“And?” she asked, her arms loosening and falling to her sides.
“And humans will be glad that there are Arum on this planet when that day comes.”
Her fingers tapped on her thighs in a nervous gesture. “Holy shit…”
“Exactly,” I replied. An odd emotion wiggled inside me. I felt a heaviness in my chest, like a lead ball. I felt…bad for her. This was some heavy shit. “Back to my cooking lesson?”
Several moments passed
,
and then Serena appeared at my side. She was still several shades paler than normal. “So what are we doing now? The chicken looks almost done.”
“It is.” I grabbed a pot. “Can you boil water?”
“Ha ha.” Serena snatched the pot and padded back to the sink in her bare feet. She was like that a lot, I realized, barefoot.
Together we broke apart the noodles and then made a salad. By the time dinner was ready, the sun was setting, casting the sky in a wash of orange and red.
Serena glanced at the table. “Can we eat outside? I mean, it’s nice and—”
“We can.” Grabbing a wine bottle and two glasses, I motioned at her. “Lead the way.”
Smiling, she picked up our plates and went out on the deck through the sunroom. The earlier humidity was gone from the slight breeze. “I hate eating at tables,” she said, watching me put the glasses down.
I stared at her a moment. “Me
,
too. Too formal—”
“And stiff,” she added, handing my plate over.
We dug into the chicken and pasta in companionable silence
.
Then slowly Serena wiggled one answer out of me after another. It was a rather remarkable talent, I thought, bemused by it.
“What happened when you got here?” she asked, twirling the pasta around her fork.
“I hid out with others of my kind. Fought and fucked with the Luxen whenever I could. Killed them.”
Her fork stilled.
“It’s what I am, Serena. It’s all I’ve ever known.” I shrugged. “We thought we were out of the government’s scope. We knew the Luxen weren’t. I was eventually rounded up in a raid.”
She picked up her wine. “So you worked with them to police the Luxen here?”
I laughed. “Fuck no. I escaped.”
“I don’t get it. You’re here…”
Looking away, my gaze settled on the trees. “That’s not the reason why I’m here.”
Serena was quiet for so long that I knew she was thinking of a way to ask why. I glanced over at her and she held my gaze for a moment before returning to her plate.
“How long did you know your friend Mel?”
The question caught her off guard, but after a few moments, she told me their history, an unlikely friendship that had stayed strong over the years. “So she would’ve told you everything, right?”
She nodded. “Mel did.”
“And the one time on the balcony was the only time she ever saw the senator’s kid do something strange?”
Taking a small bite, she chewed slowly. “It was
.
I always thought he was weird. Who knew it was because he was an alien.”
My lips tipped up at the corners. “You’re handling all of this well.”
She paused, fork halfway to her pretty mouth. “There are minutes when I think I’ve got a handle on all of this
,
and then minutes where I think I’m actually insane and in a padded room, so I really don’t think I’m doing that great.”
Serena was handling it better than 98% of the population would. “What did Mel say they were arguing over—the brothers?”
“Something about Project Eagle and kids.”
“What was this project?”
With a little shake of her head, she patted her fork on a piece of chicken. “She didn’t say and I didn’t ask because I thought she lost her mind and…” She took a deep a breath. “I feel terrible about that. If I believed her, maybe I would’ve done something different and Mel—”
“She wouldn’t be alive, Serena. No matter what you did. By not believing her, you probably saved your life.”
Her eyes flicked up and met mine for a second. There was an endless amount of guilt in her eyes. That and sorrow for her friend. “Things are so freaking fuzzy. I feel like I wasn’t paying attention. That I’m forgetting things.”
“You might be.” And I needed her to remember, because then I could lure the officers back here and get her on her way. That’s what I wanted.
At least that’s what I
needed
to do.
So I went with the one thing I knew that would make her focus. “If you can remember something, remember more, then it’s going to help your friend.”
Serena’s gaze sharpened. “How?”
I was such a bastard. “If the Luxen were up to something and she was silenced because of what she overheard
,
and not so much what she saw, the senator and his sons might not be held accountable for her death, but they will be dealt with. And that’s better than nothing.”
