“What’s wrong with him?” Gabe demanded of his twin who was by his side.
“Someone find Sara,” Rylan called out while he helped Gabe pick Colun up and carry him to his room. “You probably don’t remember when you tried to pass out on me, but you had a link to Taya and Zuhun was using her as an energy bar.”
“I know it happened, but the details aren’t clear.”
“I’m glad it’s one less thing you have to carry around in that big memory of yours. I think something like that happened to Colun.”
“Victor and Cal have the female. They’re bringing her up here; she was passed out a couple of hundred yards away from the B&B,” Joaquin told them. He had walked silently into the room wanting to make sure Colun was okay. Not that Colun meant anything to him. He moved away from that direction of thought before anyone could pick up on it. He stayed at the B&B because it was convenient but maybe it was becoming too convenient.
Victor walked in with Sara curled up in his arms. Gabe looked at her and became aware of how painfully thin she was. He eyed Colun lying on the couch and tried to wonder how that would work.
“It’s not up to us to pick someone’s soul-bond,” Victor said softly almost in reprimand. “Bring him to the bedroom.”
Gabe nodded, bent over and picked Colun up. Again he was reminded that Colun was a fully mature Arbrin/Matra. When it was just the small group he lived with almost on a daily basis, he had a tendency to forget that he had centuries to live before he would reach the status of full grown. His body would mature more, while he gained an incredible amount of knowledge and power he couldn’t fathom at the moment. Not just him but all of them.
Gabe laid Colun on the bed next to Sara and realized that if he had been lonely and wanting to end it, then what Colun felt must be worse.
“Does anyone know what happened?” Gabe looked around the room looking for answers. When he helped Taya, he was still conscious, barely, but his brother helped him. Colun hadn’t stayed conscious long enough for anyone to help him.
“I have a theory,” Joaquin said. It was more like a fact, but he wouldn’t be cluing them into that.
“Go ahead,” Victor said.
“The female…”
“Her name is Sara,” Gabe interrupted. He had a feeling Joaquin was trying to distance himself from what was happening. He couldn’t let him do that.
“Sara,” Joaquin said with a defeated sigh. He was about to give up secrets he held onto for a lifetime. Hopefully, they were too interested in what was going on to pay attention to what he told them.
“There’s a new Sudir in town. I can see his signature wrapped around Sara. I bet she was close to the barrier but smart enough not to cross it.”
Selma reinforced all their barriers, and she took all the females to help her. She never told him what she did, but she said no unsuspecting female would cross it without being aware. From the looks of Sara, he would say Selma was correct.
Victor look at Joaquin but didn’t interrupt him. After this was all over he’d have a long talk with him about what he did and didn’t know.
“Whoever the new Sudir is, he’s the persistent sort; he went after her despite the barrier. She needed power and lots of it to defeat him. Somehow, and I’m grasping at straws here, she pulled Colun’s power. Colun has more power than all of us put together; it saved her and now it’s killing her.” Joaquin stepped back into the shadows; he’d done what he could, now it was up to the rest of them.
“What do we do?” Gabe asked, and every eye turned to Victor. He was their leader; Victor would have taken the throne with Cal as his advisor.
“We send them to the trials.” His voice was decisive. It was the feminine gasp that came from the doorway that had the others in the room turning. Victor knew she was there, could feel her no matter where she was. They often forgot Victor was older than all of them including his baby brother, Cal.
“Selma,” he invited her into the room.
“We didn’t ask her if she wanted this. She has no idea who or what Colun is.”
“If I wait for her to wake up we will attend two funerals. Look at Colun; he’s dying, and Sara is so close to death that I fear she won’t make it to the trials. Would she want to die or to have a chance to live?”
Selma thought back to the woman she followed in the parking lot. Her bravery when she faced a house she didn’t know was sentient. How she straightened her shoulders and marched out her front door even as her house tried to force her back inside. The fact that she reached for Colun’s power instead of meeting death meekly.
“She would want to live.”
“I agree, now all we need is an escort.”
Selma cut an eye at Victor wondering what he was talking about. “An escort?”
“Normally both participants are conscious or close to conscious but in this case they’re not. They need an escort to bring them together and help them find the door to the trials.
“I’ll do it,” Gabe volunteered.
Victor shook his head no and waited. Finally, Joaquin stepped out of the shadows.
“An escort that isn’t soul-bonded is preferred in cases like this. You’re soul-bond with Taya would confuse matters. I’m free and single; it will make things easier.”
Victor nodded again.
“How can you do this? You’re not Arbrin/Matra.”
Joaquin smiled, but there was no joy in it. “You’d be surprised at what I can do.”
He went and lay on the floor at the bottom of the bed and closed his eyes.
Chapter Eight
Colun hated that he was stuck in his head. He sat up feeling rather fuzzy and wondering what was happening. The last thing he remembered he’d been about to descend the stairs to the floor Sara was on to knock on her door. He never made it down the stairs. His power had been touched, hijacked for lack of a better word. He could have fought it and killed the attacker, but the softness of the action felt like Sara. He didn’t want to hurt her.
