Heart of Stone

by Regine Abel

  “Hello little man,” I said. “Did you miss me?”

  “Yes!” Tommen said, nodding his head frantically. “Mommy says you have to go back to your planet. Is it true?”

  A strange mix of excitement and sorrow laced the boy’s voice.

  My throat tightened again as I nodded. “My people finally received our message. They are coming to take us home.”

  “But I was supposed to look after you when I was big!” Tommen said.

  “Tommen,” Lana said in a disapproving tone.

  “It’s okay, Lana,” I said, smiling at her before looking back at her son. “You’re right. And I was looking forward to it, too. You would have been the best protector I could have ever hoped for.”

  The boy puffed his chest and stared at me with the same adoration that always melted my heart—the same look my younger brother, Marek, used to give me. The longing to see my sibling again warred with the sorrow of parting with this adorable little boy.

  “But my family misses me, too,” I said softly. “And I miss my home.”

  “Yeah,” Tommen said with a sad face. “I guess I would also miss my family. Will I see you again?”

  I let my apologetic expression say it all. Tommen scrunched his little, freckled face and blinked multiple times to keep his tears away. My chest ached as I drew Tommen’s head into the crook of my neck and held him tightly, kissing the top of his head. Where Lana had been a mother and a sister to me, her boy had been both a little brother and a son.

  Spreading my wings, I flapped them hard, rising a few meters upward. Tommen gasped and lifted his head, looking around him in wonder. I smiled, happy to have chased away some of his sorrow. With a ceiling peak height over thirty meters, I had plenty of room to climb. Once we cleared the side walls, I circled a few times over the VIP booths on the balcony as well as my own private box. Tommen squealed with laughter, the joy in his voice the sweetest music to my ears. With much reluctance, I finally flew back down.

  “I’m gonna miss you, Uncle Alkor,” Tommen said after we landed. “You won’t forget me, right?”

  “Never. I have a lot of pictures of you so that I can count all your freckles when I have a hard time falling asleep,” I said with a wink.

  “Silly!” Tommen said, laughing. “You’ll never be able to count them all. You’ll get mixed up and then you’ll have to start over again. I know. I tried.”

  We all laughed, and I hugged him one last time, memorizing this instant.

  “Thanks for the flight, Uncle Alkor,” Tommen said.

  “I promised to give you one for your birthday. It just came a little early,” I said, ruffling Tommen’s mess of red hair.

  The boy smiled before going back to his mother.

  “You have everything you need?” Lana asked Brianna, falling back into the mother role.

  “Yes, Lana, we do,” Brianna said with a smile, although I could see emotion starting to get the best of her.

  I tapped some instructions into the perception filter on my wrist and then raised my arm so the wrist bracer would face Militza. I held it up for a few seconds. Without having to tell Lana’s sister anything, she slowly rotated before stopping once she had completed a full turn. I smiled at her, then approached Brianna. I removed the bracer from my arm and placed it on my woman’s, making sure to properly secure it on her wrist.

  “All right, love, activate it,” I said.

  She smiled nervously and tapped on the interface as I had taught her. The air shimmered around Brianna.

  “So cool!” Tommen exclaimed, looking at her wide-eyed.

  Glancing down at my woman, I smiled smugly to see her clothes now perfectly matched Militza’s. A swarm of freckles covered the backs of her hands, her skin the same creamy white as hers.

  Yeah, cool, but especially freaky for my woman to now look like Lana’s sister.

  Brianna walked up to the bar to examine her reflection in the mirrored wall behind the counter. She kept glancing back and forth between her reflection and Militza, a mesmerized expression on her face. Even though I’d been certain it would work, I felt extremely relieved that we’d be able to add new disguise options to the perception filter almost on the fly.

  “Looking good,” Militza said with a wink.

  Brianna chuckled. “Indeed. I’m super-hot.”

  Militza laughed but then quickly sobered. “Good luck to both of you, and take good care of lumpy head for us,” she said, indicating me with a gesture of her head.

