by Hope Hart
But not Lace.
She refuses to hang out with the other kids unless they’re training. She has an aptitude for fighting, and when I asked her about her past, the hard look in her eyes made me shut my mouth.
She argued passionately with Clara, stating the teenagers had been through more than anyone could have expected at that age and insisting life experience should count for something. She swore she would be on that ship no matter what Clara said and pointed out Clara wasn’t her parent.
“You’re sliding perilously close to ‘you’re not the boss of me,’” Nevada said. “Quit while you’re ahead.”
Lace stared Nevada down before finally turning and stomping away.
“Unless you’re asking us to chain her up, she’s going with you,” Nevada said, and Clara got a steely look in her eye. I have no doubt Clara is planning something that will have Lace mysteriously detained when it’s time for us to leave. But I’m also sure Lace can take anything Clara throws out.
“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I think you should take her. Who are we to tell her it’s not safe when we’re about to do the exact same trip?”
“We’re informed,” Hannah piped up. “Hence why many of us are choosing to stay here. When you’re that age, you think you’re invincible.”
Ivy slowly shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not if you’ve been abducted by aliens and crashed on a strange planet. You don’t think you’re invincible at all. In fact, you know down to your bones that any illusion of safety can be stolen from you without any warning.”
Danica’s fist hits me in the face, and I realize I’m daydreaming. I’ve still only had a few hours’ sleep, and despite myself, all I want to do is go back to Korzyn’s kradi and curl up next to him.
Oh, please. You want to do a lot more than that.
“Sarissa?”
“Hmm? Oh. I don’t think we damaged their army as much as we’d hoped. They may not have that poop canopy to hide under anymore, but unless Dragix flew over after us and torched all of them, they’re likely regrouping and making plans.”
The crowd goes silent, and all eyes turn to Charlie, who’s sitting on a rock on the edge of the clearing. Her shoulders are hunched, and she looks heartsick, her face pale and drawn.
Good one, Sarissa. Why don’t you kick her while she’s down while you’re at it?”
“Okay,” Nevada says, drawing all eyes back to her. Charlie seems to pay no attention, staring into space. I glance at Zoey, who’s sitting next to her, and the healer meets my gaze with a nod. She’s concerned too.
“We’ll meet back here after Alexis and Kate have tried the chip. In the meantime, we all need to get to work.”
Nevada turns, taking Danica from my arms. I’d never admit it, but I miss the solid weight of her when she’s gone. Nevada pats her on the butt, wipes drool off her chin, and gestures for me to follow her.
“Rakiz is meeting with Dexar and Tecar. I think he’ll probably invite your commander to that little club as well. Why don’t you come join Ellie and me for lunch?”
My stomach grumbles, and I grin, pushing away thoughts of Korzyn. “Sure.”
Ellie is already waiting in Nevada’s tashiv when we arrive. “Sorry, guys, I just didn’t have it in me to go to the meeting.”
Nevada shrugs. “You didn’t miss anything. If I know Ivy, she’ll be delegating tasks right now. Your only task is to have that baby.”
Ellie sticks her tongue out at Nevada as she puts her feet up on one of the stools in front of her.
Arana walks into the room, a tray in her arms. She tuts at Nevada. “Now, now,” she says. “Remember how desperate you were for Danica to make an appearance.”
I laugh as Arana places the tray on the table before turning and taking Danica from Nevada.
“Yes,” Nevada says. “And she chose the most inconvenient time possible.”
“Babies usually do. Let me spend some time with my favorite while you have lunch.”
“Okay. She needs to go down for a nap soon.”
Arana waves her hand in an “I got this” motion and waltzes toward Nevada’s bedroom.
“Arana is like a second mom to Dani,” Nevada tells us. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.” She waves at the food. “Dig in.”
I sit down and load up some fresh bread with meat and some roasted vegetables. Nevada does the same, while Ellie sticks to water.
“I’m not all that hungry. So tell me,” Ellie says with a glint in her eye. “How come I found you in the commander’s kradi this morning?”
Nevada inhales and chokes, her eyes watering as she has a coughing fit. I sigh, taking another bite of my sandwich while I figure out just how to answer that question.
“We hate each other.”
“Yes,” Ellie nods seriously. “Most people wake up next to the people they hate.”
Nevada recovers from her choking and laughs. “Well, I did.”
I stare at her.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Rakiz and I loathed each other. I thought he was a stubborn, bossy dictator, and he thought I was a wild, irresponsible menace.” She grins. “Turns out we were both right.”
“How did I not know this?” For some reason, I thought they must’ve hit it off the first time they met. After all, they’re clearly made for each other.
Nevada shrugs. “By the time you guys arrived, we’d been mated for a while. But we were like oil and water when we first met. I kept trying to sneak out of the camp to find Ivy and the others, and he sentenced me to work in the mishua pen.”
“The mishua pen?” My mouth drops open, and she laughs.
Ellie winks at me. “Joke was on him because Nevada befriended his mishua and stole it.”
“Wow. I knew you’d stolen a mishua, but I had no idea you were working in the pen or that it was Rakiz’s mishua.”
