I Dated Dark Resonance, page 9
“Sure. It helps us to guard them when the Sethir come trolling. We have gotten very good at hiding them.”
Xeva said, “Let’s get back to the shop so I can get my tattoo, and you can have some lunch.”
Ysma winced. “I might have to apologize to Yukaro. I was a little forthright with him.”
They returned to the shop, and Reth accepted a sandwich while Yukaro was scowling in the corner.
Xeva walked over to Yukaro. “You need to know what happened to Nelith in the stronghold.”
Ysma ate her sandwich while Jeron and Yukaro turned grey with the description of the circumstances. When Xeva finished talking, Yukaro exhaled slowly.
Ysma looked at him. “I have just been threatened with the alphas since the researchers figured out that I was an omega. They liked to torture us. I was told they would tear me apart until they got bored and throw my body into the ditch.”
He looked like he was going to cry, and she continued. “Jeron explained that the mark is for my safety. You could have explained that before you had Reth put it on.”
He dragged in a deep breath. “It hadn’t occurred to me that you wouldn’t know what it meant. Despite knowing, I forgot.”
Jeron said softly, “A woman from the islands would have taken the mark as her alpha claiming her.”
“I carried him for an hour and a half. We barely spoke. He isn’t my anything.”
Yukaro nodded. “Yet.”
“Yeah. If you are talking about a scent thing, you smelled like ocean, and I smelled like three days in the same bodysuit.”
Reth cleared his throat. “Can I get to work on Xeva?”
Xeva nodded. “Sure. Jeron, will you advise on placement?”
Jeron looked at Ysma. “Yeah. Sis. Talk it out.”
Ysma blinked and looked back at Yukaro. “Talk?”
He held out a hand to her. “Talk. Let’s go for a walk. There is a park nearby.”
“Fine, but I am taking a drink and the sandwich.”
He smiled slightly. “Good.”
She tucked the sandwich under her arm and took the drink bottle. She put her hand in his, and he walked out with her carrying his own sandwich.
They left the shop, walked around the corner, and down a small path that led to a quiet park. There were benches that looked out with a view of crashing waves.
He steered her toward a seat and took up a spot next to her. He unwrapped his sandwich and started to eat. “I am sorry I didn’t take the time to explain.”
“You are working against years of indoctrination and fear. I know it would be worse if I run into another alpha, but I would be just as afraid of them and likely far more aggressive.”
He nodded. “Right. Considering your activity, the stronghold would not let you not take a mate.”
She opened her sandwich. “Mate. That sounds so stupid.”
“My parents are mates. It is something a little beyond the contract of marriage. It binds the lives together.” He kept eating.
She frowned. “How?”
He began to tell her about alpha venom, the bite, and knotting.
She blinked. “So, you get stuck?”
“Yes. I haven’t done that myself, but yes, I would get stuck.”
“That sounds intensely uncomfortable.” She was frank as she folded her wrapper up.
“It is my job to make certain that you don’t mind it.”
Ysma frowned. “Give me your hand.”
He extended his arm. She grabbed his hand and just smelled roasted pork, so she worked up his arm, sniffing as she went. The crook of his elbow was intriguing. He did smell like the ocean, but he also smelled like sun-warmed flowers.
“Well, that’s nice.”
He raised his brows. “My elbow?”
“Your hand smelled like your sandwich.”
“You could get a better scent from my neck or armpit.”
“Yeah, or groin. Nope. Not after eating.” She snorted.
“Can I catch more of your scent?”
“Where do you want to get it from?”
“Your neck. You have an extra gland there that puts out scent when you are in heat. Passively, it is still enough scent to confirm if we are compatible.”
She made a face and then nodded. “Fine.”
He picked her up and settled her across his thighs. She remained still as he brought his head toward her neck, and she felt his cheek graze hers. He inhaled, and she got a much stronger dose of his scent. It was radiating out of him. He smelled particularly good.
She shivered and remained there, sitting up, and her eyes closed.
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “This little spot over here. It will swell when you are in heat.”
“Delightful. A bulging neck. Just what every girl dreams of.”
He chuckled. “Did you dream?”
“I dreamt of air and sunlight and freedom to move. Right now, I have air and sunlight.” She moved her head toward him as he continued brushing her neck with his lips.
He sighed. “Your scent is faint but very pretty.”
“Well, I have only been wearing my own body for less than a week.” She smiled. “Plus, I have created this field around me that reduces the possibility of getting things in or out.”
“Will you allow me to make a temporary claim?” He sat up and met her gaze with his silver one.
“A what?”
“Well, it will let me defend you if any Sethir end up on the island and spot you, and if I injure them, there are legal defenses.”
“I will injure them.”
“Omegas are not legally allowed to cause bodily harm. It doesn’t happen, so there has never been a set of laws regarding it.” He stroked the curve of her waist. “They would start grabbing first and deal with the loss of limbs immediately.”
“I could figure out how to use Jeron’s activation and simply get away.”
He chuckled. “You have collected quite a few.”
“Yeah. They are like templates I pull out when I need them, but I have to figure out how to use them.” She smiled. “Sometimes it takes a while.”
