by Erin Hayes
A low smile comes to Kaleb’s handsome features. “Good. Maybe you’re smart enough to live through all your years, then.”
It takes Jerry a few minutes to stand on shaky, arthritic legs, but he manages without Kaleb’s proffered help. He holds onto the walls of the tunnel for support as he shuffles his way down the hallway. He looks back at us, his face determined. “I’ll find out whatever I can,” he says. He lets out a breath. “Just…please…”
Kaleb nods. “I always keep my promises.”
I believe him.
Jerry nods and disappears down the tunnel, to join the others in Humans First.
“Should we follow him?” I ask softly when the male is out of earshot. “Maybe he’ll lead us right to them.”
Kaleb shakes his head as he strides over to Randall, the dead Human. “No,” he says determinedly. “Not when we don’t know how many Humans are in this organization. If Jerry doesn’t know what other factions are doing, then this group is far bigger than we know.”
“Do you think Jerry will come through?”
“I took forty years of his life,” Kaleb says. “If he wants to live a normal Human life, he’ll follow through.”
I don’t have any other argument against that. He pulls out a knife and slits the man’s palm open and pulls out the small communication device. He wipes the bloody thing on the male’s tunic before pocketing it.
He straightens to his feet, towering over me as he gives an apologetic look.
“Sorry you had to see all of that,” he says, and it takes me a moment to realize what he’s talking about. “I saw that this asshole fired on you, and I just…lost it… And Jerry…” His voice trails off. “I don’t usually lose myself like that.”
Despite everything that happened, I smile at him as I reach up and stroke his cheekbone with my thumb. “You saved my life,” I whisper. “And…”
A half-smile curves the corner of his mouth. “And?”
I bite my bottom lip playfully. “Well…” And I giggle.
“Well,” Kaleb sighs, his voice husky with need. “We’re not going to be able to get anywhere further tonight. Let’s hide this body, let Jerry get back to his group, and call it a night. And…”
“And?” I echo playfully, feeling my heart skip a beat.
“And I have quite a bit of life force stored up from Randall.” He grins at me. “I think you could use a bit more…release…to put yourself at ease. You did escape death, after all.”
“You’re right, I did.” I take his hand in mine. “Be a shame to waste my newfound lease on life.”
In the early hours of the morning, I lay in Kaleb’s arms amongst his dark sheets in his enormous apartment. I listen to his heartbeat, marveling at the wonder of it all.
We barely made it back here before he stripped off my clothes and fucked me in his bed, on the kitchen floor, and in the shower, each time giving me a sliver of life force that gave me such a powerful orgasm, I had to cling to him like he was the only thing anchoring me to this planet.
Galaxies, the sex with him is good. And I’m feeling something towards him as I watch the rise and fall of his chest. Even when I was fooling around with my previous lovers, it felt like there were no strings attached, that there’d be nothing beyond the sex.
And with Kaleb?
I chew on my cheek as I look at him. His eyes are closed, and I marvel at how long his lashes are. He’s a fine specimen of a creature, and I wonder how I ever thought he was trying to kidnap Ken. He’s always considerate of me, making sure that I’m cared for before he takes anything for himself.
What is this I’m feeling?
I can’t be falling for him. Not after such a short amount of time, not when my little brother is still missing. I barely know anything about him, but…
Still, our hearts are connected somehow.
I don’t know what this means for the future. Maybe Kaleb does this with all the women he sleeps with—after all, San thinks he’s a gift unto all creatures. But there’s something about the way he looks at me, and he wouldn’t be going through all this trouble for any old Meta.
Right?
He stirs, and I feel my pulse quicken at the manly groan that escapes his lips. Then his golden eyes open and focus on me. We don’t say anything as we watch each other, and then he smiles softly.
“What are you thinking?”
I press my lips together, debating on if I should tell him the truth. Instead, I say, “Jerry didn’t pass out after you took his life force. Not like when you first found me.”