Ellie rolls her eyes. “She enjoyed working in that pen; don’t let her tell you any different.”
I tilt my head at that, and Nevada curls her arm, showing off impressive biceps. “I got to work on these. Anyway, enough about me. I thought you hated that commander.”
“I do. And he hates me too. We just have…”
“Insane, explosive chemistry?” Nevada suggests, and Ellie sniggers.
“That’s about right.”
“I think you should go for it,” Ellie says. “Braxians are fun.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and Nevada stares at her.
“I don’t even recognize you anymore.” She turns back to me. “Look, I’m not gonna clam jam you, but I think you should be careful. Many a smart, capable woman has been derailed by these warriors. If you’re serious about getting on that ship, have your fun but keep your heart out of it.”
I snort. “Oh, don’t you worry, my heart is nowhere near it.”
Nevada gives me a long look, and then a slow smile spreads over her face. “Yeah,” she says. “That’s what I thought when I met Rakiz.”
Korzyn
There are some people in this universe who glow, drawing others to them instinctively. Few of them notice they do it—and many would deny it if one pointed it out.
Sarissa is one of these people.
I first noticed it when I would follow her to and from the marketplace and through the town near Arix’s castle, keeping an eye on her. She has an uncanny ability to make people trust her. To make them want to befriend her.
I once heard Vivian ask her why she was so successful at making contacts. She replied she was trained to win others over so she could get the information she needs.
I vowed to never tell her anything, but Sarissa didn’t attempt to befriend me. Likely because she knew I’d see through her.
It’s not that she’s cunning, sneaky, or deceptive—although she’s all these things. It’s that she also seems to genuinely care for others, in spite of herself.
Often, she’ll be walking through this camp alone, clearly deep in thought. Within moments, one of her friends will join her, inviting her to e
at with them. Or a younger female will come to her, lip trembling until Sarissa throws an arm around her shoulders.
The children sit on her knees. The babies go quiet in her arms, staring up at her. Even some of the older Braxian males have been known to stop bickering when she glances their way.
I’m slowly learning this prickly female. She frowns at me from across the training arena, where she’s currently helping Nevada teach a group of the younger women to fight with a knife.
I smile at her, and she looks confused for a moment, glancing away when one of the other females calls her name.
The more I watch her, the more I understand.
Sarissa needs harmony. She needs to be needed, and she feels as if her place in the universe is in front of those weaker than herself. That’s why she promised the females they would have their revenge. Because she knew she would sacrifice herself to get them their vengeance.
But who sacrifices for Sarissa?
“If you stare any harder, that female will likely make her displeasure known,” a voice says, and I glance to my left.
Dexar leans on the fence, a smile on his face as he watches his own mate train with a crossbow.
“I’m thinking.”
Dexar raises his eyebrow. “Clearly. You know, you’re running out of time to make her yours.”
“She’s not mine.”
“Not yet.”
“She’s leaving.”
His smile grows wider, and he winks at his mate as she turns her head, grinning at him. Envy makes my neck itch.
“Every single one of our human mates thought they were leaving,” he says. “We were enough to make them stay. Are you enough to make her stay?”
He walks away, but I already know my answer.
No. I wasn’t enough to make my parents keep me. Wasn’t enough to even be allowed to visit. This female who has worked so hard to get her people off this planet would never abandon her mission for me. And I would never expect her to.
Even if we could tolerate each other for longer than a few moments at a time.
You tolerated each other last night.
I grind my teeth, attempting to bury the memory of Sarissa draped over my chest. I never thought I enjoyed tough females. I enjoyed females who laughed and flirted and were untouched by trauma. Light females.
When you want to harden a piece of wood, you slowly turn it above the flames of a fire—removing the moisture. Eventually, it becomes much, much more difficult to break.
The fire Sarissa has lived through has hardened her, making her strong in a way few people are strong.
But watching that strong female bend for me…the feel of her lying on top of me, nuzzling my chest…
Screams sound, and I jolt, surveying the training arena.
“Move!” Dexar roars, sprinting toward Alexis and throwing her over his shoulder. He runs toward the fence circling the arena, and I jump over it, panic burning through my chest as I search for Sarissa. Relief makes my hands shake. She’s herding a group of children further into one corner of the arena, her eyes on the sky.
Dragix lands so hard the ground turns into a crater beneath him.
Silence.
And then the screams sound.
“Dragix! Oh God, Dragix.” Charlie runs toward her dragon, and Sarissa is instantly by her side, holding Charlie steady as her knees buckle.
Dragix turns into a man, and Dexar leaps toward him. Within moments, several warriors are lifting the unconscious dragon and carrying him toward the healers’ kradi. Charlie is almost inconsolable, and I step up next to her and Sarissa.
“Lean on me,” I say, and Charlie does, finding her feet.
“He’s not dead,” Sarissa says.
Charlie lets out a sob. “He almost is. He can’t even speak on our mental pathway.”
“You know he heals like a champ. I saw it with my own eyes when he was attacked by the Dokhalls.”
“Arix gave him cava berries.” Charlie stops and looks at me, and I slowly shake my head.
“Our cava patch was targeted by our enemies. We have just enough hidden away for emergencies, but it will be some time before our source is replenished. I’m sorry.”
