Sara didn’t hear the words. If she had, she would have been even more frightened at the slight, hard edge to them. It wasn’t directed at her, but for her. It was a promise of things to come, things that she would discover when she finally woke.
Chapter 2
Jaguin paced outside of the sick bay, impatiently at the door. His symbiot remained inside with the healer, working to save their mate. He wanted to stay, but Tandor, the ship’s chief medical officer, had kicked him out, saying his symbiot was helpful while Jaguin was just getting in his way. It would take both of them to keep the female alive.
Turning, he walked ten paces to the left before swiveling on his heel to retrace his steps. He kept the door to the medical unit within his sight at all times. His fingers automatically went to the golden cuff on his forearm every few seconds as he impatiently waited.
“How is she?” He demanded in a husky voice, stroking the golden living metal.
Images of the woman suddenly appeared in his mind. She was lying on her side. Her back was covered with a thin layer of his symbiot’s gold body as it worked on healing her. The layer dissolved and he could see the thick ridges of sealed, red flesh before it was covered with another layer. The healer was working on her other injuries.
Pain, anger, and grief poured through him. He raised his head when he heard the sound of footsteps. He watched as Gunner walked down the corridor toward him. His friend’s lips were pressed into a thin line.
“How is she?” Gunner asked as he came to a stop next to him.
“Alive… Barely,” Jaguin replied, dropping his hand from the symbiot band on his arm.
“What of the other female?” Gunner asked with a heavy sigh of relief.
Jaguin shook his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I have focused only on the one I brought on board.”
“It is understandable, she was the one with the worse injuries,” Gunner responded with a tired sigh. “I do not understand the human males. How can they treat something so precious, so fragile, like this?”
“I don’t know,” Jaguin said again, leaning back against the wall. “Where did you get that bruise? I don’t remember seeing it before.”
Gunner reached up and rubbed his jaw, wincing when he touched the sensitive spot on the right side. The wound looked new. A mischievous gleam lit Gunner’s eyes.
“From the precious, delicate, human female that I brought back. I tried to steal a kiss,” he chuckled with a shrug. “Audrey dared me to try. How could I resist such a challenge? For a healer and a female, she can hit very hard. I will listen to her when she warns me next time.”
Jaguin shook his head and a reluctant smile curved his lips before it faded and an intense look came into his eyes. His gaze moved back to the door of the medical unit. The memories of his mate’s words haunted him.
“The female is my mate,” he stated in a husky voice.
“What?!” Gunner’s shocked tone ricocheted through him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Jaguin replied in a soft voice. “My symbiot is with her. My dragon is on edge, just as I am. It is… difficult not to be with her.”
Gunner rubbed the red spot on his chin and grimaced. “Yes, it is,” he muttered, straightening along with Jaguin when the door to the medical unit opened.
“Is she…?” Jaguin started to ask before his throat tightened. He drew in a deep breath before he continued. “How is she?”
Tandor’s expression was grim when he nodded to both men. Jaguin watched as Tandor ran his hand tiredly down his face and rubbed his chin before his hand dropped to his side. He motioned for Jaguin and Gunner to follow him into the medical unit.
Jaguin started forward, his gaze automatically moving to the woman lying silently on the bed. He could see the thick bands of gold on her neck and wrists. His symbiot sat on the far side of the bed resting its’ head on the pristine white sheets. Small threads of gold wove outward, replacing the narrow ribbons still moving over her body.
“It is a good thing you are her mate,” Tandor replied in a quiet voice, walking past the two beds toward the office area to the left. “She would not have survived without your symbiot’s ability to heal her. Our medical advancements are far greater than most, but nothing can heal the body the way a symbiot can.”
“What of the other woman?” Gunner asked with a frown. “She is not mated.”
“She had a concussion, as well as other injuries,” Tandor admitted with a shake of his head. “I was able to heal most, but not even our symbiots can heal a broken mind or soul. The female was awake, but she never spoke or responded. It was as if only her body was here, nothing else. I see evidence of injuries to the females on a physical level, but can only guess at the damage done on a mental one. Time will tell if they will survive.”
“This one has to,” Jaguin retorted, turning to glance again through the clear glass where his mate lay. “She… She is mine.”
Tandor’s gaze followed Jaguin’s to the peaceful face. “I know,” he murmured. “You will need to be patient, Jaguin, until she wakes, I can only guess at the damage that was done to her mind.”
Jaguin’s gaze remained locked on the young woman’s face. He didn’t even know what to call her, just his mate. She looked like a pale statue. Her breathing was so slight that he could barely see her chest rise and fall. His symbiot moved closer, nudging one slender arm. Hope and determination flared inside him when her arm slid over the golden head. He knew that it was the nudge of his symbiot that caused her arm to move, but not her fingers. Warmth flooded him when the woman’s fingers curled ever so slightly into the silky smooth body of his symbiot.
“I will wait however long it takes,” Jaguin replied, with a deep promise in his words.
