This Is Where I Want To Be

194. A Life For A Life

Caleb

Michael didn’t give Iku any time to decide whether he would want to go look for his wife. He left us standing there with all the chests at our feet. Selena hunkered down at the one closest to her and opened it.

“Where is he going? I have not agreed.” Iku said, coming out of the tent after he heard the familiar “bamf” sound.

“He’s gambling,” I said.

“Gambling?”

I crouched down and opened the chest in front of me. “There is a lot inside. Scrolls, books, tubes. Yours?” Selena didn’t answer. I picked up a tiny wooden box and opened it. There was only one black tube in there. I picked it up and flung it through the air. A man was explaining how the teleporters worked. How to harness the ability and implement it. How to stop it. I glanced down into the chest. The container or device the man used on the screen was packed in the corner of the box, together with more technical parts to, I guessed, build your own hub.

I glanced at Selena. She had not moved since opening hers. Iku was nervous, pacing, and not attending to what we were doing. I walked over to see what had caught Selena’s attention. Her chest was filled with stones. Different colors, shapes, and sizes. I picked one up, “You want to tell me each one has a supernatural ability?”

“You want to tell me Ahasuerus went to so many planets?”

“What do you mean?”

Selena stood up. “I think each planet just has one.”

“How did you come to that conclusion.”

“Just a theory.”

I opened the next chest. It was stacked with so many plates I couldn’t even count them. “These are all flat.”

Michael appeared behind us. He walked past me, paused as he looked down into Selena’s open chest, made eye contact with her, and shook his head. He abruptly shut it and started traveling the chests out one by one, not stopping and not asking. That took a while, and I was the first to go. I heard the choppers in the distance as he placed me down outside the mountain. Michael made the last two trips, and a second chopper appeared. Iku covered his eyes. The helicopter landed, and Jessy and his men jumped out. They picked up the chests and carried them into the cargo hold.

“It’s time you go home, Caleb,” Michael said. I shook my head and stepped back. I wanted to stay. Michael gestured with his hand for Jessy to take off. As soon as they were in the air and far enough off the ground, Michael left me speechless next to Jessy. Jessy patted my shoulder. “I’m not going. You don’t see me complaining. You have all this to keep yourself busy with.”

“Where are we going?”

“You are supposed to go to your Aunt. Set up a proper base or station near the village. Get the schoolroom, library, whatever ready to go through all this.”

“And?”

“You have to negotiate with Charlene to allow it. Kubra wants to know where he will live. And lastly, we need somewhere to crash. We need to know if they will have enough space if we pitch up.”

“You mean Lyla. They haven’t found her.”

“No… Marcus is preparing for the worst.”

***

Charlene came running out of one of the houses, waving at us with both hands high in the air. All the villagers had heard the strange noises and were making their way out of their homes. They stood staring at the flying machine. I felt like that once, touching and feeling anything I could. Earth had a lot that the other worlds didn’t. We didn’t land too near, waiting for the blades to stop whirring and the sand to settle.

Charlene had a big smile on her face. “Boy, I’m glad to see you.” She threw her arms around me. “I still don’t know what’s going on or when I will see you again.”

“There is a lot we need to discuss.”

“Come. We can go to my parent’s home.” Romero said, staring at the helicopter. “If we had one of those… Our mating ritual would not be necessary.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Charlene asked.

“Fun? You were not happy when we had to take the trip.”

“I am now.” Romero pulled her in under his arm.

“Where did you come from?” Romero asked. I liked him, and I liked their race. They were kind and generous and didn’t have many hang-ups.

“Iku.”

“That far. In one trip.” Romero was amazed and took another look at the helicopter.

Jessy jogged over. “Sorry, we came so unannounced. We didn’t have time to call ahead.” Charlene laughed. “We have a delivery for… Uhh, I don’t know your new last name.” He looked at Charlene.

“I’m probably staying “Grant” for some time. They don’t have last names here.”

“How do they know who’s who? Oh, wait, the tattoos on your asses. What do you have to strip whenever you need to buy something expensive.”

