Chapter 13

Yanna

I swallowed the bile threatening to rise in my throat. "Why are we heading into the dark?"

"Because heading into the dark is the shortest distance to Akoma. The other way is an army of Xaberians. Our chances of surviving in the dark are greater."

"How—" I forced back an anxiety attack. "How sure are you of our survival?"

Eleric hummed under his breath. "Oh, nothing is a certainty."

Kyle turned his head and gagged.

I gritted my teeth as sweat dripped down my neck. "You couldn't lie?"

"Drixonians don't lie." Eleric's feathers fluttered just as the aircraft jerked to the side with a neck-snapping wrench. "Oh, sorry about that. Driver error."

Every muscle in my body ached. My head pounded. I needed water. Food. A bed to sleep in for five thousand years. I was exhausted to the point of nausea, and we still had a hellish flight to endure. I rubbed Kyle's back as he spat on the ground. His shirt was soaked through with rank sweat. The poor kid was going to have a stroke. If I didn't have one first.

I met Lynix's pained eyes across the aircraft. The smoky lion in my mind was laying limp, breathing heavy. Lynix himself reached out his paw toward me. And although we were too far away to touch, I reached out to him too. I could feel the phantom softness of his paw in mine, and I gained strength from it. I gave him a reassuring smile that I was starting to feel. Despite the terror, I was with Lynix and Kyle. I just had to trust this new brother.

The dark was quickly approaching like a solid wall of black. It billowed toward us and every once in a while I caught flashes of movement at the edges of the darkness. A long whip-like tentacle. Clawed fingers. And over the roar of the aircraft, I could hear screaming. Roaring. Clicking and moaning.

"Close your eyes," I told Kyle. "Pretend we're entering a haunted house. It's not real. They can't actually touch you."

He shot me a dark look. "I'm not five. I can't just ignore reality."

I gripped his hand, and although he tried to play it cool, his fingers curled around mine. Dirt caked his nails. Blood was on his knuckles. Child Protective Services would have a field day with how well I'd taken care of this kid so far. But I was trying. Goddammit, I was trying. I'd never meet his parents, but I tried to send them a telepathic messages across galaxies that I'd take care of their son to the best of my abilities. I hoped his twin knew. I hoped she was okay.

"Some Ev can fly, but not well and not far," Eleric explained. He turned his chair slightly, so I was finally able to look at him. Blue and black wings sprouted from his back, and his body was covered in a dusting of small blue and black feathers. He had two arms with five-fingered hands, and legs encased in dark pants. His face was pinched somewhat, like genetics had started to give him a beak and then gave up. Very round lavender eyes settled on me with a calm, confident intelligence. "They cannot see us, so we'll go dark while I set the autopilot to home. They will know we are there, but if we don't smell like food or attack them, we could pass unmolested."

"Could?" I asked.

"Could."

"And if we're, uh, molested?" Kyle's knee shook. "Then what?"

Eleric's fingers tapped the steering mechanism. "We'll worry about that when it happens."

I didn't love the sound of that. Hell, I didn't love the sound of any of this. But I wanted to reach their home. I wanted safety. I wanted a future with Lynix, and I wanted to watch Kyle grow up. I wanted to meet Queen and hug Kini again. I wanted to hear Lynix bickering with his brothers. I wanted to hear him laugh again.

"Okay," I murmured.

"With all respect, female," Eleric said with arrogance. "I wasn't asking your permission."

Lynix cuffed him on the head with a weak paw. "Don't talk to my mate like that."

Eleric chuckled, and I found my lips curling into a small smile. And that's when Eleric turned off the lights in the aircraft, plunging us into darkness just as we soared straight into the black wall of dark.

The sounds were deafening. Screeches. Screams. Every Ev sounded like it was simultaneously writhing in agony and also rejoicing in the thrill of the hunt. Kyle wrenched his hand from mine, and I panicked until I felt around in the dark and realized he'd clapped his hands over his ears and was bent double.

I wished I could see Lynix. But this blackness was all consuming. Suffocating. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like the darkness was coating my eyes, my throat, like it infected every part of me. This wasn't normal dark. This wasn't a starry field at night on the beach around a bonfire. This was foreign, absolute alien blackness. I held my hand in front of me, and my eyes made up for what I couldn't see. I was hallucinating then, staring at my hand as it morphed into a clawed hand with rotting flesh.

"Oh God," I whispered. My arm was decaying, bone peeking through the skin. I wiggled my fingers and one fell off.

"I can't…"

"Yanna," Kyle gasped next to me. "What's happening? Why is the floor covered in nails? I can't put my feet down. They hurt."

I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. The floor to me was a moat of snapping alligators, and I opened my mouth to scream. Before the sound could tear up my throat, a soft paw covered my lips. A mane tickled my face. "It's not real," Lynix murmured. "It's not real. Feel me. I'm real." Kyle's hand once again slipped into mine, and furred arms tucked us both into an embrace. I dug my free hand into Lynix's fur as my mind settled. "I'm real. We're safe. We're okay. Just breathe."

