“Sire, there is an eating establishment across from the Occasio’s workplace. Let us dine there and we can look out the window and discern the environment.” Gritting his teeth, he prayed Basilius did not find the locale not of his liking, for he would surely crash this transport into the next pole structure they passed.
Turning his head from the side window, Basilius gave Ulixes a quick smile. “Yes, this is a good idea. I am famished.”
Squelching his sigh of relief, Ulixes pulled up to the front of the small building, cut the ignition and stepped from the car. Glancing at the mate’s workplace, he noticed a small, yellow car parked in front. Before he could reach the entrance of the dining establishment, a woman stepped from the workplace and walked to the yellow car. Ulixes shot a glance over to Basilius, who was oblivious to the event, his focus solely riveted on dusting unseen material from his coat sleeves while waiting for the door to open for him. “Sire, there is the mate. She is leaving in that transport and she is alone.”
Whipping his head in the direction Ulixes gestured, Basilius moved quickly back to the jeep and got in. “Hurry, Ulixes, follow her!”
Travelling a safe distance back, Ulixes could feel the tension emanating from Basilius. “We are most fortunate, sire, to have arrived at that precise moment. We may be able to take her quickly and be gone from this place in short order.”
Never taking his eyes from the road, Basilius nodded his assent. “Yes, very fortunate indeed. I am pleasantly surprised the prince is so lax in the security of his precious mate. How ignorant of him to believe himself so far from my reach. He will surely regret this decision shortly.”
After what Basilius called an intolerable length of time and much heated debate, the yellow car pulled in front of a small housing complex and parked. Ulixes steered the jeep against a curb, far away enough to see, yet be unseen. Giddily, Basilius reached for the door handle to exit. “Hold, sire, look there, standing against a doorway to the housing. It is the prince and his protector. We cannot approach right now.”
Basilius looked at him as if he had grown two heads. “Why ever not? There are two of us! We can kill the protector and take both the prince and the mate at the same time!”
“This is plausible, my lord, but what if he has hidden his warriors amongst the structure? We will be vulnerable to attack. We may be able to take one of his warriors but will not be successful if there are more about.”
Basilius snarled his disapproval. “Gods damn it! So close I could reach out and touch them both. I am not pleased, Ulixes!”
“I understand sire, but we have not been seen so we can leave this place now and return to our first plan of taking her tomorrow at the work place. We have seen that she has no protection detail there, so our chances for securing her are greater at that location. If our first attempt is thwarted, we at least know the location of this abode.”
Shoulders slumping in defeat, Basilius nodded in assent. “Of course, let us return to our lodging and plan for the morrow.”
Chapter 9
Lina sat in her car, keys dangling from her hand, and stared through the windshield at the two massive forms standing to either side of her apartment door. Drusus is standing at my door! The other was that romance cover model, Severus, right? He wasn’t in a tuxedo any longer, but was dressed similarly to Drusus in worn jeans and a T-shirt. Was she imagining them? Had she been thinking about Drusus so much today that she was now hallucinating? Well, if she was, the mouthwatering apparition was walking up to her car door and opening it.
Big hands reached in, unbuckled her and scooped her out. Arms pinned to her sides, feet dangling above the ground, she gasped as he buried his head to the side of her neck and groaned. He smelled so good, like soap and musky virile man.
“Oh, sweetness…I am so glad to see that you are safe! Where have you been? I have been frantic. I was just about to look for you at work. I am so glad you decided to come home.”
Gathering her wits, she pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes. “What are you doing here? Why were you looking for me? None of this makes any sense. Now put me down. I can’t breathe.”
Setting her down, he reached into the car and grabbed her purse from the passenger seat. Handing it to her, he closed and locked the door then dragged her up the steps to her apartment. “Come, let us get inside. It is not safe out here. We have to talk. This is serious, Avelina. I have to ask you some questions.”