Romero chuckled. “We do have identification.”

“First things first. We need a spot outside the village where we can connect. Set up a teleporter station close to Charlene. The one in your common room isn’t working well, and we need permission.”

Charlene and Romero met each other eyes. Jessy continued, “Juliet was… engaged… busy when all this happened. So it’s not that she’s taking over. It’s rather….”

“Kubra?” Charlene smiled.

Jessy nodded.

“Well then? You ready to bring all my stuff to your place?” She paused, “And all my people?”

Romero laughed and nodded. “Make it a little further than you landed… Here, let me go with you. I will show you some rocky parts that might be better suited.”

Charlene held out her hand, and I placed mine in hers. “Come. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Kubra says he wants a house. And we need to know if you have a guest house for emergencies or visits... I’m not entirely sure. But a lot of people. And if we can use your library for the chests.”

Charlene beamed at my ramblings. “I don’t think there will be enough space for everyone. We will have to ask if we can build some more houses.” Charlene shook her head.

“What?”

“I didn’t know if I would ever be able to repay Louis for his hospitality. Guess I will.”

***

Michael

Iku was waiting for me after I dropped Caleb off. The chopper didn’t even have to land. I opened my arm. Iku cautiously stepped forward. We were flying out over the horizon, making good time. He held onto the seats for a long time, nervously peering down at the water. I handed him a headset and pushed mine down over my ears. He copied me, and I started talking. “It’s not to say that we will find her today. But we can at least start looking. How far did you get with that ship you built.”

“You saw and felt those waves. Nothing survived. Not even on the days where it was less volatile out there.”

I relaxed back in my seat, staring out over the blue water. How would it feel not to see Juliet for thousands of years? I was determined to make the thousand we had the best I could. After that, I could take over the universe if I still wanted to. I glanced at the men in the chopper. They were the best of the best between the vamps and watchers. The men from Earth were gruff and tatted. Beards and boots. The vamps were dressed differently in their military uniform made from strange material and shoes that looked like they could break at any moment. It was weird how far we had come already by joining forces.

A pop on the headset made me look to my other side. Of course, the one woman there was as steady as a bullet. Used to all of the excitement. Selena was chewing gum, blowing bubbles, and resting her elbows on her knees. She didn’t notice my eyes on her. Selena was deep in thought. It was scary how much she was like Juliet. If it wasn’t for the eyes. Behind Selena’s eyes was a softness behind Juliet’s daggers. I relaxed back in the seat, wondering how those previous Ittoqure had found a place to banish Iku’s wife to. How did they not take over Zoreah? I hoped again that it wasn’t a trap. Iku could have lied. Maybe there was a continent filled with giant shadows, and Iku was sent into exile, using us to return to his people.

It was hours before we saw the first sign of land. Iku patted me on my knee. I turned and saw an island stretching out into the distance. Romero had no way to get to other continents. In some ways, they were still primitive. If it wasn’t for all the supernatural elements, they would be as behind as Fahan and his goons. Juliet was busy behind the scenes to see if the flying tech could be utilized on unanimated objects. If Romero could use it with those balls. They could go anywhere.

As we approached the island, we saw a giant fog-like barrier covering the land. The beach disappeared abruptly into a thick purple and blue cloud. It covered almost every part of the place. I sat forward to get a better look. The enormous waves were crashing onto the beach in abrupt thundering crashes. No… No ship would ever have made it. It was worse than the biggest swells in the North Seas. We wouldn’t have much of an area to land. “Find somewhere to put it down. Do not fly into that thing. There might be hovering islands in the sky. Or who knows what.”

The pilot didn’t say anything. He pulled the lever, and the helicopter veered to fly along the shore. “There doesn’t seem to be an end to it.” He commented a few minutes later. I stood up and hung up my earphones. Iku did the same, and the men geared up. The pilot glanced back at me. I made a few gestures in the air, and he nodded. The men scrambled and clicked their ropes into the hooks on the floor, checking gear and equipment. They would repel down, and we would go on by foot. I opened my arm. Iku didn’t hesitate, and we teleported to the beach. Selena landed next to me without problems. We looked up at the chopper as the men glided down the ropes. I turned around to talk to Iku. The shadow towered over me, his face fixed on the path ahead. He had time to heal that cut. I cursed under my breath. He rushed into the fog, not scared of what might be in there. Iku didn’t need to worry. He disappeared as he melded with the cloud.

