Ha'ven's Song (6 page)

Emma looked at Sara with huge, wary eyes
before she turned away when the large male who was sitting on the
other side of Sara leaned forward to look at her as well. The male
had shown up as they exited their living quarters. Sara had gripped
Emma’s hand so hard when she saw him that there was no way Emma
could have escaped back into their rooms.

“Does she have need of a healer?” Jaguin
asked, looking at the delicate figure that appeared to shrink into
her seat at his question.

Sara shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.
Can’t you go sit somewhere else?” She asked testily.

Jaguin smiled at Sara. “No,” he replied.

Emma listened as Sara snorted and said
something rude to the male. Her eyes rose just far enough so she
could look to see if the male by the door was still staring at her.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see him. Her heart
was just slowing down when the chair beside her pulled away from
the table and someone sat down. She was too busy processing the
strange feelings rushing through her to acknowledge the person. In
the back of her mind, she hoped it was Cara. She had watched as the
perpetually cheerful woman with red and purple hair had been
carried into the room by another enormous male. The tiny woman had
been laughing. Emma loved to listen to Cara’s infectious laugh.

“What is your name, female?” A dark voice
whispered in her right ear. “I am called Ha’ven.”

Emma froze as the voice washed through her,
crashing against the wall of ice inside her. She wanted to gasp out
in anger at the feelings that were threatening to awake in a
torrential wave. She wanted to push away from the surge that
threatened to tear down the barricades that she had erected to
protect herself.

“You are too thin,” Ha’ven continued
harshly. “You need to eat.”

Emma turned her head when long, slender
fingers held a piece of meat in front of her mouth encouraging her
to take a bite. Her lips tightened and annoyance burned through
her. She would bite something if he didn’t leave her alone.

I’ll bite one of those fingers off!
She thought savagely, shocking herself.

“You will eat,
misha petite
,” the
honey voice continued.

“Leave her alone,” Sara hissed protectively
under her breath.

Ha’ven’s eyes glittered back in challenge at
the dark anger reflected in the pale female sitting on the other
side of the woman who had knocked the breath out of him. No one
would keep him from his mate. The pull of her power against his
would not allow him to turn away even though he wanted to. The
force with which his power blended with hers was like two super
strong Neodymium magnets attracted to each other.

“She is too thin,” Ha’ven replied with a
shrug as he picked up a piece of the delicious fruit from his plate
and held it up to Emma’s lips. “If she does not wish me to feed
her, she can tell me herself,” he added mockingly.

“Ha’ven,” Jaguin said quietly looking at
Emma’s still face as she stared straight ahead. “This one is not
for you, my friend. She is not well.”

Ha’ven’s eyes narrowed as he took in the
translucent complexion of Emma’s face. He pulled at the energy
pulsing feverishly inside him and directed it toward the female
sitting beside him. He could see the colors of his essence swirling
furiously around her as if seeking a way in. Astonishingly, she was
pushing it away. He had never known another species with an ability
similar to the Curizan. One who could harness power and manipulate
it the way they did. Nor did he know of any other that could push
his power away except perhaps a member of the royal family.

A silent curse escaped him as he looked
first at the woman sitting on the other side of his mate before
shifting to look at the other human females in the room. He could
see no other evidence of power such as those of the Curizan pulsing
from them. The only other one had been the human male. His eyes
glanced briefly at Paul who was watching him through narrow,
thoughtful eyes.

His gaze locked with Adalard. His brother
had turned and looked at him in warning. Adalard shook his head and
touched the corner of his eye. Ha’ven realized his eyes must be
glowing with the barely contained power pulsing through him.
Breathing deeply, he forced it back down and muttered a small
meditation chant to strengthen the shields he had erected to
contain it.

“What is wrong with her?” Ha’ven asked,
moving his hand to touch one of Emma’s hands which were clenched in
her lap.

“She was…” Jaguin started to say before he
looked at the woman at his side.

“We were kidnapped, tortured and almost
killed,” Sara said through clenched teeth. “We just want to be left
alone. Is that too much to ask? Emma was held longer and…” Sara’s
voice faded before she muttered a low curse under her breath. “She
hasn’t spoken since she woke on the spaceship. I can barely get her
to eat. Please…” She looked at Ha’ven with a combination of a plea
and a demand. “Just… leave her alone.”

Ha’ven looked at the pale hand clenched
tightly in his own. A smile curved his lips. He could see what no
other could, the colors of her power twisting with his own. The
bands were beautiful as they danced with each other before twisting
into an unbreakable bond. He felt the uncontrollable power in his
own body being absorbed into hers. He wasn’t sure but he may have
discovered the miracle he was seeking. For the first time since
before his capture, he felt… balanced.

Leaning closer to Emma, he let her sweet
scent fill his nostrils as he breathed deeply. “You are mine,
misha petite
. There will be no leaving you alone. The power
within your body has already recognized mine. I do not know what
magic your species wields but you are mine and I will not let you
go,” he bit out huskily.

Fury washed through Emma. She pulled her
hand out of the male named Ha’ven’s grip with a sharp jerk and rose
out of her seat with the grace earned from years of dancing. She
schooled her features to remain blank as she turned to leave. Sara
started to rise but Emma wanted to be alone. Resting her hand
briefly on the other woman’s shoulder, she shook her head before
hurriedly walking out of the room.

Ha’ven’s eyes followed the slender female as
she rushed from the room. He turned and looked at Adalard who was
watching him with raised eyebrows and a confused look on his face.
He didn’t have time to explain to his brother what was going on.
Hell, he wasn’t sure what was happening. He just knew he needed to
find the woman before she disappeared.

Shrugging his shoulders, he rose from the
table and turned to follow the woman. Whether either of them liked
the fact, she was his mate and some instinct deep inside him knew
he needed her. He paused when he found Creon standing between him
and the doorway.

