Viper (Second Wave Book 1) (13 page)

Lara could feel the change in
temperature immediately. The heat of his hand seemed to flow through her cold,
trembling body quickly. Her body relaxed completely, her fear and apprehension
replaced by a comfortable lethargy. The pain was almost completely gone, and
that helped her relax deeper into the warmth flowing through her.

“That is something I would really
like you to teach me.” Amun said to Ratoka, surprised at the scanner readings
on his patient after the man had touched her.

“I can do that when you are ready.”
Ratoka said with a small smile he directed at Lara. “You, my child, will rest
properly without the visions.”

Lara just stared at the strange
man, not understanding anything going on around her. She was grateful and
disappointed when he let go of her hand and moved back to where the cat was
waiting beside the larger cat that had come into the hallway earlier. She
turned her head back to Viper as the doctor stepped up to the side of the bed.

“It doesn’t look like she did any
damage to the new vertebrae, but there are distinct signs of stress. She has
got to stay put, at least for another day. Two or three would be the best
option.”

“We can move her out of MedLab if
it would make her more comfortable, but she has to stay flat as much as
possible. There is no negotiating it.” Amun looked hard at Lara when he said
the last, and she looked away in embarrassment. Her gaze collided with Viper’s,
and she felt better when he smiled at her and caressed her face.  

“Take her home.” Ratoka told Viper
through the Shengari’. It had been unnecessary. Viper knew where Lara would
want to be.

“We’ll go to our home in Dillon. You
will like it there. It is much like your cabin, but a little bigger. It’s a
much better place to be if you must stay in one place.” Viper’s gentle smile
and comforting hands could have made Lara agree to anything. She nodded dumbly,
feeling really tired now that the pain was no longer keeping her alert.

Viper and everyone else watched
quietly as Lara finally succumbed to sleep. Audible sighs could be heard around
the room when Amun nodded, confirming she was out.

“Someone want to explain to me how
she pulled herself out of suspended animation?” Amun asked, staring directly at
Ratoka.

Ratoka just smiled and said
cryptically, “When you are ready to learn how to comfort the sick without your
machines, I will teach you how she did it.”

Dread could well sympathize with
Amun when he started cursing. He had felt the same way about the irritating man
a lot in the last few hours, and he had a bad feeling it wasn’t over for he and
Viper.

“All right, let’s get her through
the portals to Dillon. I’ll give daily care instructions to you and Dread, but
I’ll continue to monitor her scans and come by to check on her.” Amun told
Viper as he released the controls on the bed and guided it through the door.

“I have home now! I have home!”
Dog’ee jumped up and down behind the bed as Amun moved it down the hallway.

Dread was getting ready to protest
when Ratoka stopped him. “She needs him. Like Tristan and the conductors, the
cats will be able to help her. Dog’ee’s energy is in sync with Lara’s; he was
meant to be here for her and any children that she, and Viper may have. He must
stay by her side.”   

“Yeah, just talk over me like I’m
not here and wondering what the hell, is going on with my patient.” Amun huffed
out in exasperation at the secrecy of the other men.

It only made him that much more
determined to get back to his research of Lara’s scans. And Viper’s now too, he
thought with a small grin. He’d easily been able to scan Viper while he was
next to Lara without his being aware of it.

“In time, my friend.” Ratoka said,
with that smirk on his face that annoyed the hell out of Amun.

Amun just snorted. He’d probably
figure it out himself before they told him anything, he thought as he pushed
Lara through the portal.  

Amun was grateful when a team of
techs met him on the other side in Dillon and took over. Sending another call
out to Jess that he would be a lot later, he took determined strides back to
the lab. He’d figure this out one way or another.

*****

Lara woke to the sun streaming
through a large, sliding glass door. She sat up gingerly, wondering if her back
was still hurting. So far, so good, she thought as she swung her legs over the
side of the bed. There was a slight twinge in her back, but nothing bad.

Feeling brave and needing a
bathroom, Lara was getting ready to stand up when her hallucination came
barreling through the door. Slipping and sliding on the wooden floors and
screaming the whole way, Dog’ee finally came to a crashing stop against Lara’s
feet.

