Kayleb (Mated to the Alien, #6)

by Kate Rudolph

  Which Tessa did not want. At all. Never again.

  Right.

  Anger burst over her as the last remnants of sleep fell away. Tessa pushed herself up from her makeshift bed, towering over Kayleb where he crouched. She balled her fists up and tried to figure out what she was supposed to say. If he hadn’t been in front of the only door, she’d be out of there in a flash, but he had her trapped. “You need to let me go,” she said as calmly as she could manage.

  “I only just found you.” The naked emotion in his voice almost undid her, but the chill and the wind anchored her in place, reminding her of everything that had come to pass.

  “Well isn’t that great for you,” she scowled. “I’ve got actual problems now, and I can’t sit here and babysit you while you try and figure out what you want this time. I’m not letting you... back in and I want you to go.” She’d almost confessed too much, and he didn’t get to know that he’d torn out her heart once before. She’d told him enough.

  Except he wasn’t moving. He stared at her, eyes wide and nostrils flared, his expression absolutely human on a startlingly inhuman face. His sharp cheekbones made him look harsher than he’d ever been, a little too angular for the man she knew—had known. “I can’t let you go,” he said, and this time she had to strain to make it out, his voice oddly flat. “Please.”

  Something inside her chest cracked and Tessa took a step back when all she wanted to do was step forward and hold him close. The anger went out of her and her shoulders slumped. “Go back to your brother and forget about this. I don’t—” the word want you dead on her tongue. For some strange reason she couldn’t lie to him, nor herself, apparently.­

  “You don’t what?”

  KAYLEB WAS FROZEN, crouched in the little room where Tessa had hidden away. He’d followed his instincts and the tug in his heart until the pull brought him here, the decision to find her and offer help made by his soul before his mind could catch up and object.

  She didn’t want him and he barely remembered her. But whatever he’d felt all those months ago was still there, unmoored in his mind, unanchored by knowledge, but still strong and fierce. He couldn’t let her remain in danger while he went about his business like nothing was wrong. He couldn’t leave his denya to suffer while he enjoyed his stolen time without her.

  He didn’t think he could enjoy his stolen time without her. After all, he’d stolen it from her.

  His question hung in the air between them and Kayleb stood slowly. She couldn’t leave unless he moved away from the door and they were both achingly aware of that fact. Her eyes were focused on the unfinished tile at their feet, unable to look at him. He wanted her to, wanted to see what she felt in those deep brown eyes of hers, but he kept his hands to himself, unwilling to touch her if she didn’t want to be touched.

  But he couldn’t walk away, not until she was at least safe. He could offer that much.

  “Please just leave,” she said again, misery in every word. But he didn’t think the misery had to do with his presence.

  “I don’t think that’s what you want.” He’d never been great at reading people, he left that to Krayter. And he knew that Tessa had every reason to want him gone, but his heart demanded that he stay. She was his mate, he couldn’t abandon her.

  Finally, Tessa looked up and the pain and confusion in her eyes pierced his heart. He’d done this to her, unintentionally, but that didn’t matter. He’d put pain in his denya’s eyes until even in her darkest hour she couldn’t bring herself to lean on him. Kayleb swallowed the apologies and promises that tried to spring out of his throat. She’d made her opinions on those clear enough. “I will do anything you wish,” he said, continuing before she could interrupt, “except abandon you again. You need help, and if you will not take me as your—as yours, then please take me as your ally. At least until you are no longer in danger.” He didn’t know what he’d say if she told him to leave once more.

  But finally Tessa took him in, looking at him not as the man who’d abandoned her, but as the one who offered to help. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me,” she said, her gaze dropping back down to the floor, only meeting his eyes for a few seconds. “Not even you.”

  Kayleb didn’t respond to that, there would no argument that could assuage her conscience. If she was going to let him in, she had to make that decision herself. He’d made it as clear as he could that he was willing to take the risk.

  Something from within her bag beeped and Tessa jumped, startling Kayleb. She reached in with efficient movements and silenced the alarm, lips tight. “That’s time,” she said. “This damn thing has to reset.”

  “What thing?”

  She huffed out a breath and hitched the bag over her shoulder, her movements slow, telegraphing exhaustion. If she’d been one of the pit fighters he’d known back home, her match would have been over before she stepped into the metal ring.

  “I think there’s a tracker on this thing,” she said, patting her backpack. She didn’t say what was inside and Kayleb decided to save that question for later. “I have a dampener, but it only has six hours of charge. Every time it turns off, they’re on me again. And they’ve got eyes on every way out of this neighborhood. It’s like I’m in some sort of cage.”

  Them must have included the men he’d seen earlier that day. “Who are they?” He wanted to let the dozens of questions he had about this situation out, but Kayleb forced himself to limit his interrogation to one question at a time lest he spook her. At least she was talking now.

  “Pirates,” she said succinctly. “I don’t have time to explain now.” She surveyed her sleeping nook one last time before nodding, her belongings retrieved and in her pack.

  “Can you toss the tracking device?”

  Tessa gave a hollow laugh. “I’d have done that a week ago if I knew how. I can’t risk destroying...” She shook her head. “Let’s go.”

