 
Soul(s)

a novel by

VERA WEST
©iStock.com/Dymtro

Copyright 2013 Vera West

Published by Vera West at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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TITLE

DEDICATION

QUOTE BY LANGSTON HUGES

PROLOGUE

PART ONE: SECOND-PLANE

01: SARIAH

02: KEEGAN

03: SARIAH

04: KEEGAN

05: SARIAH

06: KEEGAN

07: SARIAH

08: KEEGAN

09: SARIAH

10: KEEGAN

11: SARIAH

12: KEEGAN

13: SARIAH

14: KEEGAN

15: SARIAH

16: KEEGAN

17: SARIAH

18: KEEGAN

19: SARIAH

PART TWO: FIRST-PLANE

20: KEEGAN

21: SARIAH

22: KEEGAN

23: SARIAH

24: KEEGAN

25: SARIAH

26: KEEGAN

27: SARIAH

28: KEEGAN

29: SARIAH

30: KEEGAN

31: SARIAH

32: KEEGAN

33: SARIAH

34: KEEGAN

35: SARIAH

36: KEEGAN

37: SARIAH

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT

VENKU(S) SAMPLE
For myself and my own soul mate.
I will take you heart.

I will take your soul out of your body

as though I were God.

I will not be satisfied

with the touch of your hand

nor the sweet of your lips alone.

I will take your heart for mine.

I will take your soul.

I will be God when it comes to you.

To Artina,

By Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

PROLOGUE:

The air was damp; I breathed it in raggedly as my feet hit the cold pavement in a fierce rhythm. I'd lost my flats somewhere back down the road, but I was glad. I was faster barefoot. I could feel it, I had a chance. If only I could get far enough ahead of them. I was so close. The door to the apartment lobby was right there, but everything slowed.

My body crashed into the door. I looked at my hands—dripping crimson. I reached towards the buttons but I couldn't push any of them. My hands kept sliding. My legs slumped beneath me and blood smeared against the door frame. My heart ticked like a clock, as life slipped out of my body like pouring sand. Wouldn't anyone see me? Wouldn't anyone help me?

My legs unfolded beneath me as I fell. My head skidded down the pavement, bumping to the beat of my dragger's stride as I was pulled away. My gaze caboosed behind me, and I could see the red smudges of my blood sparkling like liquid rubies on the door.

My vision became shadowed out by a figure, leaning over me, reaching down, grabbing me by the neck, squeezing so tightly my mouth reflexed open. My body tensed and, I swear, I fought against giving up, but I wasn't strong anymore and will alone isn't enough to live. I wondered _what_ I'll miss rather than _who_ would miss me.
PART ONE: SECOND-PLANE

01: SARIAH

My body jerked alive, my eyes shot open and my hands slapped hard against my thighs as I sat up. The first thing I noticed was being naked. The second was that it didn't bother me. At least, not in a shamed kind of way—I was a little bit cold, though.

Cement against my feet. Red, wet, numbered buttons of an apartment door buzzer. Fear.

Images flood back to me, just fragments of concepts that I couldn't categorize or order. I felt disoriented and confused, like I was on the cusp of remembering a dream I'd just had.

I wasn't alone in the dark. I felt it, but I couldn't see it. My senses were different. I could feel energy; seeing without seeing. I focused: there was something dark and hungry lurking near—actually a _few somethings_. I was afraid.

I turned my head from side to side, trying to get more than just this sixth sense of my surroundings, but I still couldn't see them. Desperate to know what's nearing me, I go back to focusing. It takes a moment, but then I can almost pinpoint each one. There are four, maybe five. They're waiting as they prowl around me.

I looked forward and up and my eyes finally caught the glimpse of a shadow. I strained and could just barely make out an elevated ridge through the dark. There was something on it. I concentrated, trying to see what it was, and somehow I connected to it. I saw myself through its eyes, sitting there on the ground with the others circling my physical body. I begin to feel its thoughts.

_Not yet,_ it beckoned to them, _not yet._ _This one is different. This one might be too strong._

But its minions weren't willing to listen.

Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now.

They were too young and too hungry. She couldn't reason with them because they weren't as logical or smart as she was. They must be from a lower cast of being.

_If you disobey_ , she warned them, _I will not save you._

I clicked back into my own mind. There wasn't much time, they were ready to devour me. I knew I should brace myself for their attack, but I was so overwhelmed by my new awareness, I couldn't move. I just sat here. I was able to feel so much that I couldn't just feel one thing at a time. I couldn't bring myself to tune them all out so I can tune myself in.

I breathe in deep, steadying myself, trying to control my new power, but then I felt something else. Something new, something stronger than any of them, was coming and it's headed right to me.

02: KEEGAN

In every moment, when I feel I can't run any faster, my body keeps accelerating. I have to get to her. That's all I know. I don't know where I am, or who I am, or even why she is so important to me. But I have to get to her.

I haven't been running long, or at least through my own conception of time I haven't been. It's dark, but I can see everything. I see her about a half mile ahead of me and _them_ looming around her. They're like these twisted versions of humans. They are crouching low, prowling, overcome by their own desire to feed. Their mouths drip in anticipation. Their bodies are ridged with excitement. Another second and they'll pounce. I won't let them have her.

My senses heighten and I can analyze the beasts' movements before they finish their motions.

I grab some natural debris from the ground as I move and throw it at the first beast that's about to strike. It hits him with such force that it impales him through the middle. He spirals back, snarling loudly as he falls. The sound is a mix of pain and surprise. They didn't know I was coming, but they know I'm here now.

Even so, I'm faster than they are, and I'm in front of her before the next one attacks. I don't have any weapons. The only thing I can think to do is shield her with my body.

Our eyes lock and there's an instant recognition. Even in all this chaos, something stirs within me. Her eyes flit to my right, looking behind me. I look over my shoulder in time to see another beast lunging, but it stops only a foot or so from us and then its body crinkles as if simultaneously many bones have been broken. It wails as it slumps and then a ball of light floats out of its carcass.

That energy escaping its body causes the remaining two monsters to slink away. I look further behind us and see a larger figure standing on a ridge. It raises its hand and the energy ball from the fallen beast zips to it. There's a flash before it absorbs it into its being, and then it too turns and leaves. We've won, for now.

I turn back to the woman.

"Are you all right?" I ask.

I instinctively reach out to touch her, trailing just my thumb lightly down the side of her cheek. That small touch of affection sends energy through my whole body. I'm startled by my reaction and suddenly aware for the first time that we're both naked.

"Thank you," she says to me.

I can see her blush and feel her body's response. She's just as overwhelmed as I am by our intense physical connection. I let my hand fall away from her and face back to my thigh.

"I'm Keegan," I tell her.

"Sariah," she responds back, smiling, and I implode. "Do you know where we are?"

"No, but I can see a building a few yards off. Let's go there," I tell her.

"How can you see in this dark?" Sariah asks next.

"I'm not sure, but I bet it's connected to how you were able to kill that _thing_ without touching it."

She brought her knees to her chest and covered her face with her palms. "I could feel its pain when I did that," she whispered.

"It was right, even if it didn't feel like it. Here," I said, offering my hand to her, "let me help you up."

03: SARIAH

Keegan was holding his hand out to me. I was hesitant to take it. The way my body reacted to him was frightening, and all he'd done was lightly touch the side of my face. I knew I wasn't ready for more physical contact. I looked up at him, and when our eyes meet I see his confidence give way to another emotion I can't quite pinpoint. Maybe he is just as thrown by our connection as I am.

"I'm fine," I told him, getting up easily. I actually wasn't hurt. I expected him to look offended by me not taking his hand, but he just shrugged.

"The building is up ahead. We can make it there in no time if we jog."

I remembered how he'd appeared in a blur between me and those _things_.

"I don't think I can move as fast as you do."

"Yeah," he responded, his cheeks tugging into a full smile. "I don't think I can run that fast again for awhile. We're not that far from that structure; we don't have to jog--we could walk. I just don't want more of those beasts to come back."

"I got a glimpse of their leader on the ridge. They were horrified of us. They're afraid of how strong we are," I explained.

"I thought you couldn't see in the dark?" Keegan questioned.

"I can't, but somehow I could feel each one of them. It was almost like seeing. I connected with the leader and understood some of her thoughts. She didn't want the beasts to attack us, but they became impulsive and uncontrollable. They were so hungry."

We had fallen easily into a comfortable walking pace. I felt surprisingly relaxed. My own attitude was weirding me out--shouldn't I be nervous or anxious? We had just been attacked, but then we had also defended each other easily. I was ironically calm and at ease. As mushy as it sounds, I felt like, _together we were safe._

"I feel like we're safe together too," Keegan said, looking at me as we moved through the night.

His words sent a chill down my spine. Was he in my head like I was with those animals that were hunting us?

_Can you hear me too?_ Keegan's voice hummed in my mind.

_Why are we so connected?_ I thought back.

_I don't know_ , Keegan thought to me _, but we should keep it to ourselves. Being able to communicate without people knowing is definitely an advantage_.

I nodded. He was right. We'd made an unspoken pact when we'd defended each other from those beasts. It was always like that. In trauma, bonds are made. Ours just felt unnaturally strong. There was a part of me that wanted to resist forming any kind of connection. Lyrics flashed in my mind from a song: _everyone I know goes away in the end._ I remembered those haunting images of the blood shining like rubies and I shivered. I didn't want to be alone again. I might not trust anyone else, but I was willing to risk trusting Keegan.

I blushed. Had he been listening to all of that? Keegan looked like he'd been having some inner monologues of his own. I didn't want him to know that I was thinking about him as much as I was. I wanted there to be some privacy.

"Were you listening to my thoughts?" I asked nervously.

"No. I can't hear your thoughts if you're not talking to me—or thinking to me, I guess I should say. I bet you could listen to my thoughts if you wanted to," Keegan went on. "You're probably strong enough to lock me out of your mind since you were able to get inside the heads of those monsters."

"It was like a reflex," I replied. "I don't know if I can do it again, at least not yet. It was intense when I did it. I couldn't focus on anything else because my senses were so overwhelmed with everything outside of myself."

"Why are we like this? I don't think I was like this before." Keegan looked troubled as he said it.

"Do you remember before?" I asked excitedly. I wondered if Keegan was as confused about what he remembered as I was.

"No. Not yet, at least."

"I wonder if we will eventually remember," I said more to myself than to Keegan.

"Do you remember?" he asked me.

"Just images. They're vivid but too scattered for me to understand what I'm remembering."

"It's just up this way," Keegan said, his attention turning to the building a few yards ahead of us. He sprinted at a human pace to the entrance way.

The building was made from a smooth limestone and reminded me more of a classic temple than an official-looking business edifice. I wasn't sure how I knew, but I did.

Keegan had moved to the side of the building. There was some sort of scanner. It had a sunken imprint of a hand. He placed his hand on it and the doorway opened. He walked in, but before I could follow the doors shut swiftly behind him.

There was just a wall between us, but I couldn't stop my heart from fluttering at the idea of us being separated.

Keegan?

I'm here. Open it the same way I did. If that doesn't work, we'll figure something out.

I walked over to the door, but I was hesitant to touch it.

What if it doesn't open? Will they come back when they sense we're not together?

It won't come to that, Sariah.

I inhaled deeply, deciding I'd wait to panic until after the door didn't open.

I lined my fingers up to the imprint and moved them into the ridges. My hand tingled, and the door opened smoothly.

I ran inside to Keegan.

My first instinct was to hug him—relieved that the door had just simply opened—but I checked myself before our bodies touched again. Keegan smiled at me but didn't say anything.

We were in one large, open room. Around the walls were various shelves built in. Keegan and I went to opposite sides. Everything was uniform, with a clean design meant for functionality over beauty except for the circular area in the middle that was raised up like a podium.

"Clothes!" I heard Keegan say from behind me.

I had been drawn to a blue, round stone that was plum-sized. Keegan had gotten my attention before I'd touched it.

"Clothes?" I repeated, turning around.

"We're naked," Keegan said. "We should have some sort of protection in case we have to fight again. I think these body suits are more like armor than clothing."

I looked at him in the light. I started from his crown and worked down. He was tall, about six feet, more stocky than lean. His body wasn't fat, but it wasn't frail either. He looked _strong_. His shoulders were broad, and the muscles on his back rippled lightly as he bent down to dress himself. My breath stuttered a little. Everything else about him was just as streamlined.

Keegan caught my gaze and winked before tossing me a suit.

_I like your body too,_ Keegan thought to me.

Embarrassed, I dressed quickly.

The suit felt like soft, pliable polyester against my skin, but on the outside it was prickly like stucco. It was easy to move in. It contoured to my entire shape, even my toes. It felt natural, almost like not wearing anything at all.

I turned back to the shelf and picked up the blue paperweight-like stone.

"I wonder what this is," I said, turning to Keegan.

He was holding what I could best describe as an elongated jellybean with an indent in it.

"I don't know," Keegan said, "but what I've got looks like it could hold some supplies. There's a ridge in it too. I bet some type of weapon would fit in there."

He picked up another object from the shelf. He held a rod that was about a foot long.

"How do you know it's a weapon?"

Keegan smirked and took a small step to the left. His shelf had a label: WEAPONS.

I laughed.

Smartass.

He tossed one at me and I caught it easily with my free hand.

_Not sure how these are weapons. I think of swords or guns when I think of weapons,_ Keegan thought.

As he was thinking, the weapon morphed into a smooth, even-edged sword with a handle and a jagged hand guard.

"Everything is so different here!" I exclaimed. Even though I wasn't sure how this place was different from wherever else we were from, somehow I knew this technology was advanced.

"We still haven't figured out what this is," I said.

I held out the stone towards Keegan and started moving towards the middle of the room. The different tiled section of the floor was directly in front of me, and I was just going to walk over. My hand was over that area of the floor first before the rest of me, and I felt a pull as the stone began to glow. I dropped it, but it didn't fall. It floated up to a ridge we hadn't noticed before and snapped into place. A map displayed on the floor. There was water on three sides and a blinking dot in the central area—o _ur location._

The sound of a recorded female voice filled the room.

04: KEEGAN

"Welcome to Second-Plane. You have awakened here after your soul ascended from First-Plane, or Earth as you might remember it. There are two soul-types that inhabit this peninsula. If you are here, that means you are an Aura, a peace-keeping soul-type. The other is the Banguri, the war-making soul-type. This orb is a communication device, and your location has been beaconed to us. Stay where you are. We will arrive within four hours."

_I don't want to talk out loud anymore, not while we're in here. We can only trust each other. We should take a weapon and leave. We can survive together,_ I thought to Sariah.

_The recording said to stay,_ Sariah thought back.

My weapon returned to its rod shape, and I placed it in the ridge on the backpack. I lifted all of it—jellybean and weapon pack together—above my head and it snapped magnetically to my back. I was thrilled that my gut instinct had been correct. I tested just removing the weapon, and the pack remained glued to me. I practiced a few times removing the weapon and quickly commanding it into a sword.

_All right,_ Sariah agreed. She came to my side and copied my motions with the weapon. She didn't look scared, which surprised me. She looked very in control of her emotions. I didn't know what I looked like outwardly, but inwardly I was on edge. I didn't know why, but I wanted to leave. I wanted to take our chances together and not just wait to fall into some premade society.

Sariah moved closer to me. I began to wrap my arms around her reassuringly as we left the building, stepping back into the night—I wanted to keep her close—but I remembered the way she had flinched when I'd tried to touch her and kept my arms at my sides. She wasn't ready for closeness. Honestly, I'd just met her. I wasn't sure why I felt like I belonged with her. Or even why that felt so natural and I wasn't opposed to it. I couldn't remember images like she could from before, but I remembered feelings. I remember being alone and liking it that way, but I didn't want that anymore. Not with her.

"We probably should have stayed," Sariah said.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'm not defenseless," she said with an edginess to her tone.

Still walking, I looked over at her. Her eyes were all fired up. They were beautiful in the dark. I could see them so clearly. With my vision they lit up. There were these little flecks of gold mixed in the hazel color.

"I know, but I want to keep you safe and we can trust each other. I know that's an intimate thing to say, since we just met, but it feels _right,_ " I told her. "The recording made it sound like we were reborn here. Those images you remember are probably from Earth."

"Do you think we knew each other on Earth?" Sariah asked me. The defensiveness of her tone had been replaced with curiosity.

" _I wish_ ," I said. I couldn't keep back a little smile at the thought of having known Sariah in another life.

"Why is that?" she said.

"I know you're my type."

"How?"

"I saw you naked." As soon as I said it, I felt like I shouldn't have. But she just laughed and kept walking. I sighed, feeling relieved. _That sentence was completely asinine, but honest._ I wondered why she hadn't taken offense to me objectifying her body, but now she was offended by me wanting to protect her.

I saw her abruptly look back over at me, and I knew she'd been listening.

_I thought you wanted privacy?_ I thought jokingly to her.

No response. I decided to back off for now. I had plenty of time to figure her out.

I focused on the landscape around us. It was changing, becoming filled with more foliage. There was less bare dirt and rocks and more trees and grass. I wasn't sure how long we'd walked, but I was finally feeling tired. I felt drained but not hungry for food. I was a little thirsty, though.

_Let's stop for the night. We've put some distance between us and that building_.

Sariah nodded. I could tell she was tired too.

"I didn't mean to listen in on your thoughts earlier. I can't control it yet, but once I can I promise I won't invade your mind," Sariah said.

"I didn't mind," I told her honestly.

"I want you to know you can trust me. I'll talk to you, but I won't just dip into your thoughts."

I nodded in agreement.

Turning away from Sariah, I began scanning the area around us through the dark. There was a large old tree just a few yards ahead and just behind it a small cave. I led us towards it, and we reached it in a matter of minutes. I stuck my head in. Empty.

_Do you sense anything?_ I asked Sariah.

No, we're alone.

"We'll stay here tonight."

Leaning against the walls of the cave, we settled in. The cave was shallow, and we were only a few feet from the opening. Eventually, we both slumped down. I knew one of us should stay awake, but logic faded away as we fell asleep.

I felt her stir beside me. My eyes fluttered open, fearful that something was wrong, but Sariah had just turned over. While we were sleeping, we had become cradled together, and when she rolled over towards me, her face become just inches away from mine. Her body was relaxed against me and her breathing was steady.

I tried not to move, relishing in her being so close, but a blaze started to spread through me. Even through the suits, her body felt like bare skin against mine. I believe I would have been able to control myself if her body hadn't begun responding to my own.

Her leg hooked over my thigh. Anchoring herself to me, she pulled closer and nuzzled her cheek against mine.

That small piece of affection awoke every fiber of my being. I put my hand on the curve of her thigh, trailing it up along the rim of her bottom to the small of her back. She arched into me under the light pressure of my touch.

Her eyes fluttered open as her head pulled back, and I could tell she was feeling this heat between us. I watched her face closely, entranced with arousal. Her lips parted and the faintest moan escaped her mouth. I bent my head down to—

Her eyes flickered to the entrance of the cave.

_They've found us,_ Sariah thought. _Don't move._

"Don't be afraid. We know you can sense us. We've come to offer you safe passage to Paramount. We tracked you to the cave and we know you're sentient beings, not Banguri. You belong with us."

Keegan, I can feel that they're different from those beasts. I want to talk with them.

Are you sure?

Yes.

I released my arms from around her waist, and we untangled ourselves from each other. I stood up, offering her my hand to help her up and she took it without flinching.

05: SARIAH

Keegan stepped out first, but I moved past him, putting myself between him and the two people waiting for us outside of the cave. He tried to move in front of me, like a shield, but I put my hand up and he stopped.

Let me talk to them.

Keegan didn't think anything back to me, but the muscle below his jaw flexed. He wasn't happy, but he was willing to trust me. I turned towards the group.

"You're the people the message said would come?" I asked.

A slender, straight-haired brunette woman moved forward, separating herself from the man she was with.

"Yes, and normally we're already present or close to where the newlies are going to awaken. But the atlas hasn't been working properly," she explained.

"What are we? Where are we? I know this is Second-Plane, but that means nothing to us."

"My name is Bem." Turning at the waist, she pointed behind her. "His name is Ajani. We're from the Aura city. This," she said waving her hand in the air, "is Second-Plane. All souls come here after they die on Earth. Do you know your names yet?"

"I'm Sariah and this is Keegan."

"What were those beasts that attacked us?" Keegan asked from beside me.

"If you were attacked, it was probably by Low-Banguri," Bem explained.

"We'd better get back to the platform. Iris will want a report and there might be more awakenings. We'll need to be ready to move out again," Ajani reminded Bem.

It was the first he'd spoken, and his voice was deadpan. I didn't sense anything from him. I knew he was there but his energy was blank. I couldn't feel any type of emotion. Without getting into someone's thoughts, I could still analyze their body language and I got a feel for what their intentions were. With Ajani, I could read nothing and that intrigued me. I hadn't tried to do again what I had done with the beasts until now. I was just so curious about him.

DON'T.

The voice was so loud and so aggressive. Ajani's eyes flashed to mine. His awareness of me and his reaction jarred me. I wasn't expecting it. I must have moved closer to Keegan out of reflex because I heard him think to me:

Did you try to get in his head?

Yes, but he didn't let me.

Well, now we know there are others like you.

Bem was watching me. She glanced at Ajani and then back to me. "If you have telekinesis, so does Ajani. He is a very private man, and it's also a rule amongst our kind not to use your powers on others unless we're training. I'm sure Ajani won't take it personally, but he's right, we should get back. Iris will want to talk to you."

"Let's go, then," Keegan said, stepping assertively forward towards Ajani.

Ajani stared directly at him silently. He and Keegan were like two lions sizing each other up. Apparently, male aggression transcends planes of existence.

Ajani broke his gaze first and began leading us away to the platform. As we traveled, Keegan was never more than a few paces behind me. His energy felt guarded and defensive. So different from how we were both feeling just minutes ago in the cave.

Even with my hesitation, being against him like that had felt more than just right. It had felt like we both _needed_ it. Just touching him like that had done something to me physically. I felt less tired, stronger, fiercer—and hungry. I was still so unsure of the energy between us. At least now I knew it was because we were partners, but exactly how deep did that partnership go? I hope the city holds answers for us.

Some part of me knew that allowing whatever naturally happened between Keegan and me would satiate us both. It was a powerfully arousing and frightening idea. I wasn't comfortable needing someone that much. I felt sure that before this life I'd been independent. Then again, that independence had resulted in no one being there to save me the night I died. The images started to flash again, but I pushed them out of my mind. I needed to remain in the present.

It took a few hours to reach the platform, and I took the time to ask a lot of questions. Ajani seemed less hostile, but I didn't try to dig into his mind again. Bem was the opposite of her partner—she was open and didn't mind answering all my questions.

"Things haven't been normal for awhile?"

"No, the atlas is a device we have in Paramount that maps out all of Second-Plane. We're able to see the location of every newly awakened soul, but now the atlas isn't telling us right away. Its information is delayed. And to top it off, large groups of Banguri have been hunting down and killing off newlies before we can get to them, or they can get to a temple."

"How much should you be telling her?" Ajani said, his voice snapping like a whip in the air.

"Is this information supposed to be kept secret?" I asked.

"No," Bem told me, "but things used to be so simple around here, and now everything is changing. We're not sure how or why. Usually newlies have a choice, but we can't afford for any natural venku not to fight."

"What's a venku?" I asked.

"It's what you and Keegan are. Technically, we all start off in pairs, but if your venku dies you absorb their power. You can fight singly or with a new partner like Ajani and I do."

"You're telling us that we don't have a choice?" Keegan asked, skipping over the whole definition of a venku and focusing on the fact that we were expected to fight.

"When you see the way things are shaping between the two races, you'll want to help. There has to be a balance kept, and the Banguri are tipping the scale. We're here. Step on the platform with us and we'll contact Paramount."

It was like a large raised plate in the middle of the forest. We stepped on to it. Keegan linked his fingers with mine. He trailed his thumb in circles on my palm. The sensation resonated against my skin and sent ripples of heat through my body.

_I don't mind feeling this way when I'm with you at all_ , Keegan thought to me.

_Oh, I bet you don't,_ I teased back.

You don't mind either.

I looked over at him, unable to hold back a small twitch of a smile.

You'll have no problem fucking yourselves healthy.

I knew that voice. It was Ajani. He was standing in front of Keegan and me, next to Bem who was doing something with a device in her hand.

_What's wrong?_ Keegan questioned.

Ajani talked to me again, but I don't understand what he means.

Did you say anything back?

No, I don't think he knows I heard him. He let his guard down.

Or you're getting stronger.

"Lanni, we've successfully retrieved a pair of newlies. Bring us back."

"Stand by for teleportation processes to begin," said the same recorded voice Keegan and I had heard earlier.

I felt nothing odd, but I could see lights swirling around each of us individually. They kept expanding until they blurred our vision, and when they dissipated we were in another place entirely.

"Welcome back!" greeted a peppy, rusty-brown-colored woman. She looked like she was close to all of our ages.

"Thank you, Lanni," said Bem. "Lanni is our transporter engineer. She runs the atlas and temple controls but mainly all of our transporting stations. Sort of like an operator, except instead of answering calls she sends people where they need to go and retracts them when they need to return."

"She never gets a break?" I asked.

"She works in shifts, and then the system is set to alert her when there is a beacon coming in. She has manual devices that allow her to control the transport machine from her apartment as well."

"Don't bore her with the techy terms," said Lanni, coming from behind her control station towards us. "What are your names?"

"Sariah," I told her.

"Keegan," he answered.

" _Keegan_." His name purred out of her mouth as she said it, linking arms with him. "Too bad I'm already someone's venku," Lanni added, "you're gorgeous."

06: KEEGAN

I felt Lanni squeeze my arm flirtatiously, and I looked over at Sariah, smiling awkwardly. She smiled back, clearly amused by the young girl's enthusiasm for me.

"Lanni," Bem said, scolding her, "get back to your station. Let me know if any newlies awaken, and keep working on repairing the atlas."

"I apologize," Bem said as she ushered us to move forward and out of the transportation dock. "She's always been a notorious flirt, but it's harmless. Venku rarely cheat; they're too absorbed in their partner."

"Can you explain a little more about that?" Sariah asked.

Sariah's and my eyes met, and a warm blush flashed into her cheeks. Just that one glance, and I could already feel emotions beginning to sizzle. I was fascinated by our connection and wanted to know more about it.

I wasn't the only one watching her reactions. I narrowed my eyes territorially at Ajani. He must have felt my gaze because his eyes flickered over to mine. He puffed out an annoyed sigh, running a hand through his wavy hair, ruffling it out of place.

"If you need anything else, I'll be in my quarters," Ajani said.

"I might," said Bem, a coy look glittering in her eyes.

Ajani made no response or even acknowledgment of Bem as he left.

"Is he always like that?" Sariah asked.

"Yes, but that's what makes him so... _endearing_."

"Is he your venku?" Sariah asked curiously.

"No, we're each widowed. We both lost our venkus a long time ago. The twisted part is, when your venku dies you inherit their strength. Even in death, you're stronger because of your bond. I still need to regenerate with sex. If we are ever severely injured, we have no choice. Some widowed venku only commune in those situations, but there is no law against finding another partner. It'll just never be like it was with your venku. We do have other healing options—bathing or drinking water can also regenerate our bodies, but it's slower than sex and less satiating. Of course, nothing compares to being with your venku, but Ajani is a close second."

"Is it more than just a physical attraction then that draws you to your venku?" Sariah asked timidly.

"Oh, yes! On Earth, the relationship with your venku would be synonymous with soul mate. You'll fight and train as a pair and you'll grow stronger the closer your bond becomes. But you do have a very basic animalistic need that only your venku can satisfy. That hunger—I'm sure you already feel—won't ever go away, but it will lessen in intensity once you begin feeding it regularly. It won't be as overwhelming as you age either, but you'll always want each other."

Sariah nodded, but she looked uneasy. This was a lot to take in, and even though we weren't on Earth anymore, both of us seemed to be aware of Earth's social rules more than the other Auras. I knew being able to live by having sex and drinking water was not how people normally survived; I wasn't complaining, though.

"What about this facility, where are we?" I asked, changing the topic.

"We're in the largest Aura stronghold, Light City, but this particular building we transported to is called Paramount. It's a town hall, living center, research facility and armory of sorts. All newlies start here, and all fighting-venku typically remain here out of convenience."

"Does everyone on this plane have the same origins?" I asked.

"The Aura are peaceful; we only fight to protect Paramount, ourselves and the outer territories. We coexist with our environment without needing to destroy it in order to survive. Banguri are different from us. They don't awaken in pairs, they're primitive and animalistic, and their whole species can only grow stronger by absorbing other living-energy. They cannot sustain themselves without killing."

"That's why they hunt," said Sariah.

"Yes, but they don't hunt _us_. There's a code: they can only hunt energy in their territories, and they can never hunt or kill any Aura being."

We had reached the room and stopped walking. I hadn't been paying attention to our surroundings as we'd moved. I felt disoriented and wished I'd paid attention.

"We're at Iris's office. Go in and sit. She will be with you in just a moment," Bem told us. With a brief wave goodbye, she headed on down the hall.

The door was ajar and the room felt inviting. I followed Sariah in and we sat down in the two overstuffed chairs adjacent to a large table-like desk.

"After we know more about what's going on," I said, looking over at Sariah, "we'll have to talk about _us._ "

She looked down at her hands, not replying.

"We'll set some ground rules until we get comfortable with our—connection." I had almost said attraction, but I had settled on a more platonic word instead.

"Rules?" she asked, looking curiously at me.

"I think we need to take a moment to adjust to Second-Plane. I know that you remember things from Earth like I do. We're not like the other Auras, which is why we need to take our time getting to know each other."

"Maybe our impressions of Earth fade with time," she whispered.

"Maybe," I agreed. I thought back to what I remembered. It all felt like glimpses of dreams. It was all pleasant. Feelings of being loved, of having fun, of going places, achieving goals. I wondered if eventually I would remember more precise details: names, faces, places.

"What do you remember?" I asked.

Her eyes clouded with emotion. "My end," she whispered.

"Your end?" I asked, confused, but before she answered we were greeted by Iris.

"Hello! I'm the Elder in charge of welcoming the newlies as well as a few other things we won't get into quite yet. We are so relieved that you made it here. Things haven't been normal lately. Usually there are awakenings daily, but those seem to be dwindling and when they do happen there's a delay with the atlas. By the time we get there, the newlies are either dead or we're so outnumbered we risk ascension ourselves. As a result, our growth has become stagnant. You're the first newlies in months. Usually we don't just immerse you right into our world, but these are concerning times."

"Any idea why this is happening?" I asked.

"None."

I wasn't buying that answer as truthful. There had to be a reason and the Auras had to have at least an idea as to what that reason could be.

"Have the Banguri been attacking the cities too or just the newlies?" I asked, pushing for more information.

"Just the newlies. Before now, the Banguri have always upheld the Peace Treaty, at least the Higher-Banguri. The grunts don't always obey orders, but it's generally understood that if need be we'll eliminate any threat."

"How does any of this involve us?" I asked. "Are we expected to fight?"

"To answer you honestly, Keegan, yes, I expect you to fight. If you weren't so naturally good at it, I'd tell you no. There is plenty of nonviolent work to be done within the city, but we need you. Legally I can't make you fight, but if you choose to become warriors, it would aid us immensely. Anyway, enough of this! You can't be expected to make decisions now. Let me give you a brief tour as I take you to your flat, and then tomorrow I'll explain your powers and you'll make your choice."

"Our _flat,"_ echoed Sariah.

"Yes, Paramount houses everything from the Archives to living quarters and even training areas. There are dwellings outside Paramount that are still within the city too if you decide you don't like it here."

Heading forward down the hallway—still in the same direction away from the transportation dock—I soaked up the interior design of the building. I like it--it felt somehow both old and new, modern and traditional.

"How big is Second-Plane?"

"Infinite," Iris answered, smiling. "Honestly, we're not sure. The Atlas covers our peninsula which is roughly two hundred fifty thousand, four hundred and ninety three miles. Some Drifters—Aura that live off the grid—tell legends of other cities such as ours, but we've never sought them out. We're a pretty content people and life has been very good, until recently."

"If things are getting so dangerous, you might want to consider seeking aid from those other Aura cities," I suggested.

"If it comes down to it, we just might," agreed Iris.

"If you wait too long," added Sariah, "it'll be too late."

"Perhaps, but it is not up to me," Iris explained with a tired smile. "To our left is the Aquarium which has multiple pools with varying temperatures, styles, including the Caves—which are incredibly fun, if you like diving. To the right are the Archives. Everything we know about ourselves, Second-Plane and First-Plane is all there. Straight ahead is the foyer to the flats."

Sariah caught her breath, and I followed her gaze upwards.

07: SARIAH

Fifty floors of beautiful architecture led up to a clear, large, glass skylight.

"Stunning, isn't it? We have beautiful minds here in Light City. Up top on the roof is the sky garden, the towers, and of course there is our most commonly used area for lighter training sessions. There also larger ones in the city for more aggressive combat trials. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your apartment."

Iris led us through the courtyard. All of the apartment balconies were facing in, and you could see people lounging in patio furniture, talking, napping, reading; it all felt very community like. Across the space of the room were four clear-glassed elevators, two for each side. The doors of an empty elevator to the left slid open as we approached. Keegan walked in behind Iris, planting himself against the back wall. I followed, standing in front of him. The door closed seamlessly and we lifted upwards. My stomach knotted. My knees wobbled as a wave of nausea washed over me. I wasn't so sure I liked heights.

I felt Keegan's forearm around my waist, steadying me to him like an anchor.

_Not a fan of heights?_ his voice chuckled in my head.

_I guess not_ , I thought back.

"Nauseous?" Iris asked.

I nodded.

"Interesting; this is most likely an imprint from First-Plane. Do you have many memories of your life before here?"

_Let's keep what we know to ourselves_ , Keegan thought to me.

"No," I answered aloud to Iris.

"Brace yourselves then, because you might. I can sense how in tune the two of you are with each other. Your bond is strong, and since you're our only surviving new souls from the last awakening, I'm assuming your powers will be abnormally above average as well."

There was a ding and the elevator stopped.

"Here we are," Iris said. "Your flat is right this way."

The hallway swerved around in a big arch. The wall to our right was all glass windows. Periodically, large six-foot panes were open. They created a flowing breeze and allowed the outside scent in. It must have rained earlier because the aroma of the wet earth clouded my senses. The sky was still grey and the green of Second-Plane rolled out lushly. Before my body could tense at the sight of the view, I felt Keegan's fingers link with mine and his thumb drum reassuringly against my hand. The queasiness was still there, but logic was taking over. Heights were bad but I was safe, and despite my body's initial reaction, the view was beautiful.

"It's breathtaking," Keegan said to no one in particular.

"Yes, so much of our world is beautiful. The designs of the flats vary," Iris continued as we neared our apartment. "The one that we've assigned to you is a bit more 'modern' than the others. Some of the architects have imprints of First-Plane designs and they like to recreate them. Even though each flat is fully furnished, you can pick decorations at your leisure. Just outside this building is the Abstract which is a warehouse of various pieces of art, furniture, appliances, dishes. Anything extra is left there and traded out periodically. Some venku prefer to allow one person to choose all the pieces for a flat, but I think it's rather fun to go together."

The flooring had a dark amber stain, and the wood type resembled that of a dock. It was sturdy and solid but had this outdoors quality. We passed numerous rooms unevenly spaced with various styled doors. Each one had a different name positioned over its archway. I read them as we passed, and they all felt familiar. Second-Plane was beginning to feel like a shadow of Earth.

"Isn't there anything new, anything unique to the culture of this world?" I asked.

"Yes, the outer cities are all Second-Plane inspired, but for a lot of us, even though we live in this world now, we still dream of the first."

"Imprints must be a very powerful thing then," Keegan said.

"Yes, it's quite a peculiar phenomenon. We can't remember family members or friends, but social stigmas, buildings, art, laws, those seem to stick with us," Iris agreed.

We had stopped in front of a smooth, black wooden door with a light, almost invisible, grain. Its bronze plate read CHATTERLY's.

