Chapter 10

Anxiety ripples through my mate, so strong she practically resonates with it.

"These caves have long been used as safe havens by our people," I say, trying my best to set her at ease.

"Our people," she murmurs, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as she trails after me.

Her eyebrows draw together, and she nibbles her lower lip.

"The Starbound," I clarify, making myself smile at her. In truth, her lack of knowledge troubles me, along with everything else that's happened today. Waking from some kind of enchanted sleep, finding my Lana, and being set upon by a lone harbinger. The world is changing, and has changed, while I slept. I make a small noise of discontent. Grit and dirt further abrade my feet, soft from disuse like a newborn babe's.

"What is this world called? Mine is Earth… was Earth." The column of her throat bobs as she swallows.

"Vraya." I start to tell her more, to tell her of the great capital cities of Vraya, the fantastic coastal dwellings… but when I try to snag onto the information, it melts away.

"What's it like here, you know, other than those, those things?" She shudders, and frustration claws at me. My mate is scared, and tired, all because I foolishly led her into danger.

I inhale slowly, attempting to rein myself in. I focus on the world around me. The steady drip of water, the rushing gush of the stream behind us. The muffled sounds of the forest outside. The faint rustle of leaves from the massive koa tree that shades half the cave interior. The scent of minerals, the tell-tale sour of them on the air. Her scent, that warm, floral feminine perfume that makes my mouth water.

I exhale and turn to look at her. Her delicate features are scrunched up in worry, her blue eyes huge in her face as she looks around.

"That's a big tree."

"It's a koa," I say. "They grow huge, live for thousands of years. This one is probably five hundred years old. I remember it." And I do. A torrent of memories floods me. "I remember coming here as a boy. I remember…" I tip my head back and close my eyes. A clever, black-haired boy, a friend so close he was like a brother, from a rival House. Another friend, with goat's horns and a quiet confidence.

"I can't remember their names." My hands fist at my sides.

"Whose names?" Lana looks alarmed, hunching into herself and staring into the shadowed corner of the cave.

"Do not fear," I tell her, my irritation ebbing away in the face of her real concern. "I only spoke of memories." She still seems scared though, and I reach for her hand again. I like touching her. She is real, and here, and lovely. "I remember coming here as a child, with friends. I should know their names, I can almost see their faces, but…"

She squeezes my hand, her face sympathetic as she makes small comforting noises. "It's okay. You're remembering so much already, right? You remembered how to talk, which is massive. You saved our lives, and you got us to this cave where we can be safe, right?"

I nod once, my jaw twitching. How can I protect her when I hardly remember who I am?

"Hey, I mean it. You saved my life. Thank you." Her voice is small, but firm. When I make myself look at her, my heart squeezes. I hardly know this woman, hardly know myself… but the faith I see shining in her eyes? I never want to risk losing it. Losing what we might have.

I'm overcome, so I simply nod again, tugging her behind me as we make our way to the base of the koa tree. If memory serves correctly, there should be a cache of supplies.

"Here," I say. Beneath the gnarled roots of the koa tree, which spill out from the ground like tentacles of a sea creature whose name, like everything else, eludes me, is a wooden hatch. Somewhat rotted from the damp cave air, the hatch crumbles beneath my fingers as I pry it open.

"What's all this?"

"Things we can use." I hope. I do not say that, though. I do not want my Lana to worry. "These caves were sacred to our people, and they are tucked throughout Vraya. Many of the gates are hidden in systems like this."

"See?" Her voice is triumphant, and she smacks my shoulder. Her fingers linger on the muscle there, and then she pulls away. "I, uh, I knew you would remember."

I do not want her to pull away. I like her touch. I crave it.

But I will not move, not when she is finally showing some spirit.

"What are these marks?" Lana steps away from me, running her hand over the gouged bark of the koa tree. The marks of the great houses are etched deep into the bark.

"Warriors who stopped here left the sign of their Houses." I keep rummaging through the supply cache. There are basic supplies, as there are in caves like this all over the world, for those seeking refuge in their walls, but most everything is foul or rusted and of no use to us.

