Chapter 25

25

Anna

My gun is drawn in a split second, but it's not fast enough.

"Don't fucking move, girly," a gritty voice calls out. The man holding my brother hostage doesn't notice Drak in the shadows to my side. There's no way he does or he'd run. At the very least, I'd see him flinch after noticing him.

He's older, salt and pepper staining the small bits of hair he still has. His teeth look practically rotted from his mouth, and with his appearance alone, I know he isn't going away without a fight. A warning won't do anything to a man like this.

He's clearly surviving by the skin of his teeth, and he sees us as a ticket to some supplies—maybe worse. I can't shoot him from this far away without the risk of hitting Caleb. It's dark enough that my vision is skewed, and he has him too close to his face.

My hands freeze in the air, hot tears crawling down my cheeks. I can't make them go away. The sight of my brother being held at knife-point is too much to comprehend. We just found him and someone is threatening to take him away from me all over again.

"Okay," I choke out. "We don't want any trouble."

The man cackles. "I don't give a fuck what you want, stay fucking still."

"Tell us what you want," Caleb bites out. I don't know if he's been in a situation like this before or if he's just naturally calm, but he seems more annoyed than scared. I wish I could be pissed off, but I can't shake the terror rushing through me.

"Everything you damn well have," the man sneers. "That's the way the world works now, motherfucker.

"Put the knife down, and you can have it all," I lie. This guy isn't getting shit from us except for being put out of his misery.

He ignores the offer entirely, tugging on Caleb. My brother winces, and I glare.

"This your girlfriend, pretty boy?" the man drones, looking me up and down with a sick glint in his eye. "Maybe I want more from her than what's in her pack."

"Try it, and she'll put you down," Caleb growls.

"Not once I get her to hand over that gun," he retorts, grinning at me. "Drop it, or I slit his throat."

Still, no fear crosses my brother's expression. He flicks his eyes to the side, staring the man down. "You think she needs a gun to kill you? Go ahead, kill me, and see how well you fare with her. She won't just kill you, she'll torture you until you're squealing like the fucking pig you are."

We'll never know what his next move might have been because before he can open his mouth, the knife in his hand falls to the ground, and he's yanked back while Caleb is pushed forward. In a blink, I rush to my brother's side, helping him catch his balance before he falls.

Behind him, I watch in pure relief as Drak rips the man's throat out, not even giving him a second to scream. His body drops to the ground with an unpleasant splat, and I ignore the sight entirely, pulling Caleb close.

"You're okay," I exclaim, squeezing him tight. Pulling back, I punch him in the arm hard, and then hug him even tighter. "I've been looking for you everywhere, you fucking asshole!"

He doesn't flinch in pain, only wraps his arms around me in return.

"I can't believe… how are you here?"

"I just told you I've been scouring the damn planet for you." I feel myself starting to get choked up.

"The sorority—" he starts.

"They're all fine. How long have you been here?" I don't let go of him all the way but enough to look up at his dirty face. "You need a fucking shower."

Seriously, he's sweaty and probably hasn't bathed in days.

If he smelled like this on a normal day in some alternate universe where the apocalypse never took place and I was just at home visiting, I'd probably chase his ass down with a hose. But right now? I hardly care how bad he stinks. I'm just relieved to see him.

Caleb bubbles with a hearty laugh. But his eyes track movement behind me, and he blinks like he's just noticing Drak. I don't know how it's possible that he didn't register the violence from moments before, but it seems that he's realizing now. His spine straightens, and I can tell he's about to put up his guard.

"What the fuck ? Anna?—"

"It's fine, he's with me," I rush out, grabbing his arms so he can't reach for the gun I know he has hidden behind his back, tucked under his shirt. "I know it's going to sound insane but you're not seeing things. He's not a monster he's my—fuck, this is difficult to explain."

" He ?" Caleb balks. "That's a person?"

I grip his arms harder in warning. "Yes, and he just saved your ass! He's the only reason I'm here, too, so you better be nice to him. Just… trust me, okay?"

"He's eight feet tall!" Looking behind himself now, he assesses the damage from our attacker. "Jesus, did he rip that guy's throat out with his hands?"

Yes, he did.

Drak ripped a human man's neck right from his head and body without breaking a sweat to save my brother, and I've never loved him more. He could have shot him from afar easily, but he didn't. He made the kill gruesome so that it was personal. He single-handedly assured that that man died with fear in his heart for scaring me.

"More like seven something," I argue then shake my head. "And it doesn't matter. He won't hurt us. He's from another planet?—"

My brother's eyebrows jump to his hairline. "What kind of drugs are you on?"

"Oh, so zombies can be real but aliens can't?" I snark, glaring at him. "Would you just trust me? His name is Drak, and he's my boyfriend, so watch your mouth about him."

"He's your what? "

I groan, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. "Drak, come here please."

Caleb moves to take a step back but halts at the look I level him with.

"Trust. Me," I repeat.

My mate slowly comes to my side, towering over my brother and me. He still has blood splattered on his chest and hands, but he tries to muster a non-threatening smile.