“Why can’t you people have grass in
here? Dirt, dead leaves, something that provides traction!” Dog’ee screamed to
no one in particular.

Lara hid a smile as she watched in
fascination as the cat stood and shook himself out as if trying to shake off
his embarrassment.

All things considered, if she was
going to have a hallucination, having a funny, adorable and protective mini
panther wasn’t so bad; she thought with a smile.

Reaching down, she ignored another
twinge in her back as she stroked a hand down the animal’s soft fur. Her smile
broadened when the cat purred and rubbed up against her legs.

“Good morning, my human.” Dog’ee
said purring loudly.

Lara looked at the beautiful golden
collar encircling the cat’s neck. It looked like a seriously expensive piece of
jewelry. Who the hell would put something covered in gold, silver and emeralds
on a cat, she wondered. All her thoughts fled when she looked up, and Viper
filled the doorway.  

“You are awake! How do you feel?”
Viper didn’t wait for Lara to answer him; he moved to the bed and leaned down
to inspect her.

He could see from the doorway that
the dark circles were still under her eyes, although they weren’t nearly as
dark as they had been twenty nine hours ago when they’d left MedLab.

Amun had said that she needed to
rest in order to heal, but Viper was glad she was awake. He needed to be near
her, to hear her voice and feel her touch. It was selfish; he knew, and he
hated it, but he couldn’t help it. He was just as drawn to her as he’d been
hundred years ago.

“I’m fine. Stop looking at me like
I’m under a microscope. I feel… weird enough.” Lara said, looking around
uncomfortably.

She had no idea if this was real or
another hallucination. Looking down at the talking cat wearing a hundred
thousand in jewels on his neck, she was betting this was definitely another
hallucination.

Viper sat on the bed beside her and
took her hand in his own. He could feel her confusion radiating from her, and
he hated that she felt that way. He was getting ready to call Ratoka to their
home, through the Shengari’ when he showed up in the doorway.

“Yeah, that shit isn’t creepy at
all. Can you please not do that anymore?” Viper asked Ratoka through their
mental path before turning his attention to Lara, who had become more agitated
when she saw him in the doorway.

Ratoka ignored Viper and walked to
Lara. Squatting in front of her, he took her other hand, and Lara could feel
the pleasant warmth of his touch.

“I did not mean to startle you. I
am Ratoka. I was here yesterday. Do you remember me?” When Lara nodded her
head, he continued.

“I would like to help you with the…
hallucinations. If you will let me?”

Lara looked at Viper, who smiled
gently at her. “No one here will ever hurt you. I swear. We may be a little
odd,” Viper said nodding to Dog’ee. “But we’re good people, and I will never
let anyone harm you.”

“Hey! Are you calling me odd? I’m
not odd; I'm young. Gibly said when I’m older, I’ll be calm and boring like he
is. I don’t want to be calm and boring though. Can I stay young, my human?
Please?” Dog’ee looked at Lara with such pleading eyes, that she would have
promised him anything to see the cat happy again.

“You can stay as young as you would
like Dog’ee.” Lara told the cat, smiling when he ran around in a circle in
excitement.

Dog’ee stopped suddenly in front of
Lara and swayed slightly from dizziness for a second. “I will help you with
your memories too! I will be a great companion for your conductor! And I am a
fierce protector! We will be a great family.”

Lara stared in confusion at the excited
cat, not understanding a thing it was saying she just nodded her head. Strangely,
the cat tilted his head to the side and stared at Ratoka for a moment before
turning and leaving the room. It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed something
strange like that, Lara thought, filing the information away for later.

“How about we get you something to
eat? You slept for a full day, and you have to be starving. Come, you are
probably tired of being in here already and would like to look around.” Ratoka
said, helping Lara to her feet as if she had no choice.

Lara allowed the man to help her to
her feet as Viper stood beside her looking like he was ready to catch her if
she stumbled. She was grateful when both just stood there with her for a moment
while she steadied herself.

