The sound of more of the hateful little creatures scurrying our way filled the air. Dammit. I didn't have time for this. They were going to be on us in a matter of seconds.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Then get out of the way, will you? I have a job to do.”
I pushed Vanessa against the brick building and out of my way and she looked at me like she wanted to punch me in the face. The Xar didn't ordinarily have a taste for human flesh, meaning she'd be safe most likely. Unless they were changing and adapting to the world of man. It was always a possibility, but I was pretty sure that this time, they'd come for me.
“What in the –” she gasped.
A large creature wiggled its way out of the hole in the side of the building and skittered toward us. Several smaller ones crawled out of the hole, falling into line behind it.
The creature walking toward us looked a lot like the Queen – only larger. With a head filled with eyes, multiple long, spindly legs and arms, and a body that resembled a rat, it was a larger version of the smaller creatures. I gritted my teeth, the adrenaline beginning to flow. We'd killed the Queen – what in the hell was this?
And then it hit me – it had to be the King.
I racked my brain, trying to recall everything I knew about the Xar and remembered that although the Xar were a matriarchal society, some nests had one powerful King who ruled at the Queen's side. Not all nests had them, but some did. And when a Queen took a mate, they mated for life.
Which meant that this creature's lifemate had met a horrible end thanks to my kind. And he looked pretty pissed about it.
“Oh, my God,” Vanessa gasped when the creature turned his eyes on her – all hundred of them.
He grinned and stepped forward, long legs that ended in dagger-like nails clacking against the pavement. The creature jutted its head forward and sniffed the air near her.
“Mmm, I love the smell of fresh, dragon meat,” the King said.
“Wow, you really are as dumb as you look. She's not Dragonborn, you idiot,” I said, moving to put myself between Vanessa and the King. “But I am.”
With my sword in hand, I quickly closed the distance between us and thrust the point of my blade at the King. A malevolent and creepy smile crossed its misshapen mouth when he caught my blade with several of his hands. He stared me down, smiling. Amused. He thought he'd won.
“You don't have your friends to help you this time,” he said. “And I'm much stronger than my beloved. The woman you murdered.”
I heard despair in the creature's voice and for a split second, my heart actually ached for that bastard. Like me, he'd also lost his lifemate – the one he'd loved most in the world. For a moment, I tried to imagine what he must be feeling – the loss, the pain, the torment. Feelings that were very familiar to me and hit very close to home.
But that feeling of sympathy passed when I remembered all the Dragonborn they'd killed in my lifetime. I used that knowledge to fuel the anger within me. I raised it, let it bubble up, and then unleashed my rage upon him.
He was right about one thing though – he was strong.
I danced backwards, yanking my blade free from his hands. Drawing my dagger, I moved forward again, weaving both blades in a flurry of movement.
“Glyn, look out!”
Vanessa's voice distracted me, but it allowed me to catch the quick movement of several of the smaller creatures darting forward. I'd been so focused on taking out the King that I'd opened myself up to attack from his minions. Stupid, stupid mistake.
I pivoted and swung my blade in a murderous arc, slicing straight through the bodies of the Xar who were almost on top of me. Cut in half, their bodies flopped to the pavement and twitched as their blood flowed and life left them.
The blow caught me in the sternum and knocked me backward. I hit the wall and felt the air drive from my lungs in a whoosh. My blades clattered to the ground and I gasped, wheezed, and fought for breath. The King advanced on me, a predatory grin on its lumpy, misshapen face.
The smaller Xar had been the diversion – the pawns in our little game of chess. And I'd allowed myself to be so distracted by them, that I hadn't seen the bigger threat – the King – until he'd delivered a hammer blow to my chest. And as I slumped to the ground, trying to breathe, I looked up at the creature looming over me. My rage and my hate filled me – but they couldn't fill my lungs.
“You're going to die now, Ranger,” it hissed.
I started to stand – there was no way in hell I was going to die on my ass – but the King swung one of his legs and it caught me upside the head. The force of the blow was so fierce, it threw me several feet to the side. I landed face down on the pavement and felt the blood flowing from a wound that had opened on my scalp.
I was dizzy and my head was ringing. I crawled to my hands and knees and felt myself lifted off the ground, the force of the King's kick to my side sending me sprawling. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I was fighting the darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision. I couldn't let myself pass out or I was going to be a Xar buffet.
I needed to shift. I needed to be in my dragon form to battle this monster. I shot a quick look over at Vanessa who was staring at me with wide eyes, her face a mask of terror. Feeling the bones begin to move beneath my skin, I started to shift. I felt my body growing thicker, harder – felt my wings begin to emerge from my back.
And then I felt nothing but excruciating pain. I cried out as the King drove a blade – a silver blade – into my leg. I quickly reverted back to my human form, the silver dagger protruding from the back of my calf preventing me from shifting.
“Not this time, Ranger,” the King growled. “You're going to die in your human suit.”
A flash of movement behind the King drew my gaze and my eyes widened in horror.
“Vanessa, no!” I called.
But it was too late. She'd picked up my sword and dagger and was closing the distance between herself and the King. I watched as she twirled the blades, weaving them in a movement that was almost hypnotic – and entirely familiar.
