Tempest And The Warrior (Unearthly World Book Book 7) Read online

  With the crowded vessel, there was nowhere for her and Cy to be alone, and his need to have her made him irritable and restless. He itched to kiss her full red lips. His tongue wanted to taste her sweetness. Too many times, he was forced to clench and unclench his fists. Cy had never been put through such a grueling test of control. Making love gently was difficult, not having her was torture.

  Braylon was playing a game with Grey in a corner. Tempest came out of the shower stall smelling wonderfully fresh. Grey was able to program the water into a heavier spray instead of the steaming choking heat the Angano appeared to need. Tempest had referred to it as a sauna. Cy was used to a pounding deluge, damned delicate water—which also annoyed him. I need pounding water. Cy didn’t want Tempest or Braylon injured but sometimes a warrior needed to think under a hammering water not a waggle of wimpy streams.

  “Tempest, your scent is intoxicating,” Grey said.

  And here we go.

  Every chance Grey had he was busy with the compliments. Cy would have said the same thing, but he always beat him to it. Tempest took his breath away so fast at times his mind stuttered. Worse, Tempest ate up every word. She smiled at Grey. She chuckled with Grey.

  Stupid Tonan.

  “Why don’t you go out and scan for the Angano?” Cy said.

  “I suppose I can. Your lighting isn’t enough to power my shield for long but an hour of roaming won’t hurt.”

  Too bad.

  The dark thoughts crashed into his mind. For an instant, he hoped Grey got lost—forever. Grey jumped to his feet tossing him a casual grin. The Tonan knew what Cy was thinking, Cy could tell. When Grey opened the vessel door, shielded, he was blasted back into Cy so viciously Cy smashed his head, bounced and fell from the ship to crash his head yet again on hard diamond. He lay unconscious.

  “Run,” Grey bellowed as he was slammed around the vessel.

  “Cy,” Tempest screamed.

  “He can’t mind battle an unconscious Zargonnii. Now run.”

  Tempest grabbed Braylon’s hand. Her mind was invaded.

  Don’t worry female I won’t give you a chance to learn to mind battle. I will kill your mate, crush the Tonan and slaughter you and the brat.

  Still she fled. They raced through the dark jungle not knowing where to turn. She wondered if the planet’s inhabitants could help her. Tempest raced for the diamond cave mountain hoping the tricks they prepared would slow the creature down.

  The alien was spindly but towered over her with his huge wing span, she might not be a physical match for it. If the natives were numerous they might band together if Tempest asked them. She shivered as she ran in the darkness. The planet had grown colder. Her body still damp from her shower. Cy hadn’t had time to dry her. Cy.

  All of the foliage was turned into themselves. Curled, quiet. Nothing moved, not even the wind blew. Her teeth chattered but she warmed as she ran dragging Braylon with her. At the base of the mountain, she paused then raced inside. Naturally occurring blues and greens lit a short way. The first trap was near.

  “Mom, where’s your spaceship?”

  Tempest glanced around. The toy had vanished a while ago. She hadn’t seen it since they closed the ship for the two weeks. She was worried about the Angano but felt safe enough locked inside with two warriors.

  “I don’t know.”

  “If you’re thinking of Cy it might be with him.”

  Tempest tried to concentrate. She was thinking about Cy. He seemed dead as they raced passed him. She didn’t know what to do. Cy was helpless, but so were she and her son. The Angano was still with Cy and Grey.

  “Hello?” she called. “We need your help.”

  “Mom, are you calling the toy?”

  “No, Cy needs my help, too. There are other aliens here. They can’t be mind controlled. They might have fled though.”

  “Are they big like Cy?”

  “No they’re tall and gangly with no wings. They look like walking diamonds with black eyes.”

  “Maybe we can hide.”

  Tempest doubted it. She was her own beacon for the Angano. Cy was right to worry. If one Angano found them so would others, they would be hunted forever, if they lived at all. Worse, there could be many Angano on the planet already.

  Tempest held her breath at a noise near the opening. Grey stumbled into the mountain and they ran to him. His shield was down, blood was pouring from a gaping wound in his head and others on his legs and torso. Tempest was horrified. She’d never seen him bleed, never seen him vulnerable. He was supposed to be omnipotent, a two thousand year old warrior.

