Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

RENIKK

M y heart pounds with a fear I’ve never experienced in my life as I stare at the spot I left Raven. I thought she would be safe even though I failed to tie the unconscious Noah up.

I will kill that sartog if he harms her.

Music from the party blares through the back door that I kicked in earlier. I dump the unconscious male inside the house and begin a methodical search of the rooms.

Raven’s smart, not prone to panicking but I don’t know if she left before Noah regained consciousness or if he woke and took her. Would she have left the house or hidden here?

The creak of a wood floorboard, sends me into a roll as bullets whiz past and imbed into the wall behind me.

My knife sails across the room and strikes Noah’s hand dead-center. He yells out in pain and drops the gun—not the one I confiscated earlier—giving me the opening to restrain him. After binding his hands with his belt, I flip him onto his back. His smug expression tells me he has leverage. Raven.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“Release me, then I’ll tell you. And the longer you take, the worse it will get for her.”

I place the nozzle of my blaster against his head. “I don’t negotiate. You have twenty seconds to tell me her location or I’ll blow your head off.”

“Ren, no!” Raven calls out. “Don’t kill him!”

“Raven, where are you?”

Furniture scrapes against the wood floor in the living room off the main hallway. My beautiful Raven slides out from beneath the sofa I passed earlier when looking for her.

I lift her into my arms and bury my nose in her hair, drawing in her scent so my body will catch up with my brain and understand she’s safe.

“I’m fine, Ren. You can let go.”

“Not yet. I nearly lost you tonight.”

Her arms tighten around me. “Thank you for rescuing me. I was so scared.”

“Do not thank me. I failed you tonight. I never should have left you to chase the other male. I thought Noah was unconscious.”

“He stirred just after you left. I ran and hid in the first place I could think of.”

She squeezes me tight, giving me what I need in this moment. Slowly, my horns bend back, away from her.

“I want to hold you forever, Raven.”

“We only just met.”

“And yet there’s a bond between us. Can you feel it?” I ask.

She bites her bottom lip.

“Don’t answer,” I say. “I will not pressure you.

“I feel a connection to you,” she whispers, as if she’s not sure she should admit it.

“Do I scare you, Raven? Is that why you did not call out to me earlier?”

“Noah was searching for me. I was afraid if I answered you, he’d find me first.”

I kiss her forehead, thanking the gods she’s unharmed. “You did everything right.”

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” she asks, her voice shaking slightly.

“No.”

She breathes a sigh of relief. “No matter what he’s done, he’s still my cousin. I wouldn’t want to break my aunt’s heart by hurting him.” She walks to where I tied him up. “Why, Noah? You have a good life. Why get mixed up with something criminal?”

“How do you think I afford this place? I don’t have a rich daddy to pamper me.”

“My dad doesn’t pamper me.”

“Yeah, sure.” Noah’s laugh grates on me.

“You’re going to need his help if you want to avoid prison for setting all those fires.”

“Screw you, Raven.”

I punch the male in his face. “Watch your mouth.”

Noah spits out blood. “I didn’t set any fires.”

“You hired that guy, Noah. I smell the ash and smoke on him. Why terrorize all those families?” Raven pushes.

“They failed to listen to us. Examples needed to be made, to keep others in line.”

“Us?” she asks.

“The Brotherhood,” I provide the answer she seeks. It’s clear Noah is part of the criminal organization that works to topple entire worlds.

Raven’s mouth opens in shock, so I put my arm around her waist which I realize is a mistake when a smug expression crosses Noah’s face.

“She means something to you,” the male says. “Release me and I’ll keep your secret.”

Raven faces me. “What is he talking about?”

“She doesn’t know who you are, does she?” Noah says. “But I do. The full truth. Release me, or I’ll tell her.”

“Tell me what?” she asks so innocently.

RAVEN

Silence fills the house as neither Ren nor Noah says anything. Silent exchanges leaves me in the proverbial dark. If I could see right now, I’d be able to better assess what is going on between Noah and Renikk. This silence only encourages my imagination to run wild. And that puts me on edge.

“Someone tell me what’s going on,” I demand, my voice full of impatience and fear that I can’t squash.

“Your boyfriend here is an alien,” Noah pipes up, that braggart voice daring me to prove him wrong.

“An alien? You’re mistaken, Noah. You’re trying to hurt me like always,” I say, sure he’s lying.

But Ren hasn’t denied Noah’s claim.

“Raven,” Ren’s deep voice says my name with such emotion that I can’t turn away. He steps in front of me then takes my hands in his and places them on his face to read his expression.

Concern. Worry.

“You’re not an alien,” I repeat, not ready to accept that I’ve been falling for an alien.

Ren moves my hands higher, through his thick hair, until I touch something hard jutting out from both sides of his head.

His hands fall away, leaving me to explore the structures. The smooth surface reminds me of bone, except with minor gouges, maybe scratches, as they taper to sharp points a good foot and a half from his scalp.

Horns!

My hands snap away.

Ren is an alien.

“I did not plan on telling you,” he says, softly

“But why?” I suddenly feel betrayed. I don’t like when people used my blindness to keep secrets from me.

“The truth is often hard to accept.”

It is. And I’m not sure how I feel about this revelation.

“You are disappointed,” he says, his voice falling. The sadness coming off of him tugs at my soul and I realize he’s the same person he was a few minutes ago.

And I’m not ready to throw away whatever’s been forming between us.