“Or they could have deliberately put it in my wound.” Lorelei bit back tears as she held her cry of pain in as well. “Bloody hell, Jacquelyn, I’ve not the strength to heal myself of something that major right now and I can’t possibly walk back to the compound.”
Jacquelyn nodded. “I know. I’ve been trying to reach Sevan and the rest of them but Stegian is going out of his way to jam technology. He knew we’d come looking and he knew they’d need my help.”
“Yeah, but did he know I’d end up out here instead of locked in a torture chamber with Samson?”
“Did he hurt you again?”
Lorelei snorted. “No, but a hag came into the room with the intent of draining the baby’s life force.”
“How did you end up here?” Jacquelyn asked. “You just appeared out of nowhere and my sensors instantly picked you up.”
“That, I don’t know.”
* * * *
“What do you mean she simply vanished?” Stegian asked, his jaw tight and his gaze hard. The urge to kill something was great. All that stood before him was one of the hags and Samson.
Samson shook his head, still appearing shocked by the entire affair. “Master, she simply closed her eyes and vanished.”
“She came into her full powers,” the hag said, looking back at him with milky-white eyes.
To his knowledge, the hags were all blind but somehow, they managed to see. The one before him smiled, revealing a mouth full of missing teeth. “It is the third eye, master.”
“And did this third eye prove useful when the prisoner was escaping?”
Her already pale, light green skin seemed to lighten even more. Stegian couldn’t help but pride himself on the fear he could instill in others. “I await an answer.”
“N-o,” she said, shakily.
“I see.” Stegian took a step forward. “Would you please enlighten me as to why I should keep you around? Samson fights on the front lines, killing Shamenians and Tegmen. What is it you and your sisters provide?”
The hag tossed her head back and shrieked as Stegian thrust his power out and through her ragged body. Her skin began to sink in on itself as he drained her body of its power.
The cell door blew open and the other two hags appeared. Stegian smiled, licking a fang as he did. They stopped instantly. “Master, we have located the Janelle woman. She lies near the lagoons. An energy force is with her. We believe it to be both natural and unnatural.”
“Meaning?” He released his hold on the hag for a moment to hear the others out.
“It means that the woman is somehow emitting extremely high levels of energy and that something else, we do not understand what, is aiding her.”
“The prophecy,” Samson whispered. “It’s coming true.”
There was a time when Stegian dismissed theories containing ancient prophecies. That was until he held the scrolls in which they were written and had a vision so clear that it did the unthinkable--it terrified him.
“I shall go to the lagoons, Master,” Samson said.
“Take several others with you.” Stegian stared at the converted Shamenian. “Do not think yourself better than an offworlder.”
Chapter Nine
“Jordan, do you read?” Sevan repeated into his headset. “Damn thing isn’t working.”
“It’s not your equipment, it’s the others. They can jam electronics. That’s why Jacquelyn could only reach so far to find Lorelei. They make it almost impossible for her signal to come through. Every now and then she gets the best of them, but it doesn’t happen too often,” Nina said, her back to him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You want to know who the others are,” Nina said, stopping on the worn path. “You don’t seem to believe what Christian and I have already told you.”
“Yeah.”
“We spoke the truth, Captain. The others are your world’s nightmare creatures. The ones you gathered up and shipped away. We are not lying when we say that they are a result of Project Exorcism.”
Sevan thought back and his eyes bulged as he thought back to all he knew about Project Exorcism. It had been called that due to the nature of the cargo being gathered and shipped out--vampires, werewolves, witches, anything that wasn’t human was either forced into hiding, killed, or placed on containment ships.
The deal had been struck with the paranormal leaders, allowing them to pick the planet they would relocate to. They were given the choice of five, but only allowed to choose one. Five ships were loaded to capacity, only one arrived at the destination. The other ships were thought to have perished in the meteorite shower that occurred shortly after take off. No one had heard from them since they’d departed all those years ago, each carrying nearly a hundred military personnel, several top-notch scientists and doctors, along with several thousand supernatural creatures.
“How many of them survived?”
Nina laughed. “I couldn’t honestly tell you. It was our grandparents who were directly involved in the great coming.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “From the stories and the records, the crash happened at dusk. From all accounts, the human crew had come under attack from a select number of supernaturals who were not pleased with the idea of being cargo sent out into space. I know that many lost their lives directly after the crash, but some were spared by the intervention of the natives that were here along with the aid of those supernaturals not believing death should come to all humans.”
She slowed her pace a bit and glanced back at him. “Christian’s family was the head family, similar to a royal family. The head of the supernatural rebellion overthrew them almost immediately. That was no small feat. The people, my people, the Shamenians, who have lived on this planet since the dawn of time are not as normal as the humans who’d come here with the ship. We have abilities that supersede your kind. I believe, as do many of our scientists, that we were all one once, long ago, but that we separated somehow, spreading out over six different galaxies. I also believe that the environments we inhabited pre-determined our evolution from there. This would explain why by all outward appearances we are the same as the humans.
