Page 4 of Dark Rebel’s Reckoning (The Children Of The Gods #93)

4

MAX

F enella stirred on the narrow seat next to Max, her eyelids fluttering, and then her eyes were open, but clouded with confusion.

"Hey," he said softly, not wanting to startle her. "You're safe. We got you out."

She looked at the down blanket covering her then lifted her eyes to the jet's ceiling and turned to look at the small window, and then back at him. "You must be a hallucination. There is no way you are here."

Max was glad that she was at least thinking clearly now and not imagining that she was dead and seeing him in the afterlife. He'd already told her that he was like her, immortal, but he wasn't surprised that she didn't remember their conversation. She'd been loopy from the sedatives.

"It's me, and yes, I know that I look the same as I did fifty years ago. So do you." He smiled. "Ever wondered how come you didn't age?"

Her eyes widened with fright. "What happened to us? Who did that? Why?"

He chuckled. "Those are not the kinds of questions I can answer with one-word replies. You will have to be patient." He reached for a bottle of water. "I'm sure you are thirsty." He removed the cap and then remembered that she couldn't drink while lying down and brought her seat up. "Have some water." He handed her the bottle. "Small sips."

She wrapped her hands around the bottle, and as she took a small sip just as he had instructed, her eyes closed, and she groaned. "God, this is so good."

As she took another sip and then another, Max wondered whether he should take the bottle away from her like he had seen Jasmine do to Kyra, but he didn't have the heart. Fenella was now gulping the water down, and he had a feeling that she would fight him if he tried to take the bottle away.

Instead, he shook his head. "If you can't hold the water down, just try not to puke all over me."

She glared at him over the bottle but kept on drinking until there was nothing left. "I guess there is no chance you will give me another."

"Sorry." He assumed an apologetic expression. "You are really not supposed to drink so much all at once."

"Why?"

He laughed. "You are still just as feisty as I remember. I'm glad they didn't manage to beat it out of you."

Her momentary bravado vanished in an instant, and the look of fear on her face cut him to the core.

He took the empty bottle and set it aside, then clasped her hand, which had been steady before but was shaking now. "You are safe, Fenella. I won't let anything happen to you."

She shook her head and averted her eyes, which started leaking tears.

"Look at me," he said more firmly than he'd intended.

When she did, he forced his voice to soften. "I meant what I said. I'm taking you to a safe place where you will be surrounded by others who are like us. The bad guys will never get to you again. I mean it. Never."

She nodded. "I trust you. I don't know why, though. You were a shitty boyfriend who dumped me without a word and never even bothered to find out what happened to me."

He winced. "It was just a summer fling, Fenella. I never promised you anything."

He hadn't made any promises, but he'd inadvertently given her the greatest gift imaginable, exposing her to a great danger at the same time.

"Is there anything to eat?" Kyra asked across the aisle.

Fenella's eyes widened, and when Jasmine responded in the affirmative, she squeezed his hand. "I'm starving. Any chance there is more for me?"

He smiled. "Of course. I'll warm up a meal for you."

"Thank you." She let go of his hand. "I'll just close my eyes until you return. If I fall asleep again, wake me up."

"I will."

Max made his way to the galley where he found Ell-rom heating up a packaged meal. "Your girl is also hungry, I assume."

"Fenella is not my girl, but she's hungry." He pulled a tray out of the refrigerator. "Good thing that Kalugal ordered meals based on the headcount without accounting for the Kra-ell warriors, so we've got plenty extra for the women."

The five pureblooded Kra-ell were probably still bloated from the amount of blood they'd drunk from the humans and immortals they'd killed. They wouldn't even need the artificial blood they'd brought for the trip.

He opened the heating oven and added another tray. "I just hope they don't puke everything up. We have no idea what was done to them." Max leaned against the counter. "They could probably use a shower and a change of clothes, but we don't have anything for them to change into."

The jet had a shower, but the water was limited, so Max had only washed his hands and face to conserve as much as possible for the women, who needed it more. The others had done the same.

Ell-rom pulled out the two heated meal trays and handed them to him. "I'll check with the pilot. Maybe they have something stored for emergencies."

"I doubt that, but it's worth a try."

Kalugal might have kept a change of clothing on board for himself and Jacki, but that wouldn't meet the needs of six women.

Balancing the trays, Max returned to where Kyra and Jasmine were sitting.

"Delivery." He smiled at Kyra as he put the tray on the table next to her seat. "I'm glad to see you are feeling better."

"Thank you." She returned his smile, and his heart skipped a beat. She really had a beautiful smile.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to deliver this to Twelve, whose name is Fenella, by the way."

Kyra's head whipped around. "Where is she?"

He pointed with his free hand. "Two seats down across the aisle."

She leaned over, and when she saw Fenella dozing off in her seat, a sound left her throat that was a cross between a sigh and a sob.

"You should bring Fenella over here," Jasmine suggested. "She can take Ell-rom's seat while she's eating. That way she can hear what I'm about to tell my mother. She doesn't know how she turned immortal either, right?"

Max nodded. "She doesn't, and I'm very thankful to you for offering to explain the birds and the bees to both of them at once. I'm not good at that sort of thing."

"Of course." Jasmine removed the aluminum foil from the dish for her mother. "But you should stick around and help me. You know much more about the clan's history than I do."

"Gladly." He set one tray on Ell-rom's vacated seat, then walked over to Fenella.

When he put his hand on her shoulder, she opened her eyes. "Is the food ready?"

"It is, but I'm moving you to the seat over there so you can share the meal with Kyra."

"Kyra? Who is she?"

"A fellow prisoner. I assumed that the two of you knew each other."

Fenella shook her head. "I didn't know any of the other prisoners."

"Well, she knew you, or rather about you. She insisted on us freeing the prisoner in cell twelve, which was you." He offered her a hand up. "Do you think you can walk over there? It's only a couple of steps away and you can hold on to me for balance."

"I think so." She took his hand, but as soon as she tried to stand, her legs buckled.

He caught her, cursing himself inwardly for even suggesting that she walk on her own. She was in no state to do that. Besides, what she was wearing wasn't suitable even for the relatively warm cabin.

Grabbing the down blanket, he wrapped it around her and lifted her into his arms. "Maybe after you eat something you will have enough energy to walk." He forced a smile, offering reassurance.

He carried her to the seat, settled her in front of the tray, and then took the seat beside her.

Kyra smiled at Fenella between bites of pasta, her eyes warm. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

Fenella echoed the sentiment, but then her brow furrowed. "Max told me that you were the one who told him to get me. How did you know I was there? I didn't know who the other prisoners were."

"That's a long story." Kyra swirled more creamy pasta on her fork. "And right now, I'm too hungry to tell it."

"So am I." Fenella lowered her gaze to the tray. "This smells divine."

"Here, let me help you." Max removed the foil, letting the steam escape before unwrapping the utensils and handing Fenella a fork. "Dig in."