CHAPTER 28
Gauge was standing on the bridge, speaking with the captain and Jax, when he felt Lena scream in his mind. Jax reached out to help steady him when his legs threatened to buckle.
“Are you unwell?” the captain said, her expression worried. “Shall I call for a medic?”
“No. Lena is here. She was transported without anyone there to help take her pain.”
“Yes, Teo called for transport a few minutes ago,” the captain said. “I thought you knew or I would have said something. Do you need to leave to go take care of her?”
As much as he hated to do it, Gauge put up a wall between himself and Lena.
He couldn’t think straight while dealing with her pain.
Why did Teo bring her to the ship? He turned to Jax.
“I’ll be back as soon as I see to Lena. You can make arrangements with Earth’s officials.
Tell them we are here to speak with our people. We’ll be transported down at sundown.”
Jax offered him one sharp nod, though his expression said he wasn’t so sure about the orders. “Perhaps you should wait until you learn why Teo brought Lena to the ship, unless you’re fine with me handling the humans alone.”
Jax’s expression never changed, but Gauge knew the other Hunter was testing him.
The council was worried about Jax. He’d been tortured by a rogue Hunter, one who’d been influenced by a Djinn.
They came very close to losing him. After the abuse he’d suffered, the council didn’t trust Jax to handle anything alone, but they still wanted him working.
Better to keep his mind busy on his duty than on the torture he’d suffered.
“Give me an hour,” Gauge said. “Unless Lena is in danger, we will go forward as planned.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jax said. “Lena is the first serpent to go through a conversion, and her symptoms are much milder than we’d anticipated, but perhaps she still isn’t getting enough blood.
We simply don’t know what to expect with her.
Teo would not have brought her back to the ship without a good reason. ”
Gauge wasn’t going to argue. What he’d done to Lena was unforgivable.
How could a cold being like him ever make any female a decent mate?
He should have allowed himself to die. It would have been the honorable thing to do.
He needed to find a way to break this bond between him and Lena.
Another ancient Hunter could possibly strip her of his essence, but Gauge didn’t know of one who would try.
They wouldn’t want to risk attaching themselves to her.
He turned to the captain. “Are they in medical?”
“They are being taken there now.”
As he turned to leave, Jax fell into step beside him. “Did you need something, Jax?” Gauge asked as they stepped into the lift that would take them to medical. “You need to go back and contact the human authorities. We’ll leave as soon as I deal with Lena and Teo.”
“The humans can wait.” Jax paused, his expression thoughtful. “I want to know why you would leave your mate when she is obviously going through some type of conversion. I can handle the humans. Your presence is not needed.”
Gauge had to swallow down his irritation with the Hunter.
He knew Jax meant well, but he couldn’t possibly understand what Gauge was going through.
“I made a terrible mistake with Lena. I admit there is a strong bond between us, but she cannot be my mate. In time she will understand her feelings for me are not true. When this happens, she will find a more suitable mate, one who can keep her happy. That isn’t me. ”
“A more suitable mate,” Jax said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying you consider yourself unfit to be a mate? What if she had been your true eillelé? Would you still feel the same? Could you turn and walk away from her?”
“My eillelé is dead, Jax. It’s pointless to try to anticipate how I would react if I had met her now instead of when we were young.
I’m not the same person I was then. You’re an ancient too.
You know what we’ve become. A young female like Lena deserves someone better, someone not so hard and emotionally empty inside. ”
“Forgive me if I disagree. I would hardly describe what I saw between you and Lena as emotionally empty. Gauge, you have served the council faithfully for thousands of years. If anyone deserves a little peace and happiness, it’s you.
Stop punishing yourself for the loss of your true eillelé.
It was an accident, nothing more. Even if you had been there, you could not have stopped it.
Take this second chance you are being offered.
It is a priceless gift. There are enough of us available to handle whatever problems we face with Djinn.
You and Lena can help the others convince humans we mean them no harm.
She can help us deal with the serpents of Earth. We are going to need their help.”
Gauge scowled. “Did you play a part in Teo bringing Lena to the ship?”
Jax sighed, a very human action, and very unlike him.
“You are an extremely stubborn male. No, I did not speak with Teo about you and Lena. I didn’t need to.
Your tracker cares about you. He fears you might lose the will to live without Lena, and I agree with him.
We have only survived this long without a mate because we held no hope of finding one.
This has changed for you, Gauge. I suspect there is no going back now, not for you, and not for Lena. ”
Gauge frowned, hearing something odd in the other Hunter’s tone, something he suspected Jax would rather keep hidden. “Have you found your own mate, Jax? Did you walk away from her?”
Jax didn’t immediately answer. “I have, but we both know I am not mentally fit enough to go after her at this time.”
“Who is she?”
“The alpha cat’s sister, Chloe.”
Gauge couldn’t bring a face to mind. “Raif did mention a sister. Are you trying to tell me your eillelé is a cat shifter? Does she live with the pack?”
“No, she is a half-breed Laizahlian. She is Evanth’s daughter.
Twenty-five years ago, I killed her mother when I thought Evanth had gone rogue and tried to convert her.
I didn’t learn he had a daughter with this female until just recently.
Raif’s parents found her abandoned as a newborn in the mountains.
