Click, click, whoosh.
My hand involuntarily reached back for Marin’s. What was in the room? Was someone here?
The door opened soundlessly. The room was a crematorium, the fire still active. There were scores of bodies piled on carts on either side of the door. Again, the bones long since picked clean. It didn’t even smell. How odd.. It was like one day the E’mani got up and left. They didn’t finish what they started, they just up and left, leaving corpses behind.
I backed out of the room. The door shut behind me. I heard a thump and twirled back around. Neither Zanth nor Marin were there.
Twenty Five
I turned back toward the crematorium. The doors slid open without difficulty. They both tumbled out.
“Lands.” Zanth leaned over, breathing hard.
I patted Zanth’s back. “What happened?”
Marin answered, putting his arm around my hips. “After you left, the doors shut and would not open for us.”
Hmm. “They must be keyed to me. That is why there are no animals inside. Only the E’mani or people who work for them could get in.”
They’d stuck close before, now Marin and Zanth were a hair on my ass.
We explored some of the side rooms only to find them empty. This level was new. I had no recollection of this. I walked slowly around a room. They had to have kept something here, but what? This room was different from those above. The ones upstairs had desks and chairs that rose when we entered. Theses room had recessed panels in the walls.
I approached the partition ahead of me. No distinguishing marks. I ran my hand down it, my ear pressed to the surface. I tried tapping to see if the sound echoed. When I reached about waist height, my hand fell into the wall. With a hiss, a tube slid out of the wall with a body inside.
My chest tightened, my vision going black. I remembered these tubes. I’d been in one myself. The glass was thick enough to bar clear identification, but the person seemed familiar. Steam coated the surface, I tried to wipe it away, but the moisture was inside the case. What was this? I huffed out a breath, my hands curling.
We all clustered around the body. He lay on his back, hands crossed on his chest, typical casket pose. Blond hair, his mouth open a crack, a line of drool dried on his chin. There were tubes running from his arms, IV’s, cardiac and neurologic leads. Where the wires led, I couldn’t tell, maybe a nursing station in one of the other areas. There was no monitor anywhere nearby.
Zanth ran his hands along the tube. I kept moving my hands along the wall at the same level. Nothing. I went to the adjacent walls, no other occupants in this room.
We traveled next door. Again we found a single body in some sort of tube, same pose, same monitoring, no one else in the room. This body was different. He had thick skin, almost like scales. Claws tipped his fingers. His hair was less hair per se and more filaments with a feathery poof at the end. He had a prominent brow ridge with spikes protruding along the edge. His nose was flat, his mouth a thin line. Not human, not Fost, not E’mani. What was he?
He moved slightly, a twitching of his limbs in his tube. Eyes flicked underneath his lids. REM sleep. A moan filled the air. His claws flexed. Who the hell were these guys?
Marin echoed my sentiment. “Who are these creatures?”
And it came to me. “They are like me. Remains.”
Marin and Zanth exchanged glances.
“Remains?” Zanth asked.
“Yes. That’s what we called ourselves. The remains of all the races the E’mani hunted.” I ran my hand down the glass. “This is why I had to come. The stasis is wearing off. They will either wake soon or die.”
“What do you mean, wake? We do not know these people. What if they are dangerous?” Marin’s words filtered to me through my haze.
My eyes drifted up. “They are like me, my brothers in a sense. I have to free them.”
“How?” Marin asked.
Pop went my bubble. “I don’t know.”
We continued down the hall, eight bodies in all, another one like the clawed man. Two with blue skin, the rest like me, or the Fost, or the E’mani. It was hard to tell, but experimenting on their own was how they started.
We didn’t find a control room in any of the areas we saw. Poking and prodding didn’t help. This was important, but I had no idea how important as of yet. We filed to the stairway and the exit. A small disc of metal floated along the walls to the side of me disappearing into a crevice at the base. There was a whine and then it was gone. Guess I knew how the place stayed clean.