  “Won’t your shield heal you?” Tempest cried out.

  “I can’t let it. Putting it up takes too much as it is. It’s almost depleted.”

  “Where’s Cy?”

  “When I left he was out cold. The Angano can’t kill an unconscious being when there is no brain activity to invade. As long as he stays out he’ll be fine.”

  He will come too shortly. Not in time to save you.

  Tempest screamed when the Angano appeared. Grey’s shield went up. The Angano stayed out of Tempest’s mind. The being never touched her or Braylon it concentrated its efforts onto blasting Grey. Again and again the Tonan was struck into a wall with the wave of an alien hand. The creature seemed to know where the traps were set and Grey sprung every one of them inadvertently. The being couldn’t gain entry into Grey’s mind but it could physically assault him when his shield was weakened.

  The warrior tried to anticipate. When thrown against a wall, he hit feet first, spun into the air, and landed upright. The second he was down, he was thrown again with the wave of a hand. Grey bellowed his fury when his side struck into the diamond. The shield faltered then squealed back into place. Tempest knew if Grey was generated properly, he could have withstood the attack and killed the Angano.

  It was heart breaking to watch the assault. Grey was so powerful she thought nothing could hurt him. Tempest pulled Braylon close. Neither could help. The twelve-foot high alien wouldn’t have let them near as it flew and spun. Tempest could hear its laughter.

  Braylon picked up a small diamond and sent it missile style in the alien’s direction trying to help. The boy screamed obscenities his mother never heard come from his mouth. She realized then what Grey meant to him.

  A man child trying to protect the warrior. Sweet.

  Tempest swore some obscenities of her own finding more diamonds the alien brushed off like flies. All the while, they had to retreat, careful to keep the alien in their sight.

  Bloodied and broken, Grey crawled to them. The shield was down. Tempest knew he had nothing left to give. Outside she could see the sun begin to rise—too late. Grey stood on shaky feet and pulled Tempest and Braylon to his chest. Tempest wondered where the toy ship was. Had the Angano blocked it? She mustn’t let her son die.

  “Help us,” she screamed.

  The trio shuffled backward. Finally, there was nowhere left to go. A deep chasm was behind them. A small ball of brilliant light came from outside the mountain hole, crashing into Grey who stood taller. The sun began to light the string of diamonds growing closer to Grey. Before Grey could stumble onward to greet their savior, the alien rushed forward.

  Too late.

  Tempest heard the Angano howl with victory. The toy ship was racing toward them. The Angano gave a mind shove and all three were sent spiraling backward off the cliff into the darkness. Grey held them both to his chest. He was too exhausted from the dark season. Tempest knew that he had explained many times the need for light, but the blast of light gave him a single burst from his shield. Tempest felt the power behind the warrior as part of his shield came up. When they hit the cavern floor, they bounced. Braylon was knocked from her arms.

  The Zargonnii is next. I will return for you.

  Tempest crawled off Grey hearing the alien’s threat. Braylon was crouched, unhurt, inches away. They watched as Grey’s shield covering his back disappeared. Grey’s legs were b
roken, perhaps more bones. He would have been killed in the fall except for the burst of rays, but the damage was done.

  Grey was dying. There was sadness and surprise etched on his face. Tempest knelt beside him. The diamonds shined in the small space casting a miniscule amount of light. The pain etched in his frown lines made her sob. He grimaced as he lifted a hand. Grey gently touched her face.

  “I can’t regenerate down here. There’s no sun. I can’t get you out. I’d need to be a smaller man with less shield.”

  “I don’t want you to die,” Braylon said his tone was agony to Tempest’s ears.

  “Be brave man cub.”

  “I don’t want to be brave.”

  “Cy needs your help,” Grey said and shuddered.

  “Mom’s spaceship is watching him so he doesn’t get blown up.”

  “I’m sorry, Grey,” Tempest said. “I can’t control my power. I’m sure it was the ship that gave you a blast of energy. But the alien is going after Cy. If he wakes, his brains will be scrambled.”