Kyle cried quietly with soft sniffles, and I wanted to sob too. My God, this was terrifying. The darkness wasn't normal. I fucking hated it. "Why—why is this happening?"

"The Ev can release a pheromone that makes you hallucinate," Eleric said. "They sense our presence and are testing us."

"We'll be home soon," Lynix said. "Just a little long?—"

The aircraft pitched forward, and Lynix slid from my grasp. "No!" I cried, but with a solid thump, he was back, gathering Kyle and I in his arms with a stronger grasp.

"Eleric!" He called out.

"We've been detected. I think the humans have a strong scent."

"I can smell myself," Kyle muttered.

"Detected by who?" I said into the dark.

Eleric sighed. "The Ev."

A bright light flashed in front of the windshield, and while I was nearly blinded, I didn't miss the snake-like body as thick as a Boeing 747 sail through the air. This time, I screamed. And chaos erupted.

Eleric fired his weapons into the darkness, and the Ev lying in wait fought back in earnest. Something thumped the aircraft near my head. Kyle screamed, and a sucker slammed onto the front windshield like something out of Moby Dick. Eleric's weapons lit up the dark as we careened onward despite the onslaught of monsters.

I heard the slam of some sort of button and then Eleric's voice, finally with an edge of panic to it. "Coming in hot! Open the dome hatch!"

Another voice crackled over a speak. "On it."

And then we were dropping, dropping so fast that my stomach slammed into the top of my skull. I felt like I was on a roller coaster that would never end. Surely we were going to slam into the ground into a million pieces. I would be nothing but a bloody splatter.

Kyle made a choking sound next to me. Lynix grunted as I dug my fingers into his chest, and just when I thought I was going to pass out, we slammed into something solid with a bone-jarring jolt and went into a slide. The screams of the Ev ceased, and then we dropped once more onto solid ground. We bounced once. Twice. Three times.

And then we were still.

I blinked as my eyes adjusted to light outside the aircraft. Eleric flipped some switches and more lights shone in the cabin of the aircraft. Dents littered the inside of the cabin where the Ev had assaulted the aircraft from the outside. Something gooey was smeared on the windshield, and a gross-smelling liquid seeped through a seam in the ceiling.

I checked Lynix. He had all his limbs. His eyes, while tired, were alert and bright. Kyle looked traumatized and shell-shocked, but he was intact. Unhurt except for a few minor bruises.

My hands were not rotting flesh, but perfectly fine. I flexed my fingers as Lynix slashed at the belt holding me into my seat. I collapsed forward into his arms. "Are we home?"

"We're home," he rubbed my back soothingly. "We're in Akoma."

The door slid open, and I caught site of a cavernous room with yellow lighting before a massive frame filled the doorway. "You all alive?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but yes." Lynix stepped forward with me in his arms.

The figure materialized into a massive tiger-like alien—his fur was all blue with black stripes, and his muzzle was stretched into a sardonic grin. He wore pants low on his hips, nearly indecently low, and crossed his arms over a muscled chest. He wasn't as large as Lynix, but even his slight movements were done with a deadly grace.

His pale purple eyes shifted to me, and his whiskers twitched. "Hey there, human."

Kyle stepped up next to me, and the tiger alien immediately stiffened. His gaze darkened. "What the fleck is that?"

"Move, Tain." Eleric shoved his way through. "I was sent for two, and I returned with three."

The tiger alien—Tain—moved aside as Eleric pushed his way out of the aircraft. I stepped out onto a trampoline-like contraption that I thanked for our bouncy landing, and then clamored down completely gracelessly to the hard ground. I almost kissed it. A body hit me from behind, and I turned to find Kyle plastered to my back, his gaze on the cluster of bodies who'd gathered to greet us. I caught sight of a wolf-face alien, another with bull horns and a Black woman holding a cane. Then a trembling voice cut through the silence. "Yanna?"

Kini stepped into view, her blond hair in loose curls around her face. Damn, she looked good—fresh-faced, clean, and plumped with some weight that showed she'd been eating good.

Her face crumpled as her body bucked with a sob, and then she launched herself into my arms. I stumbled back a step before I hugged her tightly.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" She wailed. "How did he find you?"

She pulled back to gaze up at Lynix with a tear-streaked face. "How did you find her?"

"Fatas led me to her." He held up his wrists, and her eyes went impossibly wide. She shoved me backward, only to tug me toward her again by my arms. She stared at my wrists. "What? For real?"

I hadn't gotten a word in, and I was okay with that. Other than Lynix, I didn't know a single person who'd ever been as excited to see me as Kini. I'd met her once, but it'd been a bonding moment, and she had clearly thought about me more than I could have imagined.

"For real." I smoothed her hair off her forehead, noting her own loks on her wrists that matched those of the alien who bore a bull's face with horns. A gold septum ring in his nose glinted in the light.

The room was massive, the ceiling several stories high. Off to the side were several tables, and several hallways led off this main room. Lights flickered on the walls, and small knick-knacks decorated the walls on the shelves.