Sara was such a contrast, and he wanted time to get to know the real her. She was soft and gentle, then strong with a million sharp edges with do not disturb signs all over her heart. He wanted to burn every sign and take up residence inside of her. He grasped at the ends of his hair and pulled. It was a coping mechanism he developed centuries ago to slow him down, keep him calm, but it wasn’t working when he thought of Sara. He stood up, needed a way out in order to find her, help her. His power was too much for her to handle; if no one got to her in time she would die and he might die with her.
He ran into a clear wall.
“Damn,” the power Sara lifted from him was blocking his way. Which meant it was still dwelling in her, probably driving her crazy by now, if she was still alive.
He placed his hands on the wall and started carefully running along it looking for a weak spot or a place where the barrier hadn’t fully formed. It took him hours and he found nothing. Time liked to play mind games. Minutes felt like hours, hours felt like minutes, and days felt like years. He had no real basis of time, so he hoped for the best.
“You need some help, old timer?”
Colun couldn’t see him, but he would recognize Joaquin’s voice anywhere. He opened his mouth to call Joaquin what he was; then he bit the words back. Telling him what he was before he was ready to deal with it wouldn’t help either of them.
“I could get out on my own, but I’d like to see what you have.” He hoped his words riled Joaquin up a little. He was drifting through life, but that had to stop before his demons caught up with him.
“Of course you can, old timer. Stand back and let the master work.”
Well at least the boy had faith in himself, he was going to need it pretty soon. Colun stood back as Joaquin punched a hole in the barrier with such precision that it was impressive. He climbed out and looked at Joaquin whose natural form was showing, but they both acted like they didn’t see it.
“I have to get to Sara. She took my power but it’s way too deadly
for her to handle.”
“She’s dying.”
The hand gripping his heart squeezed. Not his Sara, please, he begged hoping someone would hear him and help.
“We have to help her.”
“She means something to you?”
He didn’t want to have this conversation after centuries of being alone, especially not with Joaquin who saw way too much. Sara was the only female he ever met who interested both his Arbrin and his Matra. If she died, he might be alone for the rest of his naturally long life.
“Yes, she means something to me. I know it’s only been a day. I know I should rethink what I’m saying, but she attracts me like never before, and I can’t let her die.”
Joaquin looked at him, those eyes stared at him, shifting through Colun’s word deciphering the truth.
“You want her to live even if she doesn’t choose you?”
Colun shivered the ability to see the truth in words was a rare gift that Joaquin was blessed with, although he was willing to bet the young male felt like it was more of a curse.
“Yes.”
“Victor is sending the two of you to the trials.”
“What! He can’t do that; she doesn’t know who I am.”
“She’ll also die if we wait for her to wake up and tell her.”
Colun knew he was right, but this wasn’t how he wanted to go to the trials. He pictured going with a female so in love with him that there would be no chance of them failing. Sara wasn’t in love with him, in lust, yeah, but not in love. In fact, the last time he had seen her she was so prickly and standoffish he almost didn’t give her that peck, but he couldn’t resist. He needed to touch her.
“Then I should find Sara and take her to the trial.”
“Not without me. You both need a guide.” Joaquin executed a proper bow like he was a gentleman. “I think I’ll stick around. Gabe wanted to do this; he was upset when he couldn’t come. If you prefer…”
Colun looked at Joaquin, his show of nonchalance didn’t fool him. He wasn’t going anywhere, and Colun was thankful he was sticking around.
“Let’s go find Sara, adidra,” Joaquin stiffened at the term then ignored it like Colun never said a word. Together they walked through the blackness that made up the void in his mind.
Colun stopped to look around; there was something important in this room. Something he should recognize and grab a hold of but he couldn’t move past the fuzz in his brain.
“There are things you won’t remember. You’re too old, Colun; you know too much. The trials have already begun to even the playing field.
Colun knew he was right, but his chances of passing this trial were becoming thin. If the trials rejected him, all he would have to look forward to was loneliness.
“Let’s find Sara.”
*~*~*~*
Sara cracked an eye open wondering where she was. She was lying on a glass table or at least it looked like glass when she looked down at it. The table reminded her of the scene in sleeping beauty, the old cartoon movie where the prince came and kissed her awake. She took a good look around. Of course she wouldn’t get a prince, even in her dream. She sat up and swung her legs off the table. She didn’t try to stand yet because her body was shaky. Right about now she wished she had made it to dinner. Selma was probably a wonderful cook. Thoughts of food aside, she needed to figure out where she was.
With caution, she slipped off the table and used the side of it to lean onto until her knees stopped shaking. Good girl, Sara, you can do it. When in doubt give yourself a pep talk.
The last thing she remembered was stumbling her way back to the B&B with a cloak of power that was trying to kill her. She could still feel that power humming through her veins. It was Colun’s power; she would have recognized it earlier but she was scared the monster she was facing would kill her.
