Chapter 19

We take a different exit out of the cave, and the sound of Lana's odd shoes slapping against her feet echoes off the walls. The rock presses in on us, the outlet much narrower than the other entrance.

A glint of color catches my attention. Craning my head, I pause. Lana stumbles as I stop short, and I reach out to steady her. I drag a hand across the wall, and a century's accumulation of grime gives way, showing the riot of images beneath.

"Whoa," Lana says. "What is this?" Reaching out a careful hand, she rubs some of the dirt away. Her hair curls in ringlets around her face, her white teeth flashing as she gnaws at her lower lip. She's so beautiful, and renewed affection blooms in me.

"It's the battle of Inasgow," I murmur. Her gaze darts to me, but I'm lost in memory. The smell of smoke fills my nostrils, the pungent, sour scent of fear following it. Screams of terror, pleas for aid ring in my ears.

"We did everything we could to save the city." I shake my head, as though it will dislodge the nightmare of Inasgow.

"You know, you said you were a general, but I never thought to ask about why you were training warriors. About who you were fighting. These look old." She traces a finger along the wall, running over the image of corpses. The streets ran red that day, the sky full of smoke and noise. "What happened?"

A chill sweat breaks out on my forehead, and I press my lips together. My stomach churns.

"We don't have to talk about it," she says quickly. I wrap my hand around her waist, seeking comfort only she can give. With her near, touching me, I breath easier, as though she is the anchor to my present.

To the future.

"I promised you I would answer your questions. I will answer them." I inhale deeply, letting the soft female scent of her wash over me. "Inasgow was the first incursion. It was not the last." I scrape away more dirt, revealing the artists depiction of the front line. A scorpion's tail is half chipped away; a lion's maw crunches on something man shaped.

"Holy hell, is that you?" Her eyes are wide, flickering between me and the mural.

"It was."

"Are you eating someone?" Her nose wrinkles.

I snort. "They are not good eating."

That earns me a quirked brow.

"I am a predator, Lana. I hunt using claw and fang. That does not mean I eat people… though they hardly count after what they did." My hands clench at my sides. "The battle was after the first doorway opened. The parasites… they came through another set of our sacred caves, lived among us, unknown. Blending in. Waiting." Even now, centuries later, it sickens me.

"Doorway?"

"The gates, remember? A way between worlds. The first harbingers followed them through. We closed the gates soon after." I give her a pensive look. "Until you and your sisters came through, at least." It shouldn't have been possible for her to journey here. Not that I regret it. Not in a million lifetimes would I regret one minute of the time we have spent together.

"What were they?" She asks, and my thoughts scatter like storm clouds in spring. Lana tenses in my arms, and I rub my jaw against her curls. "The parasites… are they like the harbingers?"

"No. They are from another world. They first came seeking refuge, said the harbingers were hunting them." A snarl builds in my throat. "We granted them sanctuary, helped them. Then their leader took one of the Starbound women, kept her, until she escaped, telling tales of blood drinkers who feasted on her starlit blood, half out of her mind with fear. He gave chase. Burned villages to the ground on his quest to regain her."

I shake my head again, the woman's chattering teeth and pale, pale skin flickering in my memory.

"Did he… did he get her?" Her pulse is firing rapid in her throat, and I tuck her closer to my skin. I inhale deeply, breathing her in, and calm steals through me, thanks to my gentle mate.

"No, my Lana. The woman flung herself through a gateway, and what was left of the Starbound women followed her, sealing the gates." I say it quietly, as though it will take the sting out of my words. The rest of the story sticks in my throat. The memory of the woman, dying in Lesath's arms, rejected from the door, stopped from traveling between worlds, all thanks to the parasite's touch.

Somehow, they'd mated. Somehow, that same bond kept her from leaving. My fingers dig into Lana's hip, and she winces. It is a fate I have resigned my mate too, as well. By mating her, by making her mine, I have destroyed her chance to return to her world. She will never travel between the gates again.