I pull out a several fishing hooks and catgut line, a fire starter, a few musty blankets, wrapped in koa bark to keep them from rotting, and several stoneware vessels we can use to cook.

"These look… familiar." She's still tracing the outline of the markings on the tree. "Explain the houses to me? Which one did you say you were? And me?"

Pleasure winds through me, and a smile tugs my lips up. She feels comfortable enough to ask me questions. Her bitter fear smell no longer clouds the air. Progress.

"The Houses…" I begin, then shake my head again as words fail me. "I am House Leo. We are warriors, as most of the great Houses are. The starlight gives us the ability to change into our warrior form." I shake out one of the blankets, wrinkling my nose as the smell hits me. I'll have to wash it. I look around the cave, and sure enough, a deep stone planter full of herbs overflows on the vine-covered back wall. I can work with that.

I will not have my mate sleep in filth.

"The lion," she says, watching me.

"Yes. That is House Leo's warrior form."

"What are the others?"

My mouth twists to the side in displeasure. "I cannot remember."

"Not yet," she adds, an eyebrow arched in challenge. As if she's defending me from myself.

I love it.

"What's it like?" She picks her way over a particularly large root, sifting through the bowls. "Changing into a lion, I mean."

I sigh and pick up the fire starters. "Strange, the first time."

She laughs then, and not the strained, strange sound she made when I carried her in my arms. No, this is a real laugh, and her smile is infectious. I want to see it more. I want only her smiles, forever.

"When I was a boy and first learning to use my warrior form, I would scare my family, or at least try to, by shifting as quickly as possible. It used to drive my mother crazy." I grin at the memory. "She was of a different House, and very easy to startle. She was a good, gentle woman."

"I don't really remember my mother," Lana says. She's crouching next to the supplies, a bowl in her hands. "Do you think…" her voice drifts off.

I wait, watching her, the small curve of her frown tugging her lips down. I would wait for her to speak forever, I think. Her voice is like music, and it soothes me, soothes the deep, burning rage I feel at sleeping for stars only know how long, while Vraya burned around me.

I wish I knew why.

"You said I was one of your people, right?" She turns the bowl over in her hands, inspecting it carefully. Avoiding looking at me. "Why do you think that?"

"Your power calls to me. Like calls to like. The starlight in me sees the starlight in you. What I see is beautiful, and perfect." I crouch next to her, the fire-starting rocks heavy in my hands. I tilt my chin, watching her.

"I'm from Earth." Her voice is sharp. "I don't have any powers."

"If you say so," I agree. I will not push her on this. She has had a hard day. Traveled through realms, only to find me, looming over her, ready to mate. Shame fills me. Lana needs a gentle touch. "Let's collect some of the koa branches for a fire, hmm? Perhaps we can have a hot meal this night."

"Do you think my sisters are having a hot meal?" Lana is worried for her kin. I frown as I walk across the sand and rock shore, ignoring the pain in my feet. They will heal soon enough.

"Let us hope so," I finally say. Lana's worry is as my own; I will have to find her sisters. I cannot stand the hurt and concern on her face. Since the harbingers are here, though, we will have to tread carefully. We would be safer if we were bonded, if Lana truly understood what she carries within her blood, if she could wield it.

I have much to teach her, but I will be the poorest teacher in history, with all the holes in my memory.

"So…" she starts talking again as we pick up fallen branches. "How long before we can find my sisters?"

Unease steals through me, and I pause my search. "The harbingers are here, on this plane. They hunt for you, for your sisters. They have always sought the Starbound women, though I cannot tell you why." A stick breaks in my hands, and I suck in a deep breath. "Whatever shifted to allow you passage here has brought them as well." I don't want to overwhelm her with the possibility of a rift, with what the renewed presence of the harbinger means for this world. For us. For my sweet mate. "We are safe here, and if their mates are wise, they are safe too."

"So, then we go to where they are, and we can be safe together. Isn't there strength in numbers?" She crosses her arms over her chest, and the motion presses her breasts together. My mouth goes dry with need.