Only Colun made her feel this way. She wanted to hold onto his power even though it was killing her. He was giving her a feeling she searched a lifetime for. She always knew this feeling existed even when that cynical, evil voice in her head told her it didn’t. She knew better; she simply thought only the best and brightest got this feeling. Which would leave her out because what had she done in her life to deserve to feel like this?
Her legs were finally steady, so she began to walk; the door to the outer corridor was lit up, so she entered. The corridor was a beautiful hunter green appealing to what she liked. She began to walk keeping a lookout for whatever was hiding in the shadows. Something was there; she could feel it like a cancer wanting to eat away at her.
A door opened, a memory from her childhood assaulted her. There was a girl; she was what her mom called a transient. Someone who was passing through. Her mom warned her not to get too close to her.
“Stay away, Sara; that girl will bring you trouble.” It was so easy to ignore her mom’s warning. She wanted a friend and the girl, Jillian was her name, wanted to play.
Every day after school she would meet with her. This day was no exception. She was skipping home delighted not to have to deal with the girls in school who taunted her, called her different, misfit, fat.
She snuck between two houses on her street because that was where they met. But that day there was a thing, a monster holding Jillian in its grip sucking on her. Sara screamed and screamed and ran to get help. When she got back, Jillian was dead, and Sara was grounded for six months, unable to do anything but go to school with an escort and come home to watch life outside her window go on without her.
Somehow she knew she was the reason Jillian died. She never played with someone she liked again.
The pain lashed out at her, and she fell to her knees acknowledging that her life had always been filled with monsters. Stay down, that malicious voice in her head whispered. Listen for once in your life or Colun will die just like Jillian.
Fright tightened her shoulders while her heart hammered in her chest. She didn’t want to be the cause of Colun’s dying. Better her than him any day, but how could he live without his power? Would it find him again if she died and it was still encased in her body? She didn’t think it would be able to find its way back. Power needed a living, willing host. She didn’t know how she knew that, but the answer was there for her as plain as daylight.
She stood and forced her legs to move. Jillian was a long time ago, and nothing she could do would bring her back. Colun was here alive, and she wouldn’t lose him. She blindly began to run down the corridors that shifted and turned like she was in the fun house of an amusement park. When the floor slanted, she cried out calling Colun’s name instinctively. She hit her rear and began to slide uncontrollably.
There was a cliff ahead. How could there be a cliff? Maybe it was done with fun house mirrors. She screamed as her body picked up momentum. She was going over the edge no matter how she tried to stop. She gave one big scream to let the world know how she felt about it as her body fell…
She wasn’t falling, Colun had snatched her up and was holding her trembling body close to him. Some male she never saw before was holding onto Colun as he dangled over a ledge.
“What are you waiting for, Joaquin. Pull us up.”
“Yes Sir,” he sneered. “Right away, Sir, because it's not like your heavy or anything.”
Sara giggled, it turned into full blown laughter because Colun saved her, because his friend was a smart ass, because she had to wait until she hit sixty to go on an adventure. Whatever the reason, at that moment she felt freer than she ever had before.
Chapter Nine
“Hi.” They were safe. Sara was standing well away from the precipice.
She had no idea where they were, but standing next to Colun gave her a feeling of peace and safety. He was close enough that the heat of his body was slowly warming hers. You’re too old for this, this feeling of being infatuated, every voice she had cried out, but she didn’t care. Being around Colun, feeling this good might never happen again, and she wasn’t going to throw it away because he had freaky
abilities he used to keep her safe.
They were standing under the night sky. The stars lit the area making it shine with their beauty. There was the sound of running water in the distance and what looked like grass under her feet and trees surrounded them.
“I’m Joaquin,” he reached out his hand to shake hers.
She gave him a smile and took his hand in a firm shake. “I’m Sara, and I want to thank both of you for saving me. Do either of you know where we are?”
Colun gave her a weary look before answering her question. “Right now we’re in your mind, but unless I’m wrong, our bodies are probably laid out in my room.”
“I keep trying to believe in you. Then you say something stranger than the last thing you said, and I find myself once again doubting your sanity. Take a good look, Colun.” She slowly did her showgirl move as she indicated her body. Joaquin choked on his laughter, but she ignored it.
“This is my body and it came along for the ride.” He was ridiculously hot, why did he have to be insane?
“In life, we have more than one plane of existence. Each plane has a different set of rules. You’re used to dealing with the plane of the flesh, but on this plane, it’s so much different, and your body is reconstructed from your memory, how you perceive yourself.”
If that were true she thought, her body would be curvy the way she pictured herself in her dreams. She took a step back and looked down, this definitely wasn’t the body she saw in the mirror recently. She looked around with a frown on her face.
“All right, let’s assume for a minute we are in my mind. Why did I almost die and why are there stars in here along with grass and trees.” She wanted to go along with the story, call it food poisoning, enjoy herself, and wake up tomorrow with a bad taste in her mouth.
“Your mind is the most creative place on Earth. If it can’t happen here then it will never happen,” Colun gave her a sad smile for bringing her into his life like this.
Colun's Passion (Alien Mates Book Four 4) Page 5
