by Lee Savino
The door is metal. I could shift and tear it to shreds with my claws, but the tunnel I'm in isn't big enough to transform, and I don't want to risk a cave-in. I take a few steps back and then launch into a running leap at the door, throwing the full weight of my body behind my shoulder.
It dents.
Thank Caeron for cheap construction. I slam into the door once more, and it collapses. My momentum carries me into the middle of the chamber. I take quick stock of the situation. Diana’s team is in the middle of the high-ceilinged room. Theldre is leaning on a cane. The stranger—Zabek—looks both terrified and belligerent. A winning combination. Everyone looks worried, and I don’t blame them. Eight tunnels lead into this octagonal chamber. Eight tunnels, and therefore, eight doors. This room isn’t defensible.
Weapons snap onto me. Diana recognizes me first. “Mirak?” she asks disbelievingly. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Not a good time to flirt with your woman,” Ruhan says in my ear. “They’re setting up the charges.”
I turn to Diana. “Hello, spitfire. I’ve got this.” I gesture to the door I just broke. “Time to go.”
To nobody’s surprise, she doesn’t listen. “What do you mean, you’ve got this?” She gapes at me. “You are one person. You will get killed.”
For Caeron’s sake. If she doesn’t listen, I’m going to tie her up, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her out myself.
And I shouldn’t have imagined tying her up, because now I’m picturing it, and this really isn’t the right time. I banish the sinfully tempting images ruthlessly and drag my attention back to the room. “I’m Draekon, remember? I can handle this. You are responsible for your team. Get them to safety. Follow that tunnel to the surface.”
My words seem to jolt her out of a fog. Understanding flashes in her eyes. Thank Caeron. She nods to her team. “Fall back,” she orders.
“I’ll watch over her,” Ruhan says in my ear, his voice reassuring. “She’ll be fine.”
I wait, my nerves prickling, as the pirates duck through the door. Theldre is having trouble moving, but he refuses offers of help. Diana waits for the last person to go through, and then her gaze meets mine. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Then she vanishes into the tunnel.
Not a moment too soon.
She’s just through the door when every one of the other seven doors shatters. Armed Pajeon members pour into the room.
I loosen the reins on my dragon. The air shimmers and the beast inside me tears free.
Bring it on.
8
Diana
If he wasn’t Thel’s son, I’d strangle Zabek. Slowly, and with pleasure. What a fucking day.
We’d started out by landing on Besep 3. We’d been on our way to what we thought was Zabek’s location when we’d been ambushed by the furious Pajeon. Turns out that Zabek’s been embezzling from them for two months. Did Zabek bother to tell Thel about the situation so we would have been better prepared?
No, of course not.
The Pajeon understandably didn’t want to let Zabek go. Thel, just as understandably, didn’t want his only child to die. We’d had to fight our way out. We’d managed to do it without casualties, but our weapon charges had been badly depleted. We needed to hide somewhere until reinforcements from the Mahala could get to us.
Thel had been with us. He’d been struggling to keep up, he’d been in obvious pain, and I’d been deathly afraid that I would fail to protect him. “Leave me behind,” he’d gasped. “I’ll only slow you down.”
“Not happening.”
That’s when Zabek suggested taking refuge in the mine shafts.
This time, I share the blame. I should have known better than to listen to that idiot, but we were desperate, and we were quickly running out of options.
Of course, it had been a trap.
Underground, our signals had been jammed, and we couldn’t communicate with our ship. We were surrounded on all sides. Terror had stolen my every breath. I wasn’t afraid for myself. But I needed to get Thel and the rest of my team out of there.
“Leave me,” Thel had said again. “Get Zabek to safety. Diana, that’s an order.”
