Chapter One
Lynx dropped his bag back to the floor of the bedroom and looked around. It looked different now bathed in the first faint streaks of early morning light. He could see the stains of the Covra blood on the walls and the floor, and a piece of one of their legs sat next to the bed as a grisly reminder of the battle that had happened there the day before. The air was still heavy with the smell of the healing ointments that Ciyrs had used to seal up his wounds after the healer had drawn all of the venom out of his body, and just that scent brought a shiver down Lynx's spine. He didn't want to think about what he had gone through with the Covra or in the aftermath. All he wanted to do was climb back into bed beside Rain's locked, sleeping figure and rest.
His body still weak from the healing process and even more tired now that the adrenaline from the battle in the middle of the street had seeped out of him, the warrior removed his shirt, kicked off his boots, and very carefully climbed into the bed so that he could resume his place close to the wall. Rain was still locked, unmoving and unchanged from the first moment he saw her, but he found such great comfort in being near her. His body surged with aggressive, all-consuming desire that confirmed to him yet again that this beautiful woman was intended to be his mate. Then his mind filled with anger that he had to look at her in this locked state without any idea of how he could remove her from this frozen state that the Covra had put her in so many years ago.
Wanting at least a moment of seeing her breathing, Lynx drew himself closer to her and rested his hand on Rain's stomach. He felt the intense, pulling feeling through his body that he had become accustomed to after spending the night going through the town and touching each of the locked people so that he could see their last moments before they were locked. It had been exhausting, but it had enabled him to determine the Covra's weakness and, with the help of Bannack's truly astonishing mate, create a plan that would eliminate them. At least, that is what he thought he was doing. Once they were gone, however, Loralia had confided that she knew the battle with those terrifying creatures was far from over. There was more to come.
Lynx couldn't think about that now. He was lost in the moments of Rain's life just before the Covra crawled out from under her bed and locked her in her sleeping state. They knew now that the Covra had done this because they were weakened and knew that they would be unable to defeat the Light Ones, the inhabitants of this settlement. Instead of continuing to fight or surrendering, they chose to lock the Light Ones in place just as they were in the moment they were attacked. What Lynx didn't understand was why the Covra had chosen just to lock them in place and not to kill them. Once frozen, they were completely vulnerable to anything that the Covra wanted to do to them. No matter how weak the creatures were, they could have found a way to destroy humans that were unable to move in any way. There had to be a reason that they had kept the Light Ones alive other than just the fact that they held a tremendous grudge and enjoyed coming back to explore the settlement and cast their gleaming, vulnerable eyes on the people that they were holding in indefinite suspension.
When the vision of Rain's final moment was over, he settled down beside her and stared into her pale, peaceful face until his eyes couldn't stay open any longer and he fell into a deep sleep where he hoped he would meet her and be able to hold and touch her as he had wanted to since the moment he first saw her.
What felt like only moments later, Lynx heard the door to the bedroom open and he sat up sharply, ready to throw himself back into battle, but it was only Pyra standing at the entrance to the door staring at him.
"The men are awake," he said, then glanced toward Lynx's lap, "It looks like you are, too."
Lynx looked down and saw the blanket tented up, balanced on the raging erection he had been sporting nearly continuously since the first time he laid eyes on Rain. He took a pillow from behind him and slammed it onto his lap.
"It's her," he said, tilting his head toward Rain, "I can't help it."
"I know," Pyra said, the hint of a smile coming through his stern exterior, "Trust me. I remember what it was like when I first got around Eden. That was miserable. I was hard all the time, no matter what I did, and I was so pissed off at everything that I felt like I could have killed whatever got in my way. She was not the biggest fan of me when she first met me, either, which didn't make the whole situation any easier. At least she can't yell at you."
He said it playfully, but as soon as the words came out of Pyra's mouth, Lynx felt anger roll over him. Pyra's expression dropped as he obviously saw the change come over Lynx, and he held up a hand as if to show that he meant no harm by the comment.
"You're right," Lynx said, "She can't."
"I'm sorry," Pyra said, "I didn't mean…"
"Let me get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."
Pyra closed his mouth and nodded before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Lynx was smaller and less experienced than Pyra, but the younger warrior could tell that his leader was not willing to put him to the test. A Denynso warrior who had found his mate but had not yet completed the bond was an unpredictable and volatile creature, and adding the tension of being away from their compound, the battle, and the seemingly hopeless locked state of the Light Ones was only working to push Lynx toward an edge that could have disastrous results.
Once Pyra left, Lynx looked down at Rain. She was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, with coppery hair that shimmered in the sunlight and lashes so long they curled on her pale cheeks. Her full lips held the tiniest hint of a smile, that touch of expression that made someone looking at it wonder if he was actually seeing a smile or if he was just imagining it because the rest of her face was so peaceful and lovely. It was a smile that Lynx had seen on sleeping faces before, but hers was so entrancing he couldn't seem to take his eyes away from it. He wished that he could see what she had been dreaming in that second that the Covra locked her; that he could know what had given her such a sense of peace and contentment in those last moments.
Lynx suddenly heard voices drifting up the stairs from the floor below and realized that all of the warriors must have come to meet at the house after Ty and Vax woke from their healing. He knew he couldn’t stay in bed and continue to stare at Rain, as much as that was exactly what he wanted to do. He had to go downstairs and be a part of the confusion, the questions, and the chaos that had ensued since the first Covra had arrived. Usually the Denynso were incredibly organized, strategic warriors, but this had thrown them completely out of control. Not only were they far away from the compound that was the only home that any of them had ever known, but they were up against an enemy that they didn't understand and fighting to save a people who they didn't even know if they could save. They had managed to come together to lure the Covra and force them into the spiked wall that Bannack created with Loralia's help, but now they were at a loss. They didn't know where they were supposed to go from there, and they would need every single one of them to figure it out.
Moving carefully to prevent jostling Rain, Lynx climbed out of bed and dressed. He longed for a hot bath, but he knew that was going to have to wait. For now he would have to settle for running Rain's brush through his tangled white hair and hoping that Ty had gotten enough of his strength back to make sure that there was breakfast for them to eat while they were talking.
Before he left, Lynx took another glance at the photograph that was sitting on the table beside Rain's bed. He still hadn't told any of the other warriors what he had discovered on the back of that picture, and he was still unsure if he should. Releasing the picture from the frame again, he slipped it into his bag and started downstairs to the waiting men.