Ravyn felt Damon tense.
“He began this method of worship on his planet of origin and was angered when he was banished to an uninhabited world, unable to honor his goddess properly. Then our people arrived to colonize this place.”
Ravyn’s hands started to tingle and she flexed them against the stone. At first she thought they were falling asleep, but as her fingers slid against the smooth surface, she realized the pulsing came from the monolith. A second image began to form. Her heart started to pound wildly and her breathing became fast shallow. Instinctively, she tried to back up, but only succeeded in plastering herself against Damon. She was shocked to feel his arousal pressing into her bottom, but then the figure solidified and she couldn’t concentrate on anything except the alien.
He was tall. Taller than Damon by at least a foot and quite easily the most muscular creature Ravyn had ever seen. His blue skin had yellow stripes and dashes, giving him a patterned look. In the center of his forehead was a large, lime green lump with blue wavy lines. The colors merged and blended so well it was difficult to tell which was the primary hue. Trousers and a vest were the only clothing covering his hairless body.
Meriwa had started speaking again, but Ravyn tuned her out, trusting Damon would pick up what she missed. She couldn’t stop staring at the alien. His shoulders were yellow with a red, labyrinthine pattern. She wondered if it was a tattoo. The image turned his head, startling her, and Ravyn locked gazes with him. His big eyes had no white in them, only blue. There was a swash of green around the iris, which was an even more brilliant blue and a twist of fluorescent yellow around the black pupil. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to sense a soul within him, but she could. It was twisted and dark, cold. Malevolent.
With a violent shudder, she closed her eyes and tried to put the sight of him out of her mind. She felt Damon’s breath tickling her neck and gratefully concentrated on that, on the feel of his body, the beat of his heart.
“You can open your eyes now,” he whispered and Ravyn flushed as she realized Damon had picked up on her cowardice. When she finally managed to look again, the image of the killer was gone.
“Now only four of us remain here,” Kale said, picking up the tale. Ravyn felt a tingle of sexual awareness at the richness of his tone. “Soon Meri and I and our guardians will face this killer. Our plan is to capture and hold him within a pillar of onyx. Since you are seeing this message, our attempt failed.”
As Ravyn watched, Kale and Meriwa linked their hands. A moment of silence laden with unhappiness spun through the chamber and they held on to each other tightly, as if marshaling strength from the other’s touch. Ravyn could feel their emotions and realized the message had elements of empathic communication as well as telepathic. They shared a glance so poignant, she couldn’t help smiling sadly. She imagined how she would feel if she stood with Damon, recording information for others in case they failed, but praying it would never be seen.
When Meriwa spoke again it was with an urgency, a quickness that had been missing earlier. “You, children of the future, must succeed where we have failed. Imprisonment could not be accomplished, so the only option is to kill this creature. We hope you are better prepared for this mission than we.” She paused for an instant. “This message would not be triggered if there were not two of you, and you must be joined in all ways before you face this alien. We have tuned the stone you touch to assist your connection. Inside the eye of the obelisk, you will find two amulets of the same stone. Wear them at all times.”
Ravyn flexed her fingers again. The eye was just inches from her right hand and she longed to reach in and pull out the amulets. Her hands, however, still would not obey the command to move and she knew they wouldn’t until the message played out.
“If you do not face this threat together,” she continued, her face intent, “you will be defeated. Only when you are joined can you overcome the alien’s mind-control abilities. He is stronger than any individual. You, woman yet to be born, must be the one to pull up vast amounts of energy from the planet. Your man cannot. And you, mate to this woman, must wield the energy as your weapon. Your woman cannot.”
“A word of caution,” Kale said, his “tone” grave. “You must ensure your guardians are at your side when you face him. You will need their protection more than you can imagine. But above all, whatever happens, do not allow the alien a means to leave this world. If let loose, he will wreak untold havoc before someone can quell him.”
Meriwa held out her free hand beseechingly. “Do not discount our guidance because we have failed. It is trustworthy and sure. We offer you our prayers and hope you are able to bring peace to this beautiful planet.
Shalohmah.
