Chapter 11

Lynix

I squinted into the sun as the tablet in my paws vibrated. I glanced down when I heard my brother's voice.

"Fleck, Lynix. Where have you been?" Whitten was breathless, his whiskers crimped, and I swore I heard Tain in the background yelling, "Is he alive?"

"As much as Tain wishes I finally succumbed to the elements, break the terrible news to him that my heart is still beating," I smirked.

Whitten didn't find me funny. "Seriously, what the fleck? I've been trying to reach you. It's like you vanished into thin air, and Queen has been beside herself."

My humor fled at that. Worrying Queen was the last thing I wanted to do, but I'd been so preoccupied with Yanna that I hadn't made it a priority to get in touch with my family. Which was a terrible thing to do. "I'm sorry."

"What's going on? You look…" His nose twitched. "Is that blood?"

I swiped at my ear. "Just a scratch."

A rough growl left his throat. "Talk to me."

So I did from the beginning—how I'd found a human female and had been working my ass off to keep her safe. "But we're on our way home now. I have a pile of dead Dayloes bodies and one of their vehicles, so we should make good time."

"You better," Whitten snapped. "Do you know how long it's been?"

My gaze lifted to the sun again, and my gut churned. "Fleck."

"Yeah, fleck. The dark is coming, so get your ass home."

I rubbed at my chest as I glanced over to where Yanna and Kyle were putting out the fire. "I have enough time. It'll be okay." We talked a little more, and I let him know what direction we were coming from on our way home, and about when he should expect us. Tain shoved his way in, his striped face scrunched in mock disappointment. "Still alive, I see. But you look terrible."

I gave him my middle claw, a gesture that Queen had taught us, and Tain's husky laugh made my chest ache. I was homesick. Bickering with Tain was my favorite pastime. "I'll see you soon. Tell Queen and Kini to get the guest room ready." I didn't tell them that Yanna was the human female, and I took care to hide my loks. If something happened, something horrible, and we didn't make it, I couldn't let Kini's hopes up only for her to be devastated. And Kyle… well, he was an addition better explained in person.

I glanced over to find the boy man walking toward me next to Yanna. He was a battered, skinny mess, but now that he was cleaned and clothed properly, I could see the ripples of lean muscles under his skin. His feet looked too big for his body. Ears too. Yanna told me quietly that that often meant he would be getting a growth spurt soon. He was nearly as tall as her already.

I glanced down at Whitten and Tain. "Got to go. See you soon. I want a feast when I get back."

"Sorry, only leftovers," Tain quipped, but his eyes quickly darkened in a solemn glare. "Get home safe, Lynix. I mean it."

"Don't tell me what to do," I snapped back.

Tain grinned. So did I. The screen winked out as the call disconnected. I heaved a sigh and secured the tablet in our bags. I turned to Yanna and Kyle. "Ready?"

I'd disconnected the container from the back of the Dayloes vehicle. Yanna said the vehicle reminded her of a truck without a bed, whatever that meant. Unlike my bike, there was an enclosed space for us all to sit. Kyle's skin seemed to be even paler than Yanna's under the bruising, so I knew he'd need protection from the sun's rays. And both of them could rest as I drove.

We'd raided all the Dayloes supplies, including any still working weapons, and I'd stored everything in the vehicle that could fit behind the seat bench. As Yanna and Kyle climbed in—Kyle still eating some sort of dried fruit strip he'd found—I eased into the driver's seat. I'd never actually driven one of these things, and I preferred my bike, but that would have been a crowded fit for all three of us.

I hadn't taken the time to mourn my bike. I'd left it back at the hot spring, but I was under no illusion that the Dayloes likely found it and either stole it or smashed it. We had more back at Akoma, but that had been my favorite.

Kyle sat between Yanna and I, his head level with my shoulder. He looked up at me with a trusting gaze that hit me right in the gut like a punch. "We're going home?"

"We're going home," I nodded. "Ready?"

"Ready," Yanna and Kyle said.

I eased the vehicle into gear, and we took off in a cloud of dust.