The King's attention was diverted from me. He motioned with one of his hands and half a dozen of his smaller minions launched themselves at the woman. I saw a grin tugging the corner of her mouth upward as she spun and sliced through them all in one smooth, easy cut. Six creatures went up and twelve pieces fell to the pavement with a meaty thump.
The King growled and was already advancing on her – the same diversion tactic he'd used on me. But Vanessa was ready for it. She launched herself upward, flipping herself over the King in one smooth, graceful motion. She landed on her feet softly and with her blades already in fighting position.
As the King pivoted and turned toward her, Vanessa swung the sword in a deadly arc. The King threw his hands up to protect himself – but only managed to get two of his arms lopped off for his trouble. They fell to the ground and the King howled in pained outrage.
Vanessa used that distraction to make her move. She threw herself to the ground, performing a perfect shoulder roll and came up just beneath the monster. She drove the points of both blades upward and pierced his softer underbelly.
The King let out a wail of sheer agony that echoed up and down the alleyway. Vanessa twisted the blades viciously and then planted her foot on the King's chest, driving him backward with a hard kick. The King fell to the ground, blood spilling out of the open, ragged wounds she'd left. His breathing was shallow and ragged and the life fled from his eyes. It wasn't long before he lay completely still. Dead.
I watched as the smaller Xar swarmed out of the hole and dragged their dead King back into the tunnels with them – likely their feast for the night. Cannibalism was among the more disgusting habits practiced by that filth.
Looking up at Vanessa, I felt nothing but shock. And awe. She stood stone still, looking down at the blades in her hands as if she had no idea how they'd gotten there in the first place or what she'd just done.
She looked back at me and
I could see the confusion in her eyes, the fear etched upon her face. The way she'd used those blades though – it was like she was a natural with them. She'd moved and flowed with a deadly grace that I'd never seen in a human, and only rarely among the Dragonborn.
Vanessa said she was a nurse, but to me, she looked like a Ranger. And the way she fought made me think she looked like a certain Ranger in particular.
“I don't –” she started.
The blades clattered to the ground, the steel ringing out against the pavement. She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Getting to my feet – still somewhat unsteadily – I walked over to her and pulled her up, wrapped her in a tight embrace. She resisted at first, but when Vanessa finally wrapped her arms around me a feeling like a jolt of electricity shot through me. I looked down at her, not understanding what was happening or what I was feeling.
Her body pressed to mine, although completely foreign to me, still somehow felt familiar. Felt like home. And I didn't understand one damn bit of it.
“You saved my life,” I said quietly. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twelve
“Do you see now?” she stammered, following behind me as I tried to walk away from her. “Do you see that something isn't right with me?”
We'd stayed in that alleyway, locked into a tight embrace for a long while. It had taken Vanessa some time to come down from the battle – not that she was entirely down yet, but she was better. At least, she was talking. A lot.
Being so close to her clouded my mind. Made me think I was going insane. My grief over Onda's death was making me see things that weren't there. Feel things that I shouldn't be feeling. Believe things that couldn't possibly be true.
I needed to get away from Vanessa. And I needed to get away from her quickly.
“Don't you see it, Glyn?” she pressed me. “Something's happening to me. I've never used a sword before in my life and yet...”
And yet, she'd used them to save my life. Had used them like a skilled expert in fact. Yeah, I saw it alright. In fact, I saw it so clearly that I couldn't even look at her because all I could see was Onda. Watching her moving and flowing in her deadly dance with the Xar King made me think that Onda had come back to life. She had been the best with the sword I'd ever seen and I was convinced that only Onda could have made a kill like that look so easy.
But Vanessa wasn't Onda. I had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't my Onda. Never would be.
Vanessa was keeping pace with me and wasn't about to let this go. Sticky black blood – Xar blood – covered her clothing, and yet, she didn't even flinch. She acted like this was all entirely normal for her, and unless I'd missed something, nothing that had happened in that alley was even remotely normal for her. For me, yeah. For her, no.
She followed me all the way back to my apartment, nagging me the entire way. As I got to the front doors of my complex, I'd had enough. She had to go and I couldn't be around her. I turned to her and finally decided to speak up.
But as I turned and looked at her, my breath caught in my throat. The light caught the silvery white in her hair and her eyes – Onda's eyes – were within inches of mine. And then, she reached out and touched me – just my arm – but she touched me and I felt something stir within me. My skin felt warm beneath her touch and that sense of familiarity flowed through me like a river.
My heart thundered in my chest and my eyes widened as I looked at her. I shook my head, trying to deny what I was seeing. What I was feeling.
“Onda?” I whispered, feeling as if she was literally right here. “But how?”
Vanessa eyes widened in surprise and she whispered, “Glyn –”
The electricity between us was palpable, and even when she pulled her hand away from my arm, the feeling lingered – the sense of connection. It felt unlike anything I'd ever felt before – except with Onda.
“Glyn, may I come inside?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. “And we can –”
Before she finished her phrase, I did the unthinkable. I pressed my lips to hers and kissed her. The urge had overwhelmed me, and before I could stop it, I'd just acted.
