Atem’s Darkest Day #3
“Then, unless he is also going towards the same forest, we cannot count on being able to find them.”
“That’s true…” She didn't seem happy to admit it.
“Furthermore, Tuvo and Survii have the communicators. One of them should be able to comm for help and, when they do, the shuttle will be able to come after us. They will know we’re not in Geneva, but they’ll be able to learn where we went, I’m sure. They’ll come after us.”
She frowned, shooting him quick glances as she drove. “Atem, are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I mean, we were just nearly assassinated in our beds. And now we’re on the run.”
“I’m fine, Peony,” he offered her a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Kind of hard not to,” she grumbled before obligingly moving on. “What about the others though?”
“The others will be all right,” Atem promised, reaching over to rest his hand on her thigh. “I trust the members of my council. They will protect their mates with their lives, and you know that Tuvo will take his duty to Hattie seriously.”
“Right. Of course,” she brightened a bit. “Survii and Havali are both capable of kicking serious human butt.”
“And various other body parts.”
She chuckled. “Romival isn’t going to let anything happen to Holly.”
“Of course not.”
“And Tuvo would die for Hattie.”
Atem blinked at her, surprised. “You sound so sure.”
She laughed wickedly. “Come on. You’ve seen them.
He wants her so bad it’s giving me indigestion.
If the guy would just talk to her, he’d see she wants him too.
I’ve been pushing those two together for months now.
But this is good! They’ll be attacked. He’ll kick all the butt.
She’ll be so impressed she’ll swoon right into his arms. Badda-bing, badda-boom; we’ll have another hybrid baby on the roster before the end of the week. ”
Atem chuckled. His female spoke with such conviction, he almost believed her, even as something hard and protective rose up in his chest. He had to swallow the reflexive growl at the very thought of an unproven male, even one that was practically brother to him, flicking his tail around his sister.
The instinctive urge to hide Hattie away was strong, even without her here.
But it was the best kind of feeling. As much as it irritated him – like a rock in his shoe – to see unproven males around his sisters, he was still capable of understanding that these were good males. Worthy males. His sisters would be well loved and protected in their care.
Didn't make him want to punch Tuvo any less. If anything, it made him want to fight more. But it was a pleasant, energizing kind of restlessness.
One that only lasted until Peony, tired of the silence, turned on the ancient style entertainment system in the vehicle. It took her a moment to find a station in English, but when she did, she suddenly gasped and pulled over to the side of the empty road with a horrified expression on her face.
“Peony?” Atem looked around quickly, checking for danger first, before focusing on her. “What is it? What’s wrong? What are they saying?”
“They…” She swallowed reflexively, tears swimming in her beautiful, green eyes. “Oh, Atem. Their plane…”
“Who’s plane?”
“Hattie’s… Tuvo’s… They’re saying… They’re saying it exploded!”
Atem’s stomach dropped.
Peony
Her mate was silent.
She drove as fast as she dared down the dark streets, following the GPS in the car. The only sound between them was the radio. The news kept updating, but she had stopped telling Atem what they were saying.
It was bad.
It was really bad.
They hadn’t been the only ones attacked, as he suspected. Scarlet and Havali had been chased down the streets of Paris. Holly and Romival were being held hostage at Oxford. No word yet on Alanna and Survii. But Tuvo and Hattie…
They couldn’t survive a plane explosion. Domini were tough, they weren’t that tough. And even if the explosion didn't get them, the fall at terminal velocity would.
They were dead. Both of them.
Peony hadn’t said it yet. She only told Atem about the ongoing searches and hostage negotiations they were talking about on the radio – including their own which was still in Geneva for now. But he wasn’t dumb. No doubt, he would have made that same connection.
It wasn’t just Hattie and Tuvo though. No doubt, he was thinking about all the others. Though he had surrendered right of protector to their mates, that didn't mean he loved them as sisters less. If they were in trouble, he would want to go to them.
But if Hattie and Tuvo had died in an explosion, he couldn’t do anything.
There was no way for them to get to the private island where Alanna and Survii were honeymooning or into the UK where Romival and Holly were trapped.
They couldn’t even hope to find Scarlet and Havali by themselves and they were at least in the same country.
They had to save themselves. They had to trust the others to save themselves.
For her untrusting mate, she knew that wouldn’t sit easily with him.