Fuck Zabek. I didn’t give a damn about that little shit. It’s Thel I cared about. When CPS had taken me away from my father, I hadn’t been able to visit him all through winter. The first chance I got, I’d run away from Aunt Debbie’s house. And when I’d got to the cabin…
My father had broken his leg sometime in the previous months. He didn’t own a phone; he had no way of calling for help. No way of hunting; no way of heating the cabin. So, rather than freeze to death or die of thirst, he’d taken the faster way out. He’d dragged himself to his rifle, and…
Let’s just say I’m not leaving Thel behind. “Sorry,” I’d murmured, defying the pirate’s command. “You know the code. We live together, and we die together.”
And there had been no doubt; we would have died.
Until Mirak had appeared as if from nowhere, looked at me with his hazel eyes, told me he’d take care of the situation, and cleared us a path to safety.
I’d caught a glimpse of him as he’d transformed into a dragon, glorious and crimson red, his wings as bright as the sun.
We’d made it out alive because of him.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Thel explodes as soon as we get back to the safety of the Mahala. He’s facing Zabek, and I’ve never seen him angrier. His face has darkened, and his eyes are as black as night. “You lied to me. You didn't tell me the danger you were in. You made it seem like nothing was wrong.” He opens his mouth in a snarl. “We even stopped off to do a job, for fuck’s sake.”
“I thought I could handle it,” Zabek replies, his tone sullen.
“You thought you could handle it,” Thel repeats disbelievingly. “You didn’t think for a second that we would have been better prepared to help you if you’d given us all the information?” He looks ready to rip his son’s head off. “I put my crew in danger. Did you stop to think about them? No, as always, you can’t see past your own tusks.”
“Your crew is paid to be in danger,” Zabek snaps. “They’re pirates. This is what they do. You coddle them.” He swivels in my direction. “This one even disobeyed a direct order.” His eyes run over me. “What are you, anyway?”
I clench my hands into fists and put a tight rein on my temper. Thel responds before I can. “Diana is kin,” he says flatly.
“Kin?” Zabek looks poleaxed. The Ektons take notions of kinship very seriously.
“You heard me,” Thel responds. “Get settled. The Mahala took damage as a result of this expedition. We head back to the Heca Exchange.” He turns to the door. “My legs are killing me. I’ll be in my quarters.”
He limps away. There’s perfect silence as he leaves. No one on the bridge breaks it. I look around at the crew, trying to gauge their reactions to Zabek. If the pirates are shocked by the argument between father and son, they don’t show it. Mostly, they look resigned.
When Thel’s out of earshot, Zabek exhales. “Well, that went about well as I expected,” he says caustically. “It’s so good to be back on the Mahala. I assume I’m in my usual quarters?”
Ganni clears her throat. “No, you’re not.” She looks awkward. “Diana is the second-in-command now. As such…” Her voice trails off.
Zabek whirls to me. For a second, I think he’s going to take a swing at me. I brace myself, my fingers curling around one of my knives. The pirates stiffen. Maz lifts his weapon warningly. “I wouldn’t do it.”
Thel’s son takes another deep breath and seems to collect himself. “He called you kin,” he says. “And he made you the second-in-command. Let me guess. You were a broken bird, and my father has taught you to fly, and now he’s given you everything that rightfully belongs to me.”
He glares at me. I glare back. Fuck this idiot. He almost got Thel killed today. Everyone on the Mahala deserves better than him.
He yields first. He drops his gaze and spins on his heel. “Don’t worry about me, Ganni. I’ll find a spare bunk tonight.”
His implication is clear. Tonight is a momentary truce. Tomorrow, he’ll fight me.
I turn to Parani, who is looking greyer than usual. I wonder why. “You heard the Captain,” I tell her. “Set course for the Heca Exchange.”
Zabek can wait. Right now, I’m more concerned about Thel.
I find my mentor in his healing tank. I pull up my usual chair. He breaks the silence first. “Let’s talk about Fourth,” he says. “You called him Mirak.”
My cheeks heat. “I had a conversation with him,” I admit. “I should have told you.” I know why I hadn’t. Mirak had told me that he was Draekon, that he’d been one of the first six Draekons ever made. It had felt like he was telling me something important, and I’d wanted to keep his secret. Even from Thel. “I knew he was Draekon.”
