25. Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

R akha kicked down the door to the flop house Jenna was being held in. Sakura looked at his brother, trying not to find humor in the warrior showing off his brawn. It was funny until he caught sight of his mate burning.

"Jenna!" She turned her head and stood with human ash and burning entrails clinging to her. Her gray eyes were lit from behind. Red fire made the gray shine with vibrancy. SaKura went to his knees. He hadn't seen a frya mate on fire like Jenna was in close to nine hundred years and they didn't burn as brightly as his mate. His papan had seen one once and told him the story. It was like they were slowly dying out on his planet. They were still powerful, but not like the frya's of old. The future of his people flashed in front of him with a glorious revival. The old and the new melding together.

The roar behind him brought him to his feet. A tall human female walked into the room, looking like she was ready to kill.

"That's Marilyn," Jenna said quickly. "She's a..." Marilyn dropped the disguise of being human, rendering no other words necessary.

Marilyn grew several inches taller, and her tail sprang out. Her teeth sharpened and her nails became black claws. Her head became more cylinder in shape. The tails on the end of her ears were obvious. She was Tan-ge and Jenna had never known. That's how good her cover was.

"Where's my mate?" She looked ready to kill, but a part of her needed to know her mate was safe. Jenna wanted to give her points for caring. Then she looked at SaKura, who didn't give a shit about Jeffrey.

"Dead. He tried to kill my mate. What did you think would happen?"

Marilyn sneered at him. "You Diza's think your way is the only way. So pious. You belong with the trash of earth."

"No," Rakha snarled. "We know your way is wrong." He stepped towards her, but SaKura made a slight movement and Rakha stepped back, waiting.

"The Tan-ge have always stated that their females were docile and subservient, unlike the Diza females, but that was never true." SaKura kept his eyes on Marilyn, pinning her down with them.

"Has it taken you that long to figure that out, future king? I'll cry when your papan gets the news of your death."

"The males of your planet do the bidding of the females, but not all the males. I believe you once were a…" He stumbled looking for a word and then defaulted to the English word because it fit what he was thinking. "Matriarchal society. Through the centuries, thousands of them. The males gained a voice and some leverage in society."

Marilyn was no longer listening to SaKura. Her eyes were traveling over the ashes and the bits of pieces of Jeffrey that were still burning. She ran at Jenna, ignoring the flames surrounding her. The scream that came from her was from the pain of the fire and the soul bruise of losing her mate.

SaKura tore her away from Jenna, the flames not touching him. She sailed over his back to hit the wall.

Rakha rushed her, stopping when SaKura uttered a word in his native language. He retreated, leaving SaKura facing Marilyn.

"A mate for a mate. Did you think I didn't know? When Diza's mate it's for life and death." Her smile was a grimace of pain. "Shall we die together?" They circled each other. Marilyn watched SaKura, Rakha, and Jenna.

"This one belongs to me." SaKura turned his head for a fraction of a second, and Marilyn was on him. Her deadly stinger caught the side of his thigh, equaling the playing field.

"It's not fire, but it hurts as much." She feinted to the left, but SaKura anticipated her move meeting her face forward, his arms going around her body as his claws dug into her side. She ripped away from him, blue blood dripping down her body.

"Why Earth?" SaKura retreated, getting his bearings together. Tan-ge blood can be toxic.

"Why not? It's a beautiful planet, and it had something I wanted."

"Your mate." He came at her, but her grin was a warning he didn't consider in time. She kicked his chest, doing a one-foot aerial flip landing on both feet running backward.

"Did you know Jeff was into martial arts when I met him? He wanted me to be protected all the time and got me into them." She reached into her belt and pulled out two knives, one with each hand. SaKura avoided one, but the other hit him in his calf.

"I thought it was cute at first, his desire to protect me. Then I realized it was hot. It took a while for me to understand he was my mate. It was the last thing I was looking for. Being on this back hole planet with nothing to do except harass humans and feed my mate's need for vengeance made me happy. There was no planet to rule, just time spent with Jeff. Then you came. I knew you would after your brother took a human mate." They were both looking at the knife that didn't find its mark.

SaKura didn't want to pull the knife in his calf. The blood loss might be too rapid.

