by S. E. Smith
Shoyesh patted my face with a damp cloth. I welcomed its coolness against my fevered skin. I opened my mouth, not quite sure what words I wanted to speak, but another wave of dry heaves silenced me.
“Put him under again,” Wrath’s voice said. “There’s no point torturing him.”
“We need him functional,” Legion said with frustration. “I need him now, more than ever.”
“I know, brother. We all do,” Wrath replied.
I wanted to argue, but the sting of a hypospray cast me back down into oblivion.
I woke up in a soft, familiar bed, frowning at my own scent. Standing up on wobbly legs, I made my way to my en suite bathroom and quickly showered, wondering how long this rebirth sickness had lasted. Usually, it took a week, but this one had felt like an eternity. I wondered if my soul beginning to unravel had been the cause.
Stepping back into my room onboard the mothership, my stomach roared with hunger at the delightful scent that greeted me. To my surprise, Legion, rather than Shoyesh, had brought me food.
“Welcome back, brother,” he said with genuine joy.
Closing the distance between us, he gave me a bear hug and a stinging slap on the back. This baffled me. I understood his happiness at having me back, but Legion wasn’t the type to be overly demonstrative. Clearly, something major had occurred during my recovery.
“What is it, brother?” I asked, pulling away from him to study his features. “Trouble?”
He snorted, a grim expression on his face. “You have no idea.”
“Victoria?” I asked, my stomach knotting in fear.
“No,” he said with a reassuring smile. “Your mate is safe; we made sure of it. But eat. I will catch you up on the mess we’re dealing with.”
I didn’t argue.
“How long was I out?” I asked while sitting down at the round breakfast table in the corner of my bedroom. I uncovered the dishes and indiscriminately began wolfing down everything within reach.
“Seven weeks,” Legion replied as he sat across from me.
I stopped chewing to stare at him with incredulous eyes.
“Things are really, really bad,” Legion said with an air of defeat totally unlike him. “You were right about the Kryptids creating a diversion, but it was an even bigger one than we could have imagined. The way General Khutu has been throwing troops at us didn’t make sense. This massive, synchronized invasion across the entire planet wasn’t simply to make us spread ourselves thin, but for us to throw in everything we had. And while we brought the bulk of our troops to Earth, he sent a massive fleet to Khepri.”
I felt the blood drain from my face and my vision narrow. Forcing myself to breathe slowly, I waited for him to continue, refusing to believe what I already knew would follow.
“That vermin killed our father,” Legion said, his voice dripping with hatred and barely contained anger.
“No,” I said, shaking my head in denial. “There’s no way he got through to Dr. Xi.”
“At the same time that Drone Swarm burst out of the stadium you had discovered, General Khutu launched a global attack on Earth and our home planet. Our brothers managed to repel that attack, but too late. The entire city of Khepri has been destroyed, including our creator’s lab with the Xian embryos, the Incubator, and our Shells.”
I felt faint, unable to fully digest the enormity of that disaster.
“Most of Dr. Xi’s research has been lost. He tried to save it and some of the embryos, but only managed to send out the protocols to turn humans into psychics, the specs for the incubators, and only part of the blueprint to create more of us,” Legion said with a gloomy expression. “Simultaneously, the Kryptid fleet attacked our two mother ships carrying the rest of the Shells and a few portable incubators. We couldn’t bring you back sooner because you had no Shells left.”
I looked at my hands, then touched my face, bewildered that I was even still alive. “If I had no Shells left, how did you get this one?”
“We eradicated the Drones in the area where you had fallen then sought out your remains,” Legion explained with a haunted look in his eyes. “There wasn’t much left, but we managed to extract sufficient DNA from your bone marrow. We thought we’d lost you. Don’t ever fucking do that to me again.”
I gave him a sad smile. Of all my brothers, he was no doubt the one I felt closest to. I couldn’t begin to imagine him dying on me.
“And the good news just keeps pouring in,” Legion added with sarcasm. “Our scientists are unable to create more embryos, which means that however many Xian Warriors currently exist is all there ever will be. We cannot reproduce because so far, you’re the only one whose mating glands have activated. But even then, we don’t know that mating with a human can produce offspring with our abilities.”
“Half of our Soulcatchers are burned out. Shoyesh couldn’t reel you in. A full third of the Hulanians, those who haven’t developed Soulcatching fatigue, are holding fallen souls in their psychic vessels while waiting for the Warrior’s new Shell to finish incubating. We are dying, Doom. We’re dying by the hundreds every day. Permanently.”
My mind reeling, I ran both hands through my hair, too many questions racing around in my head.
“Dr. Xi believed humans could be better Soulcatchers than the Hulanians. Have you looked into that?”
“Yes,” Legion said. “The tests began six weeks ago. Teenagers, both male and female, are responding extremely well. However, as with the Hulanians, only the females are developing psychic vessels. Many of those who have volunteered lack the psychic maturity at this point to successfully hold souls … Your woman volunteered.”
My heart skipped a beat. “She did?”
“Yes. We’ve been keeping tabs on her to make sure she was all right until your return.”
“Thank you, brother,” I said, deeply moved by their thoughtfulness.
