Chapter 3

Hyadum rolls his shoulders, staring up at the dark wood beams criss-crossing the ceiling. The fireplace crackles, and I startle, pulling the soft quilt closer around me.

I don't like the set of his jaw. All the softness has gone out of him, and when he turns his attention to me, the hair on the back of my neck lifts.

It hits me then—how vulnerable I am right now.

I'm in a strange house, with two strange men—men who have horns jutting from their heads—and I am at their mercy.

My teeth start chattering.

Arietis coughs delicately, narrowing his eyes meaningfully at Hyadum. Their names are so odd, and yet, they tug at a memory I can't quite place.

"She is afraid," Arietis says quietly.

"I can see that," Hyadum snaps, his deep voice reverberating around the room. "You do not have anything to fear from me. Harming a single hair on your body would go against everything I stand for."

"Likewise," Arietis says, and Hyadum glares at him with open menace.

"Right," I say, surprised my voice comes out even. I clamp my mouth shut.

"Mina," Hyadum begins. Goosebumps pebble across my arms at the sound of him saying my name. "Your sisters… tell me what they look like." His brow furrows, and he crosses his bulging arms across his bare chest. He's intimidating as hell.

"Why?" I sit up straighter, the blanket falling to my lap. "Wait, did you see them?"

He clenches his teeth, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "I do not want to give you false hope, coruscant."

"Lana's hair is redder than mine—curly." I think back, trying to remember what they were wearing. "She's in pajama shorts. Ali has white-blonde hair, and it's super straight and fine, and I think she was wearing pajamas." They both wear matching expressions of confusion. "A sleep dress," I clarify.

Hyadum rakes a hand across his face, and my gaze darts to Arietis. His spine is stiff, and his lips part slightly. He seems… hopeful. My heart begins to pound, and I stand up. The dark wood floor creaks as I close the distance to Hyadum.

"Did you see them?" I can't keep my voice from quivering.

"Aye, I did."

I flinch as he meets my eyes. There's something dark in them, something angry—but the longer I hold his gaze, it recedes. Softens, until his breathing steadies.

"Coruscant, I picked you to help. Another came to aid—" he stumbles over the word, and I lean closer, eyes narrowing. "—your sisters."

"Who?" Arietis hardly draws breath.

"House Scorpio."

"Lesath."

My head swivels between them like I'm watching the greatest game of tennis ever played. "What does that mean? Who is that? What do you mean, Scorpio?"

I'm shaking all over, real fear spiking my adrenaline. The edges of my vision turn fuzzy. I sway on my feet. Oh, God. They sound concerned. If these two massive men are worried about whoever Lesath is…

It's not good.

Warm, calloused hands close around my shoulders, and I find myself staring up into Hyadum's face.

"You are safe, coruscant." Despite the harsh furrow on his face, his voice is soft, his hands gentle.

"I have to find them," I tell him, tears threatening. I blink them back. Tears never do any good in a life-or-death situation. Years of ER nursing taught me to compartmentalize, so I do, boxing up my worry for Lana and Ali, my desperation, and pushing it down. "I have looked after them my whole life. I'm not going to stop now."

"We will find them," Hyadum says. He tilts his head down slightly, his big hands still bracing me, holding me upright. There's something sensual about his proximity, the single-minded way he focuses on me, and my body reacts to it, lighting up, heat sliding through me.

A weird response to adrenaline—but there's no doubt in my mind that's all it is. That, and the fact he's half dressed, holding me up and comforting. I'd have to be half dead not to react to his sheer masculinity, the strength of his body, and his promise to keep me safe. Even though I'm tall for a woman, he towers over me, his bulky build near dwarfing me. My fingers tense.

It's a heady feeling, this safety he projects, and I blink rapidly, trying to regain my equilibrium.

"Do you sense yours?" Hyadum's head turns to Arietis. "I did immediately. It's why I could not turn back towards Idiene Fieldhouse once it clicked."

My face screws up, and I tilt my head, trying to follow the thread of the conversation. "Sense his what?"

Neither man answers me, but Arietis slowly shakes his head. "No."

"It's likely your sisters are safer than they've ever been," Hyadum says, turning his focus back to me. His nostrils flare. The next second, he's moved closer, his thumbs skating over the bare skin of my upper arm.

I've never considered it an erogenous zone until now.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I'm torn in half, one part of me beyond afraid for my little sisters. And the other half?

Well, the other half wants to find out what his lips feel like on mine.

Hyadum leans closer, and I inhale deeply, liquid heat blooming deliciously through me. It makes no sense. I've never felt like this when working, and I've been hopped up on adrenaline enough to know something is wrong.

I pull away.

Hyadum immediately releases me, stepping back. His hands flex, then clench at his sides. "Do you want to go back for them?"

I nod once, not trusting myself to speak.

"It's not safe, Hyadum. She needs to be protected," Arietis says. "You cannot mean to take the only Starbound woman we've seen in centuries cross country. Especially since she is…"

Hyadum holds up a hand, and Arietis falls silent.

