Gabe's Destiny (Alien Mates Book Three) (22 page)

She looked at him and licked her lips. “My mom would have loved to get a hold of you. She would have drained you while milking you for all you’re worth, but not to fret, I will do it for her.”

His eyes slid from her back to Taya. “So all those deaths didn’t belong to Zuhun after all. You killed around him to make it look like he was the one draining everyone he could get his hands on.”

“The Sudir was so clumsy, he had no idea what was going on.”

“Enough talk, take him and leave me the woman.”

“Gladly.” She threw him a look and crooked a finger at him.

He ignored her and reached down for Taya. Melissa threw an energy rope at him encircling his body. He snarled and turned into his Matra.

“Mmm, Matra for dinner. Good things really do come to those who have patience.” She tugged on the rope pulling him behind her even as he struggled.

“I will kill you,” he roared.

“Not if I kill you first.” She stopped and turned to look at Taya. “Die knowing that I was the one all over him tonight.”

She pulled him away as he cursed looking for a way to break free.

“Honestly you should save your energy, you’ll need it later. No one has ever managed to break my energy rope, human or other.” She loved the taste of others, but partaking of Gabe would be the best meal ever.

He stumbled behind her, his mind planted firmly in Taya’s taking the pain away from her.

“You’re going to have to get up, Sweetness, and run. Victor should be close. I know Rylan is; all you have to do is make it to one of them. They are moving in your direction. I’ll keep Melissa occupied while you go free.”

“You mean you’ll sacrifice your life so I can live. Except I can’t live with that sacrifice.”

She bit her tongue to keep from screaming as Troy kicked her in the side. He leaned over and stroked her cheek before kissing her. She bit him earning herself a smack across her face.

“Don’t act like you don’t want it. We both know you do.”

“Troy, you messed up your own life. You messed up my life and you even messed up Michael’s life. He had a chance, slim though it was, to be better than his forefathers and you took that away from him. You were smart enough to make those doors open on your own. Instead of reaching for that brass ring the right way, you tried to cheat. That’s why you’re here.”

The next hit rocked her because she wasn’t prepared for it.

“You don’t get it. No one cares about you.” He reached down and ripped off her shirt. He threw the gun and the knife far away.

She grinned, it was bloody. The feel of blood seeping down her lip reminded her of all the pain she experienced that night. It would never happen again. Her hand slipped into her pocket finding the brass knuckles. She slipped them on and when he came down to kiss her again, she raised her fist and hit him with all her might.

He fell back and she rose, the bullet wound making her slower. She dropped down to her knees and started beating him. She screamed her fury.

Her hand was caught when she brought it up again.

“That is enough, Taya. They will take care of Troy from here.” The sound of that voice made her look up to see federal agents staring at her. “They have been looking into him for a while. It’s only recently that they were able to gather hard evidence on him. The bodies, combined with his testimony, are all they will need to put him away for the rest of his life.”

Taya couldn’t say a word as they gathered Troy and ushered him into a police car. Standing in front of her was Marcus Gramby. He looked like he did the day she met him in that interrogation room. The same day he told her that the only decision was whether she was going to drag their lives through hell for someone who didn’t really matter.

The agents disappeared and she was still staring at him. He reached out and took her hand helping her to stand. His form wavered and he became Voyager. Her eyes widened but she said nothing. Maybe she was getting used to the weirdness. He wavered again and became the male that killed Gabe. Then once again he was Marcus Gramby.

“That day in the interrogation room you had a chance to make a monster or a monk. Only you had that power. Troy already sold his humanity, there was no help for him, but there was still a chance for Michael and a chance for you. The trial would have destroyed you and cemented Michael’s place in his bloodline. You took the harder road. Sometimes the trial is the harder road but not in this case. You earned my respect that day. I’ve never stopped watching over you.” He turned his back to walk away.

She gave a light laugh. He turned back around to smile at her. He walked up to her and placed his hand over her wound. White hot heat laced through her. When he pulled away, a bullet was in his hand and she was well.

