I dig into the land’s memory like I would a mind, sensing energy, the story between atoms and molecules. I can almost make out the shape of it.
The cutting of something… a single thread of communication that prevented devouring.
Until it didn’t.
Tempest paws the ground next to me. A warning.
But even before I hear the first footsteps or the click of two hammers, I smell it.
Lavender and honey. A fragrance that shouldn’t hover over this godforsaken place.
“Hands in the air where I can see them,” a too-petite voice calls, trying to sound fierce.
I may not know why I’m still here. What this all means, but being shot in the back by a woman is no option. Not for a man like me.
That’s when the surge hits me again. Buried deep beneath my marks. I squeeze my eyes shut, observing the sensation, the force of it like a punch to the gut, only higher. Right where rib meets pulse.
“On your feet,” the voice growls. But it still comes out all wrong. Too soft. Too feminine.
I rise without a word. Electricity threads the air between us. Like I can feel the woman’s presence bleeding into mine.
Then another pulse. Harder this time. The kind that could shake a soul clean out of its body. If I have one of those left at all.
I grind my teeth, turning slowly to face her.
A hazelnut braid tied with a thick pink ribbon drapes over one shoulder, wisps of hair forming baby curls where they escape the neat plait.
Her eyes are warm and wide, sunbaked clay echoed in the freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks.
A thick black fringe frames those too-warm orbs, fluttering at me for a moment. Her face is stuck somewhere between alarm and curiosity.
Maybe.
Been too long since I’ve had cause to read a human face.
Her pink tongue darts out, wetting thick lips. Something in my throat tightens. Then the thrum hits again. I grind my teeth, working to stay on my feet.
This. Whatever this is shouldn’t happen. It’s what the dampener is for.
My eyes dart to a thin band of silver around her wrist, and I break out in a sweat. Strange alloy. Not from here. Starborn, earthbound.
“Where’d you get that?” I rasp, eyes locking on the bracelet.
She stiffens, eyes narrowing. “I’m the one asking the questions.” She takes a deep breath, steadies herself.
“Ask away,” I drawl.
“What are you doinghere?” she asks, a slight tremble in her voice.
“Got turned around, that’s all,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“Here? At this very spot?”
My eyes dart to the place where hers go. “There a problem?”
“Wasa problem,” she corrects too fast.
I shrug, lowering my hands slowly.