“It is,” she said quietly. Her attention turned to the woods, head shaking a little. Time passed, and I didn’t pester her. “I know there was—Pennsylvania!”
“Pennsylvania?”
Twisting toward me, she nodded eagerly. “Yes. She mentioned something about the kids being kept in Pennsylvania.”
I frowned. “Kids being kept in Pennsylvania? Luxen kids or…?”
“She didn’t elaborate, but she said Phillip and Elijah were arguing about that.”
Interesting. Or not. There had to be more, especially if the Luxen bypassed the DOD and took out Mel. What could the galactic glowworms be up to? Were they stashing Luxen kids away from the watchful eye of the DOD? Could be possible. There were hidden Arum and Luxen communities. Few, but they existed.
Serena blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m trying. I really—”
“I know.” I felt as frustrated as she looked.
She bit down on her lip and turned her gaze to her plate. “This was nice,” she said eventually. “The dinner.”
“It was.” Surprise shuttled through me and I heard myself saying, “I don’t do this.”
“At all?” Curiosity marked her brown eyes, darkening them.
It reminded me of when she’d been aroused. Her eyes had turned the color of rich, untainted soil. Then again, for me everything pretty much circled back around to being aroused.
“No,” I said, dropping one leg off the chair. “I can’t remember the last time I ate with someone.”
“Surely it can’t be
that
long.”
“It has been very long ago.” I watched her set her plate aside and pick up the wineglass. “Full?”
“Stuffed,” she said, eyeing me above the rim of her glass. “Seriously, you do…socialize, right? Your kind does do that?”
I shrugged, my gaze settling on the darkening sky. Within moments, the sun set and twilight vanished into night. “We really don’t have a need to socialize.”
She lowered her glass. “But everyone—”
“Everyone who is human, Serena. I am not.”
A heartbeat passed. “What about the other Arum? The ones I ran into at the gazebo? They were together.”
“When we are together, we are not socializing. We are mostly aligning ourselves with who we think is more powerful. It’s about survival. Not friendship.”
“Wow. That sounds really lonely.”
“We don’t get lonely.” My gaze followed Serena’s slender finger along the rim of her glass.
She glanced over at me. “Why…why do you keep staring at me?”
I barked out a short laugh. “Am I not allowed to?”
“I guess you are, but you’re
always
watching me.”
“I like watching you. It’s your hair.” Did I just say that?
“My hair?”
I had. “It’s the color. Whatever.”
A small smile appeared on her lips. “So, what do you do when you’re not working?”
I thought about that before answering, actually considered it. “I like to work with my hands.”
Serena’s gaze slid to mine. “Why do I have a feeling there’s an innuendo behind that?”
Thinking of where my hands hand been last night, I cracked a grin. Her cheeks heated and the red shaded the aura around her. I bet if I slipped my hand between her thighs right now she’d be wet and ready.
It took a lot to not find out. “I like to build things.”
Her mouth opened
,
and then her eyes widened. “Wait. Do you like to carve?”
My brow arched.
“Did you make the gazebo by the main part of the lodge?”
When I didn’t say anything, a wide smile broke out across her face.
“You did! Oh my God, Hunter, that is amazing.”
I shifted in the seat. “Not really.”
“It is! I wish I could do something like that
.
The design is so amazingly intricate. Do you do that a lot?”
Serena continued to pepper me with questions about the woodwork I did, and while I wished I hadn’t said a damn thing, I answered the questions without thinking, like she had my balls in a pair of vise grips. Yes, I had built the gazebo from scratch. It had taken an entire summer. No, I didn’t find it hard. Yes, I built other things. That had made me think of the horses with Serena’s breasts and I’d laughed, which had brought another smile to Serena’s face.
Damn, Serena was a really, really good
-
looking woman, but when she smiled? Hell, she was hands down beautiful.
In the lull of conversation, Serena sat up and pointed at the sky. “Oh look! Is that a falling star? Jesus. I’ve never seen one that close.”
My eyes searched out the trailing flash of white light zooming down to Earth at an ungodly speed. Instinct fired, causing my skin to tingle.