_From a novel I've read, I think,_ Keegan thought.

_You remember so much,_ I answered back, impressed. He was always able to piece together the fragments into ideas.

I think I studied literature. That might be why.

"Well, I'll leave you two to explore your new home," Iris said, breaking up my telekinetic conversation with Keegan. "There is a large tub and a separate shower, if you'd like to refresh your energy. Training will start tomorrow morning, and we'll debrief you on everything. We'll meet on the roof at dawn."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

I pushed the door open to our apartment and I was again surprised. The floors and walls were a crisp white with muted gray and brown accents. It felt like a clean slate. I was excited to go to the Abstract.

"We need some color in here," Keegan said—ironically as if _he_ were reading my mind. I knew he wasn't, but it was eerie how in sync we were. I suppose that's exactly why we were venku in the first place.

"Do you want to shower and then go exploring? I'd like to see what the Light City is like outside of Paramount," Keegan said as he walked around our flat.

I blushed, not saying anything as I tried to figure out whether he meant showering together or separately. There was a shyer part of me that knew I should want to stay separate, but as I remembered our almost kiss in the cave, I realized I wanted—

"Separately, of course," Keegan said. I looked up, meeting his eyes. What I'd felt like he was insinuating did not match what he had actually said.

"We don't even know where the bathrooms are," I reminded him.

"Deductive reasoning, dear Watson," Keegan said. It was the weird accent he'd used to say the sentence that made me laugh and not the words he'd said. I had a feeling I was missing the actual punch line.

"What is that from?" I asked, smiling, as I followed him up the stairs.

"Another book maybe? I think Watson was a sidekick to someone brilliant, and since you're _my_ sidekick I figured it would be a fitting nickname."

I cut him off right there. "If anything, you'd be my sidekick."

"Well excuse me, Wats. How is it that I've already saved your life but I'm _your_ sidekick?"

"I'm sure I'll get my chance," I said as I playfully booty bumped him as we cleared the last few stairs. At the top, the hallway opened up to a small loft reading space, and then there were three doors. I twisted the handle of the middle door and it swung back to reveal a large room with one big rectangular sink. The floor was the same dark wood material as the door, and at the end of the room it rose up in steps to a double-sized tub. Clearly this room was meant to be shared.

"Where's the toilet?" Keegan asked suddenly.

"Maybe we pee in the pool?" I joked, and then I realized I'd just remembered something from First-Plane.

"Disgusting," he said, the word rolling over his tongue in stretched-out syllables. He made a disapproving click at me, faking distaste at my joke.

"I don't think we actually need to use bathrooms in this plane of existence. I haven't had the urge to pee yet, and we've been here for hours now," I added.

"But we still have all of our bits," Keegan said, winking at me mischievously.

I felt myself blushing at the word _bits._ "I imagine you were very outgoing in First-Plane."

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't," he said ambiguously. "Ladies first; you can bathe, and when you're done, come find me. I'm sure one of these other rooms has a bed."

At the sound of my sharp inhale, he added quickly: "Napping."

He turned to leave but stopped suddenly. Without looking at me, he said, "Sariah, you do like me a little, right?"

"Of course," I told him, surprised at his question and the emotion behind my response. I hadn't known him very long, but it felt long enough to know that I liked him.

"Even though this world has thrown us together, we don't _have_ to be together." He turned a little, making eye contact over his shoulder as he continued, "I have this feeling, though, that I'd be yours even if we'd met on First-Plane."

I felt my skin prickle at his words.

He swept a hand through his curls, ruffling them like springy feathers as he sighed.

"We have this _connection_ and I could easily just go with my instincts, but I can feel that your personality isn't quite so impulsive as mine. You're passionate, but you hold back. You play it safe. You wait. You think things through and then you react. Which is fine," he added, with a slight twinge of nervousness in his voice.

I realized he was afraid of offending me.

"You know," he continued on, rambling a little awkwardly as he tried to express himself, "I didn't start what was happening between us in the cave, but I wanted it. What I'm trying to say is, I want this to develop naturally between us. Just come get me when it's my turn to shower."

He closed the door softly behind him. Even though he was gone, the energy of his words still buzzed in the room.

I loved the sound of the water piling on top of itself. I had eased down into the tub before it was even a fourth of the way full, and I took a long time just soaking. It'd taken a while to fill the tub, but I didn't mind. It was so large that I felt like a mermaid, and I have to admit I did splash a bit like one.

There was some kind of soap that had a light flower smell and I scrubbed myself down quickly. It was as if the water were seeping directly into my pores; it was exhilarating. I felt stronger and any fatigue I had was gone. I closed my eyes and leaned back. My mind drifted, and before I knew it I caught the tail end of Keegan's thoughts.

I hope she chooses me in the end.

Even though I knew I could have pried more, there was something about my budding relationship with Keegan that made me not want to do it. I quickly pulled myself back and put up—figuratively—a barrier blocking me from diving into his mind. If he wanted to talk to me telepathically, then we would, but I had to have some sorts of boundaries. I didn't want to have an advantage over him by being able to read his mind. He had said he wanted us to grow together organically in order to becoming venku; well, respecting his mind was the first step.

When the water started to cool, I got out and automatically searched for a towel. Then I realized I was dry and didn't need one. My body had sucked in all the droplets of water when I'd gotten out of the tub. I thought about putting back on the same body suit, but it felt weird since I was clean now and it wasn't. Or was it? I didn't know how that worked. Maybe it self-cleaned. Maybe neither of us was even dirty to begin with. That could just be another imprint from First-Plane. Either way, I wanted to wear something else.

_Keegan,_ I thought-called to him.

_Yeah?_ His voice rang in my head.

Are there any clothes for us to change into?

I found loose pants and a Flash Dance kind of off-the-shoulder sweater top.

_A what?_ I asked.

There was no reply. I could hear him walking across the hallway towards the bathroom. He tapped lightly on the door, and I cracked it open just enough to expose my face but not my body.

"Here," he said offering me the folded clothes in his hand.

"How did you know it was off-the-shoulder?" I teased. "Did you try it on?"

He scoffed back, amused. "Wats," he said, playfully reusing the nickname from earlier, "unless you have been hiding the fact that you have beefed-up man shoulders, then the collar size is way too large. It will therefore drape deliciously down on one side, exposing the lovely curve of your shoulder."

"Lovely," I said echoing him. I attempted to pull the clothes out of his hands, but he didn't let them go.

"Well," emphasizing my words with a firm tug that freed the clothes, "maybe I'll let you see both shoulders."

"Calm down now," he said, whistling.

I closed the door, grinning to myself as I dressed. The pants were loose and comfortable with a drawstring I could use to secure them and—he was right—the shirt did hang loosely off of one shoulder. When I opened the door, he was still there.

"All yours," I said.

"Finally," he murmured. His eyes darkened as I walked past him. He caught my hand, stopping me from moving by. I felt a heat rivet from his palm through mine, careening through my limbs down over my body. My heart skipped. I caught myself licking my lips in anticipation. What an effect we had on each other. It was almost too much. He pulled me close to him, wrapping my arm around his waist. We were just inches away from each other.

But the kiss never came.

"I see your one shoulder, but you promised me both," he said to me.

He lifted his hand and with just the tips of his fingers pulled the fabric down. I felt the right side of the material drag up and the left side brush down. He traced the outline of my shoulder with his fingers. What he said next I wasn't sure he meant for me to hear escaping his lips.

"Waiting will be harder than I thought."

"Will it?" I asked slyly. I wasn't sure where that confidence came from, but I went with it. It was better than constantly being mute and blushing.

Removing his fingers from my shoulder, Keegan began pulling down his own body suit. His eyes flashed playfully.

"You want to see my shoulders?" he asked huskily.

"I've already seen more than your shoulders," I replied back. Turning, I walked away with what I hoped was a confident sashay. I couldn't be sure what exactly that was or if I'd done it right.

08: KEEGAN

After I finished bathing, I streaked to the bedroom hoping to catch Sariah off guard and win another one of those charming blushes, but she wasn't in the room. I grabbed a similar outfit to what I'd found for her. They must have prefitted the apartments for different venku combinations—male-female, female-female, male-male—because ours clearly seemed to have items styled for Sariah and me. There was a slight flicker of a memory in my mind that some of those combinations were provocative, but because we were all souls I couldn't remember why.

I shrugged it off. If it was something important, I was sure I'd remember it eventually.

I was about to head downstairs to find Sariah when a flicker of light caught my eye from the other doorway. It wasn't coming from the bathroom; it was the _other_ room we hadn't explored. I walked over and pushed the door the rest of the way open.

Sariah was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a round globe spinning slowly in front of her. She wasn't touching it, but regions were lighting up and information—maps, pictures, data-filled graphs—projected into the air around us. I recognized the shape of the planet immediately.

"That's Earth," I told her as I came fully into the room.

"Hit the lights. Close the door," Sariah instructed. She was fully engrossed in what she was looking at. I realized she was using her telekinesis to control it.

"You're getting better at using your powers," I said, taking a seat next to her on the floor.

"Yeah," she mumbled. She was looking for something, scanning over various countries as if she were looking for a particular place. Finally it stopped and the state of New York projected in front of us. Data started flickering quickly on the screen. Too fast for me to read, but I knew she was absorbing it all.

"You're like a machine connected to that thing," I said. I wasn't sure what type of awe I was experiencing: fear or amazement. I was beginning to feel as if we were just tapping into the scope of our power. I wondered how strong we really were, and how dangerous we could become.

"That's the state of New York, particularly New York City, you're reading about."

"How do you know?" she asked, her attention fully leaving the globe and turning to me.

"Must have been there in First-Plane," I theorized.

"I was drawn to that spot on the globe. While you were in the shower, I remembered we hadn't gone into this room yet. It's like a mini library. It must connect to the Archive that Iris showed us on our tour. Everything they know about First-Plane is in here. How'd they get all this data?"

"That's a good question. There are a lot of souls here. Maybe they have strong imprints of places they've lived, facts they've learned."

"I don't know why I was drawn to this spot. Anyway, I shouldn't explore too much in any given area. What if they're monitoring what we do? We have no way of knowing who we can trust."

"We can trust each other," I promised.

Her energy was tense and I reacted by taking her hand. I brushed a light kiss on her knuckles.

We'll be fine, Sariah. They don't seem like bad people.

_Bad people never seem like bad people,_ she thought back.

_I'll keep you safe,_ I thought reassuringly. Aloud, I added, "Come on, let's go to the Abstract. We'll have time to read up on First-Plane later."

We sauntered through town. It all looked pretty normal. Little vendors were dotted along the streets. No cars, just people moving together in clumps through the city.

Sariah stopped at a cart that looked like it was selling some type of jewelry.

"You like this piece?" asked the vendor, following Sariah's gaze to an item.

"Yes, it's lovely," Sariah said as her fingers danced over the stones embedded in the curving metal design.

"It's for your hair. Here, let me show you."

The vendor gathered up her hair, sweeping it into a twist off the nape of her neck. She put the clasp in the center and clipped it. She produced a mirror to show off her handiwork. Sariah smiled with approval.

"That's perfect," she said. "My hair is so heavy and thick. I get irritated with it down all the time."

"I like it down," I told her, smiling.

"Well, you're not lugging it around," she shot back teasingly.

"I like it up," I recanted.

"Ah, see," the vendor cooed. "Men change their minds like the wind changes direction. But yours seems pretty easygoing and it's a pretty piece in your hair. Keep it if you like."

"I don't have any money," Sariah said as she reached to undo the clip from her hair.

"Money?"

"Yes, money," Sariah repeated.

It took a moment, but then the meaning of the word clicked into the vendor's mind.

" _Money_ —I know what you mean. I haven't heard that old first-world slang in a long time. You must be newlies. Well, let me tell you, we don't do that whole money business here. I make these because I like to, and the people who cultivate the raw materials do that because they like to. Whatever you want you can just take; we have more than enough."

"I thought that was just at the Abstract. I didn't realize the whole town was the same way," Sariah explained.

"What if people want the same thing and there is only one?" I asked.

"First come, first served. Why?" The woman winked at me before she continued, "Is someone after your pretty venku?"

Baffled, I stared at her. I had been thinking of Ajani a little when I asked that, but I hadn't particularly meant that with my question.

"Even though we awaken with our soul mate," she explained, "it's not like we're blind to other attractions. There will always be chemistry with other souls, just only one optimal solution."

"I thought we didn't have a choice and that our venku is predestined."

"Anomalies happen, my dear."

I looked over at Sariah, but there wasn't any real hint to what she was thinking and I got nothing. She was a poster child for the old expression of cool, calm and collected. I wasn't. The last thing I wanted was for her to be an anomaly and fall in love with someone other than me, like Ajani, for example.

"Do you know where the Abstract is?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, of course! Just a little further down this very road. Better hurry. They close at dusk, and there is so much to look at in that store."

"Thanks," I answered back.

"You're not worried now, are you?" Sariah asked me as we walked on.

"About what?"

"About whether we're meant to be together," Sariah said.

I shrugged it off, not ready to admit to anything about how I felt to her.

I looked over after a few minutes to find Sariah smiling to herself as we walked.

The Abstract was a long building with various small, square, factory-styled, muted autumn-colored glass windows stretching across it. We walked in and were smacked with bright yellow lights and the voices of tons of people. Clusters of items were grouped together under signs riveted on wire to the ceiling. Each one looked custom designed to fit the theme of the seller's products. It was like a furniture knickknack antique bazaar strip mall.

Sariah clasped her hands together excitedly.

"Should we split up to cover more ground?" she suggested giddily.

"Hi, welcome to Abstract!" greeted a petite woman with black hair pulled back into a low bun. "You're newlies, right?" she asked.

"Yes," Sariah and I answered in unison.

"All right; let me find you in the system so we'll know where to deliver your items."

"It's all delivered for us?" Sariah asked, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. Her excitement was contagious, and I smiled as I watched her enjoying herself.

"Yes—my name is Nicole, by the way—how this works is, when you find an item you want, you'll type in the ticket number and store number and then you'll receive it in a day or so. Any items you no longer want can also be picked up from your house too. Every flat has a tablet to place removal orders on. What are your names?"

"Sariah and Keegan," Sariah answered.

"One tablet or two?"

"Two," said Sariah at the same time as I told Nicole one.

"Two is fine," Nicole told us, smiling.

"Two it is," I agreed.

"You're all set," Nicole told us. She gave us each our tablet. "It's very user-friendly, just basic technology. Use the touch-screen keypad to enter in your items and then hit the little enter button to add them to an automatic list. You can also use the list icon to see what you have so far. When you're done, on the very bottom, there's an 'order complete' button. Turn your tablet in to any greeter before you leave."

"Thanks," Sariah said. She was rocking on her feet, swaying side to side, ready to go.

"One more thing," Nicole added, "we're having a seller competition and some of the vendors take it very seriously—you know how people get about street-cred. Don't let them hustle you into picking items you don't want."

I cackled at the idea of shopping street-cred, and Nicole looked at me innocently. I didn't think I'd ever get used to how phrases—outdated ones at that—from First-Plane had new meanings here.

Sariah linked her arm with mine, pulling my body forward as she practically skipped away. We stopped at the nearest shop. Its sign read GAMESKEEPER.

Sariah released my arm as she started doting over the different knickknack artsy objects.

"What kind of stuff do you think we should get?"

"Whatever you want," I told her.

"You're not going to pick out anything?" she asked as she examined a two-foot brass giraffe.

"I imagine our tastes would clash," I said, eyeballing the bronzed African animal.

"How about I pick a few things and you pick a few things? Our flat _is_ pretty much void of any decoration. We can pick anything we want!"

I thought for a moment, seeing if I could remember anything I liked from First-Plane. An image of a glass orb floated to the top of my mind like a bubble in a pond.

"Paperweights," I murmured.

"I remember those!" squealed Sariah. "My mother loved them, she had tons. Well, let's get my giraffe, your paperweight and maybe a painting? Anything else you can think of?"

"Books." The word slipped through my lips like a sigh. "I really liked reading, but I don't think we'll find any of those here.

"We'll have to check out the actual Archive in person then," Sariah said before flittering over to a new shop called MELLORS.

I was curious about these names. I was pretty sure they all had to do with books, and I was now fully confident that I'd been either a professor of English or studied it heavily. It was like a little clue into what my past had been.

"If there are books in the Archive, then that means people have traveled between here and First-Plane," I reasoned quietly.

"Good point; maybe there are Aura writers? I found a paperweight!" she exclaimed with a little hop.

I looked over her shoulder to the table. It was a beautiful mix of purples with unexpected flashes of yellow-golds and rose-reds.

"Maybe our tastes won't clash as much as I thought," I joked as I read the ticket numbers and entered them into my tablet. The vendor came over, greeting us briefly before removing the ticket off the item.

"Nope, our tastes clash. That paperweight is hideous."

I looked up thinking she was serious but saw a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I wonder if they have another," she said to herself as she combed over the items.

An hour later we had selected three complementary paperweights, a giraffe and a golden painting of a tree that said it was "in the style of Van Gogh." We turned in our tablets to the painting vendor and we walked home.

My body wasn't feeling tired but my mind could use a rest. When we got back, I went up to the room. Kicking my clothes off, I pulled on some type of thin cotton sleeping pants I found in the dresser marked MALE.

Sariah changed into loose shorts and a light waist-length camisole with thin straps. Her body was curvaceously ripe beneath it, and as she casually shook out her long, curly hair, I tossed a pillow to the floor.

"Keegan, you're not really sleeping on the floor, are you?"

"Well, we don't really sleep-sleep, so it's more like laying on the floor."

"We sleep-sleep," Sariah argued, "and you're sharing the bed with me."

I arched an eyebrow.

She blushed immediately. "It's just silly for you to sleep on the floor. I know we're just getting to know each other, but—"

"Exactly," I countered. "We are getting to know each other and I'm fine with sleeping on the floor. We're different than the other Auras and I don't want to move things too fast and then ruin it."

"We're soul mates, how can you ruin it? Wouldn't we end up together anyway, no matter what?"

"Sariah," I sighed, exasperated. I'd meant sleeping on the floor in a chivalrous 'I won't take advantage of you' kind of way, and it was quickly turning into our first argument.

"What's fair is fair. No bed for you, no bed for me." She tossed the other pillow on the floor.

"Suit yourself," I said as I laid flat on the ground. I didn't try to keep the smile off my face.

Even though I thought sleeping wouldn't feel normal, it was how I remembered it. I slept hard, my mind floating off into a familiar realm of dreams. Everything I saw felt like I'd seen it before.

I felt something move beside me and I stirred awake. My eyes didn't need to adjust; I could instantly see it was Sariah. She had come over to my side of the floor and curled up on me just like the night in the cave. Her legs entwined with mine; hand on my chest; head in the crook of my neck. It felt good to have her so close and I realized Sariah had been right--sleeping apart was silly. I just didn't want her to think that because she was already my venku, I could have her whenever I wanted. Or, that I expected her to want me back without actually earning her affection. I needed her to choose me, and the only way that would happen was if I stepped back and let her come to me. I just felt so stubbornly determined that our love, our relationship, had to be our own choice.

I stood, bending down to scoop her into my arms. I placed her on the bed, and then I collected up the pillows and blankets. I laid down beside her and began covering us up with the quilt. Her eyes parted sleepily.

"I win," she purred as she reclaimed my body with her legs and arms. Nuzzling down into me as if I were the most comfortable pillow she'd ever had.

"You win, huh?" I said, amused that she still could be stubborn even when half asleep.

She mumbled something incoherently before falling back asleep. I pushed a kiss on her head and she mirrored me attempting to kiss me too, but her lips puckered at the air.

It was easy to love her, far too easy.

09: SARIAH

I stretched, yawning nosily, as Keegan and I waited for the elevator to travel up to the rooftop.

"Ready?" Keegan asked. There were only two more floors left before the elevator chime would bing and we'd officially start our lives as Auras.

"I'm nervous," I confessed.

"It's like the first day of school," Keegan said.

I knew exactly what he meant. A soft image fluttered into my mind of new pencils, and new teachers and meeting friends you hadn't seen from the summer. Yes—it was exactly like that, but this type of training wouldn't be like anything we'd learned before.

BING.

Keegan took my hand and we moved out of the elevator.

_If we hate it here, we can always strike out on our own,_ he thought, trying to reassure me.

Would they let us leave?

_They couldn't keep us here,_ Keegan said assertively.

_You don't know that,_ I insisted.

No one is going to cage us in.

"Good morning!" Iris greeted us. She was dressed in the same loose-fitting shirt and shorts we'd found in the dresser drawers of our apartment, and it dawned on me that she might actually be training us on how to use our powers. The notion that she'd be so hands-on with any newlies surprised me. It wasn't because she was old—in fact she looked less than forty—it was her status as an Elder. I'd assumed she'd be doing more _boring_ political-talky things. Not sweaty training with clumsy new souls.

I looked around. The whole surface level of the roof was open and able to be used. There was a decent-sized rail along the outer edge of the roof. There was turf grass laid out, with woven stone paths dividing it up in sections. In the middle there was a courtyard area, with benches and tables set up around the domed glass middle. The floor all beneath it was made of the same glass material, and I realized I remembered it from the lobby.

"I thought we could start up here," Iris explained. "It's early and there probably won't be anyone up here for a while."

"How long has it been since there were newlies training?" Keegan asked.

"Months? Maybe longer? The Banguri have been killing them off for quite some time, and now it's even worse because the atlas doesn't always function properly. Lanni has been working on that, but the problem is it's always worked before so no one knows how to fix it.

"I'm sure you have questions about what you are and how this world works. Let me start off by giving you just a brief history of Second-Plane and the Aura that live here in the Light City. Historically speaking, Aura and Banguri originated on this peninsula at the same time, but we didn't clash until the Great War. There are some differences between our races that make it difficult to coexist. While Banguri survive by eating the life-energy of another soul, Auras create sexual energy with a partner and then our bodies absorb that energy like a sponge. It's typically done between venku, but as long as there is a sexual attraction, we can feed. It's how we heal, how we strengthen, and how our bodies age slowly giving us a very long natural life, triple that of a soul on First-Plane.

"How old are you?" Keegan asked

I was fifty cycles old when the Great War happened, it lasted seven years, and then we've had twenty years of peace before the murders started. Our current situation started just under a cycle ago. That would make me seventy-seven—roughly," she added with a wink.

"What do you mean by cycles?" I asked curiously.

"Like Earth, Second-Plane functions under the same principles of gravity and physics. We also have the same four seasons, except personally, from what impressions I have of First-Plane, our winters are much worse here."

"Is it common for people to have different impressions? Keegan and I don't remember the same things at all."

"Yes," Iris confirmed, "that is very common. Even though you're soul mates, you're still individuals."

"Makes sense," Keegan agreed.

"Now, Aura can survive by drinking water. Water is the original form of energy and we're able to keep our health at a steady level by drinking it. However, we can't improve ourselves with just water, and there are some degrees of injury that won't heal with water alone—we need our venkus."

"So our life-span is way longer than that of someone from Earth, but we can still die?"

"Yes, our bodies do have their limits," said Iris.

"But if you die, how does your venku heal if they get seriously injured?"

"Like I mentioned earlier, you can take another partner."

"But," I insisted, "you've described venku as being soul mates."

"You still need to be able to heal and maintain your strength, and that is only possible through the energy we're able to absorb through sex. You'll also experience an intense hunger if you do not feed yourself regularly."

"What if you were straight on earth and you awaken with a venku of the same sex?" Keegan asked.

"Nothing changes," Iris replied back.

"But what if you're not attracted to the same sex?"

"You'll always be attracted to your venku regardless of their gender, but there have been cases of First-Plane impressions of sexuality being too much for someone to conquer."

"Do the Banguri heal the same way?"

"They can also, like us, maintain a steady health by drinking vast amounts of water, but that's where the similarities end. They have caste systems: low, middle and high-Banguri. Only the high is human-like; the others are beasts and all three castes need energy to survive. They have to devour the actual energy-force of another living being in order to survive. The Great War happened because their hunting grounds started to merge onto our nesting areas. This, of course, was before we had Paramount, when Aura and Banguri were still mostly nomadic. Eventually the tension broke out into a full war and both sides were nearly wiped out, but the Aura won and the Treaty was drawn. We divided up the peninsula and had peace. This lasted until we got reports of attacks and then eventually massacres of newlies, which has lowered our number drastically."

"Can the Aura reproduce?" I asked.

"Unfortunately not. The newlies are the children of our race. Even though every newlie awakens physically fully mature, there is much to teach each one that arrives."

"There must be wildlife on Second-Plane for the Banguri to hunt?" I reasoned.

"Yes, every type of soul that dies on First-Plane awakens here. But since the Aura don't consume the energy-force of any other species, our knowledge of what's out there is limited to what our various scientist-Aura discover, study and archive."

"Are there others like us or the Banguri?" I asked.

"We assume there are based on the stories told by the drifters."

"There'd be more types of Banguri then too?" Keegan guessed.

"I'd assume so, yes," Iris answered.

"Why would the Banguri be peaceful for so long and then suddenly wage war again?"

"Keegan, your guess is as good as mine. We have some theories: revenge, boredom, savagery. We don't know them well enough to really know why; all we know is that they are killing so many newlies that it's affecting our numbers immensely. I just received word this morning that after you arrived, they started attacking the outer territories' cities. We're launching a plan to send out groups of venku warriors to go to the outer territories, talk with the survivors and collect as much data as possible. I'd like you to team up with a veteran pair of Aura fighters and go out into the field with them."

"How many territories?" Keegan asked.

"Twenty-nine. Are you willing to help? Even though you have just awakened, you are one of us and helping our race now will help everyone in the future."

"It sounds like this first stage is just getting information on the attacks?"

"Yes, Sariah."

"Then I wouldn't mind being a part of it. But, I don't like violence if it comes to that."

"There are other ways you can help. Regardless of what you choose, I will train you on how your powers work. Only you can decide how you use them."

"I might eventually have to fight, then?" I asked.

"I'll be honest," Iris answered back evenly, "you will need to fight, but you don't have to _kill._ But for right now, don't worry about that. Let me explain your powers. There are two types of Aura: telekinetic and cheetah. Telekinetic powers tend to be more intellectual. Most Auras with this power can read minds or move objects. The cheetah power is very physical. Like the First-Plane animal it's named after, any Aura with this power is fast, strong, has exceptional vision—both during the day and night— and has abnormal strength and reflexes. Bem told me that you, Sariah, are at the very least telepathic, is that right?"

"Yes. When we were attacked, I was able to enter the minds of the beasts and, for a moment, their leader."

"At the end of your training, we'll match you up with a like-powered Aura, more than likely Ajani. He is the strongest telekinetic Aura in the city.

"What kind of Aura are you?" I questioned.

"Cheetah. Now, normally," Iris continued, "venkus are opposite each other. So Keegan should then have the cheetah powers. Which ones that I mentioned have emerged already? Sometimes you don't get everything."

"All of the above," Keegan said, smiling smugly.

I rolled my eyes, but I was amused. He was like the Second-Plane version of a jock. A smart, sensitive, sexy jock—but, nonetheless, still an overconfident alpha male.

I was exhausted from all the training. The sun was setting on our seventh day. Our bodies were unbelievably strong. It was exhilarating to be able to do the things we could and strange to remember a time when we couldn't. Tomorrow was our evaluation, a final no-bars test between the team members we'd been assigned to for additional mentoring: Ajani and Bem.

With the Banguri conflict getting worse by the day, we'd reached the limit of our time to learn within the safety of Paramount. Now our education would continue live in the field. I hoped we were ready. I was nervous, but I knew Keegan and I were strong together. We could handle just about anything, and anything we couldn't, well that's why we were teamed up with experienced fighters.

Keegan and I were walking back from the rooftop training area, and he was jogging in playful circles around me—clearly he wasn't tired.

"Bet you wish you could trade telekinesis for cheetah skills right about now," he taunted as he playfully jabbed at my ribs. He was still circling around me as we walked, popping my body with little playful pats. Side, thighs, stomach, hip, derriere—

"Hey!" I said, surprised by his last childish love-tap target.

Keegan laughed, jogging backwards in front of me.

"Couldn't resist," he halfheartedly apologized. His eyes were mischievously taunting me. He picked up his pace, and I had to break into a jog to keep up with him. I reached out, placing a hand on his chest, and he slowed down beneath my touch, letting me get closer to him. In a swift movement, I pinched his nipple through the suit.

He yelped in surprise and started cackling like a tween.

"Weren't expecting that little pinch?" I chirped back.

"You want to play, huh?" Keegan said. He stopped moving abruptly, causing me to smash into him.

We stood there for a moment smiling at each other. I was really starting to care for him. We were quickly becoming more than venku—we were friends. He linked his fingers between mine, holding my hand in his. His eyes darted to the side. We were standing in front of the Aquarium.

"We've never been in there," I said. I could see the shadows of people through the glass lounging in the pools.

"Didn't Iris mention something about caves?"

"Maybe," I said, smiling nervously.

"Let's go!"

"I don't know—", I started.

"Be brave," he said, challenging me.

"Do we even know how to swim?"

"I feel like we do. Plus, the water will refresh us from all the workouts this week."

I looked at his face. He was grinning and excited. Those emotions were giving him a boyish, rugged charm that I found myself unable to resist.

"Okay," I said, nodding in agreement.

10: KEEGAN

I led the way, still holding her hand. The glass doors moved silently apart as we neared them. The word aquarium brought up a First-Plane image of a tank with fish, but this was just endless teal-blue water. I imagined it was probably one big deep pool with various built-in levels holding shallow amounts of water.

We walked along the curving path between the different still-watered pools. Various Auras were socializing with each other. Drinking out of long-stemmed lily shaped glasses. I smiled ironically at the sight, knowing it was water and not some type of liquor they were drinking like it would have been in First-Plane. This was the Second-Plane equivalent to a bar.

I recognized a pair of them: Ajani and Bem. They were seated together. Ajani was facing slightly away from us, intensely talking to Bem.

"Hello," Sariah said, greeting them first.

"Hey! Out on a date?" Bem teased. Ajani had been looking at Sariah, but as Bem's joke washed over him, he shifted his gaze briefly to me.

I didn't have to be a genius to know that he was infatuated with Sariah. I wondered, irritated, how far he would try to take it.

"Do venku date? It was my understanding that getting laid with your venku was a sure thing," I said. Sariah's gasp at my bluntness made me smile.

_And who are you showboating for?_ she thought to me. I smiled at her First-Plane slang.

"We thought we'd check out the caves," Sariah explained.

"Sounds like you and Sariah have gotten adjusted rather quickly."

"It's an easy thing to get adjusted to," I said. "Anyway, we're headed to the caves. Either of you know how to get to them?"

"The caves!" exclaimed Bem. "How _romantic._ I haven't been there in a long time," she added wistfully.

"On the other side of the Aquarium is a large pool labeled CAVES," said Ajani directly to me.

"You'll have to dive, and you'll probably want to change into water-suits. There's some gear over there for you to use too."

"Thanks, we'll figure it out," Sariah said. We were still holding hands, and I felt a tug as she began to walk away.

"Tired of socializing?" I asked.

"Nope, just of you provoking Ajani. He already doesn't like us and you're making it worse."

"Not us, just _me_ ," I corrected.

"Not like it would matter," she mumbled to herself.

I froze. "What do you mean? Do you like him?"

"I haven't really thought about it. Either way, there wouldn't be a choice if I did."

"You always have a choice," I said back adamantly. I was trying not to sound too thrown by her words. But I was. I'd never be satisfied with her being with me just because she thought it was some unavoidable premade decision. My feelings on that topic weren't going to change.

I felt her eyes on me, but I didn't look at her. I didn't want her to know how deeply my feelings were beginning to be, especially if she was on the fence about _us_. If she saw my face right now, she'd read me like a book. To avoid that until I was ready, I took it back to a level we were both comfortable with—playful.

"I see that notorious sign labeled CAVES just ahead."

"Ajani _could_ be a tad less hostile," Sariah commented with a sly smirk.

"I don't think he's capable of more than two emotions," I countered back.

"What two would those be?"

"Lust for your sweet ass, and anger."

Between laughing, I heard her ask, "I have a sweet ass?"

I swung an arm around her waist, pulling her to my side.

"Oh yes, you do," I purred into her ear as my lips brushed into her hair.

She leaned into me affectionately, linking her arm with mine. Maybe this was a date after all.

11: SARIAH

"Is there a place to change?" I asked Keegan.

"Probably," he replied, looking around. "There," he said pointing to a little nook in the wall. It wasn't far off and we reached it in a few strides. It was just a little cove with a couple of wall benches. Not a lot of privacy, but then I was just with Keegan. Did I really need privacy? I blushed at the idea. I had to admit, I wanted to see him naked again. From what I remembered—and that was literally every inch of him I'd ever seen—he was an Adonis of a man. Smooth, strong, streamlined and sexy. I felt my cheeks flush at my own photographic memory of him.

As if on cue, Keegan started peeling his suit off his shoulders. I turned my back, trying to reel myself in.

My swimsuit was different than what I remembered. It looked like a sleeveless turtleneck leotard. I turned back around. Keegan's water-suit was different than mine-- only skin-tight trunks that stopped at his knees. He was sitting on the bench now, putting on the webbed socks.

I sat down beside him as he wiggled his toes in the flipper.

"Finally," Keegan exclaimed. I heard the soft snap of the latex-like material against his ankles. "That was impossible to get on."

"Maybe if your feet weren't so large," I commented, eyeing him.

"Well," he said, winking, "we all know what has been scientifically proven about that."

"I'd have to agree with the scientists."

"Would you now?" he said, giving me a devilishly flirtatious gaze. He slid down to the floor, motioning for me to put my foot in his hand, and he began peeling the webbed socks over my toes.

"The longer we're here, the more that comes back to us about First-Plane. I thought it would dull over time."

"I don't think it will," said Keegan. He was concentrating on fitting each of my toes into the rightful slot. Like it was his sole purpose; it was kind of adorable.

"We're different from everyone else," I said.

"I know," he agreed. "It'll give us an edge in battle. After this Banguri mess is sorted out, we should try to learn more about the other cities. Next foot, please."

I switched feet obediently.

"I could have put these on myself. It probably would have been easier since I have smaller hands than you," I reasoned as I watched him start on my second foot.

"I think there was another scientific report done about men with big hands," Keegan responded back, smiling towards my foot.

"What else do you remember about First-Plane?" I asked curiously.

"This," Keegan said. He had my toes into the webbed water sock, but the middle of my foot was bare. He ran his thumb down the middle, applying a firm amount of even pressure. I felt a wave of pleasurable warmth shoot up my leg and straight into my sex. He repeated the motion, rotating his thumbs. He looked up at me as I inhaled sharply in surprise. Our eyes locked. I leaned forward, catching his hand on my foot. With my free hand, I slipped the rest of the flipper on easily.

"I bet your dance card was always full," I teased awkwardly. I was trying to regain some type of composure.

He stood up, dropping my hand as he moved off the ground.

"There are ones for our hands too," he said tossing me another pair.

I slipped them on, wiggling my fingers when I was done. I walked over to the bench and picked up the last piece of our garb. The breathers were like thick twigs with a rectangle part for you to bite down on as you held it in your mouth.

We left the little side-cave and went back to the pool. Keegan sat on the edge, dipping his legs in. He outstretched his arm to me and I joined him.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded excitedly. Placing the breathers in our mouths, we slipped off the edge and straight down into the water.

The water was cool but not cold. I felt revitalized as soon as I was fully submerged. I bit down hard on the breather, afraid it would drop out. I felt so free and swam easily downward.

_Where should we go first?_ Keegan thought to me.

Startled bubbles floated out of my nose.

_We can communicate underwater,_ I realized excitedly.

_Where to?_ Keegan thought back, swimming in seal-like circles around me.

I'll follow you.

_Then come this way, little mermaid,_ he answered back as he moved away from me.

