by Isabel Wroth
“Let’s just see about that,” the young medic said tartly, shooing Satesh out of her way as she engaged the scanner and turned to view the results on a large plas-screen.
She was a beautiful child, with a mop of messy brown and tan curls piled on her head. She had intense, exotically slanted, pale amber eyes and freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose.
If she were older than fifteen, he would eat his new soft-soled boots. Aley held his breath, wavering between worry and amusement as the female scrunched up her nose in concentration and wiggled her lips from side to side.
It made the gold jewelry in the septum and bridge of her nose dance and sparkle.
“Shayla?” Satesh prompted with an impatient growl.
The girl waved a hand to shush him, moving from slide to slide, giving each one an intense study Aley could appreciate, however, she was still a child.
He caught Satesh’s gaze and tilted his head in silent question, wanting to know whether this girl-medic was the best one to be taking care of Ilaria.
“She’s a pain in my ass, but she’s the best.” Satesh told Aley confidently.
“Yes, she is.” Shayla snapped, snatching up a small tube of some kind, cradling Ilaria’s hand in her tiny one, extending one of Ilaria’s fingers to press against the tube.
Aley heard a soft snap, and when Shayla gently lay Ilaria’s hand back down, there was a tiny bead of bright red blood.
He had no idea if Ilaria could feel it or not, but he couldn’t help himself. Aley reached over and touched his finger to hers to take away the lingering bite.
He glanced up and noticed the stern slash of Satesh’s lips softening ever so slightly.
“Alright,” Shayla finally announced, “Her cells are saturated with a radiation I’ve not encountered before.
“I assume its residual exposure from her home planet, and while it doesn’t appear to be affecting her negatively, the concentration is of enough concern to be noted.
“Her brain activity shows deep Proto rhythm, which means her mind and body are in a state of regeneration and repair.
“Of what, I can’t say, because according to my scans, she’s perfectly healthy. What little I know of her people, I would say this is the physical state required for access to the unconscious mind. However, these waves here indicate that despite being in Proto, there’s other activity going on.”
“Other activity?” Satesh questioned sharply.
Shayla gave an unconcerned roll of her shoulder, “In Proto, there shouldn’t be such constant rapid eye movement, yet somehow, she’s dreaming.
“Other than the radiation in her cells and the lack of nourishment, there are no abnormalities to say why she hasn’t woken up for three days. Stress, maybe?
“Finally being able to rest after whatever hellish nightmares she encountered on Myst? I know I’d want to sleep for days, and the closest I’ve gotten to a Mystress is that half-breed over there.”
Aley looked over Shayla’s shoulder to see a familiar face.
Zillriane was one of Margen’s many breeding experiments. A cross between a red Mystress and Zeina demon, Margen had intended to breed a stronger, more powerful Mystress.
What she’d gotten was a unique creature who was nothing like what Margen intended. Zillriane had soft gray skin, jet black hair with dainty red horns peeking out from the crown of her head, and two, pale orange eyes.
From fingertips to elbows, Zillriane’s skin was crimson, as though she had dipped her arms into a vat of fresh blood. Her dexterous tail was also a deep red, and given all those unique differences in her appearance, it wasn’t hard to imagine her to be dangerous.
However, Zillriane was one of the gentlest creatures Aley had ever encountered. Unlike her mother’s people, Zill didn’t feed on fear or pain, and she had no homicidal tendencies he was aware of.
Zill was insanely empathic, sensitive to the most minute of emotions. On Myst, the hatred aimed her way had almost crippled her. After failing again and again to meet Margen’s expectations, Zill had become a slave herself, and as a form of torture, Margen often made Zill sit and watch Margen flay the flesh from her victims.
Zillriane was the only one of the slaves liberated from Myst that still appeared to be a slave.
She was shackled to her medical bed, sitting with her chin on her up-drawn knees, her arms and her whip-like tale with its arrow-shaped end, wrapped around her legs.