I shot to my feet. “That is not a falling star.”
“What is it?” Fear lanced her voice. “Is it one of them?”
“Serena?”
“Yes?” She was on her feet now, coming to my side. “It’s one of them, isn’t it?”
I turned to her. “Go inside.” When she hesitated, I leaned down
,
my lips close to hers as I spoke. “Go inside, Serena.”
When I pulled away, Serena didn’t move. Shit. I had a feeling she was going to stand right out here and argue with me until she got herself killed.
Keeping my voice low, I ushered her back toward the door. “It is one of them and you need to be inside.”
“But—”
“No buts.” I shoved her inside. “Keep the doors locked and the lights off. Don’t answer the door for anyone.”
With that I closed the door, shutting her inside. Separated by glass, I met Serena’s stare, willing her to listen to me. Then finally she reached out and the click of the lock being turned broke the silence.
I turned and smiled.
It was time to hunt.
Chapter 12
It took very little time for me to find the “falling star.” Moving among the shadows, faster than the wind could carry, I ended up on the other side of the lake, deep in the thick woods of Monongahela National Forest and behind the enemy.
Slowing down, I moved soundlessly as the man walked out from between two tall elms. He was dressed in black, as if he sought to hide himself. Rather ironic considering the bright white light outlining the human form gave him away.
“Hey there,” I said. “Fancy meeting you all the way out here.”
The man spun around. Shock splashed across his face. “
Arum
…”
“
Luxen,
” I mimicked.
“What are you doing here?” the Luxen demanded, hands flexing at his sides. “How could I not sense you?”
“Ah, that
is
strange, isn’t it?” I smiled.
He took a step forward. The Luxen was bold. I appreciated that. “I should be able to sense you,” he said
.
The pupils of his eyes started to burn bright. “How is that possible?”
I cocked my head to the side. “Even if I had the desire and the time to go into that, I wouldn’t.”
Now the Luxen’s pupils were as bright as diamonds. He glanced over his shoulder toward the cabins
,
and then his gaze settled on me. “Why are you here, so close to the colony? You wouldn’t dare to venture where you’re sorely outnumbered.”
I’d dare to go wherever I damn pleased, but that was beside the point. “I have a question for
you
, Rainbow Brite.” I drifted a scant inch closer. “Why are you here?”
“You think to question me?” The Luxen’s form began to shimmer in anger. “You’re nothing but a lower life
-
form—a bottom feeder compared to us.”
Ah, Luxen were such pompous asses.
And I was bored with this. As long as I’d lived here, Luxen never crossed the mountain. They were forbidden by the DOD
,
for obvious reasons. If one was here, he was here for Serena, which begged the question as to how they had discovered Serena’s whereabouts, but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that the Luxen would willingly talk.
“I will destroy you and then I’ll—”
“Blah, blah bullshit,” I cut in, smirking. “I’ve heard it all before and the end is always the same. You talk. We fight. I feed. You die. The end.”
The Luxen dropped its human skin and took its true form. Blinding light illuminating the dark forest, a shape of a man spun forward, light pulsing with energy.
I smiled.
Throwing out my arms, I slipped the human skin. Air crackled as the Luxen raced toward me. I whirled to the side, drawing the shadows toward me, multiplying my shape and strength as my essence latched on to the night around us
.
A pulse of light cut through the shadows, shooting straight for me
.
Dipping down, I slammed a fist into the ground. Soil flew into the sky as a shock wave rippled outward, picking up the Luxen and tossing him into the air. I darted up, catching the Luxen as thick, dark smoke blew off me, turning night into the darkest hour.
I spun, tossing the Luxen like a disk
.
It smacked into a tree and hit the ground but quickly shot to its feet. Charging forward, white light tinged in blue trailed behind it, like a tail on a comet. Lobbing another nuclear power worth of energy toward me, it let out an inhuman battle roar.
Leaning to the side, the bolt fizzled out as it zoomed past me. I laughed
,
and in my true form, my voice carried like a whisper, straight into the mind of the Luxen
. Isss that all you’ve got?
