Grounding Gracus (First Wave Book 6) (11 page)

Gracus stumbled and quickly righted himself as Rebecca turned around and looked at him questioningly. He’d been silent since she had spoken of finding a pattern in the symbols her grandfather had written in his journals and was wondering if he was thinking she was the one on drugs this time.

Rebecca laughed nervously and grinned at him. “I’m not crazy. I brought one of the journals with me and can show it to you when we camp for the night. There really is a pattern to the symbols,” Rebecca said, a little defensively.

Gracus nodded his head absently, trying to understand what Grai had said along with what Rebecca, had admitted to him already. He knew she was a hybrid. He and Clatz, could easily detect the unbound beast in her brain. But, how Grai, expected her to decode something that was written in the Valendran language hundreds of years ago was mystifying to him.
Unless she was gifted
, he thought.

Clatz interrupted his thoughts. “If you continue to keep silent, you’re going to piss her off. Trust me, it pisses me off and I like you. She doesn’t know you well enough yet, to put up with your shit. She thinks you are questioning what she believes is in the journals and her sanity,” Clatz said, helpfully.

Gracus cleared his throat. “I have no doubt you’re correct about the symbols. What I’m trying to figure out is why your grandfather wouldn’t just tell you about the place and explain to you what he knew about it. Why all the secrecy? Do you have any ideas?” he asked, hoping between what Grai, knew and what his mate knew, that he could figure out what the hell was really going on.

Rebecca laughed and the sound was so beautiful it sent skitters up Gracus’s spine as she spoke. “I’ve been wracking my brain with those questions all winter. I don’t have a clue as to why he would do that to me. It’s so out of character for him that I can barely wrap my mind around it at all.”

Rebecca stopped and turned to Gracus, needing him to understand. “My grandfather wasn’t the type of person to hide things and if the site was of significance, I can’t imagine he would keep it to himself and not allow for it to be properly studied and preserved,” Rebecca said, feeling frustrated all over again with the lack of answers to her questions.

Gracus wanted so much to confirm her thoughts, based on what Grai had told him, but he didn’t have any idea how to begin to explain things to her.

Clatz laughed heartily in his mind. “Yeah, tell her you’re an alien, that the cave is written in your language and that you’re talking to the Relian/Valendran hybrid leader of the Alien Earth Alliance in your head. Who confirmed for you, that she’s right! Ha!” Clatz broke into an annoying laughter while Gracus, tried to think of how the hell he was supposed to do this and continue to bond with Rebecca.

“How far are we from the cave?” Gracus asked, hoping it would be a few days at least.

Rebecca didn’t turn or stop walking when she answered happily, “If we can keep this pace going, we’ll be there tomorrow night.”

Gracus sighed. “At least we’ll have some answers soon,” he said absently and contacted Grai again.

“What the hell do you mean, Rebecca can decode it? She’s not beast bound! What is her gift? How do you know her? How the hell did you find the cave? And why did you keep it a secret from us if it leads to one of our own? Maybe one of us could decode the damn thing!” Gracus had a dozen other questions running through his mind but figured Grai could start by answering those.

Grai chuckled in his mind and Gracus felt like slapping the man until he finally spoke. “Her gift is
psychometry. At least that is what Luke and I believe her gift to be, based on the gift of her hybrid father, Kerik. Rebecca’s mother, Ellen, met him when she went to England as an exchange student.”

Grai continued. “I had barely met Rebecca’s father, when they were found by the Relians and killed in a car accident trying to escape. I only got there in time to save their daughter, Rebecca, from the wreckage. I knew she had a human family and brought her here, to her grandfather.”

Grai paused before speaking again. “It was then that Luke, took me on the river and we found the cave. He promised me that he would never speak of it to anyone if I didn’t allow Becca, to find out about her heritage until she figured out the clues to the cave on her own. He wanted her to grow up like a normal child,” Grai explained.

Gracus sighed, knowing that it sounded all too reasonable. He’d seen images of the other cave art found in the area and knew they couldn’t take a chance of it being found and decoded by the Relians. Or even an intelligent human.
One with a mind like Tristan’s could probably figure it out easily
, he thought with a smile. That child, and the others like him, were so much more advanced than anyone gave them credit for.

That made Gracus wonder. “How do you know she can decode it?” he asked suspiciously.

Grai didn’t hesitate to answer. “Becca was with us when we found it and even though she was only a year or so old, she was able to make the symbols shimmer and dance on the walls. They came alive for her and she began… speaking to them. It was why I had to explain our existence to him. He was a smart old guy and not much escaped his sharp mind.”

Gracus wasn’t satisfied yet. “Why didn’t you let a Valendran try to decode them?”

Grai chuckled. “Well, at the time they were found, I hadn’t been real welcome among you. But, I had our translators and code breakers on it and they couldn’t figure it out either. And to be honest, with everything else I had going on, I forgot about it until I found out you were with Becca and she was headed to the cave.”

There was still something that was nagging at Gracus, but he couldn’t put his finger on it right now. “Just get rid of those Relian bastards so we can keep her safe. We’ll figure out the rest at the cave,” Gracus said, needing to end the conversation with Grai so he could think.

Grai chuckled in his mind. “Of course, my friend. Our women come first,” Grai said before Gracus, felt the energy connection between them severed.

Gracus was startled from his thoughts by Rebecca’s sudden stop. He caught himself right before he plowed into her, and ended up tumbling into the tree trunk to the right of her instead with a loud ‘OOMF’.

“Good grief! Are you alright?” Rebecca asked as she reached for his arm to help right him.

Gracus caught his breath and chuckled. “I’m fine. A little warning next time would be nice though,” he said with a grin, glad that he was well trained and well built, otherwise that would have hurt a lot worse than it did. Even so, his shoulder smarted.
Not that he would admit that to Rebecca
, he thought.

