“Kaede is right,” REI announced, stepping between him and the others. “I have seen her sacrifices in his memories and confirmed them in the same recordings all of you have seen. We have sworn ourselves to Kaede and must do what is best for his cause.” She peered over her shoulder, meeting his eyes. “Even if he tends to endanger himself for reasons we can’t comprehend.”
“If that is the price I pay to succeed, so be it, but we both know there is no way for me to stay safe.” He sighed, becoming aware of the heat returning to his veins. He licked his fangs, feeling the bloated weight of his Bahzyl sac threatening to overfill once again. He would need to drain it soon before it became even more uncomfortable. Now wasn’t the time to lapse into the mating cycle he’d been trying to delay all this time.
He feared what would happen once he found Selena. It would be foolish to believe he could keep prolonging the inevitable, especially since he needed to drain his sacs and ease his arousal more frequently each time he did it.
Gripping his commander’s seat’s arms, he growled in annoyance at his body’s betrayal. He couldn’t afford to be aroused when he was busy searching for his target.
“There is one thing I need you to understand,” he announced, scanning the six ethereal forms. “Selena is it for me. All the troubles and sacrifices I’ve made to be assigned her bodyguard were in service of having a chance to be with her. The Fates have brought us together and the Stars have led me to her once, so they can do it again. This time, I have the six of you to help me.
“Just know: Once I get her back in my arms, I’ll make sure she will never leave my sight again.”
Chapter Three Selena
The darkness faded into the familiar tropical paradise that I had grown to love—both in my dreamscape and in person.
Destima.
I leaned against my porch’s stone railing overlooking the island. The peaceful sound of lilac waves filled the air. A gentle breeze blew against my nightgown as I watched the stars above.
Only one thing was missing from the sky to make this real: Lunkai, the purple planet Destima orbited.
Frantically, I searched for signs of my nestmates’ doors, hoping that this wasn’t some sort of trick. Once again, I found nothing.
This was neither a dreamscape nor real life, so what was it?
“A psychic construct between symbiont and host.”
I stilled as ice coursed through my veins.
That voice. It was me—yet not exactly.
“You’re right. I am you.”
Spinning around, I followed the voice to find Zirene sitting in the pavilion, just how I had always remembered him, with his hands behind his head and legs crossed on the ottoman. But instead of his black-and-pewter striped fur, he was golden, his form ghostly like he had met me before in the dreamscape.
This wasn’t the male I had known all these years. He couldn’t be.
“Who are you?”
“I am whoever you want me to be.” The golden impostor opened his eyes and found mine. He didn’t have the amethyst eyes of my Shadow; instead, they appeared celestial, searching mine. “This is the body of the male who occupies most of your memories. If you want, I can change to someone else.”
“What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash. Gasping, I shielded my eyes. A moment later, a golden Xylo appeared right before me.
“I can be whatever form you are most comfortable with or want me to be. Whatever will make the transition easier for you.”
“Transition?” I spun around and searched the sky, trying to piece together what he was saying. There’s no way… “Is this what it is? Am I dead?”
“Almost.” The golden Xylo stepped beside me and leaned on the porch railing. “You almost died. If Kaede hadn’t introduced me to you, you would have. Now, we are inseparable.”
“Inseparable?” I shook my head, refusing to believe his words. “You aren’t making any sense. And I would appreciate it if you stopped using my mates’ forms to speak to me. You aren’t them,” I hissed, stepping away from the impostor. “Explain! Now!”
“I’m sorry that I am making this harder on you.” The golden Xylo sighed in my voice, making the conversation even eerier. “I am still trying to learn everything about you.” Another flash blinded me. In Xylo’s place, a golden Kaede appeared, with the same multicolor, speckled abyss eyes that froze me to the spot. “Is this better? I know you have a connection with him even though he isn’t your mate, so I hope it’s not as offensive.”
“Don’t you have a form of your own?” I demanded, stepping back from the male who reminded me of the crimson Kaede look-alike I had just recently met. “Why do you need to pretend to be someone else? Why do I keep seeing his face?”
“Zyxel is a different matter, but first, we need to talk about us.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I growled, retreating until my back hit the railing. “There is no us.”
“That’s where you are wrong, Selena.” The golden, ethereal Kaede reached for my hand, frowning when I yanked it away. “I didn’t calculate our first conversation going so badly, but that’s all right. I will adapt to the situation at hand.”
He walked up beside me and gripped the railing. Acting as if I wasn’t here, he stared at the island below, just like I loved to do whenever I came to this balcony. The saline breeze blew his long, golden hair as if he were alive—as if this were real—while the familiar, peaceful sounds of my villa surrounded us.
Too much had happened in such a short time. It