We swam deep down and then plateaued across the pool floor. There was an opening at the bottom against a wall. Once inside it, the cave opened up to an underwater foyer of other caves. The walls were lit by emerald and blue lights creating a shimmering northern-lights effect. Exhilarated by the atmosphere, I swam faster, shooting past Keegan and dipping into one of the cave entrances.

Once inside, the tunnel arched, curving as it turned upwards. I kept swimming upwards until my head broke the surface and air prickled against my face. There was a ledge a few feet away, just big enough for two people to lie on, and I swam to it. I tried to pull myself up, but with the flippers on I couldn't get that great of a grip and slipped back down in the water.

I felt movement beside me. Keegan's head popped up out of the water. I turned around as he swam towards me. His hands trailed up my thighs, stopping just below my butt. He gripped me, lifting me upwards out of the water. I scooted back onto the ridge. Taking the breather out, I slipped it carefully into my suit.

"Thanks," I told Keegan as he easily propelled himself up next to me.

"Anytime," he replied back. "Look at the ceiling—this place is amazing."

I cranked my head up. The rocky ceiling looked like it went on endlessly. At the very top, there were dots that glittered like nighttime stars.

"I love it here," I said.

"I'd feel safe saying this isn't a bad first date."

I turned my eyes away from the stars and onto him. "If this were First-Plane, I'd say you're crushing on me pretty hard."

He'd been pulling off his webbed gloves while we'd talked, and he smirked as he reached over to help me out of mine.

"It's not a crush," he murmured.

"What is it then?" I questioned.

Not answering me, he leaned over close. His eyes stalked my lips as he dragged his thumb slowly across them. I felt myself unconsciously leaning into his touch.

"Is it lust?" I asked, pushing for an answer.

"Partially," he breathed into the nape of my neck, his thumb now trailing down the opposite side. His lips began kneading kisses beneath my chin and down the skin of my throat.

I scooted closer to him, and he pulled his head back, catching my mouth with his. Soft at first, then enamored.

I needed more; my lips parted for him and he took everything I offered. A light groan escaped from him as he pulled me fully into a straddle on his lap. The feeling of him beneath made my heart pulse in my chest. My hips moved on their own accord against him. He gave a throaty, approving growl at my movement and tipped my head back so he could hungrily mark my neck with his lips.

_I could take you right here,_ he thought feverishly to me.

_Take me then,_ I consented.

_Not yet,_ he thought.

Right here, right now!

My hands entrenched in his short, curly hair, I pulled his mouth savagely down on mine, egging him on. My response surprised me, but I shoved my emotions aside.

But Keegan kept control, slowing the pace down. He cupped my face in his and the heat turned into tenderness. After a moment he pulled back, looking at me intently before leaning his head back. He closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply.

_Don't pull away from me,_ I thought to him.

He opened his eyes quickly, staring at me with a curiously surprised expression.

_Just—don't be so delicate with me,_ I thought, trying to explain myself. I knew he was holding back--I could feel the flame between us. Hurting me was the only reason I could think of why he'd be so careful, so guarded.

He held my gaze, looking at me with an expression so jumbled I couldn't understand it. His hands slid beneath me, gripping me firmly and he lifted me up unto my knees. I gasped in surprise. My head was dangling just above his now. A sly, mischievous grin pulled at his lips, and I couldn't resist dipping my head down to take a kiss from him.

His fingers slipped along the line between the bottom of my suit and my wet skin. But he just teased me, and the lack of release was making me frustrated, not to mention confused.

_You're not ready. We're not ready,_ Keegan thought to me finally after what felt like an eternity.

_What are you afraid of?_ I asked him.

Trying to taunt me into action?

"Yes," I snapped back aloud.

Keegan laughed richly, clearly enjoying my frustration. He reached up with his mouth lightly nipping the underside of my chin.

"You haven't answered me." Our mouths were just inches away from each other.

His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling me down back on his lap. He held me against him, saying nothing else. He just sat there, holding me. It was so uncharacteristic of him to be so quiet that I just submitted to what he wanted. Maybe he was afraid of the same two things I was: loss and love.

"Are you ready?" Ajani asked, his tone both playful and taunting. It was the next morning and I was standing across from Ajani in the sparring arena behind Paramount.

Iris had apologized profusely for the rush in our training, explaining again that normally there'd be more than one rushed evaluation, but time was ticking away. She already knew that Keegan and I were above average—as far as Aura abilities went—and she couldn't risk the Banguri threat becoming any more prevalent.

It seemed unlikely that she _wouldn't_ let us join the other fighting Aura. There were so few interested or able to actually fight, that anyone was better than no one. Still, I was glad for the chance to test out my abilities without holding back as much. Practicing with Keegan was fun, training with Iris one-on-one was helpful, but I needed to really stretch my abilities and see what I could do without worrying about mortally injuring someone.

"Daydreaming, or are you stalling because you're petrified?" Ajani taunted. I realized I hadn't answered him yet.

"Neither," I answered.

"Then answer me this time. Are you ready to start?"

"I awakened ready," I jabbed back.

_Clever,_ he chided, _but not original._

_You want to talk like this now?_ I thought back, surprised.

Why not?

I remember when we first met, you yelled at me for something similar to this.

_This is different, I'm in control,_ he told me.

We were circling each other. Neither had made a move yet. I could see Keegan off on the sidelines, his eyes following our movements like a cat ready to pounce.

_We're making your venku jealous,_ Ajani thought to me.

He has nothing to worry about. I've already chosen him over you.

"Ha," Ajani scoffed out loud. "If only it were that simple, darling."

He charged forward, his deku turning into a long wooden practice sword. He might have thought he was in control, but I had been using the banter as a distraction. I was ready when he struck first. I easily dodged his attack and countered with a very simple well-placed foot. He skidded to the ground. I repositioned myself so we were facing again, and I used my telekinesis to push him against a nearby boulder. He slid across the ground and his body slammed against the rock. He wheezed as the wind was knocked out of him. Dust and dirt crumpled on top of him.

I feared that I'd been too rough and quickly released the pressure-hold I had, keeping him smooshed against the boulder.

_Are you all right?_ I asked.

He didn't answer. He was angry. I hadn't really hurt him, I realized, just battered the hell out of his ego. In one fluid motion he got up, levitating ten or more pieces of the boulder that had cracked from the rock. His hands flew madly as he catapulted at me. He was so _strong now._ He'd been holding back before, of course; this was training. Now he was so angry at being bested that he was wild.

Rock pieces flew at me so quickly that I was only able to dodge the first two. One clipped my thigh, causing me to lose my balance, and another sliced open my cheek as it whipped by my head. Down on one knee, another rock hit me in my side. Suddenly, I felt myself being flung back like I was a ball being thrown.

I used my power to slow myself and I skidded to a stop without hitting anything, but I was too out of breath to do much more then suck in and cough back out air.

"ENOUGH," I heard Keegan roar.

Keegan, don't.

It was such a faint whisper of a thought I wasn't sure if he heard me at all. I looked up at Ajani, who ironically did not have the smug expression I'd expect to see on his face. His jaw was tight, but his eyes held all his emotion; he was shocked that he'd hurt me. He wouldn't be able to block Keegan's attack because he was only paying attention to me.

_I didn't mean to hurt you,_ Ajani thought desperately to me.

My body hurt so much that I couldn't even focus. I knew I was about to black out. The last thing I thought was to Keegan, asking him to stop.

12: KEEGAN

_Keegan._ Sariah was calling out to me.

I wanted to rip Ajani to pieces. Wipe that smug fucking expression off his face. I didn't even need to see his face to know it was there. He was a selfish, arrogant prick. I made a conscious choice to control my anger. Sariah would always be more important to me than anything or anyone else. I chose her.

I changed directions at the last moment and went to her instead. I moved so fast that the wind from me passing Ajani blew him over. I'd deal with him later.

When I got to her, she was only semiconscious. I scooped her into my arms and she groaned as I cradled her to my chest.

"Take her to your room and heal her," Bem instructed urgently.

I nodded silently and took off as fast as I could—which was like a bullet—back to our flat. I was thankful for my powers.

I moved as quickly as I could inside the building without crashing into anything or dropping her. When I got to our room, I kicked the door closed behind me. I practically flew up the stairs to our room. Laying Sariah down on our bed, I kissed her forehead and then leaned back so I could see her, examine her.

The connection between us was so strong that even a kiss sparked healing energy and the slices on her cheek began to scab. However, her other more serious wounds were still wet with blood. I needed to get her into the bathroom, soaking in our tub. I hoped I'd given her enough strength so that undressing her wouldn't be too painful.

Can you hear me, Wats?

_He didn't mean to hurt me,_ she insisted faintly.

"He's an arrogant prick," I said aloud. Sariah's eyes fluttered open at the sound of my voice.

Relieved that she was fully conscious now, I bent forward, brushing her lips with mine. I felt the heat pulse between us and a little more color splashed in her cheeks

"I need to get you undressed and into the water; then you can sleep. You'll feel better after that," I said.

She nodded and I slowly peeled back her body suit. Her beige-mocha skin was bruised on her ribs and around the gashes on her legs. My gut twisted in my stomach.

"You're blushing," I said, surprised to see her cheeks turning red. "After all we've done together, you're still shy around me?"

I can't help it. You overwhelm me.

I picked her up carefully and took her into the bathroom. I held her while the tub filled, cradling her in my lap. When I eased her into the water, she sighed with relief. I let her sit in there until the scars were faded and almost gone and there was just a faint bruise where the rocks had hit her. I leaned forward over the edge of the tub to get her out. She was dry in moments of the air hitting her skin.

I left her naked, covering her fully with the covers. I stayed clothed but slipped in behind her. She stirred against me.

"Are you all right?" I asked, worried that the water hadn't healed her enough.

"I feel better, but I need more than water." Her voice was even, her tone low and unintentionally dripping with sexiness.

"I'll make love to you if you want me to," I offered, trying not to sound as eager as I felt. I'd wanted her from the first day we met, but the feelings I had for her were deeper than that, and I needed more from her than just her body. I had wanted to wait until she felt the same way about me. I hadn't wanted to rush her. I also wanted her to _choose_ me.

I could have had her in the caves, but it was too soon. I could feel that she was still overwhelmed by our connection. It was so complicated being reborn into Second-Plane. Sex was an emotional need, but also physical. Back on Earth you didn't crave another person like this. You didn't need to satisfy this kind of sexual hunger. But at the same time, it was similar to lovemaking on Earth. She was my venku, my soul mate. I _wanted_ to please her.

_Let me try,_ I thought to her.

She didn't say anything, but she didn't move away either. I slowly took off my body suit and then placed my hand on her waist. I didn't want to scare her, and I knew the passion between us was intense. It would only increase as we got physical with each other and that was disarming to me too, but my need for her overrode my fears.

Leaning forward, I kissed the path from her shoulder up to her neck. The energy flared between us.

"I'll go slowly," I promised, my breath stroking against her neck in hot waves.

"All right," she said. Her eyes were closed.

"Tell me if it's too much," I told her. With my left hand on her waist, I wrapped my other arm around her body and cupped her breast from behind. I thumbed her nipple as I kissed her shoulder. I was already hard, and she moaned, instinctively moving against me.

_More?_ I thought to her. I could feel her body healing against mine. We created so much energy between us that just foreplay was enough to finish healing her injuries, but this was more than reviving her body now, and I was willing to go as far as she was.

13: SARIAH

My body was on fire. I was scared of how much I wanted him. My mind felt completely overstimulated. I couldn't process the way he made me feel. I felt out of control, but at the same time I knew he was right there. I could trust him. I could let him take control. I gave into myself.

I need more.

He moaned, biting the back of my shoulder passionately.

"If it's too much, tell me and I'll take it back to where you're comfortable," he promised.

He pulled me towards him, his arm tightening around my waist like an anchor. His other hand dragged lazily down the length of my thigh.

"You skin feels like silk," he said in a low voice.

I felt his left hand drag back up and over to my sex. My thighs spread in anticipation and he didn't make me wait. One, then two, fingers slid over me, glazing me in a firm but gentle arousing touch before finally dipping into me.

My world burst into technicolor. I pushed back on him as his hand moved, moaning in a way I didn't even know I knew how.

"Too much," he said into my ear.

Gutturally groaning back was all I could manage for a response.

_This is our first time together,_ he thought to me urgently, _you have to talk to me._

I can't even think.

"Since I just heard that thought, I know that's not true," he teased, his voice heavy with his own arousal. He pulled at my earlobe with his teeth and palmed deeper into me.

_I want you._ My thought poured out of my mind like warm honey.

That got his attention.

He shifted his weight, pulling his fingers out of me. His hand careened moistly down my thigh. I rolled my head back against his shoulder, closing my eyes as I sucked on my bottom lip. I was already intensely aroused, and his hand leaving a light trail of my own juices down my leg turned me on even more. At the back of my mind there was a little bit of panic. I knew intimacy led to closeness. Closeness to love, and there were only two outcomes of love: boy leaves girl, girl leaves boy.

I felt Keegan's lips massaging against my neck and I stopped thinking. Carnality won and I put everything else aside. He lifted my leg at the knee with his hand, moaning deliciously into my hair as he eased himself into me. He began to move behind me in a tantalizingly slow adagio, letting my body acclimate to his girth. This wasn't going to be like anything I'd ever felt on _any plane_ of existence.

I panted loudly as my hips rowed backwards against him. His hand spread out, gripping my stomach as his tempo increased to moderato. The pleasure was building. The tension was mounting. Any moment I would come. I bit my lip in anticipation as little shock waves of pleasure pushed me closer to the edge.

_You feel so good, so good,_ Keegan's mind sang to me as he moved.

He pulled my leg back, opening me wider, pushing deeper. My body quivered deliciously. Everything else faded. There was just us; his breath on my shoulder; the pulse of his hips; our skin rubbing together warm and slick. My hand snaked into his hair. I turned my head and his lips found mine passionately; our mouths tangling with an emotional hunger that I imagine neither of us had expected, and we came undone. I contracted in ecstasy; clenching hard around him, I came. He moaned sweet things into my hair as our bodies slowed back down and our breathing lulled in harmony.

When I woke up, I felt fantastic. Keegan was sleeping on his stomach with his head turned towards me. I wanted to curl up on him but I resisted, studying his body instead.

His was so beautiful.

He must have felt me watching because his eyes opened and he stretched lazily. He rolled over on his back, the sheet slipping down low on his hips.

My eyes trailed over every curve.

Our eyes locked, and the way he was smiling at me made me laugh. If time was a measure for knowing someone, then I barely knew him, but I knew that smile. His personality was just so likable. I didn't mind being his venku at all, which was better than fantastic since from the sound of it we only got one and it was a predestined, chosen deal. Would that be enough? To be tied together by fate? I wasn't so sure; both of us were so much more human-like than the others in Second-Plane. I hoped our chemistry, our physical connection, would be enough to sustain us. Maybe then, it wouldn't matter if he never fell in—

"You're over-thinking things again," Keegan said, his words blowing out between yawns. His accuracy stopped my thoughts abruptly.

"How do you know?" I asked him, afraid I'd given away too much of my inner monologue in my relaxed state of mind. I was afraid I'd think things to him on accident and then he'd know too much. I could never be quite sure how much I may have accidently thought to him.

"It's the way your face squishes up," he said, chuckling as he imitated my expression.

"I _know_ I don't look like that," I told him. I tried to focus on his face, but my eyes drifted back to the hints of hard rounded corners below the sheet.

"Come here," he said motioning to me to come lay with him.

I hesitated. Why was physical intimacy so hard for me? I liked him. Why couldn't I just let go of all the fear? I didn't even know why it was an issue. In the heat of the moment, everything had dissipated, but now we were back to reality and I felt so unsure. Would we want each other every time we touch? Or would we learn to control the intensity?

"Trust me," Keegan said, closing his eyes as he talked. "Baby steps, first we snuggle then we romp."

"We've already romped," I reminded him.

"That," he said, pausing his sentence as he stretched, "was strictly medical. I healed your body, but one day I'll feed your heart. Can we go back to sleep now? Tomorrow, we head out on our first mission."

Wordlessly, I scooted over to him and nested myself down in the crook of his arm. I was glad when he took my hand and pulled it across his chest, because I didn't know what to do with it on my own. I took a moment to analyze how I was feeling. Usually there was an instant arousal whenever I touched him. I did still want, him but it wasn't as intense. It felt more normal, relaxed, natural; I exhaled and nuzzled even closer to him.

_Covers,_ he thought.

I reached behind me and grabbed the comforter, catching the edge of the sheet as I pulled it over both of us.

_Perfect_ was the last thing Keegan thought to me before he fell asleep.

I woke up again early in the morning before Keegan. I found a fresh body suit and slipped it on. I wanted to talk to Iris before our team departed on our mission of interviewing the outer territory cities.

Her office was on the main floor. I remembered the location from the day we'd first arrived and I headed in that direction. Her living quarters must have been near because I ran into her just a few paces from our room.

"Good morning Sariah," Iris said, greeting me first.

"Hello. I was actually just coming to see you."

"Are you nervous about going out into the field?"

"I passed?"

"Yes," Iris said.

"But I passed out—I suppose that was just a technicality."

"Passing out while sparring?" Iris asked.

"No, the whole 'evaluations'—I haven't seen more than fifty or so venku pairs training."

"You're right—old habits die hard. That was how we always used to do it. After the treaty, few Aura took an interest in fighting. There are so many other things to do and we've had no need for an army again. Now that the deaths of Auras started, there's even _less_ interest in becoming warriors now."

"But, the whole Aura culture is at risk," I exclaimed. "This is a good life, an easy life. Very different than Earth—no one even ages really, so physically they could handle it if they wanted to.

"We do the best with the hand we're dealt. At least there are some still willing to defend the city and our people. I'm assuming you're one of them, unless you came to tell me you and Keegan have decided not to fight."

"No, that's not what I came to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about...my relationship with him."

"I see. Did you want to go into my office for some privacy?"

"Yes."

As we were going down the floors I felt Keegan wake up. I realized this was the farthest away from him I'd really ever been. This was undeniable proof that our bond was more than just sexual. We were literally linked. I felt him jolt awake and panic when I wasn't next to him.

Keegan, I'm fine. I just wanted to talk with Iris. I'll be back soon.

We've never communicated from this far away before.

_Another perk to being venku and not just lovers,_ I thought.

I must have impressed you if I've been promoted to lover.

I chuckled out loud despite myself.

"Talking to your venku?" Iris asked. We had reached her office and she held the door for me to enter.

"How could you tell?"

"Call it a good guess, since I haven't said anything funny."

"I'm sorry if I've offended you."

"Certainly not. I can communicate telepathically with my own venku. It's rare, but not impossible." Iris motioned to the chair across from her, "Please, sit."

I know what I wanted to say but I wasn't sure how to start so I just launched in directly. "I'm uncomfortable with the intense feelings I have for Keegan."

"The stronger your bond with him the more intense your connection, but tell me, why does it bother you?"

"I'm afraid of it."

"Do you know why?"

"If love him, if I let him have me, losing him will break me."

"Oh my dear, you and Keegan will always be connected in every form of existence. Energy doesn't die, and all we are is energy."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't take away the fear I have of not being able to control my destiny."

"Don't worry about that. If you do you won't enjoy the time you have together now. You are newly awakened in Second-Plane and there are a lot of impressions from your previous life. It'll take some time, but you will adjust. The strongest Auras have the most awareness of First-Plane life. Give it time and let Keegan help you."

When it was time for the debriefing, Keegan and I left our flat hand in hand. We had just gotten to the main floor when I saw Ajani sauntering in our direction. Keegan shot off like a rocket. Pouncing on Ajani, his hand grabbed him by the throat, ramming him into the wall.

"If you ever touch her again," he growled, "I will send you to the next fucking plane of existence."

"Keegan—let him go. He got carried away, but he didn't mean to hurt me," I insisted.

Keegan released his hold around Ajani's neck, but he wasn't done yet.

"Don't defend him, Sariah. He knew how strong he really was, and if he wasn't so damn immature he wouldn't have been so determined to 'win' a training session."

"Keegan—," I started to say, but Ajani interjected.

"No, he's right. It shouldn't have happened, and it never will again." Ajani was looking straight at me as he spoke and when he was done he turned on his heel, heading in the opposite direction from the debriefing room.

"Keegan I understand why you're upset but you're going to have to get over it. I'm fine. Our bodies can take a lot of abuse. It's not like First-Plane. We have many ways of rapidly healing."

Go make peace if you want, but that fucker better get his shit together.

I nodded. Keegan was upset and I didn't want to push the topic further. At least he was willing to just let it go. Maybe all he needed was to say his piece and get it off his chest.

"Go on in, I'll go get Ajani," I told him. Keegan sighed and ruffled his curly mop of hair with his hands. He looked tired, upset, worried.

"Come here," I said to him.

Keegan had been headed into the room, but he turned and came back to me.

"I've really said all I want to say about Ajani."

"I know. This isn't about that." I took both of his hands in mine and pulled him down the hall around a corner. There was no one around and I wanted to do this for him. Healing wasn't just about our bodies but our minds as well.

I pushed him against the wall. It was harder than I had intended, but I'm willing to admit that this wasn't just for Keegan. I needed him too, and I wanted him to know it.

I'd never initiated touch between us like this and his expression was filled with surprise. My own audacity was empowering and it gave me courage. His eyes were steadfast on mine. I ran my hands up his suit, feeling his heart pick up pace beneath my touch. I rose up on my toes, my lips heading towards his mouth, and he bent down to meet me. He stopped just before my lips and let me close the distance between us. That familiar white-hot heat flared.

Keegan gently parted my lips with his tongue, deepening our embrace and I let him, eagerly moaning into his mouth. I felt his hands slide up my ass, gripping my hips.

He pulled back, looking down at me with glossy eyes.

_Sariah_. His mind said my name in a way that felt like a warm, sweet sigh. I loved the sound of it.

"Feel better?" I asked coyly.

He made a satisfied humming sound and kissed my cheek.

_Well, aren't you just smug,_ Keegan thought to me.

"You'd better have something more platonic in mind if you're going to play peacekeeper with Ajani," Keegan said teasingly.

I scoffed. "I doubt he'll even talk to me."

"He will and it has to be you, because I'm not willing to ruin the good mood you just put me in. Go find him and remind him that we have a job to do."

I nodded in agreement. I hoped being on a team with Ajani wouldn't always be this eventful.

I found Ajani just outside the south exit of the building, sitting under a tree. He spoke to me first.

"You do know I'd never intentionally hurt you?"

"I know," I answered him. I sat down beside him. "But you did hurt me. You lost control, and that's unlike you. Is something bothering you?"

"YOU!" he said turning towards me. "You're what's bothering me."

"I don't understand."

"I'm a widowed warrior and I never thought I'd _feel_ anything for anyone again. Honestly, I don't even want to feel. I don't need to. But you," his voice trailed off as he caressed the side of my cheek with his hand. His eyes were searching mine. I knew he was looking for recognition of the emotion he was feeling for me, but his touch didn't move me. At least not the way Keegan's did.

"Ajani, you know this world better than I do, and by listening to what you just said about your venku, you know how powerful that bond is. I'm sorry you're lonely but—

"Companionship? Is that what you think I need?"

"Isn't it what we all need?"

"You don't understand me."

"You don't let me understand you."

I put my hand over his on my face and his hand dropped away abruptly. He knew my touch was in friendship only, and he didn't want it.

We all make choices, Sariah.

I didn't know what to say. It felt like first he was on the brink of telling me that he wanted more than just friendship—if you could call our relationship a friendship—but then when I'd touched him out of compassion he shrank away from me. He'd pursue me as a lover, but he'd never accept me as a friend? Why should his selfish needs even matter to me? Keegan was right, Ajani was selfish and immature. Yes, we do all make choices and you have never been one of mine. I got up and began walking away. I could feel him watching me go.

"When you've gotten your head out of your ass, I'll see you inside."

14: KEEGAN

Sariah sat down firmly in the chair beside me. She was upset.

"He's coming," she muttered.

_Of course he is,_ I thought to her. _He has reckless amour for you._

"I've already chosen you," she said to me.

I turned to look at her. She was staring at me with a kind of desperate urgency. She was afraid I didn't believe, but in my heart I knew she was telling me the truth. Even without being venku, we would have been lovers in any world. I put my arm around her, pulling her towards me.

"I know," I whispered reassuringly in her hair.

I felt our bodies relax. We were both relieved.

Iris cleared her throat at the head of the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bem and Ajani slink in just in time. They leaned against the wall side by side.

"Now that we're all here," Iris started, "I just wanted the five of us to meet before you all head out this afternoon. Consider this an informal debriefing. We have always had scouts that took shifts protecting the territories and making sure awakened Aura arrive safely to the Paramount, but we've never had a reason for a recon mission such as this. Keegan and Sariah, I know you have had to learn very quickly, but in your short time here you've honed your powers faster than any Aura I've ever known. Something is changing. Otherwise, fate would not have brought you to us. Now, your mission is to go to the different outer-rim territories that have been attacked and get a firsthand account of what's been happening.

The teleportation docks are staggered through the peninsula side but the outer cities that have been attacked are not near any. Lanni will transport you to the nearest outer realm but you'll need to use the maps on your communicators to navigate from there; report back daily. If anything changes in your orders, we'll contact you. You're strong and we're sending the four of you out together because we know you can protect yourselves, but don't seek out Banguri. Avoid engaging if you see any. All the Elders want right now is information. Understood?"

We all nodded in unison.

"Perfect. You are all dismissed; leave immediately."

The weather was chilly as we moved through the forest. The season was shifting into the start of winter. Our suits seemed to be temperature controlled so I was fine, but Sariah was so much smaller than I.

_Are you cold?_ I thought to Sariah.

No. I'm fine. You?

_A little,_ I lied. _We'd better hold hands so I don't freeze._

I snatched her hand exaggeratedly and she laughed at my movement. She pulled her hand away but then on the down swing grabbed it, linking her fingers with mine. She was smiling at me in a way that made me want to pull her to me.

"What are you two, twelve?" Ajani muttered jealously.

I smiled at Sariah and she shook her head at me.

_Don't make it worse,_ she thought to me.

"In need of some affection?" Bem asked Ajani.

He shrugged off her playful touch and walked further ahead.

"Is he always like that to you?" Sariah asked Bem. She'd let go of my hand and walked beside her.

"Not really, but he's been strange since you've been around. I think you remind him of Jet."

"Was that his venku who died?" Sariah asked, her voice sounding flustered.

"Yes," Bem answered simply.

"Well, even without Keegan, I wouldn't have tried to take him from you."

"He isn't mine to keep," Bem said softly.

I watched Sariah for some type of reaction or body language I could read, but there was none.

15: SARIAH

We reached the first city a few hours before dusk. The sun was dipping low in the sky but still had a long way to go until it hit the horizon.

I was expecting something similar to the Light City's architecture but these buildings were completely different. They were tall—maybe three to four floors—and narrow, making the homes rectangular instead of the square shingled homes I remembered from First-Plane.

It was like a ghost town, no one was outside. That did make sense, they must be scared—and honestly they should be, the peninsula wasn't safe anymore. There was no way of knowing if the Banguri were doing these attacks at random or if they were out there watching; waiting, for a moment to attack again.

_I don't sense anything outside other than us_ , Keegan thought to me as we all neared the closest building. Bem and Ajani were a few feet ahead of us, and we held back as they approached to knock on the door.

_Me neither. How far can you see out?_ I asked Keegan.

Farther than a mile off, with a clear line of vision.

We heard movement and looked up to see Bem walking back towards us and Ajani lagging behind her, with a disturbed look on his face.

"Most of the people wouldn't come out, too scared. We had to try a couple houses before we'd find someone who'd let Ajani read their mind," Bem said to us.

"Looks like they staked them out first," Ajani added as he joined us. "People saw some Low-Banguri lingering around just outside the city territory and then one night they just started attacking."

"Why wouldn't that raise alarm?" Keegan asked.

"This territory—since it's one of the furthest out—is right next to the Banguri land. There hasn't been a problem since the treaty was signed. Each side just left the other alone." Ajani explained. He pulled his communicator out and tapped the screen to turn it on. He began typing a message furiously with his thumbs.

"What are you sending back to Paramount?" I asked curiously.

"The Aura here are making a request for someone to guard their water supply. All of these cities have plumbing bring the water inside the houses—which as you know, is important—they're afraid that the Banguri will tamper with it, block it from flowing or poison it."

"Why?" Keegan asked.

"To make them come outside," Bem answered. "The Banguri don't have advanced technology like we do. Our people are only vulnerable if they leave their homes."

"Couldn't they just heal through sex?" I reasoned.

"Might not always be an option. What if people get separated or they're a widowed venku? And we've never had to deal with the possibility of being poisoned. It could make everyone too sick to even have sex."

"The Banguri are trying to kill all of the Aura-souls. Extinguish the entire race!" I exclaimed, the severity of the situation suddenly hitting me.

"Yes," Ajani agreed as he drew his pack off his back and slid the communicator back into its slot, "and we need to know why."

We didn't want to waste a night in town so we continued onward. Ajani had checked our location on the projected map the communicator could make. We were still some twenty miles away. Bem rationalized that if we did a well-paced jog, we'd be able to cover another eight to ten miles before needing to stop to hydrate and rest.

Keegan and I fell into an easy pace a little ahead of Ajani and Bem. I had to admit, I was enjoying the athletic level of my body. I felt limitless and that was so freeing. We could be so much more here than on earth.

Talking without actually talking is kind of nice.

_Why's that?_ I asked. I smiled in anticipation of his answer.

I can flirt without getting winded.

_That's not what I thought you were going to say,_ I thought back to him. _Besides, you don't even get winded. Endurance is one of your powers._

_Yes it is,_ he agreed, adding a little wink after his thought.

_Why do you think the Banguri are attacking?_ Keegan thought to me.

_You mean another reason besides them being wild, uncontrollable animals?_ I asked.

I don't think they're just animals. That night we awakened I saw one on the ridge. It looked human like us and it was leading the others.

I thought back to that night. I hadn't been able to see the figure on the ridge like Keegan, but I had entered its mind. Their leader did have an organized thought flow; it could have been human. I had just assumed that the Banguri that were attacking were just the lesser intelligent ones, but it made sense that someone would be instructing them. My thoughts were cut short by Bem's booming voice.

"Keegan, Sariah! The mini-atlas on the communicator shows a stream just ahead," she shouted from behind us. "We'll camp near there for the night."

A little curvy creek came into view and we slowed down to a walk. There was a clearing of open grass near it. Ajani stopped beside me and pulled out an octagon-shaped onyx-colored stone. He held it up face level to show me, the moonlight illuminating it.

"This is an octave. It has eight different forms it can take. There's one in your pack. There's a side button that pops out a compartment that holds it, just so you know. This one is Bem's. I'll set it up for you," Ajani said.

He tapped a house symbol and it glowed. Setting it down on the ground, he motioned for us to step back.

It dissolved into tiny squares that spread like black tar across the grass. It expanded its size as it flowed upwards, forming walls until it all met once again at the top of the dome structure it had created. It reminded me of some type of outdoor housing I stayed in in First-Plane. I could see it, but I couldn't quite find the name of it in my mind.

_Tent,_ Keegan thought to me. I nodded in agreement, not really remembering if that were right but trusting him all the same. How he could remember so much from a world that was fading in my mind like a mist of a dream? Keegan smiled to himself. I wondered what memories of tents he had.

"This is the night-house form," Bem said as she came and stood beside me. "Just room enough for two. You and Keegan will sleep here and Ajani and I will sleep in his. Once the sun hits, it automatically goes back into its octagon shape, so be sure you're— _decent._ "

At first I thought she meant fully clothed, and then I realized what that insinuated _._ I blushed.

"There's the creek too," Ajani muttered over his shoulder as he walked a few feet back from our tent. He was setting his up at the edge of the clearing. "Make sure you get some water in your system. We'll have a long day tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Bem said to me.

"Wait," I said, "aren't we going to take turns keeping watch?"

"This isn't a First-Plane western," Ajani said. His voice shot through the dark like a dart. "You and I are telekinetic; we'd be able to sense them before they were within a mile of us."

"I just thought—

"Don't worry," Bem added, patting my shoulder before she walked away. "They wouldn't attack _us_. Even though they're attacking the outer cities, they wouldn't go so far as that."

Without another word, Bem shuffled on after Ajani who had disappeared within their night-house.

Even though they were veteran warriors, I didn't agree with their decision. It seemed unwise to leave ourselves open for an attack. Either the night-house was safer than I thought, or they were just overly confident.

"Are you coming?" Keegan asked softly from the opening of the night-house.

"No, I'm going to stay and keep watch for a while," I told him. "Probably a good idea," Keegan said. "I was surprised too that they didn't think it was necessary. Want me to take watch first and then we can rotate in a few hours?"

"I'll go first. I'll come get you when I'm tired."

"All right," Keegan consented. I heard him walk up and stoop beside me. I turned to him. He trailed his thumb across the bottom of my chin and I thought he was going to kiss me. He did, but on my forehead. There was no other contact and I surprised myself by reaching after him when he got up.

He caught my hand in his, kissing the front of it sweetly before releasing it and striding off.

I was disappointed. There'd been nothing sexual between us since the afternoon I got hurt and the morning after when I pushed him up against the wall. I felt needy. Like I was desperately waiting for any scrap of affection he might toss my way. I didn't like it; it made me feel at his mercy.

I heard a groan and my eyes shot towards the direction of Ajani's tent. I was about to get up and make sure that everything was all right when I realized I hadn't heard the noise aloud. I'd heard it in my head. I closed my eyes, stretching my senses out. Ajani's mind was open and he let me float right in, but then when I realized what was going on, I understood why his guard was down.

I saw Bem—through his eyes—kneel down over him. Her head began bobbing steadily and Ajani's muscles flexed as he enjoyed the firm sucking grip of her lips. I could feel the pleasure moving up his body from his groin in steady waves. His hand curled into Bem's hair, pulling her mouth off him. She slid up his torso. Slowly adorning him with little licks and nips she traveled upwards, until they were finally face to face.

Ajani kissed her aggressively hard. He devoured her, dominating her body fully and she submitted willingly. He rolled her onto her back and drew her arms up above her head. There was nothing slow or tender; he was consuming her body with raw zeal. He was unapologetically rough and she ate it up hungrily. He bit her nipple sharply and took her with one swift thrust. Once he was inside of her, something changed in him. He began kissing her in a way that wasn't just to satisfy his own lust and I realized he wasn't thinking of Bem anymore.

_Sariah_ , his mind moaned as his hips rocked in and out.

I snapped back abruptly into my own mind and my eyes shot open. Had he intended for me to _feel_ all that? Or was he so preoccupied his guard was down? If he had done it on purpose, why would he do that? Keegan was my venku. That wouldn't change and I didn't want it to change. I felt frustrated. I felt like Ajani was trying to force me off the path I'd been put on. Maybe that was why Keegan had stepped back. Did he think I wanted Ajani? He had said I always had a choice; that I didn't have to be with him just because we were venku. Was that why he had been so withdrawn prior to healing me?

I reddened at the memory. He had done more than heal me and I'd _wanted it._ I wanted it again and again and _again,_ but I was hesitant in being so brazen. Even though I knew Keegan wanted me, there was still a lingering dark fear of rejection. But I saw now that I had to let him know where I stood with _us_ as venku. If I didn't initiate it and _take him,_ Keegan would never be sure I really wanted to be with him, and Ajani would always assume he had a chance.

I stood up and turned towards our tent. I did want Keegan, I always had. Maybe I wasn't ready to say it in words, but I could show him in action. My body prickled to life with arousal and I moved forward. I tucked down into the tent.

Keegan was sleeping on his back, one arm tucked behind his head. He hadn't felt me come in and I carefully sat down on top of his crotch, straddling him like a horse. At the pressure of my body on his, he jolted up, and I slid back ono his thighs. His arms instantly entrenched my waist holding me to him.

"Wats," he said softly as he woke up, "is everything all right?"

16: KEEGAN

Sariah answered me by leaning forward. She shyly kissed me, her lips meeting mine with barely more than a soft touch.

