Farin the Dark Read online

  For a second he was worried she would pull away from him, but then that silky fall of hair wrapped him up as tight as the arms she flung around his neck and the legs that circled his waist. He sucked in the scent of his mate, burying his head at her neck, that warm fall of hair cocooning the two of them from everything they had faced, and still had to.

  The brackish water they floated in was not the cleanest nor the scents that bombarded him the freshest, but all of that paled in significance to having his mate in his arms once again.

  "We need to find a place to hole up," he finally said, not bothering to raise his head from her shoulder or the volume of his voice. "Will your friends be able to find us here? There are too many scents to think my men could track us, especially given how we arrived."

  "I think we will find out soon enough," Ember said also keeping her hold on him and her voice for his ears alone. "If this was the failsafe activating that sent everyone to the pit, I doubt they will have left a convenient door to walk through to get out."

  Farin finally raised his head, kissed her hard enough to bruise, and then looked around, using his nose more than his eyes to see what they were up against. He pointed. "I think that way lies the closest land."

  Ember looked in the direction he pointed. Then he watched her light flicker and flash as her eyes closed. The water rippled around and away from them, as if stirred by an unseen hand.

  "It's an island," she said finally opening her eyes to his again. "Completely surrounded by water. If no one else has found their way there it could be the safest place for us. I will be able to sense anything that approaches us in the water." She looked back at him and smiled. "But we won't know if there is shelter or food until we get there and can look it over."

  He shrugged, and the movement made the two of them brush together. Her hard nipple made enough impression scraping across his chest that he briefly considered, and not for the first time, if a small delay in finding shelter and dry land would not be worth the risk. In the end it was his mate’s safety that made it possible for him to let her go long enough for the two of them to swim to shore.

  Farin knew he was snarling as he swam but did not have the control necessary to stop the sound. He would rather run for days in battle than swim in this smelly dark water. But between the stench that hurt his sensitive nose, and the feel of whatever surrounded them pushing along his skin he wanted out of the water. As fast as he moved though, keeping his mate and the land in his sights while keeping awareness all around them for a threat, his mate swam rings around him, literally. Not necessarily an accomplished swimmer, he at least was a strong one. He was still no match for his siren in the water. She glided, circling his strongest strokes making him feel about as fast as a Mortuse snail.

  That she could laugh while they were neck deep in flowing filth had him glaring at her.

  It did not stop the out of place laughter. "Why are you snarling?" she asked moving closer to him again.

  He pushed them both faster toward the shore. Trying and failing to stop the steady sound. "It stinks," he growled. Sounding, he was certain, like a small petulant child. Something he had never been.

  His mate laughed in his face. Not at all bothered by his temper. Or apparently the sludge they swam in.

  "I've seen worse," she said instead. "Believe me when I tell you a Siren traveling through space takes what she can get where water is concerned."

  For a long while the only sound is the lapping of waves, and the occasional scream of pain and death in the distance. That she had been in worse situations had his teeth lengthening and his beast nearly taking over. He fought again for control. Something he had never had trouble with before he met his mate. Now it was an almost constant battle. He vowed to himself and his beast side that she would be at his side from now on, and they would keep her from such dangers as this in the future.

  They made it to the island, and he took the lead. Ember coming out of the water like a goddess was enough to distract him, so he did his best to keep his eyes off her and on the surroundings. Unlike the rest of the pit he has seen, this island was uninhabited. At least as far as he could tell from the scents coming at him, and the feel of the place. He would not let his guard down until he explored the small area before him, but he doubted anything could hide amongst the barren sand beach they were standing on.

  In the distance the sound of thrashing and screaming came out of the darkness. A terrible silence follows until more fighting and dying could be heard. But it was far away. If he had to guess he would say that no one survived the water long enough to make it to the island.

  After tracing a path around the small jut of land they discover no place to take shelter and no source of food.

  "I can go into the water and bring back some beast for us to eat if we are here too long," she assured him.

  The thought of sending his mate into the water to face the beasts there had a growl of anger forcing itself through gritted teeth.

  She laughed at him. Again. Farin could not remember the last time anyone had dared. "If the water beasts were a danger to me they would already have attacked," Ember went on, trying to reassure him. "Predators of the water always recognize the danger of a siren, even if I'm imported."

  He growled again, taking one last look around and knowing there was nowhere to go and nothing to do until his people and hers found them. So he did what he had needed to do since the last time he had been able to touch her. He pulled her into his arms and held her pressed close everywhere he could manage it. His siren gasped at his sudden move but was quick to wrap him up in all that soft warm hair again.

  Shuddering in relief and need, Farin tucked his face into her neck, buried his nose in that hair and searched under the brackish smells of the water clinging to them until he found the scent of his mate. He closed his eyes and breathed her in. She was safe and in his arms.

  For now, it was enough.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Ember? Any chance you are the glow we are seeing in the distance?

  Lyric? Ember opened her eyes to the light of her own skin. She smiled. If you are in the pit I would say it is a very good chance.

  Are you safe there?

  For the moment.

