Ca'yal, page 5
part #1 of Hell Hound Central Series
That was her problem. She felt safe with Ca’yal. Everyone else she met made her suspicious, but not him. She trusted him and that made her feel foolish, but when she was around him, she felt at peace.
“If you ever betray me, you better pray for your soul.”
“If I ever betray you, my soul won’t be worth praying for.”
She nodded and reversed steps until she was back sitting on the couch. The reason she left the city was that she didn’t follow her instincts. She knew to leave that ass alone, but she was in love, more like lust and she allowed him to blind her with his shiny looks. Ca’yal wasn’t doing shiny. He was all dark looks and dark acts, but every word rang true. If he played her tomorrow, she’d give him an Emmy.
“Tell me.” She kicked off her shoes and curled up on the end of the couch for comfort.
“My planet Aey’al is known for assassins, hunters, and traders. We can and will kill someone for enough money. We’ve changed the outcome of wars on planets for enough money. We also hunt people down. The king of a planet is missing? We’ll find him…”
“For enough money,” Ivy supplied.
“Yes, but just not the king. We’ll find anyone, no moral questions asked. Then we are traders. We pedal flesh, the more exotic the better. What are you supposed to do when you grow up not wanting to live by the party line?”
“There have to be other things you can do.”
“You’re thinking of it from a human point of view. Isn’t there a statement somewhere that says once in the mob always in the mob? Think of us like the mob. You don’t get a choice. My brothers and I decided to run. We had a ship and skills. We’ve been running from our kind for a long time. Eventually, we ended up on your planet hoping for a break. That’s how we met Dante. Then he pressed Me’akal into service for him.”
“That’s how you got here, but what did he mean by earthbound?”
“As hell hounds, we have many abilities. One is being able to call a portal. Many of our natural abilities lie dormant when we are not tied to a planet. To be able to run and not be tracked we had to renounce our tie to our home planet. That left us at a disadvantage. Dante gave us a chance to become tied to the earth. For all necessary discussions, we are now as tied to this planet as you are.”
Now wasn’t that nice. Her brain was already making rational discussions. He was alien, but not really. Since he was tied to the planet, it was more like he was from a little-known province overseas. That made him fair game. Once tied to the earth you’re human even if you are into the supernatural realm of things. Take Hal, he’s a vampire, but he was human first.
“Since you're tied to the earth it’s like being human?”
Ca’yal looked down at his chest that was still shirtless. That faint red light glowed.
“If you had asked me that two days ago, I would have said no. Now I’m not so sure, but yeah it seems this tie to your planet adds something human to my DNA.” He got up and left the room. When he came back, he had a tight black tee on. The light that glowed underneath could still be seen.
“Won’t that pose a problem? It’s kind of like Rudolph’s nose.”
“Very few people can see it. You can see it and my brothers can see it. Adem and his brothers can see it, but that should be it.”
“Why can Adem and his brothers see it?”
“Because they’re sentinels.”
“Sentinels?”
“Tied to the earth the same way I am, but they evolved here.”
Why hadn’t she taken up science or at least culture in school? Part of her wanted to follow the breadcrumbs he placed in front of her. The other part knew better. As fascinating as finding out what Adem and his brothers were, Adem was not the one that had her wet and bothered. No, that action belonged totally to Ca’yal. If he thought she was a nun looking at his chest, he was wrong. His tee was so tight he might as well not be wearing it. She wanted to touch with her hands and her lips, but she knew how to keep herself in check. Even when he looked at her like he might not mind.
“What now?”
“Now we go see Ly’zel who is calling me. It won’t take much to decipher whether this is a fluke or not.” He gestured to his chest before she stood. He pulled her closer, then called a portal.
They were back in the room she remembered from last night. Was it only last night? This was where they tried to make her forget what had happened to her.
“Welcome to my parlor,” Ivy said when she found Ly’zel watching her.
“Said the spider to the fly.” Ly’zel laughed. “I think you meant web, but I can’t be mad under the circumstances. I had to try. How else would I know what you were?”
“No one should lose their memories.” She turned in a full circle to look around. What she thought was a blue room last night was white and silver. It had more of a calming effect than she originally thought. The room was filled with equipment, only a few pieces that she could identify. There was a large bed in the center of the room as well as several computers.
Ivy let out a large, elongated sigh. “I guess in the end, a person’s life shouldn’t be driven to madness by memories they cannot hope to deal with.”
“I’ll take that one and hopefully seal it with a promise that I will never try to take your memories again.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.” She followed Ca’yal across the room as he went to sit on the bed.
“Get rid of the tee,” Ly’zel told him. “In order to do this right, I’m going to have to cover his chest in a machine from my planet.” He looked at Ivy when he spoke. He walked across the room to get a machine that was sitting in a low cabinet.
The top part where he held it was solid with a handle. The sides had spiral wires sticking out making her think of the spider she just commented on. He placed it over Ca’yal’s chest. The moment he flicked a switch it came to life. The spiral wires acted like legs grabbing onto Ca’yal and then sinking deep into him.