The Luxen reared back, preparing to deliver another nasty blast as I reached out, pulling everything that wasn’t rooted down toward me. I really was like my own black hole, the exact opposite of the Luxen. Where they could repel, I could attract.
We were the fucked
-
up yin and yang of the universe.
Unable to fight the pull, the Luxen skidded forward, kicking up loose stones and dirt. I let go of the shadows as I reached for the Luxen, letting what cloaked the patch of forest fall to the ground, revealing what I truly looked like.
The Luxen’s form shifted back to human, its eyes wide with terror. Flipping back and forth from human to Luxen, it tried to break free of the pull, arms flailing at his sides.
I spun low, knocking the legs out from underneath my opponent. A second later, I was atop the Luxen, knees pressed into its chest. Fear radiated from the Luxen, filling the air with its sickly sweet stench.
“Don’t—”
Jabbing down into the center of the Luxen’s chest, my hand slipped past the skin and muscle, embedding deep into the center of the Luxen, to its core.
The Luxen threw its head back, screaming.
It’sss not a fatal wound, ssso knock it off.
I leaned over, my head inches from the Luxen’s.
You know what happensss at thisss point. I can feed. I can drain you completely
.
He was breathing irregularly under me, flickering in and out. While it wasn’t a fatal wound, it probably hurt like hell. “F-Fuck you,” stuttered the Luxen.
Wrong response.
I inhaled. Not like I had with Serena. The way the Arum fed from a human was different. From the mouth it usually occurred, which led to centuries worth of tales of succubus and incubus. Feeding from a Luxen was different. An Arum had to be connected first, latched on like one big mosquito.
I drew only a little bit, a warning, and pure energy seeped into me
.
It was like taking a hit of the purest drug out there. Shit. Now I sounded like I belonged in a Luxen Anonymous Group or something.
Underneath me, the Luxen thrashed and wailed.
Now, I’m going to dare to asssk again
. I placed my other hand on the Luxen’s forehead, forcing it still.
Why are you here?
Arms free, the Luxen railed, but the blows did nothing other than annoy me. I drew a little more, feeling the red-hot burn of energy sliding through my veins.
Want to try that again?
I asked.
I can keep thisss up if you want
.
“A woman,” the Luxen gasped out, and then he flickered into his true form. His light flared and pulsed erratically. I shook him until he resumed his human form. “There is a woman I’ve been sent to find.”
And kill?
“Yes.” A shudder racked the Luxen’s body.
Anger rippled through me, twisting around the pulsing energy.
Who told you that the woman wasss here?
It took a couple of more drains to get the Luxen to answer. By then, he was only able to hold his human form for a few minutes at a time.
“An agent said she’d been placed in West Virginia. I thought she’d been placed with the colony, but when I didn’t find her, I just stumbled onto this place.”
Who wasss the agent?
When the Luxen didn’t answer, I tapped him again.
Tell me and I will let you go
.
The Luxen’s body spasmed. “I don’t know who. I was sent here by Senator Vanderson. The agent…talked to him.”
Air constricted as I lifted him off the ground, pulling the Luxen toward me as I stood.
Who elssse knowsss thisss?
“No one.” His eyes were wide, his body still flickering in and out. “The senator came to me directly. Why—why do you care? Why are
you
here? Unless…unless you’re working with the DOD to protect her?”
I said nothing. Fucking Luxen. Did they really think the DOD hadn’t partnered up with their enemies just in case things went south between the humans and Luxen?
Horror crept into the Luxen’s face then. Realization followed
,
and he began to shake. “You’re…not going to let me go?”
I shook my head.
The Luxen’s struggles renewed—thrashing and flailing in my arms—but he was weakened and I was one of most powerful of my kind. Subduing the Luxen took very little
,
and as the Luxen’s screams rattled the branches, I fed.
…
I paced the length of the living room. An hour had passed and there was still no Hunter. Concern made me incredibly antsy
,
and stuck in the cabin, I never felt more powerless.
Correction: I felt pretty damn powerless when the Luxen had held me in the air with one arm.