"Since I'm what?" They're hiding something. I can't follow half of what they're talking about, I don't know what Starbound means, but I assume it has something to do with the fact I'm here instead of Earth. "If it's not safe, then we need to go get my sisters now."

"Lesath is more than capable of protecting them both, and that's only if another has not also arrived." There's a bitterness to Arietis' reasoning I can't quite place.

I sit down heavily, confused and unsure.

Hyadum nods thoughtfully at Arietis' words.

"I won't stay here unless I'm sure they're safe." I scowl, crossing my arms over my chest. "I can find a car and go myself. I'm not leaving them." I never would, had promised myself after our mom left us I would never, ever abandon them. I watched them take their first steps, helped them with their homework, held them when they cried over their first broken hearts.

Both men stare at me, twin expressions of confusion on their faces.

"What is a car?" Arietis finally asks.

My jaw drops. "You don't know what a car is?"

They stare.

"Fuck," I say, pinching my nose. "What do you use for transportation?" I squint at Hyadum. "How did you get me here?"

"I rode my horse as fast as I could, until I had to abandon her at a nearby village or risk killing her." He says it matter-of-factly, and my jaw drops.

"Horses. Right." I snort. Ali was going to love that, at least. "Wait, why did you have to ride so fast?"

"It does not matter," Hyadum says. "What's done is done."

I exhale noisily. "Break it down for me." The one time I need to be mansplained to, and they refuse to say jack shit. Typical. "Why are you worried about me being in danger if we leave, but not my sisters, with whomever Lesath is?"

Arietis begins to speak. Hyadum holds up a hand, but Arietis ignores him.

"Lesath is likely one of your sisters' mate. He scented her, and now would die to protect her."

Hyadum makes a low noise of warning.

"Excuse me…" I hold up a finger. "Her mate? What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"Her promised one. Destined. Fated. We've waited a century for the Starbound women to return. Things are changing. The tide in the war is turning."

Hyadum is shooting Arietis a glare so threatening I'm surprised the man doesn't drop dead on the spot.

My thoughts chase each other, trying to process the glut of information. "Mate."

"Aye," Hyadum says softly, stepping closer.

Fuckity fuck sticks.

I meet his gaze. "And you said you turned from… wherever—" I flap my hand, forgetting the name of his original destination. "—once it clicked?"

He nods once, his dark brown eyes holding me in place as he crouches next to my chair. He's so huge, we're eye-to-eye.

"Fuck," I repeat. "Fuck."

"When you are ready, and not a moment sooner," Hyadum says.

My mouth gapes open.

"That is—that is absolutely not a request," I sputter. "It's an expression, not an invitation, for fuck's sake." My attention swivels to Arietis, hoping for back-up, but he's studying a spot on the ceiling with great interest. Hyadum's fingers find my chin, and he gently forces me to look back at him.

"You are my mate, and I am yours."

The rebellious, angry streak in me, the one that's always just below the surface, revolts completely.

"I belong to myself," I hiss. "And you will take me to find my sisters immediately. Or he will." I jerk my head at Arietis.

Pain flashes across his brutal face, and I push the surge of pity down. There's no point in feeling sorry for him. Doesn't matter how kissable his lips are or the way I practically melt when he touches me. I'm not going to just… just… spread my legs for some dude with horns because he says we're mated. Absolutely not.

"This isn't how things work in my world. Where I'm from, you don't just sniff out a-a… mate. I don't know you. I don't even understand where the fuck I am." Amusement replaces his pained frown, and it makes me even more irritated.

"What is so funny?"

"That is the crux of the problem, coruscant." His fingers dig into my chin a little more, and I lean into him to ease the pressure. "This is where you're from. And you are not going back. You are not going anywhere. You will stay here, and you will be mine. Forever."

A traitorous little part of me thrills at his possessive tone, the heated way he studies me. Unfortunately for him, my involuntary reaction just pisses me off even more.

"Yeah," I say, and his lips curl up in a satisfied smile. "In your dreams, buddy."

His lips thin. "I will give you pleasure like you have never experienced before. I will treat you like a queen."

"That's what they all say," I tell him, trying for annoyed and aloof—but the words come out breathy. It's not even true. No one's ever said either of those things to me before.

He grins, like he can hear the internal battle I'm waging with my rampaging hormones.

I smile back, slowly. Deliberately.

"If you really wanted me forever," I choke on the word, which ruins the effect somewhat. "Then you should know if you don't find out if my sisters are safe and take me to them, I will never be happy." There's no humor to my smile now.

"Fine."

"And if you don't—" I blink up at him, whatever threat I was about to make dying on my lips.

"We will leave in the morning."

"Hyadum, it is not safe," Arietis warns.

"Then it's not safe for my sisters, either," I snarl, and Arietis' eyebrows climb into his hairline. "Take me to my sisters—or that forever you want with me? I will do my damnedest to make it absolutely miserable."

As soon as it comes out, it feels mean and petty and cruel. All my life, I've known it's easier to get my way if I play coy and sweet… and yet, all my life, I've never been capable of doing either of those things.

It hasn't failed me yet, though.

His face has fallen, his mouth opening with what I'm sure will be another stellar reason why I should climb him like a tree, when the door bursts open.