Kaleb nods, his expression regretful. “Sorry about that. I was trying to subdue you without much trouble.”
I snort as I shift in his arms. “There are other ways of subduing me.”
A sly grin comes to his face, and I wonder what he’s doing, before I gasp as he pinches my nipple. “You mean that? Or this?” And the hand trails down my stomach to my nether regions as he plays with me down there.
“Not fair,” I manage, trying not to squirm.
He stops, and I want to cry at the lack of contact. Galaxies, he’s good!
His face turns solemn again as he looks at me. “I have a lot more practice taking life forces rather than giving it,” he explains. “I can control the flow of someone’s energy much better if it’s coming into me, rather than out. I’ve been practicing, but usually, it’s with someone who has an agenda.”
“Is that why Jerry didn’t pass out?” I ask. “And why every time you give me a second or two of life, I come?”
He nods. “You don’t seem to mind, though.”
I slide forward and kiss his lips. “Not at all.”
He chuckles, a deep rumble against my fingertips on his chest. “Maybe I could use some more practice throttling energy when I give it, then.”
“Well, I’m more than willing to practice with you,” I say, climbing astride his hips.
And we do practice. Again and again and again. Until late in the morning when my mother calls to check in on me.
By then, I’m both exhausted and thrumming with life. And ready to keep searching for my little brother.
Chapter 8
“We’re never going to hear back from Jerry, are we?” I grouse as we weave around the pipes of the smokers. The further we go underneath the Complex, the more I see that there’s a maze that I may never find the end of. Good thing Kaleb always seems to know where he is and I can find our way back by sense of smell if need be.
I think there are going to be a lot of missing people by the end of the two years in the Complex.
“He has the physicality of an old man,” Kaleb says, glancing back at me as he takes my hand and helps me jump down from a pipe. Like a gentleman. Except we both know he’s far from gentle when he wants to be. “He’ll come through with information. No one wants their life cut short.”
It’s been a week since we let Jerry go back to Humans First and a week since Ken was kidnapped. I haven’t had much communication from my mom or my siblings—I think I’m too ashamed to admit that I haven’t been able to find him, and I’ve been spending the nights over at Kaleb’s. It makes it much easier to wake up and search for Ken.
Not that we’ve been getting much sleep anyways, as Kaleb’s been both recreation and a distraction from it all for me.
And I think by this point that I’m falling for him. For better or worse.
That’s another reason why I’ve been avoiding Mom. “Oh, hey Mom, here’s my boyfriend, the shtrigu who I thought was trying to eat your son. While I’ve been searching for your son, I’ve been going back to his place and having wild sex with him every night. It started out as a way to take my mind off Ken’s disappearance, but I think I love him, too.”
Yeah, that conversation wouldn’t go very well. I even snort out loud at the thought.
“What?” Kaleb asks.
“Just thinking. Don’t you think it’s weird that we haven’t heard much from the Intra about Ken?”
Kaleb’s eyebrows
shoot up at my sudden change in conversation, but he’s used to my attention being diverted by different things. It’s a side effect of being a big sister to eleven siblings and helping my mother run a busy restaurant. “Yes.”
I rub my temples and frown. I’ve called Sergeant Lewis a couple of times for updates—always initiated by me—and she’s assured me that she’s doing everything she can to find Ken. There are many missing persons cases happening right now, she reasoned with me, and the Intra are understaffed.
How could so many people be missing in a closed environment like the Complex? We turn a corner, and I nearly groan out loud that there are still more tunnels for us to explore. Right, because this whole thing is a freaking maze. Galaxies, why couldn’t Humans First hide their victims above ground? Like in the Forest Dome where I feel most at home?
“I’m going to call her when we get back to your place,” I mutter. I don’t want to highlight that we’re doing illegal activities ourselves. I’m sure that running around these tunnels is illegal, and Kaleb did kill that Human. I keep expecting the Intra to descend upon us and arrest us, but they haven’t come yet.
I guess Humans First won’t report that missing person.