Not safe! Too confused to argue, she quickly opened the door and allowed both men to enter, suddenly realizing just how small her apartment truly was as the two massive men stared down at her. Closing the door, she gave them both looks of bewilderment. “Please explain. How did you find me?”
Drusus’s mouth formed a straight line, his eyes darkening. “Yes, about that. Why did you leave this morning without providing a number that I could contact? What did ‘take care’ mean? Do you not want to be with me, Avelina?”
Stunned at his hurt expression and low, husky tone, she glanced over at Severus then quickly back to Drusus. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. I believe the most important thing at this moment is for you to explain what you mean when you said it’s not safe. Am I in danger, and if so, from what?” She could tell from his raised brow that he was going to let her get away with diversion for now but expected to revisit that topic later.
Severus lifted his phone up between them, breaking their intense staring contest. “Trejani, I will step outside and call Cassie to let her know that Avelina is okay. I will knock before I come back in.”
Clasping her fingers together, Lina moved closer to Drusus as the door shut quietly behind her. “You’re scaring me, Drusus. How is Cassie involved? Why is she worried about me? Did Cassie tell you how to find me?”
Wrapping his arms around her, Drusus held her tightly before gently moving her over to the couch and pushing her down to the cushions. Stepping away, he leaned back against the kitchen counter, arms hanging down to his sides. His tension was evident in the steady clenching of his fists. She immediately missed the warmth of his body and fought from jumping back up and putting herself in those strong arms again. Instead, she looked away from his intense gaze.
“I have much to tell you and it will all make sense eventually. Will you trust me, sweetness?”
Lifting pleading eyes to his, she nodded. Despite his obvious tension, his words were soothing and welcome. “I’ll try, Drusus. Just tell me what’s going on.” She watched as his broad shoulders relaxed.
“Have you been approached by anyone today that you did not know? Did you see anyone around that made you nervous or suspicious?”
Twisting her fingers together, she glanced nervously toward the door at the sound of a soft knock before Severus walked in and settled his back against the wall. “No, I’ve been at work until a few minutes ago. I just came from there. No one approached me and I didn’t see anyone. Is there a particular person I should be fearful of?”
Severus nodded at Lina. “Cassie asks that you call her when you have a chance. She is happy you are here with us now. Drusus will explain what is happening.”
Lina watched as Severus looked back to Drusus. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours before Severus nodded. It almost looked like they were sharing a conversation in their heads, but that was impossible, right?
Drusus pulled a dining room chair out, placed it in front of her, and then sat. He took both her hands within his and began stroking his thumbs across the backs, calming her.
“We are about to reveal something to you that you will find incredulous. In fact, you may think us mad. I ask you trust me in that what I tell you is the truth. Once I tell you this, your life will not be the same, Avelina. You will become part of my world and you must promise not to reveal any of this to anyone, not even to your friend Cassie. Do you understand?”
Lina felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. “You’re in the mob. That’s it! Oh god, you’re in the mob!” Fear spiked deep
as he grasped her hands tightly, yet eased as she watched his sculpted lips quirk into a half smile.
“No, sweetness, we are not in the mob. I wish it was something that simple.” Taking a deep breath, he looked at Severus before capturing her wild gaze. “I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. Severus and I are from another world. We are not human, well, not entirely human.”
* * * *
When she didn’t flinch or begin screaming, Drusus continued. “We are from a planet named Insedivertus. It is millions of miles from here in the Glaxon system. We are at war with another planet called Protonecis. Their king, Basilius, is insane and power hungry. Six years ago, he struck our planet and killed all of the females. They fell from a sickness. We do not know what caused this illness to affect just our females and not the males, but it took them all within a matter of days. We believe that Basilius introduced a toxin into our water supply. We were lax in our security, too lost in our grief, but we learned from our mistakes. Our home world was devastated. A peaceful nation that lost mothers, sisters, and daughters now grows fierce warriors to defend our land. Basilius attempted to breach our air space but we were prepared and pushed him back.