Quicker than I expected, her kiss became fevered. I felt her hands cup the base of my neck, her breasts pushing against my chest as she leaned into me. It was hard to keep from taking over, but it was so alluring to see her discovering her own desire that I held back. Planting my hands on her hips, I let her explore my body.

I parted my lips, inviting her velvet tongue in, and the sweet taste of her mouth filled mine. I moved my hands up the curve of her back cupping her shoulder blades, steadying her as we embraced.

My heart was racing; I'd wanted her to come to me like this for so long. I felt dizzy with the feel of her, the smell of her, my desire for her. _Finally, finally, finally._ I'd been waiting for her to come to me, _to choose me._ To know my love, our love, was what she wanted and not Ajani. Now was our time.

I pulled back and it was the first time I remember being short of breath. I reached up, unclipping the jewelry hair piece we'd bought on our way to the Abstract that was binding her hair, and her dark long curls tumbled free. I laid back down, my hands stroking the sides of her thighs; letting her have complete charge of me as I enjoyed the view of her body atop mine.

She dipped her head forward again and I caught her lips as they fell. My hands found her bottom and I gripped it, pulling her hard against me. Her hips moved across me carnally. She pulled her head to my cheek, moaning in my ear as she felt me beneath her. I could have taken her then and it wouldn't have been soon enough. Even through the suit, I could feel her tantalizing heat rubbing over me. I sighed heavily into her hair, my strength waning as my need for her built.

"Sariah—" I started to say, but her lips were on mine again and my words were lost.

Her fingers were pulling at my suit, searching for that hidden zipper. I couldn't remember wishing there was a fly on these body suits we wore, until now. Sariah had just successfully found it when we heard a howl from outside.

I sat up, knowing immediately what it was, and Sariah turned towards the entrance of our tent, just in time to see the wall shatter beneath the weight of a claw as big as an elephant's foot.

Sariah screamed as debris flew. I flipped her beneath me and took the brunt of the rubble from the octave on my back. I had expected it to hurt, but it just crumbled into black sand when it hit me.

I turned around, reaching for the weapon on my pad that was to the left of where we'd been lying, but I was too slow. The Banguri was just inches away, its jaw flapping wildly as it snarled, but before it could bite me its body flew back, crashing into the ground.

Sariah got up, pushing me aside.

"We have to help them!" she shouted.

Ajani had the beast pinned to the ground with his powers, but it was too large for him to hold for long. I grabbed my deku, turning it into a long, agile sword and ran towards him.

I held my weapon low, rapidly picking up speed with each stride. When I got to the beast I slid, creating a trenched trail behind me in the grass. With a boost of energy, I flew past the beast, slicing his legs nearest to me from under him. He toppled over and I turned, quickly attacking him again. With a strong downward sweep of my arm, I ripped my deku through his skull, decapitating the monster.

But there wasn't time to stop; there were two more charging towards me. I let them get close, and then I dodged as it roared past me. I threw my deku into the back of its head and the blade sunk in deep, only the hilt remaining visible. I ran up to the beast, quickly slipping my deku back out.

The beast's comrade hadn't been so easily fooled and had turned around once it passed me. Now it was crouched low like an angry, frothing rhino ready to charge.

_AXE_ , I thought and the deku morphed into a huge weapon made for pulverizing. I felt like _Hulk_. I stood ready to smash, taunting the beast to strike first.

I heard a scream and looked over my shoulder in time to see Bem being tackled by two more beasts of a similar size to the one I was facing off with. My distraction didn't go unnoticed. As soon as it realized I wasn't paying attention, it launched towards me.

I'd underestimated it. I hadn't anticipated it would be able to cover that much ground with a leap. I'd only seen it running before and it hadn't been that fast. The monster knocked me backwards and I hit the ground, raising dust in my wake as I raked over the dirt. Jolts of pain shot up my back straight to my head, immobilizing me.

"KEEGAN!" I heard Sariah scream, but I knew better than to try to look away from the beast again. I had to focus.

I took her shout as a warning and swung my deku upwards to shield my face. The beast's jaws clanged as they clamped down hard on the metal of my deku. It roared in pain. My vision cleared and I saw that my axe was wedged deep in its mouth. There was a fast glint of a deku-sword to my left, and then the monster's head rolled off and across the dirt, taking my lodged weapon with it.

Ajani ejected his deku from the beast's carcass and moved quickly back in the direction of where I'd last seen Bem.

Sariah came to me, reaching down to help me up off the ground.

"I froze—," she sputtered. "I could have helped. I should have. I don't know what's wrong with me. Keegan, I could hear its thoughts. I knew when it was going to strike. I could have countered before it even moved."

I pulled her quickly to me. "Not now, Wats. We have to help the others. Come on!" Her eyes were wide with fear, but she came with me.

We ran in the direction I'd last seen Ajani heading but halted abruptly not far off from where we'd started. We saw them on the ground, spread a few feet apart. Both of them were unconscious.

17: SARIAH

"What if he's really hurt?" I asked Keegan. I was kneeled over Ajani. I'd selfishly gone to him first and Keegan had gone to Bem. The hue of his skin was becoming paler by the second, as if his very essence were fading away.

"Bem's already gone, I can't see her chi."

"Why were those Banguri that attacked us so strong? There were so many. We should have all been more focused, more prepared."

"We should have watched in pairs, like you suggested."

I couldn't look at him as he spoke, but I could hear the pain in his voice. Bem and Ajani were our first friends, and their deaths would be our first loss; and to think, it could have been prevented if I hadn't just stood there.

_I'm sorry,_ I thought to Ajani.

You're not getting rid of me that easily.

Ajani! I could hear him. I was so relieved I bent down and kissed him on the forehead. His eyes shot open as if that brief brush of my lips had jolted him back to life. For a second I wondered if I had some sort of ability to transfer energy, but before I could think any further about it, I felt his hand beneath my hair, caressing the nape of my neck.

"You're all right," Ajani said. I felt his body relax, and his hand trailed from my neck down my back to the curve of my thigh.

"I can't believe you're worrying about me," I muttered in disbelief.

_Sariah,_ _I—_

_Don't_ , I thought to him. I wouldn't let him say it. He was always pushing me in directions I didn't want to go in. Always goading me, always toying with me, trying to do anything he could to get what he wanted. I didn't want him dead, but I didn't want him in my head either. I didn't want him evoking in me emotions I shouldn't feel, didn't feel.

_I liked it better when you didn't let me into your mind._ I'd meant that as a scold but his lips curled mischievously. Despite myself, I smiled back.

"Bad news, Ajani," said Keegan. I looked over to him. The sun was rising now behind him, casting a shadow on his face and masking his expression as he looked at us.

Ajani's hand was still on my thigh and I pushed myself back away from him. _Had Keegan seen it?_

_I saw it,_ Keegan's voice said to me. Oh no, I hadn't meant to think that to him. I was still getting used to controlling myself. I wanted to be honest with Keegan always, but honesty had a way of being a sharp knife.

"Bem is dead," Keegan told Ajani. "We tried to get to you faster, to help you, but we just couldn't. I'm sorry."

Ajani closed his eyes. His jaw line hardened and his fist clenched against the ground. Other than that, any emotion he kept hidden. I wondered if he'd mourn Bem as a lover or a friend. He opened his eyes again, and when he spoke, his voice was even and controlled.

"They attacked us all simultaneously. Bem was fine when I left to come help you all, but more must have attacked her once she was alone. I tried to get back to her—but there were so many on me at once. I—it was an assassination! From now on, we all stay together. We're too vulnerable apart."

"Sariah wanted to keep watch, remember? Either you're too serious or too flippant," Keegan criticized.

_Keegan,_ I thought to him chidingly. _Don't bring up the past._

There were now only three of us. The Banguri were trying to pick us off one by one. We had to stick together; united we had a chance. Divided we were as good as dead--ascending to wherever it was souls went after this plane. He didn't think anything back to me, but I felt the anger in his gaze and knew he was heated. He felt like I was siding with Ajani, rather than agreeing with him.

"I think they're after you," Ajani said to me.

"Why?" I asked, surprised at the thought I was being hunted.

"Because," Ajani said as he sat up, "there's something different about you. You're stronger than any of us. Whatever they're up to, they know you could stop them."

I blushed at his confidence in me and for a moment my mind flashed back to how I'd swooped into his head when he'd been with Bem. I hoped I hadn't in turn let him into my mind during my intimacy with Keegan. I hadn't thought of him at all once I'd ducked into that tent. I quickly decided my best move would be to never mention it, and if he did—well, I'd just deal with that when it happened.

"What should our next move be?" Keegan asked.

Ajani stood up. He was limping a little, but he was definitely better than before. I stood up too and felt a little woozy. I must have teetered because his arms encircled my waist instantly, steadying me on my feet.

_I think I can heal people but it takes a bit out of me. I must have given Ajani some of my energy when I kissed him on the forehead. Don't be angry_ , I thought timidly.

_I'm not as callous as that._ Keegan pulled me close and I knew he'd been worried when we'd been attacked.

_We're fine,_ I thought to him reassuringly. _As long as we're together, we'll always be fine._

_I know,_ Keegan thought, squeezing me tighter. _I just don't want to lose you._

I think I can heal Bem, and if I get too weak you can kiss me back to life.

_Not funny,_ Keegan thought.

I'm not trying to be funny. I want to try.

Sariah, you don't have to prove anything.

"It's not about that," I said out loud, irritated. Keegan was always trying to protect me, but it was making me feel like he didn't believe in me. Here were the facts: we were venku. We could heal with water, or with sex. What was the point of having these abilities if we didn't actually use them?

Ajani was watching us awkwardly, and I realized I had started talking mid-conversation aloud.

"Ajani, do you think I can bring Bem back?"

"Bring her back?" he echoed questioningly.

"Like how I healed you. I think I can heal her by giving her some of my own energy."

"No one has done that before," Ajani said uneasily.

"I want to try," I said, moving away from them and towards where I remembered seeing Bem on the ground.

"It's probably too late," Ajani said again, calling after me.

"Where is she?" I was at the spot where I saw her but couldn't find her body.

"She's ascended. There's nothing left of her."

18: KEEGAN

I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't wanted Sariah to try to bring Bem back. It was too dangerous. We had no idea if it was even possible or what might happen. I had flashes of old movies from First-Plane. It was never a good thing when people came back from the dead. Plus, exerting all that energy might draw more Banguri to us and I wasn't ready for a second battle yet.

Ajani recovered surprisingly fast as soon as Sariah was hovering over him. Had he really been knocked unconscious, or was this just another one of his schemes to make a pass at her? I'd seen the way his hand pulled down her back and onto her thigh. My hands were the only ones that got to drag over her body, period. I was jealous—there was no denying that—but now wasn't the time for petty emotions. I exhaled, trying to pull myself together and refocus. We had to contact Iris and see if there were any closer portals for a speedy return.

I jogged back to where the black crumbled dust lay on the grass. I saw my deku still in axe form and retrieved it from the ground. A few feet further and I saw the bean-shaped pack. I'd never used the communicator and until I saw a thumb-sized ridge I didn't even know where to find it. I stuck my thumb in and pulled back. A compartment opened up. Inside there were three items: a flat canteen made out of some type of expandable material, the communicator and my own octave. I took the communicator out, sliding the drawer back shut before snapping the pack on to the back of my suit. It dawned on me how all of our training had been rushed and focused solely on fighting. Perhaps they assumed everything else we'd learn out in the field or be dead before we needed it.

I turned the communicator over in my hand. It was a smooth matte-black color and looked like just a flat apple-sized river stone. The back had an archaic symbol key engraved into the device. The outline of a compass had the word MAP next to it; a little disc with lines coming upwards from it: PROJECTION; two arrows stacked on top of each other pointing in opposite directions were labeled: VOCAL MESSAGE; and a capitalized-lowercase combo of 'Aa' marked with: TEXT MESSAGE. Then below it the words: HOLD TO POWER. That was it.

I flipped it back over and held it. I felt a little tingling sensation and realized it was using my own body heat as its energy source. The screen blinked on and the symbols etched on the back appeared wordlessly on the screen. With my free hand, I reached over and hit the stacked arrows icon. The screen fluttered and then I heard a voice.

"Keegan—this is Lanni—go ahead with your report."

"We were attacked just outside of the Tawas territory. Bem is dead. Ajani was unconscious, but is alert now. Sariah and I are fine. Where is the closer portal?"

"I'll relay your message. Please stand by for your direct orders from Elder."

Sariah, who this whole time had been crouched over the spot where Bem had ascended, finally came back to my side. Ajani was watching us. Our eyes met and I locked possessively around Sariah as she buried her head into my chest. Ajani's energy flared jealously and he turned away from us.

"Are you able to track them?" Lanni's voice said through the communicator.

We didn't cover tracking in our training," I snapped back.

"I know we're putting a lot of pressure on you, but can you or Sariah sense any survivors from the Banguri pack that targeted you?"

I looked at the ground around us and suddenly I could see two different colors. One was blood, and the other might just be remnants of their energy.

"Sariah, are they all dead? Can you sense any of them near us?"

She paused before closing her eyes and nodding, yes. "They didn't all jump in. One watched, just like before. When we started winning, it abandoned them."

"Which way did it go?"

"North," she whispered.

"Yes," I said, addressing Lanni through the communicator, "we can track them."

"Good, follow them. Don't engage, but if you can find their nest, send that data back to us."

"What if they catch us? We're not prepared to fight them. They've evolved and _we're_ not ready." Ajani interjected, coming to my side so he could be heard through the communicator.

"Please do this. We need that data."

I knew it was a stupid idea, but if I didn't go, we'd just continue to get our asses handed to us every time they attacked. Plus, Bem was dead; maybe carrying out this new side mission would make her death not be in vain.

"Fine—how do I get the data back to Paramount?"

"Just find their nest and hit the compass button. It'll generate a beacon for your location and show you the map to the next nearest transporter. Watch them if you can, and see what they're doing. How big are these rebel nests? How many leaders? Any information that'll help us understand what we're up against."

"All right," I said.

"Also, I wouldn't advise splitting up."

I disconnected the communicator without a response. I was beyond irritated. The last thing I wanted to do was to head _towards_ a Banguri camp.

"When we get back," I said to Sariah, "we're leaving. They can't just send us on suicide missions. They don't even know what we're up against. All of their knowledge is based on information prior to the treaty. They have no idea what the Banguri could have evolved into."

"All right," Sariah agreed.

"You'd just leave the protection of the city?" Ajani said to her.

"Maybe there's another city out there that's safer," I shot back.

"We don't know what's out there," Ajani pushed. "Even with the attacks, the city is still the safest place."

"It's not your fucking concern," I spat as I walked right up to him. I grabbed him by the throat with my hand and shoved him back against the tree. He didn't look intimidated, and he didn't look like he was going to back down. I felt my energy flare and a rush of new strength swept through my veins. I began to squeeze his neck.

"KEEGAN!" I heard Sariah yell.

I felt a heavy push against my stomach—Ajani, I assumed using his powers—but I didn't let go. I wanted him to know right then which one of us was stronger and which one of us was winning.

_Keegan, please, we don't have time for this. The trail is already fading,_ Sariah thought to me. I felt her pull at my hand. She was right.

I let him go and he tumbled to the ground.

"Don't be childish," Sariah scolded me. She went over to Ajani, helping him up off the ground. He shot me a triumphant look as her hand went around his waist to help him up.

I let it go. I'd made my point.

"You said they went north, let's head that way," I ordered.

We traveled fast and soon I could see flashes of Banguri energy off in the distance.

"We're getting close. Stay low," I commanded.

_How many can you sense?_ I asked Sariah.

Ten, fifteen maybe more. Their chis keep blinking on and off. I can't be sure.

_What do you mean?_ I thought to her puzzled.

_I feel a soul and then it'll just fade away,_ Sariah answered.

"Stay here—both of you. I'm going to get a little closer. I just need to watch them for a few minutes and I don't have to get very close to do that."

"We said we wouldn't split up," Sariah insisted.

"We're not. I'm just going a little bit ahead. We can't leave Ajani alone with him not being fully healed. He fronts around you, but I can see he is weak right now. We can't afford to lose another soul. Stay here and guard him. We need to know what they're up to and to send back their location through the communicator. We have to do this."

Sariah closed her eyes—clearly feeling this was a bad idea.

I pulled her close and tried to reassure her.

Once we do this, we can leave and we'll owe the Aura nothing.

She nodded, hugging me back tightly.

_We can talk the whole time,_ I thought to her.

Be careful.

_I will,_ I promised.

I moved low, sticking to the shadows. I was reaching the edge of a clearing and I stopped. Crouching, I peered through the trees and the shrubs. I could see them. There was a vertical pool of silvery gel suspended in the air and human figures were slowly walking into it one at a time.

_Can you see anything?_ Sariah asked urgently.

I heard a loud roar from behind me and turned to see a gorilla-like monster rearing over me. I went to reach for my deku, but the beast snatched me around the torso with its hand. I couldn't remember seeing anything this large on First-Plane. Its grip squeezed all the air out of me and I wheezed, gasping loudly.

The monster took off with me in its grasp, banging me around as he went. I heard Sariah scream my name, but I didn't know if it was in my head or out loud. I hoped it hadn't been aloud. That would give up her position in the woods and I didn't want the Banguri attacking her while I was so helpless.

_How did I miss its presence?_ I thought frantically. _Doesn't matter,_ I told myself. _Do something!_

I did the first thing that came to mind. I bit down on whatever flesh was closest to my mouth—and ripped my teeth back like a wild animal. The beast dropped me, wailing in pain. I rolled on the ground, and I was able to right myself. I snatched the deku from my back. It gleamed into a solid chrome hammer. Just as the beast was charging at me, I flung it upward into its jaw. Blood and teeth sprayed, showering on me. I dropped back down to my knees, trying to catch my breath.

_Are you all right?_ I thought to Sariah.

I'm coming to you, hold on!

No, don't! I'll make my way ba—

Again, before I could get my thought out, another blow. There'd been more than one beast near. Its paw smacked me in the gut and I flew back as if I were nothing more than a toy. I saw my surroundings fly by and realized that when I landed I'd be surrounded by hostile Banguri.

I landed with such momentum that I kept rolling. I tried to stop myself, but I was like a pebble skipping across the water. Every time I bounced or repelled off of something, I lost my breath again and couldn't recover enough of my senses to try to grab anything.

_I've messed up, haven't I? How could I have been so stupid? I can't die like this,_ I thought frantically. _Not like this._

I plunged downward, my body no longer scraping across the dirt. I couldn't feel anything at all and that was more terrifying than pain.

19: SARIAH

"I'm going after Keegan, end of discussion," I yelled at the Aura council. I was standing in the middle of the room, in front of all of them. They were trying to talk me out of going after Keegan, but nothing would keep me from finding him. Iris was seated amongst them, but she said nothing against or for my request to go after him. Her mouth set in a firm, neutral line.

_I could make them do what I want,_ I thought vehemently to Ajani who was standing silently at the edge of the room. I was angry. I was scared. I was determined. I would not let the Banguri kill Keegan. I had to find him. I'd tried thinking to him but couldn't find him. I had a horrifying fear that he might not be in Second-Plane anymore.

_Keep a cool head. Turning on the Aura would make them view you as a threat,_ Ajani thought to me.

My body tensed at his thoughts, but I didn't turn around.

A threat, like the Banguri? How different can we really be?

_Calm yourself, Sariah. They'll let you go. They have to because we need to know how they made Keegan vanish,_ Ajani reasoned.

_You should have let me go! I could have saved him,_ my thoughts cried out.

_You'll still save him,_ Ajani thought back earnestly. _There's still time._

"Sariah," said the High-Elder, "Our numbers are dwindling and we cannot afford to lose any more of our forces. Our most prudent responsibility is to safeguard this city and Paramount at all costs. Still, any additional information on the Banguri is invaluable, and will undoubtedly save souls. The counsil has agreed to let you go."

"I will go with her," said Ajani.

I sighed. I knew he wasn't going because of Keegan, but I had no idea what it would be like over there. I couldn't risk going alone.

"We're to let _two_ telekinetic Aura leave the city?"

"We'll leave whether you sanction it or not," said Ajani.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, a showdown between the council and us and then they began murmuring to each other. I studied them, desperate to figure out which way they were leaning. Iris was vigorously talking to the High-Elder. I prayed she was pleading for us and not against us. They grew quiet and then addressed us.

"Very well, you and Ajani may go, but you're to use the communicator to send as much information back to Paramount as you can; camp locations, weapons, numbers, anything that's going to help our _cause._ You'll have to heal serious injuries by creating sexual energy, otherwise you'll risk ascension."

I tapped my foot impatiently. I already knew all of this.

Iris mistook my impatience for distaste and launched into a surprisingly parental-like lecture on what it meant to be an Aura.

"The idea of sex with someone other than Keegan might be distasteful to you," said Iris, "but Sariah, we cannot afford for you to die. Your energy would disperse to God knows where and we need you _here._ We need Keegan too, which is why we're letting you go."

"Duly noted," I snarled.

I left the hall in a huff. I was so irritated, I couldn't think straight. My adrenaline was pumping. I had to get to Keegan. We'd seen him fall into what looked like some type of portal. There was no way of knowing where it had taken him, or how much time we had before they'd kill him.

Ajani and I had gotten back to Paramount as quickly as we could, but even with a transporter semi near us, it had been over three hours now. Iris had been waiting in the teleportation room when we got back and I'd demanded an emergency council meeting with the Elders, and we were closing in on another hour of time passing. My heart clenched at how long that was and who knew how much longer it would take to find more Banguri and jump in with them when they used their portal and pray it got us close to where Keegan was. The whole scenario was becoming more problematic by the millisecond, yet I had to cling to hope that I wasn't too late, that somehow this would all work out.

"You don't have to go with me," I shot over my shoulder at Ajani. He'd been following silently behind me.

"Of course I do," Ajani said softly. "I can't let you go by yourself."

I stopped, turning on my heel, glaring wildly at him. I was nearing a breaking point and Ajani was the closest outlet for all my rage.

"You didn't care about Bem, you don't care about Keegan, and you don't give a damn about me either. You just want to fuck me and you're only _helping me_ yo soften me towards the idea of _us_ being meant to be together."

I wasn't really mad at him, but I wanted him to know just how cruel I could be. I was trying to hurt him. I was feeling jaded and I was going to make him feel just as empty inside as I did without Keegan. I'd expected my snapping and snarling words to push him away but my insults just bounced off him. If he felt anything from that lashing, he didn't show it. He just looked at me for a long, hard moment and then walked on ahead of me.

_Go drink some water and calm the fuck down. I'll meet you at the teleportation dock in ten minutes_.

I met him at the dock inside Paramount, in under five minutes. I slung the bag-canteen over my shoulder and it snapped magnetically alongside the bean-shaped pack. Water and my weapon were all I needed.

"He's still alive," Ajani said to me. We were standing side by side on the teleporter. Lanni was getting ready to send us to the closest outpost to Banguri territory.

I said nothing and Ajani asked, "Have you felt a surge of energy hit you?"

"No," I answered back, looking curiously at him. I hadn't thought that if Keegan was actually dead I'd physically feel a change.

"Then Keegan is still alive. You'll know when he's dead."

"How do you know?"

"I'm widowed. I've already been through the loss of my soul mate. I know what it feels like."

Right; I knew that. Bem had alluded to Jet, Ajani's venku who'd died. I'd forgotten. I softened a little towards him, realizing he probably _did_ know how I felt.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier," I offered as an apology.

"Don't be. Most of what you said was true."

"Most?" I asked. I looked over at him and he grinned back at me.

"You were wrong about my feelings for Bem, but you are right about Keegan. I don't care for him, never have. He's a first-class twat half the time." His eyes turned back from mischievous to serious. _I care about you. We're friends, Sariah. If never anything else, we're friends, and I can't let you do this on your own; so I won't. But we both know what I feel for you is more than just wanting to fuck you._ _Just because they told you Keegan was your venku doesn't mean he is._ _I'm just as worthy of you as he is, but you never let me close enough to show you._

The intensity in his eyes was so strong. I knew he was being honest. I looked away and thought back to him, _No one made me love Keegan._

_You need Keegan but you don't want him,_ Ajani pushed back. _I want you and I need you. Even though you deny it, you want and need me too. That's why I won't let you go alone._

"All right, we're all set. Ready?" asked Lanni, eerily giddy. "Go bring your hunk of venku-meat back!"

I stared at Lanni in bewilderment. How could she be so flippant?

As soon as we reached the out point, I used my telepathy to hunt down the nearest Banguri. There was no time to waste.

There was a nearby stream and I sat in the middle of it.

"What are you doing?" Ajani asked me.

"Finding those portals," I answered back. As soon as I sat in the water, the pores of my suit opened up and I felt a rush of energy flow through me. Instinctively, I was going to try to use the water to amplify my own powers. I took a deep breath and let my mind flow away from my body out into the woods. I felt like I was in a trance. I could see everything like an airplane in the sky. I focused harder, straining myself. We'd already wasted so much time we couldn't afford any more delays.

I found a middle-grade Banguri. I didn't want to enter the mind of a higher one, because they might detect my presence. I zipped into their head and its mind snapped into focus. I felt a touch on my shoulder and my eyes shot open. Ajani was squatted next to me in the water. I had fallen over in the little shallow stream.

"Are you all right," Ajani asked.

I went to speak but couldn't. I had found what we needed to know but it had drained everything out of me. I was naïve. I wasn't strong enough without Keegan here. I felt my body sway forward and I fell face-first down into the water.

"Sariah," Ajani said emotion racking his voice. I felt him pull me onto his side holding me close to him. He wrapped his hand around my neck and back into my hair. I felt some of the energy from the contact of his body flow into mine. He was transferring his strength to me.

Instantly, I felt less weak.

"How were you able to just do that non-sexually?" I asked.

"Guess your theory about saving Bem was right," he said, looking down at me. I caught just a wisp of emotion in his eyes before he swept it back under control.

"I'm not as strong as I thought," I told him.

"No, you're stronger. You just stretched yourself miles out. No other Aura can do that."

"But I'm too weak now to make sense of what I saw," I said hopelessly. I felt so defeated. I had to save Keegan but I just couldn't on my own.

"Let me help you," Ajani said, caressing my face. His hand warmed my cheek and something stirred in me. It felt good. It felt natural. It felt like something I would have liked on First-Plane. It felt easy. Was he right? Had I had feelings for him all along and I just wouldn't admit it?

"It'll mean nothing to me," I told him, aware that I was partially lying, but desperate to not give in to him. Even though I needed it, I fought back against the lull of his energy.

He ignored me, leaning forward. Our lips touched and I felt a surge rush through my body; our energy mixing. But it was more than that. I realized it was me who'd deepened the kiss, not him, it was me who pulled him closer, not him, and it wasn't me who pulled back first.

"There," he said. I couldn't read the expression on his face but his voice was husky and deep. "Now we're even for when you saved me in the woods."

I was feeling completely back to normal. I realized I hadn't moved away from him yet and awkwardly stood up. With my strength back, the images I'd stolen from that middle-grade Banguri burst into coherency. They were just a few hours' jog north of us. Something told me we had to hurry; the Banguri wouldn't stay in the same spot long.

"They're north of us; a few Middle-Banguri, but no leader that I can sense. They're grunts being sent in as reinforcement. They have a portal opened up. We can take them out and run through. They'll try to close the portal but if we're close and fast before they see us, we'll have a chance of getting through."

"All right then," Ajani muttered more to himself than to me as he helped me back up to my feet. "Let's go get that one true love of yours."

PART TWO: FIRST-PLANE

20: KEEGAN

DAY ONE

My eyelids fluttered and white light pierced my pupils. My head crashed like a cymbal and my hand reflexed over my eyes as a shield.

"Are you all right?" the voice repeated. This time I understood her words.

"My head..." I mumbled back.

"Lean forward; let me see. We should sell the diner," she muttered to herself, "weird things are always happening in this alleyway."

The light touch of her fingers combing through my hair made my senses flare to life. I opened my eyes again and after blinking rapidly, the smooth cloth of her shirt and the creamy skin beneath it became visible. There was a tag clipped to her blouse that read: ELIZA. I caught a faint whiff of a honey-scented perfume before she pulled back away from me. Her eyes peered at me worriedly.

"I thought you were dead at first, the way you were slumped over. I came out with the trash—hoping the new bus boy will do it is a pipe dream. Peter is many things, but at least he's dependable—and there you were right by the dumpster. Can you get up? The diner isn't open for another hour but I can get you some food and coffee."

"Who's Peter?" I asked.

"My brother," she answered quickly as if she didn't want me—a completely stranger—to get the wrong idea. Her arm curled around my waist as she helped me up. I was surprised that someone her size could be that strong.

"You must work out," I joked meekly.

"You're not some sexist schmuck are you? Because I hate to break it to you, I always wear socks and I'm never in the kitchen making pies."

"What?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh, please! I know you've heard that joke," she said as we headed into the diner through the back door.

"I don't remember it," I told her. We walked through the kitchen and to the front of the diner. She sat me down in one of the bar seats and began bustling around on the other side of the counter.

"What do you want to eat? I'll have the cook—my other brother—make something for you."

"How many brothers do you have?" I asked, amused by the way she casually added in personal information to the middle of sentences when she spoke.

"Just two, what did you want to eat again?"

"Nothing, just water, please."

"Just water it is," she echoed back.

"So what's your name?" she asked as she bent down to retrieve a clean glass from behind the breakfast bar.

"Keegan. I remember that, but that's about it. Eliza, where are we?"

She froze—the glass of water still in her hand. "How do you know my name?"

I smiled and pointed mutely to her name tag.

"Oh, right," Eliza said laughing. Her face visibly relaxed. "I forget I have this on all the time. We're in New York City. Our little neighborhood is on the border of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Images of city life—subways, parks, taxis, corner coffee houses—flashed in my head, but before I could really remember more than just the concepts, they evaporated.

"Seems like I've been here before, but I can't be sure.

"Do you remember anything?"

I closed my eyes, searching in the dark for anything, but there was nothing. I shrugged. My mind past awakening in the alleyway was blank.

"Maybe it'll eventually come back to you. Here's your water," she added, finally placing the glass down in front of me.

"Thank you." Our eyes met, when our fingertips brushed as I took the cup from her. It was just for a moment, but I recognized that look in her eyes. She wanted something from me.

I gulped down the water and it careened refreshingly through my body. The ache in my head lessened and I felt a little stronger, but I was still so tired.

"Is there some place I can lay down?"

"Sure, my family owns this diner and the apartment building above us too. You can rest there."

"Do you even know his name?" asked a male voice from the kitchen. "Or are you just really that much of a red-blooded harlot?"

I quickly deduced the voice probably belonged to the older of her brothers.

"Yes to both of those questions, Luke."

"I'll be sure to let dad know," her brother shot back, his voice growing louder as he got closer to us.

"I don't care if you do, you little narc. I don't pay rent to not be able to bring home whom I please."

"Well," Luke said as he held one of the swinging doors back, "if he murders you and you're late for your shift, it's coming out of your pay."

"Fuck off," Eliza shot back, but neither of them seemed truly mad.

"You don't have to help me. I can take care of myself. It was too much for me to ask of you anyway," I said, getting up from the table. My legs were still wobbly, but somehow I knew with more water it'd be strong enough to at least walk by myself.

"No," Eliza said coming around the counter to steady me. "He's only teasing. My parents are very religious and never turn someone away that they can help. You never know when an angel might knock on your door disguised as—she stepped back surveying me, "a man dressed up in some weird futuristic scuba diving suit. What the hell are you wearing? You must be from out of state and into New York for one of those weekend Comic-Con cos-play festivals. Do you remember who you're supposed to be?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I answered back.

"Right; no memory, it doesn't matter anyway. I have some clothes an ex left behind that you can have. Let's go."

There was a joining hallway that connected the dining area of the restaurant to the lobby of the apartment building. We took the elevator up to the top floor and walked down the hallway stopping at the end at Room 841.

"Eight floors, forty one apartments. Most of the apartments are closet-size small. Since my parents own the place, I get the pleasure of having an apartment that is as big as two closets."

"You're easy to like," I said, turning my head to smile at her as we walked into the room.

She tossed the keys down on the kitchen table and leaned against the wall by the door.

"Flattery is futile," she replied, grinning. "It's a pretty basic layout. This is the kitchen-living-dining-room and then that door that misleadingly looks like a coatroom, is the bathroom. My bedroom is just off to the left and you are welcome to my couch."

I studied her as she spoke, telling me some story about the antics of her neighbor. Her hair fell just below her shoulder in soft waves. Her waist narrowed in and then flushed back out curving at her hips. Even in her uniform she was beautiful. She noticed my unyielding gazing at her and her lashes fluttered down shyly. She pushed herself off the wall she'd been leaning on and brushed past me into the room.

"I'll grab those clothes for you, and then I have to go back down to the diner for my shift. I should be off at one o'clock if you want to see the town or try to figure out who you are." Her voice trailed off as she went into her bedroom.

She reappeared with sweat pants and a t-shirt, handing them to me before retaking her post against the wall.

"What I mean is, we could hang out. If you want," she said, finishing her sentence.

"Sure," I said. Without thinking, I began peeling off the suit. I got down, to the shoulders before something reminded me that this wasn't customary. I stopped, realizing that I was supposed to do this in private. I looked up over at her apologetically.

"I should have waited until you were gone," I said.

"No, by all means," she muttered to herself, her eyes scanning over me. Her hips shifted against the wall unconsciously. She was attracted to me, I realized instantly. I could have her if I wanted and I did _want._ A need for her body pulsated within me. Somehow I knew I would feel better if I had her. I would _be_ better.

I walked to her, letting my instincts take over. Her eyes jolted up to mine but she didn't move away. She let me come to her. I left a few inches between us as I dipped my fingers into her hair and trailed my thumbs up her jaw line. She inhaled sharply, her skin prickling beneath my hands as her pupils dilated.

"I'm not usually _this_ girl," she whispered.

"I know," I purred, before tugging on her bottom lip with my teeth. I wanted her to kiss me first.

She moaned, melting into my mouth; kissing me with a neediness that I hadn't expected and also found surprisingly repugnant. I dropped one hand from her face and steadied her waist against the wall. Her lips broke from mine and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I'll come back after my shift," she said.

"Come back after your shift," I agreed. I stepped back from her. She turned quickly, closing the door behind her before I could get a glimpse of her face.

I stretched before heading to the bathroom to shower. I wanted her, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that having her would only temporarily satiate me and it would do nothing for my soul. There was something more that she didn't have. She wasn't the one.

But then, again, how could I know that? I'd just met her.

21: SARIAH

HOUR SIX

Ajani and I were lying flat on our stomachs on a hill above the Banguri camp. We had finally made it here; now we just had to wait for a portal to open up.

_How do you want to attack_? Ajani thought to me.

There aren't a lot of them.

I noticed that too.

It was dark and I could only see shadows of a few Banguri patrolling the area, and some sitting down by a fire. Suddenly there was movement in the far part of the camp. Were more coming back from a hunt?

I wish I had Keegan's vision. He can see souls.

_We can read minds,_ Ajani reminded me.

_We can't risk them knowing we're here,_ I reasoned back.

The next twenty minutes felt like purgatory. I hated doing nothing, but we couldn't move in until the right moment.

_There are some things we haven't talked about yet,_ Ajani said.

_Unbelievable,_ I snarled.

_Everything's not about you, Princess,_ he thought back chidingly. _What's our plan if we get in the portal and some of them follow us?_

I exhaled—probably too loudly, but I was relieved he wasn't trying to pitch his case for why we should be together. Although my answer to his question ironically made me just as uncomfortable.

_We'll kill them,_ I thought. _We can't risk letting anyone know we've arrived._

Can you do it?

_What—are you suddenly anti-killing?_ I asked nervously, thinking he was going to expect me to do the majority of it.

No, I can kill without a second thought, but you can't.

I didn't have a response for that. It was true, I didn't want to kill anyone, I never had, but I had to save Keegan. He was more important than anything or anyone. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't give up. I couldn't hold back.

_Let's worry about that when we have to worry about it,_ Ajani reasoned.