“She’s our sister now. But she’s unaware of your status,” he replied with a gentle smile. “Unfortunately, the enzymes don’t work too well with adults. The older the candidate, the slower the process, and it doesn’t work at all if they are over age thirty or so.”
“Victoria?” I asked.
My hearts sank when Legion gave me a commiserating look.
“Her results indicate she will never be a Soulcatcher,” Legion said. “She just turned twenty-nine. However, she is developing enough psychic skill to communicate telepathically. Victoria’s range is still fairly short, but the doctors believe it will expand to respectable levels with time and practice if she continues to take the enzyme until her thirtieth birthday.”
I wanted to go to Victoria to let her know that I was fine. But as I drilled Legion with further questions about the status of the war, it quickly became evident where I needed to be.
“The General is trying to wipe us out,” Legion explained. “What you discovered in that stadium saved our lives. They’ve repeated the same pattern in every city, throwing troops at us in small trickles to keep us busy while building massive Breeding Swamps. He’s not trying to win the war on Earth. All their attacks are suicide missions, backed up by Drone Swarms that kill everything indiscriminately, us and the Kryptids. Asia and Africa are getting decimated by the Swarms.”
“With such dense populations, any secret Breeding Swamp would have grown massive,” I said pensively.
“Exactly. Many regions have been deemed unsalvageable. Even the human governments have conceded defeat,” Legion said grimly. “We’re providing back-up while they bomb those areas. But the Intergalactic Coalition wants us to withdraw completely.”
“WHAT?!” I exclaimed, gaping at him in disbelief.
“Too many Xian Warriors have met their final deaths here,” Legion said. Rising to his feet, he paced around the room before stopping to face me again. He pointed at the food in front of me with his chin. “Finish your meal. I need you strong again … yesterday.”
I complied without enthusiasm, though my new body welcomed the sustenance.<
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“They want to rescue what humans they can—mainly the psychic females and enough males to ensure the survival of the species—place them on a new planet in the Coalition territories and just nuke Earth; cut our losses.”
“No fucking way!” I hissed, outrage surging within me.
“That’s exactly what we told them,” Legion replied with a smirk. “They forgot how loyal Gomenzi Dragons are to their people.”
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.
“Most of our troops have already moved to Asia and Africa. Chaos and I will each spearhead the battles there. Rage will lead the combat in Europe. Steele will handle South America. You’re getting North America.”
I made no effort to hide my smile of gratitude to be near my mate. “What of Oceania?”
“It’s already been cleansed, but the locals help us monitor to make sure there is no resurgence. But understand, this is a war of attrition now,” Legion cautioned. “Khutu doesn’t give a shit how many of his troops die. It will be months before we’ve replenished our number of backup Shells and until most of our Soulcatchers are able to hold us again.”
I understood he was urging caution. “I am the king of survival, remember?” I said teasingly. “This is my first rebirth in five years. Seeing how pleasant it was, I have no intentions of going through that shit again anytime soon.”
Legion chuckled. “Well, the ‘king of survival’ needs to get his ass to the training room and strengthen those muscles that have gone soft over the past few weeks.”
“See you in the training room in ten minutes. We’ll see who’s gone soft.”
“No can do. I have four hours to rest before going back to the front. It’s good to have you back, brother.”
I smiled as he walked out of my quarters, then mentally sought out Stran. His consciousness brushed against mine, his joy flooding our psychic link. He startled me by projecting a mental image of Victoria.
“I miss her, too. Let’s go get our girl.”
Chapter Seven
Victoria
My transport shuttle landed in the hangar of The Avenger, one of the Xian motherships. With my dismal psychic abilities, I never thought they would consider me for one of the medical research positions they’d opened within the Vanguard. But I didn’t even have to apply; they reached out to me and brought me here.
I still couldn’t believe it.
I’d been working my tail off since arriving in Camp 485, which had earned me a steady increase in responsibilities. But the Vanguard only accepted the elite, and I was just a lost soul with a broken heart.
Two Hulanian females greeted me and my two companions, neither of whom were known to me. One was a mechanical engineer and the other a certified rocket scientist. They handed us our badges, and one of the females invited the engineer to follow her. Just as the second female opened her mouth to speak … from the corner of my eye I caught a familiar circular shape at the entrance of the hangar.
A massive ball of dark, shiny scales rolled at dizzying speed straight towards me. The rocket scientist yelped and jumped out of the way under the amused stare of the Hulanian.
“Stran!” I whispered, my throat too tight to speak any louder.
He spun around me in a circle, completing three rotations before stopping at my feet and uncurling. Tears burst from my eyes upon seeing the familiar face. I fell to my knees and hugged him with the fervency of despair. His purr-growl further fueled my sorrow.
“I thought I’d lost you, too.”
“You have not.”
I gasped, recoiling violently at the beloved voice echoing in my head. I stared at Stran disbelieving. Surely, he couldn’t have …
“Look up, my Red.”
That’s when I saw him, clad in his dark Vanguard uniform, his beautiful face smiling tenderly at me. Time stopped. My lungs ceased to function, and my skin tingled. The room began to spin.