At the entrance, I paused and headed to the main desk, running my hand along the edge. Computers popped up. I couldn’t understand the writing. I closed my eyes then opened them. The words rearranged themselves like a cipher.
The vitals of the men from downstairs flicked before me. Some of the numbers were definitely off from what I expected. Not that I was an expert.
“This is it,” I said, elation running through me, my fingers curling.
“No, Elizabeth. Please.” Marin put a hand on my back. “Talk it over with everyone first.”
I stared at him. He stroked my waist. “Fine.”
A buzz filled the room. We exchanged glances as the noise grew louder. It was probably the air conditioning, but discretion was the greater part of valor. We headed out the way we had come. The trek home passed in a blur.
The bodies were unexpected. What did they mean? I remembered my job there, but not them. At least not a lot, but when I studied them, I felt kinship. They were my brothers and I had to wake them. But what would it mean for the Fost?
Noon had come and gone while we were exploring and dusk was approaching, made deeper by the surrounding trees. The creepy noises were back, and I kept bumping into Marin, fighting the urge to run.
When we saw the lights of the town, it wasn’t soon enough. Marin left without a word to stride to the auditorium. Zanth went to his room and I went to mine.
Finn waited for me on my bed.
Oy.
I halted at the door. My shoulders dropped. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought you might need comforting. I expected this grand reunion when Marin arrived. That did not happen. Why was that? Are things over between you two?”
I flinched. “You need to learn the definition of the word comfort.”
He snorted. “Sorry, being honest. You refused me because you were mated, but he did not seem to acknowledge that bond.” He leaned toward me, fingers outstretched. “Come to bed. I will show you comfort.” For one second, I thought about it, really hard. Finn’s fierceness always made me feel safe. But his weren’t the arms I wanted
Finn saw the answer in my eyes. His hand dropped.
Marin crowded in behind me, arms going around my waist, pulling my hips back into his. He looked at Finn over my shoulder.
I expected a fight, yelling, shouting, harsh language at least. Nothing like that. Marin didn’t say a word and Finn left without resistance, skirting around us.
Marin shoved me onto the bed. “Sleep.”
I curled up on top of the sheets, clothes on, putting my back to him. Marin rested next to me on his back, hands behind his head.
Pain bit into my sides with greedy claws. My back arched, my eyes drifted open. I craned my neck and saw I was in the same amber tube. I remembered this. Finally, I remembered something.
I panted, breath harsh in the enclosed space. I wasn’t normally claustrophobic, but the walls pressed in on me today. Come on, Beta, relax. They like it when you scream.
My hands reached up and braced the glass then drifted up to my face. I had electrodes on my head and chest. A face appeared above me, distorted by the steam.
“Calm down, Elizabeth,” Xade said with a slight giggle. “Just breathe. You have air. We are monitoring you right now. You did very well this time. It did not take long to put you back together.”
What did they do to me?
I glanced down. My belly had a long scar down the mi
ddle. I pressed my hand to my chest, wires underneath my skin. A screamed ripped out of me.
I jerked awake, grabbing the covers. Can’t breathe. Oh god.
Marin’s arm fell off me. I looked down at my smooth stomach, rubbing the skin. His hand drifted up my hip. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Bad dream.” I lay back and fluffed my pillow, turning on my side as far away from him as possible.
He gripped my hips and he pulled me back into him, spooning up behind me. His chin nuzzled me.
I tensed.
He laughed, the sound hard. He bit me in the sweet spot where my neck hit my shoulder. “Relax.”
I tilted my head and curled up even tighter. His hand slipped under my shirt. My fingers covered his, holding them in place.
“No.” And he stopped. It wasn’t in him to not stop. He growled and nipped my ear, settling against me. No more words, nothing that we couldn’t take back later. We would talk soon.
~ * ~
A groan sounded in the room. It took me a second to realize it was mine. During the night, I’d turned onto my stomach. Marin kneeled and sucked on the back of my shoulder, his hand wedged between my legs, stroking me.