  The relief Lyric sent back to her needed no words. Hang tight. We are almost to you.

  The Galais? She asked even as she turned to meet her mate’s eyes.

  Unfortunately, while we were trying to stay out of the trap they sprung dumping everyone in the pit, they managed to get away. Though I am assured by the Tellox with me that they will not get far.

  Ember sighed. As much as she would like to think it was that easy. She had seen how good the Galais were at covering their tracks.

  The good news, Lyric said apparently reading her mind. Is that they did not get away with any of the samples and data they had accumulated on you or anyone else here. They made it out in a cloaked pod the Tellox are attempting to trace, but the lab and all their data was destroyed. We made sure of it.

  They could have transferred the data ahead of time.

  Maybe but they got away with nothing else. Including any blood, semen or eggs they harvested.

  Ember closed her eyes and let out a relieved breath. The last thing she wanted was something of her and Farin out there to be bred and experimented on, so that at least was something.

  She relayed all of that to Farin as he stood to meet the approaching ship.

  "Tell them that if that is them coming at us they should do a little wave," he said. Watching the quickly approaching ship.

  Ember did and a moment later the ship dropped left and then right before preparing to land. The open part of the Island was small enough that Ember and Farin had to back up nearly to the water to make it happen, but they did, and the doors opened and a Tellox, the smallest she had seen yet at about six feet, and with slimmer, though no less muscular lines stepped out. A small female at his side.

  "Morax?" Farin asked clearly surprised. And then with a clea
rly shocked look at the dainty female that followed him. One Ember would guess to be in her early teens. The girl was looking everywhere but at their naked bodies, and her golden Tellox skin had taken on a rosy hue even in the dim light. Besides being no more than five and a half feet she had bright blue eyes, rather than the gold most Tellox had. Other than that she was all golden Tellox. From her burnished gold skin to her lustrous gold hair. Just a more feminine and a much younger version than any that Ember had seen before.

  Morax grunted in clear displeasure his eyes never stopping his search for the danger around them. "Let's get out of this place first, then we can make the introductions."

  Like a fire had been lit on his ass Farin grabbed Ember’s arm and led her into the shuttle. Morax gently pushed the young female along in front of them while he guarded their retreat.

  They entered the shuttle with Morax close behind. There was two other people in the shuttle. Lyric sat at the Pilot seat, she spared Ember one relieved glance and then as soon as they were in the doors closed and she was taking off again.

  A second Tellox that was obviously related to the female was sitting copilot. This one had the same eyes as the girl and could have been the warrior version of the same age, meaning he was already taller and more muscular than his age should have allowed. He also took quick notice of their nudity, his eyes widening on her when he turned from the shuttle com, the only thing that was giving her any modesty was her hair wrapped around her like a cloak, still it was not hard to see that beneath that hair she wore absolutely nothing and the poor boy went even redder than his sister, his wide eyes on Ember until the one called Morax chuffed at him.

  He turned so fast he nearly fell out of the turning chair he was sitting in.

  Morax turned to look at them. "Either of you have injuries that I can't see?"

  Farin pulled Ember back and into his chest to hold her close to him. "We are healed."

  Morax raised a surprise brow at that. But he let it go. "We didn't think to bring any clothes on the shuttle, but we will get you both something as soon as we make the ship."

  He motioned the girl to her seat and she looked them over carefully even as she obeyed.

  "How is it you are even here?" Farin asked, his voice gruff with both his surprise and displeasure. "And why would you bring your young out of the safety of your home and into this?"

  Morax grimaced, his eyes on the view screen showing the twists and turns we were not feeling because of the inertial dampeners. "If you think I am happy about this you are out of your mind," he grumbled. His voice was rusty as if it was unused. "One day we are all enjoying the chaos the children create in relative peace and the next a vision has us shooting across the stars to save you and apparently the future of our children's children."

  Farin looked even more shocked. "You brought more with you? What vision?"

  Morax did not answer instead he turned to Ember with his brows low and his eyes squinted. "Any chance you can do something about the light show. It's damn distracting."

  “Father!” The young female said giving Morax a look only a teenager can master.

  Her father just growled. She rolled her eyes. “I’m Emma,” she motioned to the younger male. “That’s my brother Wyatt. You are Ember? A siren?” There was clear curiosity behind her eyes and the question.

  Ember would have answered, but a move by Lyric had the shuttle spinning, something that even the dampeners could not handle completely. She had not time to answer him before they all turned to hold onto the ship, all eyes moving to the view screen again, just as Lyric tumbled them out into open space.

  From here Ember could see that the space station that had been built over what looked like a dead planet was in pieces, with explosions happening all along its hull, and parts of it pulling away from the planet, where they had just been. There did not seem to be an atmosphere besides what the station had provided. They would have died along with everyone else if the Tellox and Lyric had waited even a few seconds to find them.

  Ember pushed out a deep breath at the carnage and the loss of life. "The captives?"

  "We got out the ones that were salvageable," Morax assured her. "The ones that fought being rescued we left. But, while I don't have an exact number, I know we saved as many as we could. We went for the children first, and we have other shuttles combing the debris for survivors. A lot of the beasts we came across fought against our help and had to be left behind or killed."

