The Complete Pendomus Chronicles Trilogy: Books 1-3 of the Pendomus Chronicles Dystopian Scifi Boxed Set Series

by Carissa Andrews

  I’ve never wanted anything more than I want her, and it’s been that way from the beginning. There’s a connection with her and it’s not just about sex. It’s everything about her. Her warmth and comfort. Her strength and resilience. Her beautiful smile and body. I want every single piece of her. And I want to hand every piece of me over to her.

  I run my fingertips down the silhouette of her exposed torso until they rest on her hips. Then, I draw them forward until her hips touch mine. She watches me closely, her multi-colored eyes wide with anticipation. Her breath is slow and deep, and her face flushed with excitement.

  “Are you sure about this?” I ask, pausing for a moment to catch my breath. “The intruder, you know he’s still here with me somewhere and—”

  She answers my warning by placing her hands on my buttocks and squeezing.

  “I know,” she says. “But I also know it’s you with me right now. I can sense he’s taken a back seat…That’s what matters.”

  My heart races, threatening to thump right out of my chest. It’s done its job, though, preparing me for what comes next. My body is humming with my own sense of anticipation.

  With neither of us wanting to be apart any longer, I reach for her, pulling her body even closer to mine. I press her against me, and bend down to place my mouth to hers. The sensation of her skin on mine sends electricity through me. My skin’s vibrating, my blood pumping.

  Runa’s fingers intertwine through my hair, tugging and pulling it in movement with her mouth as she kisses me. Her tongue teases mine in a way I’ve never experienced before. She makes it all flow so easily, so uninhibited.

  Flashes of kissing her before, in a lush, green place permeate my mind. White, five-petaled flowers hug her body as we entangle together on the ground. Like this is something we’ve done before—hundreds of times, millions of times. Her touch is the same.

  A groan escapes my lips, and I give myself permission to explore. To let her know she gives me strength to love. She’s my light—my own personal beacon home. She was from the first moment I met her. I couldn’t explain it then, and I can’t explain it now.

  Runa arches her back as I drag my fingertips up the soft skin along her sides. The hot water steams around us, adding a multi-sensory dimension I can’t even explain. Her head tilts back, and she closes her eyes. I caress her back, pulling her close to kiss her neck.

  “You’ve always been the one, Runa,” I whisper in her ear, my voice gruff. “I wish I had the sense to tell you that sooner.”

  Runa opens her eyes, and softly grins. She places a fingertip to my lips.

  “You don’t need to apologize for anything. Or justify anything. Be here with me—now. Just us. No past, no future to worry about. Only right now,” she says.

  Cuddled up next to Runa’s naked body, I can’t imagine a more blissful place. Deep down, I know this is how we should have been. How our lives were supposed to be entwined. Perhaps how they once were in a different life.

  I’m also acutely aware of what’s hidden in the silence. If I’m not careful—if we don’t watch ourselves—this could be more than our first time. It could be our goodbye.

  16

  Runa

  TRAE’S HAND STROKES MY BACK, warm and steady. I never knew this place—this feeling—was something to be experienced between two people. There was an entire piece of humanity I’d been missing. How could I go so many years and not know?

  The memory of Trae’s body sends electric currents up my spine. It’s like we’re magnets and even despite everything that’s going on, I can’t control this urge to be together. To let these problems of the future, the past—let it all go, even for a while. This desire to be with him, to give myself to him is almost illogical and reckless—but it’s also there and I can’t deny it.

  “What are you thinking about?” Trae whispers.

  I lift my head from his bare chest, gazing into his beautiful brown eyes. His blue hair stands on end, a byproduct of our entanglement. His eyebrows tug in as he searches my face.

  “I was just thinking about how much you’ve opened my eyes to all that I’ve been missing. I thought—I thought I knew what it meant to be human, but—” I shake my head.

  “Everyone’s in the dark at the Helix. I can’t say I understand the motivation from Videus, but I can relate to how you feel,” he says, his gaze soft and open.

  I bite my lip, thinking.

