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is the rest of your kind?”  
    She stiffened and met his gaze. She didn’t respond right away, but when she did, her voice was strained. “Far away. It’s better that way. Trust me.”
    She didn’t want to talk about her kind. He stared into her eyes for a long moment before he spoke. “You are my guest and may stay at the Keep as long as you like. When you are ready, my guards will escort you home.”
    Melissa flinched at his words. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll be on my way as soon as possible.”  
    The color drained from her face, and he sensed from her response that leaving was the last thing she wanted to do.
      Noeh’s chest tightened. “Like I said, you can stay as long as you like.” His inner Stiyaha, the beast part of him deep within, growled with discontent. Don’t go.

Chapter Six

    Noeh sat in the ornate wooden chair, the seat worn from numerous kings before him. A sense of unease crawled up his back. He’d come to the king’s throne room to study the latest scrolls on the status of the Keep before retiring to his bedchamber, but he couldn’t concentrate. Memories of Melissa chained to the wall assaulted him. Her green eyes had penetrated into his soul, and he’d never forget the feel of her soft skin as he carried her out of the asylum. The stylus in his hand snapped in two.  
    He pushed back his chair to stand, and the old oak feet grated against the stone floor. A flinch ran along his nerves and he tapped his sunstone ring against the hilt of his sword. The welcome distraction was a salve, but it didn’t last long. He glanced at the ceiling where the sunstones embedded in the cave’s porous rock sparkled like a million stars.  
    The gods had thrust this war upon his kind. He hated playing their game, pitting his kind against the Gossum in a battle over Earth’s water. To the victor went the spoils. If the Gossum won, that would be a sad day, not only for his kind, but for the humans as well. He’d fight the war to save both as long as he could.
    He shook his fist in the air. “Veromé, Alora, I curse you!”
    He’d prayed to the gods in the past with no results. He’d given up long ago, after the great scourge had devastated the population and changed his kind forever. Although some believed the gods still cared, he no longer did.
    The skin under his eye pulsed, and he savored the pain. The sign for faith burned his skin, and as his belief waned, his marking faded. He was king. It was his responsibility to instill a sense of hope in his kind. As much as that pained him, he’d find a way to keep their faith alive even as his own dwindled.  
    A knock on the heavy oak door brought him out of his reverie. “Enter.”
    Mauree breezed into the royal chamber, which did nothing to erase his sour mood. She was the most beautiful Stiyaha female in the Keep, and his ex-lover, still trying to work her way back into his pants. Her shoulder-length blond hair, pert nose, and blue eyes captivated many a male, but her long, sensuous legs were her signature feature. She used them to her advantage.
    “My, my. Don’t you look all menacing today.” She invaded his personal space and ran her hands over his shoulders.
    He grabbed her fingers and held them close to his chest to prevent her roaming hands from going places he didn’t want them to go. “What brings you here?”
    She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, I came to see how your evening fared. Long night on the battlefield?” She rubbed her face against the coarse stubble on his chin. “You are so rugged. I love that about you.”  
    He released her and returned to his desk. He rolled up the scroll he’d reviewed and placed his favorite quill pen next to the inkwell. “Yes—and my duties are never ending.”
    The sunstones embedded in the cave walls brightened from a soft glow to a radiant light. Warmth emanated from the crystals, and the room heated to an uncomfortable level. The Keep, ever aware of its inhabitants,