“You haven’t eaten,” Creon pointed out,
shifting slightly to the left when Ha’ven moved to step around him.
“If you wish some company, my friend, I’m sure I can find more than
one female in the palace that would be happy to be with you
tonight.”

Ha’ven glowered at his soon to be ‘former’
friend if he didn’t move out of his way. He had no desire to visit
with any other female. The only one he was interested in was
getting further away as he stood wasting time.

“I want only one female,” Ha’ven said in a
deadly calm voice. “And you are keeping me from her.”

Creon shook his head. “The human females are
off limits, Ha’ven. Especially the one that just left. They are
under our protection.”

“She no longer needs your protection,”
Ha’ven said gravely “I will assume it.”

Creon frowned as he looked at the huge male
staring intently back at him. Was this the same one that only
earlier said he had no desire to settle down? Now he wanted to
assume responsibility for a human female that was obviously not
well. Creon shook his head again.

“Not with this one,” Creon said quietly.
“She is not well. I am not even sure she will survive, my friend.
You saw her. She grows weaker each day. Abby and Cara have been
going to see her daily and she still does not respond to them.”

“She responded to me,” Ha’ven growled,
waving his hand to the door behind Creon. “You saw for
yourself.”

Creon raised his eyebrow at the dark tone in
his friend’s voice. “She runs from you just as she runs from the
rest of us.”

“She is my mate,” Ha’ven bit out darkly.

“She’s…” Creon’s voice broke in shock as he
stared in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

Ha’ven drew in a deep breath before
responding. “Yes.”

He didn’t elaborate. How could he when Creon
didn’t know of the power he held inside his body? His friend
thought all their power came from the gadgets they enjoyed. He did
not know that the gadgets they created were merely tools for
focusing the power held within their own bodies. He could no more
explain how his power intertwined with the human female than Creon
could explain how he, his symbiot and his dragon all knew when they
found their mate. It was a force of nature they did not question,
just accepted when it came as being a part of who they were in the
universe.

Ha’ven shifted to the right and breathed a
sigh of relief when Creon stepped aside to let him pass. He knew he
had shocked his friend. Hell, he was still in shock. He never
expected to find his mate in a species unknown to him.

Nor did I expect my mate to not be
willing when I found her,
he thought suddenly as he walked out
of the dining area.

No, this was definitely a new experience. He
frowned as he hurried through the corridors following the quickly
fading swirling colors of the female’s energy. His own surged as if
trying to absorb it.

The female had walked away from him. In
fact, she had not only walked away from him but she refused to even
look at him.

When was the last time a female did that
to me?
He wondered silently as he reached a section where the
corridor divided.

The traces of color were gone. He turned,
glaring at the intersection where the hallways divided. He had
three different directions in which she could have gone.

“Which way did you go?” He muttered softly.
“Show me,” he whispered and waved his hands outward.

Colorful bands of energy burst from his
fingers moving a short way down one corridor before moving back to
try the next. On the third corridor, glittering sparkles of energy
flared as his own touched the residual energy left behind as the
female passed down the corridor. Ha’ven’s lips curved in triumph as
he moved down the corridor to the left.

He sent small bands searching periodically
trying to find which room she may have entered. He paused when a
large set of doors on the right suddenly burst into color.

“You are mine,
misha petite
,” Ha’ven
growled. “You cannot escape me.”

*.*.*

Emma raced through the empty corridors. She
wanted to get back to the safety of her and Sara’s living quarters.
She would find the dark cloak she used to hide her pale coloring
and escape into the gardens. She would hide so deep that no one
would ever find her.

She pushed open the door leading into her
living quarters and rushed through the elaborately decorated living
room down the hallway to her bedroom. The floor-length black cloak
lay on the end of her bed where she had dropped it early that
morning. Sweeping it up in a hand that trembled violently, she
pulled it around her like a suit of armor and headed for the
balcony doors.

Pushing the double doors leading out onto
the balcony open, she drew in a deep breath of the scented night
air. A feeling of calm swept through her. This is what she
wanted.

I don’t want to feel again,
she
thought fiercely to herself.
Feeling hurts too much. I don’t
want to remember. I just want to fade away like the stars do before
dawn.

But, they do not fade away,
a husky
voice whispered in her mind.
They are still there, unseen but
there.

Emma gasped and looked around the balcony.
She turned in a circle, backing up until her hip bumped against the
balustrade running along it. Her eyes widened in fear and she
raised her hands to her temple.

Am I finally losing my mind?
She
wondered in terror.
Am I going to go mad before I die in this
strange world?

You are not losing your mind, misha
petite,
the voice responded softly before hardening.
Neither
will you die.

Who are you?
Emma whispered silently
as she let her hands drop to her side.

No answer came. Emma bit her lip to keep the
cry of frustration from escaping. Twirling around, she ran to the
steps leading down into the garden. She ran down the long winding
paths heading for the edge of the garden where it overlooked the
ocean far below.

She was breathing hard by the time she
reached the low wall. She half fell, half leaned on the smooth
stone. Her whole body trembled, exhausted as overwhelming fear
choked her.

What was happening to her? Was she turning
into something else like the other women? She knew strange things
had happened to the other human women. She had been out in the
garden late one night a few weeks ago when two dragons had flown
over her. She had hidden under the thick branches of a tree and
watched as they landed on the balcony high above her living
quarters. Trelon Reykill had shifted and turned in time to catch
Cara as she changed back into a human as she touched the top of the
balcony. Cara’s giggles had echoed through the cool night air but
that was not what had given Emma goose bumps. It was the fact that
a human could change into something else.

Never!
Emma thought fiercely, looking
down at the glittering water.
I can never fit in and there is no
way to get back home. There is nothing here for me.