Journey to Ohmani (Across the Infinite Void Book 1)

by Ashley Grapes

  “Actually, I want to get into The Tunnel. You said you could help me?”

  She raised a brow. “Are you meeting someone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it a girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is she yours?” A hint of something defensive entered her voice.

  “She is not my girlfriend. I grew up with her back in California.” Well, he hadn’t lied. He just wasn’t completely forthcoming.

  Her radiant smile reappeared. “I will help you if you promise to dance with me,” she bartered.

  “Deal.”

  He walked and she glided to the entrance of the club. The bouncer looked at Levi with an eye of remembrance.

  “He’s with me, Bob,” she purred coyly, taking Levi’s hand in hers.

  The bouncer grunted them in. The club was in full dance mode already, with people thrusting and grinding in swarms. He now knew why Talon had indicated her mode of dress — even the bar was so congested that finding her would have taken a while. But she stood out like a blossoming rose amongst the grime, sitting at the bar in a fire-engine red blouse that scooped low on her back to reveal perfectly soft skin. Talon’s hair flowed gloriously down her back in soft ringlets. She looked absolutely stunning and he hadn’t even seen her face yet. Levi started to walk towards her like a bee to honey, forgetting he was still holding the hand of another woman. He only remembered the wild horse’s presence when she spoke.

  “Oh, you want to get me a drink first? How nice of you,” she said, squeezing his hand.

  Levi paused. “Err, yes. What would you like?” he asked, hoping she would wait for him on the dance floor.

  “I don’t know, let me ask the bartender what the specials are.” She pranced toward the bar with Levi in tow.

  Darn. They walked to the bar together and Levi touched Talon on the shoulder. She swung around and immediately focused her glance on his interlocked fingers.

  “Hi,” he yelled over the electronica. This was an awkward situation. Levi realized he didn’t even know the woman’s name and she didn’t know his, which was a little ridiculous since they were holding hands. He couldn’t very well introduce her as ‘Wild Horse.’

  “Hi, Levi,” she greeted awkwardly. “And…”

  “My name is Hanaudrin.” She let go of Levi’s hand to shake Talon’s. “Levi tells me you grew up with him in California. How is living on the ground as a Sydces?” she asked. “I’ve always wondered.”

  Talon shot Levi a worried look, confirming to him that Fletch had been right. Levi’s expression revealed he already knew her secret but that he wasn’t happy she had one.

  “It’s fine I guess. It takes a little adjusting but the humans are nice,” Talon answered, looking guilty.

  “Levi, I think I’m going to get a Rail. Jesnan, we’ll have two rails. Make it three,” Hanaudrin instructed the bartender.

  Jesnan picked up three bottles of liquor in each hand and started pouring into the glasses. She then grabbed six more and repeated the process. Just when Levi thought he was already drunk from watching, she did it one last time, followed by a splash of grenadine. What the hell was he about to drink? Hanaudrin took the glasses and handed one to Levi and one to Talon.

  “To great nights that lead to new beginnings,” she touted, raising her glass.

  Not wanting to be rude, Levi and Talon clinked their glasses and took a sip of the concoction. It tasted just as he suspected — like a medicine cabinet catching fire in his throat. Talon dry heaved, trying to keep it down.

  “Intense, isn’t it? Come on Levi, you promised you would dance with me.” Hanaudrin half-walked, half-danced to the edge of the rave, beckoning Levi over with her smoky eyes and swaying hips.

  Talon flashed Levi a surprised look over the top of her glass.

  “I will be right back, I promise,” Levi whisper-yelled in Talon’s ear. He had made a commitment, albeit one he would keep only reluctantly. He took a sip of liquid resolution and walked over to Hanaudrin.

  She grabbed the belt loops on his jeans and pulled him in close, settling her groin comfortably over Levi’s thigh. She moved like a sex-nymph, rolling her hips and undulating her upper body so her breasts brushed close to his face. She was a succubus come to life and Levi’s body was reacting even though his mind was completely aware of her enchantment. He looked over at Talon and saw her jaw nearly on the ground watching the show Hanaudrin was putting on. In fact, Levi realized, quite a few people were watching them. Just get through the end of this song.

