Chapter 9

Feel Alive

Royce's POV

"You talk too loud. Especially you."

He pointed at my Siren and I narrowed my eyes. He inhaled deeply and shook his head.

"Smelled you since you got here. Roses, something I haven't smelled in a long time. If I can smell you, if I can hear you…they can too."

I just stared at him. I heard the rumble of thunder.

"Storm coming soon. This way."

He started to walked but my Siren stopped him.

"Wait." He looked at her. "Who are you?"

He looked at her.

"Noland, run away. Live to fight another day. I'm the one that got away." was his answer. "One you don't fuck with."

I looked at everyone else and raised my brows.

"We don't have much choice do we, Green Eyes?" she said.

"No. We don't."

We followed Noland to a large abandoned machine sort of thing. He opened a hatch and climbed in. I made my Siren go first, which meant I got to put my hands on her ass. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone else climbed in and then I followed. We crawled through a tunnel filled with electrical cords. It was extremely dark and eerie. He opened up a small piece of the wall and we all went inside. He'd made himself a little bunker. He did something and I heard the hum of a generator.

"Wow what a shithole."

I rolled my eyes at the convict's words.

"You live here?"

"Oh no. This is my summer home. I winter in the Riviera. Schools are so much nicer there. And the men…oo-la-la."

I smirked and looked at my Siren. She had a smirk on her face too.

"By the way, you're welcome."

He pushed the convict away.

"How have you survived this long?" she asked.

He bent over what looked like a pot of food.

"Salvaging what I can. When I can. From whatever I can."

He turned back to his pot and stirred whatever was inside. I sat down and leaned against the wall.

"They drop you all in too?"

"Yeah." I said.

He looked at me funny.

"You banging that pretty thing over there?"

I glared at him.

"Maybe." I hissed.

He laughed. The convict picked up a chest plate and banged on it.

"Hey now.." Noland turned to the empty space beside him. "Yeah I'll tell him." He turned back. "Hey uh, agent orange. You wanna put that down? Certain people around here are particular about people messing with their shit."

He put it down and looked at him like he was crazy. Which he was.

"That disrupts the heat signature." he looked at the ceiling. "You motherfuckers."

I looked at him for a minute.

"So you killed one?" I asked.

"Uh…I killed two…maybe three. I can't remember. Anyway there's two different types of them out there. They're similar but they're different, it's kinda like the difference between dogs and wolves. The ones that are running things up there, the larger ones hunt the smaller ones. It's some kind of blood feud that's been going on for a long time."

I looked at my Siren but she wouldn't look at me.

"So they do this for sport?"

"Oh yeah they bring in fresh meat season after season. I mean shit you wouldn't believe."

He started laughing and looked at his little friend.

"Bring it in, hunt it and kill it in that order."

He nodded to himself.

"How long you been here man?" the convict asked.

He thought about it for a few seconds.

"Seven seasons I think…what? Ten? Damn. Anyway, every once in a while one of us kills one of them. And let me tell you that's when they get real interesting." He looked at me. "See they learn…" he snapped his fingers. "Quick. They adapt. They develop a whole new set of skills. They come back the next season, in threes always in threes. Their armor might have changed, or their weapons are changed, or their tactics have changed. It's amazing."

I looked at the ground and started to think about what he'd said.

"So it's a evolution? They're trying to make themselves better killers." Nikolai said.

Noland nodded and then I looked up.

"You said they 'come back'. How?"

"They got a ship."

"A ship?"

"Yeah. It's thirty yards from their camp." he started to laugh. "I told you they wouldn't see it. I told you they wouldn't."

This was the part where she got angry.

"You were there?!"

He looked at her and nodded.

"You could have helped us." she snarled.

I didn't like the look in his eyes when he looked at her.

"How do we kill them?"

He still stared at her.

"However you can."

"Well they must have a weakness." she said.

He shook his head and said,

"Not many. You wanna survive? You dig in deep, you stay hid."

"Yeah well we're gonna go with door number two. How do we get out of this valley?" asked the convict.

He sighed.

"Ten seasons…first two seasons no three seasons I was walking in the same direction. Trying to reach the edge of the preserve." he let out an airy laugh. "Let me tell you something there is no edge of the preserve."

I looked at him again.

"Maybe you or your friend wanna tell me about that ship?"

He slowly looked at me. I'd rather he look at me than my Siren.

"I see…that's a brilliant idea. Brilliant. The whole time I've been here it never occurred to me to commandeer the alien spacecraft. I wouldn't know how to fly it." he looked at his friend. "He would." He looked back. "Of course you know how to fly."

"I'll give it a shot."

He laughed again.

"Well, I'm gonna get some sleep."

He leaned forward and put his finger to his lips.

"No noise. They're out there. They're always out there. Water over there. Help yourself."

He went and laid down in his little makeshift bed. I sighed and we all made ourselves as comfortable as we could. Although the food didn't look appetizing for good, I had to eat something.

"…and that's Sasha."

I looked over and saw Nikolai showing Doc and the convict a picture of his kids. I had nothing to show of my life.

"This is uh, CandyLee. Tits like howitzers."

"Is that your girlfriend?" Doc asked.

"No that's my sister."

That was disturbing. I got some water and walked to my Siren. I held out the water and she looked at me.

"Gracias."

She took it and I sat down next to her. I was right about the food.

"Do you know what I was doing? Before I was taken?"

I looked at her.

"I was running away from my life. I didn't want it anymore. I wanted my life to have meaning. I guess it doesn't matter now does it? Although I'm probably asking the wrong person."

I nodded slowly and looked at my hands.

"Do you really think of me like that?" I whispered.

"Like what?"

"A heartless monster?"

She sucked in a breath.

"I never said that."

"You don't have to. Even I know it's true. And it wasn't until I met you that I finally accepted it. I do what I have to, no questions asked."

"What screwed you up this badly?"

I didn't answer because I didn't know. I felt the desire building up inside me. I was already getting hard. I was looking around for a more secluded are, desperately looking around. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me away. When we were out of sight I crushed my lips against hers. Her hands were already on my belt, tugging and pulling. She pulled back so she could see what she was doing.

"We have to be quiet. Comprende?"

"I'll try."

She smiled at me and I tore off her shirt. I didn't even care about taking her bra off, I just wanted her. I needed her! She pushed me down and onto my back. She started grinding against me. My pants were very uncomfortable at this point. She unzipped them and pushed them down. She did away with her own pants and slammed herself onto my cock. I couldn't stop my low groan as she started riding me. I couldn't look away from her eyes. I pulled her down and kissed her hungrily. I started to thrust into her and she moaned into my neck. I started panting and I squeezed my eyes shut. She kept going, one of her hands grabbed my side and I ran my hands down her smooth back.

"Oh…"

She kissed me as we both rode out our orgasms. I kept moving even after she stopped. When I couldn't move anymore she tried to leave. I wouldn't let her. I didn't want her to go.