”
With that last, unknown word still lingering, Meriwa and Kale flickered out of existence. Ravyn didn’t move until she felt Damon step away. Slowly, as if coming out of a trance, she lowered her hands and moved off the dais.
“Well, that was interesting,” Damon said, casually reaching into the eye of the column. He sounded nonchalant, as if things like this happened to him all the time. Ravyn could only admire his poise. When he pulled his hand back out, he held two miniature replicas of the teal obelisk. Each was suspended from a black cord and perhaps five centimeters long.
Ravyn reached for one, cupping it in her palm while Damon continued to hold the cords. The base of the obelisk fastened into the vale, leaving the pointed end hanging down. Set horizontally across the top were four tiny stones. Aquamarine, rose quartz, tourmaline and citrine. The gems vibrated pleasantly against her skin. Carefully, she untangled the cord of the stone she held from Damon’s fingers and slipped it over her head. It fell to the top of her breasts and rested near her heart. She cupped her hand over it, in awe of the thrumming power she felt. “Aren’t you going to put yours on?” she asked.
Damon grimaced. “It’s a necklace.”
Ravyn tried to keep from grinning. “You wear dog tags.”
“That’s different.”
“Of course it is, honey,” she said, not making any effort to hide the fact she was humoring him.
He shook his head and then jerked the cord down around his neck. “Only for you,” he told her as he tucked it inside his shirt. “And don’t you be spreading this around either once we get back to Earth. I’ll deny everything.”
“It’s our secret,” she promised, concealing her laughter.
*** *** ***
Damon ignored Ravyn’s amusement and considered things. Then he grinned. The situation was beyond bizarre. “I think I missed the day of training when we covered how to handle telepathic messages about exiled alien serial killers that use mind control to subdue their victims.”
“Of all the days you picked to skip.” Ravyn shook her head, her expression somber.
“I know,” he said, adopting the same grave tone. “What was I thinking?”
“Obviously, you weren’t using your judgment or you’d have known that class would be indispensable.” She couldn’t quite hold on to her solemn mien and she finally gave up the attempt, throwing her head back and laughing.
Damon pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. His body still throbbed with arousal. It didn’t take a genius to figure out one of the ways he and Ravyn were supposed to be connected was physically. The reminder wiped the smile off his face and he considered the obelisk.
He knew precisely what Meriwa wanted of them when she’d spoken of tuning the stone to assist them. They were to join their hands in the eye of the pillar. Damon hugged Ravyn tighter to him. He’d checked out the hole when he’d reached in for the necklaces and there had been nothing in there to cause him to hesitate about this next step. But still he felt unsure. Ravyn must have felt his tension because one of her hands began rubbing his back in a soothing motion. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax. Even if they completed the process that would join them on all levels, he still wouldn’t let her face the killer.
He didn’t care if some dead ancients claimed there was no other way to defeat the alien. His number one priority was keeping Ravyn safe. It had been since he’d found her and nothing had happened to change that.
“You realize,” Ravyn said, her voice muffled against his chest “that whatever they tried to imprison the killer didn’t work. That Meriwa and Kale died in the attempt.”
“I know.”
“What if we aren’t any more successful than they were?”
Damon eased Ravyn back just enough so he could see her face. “You aren’t going with me. I’m leaving you with the rescue team and taking care of him myself.”
“The hell you are!” Ravyn grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled his head down to hers so she could glare at him eye to eye. “You heard what they said. We have to face him together.”
“You don’t want to confront this killer.”
“Of course not,” Ravyn said much more quietly. “You know I’m terrified at the thought.” Her lips twisted in self-disdain.
Oh, hell. He pressed his lips to each corner of her mouth. “That’s not what I meant, sweet pea.” He kissed her again, this time square on the lips. “It’s just that taking him down could get ugly. You don’t need to see that.”
“Uglier than falling over the body of a teammate in the dark? Uglier than being covered in the blood of my friends? You know I’m a coward.” Ravyn clapped a hand over his mouth before he could interrupt. “I’m a coward, but I’m more afraid of staying cocooned in the Old City and having something happen to you. We’ll meet him together or not at all.”
With one hand, Damon pried her fingers from his shirt and with the other, he uncovered his mouth. He kept hold of both her hands. “I bet you drove the colonel insane,” he commented.