Ca’yal gave a moan then bit his lips.
“What the hell?” Ly’zel held up his hand to her.
“This is the first step. It is not an easy test, but it is mandatory. We need to know if we are becoming something different. He’s fine. It won’t hurt him, too much.”
Ca’yal did appear to be fine. He was breathing a little faster. Ivy couldn’t be sure, his heart seemed to be racing, but nothing that would kill him. Finally, she nodded her head giving Ly’zel that go ahead. Why he even waited for her permission, confounded her.
“Now for the hard part. This is where you’re going to have to trust me. Once I start the process, I can’t stop it. He will die if you try to abort it. He needs the answers more than anyone else.”
“Trust him. I trust him with my life,” Ca’yal told her before his eyes closed.
“Ca’yal says to trust you. What comes next?”
Ly’zel drew in a deep breath and his eyes turned red. Fire began to consume his body before it all coalesced into his hands. Fire shot from his fingertips to surround Ca’yal.
Ivy screamed and knocked into him. Ly’zel caught her by the waist and pulled her away from the bed. “What part of the process can’t be stopped didn’t you understand?” He yelled at her.
“He’s on fire,” she yelled back.
“And yet magically he’s not burning!”
Her mouth ran away with her saying something sarcastic even as her brain fought to acknowledge that what he said was the truth. Ca’yal’s body was consumed in fire but it wasn’t being consumed.
“How?” she stuttered, unsure if she could get any more out.
“Your hell is supposed to be a fiery place. Fire is our natural element. It’s the one thing we don’t worry about hurting us. In order for me to know what is happening to Ca’yal and to make sure it’s not a fluke or an alien disease – which I highly doubt – I need to purge his body with fire. I am basically taking him back to what he is.”
“You’re so matter of fact about it.”
“It’s who we are.”
“How long?” Ly’zel walked over to him and began reading the monitors above his head.
“Not much longer. He was purged three weeks ago. That means he hasn’t had much time to build up resistance against foreign substances attacking him.” He stopped and picked up a new instrument to judge him with. “I would like to do an exam on you as well.”
“Hell no, I am not a hell hound and fire will definitely kill me.”
“That would be sad.”
She rolled her eyes at him while giving him her version of a growl.
“I guess that means no purging for you. I’m sure I can conduct an exam in a way not to interfere with your humanness.” The look he gave her hinted that she might not want to push him.
Great how come the hot one has a brother I want to punch? She sighed, not everyone liked their in-laws. Then she choked, she wasn’t getting married!
“He’s finished.”
She turned to look at Ca’yal. The fire was burning itself out leaving him looking even better than before he laid down.
“He looks better.”
“Being engulfed in our natural element helps him, not only physically, but mentally as well.
She had a lot to learn about their species. Right now, she wanted to understand why he was glowing. The spot on his chest was glowing brightly as if whatever darkness shrouded it in the past was burned away by the fire he endured.
“Ca’yal?” Her voice trembled just a little. She didn’t want to show weakness, but the truth was he was the only person here she had an even passing relationship with.
“I’m not sure I would have the courage to say your name after I watched fire take over your body and then you lived.” His voice was weak and shaky. Being submerged in fire had an effect on him.
“Are you ready to sit up?” Ly’zel asked him.
“Yeah.” Ly’zel helped him sit up until he could turn around and dangle his legs off the side of the bed.
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
He lifted his eyes to meet hers a look of guilt spreading over his face. “I never meant to…”
She waved his words away. Not because she didn’t want to hear them. It was because she was being an ass and she knew it. Without him, she’d be dead, but it was more than that. He pulled at her, the way she always dreamed.
Dreams were silly things not meant to be examined too closely in the light of day. Still here she was with a brand-new world in front of her. She could afford to be a bit magnanimous.
“I’m probably not as terrified as I look.” She gave an all over body shake to make her point. The three of them broke out in laughter easing the tension. “So, your brother was about to tell us why you're doing the E. T phone home thing with the light on your chest.”
“I can’t decide if I’ve just been insulted or called cute, which is another insult.”
“She insulted you, man. Sounded like she called you a little extra-terrestrial.”
“There’s nothing little about me, but she hasn’t had time to learn that.”
“Eww really! It doesn’t matter the planet!” She averted her eyes like she was disgusted and tried to discreetly wipe her mouth. Just how big was he? Inquiring minds wanted to know.
“I leave you alone for a while and I come into this?” Me’akal said as he strode into the room.
Ivy noticed that both Ca’yal and Ly’zel pulled themselves together at the sound of his voice.
“He just came out of the purifying fire. The computer is pulling the data together for me.” Ly’zel turned back to his monitors.
“I hope seeing Ca’yal consumed by fire wasn’t too much for you.”
Ivy threw him a genuine smile. “Thanks, it was a bit much, but I adjusted.”
“I have the data and have come to a conclusion.” Ly’zel’s face was neutral. He took a deep breath then met Me’akal’s eyes. “It’s real, she activated his flame.”