“I believe in many ways we are similar to,” she seemed to search for the right words, “the magical ones. I’m sorry I do not know your history as well as I should. Lorelei is better at this than I am. We were all educated in your ways and customs growing up. There are still a select few pure humans here, but almost all are forced to live within the safety of the compound walls for fear of being slaughtered by the others.”
“Not all of the others are evil. Many have villages, children, education facilities, the works, set up throughout these lands, but even those places are not safe for straight humans. The others have taken to attacking their own kind if they believe them to be sympathizers with the day creatures. That’s what they call us, you know. They can’t very well call us human. We’re not all the same, so they came up with that. Though, Stegian, the leader of one of the largest packs of the others refers to us as Shamenians. Why he seems to be the only one who understands is not a question I require an answer to.”
“I get the sense that you’re holding back on me,” Sevan said, watching Nina carefully.
“I am. The Janelles carry the gene of a werepanther in us. Our grandmother fell in love with one of the werepanthers upon their arrival and together they had a child, our father. My grandfather was killed by his own kind for loving a local, a day creature. My grandmother was forced to marry her original chosen mate, and he aided in the raising of my father. This was much to the dislike of the community, but necessary all the same. My grandmother’s second husband was the only grandfather we knew. He treated us well enough while he was alive. Though I do not think he liked my father much.”
“Where’s your father now?”
“Dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nina stopped walking and gave him a serious look. “Don’t be. Lorelei killed him and I helped her.”
; “Why the hell would you kill your own father?”
“You’ve seen Jacquelyn.”
The realization of what she was saying sunk in and he felt sick to his stomach. Heat flared through him and he had to stop a moment to keep from vomiting. “What kind of sick bastard does that to his own daughter?”
“The kind that is being controlled by Stegian while in full shifted form.”
“Nina?” A small voice called out from the darkness.
Nina froze and Sevan followed suit. She tipped her head to the side and seemed to sniff the air.
“Nina?” The voice spoke again. It sounded a hell of a lot like Lorelei to him so he started in the direction the voice was coming from.
“No,” Nina said, slamming her hand back into his chest. The wind was knocked out of him and he was left coughing to regain control of himself. She packed a hell of a punch, that much was clear.
“Stegian, has used tricks to lure us into traps before and he’s famous for mimicking our voices. It’s how he lured Jacquelyn away so easily. He used my voice to call her to him and then he….”
“Nina?” The voice was there again, this time weaker sounding than before. There was a shuffle in the brush off to their left and they swung around with weapons drawn.
“To hell with this,” Sevan said, pushing past Nina and rushing towards the sound of Lorelei’s voice. When he broke through the dense brush, he found her lying on the ground, her leg covered in blood, her face pale and her eyes locked on him.
She blinked. “Sevan?”
His heart slammed in his chest as the beast within him fought to be free. His skin tingled and his neck tightened. That was his wife lying there, hurt and scared. Yet, he was too afraid to go to her and touch her.
Nina pushed past him and he snarled, sounding so much like an animal that it shocked even him. She stilled and began backing slowly towards Lorelei. As she reached for her side, Sevan knew what she was about to do--shoot him with a tranquilizer.
Lorelei’s eyes widened. “No, Nina, don’t!”
“Sevan knows that he can’t control the beast his first shift out, sister.”
As much as he hated to admit it, it was true. Hot, searing pain tore through his hands and he watched as claws erected from them. Shaking his head, Sevan couldn’t comprehend all that was happening. His entire life he’d lived with the knowledge that somewhere deep within him lay a lion. A beast with no remorse and little concern for anything beyond itself. Now, as it began to take shape it was almost too much for him to comprehend.
A sharp pinprick hit his neck and he knew then that Nina had decided to shoot him with the tranquilizer. It was then that he also realized they were not alone. Darkness swallowed him before he could shout out a warning.
* * * *
Lorelei watched in horror as her own sister shot Sevan. “Why?”
Nina glanced down at her and offered a small smile. “Lorelei, he agreed ahead of time. He told me to shoot him between the eyes if needed. At least I used a tranquilizer and not a real bullet. Christian and Jordan will be along soon. They’ll carry….”
Something was horribly wrong. The feeling of evil seemed to close in on them. Lorelei struggled to her feet, grabbing hold of Nina’s arm for help. “They’ve found me.”
“I know.” Nina glanced towards Sevan’s lifeless body, looking as though she regretted her decision of knocking him out.
The smell of a werewolf and something else, something familiar, threatening and close. Lorelei drew in a sharp breath. “Samson.”
Nina lunged for Sevan and Lorelei grabbed hold of her, afraid that she was going to try to finish what she started. “No.”
“Let go! He can’t defend himself.”
“Oh, I thought….” She stopped not wanting to accuse her own flesh and blood of trying something so heinous.
“Lorelei,” Nina said, softly. “Do you love Sevan?”
“Yes.”
“He says that he won’t leave, Lorelei. That he’ll stay and stand by his family’s side.”
Lorelei held tight to her sister as she drew on the power of the earth, the Shamenian spirits of long ago and of the werepanther within her. Power surged through her veins, harder and faster than it ever had before. Her breathing quickened and her heart raced. “By gods, I think the baby is powerful as well.”