  Explanations were over, but she wasn’t telling him to get lost. Kayleb would count this as a win for now.

  He followed Tessa over the treacherous path out of the building, his attention divided between looking for threats and making sure he didn’t fall. His legs wobbled as he stepped onto an exposed beam to walk across a large hole in the floor and he shot both arms out wide to keep his balance. Tessa never looked back and for once he was glad that his mate was ignoring him. At least she didn’t see him flailing about like a child.

  Only when they made it to the open stairwell did Tessa glance at him. She said nothing but nodded, as if confirming that he’d made it. There were no railings on the stairs and instead of a wall there was grating to keep people and animals out. It did nothing to stop the wind and the chill, but they both ducked their heads and kept moving to stave off the discomfort. At the bottom of the stairs, Tessa led him away from the gate he’d used to enter to a break in the fencing around the construction site.

  All the while, Kayleb’s senses were on high alert waiting for the threat that his mate said was coming. Her exhaustion and jumpiness were evidence enough that she was on the run. He would have known that even if he hadn’t seen the men chasing her or hunted her down to a place that wasn’t yet fit for anyone to sleep.

  She turned to head south toward the broken down buildings at crime infested streets she’d been sleeping in, but Kayleb reached out a hand, barely brushing her on the arm. She spun around, but he was already pulling back. “I know a place that should be safe for a little while.”

  Tessa narrowed her eyes. She looked over her shoulder and Kayleb’s gaze followed hers, lighting on the boarded up windows of old brownstones and the streets littered with garbage. The sun was just starting to rise and it might as well have been a ghost town.

  “Where?” she asked.

  “There’s a gym with a relaxation chamber. They disable all but emergency communications from an entire floor of the building.” Kayleb had never seen the need for such a thing before, but today it might be just the thing.

 
“Near here?” Tessa was understandably skeptical.

  “Two subway stops away. There’s a whole chain. They’re open twenty-four hours a day.” That part Kayleb had understood and loved. As he’d recovered from his wounds and the listlessness and absence he hadn’t understood until recently set in, he’d needed a place to escape at any moment.

  “They could corner us on the subway.”

  Us. Yes. Kayleb tried to keep the triumph off his face at the first sign that she was going to accept his help. “Then we’d better move quickly.”

  Tessa blew out a breath and nodded. “Fine, let’s go.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THOUGH HER HEART THREATENED to pound out of her chest every second they were underground, they made it to their stop without an incident. Two stops away and it might have been a different world. The streets practically gleamed in this neighborhood and clean, expensive cars hovered in the air around them, the suited passengers on their way to office jobs uptown.

  When they reached R&R Fitness Suites, Tessa let Kayleb do the talking. He’d known about the place and was apparently a member. Though the receptionist gave her a funny look, she let both of them through with a somewhat pointed comment that the showers were on the third floor.

  As they walked down a plushly carpeted hall, the walls lined with marble, Tessa couldn’t help but gape. This wasn’t a gym, it was a resort for the rich who wanted to sweat a little. “How much does this cost a month?” she caught herself asking before she remembered that she wasn’t making small talk with the alien beside her.

  Kayleb shrugged. “I can’t remember. I live further north and go to a different location. It’s not as...” He waved a hand around and she understood his meaning. Not all of the locations were fancy.

  In the elevator he pressed the button for the fourth floor and the lights shifted from the standard yellow to a soft purple. An electronic woman’s voice came over the speaker. “Hello, you have chosen the relaxation suite. Remember that you will not be able to access any communications network outside of the clearly marked communication zone. If you have need of an attendant, use the call button located on the wall of your suite. May your day be invigorating.”

  The elevator opened with a chime and the woman’s voice faded.

  As she stepped out of the elevator, Tessa noticed there was no hint that they were in a super fancy gym. With no windows, the city melted away and they might have been anywhere: a luxury space station, a fine hotel, Kansas. Something deep inside of Tessa unclenched for the first time since she’d set foot on solid ground. She didn’t for a second think that she was actually safe, but the subtle scent of eucalyptus and the gentle glow of the lights lulled her into something like comfort.

  There was no one else in the hallway, and it was early enough in the morning that she could believe the gym was deserted. Kayleb found them a room and entered a code on the panel by the door, waiting for it to slide open and then motioning her inside.

  Once inside, she spotted what looked like a massage table, a plush loveseat, and a rectangle of padded flooring not much bigger than a yoga mat. There was no window, but where a window should have been there was an electronic panel on the wall glowing with faint light, the colors shifting through the rainbow almost imperceptibly.

  Tessa sank down onto the loveseat and tossed her backpack next to her. Kayleb took a second to look around and chose to lean against the wall opposite her. Despite the furniture, the room wasn’t really designed for two people and she could feel him in the air with every breath she dragged in.

  This was a bad idea. She probably should have told him to get lost. But the loveseat was comfortable and the temperature verged on a little warm, a luxurious indulgence after days on the run.

  “So what happened?” Kayleb asked, arms crossed, pose deceptively casual. He’d never said much about what he used to do on the planet he came from but she was beginning to wonder if he had experience in interrogation.

