Fandare (The Complex Book 0)

by M. Stratton

  When I saw Fandare start to peel the woman off him, I knew he was coming for me. I couldn’t get more distracted than I already was; I had to search Soncel’s quarters. Standing up, I placed a hand on Duce’s shoulder. “Let’s move. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  Without a word, he stood and followed me out of the bar without question. As soon as we were out of sight, I turned to him. “Thank you for everything. I know I can trust you, and you have no idea how much that means to me.”

  “One of these days you’re going to tell me what you’re running from. Maybe I can help you.”

  “I learned long ago I can only count on myself. But know this: you would be the first I’d call for help. All that you are doing for me is helping me immensely. I will never forget this.”

  “Hey, we’ve got to keep each other’s backs safe.”

  “Yes, we do. See you later.” I quickly walked down the tunnel away from him, and as soon as I turned a couple of corners I went into my stealth mode. Besides being highly attractive to everyone, I was also able to go invisible. My one magical power. Well, besides the ones I’d started to acquire since Fandare’s mark had appeared on my back. I was trying to figure out how to use his powers to the best of my ability, and already they had been helping me in my search for the relic. Since I was not able to change people’s physical reactions if they heard something suspicious or strange going on around them, I could calm them.

  There were times I’d walk through the Complex invisible, offering me the chance to observe people and see what they were doing without having to worry about their reactions to me, or what they wanted to do to me. I could simply exist—the only freedom I had in that bubble were forced to live in.

  Quickly I made my way up to Soncel’s quarters and made my entrance with the master key I had swiped soon after we arrived. Systematically, I started to search his personal space, as I had done with all the other Meta rooms. I easily found their hiding places for the things they didn’t want Intra to know about. The quarters were set up the same for everyone. As always, I seemed to stumble upon some interesting information and took out a recording device, careful to document what I saw. I knew at some point I might need to rely on that information if my back were ever pressed farther against the wall. I always liked to make sure I had something to fall back on if I was ever in trouble and needed a way out.

  Carefully I put everything back as I had found it. That was the most important thing about searching someone’s room: you had to make sure nothing was out of place. I was almost done when I heard the click of the reader outside his door. I froze and watched as the door slid open and in walked Soncel. He stood at the entrance and breathed in deep, slowly looking around. My heart sank. I was trapped with one of the most deadly Metas in the Complex. My soul cried out for the loss of my future with Fandare.

  Chapter Five

  FANDARE

  March 7, 6 AS

  The air temporarily shimmered with my anger as I couldn’t contain my magic. She was gone—both of them were. I didn’t know why she felt the need to run from me; she knew I was coming for her. Taking a moment, I inhaled deeply. Finding her scent, I wove my way through the crowd and out the side door where I could tell they had stopped for a few moments before she took off in one direction and he went in the other. I quickly followed her scent around one corner and then the next before it abruptly disappeared. Stopping, I frowned and looked around. Something was wrong. Rapidly I moved up the tunnel, seeking her. Every once in a while I’d catch a hint of her scent. I was on the right path. What was perplexing was trying to understand why her scent would come and go. Before long I was outside on the opposite end of the Complex, furthest from where our quarters were. I spent a few frustrating hours searching everywhere for her, only to come up empty-handed.

  On the way back to my quarters, I stopped by hers. Taking a deep breath, I was able to determine she hadn’t been there since after work earlier. Once I arrived in my quarters, I grabbed my silver bowl and filled it with water. Dimming the lights, I set it down in the middle of the table and focused my magic on her. The water began to shimmer as my magic searched through the Complex for Cyn. Images flashed before me: I saw her at the bar talking with her friend, and then nothing for a few moments before an empty room appeared. It was one of the nicer quarters, but there was no way to tell which dome it was in.

  The door slid open and a gigantic Meta filled the frame. I noticed something in the corner of the room shimmer and go still again. By the way his body tensed, it was clear the Meta knew someone was in there, and I had a feeling it was Cyn and my protective instincts kicked into high gear. I reached out with my magic to attempt to relax him, hoping he wouldn’t blindly attack the air and end up striking her. It would have been easier if I were closer, but I tried to draw deeper into the room and make him want to lie down in his bed. If he went to sleep, Cyn wouldn’t be found out. I could see the Meta’s shoulders start to relax, and he took a stumbling step into the room. As soon as there was enough room to get out the door, I saw the shimmer move and race out of the room before the door closed. She was safe; that was all that mattered.

  Although the urge to go to her quarters and confront her was strong, I wasn’t the impulsive one—that was Lucian. I was thinking about the endgame. I wanted Cyn, and that meant I had to figure out what she was doing and how I could help. She didn’t know what was about to hit her, and there was no way she was going to be able to say no to me.

  Chapter Six

  CYN

  March 8, 6 AS

  I didn’t let go of the breath I had been holding until I was safely back in my quarters. Once the door slid closed behind me, I collapsed against it, my knees gave out, and my butt hit the ground hard. That was the closest I had come to getting caught since I’d been there. I thought for sure the beast would destroy me, but I’d survived another day.