I arched into his palm, groaning of my own volition this time.
He murmured approvingly as he ran his mouth along the cord of my neck to nuzzle my ear. The sensation. God. He pressed into me from behind and his manhood nudged the crack of my ass. He started to move his fingers in small, tantalizing circles, rubbing along my nub then venturing to dip inside me with his middle finger, spreading me. My honey soon coated his fingers. His other hand held both of my wrists above my head. My movements were restricted by his body pressing me down. But I didn’t feel fear, I felt pleasure.
He had to know I was awake, yet he kept up the slow circles. My hands clenched around his, my breathing sped up. With a growl, he stopped his teasing. The fingers withdrew and he pushed my pants down, keeping my hands above my head.
I belatedly realized he was naked behind me. I remained dressed except for my bottom being bare after he pushed down my pants to right above my knees.
He flexed back and I braced myself as he ground his pelvis into mine from behind, the tip of his shaft sliding between my thighs.
Warm breath heated my neck. He kneaded my shoulders pushing me hard to the side so he could bite his mark on me, emphasizing his place in my life. His right hand moved over the mating bands.
I twisted and his eyes met mine and hooded slightly. He nipped my lower lip. Our breaths mingled. God, I loved that. I loved him even now.
He smiled, a smug, self-satisfied male smile, land knows why.
The knock on the door forced my head down and a furious scramble to pull up my pants. Marin smirked and answered the door, not even bothering to dress.
Zara stood at the entrance. She openly examined Marin while I watched, hackles rising. This girl didn’t know who she was messing with.
He raised his eyebrow at her, his hands going to his hips.
She stuttered out, “They want you in town.”
He grinned at her wording. A blush stained her cheeks. I guess he was no longer the restrained clan chief. I waited for him to step back and cover up. Shoo her out. He did none of those things. The two of them stared at each other, and I realized, the dream, the girl who held Marin’s hand as they ran with his unmated arm. It was Zara. The details were sketchy, but it was her.
My stomach lurched. Oh god, was she his new mate? Once I died? I couldn’t stand the thought. She got around. I turned and tugged on my leathers. Neither of them seemed to note my movements.
“I will be there in a second,” Marin said to her.
The door clicked. Marin pulled his own pants off the floor. We continued dressing without looking at each other. I heard the door click again a moment later, and I was alone.
Twenty Six
I regarded my toes. I got the score now. When I walked downtown later, everyone gathered at the tables. Marin sat at the head of the table next to Thorn. Zara perched on his chair whispering into his ear, he appeared to be reading something but he was smiling. Her lips brushed his temple. The sight floored me, my teeth ground together, my jaw aching.
There was no divorce in Fost culture, but mating didn’t guarantee anything except protection. Apparently monogamy was no longer part of our arrangement. I kept my eyes down and grabbed some fruit. Ute called out a greeting. I waved and walked back outside, my heart bleeding.
Zanth waited outside. He peered at me oddly. “You all right?”
“You care?”
“No, but Marin might.” Zanth raised his shoulders.
“Not from what I’ve seen. Zara is occupying his attention right now, sitting on his lap, nibbling on his ear, and everything.”
His eyes widened. “Uh.”
My hands curled into fists. “Anyway, I want to go back to that building. Escort me?” It was safer to travel in a group. Finn walked up as I asked.
“I will go with you, as well,” he said.
Marin strolled out at just the wrong moment. “Go where? No one is going anywhere. There are reports of fighting. Some lights in the sky last night. Something fell not far from here. We need to investigate that. I want the rest of you to sit tight. Finn, you are with me.”
Finn remained holding up the wall beside me. “Why should I listen to you?”
Zanth straightened. Thorn, Yann, and Zara filtered out from the dining hall.
Marin stepped up into Finn’s face. “I am clan chief, need I remind you?”
“Not here you are not, this is not Groos,” Finn growled.
Marin gave a hideous rendition of a smile. “You want to fight me for it? Challenge me. I will accept.”