There was a flash down below us—a portal had been opened.

_Let's go,_ I thought.

_Wait—what are they doing?_ Ajani asked, looking straight ahead.

I squinted, trying to see what he was talking about, but from my angle. I couldn't quite make out fully what was moving. I closed my eyes, letting my sense stretch out.

Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry.

My eyes shot open and I turned to Ajani in the dark. It wasn't—people they were sending animals through the portal.

They're sending Low-Banguri.

_We've got to move,_ Ajani thought _. We have to get to that portal. Wait until the last possible moment to strike. Once they see us, they'll try to close the portal and we might never get through. Ready?_

He reached behind him, grabbing his deku and turning it into a long sword as he got up from the ground. He squatted down low in apposition that made it easy for him to sprint off. I followed suit, mimicking his movements. My weapon felt heavy in my hand, but I was determined. There was no other way _._

_Ready?_ Ajani asked again.

Ready.

We took off down the hill in a fury.

Keegan would have been faster, I thought to myself, but I pushed him out of my mind as I ran. I kept my weapon low. We were behind them and they were all focused on the animals heading through the portal.

_Fan out—take the right,_ Ajani instructed.

I followed his orders, swiftly gliding to the right. They couldn't see us approaching through the trees, but as soon as we hit the clearing we'd be easily spotted.

Ajani reached a Banguri first and he swept past, his deku cutting through the Banguri's knees. His victim screamed, alerting another nearby male Banguri. Ajani over turned him easily attacking him dead on, snapping his neck with skilled precision.

The orbs of each soul floated up and I had to look away. _Dead._ It had been only minutes since we started our descent down into their camp and we'd already killed two of their kind. Emotion began to bubble up in my stomach, but I pushed it down. I shook my head, clearing it. I couldn't moralize what was happening right now. I had to focus.

I started moving again. I was nearing another High-Banguri, but I snuck past without having to hurt him. Everyone was focused on Ajani. They hadn't even noticed me yet, and I was beginning to think I could make it to the portal without killing anyone or anything—then I tripped, hurtling forward.

_SARIAH!_ Ajani's voice screamed in my head.

I scrambled back up to my feet, but by then, I was already surrounded by beasts. One jumped first and I defended myself, catching him easily on the tip of my sword as he lunged at me. Two more attacked at once from both sides. I threw my hands out and the beasts stopped mid motion. I held them in the air, studying them for a few seconds. They were the same type of Banguri that I'd first seen. I began to tighten my grip. I could see the panic, the fear in their eyes. I gritted my teeth, blocking out their thoughts and emotions. Shutting my open hands into fists, I ended it. Crunching: the sounds of mangling bones and guts; even when it stopped it echoed in my mind's ears.

They couldn't even get a full howl out before they were dead. More tried to sneak up behind me, but I felt them coming. I swiftly picked up my dropped deku from my fall and jutted it backwards under my arm. It slinked into my attacker. I whipped around ready to jam my blade in deeper if he were still alive.

My eyes locked on a man, a single tear dripping down his face before the light faded from his eyes. I froze. It wasn't the body of an animal that slipped backwards off my deku, it was _a person._ What had I done? Was it too late? Could I transfer some of my energy to this man and save his soul from ascending?

_MOVE!_ Ajani ordered and I snapped back to life.

This Banguri wasn't worth more than Keegan, I desperately rationalized as I watched his soul float away. I could think about this later. I could feel guilty later.

My deku painted the tips of the grass red as I began to run again.

Ajani was still making good progress, to my left. We had our chance—everyone was scattered and the portal was wide open. We were about a few yards out still when a couple of the low-Banguri beast launched back through. These were larger than the dog-like ones we'd fought. I bent back losing my balancing as it flew over me and my body tripped into a roll. I panted, trying to get my bearings when Ajani ran up to me dragging me up by the arm.

"Keep going and jump right into the portal," he shouted to me. "I'll be right behind you."

He was at first, I could sense him. Then an even larger animal slammed his crushing weight into Ajani making his energy flicker behind me. I cranked around, trying to see what was happening and began stumbling backwards into the portal. Ajani wasn't going to make it. I was going to fall in without him.

I screamed and threw my hands forward, reaching for him. My powers hit the animal in the side like a cannon. My instincts took over. I knew what I wanted and my body just did it. I grabbed Ajani and flung him to me like a slingshot. He moved so fast that he crashed into me before I'd even fallen through the portal. The whole event felt slow, but logically it couldn't have been. I didn't know I could move anything with my mind that fast. I was impressed with myself until we slammed into a wall.

The wind was knocked completely out of me and I gasped, trying to catch my breath. In front of us, the portal blinked shut like an eye.

Ajani grunted as he stood up. "I don't sense any Banguri. I think they all came back in the portal trying to defend their camp," he said.

I gasped as his weight lifted off my chest and air surged into my lungs.

"For fuck sake!" Ajani cursed, realizing how hard he'd smacked into me. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," I said, attempting to stand. I didn't make it an inch off the ground before I fell back down. I turned my head, gritting my teeth as white-hot pain seared through my calf. I was afraid to look.

"I'm going to lift you and lay your leg out straight. Hold on to me," Ajani instructed.

His arms encircled me, too quickly for me to brace myself for the throbbing spasm in my leg. I felt dizzy. I held my breath as he situated my leg and tears squeezed out of my eyes.

"I don't know how you managed not to break it, but the skin got scraped almost clean to the bone. Tendons are probably shot. Water might make the pain lessen, but it won't be enough to heal you."

"Kiss me," I wheezed. I was in so much agony that I didn't even care at this point.

"It must be unbearable if you're asking me to—

I grabbed his collar with my free hand and brought him heavily down onto my mouth. My theory was: Ajani wanted me, so his own arousal should produce enough energy to heal my leg. What I hadn't calculated was the way it would feel to actually kiss him. To let go of what I knew was right and taste a little bit of what was wrong. Ajani pulled back. I opened my eyes and looked into his. They were steel grey with blazing golden flecks around the irises.

"You _are_ attracted to me, aren't you?" he murmured.

I nodded, unwilling to say it. I felt my cheeks flush with the truth. Ajani had finally been able to get it out of me.

"How long have you fought against your feelings for me?" he said softly, his eyes still glued to mine as he held me.

I shrugged. I honestly didn't know. I still wanted Keegan more.

"Will kissing you now change anything between us?"

"It won't," I told him.

"But you can feel it?" he said leaning his head against mine in a soft caress. "You can feel what we could have?"

"Yes," I said weakly.

"Yet, you still choose him over me?" he asked as his lips embellished the side of my face with light kisses.

"I'll always choose him," I promised.

Ajani pulled back from me. I thought his eyes would be sad, defeated, earnest, but they were still blazing.

"You're so stubborn," he growled and then he kissed me with a zeal that took my breath away, and in that brief moment I forgot everything but us. He pulled me into him, holding me in the nook of his arms as he took full advantage of this happenstance. Each kiss was filled with all the things he'd wanted to say. Things that would have been stretched out over a courtship if we'd met on Earth and not on Second-Plane. I couldn't deny it. I liked him, my body liked him. I leaned into his kisses, never stopping or pulling back and I gave myself over to the way he could make me feel.

If I hadn't been awakened with Keegan, then maybe this would have been something. Yes, if Keegan hadn't existed then I'd want Ajani. But that wasn't how our stars had been laid out. Keegan owned my soul; no one else would ever be able to have all of me.

My body began to warm and I felt an intense stinging in my leg. I broke our kiss, arching my back against his thighs. I was extremely overcome by the weird mix of pain in my leg and pleasure everywhere else.

Ajani tipped my head back, leaning down as he began unzipping my suit.

"If you orgasm, you'll heal even faster," his voice vibrated in my ear.

"Ajani!" I cried weakly, disoriented by everything I was feeling.

Exasperated, I started to mumble his name again but then covered my face with my hands. I knew my face was getting redder by the minute and I was still trying to get ahold of myself.

"Exactly what you'd be saying, but in a higher pitch," he promised.

I didn't want him to stop and I didn't have the will power to make him. I felt the air on my skin as the zipper parted. His hand rubbed across my chest and down over my stomach. I bit my lip, successfully stifling the moan that was threatening to escape my mouth.

"Relax," Ajani said as he continued to caress my stomach in a tantalizingly slow pace, inching lower and lower. "Trust me with your body and let me heal you."

_Keegan._ I just couldn't be intimate like this with anyone else. My hand shot to his, stopping him right at the shore. The sexual haze began to dissipate and the world came back into focus. The pain in my leg was gone with just a thin line of a faded scar left. Ajani sat me up and I caught a glimpse his disheveled hair. I blushed self-consciously.

"Mrs. Keegan," he said bitterly, "your leg is all healed. We'd better get moving."

He helped me up and for the first time, I took in our surroundings. We were in a back alleyway of a city. It was dark, which was good. I hadn't thought of what might happen if we came during the day. A car buzzed by and the glow from its headlights illuminated the brick stone of the alley way reveling a mural that had been painted. I had a quick flash of recognition.

_We're in First-Plane!_ I thought to Ajani.

Are you sure?

Yes.

"Then no wonder why the Banguri have been trying to keep this hidden. Those murders and attacks were probably just a distraction. We'll have to figure that out later. Try to reach out to Keegan, maybe you'll be able to guide us right to him," Ajani suggested.

"What if I can't?"

"We'll go have sex somewhere until your powers are strong enough," Ajani told me, not even bothering to hold back his smile.

I blushed again, worried it would come down to that. What would Keegan think when I told him? I'd have to tell him. You can't keep that type of secret from someone.

"I'm joking," Ajani said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find him. Take your time and then just reach out to him."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was almost laughable having to try to be calm in order to be able to focus hard enough to use my powers. Honestly, how the hell was I supposed to be calm with everything that kept happening to me?

Keegan, Keegan, Keegan, where are you?

22: KEEGAN

DAY ONE

I hadn't been able to sleep. I had a feeling I didn't need much sleep. My shower had felt heavenly. I'd stayed in for a while, letting the hot water soak into my skin. All the aches dissipated. My strength returned and that hunger I felt when I saw Eliza lessened. It was like the water repaired me or even fed me.

I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped out with careful footing onto the tile. I hadn't wanted to slip, but once my feet hit the cold floor, I realized they were dry. I ran a hand over my arm and through my hair; dry, completely dry. I couldn't explain why it didn't alarm me, but I would be careful to keep that from Eliza. Even though I somehow knew that was normal for me, I knew it wasn't _normal_ in general.

I realized I'd forgotten to bring clothes into the bathroom with me and returned to the living room to find them. I didn't want to put the suit back on. It felt out of place here. It wasn't like what the few people I'd seen had been wearing.

Eliza had all sorts of things in her apartment that gave me a hint to her personality and I recognized them all. A smooth black-matte gaming console, an Impressionist painting of crooked flowers in an earth-toned vase, but it was the hodgepodge of books that caught my eye.

Drawn to them, I squatted in front of the bookcase. My hands trailed over the spines of the books before stopping on one. It was a book of poems. I tried to see who it was by, but the pages were worn and the name on the leather cover had long since faded away. I flipped it open, letting my hand stop on a page at random.

From the Grave

Wrong place, right time

and now I'm dead.

"How sad," they'll sigh.

"If only they'd try harder," they'll say.

But what words can you hear,

deep in your grave?

I can't hear anything in my tomb

and am glad for once, for silence;

life was hard as soon as I left the womb

and I'm glad to finally find something un-biased.

_Depressing_ , I thought, _utterly depressing_. The whole book couldn't be like that. I tried again, flipping to another page away from the melancholy one I'd found.

Me and the Moon

At night,

the moon haunts me

if it's full.

At night,

the moon abandons me

when it's hungry.

My days are always

better ending than they began,

but always flavorless

and I can rest only

when I draw

the blinds to hide

the moon, because

when I make myself

—alone—

I sleep best.

"Do you always browse through people's things?"

Eliza's voice jarred me and I looked over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorway.

"I was reading one of your books," I told her as I stood up. I waved the book as proof.

"Do you always walk around in just a towel?" she continued teasingly.

"Yes," I answered evenly.

"Charming," she said, smiling.

"Am I?" I said, crossing the room to her. She had posted herself up against that same spot on the wall from earlier.

"Very," she whispered as I neared her.

"Do you always lean against walls?" I questioned, reaching out, catching a tuft of her brown hair and toying with it between my fingers; all the while, watching her face.

"Are you hungry?" she asked her lashes fluttering down over her eyes. She sucked on her bottom lip nervously. It was invigorating that I had this kind of effect on her. Her energy was a recipe of excitement, arousal and curiosity. Had I always been this way with women? I wish I could remember.

I let her hair drop from my fingertips, trading it for her hands. I pulled our linked hands behind my back, and her body lurched off the wall and into my orbit. I caught her lips, delicately teasing them with my own.

"What are you offering?" I asked.

"Whatever you want," she pledged.

"What are you good at?"

"Sandwiches," she whispered, pulling back a little.

"Let's start with water and a pair of pants. I can't remember where you left them for me."

She pulled away, walking towards a chair in the kitchen and picked up the neatly folded shirt and pants.

"Here," she said, handing them to me.

I let my towel drop and smiled as her gaze fell with it. I bent down, kicking my legs into the jeans and pulling them up easily. Commando style let them hang low on my hips, but otherwise they were a surprisingly good fit. I shrugged the shirt over my head and fancied I saw a little regret flicker in her eyes.

"Water," I reminded her.

Eliza silently turned swiftly, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and filling it at the sink.

She handed it to me and I chugged it quickly before walking over to the sink and refilling it again myself. The water felt like regenerative gel sliding down my throat. I swore I could almost feel it sweeping through the veins of my body. My energy surged, and I reached over to pour a third glass.

"You must pee like a racehorse," Eliza commented as she watched me guzzle.

"I have a lot of things in common with a racehorse," I said, as I finished off the glass. Setting it aside, I pulled her against me. I watched her lustfully touch my arms and trail her hands across my chest.

"I've waited a long time for someone like you," she whispered.

I felt two contradictory reactions to her words—flattery and abhorrence.

"Don't go falling in love," I murmured. Her honesty was sobering. Seducing her was intoxicating and I'd make the game fun for both of us, but love—I didn't want that from her.

"I don't believe in love," Eliza assured me before rising up on her toes, offering her mouth to me.

Her confession inflated my confidence that I'd be able to get exactly what I wanted out of this relationship: pleasure. I needed to feed this deep hunger I felt, and she was more than adequate. I accepted her offer and aggressively claimed her mouth for my own. With each breath I took as we kissed, her energy surged through me like a plug clicked into a socket. I'd take everything she offered, but I wasn't completely heartless.

"Eliza," I said as I broke off a kiss. "We don't know each other."

"We have time for that," she said, eagerly looking up at me.

"I only want to be your friend," I said cautiously, hoping she'd understand my meaning.

She looked me straight in the eyes. "Do you always fuck your friends?"

Her question caught me off guard. She was put out by my statement and I was puzzled by the odd amount of conflicting traits. Forward, yet shy; careful, but impulsive; cynical—and, even if she didn't realize it—very romantic.

"No," I answered honestly.

"Then, you'll need to make an exception for me." She dropped slowly to her knees. Her palms stroked against my growing hardness. She licked at me through my jeans and a stifled groan escaped my mouth.

"Think you can be quiet enough for me to do this?" She gloated as the tips of her fingers found the zipper to my fly.

"You're very confident in your abilities," I answered back.

"ELIZA!" said a voice coupled with pounding on the door. "You said you were coming to get him! What's taking so long? We're swamped in the kitchen."

Eliza laughed and brought a finger to her lips, signaling for me to not make a sound.

I teasingly jutted my hips, my crotch lightly bumping into her mouth. Eliza squealed, laughing at my crassness. I zipped up my pants casually and bent to help her stand.

"Just looking for clothes that'll fit him," she shouted back.

"Never mind that—he'll just be in the back. If he ends up staying, I'll take him to go get some clothes. Get your flirty ass down to the diner in twenty or I'm docking your pay."

"Feel like earning your keep?" she said to me with a sly smile.

I was starting to wonder who was working who.

I learned a lot about Eliza during our first shift. Her family was honest, just good people trying to do the best they could and give back to the community whenever the opportunity came. They took in strays all the time and gave them a roof and food in exchange for working in the diner. She had two brothers, one older than her and one younger: Luke and Peter. Her mother wasn't around and her father traveled a lot for work. He came by every fee weeks or so but then he was off again—I wasn't exactly clear what he did for a living.

Luke was rather serious but Eliza pulled laughter out of him. Peter was about fourteen and the former head bus boy. He had desperately wanted a promotion, but Luke hadn't thought he was ready. Eliza had coaxed her older brother into giving Peter a chance. This was Peter's first week as a cashier. The older siblings ran the diner and maintained the joined apartment complex—which their family also owned. They worked together and made it all work. Luke was the leader, Eliza was the glue, and Peter was the future.

Now, my shift was done and Eliza was smiling wildly at me, hiding something behind her back.

"What do you have?" I asked.

"Something for you, but I won't give it to you."

"I could make you," I said, my voice lowering so only she could hear me.

Eliza smiled, walking back from me, taunting me to try. We were making our way through the connecting hallway that joined the diner to the apartment complex.

"Only if you can catch me," she teased. Turning, she sprinted down the foyer and squeezed between the elevator doors before they closed.

_Clever,_ I thought to myself, amused. I didn't mind chasing. I liked to play. I began to strategize. There was only one elevator in the apartment complex so I couldn't grab another one. I'd have to take the stairs up eight flights. If I hustled I bet I could make it. I started taking them three at a time. First flight blew by; than the second and the third. My body felt like it was waking up. I wasn't even sweating. I felt like I could go faster—five, six, seven, eight—done. I looked down the hallway towards the elevators and the above sign dinged to five. _Five?_ How fast was I? I wondered what I'd done in my past life. If only I could remember—

DING—six.

Nope, couldn't remember anything.

DING—seven.

A name flicked into my mind: _Sariah._

DING—eight.

"You beat me? You must have cheated." Eliza said, her voice ringing through the hallway.

"No—I'm just that _goo_ d _,_ " I declared cheekily.

"Well," Eliza said, "you haven't caught me yet." She took off again down the hallway past her apartment.

I didn't have to try to overtake her, I was way faster, but I knew she wanted me to chase her. I let her stay ahead, but kept close behind her, right on her heels. She ran to the door and then turned around just in time for me to engulf her in a kiss.

_Caught you,_ I thought. I pulled back startled by the realization that I expected her to respond back to my thought. Had I done that with someone before? No, that'd be impossible.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her expressions, changing from playful to worried.

I shook my head, shaking off my own bizarreness.

"Ran up those stairs too fast, I think," I offered as an excuse.

"You had the strangest expression just now on your face," Eliza insisted.

"I've caught you," I said darkly. Hoping to change the topic, I hooked my finger under her chin and drew her in for a lighter kiss this time.

"I suppose you have," Eliza said, smiling against my lips. She brought her hand around her back and dangled a brass key in front of my nose. She dropped it and it fell easily into my hand.

"A key to the kingdom—does it go to the door behind you?" I asked.

"Stick it in and let's find out."

This combination of my sexual appetite and her willingness had me very aroused. I pulled her forward, against me, knowing full well she could feel me. I kept my eyes locked on hers while I reached behind and fit it in the door. It slid in easily and the door opened as soon as I turned the key.

"You didn't even have to look," commented Eliza coyly.

I put my hand on her stomach and moved forward, guiding her backwards into the room. When we cleared the door, I kicked it closed with my foot, still watching her.

"I bet you won ever staring contest as a kid," Eliza said.

"Don't remember, but I'm winning now for sure."

"Oh really? What have you won?"

"Do you want me, Eliza?"

Her eyes widened, surprised by my bluntness and she nodded "yes" speechlessly.

"Get on the couch, stand on your knees and face away from me," I ordered.

She did and I came in behind her, nipping at her shoulder through her shirt. I swept her hair to the right and kissed her neck.

"Don't turn around," I commanded, pulling back.

"I won't," she promised.

I untied her waitress apron and pulled her shirt free from her pants. I gathered it up as my hands grazed across her back. Eliza was already responding to my energy, pushing her rear into me. I kept watching her body as I pulled the rest of her shirt off. I leaned forward, kissing her back as I undid her bra.

"Spread your arms a little," I said in her ear. She did and I slid the bra off her easily, setting her breasts free. They hung deliciously, swaying a little with each movement. I caught them both, squeezing lightly as I pulled her back into me. She moaned and I got a taste of something that satisfied a little bit of the hunger that had been stirring in my stomach since I'd woken up in the alley. The energy manifesting between us was feeding something in me. I didn't know why or how and frankly it didn't matter. Eliza was ready to give whatever I needed to take and the more turned on she became, the more satisfied I felt. That led to the most mind-boggling part for me. I _knew_ what she liked. I could read her body, feel her energy increasing, responding to me. I was profiling her. She liked assertiveness. She wanted to be dominated, to be devoured and taken.

"Undo your belt, take off your pants," I instructed.

She did. I felt her feet come together behind me and turned to see her kicking off her shoes and socks. All that was left was her underwear.

"Should I rip them off you?" I asked, leaning forward to nab her neck fiercely with my mouth.

"Please do," she moaned submissively.

"I wouldn't want to waste money," I teased, pulling the fabric down and off.

"I have a job," she purred.

I stood up and begun undressing myself quickly. Her petite frame leaned over the couch delicately just as I had told her to—she was waiting and I liked that.

"You'll let me fuck you any way I want?" I asked aggressively.

"Yes," she agreed eagerly.

"Lean forward," I commanded.

I slid down the couch so her rear was in my face. I grabbed a mouthful of her ass. Eliza yelped in surprise and I nipped her ass again before sucking on the same spot. She quivered beneath my lips and I began to rub my hand against her. She groaned loudly, spreading her legs and raising her body up higher so I could fully reach her.

I got back up behind her on the couch ready to take her fully, but at the last minute something held me back. I changed my mind and I slid two fingers down, under and into her. She sighed as she moved against my hand. I pushed deeper, matching her rhythm. I wrapped my arm around her and stroked her from the front. She threw her head back, her cheek pushing against mine, trusting me to take her where she wanted to go. She panted, raining on my hand as she came. I pulled out, rubbing her petals as she pulsed.

I leaned her forward on the couch and stood up, slipping my pants back over my obvious erection. I was bewildered that I didn't just _take_ her but I didn't want to, not really. Seemed like she was a poor substitute for whatever I really wanted. _Sariah._ A name that had no face flashed into my head.

"I'm going to shower and then get some sleep."

I didn't wait for a response.

I beelined to the bathroom and cranked on the shower. I got in way before the water was warm. I closed my eyes, letting it pour over me. Her arousal had done something to me physically. I felt better, stronger, _less hungry._ Which didn't make any sense; I don't even think I'd eaten since I'd been here. I'd only drunk water. What the hell was wrong with me? I couldn't remember anything, but my general understanding of _how bodies worked_ let me know this wasn't normal. I wasn't _normal._

Sariah.

That name again, blinking in my head like a late-night neon-light sign. Did she know who I was? What I was? Didn't matter. I'd never know the answer because I had no way of finding her. So, unless she just walked into my life, I'd have to figure this out on my own.

I felt like a classic jerk. I knew Eliza, despite what she said, would get attached if we had sex. I had to find another way to satisfy this hunger. I felt fine now. Her orgasm had created enough energy—I hoped—to satiate me for a few days. That gave me some time to figure everything out.

Perhaps by then I'd remember who I was and why the name Sariah was settling into my mind like freshly laid cement. What if I was married to _Sariah_? Did I want to be a married man fucking another woman? My conscience told me two things: No, you're not that guy, but you don't remember anything more than a name so loyalty isn't required.

DAY FIVE:

The next morning when I was leaving to meet Luke (someone had quit so Luke said I could stay and he was making good on his offer to get me clothes), I caught Eliza heading to the diner at the same time I was. I instantly apologized, saying that I shouldn't have been so sexual with someone I'd just met. She looked confused but didn't seem to take my rejection as rejection.

Over the next few days, we fell into a routine and I was given a schedule for the rest of the week. I faked sleeping all day and then worked night shifts. I tried to see Eliza only when the others were around. After that small dose of intimacy, I'd been on the fence if I should continue any type of relationship with her. I didn't want to womanize her and that seemed inevitable when we were alone.

Other things were bothering me too. Like my lack of appetite. I'd only picked at food and when I did try to eat it didn't feel like anything in my mouth. I almost always spat it back out. It just felt too greasy and heavy. It's not what my body really wanted. I got a couple curious looks from Peter and resolved to take my food with me back to my room and eat in private.

My need for water and showers, I realized, was bizarre. I showered at least twice a day and drank what felt like a gallon of water, but I never had to pee. When I did pee it was more like out of habit and then I'd feel so thirsty afterwards I'd go drink another cup or two or five.

Sexual _hunger._ I wanted to fuck something. I wanted to create that energy that was just so satisfying to my body. Everything just felt so out of kilter, and whenever I tried to think of why, SARIAH, popped into my head and I was right back to square one of not knowing what the fuck was going on.

I was even dreaming about her—sort of. I couldn't see her ever, but I could feel her body and I could feel my own reaction to her. In my dreams we had this almost unbearable passion that we both got lost in. It satisfied every part of my being like air. I needed it. I reveled in it. I found myself in her. Then I'd wake up and whatever I knew in the dreams were like the last remnants of smoke from a fire. I knew the answers had been there but they were already gone.

DAY EIGHT:

It's been over a week now. I know that's not, long but it's all I can remember—literally. I've started to think I'm crazy and that Eliza is a saint. I know my behavior is strange.

Eliza wants more and I know her patience is just a nonchalant way of wearing me down. Enticing me to not hold back—and it was working. Showers and water weren't going to keep me in check for much longer. I needed to _eat._

Luke asked me to help do some maintenance on recently vacant apartments, so I haven't seen Eliza at all today. I was glad for the change. Some recently vacant apartments just needed fresh layers of paint. The sooner we got them done, Luke told me, the faster they could be listed as rentable again. It was easy work but hard and when we were done I dragged my ass back to my studio. I showered and then fell asleep.

It was late in the night when my body jolted awake. I sensed her at my door before she even knocked. I'd wormed my way out of her invites to spend time alone together. But tonight was different for me— the effect of our one bout of foreplay was wearing off and I could feel that need creeping back in. Her energy was tantalizingly fresh. She'd been thinking about me all day and her desire was seeping out of her pores like a fine fragrance. Maybe I was a mutant, like an x-men. They had powers like this—didn't they? I couldn't remember exactly what the x-men were, so my comparison was probably way off.

I got up, my boxers I'd bought a few days before hanging loosely on my hips, and strode to the door. I opened it just as her hand was about to knock.

"Hey," she said surprised. "I hadn't even knocked yet, how did you know I was here?"

"You stomp like an elephant," I teased.

"I do not!"

"What brings you to my door?" I asked politely.

"Come back to my room, I want to talk to you."

"Talk?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes," she said and I could feel her blush in the dark hallway even though I couldn't see her face. "We need to talk."

"All right," I closed the door behind me, not bothering to put on pants. No one would see us anyway.

She took my hand and I let her lead me down the hall. We went in and she took me right back into the bedroom. She was wearing a little night-dress. My eyes roamed up her legs and my hands wanted to follow. My body roared to life and suddenly I was starving.

"Talking, huh?" I teased, pulling her warm body to mine.

"Talking," she echoed as she led me into her bedroom.

Her touch tonight was different, she wanted to be in charge. I don't know if I was finally just worn down by hunger that I couldn't resist her anymore or what—but I wouldn't stop her tonight. Or, perhaps I was giving up on this phantom woman.

She pushed me back on the bed—she wanted to be the aggressor tonight. It was sexy and I pushed thoughts of _Sariah_ out of my mind. I needed to be here and to take what was right in front of me. I grabbed her ass, rocking it against mine. She came down on my mouth greedily.

"What—did—you—want—to—talk—about?" I asked between her kisses.

"After," she moaned in my mouth.

"Fine," I said. I flipped her onto her back and pulled her pants off.

She moaned, her hips rocking her body against mine.

Keegan!

"I like the way you say my name," I told Eliza as I bowed my head and went to work on her right breast.

She arched her back, pushing against me. "What?" she gasped.

I froze, realizing I'd heard it in my head. Eliza hadn't said anything.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Eliza asked, half sitting up.

"No," I said. I pushed her back down and I felt her hands reach for my penis. Sensation rippled through my body. It felt good—so intoxicatingly good—

KEEGAN, WHERE ARE YOU!?

I shot off the bed like a bullet.

"Keegan?" Eliza questioned.

I didn't answer Eliza. My sole focus was on the voice in my head. I knew that voice.

Tell me where you are.

I thought about the diner the street address, the apartment complex, the room I was in before I'd even known what I'd done. I was really starting to get freaked out.

"Keegan," Eliza said softly from the bed, "this is what I wanted to talk to you about. Every time we start to—"

"I need to shower," I interrupted hastily. "I'm sorry. We'll talk when I'm out. I need to—clear my head."

"All right," Eliza said dismissively.

I looked over my shoulder to see that she had rolled over onto her stomach, her face hidden in the pillow. I felt awful, but what could I tell her? I couldn't make her understand what I didn't understand myself.

The voice had stopped and I was surprisingly more upset about the silence than the possibility that I might be crazy. I sat down in the shower and watched the beads of water ricochet off the walls. I'd lost track of time when I heard pounding on the door. I turned the water off abruptly, listening intensely, but instead of a voice I heard the door slam against the wall with a forceful bang. I leapt out of the shower, my adrenaline pounding. I didn't even think to grab a towel before I barreled down the short hallway to the living room.

I saw the woman first. She was facing away from me, her hair wild and curly; her hand reaching for something.

Then I saw Eliza suspended in the air—choking.

"WHERE IS HE?" the woman screamed, but she was holding Eliza so tight she couldn't do more than gasp as her lungs tried to suck in air.

I bolted across the room, grabbing the woman's arm. She whirled around still in my grasp—stunned.

"DROP HER," I ordered.

23: SARIAH

I whipped around, startled by being grabbed so fiercely and our eyes met. Immediately, recognition swept over his face and his touch cooled. I rubbed my arm tenderly where he'd held it; it stung under my touch.

_Sariah?_ I heard him think.

His eyes flitted to Eliza who was hunched over the couch wheezing. Keegan walked briskly to her, squatting down beside her. He was naked and I had the sinking feeling that they'd just been _together._ Was he living with this woman now?

He looked over his shoulder at me angrily.

"You could have killed her," he spat. I cringed at his tone. He'd never spoken to me like that before.

"She's aware of that," Ajani growled back defensively. "But she _didn't_ kill her now, did she?"

"Why was your first instinct to attack her?" Keegan questioned me angrily.

Every word out of his mouth felt like a dagger. Had I been too aggressive? Speechlessly, I thought back through the past few hours. I'd had tunnel vision since he'd fallen into the portal. I'd been so focused. Finding him had been my only goal. I'd blocked out the minds of the Banguri I killed just to get to the portal itself. Was I hardening? Was I losing my humanity? Was I becoming no better than the monsters I'd killed?

Keegan's voice snapped me out of my own thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Keegan asked Eliza.

She nodded, having caught her breath and threw herself into his arms. Keegan stroked her hair soothingly. My stomach twisted.

"You know we're stronger than they are," he said to me as he continued to comfort her. "You have to be more care—"

"Ease off!" Ajani snapped, interrupting him. "She risked everything finding a way to come here and instead of thanking her, you're cooing over some First-Plane human."

Keegan released Eliza and turned to Ajani. "We _used_ to be human, have you forgotten that?" he growled.

Eliza's eyes widened as she listened.

My mind was racing and my emotions were about to spill over. We'd made it through a portal and found out they all led to First-Plane; we'd found Keegan alive; and now I was getting lectured about how I almost killed his new girlfriend? I hadn't planned for this. I wasn't ready for this. My emotions hit critical mass. I was spinning out of control. I couldn't be here anymore. I couldn't get out of the apartment fast enough.

I made it a good forty feet down the hallway before I slumped down and buried my head into my knees.

24: KEEGAN

"You don't deserve her," Ajani spat at me.

I glared at him, wanting to beat that smug expression off his face.

"Maybe I don't, but she'll still hasn't _chosen_ you, has she? She'll never be yours." I shot back.

Ajani's face dimmed with the acknowledgment of my words, and to my surprise he said nothing back. He raked his hands through his hair and sat down on the couch.

Frustration steamed out of me as I exhaled loudly. How had this mess started? I didn't want to hurt Eliza, but I suppose that had been inevitable from the first time I'd kissed her. Emotions I couldn't explain for Sariah had always tugged at me, but it only made sense now that we were together again. As soon as I saw her face, everything rushed back and I remembered _us._

_She almost killed Eliza_ , I thought angrily, _the one friend I've had since I came here_. No, I was being too cruel. Sariah had no idea what she was getting into. She was working on pure instinct. Her only goal was finding me, making sure I was alive. It dawned on me; her memory of me hadn't vanished. These past days must have been agonizing for her.

But now she was here and I knew that as soon as we touched I'd forget Eliza completely. That was why I'd taken a moment to comfort her after Sariah had put that Darth Vadar chokehold on her. I owed her that much. My mere attraction to Eliza was already gone. I didn't want her anymore, I didn't need her. I'd probably never want to touch her again.

_Sariah,_ my beautiful venku. We'd been reunited for all of ten minutes and I'd already hurt her. I couldn't waste any time, I had to fix this between us before it was unfixable. I'd never even gotten the chance to tell her I loved her before I'd fallen into the portal. We were always so close to truly being together and then fate always seemed to interfere. Not anymore, I had to go to her now. Leaving Eliza on the couch, I went out into the hallway.

Sariah's energy hit me like a wall as soon as I stepped into the hallway. She was devastated. Just with her so near, my abilities were coming back full force. Slouched against the wall, knees pulled up close to her chest, I saw a tear slip down her cheek through an opening in the curtain of her wild hair.

I began moving towards her.

_I don't know where to start,_ I thought to her as I walked.

_I didn't mean to hurt her. I just reacted,_ Sariah pleaded, looking up.

I know. I'm sorry.

I sat down beside her. Leaning my arm around her, I slid it down her back and hooked, it around her waist, coaxing her into my lap. She must have been afraid I didn't want her anymore because once I had her in my arms she started sobbing. I was taken aback by the rawness of her feelings. She'd never cried before since I'd known her or ever showed that much emotion. I held her tight and breathed in her familiar scent. Everything I'd felt for her in Second-Plane was alive and bubbling at the top of my heart. But what I'd done while we'd been apart was tugging at my soul. I had to tell her.

_I need to be honest with you,_ I thought quickly.

Her head shot up. "What do you mean?" she said aloud. Her voice sounded horrified. Terrified at what I might say. Her guard was way down and her thoughts frantic.

_He has to remember. He has to remember,_ I heard her thinking to herself.

Selfishly, I was glad I'd heard that thought. I pushed her hair back from her face, cupping her cheeks as I kissed her forehead.

_I remember baby,_ I assured her. _I've been dreaming of you—of us._

Sariah sighed. Relief washed over her face swiftly like a rising tide on a beach.

_I didn't at first,_ I added hesitantly.

_Tell me._ She looked away from me. Her thought was barely a whisper in my mind.

Eliza found me and—well our bodies are different, Sariah. We can't fight what we need in order to survive. Eliza and I have done things.

Sariah stiffened and tried to pull away, but I held her to me, turning her so she straddled my lap.

"I didn't remember anything at first, and I was hurt," I breathed into my neck, holding her close. My need for her was building up and the energy between us was sizzling. "But nothing between Eliza and me will ever be like _us._ You know that."

I felt her heart pick up its rhythm at the sound of my words. There was just a breath's space between us. I could feel our chi growing more powerful than it had ever been before.

_You're not the only one who has a confession,_ Sariah thought to me.

She smiled weakly, clearly afraid to tell me, and I knew it had to do with Ajani.

_We owe each other honesty,_ I told her. _Tell me._

_It took a lot of energy to find you and fight all those Banguri,_ she thought to me.