“Your soul-bonded needs you.” He disappeared and she started running in the direction she saw Melissa drag Gabe.

They were going to have a long talk because running wasn’t her thing and she seemed to be doing a lot of it lately. Her mind whirled with all the things she was going to say to him when he was safe. There’d be no more putting himself in trouble and yeah, she wasn’t against putting him in bubble wrap.

She stumbled and stopped to catch her breath when she heard Melissa moaning. That woman was dead; no one touched her man and lived to tell about it.

She crept up to the opening in the tunnel she found. This place was convenient; you couldn’t see it from the road but it had easy access.

Lying on her stomach, she inched her way in to find Gabe on his back with Melissa leaning over him. She had purple strands coming from her body invading his.

That must be how she feeds. How was she going to defeat her?

“Leave, sweetness, before she sees you.” His voice was so weak she ached.

“Can’t do that,” she said in her most cheery tone of voice. “Not leaving without you.”

“Are you still thinking about her? I’m betting she’s dead by now. Troy didn’t seem to be the most stable individual. Don’t worry, you’ll join her soon enough, although I think I’ll be able to feed a week or even two off of you.”

Taya felt a vibration in the air that had her rolling to the side and hiding between two big rocks. She looked up and knew they had real problems now.

“He tastes good doesn’t he? I was enjoying it when I drained his soul-bonded because then I would get a nice little taste of him.

Melissa looked up and fear flashed in her eyes as his name came to her lips.

“Zuhun.”

Taya brought her hands up trying to make them spark desperately.

“Help me! I need to be able to fight. Why can’t I call the flames?” The harder she tried to make her hands spark the more drained she felt.

“You’re trying too hard. Your body is still recovering from what it went through at the trials. On top of that, you spent a week not eating; you have nothing left, Sweetness.”

“What do we do?”

“We wait.”

Wait. She watched Zuhun, he hadn’t made a move. He was hovering over the ground, eyes focused on Melissa, but she had that eerie feeling that he knew she was there.

“I can explain,” Melissa stuttered and pulled back some of her feelers from Gabe leaving one to keep him immobilized.

“Please do.” He sounded like a gracious host waiting for an explanation to something minor that went wrong.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

“Allow me to take a stab at it.” His multiple eyes moved as they focused on her.

The movement made Taya take deep breaths to keep from losing any food she may have stupidly consumed that day.

Melissa was as pinned as Gabe was, her eyes were big as she stared at Zuhun, but her hand was sliding along the rock floor of the cave looking for something to grasp. Taya shook her head almost as if she could communicate with the woman to tell her that would make things worse.

“I think we will start at the beginning. You killed your mother who happened to be one of the rare friends I had. If you can say I am even capable of having friends, she also happened to be my lover. I let you live, more for your mother’s sake than your own. She always asked me to leave you alone and when she asked with her head around my cock, it was hard to deny her anything. Were you grateful for your life? No.”

He moved around the cave examining the walls, looking at the remnants of other souls she had drained. He stopped; having gotten closer to Melissa the wild look in her eyes grew.

“Then you started killing on my land. Did you really think I did not know you were here? Of course you did. I am not human; I am not even a human off shoot. I come from a world so advanced that your species will only hope to gain a tenth of the knowledge we have before you blow yourselves to pieces.

“In a rare moment of honesty, I will admit that our knowledge led to our destruction. I allowed you to kill on my property and I did not claim a tithe or your life. Did you appreciate it? No. You carried on clueless to what you were doing and the messes I was cleaning up behind you, but now you have broken the ultimate rule. You became so greedy that you went after my food source.”

The fear in Melissa’s eyes made Taya want to hold and protect her which she knew was stupid. She watched as Melissa tried to move her body. Zuhun immobilized it; she couldn’t even twitch a finger.

“Tell me, why I should allow you to live, Melissa? I have learned somethings in all the centuries I have hunted the Arbrin/Matra. Often times the hunted becomes the hunter. No matter how powerful you are, you can become the prey. You, Melissa, have never been prey. It was the one disservice your mother did for you. She kept every manifestation that was stronger than you away from you. What a way to realize your mother loved you.”