*.*.*
Sara was locked in the nightmare of her memories again. A small part of her brain was telling her that it was only a memory, not real, but she swore she could feel the ripping of her flesh with each slash of the whip. Her jaw locked so tightly that her teeth ached, but she refused to give Cuello the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
Her body stiffened in surprise when a wave of warmth suddenly engulfed her. It was a golden flood of liquid, washing away the pain and soothing her. For a moment, she couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if she were being torn apart. One part of her was locked in the horror of her captivity, while the other part was free as another world rose up to surround her.
Confusion swamped her as the vivid images exploded in her mind. She expected the memory to take her to a time either when she was a child or back in Columbia when she was working at the University there. Instead, the world was strange, different in a good way, from anything she had ever seen before.
Her fingers involuntarily spread as she reached for the tall grass. It was purple! She had never seen grass like this before. Her hand brushed over the tops. Her lips curved upward as it tickled her palm. The faint smile turned to a frown when another wave of warmth filled her.
What is going on? Am I dead? She wondered, gazing around the meadow.
No, elila, you are not dead, merely sleeping, a husky voice responded.
As she tried to take everything in, her heart pounded so hard that she thought it would explode. The faint sound of a soft murmur brushed over her a moment before she felt something cold against her neck. Within seconds, her body relaxed. Whatever she was given was pulling her deeper into the vast pit that she had unwittingly stumbled into.
I’ll hide here, she thought as her body landed in a soft bed of gold. He’ll never find me in the dark.
Chapter 3
A soft moan escaped Sara three days later. She forced her eyelids to open a crack. Her fingers curled into the covers. She was surprised at their softness. Cautiously, she opened her eyes a bit more so that she could get a better look at where she was.
When she turned her head, she saw Emma sitting in a chair in the corner. The younger girl looked even paler and more fragile than before. Sara shoved her own feelings of w
eakness aside and pushed up until she was in a sitting position. A soft growl of annoyance escaped her when her arms trembled.
“Damn it,” she muttered, lifting a shaky hand to brush her hair back from her face.
Sara’s hand froze in surprise when she realized that while she might be weak as a kitten, she wasn’t in pain. A confused frown creased her brow. That was impossible. It couldn’t have been more than a few days since Cuello had ordered her strapped to that horrible wooden frame.
She slowly lowered her hand and gazed around the room. It was stark in some ways, almost futuristic looking. There was a wide door on the other side of a clear panel that looked like it might lead out to another room. There were two beds in the room she was in and several comfortable looking chairs.
Her gaze moved back to Emma. Worry pulled at Sara when she saw the haunted look in Emma’s eyes. Pushing the thin sheet covering her legs to the side, Sara paused for a moment. There were no bruises marring her skin. She rolled her shoulders and waited for the pain, but none came.
Emma’s eyes cleared for a moment and she silently shook her head. The look in them didn’t reassure Sara. Instead of relief, a look of terror flashed through them before they glazed over again and turned dull. Sara could almost feel Emma pulling away from the world.
She tightened her jaw in determination. She didn’t spend half her life fighting for her freedom just to kiss it goodbye. Her gaze flashed past Emma to the doors before they moved to the office. She could see that the door to it was open. Maybe, just maybe, whoever it belonged to had left a weapon of some type inside.
Sara straightened and stiffened her spine. The first mistake the bastards made was to heal her. She didn’t know how they did it so fast, but she wasn’t going to let them torture her or Emma ever again. The second mistake was leaving them alone. If there was a way out, Sara would find it and whether Emma wanted to go or not, she wasn’t leaving the other woman behind.
Turning back to Emma, Sara gave the other woman a look that used to send more than one of her cousins running for cover. When Sara decided she wanted something, nothing stopped her. This time, she wanted her freedom.
“Let’s go,” she ordered in a harder voice than she meant to. “I need you here with me, Emma. We are going together or not at all, do you understand?”
Emma nodded and rose to her feet. Sara saw the younger woman sway, but there was also a quiet resolve when she pulled her shoulders back. Sara smiled and reached her hand out. Her fingers closed around Emma’s hand and she gently squeezed it.
“We’ll make it,” Sara promised. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Emma’s lips parted and she looked like she was about to say something before an overwhelming look of sadness darkened her eyes and she shook her head. Sara could tell the other woman was struggling to say something. It was almost as if Emma forgot how to speak. She was about to ask Emma what was wrong when the double doors slid open.
Sara’s lips parted in surprise and shock when a huge golden creature trotted in, carrying something in its mouth. Her throat worked up and down when it suddenly stopped and dropped the soft fabric figure. She unconsciously pulled on Emma, tugging the other woman behind her when the creature tilted its head to the side and stared back at her.
Sara’s right hand rose to her throat. Her fingers froze when she felt a delicate rope of metal hanging around it. The moment she touched it a sense of déjà vu struck her and the familiar wave of warmth flooded through her fingertips and down her arm.
“It was you…,” she whispered.
Her eyes jerked upward when the shadowy figure of a large male suddenly darkened the entryway. Her eyes widened as recognition dawned on her. It was the man from the forest in her dream.
“No…!” Her cry rose along with her anger.