  She snapped his head back and laced her fingers through his hair, gently scrapping his scalp with her nails. Her fingers moved down to outline the curve of his face, his lips. When she reached Levi’s neck her fingers paused to encircle his throat before moving on to rub the expanse of his chest. Lower and lower her hands moved…he wouldn’t be able to wait until the end of the song.

  “I want you,” she purred in a velvety exhale. “Can you feel it?”

  “Uhh…” Levi started to say.

  “What the hell, Hana?” A brooding voice boomed right next to them.

  Hanaudrin jumped off Levi like a frightened deer and then stood like one caught in the headlights. A light-skinned Viking of a man leaned possessively into their personal space. Levi stepped back willingly.

  “Sheffeal! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t getting back until next week,” she squeaked in surprise.

  They had a crowd now, who watched the drama unfold like a pack of hyenas. The colossal man looked at her in disbelief. “I am here now. Must I remind you that you are mine?” he growled, taking a meaningful step toward Levi. “Who are you? Do you dare take my girl to your bed, human?”

  What in the world had he gotten himself into, Levi thought? He really didn’t want to get kicked out of a club he had just figured out how to get into.

  “No, Sheffeal, I just met him!” Hanaudrin looked around desperately and fixed her eyes on Talon. “He’s with her.” She pointed.

  The boyfriend’s hackles relaxed slightly when he saw Talon watching Levi with a worried expression. Then he looked sternly at Hanaudrin and spoke in a baritone. “We are not waiting any longer, Hana. You will be mine tonight and forever or not at all. I will not have a wild horse who dances like that with strange men.”

  Her sex appeal melted away and for the first time Levi saw her for the everyday woman she really was. “I am sorry, Sheffeal. I guess I was scared. What if you leave me?”

  Sheffeal visibly puffed up, a look of haughty superiority on his face. He took Hanaudrin into his arms and lifted her chin. “You are mine, Hana. We will become forever linked when we lay together tonight and I will stay with you as long as you will have me.” He sealed his promise with a hard kiss. Then he grabbed her hand and led her out of the club.

  That was close. Levi walked back to the bar and sat in the empty seat next to Talon. “I wasn’t able to get in here because of Ohmani’s stupid grade point average rule. Hanaudrin offered to help me get in as long as I danced one song with her. I was not expecting…that.

  Talon frowned. “You know she wanted to sleep with you, right?”

  “Yes,” Levi regrettably admitted. “I shouldn’t have led her on but I was embarrassed to tell you the truth.”

  “You should have…then you wouldn’t have just been almost killed. You do not want to get between a Sydces couple. They are bonded in ways you cannot imagine when they make love. She was trying to…have fun with you before she made her commitment.”

  “Yes, I have heard all about the creepy virus sperm thanks to Fletch. I did not know she had a boyfriend. Besides, I don’t think you should be preaching about telling the truth, Tal.”

  Talon began wringing her hands in her lap. “I was asked not to tell you.”

  “What? By whom?”

  “My mom,” she uttered guiltily.

  “Does my mother know?”

  “No,” Talon professed.

  Levi was not happy that the Terry’s had
kept secrets from his family. “So you have been lying to us all these years? Why?”

  She took a deep breath. “As you know, our parents were best friends. I am not sure exactly why my mother wanted to keep it a secret from you all, but I do know that she wanted us to live among humans without anyone knowing we were Sydces. That’s partly the reason why we lived in Fort Bragg in the first place. No one there would ever know or find out with it being such a small town. My mom said I couldn’t tell you because the more people that knew, the harder it would be to keep it a secret. I wanted to tell you but I also wanted to respect my mother’s wishes. It was very hard being around you and lying every day.”