Hyadum immediately stands, pushing me behind him and snarling at the intrusion. Arietis draws a knife, and I try to peek around his stupidly muscled tree-trunk thighs to see.

"Hyadum." The voice is breathless. "Thank the stars above you have returned. They laid siege to Sheerly, not an hour ago. We were able to repel them, but not without casualties. We sent a party to root out those that fled, but we have many injured."

My senses go on full alert at the last word, and I push past Hyadum. The speaker's dressed in what I can only assume is leather armor of some sort. Soot and dirt cling to his dark skin, and blood oozes onto his hand, dripping slowly on the wood floor.

"I can help," I say immediately.

All three men turn to stare at me in clear shock. I toss my hair, appraising the armored man bleeding on the floor. He needs help, clearly, and with the amount of dirt on him, I need to clean the wound before bacteria and infection set in. It's strange—the urgency pouring through me, the need to fix him up. It's almost like a magnet, tugging at me.

I've always wanted to help people, to heal them, but this feeling goes beyond the normal compulsion I feel at work. I frown as I realize they're all still staring at me.

"I am a nurse."

No one says anything, though the newcomer wears a look of blatant confusion.

Fuck. "I am trained in…" I scrunch up my face, searching for the right word. "Healing?"

"I thought you wanted to find your sisters." Hyadum's gone blank, his expression unreadable.

"Of course I do." I sniff, balling up my fists, trying to fight the need to peel the man's armor off and clean his cut. "But I get the feeling we won't be leaving until this issue is dealt with, and I can help speed it up. Take me with you, and let me help."

I narrow my eyes at Hyadum, daring him to refuse. The softness I thought I saw in him has disappeared, replaced by sharp edges. By danger.

I shouldn't like it so much.

He steps closer, his fingers circling my wrist.

Something between us pulls tight, and a soft gasp escapes me. It's stronger than the need I feel to help the man in front of me, and I stare up at Hyadum, his horned head and dark blue eyes, as his gaze scours me.

"If you think to run from me, to escape, know I will hunt you down. You will not get far."

The threat pulls me back to reality, and I jerk my hand away. "You said I was safe with you. Just like you said my sisters were safe. And now you threaten me?"

Hyadum looses a low growl, and the man at the door steps back. "It's not a threat, coruscant. It is a damned promise."

I stiffen my shoulders, tilting my chin up and meeting his stare. "Then I guess it's a good thing I've always taken my job seriously. I'll help the wounded, and then we'll go after my sisters."

"Fine," he snarls, his expression dark and angry.

"Fine," I snap back.

"Fine," echoes Arietis, and we both turn to glare at him.

"First, I'm going to help this guy so he doesn't get a fever from infection. Show me your wound."

The man just stares at me, then at Hyadum. This one has no horns, and I glance back at the oversized grump out of some strange need to see them again.

"I do not know if you touching me is a good idea," the man warns.

"Neither is dying of a preventable fever." I stare him down. "Would you prefer that? Death?"

"I am not sure if you touching me will stop the last part from happening." He's not talking to me though, he's looking at Hyadum. For permission.

"You don't get to tell me what to do," I bark at Hyadum. "You're scaring my patient."

Hyadum moves like he's going to stop me, then jerks his head at Arietis. "Let's saddle up the horses. Can you ride a horse, coruscant?"

"My name is Mina, and no," I answer distractedly. I'm staring at the blood now, at the gouge under his ripped shirt. It's not a knife wound, which I've seen plenty of at work. It's not a sword, or arrow or whatever else passes for a weapon here in this world.

It looks like a bite mark.

It looks like… fangs.

I'm moving before anyone can stop me before I even fully realize what I'm doing. The man flinches away from me, but I reach out and grab his arm.

"What did this?" I'm not sure I want to know the answer.

"The same things that would hunt you down to hurt you, woman," Hyadum answers, steel in his eyes. "The reason why I do not want you turning back for your sisters."

I swallow hard, carefully peeling back the blood-soaked sleeve.

"The blood-drinkers hunt our kind," Hyadum continues, his gaze dark and raw and pinning me where I stand. "They mean to take Westshear. And they would be beside themselves with excitement to know a female Starbound is here, because they would take you back to their Butcher King to Avleim, so he can try to impregnate you, and use you both for his blood magic."

All the color leaves my face. "That's disgusting."

"Aye," Hyadum says, some of the roughness leaving his voice. "It is not a pretty tale, is it? Now you see why I do not want you on the roads."

The man tries to pull away from me, clearly uncomfortable with the tension between the two of us.

"Stop it," I tell him absently, still watching Hyadum. "We help as many as we can in this other town. Then you keep your promise to me and take me to them."

"I made no such promise," is all he says before he stalks through the door, leaving me in his quiet house with a bleeding man who seems terrified at the prospect of being alone with me.

"I don't bite," I tell him, then cringe, realizing that's the wrong thing to say. "Come on. Let's get this cleaned up."

Hyadum may not have promised, but he did agree.

I meant every word about making his life miserable if I can't make sure my sisters are safe.