Trelon pushed his way past the guards and lifted his fist, slamming it against the door. “Open up this door, right now!” Trelon bellowed.
Carmen had no sooner opened the door than Trelon’s symbiosis was out of it running at full speed. The force of its departure knocked Trelon against a warrior who had been standing to the side. Small bands of gold flashed out and wound around his wrists in frantic desperation. Immediately, Trelon felt the shards of pain flash through him as the tiny symbiosis on Cara called for help.
“What the…” Carmen started to ask but found she was speaking to empty air where Trelon had stood only seconds before.
Trelon ran through the palace heading out a side door towards the path. As soon as he had enough room, he shifted to his dragon form. His symbiosis had already taken to the air flashing out so fast she had blasted through the windows, the sound of glass crashing to the floor drawing a crowd of guards.
Trelon flew towards the back of the palace towards the cliffs. His heart was beating as frantically as that of his dragon. Both hearts contained unimaginable fear as the pain died away to nothing but emptiness. Trelon let out a roar that shook the trees as he flashed by. His symbiosis had reached Cara already and was anxiously trying to heal her. Trelon shifted back before he had even touched the ground moving towards his symbiosis which had wrapped itself around Cara’s still form.
“What is it? What is wrong with her?” Trelon asked as he picked up one of Cara’s cold hands. Chaffing it between his large, warm ones he closed his eyes to focus on what his symbiosis was doing.
Cara’s heart was stuttering. It would beat then skip, slower, beat, skip two, beat, nothing. Trelon’s hands trembled as he willed her heart to beat again. He looked at the hand he held and saw the traces of smeared blood. He brought it to his nose and sniffed. It was hers, dark and rich. His eyes flew around the area and he saw where she had vomited. He could tell the contents had been blood and… Releasing her hand, he moved closer and sniffed. Poison.
Trelon quickly related his findings to his symbiosis. It was moving through Cara’s body at an astounding rate, cleansing and healing damaged organs. A small thread had attached to her heart and began sending low levels of electrical shocks to it to make it pump. Soon, her heart started beating on its own, slowly at first then at a more normal rate. Trelon watched as his symbiosis pulled away from Cara and stood on unsteady legs. It shook fiercely throwing off bits of the poison it had taken from Cara. Cara had not regained consciousness but she was breathing on her own and her color had returned to almost normal.
“Thank you, my friend.” Trelon whispered quietly to his symbiosis as he gently lifted Cara in his arms.
Trelon slammed into the conference room. His brothers looked up in concern. Zoran rose from his seat and came around the table. “How is she?” Zoran asked quietly.
Trelon ran his hands through his hair in aggravation. “She is still sleeping. The healer has said she should heal completely. I can feel her dragon, but she is very weak. There was enough poison in Cara to kill a full grown warrior. Cara is less than half our size. Why? Why would anyone want to harm someone so beautiful?” Trelon asked sinking down into a chair next to Mandra.
Zorna placed his hand on Trelon's shoulder before moving around the table to sit back down. “Do we know for sure she was the target? Could it be related to the Curizans’ attack?”
Trelon was shaking his head. “She is the only one who was poisoned. We cannot even be sure how she was poisoned until she wakes so we can ask her what happened. Why was she so far away from the dining area? What did she eat or drink? Could she have been poisoned some other way?” He groaned at all the unanswered questions. He wanted to rip the person who had harmed his mate apart. He wanted to burn them to ash. He wanted Cara to wake up so he could tell her he was sorry for not protecting her better.
“Creon, what have you found out so far?” Zoran asked turning to the darkest of the five brothers. He had faced things the others couldn’t even imagine during the Three Wars, often going behind enemy lines to find essential information.
Creon looked up, seeming to think about what he was going to say first before he responded. “There appears to be more behind your capture than we suspected. I don’t have enough information yet to give you the answers you are seeking. I am looking into some new Intel I’ve received from some of my sources. Once I have confirmed they are valid, I can give you more information.”
“Well, that was a great way to tell us absolutely nothing. Thanks, Creon.” Kelan said sarcastically.
“Anytime, brother.” Creon said giving Kelan a rude flick of his middle finger.