Charlie nods, another sob escaping her, and guilt stabs into me like a blade. I should have planted more berries when I had the chance. I had thought the chances of the cava patch being targeted were minimal. Had imagined I was giving in to my usual paranoia.
I help Charlie into the kradi, and the crowd clears a path so she can sit by Dragix’s side.
“Dragix?” Charlie closes her eyes, and I know she’s attempting to speak to him mentally. Beside me, Sarissa sniffs, wiping at a tear.
“They fought so hard through everything to be together,” she murmurs. “Now she’s pregnant. Sometimes this universe really sucks.”
The healers are surrounding Dragix, seeing to the deep wounds that cover his body.
Dragix groans, and the healers’ kradi goes silent. Rakiz arrives, moving to his side as the dragon opens his eyes.
“Charlie.”
“I’m here,” she murmurs. “You’re safe.”
“Fought to get…to you. And…our…baby.”
“Of course you did.” Tears are streaming down her face. “He’s grown so much since you’ve been gone. I’ve popped.”
Charlie ignores everyone else in the kradi, taking her mate’s hand and bringing it to her stomach. His eyes meet hers, glazed with pain but burning with joy.
“Always come back to you.” He closes his eyes again.
“Dragix,” Rakiz says, ignoring Charlie’s narrowed eyes. “What happened?”
Dragix forces his eyes open. “Zintas. Their trap was more sophisticated than any I’ve seen before.”
“What were they doing in the north?”
“I took a Zinta after the attack and forced him to tell me what he knew before I healed enough to fly. He’s allied with someone called Mazark.”
I let out a growl, and Rakiz whips his head, his gaze meeting mine.
“Who’s Mazark?”
“A tribe king from Kenritz—a territory close to ours. He’s one of Arix’s allies. At least he was. However, he has long been eyeing Arix’s territory. I’m unsurprised he has chosen to betray Arix this way, although he was likely hoping Arix would be killed after crossing the Colossal Water.”
Rakiz’s eyes glitter. “And now,” he grits out, “we have enemies advancing from both the north and the east while blocking our allies from the south.”
The kradi goes silent at that.
Chapter Thirteen
Sarissa
Depression and resentment battle in my chest as I leave the healers’ kradi.
A heavy hand falls on my shoulder, and I shake it off.
“I’m busy, Korzyn.”
“Busy with what?”
My throat is tight, and I’m barely holding it together. “I need to tell Clara and the other women—”
He growls. “No, you don’t. That’s not your job.”
I head to my kradi. I just need a moment. Just one moment to pull myself together. Without the feel of the commander’s gaze on me. “Why do you care?”
He stalks me, practically breathing down my neck as I walk toward my kradi, and I snarl over my shoulder at him.
He glowers back at me, and I throw up my hands.
“You’re insane.”
“And you like it.”
I stumble, stubbing my toe, and curse. “I do not.”
Do I?
“Don’t fret, vicious female. I know how to distract you.” I freeze at that, my mouth hanging open. He almost runs into my back as I suddenly stop but manages to catch himself.
“And just how would you distract me?” I grit out between my teeth.
He sends me a wicked smile, and it’s so unexpected that my mouth drops open again. He reaches out his hand and casually pushes my chin back up, closing my mouth.
“I’ll allow you to finish what you started this morni
ng.”
Arrogant bastard.
“Oh, you’ll allow me, will you?”
I turn and keep walking, shaking my head at his ego.
“Yes. If you’re very good, I’ll even let you be on top.”
He’s trying to make me insane. It’s obvious.
“You’ll let me?”
“Mm-hmm.” I glance back at him, but he’s scanning our surroundings, likely fighting back his paranoia at having kradis on either side of us.
“Yes. After all, you owe me.”
I turn and walk faster. I don’t need this particular brand of crazy in my life.
But I can’t seem to help myself.
“And how,” I say out the side of my mouth, “could I possibly owe you?”
“Many ways. First, you stole the kiss I should have had with the dark-haired female.”
Kill him. I’ll kill him slowly. I’ll make it last days.
I reach my kradi and spin. “For your information, I thought you were that hot guard Heros. You know, the one I was dancing with?”
His expression turns terrible at that, and I take a step back despite myself. Fury simmers in his eyes, and he stares at me, wrestling it back under control.
“Not only did you ruin my chances with the dark-haired female,” he says as if I hadn’t spoken, “but you left me in that cave while you put yourself in danger.”
“Which part are you more upset about? The leaving-you-alone part, or the going-into-danger part?”
“Why?”
“I’m just curious.”
He bares his teeth at me in a feral smile. “You did this not because your life was in immediate peril but because you were desperate to get that chip back here.”
“Yes. Because I had a job to do! You know, the whole ‘get that spaceship working’ plan? I was trusted to get that chip to Alexis, and I couldn’t let everyone down.”
“I understand loyalty. I know what it’s like to put your life on the line for someone else.”
“Good, then you get it.”
He smiles, and it’s such a cold smile that I almost shiver. “No. Because you owe your loyalty to me.”
I blink at that. “Why?”
“Because you’re mine.”