"Hello, hu-nim Cay-leb," Drak says in near-perfect English. His soul seed is glowing once more, and I smile at the sight of it. "I am sorry to have frightened you."

Caleb's eyes are wide, but he doesn't run away. "Hi?"

"Do you see the way his chest is glowing?" I ask my brother.

"Kind of hard to miss, sis."

"Well, that's how you know he's not going to hurt us. It's glowing for me . His people—they're called Aprixians—have soul seeds that light up for their mates. I'm his and he's mine. But even before that light appeared, he was out here helping me look for you. He's good , okay? I don't expect you to get used to him in the span of minutes. It took me a while, too."

Reluctantly, he nods. "Okay."

I blow out a relieved breath. "Trust me, once you see his tech, you'll warm up to him pretty quickly. Once we get everyone on the ship and back to the sorority house, you can ask whatever you want, but?—"

Caleb shifts on his feet and shakes his head. But he isn't saying no about leaving, rather the words I chose. My heart fumbles around in my chest, denial itching up my throat.

"Where's Landon and Da—" I stop speaking, noticing the new wince on Caleb's face. "They didn't make it, did they?"

He lets out a trembling breath and shakes his head again.

Drak sets a comforting hand on my back, understanding our exchange.

"When?" I croak.

"They only made it a few months in," he admits.

Our brother and father have been dead for close to a year, then.

My knees threaten to give out, but Drak keeps me steady on my feet.

Lips wobbling, I ask, "You've been on your own for months, and you didn't come to me?"

"I had no way to get back to you, Anna," Caleb defends immediately. "There was no way around or past the hordes to get there. I could see from the mountains that the house looked untouched. I tried, but I couldn't."

Without dying, too, he means. He couldn't come to me, so he's been out here, surviving and suffering on his own. I had food and running water—company, too, even before the Aprixians landed here. I had so much, and Caleb hardly had anything.

Tears well up in my eyes as Drak soothingly rubs my back. "He is okay, An-nana. You have found him just as you have set out to. You can not change the past, but he is okay now. We have him."

"I didn't want to leave you there," Caleb says softly. "Dad?—"

"Wouldn't let you stay," I finish. "I know."

Which is partly why I'm not currently mourning him. I'm too full of bitterness and anger that he let this happen. But Landon, our brother, he's dead because of our father. He was too much like him and too proud to pull away from him.

"I tried to save them," he tells me like I don't already know. Of course, he would have tried everything to keep our family alive. Caleb is too big-hearted to hold grudges. He's selfless, almost to a fault.

"They kept going out to hunt on their own, taking bigger risks and getting hurt. When Landon got bit, and Dad saw it, he just let the zombies have himself, too. He didn't care that I was still alive and watching, he gave up anyway."

He abandoned him.

God, I just want to scream.

"So fucking stupid," I spit, shaking my head.

Caleb half-heartedly laughs. "Yeah."

"Have you been eating okay?"

My brother snorts at the mothering question.

"Not the best, but I'm not withering away either. I'm guessing with the plants and stuff, you girls have been good for food?"

"The plants?" Drak asks curiously.

I'm too tired and too relieved to see Caleb to scowl. Thinking about that goddamn garden always puts me in a mood, but not today.

Sighing, I nod. "Yes, Drak. The garden Stevie took care of? My family brought most of those from our garden at home for us to replant to give us more food. About thirty minutes before, they abandoned me there and told me I wasn't allowed to go with them."

Drak frowns, and Caleb winces. "Not my idea. Leaving you felt like shit."

I pat his arm and nod. "I know. I don't blame you, Caleb."

As mad as I have been about the plants, replaying the memory of my family leaving me behind everytime I pass them, I'm still grateful as they were essential in our survival.

Our sorority made it through all of this time because of straight-up luck. We had a mesh of circumstances that set us up for success.

My family brought us plants, guns, ammunition, some batteries and other bullshit. Yes, all useful bullshit that saved our asses time and time again—most notably, the weaponry. And still, all I really wanted was for them to stay.

I'm devastated that Landon isn't here, but I can't wallow it in. Not when I finally have Caleb again.

"I'm glad you're safe," I croak, throwing my arms around his neck to hug him again. We've never been an overly affectionate family, but I can't help it.

"Same," he rasps, embracing me tightly.

I don't know how long we just hold each other before I finally pull back.

"Can we get the fuck out of here?" he says, chuckling at himself. "If aliens are real, I'm definitely ready to be whisked away in a spaceship. My feet fucking hurt."

A laugh bubbles out of me, and Drak smiles. "Come, Cay-leb. I shall guide you both to our ship, and An-nana can show you her favorite weapons of my planet."

"What a good idea!" I compliment. Turning to my brother with a grin, I add, "Want to see a laser grenade that's reusable ?"

Caleb's eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "I don't even know what to say to that, sis." My heart warms, hearing him call me that.

"Come on, I'll show you. I have some food I can give you on the flight, too. Drak can fill you in on all things alien, and I can get you up to speed on the state of the sorority."

"I'd like nothing more," he replies softly.

God, it feels nice to know he's alive.

And it's all thanks to Drak.

Fuck, I love him.