"We can end this right now."

"Not as long as you're alive. I'm dead already, but I reserve the right to take you and that abomination with me. A human frya. Whoever heard of such a thing?"

They dived for the knife at the same time. It spun out of their reach going across the room. Marilyn's tail came out waving before she used the stinger on SaKura, who screamed as the poison went through his system.

Jenna kicked the knife back to him, not caring what he said.

SaKura picked the knife up that was still hot and sliced off Marilyn's tail. The wound cauterized from the heat of the knife.

"You fucker." A spiel of curse words left her mouth as she ran at him, claws out and mouth open wide, her sharp teeth becoming a weapon. They met in the middle of the floor, tearing into each other, blood flowing as Jenna and Rakha screamed and hollered, wondering who was going to win.

Marilyn pinned SaKura down. Her claws were at his neck and her teeth were bared, ready to tear his throat out. She gave a triumphant cry. When she went for his throat, spikes grew out of it. A defense that was only in the line of the kings. His fingertips gleamed with the living jewels of his crown. He sliced her stomach and rolled her over onto her back. His fingers were at her throat.

"You always underestimated me."

"You're dead. My venom is coursing through your body. You and your mate will join Jeffrey and me in hell, as the humans call it."

"The only one dying today is you." He didn't tell her he was immune to death from her venom. He'd suffer as it worked its way out of his system, but he'd live.

"I'm dead, you idiot." She was reminding them of the one thing the Tan-ge had in common with the Diza. You were dead if your mate died. Some species survived but were in great pain. The Tan-ge never found a way to survive. They tried not to soul bond. What caused her to soul bond with Jeffrey was anyone's guess, but she wasn't talking.

"I never thought to die like this." A sharp laugh came from her that held no humor. "I will at least be with Jeff again."

"In hell, I hope you both burn for all eternity," Jenna spat out. She was standing in the middle of the floor to keep anything from catching fire.

"It's over," Rakha said. "Now that she's dead, they'll have to regroup." SaKura was staring into Marilyn's eyes.

"That's where you're wrong." She choked, and dark blue blood came from her mouth, spraying across the room.

"Who else?" The command in SaKura's voice carried through the house. He hid the throbbing pain, not wanting to give Marilyn a minor victory in death.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" More blood spilled from her mouth and sides as light lit her eyes with a fanatical glee.

"The male from the mall. The one who was there during the rally and who also hurt Amelia. He was the one who met me at the mall lot to bring me here." To give me to Jeffrey, she added silently. Jenna wrapped her arms around herself, still marveling that her clothes were intact. Being naked for the entire world to see, as well as Rakha and the crazy bitch on the floor, wouldn't have made her happy. It was bad enough she was only wearing her black lacey bra and matching thong. It was better than being naked, marginally.

She eyed her mate but kept silent. The knife sticking out of his calf was enough to drive her crazy.

"Give me a name," SaKura demanded.

"Why? Or else you'll allow your pathetic warrior to disembowel me?" She laughed. "What can you do to me?"

SaKura moved closer. He had taken her down and was crouched over her. "I can keep you hanging on the verge of death perpetually into the future."

"Come closer." She whispered a name too low for anyone to hear, and then she spat blue blood in his face.

"Burn her, mate." Jenna sent her fire to Marilyn. It encompassed SaKura, making his black eyes with the red strip glow before Marilyn screamed as she burned.

"Enjoy your trip to hell!" Jenna spat. They stood and watched until Marilyn was nothing but ashes.

"My fire is hot enough to burn bones?" How hot did it have to be to do that?

"It appears so. You need to pull it back. Concentrate on your core where you found the fire and then reverse the process. Pull it back through your body until it's locked up inside your core once again."

"It lives in my soul," she said nonchalantly, concentrating on doing what her mate had said. When the fire banked, she was shivering from the sudden onset of the cold. SaKura took her into his arms so his body heat could warm her. Kala bumped into her legs. When she bent down, he gave her a long lick.

"Ew, baby boy. Let's not do that." SaKura and Rakha laughed, the tension easing out of their shoulders.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Rakha said.

