by Rena Marks
“Robyn says you pulled the energy from Everly. At the same time things were going crazy here, it was going crazy on their end. Everly went still—frozen into a trance. Her DNA has bits of Thane merged with her—and he pulls electricity from the air. That’s what you were using. Thane’s surge. He could feel it going into Everly and disappearing.”
All Angela cared about was Everly’s collapse. “I have to get to her!”
“Okay,” he said, his voice soft as he took in her appearance. “But first we need to clean you up. You’ll scare the hell out of her like that.”
“I can’t shower,” she gasped. “There’s no time.”
“No. Not a shower. We’re going out onto the balcony where it’s still clean.”
He looped her shaking fingers through his. Once she was outside, she realized how much the house stank of blood and sweat. The salty tang cleared out of her nostrils instantly and she heaved in lungfuls of fresh, clean air.
“The cavalry’s here,” a voice whispered from the bottom.
“A bit late,” Zee growled.
“Geez, dude. Your girlfriend kept you safe.”
“Pussy.” Another voice snickered.
Someone tossed up a small, zippered, cloth-covered bag. Zee caught it with one hand. Inside was a tiny canister. He sprayed the substance over himself first.
All bits of foreign DNA—blood, skin, cells—hardened and dropped from him like crunchy cellophane, and leaving him dry underneath it all. He turned to her and sprayed her liberally. She watched as the same thing happened. Then he lifted her into his arms, where she curled her head onto his shoulder.
He leapt over the balcony.
Down at the bottom, there was a crew of four Xeno Sapiens.
“They’re the clean-up crew,” he whispered softly against her hair. “The rental car they brought along will take you back to the gates of Xenia, where you’ll go see Everly, all right?” His words barely made sense to her. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t focus. Couldn’t concentrate.
Everly. Yes, Everly needed her.
“And I’ll be there for you shortly,” he continued, in a soft, soothing voice.
She nodded.
“You’ll be all right? You know I was baiting you, right?” A soft, soothing voice. So unlike the voice he’d taunted her with that triggered the bloodbath. Good god. Was he trying to not get her riled? Or was he frightened of her now?
She refused to let him see that it bothered her that he might think less of her. She was a trained killer. She lifted cold eyes to him. “I’m fine.”
His gold eyes pierced her. “I know,” he murmured. “And nothing’s changed. I still love you.” He hauled her to him and kissed her soundly. “I still crave you. I still own you, my mate.”
Chapter Fourteen
“A ngela? You doing okay?”
The rental car had pulled up at the front gates of Xenia, but she sat inside for several minutes. What would she find in medbay? What if she’d harmed her sister? She thought she’d gotten used to living without Everly once, but would she be able to do it again?
“Angela?” Dimly, she became aware of the voice calling her name. She focused to see Renegade peering into the window.
“Come on,” he said softly. “We’ll take you to your sister.”
He stepped back from the open car door to show Steele next to him. She stepped from the car to watch it close and speed away, and then they took her through the main gate, bringing her a small tablet to affix her signature to. She remembered her reason to return, marking it down swiftly, and handed the tablet back. Then she entered the scanning chamber and allowed the small disc to rotate her slowly under the whirring lights.
On the other side, Renegade waited for her while Steele pulled up in a land-shuttle. She and Renegade sat on the bench seat behind Steele.
“Are you okay?” Renegade asked.
“Yes. I’m fine. A little discombobulated, I guess. How’s Everly?”
“She seems like she’s just resting. Not twitching or crying out or anything like that. Thane’s with her.”
She nodded.
“I want you to know, Zee didn’t want to taunt you like that. But we talked him into it. We knew it was the quickest way to rile your anger. We just didn’t expect that much anger.” Renegade winced. “He loves you.”
She smiled at him, even though it was a bit wobbly.
The shuttle pulled up at the main gates and Renegade hopped out before she did, helping her with an extended hand. He walked her through the main hub and down to the medical wing.
He stopped before one of the rooms and opened the door, beckoning her through, and closed the door behind her.
Her sister was unconscious in a bed, raised to a half-sitting position. Thane sat at her side. Everly’s hand was clutched in his.
He looked up when she entered. “You’re back,” he said.
“I’m back.” She never looked away from Everly.
The doors opened behind her as Robyn and Amanda came into the room behind her.
“I forgot about Zee,” Thane said, shaking his head as if he just realized how Angela got there.
“Someone else will help Zee over the wall,” Robyn said to Thane. “Renegade and Steele are on it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay.”
There was no way he was leaving his mate.
“We haven’t done anything other than to scan her, which shows nothing wrong,” Amanda said. “But if it goes too much longer, we’ll have to put her on monitored support to notify us if she stops breathing. And on feeding tubes to make sure she gets nutrition.”
“It’s not necessary,” Angela whispered, a slight tingling in her limbs now that she was this close to Everly. “I know what’s going on.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” Angela took a deep breath. “I’m not sure how I know, but everything’s clear as a bell.”