“Five years ago, one hundred of our warriors traveled here to Earth to search for mates to begin repopulating our planet. We had hoped Basilius would never know of our travel here but it appears he has discovered us. It was only within the last year that we have entered a veritable stalemate. Just waiting and watching. It appears he developed new tactics and has yet again breached our defenses, if he passed so easily through our land to the vortex. He knows about you, of our time together. He will use you against me. I need to protect you, Avelina. Do you understand what I am saying?”
She sat quietly, staring at his eyes, searching intently. “Drusus, do you know how insane this sounds to me? Life on other planets, warriors, and insane kings, my mind can’t comprehend this. Give me a second.”
The room was quiet for many minutes. She stared down at their entwined hands then took a deep breath before looking back into his eyes. “Okay, I’m willing to listen, but I have a few questions of my own, okay?”
Drusus nodded slowly, his eyes dark and intense. “As I have said to you before, Avelina, you have no idea of your worth. You are a fascinating creature. You take my breath away.”
Granting him a shy smile, she squeezed his fingers. “And I know how to say that in Latin, too.”
Relieved that he had a reasonable woman sitting in front of him, he smiled back and bent to kiss the top of each hand. “Now ask your questions, Avelina. I am an open book.”
“Okay, then. How did your warriors travel here? Do you have a space ship that you are hiding somewhere?”
“No, we did not arrive here in a ship. We traveled here through a vortex, a link from my world to yours. Some call this pathway a wormhole. Another vortex moves in the opposite direction and allows us to return to Insedivertus.”
“There are wormholes here in Austin? How have they not been discovered by our government?”
“Each is located in the Chinati mountain range, several hundred miles west of here. The closest town is Marfa. We purchased several hundred miles of land around these points to keep accidental travelers away. Your government has shown interest in our area over the years but have yet to determine that a threat is present. The place has become more of a novelty than a military concern.”
“Ah! I know about Marfa, Texas. The ghost lights of Marfa! My dad took me there once and we saw a few lights. Some blinked on and off and some moved a little then blinked out. Everyone kept saying it was car lights. It’s a tourist attraction now. So, the vortex makes the light?”
Drusus knew she was still vibrating with anxiety and fear, yet her ability to ask rational, probing questions brought his admiration for her up a few more notches. “No, the vortex is invisible to the eye, but when a sentient being passes through and reforms, the atmospheric change produces colorful lights for a few moments. Sometimes the lights may linger longer depending on the life force of the being. So, yes, you could say we are the ghost lights of Marfa.”
Shaking her head, Lina glanced back and forth between Drusus and Severus. “Unbelievable. The ghost lights of Marfa.” Suddenly her eyes narrowed and one eyebrow rose higher. “Hey, you said that you came here five years ago, but the Marfa lights have been documented as far back as the early settlers. So who was coming through the vortex then?”
Twining his fingers with hers, he gave her a quick smile. “A very good question, my smart Avelina, and one easily explained. I said that my warriors arrived five years ago after the war began. Our species has visited this planet multiple times. In fact, it was a visit from a human man and women during the Earth time period you mark as 100 BC that started the Insedivertus race.” Turning to Severus, Drusus nodded back to Lina. “Recite the legend, Severus. You are much better at the retelling.”
“Of course, Trejani.” Leaning back against the wall, Severus’s face took on a look of faraway remembrance. “When the three moons of our beloved planet appeared in the night sky, the Nubis were drawn from their rest from within the shadows of the Montis. A beautiful light hovered above the sacred ground and there formed two beings not of our world. The Nubis were intrigued with the creatures, for they had encased their life force within a beautiful structure, whereas their own were without. Curious, the strongest Nubis male sifted through the life force of the male visitor and found wondrous things to behold. Envious of the visitor’s abilities of physical touch, to mate and bring forth progeny, and to have purpose, the male mimicked the essence and mixed it with his own to form the first Insedi breed. Immediately he encouraged the feminine counterpart to do the same with the female. Once reformed and having the memories and language of the intriguing life forms, they learned the visitors called themselves ‘Travelers’ from a world known as Earth and were of Etruscan descent. The alpha couple bade the other Nubis to follow the travelers back to their world, acquire solid structures, and return. The Nubis went forth and multiplied, bringing back the knowledge to build and advance. In thanks, the alpha Insedi took the name of the Etruscan travelers, thereby creating our ruling dynasty of Tarquinius.” Severus fell silent, pulled a chair next to Drusus and leaned forward to study Avelina’s expression.
