Close Remembrance (11 page)

As soon as the thought occurred to Saret, he dismissed it. No, something was up. He was suddenly certain of it.

Was his enemy playing him for a fool? Was he even now being fed a false image? There was no way to tell; the figures Saret was watching looked completely real. But, as Saret knew full well, looks could be deceiving.

He had to face the possibility that Korum had figured out something was going on.

Moving swiftly, Saret armed himself and put on a protective shield that wrapped around his entire body. The lab walls were still his best defense, and he had every intention of confronting his nemesis here, where Saret had the home advantage. He felt no fear, though his pulse spiked in anticipation of the upcoming fight.

Glancing at Mia, Saret made sure that she was still unconscious, lying restrained on the medical float. She might wake up soon, and he was hoping to have all the unpleasantness over with before that happened.

Ignoring the adrenaline rushing through his veins, Saret sat down next to her and stroked her arm, marveling at the smoothness of her pale skin. She looked so pretty, with her dark lashes fanning across her cheeks and that soft mouth slightly parted. What was that human children’s story? Sleeping Beauty? Actually, she looked more like Snow White, Saret decided, with her milky complexion and dark hair.

Leaning down, he kissed her lips, brushing them lightly with his tongue. As he’d suspected, she was delicious; just that tiny taste was enough to make him hard. If he had more time, he would’ve taken her right then and there, unconscious or not.

But he didn’t have more time. He needed to stay focused. One way or another, Korum would be here soon.

Getting up, Saret walked over to the image again. By now, he was almost certain it was fake.

Where was Korum?

Saret began to pace, too agitated to sit down again.

When it all began two minutes later, he didn’t even notice at first.

A low humming sound was his first warning that something was wrong. The noise seemed to fill the air, gradually increasing in volume until it was almost a roar to his sensitive Krinar hearing.

Then the walls began to melt. Saret had never seen anything like it before: the material designed to withstand a nuclear blast seemed to liquefy from the top down, as if the building was made of wax.

Now Saret tasted fear. Sharp and acidic, it pooled low in his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to be safe here, in his carefully constructed fortress . . . but he wasn’t. Saret didn’t know of any weapon that could do this – that could penetrate the same shields that protected the colonies – but his eyes didn’t lie. The walls were literally melting around him.

There was only one thing left to do: retreat and live to fight another day. For a second, Saret considered taking Mia with him, but she would slow him down and he couldn’t take that risk. He would have to come back for her.

Casting one last look at the unconscious girl on the float, Saret activated the emergency escape chute and disappeared through the building floor.

Chapter 7

“I want him found. By any means necessary. Do you understand me?” Korum was aware that his voice sounded sharp, but he could no longer contain the icy rage coursing through his veins.

Alir, the leader of the guardians, nodded. “We’ll bring him to you,” he promised, his black eyes cold and expressionless.

“Good,” Korum said curtly.

Turning around, he stalked toward the back of the room, where Ellet was sitting beside Mia and running diagnostic tests.

At his approach, the Krinar woman looked up, signs of strain evident on her beautiful face. “She should regain consciousness soon,” she said softly. “But, Korum, I’m afraid the damage has been done.”

“What are you saying?” He didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t accept that possibility.

“I’m afraid the scan is showing signs of trauma consistent with a memory loss. I’m so sorry –”

“No. You must be wrong.” His fists clenched so hard his nails entered his skin, drawing blood. “There must be something we can do –”

“I’ll look into it,” Ellet said, rising from her sitting position. “But this type of erasure tends to be irreversible, I’m afraid.”

Korum took a step forward. “I don’t want you to look into this, Ellet,” he said evenly. “I fucking want you to drop whatever else you’re doing and bring her memory back.”

Ellet frowned. “You know I’ll do my best –”

“Do better than that.” Korum knew he wasn’t being rational, but he didn’t care. He had never felt this way before – so savagely murderous. He wanted to tear Saret apart, to rip him up piece by piece and hear him scream in agony. He wanted to eviscerate the man he’d once regarded as a friend and bathe in his blood, like the ancients used to do with their enemies.

Underneath the swirling rage and bitterness at the betrayal, guilt – heavy and terrible – sat uncomfortably on Korum’s shoulders. Mia had been hurt – hurt because of him. Because he’d failed to protect her from the monster in their midst. Because he’d been far too trusting. If it hadn’t been for him, she would’ve never had that internship, would’ve never been exposed to Saret’s sick cravings.

If he hadn’t brought her to Lenkarda, she would’ve never been in harm’s way.

How could Korum not have seen it earlier? How could he not have sensed that kind of hatred? His greatest enemy had turned out to be one of his closest friends – and he hadn’t known until it was too late.

And now he could see pity on Ellet’s face. She knew how he felt about Mia and could probably guess at his mental state right now. “I will, Korum,” she said soothingly. “I promise you, I’ll do everything possible to help.”

Korum took a deep, calming breath. It wasn’t Ellet’s fault his friend had turned out to be the worst psychopath in modern Krinar history. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

Ellet smiled, looking relieved. “You can take her home now, if you’d like. She’ll wake up naturally in a few hours, and it might as well be at your house. The fewer of us she has to deal with at first, the better.”

Korum nodded. “Of course.” Bending down over Mia’s float, he carefully picked her up, cradling her gently against his chest. She was so light, so fragile in his arms. The realization that she could’ve been killed today was like poison in his veins, burning him from the inside.

Saret would pay for what he did to her – for what he planned to do to them all. Korum would make sure of that.