"They didn't tell me," Kini said. "I didn't know it was you. Only that Lynix had found a human." Her gaze shifted to Kyle, and she gave him a warm, genuine smile that made me love her even more. "Hi, I'm Kini. What's your name?"

He gripped the edge of my shirt with shaking fingers. "I-I'm Kyle. I'm fourteen."

"You're going to be tall. What size shoe are you?"

The totally normal conversation eased his anxiety. He let go off my shirt and stood up straight. "I'm a twelve."

"Damn," Kini said. "Well good think we live with massive aliens. I'm sure one of them will have some old shoes that fit you."

"My boys haven't been a twelve for a long time." The woman who I assumed was Queen hobbled forward on her cane. She smiled. "But I'm sure we can find something."

Black braids hung down to her waist streaked with white and gray. She walked with a slight limp and her back was stooped. Wrinkles lined her face, but they only seemed to enhance her beauty and vivacious smile. Immediately, her warm presence blanketed me. I could see why her boys—as she called them—loved her. And I could see why her mate had risked everything to free her, himself, and his sons.

"I'm Queen," she held out a hand adorned with rings over her athletic knuckles. "And I'm so happy you're here."

I was not going to cry. I was going to hold it in and not break down. I could do this. "Can I hug you instead?"

She beckoned me closer. "That's what I was hoping you'd do."

I wrapped my arms around her frame. Although thin, she was tall, and I imagined in her youth, she'd been absolutely statuesque. Her high cheekbones could cut glass, and her lips were full with deep smile lines creasing her cheeks.

She patted my cheek. "Welcome to Akoma." Then she turned to Kyle. "Welcome home, boy. I'm sure you're hungry."

As he nodded, his stomach growled. Queen laughed with a husky tone and turned to Tain. "Let's get the platters out. We have mouths to feed."

I was introduced to the rest of the brothers—Bastian was the bull, and he was Kini's mate. Whitten had a wolf-face and gave me a cool head nod. Tain continued to watch me with humor in his eyes, which I realized was his way of annoying Lynix. Even as Tain cooked, he poked and prodded Lynix verbally, who gave it right back.

Whitten muttered about work and left with a swish of his bushy tail. "He's the tech one," Kini explained to me as we sat down at the table. "Him," she pointed to Eleric, "Is their healer or doctor. He's in also in charge of anything in the sky." Right, like the aircraft.

"Tain cooks and fights. Bastian fights and is more or less of a leader for the rest of them. And Queen." She smiled. "Queen rules all."

I'd been raised by a single mom, and we didn't have much family around. We'd had meals with neighbors and friends, but I'd never sat around a table like this—full of family who passed around food, chatted, and filled the air with love.

Kyle dug into his food with a gusto, and it was the most Earth-like meal I'd encountered on this planet. The meat was sliced into a steak, completely with black grill lines, with a side of some type of vegetable and a hunk of bread. There were other sides that reminded me of food from home.

"Did you teach Tain how to cook?" I asked Queen.

"I taught him the basics, but he has a natural gift." She smiled lovingly at Tain as he sat down. The smile he gave her was the most genuine expression I'd seen him make so far. And as if pained him to be kind, he turned and stole food from Lynix's plate.

Kini nearly bounced in her seat next to me, switching her attention from me, to Bastian, to Kyle. She told us all about how she met Bastian, and about how they'd spent nearly a month in the dark on a boat in a large ocean. The Ev hadn't been able to reach them there, but they'd encountered other enemies that had nearly killed them. Yet they'd made it safely to Akoma, and Kini and Queen already seemed close.

"How did you deal with the hallucinations for a month?" I asked Kini. "I think I would have jumped overboard."

She cocked her head. "Hallucinations?"

"When Eleric rescued us, I thought my skin was falling off," I said.

"I thought the floor was covered with nails." Kyle shuddered.

Kini looked at Bastian in confusion. But it was Eleric who spoke. "The Ev can't travel over water. So their pheromones didn't reach them there."

"I wouldn't have lasted a month thinking my skin was falling off." Kini wrinkled her nose."

We continued to swap stories, shifting from the times we were scared to the moments that were interesting. Maybe even fun. Kini started telling a story about some alien saloon before glancing at Kyle. "Nevermind, that's a story for an adult-only table."

It was a testament to how tired Kyle was, that he barely made a grunt of protest. For the first time since I'd met him, he seemed relaxed. His guard was down, and as he wiped his plate clean, I caught his eyes closing. He nodded off in his seat a few times as we talked before snapping awake.

I elbowed Lynix. "We need to get the kid to bed."

Queen must have heard me, because she immediately rose to her feet. "Come on, then, I'll show you to your rooms." She stopped for a moment. "Yanna do you want your own room? I gave Kini her own, separate from Bastian, and that didn't even last one day."

I didn't hesitate. "I'll stay with Lynix."

Queen smiled knowingly. "Come on, boy. Let's let you sleep."