Chapter 13 #2
“Do you have any sort of tranquilizer antidote to give her?”
“Already administered. But she’ll need an hour to process it and a night of rest before she’ll be upright. Alcohol affects meds.”
I pinpoint the barb still in Tessi’s neck, guide my tongue to it, and work my mouth around her flesh until I detect the end. Then I settle my teeth, partially spread, over the entry wound, suck, and nip the barb out the moment I sense the end between my teeth.
Spitting it into a tray, I work the taste of Tessi’s blood around in my mouth and realize there’s something else to her that no one’s mentioned. Before the nurse can bandage Tessi’s neck, I lick the drops of blood from her flesh again and again, until it stops bleeding altogether.
Tessi is mine. And my Shifter won’t let her precious blood be wasted on a bandage. As I clean her, the nurse stutters like she isn’t used to such behavior.
I notice a scar pattern peaking out of the collar of Tessi’s race suit that makes my stomach turn. I ease the fabric aside and stare at the claw marks.
A Myndrous got a lot closer to her than I realized. I know they’re not Mindoran by the broadness of the slashes.
I press a kiss atop her marked shoulder. No one will hurt you again.
Tessi squirms and arches on the bed. Veins rise in her neck. She pants and moans like she’s having a nightmare.
I look up at the biostats but can’t see whatever it is that’s making her behave so oddly. “What’s wrong with her?”
The Isonian nurse smirks. “Nothing. Just a hormonal dream. Do you want to see what she’s dreaming about?”
I’m not sure I do.
She switches on a nearby screen and walks out of the room. “Just remember your orders, sir.”
The screen sharpens to a blurry image of me atop the mountain, looking down at her, then another of my backside from when I carried her off the mountain. The image flashes back to when I shifted over her after I pulled her up the hillside.
Tessi hums a note in lust.
Her unexpected desire for me makes me reach out and run a hand over hers. So you do want me? And all that initial hesitation on the mountain wasn’t really hesitation, it was protection. Her life has led her to resist things she wants, something I can relate to.
But as I stare down at her beautiful face, I see her brows knit and the screen flash to my left. I watch it as her view of me switches to something far more sinister. The flashes are so brief that I can’t quite catch what she’s seeing.
Opening the recordings, I highlight the flashes and scroll until I get the clearest image. This can’t be normal. But if I call the nurse or Viriden in, they’re going to know what Tessi is dreaming about. And that has been expressly forbidden by Viriden.
And yet I know he needs to see what I’ve found.
“Viriden?” I call over my shoulder.
He steps inside, notices what I’m looking at and walks over. “That’s impossible. Tessi wasnt even born yet. She couldn’t have a memory of them.”
“Who is it?”
The figure is dark, dressed in blue-black robes, trimmed in gold and radiant tech that smokes. It has skin like Azrim’s coat, ink black with flecks of gold, but it stands upright.
With strong cheekbones, a small chin, and eyes like… Tessi.
“Circidians from the Cirubi galaxy. It’s outside of this one. We have had encounters with them before. They have…seeded planets.”
“You mean, they made us?”
“Not here. Other galaxies. But they are powerful and shouldn’t be messed with. We have passed by them unscathed, but I still have no idea why. Maybe we weren’t worth the effort? But they float through space on ships that ripple like ribbons in the wind. They defy physics as we understand them.”
I’m working around the taste of Tessi’s blood in my mouth, trying to sort the oddly smoky notes beneath the iron. “Is this why Tessi’s blood tastes not quite human?”
General Viriden hugs his arms as he watches her dream proceed with her looking up at my wolf form and the blips of this new species infiltrate her mind.
When I can’t stand it anymore, I step in front of the screen and face Viriden.
He hangs his head and backs up a step. “I always suspected that our brief encounter with them had rendered some…consequences. Tessi’s parents were both present during our meeting with the Circidians.”
I scrub my hands through my hair and lean back against the wall. I thought mating a human was going to be enough of a breach of tradition to make things difficult. But now I’m certain I’m never going to be allowed to bring her home.
Viriden tilts into my visual path. “It’s clear she wants you. If you pursue this, you can stay aboard my ship. I can always use your skills here.”
“That’s not the point. I wanted to go home with a mate so I could take Rhysan back, make our family whole again.”
“You’re not the only one who has lost family.
Galactic peace affects thousands of planets.
” Viriden looks down at Tessi. “Shior went home to have Tessi, and I never heard from her again. If you have scent-bonded with Tessi, I know you will want to stay at her side. But until we know more, that’s all it can be. ”
“And my orders?”
“Protect her as a critical asset, until we can get this new situation sorted out.”
“I will.” But even as I look at her now, I feel the pull of my Shifter, begging for another taste of her luscious flesh.
Viriden scowls at me. “Don’t lose your head, soldier. And don’t lie and tell me you haven’t. I know how Mindorans are when they get in a rut. And I know you are by the way you stalk her with your eyes.
“Guard her. Do not mate with her. She seems to trust you, and you’re aware of the situation, so your teams have been reassigned to my force. I’ve already spoken with Mindoran command. This is a matter of intergalactic security.
“What I know thus far is that Myndrous were likely sent to hunt her down and capture her like the other special cases. The Nebs’ spiritual faction has records of strange incidences and monitors the federation for the things we reject. Then they portal in and take them.”
A crack runs through my chest. I feel cold inside and unsure if I can do what he asks.
“We are locking down the complex so she’ll be safe while we sort out this problem. We need you to keep her prepped and ready to move at any given moment in case we lose control of the Neb situation.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you control yourself?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, because if Tessi falls into the wrong hands, it could lead to battles we don’t want to have and more good souls lost.”