I saw Doom’s smile fade seconds before darkness swallowed me.
I came to, lying on a plush, padded surface, an incredibly soft and smooth hand caressing my forehead. My eyelids fluttered open to the sight of Doom’s concerned face looming over me.
“Hey, Red,” he said softly. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“Doom … Is it really you?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Yes, my Red. I told you that I would always come back to you, and I am a man of my word.”
I stared at him, feasting my eyes on the perfection of his features. It was the same face, the same voice, the same words, and yet …
I lifted a shaky hand towards his face to touch and confirm that he was real … but froze. A cold shiver ran down my spine as it finally dawned on me. Rolling over the mattress, I threw myself off the bed on the opposite side from where he sat.
“Who the fuck are you?” I hissed. “What the hell kind of sick game is this?”
The imposter rose from his chair and gaped at me in an award-winning performance of shock.
“It’s me, Victoria,” Doom’s look-alike said in a confused voice.
“LIAR! Doom has lots of battle scars,” I shouted, before pointing at my right eyebrow. “He has one right here that runs up to his temple, and a bunch more all over his body. He has calloused hands from years of battle. And—”
“And I told you the history of every one of those scars in your makeshift hospital, while we lay together in your bed, you dressed, me naked, and both of us hidden by my cloaking shield,” the man interrupted.
I gaped at him, stunned that he’d know such specific details.
“I can explain,” he said, gesturing to the couch in the small sitting area of the bedroom. “Did you not see Stran with me?” he asked when I hesitated.
That gave me pause.
That fact, his non-threatening demeanor, and my desperate hope that it was true made me cave. I settled on the couch, and he placed his chair a few feet in front of me before sitting down. For the next little while, he told me the most impossible—and yet wondrous—story about soul transfers, incubators, and rebirth sickness.
At some point, the reality that it was really him sank in … and I threw myself at him so abruptly I knocked him off his chair. We both ended up sprawled on the floor, Doom on his back and me on top. My lips met his, and the world faded. Our hands explored each other with feverish impatience. I nearly tore his shirt off in my rabid hunger to feel his naked scales beneath my palms. Doom only interrupted our kiss long enough to remove it. On instinct, I raked my nails over his scales, and an animalistic growl of approval rose from my male’s throat.
Doom tightened his hold around me, and the room spun as he rose to his feet, lifting me in his arms in the process. Our lips still passionately locked, I clasped my hands behind his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist while he carried me to the massive bed. He carefully laid me down on it but hesitated.
Confused, I extended a hand towards him. To my relief, he took it but crouched by the bed instead of joining me on it. His gaze locked with mine.
“I want to bond with you,” Doom said in a tender voice. “But I promised to properly court you first, once the war was over—”
“This war will drag on for months if not years,” I interrupted. “I lost you once, thinking it was forever. Against all odds, you came back to me. I’ve seen what’s out there and how quickly a situation can turn for the worse. I’m not wasting another day on laters and maybes. As we humans say, carpe diem. Bond with me, Doom. Make me yours and be mine forever.”
The look in his eyes made me melt from the inside out. His gaze never strayed from mine as he stripped out of his clothes. I slipped my sleeveless dress over my head and tossed it on the floor. The mattress dipped as Doom climbed onto the bed. His kiss bearing us both back, he settled over me, his skin searing hot against my naked flesh.
With his hands and mouth, Doom worshipped my body. I barely noticed him ridding me of my bra, and then the wet warmth of his mouth was closing around one of my nipples. The gingery
-cinnamon scent of his pheromones swirled all around us, setting my blood on fire. He emitted an odd purr that transitioned into strange vibrations that resonated through his chest. My nerve endings immediately responded, every sensation heightened. Every kiss, every touch made me moan in bliss. Even the feel of the soft bed sheets beneath me, the gentle scraping of his scales against my skin, and the heat of his body covering mine were enhanced by his purring vibrations.
When his mouth settled over my sex, my back arched off the bed. I writhed beneath the sensual assault of his tongue tasting and devouring me. I fell apart with a strangled cry.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, my mate?”
Drowning in an ocean of pleasure, I couldn’t answer. But Doom didn’t mind. He kissed his way back up and settled between my legs with a look of pure adoration.
“May I join with you, my Red?” Doom asked, his lips brushing against mine.
“Yes,” I mind-spoke to him, not trusting my voice.
It was wonderful to be able to communicate with him at such an intimate level. But even as the scales of his loin plate parted to free his shaft, Doom’s consciousness appeared to wrap itself around mine. I could almost feel the very essence of him.
“Your soul is so beautiful,” Doom whispered with awe as he carefully began pushing himself inside of me. “So mesmerizing … Soon, my Red, as your psychic powers grow, you will be able to see mine. Then we’ll truly be one.”
I didn’t quite know what he meant, but I could feel him all around me and inside me. His psychic caress within the seat of my soul drowned out the pain of his possession as my body tried to adjust to his girth. Doom moved slowly, paying attention to any discomfort I might feel. Only once our bodies started moving in harmony did he resume emitting that subtonal vibration that sent my senses into overdrive.