Finn’s eyes flickered over Marin’s head to mine. “There is only one thing you have that I want. The chief position is not it. And if you are not careful, I will get it.”
I called out, “Fighting gets us nowhere. We need to stay focused, one leader. One goal.” Thorn and Yann murmured agreement. It surprised me that Thorn gave up the leadership role so easily.
Finn’s gaze remained locked on me. Then he glanced back at Marin. “For now, no challenge.” Finn turned his back on Marin and walked away.
“Where are you going?” Marin hissed.
“To the armory, you wanted to head to this light in the sky, right?” Finn didn’t glance back. Marin’s glare blistered me. What did I do, Mister cuddling with Zara? Marin followed Finn. Zara trotted after them both like a happy, little puppy. Thorn shook his head.
Zanth’s shoulders butted mine. “Not smart angering Marin off that way.”
I threw up my hands. “What did I do?”
Zanth whispered. “We can go check out that building.”
Uh. “I’m confused. Didn’t we just get grounded?”
Zanth grinned, a quick slash of an expression that was soon gone. “Marin should know better than to expect me to follow his orders.”
Oh, I gotcha. I snickered in response. “Ditto.”
He leaned closer. “Meet me here in an hour. Let them get on their way. Then we will head out.”
I returned to the dining room and grabbed some eggs and bread dipped in honey. The tea warmed my palms. The fire mesmerized me while I waited for Marin’s group to leave. Thorn attempted to flirt with Hana but Jace was having none of that.
A half hour later, Marin walked in wearing full Fost battle gear. A lace-up vest imbued with metal graced his chest, his leathers hugged his curves. Shit kicking boots and knives on both sides of his waist completed his outfit. God, I forced myself to stare into my drink.
It was so damn unfair how sexy I found him. The ass.
He strode up to me. His hand on my neck jerked me up into him. His tongue stroked mine. I fumbled and put down my tea then twined my arms around his neck.
As I angled to take the kiss deeper, I saw Zara smiling at me then toss me a wink. She was in full battle gear, as well, with an imbued blade. She stood on his r
ight and Finn on his left.
That wink pissed me off. As if she knew the taste of his mouth. And maybe she did? I stiffened against him. Marin stepped back. Finn leaned in and gave me a quick buss on the cheek, to my chagrin. Marin glared at him then reached to his right. He pulled Zara into his side. With a nod at me, he left. The pain left me breathless. I didn’t watch them leave. I didn’t say goodbye. Neither of us said anything.
Hana sidled up to me. “I do not like that girl.”
I nodded and made myself unclench my jaw. Hana put her arms around me. I leaned into her side. “We are sneaking out to go look at that building we found yesterday. You in?”
She nodded. “Of course, no leaving me behind this time.”
“You think your love bug wants to come as well?”
She giggled at that last. “Which one? I will ask them, but when?”
“A half hour, give them some time to get ahead of us.”
The fire drew my gaze again. No one dared approach me until Ute got up the nerve a few minutes later.
He shifted from foot to foot before me. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
He appeared to be choosing his words. “As you know, I rarely comment on personal things.” I was not aware of that. “Adults are adults. You and Marin though...”
I cut him off. “There is no more me and Marin. He is making that pretty clear.”
“But…”
“No. I can’t do it. I understand, really, I do. We may be mated, but I left him, which to him is unforgivable. I guess that is why he is cozying up to Zara.”
Ute hesitated. “I do not think that is true.”
I couldn’t handle this. “I do, he does, so that is it.” Ute looked like he wanted to say more, but I held up my hand. “No more, please. Have you found anything in the library?”
His eyes instantly went dreamy. Dude loved books. “There are so many more books here, so much knowledge. I found some new histories. There is an accounting of right before we fled, a diary of someone from Clan Hazern. It is fascinating.” I let him talk, but my mind drifted. Who were those men in the building?
I had to wake them up, Marin be damned.
Can't Forget: If she can't forget her past, she won't have a future. (Solum Series Book 2) Page 19