Disgust writhes through me, turning my stomach. I let her go, turning abruptly from the mural.

I should have slaughtered all the blood drinkers, chased them down until they were naught but a tale told to scare wayward children. I force a step back, resuming the walk toward the sunlight ahead.

"We have stories about blood drinkers too, where I'm from. Did he have fangs? Do they stay out of the sun?" When I look back, her nose is scrunched up, her mouth twisted to the side in disbelief.

"They have sharp incisors. Not fangs, no, not that I have seen." I run my tongue around the edge of my own long canines. "They are fine in the sun, as far as I know. I wonder if they traveled to your realm, as well."

"You know," she says conversationally, picking her way down the path to follow close behind me. "We have stories about men who turn to wolves in my world too. Werewolves."

"Where wolves?"

"Yeah. They change into monstrous wolves at the full moon, can't help themselves."

"That's ridiculous," I scoff. "Any mutable aspect worth their salt can shift whenever they want or need. The moons have nothing to do with it. House Lupus can shift into wolves, but they do not need the moons to do so."

"House Lupus, huh?"

"They have always isolated themselves from the rest of us. They are secretive." I shrug one shoulder. "Perhaps things have changed since I last woke, however. Not the moons, though, they never needed the moons." I snort.

"Moons. I keep forgetting this world has three." Her voice is small, full of longing. She must miss her single moon, as strange as that sounds. I clench my jaw and keep making for the watery light at the end of the tunnel. Our bond should be stronger by now. She should not miss her world at all. As for me, I am half overcome with an unslakable need for her.

Lana? Lana seems unaffected.

It rankles. I gave her pleasure last night. Have I not treated her as a treasured mate? I give her the choicest food, make sure that she comes first in every way. And now we set off on a dangerous trip, to find her sisters, when we should be focused on strengthening her powers, on strengthening our bond.

Lana barely seems to feel the bond, much less a desire to strengthen it. I want her to feel for me how I feel for her. I am hers, totally and completely, and I can sense she is attracted to me, but every time I try to push past her defenses, she shuts me out.

Resolve stiffens my shoulders, despite the ache in my chest. We have time. I will prove to her how much she means to me on this journey. I will soften her further, until her heart and body are pliant and ready.

Until then, I will respect her wishes and her words.

"The battle of Inasgow was the beginning of their violent incursion into this world. The harbingers came after, and we battled those too." I offer up more. Maybe if she must see all of me, all of the history I carry on my shoulders, she will love me, too.

"The vampires fought with those things?" Her voice is full of loathing.

My forehead wrinkles, and I push vines out of the way as I consider the question. "They did." But it doesn't sound sure, and I exhale. "They fought us at the same time, at least. I cannot remember if the attacks were coordinated or not."

"I thought all your memories came back."

"They did." Oh, how they did. They woke me early in the morning. They keep me on my toes now, knowing how fragile she is in this world, how vulnerable, until she gives into the new bond between us and accepts her powers.

"Then why don't you know if they're coordinated?"

There's an easy answer, but it won't be appealing to her. "I will tell you, Lana Kit, but you may think less of me."

She says nothing, her slippery shoes the only sound in the cave. I growl softly. Her shoes are going to get her killed, but the woman is too stubborn to let me carry her.

"Try me."

I tilt my head, casting a look over my shoulder at her, confused. "I already did."

Her mouth gapes open, and a blush spreads over her cheeks. "No, no, that's not what I meant." She pushes a curl behind her ear, and the aroma of her lust fills the small cave. I'm immediately hard, and I tense, watching her body, her face. I will not make a move until she says she wants me again.

Besides, if the bond works like legend says, her need for me will only continue to grow.

I can wait.

I growl again and turn back towards the cave exit. The scent of fresh air splashes across my senses. Deer, wild fowl, pine, and soil. A mother rabbit and her litter. Leaf mold and mushrooms. I inhale again, walking faster, trying to push the scent of her body out of my mind.