Erin M. Leaf (14 page)

“It’s done,” she sighed, sucking in
air. She felt like she’d run a marathon and then run it again.

Gideon gathered her and Theo close,
shaking, trying to hold them both at the same time. “I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

“Shut up, you asshole.” Theo hugged
them tightly. “Jesus, what the hell just happened?” He sounded both content and
bewildered.

Bea chuckled. They were still in
her body. She never wanted them to leave. “Is that going to happen again?” She
still couldn’t believe what they’d felt like.

“I’d like to know the answer to
that question too,” Theo grunted. “Seriously, what the fuck?”

Gideon snorted. “I was a baby when
I was left on Earth. I had no idea what that was either.” He shrugged. “I know
we’re bonded now, though.”

Theo pulled back slightly. “You
have a giant, vibrating dick.”

Bea laughed out loud. “So do you,
Theo.”

He coughed. “Yeah. About that. That
was
not
normal.” He broke off and
rested his head on her shoulder. “I mean, my dick has never done that before.”

“I liked it.” Bea wriggled a
little. Now that they weren’t having sex, she was feeling a little crushed. “It’s
probably pheromonally triggered. Or something like it, I’d bet.”

“Maybe we can ask Eran,” Gideon said,
gently extricating himself from their embrace. He helped Bea shift off Theo’s
lap and they all fell down into a sweaty heap.

“Are you kidding? I can just see us
asking him about that!” Bea exclaimed, horrified by the thought. “Um, excuse
me, but does your penis vibrate when you have sex?” she asked in a fake,
cheerful voice.

Theo laughed. “Yeah, I’m thinking
not.”

Gideon sighed. “I’m no virgin, and
that’s never happened before when I had sex. Ever.” He rolled closer to Bea. “By
the way, I’m sorry about the whole bonding thing. I know no one asked you if
you wanted to get mind-fucked.”

“I don’t think any of us had a
choice, including you, Gideon.” She kissed him. “Besides, you’ve been inside my
head. You know damn well I’m not upset about it.”

“Me neither,” Theo said. “Although,
I’ll admit, it’s going to take a little getting used to, being attracted to a
dude.”

“I think it’s gone way beyond
attraction. We’re basically married now,” Gideon said.

The three of them silently digested
that for a moment.

“Uh, what?” Theo finally asked.

“I told you that you were bi,
remember?” Gideon rolled his eyes. “You were already attracted to me. You just
didn’t know it.”

“Says who?”

“Dude. You used to check out my
ass. All the damn time,” Gideon replied.

“Because your pants were always
falling down,” Theo argued.

“Bullshit.”

Bea chuckled. When she didn’t feel
even a twinge in her butt, she suddenly sat up.
What the hell? I should be sore.
“Your wounds,” she said aloud,
turning to Theo. “Let me check.” She’d forgotten all about the men’s injuries.

“It’s fine, Bea,” Theo said,
catching her hands before they could go to the bandage. “It doesn’t hurt at
all.”

She frowned. “It
should
hurt. It should be really sore.” She pulled away from him and pushed on his
thigh until he let it fall open. “Let me see.” She glanced up at Gideon. “You’re
next.”

“Mine doesn’t hurt either,” Gideon
said, already unwinding the bandage from his leg.

She pulled the bandage from Theo’s
leg gently, trying not to catch his hair in the adhesive. He winced, but let
her peel it away. When she saw his skin, she froze. “What the—?” she murmured. The
wound was gone. The sutures she’d used to sew him back together stuck out from
his skin like little black insects. There wasn’t even a scar.

Theo touched his finger to the sutures.
“It’s healed.”

Bea sat back on her ankles. “What
just happened? Wounds like that don’t heal in one day. It’s impossible.”

“Mine’s gone, too,” Gideon said.

She turned to him. He sat in bed,
holding the white cloth that had been wrapped around his thigh. The bandage was
stained from where he’d bled, but his leg was completely healed. “This doesn’t
make any sense,” she said, touching him.