Rebecca blushed, embarrassed that she’d caused Gracus to hit the tree with her sudden stop. She knew better than to do that while hiking. “I’m sorry… really. I was just thinking that we should probably stop for a break soon,” Rebecca said apologetically.

She’d been so wrapped in her own thoughts, she hadn’t thought that he might be walking that closely behind her. And she had no idea how to explain why she had expected him to be so in sync with her that he would anticipate her moves. She had no clue herself. It sounded stupid, even in her own head.

Rebecca and her grandfather had never been that in sync and they’d hiked together for almost two decades. There was no reason for her to expect she and Gracus to be that close, but her body hummed strangely around him and her mind felt a pull towards him that she’d never experienced before.

And her mind… her mind was the worst. Everyone had a voice in their head, but hers was becoming more insistent the longer she was with Gracus. As if her mind, had a mind of its own.
Oh yeah
, she thought,
now I’ve really lost it!

Gracus grinned and looked at the tree he’d just hit and the ground around them. “Looks like you picked a good spot,” he said with a devilish smile that knocked the breath from her already off balance mind and body.

Rebecca knew she was staring at him open mouthed, her mind and breath still trying to catch up to her.
He was so damn sexy it was insane
, she thought. All that cheesy crap she’d read in romance novels about feeling like you’d been hit by lightning, was real. There was no other explanation for her out of control attraction to him and the thoughts in her mind.

Oh my God!
She thought.
His damn crazy was contagious! What the hell was she thinking?
Seeing the concerned expression on his face, she forced herself to smile, not realizing that it looked more like a grimace, and dropped to the ground with a thud. She barely contained her groan as her tailbone smacked a rock. Twisting to the side, she pulled it out from under her and lightly chucked it past the tree.

Gracus pulled his packs off and looked at her strangely, sifting her energy for what was wrong with her. He felt her attraction throb in her energy and the rapidly increasing energy bond between them and tried to smother his smile.

“Are you all right?” Gracus asked, pretending a concern he didn’t really feel. He didn’t want her cured of her attraction and bond to him. He wanted to fan the flames until she was as addicted to him as he was to her.

Rebecca looked up at him and smiled at his tenderness. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little tired. We’ve been walking for hours and I don’t have those long legs that you have.”

She was lying, of course. Rebecca didn’t feel the least bit tired but she knew they should stop and hydrate. The air was deceptively dry out here and if you weren’t careful you could easily get dehydrated and die. That was the last thing they needed after his drug overdose.

Gracus could feel the lie in her energy along with her attraction and embarrassment. He didn’t want her embarrassed and he sat down and pulled out his pack, grabbing a canteen of water that he passed to her before taking one for himself. He took a sip and looked around, scanning the area for the Relian scum that was somewhere in the area.

Confirming they were safe, Gracus smiled at her. “You picked a good spot, it’s beautiful,” he said, looking at the area and the views around them.

They were on the crest of a small hill, hidden by a strand of trees. A small green valley was spread out before them with the ridge they were heading to, not far in the distance. Gracus breathed deeply of the air and closed his eyes to enjoy the moment.

If it wasn’t for the Relians following them. His people following him and the Relians. And some mysterious cave with coded symbols… this would be a beautiful moment with his mate,
he thought with a wry smile.

Rebecca looked around her and sighed. It never stopped amazing her at how beautiful this place was. “Yes, it is. They invented the word awesome, just to describe this place,” Rebecca said teasingly.

Gracus turned startled eyes to her. “Truly?” he asked, unsure if she was serious or not until she burst out laughing.

“No silly. But, they should have,” she said as she took another drink of water before closing up the canteen and handing it back to Gracus.

Gracus chuckled as he put their water back in his pack and stood. He slung the packs over his shoulder before reaching out a hand to help Rebecca off the ground. The touch of their hands was electric and he could feel the bonding energy flowing rapidly through them both.

Rebecca felt the shock in her hand and pulled away as soon as she was on her feet. She grinned up at him a little nervously before shaking it off. They didn’t have time for her craziness if they were going to make it to the base of the mountain tomorrow.

She wiped her hands on her butt to ease the tingling in her hand and smiled as she walked past him. “So why don’t you tell me about yourself. Got any brothers?”

Gracus felt his jealousy rise at her question and tamped it down. “No, I am an only child,” he admitted as he followed behind her along the partial path.

“So you were spoiled and showered with affection as well then?” Rebecca asked, grinning at the thought of her loving and attentive grandfather.

Gracus chuckled. “Yes… that sums it up very well. You grew up happy and loved?” he asked, curious to hear her past from her and not Grai.

Rebecca turned and gave him a beautiful smile and he could feel her happiness in her energy before she turned back around. “I was very happy and much loved. I wish I could have known my parents, but my grandfather and the people in town made sure I never went a day without love and attention. I had a wonderful childhood.”

Gracus couldn’t help but smile at her happiness, grateful that she’d never had to suffer the way some of the other hybrids had.
Grai had done well to send her to her grandfather and allow her to grow up in such a place
, he thought. Even though her lack of knowledge of her parentage was going to make this very difficult for him.

He couldn’t begin to think of how to explain to her about who she was, much less who the hell he was, who was following them and who was somewhere in the same woods, for reasons they couldn’t explain.
This was a mess
, he thought.

Clatz grunted in his mind. “You’re such a whiny bitch! Instead of thinking about what you can’t do, think about what you can do or shut the hell up. You’re getting on my energy nerves and if you don’t stop we’re going to see how human electro-shock therapy works on a Valendran.”

Gracus was irritated enough without Clatz’s attitude problem and he snapped back, “If you can’t say something helpful, then shut the fuck up!”