The chopper hovered above us. “Test the coms.” We all did a check, and the pilot had a clear voice on the other end. “Scout as far as you can and go back to refuel.”

“Copy.”

I grabbed the hilt of my sword and slammed it on a rock. The red glow beamed out. The vamps and watchers readied themselves for whatever we might face in there. It was fun being on a recon mission for a change, searching for enemies in unknown territories. I just hoped we wouldn’t all die in the process. I took the first step towards the thick cloud. Selena stuck her hand in and waved it around. “What is it?” She asked. Iku’s cries echoed out in the distance. He was calling out to his wife. Or he was alerting the enemy. I guessed following his voice would be our best bet. It was already barely audible. We needed to get moving fast. I fell into a jog and kept my eyes on the ground. The terrain was rocky and sandy. Up and down. It would go much faster if I could teleport and follow Iku, but making it back alive was more important than speed. I could teleport forward and end up above a bottomless pit. Iku’s cries were almost out of our range. Selena did what I wanted, probably having the same fears as me. We could lose him altogether. She disappeared too. I cursed out loud.

“She will get herself killed.” One of the men said.

Selena wasn’t thinking straight. She was being reckless and didn’t wait for orders. It had to do with whatever she was thinking about on the helicopter. It had to be about Chris and what we had said to her in the cave. I couldn’t leave the men. I was fully geared up in my werewolf form, not taking chances. I needed to smell and hear everything. The vamps were manifested. They were not built scrawny like Marcus; they would be an asset if he trained them. If we had started giving men that concoction of Juliet, the war would have been over before it began. There just wasn’t enough time to do all we wanted to do or even what we had to do.

The first noise I heard was rustling. I lifted a fist beside my face and pointed my sword in that direction. The men raised their guns and changed their formation so we had eyes in every direction. The noises stopped and started again as we slowly kept moving toward Iku’s soft cries. There had not been any answer. I kept my ears open to whatever was following us. I signaled to the one vamp, and he released drones into the sky. He pressed some buttons on the band on his arm.

“The chopper found another island not far from here.” One of the watchers reported.

I nodded once. “Tell them to keep mapping.”

He relayed the message. Whatever was following stopped as the two of us spoke. The vamp threw a screen into the air. It was a beast. No, a massive monster. We all swallowed hard at the size of it. “Keep going in that direction. Use the drones if you need to… I’ll lead it away from us. Is that tracker working we planted on Iku?”

The man nodded, and I teleported out. I traveled slowly, small leaps at a time, circling my prey and memorizing the terrain as I moved. After I thought I had confused it enough and led it far away from the men, I appeared before the thing. It was ugly and didn’t smell good. My nose wrinkled in disgust. It followed fast as I ran on all fours through the thicket. I didn’t know how it knew where it was going. It was so dark that only sporadic slithers of light beamed through the trees. When I thought I had tired him out enough, I stopped and sized up the monster. I’ve never fought and killed anything that big before. I also didn’t have the time to get into a brawl with the thing. I cut it with my sword to see what would happen. It stung, and the beast growled. His mouth opened as he stood up on his back legs. He had the mouth of a bear and small eyes. Giant horns grew out where our ears would be. Those made it impossible to get to its face. It was furry and light grey in color. I didn’t see anything wrong with using Juliet’s tactics on the thing, cutting its arms and legs in the right places to make it impossible to follow us. Selena was in the back of my mind. The woman was just as unpredictable as Juliet. Didn’t want to listen to anyone anymore. After a few cuts, the beast was unable to move. I quickly left. I needed to get back to the men. There was no sign of them, nor could I hear anything. They had made good time. I started traveling in the direction they would have gone. I couldn’t hear anything from Iku anymore. I returned to human and tried my comms.