“He claims I’m responsible for every gray hair on his head.”
“I’m not surprised. I feel myself aging right this minute.”
“Damon,” she said, turning her hands so she could lace her fingers through his, “I can’t stand the thought of you dying. When the rescue team arrives, we can just go.”
He shook his head. “I can’t walk away and leave the killer unpunished. What happens the next time someone lands on Jarved Nine? And he murdered my friends and your team.”
“You want revenge.”
“Justice,” he disagreed.
“Then I’ll be at your side.”
Damon read the determination in her eyes. Something inside him unfurled at the certainty that Ravyn cared for him. She might be scared about a showdown, but that wasn’t going to stop her. How had she ever come up with the idea she was a coward? “Stubborn,” he said, but it came out like an endearment.
“You like that about me.” She smiled faintly.
“I like everything about you,” he said and kissed her before she could respond. Her lips trembled against his, then parted as his tongue teased the seam. Another connection seemed to be forming between them. He could almost feel Ravyn reaching for him with her heart before some door seemed to slam shut.
Damon stepped away from her and shook his head. He felt hurt being closed out so abruptly. It reminded him that he’d always been an outsider. Freeing himself from her grip, he walked behind the column. Checking for the source of the image was something he should have done immediately although he didn’t expect to find anything. Now he used it as an excuse, a way to buy some time until he had the ache safely hidden. Crouching down, he ran his hands over the pillar. There were no protrusions or indentations, not so much as a small pit to signify where the projection could have come from. He straightened and studied the walls and ceiling, all with the same results. Nothing.
He sensed Ravyn come up behind him. Felt her nuzzle his back before her arms snaked around his waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Damon put his hands over hers, rubbing her fingers before he broke her hold and turned to face her. She looked honestly confused and concerned. She didn’t know what she’d done, he realized. Maybe he’d imagined what had happened during their kiss. It had just felt so real.
For a moment, he thought she would challenge his assertion that nothing was wrong. Instead, she said, “I wonder what we need to do with the obelisk before we can take down the killer.”
Damon studied Ravyn for a moment, then said, “We stand on opposite sides of it and join our left hands in the eye.”
He waited for her to ask how he knew, but she didn’t. It restored his good humor to have that much of her trust. Damon doubted he could have accepted the same statement, even from Ravyn, without asking a few questions.
“Shall we try it?” she asked.
Ravyn moved to the other side of the monolith from where they stood, taking the place he had seen her occupy in his vision without being told. That gave him pause, then he shrugged it off and took his position facing her.
What could happen?
He raised his hand and centered it palm up in the eye. He felt her tentatively rest her hand on his.
All hell broke loose.
Flashes of light burst from the walls, ceiling and floor like they were in a retro dance club. At first, he instinctively narrowed his eyes against the brilliance, but found it didn’t hurt. As soon as he registered that sensation, energy strong enough to make him feel woozy started flowing through his body. He tried to withdraw his hand, but, like earlier, he couldn’t move.
“Damon?”
“I’m here, sweet pea,” he said and tightened his hold on her. Her fingers trembled, but he didn’t know if fear or the incredible power caused it. He met her eyes over the top of the stone. “Don’t fight it. Just go with it.”
She nodded, keeping her eyes locked on his.
The roaring noise seemed to come from within his own body. It deafened him to everything but the pounding of his heart, the raggedness of his breathing. He wanted to close his eyes against the intensity of everything going on, but he refused to relinquish Ravyn’s gaze. Not when she needed him.
There should be wind, he thought inanely, to go with the storm crashing around and through them. He felt nothing but the energy and Ravyn. Her skin hot where it touched his, her fingers quivering against him. He inhaled deeply, trying to regulate his respiration. It helped, quieting something inside, and his eyes widened as he realized their breathing patterns were in sync. The beat of their hearts changed then, matching exactly. Their bodies were in rhythm. That he noticed this with everything else going on in the room amazed him. He couldn’t hear the sound that Ravyn made, but he felt it anyway. Her eyes slipped shut and he allowed himself to surrender to the need to do the same.