None of this would sit easily with him. She wanted to stop.
To make sure he was okay, but she knew he wouldn’t want that.
He was trying to be strong, to keep going. So, she did as well.
He remained tense and strained for the rest of the drive. Until, still under the cover of darkness, she pulled the car up to the start of a hiking path into the forest they chose. Only then, when she turned off the car, cutting off the radio, did he finally move.
Looking through the windshield, he stared at the dark woods for a moment before nodding. “This will do. Come, vi Seerin.”
She didn't hesitate to leave the car with him. He lowered himself to the ground, silently urging her to climb on his back, before he took off at a jog into the trees. The dark, quiet forest closed over them and, immediately, Peony couldn’t see anything.
She turned her face into Atem’s neck, clinging tight, as she let herself become lost in the rocking of his body as he ran.
At some point, he stopped long enough to climb a tree, but then immediately started running again after. She didn't need to look to know that he was moving across the branches. Traveling along the tree branches with the same ease that he had on the ground.
She didn't know how long they traveled. She was pretty sure she started to doze, never quite falling asleep for fear her limbs would loosen and she would inconvenience Atem. Not fall. She never imagined her mate would allow her to fall.
Vaguely, she became aware of him coming to a halt and pulling her off his back. But finding herself securely wrapped in his arms only made her doze deepen. No chance of slipping off here. And it had been a long, long night…
***
The birds were too damn loud.
That was Peony’s first thought as she cracked her eyes against the annoying sunlight that was falling right on her face. It was a lovely morning, but there was no way she had been asleep long enough to appreciate it, so instead she glowered out at the obnoxious, unfamiliar forest.
“Easy, vi Seerin,” Atem rumbled, rubbing her belly. “Go back to sleep.”
“Who can with all that racket?” She grumbled, looking around.
They were in one of the trees, one of the bigger ones. Atem had chosen a branch large enough for him to sit on, reclining against the trunk, as he held her in his lap, across his chest.
“Are you alright?” He asked, nuzzling the back of her neck.
“Tired,” she mumbled, sitting up and stretching out her back before turning. Her grumpiness faded away when she looked at him.
It was hard to tell on Atem’s face. He handled exhaustion very well. But she knew what her mate looked like when he was worried and tired. She cupped his cheek gently.
“Are you okay?”
To her surprise, he didn’t immediately reassure her that he was. His mouth moved a bit, but no sound came out. For a second, he looked so confused, it broke her heart. Like all the emotions he must be feeling were so overwhelming, he couldn’t even process them.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “You can tell me. Are you okay?”
“I… I don’t know if I am,” he confessed, stroking her waist. “Every moment, I thank the ancestors that we decided not to bring Viktor. It’s the only bright spot amongst all this. Tuvo… He is like a brother to me.”
“I know,” she said, wishing she could bring him into her arms, but knowing that he was the only thing keeping them stable on this branch.
“Hattie. Alanna. Scarlet. Holly. She’s pregnant, Peony. That is my nephew she carries. If anything were to happen to them…”
Adjusting herself so she was straddling his lap, she sat up so she could cradle his head to her breast. It was the best she could do considering their position.
He clung to her.
And for the first time, her mate cried.
Atem
They were all back on the Stor. All of them.
Atem leaned against the windowsill in the room he shared with Peony. The Earth, beautiful, brilliant blue, hung suspended against the star speckled background of space. A truly terrifying sight.
But less so now that everyone he loved was back on the starship.
Arms came around him from behind. His mate, embracing him, resting her head on his back.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered so they didn’t disturb Viktor in his little crib beside the bed. “Did I wake you up?”
Her sweet lips kissed his shoulder. “Yeah. I missed you. But it’s okay. Are you okay?”
It wasn’t the first time she had asked him that since the forest in France. She made sure to check in with him at least once a day. No one took care of him quite like his mate. He could be strong for everyone else because he could be weak for her.
Turning from the view of Earth, he took her into his arms and smiled into her bright, green eyes.
“I am wonderful, vi Seerin,” he promised.
She searched his face for a minute before smiling, relief etched in her features.
He kissed her. Warmth and gratitude filling his chest.
Love for his mate welled up inside him so bright, it banished any lingering fear and unease wherever it might haunt his mind.