“Where are you?”

“Two clicks north.” The soldier's voice was low. “Selena came back and said that Iku found something. She said it’s safe to travel and not far.”

I didn’t want to think about the possibility that his wife was dead. If we didn’t find her. Juliet would still have to fight him. I caught up, seeing an end to the endless thick cloud of fog. The men stood on the peak of a steep hill, looking up into the sky. There were floating islands, a lot. They made shadows on the valley below. Above the islands, high in the sky, their star shone brightly. We were out of the forest, a completely different terrain. Although the ground was rocky and not green, some waterways flowed between buildings on the ground. It was the total opposite of where we came from. It also felt strangely familiar, another village that was protected. Iku didn’t lie. We were all taking in the giant castle on the most significant island. No Selena and no Iku. “I’m going up there. It must be where Selena had gone. Set up a base and make sure those drones find anything that moves. We need to find his wife.” I sheathed my sword and manifested into a Riphath. “You two scout the terrain. I don’t want anyone sitting and doing nothing. Do not let the locals see you.” I traveled up to the entrance of what seemed like a palace. It reminded me of Brylee’s home she created. It had a feminine touch to it. Every dark stone was in its medieval place. There were no guards, and the door stood open. Hesitantly, I ventured inside. There were no lights and few windows. I manifested into a werewolf, clearing every possible room I came across. I heard voices. It was Iku. Either every person there would be able to turn into a giant shadow, or it was more Dheka that Romero didn’t even know he ruled.

I followed the rumbling of his shadow voice. Iku was talking to someone. I didn’t understand a word. The next voice was a woman’s, but not Selena’s. I came back to human and glanced around the doorway. Iku had a woman in his arms. Relief washed over me. The shadow dropped Iku and rushed me. He hollered into the sky to get her to stop. She listened instantly and floated close to me, taking in my face. I guessed she relaxed and transformed into a human. She was beautiful, with voluptuous round curves in all the right places. Didn’t look a day older than forty, and her clothes barely covered the essential parts.

“Tell me this is your wife.”

“It is.”

She said something to Iku, but he didn’t care and twirled her around and into his arms, kissing her. They talked for some time, gazing deep into each other’s eyes.

“Did Selena follow you?”

Iku shook his head.

“I’m going to leave you two alone for a while. We are just outside the settlement. Let me know what you want to do.”

He wasn’t listening. I shook my head.

“Oh, Michael. Don’t let her see what you are. Don’t let anyone see what you are.”

I didn’t like his tone. “Are you going to tell me if they are Dheka down there? Or did you lie?”

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I do not need to lie. My wife was doing what I was. They are Dheka, stranded here. From the war your kind caused.”

I bobbed my head and turned to leave. I needed to find the tall blond. It would be a waste to scout the palace further if she wasn’t even there. I traveled back to base camp. Two men were seated on the ground, following every drone and its actions. “Have you seen Selena on that thing?”

“No, Sir.”

“Change their targets to Riphaths and find her. She must be somewhere. I’m going back to where we landed to see if I can find anything.” Selena was frustrating me. I didn’t want to stay there longer than necessary. Juliet was waiting. Louis needed me, and I still didn’t know what had happened with Chris. Selena wasn’t at the beach, and it was high tide. The sand was gone. I shuddered at the thought of being back in the water. It was already at my knees. The waves were almost touching the foggy cloud. I listened to the men talking on the coms. The ones that had scouted grouped up at the base with no good news. The helicopter had to go back, and we were stranded.

