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  After he had subdued and wrangled what humans he could, he made preparations, dragging his female along with him wherever he went to explain all the temple’s strange... and captivating contraptions. He’d learned more in one day about the race than he had ever in all his existence about any of the other valos on Sonhadra.

  Attached to another belt, one that ran across his chest and barely fit his frame, were things called power sources, bullets, rechargers, aid-crap, some things that ran off of wireless, a wristlet that powered up with blue electricity, and several other gadgets he had collected throughout the day while he healed.

  Each species of valos had their own creations... trophies. The light valos had their traveling cities, the stone valos had their gigantic stone labyrinthine structures, and the Northern ice valos had their jewelry—the human valos had something entirely different: machines and electricity. He was only beginning to understand it, but as he looked at the humans he and the female had trapped in the back of the temple, he didn’t want to learn the wonders from them. Galan wanted to learn them from Yahiro.

  Even now, as the thought of her—a female he felt like he had known forever yet had never met—made his body shudder with pleasure and his blood flow. The connection he had to her, the one he and Sundamar felt, had built the entire painstaking day, and being away from her made him breathless and on edge. He felt harder than he used to be, more impulsive, and his swollen member had remained engorged. It made every movement uncomfortable.

  The humans had noticed and commented on it but he made it clear that it wasn’t for them. It was for his raven-haired female.

  “Can I please have a gun back, alien?”

  “No.”

  The female named Annie sighed. “You can’t keep us weaponless. We have no idea what’s at stake for us here.” She waved her hand around angrily.

  “You can get them back if you can get them back. I don’t trust you.”

  “That makes two of us,” she hissed, throwing something against the wall and making the interior vibrate and hum. “I should’ve killed you! I should’ve fucking killed you. Should’ve let you bleed out your fucking alien blood next to that piece-of-shit Brailen. I fucking hate men—aliens!” Annie continued to rage like she had a dozen other times that day, and he tuned her out. Her voice grated on his nerves. The only thing that stopped him from killing her was that she let him live... and unwillingly gave him knowledge of Yahiro’s world.

  The sounds of the night-predators rose. His ears twitched and he knew the humans couldn’t hear the danger approaching them. The danger they summoned. Galan rippled his wings, knowing it was almost time to leave and looked down at the tablet that glowed blue and white light in his hand. The pictures on it were unbelievable.

  “Tell me more about your Creator.”

  “Godzilla lives in the ocean,” she said with a huff, her anger leaving her.

  Galan narrowed his eyes and glanced around. Nothing about the humans nor temple screamed ocean. The ocean valos would know there was a contender.

  “He once fought the Avengers.”

  Avenger. Vindicator. Retaliator. Revenge. That impressed him, to fight against an ideal.

  “He breathes fire.”

  “And he created you? You haven’t breathed fire yet. Prove yourself to me for once.” He looked away from the screen and back at the female. An ocean and fire Creator didn’t make sense to him. Her strange way of saying things, as if she were mocking him, hadn’t gone unnoticed and he knew not to take anything she said as fact. But he was learning, regardless, and he was still healing from his wounds.

  Playing the part wasn’t hard.

  Annie snickered, “Sure thing, alien.” She left his side and went back into the ship, returning a minute later with a small white stick between her fingers. He watched as she approached a cable that continued to spark and placed the tip of it under until the end glowed. She brought it to her mouth.

  Her next breath was smoke. The smell of it turned his stomach. Galan grunted in approval but jerked, returning his attention to the outside and purple dusk. The ak’rena were closer.

  The piercing howls rose up, nearby, and with it, the stench of fear from the humans.

  He turned back and looked at Annie, who, since this morning, hadn’t shown fear until now. “This won’t be a good night for you.”

  “Why?”