  “How long did you know?” I ask.

  Trae quirks his head slightly, “Know?”

  “How you felt about me. That it could lead to this, if we just—”

  Trae chuckles, shaking his head before laying it back on the pillow.

  “Runa, as much as I hated to admit it to myself, I knew there was something about you from the moment we met. I couldn’t explain it. Hell, still can’t. Sometimes, you just know. It’s like an energy or an air binding you together before your logical brain can catch up. ”

  “When we met, I was covered in blood and unconscious,” I say, raising an eyebrow.

  “Hey, I didn’t say it made sense,” he laughs. “You’ve always felt like home.”

  I can’t help but smile, but his words suddenly remind me of the exchange I had while on my trials.

  “I feel like home?” I reiterate.

  Trae’s eyebrows tug in, but his dimples flash, “Well, yeah.”

  “It was you—” I gasp.

  “Me? What was me?”

  “You were, Something, weren’t you? The one who visited me in my mind while I was on my trials.” I say.

  His eyes widen, “That—that was real? I thought it was just made up; something in my head while I was stuck there.”

  “It wasn’t—you found a way to reach me.” I say.

  My heart warms at the thought of Trae realizing the connection between us before I even knew connections like this existed—and he even found a way to reach me when his mind wasn’t even his own.

  Trae slams his eyelids shut, and shakes his head.

  “Are you okay?” I say, lifting myself up.

  “Yeah, I’m—it’s okay Runa. I just,” he licks his lip, “I still have this—intruder in here. Mostly he’s locked away, but sometimes he—I don’t want him to taint anything. Not now.”

  Ever since Trae came out of the Helix, he’s been the man I remember. There’s been none of the previous signs of strangeness. It’s been so easy to forget he’s still struggling with the AirGlider inside him.

  “Are you—are you alright? Is he fighting you?” I ask.

  “No, nothing like that. He’s just acting like my conscience and I don’t need one of those right now,” he says, rolling his eyes.

  I tug my eyebrows in, concerned.

  “Don’t make that face. It’s nothing bad. He just—he thinks we’ve spent enough time away,” Trae says.

  “Do you hear him all the time? Did you—during?” I ask, unable to help myself.

  Trae sits up completely. The soft blanket falls to his waist in the motion as he twists to look me in the eye.

  “No. He—we were alone,” he says.

  “How do you know?” I ask.

  “Because I do. It was,” he raises a hand and scratches the back of his neck, “it was a request of mine. I needed him to get the hell outta the way and stay there.”

  Trae’s brows pull in as his lips tug downward. His eyes plead with me and I know he means what he says. Taking a deep breath, I nod.

  “He’s not wrong, though. As much as I’d like to stay here with you in this beautiful bubble, we need to figure out our next move,” Trae says.

  Taking a deep breath, I let all my air out slowly. I hate to go—we haven’t had nearly enough time together. And if what comes next is as big as I fear—

  “Okay, how about we get dressed and we figure out our next course of action. There has to be another way out of here,” I say trying to hide the disappointment welling up inside me.

  Trae leans forward, kissing my cheek. Without a word, h
e slips out of the bed and disappears into the allayroom.

  Laying back in the bed, I take another long inhalation and blow it out.

  The more I try to push Trae’s naked body from my mind, the more it becomes front and center. The memory melds with the moments in the trial where I felt him behind me. Giving in to this urge is what allowed me to pass the first trial. Hunger. Desire. It fueled everything from the start.

  So why does it feel so unyielding now?

  “I’m sorry, Runa. I didn’t even say thank you for healing me,” Trae says as he enters the room. He buttons the top of his new shirt, sauntering to the table with an air of confidence about him. He’s always been strong and confident before—but it’s slightly different now. I don’t know that I have a word for it.

  “You don’t have to thank me. I wish I’d been able to do it sooner,” I say.

  “So, did you see anything new in the Caudex?” he says, taking a seat.