Another reason we aren't leaving this cave anytime soon— I do not trust myself not to murder any male who looks at her.

"If we leave, in search of your sisters, we risk bringing them to their doorstep and further endangering them, and ourselves."

Her lower lip juts out, her brow furrowed. My finger twitches, the longing to smooth away her frown coursing through me.

"How long will they be, er, hunting us? And why?"

I turn over the question, tugging at the small latch on the ground. I don't wish to scare my mate. The truth will do so, and I could choose to hide it, to help her feel safe. Swallowing, I watch her hand skate across the curve of her thigh as she tugs on her small pants.

I wish that things were different, that we had all the time in the worlds to let the mating bond strengthen until she is fully mine, and more importantly, fully herself.

But things are not different. And this? This, I remember. My pulse thrums against my throat. It will not help to keep it from her. The thought of concealing the truth from my mate is repugnant to me. It might scare her, but she is safe here. Better for her to be safe and learn to use her power now, when she knows the odds we are up against.

Selfishly, I can only hope knowing the truth means she decides to trust the fated bond between us sooner than later. She strikes me as a stubborn thing, though. I almost smile. I've always loved a challenge.

"Dude, can you just spit it out already? This isn't exactly the kind of thing you should say and leave dangling out there. What do you mean, hunting us?"

When I turn back to her, her toes tap against the sole of her strange shoe in frustration. It's adorable.

What I have to tell her, unfortunately, is terrible. My lips thin, and I cast my gaze about, as though the answer to how to ease her into this is writ on the walls along with the starlight symbols of our wards.

"The harbingers followed others through the gates. They will not stop until Vraya belongs to them, until they've conquered us. If there are many here, it must be worse than I imagined."

Bending low, I pick up several branches, unable to watch her face fall into despair. She makes a distressed sound. I cease my rummaging, and my arms flex around the rough koa bark as I war with my need to pull her to me.

"What do you mean, conquer us?" Her voice is high and tight.

I walk over to a spot that will work well enough for a fire, and set the branches down, brushing my hands against my legs.

Perhaps I could have broken the news more gently.

"Exactly what it sounds like." How many ways can I tell her she's not safe until we are mated? "I don't know what went wrong in the time I slept, but there is no doubt in my mind that something has happened. I feel like I should know, but when I try to find it, there's nothing." Nothing but cobwebs and shadow, but I do not worry her with that. That sounds alarming, even to me. I pick up a few more branches, watching her out of the corner of my eye.

A rushed exhalation parts her lips. She's frowning again. I want to comfort her, but holding her close, with her scent washing over me? Her soft skin pressed to mine? I am not sure I am strong enough to hold back my desire. A low growl rumbles against my chest, and her eyes dart to me as I gather more branches.

"My sisters are being hunted. You're telling me they're being hunted." She presses a hand to her stomach, another to her mouth, as though she's going to be sick.

"They are with their mates. They will keep them safe, as I will keep you safe." Still, unease slides through me. If they are worse off than I am, if they remember less… I shake my head, refusing to think on it.

"I only wanted to be with them again." A lone tear drips down her cheek, and I despise it. I despise myself, for causing her this agony. Then I do something I've never done, something I've only the vaguest recollection of.

I kneel before her, the branches scattering across the ground, and take her hand in mine. Her eyes get even wider, her soft lips open in surprise. Her elegant hand trembles against mine, and I press my lips to her knuckles as the vow rips from my lips.

"We will be safer here for now. But Lana, I promise you, as soon as you are in your power, we will find your sisters and protect your family. I swear it on the stars above and below." The words tear out of me before I can stop them, the need to protect a vise around my every instinct. The sacred oath sears my tongue, and Lana's blue eyes widen as light floods the small cave.

Light from her back, the constellation, my mark upon her, glowing as the oath takes root between us. She is mine. There's no denying it now. Validation and triumph surge through me, my heart pounding against the walls of my chest.

Perhaps I shouldn't have done it, not when she knows so little and is hungry and scared.

I do not regret it.

"What was that?" Her voice is ragged, breathless.

