CHAPTER 5
“It could get a little bumpy for a while,” Aaliyah said. “You should buckle yourself in.”
Lena nodded as she slipped her arms through the tight straps, snapping them in place around her.
Sitting in the chair behind the co-pilot’s seat, she was unable to see outside the small fighter ship.
She could only sit and watch as Rafa used instruments to control their descent.
Aaliyah had assured her that Rafa was an excellent pilot, but she still feared one of the Raiden Houses would decide to shoot them down.
“We can’t fly the ship into Leviathan territory without risk of breaking the treaty between Raiden and the serpents,” Aaliyah said. “We’ll need to set down at the base of the mountains where we know Sam and Seraphym live and walk in. You okay with that?”
“Yes, of course.” Though Lena wasn’t sure how wise they were to deliberately walk into Catalan territory.
It didn’t matter if the wild serpents had accepted her uncle and his mate into their clan.
They were still wild beasts, uncivilized, dangerous.
Maybe more dangerous than the Raiden warriors she was trying to avoid.
The ship lurched violently. Then lurched again.
Lena held tight to the armrests, closing her eyes.
She could hear Rafa trying to comfort Aaliyah as he attempted to avoid the fighters coming after him.
Coming after her. The Sabula prince must be desperate.
Maybe she should just give herself to him.
What difference would it make now? There was no reason for Aaliyah and Rafa to suffer trying to protect her.
“Hold on,” Rafa said, his tone gruff. “It’s going to get rough for a few minutes.”
Lena gasped as the ship began to roll and twist, jerking her one way, then the other, against her restraints.
She closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was in the arms of her father as he flew with her, dipping and rolling through the sky to try to make her laugh.
Funny how she had forgotten those wonderful memories until just this very moment.
“You okay back there?” Aaliyah asked. “We’re almost there. Nicolai must have found a way to call off those fighters.”
“I’m okay,” Lena said, opening her eyes, wishing she could see outside. She wondered if Rafa found it disorienting to fly by instruments alone, though guessed he must be used to it. “Are you sure the Catalan serpents will accept us?”
Aaliyah shrugged. “We need to find Sam and Seraphym. Communication could be a little difficult without them. I don’t suppose you speak Catalan, do you?”
Lena shook her head. “My father does, but he never taught us.”
“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” Aaliyah smiled warmly at Lena, returning her attention to Rafa.
They flew without any major problems for about five minutes, then Lena felt the ship jerk slightly as it touched the ground. Rafa powered down, then he and Aaliyah unbuckled and turned to face her.
“Abby is going to try to reach Seraphym through their bond to let him know what we’re doing.
We’ll need to leave the ship and start hiking up the mountain.
” Rafa paused, frowning. “I’m unsure about the relations between Catalan and Leviathan.
I know your two races weren’t welcoming toward one another in the past, but that was before Samantha and Seraphym mated.
Hopefully it’ll be less toxic now. I was going to suggest you might be more comfortable in your own clothes, but perhaps it would be best if you wore what you have on until we feel out our welcome. ”
Lena glanced down at her mainly black uniform, then shrugged.
She didn’t care what she wore. She unbuckled her straps when Rafa and Aaliyah stood, surprised she wasn’t more nervous about entering Catalan territory.
All her life she had been raised to fear them.
She’d been told they were mindless beasts who would steal their females if given half a chance.
Samantha, her uncle’s Catalan mate, had supposedly proven them wrong.
But how did one change a lifetime of misconceptions?
Perhaps Rafa and Aaliyah were taking her out of one bad situation only to drop her into another.
“Do my parents know I’m back on Raiden?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Rafa replied. “I find it unlikely, though. Unless Seraphym says something, there are few lines of communication open between the Nekbet palace and your father’s clan.
I’m sure Abby will have asked him not to mention it.
As you know, relations between Leviathan and Catalan are also still fragile. ”
She nodded. It’s why Saeran, her father and clan alpha, had asked Seraphym and his mate to leave their clan.
There were too many among them who mistrusted the Catalan.
Though Saeran ruled over his people with an iron fist, Samantha would not have been safe there.
But it hadn’t been Samantha Saeran worried about.
He feared Seraphym would attack anyone who tried to hurt his mate, either verbally or physically, and Saeran couldn’t risk it.
“You two wait here while I check out the area,” Rafa said.
Aaliyah covered her mouth, turning away as he opened the door and lowered the ramp. There was a shine of laughter in her eyes when she faced Lena. “He forgets that it’s me who will protect him if anything goes wrong.”
Lena frowned, taking in the petite dark-skinned female. “How would you protect a Raiden warrior?”
“Oh, yeah, you probably don’t know. I may look it, but I’m not exactly human.”
Lena’s frown deepened. “Then what are you?”
“Eee-gads. How do I explain this? I’m not even sure I completely understand it myself. Have you ever heard of a species called Djinn?”
Lena shook her head. “No. Are they also from Raiden?”
“No, I don’t think so. From what I understand, Djinn are a race of very powerful beings, maybe even immortal.
Rafa told me they come from a planet called Ajani Djinn.
From what I understand, Djinn once ruled over my planet, Earth.
It was something like three thousand years ago.
They set themselves up as some sort of gods. But they were cruel masters.”
“What does that have to do with you?” Lena asked.
“Well, a lot, actually. Gauge’s people, the vampires, and the werewolves—”
“Werewolves?” Lena said, interrupting. “What are they?”
“Oh, um, I guess that’s not what they call themselves.
The shifters, like your dragon men, only these guys turn into giant wolves.
