettling.
“Whatever you want to say, babe. I know the truth.” Another tight chuckle came from the back of his throat, just hearty enough to repulse the heck out of me.
“Zane. Don’t.”
He ran ahead, spinning around to confront me. “You act like you hate me, but you really just miss me.”
“Zane.” We were coming up to something in the distance, and the sight immediately shocked me.
“Fine, fine. I get it. You haven’t had enough time. Well, babe. This is our time to bond and really knock away our horrible past,” he said.
“Zane!”
If I could focus on his words, I probably would have smacked him. He could admit to what he did with Madison, but he still wouldn’t accept the blame for what happened. Instead, he just kept walking tall with arrogance and smug satisfaction painted all over his face. He walked until his heels hit the massive and towering body of something horrible. He fell back, screaming as he collapsed into the dark figure.
“Oh. My. God...” I whispered, vocal cords tightening to let out a horrifying shriek. As soon as I registered what I was looking at, I marveled at the terrible sight.
It wasn’t a living being. At least, I didn’t think it was. The body was impaled on a large spike, guts exposed and swaying in the wind. His spine pierced his mouth. No, it wasn’t a beast at all. It was a corpse.
“What the fuck!” Zane yelled.
He had fallen into the grass below, and a bit of black and oozing blood landed in his freshly groomed hair. I wanted to laugh. I also wanted to cry. Never in my life had such a mix of emotions hit me at once. The beasts did this to that person. I knew they were dangerous, but that is what drew me to them in the first place.
As I faced the horrifying act of violence, I felt that savage longing again. I was wet again. Odd. But the desire burned, turning into an immediate necessity. This was the path to take. I needed him. Cadmar. The others I had yet to meet. Something inside me wanted to be freed, and that part of me wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Reluctantly, I offered Zane my hand. “Get up.”
I was closer to the body and took in its horrified expression. I recognized him almost instantly. “Dr. Wilson Jacobi.”
Zane was shaken up, but he was in one piece. The beasts were close. I could feel them beckoning. Their hunger was intense, and I could feel my scar start to burn. I was connected to them now.
Did that mean Zane was, too?
“You know this guy?” he cried out in horror.
A little gore every now and then no longer fazed me. My work put me in worse danger on a daily basis. People were terrified of other people or predatory animals, but I worked with poisonous plants, death-defining microbial bacteria, and I had nearly lost my life in my journeys through the Amazon rainforest because of my
research. This sight was nothing but a warning.
“Knew of him, yep,” I muttered while pulling out a pair of field gloves. I held my breath and turned my head as I reached into the center of his stomach. “He was one of the first men who came here. Disappeared without a trace.”
Zane retched and turned to face the other direction. “C’mon, Addie. This is disgusting.”
“Don’t like it? You can go home. I came here for a reason,” I said.
He spat once more onto the dirt below. The forest was unbearably dark and wild, but it also gave off the impression it was once a place of refuge. I wasn’t sure how time worked in this place, but he looked remarkably unchanged by the climate for however long he had been here. “He was one of the first people to take a team here,” I said. “He disappeared in March of 1991. He was never seen again.”
“That’s...”
“Impossible? Maybe.” I dug deeper and deeper until my arm was covered by his preserved insides. I arched my hand and felt the cold lining of his heart. Slowly, I clasped my hand around it. It was still beating.
Run, Adeline. Run for your fucking life.
But I didn’t run. I simply took a step back and tried to remain calm. I couldn’t let Zane see me falter. It would mean he won.
“His heart is still functioning,” I said. “My God...”
“Fuck this,” he said, darting toward a tree. “I’m walking. You can either follow me or get lost.”
Quickly, I took a sample and placed it in a small petri dish. If I ever made it out alive, I was going to want to test it.
With the sample in my possession, I caught up to Zane. I was still covered in the doctor’s body sludge, and I was sure Zane would quit talking about the past now that I had shown him my undesirable side.
Primal: A Dark Sci-Fi Reverse Harem Romance (Alpha Unknown Book 1) Page 4