Aley did his best to temper his anger to see her shackled, but from the tiny, understanding tilt of her lips, he hadn’t done a very good job.
“The half-breed’s name is Zillriane, and she’s no danger to anyone onboard. You don’t have to shackle her like a rabid animal.”
Shayla’s dark eyebrows shot up at the contempt Aley couldn’t keep from his tone.
“Tell that to Zillriane. Every time we try to examine her, she goes crazy and won’t let us near her.”
Aley clenched his jaw so hard a muscle jumped in his neck, “If you’d bothered to ask her why, she might have told you she’s an empath and so sensitive, she can feel your distaste and anger.
“If you touched her with anything other than an emotionally blank slate, you would have forced whatever you were feeling into her skin like knives. She isn’t dangerous.
“She’s been every bit as abused as the rest of the slaves you brought up and deserving of some gentleness and care. If you don’t wish to provide it, I will happily take charge of her and keep her well away from the rest of you.”
Shayla scowled and opened her mouth to no doubt fire a volley back at him, but Satesh cut a cool glance her way, and the medic pressed her lips together with a petulant huff.
Aley watched on with wary surprise as Satesh pulled a set of keys from a fold in his dark orange and gold robes before approaching Zillriane.
Satesh handed her the keys, very careful not to touch her skin, speaking softly to her when Zill hunched in on herself, her eyes filling with tears even as she smiled shyly.
After unlocking her shackles, Zill lay the keys on the end of the table and at Satesh’s invitation, climbed off and made sure to keep her arms wrapped around her middle, her tail coiled around her leg so as not to inadvertently brush up against him.
Zill was nearly half the size of Satesh, almost as small as Shayla. Aley would have said she was childlike if not for her voluptuous, very feminine curves.
He took a deep breath and let it out to purge any negative feelings as Zill came towards him, not having to dig deep for the affection and relief he felt to see her free and in much better shape than the last time he’d seen her.
She was shivering in her tiny sarong and knotted top, and when Aley unbelted his long tunic to drape around her, her shoulders dropped from up around her ears.
On her, it looked more like a robe than a tunic, but she smiled up at him gratefully as she burrowed into the cloth.
“Thank you, Aley.” Zillriane murmured in her quiet, husky voice.
“Of course.”
Satesh cleared his throat, his jaw tensing when Zill flinched and stepped closer to Aley, putting herself behind him just slightly. Aley hoped she could feel how humbled he was by her trust in him but kept his gaze on Satesh.
The Exarch‘s expression tightened before it smoothed to perfect blankness.
“One of my people will be by momentarily to show you to your quarters, Zillriane.”
Zillriane gave a timid nod, catching at her bottom lip with her petite fangs as she looked from Satesh to Ilaria, and up to Aley with what he could only describe as hesitant interest.
She lifted a crimson finger to point at Ilaria’s prone form, “May I?”
Aley wasn’t exactly sure what Zill was asking, but he stepped aside and smiled to encourage her. Zill continued to gnaw on her lips nervously as she skirted around him and settled beside Ilaria.
At first, she just extended her red palm out to hover in the air above Ilaria’s chest, her fingertips dipping down one by one, as though she we
re playing an instrument or tapping the surface of a mirror.
Zill gave a low hum, no indication to say whether it was a sound born from pleasure or concern. Her hand slowly drifted up toward Ilaria’s face, hesitating before Zill curled her fingers inward and carefully brushed her knuckles down the slope of Ilaria’s cheek.
When she finally withdrew, Zill rubbed her palm up and down her thigh, like she was wiping away a sticky residue.
“She feels excited. Eager and relieved, no hints of worry or sadness. I know it doesn’t help answer why she’s still asleep, but her dreams are pleasant.”
Aley dipped his head to catch hold of Zill’s shy gaze, glad to see her smile in response to his thankfulness.
“It helps, Zill. Thank you.”
A bare-chested male with a mane of silky black hair, dusky golden skin, and vibrant red eyes swaggered into the infirmary.
