7. Talia

Jules was mid-apology when Kal'va moved. It was almost like magic, the way he blurred past us, moving with a speed and grace that barely registered. Before I understood what was happening, he'd vanished into the tomb.

"What the hell?" Paulo's voice shook nearly as much as his flashlight beam. "What was that?"

"Talia's new boyfriend," Jules said, her voice steady and level, so calm it had to be fake. I glanced her way, saw she was white as a sheet, and decided not to protest her choice of words.

"He didn't look like that before." Paulo said, still swinging his light around wildly, as though he expected Kal'va to be creeping up on us from the shadows.

I swallowed before answering, wishing I could sound as calm as Jules.

"You've only seen him when he's sitting still. It's different when he moves, and you can see how dangerous he is. And his claws were a lot smaller." I shivered with the memory of their touch, the ghostly brush of diamond over my skin. They'd been dangerous then—now, they looked like weapons of war. He'd scared me, even before he turned sand into flying blades with a gesture.

That all made sense. What I couldn't get over was how my body was responding. How was this, this monster, so damned sexy?

"No time to worry about that," I muttered. "Let's get into the crypt. We'll be out of the line of fire there."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

No, of course not. I didn't say that aloud. Scaring Paulo more wouldn't help anything. "It's the safest place down here, and Kal'va will know where to find us."

"And that's a good thing?" Jules said, though she was moving toward the crypt while she spoke.

"If he wanted to kill us, we'd be dead. He's our only ally, and if we go wandering off, we're as likely to run into Rush's people as we are to meet him."

I thought it made sense, and we had to go somewhere. The crypt was as defensible as anywhere we'd seen.

We lowered ourselves into the crypt, three humans alone in a place so old that our ancestors hadn't even known writing when the Ancients built it. Potentially, they hadn't even been human. A shiver came over me as my boots hit the stone floor. Across the room from me, flanked by forbidding statues, was the giant door, and behind it, whatever secrets Kal'va had guarded for so long. Curiosity burned in me, urging me to just take a peek.

"Ah ha." Jules's voice dragged me back, and I looked around to see her grinning at me from behind the bier. When she waggled her eyebrows at me, I realized what she'd found and glared.

"You knew about it. I don't know why you're acting like this is some big discovery?"

"Because you, young lady, need to be distracted," my friend replied in a reasonable tone. "And because it's fun to make you squirm."

She lifted the shredded remains of my outfit, shaking out my top to look at the clean cuts Kal'va's claws made. "Wow, impressive. What big claws your boyfriend has, Talia."

"Give me that," I snapped, grabbing it out of her hands as she laughed. Behind me, Paulo choked on a repressed laugh, and then we were all giggling on the edge of hysterics. "Fuck you, Jules, you're just jealous."

"Uh, noooo, your deadly alien warrior is so not my type," she protested. "I prefer a partner who'll leave me with clothes I can put back on, thank you very much. Plus, there's the age gap…"

I punched her in the arm, refusing to dignify that with more of a response than that. The moment of levity passed, but the distraction had served its purpose. Even Paulo looked a little less stressed.

The problem with having a friend like Juliette, I decided, was that no matter how irritating she got, I couldn't stay angry with her. It was more annoying than anything she did.

Kal'va's bier was the best cover in the crypt, and sitting behind it, we'd be out of sight of anyone poking their head down. Anyone who put in even a tiny effort would find us, but it was the best defense we had, so we sat behind it, leaning on the cold dark stone, waiting.

"Do you have any food?" Paulo asked after what felt like hours, but according to my watch was only twenty-seven minutes. The question was enough to remind me how long it had been since breakfast, and my stomach rumbled.

"You had to mention that didn't you?" Jules groaned, digging into her pockets, retrieving a flask and a couple of candy bars. "That's all I've got."

"More than me," I admitted. "I've got nothing."

"That's okay, I'm offering not asking." Paulo pulled a thermos out of his jacket pocket, followed by a couple of bricks of Food Substitute. Okay, yes, it has a proper name, but that's what we all called the barely edible stuff the foodmaker could craft from any organic matter. At our surprised looks, he grinned. "Hey, look, I always have a couple of rations handy. You know, in case of emergency."

I'd never been so glad of someone's anxieties as in that second.

I noticedKal'va's return first. Maybe it was a subtle sound he made, or maybe I saw him out of the corner of my eye. More likely, it was a consequence of the bond between us. At least, that's what it felt like—a growing awareness of his presence, followed by the lightest of steps as he dropped into the crypt. It was impossible to imagine someone so large moving so quietly, yet somehow, he managed to sneak up on us.

The effect might have been spoiled by me leaping up and running to him. The others looked up with a start and Paulo even gave out a little panicked squeal as he saw our alien protector. I couldn't blame him. Kal'va had changed, and stood before us in all his warlike glory. Long, muscular limbs, claws like daggers, jaw opening wider than any mouth should, ready to rend and tear his enemies. His blue skin had darkened to near-black, and the crystal spines protruding through it pulsed with energy.