My budding affection for the boy began to turn into resentment. Yanna wouldn't let me take her pants off with him around. I'd wanted her before the loks, but after the loks… I was constantly hard. I wanted her always. I drooled when I looked at her. At least I'd been able to take her on the bank of the stream right after our bond, but since then, I was deprived.

We drove for many human sleep cycles. Because of the size and bulk of the Dayloes vehicle, I had to keep to the main roads, which weren't much more than dusty paths. Kyle and Yanna dozed often, and we only stopped when we all needed to relieve ourselves or when I was hungry for fresh game. If I couldn't have cunt, then I wanted to kill something.

I talked to them about what it meant to be a Drixonian warrior and how I'd been born as a prisoner before Queen and my father risked everything to save us. We'd made our own home and really only left in search of our sixth brother. Until we realized that the Xaberians were stealing humans.

"We know the Xaberians were after Kini—and they were the same ones who kept my father captive in a forced breeding program. But Whitten's sources at the Xaberian fortress tell him there are no humans there. So they either have them well hidden, or they are somewhere else."

"Or you need better spies," Yanna said on a yawn.

Kyle chewed his lip. "I think… I can maybe help."

Yanna was suddenly very alert. "You can?"

Kyle nodded. "They took us somewhere. I was in a container with a lot of women, and then suddenly we just… stopped. They dragged us out of the container, and I remember a bright, hot, pink sun, and this spongey ground beneath my feet. I couldn't see any buildings, but there was a weird stillness to the air. No breeze. No animal sounds. Just this spongey flat ground as far as I could see. They checked us, and when they realized I wasn't a female, they threw me back in the container. But the women…" he swallowed. "I heard them. I heard them scream, and plead, and then a giant sucking sound. Then silence." He looked up at me, eyes wet. "I don't know if they're alive or dead. I tried to block it out. But I feel so guilty?—"

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't have done anything. You kept yourself alive, and what you told me is going to make a difference."

"Really?" Kyle said. At the same time, Yanna chimed in, "It is?"

I nodded. "Whitten will be able to narrow down a location based on what you told us about the terrain." I squeezed his biceps. "You did good, Kyle."

"I'm proud of you, buddy," Yanna added with a smile.

He twisted his hands in his lap, head bent. A salty drop landed on his thumb. "My dad used to tell me he was proud of me, even when I acted out. Even when I was a pain in the ass." He sniffed. "I wish I could hear him say it again. I wish I could prove to him that he could be proud of me."

I didn't know what to say, and my eyes met Yanna's over his head. She smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders before tugging him to her. He rested his head in the crook of her arm. And for the first time in a while, I wasn't thinking about mating Yanna. There'd be time for that. Our whole lives. Right now, we had a human male, barely older than a chit, who needed us.

I sighed and gripped the steering wheel of the vehicle as I stared out into what felt like endless road. I missed home.

Yanna

Eventually, I couldn't sit in that damn truck anymore. The thing had no shocks. It was like riding in a Model T Ford or something, not that I had ever ridden in one. There were no doors, just open sides and a blurry windshield and seats like hard plastic. And this wasn't the smooth hover ride like his bike had been. This thing had actual wheels, although if I didn't know any better, I would have sworn they were square.

My sit bones had had it, and I knew Kyle was struggling. His face was pinched in pain. Meanwhile my lion man mate sat relaxed with one wrist on the steering wheel like he was out for a Sunday drive and hadn't driven for days straight. I swore it had to have been a week. Maybe five days. Sure, we'd gotten out for breaks here and there, but I needed a real time out or I was going to come apart at the seams.

I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to be weak. Especially when Lynix acted like every bump in the road wasn't a massive pothole. His smoky lion in my mind was casually cleaning his paw. But I reminded myself that Kyle and I were human. Lynix was an alien. If I didn't speak up, he wouldn't know. Although, couldn't he tell from our bond that I was uncomfortable? Maybe I just hid it well.

"Lynix," I finally said, my voice hoarse from inhaling enough dust to fill a gallon jug. "Can we stop?"

He looked at me then. Really looked at me, for maybe the first time in a while, as he'd been concentrating on a particularly twisty road for hours. "Are you okay?" he frowned.

I shook my head. "I can't…I need a break. Kyle does too."