  Some of the other humans joined the conversation from far back but he paid them no mind. “My blood will attract them.” And he had bled, a lot, but his wounds weren’t deep and the bullets in his frame hadn’t stayed there long. His ear twitched as he stepped out of the ruined sky-wreck, the sun lowering further behind him. “They’ll be here soon. Several packs. Too many to take down in a single night.”

  “Give us back our guns then!” one of the trapped humans yelled from further in the broken tunnel system.

  Annie peered around his arm to look at the forest. “They didn’t come last night when you bled. You bled a lot last night. Why now and not then?” her voice shook.

  “No, my scent wouldn’t have traveled far last night and we’re close to the ocean. The ak’rena stay within the deep forests, otherwise, the tempest will shoot them down with lightning. Any nearby packs brave enough to venture this far would’ve smelled it all day now, and they’ll be wanting valos flesh and blood tonight.”

  “We need to leave! Now!” Annie turned away and scrambled for her bag. “How far is the ocean?”

  Galan ignored her and left the temple, collecting the large sheets of metal he had dragged nearby and began to build a multi-leveled barricade. Once the humans realized he was trapping them inside, terrorized, angry screams filled his ears. He ground his teeth knowing it was heard by the rapidly coming ak’rena and were spurring them on.

  “Galan, please. Please, don’t do this!” Annie yelled behind one of the sheets of metal, her face appeared at a crack. “I’m sorry! Please don’t leave us here to die. There’s so much more I can show you. I haven’t even begun with some of our technology.”

  “You’ll be safe,” he mumbled as he grabbed another broken and charred piece, sliding it across the ground. He’d only stayed with the humans for three reasons: he needed the time to heal his wounds, he needed to find his bow, and he was curious. The last one gave him the incentive to allow the female human freedom, unlike the others, and show her the creations of their Creator. She said they didn’t have one, only parents and beliefs. Galan didn’t believe it.

  Every passing moment had left him with physical and emotional pain. All day he had been plagued with glimpses of the raven-haired human, Yahiro. Each one made his heart race and his member ache and at one point he had mindlessly walked off into the forest, weaponless, to go after her. The only reason he hadn’t was that he knew Sundamar and Quist were with her now, and she was safe with them.

  But those images... He pounded his fist into the metal barricade.

  “You stupid fucking alien! If you leave us in here, I’m coming after you. I’m going to fucking kill you. I should’ve shot you in your heart.”

  Fucking. Copulating. Procreating. Mating. Mate.

  Yahiro.

  He moved another piece against the outer barrier, thrusting it into the dirt. He was getting used to the translator and was more than ready to get to his female and show her that he knew how to take care of her.

  “I fucking hate you! Half of what I showed you today was a lie!”

  A shrill screech sounded right beyond the tree line and he grabbed one of the guns on his belt, aiming, and pressing the melody of clicks to start it. It heated up instantaneously in his hands and lit up. The humans went silent.

  He cocked the weapon where he had heard the noise and waited. Four. There’s four. They stalked from the deepening shadows but their myriad of footsteps could be heard. Many shrieks sounded in the distance but the ones waiting to pounce had gone silent.

  “Galan...” he heard Annie’s whisper.

  His eyes didn’t leave hi
s target; instead, he swayed the pointer of the weapon between the noises of the four he could see. The sun was at his front and his skin glowed and sparkled in preparation.

  Come on.

  Attack me.

  COME ON! Everything went quiet, even the predators in the distance. Everything but the twitching humans and his pounding heart. Where the fuck is my bow? Galan took to the air and hovered himself above the ground. He managed several feet before the first beast attacked.

  He pressed the trigger and a bright red beam of light shot out, straight between its eyes. The ak’rena fell midair and landed with a thud. There was a sizzling hole straight through its head.

  Galan faltered and stared, awestruck at the human’s rod—gun. He had expected a stone—bullet—to come out, not a ray of light straight from the hottest, most potent light he had ever seen. The dust of the dead beast rose from the ground and with it, the smell of charred flesh.

