Yolanda Sfetsos - Alex Wales - Promise

Her eyes snapped open, and she dropped her hand.

For a moment, they stared at each other. Almost as if things were rolling around inside her head, until everything made some sort of sense.

“ Ulric ? What the hell are you doing here?” She looked around the room. “You can’t be in Eden.”

Eden? So that’s where they were. He’d never heard of it, yet it sounded so familiar. Why?

For a second, Ulric wondered if it was better to just let her believe this was all a dream and take advantage of the fact, but what good would that do? She obviously didn’t want him, anymore. He’d heard the disappointment in her voice.

She’d found someone else to amuse her in bed, and she’d forgotten all about him.

“I’m here because of you.”

“Where’s Damon?”

He growled into her mouth. “You should’ve listened to me back on Anteris. Why didn’t you stay with me? I had to be with you. Don’t you understand how much I want you?”

“I don’t know what you mean!”

“Have you already forgotten what happened on Anteris? What I said to you?”

Alex sat up so fast, she head-butted him. “Dammit!”

Ulric recoiled. He jumped off the side of the bed before he did something he would regret. He didn’t want to hurt her, but with the instability this place had on him, maybe he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

She wiped her mouth, then rubbed her forehead. “What the hell is that disgusting taste in your mouth?”

“Alex.” He backed away from her. Every new reaction, every new word out of her mouth, wounded him a little bit more. It made him realize she didn’t want him in her life. That’s probably why she’d left his room in such a hurry after his admission of love. Why hadn’t he been able to see it, then?

Maybe because you’re a fucking idiot!

Her brown eyes glistened, as if something had suddenly dawned on her. “No way. It can’t be. Ulric, tell me it wasn’t you!”

“What wasn’t me?” he whispered, now standing very close to the window.

“Tell me you didn’t kill those people.” She stared at him with wide, horror-filled eyes. “Oh, shit. You left my key there, didn’t you?”

He didn’t reply.

“I forgot it in your room, but you managed to…I don’t understand any of this. Did you want these people to blame me for the murders?”

“No, I would never do that to you!”

“Then, what do you want from me, Ulric?”

“I just want your love. That’s all.” I sound like a pathetic moron. He heard shuffling outside the door, as if someone was approaching.

Ulric took another step back and realized the moon hadn’t completely faded yet, probably determined to touch him one last time.

Without taking his eyes off the woman who was slowly tearing him up inside, and unable to do anything to stop the effects of the satellite, fur rushed out of his pores and covered his entire body.

Within seconds, he’d become a monster in front of her.

“What the hell?”

He couldn’t stand the terror and disgust in her eyes. He needed to get away. As he turned and leaped out the window, he heard Alex yell one last thing: “No!”

“Alex, what’s going on?” Damon asked, charging into the room.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the open window.

Ulric had just been inside this room. She’d kissed him, touched him, even spoke to him. Then, he’d turned into… something . The man she’d known for several years now had changed into some sort of furry beast before jumping out the window.

What the hell is going on? Now, she had more questions than answers. Since the moment she’d crashed into this planet, everything had been shrouded with confusion, and now she had to add Ulric to the mix. I can’t believe he’s here! How is that even possible?

She licked her lips and regretted it instantly. The horrid taste of blood and gore made her gag. Nausea rolled around inside her stomach, making her queasy.

Ignoring Damon’s concerned face, she jumped out of bed and ran into the adjoining bathroom. She threw up in the toilet, letting all the confusion and sickness seep out of her at the same time.

As screwed up as everything was, she needed to put it into some sort of order. She had to make real sense out of all the pieces, which started to fit together the moment she found Ulric naked on the bed with her.

When she was sure there was nothing left to throw up, she straightened and flushed. Then, she headed for the sink to clean her hands, as well as rinsed her mouth out several times. Luckily, she’d dumped her toiletries bag in here earlier, so she quickly brushed her teeth before rinsing with mouthwash.

She found it strange that the locals could so casually refer to Eden as a village, giving the impression of a rural place, yet their indoor plumbing was as sophisticated as it was in cities. This place was full of contradictions.

“Alex…”

How the hell did Ulric get to this damn planet? There was only one way it could have happened, and she didn’t like it one bit.

She hit the edge of the sink with an open palm. “Shit!”

“Alex, are you okay in there?”

The bathroom door was still open, but she appreciated Damon staying outside. She wasn’t ready for him just yet. Not having to actually see Damon at the moment made it a little easier to deal with this. Only a little.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She unwrapped the moist bandage from around her hand and flinched. She’d forgotten to take it off before cleaning her hands. The skin looked tender and red. It hadn’t scabbed over yet, but it looked bruised. She couldn’t remember if it actually looked worse than when Damon had cleaned it out.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“What made you scream before?”

“I had a bad dream,” she lied. Her dream hadn’t been bad at all. She’d recalled the night her father helped her change her life for the better. It’s what happened after the dream, when she’d slid into a dreamless sleep-and then woke up to find a man who never left Anteris-that was driving her insane. She’d been so convinced Damon had sneaked into her room to surprise her, and instead had found Ulric.

She couldn’t keep her hands from shaking. Did I really see him turn into some sort of animal?

Alex shook her head. As ridiculous as it sounded, she was positive she had. One second, he was backing away from her, and the next he literally changed right before her eyes. Of course, realizing her choker was found at the scene of a vicious crime now made total sense, but how could she tell Damon any of this without rousing suspicion?

She hadn’t invited Ulric to come along for a ride on Promise , and he sure as hell hadn’t been hiding in one of Sackor’s barrels. Yet, she’d inadvertently caused those violent deaths. Ulric had somehow stowed away on her ship, and she hadn’t even detected him.

Ulric is turning into a monster and killing people because of me.

“Are you okay, now?” Damon asked.

“Yeah, I just need to take a quick shower. That’s all.” She doubted a shower would cleanse away all the grime she felt internally, but she needed to wash Ulric’s touch off her skin.

How could she be so disgusted by a man whom she’d craved for so long?

Alex sighed. That wasn’t important right now. She was determined to have a nice, warm shower and take the time she needed to sort through a few things.

Then, she’d do the only thing that would totally erase the chills from her body-seduce Damon.

Damon didn’t chase Alex into the bathroom. He could take a hint and knew she wanted to be alone right now. Whatever dream she’d woken up from had obviously affected her so much that she needed to be totally alone.