"That's because I did most of the heavy lifting." Jenna took a step back and raised her arms to show off her impressive biceps. They were impressive to her, anyway. "Women, we get the job done."

She was eyeing the knife and wondered why it didn't melt or some other horrible thing when she sent her fire to encompass her mate to burn Marilyn, who needed to be tortured for days in her opinion.

Sakura picked her up and swung her around. Jenna threw her head back, laughing. She had never felt this feeling of freedom before. Were all her problems over? Most likely not, but she didn't care. This moment was perfect. SaKura slid her down his body.

"Your leg," she stuttered.

"There will never be a time when I'm too weak to pick you up," he boasted.

This might not be the time, but she wasn't willing to let any more time pass before she told him. There was no guarantee he was going to make it. The words caught in her throat as she blinked her eyes rapidly, not wanting tears to fall.

"I love you. I don't know when my feelings changed or how you captured me so thoroughly. With every beat of my heart and every breath I take, I love you." Her eyes misted as she watched her mate, who was her very own monster. Prince Charming had never looked this good.

SaKura kissed her, dominating her mouth and capturing each breath like it was his lifeline. Her head swam, making her kiss him harder. Jenna was sure she didn't need air when she was kissing him. They parted, laughing and gasping for breath at the same time.

"I knew the minute Bella told me about her amazing sister that you were mine. You had to be a frya, I didn't question my reasoning, I just believed. You, Jenna Ashford, are everything I ever wanted in a mate and more. I love you."

"That's good and all, but maybe you can pledge undying love when we get out of here." Jenna turned to find Rakha holding up a phone. She knew he was live-streaming it to her sister.

"What happened to the alien that didn't know what a phone was or how to livestream?" she muttered as SaKura carried her out. "Talk to you later, Bella. I love you," Jenna said loudly over SaKura's shoulder. There was the tinkle of a beautiful bell that told her Bella was laughing.

"Can we please tend to your leg, and what do we do for the venom rushing through your body?"

"Let's get out of here first."

"Come on, baby boy. It's time to go home." Kala walked beside SaKura as he took her back to the Duran.

"Rosetta, I didn't expect you to be here." Jenna was beaming when she saw her friend waiting for her.

Rosetta scoffed. "Did you think I was going to leave you?" Jenna felt a momentary pang. She thought the AI would leave her. Having friends and a mate was new. In the past, there had only been Bella who would have followed her into the fires of hell.

"I thought so, but now I know better. Kala, were you with me the whole time?" A deep growl came from him. "I'm going to take that as a yes and that you weren't happy with what was happening."

"Can you take us to the Crown's ship? SaKura's been hurt. He has Tang-ge venom raging through his system and knife in his calf, as well as various other bites and claw marks." She did her best to act like her mate wasn't dying, but her heart wasn't with that. It was beating like she was running a marathon.

A drawer Jenna saw for the first time opened. Inside of it were multiple vials.

"Anti-venom," Rosetta said. Rakha took a vial and plunged it into SaKura's thigh close to where Marilyn stung him. Then he put on a pair of gloves designed for the Diza to make sure that no part of the stinger was lodged in SaKura.

A cot slid out from Rosetta across from the anti-venom drawer. Rakha helped his brother to lie down. SaKura was beginning to look weak, like the anti-venom wasn't helping.

"Don't cry, mate. It's the knife. I'll survive it." SaKura's voice was weak. Jenna realized that her strong male could die. It felt like being slapped into next week.

"What do we do?"

"Not us, consort, you," Rosetta said.

"Me? How?" The words choked her, but she'd do anything for her mate. Oh, how the times have changed.

"Your fire is needed to cauterize his wounds. When he stops losing blood, the living crystals will replace what he has lost, leaving him a little weak, but alive."

"But…" She didn't know what they were talking about. He survived her fire when exposed and nothing happened to him.

"There's a difference between fire that kills and fire that heals. That's the kind you need to use on your mate."

Jenna's eyes sought SaKura's that were flagging, half-closed.

"The crystals that now live in your blood can change your fire. You have to will it. Tell them what to do, like you told them to burn Jeffrey." His eyes closed and Jenna wanted to scream.

"Don't you dare die on me!"