Capturing her chin, Drusus turned her to face him, amazed she still appeared calm. “Basically, our ancestors are a mix of pure energy, a mist, if you will, and humans. We are bound with our world through our core energy life force. One cannot exist without the other, yet our human sides are impervious to disease that is prevalent in pure human form. As our species advanced, we researched the legend and found that the visitors were from Rome. The Etruscans were extremely advanced and believed firmly that galactic travel was possible. Having discovered a terrestrial vortex close to the Tiber River, they traveled this pathway to the uncivilized area of what is now Texas. It was not long before they discovered the interplanetary pathway to Insedivertus. I am a direct descendent of the first Insedi couple, formed with the essence of the last Roman emperor of Etruscan descent.” Turning his head, he pointed to the small markings below his ear. “I bear the insignia of this royal line. It is embedded in our genetic structure.” Pointing to Severus, he motioned for him to lift his hair and turn his head. “Severus bears a mark of the dagger rising from the sun. This denotes his lineage of the warrior class. He is the protector of the royal line.”
Leaning closer, Lina saw that Severus’s neck bore a black, outlined circle with a straight black line rising up from the center. Five blue dots were evenly spaced around the outside but not touching the line. Flopping back onto the couch, she rubbed her forehead with one hand then let it drop heavily to her lap. “Fascinating…just fascinating…well, this does explain the Latin,” she muttered. “That was also a very cool legend by the way, Severus. I must say, guys, if you are both delusional, this has to be the most intricate psychotic breakdown of the century. At least you look completely norma
l and sane.”
She watched helplessly as Drusus and Severus shared another long stare and nod before standing and pushing their chairs back. Suddenly, they were gone, really and truly gone. Leaping from the couch, she glanced frantically around the room, incredulous they were no longer there. “What in the hell is going on!” she screamed to the empty room. Just as quickly as they had vanished, they both reappeared in front of her.
Catching her by the shoulders before she could flee to the door, Drusus pulled her into the warmth of his arms. “I’m sorry, sweetness, but it had to be done. We could spend the rest of the day attempting to convince you of the truth, but you could not truly believe without evidence. I did not want to scare you.”
“Damn, Drusus! That was the freakiest thing I have ever seen. Let me sit down, my legs are shaking.”
Helping her to the couch, he sat next to her then pulled her onto his lap. Nudging his finger beneath her chin, he forced her to look him in the eyes. “Sweetness, I want to tell you more but we have to get you to a protected location. You must come back to my home. This threat from Basilius is real. We do not know where he is, yet he has you identified and located. You will stay with me until we rid ourselves of him.”
Shaking her head, she cast pleading eyes to his. “Drusus, I have a life. I can’t just drop everything, hole up in your penthouse, and wait for something bad to happen. I have a job I have to go to tomorrow. I certainly don’t want to die but I can’t just walk away from everything. My boss is looking for any reason to fire me.”
Relieved that her hesitation wasn’t due to him but her job, he tried to calm her fears. “Do not worry, mellis, I have no plans of stopping you from doing what you must. I simply need to assure your protection while you go about doing those things. Can you give me that much, please? I will take you to work tomorrow, we can have lunch together, and I will take you home. I will be close by, but will not disturb you. Is this acceptable?”
Fueled by Lust: Drusus (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 9
