Page 44

XYREK

It was hard to describe all the emotions running through me. There was some relief that I wasn't a test tube baby, mixed with anger and fury for what the Ohrurs had taken from me. A need to avenge Allisaahn's and all the other females' deaths. I felt that it wouldn't be enough even if I were given the chance to kill every Ohrur in the universe. Never enough.

We brought the Ohrur informer to the breakroom of our ship. I’m sure he thought Sloane would let him live if he cooperated. She wouldn’t, of course, but we didn’t let him know that. Everybody was here. They all deserved to hear what he had to say to answer the last of our questions.

Nock stood strangely quietly in a corner, streaming. He had assured us that he would edit everything he had later and run it through us before he cast it. And it needed to be cast. The universe needed to know what the Ohrurs had done. Every one of their atrocities needed to be brought to daylight. The species would have to answer for what their ancestors had started and they had allowed to continue.

"It makes sense now that none of us, except Hannah and Sloane, can remember anything," Nova said when we were together.

"How's that?" Zoe asked.

"Well, we actually died. We are reincarnations, and reincarnations typically have no memory of their past lives." Nova explained.

"I thought Hannah was the High Priestess," Sloane joked. She didn't look quite as tense as she had before, but she was far from relaxed.

"Nova is right," Hannah said. "I don't remember everything, but I do know that I was the Keeper. The Keeper of the ancient gifts the Arkhevari brought us."

"Such as?" Luph fished.

"Things that I remember but can't tell you yet." Hannah smiled enigmatically.

"Fuck, now you sound just like the bastard Zapharos," Sloane cussed.

Hannah's smile didn't falter. "He's an ancient one."

Alice groaned next to me. "So, what can you tell us?"

"Pretty much all we already know. The Darlams were created to be a species of peace and harmony. The Arkhevari are both light and darkness. Or, to put it in human terms, angels and demons in one."

"I knew it," Sloane spat. We ignored her.

"Their ultimate goal was to create a species that is only… good," Hannah said, smiling wryly and looking at Tharaax with love and adoration. "The Darlams’ destiny was to live and love. Souls that had already been bound for eternity were given the gift of finding each other in a physical body in each lifetime."

Sloane interrupted, "Zapharos is very much a physical being."

"In the form he chose to show you himself in, yes." Sloane was right; Hannah sounded like the frygging Arkhevari—riddles on riddles.

"Alright," Zoe waved her hand, "Let's get back to it. The Ohrurs killed us women and put our men to sleep like Sleeping Beauty ."

I didn't know what Sleeping Beauty meant, but the concept made sense.

"Yes. They killed us women, which is why we don't have any memories," Hannah included herself in that we in the general sense, because her memories were of a spiritual, not personal nature. "And the men kept theirs because they… slept."

"So what did you do to make them forget?" Sloane asked the Ohrur.

"It took many trials, but we finally discovered that a subliminal message, implanted while they were in a state of sleep, was needed to erase their memories, and then we added a failsafe to have them experience headaches anytime they attempted to remember. That trained them not to do it." I growled, and Alice squeezed my hand. "Unfortunately, that hold lessened over the years, and we had to… terminate them once their memories became too strong, generally around the thirty-year mark." The Ohrur continued, oblivious to our growing hate. He spoke as if he were in a lecturing hall, training others.

"The training," Zaarek pushed.

"Well, yes, that. The Darlams were strong but not trained in combat or civilized weapons and technology. Again, it took some trial and error, but eventually, we discovered that training with intermittent sleep and mind stimuli helped. Usually, the Space Guardians' memories of training remained fuzzy because of the intermittent sleep."

By the stars, I wanted to end this little frygg so much. Me and everyone else in the room.

"Does anyone else have any questions?" Sloane asked.

We stared from her to the Ohrur. A million questions still warred inside my head, but I was reasonably sure I had heard and taken in everything I could for now.

"Who wants to do the honors?"

The Ohrur looked almost happy, as if he was about to leave.

"Me," Raasla said, pulling his blaster and firing it at the Ohrur, who was still smiling when he hit the ground. His death was almost too fast for my taste.

A subdued silence followed, which lasted the rest of the day. All of us had to come to terms with what had happened. Where would we go from here?

It wasn’t until dinner that Sloane announced, “The superior commander of the Imperial Forces, Xandros, and his mate and my friend, Ashley, will be here in the morning with transporters to take the women to Pandrax. From there, they can contact their loved ones.”

The emperor must have already been on his way to Darlam to get here this quickly , I mused, but I wasn't about to question our good fortune on this.