He sucked in a breath. “No, it doesn’t.”
His cock stirred as she ran her fingers over his leg. He gave her a wry look,
but she ignored it, leaning closer. Even the rough edges were healed. No sign
of poison.

“You should be sore, too, Bea,”
Gideon said quietly. “Not to mention, we forgot about birth control.”

For a moment, she had no idea what
he was talking about, but then she remembered what they’d just done and
flushed. He was right. She should be at least a little sore, but instead, she
felt great. Energized. “It doesn’t hurt at all,” Bea told him, thinking hard.
Could
the bonding have healed us?
“And I have an implant. No babies.”

“Thank God,” Gideon said.

She knew he was thinking about
Earth. Now was not the time to get pregnant. Even as she felt a small pang of
regret, she shuddered at the idea of bringing a child into this mess.

“Take the stitches out,” Theo said,
distracting her from that line of thought. He rolled over, snagging the duffle
he’d brought into the room last night. He rummaged around, then came back with
a knife. “They’re itchy.” He handed the blade to Bea.

She slid it out of the sheath. “This
is just so wrong. It’s impossible.” She bent closer to him and slid the tip of
the knife under one of the sutures. With a quick flick, she sliced the loop,
then pulled the stitch out with a swift jerk. Theo didn’t even flinch. She finished
quickly, then sat up. “What’s happening to us?” She shivered.

Gideon found her robe and placed it
over her shoulders. “I don’t know.” He drew her back and settled her down
between him and Theo. They were warm. Strong. She let herself relax, if only
for a moment.

Chapter Nine

Theo stroked Bea’s hair, trying to
hide his worry. He knew he wasn’t entirely successful when Gideon glanced at
him, silver flashing at the back of his blue eyes. Theo shook his head. The
past day and night had been insane. Devastating. And even so, the thing that
most freaked him out wasn’t the alien invasion of Earth, or the trip to another
planet, it was the silver flashing at the back of his best friend’s eyes.
My
lover’s eyes,
he forced himself to think.

“We won’t be able to rest for long,”
Gideon said quietly.

Bea sighed and pulled the cover up
a little more. “What’s going to happen?”

“I’m sure Eran will be here soon,”
Gideon replied.

Not really an answer.
Theo didn’t want to
think about what came next. As a cop, he knew that when the shit hit the fan,
usually more unpleasant shit followed. Never good news.

“I remember more now,” Gideon
murmured.

“About your childhood?” Bea asked.

He nodded. “I remember my fathers
putting on their armor. And my mother. She had red hair. And blue eyes.”

Theo smiled. “You take after her.”

Gideon shrugged. “I guess.”

“We can’t stay here,” Bea said
quietly. “Can we?”

Theo wanted to. He wanted to never
leave this quiet place, but he knew she was right. “What else can we do? I don’t
even know how we’d get back to Earth. Or what we think we could possibly do
when we get there,” he said, wanting to at least say it, even if he didn’t
believe it.

Gideon went tense under Theo’s
shoulder.

Damn
, Theo thought.

“What’s wrong?” Bea asked, turning
towards them. Theo cursed silently as she went from somewhat relaxed to
worried. Her beautiful grey eyes were mostly silver now, probably from the
bonding.

Gideon sat up. “I remember
something else.”

Theo recognized the look on his
partner’s face. It was the bad look. The one that said
run before we get
killed.
“What do you remember?” he asked, steeling himself.

“I remember a weapon. My mother was
a scientist. She’d bring me to the lab with her while she worked on it. No one
else knew about it. Only my fathers.”

“What kind of weapon?” Bea’s voice
was soft. Controlled. Theo knew she was trying not to get too hopeful. Or too
worried.

One glance at Gideon told Theo she
was right to worry.

After a long, tense moment, Gideon
finally answered. “A doomsday weapon.” He looked at them, blue eyes flashing
silver-bright in the morning sunlight. “One that might kill the Sitnam. All of
them.”