Mandra chuckled. “Creative, brother. Where did you learn that symbol?”
Creon grinned. “The human female Carmen seems to have a passionate use for it around me. Abby explained what it meant.” Creon turned to Kelan. “It is not meant as a compliment.”
Kelan growled. “I know exactly what it means. Trisha has used it more than once on me.”
Trelon looked at his brothers and said sadly, “My mate used it on me once. I wish she would do it again.”
Mandra leaned over and punched Trelon in the shoulder. “She will. I thought you would be happy she is getting some sleep. I’ve heard she is a handful. I’ve also heard she had kept you pretty exhausted.”
Trelon grinned briefly before he sobered. “She has. I just want her to sleep because I’ve exhausted her, not because someone tried to kill her.”
“Let us get back on task.” Zoran said with a smile. It was good to be back home; even with all the problems. He had plans for Abby but he needed to get things taken care of first.
They spent the next hour going over plans and everyday problems before Trelon received an image from his symbiosis that Cara was moving restlessly. Trelon quickly excused himself from the meeting and hurried back to his living quarters.
Trelon nodded to the guards he had placed in front of his rooms and to the additional guards who were assigned to his guest. Opening the door, he watched as Carmen stood up. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Symba call you?” She asked sharply.
“Yes.” Trelon said looking towards his sleeping area. “She said she was moving.”
Carmen nodded as she picked up a bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Did you find out who tried to kill her?” She asked casually.
“No, not yet.” Trelon said moving towards the door to his sleeping area. “But, I will.”
Carmen just nodded.
“Carmen.” Trelon said quietly as he stared in at Cara’s tiny figure in his bed. He waited until Carmen turned before he said anything. “Thank you for being there for her and staying here with her while I was gone.”
Carmen just stared at Trelon for a moment before she said anything. “Just understand. If you so much as hurt one hair on her head, make her shed one more tear, I’ll gut you and leave you out for buzzard food.”
Trelon bit back a smile. She reminded him so much of his brother Creon he almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Nodding to Carmen, he turned and walked towards his mate.
Symba looked up at Trelon as he came into the room. She was lying on the bed next to Cara, tiny strands of gold were moving constantly from Cara’s small frame back to Symba’s large one.
It took a bit of persuasion before Symba would move over enough for Trelon to scoot in close to Cara. Picking up one of her hands, he held it while he brushed the other one over her hair and held it against her cheek. Her color looked much better than it did two days ago. She had had some residual effects from the poison. It seemed in humans the poison could sit dormant in the tissues for hours before being re-released into the blood stream. When Cara had started choking on blood again and her heart began to beat erratically, Symba had once again cocooned her with her golden body, cleansing and repairing the damage. Trelon had stayed with Cara for the past two and a half days, only leaving a few hours ago after he had been reassured by the healer and his symbiosis that she was finally out of danger. Even then, he would not leave her except with someone he knew would and could protect her and who she trusted. He had called on Carmen. When Carmen had found out what had happened he had been surprised she had not immediately accused him of neglecting his true mate’s health. She had taken one look at him and told him to go. She would not let anything happen to Cara. Trelon felt the exhaustion beating at him as he pulled Cara into his arms. Never again, he and his dragon thought together. Never again would he fail her. That was his last thought as exhaustion pulled him under.
Cara was warm. And, she didn’t hurt anymore. Those two thoughts played through her mind as she tried to remember exactly where she was. She slowly forced her eyes to open. Frowning, she looked around. She was in Trelon’s living quarters. She didn’t remember coming here. She pushed her fuzzy brain trying to remember how she had gotten here. God, she needed some coffee in the worse way. She moved trying to slide out of the arms wrapped around her but she was surprisingly weak.
Had she been ill? Oh, yeah.
She remembered now
. She had the dreaded Trelon virus
, she thought with a giggle.
Trelon felt the movement in his arms and tightened them when the soft, warm figure pressed against him tried to pull away. A part of him knew he should hold on tight and never let go. When the figure moved again, his eyes flew open and he stared mesmerized into Cara’s beautiful green ones. He lost himself in the beautiful green depths, thankful for the chance to see them. He had been terrified he would never get the chance to do so again.