I stand, and she tugs her hand from mine. Disappointment wracks me, and I look behind her, not wanting to see the fear writ across her face.

Water rushes in the streambed, sunlight dappling the ground around us as it shimmers through the near-translucent leaves of the koa tree. My gaze dips back to her face, and I resolve to tell her as much as I know.

"That, my love, is why they want you and your sisters. You carry the light of the stars within you, and harbingers hunger for it. Our people are strong, the women especially, and our blood is potent." I frown, a new memory tugging at the words. There's something about blood, and the Starbound women, something I'm missing… But Lana is staring at me, waiting, so I clear my throat and continue. "We must wait. We must grow strong now, to stop the harbingers from devouring the stars."

She shakes her head, her eyes wide with disbelief. Even pale-faced and shocked, she is stunning. The starlight on her back fades, and she turns around, trying to find the source of the white light.

"I'm from Earth… I can't be— I can't be what you say. my sisters and I aren't anything special. We're all doing our best to live our lives."

"You are what you are." I shrug. "Is the sign of your powers not enough?" If she was doing her best to live, now she will be doing her best to survive. With me at her side, she will do more than live or survive. I'd stake my life on her happiness with me.

"I don't know what think." She runs a hand through her hair. Her strange shoes make a dull slapping sound as she paces.

"I know the feeling." I smile grimly. I walk a few paces and gather more fallen branches, for something to do with my hands. The want to run down her back, to pull her to me, but I won't.

I am not a patient man, but I will be patient for her.

"I have like, a million questions." She blows out a noisy breath.

"Ask them." The pile of tinder grows, and I set about making a fire. Strange, how I remember these skills, but my mind is nothing but a black hole when it comes to anything that happened before I woke in that stars-damned cave.

"How do you speak English?"

"English?" The question throws me, and I look up from the pile of branches. "What is English?"

She touches her fingers to her lips, her eyebrows rocketing up. "What am I speaking?"

"The language of stars, of course."

"Of course." A laugh tinkles out of her, but it stops nearly immediately. It's too bad. I liked the sound. I want to make her laugh again, see that rare smile on her sad face.

Food. Food will help soothe her body and mind.

I will help soothe her soul and her stomach. Turning abruptly, I grab the fishhook, stalking towards the far end of the cave, where I know the water deepens and cools before tumbling over the rocks.

"Of course?" she repeats, her voice rising. "Of course?!" Panic colors her voice, and I mentally curse myself. I must be more careful with my words. She knows nothing. The urge to comfort her is overwhelming, and I give into it. Why shouldn't I?

She is mine.

In a few steps, I cross back to her, closing the distance between us and pulling her into my arms. I cannot stand to see her upset. With my free hand, I stroke her back. Her flesh is warm under my fingers, and desire whips through me.

"It's in your blood, it's in who you are, this knowledge. It must have been triggered by your journey here. Sit." I motion to the ground. "Rest. I will bring you food."

She does as I say, sitting without another word. Lana pulls her legs into her chest, her chin resting on top of her knees. Red-gold hair falls around her like a cape, curling in the humidity of the cave. Her skin is bloodless, her eyes too wide.

I bite back a growl of annoyance at myself. I have pushed her too far too fast, and it has upset her.

"Lana." Her name comes out before I can stop myself from speaking.

Big blue eyes dart to me, so full of fear and worry that it nearly bowls me over. My hands clench at my side. I make myself wait, blinking slowly, calming myself.

"We will eat, and then we will talk. You have nothing to fear from me. I will wait until you are ready. I can teach you how to use your power. Tell you the little I remember, yes?"

Her throat bobs as she swallows.

"Do you trust me?" I wince, immediately regretting the question. It's a foolish one. She cannot possibly trust me yet, and her answer will only hurt me.

But she doesn't speak. She nods once, and then rests her chattering teeth on top of her knees again.

Warmth spreads through me, at that trust, so freely given. Selfish, to be glad when she is miserable. But I am not a perfect man, much as I will try to be when it comes to Lana.

It's not much, but it's a start.