  She thought of what they had said. Of children she had hoped had not been there, since they would have been held in a separate area than the adults. It brought back memories of a childhood spent in the labs. It took real effort to hold her voice steady. "What will happen to them?"

  "If they have homes to return to they will be returned. If not..." Morax shrugged, meeting her eyes. He was a daunting male, even for a Tellox. And she was mated to Farin the dark, so she would know.

  She wanted to get more into what that meant but figured she would find out later, and if she didn't like it she would come up with her own plan.

  She would like to say she would take in all the children herself but what kind of life would that be for them? Especially when the only things that she knew for sure in her life was that she was mated to the Tellox commander, the Galais were still out there, and given her uniqueness, and her mate’s last acts of defiance showed him to be nearly as interesting, she was sure the two of them would be high on the list to be reacquired. It was no place for children.

  With the thought of it, Ember placed her hand on her belly. A clutch of some emotion that did not come from her had her raising her head to find Farin's eyes on hers. The dark of an endless space, with all the stars swirling with gold. That look of possession and fierce promise in his eyes told her that he knew the directions her thoughts had gone, and why.

  She looked away because even she did not know what she wanted in that moment. Or where they would go from here.

  Farin pulled her closer to his side, but he did not break their silence.

  Ember decided to ignore all of it for the moment. She was out of the labs and mated to a Tellox. She wanted a shower and to be far away from this place. Everything else could be dealt with in time.

  They docked and Ember was out the doors as soon as the doors sliced open. She looked around recognized the docking bay of the Star Caravan and then ran down the ramp into Charm’s waiting arms. The feeling of coming home was such that her knees buckled. Lyric caught them both before they hit the deck.

  "Not going to lie," Ember said with a break in her voice she could not hide, even if the shudder in the arms that held her had not told the same story. "I was a little worried that time."

  Lyric and Charm both laughed, Lyric through her tears.

  "When you were taken..." Lyric started, only to lose her words on a shuddering breath. "Not sure we would have been able to find you if it weren't for the Tellox and their seer."

  "You scared the fuck out of us," Charm said on a growl. "Next time you want an adventure with your new boy toy I suggest somewhere with a beach."

  Ember laughed again. Though it was not necessarily a happy sound. "There was a beach."

  Both her friends groaned at her bad joke. Then as one they all pulled back and looked at all the Tellox surrounding them. Ember knew her shock was clear, but how the hell many of them were there. More females than she had ever heard talked about, and even a few older children besides the ones who had come for them in the shuttle.

  "Did you recruit the army?" she asked on a gasp. Her eyes going to her mate as he looked around. He gave nothing away on his face, but she could feel his shock as well as her own.

  "Anyone want to fill me in on why every mated Tellox in the galaxy is risking themselves, their mates and their young to be here?"

  "Perhaps you and your mate would like to clean up and clothe yourselves before we make the introductions?" One of the big men said looking perturbed.

  Ember blushed at the reminder that the on
ly thing keeping her modesty was her hair. She cleared her throat and looked at her mate. "We can clean up in my cabin," then she smiled. "You remember the way I hope?"

  Farin looked her over once, but he did not waste any more time than that before pulling her away. Keeping himself and his big body between her and the rest of the males watching them with interest.

  "I'll send out a code to the rest of the Tellox letting them know that our Commander has been found, with his mate, and that everyone should be on the lookout for the Galais and any of their ilk."

  "Keep it short for now. I will fill in the details, so everyone knows what to guard against."

  "Good to have you back Commander," Nox said with a smile from Farin to his mate. "And congratulations." He looked back at Farin and then around at the families surrounding them. "It looks like we have much to celebrate."

  Lyric and Charm both met her eyes before she turned with her mate to go. They shared a long look before she heard Lyric whisper through her mind. You are safe with him?

  He's my mate, she assured her simply making sure she could see in her eyes the truth of that.

  She saw Lyric’s eyes widen in shock. Funny she would have thought it was more than obvious considering she had new gold swirls running over her arms from the bond, but maybe Lyric had assumed it was from something else?

  Did the Galais?... She could hear the fear in Lyric’s mind voice, and only then did it occur to her what someone familiar with the labs would assume from that. Since she had not scented him as her mate before it was a logical assumption.

  No! She assured her friend in a near mind shout. Then she sucked in a breath and attempted to relax, even as her mate’s arm came around her waist and his eyes hit hers, worry and a question in his eyes. She shook her head at him, assuring him she was fine with a pat on his bare chest. Then her eyes went back to her sisters. Once he tasted my blood his scent released, and I knew I was his mate. The Galais were trying to breed me with someone else. Farin has always been my mate. It is just the Tellox way that a mate’s blood is what activates the bonding. She shook her head again, aware that Farin was trying to push his way into her mind even as she fought to keep him out of the conversation. She gave him exasperated eyes and then turned back again to Lyric. We'll talk later, when we have less of an audience. You are good with going with the Tellox?