I already knew where this was going. I just didn't know how far it had gone.

_I hurt myself scanning miles of land on Second-Plane,_ Sariah explained. _Ajani kissed me so I could have the energy to fight the Banguri guarding the portal and get to you. It was the only way._

I felt my face darken with jealousy. He had finally gotten a piece of her and it enraged me. But at the same time, hadn't I just told her that our bodies were different? There had to be allowances for survival. I struggled to check my emotions and searched her eyes for any clues as to whether what had happened between Ajani and her was more than just survival. I knew he wanted more, but I only cared about what _she_ wanted.

_Go on,_ I urged her.

Ajani thinks there's something more between us. Kissing him wasn't awful, but like when you were with Eliza, nothing with anyone else will ever compare to us.

"Do you—do you still want to be together?" Sariah asked me out loud.

I tipped her head back, trailing my thumb along the space between the start of her neck and the end of her jaw. Her eyes closed at my touch. Her reaction to me washed away the rest of my jealous. He could never truly have her. She wasn't his to have. We'd always belong to each other.

_I couldn't resist you if I tried,_ I thought to her honestly.

"Do you want to?" she asked, her voice soft.

I'm angry, but I imagine so are you.

I moved her head back to me and parted her mouth with my tongue, taking more than I ever had before. I had always been cautious with her, slower, gentle. But I needed to know she was mine.

I swallowed her moan as I felt her hips grind against me. I stood, holding her tight to my body as I moved. Her legs wrapped around me like a coil and I shot down the rest of the hallway to my studio. I didn't care if this was a practical time or not.

I swung the door open and kicked it shut behind me. I dropped her roughly on the bed. The springs squeaked beneath my weight as I followed down on top of her. Our chi was flaring and our carnality was taking over. She wiggled out of her suit. Conveniently, I was already naked.

Sariah sat up, kissing me. I opened my eyes and looked at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were a berry-colored and swollen, her hair springing in every direction. I wanted to devour her, to claim her in a way that would touch her soul. I'd ruin her for other men. She'd know she'd always belong to me.

"Open your eyes," I told her.

They fluttered open.

"Tell me," I told her.

"What?" she said. Her voice was dripping with velvet.

"Tell me," I ordered her again. I dipped my head down low, catching one of her breasts with my teeth. She arched, rocking her hips into mine, trying to find her way to me. I released her nipple and steadied her waist down into the mattress with my hand.

"Not yet," I said. "Tell me first."

"Tell you what?" she said, her voice dizzy with desire.

I almost couldn't hold back, but this was important. I needed to hear it and she needed to hear herself say it. I pushed her legs apart, dipping my face into her valley.

"I know, you know," I said, my breath blazing against her thigh. I nipped at the highest point of her leg.

_Keegan,_ she moaned wordlessly. _Please._

"Say it," I told her. I caught her pearl between my lips and suckled it. She quivered beneath me, gasping loudly. Her hand tangled into my hair, urging me forward, but I wouldn't bend. I trailed my tongue around the opening of her but that was all. She was going to have to give me what I needed before I'd give her what she wanted.

I pulled my head up, bringing my face back to hers, and kissed her deeply. My hand was still on her waist and her torso was strained against me. I was just inches above her. I could have her right now, she was more than ready, but I kept her down.

Trailing my tongue against the rim of her ear, I repeated, "Tell me, Sariah. I need to hear it."

"It's always been you, I choose you!" Sariah said, her voice alto deep with passion.

I slid into her in one fluid motion.

I wrapped my arms around, her holding her to me, and let my body take over. I felt her hands claw up my back and lock into my hair. With each stroke of my hips, we were changing. She cried out, climaxing first, her body shuddering beneath me. I slowed down, kissing her tenderly as I still moved.

"We're not done yet," I whispered into her ear. I caught her nipple in my mouth and her eyelashes fluttered as she moaned. I felt her re-slick around me. I had wanted to break her walls down but her arousal for me, her reaction to my touch, was destroying barriers I hadn't even known I had. I was going to make us more than just lovers, I was going to make us _ours._

"Open your eyes and look at me," I said.

Sariah opened her eyes. They were glossy with emotion. She was growing closer to coming again with each breath.

"I'm not going to hold back now," I growled in her ear, lust giving way to passion.

"God, Keegan, I don't want you to," she panted back, her fingers digging into my back.

I pushed in deep, filling her completely. Her eyes snapped shut as she bucked, her back curving as she lifted off the bed.

"Keep them open, baby. We need to see each other."

She opened them and the look she gave melted me down. We came together, soaking ourselves. I leaned forward weakly on my arm not wanting to put all my weight on her. I pulled out of her and she moaned, her muscles palpitating in small jerks beneath me. Her eyes were closed now and I rolled over, pulling her body on top of mine. Our breathing was ragged, and it took a few minutes for it to go back to normal.

I knew we couldn't stay like this for long, even though I wanted to. Ajani and Eliza were waiting. I hadn't even thought of them.

"Are you okay? That was...intense."

"Yes, it was," she answered back. I couldn't read any particular emotion in her voice, so I was surprised when she sat up urgently.

"We'd better go," I added, hopping up off the bed. I dug around in the closet. I was looking for my suit from Second-Plane. I knew Eliza had stashed it in here somewhere. I had to open a few drawers to find it. When I did, I came back into the bedroom and began peeling it over my body. Sariah was just slipping it over her breasts and even though I should have been completely satiated, I wanted to have her all over again. No, it would never be like this with anyone else.

"We can't just have sex all the time," she said mischievously at me as she finished dressing.

I was relieved at the playful normality in her voice. It felt like home.

"If only," said slyly as I pulled the sleeves over my arm. I went over to her. The top of her head came just to where my mouth was. I gently grabbed a handful of hair at the nape of her neck and tugged it back. She inhaled sharply tilting back her head. Before I could kiss her, she entwined a hand in my own hair and brought me to her entrenching my mouth with hers. I pulled back, breathless. Her eyes were mischievously confident.

"I like you smug," I said, brushing my lips against her cheek. "Come on. We have to get back."

25: SARIAH

We walked into the hallway. It was empty and quiet. I felt Keegan reach over and link his fingers with mine. It was casual and he had done it a hundred times since we met, but after everything that had happened, it still gave me butterflies. We were still okay. After he fell through the portal and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to get him back, I realized how much I needed him. We were more than lovers or venku or soul mates, we were friends.

We were just at the doorway to Eliza's apartment when he pulled me aside. I thought he was going to say something to me but he just tilted his head down, kissing me, his hands caressing my face as his lips brushed sweetly against mine. He released me, smiling warmly before smooching the crown of my head. I was going to ask him what that was for when the floor creaked and I was aware of someone watching us from the doorway.

It was Eliza, and her disappointed expression said it all.

Feeling guilty, I shifted my weight, trying to move away from Keegan, but he held me firmly to his side.

_Never be ashamed of us and don't worry about how other people feel about it,_ he thought to me.

My stomach churned as empathy for her swirled within me. He'd never love her, he'd never want her, all her feelings were destined to remain unrequited. I felt bad for her and a little guilty that I'd ended her fantasy, but it was my happiness or hers and I choose myself. We couldn't both have him and Keegan was after all _mine._

I was startled when she took a step forward towards us. I could see now that she was crying and upset. I read a little bit of her emotions. In the short time she'd been with him, she'd fallen for him. She had so much hope wrapped up into their relationship. It symbolized a new beginning for her. She felt like I'd stolen him from her; that the Aura always took everything. Wait, my mind snapped erect. How does she know about the Aura?

I was distracted by the sudden realization and didn't see her hand coming at me until Keegan blocked it, holding her wrist firmly.

"Don't," he commanded curtly.

Eliza snatched her hand back, clinging it to her chest. Her eyes darted from me and then back to Keegan loathingly.

"How do you know about the Aura?" I asked her abruptly.

Her eyes widened before narrowing. "I should have realized with the way you held me against the wall that you'd also be able to mind read."

"You didn't answer her question," Keegan interrupted angrily. "How do you know about us?"

"I'm a High-Banguri, that's how," Eliza snapped back. "I thought you were different, Keegan. We had a connection and when you didn't remember that you were an Aura, I thought the Banguri would finally have a chance for peace. But I was wrong; utterly wrong."

"You're going to have to explain a little bit better than that," Keegan said. He left my side and grabbed her by the elbow, ushering her back in.

"Don't touch me," Eliza spat vehemently. Keegan dropped her elbow, shrugging off her words.

"Look," he started again when we were all back in her apartment. "I'm sorry for what's happened between us, especially if it brings you pain. But if you're a High-Banguri, then you should know that I'll never love anyone but my venku. With my memory back, which would have eventually come back, anything between us would be minute compared to what I'll always feel for Sariah. Not to mention, the fact that you lied to me doesn't make me feel too sorry for you."

I blushed under his words. It was so honest and he said it without apology. My eyes darted to Ajani who had positioned himself in a chair away from everyone.

"Where were you?" he said to me directly as if none of the conversation between the others had taken place.

"Exactly where she chose to be," Keegan answered.

Ajani broke his gaze from mine, staring at Keegan for a moment before saying, "We need to handle this situation and figure out how the hell we're going to get back to Second-Plane. They're expecting us to return with intel, so let's try to stay somewhat on task."

To my surprise, Keegan's eyes lost some of their alpha male sheen and he nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough," he said. Then he turned to Eliza who was sitting on the couch next to him, "Start talking."

26: KEEGAN

Eliza looked stung by the way I had just spoken to her. I felt a pang of guilt, and I regretted it. Even though I felt betrayed by her, I couldn't ignore that we had been intimate.

_I pity her,_ Sariah's voice echoed in my head.

Don't. She lied. She knew what I was and the rules of our world.

"Get used to it, kid," Ajani said to Eliza.

"What?" Eliza asked, looking awkwardly over at Ajani.

"Unrequited love," he said, laughing to himself. "Be happy you had him for a moment. It's not likely it'll ever happen, even for a millisecond, again."

I felt Sariah, hand twitch in mine, and I looked over at her, trying to read the expression on her face, but she didn't meet my eyes.

_It's just more of his games,_ I theorized to her.

_If only it were just a game,_ she thought. I knew she was thinking of their kiss and it infuriated me.

_Be kind to her,_ Sariah added. _She had no way of knowing if you had someone. A lot of venku are widowed._ _She did save your life, after all._

"I know I don't deserve your help. I did know you were an Aura, but you were so different from them. I thought—" Eliza said, looking timidly at me, but didn't finish her sentence. "Keegan, you can't tell the Aura about the portals or about us being in First-Plane."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"I know you're angry, Keegan, but you're not cruel. You've lived side by side with us for days. You know we're good beings. If you knew our situation we were so desperate to escape from, I know you would understand. I know you would help and you can help."

"Would you father have tried to kill me when he came back?"

"No, he's not like that," Eliza insisted.

"But he hates the Aura?" I pushed.

"Yes, but—"

"Then you don't know what he would have done. Do your brothers know?"

"No, without the suit Auras are physically just like Banguri. They thought you were just acting weird because of your memory loss."

"You should have told me," I snarled angrily at her.

Sariah interrupted my verbal attack, "How do you think we can help?"

_Hear her out,_ Sariah thought to me.

Now you're on her side, but if I hadn't come in here you would have killed her.

_Keegan,_ Sariah sighed.

"Yes," Ajani added, "your minions are killing newlies, but let's take a moment to hear how we can be of assistance to you—the great benevolent Banguri."

"I was hoping Keegan would speak to the Aura on behalf of us so—"

"Not happening," I shot back. "You've lied to me for days. How can I even trust you, let alone defend your people to the Aura leaders?"

"How have you managed to keep your ability to travel to First-Plane hidden for so long?" Sariah asked.

"By killing newlies as a distraction; it was the only way. We have to be able to move High-Banguri safely to Earth. Otherwise our whole species will die."

"What about the rest of the Banguri? You just abandon them?" Ajani interjected.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"How frigid," Ajani muttered under his breath.

"No," argued Eliza, her eyes blazing, "realistic. Banguri have a caste system. The Low-Banguri would be like wild animals that are very spontaneous and impulsive. They are led by simplistic urges and natural instincts. Middle-Banguri are like dogs, cats, elephants, whales. But because they are so large and so unearth like, they'd stick out. We haven't quite figured out an integration plan for them. High-Banguri are a people ruled by logic, compassion, morals, ethics. The most we can hope, at this point, is to save as many as we can."

"You're lying," Ajani added smoothly. "We saw Low and Middle-Banguri traveling through the portals to earth. Explain that?"

"I don't know anything about that," Eliza said. Even though I was furious with her, I knew she wasn't lying. I was so upset and overwhelmed by the whole situation I couldn't even talk anymore. I let Ajani and Sariah take over.

"I need some air," I told them, dismissing myself from the room.

"What's your proposal?" Sariah asked quietly.

I had just gotten up, but I sat back down on the couch.

_You can't be serious,_ I thought to her.

I am. I hate killing. Besides, we've never trusted the Aura.

"My father is the political leader of this sector. He comes back in seven days. If you'll commit to working with us, seeing how we live and what we're like, I promise—regardless of if you change your mind or not—to get you back to Second-Plane unharmed.

"How?" Ajani asked with a sarcastic glint in his eyes. He didn't believe it was possible and neither did I.

I saw Eliza blush under his reproach.

"I'll make it happen, I swear it!"

"You'll have to tell your brother who we all are. Will he go with your plan?" Sariah asked.

"Yes, we'd all do anything to save more Banguri life."

I thought Ajani was going to make one of his normal douche comebacks, but he surprised me.

"If Keegan agrees, I'll go along with it too."

Sariah's eyes flicked over to him before turning back on me.

Why not? Plus, we don't have a way to get back without her help.

"Fine," I roared. "Seven days, we go back to Second-Plane and if there is so much of a sideways glance, I'll wipe out your race myself."

Eliza jumped at the harshness of my voice. I didn't know why I was feeling so aggressive. I was just so damn frustrated with her for knowing who I was, or rather what I was, this whole time. I felt like she played me, but had she really? Maybe not, but I was entitled to my anger.

While I was mulling over my emotions, Eliza had left the room, but I'd only noticed when she returned. She tossed Ajani a key before muttering something about it being too late to start today but to meet her in the diner tomorrow at 8:30AM. The door rattled in the hinges as she slammed it behind her.

"You could have been nicer," Sariah said aloud to me.

I glared at her.

"Especially that bit about killing her whole race," added Ajani. "That was more than a little presumptuous. Even if there's only a hundred or so of them in this borough, we're vastly outnumbered. Although, they don't have powers like we do; that does give us an advantage."

"Fuck off," I muttered as I dug my hands deep into my hair.

"It's late, or is it early? I don't know the time here, but let's get some rest," Sariah said softly. Her hand caressed my back in slow circles, energy from her palm transferred into my skin and flowed through my body. Some of my anger dissipated.

I looked out the window. The sun had come up, it was morning. It had been about four to six hours since Eliza had knocked on my door and brought me into her room. In that short time, everything had changed. I felt aged.

"Fine," I said. I stood up and her hand slid down my back before dropping to her side.

"Fine by me too," Ajani echoed. "Which one of you is going to help me find my room?"

Neither of us justified that with an answer.

Back in the old studio I'd been staying in, Sariah sat on the bed staring at me intensely. That touch of hers had leveled out some of my emotions. Just like that day in the hallway before our mission debriefing back on Second-Plane when she'd tugged me away from the entrance and kissed me. I'd forgotten our touch had healing qualities other than just physical. We could put each other at ease; dull bad emotions.

I looked at her now. Her hair was all tumbled from that impromptu pounce of mine, and now she was giving me an expression that made me want to muss her up all over again.

"Earlier wasn't enough?" I asked as I sat down adjacent to her in the only chair in the room.

She laughed, her left hand floating up to her face and brushing away the two stray tears that had begun to roll down her cheek.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, startled. I got up, skidding across the carpet and kneeling before her.

She leaned forward, curling her hands in my hair as half laughing half crying she pushed her lips into my hairline.

"I was so scared I'd lost you."

"Oh darling," I murmured, scooping her up in my arms and pulling her to the floor.

_There isn't anything more important to me than you,_ I heard her voice whisper.

"I know. I know, Wats."

She pulled back, looking earnestly at me before kissing me, our lips melding together. I was surprised at the rush of emotion I felt for this woman, _my woman._

"Is it too soon to tell you I love you?" Sariah said softly in my ear.

"It's never too soon, Wats." I told her. "Besides, I've always loved you."

She buried her head into my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a straddle on my lap. Her energy felt weird—low, dark, troubled.

"What aren't you telling me?" I breathed into her hair. Her breath quickened in surprise, but she didn't say anything.

"Is it about today? Earlier? About Eliza? Are you still upset? I mean, of course your upset, but you have to know how I feel about you at this point, don't you? I've tried everything I can think of to convince you, to show you—

"It's not that," she whispered, her head pushed against my chest as she talked. "I killed a lot of Banguri today at the portal."

"You did what you had to and Wats, I appreciate it."

"I feel them. I can still feel them," she said, her voice cracked with emotion.

"What do you mean?" I wanted to soothe her, but her words were chilling.

"Whenever I kill someone, I connect with them. I could hear their thoughts and I killed them anyway."

"If we'd had more time to train, you'd be able to block them out. I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to block them out. Should I pretend they're not real? That their souls don't matter?"

"No. No, they matter."

We were still for a while, the only movement being our breathing and my hand repetitiously stroking her back. I soothed her until I felt her energy still and her body relax.

"Hey," I said to her. "Let's get out of here for a bit. We need normal clothes anyway if we're going to be stuck here for seven days. Come on!"

I stood up, bringing her with me.

"All right," she agreed.

I took her hand in mine and squeezed it reassuringly. She gave me a half-smile, which I accepted for now. I had a plan.

27: SARIAH

Keegan led me out of the studio apartment excitedly. His energy was infatuating and I couldn't help but feel better just at the fact that _he felt better._ Now that things had slowed down—for what I hoped was more than just a moment—I was processing everything that had happened. What troubled me the most was how powerful I was. I had been, and still was, willing to do anything to save Keegan.

I could have just wounded those Banguri but I hadn't. Anyone who had posed a threat to me making it through that portal I demolished, and because of my powers, I couldn't even delude myself into thinking that maybe I'd just hurt them. I _knew_ I'd killed them. Was that the cost of love? The cost of happiness? It seemed like the answer was always death. Maybe it wouldn't always be this way. I understood now why Keegan wanted to take our chances out in Second-Plane, instead of waiting for the Aura as the audio recording had instructed. I remembered the drifters Iris had spoken of. Not belonging to any society, able to just disappear and exist—I envied them.

"A hundred bucks," Keegan said, and I jolted out of my thoughts and back to the present. We were in a diner that must have been attached to the complex. Early-bird customers were just starting to come in. An old-fashioned clock hooked right up to the register. There was a young boy, with the same colored eyes as Eliza, counting the drawer, filling it for the day's business. Keegan thrust his open hand the cashier over the counter.

"I know I've worked here at least long enough to have earned that."

The young cashier's eyes flashed aggressively as he leaned forward, saying in a low voice so only we could hear, "We usually only pay _our_ kind in Earth currency."

Keegan's jaw clenched and a vein pulsed angrily in his neck.

_Don't,_ I warned. _We need them to get out of here, and we made a promise._

"It's all right, Peter," said a male voice approaching from behind us. He came around the counter and the brother shifted letting him have the register. "Your sister's vouched for him. That's good enough for me, so it's damn well good enough for you. Twenties okay?"

"That's fine," Keegan said.

_Who is that?_ I thought to Keegan.

_Luke, and that little shit is Peter_. _They're Eliza's brothers._

"Why are we _paying_ them?" Peter asked, insisting on an answer.

"You work, you get paid. Ain't that how it's always worked? Besides, they need real _clothes_ that fit _,_ not just mismatched second-hand clothes. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

"I just don't think we should—

"Look, you're really starting to irritate me. You want to get demoted back to trash duty? No? Then shut up!"

The younger brother scurried off pissed at having been checked.

"Kids," Luke muttered. "If he had any sense he'd realize we're all souls. Anyway, all the shops around here are run by Banguri. Go to the same one we went to last week, tell them I sent you and they won't ask questions. Since you're both in those suits, make it hasty, and don't go anywhere else until you're both changed. We only got you a couple of plain shirts before, so get something new if you want. Hundred bucks should be enough. Get the lady a purse to hide your suits in until you get back. Leave your weapons here with me. I'll get them back to your room."

"We're not allowed weapons?"

"Nope, this isn't Second-Plane. Besides, with _her_ around," Luke added, looking over me, "you don't need a weapon."

I blushed, embarrassed.

"Hey," Luke said, addressing me directly, "I know you haven't been awakened that long so I won't hold it against you. Besides, it's not like the Aura really know what we're like anyway. That's the most frustrating part. If the two sides ever actually talked, they'd see how much we have in common."

He strolled away going back to work, humming to himself as he picked up stray dishes left on tables, and headed back to the kitchen.

"Even with just knowing a little bit more about the Banguri from Eliza, I can understand why Peter doesn't like us," I told Keegan.

"Yeah, things got way more complicated in just a few hours."

"You _do_ want to help them, don't you?"

"I need to know more before I make up my mind," Keegan said. "Let's get out of here."

We slipped through the diner and the cool air prickled my face. I inhaled. The crisp air smelled of autumn. The thought warmed me and I pulled Keegan close, linking his arm with mine.

"I loved this time of year," I said. "I remember the leaves—so many colors."

"Do you feel up for a little adventure then?"

I stopped walking and turned to him. "An adventure? Haven't you had enough excitement?"

"This will be fun, I promise."

We followed Luke's instructions. Keegan led the way to the shop. The door chimed as it opened and a middle-aged woman made her way through the racks to where we were.

"How can I help you?"

"Luke sent us..." Keegan told her.

"Of course, browse around. If you need any help, let me know."

I didn't know what size I was and it took a few tries to get it right. I settled on a couple pairs of form fitting jeans and some loose basic cotton shirts that hit me right at the hips. I had a cropped classic leather jacket, a scarf, and a pair of aviators. He'd wanted me to model for him, which I found odd and shyly denied his request. I was slipping on a pair of pants and had just zipped them up when Keegan sneaked into the dressing room, closing the curtain quickly behind him. The shirt I was about to put on dropped out of my hands in surprise, baring me in all my frontal chest glory to him.

He grinned as he came towards, his hands on my waist and curving up the slope of my back in seconds.

"Why didn't you invite me in to help you try on clothes?" he purred against my neck before nipping at my ear.

"Privacy?" I asked as my answer back to him.

"No such thing," he said before dipping me into a romantic kiss. He had one arm cradling my head and the other supported my back. I tangled my hand in his hair—a habit I was quickly growing fond of—egging him to deepen our kiss. He leaned more into me and then suddenly he lost his footing, slipping on my discarded clothes. I shrieked, afraid that we were going to crash down onto the floor, but his reflexes were perfect. His hand supporting my head switched down to catch us both in a sort of odd pushup position. He lowered me to the ground softly before pressing me down into the shirts and pants I hadn't wanted.

"This works too," he said huskily.

"You're so daring," I teased as he trailed his lips vertically down my body.

"You inspire me," Keegan said. I could feel his face turn into a smile against my bare skin as he spoke.

"Ma'am? Everything all right in there?"

I gasped. It was the shop owner.

"Yes, I just fell. I'm very clumsy."

"All right, I was just checking. I've brought some bras I think will fit. I'll hang them on the hook just outside the curtain."

"Thank you, that'll be fine."

Keegan stood up quietly, and when we heard her footsteps drifting away he cracked the curtain and brought the bras in.

"Allow me," he said with a richly seductive look.

I blushed from head to toe. I'd never get used to how attractive he was.

"Still blushing, for me I see," Keegan said.

"It's involuntary."

Keegan scoffed. He turned me towards the mirror and handed me the bra. I fit myself in it quickly. His fingers trailed across my lower neck, sweeping my hair along to the opposite shoulder. I watched him through the mirrored glass hooking me up.

"I like the clothes you picked out," I told him.

His eyes flittered to mine in the mirror. He smiled but said nothing.

When he was done, he motioned towards the clothes I had clustered together.

"Are those what you want to buy?"

I nodded.

"I'll go take care of this then. Don't forget to snag a bag."

I dressed quickly and refolded all of the clothes I didn't want. It seemed rude to leave them on the ground. I couldn't remember if re-folding them was a real custom or not, but it felt right, so I went with it.

When I exited the dressing room there was a cute black bag that matched my leather jacket right by the door. I nabbed it without a second thought and headed to the front of the store.

"Put your money away, it's just a few items. I'm headed to the diner for dinner anyway. I'll take it all with me and drop it off with Luke."

"Are you sure?" Keegan was asking the owner.

"Yes, the clothes are on the house. I won't be taking your money today."

"You realize," I said stepping forward, "that we're not High-Banguri."

"Yes," she replied back with an even tone, "no Banguri has suits like what you two walked in with. But, I firmly believe that if change is ever going to happen, someone has to start it and it might as well be me."

We thanked her and left. Outside the air was fresh and I sucked it in. The city had woken up and was bustling with life. I heard music and saw a flea market set up at the end of the block. People were busily rifling through the items strewn out on rugs and tables on the sidewalk.

"I know Eliza isn't an evil soul, but we're not Banguri, we're Aura and when we go back we'll have to answer to our own kind. I have to protect us."

"I know, but we can't just abandon them either. What if the Aura, want to wipe them out? They might not even want peace anymore."

"I hope helping them just doesn't cost _us_ too much. I'm not sacrificing my happiness for anyone else's! We deserve to be together without all this constant craziness."

His tone had softened by the end of his final sentences and I knew he was worried. We started walking again and fell into thoughtful silence. Keegan falling into the portal had changed everything. It had led to me coming here, and now to us being intertwined in a conflict we'd never expected. To know was to love, and neither Keegan nor I could turn our backs on the Banguri and just let them be annihilated.

"We're here."

I looked up. We were at a movie theatre.

28: KEEGAN

"We're going to see a movie?"

"Why not?" I asked. "It's a proper first date."

"I don't remember the last movie I saw," Sariah said wistfully. "But I do remember—popcorn?"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" I said with a laugh.

It was one of those old-timey movie or theatres with the ticket booth outside. There was an old pimply, greasy kid playing with his cellphone.

"Hi, how can I help you?" he asked without looking up from his phone as we approached.

"Two tickets for—wait, it's early, are there any matinées?"

"Of course," replied the teenager.

I scanned the listings. Then I realized I wouldn't recognize any of them anyway.

"Whatever is playing closest to now, we'll take two tickets for that."

"That would _be Lady Chatterley's Lover_."

"What's it about?" Sariah asked from beside me.

"My guess would be _Lady Chatterley's Lover_ ," the ticket-clerk reasoned sarcastically. "It's some outdated adaptation of an old British novel. The theater picks a different one to feature all month long."

I remembered that novel. I remembered it well, one of my favorites.

We walked inside, and, smell of fresh popcorn and butter pricked my nose. I almost felt like I belonged here again, like I was home. We ordered some popcorn and I led Sariah to the back row of the theater.

"Do you remember going to the movies?" I asked Sariah.

"No, not really."

"It's romantic," I told her as I pulled her to me and curled my arm around her waist.

We sat down and I immediately put my feet on the seat ahead of me, winking at Sariah as I got comfortable. I took the popcorn and she attempted to follow suit. She wriggled down low into the seat and stretched her legs out—barely reaching.

I didn't mean to, but I cackled.

_Don't,_ she thought sharply. _I'm an average height for a woman. These chairs are just—spread out._

_Don't pout,_ I begged teasingly.

With one hand I held the popcorn and with the other I leaned over and rolled her legs onto my lap over the armrest. She scooted back up to a normal height.

"Popcorn please," Sariah commanded, trying to fake annoyance and then she begun to chew—it was a ferociously loud crackling snarl of crunching—endlessly.

I must have been glaring and not eating anything myself because she turned to me and asked, "Don't you like popcorn?"

"Not as much as you," I muttered, praying for the movie to start and the massacre of kernels to end.

"It's delicious," she added, with a few ghastly licks of her fingers. "My hands are all buttery though."

"I wonder why," I mumbled as I took the bucket from her and hoarded it in my lap.

"I was done anyway. I've got to go wash my hands, I'll be back."

I'd only eaten a little bit of the popcorn by the time she came back, but for some reason it wasn't like how I remembered. It was making me incredibly thirsty and, oddly enough—horny. I had set the bucket in the seat beside me. The lights had just dimmed and the movie was just starting when Sariah moved down the aisle past me towards her seat where she'd left her jacket, but she stopped at my lap and planted a deliciously coquettish move on me.

There was a bit of club music playing for the preview that was showing and as she passed me she stopped at my seat and did a little cascading roll of her hips right into my lap. She stirred me up with her ass like a spoon in a stewing pot. I ate it up. Facing away from me she swayed to the music as she charmed me. Watching her dance combined with the light pressure of her rear grazing over my crotch was disarming.

Her hair was down and swaying teasingly in front of me. I reached up, grabbing a handful of it and gave it a little tug. She came down harder than I expected into my lap. I kept my hold, keeping her in place as I bit her neck playfully. She moaned under her breath and I was thankful for my night vision. She looked amazingly ripe perched on my lap with her eyes closed and a smile pulling back her full lips.

_Did you do this as a teenager?_ she thought to me.

_Every Friday night,_ I teased.

Explains why you're so good at it.

_Good at what?_ I asked as I snuck a hand under her shirt and beneath the cup of her bra and drew circles over the disc of her breast.

She began moving her hips on me again and I had to cough out a moan. She was meeting me tit-for-tat. Raising my wager, challenging my heat and pushing it right back.

I had no idea when the movie had started but it didn't matter.

Should we go?

_We could stay,_ Sariah's velvety voice offered in my head.

Daring.

Use those cheetah eyes and tell me if anyone is nearby.

I looked. The theatre was almost entirely empty.

_You'll have to be quiet,_ I told her.

_You'll have to be quiet,_ she chided me.

I loved her confidence. I pulled her firmly back into me kissing her neck.

"Let's play then," I breathed into her ear as I sucked and bit at her lobe. "Do exactly what I tell you to."

_All right,_ she thought.

Even thought she was thinking to me, I wanted her to feel my voice against her skin right through when I pushed her over the edge of her own reserve.

"Put your hands on the armrests and don't move them. If you do, I'll stop."

She did, and I began.

I started where I knew she was comfortable. With both hands I cradled her breasts, rubbing her nipples hard in unison. She stirred against me.

"Don't move," I warned her.

"We only agreed on my hands," she whispered back.

"Fight the urge," I suggested and then I pinched both hard garnets between my fingers.

She bucked like I knew she would and I chastised her, "Do you want me to stop?"

I always underestimate you.

I kissed her temple and she leaned into my lips. I rubbed her nipples—a half apology for my aggressive treatment of them—before sliding my hands down her smooth torso, past her stomach to the button of her pants. I felt her body tense and her energy flare. We were both ready but this wasn't for me, this was for _her._ I wanted her to feel as I saw her, beautiful.

I undid her pants, opening them up as wide as I could. In the dark I could see her hands grasping the sides of the chair tightly, but she wasn't moving them. I grinned.

"Lean your head back on my shoulder," I commanded.

I leaned back with her and the chair squeaked a little as it reclined. I spread one hand over her stomach, steadying her, and the other descended down to her. As soon as I touched, her I moaned.

"Sariah," I hummed in her ear.

She was the only woman who could turn me on to an almost unbearable point just by me knowing she was aroused, just by her own response to me. Giving her pleasure was enough to get my own. I hungrily stroked her slickness.

"I'll always want you," I confessed. "I'll always need you."

I never meant to take it to such an emotional overloading place, but Sariah had a way of making me be honest even when I wasn't intending to be dishonest.

"Keegan," she groaned, her shoulders pressing into my chest as she arched against me.

I hadn't even pushed inside her yet and I decided to take another route. I kept caressing her with the hardest part of my palm.

"Do you know how you make me feel?"

_Yes,_ she moaned.

"Do you know how much I want you?"

"Yes," she whispered aloud.

I kept moving over her, lathering herself with her own desire and my emotion. Her body was beginning to pulse, to rock in rhythm with me, but she kept her hands placed on the chair. She was letting me have her. Letting me please her, but I could feel her energy and a part of her was holding back. Just like when we'd first met, the intensity of our intimacy was scaring her.

"Let me make you come," I whispered fiercely. "Let me make you feel how you deserve to feel. Don't hold back, baby, let me have you."

And whether she intended to or not, she fell into my hands, melting with my motion as she shook. I pulled my hand away, wiping it on my jeans. I went to reach for her but she was up and moving out of the theater before I could even orient myself.

_SARIAH! WAIT! WHAT'S WRONG?_ I thought-yelled across the theater.

The sound of the flapping double doors was the only answer I got.

29: SARIAH

I didn't run far. I got ahold of myself in the theater lobby and waited for him to come out.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Sariah! What's wrong?" he asked again.

I was completely overwhelmed with the way he made me feel. He made me face the way I knew I was already feeling about him. Whenever he touched me like that, he brought the rawness of it to the surface. I loved him, but how could I say it without letting the universe know? As soon as _they_ knew they'd start plotting to take him away. I shook my head, trying to get ahold of myself. I sounded crazy. But it was how I felt and it was my strongest impression of First-Plane. As soon as you admitted you loved, that's when it started to fade away. If I didn't want to lose him, I had to not love him.

"Are you all right?"

I nodded silently.

"You want to go back to the studio?"

"Yeah," I muttered.

We were only a few blocks away from the apartment complex and we walked in silence, both of us lost in thought. Did he hate me now? I gave in to him for a moment and he made me feel like—words couldn't even express. But then I'd snatched that part of myself right back. Did he know I was just scared? Did he understand? I wanted to talk to him about how I felt, but I didn't know how to start and the longer the silence went on between us the more I felt that we were going in the opposite direction.

We got up to our room and I escaped to the shower. I peeled my clothes off and turned the water on, stepping in way before it was warm. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt him behind me before I saw him. His arms wrapped around me, turning me and pulling me to him.

_Talk to me,_ he thought to me.

I looked up at him. The water was beating down our faces. His eyes were filled with emotion. Love; fear; longing; promise.

_Trust me,_ he pleaded.

"I love you," I said, and his mouth crashed down into mine so passionately that it took my breath away.

His broke our kiss, squatting to hook his hands under my butt. He lifted me up just a little above him. He slid into me in one motion and I gasped as he pushed my shoulders into the cold shower tile.

"Don't be afraid," he purred into my neck as he moved beneath me, every pulse demolishing my fear. "Be with me right here, right now. The rest may never even happen."

The tension in my body was building, I was on the edge of coming, but he stopped moving.

"Keegan?" I asked, unsure why we were stopping but too caught up in our lovemaking to say more than his name.

"Wrap your arms around my neck," he told me.

I did. My body was tingling with sensation and aching for him to begin moving again. I closed my eyes, burying my head on his wet shoulder. I heard the shower turn off, and still together, I felt him move out of the bathroom back to the bed.

He sat on the edge and then scooted us to the middle. He laid down with us still together and me on top. The change of direction enabled him to thrust himself deeper into me and I gasped as his thick hardness filled me completely. New sensations were beginning to ripple through my body as I straddled him.

"Come here," he said, calling me down to him earnestly.

I leaned forward, hungrily kissing him, and his arm snaked up my neck into my hair. The other rested on my hips. He held me firmly to him, guiding my hips on him.

"You won't run anymore?" he asked me.

"I won't," I said, moaning as I started to move on my own.

"Promise me," he said, nipping at my bottom lip.

"I promise," I said and I meant it.

"Show me," he said and he began to move, rolling his hips, pushing into me in steady rhythm.

He sat up, penetrating even deeper into me.

"Move with me," he moaned huskily.

I did, I found a harmony with his rhythm and I began to climb again. I gave in and let go. Then he stopped moving and I realized it was just me making love to him. I slowed, again unsure of myself.