Robyn’s voice was soft. “It’s because the two of you are man-made twins, isn’t it? Crested Ute took you from one zygote and made two, but you can still feel the original being you came from. Your sister. I found some records—though neither of you were ever named. They considered that was why the cells didn’t split evenly—why subject one had the psychic abilities and you had none. Later, they thought to manipulate you to see if they could open those aspects in your brain manually.”
“I always allowed Everly to have the abilities. Somehow, even as a child, I suspected they’d experiment on me. But when I was terrified they were going to take Zee, I telepathically yanked them from her. No warning. Just took them from her mind. Now she needs them back to be whole.”
“How will you put them back?” Thane growled. Even from the edge of her bed, she could sense his protectiveness.
“I don’t think it would have been possible to grab them before now,” she said. “But now that she has some of your DNA, the electricity manipulation gave us the added push that we needed. So I just need that electrical conduit to put it back in.”
“Do you want to wait for Zealish to get here?”
“No,” Angela smiled. “I need my baby sis to wake up right away. She’s locked inside there, and it’s a scary place without me.”
“What do you need from me?” Thane asked.
“Just give me your hand.”
He reached out, palm up. She placed her fingertips on his and felt the electrical flow. She inhaled deeply, letting the energy flow through her, building pressure.
“Okay,” she murmured. “Come here, baby girl.”
She placed her tingling hand onto Everly’s bare ankle. As soon as their skin connected, Angela felt a shrieking in her mind. Everly’s shrieking, but somehow it was hers, too. Yes, all this ability had been suppressed for so long, it had lodged into a permanent location deep within Everly. But Angela borrowing it had left a huge, raw hole where the power should have been. Poor Everly couldn’t deal with the missing piece of herself, even if she didn’t use it. Or didn’t want it.
<
br /> Angela’s eyes snapped open as soon as the shrieks ended.
Everly’s eyes opened at the same time.
“You’re here. You’re really here.” Everly smiled slowly, her smile a little shaky.
“I couldn’t leave you for long. Look at all the trouble you get into with me gone!” Angela chided, a smile spreading on her face.
“Don’t you leave me again,” Everly said, her face sobering. “I can’t stand it.”
“Never. I promise.”
“I mean it, Angela. They had you locked up. They could have killed you.”
She rubbed Everly’s ankle. “I know. If it wasn’t for Zee, I might have been a goner for sure.”
“Where is he?” Everly said.
“Still getting here. Someone else is helping him up the wall.”
“Are you hurt? He promised he’d bring you back safely.”
“He took the utmost care of me, Everly. Just like when he was in his primordial phase.”
“You’re going to stay with him, then?”
“If he’ll have me.”
“Oh, he’ll have you,” Everly said. “It’s just a matter of making him work for it.”
“He’s arriving,” Thane announced.
It wasn’t too much longer before the door opened behind Angela. Her senses prickled to awareness as Zee slipped inside, staying completely behind her, but so close she could sense his warmth just a hair’s breadth from her. So close she could lean into his chest and have his arms wrap around her. But she sensed he was waiting for a signal.
“You were gone a long time,” Everly said.
“The last few days were by choice,” Angela said, winking at her sister. “Besides, I was kind of getting my freak on.”
Zee pressed up behind her and placed a kiss on her neck. Angela could only imagine he purposely did it for Everly’s sake, to show their new status.
Everly narrowed her eyes at the man who stood behind Angela. “She’s unharmed, right?
“Well, uh, mostly,” he said, brushing some of the dirt off her arm. “I mean, she’s tough. She has a little scratch on her shoulder…”
“Scratch?” Angela said, turning her head. “Zee, you dug out a poisonous pouch from my flesh with your dirty claws! I probably have an infection…”
“My apologies,” he said, curling his face into her neck as he spun her around. “I thought you liked it dirty. Didn’t you say you were getting your freak on?”
“Impromptu surgery is not my thing,” Angela said, though she snuggled a bit deeper into his arms. They were so warm and strong around her.
“Let’s get you into the next room,” Robyn said. “I’ll run a quick scanner over you and check out that injury.”
Angela didn’t object as Zee pulled her along, plopping himself onto the bed and pulling her sideways onto his lap. He yanked apart the seams of her clothing to expose her shoulder while she held her hair to the side so Robyn could scan the wound.
“Nothing’s trapped inside,” Robyn said, as the scanner hummed. “I’ll flush it and infuse it with a rapid healing agent.”
After she was done, Robyn turned to Zee. “I assume your arm is already healed?”
“Yep.” He grinned, showing her the slight scabbing that was left.
“So not fair,” Angela grumbled.
“I’ll remember not to let you get hurt in the future, sweet mate,” he said. “By the way, Robyn, I’m not annulling my mateship.” His voice came out a low growl.
“I figured,” Robyn said, her voice mild. Then she took the upper hand. “Too late, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Angela asked.
“You probably should have upped your birth control before you left.”
The scanner was humming along Angela’s abdomen.
Neither she nor Zee could speak for a moment. “You mean…I’m pregnant?”
“Yep,” Robyn said. “HCG level is much higher than normal.” She opened the door and called out. “Someone get Irina in here.”