A shiver danced across my shoulders and I resumed my pacing, finding myself standing in the entrance to the foyer.
Forcing myself away from the door, I let out a shaky breath as I returned to the living room and approached the panel of glass. With the lights off inside, I could see straight into the surrounding woods, but the night had turned everything beyond the cabin walls into dark, sinister shapes.
Somewhere in the living room the clock ticked away.
Heart pumping, I turned from the glass and padded back into the living room. The minimalistic black and white clock on the wall said it was fifteen past eleven.
If he wasn’t back by thirty after, I had to do something. There was no way I could wait here and not try to help…if he needed help. And if he’d fallen to the Luxen, then they’d be coming for me.
I backed up, hitting the couch. My heart was racing so fast it didn’t feel like I was getting enough oxygen in my lungs. I had to calm down because freaking out wouldn’t be any help. I frantically searched my thoughts for something else to fixate on before the panic completely took hold. I ended up thinking about last night—the dream I had. Or had it been a dream? I really wasn’t sure. Because when I’d woken up, half undressed and aching to my core, I swore I had felt Hunter in that bedroom. That he had been touching me
.
Or maybe that’s just what I had wanted.
It had been so long since I’d been with a man that there was a good chance my hymen grew back and I was just that desperate to want a guy to touch me, even if I was asleep.
The click of the lock turning from the front door spun me around. Hope swelled like an overinflated balloon, but I looked for a weapon just in case. My luck hadn’t been the greatest lately
.
Spying a vase—a very expensive
-
looking black and white vase—I picked it up, ready to swing it like a baseball bat.
Hunter swaggered into the living room, coming to a halt just inside the entrance. One eyebrow arched. “Serena…”
Ignoring the humor in his tone, I scanned his face and body for signs of an obvious scuffle. Blood didn’t stain his shirt or jeans. His hair was a little wind tossed, but no bruises marred his flawless broad cheekbones. His lips were full and slightly curved at the corners in amusement.
But he looked different. His cheeks were slightly flushed, infused with a glow that hadn’t been there before. He looked like he’d won a boxing match and was ready to go again. And his eyes…they were still a pale blue, but the color was deeper, less milky and more substantial.
Instinctively I knew. Like putting together a puzzle with pieces of knowledge I had gained from Hunter. He had fed.
He had killed.
“Are you going to throw that at me?” he asked.
My pulse pounded as I stared at him. “I didn’t know if it was you.”
“It’s me.” He cocked his head to the side, his gaze drifting over me
.
I shivered. It was feral. Possessive. “You’re frightened.”
I forced myself to put the vase down
,
and my hands were shaking as I smoothed them over my hips. I tried not to be so affected by the fact he’d just killed something, but if he hadn’t, I’d probably be dead
,
and it wasn’t the first time, but it was still unnerving.
Hunter took a step forward and
,
intuitively, I stepped back. “And I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact there was a Luxen outside.”
The urge to lie was too much. “Well, that was pretty nerve
-
racking. I didn’t know what had happened or if you were okay. You were gone for over an hour and—”
“You’re frightened of
me
,” he interrupted.
Words died on the tip of my tongue. Truthfully, I was a bit frightened of him. Who wouldn’t be? But it was more being scared of what he could
do
and not of what he was.
The corner of his lips tipped up. “It’s understandable. It’s very human of you.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I said.
“It’s a weakness.”
Irritation rose. “Being human isn’t a weakness.”
He raised a brow. “It’s not?”
“No.”
His gaze was trained on me as he stalked forward. “Come.”
A quiver started in my stomach as much as I wanted to not feel it
.
There was something different in the way he walked, the way he looked at me. “Come where?”
Hunter went into the study, holding the door open. I took a deep breath and then walked forward, spine straight. He crowded me as soon as I entered his study, picking up a strand of my hair and then letting it fall back onto my shoulder.
I was all too aware of the way my body tensed as he stepped even closer, his chest nearly flush with mine. God, he smelled wonderful—soap and spice. I didn’t like that he was this close
,
and at the same time I sort of craved it in the way you wanted to do things you should never do.