  Tessa thought about her choices, and this time she forced herself to examine them honestly. The pirates were closing in. She’d had enough lucky breaks in the last week to know that she couldn’t last much longer on her own. She’d made no progress in getting the tech to anyone who could do anything with it. All she’d managed to do was evade capture.

  Her bones lay heavy with exhaustion and it weighed down her eyelids. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep for a month, after enjoying a two day long hot shower and a nice bowl of soup.

  If she was going to survive this, she needed help. Kayleb was offering and though something seemed... off... about him, he was in better shape than she was.

  What’s wrong with him? her mind wanted to ask, but she squelched the thought before it could grow. She wasn’t going to let herself care.

  Tessa took a deep breath and told the story, looking down at the pale carpet on the floor the entire time. She couldn’t quite manage to look at Kayleb while she spoke. “Not long after you and Krayter left, I was captured by pirates. When they found out I had medical training, they decided I was useful to them as more than a slave.”

  Kayleb cursed under his breath but didn’t interrupt her. Tessa’s heart squeezed and she kept her head down. If she allowed herself to feel, she wouldn’t be able to say enough.

  “They got sloppy and I was able to escape. But I took something with me. At first I thought it would work as insurance, make sure that they didn’t kill me while I ran. But when I realized what I had, I knew I had to get it to someone who might find it useful.” She risked a glance up at Kayleb, curiosity for his response overwhelming whatever else she felt.

  He studied her, expression carefully blank. Tessa gulped; she didn’t like not knowing what he was thinking. He’d been so easy to read when they first met.

  She cleared her throat. “Something in the major interstellar shipping lanes is compromised, making it easier for the pirates to prey on cargo ships. Whatever that is, it’s on the tech I stole. I figure someone in this city could use it. My sister is a prosecutor, she would probably know, but I didn’t...”

  “You didn’t want to risk getting her hurt,” Kayleb finished for her when she trailed off.

  “Yes.” Her family had been through enough. Tessa didn’t need to bring them any more grief. “But I don’t know who to trust other than Tamara.”

  Kayleb flicked his eyes down to his watch. “It will be a few hours before she’s in her office. They can’t track us here. Why don’t you give her a call this morning and see if she can help?” he suggested. “There’s no reason we can’t crash here for the morning.”

  Was it that simple? Tessa felt like she’d been sprinting through the woods for days and suddenly come to a cliff, the path dissolving without warning. But with Kayleb’s suggestion, the race might be over. “That is actually a really good idea,” she said.

  He gave a hollow laugh. “I’ve been accused of having one or two in my life.” Before she could respond, he straightened and pushed off the wall. “Get some sleep, I’ll keep watch. You’re safe now.”

  And for this one moment, Tessa let herself believe that might be the case.

  KAYLEB LEFT TESSA TO her sleep and wandered to the second floor of the gym where the building directory promised a food station. Luckily it was manned by an android rather than a person, so he was able to get provisions despite the early hour.

  As an afterthought, he checked his communicator and his eyes bugged out when he saw that he had seventeen messages from Krayter and three from Penny. He read through the first couple and when it became clear they were all variations on the same theme, he found a private nook to use to call his brother rather than wade through an additional fifteen messages.

  Krayter answered before Kayleb even realized the call was engaged, his brother’s voice hanging on the edge of panic. “Kayleb?” he demanded, “are you okay?”

  Kayleb could hear someone in the background who he thought was Penny, but her words were too faint to make out. “I’m sorry for disa
ppearing,” he said. “It’s been a busy day.”

  “Where are you? Do you know what time it is?” Now that he knew Kayleb wasn’t dead somewhere, Kayleb could hear the censure seeping into Krayter’s voice. Maybe he should have waited to call.

  No, this was too important.

  “I found her,” he said.

  “Found who... oh.” The line went so quiet that Kayleb thought they might have been disconnected. But a moment later, Krayter spoke, voice tight but composed. “I’m glad.” Kayleb knew his brother well enough to hear the hidden layers under those two words, the questions he wouldn’t ask until Kayleb was ready to answer.

  “Her name is Tessa, we met on the Kella, and she’s in trouble.” He didn’t go over the whole story, his own mind was still processing. But Krayter wouldn’t need it. If Kayleb asked for help, it would be there for him. It worked the same for Krayter.

  “Tessa?” Krayter sounded surprised. “I remember her. You never said anything.”

  And why in all the hells hadn’t he? Kayleb growled, more upset at himself than anyone else. “That’s a mystery for another time.”

  The silence hung between them, and Kayleb wasn’t sure what to say. He’d met his mate, kept it from his brother, and forgotten about her. Now that the reality was settling in, he found it came with a healthy dose of shame and he wanted to hit something. Or to be hit by something, he definitely deserved a few blows and a bloodied nose.

  “She’s in trouble?” Krayter finally asked.

  “Yes.” He gave a quick summary, trying to keep his emotion out of it. “We’re in a safe place now, and I think we can end this soon. I’m... she doesn’t really like me and I’m not sure what happens next.” It hurt to admit it, but if Kayleb had made the mistake of not talking to his brother once, he wouldn’t do it again.