  His distraction didn’t go unnoticed when he heard Annie scream from behind him. A dozen ak’rena stepped out of the forest, hackles raised and tails swinging. The sun was almost gone.

  He quickly turned as they came forward and placed the final barricade in place, catching the female’s eyes, the gun burning the palm of his hand.

  “Please, don’t leave us,” she whispered again, her anger gone, but he was already flying up and into the air. The sounds of the beasts feasting on their pack member, cracking bones and all, sounded and the wide-eyed, pale fear on the female’s face did little to move him.

  She wasn’t Yahiro. Her body wasn’t made for his. This female would be safe for the night and the broken door in the back of the temple would release her and the other humans in the morning.

  Yahiro didn’t have a metal barricade and amenities to keep her safe. An image of her pale face, filled with apprehension and fear, appeared before him. She needs me. Even with my brothers, she needs me. It felt like a kick to the gut, the intensity of it, and his anxiety returned to find her.

  Blood spatter and gristle flew across the area, splattering his wings. With one final glance at the scene, double-checking the security of the barriers, and another three headshots to keep the pack busy with fresh food and away from the temple, he was ready to leave.

  “Galan!”

  The female screamed his name, not only catching his attention but also the attention of the ak’rena. He looked her way, barely able to make her face out amongst the shadows well within the crack. Galan turned away, hearing Yahiro’s own screams in his head.

  “I have something of hers!”

  He stopped, hovering above the treetops, and jerked. Hers? Yahiro’s? Part of him screamed to keep going, to get to her, to give her his protection and his life... his body and the cockstand he still had while another part of him, the one that forced him to think through every situation, forced him to think through this.

  The female could be lying. He glimpsed Yahiro’s face.

  But if Annie had something of hers, it would be worth it to have a gift when he first approached her. He didn’t want to be shot again. He wanted that gut-wrenching connection and need in her so when they came together, she would trust him.

  Fuck!

  He turned back, gun out, and with an urgency that had been building up in him, he aided the humans after all.

  YAHIRO

  The sunstone reappeared when night came as it had several nights past, however this time, it formed within the lank of string that Quist had fashioned into a necklace for her. She palmed and played with it on her chest.

  Sundamar glanced her way constantly, whenever she made a move or a sound, and it made her jittery. He and the night did little to help settle her nerves.

  Not when it seemed they remained only one step ahead of the monsters in the forest.

  The stone warmed her against the night chill and yet her skin remained prickled with gooseflesh. Yahiro looked forward to dawn just as much, if not more, than the sun-god that walked beside her.

  The fingers she kept clasped around the cloth inlay of his armor tightened. She had moved closer and closer to his side as the darkness deepened around them. Sundamar didn’t stop her, not even when her leg brushed against his with every other step.

  It’s not because I want to be closer to him. She argued internally with herself. It’s because I need to be closer to him. Him and Quist. When she was huddled into Sundamar, Quist’s wings grazed over her body.

  If someone were to tell her she would actively seek out several men’s—alien men’s—attention a week ago, she would have numbly tuned them out. After William and the Snake, she had sworn off everybody but herself.

  “Are you okay?” Sundamar canted his head in her direction.

  “Yes,” she whispered although she didn’t feel okay. His voice caressed her skin like hot chocolate, sex-on-a-stick; it made her body knot into pieces and she hated herself for it. I’m Yahiro of Quist, not Sundamar! But after her time spent with Sundamar, her body screamed otherwise, and when he’d presented her an angry pile of phena, her heart began to follow suit.

  She released her stone for a moment to pet one of Quist’s feathers, only to get her fingers tangled in some of Sundamar’s long hair with it.

  She pulled away, burned.

  “You don’t need to pull away. I like your fingers in my hair.”

  Nothing she did now went unnoticed. Even when I need to hide for a bathroom break, she thought sullenly.

  The knowledge that Sundamar had almost stole her away and killed Quist should have sobered her against any tender feelings toward him. And yet, despite everything, she wanted to peel away his gilded armor and press her flesh against his.