He wore nothing but the voluminous trousers common among the Dhjana and a pair of soft leather boots with curled toes, not noticing Zill where she was half hidden by Aley’s body.
The male gave a jerk of his chin, “How may I serve, Exarch?”
His query bordered on rude, but Satesh didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t care.
“Kai, I need you to escort our guest to one of the unoccupied rooms on tier two. Do not touch her.”
Kai’s brows hiked with an incredulous snort, and he went so far as to fold his arms over his chest belligerently with an expression of dark amusement. Doubt formed instantly that this was the correct male to take Zillriane anywhere, but she peeked around him, and Kai’s insolent smirk faded to one of intrigue and surprise.
“Zillriane, this is Kai. He will ensure you arrive at your suite unscathed,” Satesh was making it a statement more for Kai than Zill, and the red-eyed male’s chin went up another notch, but he didn’t disagree.
“Whatever you need, tell Kai, and he will see you have it.”
“Thank you,” Zill whispered, her cheeks washing a darker red when Kai’s lashes fell to half-mast, his nostrils flaring like a predator catching the scent of something tantalizing and delicious.
“Come along, little one. To bed with you,” Kai invited, clasping his hands behind his back, offering Zill a crooked grin when she came toward him slowly.
They disappeared around the corner, and Aley let his doubt spill into what expression his disfigured face could make.
Satesh gave an aggrieved sigh. “She’ll be safe with him,” Satesh promised, and Aley could do nothing now but trust he was as good as his word.
“Well, now we’re past all that, can we get back to my patient?” Shayla asked curtly. She flushed under the stern look Satesh gave her, and after a moment rolled her shoulders to shake off her little snit.
“I’ll hook Ilaria up to a drip solution for fluids, and I recommend a gel bath to leach out the radiation. If she hasn’t woken up after the bath, I can pop her with a stimulant. If that doesn’t work, my last resort will be to insert a feeding tube until she does wake.”
Ilaria~
Effervescent warmth licked and tingled across her skin, her body floating suspended, completely supported. The pulsating warmth penetrated deep into her bones, gently urging her to wake.
As she lingered in the moments between sleep and wakefulness, Ilaria couldn’t help but think this incredible, weightless, effortless rise should have been what she experienced upon her Awakening.
She immediately recognized the tender caress of Aley’s fingers on her face, wrinkling her nose in confusion when she felt a blob of something ooze down her cheek.
“Ilaria?” the hopeful note in his voice urged her to lift her lashes, the sight of Aley’s familiar face caused happiness to blossom in her heart instead of shock and fear.
Mm. This was definitely how Ilaria would have preferred to Awaken.
She made to lift her hand to touch him, only to frown at the mild resistance. Ilaria had a burst of unavoidable panic, thinking something had happened, and she was once again unable to move.
It took a moment for the panic to subside, but when it did Ilaria was delighted to realize she recognized the viscous substance she was settled in.
“Regeneration gel. Cassie. Saraz,” the words tumbled from her mouth on a nervous laugh, and she shocked Aley when she threw her arms up and around his neck, pink gel splattering all over the floor as she grabbed hold of him to share her joy with an elated kiss.
“I remember them!” she squealed, her words running together because her lips were still smashed against his.
Her human friend wasn’t all she remembered, but the deep vibration of Aley’s answering chuckle and the feeling of his arms around her was distraction enough to ensure she was now completely focused on their kisses.
Before such intimacies had been quick and stolen, and though it had been impulsive on her part, Ilaria sank into the sensations bombarding her.
The fizz of the gel on her body felt amazing. So did the tender passion rising inside her, the hungry, devoted press of Aley’s kisses. He supported her shoulders with one arm and cradled her jaw in one big hand, sweeping his thumb back and forth across the apple of her cheek.
She loved that they could continue kissing and still speak to one another, the sound and echo of his voice inside her mind another layer of pleasure that left her utterly melting into him.
~You slept for three days. He accused softly, the ache of his relief coupled with the tenderness of his kiss brought tears to her eyes.