****

Theo watched Gideon put on his
clean clothes. Eran had returned them a short while ago and brought food. When
Gideon asked him about the weapon, the Numah hadn’t known anything about it.

“But what about the door at the top
of the complex? The silver door?” Gideon asked.

Eran bowed his head. “I cannot
enter that door. No one can.” When he straightened up, his eyes were blank.
That alone convinced Theo that Eran suspected what was behind the door. “Only
the bonded trio of Cearvall can open that door.”

Gideon nodded, as if that was the
answer he’d expected. Theo had hoped Eran would know more, but in the end, it
didn’t matter. In a few minutes, they’d be on their way to the top level to try
and open the door. Earth was their home. They had to save it, or at least try.

“I hate the thought of never being
able to go back to Earth,” Bea said, slipping her robe off. “Ella said Ivy was
upset that they had to stay here.” She looked at Gideon. “You’re sure the
weapon is real?”

He rubbed the back of his neck
tiredly. “We won’t know until we find it. I hope it’s real.”

Theo handed Bea her shirt, thinking
about the difficult conversation he’d had with his sister right after Eran had
left them to their breakfast. He’d told Ella that he wanted her and Ivy to stay
with Eran on Terrene. Ella hadn’t been too happy about it.

“You think I’m going to sit here
while you go risk your life again—” she’d begun to say when he cut her off.

“Yes! You have Ivy to worry about.
And I’m a cop. That’s what I do. I protect people.” He’d held her by the
shoulders and let her see the changes in his eyes. “And Gideon, Bea, and I are
the only ones who
can
help.”

She’d thrown off his arms. “You
have no idea what that weapon does! Or even if it works at all. It could kill
you.” She’d stalked away to the windows of the suite, staring out over the
barren desert, shoulders hunched.

He’d understood her fear, but he
had no choice. “I have to go, Ella. If there’s even a tiny chance we could save
Earth…”

She’d sighed and hadn’t spoken for
a long time. When she finally did, he’d known she’d given in. “I know,” she’d
said softly, not turning around.

He’d walked over and given her a
hug. “I’m so sorry.”

She’d turned in his arms and hugged
him back, fiercely. “You’d better not die on me.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“And tell Gideon and Bea, too. I
don’t want to lose a sister just when I’ve found her.”

He’d hugged her tighter, touched
that she’d accepted Bea so easily. “How did you know?” he’d asked.

She’d snorted and pushed him away. “Well,
aside from the weird silver shit in your eyes, I could tell by the way you
looked at her.” She’d paused. “And by the way you looked at Gideon. It’s about
time, by the way. Ivy and I were taking bets on how long it would take the two
of you to figure yourselves out.”

He’d blinked. “What—”

“Yeah, don’t try and deny it. You’ve
had a thing for Gideon for years now,” she’d interrupted, completely shocking
him.

“I did not,” he’d retorted,
automatically arguing. She
was
his sister. He couldn’t just let her
think she knew everything.

She’d laughed right in his face. “You
keep telling yourself that.”

Theo smiled to himself as he
remembered the conversation. She’d been upset, but she’d still managed to make
him laugh.

“It’s time,” Gideon said, buckling
the strap around his thigh. He put on his favorite blade, but left the guns in
the duffel.

“No pistols?” Bea asked.

Gideon shook his head. “There will
be armor in that room for us. Our weapons won’t fit over it.”

“Like the armor you remember your
fathers wearing?” Theo asked.

“Yeah.” He straightened up. “Let’s
go.”

****

Gideon walked down the hall to the
small, permanent transporter set into the wall. Its uncanny resemblance to an
elevator was something none of them mentioned. If they hadn’t been trapped in
the building when the Sitnam had invaded… He shook his head. No sense
speculating on what-ifs. He stopped and palmed the control on the side of the
wall, watching as the door swished open. He made no move to get in it.