“I think we found her… She is in the palace.” I tilted my head and looked back. Iku had lied, or he didn’t know she was there. I closed my eyes briefly, wishing I could be anywhere but there, thinking about Juliet and seeing her for just a second. I thought about the palace and had to make a choice. Juliet had flipped a switch in my mind. The moment she killed Stevie out of jealousy, she stilled the storm raging in my veins. She loved me. Marked her territory, and nothing was standing between us. She loved us all differently, but love us, she did. I wasn’t last in her heart… It was a fragile, thin line. After getting the chests, I felt better. As if I had purpose again. Iku was right. I had too much power to exercise and not enough outlet. Maiming the beast in the fog and leaving it to die made me feel better; nevertheless, all I could think about was my cock twitching against my pants. It wasn’t just the energy… I needed to have sex, and soon. I teleported to the palace to try and get myself under control. I would hop from planet to planet for an hour before I had her. No point in going to her… into her like that. I needed to think and make it memorable. It couldn’t be like always. We getting each other off and going on with our complicated lives. Juliet and I needed… time. Alone time. I smiled. Juliet had freaked out when Selena only hit me on the shoulder. She wouldn’t kill the blond for Chris, but for me… maybe. Why didn’t she kill Selena?

“Where in the palace. Do you have my location?”

The drone whirred past me in rapid movements and disappeared into the building. “We have the palace mapped. There are only three bodies, and Selena is on the east side. The other two are in the west wing.”

What was the woman doing? I would have to walk around human to find her. The palace was grand in its simplicity. Nothing was made from material anywhere. No curtains or wood for windows or pillars. No plants, carpets, or ornaments. They really were stranded out there.

“You’re going in the right direction.” The voice was low in my ear.

I had to climb some stairs. It was the only way forward. I heard scuffling on the ground. It was weird. I had a funny feeling in my bones as I rounded another corner. Selena’s eyes were glossed over, and she stood in her human monster form. Her head snapped around. Selena wasn’t there, and I didn’t have a tube to control her. I had not seen her when she was like that without the plate. She grew to her Riphath form, and the mouth on her was vicious and snarling. Drool dripped down her snout. Her nose pulled tight around her cheekbones and up into her ears. Where her ears would normally droop, they stood erect. “Selena…” Maybe I didn’t have to go planet hopping after all. I would have the fight I had been longing for. Fighting for Juliet wasn’t an option anymore. If I was submitted under her… it meant I was under Louis. And his rules were law. No more taking her and disappearing. All my emotions of the last few months were catching up on me. Unprocessed thoughts and feelings. Need and hunger.

Selena pounced forward, and I met her with my Riphath form. I was a head or two taller than her. I was fully grown but needed to spend time with Silvanus to teach me all he taught Chris. After that, it would be Marcus and me. I needed to catch up. I was also not letting anyone get in the first shot anymore. Selena was faster than I expected. Our teleportation was equal around each other. Lightning reflexes and her strength matched mine with every blow. She was better trained than I was. Chris had to have spent time on her, teaching her everything he could. Why did Juliet not kill her? Before the branding, Juliet wasn’t jealous of me at all. After… it could have changed both of us. All that Chris and Juliet needed was a branding. To solidify what they had even more. If Chris needed to brand someone. It was Juliet, not Selena. My vampire side was repelled at the idea as I manifested in and out of my different forms. Sharing Juliet and adding a fourth to our bonding process was unthinkable.

Selena didn’t have the stamina that I had. It was my one advantage over everyone. I could fight three times longer and pull all my abilities together. It was a lot to keep track of. I needed Louis to help me in that regard. I would need everyone’s help to be the best Juliet could have. After some time, Selena stood back and shook her head. I knew she was coming out of it. I wiped my nose with my arm, and blood smeared over the sleeve of my shirt. She faltered as her eyes turned back to normal. As soon as they did, she dropped down on her knees, sitting to the side, sobbing. I didn’t know what to do. I was still catching my breath. My vampire hate wanted to kill her and get it over with.

I had not seen Iku and his wife in the doorway but felt the large shadow hand closing around my throat. Iku’s wife whispered low and menacing at my ear. Nothing I understood but imagined the threats she was issuing for my kind. Not only did we wipe out races, but we banished her to a place she could never leave from. Iku tried to reason with her. Or so I hoped. Her hold tightened. I pushed my hand into my jacket and ejected the red knife into the air, slicing over the shadow fingers over my throat. The shadow crumpled into the woman I saw earlier. Her face contorted up at me, blood dripping from her fingers.

