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The black flats she was wearing, because they went with anything, slipped on the sand. She stumbled, almost falling, before she could right herself. The forest of boulders seemed too far away. The thought of giving up crossed her mind as she pumped her arms with the voice of her high school gym teacher shouting at her. “Jenna, you can do this. I swear you won’t pass this class unless you pick up the pace!” She picked up the pace even as she panted. When was the last time she ran? She’d always preferred sprints to mile-long runs.
When she finally made the base of the boulders, her heart was beating fast and hard. It felt like it was trying to carve its way out of her chest. She was burning up with sweat rolling down her face and back. It was pooling between her breasts and chaffing between her thighs. The night sky with the two moons wasn’t making the air any cooler.
The first boulder she found looked like a human could climb it. She latched on to a hand and foothold and started up. The press-on nails from earlier in the day were being torn off violently as she pulled herself up the boulder. Her hair, which she had taken the time to flat iron, was now hanging around her face in clumps from the sweat trickling through it.
When she reached the top of the boulder, she couldn’t breathe, and the sight of the floating city in the distance didn’t help. It took the last of her breath away. The city was glorious; the houses were built in multi-angles, which made her jealous of some of the design choices. There were large swaths of flowers and trees planted around. Not like Earth trees, but the monster equivalent.
She looked for SaKura but couldn’t find him. How was he blending in with the landscape? Jenna scrambled down, losing a shoe. It didn’t matter. She kicked the other shoe off and hoped her feet could withstand the heated rock.
There was a deep sound like a hunter hunting prey that she knew was him. She turned her head and glimpsed his loincloth before it was gone. That meant he saw her and knew where she was. Jenna ran harder. The short miniskirt she wore caught on the sharp edge of a rock and tore. She didn’t have time to fix it. When it caught again, she shimmied out of it wearing nothing but a thong and a shirt that ended right below her breasts.
She ran until she needed water. The rising sun in the sky made it harder for her to move, and she felt disoriented. Which way was the city and where had she entered the boulder forest?
Her feet were injured with deep gashes, and her legs had long cuts on them. She was dizzy. The gray and black patterns playing in front of her eyes made it hard to see or focus. Heat stroke, she thought. This was how she was going to die. Jenna pushed on, refusing to go out like this. Her life hadn’t started yet, no matter her age. She wanted a job to prove she was worthwhile and that she mattered in the grand scheme of things. She slammed into a boulder and started climbing it.
It was high. How high? She didn’t know since she was climbing it blind. Why did she care? Shouldn’t she have sat down, admitted defeat and started crying? There was no warrior inside of her, not like her sister, but she didn’t give up. No matter what she went through, she never gave up and she wouldn’t this time. Kill her. It was the only way she would admit defeat. In death, there would be victory. Never again would she be a puppet, a plaything for men.
When she reached the top, she knew she was screwed. It was a fortunate coincidence that she couldn’t see how little room there was at the top. Going to her hands and knees, she slowly padded around. Scurrying back when she got too close to an edge. She moved to another edge as a gust of wind came pushing her just enough to send her tumbling over the edge.
She tried to remind herself that there was victory in death, but decided that was hogwash. A pair of muscular arms caught her. She couldn’t see who it was, but her mind knew it was SaKura. His face came close enough for her to see a large pair of fangs. She fought, knowing he was going to bite her.
“No!” she yelled, feeling his hot breath on her shoulder.
Chapter Four
The world spun, making Jenna dizzy. When she opened her eyes, she was back in Rakha’s and Bella’s house with SaKura holding her.
“What happened?”
“You passed out.” Bella was running her hands over Jenna, looking for anything to explain what happened. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. You can let me go now.” SaKura took his sweet time putting her on her feet, hovering to make sure she didn’t fall.
“Run, Jenna. I will catch you. Consider this your one pass. The next time, you will be mine,” he whispered. SaKura stepped back with a wide smile, showing his sharp incisors. “I think she’s good.”
Shivers went through Jenna that she tried to hide, but Bella had eagle eyes when it came to her sister, and she saw it all.
“Jenna, we should go to my room and have a good look at you before we sit down to eat. Thad, can you hold dinner for a while?”
“Anything for you, princess.” Bella let out a growl that unnerved Jenna. It sounded too much like the Diza growl.
“Really, we don’t have to—.” Yep, that didn’t work. Bella was dragging her by her arm. “I love what you’ve done with the place.” They decorated the house in light shades of purple and black. It looked better than she thought it would, and the best part was that it wasn’t dark or dreary. There was a peaceful, calm feeling like she’d used a calming blue. Kudos to her sister.
“Bella…” The hand on her sister’s hip and the stern look on her face caused Jenna to stop talking.
“Sit. I know you better than you know yourself at times. Don’t give me bullshit. What happened?”
Jenna struggled to breathe. So much had happened over the last four months since Bella found her mate and married. Where should she start? Not with SaKura, that was for sure.
“I left the house today.” Strangely enough, she hadn’t realized how much of a recluse she was until she said those words aloud.
“Good, perfect. Tell me you went to a park, watched the children play, and breathed in fresh air.”
“Good try. I went to the mall; the voices led me there.” She quickly told Bella about watching the news and then going to the mall. She stopped to describe the mystery man she saw there and then ended by telling her about her run-in with their ex-neighbors, Jeffrey and Marilyn Johnson. Bella growled again; she hated them as much as Jenna did. It was wrong to hate; Jenna knew that, but she couldn’t seem to wrangle her feelings about them.
“It could have been a coincidence,” Bella said. Except Bella didn’t believe in coincidences like that, and neither did Jenna.
“I need to move; they found a way to track me. Why me? What does Jeffrey see in me?”