No wonder Paulo was terrified at the sight of him. The odd thing was that I felt safe, and I leaped into his arms without hesitation. Jules started saying something, then cut herself off. I doubt I'd have paid attention to her words anyway, because I'd just noticed the scorched rips in Kal'va's armored hide.

"What happened? Are you okay? What did you do?" The questions poured from me as I examined him more closely. It wasn't just the burns, his skin was also covered in blood. Too much blood.

"Slow," he said, voice slurring as he forced the word out of a face made for war. "Blood…not mine."

I opened my mouth, drew a breath to speak, and fell silent as he placed a clawed finger over my lips.

"Wait." The word was a command, not a request, and it hit hard. I froze in place, watching as he transformed. The change was quicker than I'd imagined, muscles rearranging, crystals withdrawing into his skin. His protruding muzzle with its deadly teeth withdrew, and his skin lightened. In seconds, he was back to himself as I'd seen him when he first woke up, aside from the injuries and the blood.

"Better. I can speak now." His golden eyes glowed, locked onto mine, and a little gasp escaped my lips. The smile that twitched at his lips should have annoyed me, but it just made me want him more.

After he'd showered off the blood. And had those wounds tended. And showered off the blood. Yep, that was important enough to mention twice.

"What happened out there?" I grabbed some of my shredded clothes and started wiping the alien warrior down. "Are we safe?"

Kal'va took the hint and grabbed another makeshift towel. As we worked to get the blood off him, he growled and shook his head. "I have failed you, Tal'ia. Those who attacked you live. But they will not lightly venture back into the tomb, and I have slain six or more of them."

"That's not failing," I said, unsure how to feel about that. Yes, Kal'va had saved my life, but he'd done it by killing a half-dozen people.

My body knew exactly how to feel, though. Warm, eager, excited. Apparently, dead enemies were the best first-date gift I could have gotten.

Kal'va's growl turned deeper, hungrier, and sexier, making my blush spread and brighten. "I would kill them all, Tal'ia. All who harm you deserve death."

"Hey, you're more injured than I am," I pointed out. "Maybe I should kill the people who hurt you."

He chuckled, a deep sound that didn't make it any easier for me to focus. "I think I am better built for war. You were made for nicer things."

Jules saved me from having to reply by throwing her mug at me. The first I knew about it was when it slapped into Kal'va's hand. I hadn't seen him move, and his eyes never left mine. One moment his hand was at his side, the next it was beside my cheek and holding the mug.

"Get a room, you two," Jules shouted. If Kal'va's show of skill had impressed her, she gave no sign of it. "Or, if you can control yourselves long enough, tell us what's happening up on the surface. Are we still in danger, or did you scare Rush's people off?"

Kal'va furrowed his brow, a puzzled note entering his voice. "This is my room, human. The crypt has been mine since before your species walked upright."

His look of confusion only intensified when we both struggled off laughter. After a moment of awkward silence, he shook his head, a quick, sharp motion. "No, that is my failure. I do not have the strength to challenge their ship on my own. They withdrew under cover of its fire."

I cursed. "They won't leave unless we can push them to it. Now that they've attacked us, they need us dead. Anyone who lives to tell what happened is a deadly threat to those assholes."

Kal'va looked up to the ceiling, presumably in the direction of Rush's ship. "They have the numbers to be a grave danger. This time, they were overconfident and sloppy, easy prey. Next time, if they are more professional about their approach, I may fail to stop them."

"We'll help fight," Jules said. No hesitation, no fear, just an instant willingness to commit herself to the battle. I admired that, though Paulo looked unhappy with the way she committed the rest of us, too.

But Kal'va shook his head. "You are not warriors. Not killers. Your ‘help' would only distract me."

"Now hang on a damned minute," I said. "We're not hiding down here while you fight our battles for us."

"No. You will hide somewhere much safer."

I groaned. "That is not what I meant."

Before Kal'va had a chance to respond, Jules stepped between us, hands on her hips and a spark in her eyes.

"Okay, if the two of you are just going to stand there and flirt, Paulo and I will go find somewhere to ambush those fucks when they come back." Jules sounded half-infuriated, half-amused. Trying to see it from her perspective, I guessed I'd be the same if our positions were reversed.

It was less funny from my side. I wished the ground would hurry up and swallow me, or, even better, swallow Jules.

"It is not flirtation," Kal'va said. It sounded no more convincing from him than it would have from me. "If I need to restrain Tal'ia for her safety, I shall do so."

I bit my lip, face bright red. Thank god, that was the moment Paulo spoke up.

"Uh, folks, I don't mean to interrupt anything, but Rush's ship just started receiving a lot of data from orbit. It's encrypted, I can't listen in, but I thought it might be important?"