Lynix immediately peered through the windshield and out the sides of the vehicle to take in our surroundings. "Give me a little more time and we can stop safely. Do you need to relieve yourself?"

"No, I need to stretch my legs. Get some real rest that isn't cramped in here. I'm sorry but humans aren't made for this."

His eyes clouded, and if I wasn't mistaken, he looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, my mate, I didn't realize?—"

"Don't apologize," I said. "You did nothing wrong. I'm just speaking up now before I hurl myself out of this truck rather than sit for another hour."

His eyes cleared and he gave me a stiff nod with a small smile. "I understand. We will stop as soon as I find someplace safe."

I could live with that. I gritted my teeth and hung in there, working hard to ignore the way my bones rattled with every bump. Just when I thought I had cracked my molars from gritting my teeth, we rode over a small ridge and down into a valley of lush greenery. A stream about five feet wide cut through the swaying grasses. Kyle craned his neck through the dirty windshield of the truck. As soon as Lynix pulled the truck near the stream and parked it, I leapt out and collapsed onto my stomach on the soft grass. A soft oomph came from next to me, an I turned my head to see Kyle next to me. He smiled wearily and then squirmed with a groan. "Thanks," he murmured. "I didn't think Terminator over there was ever going to stop."

I snorted, and Lynix's clawed, furred feet came into view in front of us. "What's a Terminator?"

I grinned at Kyle.

Lynix let out a huff. "I'm going to check out the water. I'll be back."

"I'll be back," Kyle intoned with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.

I rolled onto my side and held my stomach as I laughed.

Lynix stomped away, clearly put out that he wasn't in on the joke. I swiped at my eyes. "Oh, it feels so good to have someone who gets pop culture references."

"My sister and I loved movies. We watched a lot of action and sci-fi. Old and new."

I propped my chin on my fist as I stretched out my legs. "I might never sit again."

"I think my coccyx is bruised," Kyle muttered.

His mane dripping with water, Lynix returned with a fish-looking creature speared through his claws. The creature wriggled weakly. He held it out to me. "Want a bite?"

I wrinkled my nose. I'd tried a lot of new food on this planet, but I wasn't starving enough to eat raw, still-alive alien fish. "No, I'm okay."

"Kyle?" He asked.

Kyle shook his head quickly. His throat bobbed with a swallow.

Lynix shrugged and bit into the back with a sickening crunch. The fish went limp, and I looked away.

After a slow swallow, Lynix waved the bloodied body around as he talked. "We can't stay here long. I'm sorry. I wish I could let you rest."

"Do we have time for a quick nap?" I asked, wincing at my sore back. And ass.

He blew out a breath and squinted at the sun. "I'm sorry, my mate, but I don't think so."

"I know you want to get home?—"

"It's not about wanting to get home," he said. "It's about needing to get home before the dark."

Kyle lifted onto his elbows. "Wait, so the sun sets eventually?"

"Yes, this planet rotates. We spend about a months-time in Earth years in the light. And a months-time in Earth years in the dark."

"Pitch black for a month?" I asked. "Well, I guess that happens places on Earth too?—"

"This isn't like Earth dark." Lynix's tone was deep. Serious. I rarely heard him this solemn. If anything, his voice wavered. He didn't seem scared. He seemed… worried.

I held my breath before letting it out in a rush. "What's it like then?"

"With the dark comes the Ev."

"The Ev?" Kyle murmured.

"Creatures without sight, but with highly attuned smell, sound, and touch. They are carnivores and eat anything in their path."

What the hell? How was it I was just hearing about this. "I'm sorry?" I nearly squeaked. "What kind of creatures?"

"We don't completely know. Some have tentacles. Others fly for short distances. We'd seen claws and teeth. But anyone who has actually seen one is likely dead. The only thing that deters them is light as it burns them. But they'll risk a burn for a meal."

"Oh my God," I stumbled to my feet. "How much time do we have?"

"A few rotations."

Days, he meant we had days. I swiped my hands on my pants and pulled Kyle up beside me. "Come on, let's wash up in the stream, walk a little, and then get moving." I'd hoped to sleep. Eat. Start a fire. But the promise of unknown bloodthirsty creatures and a month of dark was enough to get my ass moving, as sore as it was.