“Does it ever cause injury?”
“It does, but I get over it as long as Zella isn’t there.”
“What will happen when you see your sister?”
“Oh, she’s gonna pitch a fit and try to find a way to get them to drag me back to Aksalla.”
“Is that a true concern?”
“Yeah. I mean, she’s going to try, but she has been in control of my body for years. She is probably terrified to be out on her own.”
“May I place a fading mark on you?”
She looked up at him and saw an extensive future. Him holding her, laughing with him, learning to swim, playing with dolphins. First and all subsequent kids and a lot of intense sex. He didn’t do playful sex very well.
She stared and blinked.
He smiled slightly. “Well?”
She nodded. “Yes, I suppose.”
Yukaro smiled and bent, grazing her skin with his very sharp teeth. Curls of consciousness touched hers, and tendrils of heat sought out nerves and washed them with pleasure.
She blinked slowly. “Oh. That’s what the bite is for.”
He licked slowly at the light scratch. “It is. We are linked to our mates for life. So, you have absorbed a seer?”
She shivered as the slow licking made her body warm. “A couple of them.”
“What do you see when you look at me?” He raised his head.
“A lot more than a first look deserves.” She saw him sitting with a bunch of kids, and they were having a tea party. He had on a small tiara.
She shook her head and rubbed her forehead.
“It isn’t a first look. Xeva said you had seen me before I went to lunch with you.”
“Oh, after you got me back here?”
“Correct. The healer said that the damage you were experiencing was due to you using multiple activations at once.”
She nodded. “I am also out of practice. My synapses need to get used to the multiple pathways. It will come in time.”
“I would prefer that you do it with the guidance of another healer.”
“I would prefer that your erection wasn’t trying to burrow through my hip. Is it actually moving on its own?” She locked gazes with him.
He shrugged, and though his complexion showed nothing, his body language said he was embarrassed. “It literally has a mind of its own. It comes with my affinity to the sea.”
She nodded. “Of course it does.”
“So, is there anything about the islands that you want to learn?”
“To swim, to surf, fishing. And the most important one. How to relax.”
He nodded. “I can help you learn those things. Jeron was telling me that they have a beginner pool that he taught Xeva in.”
She blinked. “Okay. Xeva told me I should make a list.”
He grinned. “I can help with that.”
“I want things that I can do without other people. I have been stuck without being able to control my own body for too long.”
He nodded. “I understand. So, we need to get you to a calm state before your heat kicks in.”
“I am calm... ish.” She grinned.
“You are. You faced an island-killing wave with the determination of a defending goddess.”
“And you got all of the critters out of the way so only that poor reef took damage. I still feel bad about that.” She sighed and then perked up. “I got Revakka’s botany activation. I wonder if it works underwater. Oh, I wonder if I have any water-breathing activations.”
“You have mine.”
“Yours is inherited, so it isn’t an activation, per se. The Hyreno have become a race.”
He nodded. “So, you can’t copy a race.”
“Nope. I don’t copy, my synapses memorize. I have an archive of powers and activations and can make most of them happen. Some I can’t because I don’t have the physical makeup for it, but others are fairly easy.”
“So, becoming a giant?”
“Easy. I just stretched myself out and held my body together with a telekinetic field. That is my inheritance.”
She sighed. “Okay, we have had our chat; you have left your mark. I would like to be near Xeva. She might be used to injury, but getting the marks is different.”
He smiled. “Fine. I believe we have had a productive chat.”
He took her hand and helped her to her feet.
As she walked back to the shop, she looked down at their hands and was swamped by thousands and thousands of images of their future. She saw family gatherings, nieces, nephews, and lots of smiling faces. Familiar smiling faces. Sibling smiling faces. “Holy shit.”
“What is it?”
“I need to talk to Xeva right now.” She walked fast, and he barely needed to stretch his legs to keep up with her.
She skidded into the shop and saw Xeva a third of the way through her mark.
She moved to sit in Xeva’s line of sight. “Can you contact Nelith and ask how many descendants she has?”
“She thought she only had one. Why?”
“I see fifteen, including me and Zella. We need to find those files.”
Xeva smiled. “Fifteen siblings. Wow.”
“And a few already have kids and spouses. She’s a grandma.”
“Reth, can you pause for a moment?”
He pulled back.
Xeva made the call and asked, “Is there anyone Nelith should talk to?”
“The prefect. She knows where the research projects are. Kritz as well. There has to be something in the carry-over projects. Or anything marked disposal with a destination listed.”
Xeva grinned. “Can I give her your new number?”
“Oh. Right. Sure.” She smiled. “I am not used to having one.”
“No problem. She will enjoy talking with you.”
Xeva got a message. “Oh, you can do it directly. She’s outside with Dmitri.”
Ysma straightened and left the shop to see the golden-haired woman with her partner.
“Eezma?” The woman smiled.
“It isn’t spelled that way, but yes. Nelith?”
Nelith hugged her, and she muttered, “I know that you now have my activation. Don’t care.”
Ysma laughed and hugged her taller relative back. “It is nice to meet you finally.”