  I clutch the blanket for a second, unwilling to let the moment fully pass. Nodding to myself, I push up to a stand in one quick motion. The blanket falls from my body and I walk to the doorway where my clothing lays in a heap on the floor. Trae inhales quickly, and I smile to myself before grabbing them and turning around.

  “No, nothing new, but I was looking over what it was saying about the trials. Trying to piece together what the trials meant. Or what they were leading up to before I deviated from them,” I say, walking to the allayroom with the still damp pile in my arms.

  “And?”

  “And I think everything was tying in elements from the five factions,” I say, finding some dry clothes in the allayroom closet. I pull on my undergarments and walk back into the other room?

  “Factions?” Trae asks, his eyes caressing my body the way his hands had not long ago.

  Tugging on my new trousers, I say, “The Four Pillars, and humans. I think its about embracing pieces of each. That’s why they’re giving me power. I’m also beginning to think Videus knew more about the prophecy than he originally let on.”

  Trae’s eyebrows flick upward.

  “Really? Why’s that?” he says.

  I slide into my new top, a soft, pleasant button up shirt with a neckline that accentuates my collarbone. The purple fabric feels like a second skin—so smooth. Placing my crystal necklace on is the finishing touch.

  Trae watches my every move, those handsome dimples emerging.

  I grin at him, and take the seat beside him.

  “When I was in the future, at least I think it was the future—Ammon and I stumbled on a garden of sorts. There were snow sculptures in the courtyard. Only, it wasn’t really snow. They were made from blood. People Videus had killed who fit the profile in the bloodlines leading back to me,” I say. “The Caudex has mentioned in a veiled way—something about buried shards. I think that’s what it means. Something gifted through the bloodlines.”

  Trae scratches the top of his blue head.

  “Interesting theory.”

  I tip my head to the side, “You don’t believe me.”

  “It’s not that. It’s just— doesn’t it seem a little implausible? I mean, how does one send ‘shards’ through bloodlines?”

  “How do I have powers? Why do others Videus has captured have powers?” I say, thinking back to the group that escaped the Helix.

  Trae shrugs, “I honestly got nothing. Point taken.”

  I crook an eyebrow in appreciation for my reasoning, though I can’t fully explain it. It’s something I simply feel—a knowing since the snow sculptures.

  “Thanks,” I grin. “Now, if I can just figure out what I’m meant to do with all of this power—It’s obviously been gifted down to do something important. But the trials are what determines the Beacon. Without the mark, the Beacon doesn’t ignite. So, the powers…They have to be something else. A fail safe?” I say, brainstorming aloud.

  “What if it’s just a side-effect?” Trae says pragmatically.

  “So you don’t think it was meant for anything?” I sit up straighter.

  He shrugs.

  “It’s not so much that I don’t think it’s meant for something more. Just that humans, we don’t have any kind of power on our own. But these, what did you call ‘em again? Pillars? Those guys did. If their essence, or shard, or whatever is in your blood, maybe it’s just a simple reaction to it.”

  I bite my lip.

  “That makes a certain amount of sense, I guess,” I say.

  “You sound disappointed?”

  “No. Well, yes. Maybe a little. It’s just—I have this gift, so to speak, and I have an incredible urge to make sure it’s used. But for the right reasons. You know?”

  “Sure,” he says, nodding.

  “Really?”

  “Don’t sound so skeptical. I get it. You’re looking for meaning in all this. It makes sense.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way before,” I say, grinning.

  “Leave it to me, I make mud—uh, clearer mud,” he says, scrunching his face.

  I can’t help but laugh. It’s been so long, and feels so good. Even in the midst of all this chaos. In the middle of—who knows what comes next. It’s nice to have someone near who can still make me laugh.

  “Okay, so what else?” he says. “You were saying Videus might be aware of the prophecy. Is it because he was hunting the bloodlines?” Trae asks.

  “Yes. I don’t think he has all of the pieces, though. Otherwise, he would have done something to stop the Beacon. And wouldn’t he know where the Acropolis is?” I say.