  “I heard that,” I mumbled.

  She made a face at me before pulling me into a brotherly hug. Tears pricked my eyes again. I sucked at goodbyes. I wasn’t as close to Militza as I to with her sister, but she was part of my adopted human family. She had a good heart and, like Lana, always had my best interest at heart.

  Militza released me just as Lana turned her motherly gaze towards Brianna. That seemed to break whatever remained of her resistance. My woman sniffled as a couple of tears trickled their way down her cheeks. Lana pulled Brianna into her arms and held her tightly. She didn’t speak, only stroked my woman’s hair a few times, and then kissed her cheek. Cupping Brianna’s face in her hands, she held her gaze for a moment, letting her eyes speak for her. Lana then caressed Brianna’s cheek before letting go of her. The moving tableau made my throat tighten.

  Brianna wiped her tears with the back of her hand and then hugged herself as Lana turned toward me. I’d never felt so vulnerable than in that instant. Lana looked incredibly fragile as I wrapped my arms around her. She rose to the tip of her toes to kiss my cheek and then buried her face in the crook of my neck. We held on to each other in silence for a moment. She shivered, and I closed my wings around her, giving her my warmth, my strength, and all the depth of affection that burned in my heart for her. Sorrow clawed at my heart as I kissed the top of her head. I wished she would come with us as well, but she had her own family here and wanted a normal, human life for her son.

  After I released her, Lana took a step back and then cupped my face in her hands as she had done with Brianna. She studied my features as if to memorize them, then dropped her arms after one last caress.

  “Go on, then. You don’t want to miss the train,” Lana said, pulling her son to her side for comfort. “Do not take unnecessary risks, but if you have any safe way of letting us know you made it, we’d be grateful.”

  “Will do,” I said, unable to hide some of the trembling in my voice. “Goodbye, and thank you for everything.”

  With a final nod, I retracted my wings, picked up my gear bag, and then activated the camouflage on my armor.

  12

  Brianna

  After Alkor vanished from view, I accepted from Militza the bag she had brought with her. It contained some clothes, essential toiletries, tons of money, and two smartphones.

  I headed out with a heavy heart. Walking out of the club first, I stood outside with Lana holding the door wide open. While we inconspicuously exchanged our last goodbyes, Alkor stealthed out of the building.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered.

  Lana didn’t hear it, but I heard him loud and clear. Since we’d bonded, my heightened senses had not lessened. The toughest part turned out to be pretending that I was walking on my own towards Place Ville-Marie. I had a vague idea of Alkor’s current location and, seeing the throng of people hurrying along the sidewalk on their way to work, I didn’t know how he would manage to navigate through them without knocking someone over, or them bumping into him.

  Part of me wished he would have flown instead, but with so many high rises in that area, he would have been forced to fly too high up, not to mention it would make him move too fast compared to me. Nevertheless, Alkor being invisible held another upside. While I casually strolled through the shopping area of Place Ville-Marie on my way to the connecting corridor into Central Station, he looked around for potential enemies tailing me. As soon as we went down the escalator connecting to this new section of the underground city, I stopped
at the bakery and bought a small box of pastries, including a chocolate éclair with custard—I was a sucker for those.

  As per our plan, we were well in advance, so I lingered a little, browsing the displays of a few shops along the way to the train station. Satisfied that we were not being trailed, I proceeded to buy two tickets to Toronto and made my way to the boarding gate. We still had thirty minutes to kill. I sat on one of the benches, pretending to read on my phone. Technically, I could have, but the words blurred in front of me, my back hurting from too much tension.

  “Relax, love. All his well,” Alkor texted me from his phone.

  I smiled, my heart warming toward my man who had sensed I needed the reassurance.

  After what felt like an eternity, the train finally arrived. I boarded, praying that Alkor could follow without too much difficulty. But with all the other people pressing behind me to get on as well, I suspected he would wait until almost everyone was on board to get in.