  Instead, her hand landed on her hip where she used to have a pistol, her fingers clenching over the empty space, wishing she didn’t have to cling to these aliens for protection, wishing she could protect herself. When she proved to herself it wasn’t there, she took hold of her stone again.

  Quist groaned and jerked in Sundamar’s arms and her eyes returned to him. “He’s been doing that more and more.”

  “He’s waking up.”

  “He is? How do you know?”

  Sundamar glanced back at her again. Again and again and again. “We’ve been speaking in each other’s heads.”

  Yahiro squinted her eyes and pursed her lips. “Telepathically?”

  “If that’s what it means, yes.”

  Somehow she wasn’t surprised. And I’m not even on my meds anymore. Space prisons, wormholes, aliens, aliens with wings... The only thing she thought could surprise her now was if she woke up suddenly in an ice capsule and all of this had been one elaborate dream.

  “Can you read my thoughts?” she asked, more interested rather than worried. She laughed internally. All my worrying has already been reserved and allotted.

  “I haven’t tried. It’s been a long time for me. Would you like me too?”

  “A long time?”

  Sundamar grunted. “When Lusheenn was still present and all of my brothers lived, it took a fair amount of effort to find and talk to a single one within our heads. There were many of us back then, and to find them—the right brother—you had to get in their head for a moment to know who they were. That was long ago. Now, with only three of us left, knowing who I’m speaking to or who is speaking to me is natural.”

  “Second nature,” she murmured and he nodded. After a moment of silence, she tugged on his binding until she caught his eye in the nightlight. “I’m sorry.”

  “What for, pale one?”

  “For all your loss. To be the only three left of your kind...”

  “It’s not your fault. And,” he gave her a wicked smirk, “if all my brothers were still alive, fighting for your attention would be tedious. We were thousands at one point.”

  Yahiro snorted out a laugh. “There are other humans here, you know. I’m not the only one. Other women even and ones who would crave to have protection from you.” Less crazy ones.

  “There’s o
nly one who lights me up.”

  She winced but liked his words. Her fingers tightened on him. But Quist came to mind and her heart swelled and burst until she thought she was feeling the same light that Sundamar mentioned. When she thought of both of them, her body tied itself up and burst into flames. She was selfish and confused, and wished, for once, that things could be easy.

  The silence between them went on, only broken up by the screeches of monsters in the dark and each one pushed her closer to the aliens. If only I could curl up between them, I’d be safe. She choked out an internal laugh again. Her thoughts grew dark as she imagined them swallowing her whole and liking it, liking the golden armor, rippling muscle, and wings between her and the rest of the universe.

  “Sundamar? You can try and read my mind if you like.” She wasn’t sure but she thought his body tensed and his gait slightly faltered. “I won’t think of anything unsavory,” she added. Or maybe I will.

  He didn’t answer her.

  Just in case, she thought of her childhood home and her parents, her younger sister and her unicorns but as the minutes passed and she felt nothing weird in her head and Sundamar remained quiet, she stopped reminiscing.

  “I couldn’t,” he said at last.

  “Maybe it’s something only you and your brothers can do.”

  Yahiro wasn’t surprised. Even humans can’t read each other's minds. The thought sent a shiver down her back. Thank god.

  Quist grunted then, taking them both by surprise, his wings elongating and stiffening until Sundamar had to set him down. Yahiro rushed to Quist’s other side and cupped his face. His golden eyes glistened in the stone light.

  “You’re awake!” she breathed, shaking with relief.

  “Sundamar told you I would be.” He coughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and covering them with his wings. She breathed in deeply his scent of hops and sugar and sweat, and rested her head on his chest to listen to his heart. She was suddenly warm and comfortable, and in a place she never wanted to leave. His slender fingers combed through her messy locks, soothing her further, his breath kissed the top of her head and the smell of it calmed her.