Page 37 of Dark Survivor (The Qaldreth Warriors #2)

She concentrated, sensing nothing but Aehort looming over her. “I’m not standing near anything except you.”

“Good.” He tapped her temple.

Light flashed, scorching then cool. In a nano second, images flooded her mind.

She stood at the center of them. Before her was her face, familiar yet older than she remembered with faint lines around her eyes and mouth.

The white of her eyes was as startling as her unkempt purple hair.

And what was she wearing? Pink Zebra-printed leggings with a neon-blue baggy shirt?

Mom had promised her that all her clothes were in interchangeable grays and blacks.

She froze. No, this is what I’ve been wearing all this time?

Her cheeks burned, embarrassment striking when it was too late to do anything about it.

She was thinner than she’d expected. So, that was a plus.

The room came into view. Above a central table, 3D holographic images of space were projected and spinning.

She glanced at the bright-orange elongated fingers touching her temple. “What is this, Aehort? What did you do?” she asked, awe hoarsening her voice.

“You are seeing through my eyes.”

She gasped then gaped at her wide-eyed white eyes, drawing his attention to them. Gone were her green irises she’d once thought her prettiest feature. “How is this possible?”

“Ivoyans have many abilities. This is one of them.”

Sadness hit her hard. From sight to blind to sight but with supernatural assistance was like offering a man dying of thirst a mirage with not a drop of water… “I suppose, once you stop touching me, I’ll be back to normal?”

“For now.” Aehort shifted back, and darkness descended.

“Thank you,” she managed through the tears, wishing she’d thought to call Nenn. To ‘see’ him would be a gift from the heavens. Still, her face… She hadn’t seen herself in so long. On instinct, she wrapped her arms around Aehort’s mid-section.

“Nenn is searching for you.” He patted her shoulder, his tone fatherly.

“Tiny?” Nenn’s voice came through her neck thingy a second later, proving Aehort’s abilities went beyond his demonstration.

She broke away to cup her neck. “I’m with Aehort. We’re done, right?” She angled her head in his direction.

“Indeed,” he said.

“Please fetch me, Nenn.” She swept her hand at the table she could no longer see. “All this?” she asked Aehort.

“The command room. This is how we located Earth.”

She chewed on her lip, then blurted out what had been niggling her. “Do you think the Ivoyans will blame me for the bombs?”

“Some might. I do not.” Warmth saturated his voice. “You have one ally.”

“She has many,” Nenn said from the doorway. When he placed his hand at her lower back, she shivered.

“Aehort showed me a vision.” She flashed a smile at her orange friend. “Thank you, again.”

“My pleasure, Tinika.”

She let Nenn usher her away.

When they were alone, he paused, drawing her to a halt. “Tinika?”

She liked how he said it: Tin-ikka instead of Tineeka.“That is my name.”

“It rolls off the tongue like birdsong.”

She dipped her chin, hoping to hide her flaming cheeks.

“Hungry?”

She grinned. “I could nibble. Tulsig cakes and russmar tisane?”

“If you like,” he said and led her to the table in the galley. “Vaen says he found you with Ulvus. Was that male bothering you?”

“Not at all. He isn’t as bad as I used to think,” she said before biting into the hot cake Nenn placed into her hand. The salt hit her tongue like an explosion of fireworks. She shut her eyes on a hum and chewed in utter bliss.

Nenn growled, “I do not trust him.”

“Why?” she asked around a mouthful of glorious gooeyness.

“He attacked Vic and challenges me often when there is no cause for either.”

“I’m sure he has his reasons.” Sniffing, she followed her nose to the glass of tisane to her left and took a sip. “If not a little misguided.”

She licked her lips, searching for every drop of saltiness.

The air charged, rippling awareness down the nape of her neck.

She shuffled on her ass, unable to shake the sensation of being stared at. “Nenn?” she whispered, angling her head. “Are we alone?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice gravelly.

“Oh.” She squared her shoulders and ignored the sensation. “Thought someone was watching me.”

“I am.” A plate scraped closer, the aroma alone confirming more tulsig cakes were before her. But his words had her frozen.

“Why? Is it my face?” She wiped her temple, unsure whether Aehort’s touch had scarred her.

“No, there is nothing wrong with you.” He caught her hand and held onto it. “I find you breathtaking.”

With her aged appearance revealed by Aehort still fresh in her mind and Ulvus’s words on what attracts Qaldreth warriors, she scoffed. “My face will shift.” She let go of her tisane in search of another cake.

“Yes, as will mine, but who you are shines through.”

Again, she wanted to scoff or roll her eyes though she doubted Nenn would understand either. “Bitter, unforgiving, scared, and lost me? Shining?” She bit into the cake to do something instead of sitting there listening to Nenn wax poetic nonsense.

“Joyful, brilliant, charming, determined, strong, and fearless.”

Is that what he thinks of me? She blinked to hold back tears as if she hadn’t emptied her ducts during her chat with Ulvus. “I’m human,” she said, her voice cracking. “There has to be some bad.”

“For Qaldreth, too.”

“Well, you’re perfect, or you’ve been hiding all your awful qualities.” She forced a smile. Knowing her luck, he could turn out to be some alien version of a psychopath. Her gut churned, and everything in her rebelled against that thought.

“I lack ambition, can be single-minded,” he cleared his throat, “and a coward.”

She tightened her fingers in his, squeezing his hand. “Now, that I don’t believe.”

“I wanted my father to die when I was away so that I did not have to deal with his death.”

Her heart melted, and a tear slipped free. “You are just scared of losing someone you love. We all are.”

“My mother…” His warm breath on her knuckles preceded the softness of his lips when he placed a kiss there.

“You are not a coward,” she said, dropping her half-eaten cake to reach for him.

“It does not matter, hirihadie . It was his dying wish that I train with the Ivoyans. Without his sacrifice, I would still be on Qaldreth.”

“No,” she gasped, cupping their clasped hands. Her mind spun while a strange weight crushed her chest, affecting her heartbeat. “How soon?”

“Between his death and the Ivoyans collecting me?” He released a shuddering gasp. “Hours.”

“Oh my word, Nenn, I’m so sorry. Grieving and leaving your home are two of the worst stressors. How did you cope?”

“I threw myself into my studies. I refused to bring dishonor upon my tribe and nullify my father’s sacrifice.”

She inched closer to him. “Do you have siblings?”

“None.”

She frowned, her heart cracking for the man she’d grown so fond of. Despite Jamie being an ass, she had a brother. And both her parents lived. As much as she bemoaned their neglect, their deaths would destroy her.

“I’ll be your family,” she said, flashing Nenn a smile. “Then you won’t be alone.”

Silence met her offer, for so long that she wondered whether she’d said the wrong thing.

“I should not desire my sister,” he said.

Every muscle in her body tightened, cramped, forcing her to lean back and pull her hands away. The air charged again, ramping the tension between them.

“No, you shouldn’t,” she rasped, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

His touch at her jaw tilted her head back, then soft lips brushed across hers. Her breath caught a second before he kissed her.

When he thrust in his tongue, he wrapped his fingers around her throat, warming her as he dominated her. Heat coiled in her belly. Her nipples tingled as they hardened. He devoured her, taking his sweet time to plunder her mouth, toy with her tongue, and control every one of her reactions.

“You cannot be my sister,” he whispered, his breath fanning her lips.

She swallowed around the lump of her throat. “No, I rescind my offer.”

He chuckled. “Good.”