  Slowly I got up and walked over to my hidden drawer. I opened it up and took out my book, crossing another Meta name off the list. With every name removed, the stakes grew higher. Each time, my mind would evaluate the search process I had done, and I worried that I had missed something in one of the quarters. The doubts of the relic even being there grew with each empty-handed search. They could be playing a sick game with me, making me go through all this work, to have hope, only to have it snatched away from me and be sold anyway.

  It was becoming difficult, but I tried hard not to sink into depression—especially as the number of days I had swindled. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was caught. No one was good enough to go that long and not have something bad happen to them.

  I went over to the calendar on the wall and crossed off another day. There was so little time left until I found out if I would have my freedom, or my death.

  Chapter Seven

  FANDARE

  March 8, 6 AS

  I knew what I was doing, and I timed it to when Cyn’s shift was almost over. I walked in with my killer smile and waited for her to frown at me. I wasn’t disappointed.

  “Good evening, my beautiful Cyn. How was your day?”

  Her chest heaved with the weight of her sigh. “Are you going to ask me about the weather next?”

  I couldn’t stop the deep chuckle that rumbled through my chest. “If you’d like to talk about the weather I’d be more than happy to accommodate you, but it does tend to get a tad boring here in the Complex—you know, regulated and all. I do miss the spontaneity of the weather Credea, you know, my home planet. What about you? Do you miss your home planet? What was it again?”

  “No.” She tried to ignore me and wipe down the counter.

  “Okay then, I don’t mean to cut you off when you’re going into so much detail, but are you ready to go out on our date?”

  Slowly she raised an eyebrow before she looked down at her clothes and then back up to me. “I was planning on going back to my quarters first.”

  Bowing slightly at the waist, I smiled at her. “I can escort you
back and wait for you. It’s a lovely evening for a stroll.”

  “You’re not coming in.” She folded her arms across her chest.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” I couldn’t stop the wicked look that filled my face.

  “Fandare...”

  “Cyn. What are you going to do with me?”

  “I’ll leave that to your dreams.”

  “Would you like to know what my dreams are?” I enjoyed teasing her.

  “Oh, hello Fandare,” Halley said. “I’m not used to seeing you here so late. Do you need something?” She pursed her lips as she looked at Cyn and me.

  “Halley, love,” I said. “As you can see, Cyn is getting off and you are just starting. I suggest you take care of your customers. You wouldn’t want them complaining about your performance to Lucian, now, would you?”

  Halley rolled her eyes. “Right,” she said. “Because he’s so great with customer service. There’s a reason we keep him in the back.”

  “And I must commend you on your forethought, keeping him away from the customers.” I knew he could hear me and I was just waiting for it.

  “You want to come back here and say that to my face, brother?” Lucian’s voice carried through the UniBrew.

  “No, brother, I think you should come out here and help your beautiful wife with the evening crowd. You don’t want people to know she does the work and all you do is sit on your— “

  In a flash, Lucian was next to me, growling. It didn’t take much to get under his skin.

  “Spend some time with your wife. Otherwise I’ll begin to think you just don’t care about her anymore, and who knows, maybe I’ll try encroaching on your territory.” I flashed a smile at him.

  The air shimmered with Lucian’s magic and an ominous rumbling echoed around us. I knew just how far to push my luck. Laughing, I reached over to grab Cyn’s hand and pulled her out of the UniBrew. By causing tension with Lucian, it might convince her to leave with me sooner than stay and deal with him.

  Her fingers were curiously still in my hand. I had assumed that as soon as we were through the door she would have fought to break free, but she didn’t. I was quite content to have her hand in mine as we walked into the Alpine dome. The quiet of the snowfall muffled our footsteps. Looking over at her, I saw her blink rapidly to free the snowflakes that were landing on her eyelashes and I was struck with such a strange feeling that in that exact moment everything was perfect. I’d never felt such completion with another person as I had right then and there.

  With the strange feeling coming over me, I didn’t push conversation and just let the silence surround us, simply enjoying her company. When we reached her, quarters I leaned up against the wall next to her door, crossed my ankles and smiled, letting her know I would wait for her until she was done. I didn’t want to break the magic of the moment we had by talking.

  The big question now was how long was it going to take her to get ready. She was either going to be pissed at me for showing up at the UniBrew and take her time getting ready to punish me, or she was going to be excited and be back in front of me quickly. She wasn’t high maintenance—she had a natural beauty that didn’t need any trappings. I was pretty sure she was going to end up falling somewhere in the middle: just long enough to try to make me upset, but not too much.

  What she forgot is that I am Strogi. I would wait forever for her.

