Rylan's Heart

by Serena Simpson

  He felt the tilt of the Matra’s head as he examined the olive branch. Looking for a way to ignore it? He didn’t know so he simply waited. He knew he didn’t have time, but this, the first stage of becoming whole, was more important than who might see him and his weakness.

  Claws appeared at the tips of his fingers. Rylan dipped his head refusing to believe that he might be weak enough to leak a tear at his Matra accepting his olive branch. Together they ran deeper into the cave as he felt his Matra begin to contribute his thoughts and solutions to the problem of fighting Zuhun.

  He came to an abrupt stop when the two parts of him agreed—this was the perfect place for a battle to take place. The cavern was wide; they could feel the power from it feeding them. It was always their special place when they were young. There were several large boulders they could use to mount sneak attacks as well as touch to energize.

  Together they pictured Aviana waiting for them and Gabe walking the floor as he prepared to tell them about self-sacrifice. Then Mckayla’s face came to them. They loved her too and couldn’t wait to have a hand in raising her. The thought of their mate wiping their brow before she kissed it to make sure they were ok brought a ray of hope to their heart. They would win or die trying. Never again would they become a victim.

  Rylan tapped into the power available to him as his body transformed from Arbrin to Matra. They listened as Zuhun entered the cave quietly, moving towards their position.

  The first bolt of fire hit them before Zuhun turned the corner, proving he was both old and skilled. The Matra caught it, shooting it back at Zuhun.

  There was a laugh of victory from Zuhun before he appeared in front of Rylan.

  “Perfect. Your Matra has come out finally. I always wanted both of you. Thank you for bringing him to the party.”

  Rylan threw a white ball of power at Zuhun that spread with contact, coating his shield visible for a few seconds, allowing him to determine how far it spread around his body.

  Zuhun quickly doused his body with black flames and his shield became invisible once again.

  “Whose idea was that? Was it your Matra’s?” He slowly edged to the side of the cave not touching the walls as he moved around Rylan. I see your Matra is the real brains. Your Arbrin half has been struggling for years, not having any real power, simply waiting for the Matra to come out and take over. Now here you are, a slave to your other half. I can help you. I can facilitate the merging of your two halves again so you will feel whole.”

  “Why would you do this?” The words tumbled from the Matra’s mouth sounding rough and unused.

  “So you never have to take a back seat again. You will always be acknowledged in my home. I want both the Matra and the Arbrin. Does your mate want that? Does she even know you exist? He hid you so well I would not blame her for her ignorance. Yet if she claims to love you, she must suspect you exist?”

  Rylan never turned as his shoulders drooped. His mate should suspect his Matra existed. She should love him as much as she loved the Arbrin. Did she see them as Arbrin and Matra? Would she leave when she realized he was two beings and not one?

  A bolt of energy came at him back; he flipped to meet it with a bolt of his own. The two met midair and fought for power. Circling each other, looking for a weak spot to attack and annihilate each other, they both fizzled into nothing.

  “Why do you fight, Matra? I will win.”

  “What would you do to me if I surrendered to you?”

  “I would not torture you if that is what you are asking. If you surrender, I know you are willing to be with me and you will want the same thing I want. I will satisfy all your needs and teach you to need what I need. Together we could be amazing.”

  A bolt of electricity came for him. It was shaped like a cord. He ducked behind a boulder as it hit and gave a shriek, sliding down the boulder and twisting in pain on the cavern floor before it winked out of existence.

  “You would seek to collar me?” the Matra demanded in surprise.

  “No, I simply wish to make your surrender easy so you do not feel like a failure.”

  Rylan grunted his anger. The shot he sent out this time wrapped around Zuhun and pulled him up from the cave floor entrapping him. With a screech, Zuhun began cutting into the cords that bound him until he fell onto the cave floor.

  “No more chances, Matra. I will capture you and that Arbrin and together you will suffer.”

  A bolt of light hit Rylan, the pain radiating from his shield to his body. His knees buckled forcing him to hit the ground. The look of grim satisfaction on Zuhun’s face pulled him back to his feet.

  The next attack came; he caught it holding the burning bolt in his hand and tugged Zuhun closer to him before he broke the connection.

  A roar escaped Zuhun as he moved from the ground and hovered in the air.

  “A weakness, Zuhun? How many more do you have? I will discover them all, and when I do I will eradicate you.”

  Rylan opened his hand and the flames were yellow with a red center. He brought them up to his lips and blew, shooting them at Zuhun. A scream of pain followed as the flames devoured his shield.

  “Don’t fight it,” Rylan said, standing tall. “Allow it to kill you the easy way, Zuhun. Anything after this will be much harder.”

  Engulfed in flames, Zuhun twisted in pain and fury. “This isn’t over, Rylan. Now I want more than just you, I want your whole family.”

  Zuhun disappeared leaving Rylan alone in the cave. He sank to his knees as the pain from the fight invaded his body. The blasts he took were now seeping with blood. No longer able to hold himself up, he collapsed on the cave floor knowing he needed to get back to his body.