  “From what I’m gathering—he knows about both, but like us a little bit ago, he’s just unsure of where they are. Maybe he was hoping you’d—”

  Trae’s face goes white, and his smile drops.

  “What? What is it?” I ask, standing up.

  Traeton goes completely unresponsive—his face like stone.

  I grab hold of his shoulders and shake.

  “Trae? Traeton Revasco—”

  After a moment, he blinks wildly.

  “We—we need to go, Runa. There’s—”

  Suddenly, the rocky cavern wall shivers, and a hologram hiding a stairwell on the right disappears.

  “Traeton? Runa? What are you doing down here?” Landry asks, shock written across his face as he takes a step into the room. His forehead wrinkles as he recovers, and his hands are filled with supplies.

  Trae’s mouth drops open, but no sound comes out.

  “Landry, we could ask you the same thing. You surprised us,” I say.

  I feel the urgency rolling off Trae. He received a message, or something from the AirGlider—but now’s not the time to discuss it. We need to go.

  Landry shoots a glance from Trae, to me, and back to Trae again.

  “Well, I built this. So—”

  Trae’s eyes widen.

  “This is your place?” he finally says.

  “What’s gotten into the both of you? C’mon, guys. What’s going on? You shouldn’t be here. It’s not ready yet.”

  “Ready? Ready for what?” Trae asks.

  “Habitation, obviously,” he says, making a face. “How’d you get in here? Did Alina let you in?”

  Trae blinks back his surprise, and begins to nod. “Yeah, Alina said it was a surprise and to check it out.”

  I turn to Trae, my cheek twitchy as I narrow my eyes, trying to follow his reasoning. I feel as though there’s information lost in translation happening. It’s been a long time since I felt like this.

  “It’s definitely a nice, uh, place. What made you think to create it?” I ask, trying to keep the mood light.

  “I needed to get away from everything. I don’t know—after Fen—,” his eyes drop to the ground, and his shoulders stiffen, “after losing him, nothing felt right anymore. Everywhere I looked, I saw him. I needed a place I could go that was devoid of his memory. Something new. You know? I needed to tinker.”

  I nod, “Makes total sense.”

  I loo
k around the space. The attention to detail, the amount of work that would have been necessary to make a venture like this happen—it wouldn’t be possible in the mere months since Fenton’s death. This has been in the works for much longer.

  Taking a calming breath, I grab Trae’s hand.

  “Well, I guess we should really be going. We have some people we need to see,” I say.

  Trae nods, “Yes, people.”

  “C’mon guys. I just got here. The least you can do is stay. Have a drink or something. Let me know what you really think of this place. It’s my first attempt at creating something on this scale. Did—er—did you use the bed?”

  Trae’s eyes widen and he turns to me, his mouth open to say something.

  “We did. It sorta happened—um, I’ll just—” I get up, retrieving the blanket from the floor and making an attempt to lay it back the way it was before we arrived.

  “Yeah—I think we’re better off just washing those, Runa. But thanks,” Landry says, placing the items in his hands on the counter.

  “Sure,” I say, pulling everything off and laying them in a crumbled ball.

  Trae places a hand over his face, his red cheeks peeking through his fingers.

  I can’t help but want to laugh. Honestly—I can’t even find it in me to try to hide anything. The absurdity of the situation is too profound.

  Trae grabs hold of the Caudex, shoving it toward me and stepping between Landry and I.

  “We’d really love to stay Landry, but we need to go,” he says, taking a strong, solid stance.

  Landry watches our every move with skeptical eyes.

  “Be my guest,” he finally says, swiping his hand out toward the way he came. “I suppose I should get back to working on that EMP. It’s really been a tough one to crack the right frequency. The builder of the Helix really thought of everything.”

  “Yeah, you’ll have to fill us in on that one soon,” Trae says, oddly agitated. “Sorry, really wish we could stay longer.”

  He takes my hand and starts walking toward the newly revealed exit. Tucking the Caudex under my left arm, I grip his hand tightly.

  “Yeah, no worries. I guess,” Landry mutters, shaking his head.