* * *

Mia let out a small huffing sound and wrinkled her nose, one slim hand coming up to brush a dark curl off her cheek. Her eyes were still closed for now, although it was obvious she was starting to regain consciousness.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Korum watched her slowly wake up, unable to tear his eyes away. Logically, he knew she wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but it didn’t matter. To him, she was perfect. He loved everything about her; each and every part of her delicate little body turned him on. Even now, as she lay there in her pale pink dress, he had to fight the urge to touch her, to bring her closer to him and bury himself deep inside her.

The unsettling mixture of lust and tenderness she evoked in him was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Like many Krinar, Korum had always regarded sex as a fun recreational activity. Most of his prior relationships had been casual affairs, similar to the fling he’d had with Ellet a few years ago. He liked women and he enjoyed their company outside of the bedroom as well, but he had never wanted to be with one on a permanent basis – had never felt the urge to claim one as his own.

Until Mia.

For some reason, this human girl appealed to his darkest, most primitive instincts. The way he felt about her went beyond sexual desire, beyond a craving for her tender flesh. What he really wanted was to possess her completely, to have her be his in every possible way.

It was not an unknown phenomenon among the Krinar. In ancient times, Krinar males needed to hunt and to protect their territory – and they were far more likely to do an effective job if they were strongly attached to their mates. It had been a simple evolutionary adaptation at the time – a male’s obsessive fixation on one specific female. Deeper than lust, stronger than love, it was a powerful combination of the two that ensured a man would give up his life to protect his woman and their offspring.

Over the years, as Krinar society became more civilized, that kind of attachment became less important to the species’ survival, and the genetic tendency toward it weakened over time. It still happened, of course, but it was a fairly rare occurrence in modern times – which was why Korum hadn’t realized what was going on when he first met Mia.

He hadn’t understood at first why he was feeling that way. All he’d known was that he wanted her – and that he had to have her. Even her initial reluctance hadn’t been enough to deter him; if anything, her wariness had intrigued him, triggering the predatory instincts he normally managed to suppress.

He had never pursued someone like that before, had never been less than considerate of a woman’s wishes, but with Mia, he had been ruthless. He’d gone after her with all the intensity in his nature, disregarding all notions of right and wrong. In less than a week, he’d gotten what he wanted: Mia in his bed, in his apartment – his to take whenever he wanted.

It had taken him far longer to earn her love.

To this day, he couldn’t help the anger that stirred in his stomach when he thought about her involvement with the Resistance. Rationally, he knew he couldn’t blame her for fighting back, for not trusting him in the beginning. She was a mere child in comparison to him; he should’ve been more cognizant of her fears, should’ve patiently seduced her instead of forcing her into the relationship. Perhaps then she wouldn’t have believed the fighters’ lies, wouldn’t have betrayed him the way she did.

But he hadn’t been patient. The strength of his emotions had caught him off-guard, blinding him to everything but the need to have her. What had begun as a sexual obsession had quickly become something much deeper, and Korum hadn’t known how to cope with that. He’d acted out of hurt and anger, using her against the Resistance as punishment for spying on him, when he should’ve simply explained everything to her, made her understand his intentions.

The fact that she loved him now was a miracle – one that he was grateful for every day. And if she didn’t remember him when she woke up, then he would use that as an opportunity for a new beginning, as a way to make amends for what happened before.

One way or another, Mia would love him again.

The alternative was unthinkable.

Finally, her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked, looking confused, then stared at him in open-mouthed shock.

Gently stroking her arm, Korum smiled. “Hello, my darling,” he said, purposefully injecting a soothing note into his voice. What he really wanted was to hug her to him, but that would frighten her if she had indeed lost her memory and he was now a stranger to her.

As it was, he could hear her heartbeat speeding up, feel the sudden tension in her muscles as she realized what he was. Her small pink tongue came out, licking her bottom lip in that unconsciously provocative gesture that always drove him insane. He could see the fear in her eyes . . . and it was like a knife to his heart, the pain sharp and slicing.

Yanking her arm away, she scrambled back, toward the other side of the bed. “What am I doing here? Who are you?”

Korum could hear the panic in her voice, and he forced himself to remain still, to not make any movements in her direction.

“I’m Korum,” he said instead, looking for any sign of recognition on her face. But there was none. Pushing away his disappointment, he asked, “What’s the last thing you remember, my sweet?”

She visibly swallowed, scooting back even further. “I’m in class,” she whispered. “I’m taking a test . . .”

“What test, my darling? What class are you in?”
Just how much memory had Saret erased?

“My . . . my Child Psychology class,” she answered, her voice shaking slightly.

Korum exhaled in relief. “So it’s your Spring Semester.” She’d only lost a couple of months, not years as he’d initially feared.

She nodded, still looking terrified. “What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?” He could hear the rising hysteria in her voice.

Korum sighed. This was going to be difficult. “It’s complicated, Mia,” he said softly. “Would you like me to explain?”

She nodded again, her blue eyes wide and fearful.

“Then come here, and we’ll talk,” he said, watching as she tensed further. “I promise you, I won’t hurt you in any way . . . Just sit here, beside me.” He patted the bed, needing to have her closer.

She hesitated, and he saw the emotions flitting across her fine-featured face. He could tell the exact moment when she decided she had nothing to lose by accommodating his request. After all, he was a Krinar and thus equally dangerous up close or ten feet away.

Her slim body shaking, she slowly moved back in his direction, watching him warily. When she was close enough, Korum reached out and took her hand, warming her chilled skin between his palms.