Her mind shattered, no longer seeing that she and Emma were not in the cells in Cuello’s compound, just recognizing that they were once again captives. Her gaze flew around the room, searching for a weapon. Not seeing any, she clenched her fists and relaxed her shoulders.
“Emma, when I tell you to run, you run and don’t look back,” Sara hissed, her eyes narrowing on the man in front of her.
She could feel Emma’s hand on her lower back tremble in response. All she could do was try to delay the man long enough for Emma to find a way to escape. Drawing in a deep breath, Sara started forward when the huge golden creature bent and picked up the object that it was carrying in its mouth once again and stepped in front of her.
Sara paused in confusion when it raised its head to her and pushed the object toward her. Her gaze moved back and forth between the creature and the man. She wasn’t sure what to do.
“My symbiot… It wishes for you to have this,” the man said. “I searched for human objects that are given to the sick. This came up. My symbiot saw this as your favorite.”
Sara didn’t say anything; she just stared warily at the man. Her brain picked out words in his sentence that didn’t make sense to her… symbiot… human object… sick…
“I wasn’t sick, I was… beaten,” Sara bit out in a husky voice.
“I know,” the man replied in an accented voice that she couldn’t place.
“Where are we?” Sara demanded, glancing up at him. She still couldn’t see him very clearly with the dim light inside and the brilliant light of the corridor shadowing his face. “Are you with the military?”
The man hesitated before he responded. “You are on board the Horizon. You and the other female needed immediate medical attention. I am a warrior, one of the best trackers for my people.”
“Cuello…,” Sara started to say, stopping when the man took a slight step forward.
“The male and his companions are dead. You need never fear them again,” the man replied in a calm, hard tone. “I would have preferred to have killed him myself, but Lady Carmen completed that task, as was her right.”
Sara started when the golden creature nudged her hand. She had forgotten all about it. A frown creased her brow and she trembled. She was fast losing the small amount of strength she had when she first woke. Between the beatings and lack of food, her body was running on empty.
“What is this thing?” She asked, staring down into the golden eyes. When it first came in, it had looked like some kind of huge cat. Now it looked like the sloth figurines that she loved to collect. “It was a cat a minute ago.”
“Yes, it can change shape. It knows you like this creature so it wishes to calm you,” the man said.
Sara’s hands automatically reached out when it leaned toward her and dropped a fabric replica of a sloth. It fell into her outstretched palms. Tears burned her eyes when the creature slowly sank down until it was sitting and stared at her with wide, golden eyes. Her gaze lifted to the man again. This time the soft light shining down illuminated his face.
“Where… Who… are you?” Sara asked in a faint voice.
“You are aboard the Valdier Warship Horizon. I am Jaguin, a warrior from the east mountain region. I am… your protector,” he added, taking another step closer.
Sara could feel Emma’s hand violently tremble. It was a reminder that she wasn’t alone. Her body swayed as her mind tried to comprehend what the man was and wasn’t saying. Her lips parted and her throat moved up and down. She tried several times before the words finally came out.
“What are you?” She whispered, staring at him with wide eyes. “What do you want with us?”
The man paused in front of her. She already knew the answer. There were no creatures like the golden one watching her intently. There were no human men that looked like the man standing in front of her. Unless she was in some strange movie set, something very, very strange had happened back at Cuello’s compound, something that involved golden tentacles and bizarre lights.
“I am an alien,” the man finally replied. “You are my mate.”
Sara’s eyes widened even further before the last of her strength dissolved. She knew she was
done when the darkness that was pushing at her continued to grow. She felt Emma’s hands wrap around her, but there was no way the other girl could hold Sara up.
“Oh, great. I’m done,” Sara forced out as her eyelids fluttered several times.
Once again, she felt the rush of warmth surround her. This time, it was soft and soothing but hard and muscular. Her head rolled to the side and her cheek rested against the coarse material of the man’s shirt.
Out of the frying pan…, Sara vaguely thought as the darkness consumed her.
Chapter 4
Jaguin rolled the small stuffed creature he had replicated for Sara nervously between his hands. He wasn’t sure how to approach his mate. He always thought when he met her that they would instantly recognize each other and everything would be perfect. That was the way it worked for his parents. At least, that’s what his father told him.
When Jaguin was a youngling, he asked his father how he would know when he met his true mate.
His father’s reply was short and to the point. “I saw your mother, she saw me, and we knew. You don’t have much choice. When your dragon and your symbiot want something, there’s no use fighting it. They will make your life miserable if you do.”
“But, what of mother? Did she feel the same?” Jaguin had innocently asked.
He remembered his father’s grin. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he should have noticed that it had wavered a bit before he answered.
“Eventually,” his father had replied.
Jaguin always meant to ask his mother, but there just never seemed a good time to question her about it. He listened to the other boys in the village, but their fathers had pretty much said the same thing. The few females his age had been closely guarded by their families, so it wasn’t like he could ask them.
“Jaguin,” a soft voice called from behind him.
Jaguin turned and watched as a slender, but very pregnant, Carmen waddled down the corridor toward him. He glanced over expecting to see either Cree or Calo with her. His eyebrow rose when he saw she was alone.