“So, you are an omega?” Nelith leaned back.
“Yeah.”
“Nice. Do you know if any of the others are?”
“Two others. They all get marks here.” Ysma smiled. “Your mark. They proudly wear the Blade of Uradda and Dmitri’s many faces.”
Nelith looked to Dmitri. “Do you think you can manage to be a father to that many adults?”
Dmitri smiled. “I might even be able to manage an allowance for them.”
Ysma chuckled. “I think they may need a little backup. They have disappeared for a reason.”
“But they are alive.”
“They are alive. And all are older than me and Zella. We are confident that after we were gestated, that was it.”
Nelith asked, “How do you know?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I blew up the lab the old-fashioned way. They stopped giving me chemistry class after that.”
Nelith was shocked and then started laughing. “You blew up the bio lab?”
“Yeah. They weren’t happy.”
“I guess not.”
Nelith asked, “How have you lived?”
“Possessed. Plus side, I didn’t need to eat. She had to do the work.”
“She?”
“I am sure Xeva told you. Zella. My sister. I guess, your offspring.”
“Yes, she mentioned it, but I didn’t understand how.”
“She stepped into me and took over, right down to my appearance. I looked like her and had to watch and heal whatever she chose to do. I developed a resistance to the sedative she was using on me, and I got the hell out of there.”
“Wow. I am glad you got away.”
“Out of the frying pan, into the fire. I am very glad I got to meet you though.”
“As am I. I have to ask, why did you wait until now? Xeva could have called me yesterday.”
Ysma turned darker and darker. She squeaked, “Never mind.”
Dmitri chuckled. “I think it has something to do with the Hyreno standing behind her.”
Nelith cocked her head. “Does it?”
“Yes. The others appeared when I told him he could leave a placeholder on me.”
Yukaro put his hands on her arms. “Is that why you ran off?”
“Yes. If I hadn’t agreed, this wouldn’t have been made clear. I know where they all are.”
Nelith frowned. “Why would that be?”
Yukaro answered, “If she hadn’t agreed, she would be running, and I would be chasing her. Now, she has me at her back, and when the team arrives, I will be with her.”
Dmitri smiled and took Nelith’s hand. “It is a good thing these ladies stand and fight, or we would never catch them.”
Nelith smiled. “I just want to pop in and talk to Xeva, and then we can go somewhere for tea or whatever is common around here. Is it always this hot?”
Ysma chuckled. “Inside and to the left. She is the one under the needle.”
Nelith touched her cheek and then went in.
Ysma was still in Yukaro’s grip.
Dmitri looked at her clothing. “Is there somewhere we can get something for Nelith? She is dressed a little warmly.”
Yukaro smiled. “We can sort you both out if you are staying for more than an hour.”
“Well, we are about to be the catalyst for the Aksallan team coming here. They like to keep tabs on Nelith.”
Ysma nodded. “Sensible.”
Nelith smiled. “You know, aside from the height, you have her features. Nose, mouth, chin, and the way your pinkie flexes when you are stressed.”
She bit her lip, and he laughed.
Dmitri cocked his head. “You don’t have a full mark to your alpha.”
“We just met yesterday.” She blushed.
“Ah. In that case, Yukaro, what are you waiting for?”
Yukaro snorted. “Quiet. She has been used without her permission or consent. Trust is key, and when she is ready, things will happen quickly. That will mean a return to my islands. This mark will get the point across to others, and I do like a fight.”
Ysma snorted. “So, I am bait?”
“Adorable and monster-class bait.” He squeezed her arms.
“That doesn’t sound as cute as your tone would indicate.”
Dmitri laughed. Yukaro slowly wrapped his arms around her.
Visions of the incoming visitors flickered through her mind. “Oh dear. I need some coffee.”
Chapter Eight
Dmitri got Nelith and Yukaro. Jeron and Ysma took a short trip to a few shops to get everyone into comfortable clothing. After that, Ysma got her coffee.
Jeron took some snacks to Xeva, and they sat at a small shop with a view of the open ocean.
Xeva said, “So, how does it feel to be free?”
“Well, I was enjoying it until I snagged on something.” She sipped her iced coffee and looked at Yukaro. “Now, I think it will be fun in a different way.”
Yukaro smiled and ate a cupcake. “Nice save.”
“Oh, all of us have plenty of operational intelligence; we are just a little weird with the emotional stuff.”
Dmitri smiled. “Yes, I would agree with that.”
Nelith elbowed him, and she was suddenly sitting next to a bear that wrapped her in his arms. She scratched his chin and was set back on a chair with Dmitri next to her.
“Too hot for the bear?”
“Yeah. Nice to curl up with on cool nights though.”
Dmitri laughed.
Nelith looked at Ysma. “So, you have a bunch of skills?”
“Yes. I acquire them through contact.”
“Including seer skills?”
“Yeah. It’s the only direct psychic skill I have.”
“Who is coming?”
“Uh, a bunch of dangerous team members. Torun and Zera are coming, too, which makes me think like I got in trouble with the principal.”
Nelith sipped her drink. “I am in trouble with the principal. They don’t want me leaving Aksalla.”