  I made my way to our cabin, my hands still shaking and my heart pounding. Until the train had taken off, and I sat on Alkor’s lap, sheltered in the safety of his wings around me, I wouldn’t be able to relax. In the meantime, I drew the curtains for privacy from the platform. It seemed time drew on forever before I heard a soft knock on my door. I jumped to my feet and raced to open it. No one stood outside, but a hand gently caressing my breast made me jump back with a small yelp of surprise.

  Get out of the way, idiot! How is he going to get in?

  Feeling embarrassed for my stupidity, I moved back and felt him brush past me. Casting a quick glance into the hallway to make sure there’d been no witness, I closed and then locked the door to our cabin. I never got a chance to turn around before Alkor’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me into his embrace. His hands and mouth were everywhere. There was something insanely exciting and naughty about invisible hands touching me in intimate places.

  There wasn’t that much space to move around, but that didn’t faze Alkor. My clothes flew off me at dizzying speed. The reasonable part of me thought we should wait until the train had taken off, but the impulsive part of me—the dominant one—couldn’t wait any longer. Alkor all but dropped me on one of the two padded chairs before drawing me to the edge.

  Grabbing my ankles, he placed them over his invisible shoulders. Seconds later the rough wetness of his tongue went to work on my core, lapping at me, sucking my clit, his fingers diving inside of me until he had me chanting his name. Not knowing how soundproof the cabins were, I struggled to keep my voice as low as possible. I wasn’t a screamer—well, I didn’t use to be—but Alkor had a way of making me explode with serious vocalization. Right before I toppled over the edge, Alkor pulled away from me.

  “No!” I cried out, feeling cheated. I’d been so close!

  “On your knees,” Alkor’s disembodied voice growled.

  That resonated straight to my pussy, which throbbed with anticipation. I loved when he acted dominant. Impatient, he all but flipped me around when I apparently took too long for his liking. I no sooner got on my knees than I felt his cock press against my opening. Holding on to the backrest for support, I squealed when his hands lifted up my thighs, and he rammed himself home. With my knees no longer touching the couch, I held on for dear life while he pounded into me.

  As pleasure washed down over me, I feared my trembling arms would give way, and I’d face plant on the cushion of the chair and end up smothered to death by orgasm—not that I would have cared at the moment. But my grip never faltered, hanging on with a strength I didn’t recall ever possessing. With a muffled growl, Alkor released his seed inside me. The slight burning sensation followed by the familiar tingling of his dassa sent me over the edge.

  But Alkor didn’t stop.

  Balling me up in his arms, my back to his chest, he held me up and continued to pump in and out of me until we both climaxed again. Turning around, he settled down in the chair, his cock still buried deep inside me. Boneless, sprawled over him, I reveled in his proximity as he disabled his suit’s camouflage.

  “You will kill me,” I whispered, my voice rendered huskier by our little romp.

  “Only with pleasure, my Hondassa. Only with pleasure.”

  The trip to Toronto took well over five hours. Alkor used that time to recharge both the camouflage on his suit and the perception filter. In the meantime, I worked a little bit on the plans for The Darkest Hour. So far, things looked good with no signs of us being tailed. After much back and forth, we agreed that I would walk around in my normal appearance—except for a wig conveniently provided by Militza—and he would wear the perception filter.

  As I finished packing our stuff, I turned around to find a tall, blond man, with piercing blue eyes, leaning against the door of the cabin, a seductive smile on his lips. He could have been the result of Bratt Pitt and Kevin Costner having a baby.

  “Hello, pretty lady. I’m looking for a date. Interested? I shower daily, I eat with my mouth closed, and I put down the seat of the toilet,” the man said.

  I chuckled and gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. “Stop dicking around, you fool! Grab your bag and let’s get going! I want to stretch my legs a little, and we need to find a place to spend the night.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Alkor said with a mock curtsey.

  No one gave us any problems as we disembarked the train and mingled with the crowd hurrying to their different destinations. Ever the gentleman, Alkor carried both our bags as we looked for a motel to hang our hat in for the night. We found a nice one, not too far from the station since we wanted to take the first train out in the morning.