They raised her as their own within the pack. ”
“Where is she now?”
“With another pack on the other side of the States.”
“What are you going to do?” Gauge asked, his curiosity piqued.
“As soon as I am mentally fit, I plan to go for her.” Jax stopped and took hold of Gauge’s arm.
“Listen to me, you stubborn male. Stop lying to yourself. If Lena is yours, you need to go for her. We both know what will happen if you don’t.
I can’t speak for every Hunter, but I don’t relish the thought of taking you down when you turn rogue.
However it happened, you are Lena’s mate.
Even if you don’t care about yourself, would you take this chance for happiness away from her? Hasn’t she been through enough?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gauge snapped, shaking his arm loose.
“How many mates, how many true eillelés, have I mistakenly killed over the last three thousand years? You should know how I feel. You killed the mother of your own mate. Evanth was one of us and you took everything important from him. How many lives have I destroyed? I don’t deserve to have a mate of my own. ”
“Ah, I think I’m beginning to understand now.
Self-pity does not suit you, Gauge. Yes, I killed the mother to my own mate, and I will have to face her at some point over this.
And I don’t blame Evanth for what he did to me.
But the simple fact is, it doesn’t change that we thought we were doing the right thing at the time.
We were following orders. It won’t change anything to punish ourselves over it now. ”
“I can’t be what Lena needs. She doesn’t need another version of Ngozi trying to control her life.”
“She has suffered terribly, but so have you. If you could shake off your self-pity, perhaps you could help each other heal. Lena is a strong female, one who is willing to face her fears. If she’d been weak, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
She wants to try, Gauge. All you need to do is meet her halfway. Go to her, accept this precious gift.”
Gauge turned away without comment, the Hunter giving him something to think about. Could it be true? Was it his own fear and insecurity that caused him to push Lena away?
Jax released his communicator when the captain called. “Yes, Jax speaking.”
“You need to get Gauge to medical now! Something is wrong with the female serpent. Teo is afraid she might be trying to shift forms. I didn’t realize female Leviathan could shift, but if this is indeed the case, you need to get her off my ship. Now!”
Gauge didn’t wait to hear more. He started to run as soon as the door to the lift opened.
*
Lena snarled and swiped at the hands trying to help her. Teo was right. The pain she suffered while being transported was like nothing she could ever imagine. The abuse she’d endured at Ngozi’s hands, the cramping from the so-called conversion, were like child’s play compared to this.
On her hands and knees, she retched, then retched again, but there was nothing in her stomach to come up.
The blood she’d taken from Jax and Gauge had already been absorbed into her body.
She screamed, her skin on fire, her stomach on fire, so it was no big surprise when smoke curled out of her mouth and nose.
I’m going to burst into flames! It felt like bolts of lightning were striking her over and over, racing through her body.
Then Gauge was there, blocking some of the worst of the pain, but not all of it. Enough so that she could at least think again.
“Lena, we don’t know what’s happening, but to be on the safe side, the captain insists we transport you back down to the surface of the planet. Teo should never have brought you here without one of us present to block the pain.”
She shook her head. “No! I c-can’t go through that again. I can’t!”
“I’ll be with you, Lena. Let me pick you up. I’m sorry I can’t block all your pain, but it should be enough to make it bearable. I’ll try to put you to sleep once we are back on the surface. Perhaps we can stop this.”
“S-stop w-what?”
“Take my hand. Let me help you stand.”
“M-my back hurts. It f-feels like s-someone cut me.”
Lena felt Gauge lift her shirt, groaning with relief when it pulled away from her skin. A few seconds later, she heard the rip as he tore it away.
“Listen to me, Lena. I think you have wings trying to break through. I’m not going to be able to carry you without risk of damaging them. Let me help you stand, then I’ll have the captain transport us from here.”
“What is h-happening to me, Gauge? This isn’t from the transporter, is it?”
“No. I need to speak with Samantha.” Though the transporter may have set off the transformation. “I need to know what she went through when she changed from human to serpent.”
“But I’m already a serpent.”
“Not like this, Lena. Your skin is splitting. I believe wings are forming, and I can also see the buds of horns.”
Lena closed her eyes. She’d waited too long to seduce Gauge and now her serpent side was trying to take control. She gasped when Gauge helped her stand, feeling as if her skin was trying to sluff off. Had she been burned somehow?
“Hold on, Lena. It’ll be over in a minute.”
“I’m coming with you,” Teo said, his tone tight, worried.
“No, you will not,” Gauge growled. “You’ve already done enough here. Stay and help Jax set up a meeting with the human authorities. I’ll take care of Lena and then join you later.”
Rafa and Aaliyah came rushing in, but stopped in their tracks when they saw Lena, horror in both their eyes.
“Oh my God. What happened?” Aaliyah asked.
“We don’t know,” Gauge replied. “Teo foolishly had her transported to the ship. Something about the process must have set this off.”
“But she looks bur—”
“We need to go. Now.” Gauge nodded at Jax, who called for transport.
Gauge felt Lena scream in his mind as their bodies were being broken down to pure energy, but there was nothing more he could do to help. If he took any more of her pain, he risked passing out himself, and then he would be of no help to anyone.