Feeling more confident since there
had been only a minor twinge in her back, Lara took a small step forward. When
that seemed to go pretty well, she took a bigger step until she had walked to
the door. The brilliant smile she turned on Viper damn near brought him to his
knees.

If nothing else had convinced him
that she was his Kinara, that smile would have done it. He had spent most of
his life seeing that beautiful smile, first as she grew up, then in his
memories and his dreams.

Ratoka was right, Viper thought;
this was a gift. One that he wasn’t going to waste. This time would be
different. This time he was going to claim her as his own and keep her safe, he
promised himself.

Chapter
Twelve

Lara stood on the deck with Dog’ee
and took a deep breath of the evening air. It had been an interesting day. She
didn’t know much more than she did when she woke up, but it had been a pleasant
and relaxing few hours.

Amun had come by earlier to check
on her and said that she should be able to resume all normal activity tomorrow.
Lara had asked about the young boy she had shot and was told he was already
back up and being his normal self. The groans of Viper and Dread and Ratoka’s
sigh told her that his normal self was most likely the same annoying boy she’d
met.

She was really glad he was all
right though. The thought of hurting him bothered her a lot. She couldn’t
explain it, not even to herself, but she felt safe here. As if she finally
belonged somewhere and hurting one of her own felt so wrong.

It was so strange. She had expected
to feel awkward and out of place like she always had, especially around Dread
and Ratoka, but the hours had passed pleasantly and comfortably. Granted, they
spoke of nothing important. Their conversations had been mostly about the house
and the area. Everything but what had happened in the forest and who they
really were.

“You think too hard. It simple. You
die as Kinara a Tezarian, you come back as Lara a human. My human.” Dog’ee said
interrupting her thoughts.

“What?” Lara asked in surprise.
She’d heard that name before. Viper asked her about it. Is that what this was
about, she wondered. Was he helping her because he thought she was someone
else?  

“Did I say that wrong? I’m still
trying to figure out your language. It is so complicated.” The dramatic way
that Dog’ee drew out the last sentence made Lara grin.  

She had no idea that animals could
be so expressive and with Dog’ee it was really hard not to be pulled into his
excitement and his charming personality.

“No Dog’ee, I think you said that
correctly. Viper thinks that I used to be someone named Kinara… from his
planet.” Lara asked, the skepticism heavy in her voice.

“It sounds crazy doesn’t it?” Lara
was startled when Ratoka appeared behind her, causing her to jump.

Lara turned to the man in
annoyance. “You really enjoy doing that to people don’t you?”

Ratoka’s huge grin did nothing to
ease her annoyance. “I have an innate sense of knowing when someone is in deep thought,
and I can assist with those thoughts.”

His explanation did little to
assist in her thoughts; she thought sarcastically. “So how about we deal with
the elephant in the room and tell me why I’m really here and why I’m still
alive?”   

Lara felt like strangling the man
when he laughed and said, “I know nothing of what an elephant is, but if you
would like answers, then I believe that we should go inside so that Viper and
Dread can participate.”

Lara did not want to have a
conversation with Viper that included him thinking she was some dead girl. For
some reason, the thought of him liking her only because he thought she was
someone else really bothered her. She didn’t want to think about why either.
There were some things she was content not to know.

“You do not strike me as a fearful
woman. I could have been wrong.” Ratoka said, looking away as if disappointed.  

“I’m not stupid either; I know what
you’re doing.” Lara said, giving him a look that told him she wasn’t fooled by
his antics.

Ratoka laughed again, “No; you are
most certainly not stupid. All teasing aside, the sooner you get it over with
the quicker we can take care of the reason you were going into the forest to
die.” Ratoka gave Lara a hard stare of his own, and she looked away this time.

“Hmmm… I thought bribery would be beneath
you. I could have been wrong.” Lara said with a smirk before striding through
the sliding glass door and right into Viper. So much for her brilliant exit,
Lara thought as Viper’s hands held her shoulders to steady her.

“Are you all right?” Viper asked as
he forced himself to keep physical distance between them.