We walked a little way to the stream, and I soaked up the sun and the stretch of my body as much as possible.

"So what happens to the cities?" I asked Lynix as I cupped water in my hands and splashed my face.

"Some are domed, like the one you were held in by the Hari. The Ev cannot penetrate the dome, and they can't see inside. Other cities move underground for a month."

"What about your home?"

"We have both. A domed area above ground for Queen's garden and our crops, as well as a below ground den. Every creature has ways to deal with the Ev, but there are still plenty of newcomers who get caught by them. Some species believe they gain more power by making sacrifices to the Ev."

I shuddered. "That's terrible."

"We'll be safe at Akoma," he assured me. "Don't?—"

A rumbling in the distance cut off whatever he planned to say, and his head whipped to the side. He scanned the horizon, ears flicking forward and back. Kyle shifted closer to me, and his body trembled next to mine. I sat still, water dripping from my chin. "Lynix?" I whispered.

"Fleck," he rasped. "Must be closer than I thought."

"What must be closer? The dark?" My voice pitched high. "Is that the Ev?"

"Yes, the dark must be closer than I thought, but that's not the dark. That's the animals of this valley heading on their migration to get away from the dark."

I squinted to see a dust cloud rising over the ridge we'd just ridden over, and then large, dark figures galloped down the slope, running on four hooved feet.

"What the hell are those things?" Kyle gripped my arm, and his fingers dug into my skin.

Speeding toward us were tan bodies larger than elephants, with horns on their heads like rhinos and tusks arcing out of their mouths. Spikes ran the length of their backs, and they ran in a V formation. The leader lifted his head and emitted a trumpeting sound that should have been cool but instead felt ominous.

"Um, Lynix," I said as they raced toward us. "Do they eat plants or?—"

"Meat," Lynix hauled me into his arms and grabbed Kyle by the back of his neck. "They eat us." He ran with me in the crook of one arm and Kyle in the other. I clung to Lynix as the leader's big black eyes narrowed in on us, and he changed course, heading right for our truck and us.

"The truck!" I yelled. "We can hide there!"

But Lynix didn't head for the truck, he had already leapt over the stream and banked a hard left into a narrow path that led to a two-story wall that rose above us and ended in an overhead cliff. I thought we hit a dead end, until Lynix shifted to the side and sidled into a crack in the cliff. It was barely big enough for his shoulders to fit, but he kept going, and going about twenty feet back until the crack narrowed, and we couldn't go any further.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. Kyle rasped a wheezing, panicked sound. Lynix remained still and motionless, barely out of breath.

Hoofbeats thundered outside. The ground shook beneath our feet. I could just make out the truck in the distance, sitting still and silent near the stream. Suddenly a body slammed into the entrance of the crack in the wall. I screamed before clapping a hand over my mouth. A horn gouged the stone, crumbling it like paper. Black eyes rimmed with red locked onto us. Hooves pawed the dirt as the body surged into the crack as far as it could go, but the bulk of the animal was too large to get farther than a foot.

But the sight of the rampaging beast so close had my heart in my throat. Lynix gripped me tighter, and his lips touched the shell of my ear. "They can't get us in here, mate. I promise."

I believed him, because despite the anger and hunger of the creature, he didn't succeed in getting close to us. Eventually, he gave up with a trumpeting roar and galloped away. The herd followed him with answering trumpets and pounding hooves. But as the dust cleared from their retreat, my heart sank into my stomach. The truck was demolished. It lay in crumpled pieces scattered throughout the valley. The creatures trampled it like it was nothing but aluminum foil.

Lynix swore, and Kyle made a strangled sound in his throat. Lynix's head fell forward, and his forehead hit the wall with a clunk. And that only made my heart sink lower. Lynix was always ready to fight. Optimistic. He stood between me and anything that could hurt me. But to see him discouraged was a sock in the gut.

"L-Lynix?" Kyle whispered. "Are we okay?"

He lifted his head, and his eyes were dark. "Yes."

"But the truck?—"

"We'll go on foot," he said. "It'll be okay."

But he didn't sound sure. Once the hoofbeats could no longer be heard, we emerged from our hiding spot to the mashed grass, dirty water, and destroyed truck.