“When did you talk to him?”
“When he blocked Soren’s signal. Right before he destroyed the last tracker.” I give Thel an apologetic look. “You have every reason to question my loyalty. I should have told you. He told me he was one of the first Draekons ever made.”
Thel looks up. “What? He’s one of the Crimson Force?”
“Huh?”
“That’s what his unit was called.” Thel looks intrigued. “Have I ever told you that I am fascinated by early Draekon history? I’ve spent so much time looking for clues about their origin, for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity. You might almost call it an obsession; Zabek has.”
Once again, Zabek can go fuck himself.
“He asked if you’d put a bounty on his head.” I relay our conversation to Thel. Except for the part where Mirak called me beautiful. That part, I leave out. “It wasn’t a long conversation. Thel, my motivation hasn’t changed. Fourth stole from us. I still intend to make him pay.”
“Your motivations may not have changed,” he responds. “But mine have. Diana, that man—that Draekon—saved my life today. He saved your life. He saved Zabek. Who is, despite my present irritation, still my son. Even if I wanted to, I could not act against Fourth.” He gives me a searching look. “You like him, don’t you?”
“He irritates the crap out of me,” I reply, fully aware that that isn’t an answer to Thel’s question.
“Those things aren't mutually exclusive.”
“Forget Mirak. Let’s talk about you. How much pain are you in right now?”
“It’s not important.” He stares into the distance. “You should have listened to me, Diana, and left me behind. I was a liability today.”
“I don’t leave my kin behind.” I did it once, and I paid the price. My father had blown his brains out.
His lips twist. “I know I’m not supposed to feel sorry for myself. I’ve had a life filled with good fortune. It’s just…” His voice trails away.
I wish I knew what to say. I wish I could assure Thel that things will get better, but they won’t. This autoimmune disease is degenerative. Even if we found a miracle cure, the best-case scenario is that Thel stops getting worse.
“It's just so frustrating,” he says at last. “It’s so maddening when your body won’t respond to your mind. I remember who I used to be, and what I used to be able to do, and I can’t stand it.”
We’re both silent for a long time. “Tell me about Zabek,” I prompt, when I can’t stand the quiet any longer.
“What’s there to say? Zabek is spoiled and selfish. He’s also charming and thoughtful.” He looks bleak. “Diana, I’m going to take some lodihe. You want some?”
I will have nightmares tonight. They’ll be bad enough that I don’t want to fall asleep. Lodihe is a powerful drug, but it will give me what I desperately need—a few hours of oblivion. “I have some in my room.” I get up. “Sleep well, Thel.”
“You too, child.”
My thoughts return to Mirak as I make my way back to my quarters. It’s been two hours; I haven’t heard from him. What if he didn’t get out? What if there were too many of the Pajeon?
Yes, he’s Draekon. Yes, they’re supposed to be powerful. But I have no idea what that means. The Draekons on the Mahala cannot shift, so I can’t look to them for insight. I’d looked up Draekons when Mirak told me he was one, but information on them is exceedingly sparse. For most of the people in the Empire, Draekons are creatures of legend, and the Testing is a minor inconvenience that happens once a year.
What if Mirak is still in the tunnels? What if he’s hurt? What if he’s dead? Dread claws at my throat, robbing me of my breath. He can’t be dead. He seemed so confident he could take on the Pajeon. He has to be okay.
I almost run down the corridor. As soon as I enter my quarters and the door slams shut behind me, I brace myself, prepare for the worst, and call him.
The comm that the Ektons use has a few different settings. I don’t really understand technology, so I don’t understand the science behind it. There’s the voice-only setting, which is sort of like a phone call. There’s the projection option, where the image of the person I’m calling is projected in front of me. And then there’s the enhanced option, where it’s not just the person projected, but also his surroundings.
The default option is projection. For obvious security reasons, the enhanced option is enabled only between trusted partners. Thel had commed me on this setting once when he visited Hana-Esor, and I would have sworn that I was on the beach next to him. I heard the waves. I almost smelled the sharp tang of the ocean. It’s that good.