” Lena nodded, and Aaliyah continued, “The vampires and shifters were set up like guardians over Earth. When Djinn began to abuse humans, these guardians fought to free Earth of Djinn control. Raiden warriors agreed to help them by bringing your people, the dragon shifters, to Earth. I guess dragons can see through Djinn glamour. They helped Gauge’s people fight against the Djinn, freeing Earth from their control. ”
“Go on,” Lena said, knowing there must be more to this story. “I’m still not following what this has to do with you?”
“When the vampires chased the Djinn off our planet, I guess they missed a few. We don’t really know how many are still there.
The Djinn left behind began to experiment with human DNA, mixing it with vampires and shifters, but also with their own genes.
That’s what happened to me. Or not just me.
My whole family line, really, but the Djinn power remained dormant in everyone else.
Somehow, it got activated in me. We don’t really understand how it happened, though Rafa thinks it might have had something to do with the abuse I suffered as a kid. ”
“What kind of power?”
Aaliyah shrugged. “We’re still trying to figure that out too. To be honest, it’s freaking scary sometimes. I can stop someone’s heart if I want to or close off their airway. I can cause someone to bleed to death through their pores. I can also stop people from moving.”
“Stop them from moving?”
“Yes, like freeze them in place. Well, it’s not really how it works.
It’s not like some outer force at play that freezes their bodies.
I simply stop the… How do I explain this?
I block the orders given in their brain that would cause them to move.
It takes a huge amount of energy to do this, and I can’t hold them for long, but it’s how I helped Sam and Seraphym escape. ”
“Could you do this with me?”
“I haven’t tried with a dragon shifter, but my guess would be yes.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “Though, come to think of it, maybe not. Maybe that’s why your people could fight against the Djinn. Maybe one of these days we’ll try . . . and see what happens.”
Lena nodded, though she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of someone being able to control her.
Nkosi couldn’t control her thoughts or actions from the inside, but he still overpowered her physically.
What would it be like to have someone get inside your brain and control your ability to move?
Just dealing with Gauge in her head could be trying at times.
She never knew when he was going to show up, though if she were honest, it was usually in times of great stress, as if he sensed or felt it.
“We’ll talk more about it later,” Aaliyah said, reaching out to touch Lena’s arm.
Lena twitched away from the touch, though she felt bad about it, knowing the female only meant to offer comfort.
She had struggled to let anyone touch her, including her uncle and parents, after her rescue from Ngozi, which made it extremely difficult to leave the caves.
Female serpents did not have wings, at least not the Leviathan.
They had to rely on their males to take them down from the cliffs each day.
Even before the memory block began to fail, she’d struggled to allow any male to slip up behind her.
They’d finally had to allow a male to shift and land outside her cave in his dragon form.
She could ride on their backs that way instead of feeling trapped in their arms.
Rafa returned and stood in the doorway, looking between the two of them. “Is everything all right in here?”
“Yes,” Aaliyah said with a smile. “Is it safe outside?”
“No fighters around. No serpents either. We should be okay. I’m not sure how we’ll find Samantha and Seraphym if Abby can’t get through to them. I don’t want anyone to get hurt if the Catalan see us as a threat.”
“I won’t let anyone get hurt,” Aaliyah said. “Trust me, Rafa. It’ll be okay.”
He gave one sharp nod, then held out his hand to his mate.
Lena watched as Aaliyah stepped in against his side, obvious love in her dark eyes as she looked up at him. It hurt knowing she would never have this for herself. Not now. Ngozi had ruined everything.
No, fool, you ruined it by trusting him.
How many times had her father warned her to stay away from Raiden warriors?
But she’d been curious. The more her father warned her away, the more determined she’d become to meet one.
Her bad luck that the one she met turned out to be the crazy prince from the House of Nekbet.
As she stepped outside the ship, Lena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling her body begin to relax.
Serpents weren’t meant to be locked inside a metal box.
It didn’t matter if females couldn’t shift and fly.
They still needed to feel free. She took another deep breath, drawing in the many sweet scents of the forest. Pine and fir, the earthier scents of moss and dirt, the warmth of the sun on her skin.
This part of their world was different from the area around their cliffs.
There was no taste of salt in the air, but it still felt like home.
While Rafa gathered enough supplies to get them by for a few days, Lena and Aaliyah walked around the ship, studying the area.
He’d landed them in a flat area on top of a rocky cliff.
Below them, a heavy forest spread out as far as the eye could see.
Behind them lay an open meadow filled with deep grass.
“If I’ve calculated right, we should be right on the border between Catalan and Sabula land,” Rafa said.
“Do you think it was wise to land so close to Caelium’s territory?” Aaliyah asked, her expression worried. “I know he’s desperate to find a strong mate for his firstborn son, Kiernan. He might not be reasonable about any of this.”
“But I’m not strong,” Lena said, shaking her head. “Why would he want me?”
“You are the daughter of the alpha to the Cave Dweller Clan of Leviathan, Lena,” Rafa said.
“It is the strength of your lineage he is after, not necessarily you as an individual. Try not to worry. Caelium would be a fool to send his warriors into Leviathan or Catalan territory. You’ll be safe here, especially once we find Sam and Seraphym. ”
“Kiernan’s shaprata is maturing quickly,” Aaliyah said, looking meaningfully at Rafa.
“I could sense his anxiety and pain when I took control of his body back at the Nekbet palace. We need to find Seraphym and Sam as quickly as we can. If desperate enough, the Sabula king could risk invading Catalan territory.”
Rafa nodded. “Let’s go then. It won’t take them long to find our ship. We need to get as deep into Catalan lands as we can.”
It won’t be deep enough, Lena thought. There is nowhere safe for me to go. Not on this world.