“She says you fight without any honor. But that she could expect nothing less from someone like you.”

It did sting. I knew deep down that hunger that could go bad.

Iku approached us and took her hand in his, inspecting the cut I had made. While Iku tore at the seam of his robe and bound her fingers together, they kept saying things I couldn’t understand. Iku’s wife’s voice was raised, and anger came through the tone in her voice. Selena had not stopped crying. Iku met my eye, and we shook our heads with the emotions we had to deal with. “What did you do to her?” He asked.

I glanced back at Selena, sobbing. “Nothing.”

“I mean… Why was Selena like that? I have not seen that before.”

“On Earth, a mad scientist once wanted revenge and created a formula to cross-breed species.” I chuckled.

Iku’s eyes narrowed. “If the man only had one of us to work with. He wouldn’t have needed to do that. To anyone.”

I shrugged and ran a frustrated thumb over my brow. “Give me a minute to find out what’s going on.”

“Is it about Jessy?” Selena’s sobs became more violent. Seemed it did have to do with Jessy. “She was not this emotional when we spoke last time.” I gathered my wits about me and placed a hand on her shoulder. Iku had picked up his wife and carried her out of the room.

“What happened? Did you and Jessy fight?”

Selena shook her head and controlled her breathing. I dug into one of my pants pockets and pulled out the only thing I could think of. She grabbed the material out of my hand and blew her nose. “I can’t remember when I last shed a tear… I was probably still a child… On Zoreah, I never needed to cry. I can’t take all the emotions. Every time Chris cried, I was there and couldn’t understand what was wrong with him.”

“You’re strong, Selena. This will be one of those things you will learn to control and master. Like we all have to.”

“I remember everything….”

I didn’t know what she was talking about. “What’s going on? Remember what?”

“Chris and I… I remember everything. I followed Iku into the palace and lost him coming through the door. I must have gone the wrong way. As soon as I stepped into this room, I had these flashes of what happened on Palmyra. Chris said he wished he could go back… I didn’t understand what he meant. But now I do.” She cried loudly into the air.

“You’re not making sense.”

“Chris and I almost kissed. He… would have left her… for me.” More sobs. “If I had… just kissed him and not asked about... Jessy!” More sobs.

“He what?!”

“He said if we kissed, there was no turning back. It was over between them… And then he asked me… What about Jessy? and I… I messed up.” More sobs. “I pulled away. I ruined the only chance I had with him.”

It was a lot of information to wrap my mind around. Chris went back in freaking time because he would’ve left Juliet. The look of utter dismay on Chris’s face made sense. Selena was silently weepy. I thought about comforting her but couldn’t. If Juliet found out. She already had enough on her plate. There was the baby to think about. I crouched down next to her. “Selena. He was never yours… The fact that you did pull away may be for the best. You’re experiencing extreme emotions. You were never meant to deal with any of this... Ira might not have been so wrong?” She laughed lightly. “And Caleb was right. Throwing it all away for what? A maybe?”

She sobered. “Your right… And that stuff I took.”

I nodded. “You should have seen Juliet when she was pregnant and on that stuff.” It dawned on me. She was pregnant and on that stuff. When would Juliet flip out? When would I flip out again? Did I have myself under control?

Selena shuddered. “Worse than this?” I widened my eyes, thinking about how wacky Juliet had been. I nodded. Selena finally wiped off the tears and got up. “So what happens now with Iku?”

“I don’t know! He didn’t talk to Yazen before we came… So I don’t know what will happen to them. Or if there are any others left like them. How much of the planet could Romero really have covered?”

“We could leave Iku here.”

My eyebrow shot up. It was a good idea. Just disappear. “No. What about the Dheka on the mainland. While his wife is still without her abilities. I think it best we go and reason with her before she kills me.”

“And Charlene,” Selena commented. She didn’t know that she hit the nail on the head. It would be war all over if Iku and his wife attacked Romero and his family.

Selena and I made our way through the palace to find them. They were nowhere to be seen. I tried my comms. No one answered the call.