When The Heart Sings

Chapter 10

Darien's POV:

I kept running as I held Serena close. I glanced down at her to see that she had fallen asleep. It warmed my heart that she trusted me enough to fall asleep while I was running at such speeds less than fifteen minutes after breaking out of that infernal place.

It was a relief to have her back in my arms. Being separated from her had been torture. Anytime I closed my eyes, even if I just blinked, I could see her trying to reach out to me. It threw my patience to the wind and dumped gasoline on my temper.

The door on my cell had held me for thirty years, but my increased strength had given it a run for its money. They hadn't managed to secure the deadbolts before I started battering my way out. It had taken me almost fifteen minutes once I started, but I had gotten out of that room.

The bad news was that the delay had given the guards enough time to prepare, and they were carrying new weapons with much more power. They were even able to hold me at bay, although a few guards had been killed and more were injured. Then she had come. Dr. Halbert must have figured out that she was a weak spot for me. The only weakness they had ever discovered.

When our eyes had met, the bond surged as if we had never seen one another, which made no sense at all. The bond had formed earlier, it just hadn't settled. I knew the bond had still been intact since it had been driving me crazy with worry for her.

The moment I touched her hand to pull her behind me, the bond had started strengthening. That should not have been possible. Once the bond formed, it just needed to settle. It may slowly strengthen through time, but not drastic surges like this.

Then they had hurt her with an electrical shock. I had never been so angry in my life. It was one thing for me to take a solid blast of electricity, but she wasn't a Tarulk. She didn't stand a chance of taking hits that would barely inconvenience me. And I couldn't even do anything lest they hurt her more.

I had never felt so helpless. In that moment, I had felt my physical abilities strengthen. I knew that my strength and speed had increased even more, yet I couldn't use them with that blasted thing on Serena's ankle. Her pain-filled gasp had felt like a dagger to my chest.

I looked down at her and saw no trace of pain on her sleeping face. In fact, she looked peaceful. It was hard to get a read on people who were sleeping, but I could tell that she was exhausted. There was no fear present, which relaxed me somewhat. If she was dreaming, I couldn't catch any glimpses of her dreams. A faint shimmer of light appeared deep in her mind and disappeared before I could get a good look at it.

That was the fourth time I had sensed it, and I still had no idea what it was. The first time had been when we had first touched in the forest. The last three times had occurred during the last half an hour.

Most were such brief glimmers that I hadn't even been sure I had actually sensed them, but I knew I had not imagined it when she had been in the room with me. I had sensed it then, but trying to get a read on the faint nebulous light was like trying to grab fog.

There was another thing that still confused me. She had been certain she could get that torture device off her ankle, and she had stared at it like she was studying it as she hummed in thought. I had sensed that light intermittently as she hummed, and I kept trying to get a read on it, but failed.

Then the device on her ankle had fallen off. She hadn't even touched it. I wasted no time in breaking that door down. The bond had increased my strength beyond belief and actually made it easy. I had grabbed her and made my escape.

I had sped past anyone in my way, and the soldiers didn't have time to block me off, neither could they catch up. There weren't many staff on hand in the middle of the night and that had also helped. They tended to rely on the numerous security doors with their various codes.

A good kick had easily destroyed any door in my path. I knew the way out from being taken to a few different labs in the past. In the end, I had succeeded. I had gotten Serena out of there without her being injured.

I could feel a faint prickle along my back as the last of the bullet wounds fully healed. The rifles had done just a bit more damage than the small handguns that I had been shot with in the past. My resistance to damage as well as my healing ability had also increased.

I was breathing harder and starting to tire though, I had been running as fast as possible for almost twenty minutes already. The distance was still not enough for me to feel safe about slowing down while Serena slept in my arms. I leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. For her, I would not slow or stop until I considered her safe. The bond between us surged once more and energy flooded through me.

The tiredness disappeared. It was as if I hadn't been running this entire time. I had never heard of anything like this happening before, but I wasn't about to question such a gift.

My speed increased slightly, and I used that new speed to push myself even faster. I was not the only Tarulk around, and I was pretty sure I knew where to find a few of those who were also on this planet.