  With much reluctance, Alkor agreed to leave our valuables in the room’s safe. However, he wore his armor and perception filter, and insisted I bring all of our money in my purse. For his part, he carried the small dampening box containing the sigil in a fanny pack. I couldn’t blame him for being overly cautious, but a fanny pack? At least, it was a stylish one made of black leather. With the dark clothes generated by the perception filter, it didn’t stand out too much.

  We found a nice dim sum place a ten-minute walk from the motel. Thankfully, it wasn’t too busy, but just enough to let us know the food would be decent. We settled into a booth in the quietest corner of the restaurant. The dimmed light provided additional privacy and would help hide any potential glitches with Alkor’s disguise while he ate.

  I ordered far too many variations of dumplings—especially soup dumplings—pot stickers, and fried shrimp balls. Alkor had a thing for the BBQ pork buns. It turned out to be a pleasant evening, the waiters efficient, but non-intrusive.

  “Tell me about Duras and your family,” I said while showing off my skills with chopsticks as I dipped a potsticker in soy sauce.

  It amused Alkor who stuck with the good old fork and knife.

  “I have three khers, or siblings as you say—one sister and two brothers,” Alkor said, his face taking on a faraway look. “Like our parents, we’re all of the warrior breed and therefore all joined the army. The Drayvus are part of a long line of warriors.”

  “Were you all obligated or expected to join the army?” I asked between two mouthfuls.

  “No,” Alkor said, shaking his head. “We could have chosen a different career path. That would have raised eyebrows, but no one would have given us a hard time about it. It runs in our blood.” He smiled fondly as he seemed to reminisce about a specific incident or incidents. “My parents ran our home with military precision and discipline. That we chose to follow that path was somewhat inevitable.”

  “But it was a happy childhood, right?” I asked carefully.

  It suddenly struck me that I really didn’t know much about his world, his people, and how welcome or not I would be in their midst. His broadening smile lessened my rising anxiety.

  “It was a very happy childhood. My parents are wonderful. They are strict and swift to discipline, but their love for us is undeniable. My dam is not very good at expressing her feelin
gs. But my sire is quite the funny one. It is common practice for parents to drop their offspring off a cliff when it’s time for them to learn how to fly.”

  My eyes bulged, and I froze mid-chew while waiting for the rest.

  “As the firstborn, I was terrified when my turn came. Marek, the second born, was bearing witness to my first flight attempt. He was still too young to fly, but curious as ever, he always shadowed me wherever I went.” Alkor smiled fondly thinking of his brother. “I used to call him bansial, which would translate loosely as sticky or glue.”

  I chuckled and resumed chewing as I tried to picture a tiny version of Alkor and an almost twin-looking even smaller version tailing him relentlessly.

  “I didn’t want him to see me make a spectacle of myself,” Alkor said, sobering. “Marek thought of me as his hero. He believed his big brother to be the strongest young Khargal in all of Duras. He swore he’d grow up to be just like me.”

  Alkor swallowed hard, a wave of emotion overwhelming him. I placed my hand over his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “You miss him,” I said softly.

  He flipped his hand around to hold mine and also gave it a squeeze before his thumb caressed my knuckles.

  “Yes,” he said with a nod. “We were extremely close. My little bansial. When I hesitated too long to jump—just eleven seconds after she told me to do so—Mother shoved me off the ledge with the sole of her foot.”

  I choked on the sip of tea I’d been taking. Putting the cup down, I freed my right hand from his grasp and pressed a napkin to my lips with both hands while coughing my lungs out. Alkor’s initially worried look turned to amusement once reassured that I was fine.

  “She did what?” I croaked between two coughs.

  Alkor chuckled. “She kicked me off the ledge. It is common practice,” he added with a shrug at my outraged expression. “But don’t worry, she and Father both jumped after me so they could catch me if I seemed in danger of embarrassing myself and failed to fly. Believe me, Hondassa, when the ground comes at you at dizzying speed, you spread your wings, and you flap the grack out of them.”