Nina nodded. “Of course, she’s a Janelle.”
“She?”
“Just being hopeful. We have enough boys in the family.”
Not wanting to think of her brothers that had been forced off the planet long ago, Lorelei simply smiled, feeling invigorated and up to the task of fighting even the greatest of Stegian’s warriors. Even if that meant fighting the man she used to love.
A dark mass leaped out from the tree line and something swooshed past them quickly. The moment Lorelei saw the silver dipped arrow sticking out of a now dead werecougar’ s chest, she knew Christian and back-up had arrived.
Nina wasted no time. She let her claws erect and her eyes swirl to light blue. She took off, running straight ahead, clearly sensing something. Before Lorelei could comment, Jordan appeared next to her.
He glanced at Sevan and his brow furrowed. “He’s not….”
“No,” Lorelei said quickly. “He’s just sedated. He started to shift and Nina shot him with a tranquilizer gun.”
“In the middle of a battle? Is the woman mad?” He put his hand through his hair and then gritted his teeth. “Of course she is.”
“In her defense, she shot him before the enemy arrived.”
He tossed his hands in the air. “Well then, that makes it all better.” He looked around frantically. “Where the hell did she go? Is she trying to get herself killed?”
A blur moved at them fast. In a flash, a fully shifted weretiger had its teeth sunk deep into Jordan’s arm. Fearing that Jordan would lose his arm if she didn’t act quickly, Lorelei let the power that had been building within her loose. It slammed into Jordan and then his attacker.
Both men went to the ground fast. Lorelei held her breath, fearing she’d killed Jordan by accident. She reached for him, hoping he still had a pulse. Something dropped down on her, smashing her body to the ground. Crying out wasn’t an option. Whatever was on her had knocked the wind out her.
“That was bad, Lorelei, running out before we were finished,” Samson said, pressing his body against hers.
“Get off of her!”
The sound of Christian’s voice should have been music to her ears but not now. Not when Samson was so close. The last time they’d been face to face, Christian almost lost his battle to remain on the side of good.
“Ah, if it isn’t my baby brother.” Samson pinned her even harder. “Tell me, do you think you are finally strong enough to defeat me?”
“Not alone but together with my new friend, I think we will manage just fine,” Christian said.
New friend?
Something growled, its voice deep, making the ground around her vibrate. That wasn’t a panther. No. That was a lion. “Sevan!”
Instantly, Samson was thrust clear of her body. As Lorelei went to roll over the pain in her leg reached new levels causing her to bite her lip as tears dripped down her cheeks.
A ringing started in her ears and a light tingling sensation surrounded her. “Sleep, Lorelei. Sleep. All will end well here. I promise. I will watch over them all.”
The soothing sound of Jacquelyn’s voice coaxed her into a relaxed state allowing much needed rest to occur.
Chapter Ten
“Sevan, I can’t rest if you keep doing that.”
Running his hand over his wife’s slightly swollen belly, Sevan tried to imagine what their child looked like within her. Hopefully, it would come out with Lorelei’s looks and his temper. With her quick temper Sevan would never survive living in a house with two of them. “Mmm, I can’t help it, Lorelei. I thought I’d lost you.”
“I have been out of the infirmary for over a month now.”
“Yes but you were in it for over a month too,” he said, not letting her forget how close to death she’d come. “Losing that much blood and using that much power almost did you in, baby. I can’t close my eyes without thinking about it.”
She snickered, obviously not taking him very seriously. “Try watching your brother shift back and forth between a tiger and a lion. That should give you something else to focus on.”
“No thanks. I can hear Nina and Jordan arguing from across the village about it. She still thinks both are inferior to the panther.”
“Aren’t they?” she asked, smoothing her hand over his naked thigh.
Instantly, his cock jerked to life, wanting to be buried deep within her again. He nudged her with it, doing his best to ease it between her ass cheeks without having to release his embrace.
Lorelei moved slightly, allowing him easier access to her. “Hmm, is someone horny again?”
“I can’t get enough of you or this place.” Sevan took a deep breath in. “This feels like home and I love it. I love you.”
“I still don’t understand why your entire crew refuses to leave.”
Sevan smiled. “Lorelei, Earth, or rather, the portions of Earth that we’re permitted to live on aren’t like this anymore. There are no more trees, plants or animals around. It’s all industrialized. The portions that are marked off are kept under heavy guard. This is paradise to people from Earth.”
She snorted. “We have monsters that walk among us.”
“So do we.” Sevan eased his cock in more, nudging at the cleft of her warm ass. “Earth officials just don’t realize it yet. Not every supernatural made it aboard a vessel and I can’t tell you how many more have immigrated to Earth from other galaxies. They don’t have a handle on anything. And if they knew that Project Exorcism didn’t go as planned--that the vessels thought lost really weren’t, they’d declare a state of emergency.”
“But we don’t know for sure that other vessels survived, Sevan,” Lorelei said, adding reason to his insane ramblings.
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