“Jerry will come through,” Kaleb insists.
“Aren’t you worried about Humans First coming after you?” I ask. “For what you did to Jerry?”
His nostrils flare. “He did that to himself. They should know better than to try and cross me.”
The finality in his voice makes me nod. Kaleb knows what he’s doing. He’s been around for much longer than I have. He knows behavior far better than me.
“I hope…” My voice falters. “I hope Ken is all right.”
Faster than I can follow, strong arms embrace me, drawing me into his chest. Kaleb is tall and wiry, but I’ve been finding that our bodies blend and mesh well together. He’s like the missing piece to my soul. I hiccup, my unspoken retort getting stuck in my throat.
Other than our nightly activities and his practice, Kaleb and I haven’t shown a lot of affection towards each other. I know I haven’t because I’m afraid that his feelings won’t be reciprocated, especially knowing his background.
Does this mean he feels something more for me?
“Hey,” he whispers into my hair. “It’s going to be all right. I won’t let anything happen to Ken.”
An empty promise over things he can’t control. But still, it feels nice. My chest feels sunken in, like there’s a Ken-sized hole there that won’t be repaired until I get my brother back. And galaxies help those Humans if they harmed a hair on his head.
“I just keep thinking about him being scared,” I whisper. “Ken has always been…softer than the other kits. He’s more caring and gentle. More responsible.”
“I know,” Kaleb murmurs. “That might be why they took him.”
We both break away as we hear an incoming call. It takes me a wild moment to realize that it’s neither of our communication devices—it’s the one that Kaleb’s been carrying in his pocket since we took it off Randall. He pulls it out of his pocket and accepts the call by pressing the button.
A hologram appears in front of us, showing Jerry with his arms crossed. There’s a furtiveness about the way his eyes dart around, like he’s trying to reach out to us in secret. My stomach clenches, hoping that he has the information that we need.
Jerry’s eyes land on the two of us, and his lips move silently. Kaleb points to his ear and shakes his head to signal that we can’t hear him. Jerry blinks for a moment, and then understands. He rummages around off screen for a few moments, coming back with his mini-tab, and he writes a few things on it before turning it around to face us.
Climintra North. At the back.
My heart leaps into my throat. “Climintra North?” I whisper. That’s one of the Intra’s enforcement offices, the one closest to the Forest Dome, where my family lives. Why would he be sending us to their office? Unless…
Kaleb curses under his breath. “No wonder we haven’t found them yet.”
“Is he saying that the Intra are in on this Humans First group?” I ask, my voice hitching in my throat.
Kaleb nods solemnly. “They’re not in the tunnels.”
“San lied to us?” Is she in on it? As she’s a Human as well, I have to wonder.
He shakes his head. “No, she told us where they mostly hide. She couldn’t have known the Intra were in on this.”
I think back to Sergeant Lewis and her dodges of my questions, their laxness when it came to finding Ken. They weren’t looking for him, not at all. Because they already know where he is. And I wouldn’t have ever dreamed to look at their office, because, well, they’re supposed to be on our side.
No wonder I couldn’t find any scent of Ken when I searched for him. I was only able to smell the Intra, and I had foolishly thought that was because they were investigating the kidnapping, not because they were the kidnappers.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I mutter, combing a hand through my dark hair.
Kaleb writes something on his own mini-tab and shows it to the hologram. I read, Meet us there in an hour. Jerry visibly blanches at the words, and he quickly shakes his head. Out of fear?
The feed is abruptly cut off, and both Kaleb and I pause at the disconnect, looking at it in disbelief. “What happened?” I ask.
“He must have cut it off.” Kaleb’s jaw works intently, clenching and unclenching as he considers the options. “Maybe someone was coming.”
“What if it’s a trap?” I ask, fumbling for an explanation or any sort of sanity with the craziness we just witnessed. “What if Jerry’s just trying to get us there for an ambush? Or to be arrested by the Intra for his friend’s death.”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take.” Kaleb’s golden eyes flick to me. “But…it’s better than wandering around these tunnels for another week, Serena.”