When our lips touched, my body exploded with sensation. It was powerful – like a bomb had gone off between us. Vanessa kissed me back with such passion and urgency, it was as if she'd known me forever and had missed me dearly.
I opened the door to my complex and we stumbled inside together. Even with my passion and emotion nearly drowning me, I knew intellectually, that the person I was kissing wasn't Onda. And it didn't feel exactly the same as kissing Onda. But there was something there. Something I couldn't explain. Something that was comfortable. Familiar. Something I'd missed desperately.
And it seemed like Vanessa sensed it too.
As we entered my apartment, we were still kissing. I kicked the door shut with my foot as Vanessa removed my shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the side.
“I'm not normally like this,” she murmured. “I don't know what's gotten into me – I just can't stop touching you. I don't want to stop.”
“I feel the same way,” I said.
I picked her up in my arms and carried her down the hallway to my bedroom. As I laid her down on the bed, I stared at her, mesmerized by her beauty, hypnotized by the overwhelming sense of familiarity enveloping me.
There was a desperation and an urgency between us as we shed our clothing. I quickly stripped her down and pressed my body against her, kissing her, savoring her, devouring her. With her hands in my hair, she pulled my face to hers, kissing me deeply. The spark between us – that connection I felt so strongly and so powerfully – was driving me crazy.
She felt so familiar to me, yet, still so different.
“Glyn,” she moaned, pulling away from me to stare into my eyes.
I stared into her eyes, still feeling a profound sense of disbelief. The face was different and yet, those were without a doubt, Onda's icy blue eyes staring back at me. But how?
I felt a pull toward her. A longing. A hunger. It was as if our bodies physically needed to be together. It was like we were magnets, undeniably attracted to one another and there was no fighting it. Pressing myself against her, I slid myself inside of her and we both gasped in pleasure as our bodies adjusted to the new sensations of one another – and like everything else, it felt so different and yet so familiar.
It was surreal. It almost didn't feel real.
I moved in and out of her, thrusting deeper and deeper, savoring the sensations that were coursing through my body. Vanessa's skin was warm and smooth and I planted a line of kisses down her neck, cupping her breasts and drew a gasp from her as I gently licked her stiff nipples.
Vanessa writhed beneath me on the bed, wrapping her he legs around me tightly to keep our bodies together at all costs. My movements became more urgent, more frantic. I couldn't get enough of being inside of her. And while part of me felt guilty for sleeping with another woman so soon after losing Onda, another part of me felt like Onda was still there.
It was crazy, but that bond and that connection I felt with her, that profound sense of familiarly made me believe it wasn't Vanessa beneath me – it was Onda.
She moaned as I drove myself deeper inside of her and I felt her tighten up around me. She bit her bottom lip and raked her nails down my back as I moved myself inside of her. And as I thrust hard, I felt Vanessa's body tense up as she let out a loud cry. Her body spasmed and she tightened up around me as her orgasm washed over her. She looked deep into my eyes as her pleasure gripped her, calling my name out over and over again.
I felt her still spasming and as I thrust inside of her, it was too much for me to bear. I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back, not wanting the moment to end. It was like being with Onda again – being inside of Onda again – and I wanted to make the moment last as long as possible. But when she tightened herself around me again, I lost all control.
I moaned in pleasure, grunting as I buried myse
lf deeper inside of her one last time, spilling my hot seed deep inside of her. And as I stared into those eyes – Onda's eyes in another woman's face – all I could think was, I love you, Onda.
As soon as I finished, I collapsed, rolling over to lay beside her and that's when the guilt hit me as hard as the King had earlier. I felt guilty not only for seeming to move on from Onda as quickly as I had, but for sleeping with Vanessa because I'd somehow confused her with another.
Both women deserved more than that and I felt like an ass for taking advantage of her. It was something I could never let myself do again. It wasn't fair to Onda's memory, it wasn't fair to me – and it especially wasn't fair to Vanessa.
“That was amazing,” Vanessa said breathlessly.
I had to admit, if only to myself, that it had been pretty damn amazing. I stared up the ceiling though, feeling like an absolute jerk for what I was about to say.
“I'm sorry, Vanessa,” I said softly. “I don't know what got into me, but we shouldn't have done that. And we can never do that again.”
She rolled over on her side and looked at me, a sadness falling over her face. “Why?”
I sighed and looked away. I owed her the truth – it was quite literally, the very least I could do.
“Because I just lost the love of my life,” I said. “I'm not ready. I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready.”
She nodded and seemed to be thinking as she traced her fingertips down my chest and circled my belly button.
“Listen, I don't know what's going on, but when I'm with you, I feel like I've known you my entire life. Longer than that even, as crazy as that sounds,” she said. “And part of me thinks that maybe, somehow, your Onda is part of me. Don't ask me how, but it's something I can feel deep inside. And it feels right. True.”
I stared at her like she'd gone absolutely insane. Was she saying this because she believed it? Or was she trying to manipulate me into being with her? One meant she was crazy, while the other meant she was devious. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled with either of those choices – neither one was exactly appealing to me.
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