“You take her now, this time!”
Zaxin screamed in Viper’s mind as he’d done since they came to the house.
Apparently catching up on what he had missed had been a bad idea, Viper
thought.

“We can’t just take her! She’s a human,
and that isn’t how they do things! Please calm yourself and let me handle
this.” Viper said trying to calm his beast.

“My beast mate is dead! She didn’t
come back like your mate did. I will not allow you to wait and mess this up
like you did the last time!” Zaxin screamed back at his host; his pain ripped
raw over his beast mate, as he struggled to maintain his joy for his host.  

Lara just stared at Viper. Yeah, he
was doing that crazy shit again; she thought, where he kind of blanks out like
he’s not even here. She noticed his brother Dread and Ratoka doing it once in a
while since she’d been awake.

Lara looked around the blanked out
Viper and gave her best ‘WTF’ look to Ratoka as more of a challenge than
anything. She really didn’t expect him to respond. These people were the most
secretive she had ever seen. They could teach the government on how to keep
secrets. Which is why she was surprised when Ratoka walked up to Viper and laid
a hand on his shoulder and turned to Lara.

“He is speaking with his beast. It
is a parasite in our brain that is fully sentient. His beast is a little upset
and has been hard for Viper to ignore. Normally, the beast works in complete
sync with its host.” Ratoka explained, looking carefully at Lara to see if she
showed any recognition. He grinned when he saw the slightest twitching of her eyes,
and she blinked hard a few times as if to stop it.

Lara’s mind was going nuts. She’d
heard something like that before, where was it? She wondered, trying to force
her mind to figure it out.

Viper’s beast calmed the moment
Ratoka touched him and remained quiet making him sigh in relief. He looked at
Lara to see how she was taking the news of the beast and noticed that she
didn’t really seem to be fazed much by it. He could easily feel her curiosity
and wonder, but he felt no fear and for that he was grateful.

“So you guys are going to stay with
this whole ‘space alien’ story then? Prove it to me.” Lara said, outright
challenging them.

She was done playing games and like
Ratoka said, as soon as she knew she could trust them, she could go back to her
cabin, grab her evidence and finish what she started. If they could help that
would be awesome, if not, she was used to doing things alone, she thought.

Dread walked up to Viper and Ratoka,
and the three men seemed to be having a silent conversation with each other. It
did give credence to what Ratoka said about a parasite in their head, or it
could be that there was a government implant in there too; Lara thought as she
studied the three men carefully.

She had looked for an earbud or mic
of some kind earlier, and none of the men had one. If they did, it was hidden
too deep in the ear to see it.

Finally, Viper spoke and held out
his hand to her. “Come, we will take you to our brother Drago.”

When Lara hesitated, Viper assured
her. “It is not far, a short drive and a short walk. I promise.”

There was a slight smirk on
Ratoka’s face, as if daring her to go, which really irritated Lara. Throwing
her shoulders back, she gave Viper a bright smile and took his hand.

“Lead on ET.” Lara said with a grin
at Viper.

She quirked a brow when they went
outside and got into the clichéd black SUV with tinted windows. Within minutes,
they were getting back out at a huge office building perched on top of a
mountain. She looked out over the breathtaking view until Viper took her hand
and pulled her into the building.

Viper seemed to think that since
she had agreed to come that it was now a race and walked so quickly to an
elevator that she only had time to keep up with him. Lara was surprised when he
placed his hand on a seriously sophisticated palm scanner, and a different set
of lighted buttons appeared at the bottom of the floor menu on the screen.  

She watched Viper press the ‘P’
button as Dread and Ratoka piled into the large elevator with them. Once the
doors shut it only took them seconds before they opened again on a strange
room.

Viper gently pulled Lara out of the
elevator and into the portal room. He looked around trying to see it from her
eyes. The place had surprised even him and his brothers. Like everything Grai
did, he did this big; Viper thought.

Lara looked in awe at the huge
mirrors that lined a room that was half the size of a football field. There
were at least two dozen mirrors; each mirror stood flat on the floor and
reached to eight or nine feet high. They were lined up side by side on each
side of the room.