  “It’s okay that you love him, Tempest. You gave me a taste of what I was missing. Thank you. I need you to forgive me,” Grey said.

  “For what? This isn’t your fault.”

  “Braylon will need your help. He’s going to get you out of here.”

  “Braylon can’t get me out, we can’t climb sheer diamond.”

  “He will.” He was intense as he spoke. “I do love you. If only there had been a place for us. Here is no place to raise a lone human boy. I was delusional thinking that. Your stories convinced me. Families need families.”

  He pulled her down to kiss her lips. When the kiss broke he motioned Braylon over.

  “I have something for you. I would have been proud to be your father and want to show you how proud.”

  Before Grey could be stopped he gripped Braylon roughly and brought his throat to his now glistening fangs. Braylon cried out as he was bit. Grey slumped back. His thumb trailed the bite.

  “Be my good little brave warrior, man cub. Thank you for being in my life.”

  Grey’s hand fell. He lay unmoving. Grey was dead. Tempest sat in shock. A wave of emotion assaulted her. Sadness so deep she realized there was a part of her that fell in love with Grey. He didn’t deserve this. He had been as stranded as she. There was no one to blame. She reached to touch his cheek. Tempest placed one last kiss to his brow and sat back. Her tears ran in rivers down her face.

  “Mom? Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “I feel weird.”

  A thought crossed her mind. Grey had bitten her son. Tempest wondered what Grey had done. Braylon, who had been cupping his throat, jumped up and howled when the gray of a shield began to slam over him. He tried shoving it off but it held tight as a second skin. Before long his entire body was encased.

  “A smaller man to cover with his shield,” Tempest whispered.

  She took Braylon by the hand, careful of his long talons. Hope surged through her heart. The sun was shining, if he could make it outside, the Angano could never hurt him. He would regenerate. Her son would live.

  “Can you climb out now? Make your way into the sunlight. You need to get away before the Angano comes back. I have no clue what that crazy toy ship of mine is doing, but I’m panicking so it must be. It can’t be in two places at once. I can’t be in two places at once. Go man cub. Live. For mommy, please.”

  Braylon looked at his talon hands and clawed feet. She released her grip. He lunged for the wall and scaled up half way before sliding down. Sparks flew from his clawed feet against the rock. He thumped down beside her. He was bigger when he landed as though he’d grown inches in seconds.

  Where had the muscles come from?

  “Why did you come back? Go man cub, go.”

  Tempest screamed when her eight year old son tossed her over his shoulder, the child she’d recently pulled to her hip, and he raced up the wall. Her eyes squeezed closed. With a leap, they were free of their dungeon. Braylon set her down and began mumbling to himself.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “This thing comes with instructions. I can almost hear Grey, but it’s more than him. It’s his father, too, and his father’s father and his father. So many voices. So many emotions.”

  For a moment, he put his hands to his ears, or where they would be if the shield wasn’t covering them. Braylon dropped to his knees. Tempest went to him.

  “Drop your shield, man cub.”

  “No not yet.”

  Braylon stretched his arms wide, his face tilted to the sun. Tempest had seen Grey do that to generate. Each morning he would stand in the sunrays gaining power. The black tattoo on his cheek glowed.

  When the shield began to absorb back into his body Braylon was pale, he slumped forward. Tempest was on her knees before him. She tilted his head with her finger on his chin.

  “Let’s go get your spaceship.”

  “Grey…”

  “When we beat the Angano, we will give Grey a proper burial. Right now Cy needs us. He needs you.”

  * * * *

  Cy could see the Angano approaching. The spaceship was between them. He wanted to howl his frustration. Why was that toy protecting him? Where was Tempest, Grey and Braylon?

  She loves you.

  The thought filled his mind and Cy knew it hadn’t come from the alien. There was no doubt Tempest loved him. Was she and Braylon safe? The toy almost never left the boy’s side. He could feel the Angano trying to enter his mind. The ship was stopping it.

  The ship is stopping it.