  Rylan heard his Arbrin side whisper in his mind. They needed to leave but the Matra refused to move or give up control of their shared body.

  “She’s ours,” the Matra stated. “Not yours, not mine, but ours. I want to be there with her also, to feel her soft hands and to rejoice that we have been given a soul-bond with such generous curves. I know I, we do not deserve her, but that does not change the fact that she is ours.”

  “I know. You’re right, she is ours as we are hers. I have not told her, but I suspect she knows. She knows me in some ways that are better than I know myself. We will tell her, and then we will show her. She will accept you because you are a part of who I am.”

  The Matra lowered his guard and the Arbrin followed. They walked around each other at first but the urge to become whole was in their eyes. Two spirits, designed to be one from birth, merged for the first time since they were captured by Xolon too many years ago to remember. Like layers of steam, they dissolved into each other knowing they would never be pulled apart again.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Rylan opened his eyes to find he was still bound to the table in the attic. A brief scan of the room let him know Zuhun was not around. His body shook as it tried to become reacquainted with what it felt like to be whole.

  His claws popped allowing him to reach backwards and slice the remaining energy beams holding him in place. He would have given a chuckle at Zuhun’s last ditch efforts if the situation was funny. Instead he needed to focus on moving. He was so weak, if Zuhun came back before he was gone it may not matter that he was the victor of the last confrontation.

  The effort to sit up wracked his body with pain. Ignoring the ache in his midsection, he used his claws to break the beams at his legs. Carefully, he slid off the table to the floor.

  He knew better than to try to stand and crawled slowly to the door. The very essence of the house tried to drain him, keep him until its master returned. His arm shook as he reached up, turning the handle. With deep breaths, he pulled the door open and prepared his body to roll down the steps. Time was of the essence. He curled into a ball and felt every bump and bruise as his hip bones hit the steps knocking the breath out of him.

  From the bottom of the steps, all he had to do was crawl through the living room, the foyer, through the stench of d
eath and decaying body parts. Once he managed to escape off the porch, he’d worry what to do next.

  Hands reached out to grab him. Pulling into himself, he reached for his reserve to find he used everything he had on the last energy burst he fired at Zuhun. He needed his mate, but he was blocking her so he didn’t drain her dry.

  “Rylan,” her soft voice whispered in his ear.

  “Aviana?” Feeling her at the bottom of the stairs shocked him. She had come for him.

  “I’m here, so is Gabe, Vick, and Selma. Don’t fight; let us get you out of here.”

  He forced his eyes open to see her face hovering over his, a weak smile playing on her lips and suspiciously bright brown eyes.

  “Aviana,” he murmured one last time before he lost consciousness.

  The drive home was long as she slid her hands up and down his body that continued to shiver. She took a cloth from her purse and wiped his face and his forehead trying to get some off the dirt off of him. He looked like he had gone through hell.

  She gave a sigh of relief as the bed and breakfast finally came into view.

  “Aviana, we’ll carry him up to the room,” Gabe said, indicating he and Victor. She nodded and moved back.

  Nervous energy zinged through her body as she followed them upstairs. He had been hurt protecting them. That’s what he was, a protector but now he was hers and she would protect him. No more lone wolf antics for him, her heart couldn’t take it.

  Victor walked out the room rubbing her shoulder as he went by. When she walked into the bedroom, Gabe was still in there pulling of Rylan’s boots. She hurried over to the bed and helped him. They stripped him down to his boxers.

  Gabe came over to her and engulfed her in a tight hug. “He’ll be fine. He has you to take care of and to live for.”

  He gave her a kiss on the cheek before he left. She would have been stunned by this but her eyes were on Rylan.

  Not knowing what to do, she filled a basin with water and began to carefully wash him. His bruises were already healing. It must have something to do with his alien biology. She would stay by his side and nurse him to health for as long as it took.

  With nothing else to do, she cleaned up and changed her clothes finally she slid into the bed next to him and gently held him. He was her strength and she needed to get close to him.

  *~*~*~*

  Rylan woke to a soft touch stroking the side of his face.

  “Aviana?” He brought his hand up to capture hers before he opened his eyes to look into hers.

  She leaned down and hugged him, placing soft little kisses on his face.

  “Where am I?”

  “In my room.”

  “How long was I out?”

  “You were out three days and you were gone four days. So it’s been a week.”

  “Four days?” His voice came out weak and hoarse.

  “Drink some of this. I’ve been forcing it down your throat trying to keep you hydrated.”

  She helped him to sit up in bed and held the glass of water to his parched lips.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, Rylan. You will always be welcome.”

  She met his eyes but he turned away from her causing her to frown.

  “We need to get you well now. I believe that is the first order of business.”

  He gave her a quick smile. “There is so much we have to do. It’s hard for me to believe the fight with Zuhun took four days. That would account for why I was depleted of energy when it was over.”

  “You won, Rylan. No one has spotted him since then.”

  “He made a strategic retreat but he’s not defeated. He will be back gunning for me, you, and Mckayla. Then we’ll defeat him together.”