I gulp. “Yes.”
He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Are you with me?”
I open my mouth to say something, but something else pops out instead, something that makes my cheeks both flush and my insides melt even further: “Always.”
Kaleb’s grin is that of relief, and he pulls me into a quick hug and kisses the top of my head. “We’ll get him back,” he promises. “We’ll get Ken back.”
I hope he’s right.
Chapter 9
Climintra North is a squat, tan, sterile building on the ground level of the Main City, reminding me of the pictures of old adobe homes that I’ve seen on old Earth, the Humans’ home planet. It doesn’t look like a sinister place, one where they would be holding the missing children.
Could Jerry have been lying? There’s no way that Ken is here.
I give Kaleb an uneasy glance as we both stand outside of it. His face is expressionless as he watches the entrance.
“Should we keep waiting for Jerry?” I ask softly.
“He’s fifteen minutes late.” A muscle in Kaleb’s face twitches. “He knows the rules, and if he’s not here, we can’t keep waiting.”
I nod, not sure what I think about all this. A missing informant, children captured by the Intra—it all feels bigger than my search for one kitsune. And all I want is Ken back.
“Do you trust me?” he asks softly, not taking his eyes off the building.
I clear my throat. “Yes.”
He flicks his gaze to me and gives me a grateful smile, like he’d been worried about my answer. And that makes my heart do funny things.
Does this mean…?
That maybe there is more to his feelings than just sex?
He rolls his shoulders, straightens up, and walks toward the office. I fall into step beside him, and we open the front door and enter. Air conditioning blasts me in the face, making my eyes water. There are so many different smells and sounds here, each is a new one that I can’t identify.
We approach the receptionist at the front, and she blinks up at us. I can immediately tell
that she’s an elf, based on the shape of her ears.
“Can I help you?” she asks, her voice edged with suspicion.
I open my mouth to answer, but I see a familiar face behind the glass of the office. Sergeant Lewis. My feet move of their own volition as I head straight towards her. The receptionist gives a startled shout after me, but I ignore her. I feel Kaleb at my back, giving me the strength to keep moving.
“Sergeant Lewis, how’s it going?” I ask with a sugary sweet smile. I’ve caught the good officer off guard, and she blinks at me confusedly.
“Ah, Miss Fuchs, I didn’t expect to see you here,” she says, quickly masking her bewilderment.
“I’m sure,” I say, keeping my smile in place.
“What are you doing here?” Lewis asks.
My blood freezes as I catch a whiff on the air, something familiar that tickles my nose. I still, my heart beating rapidly. I recognize it because I’ve been searching for it for the past week.
Ken.
It’s hidden, like they tried covering it up with the smells of other inmates and deodorizer. But keeping a kitsune child here imbeds his scent into the walls.
My heart lurches as every fiber of my being tunes into it. Where is he? Where?
“We have a few questions we need to ask,” Kaleb says behind me. I barely hear him as I step forward, sniffing the air.
“You can’t go past this point, Miss Fuchs,” Lewis says. She reaches out for me, but before her hand can close around my upper arm, I shift into my fox form, bounding down the hallways.
“Stop that kitsune!” Lewis shrieks.
I dimly hear the commotion around me, but I don’t care because I’m zeroed in on one thing: Ken. My four paws scramble on the tile floor, weaving around the legs of other officers. I don’t know if they’re in on this, but I don’t want to tangle with them. Not now.
There’s a roar behind me, and I know that Kaleb is running to keep pace with me, moving through the shadows. I’ve never been more glad to have a shtrigu on my side than I am now.
I meet a crossroads in the hallway and sniff, trying to pick up where Ken’s scent is strongest. There are other smells here mingling in with it, which I had previously assumed were from other inmates. But this is palpable fear, like that of a child being terrified of a monster under their bed. I smell it all the time when one of my siblings has a nightmare.