Chapter Fifteen
A ngela had seen the lovely blond doctor who was mated to Blaze around the facilities. Everyone knew her specialty was fertility and there would be no doubts in anyone’s mind as to why she’d been called. But then again, it wasn’t like a secret that could be kept for long.
Robyn left them alone while they waited for her.
“I’m sorry,” Zee said, bringing her fingers up to kiss. “For everything I said at the house.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re just saying that now because I’m carrying your little munchkin.”
“I’m saying it because I love you. I’ve always loved you and I don’t want you to feel like you’re second best, because nothing could be farther from the truth. And in my defense, I did warn you I was going to knock you up.”
“But in one day, Zee? I wanted to at least enjoy swimsuit weather.”
There was a soft knock at the door before a blond poked her head in, then entered fully, Robyn right behind her.
“Hello, Angela,” Irina said softly. “I’m Doctor Irina Mescar, though you’re welcome to use my first name. I rounded up some files on Zee’s physiology before I came. Unfortunately, he’s one of the Xeno Sapiens we don’t have a lot of information on. Most of the records were destroyed during their rescue. However, you are in one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world and anything that might arise, we’ll deal with.”
Angela took a deep breath. “So we’re going into this blind?”
“Not really. Did I mention we have the best staff anywhere?” She smiled. “And no matter what, no matter where, birth is a natural process. It’s amazing how humans and Xeno Sapiens adapt. You’ll see.”
“Any ideas as to how long she’ll be pregnant?” Robyn asked. “I was full term at twelve weeks.” She turned her head to speak to Angela. “We thought I was having a miscarriage, but instead, it was Kaden’s birth.”
“Could I be that lucky?” Angela breathed.
Irina laughed. “In your case, I don’t think so. Mostly because there were differences in Robyn’s pregnancy and yours. Though she didn’t know, Kaden was able to communicate telepathically from the womb. And we could detect a heartbeat immediately. In your case, there’s no heartbeat present, we’re detecting pregnancy from your raised hormonal levels. So more than likely, your pregnancy is following a human timeline which leads to forty weeks, not twelve.”
Zee lifted her hand to kiss. “Just gives you more time to relax and get used to being pregnant.”
“It’s a miracle,” Dr. Irina said. “Everything will go smoothly. You’ll see.”
“I’m not sleeping in the den.” Angela glared at Zee.
He outright laughed at her. “I have an apartment. You have an apartment. I’ll still move in with you so you can be next to Everly.”
“Let’s set up your first appointment for a week from now,” Irina said. “We’ll monitor you weekly at first to see if we can determine the guidelines.”
“What are the chances that Zee’s people have like…oh say, an eighty-six week pregnancy?”
“It’s possible.” Irina agreed with a smile. “But honestly, I’m not sure our human physiology would allow that. I think our bodies would take over and shorten that time frame to adapt to what we need.” She patted Angela’s knee. “You’re going to be fine. Trust me.”
Everly was waiting for her when they left Irina’s office. She squealed and threw herself into Angela’s arms, her palm on her sister’s belly. “I’m so excited! I can’t wait, I swear I can’t.” She grinned up at Zee. “If I had known you’d be able to knock my sister up, I swear I would have woken you up from the coma myself. I’d have sent you after her with my blessing.”
“Huh. Instead of the dire warnings of death?”
“Well, we can just pretend that never happened,” Everly said, waving her hand as if he was being dramatic. “After all, we’re family now.”
“I rounded up some guys,” Thane said to
Zee. “We can move you into Angela’s apartment today.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Everly said. “We’ll have lunch. Go visit Winnie and let her know maternity clothes will soon be in order. Maybe even catch some rays while Angela can still fit in a bikini.”
“No,” Thane and Zee both snapped. “No swimsuits.”
Angela studied Zee. Surely he couldn’t have heard that she and Everly used to sunbathe while he was in a coma? Who might have mentioned that?
Zee narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure we’ll be done after you have lunch and visit the clothing store.”
“If you’re sure…” Everly said, kissing Thane.
Angela threw herself into Zee’s arms. His lips were warm and she couldn’t get enough of kissing him. Everly had to pull her away by tugging her arm. As they walked, she could feel Zee’s gaze on her.
She looked back over her shoulder to see what the guys were talking about.
“We’re going to tell the guys no goofing around. We need to make this move in twenty minutes flat,” Thane was saying. “Have you seen Everly’s teeny bikini? And it’s Angela’s same size,” he warned. “You know how they share clothes.”
So that was the rat who was sharing info with Zee.
Next to her, Everly laughed. “Got them all worked up, huh?”
“Oh, are they,” she laughed, twining her arm with her sister. “I’ll bet they’re going to double the amount of help to the point where no one fits in the apartment.”
“I just love keeping them on their toes,” Everly said. “Know what I was thinking about for names? It’d be really cute if it’s a boy to use any names that start with the letter Z. And if it’s a girl, any names that start with A. What do you think?”
“It’s cute,” Angela agreed. “I’ll see what Zee thinks.”
“Zee thinks the sun shines out of you and he’ll do anything you want,” Everly said. “I already know it.”