Raising a trembling hand to cup her cheek, Trelon didn’t even try to hide the moisture in his eyes as he asked, “How do you feel,
mi elila
?"
Cara frowned. “What does that mean?”
Trelon laughed as he brushed a kiss to her forehead and drew her head down to his chest. “It means; my heart. You are my heart, Cara. I love you so much,
suma mi mador.
My true mate.”
Cara started as she heard Trelon’s declaration of love. “But…what about N’tasha?”
“There is no N’tasha, there is only you. You are my heart, my true mate, my love. Only you exist for me, now and forever.” Trelon said quietly as he leaned back to look into her eyes.
“Do you promise?” Cara whispered softly, hope flaring in her eyes.
“With my life.” Trelon responded solemnly.
Cara’s eyes filled with tears. With a sniff, she said, “I love you too.”
Trelon’s eyes closed as her words swept through him. He had been so frightened of losing her. Now, to know she would live and that she loved him as well was almost more than he could handle. His shoulders shook as he fought for control.
Trelon opened his eyes to stare at the face of his mate. He gently wiped at the tears on her face before he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Please do not tell Carmen I made you cry.” He said with a small chuckle. At Cara’s puzzled look he told her about Carmen’s threat to gut him. Cara giggled as she thought of Carmen threatening her big, fierce warrior.
“For crying out loud, I am feeling perfectly healthy!” Cara grumbled loudly at Trelon. “Don't you have something to build, somewhere to be, someone to maul and maim?”
“No.” Trelon said with a wide grin.
Cara was seriously thinking of doing some mauling and maiming herself, preferably on Trelon. It had been a week since the dinner and a lot had happened. After she had convinced him she was feeling much better, he had carried her everywhere. If she wanted a bath, he carried her to the cleansing room. She was still getting used to not calling it a bathroom. If she wanted something to eat, he carried her into the other room and set her on the couch with a tray. The first day she was okay with it because after almost three days of not eating and almost dying it took a lot of a person. By day two, she had regained almost all of her strength back and wanted to get out a little. Trelon's idea of getting out was carrying her to the balcony where he had set up a table and some chairs. It had been nice spending time with him. They had talked about each of their lives growing up. Although, after having to stop several times to calm him down she had doubts about telling him everything. When he heard what the faculty and staff did to her at the boarding school, it had taken almost an hour to convince him invading the Earth to destroy the boarding school wasn't necessary. She figured she better not tell him about what the other students had done. Then, he was ready to return again so he could disembowel Darryl. She almost agreed to that but was worried how that might affect future relations between Earth and Valdire if they were to ever try to make contact. It was funny how fast he changed the subject when she asked about his previous relationships. After that, they both agreed it was only their relationship that mattered. By day three, Cara was going bonkers being kept in one room. She had actually managed to sneak out but Symba and the guards caught her before she made it to the first corner of the corridor. Trelon had been in the cleansing unit and Cara had never been so embarrassed as when he came to get her naked as the day he was born. By the fourth day, she had threatened to jump from the balcony if he didn't take her outside for at least half a day. Cara was sure the only reason he had agreed was because she had already torn everything that could be torn apart into millions of little pieces and parts. When she had started hacking into his new defense system, she knew she had won. Cara grinned as she remembered the faint little tick under Trelon's left eye.
Yes
, she thought with glee.
They had spent the better part of the day in a large room Trelon used for all his projects. She was fascinated by the way Trelon's mind worked. He spoke with such enthusiasm about the different experiments he had started, showed her plans for future ideas, and asked her opinion about others. She knew she asked a million questions but he never seemed to tire of answering them, often probing her for more information as her questions seemed to give him additional ideas. He never said anything derogatory about how she would flit from one work bench to another. Cara had never had so much fun or been so content. Everything seemed to be perfect until Kelan came in and spoke quietly to Trelon. From the dark expressions and fury blazing out of their eyes it was not good. Cara picked up bits and pieces of the conversation. She heard Abby and Zoran's name mentioned followed by Curizan. She looked on in concern when Trelon looked at her with worry and regret.