When I comm Mirak, he’s not hurt. He’s not dead.
He’s in his shower.
Naked. So naked.
And he’s touching himself.
He’s leaning forward. His eyes are closed. One hand is braced against the shower wall. His body, that beautiful, lethal body, is taut with tension. His other hand is curled around his erection.
Oh. My. God.
My eyes drift down his body and greedily lock onto his cock. It’s huge. Long and thick and a deep, dark shade of bronze. There are cocks, and then there’s Mirak’s, and yes, I should stop drooling, I should cough or make a sound or do anything to let him know I’m here, but I can’t. His hand moves rhythmically over his length, and it’s so hypnotic that I can’t tear my eyes away.
He groans out loud.
Need slams into me like a tidal wave. I whimper.
His eyes open. For a split-second, his gaze is unfocused. “Diana?”
Words. Must form words. Thoughts. Sentences. Those are all good things.
“Mirak,” I manage.
The haze vanishes. His hand falls away from his cock, and he looks briefly startled, and then his eyes narrow. “Another tracker? This one is impressive.”
“What?” Now would be a really good time for my brain to start working again. “No. You programmed your number into my communicator. I just called you.”
He blinks. Then his expression clears. “This is Ruhan’s idea of a joke,” he says, shaking his head wryly. He turns off the water and steps outside the shower. “I’m going to kill him when I get a chance.” He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist. “Sorry about the view. Is everything okay?”
He’s sorry about the view? I’m sorry he’s covered it up. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Thanks to you. I called to make sure you got out okay.”
He smiles. “I appreciate your concern, spitfire. I’m fine.”
Oh, he’s more than fine. He’s gorgeous. “Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
We’re both ignoring the fact that I walked in on him touching himself in the shower. “How did you know we were going to be on Besep 3?” As soon as I ask the question, I realize the answer. “Never mind. You have trackers on us. Are you following me? I already told you, I don’t need rescuing from the Ektons.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I’m not following you,” he says. “Though Caeron knows you need someone to talk som
e sense into you. There were only seven of you. It was reckless to take on the Pajeon with such a small group.”
As much as I’d like to protest, he’s right. Had we known we were facing off with the Pajeon, we would have definitely approached the situation differently. But telling him that would be getting into Zabek’s failings. “Who’s Ruhan?”
“My brother. He’s one of the original six Draekons. Ruhan is a genius with technology. Kadir can sense emotions. Fifth can talk anyone into anything. Sixth is a brilliant scientist.”
“And you can sense wormholes.” I sink into a chair and pour myself a thimbleful of lodihe. “You only mentioned five Draekons.”
His gaze hardens. “I don’t talk about First.”
Shock slaps me. That’s a connection I should have made. I should have figured it out from the naming convention, but I hadn’t. Maybe because Thel’s spies in Blood Prophecy are extremely cautious, and I’ve never seen a picture of First, maybe because I’ve been so distracted by everything else going on in my life. “First is Draekon? That doesn’t make any sense. Why is he killing his own kind?”
Mirak’s head snaps up. “You’ve heard of First,” he murmurs. “That’s interesting.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I’ve said too much. Mirak’s not stupid. We knew about Docarro. We know about First. I’ve just outed the existence of Theldre’s painstakingly built spy network.
“Pirates are the biggest gossips,” I say airily. “I hear a lot of things.” Distract him. Don’t let him think. Don’t let him put two and two together. “You know what else is interesting? Me walking in on you in the shower.” I lean back, my palms damp with sweat, and I undo a button on my blouse.
Mirak’s eyes follow my hands, and his gaze settles in the valley between my breasts. He smiles, slow and lazy, like a cat toying with a mouse. “What are you doing, spitfire?”
“Having a drink.” I take a sip of my lodihe and undo another button. “Join me.”
This feels weird. Like the alien version of sexting, which I’ve never done before. My previous sexual interactions were considerably more impersonal. Almost detached.