~Three days? Ilaria remembered the explosions, leaving Satesh behind to face Margen, and closing her eyes after Aley had carried her onto the transport.
Their lips clung together as though their flesh was obeying their desire to keep from parting, and after a dozen more tiny pecks, Aley pulled back to press his brow against hers, resting there a moment before he lifted his head to catch hold of her gaze.
~I was worried. What happened?
Despite being genuinely contrite for having worried him, Ilaria couldn’t contain her happiness.
~I’ve been practicing slipping into the Void as often as I can. I didn’t intend to do it, but as soon as we boarded the transport, I just felt this weight lift from my shoulders.
When I closed my eyes, I felt my consciousness slide effortlessly from my body. It felt so wonderful I didn’t dare try and stop or think to consider what might happen to my physical body.
As he had taken care of her and sat beside her while he waited for her to wake, Ilaria knew Aley had the right to be upset with her, but his heart was so big, so full of kindness, he merely sighed in reprimand and then asked her where she had gone.
~ The white temple Jalu showed me, I found it. I don’t know where in the universe it is, or what it’s called, but I found it. A home big enough for you, me, any of the slaves Satesh helped liberate, and whatever remains of my people.
Aley’s smile was as slow and beautiful as a sunrise, his eyes transforming as she watched them turn to shimmering pools of molten rose-gold.
His grin also made her realize his face was decorated with blobs of gel, but when she went to wipe them away, they both burst out laughing because all she did was smear a thicker layer all over the place.
“You’re awake,”
Just like it had the first time Ilaria had seen him, Satesh’s voice caused her pulse to race with excitement.
His presence filled the large room with crackling energy, and it took Ilaria a moment to realize she was sensing the power of his life-force.
She could see the snaps and pops of heat that arched from him to the walls, as though he were walking through a high-voltage electricity storm, and his body was the divining rod that attracted the gold and dark red bolts of lightning.
Her gaze wandered around the room slowly, the breath catching in her lungs at the sight of Aley’s aura reacting to the space and to Satesh.
Aley’s kaleidoscope of greens and bright orange connecting to the golden bolts, neutralizing the dark red whips to bri
ghten them to vibrant crimson.
Ilaria was sure her mouth was hanging open in astonishment, because seeing and feeling the energy of other living beings was something she hadn’t been able to do since before she had Awoken on Salista’s ship.
Traveling, recovering memories, seeing the electric colors swirling around her…
“Unbelievable,”
“Is something wrong?” Satesh was speaking to Aley but staring at her while the red of his aura flickered and slithered towards her in sensual ribbons of desire.
Ilaria looked beyond the hypnotic curls of light, blinking to focus on Satesh himself and the way he planted his feet wide like the deck was pitching beneath him.
With his fists set on his waist, he had spread his black and gold embroidered robe wide to display the silky black vest he wore beneath, and the loose trousers that sat low on his trim hips.
He wore no ornamentation other than the open-ended gold collar around his throat and the wide gold cuff on his right wrist that had morphed into a wicked blade at the flick of his fingers.
“Where did you get so much Sarazen technology?” she blurted gracelessly, naked, up to her chin in a vat of goo, waiting breathlessly to hear his answer.
Satesh’s sharp brows winged up in surprise, “My people trade with Saraz on a fairly regular basis. The regen-gel is their recipe, but my people copied the technology of the Sarazen torques and made it our own. You’ve encountered the warriors before?”
Ilaria nodded, rubbing her chest as it ached with longing to see her friend again.
“During my travels, I befriended a female named, Cassie. She is the mate of a Sarazen commander. I was helping her with something, but I can’t remember what.”
“Do not force the memory,” Aley ordered firmly, “You need to submerge for as long as you can and allow the gel to finish leeching the radiation from your cells.”
Ilaria had already started to sink when Aley mentioned radiation, and when she asked, he informed her the medic on board had found trace amounts of radiation from Matav’s decaying sun lingering in her body.