  There was a knock at the door. “Aviana, I brought some food for Rylan, it will help him to recover his full strength.”

  Aviana went to the door and met Selma. “He just woke up.”

  “Gabe felt him wake and let us know. Have him eat this; it will help and of course reconnecting with you will charge him completely.”

  She gave Selma a smile and took the tray with a thank you before she walked back into the room.

  What was wrong? Why couldn’t he meet her eyes? He did it. He was victorious so why was he acting like he had something to hide?

  She walked back into the room pasting a smile on her face, wondering what would happen now. She could simply look into his mind. It wasn’t like he could hide it from her, still it felt like an invasion of privacy and she wanted him to trust her enough to tell her.

  “Let me help you.” She set the tray down over his legs and began feeding him spoonsful of the thick soup.

  He ate in silence until he felt strong enough to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

  “Aviana, I think there were somethings I neglected to tell you about the soul-bonding. Not so much the soul-bonding but about myself. I want to say I forgot or something else just as lame, but the truth was I didn’t know how you would receive me if you knew.”

  She nodded and moved to the end of the bed putting her back against the footboard as she crossed her legs and focused on him.

  “You know what happened on my planet and that there were two dominant species. You also know that the two became one. All that I have told you is true, but I didn’t go far enough. We’re not just one, we share this body. What you see before you is the Arbrin, but the Matra has as much right as I do to the body.”

  She stared at him not saying anything.

  He stood. “I should have done this before I allowed you to agree to soul-bond with me.

  With a look at his naked body, he turned it over to the Matra. His body stretched and grew; the claws he used to cut the energy bands now were in sight.

  “This is who I am.” The deeper voice of the Matra came out rolling through his body.

  “You’re an alien.”

  “Yes, but you already knew that much.”

  “You’re an alien shape shifter?”

  What did he expect her to do? Should she throw her arms around him and tell him it was all right?

  Instead she walked into the bathroom leaving his Matra standing there. She didn’t want to punish his Matra, but she needed time.

  Anger at him simmered in her blood. He should have told her, not just sprung it on her after there was no going back. Didn’t he say there was no divorce in a soul-bonded relationship?

  She turned around to find his Matra standing in the same place. She walked up to him and planted her fists into his chest.

  “You had no right to take my choice away! Do you know how that makes me feel? Now you will never know if I accepted you because I accept you or because I had no other choice.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry isn’t good enough.” She pounded on his chest allowing tears of frustration to flow down her face. “Relationships are made of trust and honesty. I don’t care what you are or what you do, if you can’t be honest with me there will be no relationship. Your divorce rule won’t mean a thing to me.”

  “How did you discover me?”

  “What makes you think I knew you existed?”

  “Your anger isn’t based in shock. You’re mad that it took me this long to show myself.”

  “I’ve known since we soul-bonded. I was shown both of you before I made the final decision to enter into the bond with you. Then I waited, wondering how long it would take you to tell me. Instead, you traded your life for the girls. I wondered how I could be upset with such a gracious move and yet I was furious. It was like you were running away from your responsibilities.”

  “The Arbrin and I were not in agreement on anything. I felt like I was worlds away from him. A distance that seemed insurmountable.”

  “What changed?”

  “In the end, I believe it was our mother who placed this bond in us that allowed us to pull ourselves together. We still have a long way to go but I am here to stay. I wish to spend time with you. Is that acceptable
?”

  Such a simple question. Was it acceptable? She had seen him from Rylan’s memory. His Matra was as fierce as the Arbrin. Together they made a powerful enemy. She could already see them merging, becoming one again. He would be a sight to see when the merge was completed. Did she want to miss that?

  Did she want to give up on the relationship she was forming with him? Lose the laughter he brought to her lips, the feeling of being protected when he was around? Did she only want to get to know half of him? Or did she want to get to know the part of him that wasn’t for the world to see? The darker side that would love her just as much as the light side.

  Her arms slipped around him and she planted a kiss on his chest. Yes, it was acceptable. She wanted to know him as much as she wanted to know the Arbrin.

  “What about Mckayla?”

  “I would never hurt her and wish to get to know her also, with your permission.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I want to spend time with you and I want you to get to know Mckayla. This way we can be a real family.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him before he picked her up. He took her into the front room and sat on the couch holding her in his arms.

  Lowering his head, he ran his cheek against her. The feel of him calmed her down. The feelings of safety and love overcame her. She allowed her hands to flow over his arms feeling the muscles that bulged there.

  “What’s it like to be two different entities in the same body?”

  “I don’t think it’s any different for us than for you. What if you were drawn to two different things? You enjoy playing baseball while also desiring to be a ballet dancer. Two different beings in one body.”

  “Like having a face you show to the world but having one you only let those you trust see?”

  “Yes. You understand?”

  “I do. I spent my life presenting one side of myself to everyone. The side I thought would be accepted. The side that was different, scary, and unconventional I kept hidden until I finally came here. That’s when I realized everyone here wasn’t hiding who they were; they accepted it and kept moving.”