  There was no pain in his head, no urge to do anything unwanted. The toy was protecting his mind. That didn’t stop him from physical action. The revelation hit hard. Cy strode forward. His eyes blazed and he felt great satisfaction when the Angano screamed. The bones began to melt, its wings, paper thin dissolved curling up, fluttering to ash. Tempest and Braylon ran into the clearing to see the last of the alien disappear. Cy raced to them. As he neared, Braylon changed before his eyes. A gray shield went up. Cy knew something happened to Grey.

  The toy spaceship flew between warrior and child. Tempest was soon between them. The ship hovered, lowered, rose, spun. Cy could tell Tempest was a whirlwind of emotion. Finally, the toy disappeared. He longed to take her in his arms. Now wasn’t the time. It appeared they had a new problem with different powers.

  “Braylon?” Cy asked.

  “It’s not me it’s this shield. Grey didn’t like you Cy—at all—and I can feel the emotion and it’s making me pissed. And don’t say I can’t say pissed when I’m pissed. I’m covered in solid war paint. What is this crap anyway?”

  “Where is Grey?” Cy asked.

  “Dead. He gave Braylon the last of his shield to save our lives.”

  Cy heard the hurt and pain in Tempest’s words. He knew she cared for Grey; he didn’t blame her. He didn’t like the warrior but held a grudging respect. He would have taken the warrior when they left if he asked. He might even have returned him to his own planet. A Tonan wasn’t a gift Titus would want.

  “Can you drop the shield?” Cy asked.

  “I’m trying. I’m new at this ya know.”

  The boy was growling and grunting. His lips were pressed into a fine line with two perfect fangs sticking out. Cy thought he was adorable. When the shield dropped Braylon had his hands fisted and his eyes crossed. His knees were pressed together. He plopped onto his ass. He looked up at Cy. Worry creased the child’s brow.

  “Am I a Tonan? You don’t like Tonans.”

  Cy was mystified. He had no clue if the boy was a Tonan. Cy loved the boy, Tonan or not. Titus wasn’t going to like this one bit. Then Cy realized something. Braylon was still human, but with a Tonan shield. He wouldn’t have to worry about him on his planet anymore. Braylon could take care of himself now. He could walk the jungle without worry. He would hold his own against other Zargonnii males. Gift or curse, the boy had protection. From his grave, Grey loved him. The idea wa
s humbling.

  “Get up little warrior. I’m taking you both home with me. And Tonan or not, you’re my little man cub, too.”

  “But if the Angano came after me won’t there be more?” Tempest was wringing her hands.

  “The Angano are linked. They must know we killed one of their own. They’ll think twice before attacking. They have to figure out how we killed it.”

  “What if Titus won’t let us stay?” Tempest asked.

  “Then we’ll find a new home. That’s what family does.”

  Cy picked Braylon up and grunted. The boy was bigger and he weighed a ton. Cy set him on his feet. The boy no longer needed to be held and coddled. Neither would a Zargonnii male of his age.

  “We can’t leave Grey in a dark hole,” Braylon demanded.

  Tempest agreed. As much as Cy wanted to leave he would give the warrior a proper burial. It was a sad walk back to the mountain. The foliage was waking from its deep sleep. The planet was blooming with life. There were a few diamond rocks scattered and Tempest wondered if they were real or inhabitants. It didn’t matter. They entered the mountain and Cy dropped into the chasm. Cy scaled the wall returning empty handed.

  “Where is he?” Braylon’s tone was almost a shriek.

  “Gone, man cub. There is no body.”

  “How can there be no body?” Tempest was peering over the edge and Cy gripped her to his chest.

  “I don’t know much about Tonans,” Cy began. “Grey was thousands of years old. His shield has been given away. For all we know, he could have turned to dust. I swear he’s gone. He must be at peace.”

  Tempest turned to Braylon. “You said you hear him in your mind?”

  “Yes, it’s like he’s there and not there. Same with the others. It’s too crowded in there. My thoughts aren’t mine sometimes. No wonder Grey could be cranky. It’s like there’s a party in my head and I can’t be uninvited.”

  Cy was worried. He tried not to show it. “We need to get to my planet. We need to find a Castian; his name is Cobra. I’m sure he can help.”

  “But I thought Castians and Tonans were at war. Will he hurt my son?”

  “If I thought for a second he would, we would never return. Cobra is an honorable warrior. And fair. Trust me?”