"No, Wats keep going," he urged quietly, his eyes on me. "Take me."

His words were a sweet potion that seeped into my mind and I moved unbridled against him, riding him hard making us both come almost instantly. I fell forward onto him, overcome with the euphoria of our release. His armed curled around me and he kissed the side of my face tenderly.

_How sweet it is to be loved by you,_ his heart sang to me.

30: KEEGAN

I woke up warm—not hot, just right. I looked down and saw Sariah curled up on me and the covers cloaked on top of us. I pushed a stray curl behind her ear as she slept and thought about last night.

First of all, that was a completely different side I saw of her in the movie theatre. She was completely uninhibited with me until she came and then the walls shut right back up. I'd been so afraid that I'd done something wrong, but I realized as we walked that it wasn't really about me. Not really. It was about us, but it was always about whoever she'd been before. I'd always thought she wasn't that imprinted. That First-Plane was just a place she knew she'd come from, but I was beginning to understand her better. She didn't remember First-Plane, but she felt it. She remembered what it was like to love and lose, to hope and then be squashed by the realization that hope isn't always enough. She was scared of having and losing.

I thought about her and how I felt about her all the way home. I gave her as much space as I could, but I couldn't let her shut me out. She wasn't alone and I could feel she wanted to be brave, to trust in what we felt for each other. So I'd taken a chance and gone to her and she met me halfway.

For so long I had been focused on making sure I didn't scare her off, in making sure that she chose me over Ajani, but last night I realized _choosing_ me hadn't been the issues—it was her fear of _losing_ me. But we were venku, and that transcended everything.

After last night, I felt things were different. We just had to keep moving forward.

The sharp rap of a fist on the door jarred us both.

"It's Luke—your shifts start in ten. Meet us in the lobby downstairs."

"What was that?" Sariah said groggily, burrowing her face into my shoulder.

"Our wake-up call," I told her.

"Fuck waking up," she whined.

"Spoken like a true First-Planer. Should we play hooky?"

"What's 'hookie'?"

I slid my hand down her back and gripped her ass possessively.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what it means," Sariah said, laughing.

"How would you know?" I said as I rolled her onto her side and pulled her leg up on my hip.

"Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder," she said sweetly, deliberately dodging my kisses.

"I'm already fonder," I sighed as I let her slip out of my grasp and off the bed.

As we came out of the stairwell, I caught a disgusted look from Eliza as she leaned against the wall. Ajani was standing beside her looking neutral but well rested. He must have gotten clothes last night too because he was dressed in simple jeans and a slightly fitted t-shirt.

"You're late," Eliza snapped.

"This is technically _volunteer_ work," Ajani reminded her, but Eliza chose to ignore him.

She glared at me, waiting for some type of explanation. This was going to get old real quick. We'd have to have a talk eventually—perhaps an apology from me—because I wasn't going to deal with this for the next seven days.

"Too much popcorn made us sleep in late."

"Who had popcorn?" Luke asked, strolling down from the opposite end of the room.

"Us," Sariah responded. "Keegan and I went to a movie yesterday afternoon."

"You went to the theater down the street that I told you about?" Eliza questioned, her eyes narrowing at me.

"First-Plane food in general isn't too good for us. Certain foods have an alcohol-like effect on us. It lowers your inhibitions and makes you horny as hell!" Luke explained.

Eliza crimsoned and quickly changed the subject.

"Keegan you're with me today. Ajani and Sariah, go with Luke."

"Eliza—" I started, but she interrupted me.

"You managed to be apart from her for weeks and you did just fine. You're the ringleader of this little group and you need to see how my people live and why we moved here in the first place. Can you at least not act like being alone with me is a horrendous punishment?"

_It's fine,_ Sariah thought to me. _Go with her._

I threw my hands up, conceding, and followed Eliza silently.

"We have to talk," I said to her as soon as we were out of earshot of the others.

"What about?" Eliza asked, sweeping a cautious glance over her shoulder at me.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"You know I am," I insisted. "But things wouldn't have gotten this far if you had been honest with me from the beginning."

"I already explained why I wasn't."

"You knew I wasn't a Banguri, right?"

"Yes," she said, turning to me.

"But we were attracted to each other. We had real feelings, you can't deny that."

"I've never denied it, but I didn't have my memory and you didn't want me to remember."

"I'm just supposed to pretend what happened between us wasn't real?" she insisted.

"You have to let it go. From the beginning I told you I'd only be your friend, remember?"

"I wish things were different," she whispered. I could tell she was hurting; I'd have to be an idiot not to know. I reached out for her arm, but before I could show her any type of affection or compassion she picked up her pace and barreled on down the sidewalk.

"Let's just start fresh," Eliza said as she wiped away what I could only imagine was a tear. She hadn't looked at me directly once during this whole conversation.

"Friends?"

"Acquaintances," she murmured under her breath.

Our first stop was to a neighboring apartment complex a couple blocks down that was run by a close family friend. As we walked, Eliza explained her family's involvement in the community.

"My father is the leader of our borough. If anyone has any problems they go to the super of their apartment complex and then they bring the issue to my father. Things are much better now, for everyone."

"Except the dead newlies," I said coldly.

"There have been Banguri lives taken too," insisted Eliza. "It wasn't supposed to be this way, but someone has broken our code."

"Code?"

"On Second-Plane, Banguri survive by eating the life-force of other living beings. The High-Banguri have rules: we don't want to take more than we give back to our ecosystem, we don't eat anything that has the same intelligence level as us and we eat as little as possible. Traditionally we hunt once a month. One good hunt can sustain us if we have plenty of water."

"You suck the soul out of living things?" I didn't even try to keep the disgust out of my tone.

"It's not so different than you. The Auras devour sexual energy. Being with you sucked the _life out of me_."

"Dramatic," I spat at her angrily. "You were just as willing as I was."

"But you gave me nothing back in return," Eliza insisted.

"If you had told me what I was, then maybe things would have been different."

"It doesn't matter. None of it matters now."

" _Dramatic,_ " I grunted again under my breath.

"I thought you wanted to be friends?"

"Clearly I was being generous," I snipped back. She was irritating—so very irritating. How had I _pursued_ her?

"We're trying to save your race from being extinct. Let's focus on that."

"We'll, we're almost there. There's a large park just up the road few blocks. It's where a lot of the portals are opened, but that's just at night. Too risky during the day. I want to show you something."

We walked on in silence and then she spun on me. Turning around with more honest emotion in her eyes than I'd ever seen before.

"I know I fucked up, I get it. But I didn't know what you'd be like. I didn't know how I'd feel when I was with you. You can't hold that against me. My people do really need your help. The Aura caged us in this small area and unlike you, we _populate._ The Higher-Banguri stopped; the middle did as well, but the Lower aren't smart enough to understand. They—they began to eat each other, and then when there were just a few left they began to eat themselves. Then suddenly we had hope. My mom and dad created a portal and everything changed; we had a chance. That was why my mother started attacking the newlies. It was a _distraction._ We needed a chance and the Auras wouldn't have let us come here. It wasn't right, but it was our best chance and we took it!"

Eliza walked briskly the rest of the way to the park and into the woods and I followed behind her. We came up to a small stream and sat before it. I squatted a few feet off to the side of her and watched. Eliza leaned forward and touched her hand just barely on the water. It rippled and she snatched her hand back. The water began to swirl, and in the eye an image became clear. It grew bigger until it was about the size of a small mirror. I looked over at her. She was staring straight into it, concentrating.

"I can never hold them for more than a few minutes. No one knows I can do this," she said.

I looked closely and realized what I was seeing.

"You can create your own portals back to First-Plane?"

"Yes, look!"

I turned my focus back to the water and was startled by the gruesome image. Small rabbit—sized Banguri were gnawing on their own legs. Large bear-sized Banguri were letting their young rip the flesh of their bones for the chance that they might survive. It was the most disturbing thing I'd ever seen. I looked away.

"Enough," I said, but Eliza was hypnotized by the morbidness.

"Eliza, _enough,"_ I commanded loudly.

She jumped at the sound of my voice and the image collapsed on itself.

"They never told us," I insisted.

"That's because they don't know. They locked us in our little box and as long as we didn't try to come out, we didn't exist."

"Sariah and I will do everything we can to help," I promised.

Eliza laughed bitterly. "Sariah and you. Sariah and you," she chanted to herself.

I didn't know what to say anymore and I was aware that it was cruel to expect her to just snap out of it. It's not like she had a memory loss. I sighed and raked both my hands through my hair. I didn't know what to do anymore—

"Get down!" Eliza frantically whispered.

I reacted on impulse, lowing myself to my stomach.

_What is it?_ I thought to her out of habit.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"I think I just saw a portal open. They never open them in the day. Something must be wrong."

I couldn't see anything—they were too far away. But we could hear them and we knew in moments they'd be leaving, coming through this way to leave the park. We weren't far from the entrance. If we didn't move, they'd see us and from the energy that was bubbling off of Eliza, I knew they would know exactly what I was and wouldn't want me here.

"You lied about being able to convince your father to let us leave, didn't you?" I hissed.

"No, I said I would make sure you were able to leave."

"With what? Your shitty little bubble-sized portal?" I was so frustrated with her, but I had an idea of how to get at least me out of this mess. I began to army crawl backwards. I felt my feet sink into the water, my knees, thighs, and waist. I kept going, like a backwards-moving crocodile until just my head poked out above the water.

"What are you doing?" Eliza whispered.

"They won't think it's odd to see you. Go stall your father. I'm going to cross the water and go out the other side. Thankfully this is a park and not a forest. I can't go right out the entrance but I'll find a path. I have to get back to the diner before you do."

"You'll never make it," she said, her eyes doubtful.

"This is your fault. Your lying has made things so complicated. You want my help? Then you're going to own my trust by stalling your father."

Without another protest, she sprung up and sprinted off towards her father. I didn't wait to see what happened. I had to get back to Sariah and Ajani. If the Banguri wanted a fight, we'd sure as hell give them one.

31: SARIAH

Ajani and I worked easily together. He was surprisingly good at cooking and took to it quickly. Luke and he had seemed to have struck up an easy rapport, which was surprising. Ajani had always seemed so introverted.

I was a clumsy waitress. Luckily, all I had to do was shadow another waitress. I eventually snuck to the kitchen to do the dishes. It was easy and repetitive. Plus, I didn't really feel like talking to anyone. It was as if Ajani and I had swapped personalities.

I was waiting for the machine to finishing washing the last load I'd put in when I heard Ajani behind me.

"Can we talk for a moment, Sariah?"

I sighed. Knowing what he wanted to talk about.

"Just hear me out," he said in response to my exhale.

"Fine," I said, turning around. I crossed my arms defensively over my chest. I wasn't mad at him, but this whole "we're meant to be together" game had to stop. I refused to play anymore. My choice had been the same from the beginning, and I refused to tolerate him trying to make me stray.

"I'm not going to pursue you anymore. I shouldn't have from the start. I'm just envious, I realize that now. I'd never mean as much to you as Keegan does—and I'd—I'd rather be your friend than nothing at all. All right?"

I was stunned, but before I could respond the back door in the kitchen that led to the alleyway behind the diner, flung open.

"What the hell?" Luke said from the front of the kitchen.

"Sariah!" Keegan said, rushing to me. "We've got to go. Eliza's father is here early. He'll be here any minute! We need to go back to the apartment and wait for Eliza. She's got a plan to get us back to Second-Plane."

"What?" All three of us—Luke, Ajani, and myself—said in bewildered unison.

There's no time to explain. I'm just glad I made it here before they did."

As if on cue, the front door to the diner dinged and a tall, middle-aged man walked through. Keegan's voice must have caught his attention because his eyes looked immediately through the cooking window back to me. Our eyes met and he gave me a look of recognition that frightened me. How could he know me? His face whitened a little as he continued to stare at me as if I were a ghost. I pried into his mind, breaking my own rule, and what I found shocked me. He remembered me from when I was alive on First-Plane.

"Dad," Luke greeted nervously. "We need to talk."

The man motioned for the others with him to sit down and he made his way directly to where we were. Luke began to explain, trying to introduce us, but his father raised a hand, silencing him.

"I know what they are, and frankly this was bound to happen eventually. Under any other circumstances," Eliza's father stated, "I would have killed you today, but lucky for you, the Banguri and the Aura are going to need to become fast friends or we'll all be extinct."

"What are you talking about?" I asked urgently. "What's happened?"

"Second-Plane is being attacked by other beings that we've never seen before."

"Another Aura race?" Ajani asked.

"Possibly; at first we thought they were coming for us, but they've pillaged at least ten outer cities already. Lucky for us the time shift between dimensions is to our advantage here in First-Plane."

"Time shift?" I asked.

"Every day here is only one hour in Second-Plane."

"Then barely any time at all has passed since Ajani and I left," I calculated.

"What are you planning?" Keegan asked.

"We can't move Banguri that fast, it takes time and we don't have that anymore. We'll have to get however many we can and hope they never discover the Portal-Maker. At least that was my plan before I knew we had three Auras living amongst us."

"What do you want?" Keegan snarled defensively, stepping forward. "If they're attacking Aura as well, then using us as a tool won't aid you."

"Easy," said Eliza's father, "we're not a naturally vicious race. What I see in the three of you is opportunity for a renewal of the peace between Aura and Banguri. If the Aura will house as many Banguri as we can reasonably fit in the mountains north of the Light City, we will fight by your side. Together we might have a chance."

"What will happen after the war?" I asked quietly. "Things will need to change."

"Yes, but hopefully having fought a common enemy will create a path for the evolution of our people's relationship. For now, I'd be content with knowing less of my people are dying."

"If what you're saying is true," Keegan added, "we'll need to leave. Can you control where the portals open?"

"Yes, Ursula will open one in about an hour's time in the alleyway. She'll get as near the city as she can and then you'll have to do the rest."

"How will we get back in touch with you?" I asked.

"You're telepathic, aren't you? Find Ursula and she'll contact me."

"What's your name?" Keegan asked.

"Erick," he answered, offering his hand. Keegan hesitated before taking it but he did and our pact was made.

"I'd like to come back," Ajani said directly to Erick. "There were some Low and Middle-Banguri we saw going through a portal. They'll need to be rounded up if you want to continue to coexist with humans on First-Plane. When we've taken care of our current problem, I'd like to help in any way I can."

"There's only supposed to be High-Banguri going through the portals. If you survive our current situation, I'll take you up on your offer to help."

I was shocked. We'd just met Erick and Ajani had told him about what we'd seen at the portal. I was even more surprised that Erick didn't know; he didn't seem to be lying either. Why would Ajani want to come back? Maybe he was telling the truth and did want to move on. Perhaps distance from me was the only way.

"Now, go change back into your suits. We don't have much time."

32: KEEGAN

We headed back to our room and quickly changed. We were always given a glimmer of normality and then we were rushed right back into the turmoil. At least we were stronger than humans, at least the powers we had gave us a chance. But even so, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried.

_Keegan,_ Sariah's voice called to me. I turned to her, surprised we weren't speaking out loud since we were alone.

I don't remember him, but Erick was somehow involved the night I died.

"You've got to be joking," I said, half-yelling. I desperately tried to reel in the emotions welling inside of me. I sat down beside Sariah on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to continue.

I looked into his mind. I know I said I wouldn't do that, but the way he looked at me when he came into the back kitchen—it just happened. I saw the recognition in his eyes and I had to know. He saw it all. It was right here in front of the lobby entrance.

"Do you remember him trying to help you?"

"No," Sariah said sadly. "He feels guilty about that."

"Why wouldn't he have helped?" I raged.

"Maybe it would have mucked things up? No one is supposed to know they're even here," Sariah reasoned.

_Are you okay?_ I asked.

_I don't know._ _I saw it all, but it was odd watching myself die through someone else._

Do you want to confront him about it? Why he didn't save you?

No. I thought I would, but I don't. It seems so insignificant now.

I wrapped my arm around, her pulling her close to me, and she sighed as she turned into my body.

"It's so disturbing to be able to see and do what I can," she whispered.

"I'll always help you anyway I can," I promised.

"I'm going to have to kill when we get back to Second-Plane," she told me.

"We'll all have to fight, but you don't have to kill people. Just—incapacitate them."

"I don't want to be naïve, Keegan."

"You could always do something else besides fight." I stroked my hand down her back soothingly. "There will be plenty to do if we can convince the Aura to join forces with the Banguri."

"No," Sariah said suddenly sitting up. "I have to be stronger and I don't want special treatment. I'll fight, and we have to stay together. We're both safest that way and I can't let anything happen to you. It's just that when I kill, I feel it all."

"Their pain?" I asked.

"Worse; their emotion."

"We'll figure it out, Wats. We always do," I reminded her. I dipped my head down, brushing a light kiss on her lips.

_We can talk more as we move, okay? But we've got to head out now,_ I thought to her.

We met Ajani in the lobby, all of us suited up again with our dekus ready to take on whatever we found once we were back in Second-Plane. We walked as a group out the back exit of the complex. I realized as we walked through it, that it was the same alleyway where Eliza had found me. She wasn't with us but frankly, I was okay with that.

The back door of the diner swung open sharply and Erick stepped out.

"She's almost there," he told us. "It'll just be a few more minutes."

"How are you communicating with her?"

"Did Eliza tell you _how_ we create the portals?"

I lied, shaking my head no even as I remembered how she had made that small portal in the water.

"Banguri bond very closely to their mates just like the Aura do," Erick explained. "We don't have powers like you do, but we have an intense connection. We're not sure how or why, but Ursula and I became the portals between these two planes. We were together one night and then we woke up apart but we could still communicate. We realized we weren't on the same plane anymore, and like you we have enough of an impression of First-Plane to recognize it. The rest, well, we just knew. We can each create portals. We work together to find good areas for her to send people too. But we can never go to the opposite plane. She can't come here, and I can't go home."

"You've sacrificed your own lives to ensure your race lives on," Sariah exclaimed.

"Willingly; it's worth it. Ursula and I cannot be together physically, but we can save many of our people that would have died otherwise. I think it is worth the price."

"Why have you sent Low and Middle-Banguri here? You must know they'll hunt humans." Sariah said.

"That isn't us. Ursula and I only move through High-Banguri. Anything else is too risky."

"There must be others like you. How else would the Low and Middle-Banguri be getting to First-Plane?" I asked.

"Same conclusion we came up with. But we don't know who. Ah, it's time-stand back"

_How did I fall through a portal then without them knowing?_ I thought. _Eliza can make small ones on her own—she showed me today._

_I don't think it's her,_ Sariah said assuredly. _That doesn't make sense._

_We need to know who eventually. Maybe Eliza's mother did it?_ I theorized.

For now, it's enough that we know it's possible.

For now—yes—but there is something they're not telling us.

He knelt down on the ground. His body turned silver like mercury. His eyes, his hair, his skin, everything turned and then he melted into the ground spreading out until he was the size filled a six foot radius.

"What do we do?" Ajani asked. "Just walk right through him?"

I looked at Sariah. "Can we trust him?"

"We don't have a choice," she answered wearily.

I took her hand and we stepped through.

33: SARIAH

It was like walking through water, and right when I was scared I wouldn't able to breathe it was over and we were on the other side back in Second-Plane.

Keegan squeezed my hand and the world around me came back into focus. It was newly dark, the sun had just set. Ursula and Erick had delivered us right outside the Light City walls.

"Are you all right?" Keegan asked me

I nodded yes and we walked into the city.

"Something seems off," Ajani said from beside us. "The city is too quiet."

"You're right. The streets are deserted. It's almost as if they've fled the city. We'd better hurry and get to Paramount," Keegan agreed.

We took off, running as fast as we could through the climbing city streets to Paramount. As we neared the building itself, I was hit with wave after wave of thoughts. It was too much for me to make sense of and I desperately blocked all the voices out.

I looked around me in horror. Bodies were strewn across the steps to the large entrance, toppled in the streets and on the lawn. Anybody we could see was dying or already dead and dematerializing. I could feel their souls releasing. I shuddered as I felt them ascending. I kept my eyes to the ground. I didn't want to see the balls of light floating up into the sky.

"What happened?" I asked frantically, looking to Keegan for answers I knew he didn't have.

"Should we ask one of them before they die?" Ajani asked quietly.

None of us responded and we moved on, heading up the steps; weaving in and out, careful not to bump anyone. I was starting to feel sick. I clutched my hand over my mouth. I had to get away from all that death. I hurried into the building and almost ran into Iris as she turned a corner.

"You're back! At least something is working out in our favor," Iris exclaimed. She had a slight limp and bruising around her neck and blood-covered hands.

"Are you all right?" I asked, hugging her quickly.

"No, but I'll have to be. We were betrayed by some council members. They've been meeting with the Omni, a set of Auras like us who are from the land past the peninsula. They've been planning to eradicate the Banguri. We've known of other Aura, but our focus has always been on our own. We've never—or so I thought—communicated regularly with other tribes. Anyway, when the rest of the council refused to agree to the decree, the Omni and their new Aura allies attacked us. Just like that. People I've known for my whole life turned on me; Aura fighting Aura. Somehow we won, but I'm the only council member left. I'll have to lead—for now at least—and the Light City is temporarily secure."

"Why only temporally?" Ajani asked.

"The Atlas has been lighting up with a new color—yellow."

"More Omni?" Keegan asked.

"We can only assume at this point. Reports are already flooding in of new attacks on the outer territories. Refugees will be making their way here soon. Those who can fight will stay in the city. Everyone else will go north into the Tawas territory in the mountain range behind the city. I will stay no matter what! We have to try to fortify the city."

"There are advantages to a mountain range for fighting. Is there no other safe territory left that could be used for the refugees so we can draw the Omni into the mountains?" Ajani questioned.

"No," Iris confirmed, "we'll make our final stance there if we lose the city."

I agreed with Ajani, the mountain range was ideal. Plenty of coverage, tight areas for battle; we'd have the advantage. But the land leading up to the city was wooded and flat. The main part of the city offered little to no coverage. I looked over at Keegan. He was lost in thought and Ajani stood next to him idly spinning a pebble off the ground with this powers. My mind was racing. There was so much to do in an unknown amount of time. We had to find a solution. Suddenly, the idea struck me like lightning. We could manipulate anything with our minds, _anything._ Why not the earth? Why not make a mountain range?

"We'll change the terrain."

"We'll do what?" Ajani asked.

"Brilliant, Wats! It could work."

"We'll gather all the telekinetic Auras," I said, thinking out loud, "We'll have spread them just outside the city wall. We'll make a complicated mountain pass, that'll buy us some time, and when the battle comes we'll be ready."

"This will help our current disadvantages not be so life threatening," Iris said enthusiastically. "We don't know our enemy. We have no idea what their powers are, and they vastly out number us."

"We might be able to improve our numbers," Ajani said lowering his voice so that no one passing near us could hear. "Sariah and I tracked the Banguri and found another camp. We met with the Banguri leader by accident, but they too have been attacked by the Omni and are willing to make an alliance with us."

"That was why we came back so quickly," I added. "The High-Banguri are willing to align themselves with us if we allow them to take refuge with us as equals."

"We could put the ones too young or old to fight with the other refugees in the mountains," Keegan added.

"That _will_ be interesting. But, it's either evolve or die and I think the proper choice is always _evolve,_ " Iris said, smiling. "How do we get word to them that we accept their offer?"

"Telepathically," I explained. "There is a Second-Plane leader that I can connect to."

"When we're done here, Sariah, contact them immediately. We don't have time to waste. Tell them to head for the east entrance of the city. Our new enemies are flanking from the west, and with any luck they won't see our reinforcements arriving. Ajani, you will safeguard them with a handful of venku-warriors. Once our terrain is cemented, we'll know exactly how to guide them into the city."

Ajani nodded silently.

"We'll need weapons," Iris continued. "Keegan and Sariah, I hope you're up for a challenge."

34: KEEGAN

I was watching from the towers but I could see Sariah just fine. The city had never been very large, but with my eyes I could see her a quarter mile or so, just outside the Light City's walls. Ajani was there too, but they were spread out some twenty to fifty feet. For the first time I wasn't jealous— _trust_. It all came down to trust. I still didn't like him, though. I was waiting for them to begin. It was taking a few minutes for Sariah to line everybody up and explain the general idea of how they were going to change the terrain. Most of the telekinetic Auras weren't even fighting trained, they just spun objects in their spare time—which apparently they'd had a lot of.

For us, spare time was a myth. My mind was raking over and over again our next mission Iris had sprung on us. Sariah and I were going to break into one of the largest temples and steal as many deku as we could. That's how low our numbers were, that in one trip we'd be able to retrieve enough deku to arm our new Banguri allies that were willing to fight.

_They're about ready to start,_ she thought to me.

The thirty or so telekinetic Auras were finally lined up. Even untrained they were our strongest weapon, but from what I could sense in their chi's, Ajani and Sariah were the strongest; and Sariah surpassed them all. My lovely, Wats. My heart warmed with pride.

_Would this count as a long-distance relationship?_ I teased thinking to her from the towers.

A what? I don't even—how can you joke?!

_It'll be fine,_ I thought, comforting her.

_What if my idea won't work?_ she thought to me, her voice rippling with doubt.

You're stronger than anything this plane has ever seen.

_Flattery,_ she thought to me in almost a whisper.

_Fact,_ I tossed back to her mind. _I've never told you, but I can see chis. I can almost read the energy. You can feel them, I can see them._

What do they look like?

Colors of light. You're is ginormous.

_Keegan,_ she thought, and I could hear the smile in her mind's tone, _are you calling me fat?_

_Voluptuous,_ I corrected.

What color is mine?

I'll tell you next time I see you.

You can see me now, cheetah.

_Then I'll tell you next time I kiss you,_ I purred to her.

We just got the signal to start.

I zoomed in on them. Her energy flared as she exerted her powers. The ground around her , and then off a safe distance from her it began to rise slow at first and then it zoomed as it picked up momentum. Ajani did a little but everyone else was struggling. Sariah stopped, turning her head side to side, sensing the others weren't able to do what she and Ajani could do.

_They're not strong enough,_ her thought came to me in a pant.

_You'll have to guide them,_ I told her.

_How?_ she asked.

Stop trying to do it all by yourself.

35: SARIAH

Keegan was right.

_You're strong,_ he thought to me, _lead them._

_I don't like entering people's minds,_ I thought to him.

Get over yourself.

_What?_ I snapped back. Even though I couldn't see him, I turned my head, looking over my shoulder in the general direction I knew he was.

_Don't you glare at me,_ he thought. I could hear the teasing tone in this voice and I imagined his sly smile and laughed.

He was right. I had to get over myself. I had this power, I needed to use it. Everything was riding on this. If we were going to keep First-Plane safe, us safe, Keegan safe—I had to get over myself. I had to do what needed to be done.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes again. I could feel all of the souls around me. I reached out to them all at once.

We have to work together.

Then I was hit by all of them trying to talk back to me at once and my temple pounded furiously.

_SILENCE!_ I thought-yelled, probably too loud, but it was more of a reaction than an action. I couldn't think with all those voices in my head at once. It was too hard. I felt stuck. Perhaps I could show them by doing it? But that could take too long and we didn't have time to spare. I began to panic, feeling inadequate. I shouldn't have let them all put so much faith in me.

I felt Keegan's arms around my waist and his breath against my cheek. I turned around, and as I moved I saw the others awkwardly trying to move the ground on their own.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you. Looks like you could use my help. I have an idea."

"I hope it works," I said nervously, waiting for him to tell me his plan.

"I think it will," he said, "but you can't stifle any of the emotions you feel. You've got to trust me."

I nodded as he began to caress the side of my face tenderly, and closing my eyes I leaned into his touch.

"What are you going to do?" I asked with a mixture of excitement and reservation.

"I'm going to kiss you," Keegan said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close against him. Our energy warmed between us—that familiar white-hot lighting.

"Just a kiss?" I asked. I was confused by how that would work, but relieved that his idea didn't leave me orgasming in front of all these people.

"I'm really, really good at it," he teased.

"I know, I've kissed you before," I reminded him. I was getting frustrated, again. He was playful, flirty and teasing, which under normal circumstances would be charming but right now it was irksome. This was not the time for a make out session.—

My thoughts stopped as his lips committed themselves to mine. He was putting so much emotion into our kiss that I couldn't think about anything else but the world he was creating between us. It was just us; just this moment. Our energy exploded and I felt my strength magnify tenfold. Not only were we creating so much energy that I had to use some of it, I couldn't hold it all in my own body. I snapped into the minds of all the Aura around me. I don't know if I took over their bodies by force or they let me, but I had control of their power. Then I felt another surge—Keegan's power was combining with mine. I let it fill me up like air in my lungs and when I exhaled it all came out and the earth began to shake and change.

He pulled back ending our kiss and I came slowly down from the power of our embrace.

"Keegan," I said, barreling my face into his shoulder. His arms wrapped around me tightly.

"You did it, Wats," he told me, pushing a kiss through my hair to my head. He held me tight, steadying me against him.

I opened my eyes and it was true—a fast mountain range had risen up and grown around, encompassing the whole city. Like a chained dominoes reaction, it spread out as far as we could see.

"That was freaky," Ajani said, walking over. I didn't look into his eyes, I was afraid of what I'd see there. I'd just melded with thirty different souls at once—I'd be lying if I wasn't scared of my own strength.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked, pushing my head like an ostrich into Keegan's chest.

"No," Ajani said firmly. "What you did was amazing! You've bought us time to prepare a defense."

_Don't hide against me,_ Keegan scolded. I felt like a child almost, but that was naïve, no child could have done what I just did.

Keegan tilted my head back gently until I looked at him.

"I trust you," he said.

"All of us do," Ajani added.

I scrounged up enough courage to look at him, and what I saw in his eyes surprised me. Respect. When had his opinion of me transformed into that? That was not usually what I saw when I caught him looking at me. Then I realized he had meant what he said in the diner on First-Plane. He wanted to be _friends,_ and respect was the first step in that direction.

We heard a beep, and he pulled out his communicator. It blinked with a message.

"It's Lanni," Ajani said as he read. "She's successfully updated the transporter docks and the temple buildings to only read our specific DNA. That'll at least keep them from using our own technology against us. She wants us to head back immediately to scan ourselves in. I've got to get transported to the bottom of the range near the mountain territory, and you all have your recon mission."

"We'd better head out. All our work will be for nothing if we don't have any weapons to arm ourselves with," Keegan said and he was perfectly right.

Back at Paramount we met Lanni in the transporter room. She looked tired, worried and above all serious. I remember when Keegan had fallen into the portal and she was so light-hearted about it. I'd judged her for it thinking she was flippant and unfeeling, but now, ironically, I missed her airy energy.

"Place your hands one by one on the square readers. Sariah, I'll start with you," she instructed.

"How close can you teleport us to the large temple?" Keegan asked.

"About a mile out. Honestly," she continued not looking up from her monitors. "I wish it were farther. Take a look at the atlas; it's crawling with yellow dots. I've always hated that color."

My machine beeped and Lanni waved me away and motioned for Keegan to step forward. I looked at the map. There was a swarm of them around the building. If they couldn't get in, looks like they weren't going to let us either.

"How do we get in?" Keegan asked.

"Skylight would be my best guess. I've reprogramed the door to open for you only, but they're all guarding the entrance where the reader is. You can try to break through the skylight; otherwise you'll have to fight your way into the front which won't be easy."

"There's no better plan than this suicide mission?" Keegan spat angrily at her.

Lanni shrugged. "Don't go if you want, we're probably all dead anyway even with the extra dekus."

I stared at her, shocked by her pessimism.

"We'll figure it out," I assured him.

Keegan didn't look convinced.

We positioned ourselves a few meters back near the temple. There were more Omni then we'd expected. This little recon mission of ours wasn't off to a good start. They were smart and very calculating. They must have done this before—how many times had they taken over other territories? How many tribes of Auras existed past the peninsula?

_I got about fifteen, by my count_ , Keegan thought to me.

_Sixteen,_ I thought back, _and that's just near the building. There's a large camp of them west of our position._

_That's more than we thought,_ Keegan thought, his mind felt weighted with worry. _The skylight plan is our best shot. Let's get in and out as quickly as possible._

We'd come up with a plan that I would stay back and cover Keegan, using my powers to neutralize any threat to him or to exposing us. There was always a part of me that wanted to just run away, like he'd always suggested. We could take care of ourselves. But I knew this was bigger than all of us now; too much at stake. We had to get those weapons.

_Ready?_ Keegan asked.

_Yes,_ I confirmed, but my stomach knotted. I knew the chances of us getting in and out without them knowing were slim to none, but I'd do anything to keep Keegan alive. Even kill. I hated that it would come down to that, but he was more important than anything else. The conviction I felt in my soul when I admitted that—even in thought—was frightening. I hoped I wasn't put to the test.

Keegan waited for a moment and then whipped from tree to tree, getting as close as he could before making a shot through the open space to the temple's walls.

I moved parallel in the tree line so I could keep a good eye on him. Keegan was faster than I remember; he was pushing himself harder than he ever had. He stopped right at the clearing leaning against the last tree in the shadows.

There's someone just to the left of the building wall. They're heading this way. I can't move.

_I've got it,_ I told him confidently.

_I can wait until he goes by,_ Keegan offered.

No—we stick to the plan. I'll handle it. Wait for my command to move.

It felt like an eternity until the enemy came around the corner, but I'm sure it wasn't more than two minutes. He was idly walking as if he were stretching his legs rather than patrolling. He wasn't paying attention. I realized they must not have the same powers as we did. Otherwise he would have already sensed us. He had no idea we were so close. I closed my eyes, knowing I had only a short while to do what needed to be done. I thought about how I'd almost lost Keegan forever when he fell through that portal. But I'd gotten a second chance. I found him and we were together again and I wasn't going to lose him now due to my own weakness. _I didn't want to hurt anyone but I had to._ This was war. I gritted my teeth.

I threw my hand out roughly. It was like my arm became this invisible force I could stretch. I grabbed him, and before he could scream I crushed. He crumbled like a puppet and I dragged his body quickly into the nearest bush.

_Go,_ I ordered Keegan.

He blew through the clearing to the building. He was so fast that he was able to scale the wall and land nimbly at the top.

Shit, you really hold back when you fight, don't you?

I didn't answer and he thought to me: _I see the skylight. Get in my mind._

_What?_ I thought back, panicked.

_I can cut the glass with the deku, but I can't stop it from falling,_ Keegan reasoned.

You want me to take over your body and keep the glass from falling?

Just for a moment. Then you need to zip back into your own form and keep watch.

I—

Wats, I trust you. Just do it.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I prayed I didn't hurt him or damage his mind by controlling it.

When I opened them again, I was on top of the building with Keegan. It felt like we were one person. I felt his arm reach back and grab his deku. He morphed into a torch. I felt a surge of his own energy flow through his hand to the deku powering it. A blue flame blew out.

_Take over,_ he ordered.

The only thing I could think to do was to just try to move like I would my own arms and it worked. I stared at his empty hand being control by my mind in bewilderment. I leaned Keegan's body forward and used my telekinesis through him. I cut the glass slowly with the red tip of the deku and prepared with my free hand to keep it from falling. The circle I drew turned the glass black. I felt it loosening and steadily began to lift up. A perfect human-sized hole appeared. I set that hot glass off to the side of the roof and then snapped back into my own body.

_Are you okay?_ I asked eagerly.

_Disoriented but fine,_ Keegan told me honestly. _Keep watch. I'm going to make this fast._

I was going to respond back, but I felt something sharp jab into my arm and I shrieked in surprise before groaning in pain.

My body felt frozen and I heavy. I couldn't move.

_Sariah?_ Keegan thought to me.

Something isn't right.

I'm coming!

_The weapons,_ I thought wearily.

Fuck the weapons.

NO! You have to get them!

Dammit! Sariah hold on!

"Who might you be?" a voice said from behind me.

I couldn't answer vocally, which I'm sure they knew but I also remained silent telekinetically. It might be my only advantage at this point.

"I've paralyzed you for now, and when my venku gets here, we'll take you to Damien."