  Chapter Eight

  CYN

  March 8, 6 AS

  If there was one thing I hated, it was being predictable. Fandare loved women, which meant that he knew them very well, and I knew he was out there calculating exactly how long it was going to take me to get ready. If I was ready too quickly, he’d know I was looking forward to our date. If I took too long, then I was pissed at something. By that point I figured he’d have it down to the minute I’d appear, anyway, so I might as well just get ready. Since he was a Strogi, I knew he had lived a long time; waiting an hour for a woman was nothing for him. I decided to make us both happy and just take my normal amount of time to get ready. I unbraided my long hair and tipped my head over, running my fingers through it. Flipping it back over, I kept it wild and touched up my makeup, taking extra time to enhance my lips and eyes.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and saw Fandare’s eyebrows twitch before a slow smile spread across this face.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said.

  “I must say, my darling Cyn—you look ravishing.”

  I looked down at my standard-issue uniform and looked back up at him. “This old thing? It was just sitting in the back of my closet.” I hated wearing the clothes that were provided to us, but we all had to. While we were topside, anyway. Most of us had clothes we would wear underground.

  “I guess it is my lucky day.” Fandare offered me his arm and we walked over to the main dome and rode one of the lifts to the upper observation deck.

  As we walked by the blankets piled high, he picked one up before taking me farthest from the entrance. Once he had it all smoothed out, we lay down and he gathered me up in his arms. I used his shoulder as a pillow as the stars streaked across the sky. Their beauty touched my heart, but I had long ago stopped wishing on stars. I think most of the Human race had when they left Earth. Why wish on something you knew had lost its magic?

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had been so close to a man. Feeling his strength next to the length of my body was arousing. As we lay there watching the stars fall from the sky, he absently picked up a lock of my hair and twisted it around his fingers. He made every sensation feel like there was more behind the innocent gesture.

  To simply lie together and watch the display above us made the bonded mark on my back tingle. I knew what I wanted, and all I had to do was give in and be forever bonded to him. But while I wanted nothing more than to be bonded to him, there was more at stake than my happiness. If I didn’t find the relic, there would be no future for us. There would be only pain and eventually death, and I wouldn’t do that to him.

  Wanting to turn from my dark thoughts, I shifted my body closer, reaching my arm around him. I tried to hold onto the moment for as long as I could, even if it was only that one night.

  “The falling stars cannot compete with your beauty,” Fandare said.

  “I bet you say that to all the women.” It didn’t bother me if he had. I knew what his personality was, and I knew what the mark on my back meant.

  I could feel him shrug underneath my head. “Possibly,” he said. “But in your case I truly mean it. I remember when I first saw you. It was our third day here at the Complex. I walked in to see Lucian at the UniBrew and there you were behind the counter. You are smiling and talking to a customer, and right then the light illuminated you perfectly to see every expression on your flawless face. Your voice called out to me with throaty sexiness. I came back every day just to see you. Oh, my beautiful Cyn, every moment that I spend with you is engraved in my heart and I will cherish those memories for longer than forever.”

  I tipped my head to the side. “If you felt that way, why did it take you so long to ask me out?”

  “Don’t you know if you want something so badly, sometimes the thought of not having it is worse than actually going for it? I couldn’t tell if you were interested, and if you weren’t, well, I couldn’t bear the thought.”

  At his words I closed my eyes. They were the words I had never allowed myself to dream I would hear. He was giving me something I wanted—wanted so badly. In the very least, I would have the memory of a night of fun with him.

  Glancing around, I saw other couples similar to Fandare and myself, along with friends hanging out, their faces illuminated by the flashes of the streaking meteors across the sky. I caught sight of Duce and wondered why he was there. Was he doing more research for me or was he looking for someone? He went into the shadows and I waited for him to come out.

  “You’re missing it.” Fandare’s breath caressed my ear.

  I turned to look in
to his eyes. “I don’t think I’m missing anything.”

  He reached his hand over and slowly slid a finger across my cheek and down the side of my neck. “Your face is in my memories, but I’ve never seen you more beautiful than you are right now.”

  “You make me want to believe in happily ever after,” I whispered.

  “I could show you the universe. All you need to do is say the word.”

  At his words I closed my eyes. They were words I never excepted to hear in my life, and he was giving them to me. I wanted to be happy; I wanted it all. I wanted to be bonded to him.

  His body tensed, and in a flash we left the deck and were in my quarters.

  “Why did you keep this from me?” he asked, his voice shaking. “You’re my bonded mate—why didn’t you tell me?”

  Chapter Nine

  FANDARE

  March 8, 6 AS

  I focused solely on Cyn, ignoring the burn that encompassed my back as our bonded mark settled into my skin. I could feel her every emotion as I knew she could feel mine. We were bonded. Everything I had felt since I first saw her clicked into place. I should’ve known better, but the thought had never crossed my mind. Strogi rarely bond with someone outside our Meta group, and Lucian had just bonded with Halley. I never imagined that I would also. But there she was, right in front of me.

  “You knew. You've known for a long time and you never said anything to me. Why?” I demanded answers.

  “You don't understand…I couldn't tell you,” Cyn said.

  “What do you mean you couldn't tell me? Has anything in my makeup ever made you believe that there was anything you couldn’t tell me?”