That, at least, was good news, though I was astonished that Sloane knew the Pandraxian Forces Commander Xandros’ mate. “Did she say she’s friends with the superior commander’s mate?” I asked Vraax.

Vraax’s chest puffed out with pride for his mate. “She is. She was also offered the position of chief intelligence officer for the Pandraxian emperor.”

I was duly impressed.

“Where do we go from here?” Alice asked, sidling up next to me.

I put my arm around her, “Right now, I just want to take you to bed and make love to you all night long.”

She smiled softly, “I like that idea. But I mean after.”

I remembered Rottvan and what a peaceful planet it had been. How beautiful it was, and how happy she had seemed with the other humans there. But my heart wanted to stay on Darlam. There was so much to do. The still-sleeping Darlams needed to be awakened. I would like to get to know the tribe of Shade’s Vale better. Broken towns needed to be restored. My heart hurt at the thought of leaving while there was still so much that needed to be done. Most of all, because I had just found my brother again. But if Alice wanted to leave, I would go with her wherever she wanted to go. She was my heart and soul; home would always be wherever she was.

“Where would you like to go?” I asked, making an effort to keep my voice even. I didn’t want her to pick up on how much I hated the idea of leaving Darlam.

“We said we would return to Rottvan once we figured out what happened on Darlam," she reminded me, and my heart sank even further.

“Is that what you want to do? Go back to Rottvan?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but what about you? You liked that place, too.”

A heavy weight lifted from my chest. My lips parted into a wide smile as I pulled her into my arms. “I did. I do. But I love Darlam. This is our home.”

She nodded. “Our home. Our family.”

I had no doubt that a lot of work lay ahead of us, but right then, all I wanted was to take Alice to our quarters and make sweet love to her.

But first, “I have something for you.”

I wanted to give it to her when we were alone. I’d cleaned it, and now her aurhym bracelet shimmered as good as new.

“Oh, Xyrek,” she exclaimed, taking it from my hand and holding it up to see it from all sides. “It’s as beautiful as it has ever been. Thank you.”

Her eyes shimmered with tears when she held it back out to me. My confusion only lasted a tick before I realized she wanted me to put it on her wrist. “Alice, I love you with all my heart. Now and forever.”

“Thank you, Xyrek. I love you, too. Once you fix my workshop, we'll make you one, too.” She beamed.

It didn’t escape me that she had just put me to work, but I didn’t mind. Rebuilding her workshop would be my pleasure.

“I have so many ideas,” her gaze turned dreamy.

“I bet you do,” I grinned. I could only imagine the things she would come up with. “But right now, I have some ideas of my own.”

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. Technically, we were still on Luph’s ship, but we were also on Darlam, our home. This would be our first night on it together, and I wanted to make it extra special. I wanted us to forget about all the horrors we had seen and gone through over the last few weeks and, especially, the course of that day.

She didn’t hesitate; her arms wrapped around my neck. She pressed herself against me with abandon and the same hunger I had for her. This was perfection. I was never happier than when I could hold her in my arms, knowing that there was nothing that could threaten her.

“I love you,” she whispered in my ear.

“I love you too. Let me show you how much.” I said, picking her up and carrying her to our bed. Reverently, I placed her on the mattress before I slowly pulled her shirt over her head. She allowed me to undress her, sensing how much I needed this. How much I needed to ensure that every part of her body was unharmed.

“I think my breasts got hurt,” she said hoarsely.

“Oh yeah? Where?” I asked, realizing she was only indulging me.

“Right here.” She pointed at her erect nipple. “See how sore it is?”

“I do,” I mumbled, grinning. “Let me kiss it better.”

“A kiss won’t help.”

“Oh no? How about this?” I cupped her breast and brought my head down to suck on her nipple.

“Hmm,” she moaned, “yes. It’s getting better already.”

“Where else are you sore?” I asked, moving my hands over her soft skin, reveling in the experience, the knowledge that she was here, with me. My beloved.

“Hmm, right there.” She spread her legs around me, and I gladly took the hint. I moved down on the floor, moving her knees apart even more to get a glimpse of her already glistening pussy. She was so frygging perfect. My fingers moved to her lips and parted them. I loved the way she was already soaking wet for me. I leaned forward and swept my tongue from one end of her pussy to the other. I looked up. Her eyes were glazed with desire, her lips slightly parted. She looked like a goddess. I committed her image to memory before my lips closed around her clit to suck on the little pearl and lick all the sweet juices her pussy was treating me with.

Her moans intensified, and her thighs tightened around me, letting me know that she was on the brink. I inserted two fingers into her wet depths, curled them, and felt her shattering apart around me.

“Xyrek!” she called my name. It was the sweetest sound in the world, swelling my chest with pride.