Lara pulled her attention away from
the mirrors when a huge, heavily armed man walked up to them and held his hand
out to Dread. “Where are you guys off too this late?”

“We’re going to see Drago. I’m sure
we’ll be back soon.” Dread said to the man as Viper and Ratoka walked Lara down
the middle of the room.

Lara looked closely at the mirror
they were standing in front of. There was a plaque of some kind on the very top
that said ‘Adaria', and it was so wide that three of them could walk through it
side by side.

“What is it?” Lara finally asked
when no one volunteered the information.

“It’s a portal. A doorway, to my
brother. Will you trust me as I trusted you in the forest?” Viper asked,
squeezing her hand gently as his eyes pleaded with her.

He could feel her heartbeat pick up
speed and could sense her slight fear. However, there was a hefty dose of
curiosity mixed in. Viper felt strangely proud when she pulled her shoulders
back and turned determined eyes to him.

“I’m game. Let’s go.” Lara said.

She figured the worst that would
happen is that they smacked into the mirror, and she laughed off their alien
talk. She was only a little surprised when Ratoka took her other hand.

Lara allowed the two men to lead
her towards the mirror, making sure that they were just a slight step ahead of
her, so when they smacked into the mirror, she could stop herself before she
hit it.

She couldn’t have been more stunned
when they slipped through the glass and disappeared, their hands still holding
hers, but their bodies gone. Lara started to panic and tried to pull her hands
out of theirs when she felt a strong push from behind and was propelled into
the mirror.  

Lara tried to suck in a breath when
she saw nothing except a deep, overwhelming darkness, but there was no air. She
tried to scream, then she blinked and was standing in a large bright room. The
last half of her scream came out like a strangled cry.

Scared and feeling like a fool as
the five men in the room they entered stared at her, Lara turned on Viper.
“What the fuck was that? Seriously, you couldn’t have warned me? Oh, by the
way, ‘I’m going to let my creepy, ghost-like hand drag you through the fucking
mirror into wonderland’ would have been nice!” Lara said, snatching her hands
away from Viper and the widely grinning Ratoka.

“And You!" Lara said turning
on Dread who came through the mirror behind her. “You pushed me; you asshole!”

“You were fighting.” Dread said,
shrugging his shoulders before walking further into the room to the others who
were still staring at her.

“Why the hell do I feel like the
freak, when I’m the one that was dragged through a damn mirror?” Lara muttered,
trying to calm herself. Her heart still felt like it was going to pound out of
her chest.

“You are not a freak; they are just
surprised to see us. You are the first human to come aboard the Adaria, and
they are curious about you.” Viper said, smiling gently at her like she’d bolt
and run at any second.  

“We came on ship just like this!”
Dog’ee said twirling between Lara’s legs.

Dog’ee’s words and the surroundings
finally sunk in for Lara. “Where are we?” She asked Viper, lowering her voice
so the others wouldn’t hear.

“We are on the Valendran ship, the
Adaria. Drago is here seeing to the repairs and upgrades to the vessel we used
to get here.” Viper explained calmly, keeping a good hold on Lara’s hand, in
case she flipped out on him.

Lara registered Viper’s words as
she took another good look around the room they were standing in. It was a lot
like the room they had just left only it was a lot smaller and only had four
mirrors in it.

The walls were a dull silver, kind
of like the brushed nickel fixtures in her last apartment, where she was
stationed before deployment. There were what looked like desks and computer
screens and screens on some of the walls.  

It all looked pretty futuristic to
her, but she wasn’t exactly the most tech-savvy person either; she thought.
That had always been one of John’s talents. For all, she knew the mirror was
just a weird door into another part of the office building.  

Lara turned to Ratoka when he
started laughing then sobered quickly before speaking to her. “You are ever the
stubborn warrior. There are some things, like love, that will always remain
with the soul, no matter how many times it is reborn. Choose carefully, child,
which ones you allow to overshadow the others.”