Her Commanders - M.K. Eidem Page 0,92

carefully touched the four nearly-indiscernible spots at the base of his neck. If it weren't for his Apreian vision, he wouldn't have noticed them at all. But he knew every injury his body had ever sustained, and these were new.

How had he gotten them?

If he didn't know better, he'd think they were from a viper bite, but the Meddygs had assured him they had only ingested the venom in his and Taarig's bodies.

And yet, he kept having this recurring dream of a viper undulating over him and not being able to move as it struck.

Leaving the cleansing room, he pulled out a clean uniform from his closet. Moving to the bed, he sat down. His gaze went to the spot that had been soaked with viper blood as he pulled on his pants.

How had that blood gotten there?

Where had Taarig's shirt gone?

And why were the senses that kept him alive in battle screaming that he was missing something?

But what?

Viper blood in the room meant there had to be a viper in the room and not the one that had killed Tecumseh.

Slowly he rose and went back into the cleansing room. Leaning closer to the mirror, he got a better look at the marks. Two evenly-spaced sets on either side of his jugular, with one being a little wider. Just like the fangs of a Sion Viper. Which meant a viper had bitten him. A viper that had mysteriously disappeared. Just like Taarig's shirt.

"What are you looking at?" Taarig asked from the doorway.

"Puncture wounds," Jamis told him.

"What?" Taarig stepped up behind him and leaned in. "Those look like…"

"Viper bites."

"But how?"

"I don't know." Jamis watched a strange expression come over Taarig's face. "What?"

"Does it ache?"

"At times. Why?"

Instead of answering, Taarig removed his jacket and opened his shirt, exposing his well-defined chest. Jamis was about to ask him what he was doing, not because he was uncomfortable with them both being half-naked, but because he wanted to figure this out.

Then he saw them.

Four faint marks marred Taarig's left pectoral; one parallel set slightly wider than the other.

"Are you having dreams too?" Jamis asked.

"Dreams? No. They’re more like memory flashes."

"Of vipers?"

"Of pain," Taarig rubbed the marks on his chest. "A soul-draining pain, then I hear Cali's voice, feel her touch, and…"

"And… what?" Jamis demanded.

"And a power, unlike anything I've ever felt before, begins to fill me."

"You ingested less venom than I did." Jamis’s eyes took on a distant look. He remembered feeling something powerful filling him, but he'd thought it had been the antidote. Now he wondered.

"I didn't finish my drink," Taarig told him, closing his shirt. "It was warm and had a strange taste."

"And you were against being with Tecumseh from the start."

"I'm sure that had something to do with it," Taarig agreed, pulling his jacket back on as he left the cleansing room. "So, what are you dreaming about?"

"A young viper on my chest, rearing back to strike, and not being able to stop it," Jamis said, following him into his resting chamber.

"Young?" Taarig gave him a confused look. "Not the mature one you killed?"

"No, which along with your memories, makes me think there's more going on here than we're aware of."

"Tecumseh was spouting off about her bey-bees and a she," Taarig said thoughtfully.

"Which we all assumed was just crazy talk, but now I'm beginning to wonder."

"Because of the blood and my missing shirt." After all their years together, Taarig could easily follow Jamis’s train of thought.

"Yes," Jamis finished dressing as he spoke. "We need to speak with that Elevsìs male again."

"Xanto," Taarig told him. "I investigated him as a possible suspect in the explosion." At Jamis’s surprised look, he continued. "It was a possibility. After all, it occurred not long after he arrived."

"I see, and what did you find out?"

"That he's a long-term employee of Wik Corp, and that's about it," he said in disgust. "A Sub Commander who’s investigating an explosion on a Star Base doesn't have enough clearance to know more."

"The Supreme Chairman seems to have taken a special interest in our Cali."

Taarig's lips turned up at Jamis’s possessiveness. It seemed he was coming around, then they turned down, remembering what else he'd found. "Enough to have Xanto staying in Cali's quarters."

"What?!" Jamis’s outrage bounced off the walls. "How could she allow another male near her!"

"Why shouldn't she," Taarig goaded, "when you… we made it clear we weren’t interested in furthering a relationship with her?"

Jamis ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I know, it's just…"

"You want her to