The startled sound that both Me’akal and Ca’yal let out made her want to take a step back. She held her place. “Is that bad? Is he dying?”
“No.” Ca’yal stood up and reached for her. “You did something we never thought would be possible after we gave up our planet.”
Chapter Eight
Three sets of eyes were trained on her. Her highly defined sense of fight or flight was urging her to flight. Ca’yal stepped forward reaching his hand out.
“Why don’t we get out of here?”
That was the right thing to say. Without thinking about it she stepped forward and wrapped her fingers around him. He called a portal which only made him a hero in her book. They stepped through together coming out on the other side on the sidewalk. The only thing that didn’t make sense was the dark.
“Hell Hound Central can mess with your sense of time.”
She looked at him with a lifted brow. Nothing was making sense.
“We call our house Hell Hound Central.”
“Aww.” It was kind of cute but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Because we’re hell hounds the timeline seems to work a little different, but not always. An hour can happen in minutes. Minutes can take an hour. Meaning that we spent the day in there although it only felt like three or four hours.”
“That must be hell when you’re making plans,” she laughed mainly because she was finally breathing freely.
“At times, yeah, but we manage.”
“Is this where you tell me what’s happening and then I get to go home and live a happy normal life?” The frown on his face made her shiver. He seemed to be filled with regret and joy at the same time.
“No, this is where I show you how selfish I am and fuck up your life.”
“It’s been a few months since that happened. I hope you plan to feed me first.” She deserved a good meal when the guy in her life was about to screw her over.
He led her to the car since he was still holding her hand. She took her time to think about how warm his hand was. The warmth was comforting, he wasn’t sweating, but it felt like his internal temperature was higher than hers. Duh. Not that it mattered she was always cold. Once she was settled in the car, he made sure she was warm enough before taking off.
“Tell me a little about yourself?” Ca’yal’s deep voice gave her a sense of peace. His scent was the sea along with a dash of the forest. The smell had been subtle when she first met him. The longer she was in his presence the stronger it got. He was also getting harder to resist. She wanted to touch him to reaffirm that he was real, and she wasn’t losing her mind.
“There’s not much to tell. I have a sister, a twin, but not identical.”
“Does she get in as much trouble as you?”
“Hey, I resent that. I don’t get into trouble.”
“Says the woman who has the nicest vampire around trying to kill her.”
“Is that why you’re keeping him in jail?”
“No. We want to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.”
“Excuse me? I’m more worried about him hurting me. You know that whole ‘I want to suck your blood’ thing.”
“That’s the problem. Hal has never sucked anyone’s blood. I think he would die if he had to. That’s not a problem in this town. We keep blood on hand because we know a large portion of our population are hemophiliacs and need to have blood on hand.”
“You care about the people here who are sups. Do you care about humans as much?”
“Every sup here is a product of a human. So yeah, we care about them all.”
“That’s nice.” She wanted to be cared about like that and more intimately. She had her parents and her sister, that wasn’t the problem. The problem came when she looked for a man willing to love her the way she wanted to love someone in return. It felt like she spent her whole life looking for that elusive someone.
That was crazy of course, she’d been too busy living her life believing the right one would just show up. After having several duds show up instead, she no longer believed that.
“Could you do me a favor and tell me the truth?” He wasn’t lying or even hiding something, but he was beating around the bush.
“Yeah.” He pulled into a parking space in front of a nice steak house. Once they got inside and ordered their drinks, he took a big breath. “You already know someone is trying to kill you. There was the note on your door as well as Hal trying to hurt you. To be honest, I believe he only wanted to scare you into leaving. Why? I’m not sure if we know the answer to that.”
They smiled when the waiter came back with their drinks. She wasn’t a big drinker but the large kiwi strawberry daiquiri was making her smile. Liquid courage was perfect right about now. They placed their order and waited until they were alone.
“This,” he placed his hand over the light that was still coming from the black tee he was wearing. She had forgotten it was there in the rush of all she was feeling. “On our planet, this was our salvation or our downfall. We longed for it but hated it at the same time.”
“What does it mean?”
“It’s our flame or the other half of our soul. Hell hounds are born with half a soul. It allows us to become some of the cruelest aliens in the galaxy. Hence the things I told you earlier. When we find the other half of our soul, our fate is sealed one way or the other.”
Nothing about that was giving her a good feeling. Her urge to flee was back, but she’d already done that. She ran when her life with her ex blew up in her face unable to handle the fallout. Yeah, she wasn’t exactly happy about how she handled it. This time though she was done running. Which was funny since she had only known this male about two days.
“What does that mean?” Her voice was soft. Not because she didn’t want anyone to hear, but because he looked like he needed gentle in his life.
“It means I found my mate, my other half. She could be like me, with no conscious or she could be like you, with a heart and soul filled with goodness.”
“Which one is she?” There was no sense cussing or wishing it could have been her. She was used to being on the wrong side of being the right woman.