  Levi thought about what Talon had said. “I understand. But I do not like to hear that I was not trusted.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did not find out the truth until just recently either…right after high school started. My mom lied to me for years and I was her own daughter. The only reason she finally told me the truth was because I started to feel…different. I did what everybody else does when they want to find answers…take to the internet. She was rather forced to tell me. I was so mad at her, Vi…” Talon grew quiet and sad.

  Levi’s heart pulled for her. He could not imagine being in her shoes. “I am sorry, Tal.”

  “Me too.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t have anyone now.”

  “You have me.” He took her hand and held it tight. “You have Axella and Bockie. We all love you.”

  She grimaced. “No, I just can’t.” Talon shoved his hand and refused to make eye contact.

  Levi forced her chin up. “Talk to me, Tal.”

  “I can’t do it anymore. Not now, with everything changed. My whole life my mom told me to think of you as a brother and Axella as my aunt. She said we were going to be family forever.” A tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. “I hated it so much when she said things like that… it made me feel guilty about how I really feel about you.” She looked up at Levi with a worried glance and sat frozen, awaiting Levi’s reaction to her confession.

  He had never seen Talon look so vulnerable. She was staring deep into his eyes now, completely open for the first time. Levi did not feel her usual aloofness — he felt love. He sat just as frozen as she, his heart pumping feverishly with the news that she felt the same way about him that he felt about her.

  “I know you don’t feel the same but…”

  Levi interrupted her again, but this time with a kiss. He took her mouth with all the passion he had been bottling up over the years. She made a little sound in the back of her throat and leaned more into him, completely surrendering to her own feelings. They explored each other with ravenous tongues, swirling and savoring every feeling. Levi had imagined kissing her many times, but tonight Talon tasted better than he could have ever fantasized – like how a sunrise would taste rising over the ocean. Levi internally vowed he would never lose her, never lose this wonderful taste, and never take her for granted. When his body started reacting to her closeness and the passion building between them, he pulled away. They were standing now, and she was looking up at him with rosy lips, her breasts rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Wow,” she breathed softly.

  “I know,” Levi sighed back.

  “I had no idea you felt anything for me. You were always so…distant.”

  Levi laughed then. “I thought the same about you. I think you and I were sharing the same internal struggles. All I wanted to do last Thanksgiving was jump across the turkey and kiss you…and then our parents started saying blessings about family.”

  She laughed too. “I am worse. On Easter Sunday all I thought about during the sermon was making out with you.”

  “Oh yes, that was torture. Your hair was falling between our shoulders and it smelt like heaven itself.”

  Talon smiled at the compliment.

  Levi stepped toward her, taking a lock of her hair in his fingertips and holding it between them. “Your hair is one of your best qualities. On the water, you look like a soaring eagle with it flying behind you, your surfboard cutting into the waves like a pair of talons. I would recognize this hair anywhere.” He let his hand stroke down her hair and then gazed into her eyes, a more serious tone reflected in his voice. “I know I saw you on the plane and at the spaceport. What were you doing there? My mom hadn’t even been arrested for Jivine and Aunt Pila’s murders yet.”

  “I don’t know why my mom was murdered, but I know it has something to do with your mom…don’t interrupt me, Levi,” she quickly put Levi down after he opened his mouth to protest. “You have a bad habit of not letting people finish their sentences,” she accused flatly. “I will start from the beginning.” She took a deep breath and leaned in close to Levi. “My mom made frequent trips to Ohmani as the Supply Specialist for Stellar. When she came back from her last visit, I think she stopped by the house for a brief moment because her suitcase was sitting in the living room unpacked. I guess she went straight to the Stellar after that and that’s when…” her voice trailed off and she looked up to the ceiling trying to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. After taking a few deep breaths, she continued. “After I got back from the police station, I went home and looked through her room and suitcase. I didn’t find anything then, but when I was packing up her stuff, this fell out of a book she had brought back from Ohmani.” Talon took a piece of paper out of her jeans and held it out to Levi.