They were behind me and I couldn't see them. I felt my body move and realized I was being dragged. _Again. Not again._ My mind thought. Images of my last night on First-Plane flashed in my head. All those emotions I felt were _real_ again. That night was _real again._ But I wasn't helpless this time. I could do something. I could save myself.

_I don't need to be able to move to kill you,_ I spat into his head. I felt his panic and confusion. I grabbed him around the throat holding him up and he dropped me like I was hot iron. I fell back, sliding down the side of a tree trunk. I couldn't scream and the need to express the pain manifested in my hold tightening around my enemy's throat. I heard the gurgling sound and felt his blood on my arm.

_MY ARM_. The other one was coming back to life with a prickling sensation. They'd overestimated hitting me with one dart, or knife or whatever was into my shoulder blade. I could move my arm just enough to get myself in an upright position. Keegan was coming slowly down the side of the building, trying not to make noise. He had a bag filled with dekus slung over his shoulder.

_I can see you,_ he thought to me, _and that guy you've got suspended in the air._

I snapped her neck and then dropped my hold. Her body slumped to the ground with a thud.

_I can't move,_ I whispered _._

Don't worry. I'll grab you and we'll be out of here.

He was to me in seconds, scooping me in his arms like a child. I wrapped my strongest arm around his shoulders. I was so relieved this was over and he was okay. We were going to make it and that was all that mattered.

"YOU THERE! STOP!"

_They're coming,_ I thought-whispered _._

Keegan bolted, picking up speed as he ran. I could feel he was getting tired. He wasn't moving as fast as he had earlier. We were both running of energy.

How many are coming?

I can see at least three.

We were back fully in the woods but they were gaining on us. They were only twelve or so feet behind us. Their skin rippled as they chased us. Quills began poking out all over them like sharp needles. They stopped abruptly and the quills shot out of them, propelled them forwards like bullets.

_Not today,_ I thought to them.

The last of my energy flew out of me and everything felt like it slowed down. The needles were just a foot away from us, but I put a shield around us. They bounced off and shot right back at them. They screamed in surprise, clearly not expecting to have to dodge their own weapons. I couple got out of the way, but I hit the one in the center dead on.

_Keegan, now would be a fantastic time to show off how fast you can run,_ I thought.

The two who'd managed to dodge knelt around the injured one.

_They weren't expecting us to be stronger than them,_ I whispered.

_We almost weren't,_ Keegan thought.

Almost doesn't count.

36: KEEGAN

I was relieved when they didn't try to pursue us after Sariah reflected their attack. I moved as fast as I could. My body was nearing exhaustion, but just like the first night I'd met her, when I thought I couldn't go any further, my body kept accelerating.

By the time we reached the transporter, Sariah had passed out. I could feel her chi, injured but not close to death.

I knelt on the platform, pulling my communicator out of the jelly-bean shaped pack. It jolted to life and Lanni's voice filled up the dark night.

"Transporting you now," she informed me.

Lights swirled around us and I let out an enormous sigh of relief. I was ready to be back in the city. We'd be safe again, at least for the night.

Just like the night she'd gotten injured, I took her back our room and drew a bath, but this time I slipped in with her and held her close to me. After a while she came to and pushed her mouth up to mine, beckoning my lips into a kiss.

She shifted sideways on my lap and I wrapped my arms around her in a way that allowed her to recline back into the crook of my arm. We didn't talk. Usually, I felt like we had so much to say but tonight we both just wanted to feel.

I didn't break our kiss as I pushed into her. Her position on my lap made our fit together tight. I moved my hips circularly, easing myself in slowly. I didn't want to hurt her.

After today we could never pretend that the threat wasn't real. That danger didn't exist, that loosing each other wasn't a daily possibility. We'd faced the unknown before with the Banguri, but they were never really a threat. Everyone knew that now. This new enemy; this new unknown, was the real danger and if ascension was how our story ended then I wanted to be with her tonight.

_I need you so much._ I kissed her again, my free hand roaming all over her, as if I were committing her body to memory through touch.

Sariah's body trembled over mine as she came. She pulled back, sitting up and repositioning herself on me in a straddle. I cupped her face lovingly in my hands.

"I've always needed you too," she told me.

"Whatever happens tomorrow," I started to say, looking at her earnestly. Her eyes filled with emotion and she looked away, shaking her head.

"I don't want to think about tomorrow," she whispered.

She slipped herself back onto me and she started moving again, her hips making the water wave in the tub softly as she steadily brought me to a hard release.

_What do you want to think about then?_ I asked as I pulled her closer and breathed in the smell of her hair.

Nothing, nothing at all.

Even if we didn't want to think about it, the morning still came, and we all met in the great council room with the other Aura and our new Banguri allies.

Lanni had rigged some type of projector able to display a 3-D image of the peninsula. All of the outer territories were marked, all of the temples, and then there were little red squares for the areas where the enemy Auras had taken over.

The council room was round like a stadium. Everyone could see everything and everyone else. Iris stood in the center with Lanni. I looked around us; very few venku. The majority were non-fighting Auras and Banguri. The odds weren't in our favor—only a few of us actually had powers and knew how to use them. Iris greeted us briefly and then began.

"All refugees from both Banguri land and ours are now in our Mountain City. Thanks to the efforts of Sariah and Keegan, we've changed the terrain and fortified Paramount, we have weapons to supply our entire forces, and we know that the Omni do not have the same powers we do. We can assume that they come in two ability types like us, and one of their abilities is to create poisonous needles that can projectile out of their bodies. Lanni is going to explain our plan for the battle that will inevitably take place."

"Our best defense is the mountain range. They'll take the flattest passage, so we need to be prepared to fight here." Lanni went up to the projection and touched the area. It lit up and then zoomed in, showing a passageway a quarter mile wide by a full mile long. It was only a few miles out from the Light City itself.

"It's the most direct passageway to us and they'll take it," Lanni said. "Now the dekus are only used for close one on one combat. We need a few solo telekinetic Aura along the ridges and pick off as many of the enemy as possible. All of the remaining venku will be mixed in. Keegan and Sariah, we need you close to the front giving out orders telekinetically."

"What about Ajani?" Sariah asked.

"Ajani and a small band of venku warriors will be guarding the refugees in the Mountain City north of here," Lanni explained.

"I know," Iris said addressing us all, "that we haven't had a war in many cycles and that most of you weren't awakened here when we did have a war. I take the responsibility fully for not keeping us prepared for an unknown threat, but that can't be changed now. All we can do now is defend our city and our people: Aura and Banguri alike. We cannot fail. Find the viciousness within yourselves and let it out. It's the only way."

I felt Sariah flinch beside me and I took her hand. She'd barely spoken since last night. All of the fighting and all of the killing were changing her, pulling her away from me, but I wasn't going to let her go. I wasn't going to let her withdraw.

"It'll be okay," I told her. I wrapped my arm around my shoulder and pulled her to me.

"I hope so," she said, her voice barely audible. "I hope so."

The debriefing concluded with Lanni explaining that the atlas showed the Omni forces being concentrated just four hours away. They were pulling most of their muscle away from the territories and straight toward us. If they continued to advance at this pace, they would hit the city in less than half a day's time.

Iris dismissed the pre-trained venkus and kept back the other Auras and Banguri—she needed to explain to them in a crash course how to fight with their dekus. We'd been instructed to go union as much as possible in order to be the strongest we could for the battle. As soon as the Omni forces were within two hours from the passage mouth, we would leave the city and get into our positions. Sariah and I got up and began to file out with the rest of the venkus.

"What if they surrender?"

Iris had been talking to Lanni, but she stopped abruptly, looking over to Sariah.

"My dear, they _won't_."

"But if they did?"

"I cannot predict the future," Iris insisted, before turning back to Lanni.

"No—that's not good enough!" Sariah yelled as she stormed down the aisle. "I don't want to kill, especially if there are other options. I need to know, what happens if they surrender?"

"I'd hunt them down anyway," Iris said. "I understand that you don't want to kill, but if it's either them or us, it will be _them._ We cannot trust them. They poisoned over half this council and forced me to kill _my own people._ Sariah, I know about loss! Are you that childish to think that you're the only one who doesn't want to _kill?_ Wake up, girl, none of us do. But do you know what I want more?"

I'd followed Sariah into the center of the room. She stood motionless before Iris as she soaked up all of the rebuttals of her original question.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT MORE?" Iris yelled.

"No," whispered Sariah, dipping her head downwards.

"I want my people to survive. I want my venku to survive. I want to see change flourish and if the price is a blood stained deku, better it be their blood than ours."

Sariah's energy turned dark. I could feel how upset, conflicted, enraged and hopeless she felt. I put my hand on the small of her back, and she pulled away sharply before leaving the room.

Iris looked at me, her eyes fierce.

"Keegan—I know you understand Sariah and the situation we're in. She needs to kill. She is the best weapon we have. There hasn't been an Aura like her in many cycles. The point is she needs to fight. You need to make her understand that death will always happen but she is lucky. She can choose whose death it is. She can decide what blood is on her hands. She will be the final judgment for us all."

I leaned against the wall outside our flat. The air blew through the open windows. It had been raining—how fitting. Even nature was distraught. It had been almost an hour since we had left the debriefing. I knew I shouldn't stay out here much longer—we didn't know when the enemy would reach us. Lanni was sending out mass reports to the communicators. So far they still were not within two hours from the mouth of the mountain.

I'd been out here trying to determine what was best for my Sariah. Was winning worth winning if it meant she destroyed herself? There had to be a balance. All of us made choices, and I wouldn't let her sacrifice her soul, period. She could battle today and wipe them out and there could just be thousands more waiting to make another attack. It could never end—perpetual death. We could leave. How often had I said that to myself? What hadn't we? I thought back to each time I'd propositioned it—it was always Sariah who wanted to stay. Maybe it was time to finally go. We could survive on our own. It was the city that couldn't survive without _us._

I pushed myself off the wall and turned the knob on the door. Our flat was quiet and I went up the stairs in threes. I pushed the bedroom door open but she wasn't in there. Like deja-vu, I saw out of the corner of my eyes a flickering in the other room. She was looking at the mini-globe again of First-Plane.

I pushed the door open to find her sitting on the floor leaning against a wall, her head in her lap.

"Wats, we need to talk."

She lifted her head up and her eyes were so sad it nearly broke me. I sat beside her and pulled her onto my lap, like I always did, and she responded to my affection the way she always did—relief. She hugged me tight and I felt her body quivering against mine.

"You're shaking," I told her, worried.

"I'm afraid of what I'll become when I kill," she confessed.

"I'd be lying if I told you it won't change us, but we'll still be venku no matter what!"

"I want there to be another way so badly, but there isn't, is there?"

"We could leave," I suggested.

"No, that would be just another form of killing."

"But we'd be living," I insisted.

"Iris is right; we could kill and save lives. Plus, there's Earth to think about. If they take over the city and find out about the portals, then what?"

"We don't have to live for anyone else but ourselves."

"No, we do, Keegan. We do."

"Then we fight when we fight, and love when we can love." I cupped her face and kissed her tenderly, trying to put everything I was feeling into that one kiss. I pulled back breathless. Her cheeks were hued a soft rose color.

"Still blushing?" I said, laughing softly as I caressed the side of her face.

"You're still overwhelming," she teased back.

"I'm glad you're not tired of this, because we _need_ to do it to survive."

"One day it'll become strictly survival?" she murmured as I began to undress her.

"No, never," I vowed as my hands glided over her body, peeling the suit off her skin. I scooped her up and took her to our bed. "It'll always be love."

37: SARIAH

Keegan was asleep beside me, with his arm draped possessively over me, cupping my breast. I rolled towards him and his hand slid lazily down my side to my hip. I loved him; really loved him. What wouldn't I do to keep him? Nothing; even if the price was losing myself.

It didn't feel like there was a grey area anymore. Everything was black or white. I had to cling to the hope that maybe I was the grey area. Maybe if I was strong enough I could win the war with only a few casualties on either side. Perhaps I could force them to surrender by killing their leader? I vowed to myself to try that route first. I could use my powers to find their leader and finish this war quickly. If that didn't work, I'd have to kill as many people as necessary, but that would kill me in the process.

_What if I can't bear the guilt of destroying so much life?_ I thought to Keegan.

_I'll bear it with you and together we'll create to make up for all we've had to destroy. We'll rebuild the cities,_ Keegan thought to me waking up.

"Rebuild the cities?" I said aloud.

"When you left earlier, Iris and I talked. She wants us to train the newlies when they start arriving again and train the Banguri refugees. She has plans to build a new city that'll be for everyone."

"That's almost something to look forward to," I muttered.

"Almost?"

"If we don't win the war, none of it will happen. What if the Omni never stop attacking? What if they keep sending more and more people?"

"We'll make sure our people are the last ones standing. We will survive. Don't think so much, Wats. Stay right here in the now, with me."

He rolled me over, sliding his body on top.

"I dare you to think about anything else," he warned, his eyes blazing mischievously.

On the table besides the bed the communicator lit up, shooting a map projection up into the room. We both looked over. The yellow squares were within the two-hour arrival zone.

"Let's go," Keegan said as he got off the bed and began to slide on his suit. "It's time."

The air was colder in the mountains and it was windy. I pulled my hair back into a bun, using that lovely clip I'd gotten the first day Keegan and I had come to the city. That felt like a thousand cycles ago—so much had happened since then. But it wasn't all bad, and I had to focus on the little scraps of good left in my life. _Keegan._

I looked over at him. We were both seated behind a boulder in the clearing. Thirty feet or so behind us was our army of only two thousand. There was no way of knowing how many more they have, but at least we had the mountain range. It gave us cover and it boxed them into a small area. I looked down at my communicator; the navigational system showed that the red squares were just ten minutes out now. It was almost time; I sent out a mass order to our fleet.

Ready yourselves. They'll be on us in minutes.

_Tell the Auras on the ridge to wait for your separate orders to attack,_ Keegan reminded me.

I did. They couldn't jump in too early. The timing needed to be perfect.

Keegan turned to me suddenly, kissing me fiercely.

_I love you,_ he thought to me.

I love you too.

_No matter what,_ he reminded me. _Say it back._

_No matter what._ I thought. _No matter what._

_Get ready_ — _they're coming. Remember, we command our army. They wait till our mark._

I closed my eyes and spread my mind out above me like an eagle. They halted at the mouth. Their leader stepped through the army, beckoning a few men to step forward. They were all dressed similar to us but their suits had some type of armor. The weakest point was where the scaled armor ended right at the neck.

_When you attack, go for the necks_ — _their armor is weakest there. Wait for my mark. We want them right in the middle of us,_ I broadcasted to our people.

I kept watching. They began moving slowly, their leader unflinchingly moving forward. She held a weapon in her hand, but it wasn't like our dekus. It wasn't a sword, axe, or spear—what was it? I stretched my mind out more. I'd never done anything quite like this, it seemed like my powers were always evolving for the needs of the situation. I just hoped she didn't sense me. I wanted to know what that weapon was she had. She moved closer towards me and I made out a barrel, a trigger. Electricity was flowing through—her body I could feel it. She was powering this weapon, but what was it? I knew it was an advanced version of something from First-Plane and I was just about to remember when I felt something else.

A heartbeat.

_What are you talking about?_ I heard Keegan's voice in my head.

Their leader is pregnant.

Does it matter? If that's their leader, kill her right now. You could end this war before it begins.

_It matters. Would she know and still fight?_ I thought back.

The leader held her hand straight up and then began to roll it forward at her elbow. The others around her raised their weapons to the air. Guns—they had some type of gun.

I snapped back into my body.

_NOW, BEFORE THEY FIRE!_ I ordered.

My order was just a little too late. I heard the blast of their guns and watched a blue orbs the size of a plums arch across the sky. They burst when they hit the ground, melting into a gooey glaze. They hit a person behind a rock and she screamed, her body jerking as the liquid oozed over her. Then she stilled, her body simmering as if she'd been fried.

_It's some sort of electric gun. Don't get hit!_ I broadcasted.

I heard a few more screams as the orbs landed on something a life and anger filed my gut. I saw the light rise from their corpses and ascend into the sky. I couldn't allow this to happen. I couldn't let them kill my own people. They weren't going to victimize us.

Get ready, I'm going to distract them and then we attack. Everyone. I'll take the leader.

I jumped out just a few feet ahead of their leader. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she immediately fired at me as I had known she would. But I was ready.

I held my hands up in front me, stopping the orbs just in front of me, and then I reflected them back harder than they'd been shot out. They flew like missiles, knocking the people down. The leader dodged the ones aimed at her and stared at me in shock. The others weren't so lucky. The orbs hit them, covering them in a thick gel. Some of them weren't affected; others screamed dying within minutes. Behind me our forces led by Keegan charged forward. I heard the crushing of bones and knew the telekinetic Auras on the ridge were going to work.

The leader looked around her in bewilderment. But her eyes settled on me defiantly. "What kind of demon are you?" the woman spat at me.

"Surrender now and we'll end this. In fact, don't surrender—just leave and never come back."

"Leave and never come back?" the woman repeated like an offended parrot.

"Yes," I said moving forward. I grabbed her with my power and began to squeeze. I hoped to scare her into giving up without having to actually kill her or her unborn child. I hoped she believed my bluff.

"No—we'll never leave. The Banguri were bad enough," she snarled back, fighting hard against my hold. "This plane needs to be clean of them. Anything that has to destroy to live isn't _pure._ But you, _you_ are an abomination. We'll wipe this place clean!"

"You're pregnant," I said flatly.

"What?" she gasped.

_Sariah, behind you!_ Keegan's voice said in my mind. I dropped their leader and whirled around just in time to see spikes being ejected out of a face and shot right towards me. I deflated them easily. Keegan whirled past, slicing the person at his knees before decapitating them. The blood flooded out and lapped on the ground hypnotically.

_I never wanted this,_ I thought.

"Sariah, stay in the now! Focus! We need you. Their leader is getting away! We can't let her get too deep in. We need to take her out now, I'm going after her."

"No," I shouted aloud.

"Can you handle it?"

I nodded weakly.

"Then go!" Keegan yelled before turning to help a Banguri struggling in one-on-one combat.

I grabbed my deku off my back, morphing it into a long light katana. I wielded it fiercely. Pushing the enemy back into rocks whenever I could—which wasn't often—I felt like I was traveling through a field of bodies, hacking them down like a sickle on wheat. I saw the leader quickly instructing someone and pointing to the ridges above. They'd figured out we had people fighting from up there. He ran off and then the next thing I knew there were people beginning to scale the mountain, heading up. I had to get to the leader before they got to that ridge. Without help from the Banguri fighters from the top, we'd be quickly wiped out.

I plunged forward, carelessly sliding my deku through anything that got in my way.

_Them or us, has to be us. Has to be us. Has to be us._ my mind chanted. I was close behind her when she whirled around, striking me in the arm with a knife. I screamed in pain. It was foolish to think she didn't know I was that close behind her. I should have attacked from further off.

I pulled the knife out of my shoulder and whipped it at her. I was surprised when it hit her in her stomach.

She screamed, crouching low on the ground.

I had to end this now. I grabbed her and put a force field around myself. I lifted her up, high, higher, until she was like a flag in the sky.

_ENOUGH!_ I hollered in the minds of anyone I could sense.

Suddenly the fighting just stopped. Their leader screamed in terror.

_Surrender,_ I thought to her. But she was frantic. She was panicking. She wasn't listening to me.

Command your army to fall back and we'll end this now.

Her screaming filled my mind. I couldn't think. I couldn't focus. I couldn't take it.

SURRENDER!

A few of her army tried to run up on me so I'd release her, but I killed them before they got within six feet. My mind and therefore my powers were running wild, but I couldn't stop now. Not until this war ended. There was nothing I wouldn't give, _nothing._

I fell to my knees, still holding her up. I was getting tired. Soon I'd have to let her down or I'd drop her. I couldn't hold her up there forever. Why hadn't she just relented? Why was I always having to do this? I began to cry. I couldn't stop. I was past my breaking point and there was no going back.

Sariah, let me in.

I looked up and saw Keegan through the force field.

_Let me in, Wats,_ he thought again to me.

Don't you see what I've done? I'm a monster.

_Let go,_ he told me softly, _end this war._

_I can't,_ I thought. My arm was shaking. I knew it was only moments. I couldn't hold on longer, but I just couldn't let go. I couldn't knowingly drop her, and if she didn't surrender before I let her go, the war would just continue. Nothing would be resolved.

Choose us, Sariah. Choose us and let her go.

That was, it wasn't it? Choices, it all came down to choices. She could have given up. She could have not pushed me to this. Backed me into this corner of no return. Either I did this and hoped this display of destruction was enough to subdue their army or I could hope we were strong enough to kill them all.

I chose.

I collapsed on the ground and I heard her screams as she plummeted into the hard rock. Keegan's arms were around me in a moment.

"It's okay," he consoled me as I sobbed. "You made the best choice."

I felt him let me go and stand up.

"KNEEL NOW!" he roared like a lion.

I looked up, hoping to see proof that my choice was the right one—and it was. They all knelt in surrender. I started crying again. This time out of relief. For now, it was over.

A soft touch on my face made my lashes flutter as I gained consciousness. I couldn't focus on the face front of me yet, but the trickle of energy flowing from the touch spread over me and I recognized the warmth. I know who it is.

Keegan.

I felt his warm hands cradle the sides of my face as his lips push against my forehead.

_Is it over?_ I thought to him.

_Yes,_ he confirmed.

He kissed the knuckles of my hand before clutching it to his chest. I felt the beat of his heart—tap-tap—tap-tap; far too quick. He's worried and anxious.

_I'm fine,_ I think to him, then finally I speak aloud, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not too long. A few hours, at most."

"What happened after I..." The words wouldn't come out, wouldn't formulate.

"There would be no place to put them all. We took the leaders and let the rest go back. We gave them a day to leave, but the atlas shows that they've already for the most part left the peninsula. We've been interrogating them and we've found out. They didn't send in their whole army like we thought. One of the captures told us that more would come if they're not freed. The reality is more will come, period. We're looking for some kind of defense to block access from the peninsula's bottom land border."

"What are we going to do with the leaders of their forces?"

"Not sure," Keegan answered honestly. "You were the only one who thought they might surrender. There's talk of converting one of the outer territories into a prison. Iris wants to form a new council with you on it to help decide their fate."

I cringed at his words and pulled my hand away from him, turning on my side—they basically wanted me to become a glorified executioner.

"I didn't want to be a part of any of this," I whispered.

I felt the bed shift and him curl up behind me pulling me into the crook of his body and knew we must be alone.

"Wats, I know that," he said softly.

"I went against my own soul and I killed a mother and an unborn child!"

He pulled me closer and I felt his energy flowing into me trying to heal not my body but my aching heart. I fought it.

"Let me heal you," he pleaded.

"You always give so much and I just take. I kill. I destroy."

"No, you saved everyone."

"By killing?"

"Yes! Look at me, Sariah," he demanded.

I ignored him.

"Don't you dare fucking shut me out! Look at me, damn it!"

I rolled over so I faced him.

"Sariah," he said again his voice wet with emotion, "you're the only thing that matters to me. I could care less whether anyone else lives or dies as long as you _live._ But you, you care about _everyone;_ even our enemies. You're the strongest person I know."

I shook my head, pushing it into his chest, my body shaking with a devastating emotion that I couldn't let out.

"I didn't want kill anyone!" I whispered.

"What you did today saved lives on both sides. Listen to me, baby," he said pulling me closer. "I know it hurts you to kill. None of us like it and you have surely done it way more than any of us—but—you have given back much more than you've taken. What you did was a necessary evil. I'm so sorry you had to be the one. I can't change the past, but I can heal your soul now. You have to let me," he insisted feverishly, "I love you. I can't lose you."

I gave in and it felt like coming home after the most fucked up day you could ever have. He held me to him and his energy surged, flowing all around me, dulling my guilt until it was bearable and understandable. I'd never be _okay_ with killing and I vowed to continue to avoid it as much as possible, but saving Keegan, loving him, having him would always be worth it. I would do it again and again. Death was unavoidable, but so was love and I finally knew which one was kinder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I'd like to take a brief moment to just thank the following people who have always been so encouraging and supportive of my work. Thank you for the beta reading, free advice, kind words and the faith that I can create something worth reading.

Nicholas Wilson

Patricia Saenz

T.D. Brickey

Andrea Schulte

Shannon Lewis

Jenika Townsel

Kendyl Bryant

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Soul(s) is Vera West's debut contemporary novel with elements of science fiction, dystopian themes and romance, inspired by personal feelings on love, death, and the afterlife. Vera West resides in the Mid-West where she is passionately scribbling out her next novel. Connect with her on Facebook for updates and news on upcoming releases and book signings.

FUTURE WORKS:

Soul(s) will have a sequel entitled Venku(s). This piece will begin before the Great War and span past the plot of Soul(s). It will also be told entirely from the perspective of Ajani. Enclosed in this ebook is a special preview of Venku(s), enjoy!

I watched the trees tick by with growing impatience. I hungrily gulped down the glass of water I held in my hand. We were on a train, heading to the Midwest.

There had been an increase in sightings of all folklore monsters: Hodag, and the Loveland Frog. Since we knew that Low and Middle Banguri had been sent here from Second-Plane, it was logical that these legendary folklore creatures were our rouge Banguri.

Our first top was Ohio. There was a notorious frog man that lived along the Ohio River. If we could catch him and send him back we'd consider this trip a success and hunt down more. The scary part to me was that we had to try so hard to find the Banguri but clearly they'd been being sent over for a long while now. So, where were they? It was unsettling, but we had no clues and as far as Erick was concerned he had no idea that anything other than the high cast had been sent over.

There was another kink in our rambo-hunting plan I hadn't figured out: feeding. Since Bem had ascended, I hadn't taken a new partner and my body was starting to suffer. I wasn't as strong as I knew I should be and water would only get me so for.

From his seat across from mine, Luke eyed me above the paper he was reading.

"Just go do it," he insisted. "You'll have to see us hunt eventually too.

I ran a hand through my hair; not answering him, but knowing he was right.

"You can't be serious?" Eliza asked. Snapping her book shut, she glared at me furiously. Eliza was still testy about Keegan leaving with Sariah and now that she wasn't getting any, the sexual needs of Auras were distasteful to her. Eliza reminded me of everything I didn't want to be and it disgusted me. I was regretting insisting that she'd come with us. She was like a giant pout fest, party of one; extremely irritating. But, she was a portal maker and so was Otto, and that gave us an advantage.

"He has to eat," Otto said, stretching his legs out and propping them up next to the empty seat beside her.

"Just do it already!" Luke repeated. "You're starting to look sickly."

"I guess you're right." I set my cup down into the built in holder and got up.

"Disgusting," Eliza muttered, reopening her book.

"Necessary," I shot back as I moved past her and Otto to leave the car. yah

"Just ignore her, we all know what her problems is," Luke said.

"Why? What happened?" Otto asked curiously.

"None of your business," Eliza spat at Otto.

He raised an eyebrow and Eliza shot him a blazing glare

"You can use our room. Just let us known when you're done," Luke added as I closed the door behind me. I could hear Eliza annoyed voice rising as she exclaimed how vulgar the Aura were. I laughed in spite of myself; at least with Sariah's rejection I wasn't _that bitter._

The train was nice, surprisingly so. I couldn't remember them being this way, but then that was a common occurrence with people from Second-Plane. Even with four of us traveling there was a good amount of space. We had a sitting box, with six seats, and then across the small hallway was our four person sleeper. The bunks were stacked in twos of course. The bathrooms were at the end of dinner car which was located in the first of the train cars. I passed through easily making my way upwards towards the front of the train. My plan consisted of first surveying the area and seeing what my options were. I'm sure I'd find someone I'd be...compatible with.

I heard the feathery sounds of female laughter and my adrenaline picked up. Just a few feet ahead, were two young women telling stories jubilantly. They were both average looking, their features not hitting either end of the beautiful or grotesque spectrums. I honestly didn't care, beggars couldn't be choosers.

As I got closer, they both looked up. Both seemed attracted to me, but the brunette sucked in a little breath of surprise as she saw me. _Her._ She'd be the one. I kept walking and heard them whisper as I moved by. I stopped and moved back to where they were sitting.

"Ladies," I greeted, "I'm looking for the bathroom, do you know where it is?"

The brunette spoke up first. She was interested

"I'll show you!"

"Bethany!" her friend exclaimed. "You don't even know him," she added in a lower voice.

Bethany ignored her and accepted my offered hand.

"I'll find out his favorite color and let you know," she told her friend.

As soon as our finger tips touched I felt her sexual energy seeped into my skin. Her pupils dilated in surprise. I grasped her hand firmly.

"Which way?" I asked.

"Back the way you came actually," she stammered.

I moved aside so she could stand in front of me. I eyed her hungrily as she walked ahead of me, drumming up more arousal in Bethany with every stroke of my middle finger across her palm. She was wearing a sundress with a little cropped jacket over it and flat strappy leather sandals.

"I don't remember seeing a bathroom back here," I said innocently. "My room _is_ back this way; right here actually."

"You might be off the hook—Bethany was it?—I might have a map in here." I released her hand and turned away from her sliding back the door to the train-sleeper.

There was in fact a little map sitting on one of the beds and I scooped it up.

"I was almost there," I said tapping a finger on the map where the bathrooms were labeled.

"Were you really that interested in finding a bathroom?" Bethany asked.

I turned to her. I licked my lips hungrily and watched her suck in a quick breath.

"Not after I saw you," I answered back.

That was all the encouragement she needed. She stepped into the room and slid the door shut.

"I've never done anything like this before," she said quietly, her voice almost timid, but her eyes were filled with excitement.

I'd affected her so easily. Was it because I was so hungry? Or was it because I was even more sexually potent since I wasn't from this plane? I decided quickly I'd have to be careful with her body. I didn't want to hurt her.

"Come here," I told her.

She came straight to me aiming for a kiss, that I almost let her have, but something I didn't want intimacy. I wanted fuckage. Pure, carnal, fuckage. I wiped her around pressing her flush against me.

_Grab the handle bars,_ I suggested to her telepathically as I begun an assault on her neck. I felt her pulse quicken against my lips.

I was just a little taller than her and I bent lightly to gather up her dress around her waist. I immediately began a caressing her over underwear with firm repetitive circular strokes. A deep moan ripped from her throat, followed by an intense gasp. Her head rolled back on to my shoulder as her sex quivered in my hand.

"Oh my god," she moaned, breathing heavily. "I've never come so fast or hard in my life."

Fuck _,_ I thought frustrated, if that was all it took to get her off she wasn't going to be able to last long enough to satisfy me. I stayed behind her caressing her stomach as I soaked up the energy her orgasm has produced and tried to decide if I should keep going. How many orgasms could a human take before it became...too much?

The door slammed open and Bethany and I both jumped.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" Eliza asked coyly.

"Who is that?" Bethany asked as she started to pull away from my hold.

"No one," I muttered. I leaned gently into her and lightly caught her ear lobe between my teeth. I began caressing her again and pushed back against me.

"Make her go then," Bethany purred back her hips teasing against my erection.

"Leave," I growled to Eliza.

Eliza came towards us, grabbed Bethany by the arm and threw her out of the room. Bethany scrambled, almost losing her balance, but righted herself before falling.

"Bethany—"I started. I body was desperate to somehow take back control of the situations, but the damage had already been done. The sexual haze I'd had her in was gone.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Bethany asked from the hallway.

"Not in the least."

"Why are you still here?" Eliza questioned cruelly. "Did he forget to pay you?"

"Eliza!" I roared.

I saw Bethany's lip quiver as she walked briskly away.

"You didn't have to go that far. You know why I have to do this. I _needed_ that girl."

Without offering me a response, she turned to leave. Enraged, I grabbed her arm and spun her around and she flew towards me, trying to kiss me; assuming that was what I wanted from her. All I'd wanted was for her to acknowledge how ridiculous she was being and until that moment, I hadn't realized that was what _she_ had actually wanted from me all along. My hand shot to her throat holding her just inches from me. She gasped in surprise and I loosened my hold immediately.

"You stopped her from fucking me because _you_ want to fuck me?" I asked.

She closed her eyes with her confession. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she answered reopening her eyes.

"I'm good friends with you brother I wouldn't want to—

"I'll think of _him_ ," she said interrupting me.

That did it.

I pushed her down on to the small bed and undid my pants. She watched me excitedly as I sprung free and I realized I'd just played right into what she'd wanted, but I didn't care. I was going to turn her out so good she wouldn't be thinking of anything—period. She was still shimming out of her pants when I got on top of her. I bit her nipple through her bra aggressively and she fisted her hand in my hair. I pushed into hard, not bothering with foreplay. We were past that shit; I begun moving, drilling into her relentlessly. Her legs clenched around my waist.

I heard her gasp; the sound half air, half scream and it brought me back to reality. I didn't want to take her like some sort of man beast, I didn't want to loose control. I rolled my hips slowing them as I lessened the deepness of each thrust. It still felt good and it would get me there. I closed my eyes letting our energy soak into my skin.

"No! No, why are you slowing?" She questioned her voice riveting with frustration.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked. She'd goaded me into this and I wanted her submission.

"What?" she asked her voices rippled with confusion.

I began to resume my former pace, beating into her like a drum.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Answer right or I'll pullout and you'll have to find another way to get off," I threatened.

"Fuck Ajani," she said unable to form any type of complete sentence.

"Keep talking." I taunted, the animal in me reveling.

"Please, please. I need to come. Please, Ajani."

I unwrapped her legs from around my waist and opened her thighs wide. I leaned forward, putting all my weight on to them pinning her into the exact position I wanted. The new position creating the friction against her clit that I knew would satisfy us both. I labored over her, wearing her body out in minutes. She turned her head as biting the pillow, crying out with the intensity of her orgasm and I billowed after her.

I rolled over her as soon as I was done. My hunger was satiated the best it'd been since Bem, but I felt guilty. I shouldn't have done that. Luke was my friend, she was his sister and since I had no intentions of _being_ with Eliza it wasn't fair to sleep with her. Not with how deeply hurt she was with Keegan's rejection. Maybe us having sex had been inevitable, we were alike in a lot of ways. Then again, the reflection of myself in her was exactly why I hadn't wanted to pursue anything. She represented all the things I loathed in myself, all my weaknesses. Suddenly I was filled with disgust again and I got up roughly.

"Well," she said as I pulled my pants back on. "I feel better."

"I don't," I muttered.

"Ajani," she started but I interjected.

"Don't interfere with my personal life again. Let's forget this even happened."

Silently, she rolled away from me on to her side. I looked away as her shoulders tensed and her back quivered. Comforting her would contradict everything I'd just said, so I didn't. Instead, I left. I opened the door entering the hallway at the same time Luke was sliding the door of our opposite box shut.

"Got everything squared away?" Luke asked smiling. "I suppose I'll have to let that room cool off before I go in there, eh?"

"Yeah," I muttered awkwardly. I stood, blockading the door from him.

"Eliza's in another one of her tizzies. She's been so unlike herself since Keegan. I don't understand it. It wasn't that long of a time they were together anyway. A couple weeks? Want to come help me track her down?"

The horror on my face must have said it all because he instantly guessed what'd I'd done.

"You know where she is?" It took him all of two seconds to put it together. "You _fed_ on my sister?"

I couldn't lie to him so I didn't. "I'm sorry," I stammered.

"What the fuck!" he yelled.

"She came in on me in another girl and then she antagonized me into—

"You better never do that shit again," Luke said angrily jabbing me in the chest.

"I won't," I promised. "I didn't mean to the first time."

"How do you accidently ram someone's sister?"

I realized any type of explanation was going to make it worse.

"I'm sorry. You're right." I said back simply. "It won't happen again."

I thought Luke was going to hit me. Which frankly I probably deserved, but he didn't.

He still looked pissed but he nodded, accepting my apologies.

"You're the first friend I've had in a while," Luke explained. "But don't fuck Eliza, she's complicated and you're not interested, so don't even go there."

"You're right," I agreed.

"I told you not to wait so long to feed!"

"Yeah, I know. You were right," I said, relieved that he wasn't unfriending me over this.

"I'm always right. Where are the bathrooms on this train?"