Zuhun’s laughter sent spikes of cold terror down Taya’s back while she pleaded with herself to flame on or at least give her a spark. It wouldn’t matter even if she could make a flame, she didn’t have enough within her to defeat Zuhun.

They were dead after everything they had gone through. The facing of her fears alone was enough to drain her, the trials had been designed to suck out every inch of energy within her and her stupidity of not taking care of herself had done the rest.

She promised herself if she lived through today she would never be depleted of energy again. Her life wasn’t about having energy, that was a given considering what she was and who she was soul-bonded to. It was about making sure she was ready to face those enemies when they crawled out the woodwork.

Zuhun moved closer to Melissa, reached down and pulled her up by the shirt she was wearing and tossed her to the side.

“A natural protector. That is what the Arbrin/Matra is; it is also part of what can be used against you. You chose to protect your soul-bonded rather than kill Melissa; do not deny it, I can feel her. You have so much power now that Xolon is not feeding off of you. So much stronger than your brother.”

Zuhun brought his hand down. It changed becoming slender as he pressed the tips of his nails into Gabe. His body bucked into the air as Zuhun groaned from the energy he was feeding on. He pulled back leaving Gabe lying on the ground looking broken.

“Another day we will finish this but your family is too close and I do not want an all-out war—not yet.” He moved away from Gabe and went to stand over Melissa.

“It seems I must teach you the manners your mother never got a chance to. That is if you survive me draining you dry every day and using you for my personal pleasure. The curve of your ass is pleasing. I can’t wait to be buried deep inside of it.”

Taya kept her hand firmly over her mouth as the first tears of regret ran down Melissa’s face.

“It is too late for tears, Melissa.” Zuhun struck out his hand going deep into her body. She screamed with pain and he lit up with her energy. “You taste divine.” Melissa collapsed at his feet. He bent over and picked her up turning to leave the cave.

He stopped when he came close to where Taya was hiding. “I have not forgotten how good you taste.” His voice came out in a sick caress making her shiver. “I will be back for you.”

He adjusted the weight of his bundle and left the cave as if he had all the time in the world.

Taya got up and ran to Gabe, trying to wake him. “Wake up, love; we have to get out of here. We need help, please wake up.”

“Taya! Where are you?”

“Rylan, we’re in a cave. How are you in my mind?”

“I’m not in your mind, I’m in Gabe’s. You’re trying to connect with him so I was able to follow his link to find you. Where’s the cave?”

She showed him how she got here.

“Stay calm, don’t try to move him, I’m close and will be there soon.”

She nodded even as the link broke.

“Love, we need a time out. I’m tired of evil women, aliens that hover and don’t walk. Heck, I’m even tired of Voyager and his multiple images. I feel sorry for his soul-bonded or whatever she is or will be to him. In the end though, I’m tired of not getting time with you.”

She curled up around him keeping her gaze trained on the entrance to the cave. Her fingers flexed in the brass knuckles she was still wearing. No one but family was getting in this cave to get close to her soul-bonded. She had reached her limit of life threatening situations.

A small whistle alerted her to the fact someone was coming into the cave. She got up and crouched over Gabe’s body. When Rylan came into view she gave a deep sigh of relief.

“You’re a little fighter aren’t you?”

“He won’t wake up.” She ignored him.

“Let me get closer, Taya; I swear I won’t hurt him.” He stopped to watch her until she finally moved back, clearing space for him to come to his brother’s side.

He leaned over Gabe running his hands over Gabe’s body before he closed his eyes.

“He’s alive, he’s just depleted. A lot of his energy went into making sure you were going to survive the attack with Troy. Then Melissa drained him and Zuhun finished the job.”

Ryland took his hands and pressed them together palms facing each other. He closed his eyes and a fire began to form over his body until it changed and became the essence of energy. He opened his palms and placed them on Gabe’s chest like they were paddles. With every push down, Gabe’s body jumped like his heart was being stimulated back to life. Four times he gave him an infusion of energy.