  “Oh my God. You’re mom wrote this? Utpal.” Where had Levi heard that name?

  “First off, let me say that I don’t think your mom is guilty of anything here, but there is either something she is not telling us, or she is in great danger. After seeing this note, I thought it was strange that Axella got a job on Ohmani a couple of weeks after what happened to my mom. At first, I just followed you guys to see if something would happen that could help lead me to my mom’s killer, or at least provide a clue. I thought maybe that bagger at the airport, or maybe even that bald guy on the plane but he turned out to be…” She stopped talking suddenly. “Are you and Kierra…?”

  “No. Not anymore, anyway. She wasn’t…you.” Just as he answered Talon’s unfinished question, his phone dinged. Speak of the devil.

  Where are you at? Came by to see you but no one is there.

  I am out. Bockie and my mom aren’t there?

  No one answered the door. Where are you? Can I come?

  Levi was no idiot. Kierra liked him…a lot. He would not lead her on.

  I’m with Talon at a dance club. Subtle, but Kierra was intelligent enough to get the hint. The silence indicated she did.

  Talon had seen Kierra’s name light up on his phone. “She likes you.”

  “I know.”

  “All the girls like you. They practically open their legs when you walk by.”

  Levi had never heard Talon talk like that. He had also never heard her sound the least bit jealous until now. He thought about all the girls he had dated casually in high school. He was ashamed to say it wasn’t the shortest list. He felt bad now that Talon had to witness all the hallway kisses and the holding hands — had to hear all the party stories. Talon had never dated anyone to Levi’s knowledge, but the thought was enough to make him jealous. He wanted to reassure her now. “All those other girls were just distractions. Talon, I have been wanting you and only you for years. Now that I have you I am never letting go.”

  She nodded, satisfied with his answer. “So,” she continued, “then that bomb went off at the spaceport, and your mom was arrested after that other manager was found dead. Levi,” she looked at him seriously, “if someone isn’t trying to set-up Axella, then they are trying to kill her.”

  Levi looked at her in horror. The idea had not crossed his mind. “Kill her?”

  “Think about it. My mom wasn’t even supposed to come in for that morning shift when she was murdered…but your mom was. What if someone meant to kill your mom and then they killed mine by m
istake. After all, your mom was the one opening…there was no reason for someone to be waiting for anyone else. Then the bomb went off at the spaceport. They say it was for Ambassador Wharran but your mom was there too. Maybe it was really meant for her. Then the manager was killed next door where you all stay in the hotel. What if they just got the rooms mixed up? Did any security cameras catch her going into Jivine’s room and assumed it was hers? I think we should tell your mom tonight.”

  Levi listened to her logic and grew increasingly paranoid. “Kierra just texted me that neither mom nor Bockie are at the apartment right now. They should both be there. What if something has happened to them?” Levi jumped from his chair and grabbed Talon’s hand. “We have to go.”

  9 the preliminary disaster

  Talon and Levi weaved their way through the maze of dancing bodies and ran out of the club. The corridors of the Underground were even more packed now with night-owls looking for a good time. They moved as fast as they could, dodging and ducking through the crowds in a jog-sprint back to the surface. Levi redialed Axella’s number for the fifth time and ran hard into someone.

  “Watch where you’re going human!” they yelled after him.

  He dialed Bockie and Axella’s phones over and over, getting nothing but ringtones and voicemails. Where were they? Worry ate away at Levi the entire way back to the hotel. The elevators were already up on another floor so he took the stairs three at a time up to the seventh floor. He had lost Talon on the stairway, but was so panicked he could not slow down. He burst into the apartment and found four men in his living room.

  “Who the hell are you? If you did anything to my mother I will kill every single one of you with my bare hands,” he threatened through gritted teeth. He was hot all over, ready to throw every single one of them over the balcony to their deaths without a second thought.

  “We are OSP...Ohmani State Police,” one of them announced, taking a daring step toward him.