by Carven, Anna
Kyuri waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t be silly. Come back when you’re done and help me find where the alcohol is at in this weird place. I could really do with a glass of wine or five. Then you can tell me all about it. You never know, it might be a thrill. There’s something about them that’s weirdly compelling, don’t you think?”
“Says you. See you in a bit.” Sienna shot her companion a baleful glare before scurrying after the disappearing Kordolian, breaking into a half-run just to catch up with him. Something in his tone told her she wouldn’t get another chance to meet this oh-so important superior—whoever he was.
Her heart rose into her throat. Since being brought onboard this dark, silent ship, she hadn’t really had any meaningful interactions with her silver-skinned minders. Between medical check-ups, the Kordolians had simply allowed the humans to interact amongst themselves—almost as if they knew that simply sharing their experiences amongst one another would be therapeutic in itself.
Sometimes, Sienna got the feeling she was part of some highly controlled social experiment. It was more than a little unnerving. What if they were being secretly observed? But at least it was light-years better than the way those creepy slender faceless aliens had treated them—like fucking animals.
They walked in a straight line for some time, until the corridor began to slope upwards ever so slightly. The Kordolian led her around several sharp corners until she was so disoriented she wouldn’t have a chance in hell of finding her way back to her room on her own.
“Do we have far to go?” she called out nervously, focusing on the outline of the Kordolian’s back. The lighting in the corridors was so dim that she almost lost him once or twice.
“Not far now,” he said quietly, but that was hardly reassuring.
“This superior of yours… who is he?”
“My boss. He’s in charge of this operation,” the Kordolian answered cryptically. “Don’t be afraid. He’s a fair man. He wants nothing more than to check on your recovery… and ask you a few questions.”
Questions? Her nervousness—and curiosity—grew. “Why did he call for only me? I mean, there were other girls on that Ephrenian transport too.”
“Out of all the captives we retrieved from the Ephrenian ship, you were the most badly injured. He has reviewed the incident and taken a personal interest in your case.”
Personal interest?
Now why did those words send a weird flurry of butterflies through her stomach?
Abruptly, the Kordolian stopped. “Here we are. Go inside.” He turned toward the wall, which startled her when it began to unravel.
They entered a small cocoon-like chamber.
And as Sienna faced the other side of the room, she stopped dead in her tracks, because what she saw completely blew her away.
Chapter Four
Through an expansive window made of glass so transparent it almost didn’t appear to be there at all, Sienna saw the stars.
She’d seen space from their small communal room, but this was different, because this window was massive and seamless. It made everything seem a hundred times closer and more real.
Unbidden, a soft gasp escaped her lips. She’d never seen the Universe like this before. Earth was awash in artificial light that bleached the night sky and obliterated the stars, making them so very hard to appreciate.
But from this dimly lit Kordolian ship, the stars appeared absolutely brilliant; tiny, glittering pinpricks of light scattered across the vast black canvas of space. Farther off in the distance, they coalesced to become elegant swirls and tangles of incandescent white.
A knot of emotion formed in Sienna’s chest. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and so very unexpected after all the darkness and terror. She found it strangely therapeutic.
So entranced was she by the sight that she hardly noticed the dark chair by the window until it slowly spun around… as if the occupant were some old-fashioned arch-villain.
What the hell?
Suddenly, she was face-to-face with a Kordolian.
A hard-faced, amber-eyed, black-clad Kordolian.
He definitely wasn’t one of the assistants.
Her heart skipped a beat.
This guy wore his authority like a well-worn coat; naturally, unselfconsciously, so much so that it seemed like an extension of his lean, muscular frame.
Behind her, the assistant quietly slipped away, melting into the darkness, leaving Sienna all alone with this perfect stranger.
Great. Now I’m stuck on my own in this little room with Commander freaking Darkness, and there’s nobody around to hear me scream.
Predictably, the seamless black doors had already sealed shut behind her.
The alien held out a black-gloved hand and waved in the general direction of all the blackness. “Please, take a seat.” He spoke in perfect Universal, with barely a trace of an accent in his voice.
For a moment, Sienna just stood there, transfixed, until she realized that the silence between them was becoming painfully awkward.
“Ahem. Th-thank you.” Her Universal was a little rusty—she hadn’t really used it much since she’d graduated from Technical College—and she suspected her accent was fucking terrible, but it was good enough to get by. She cleared her throat, unable to take her eyes off the Kordolian.
His features were sharp and elegant and utterly alien. Razor-sharp cheekbones, strong jaw, sensual lips. Snow-white hair and eyebrows that contrasted with his shimmering skin, which was more tungsten than silver. His ears were wickedly pointed and his pale hair was unbound and slightly messy, falling just past his ears.
The tousled hair seemed out of place somehow; a strange kind of imperfection against his sharp, precise, alien beauty.
And then there were those eyes…
Perfectly golden and slightly narrowed, looking at her with such piercing intensity that she had to resist the urge to squirm.
Who the hell is this guy?
He looked like a real hardass. Definitely military. Definitely a warrior. Someone who wielded weapons and gave strict orders and had probably killed a few people in his time…
Or maybe lots of people.
Definitely not the kind of person she’d associate with if she had a choice.
Could he be…?
The memory of the powerful, mysterious Shadow that had rescued her rose up inside her without warning, sinking its dark, delicious tentacles into every pore of her body. Terror mingled with fascination and the indelible memory of feeling safe after all the horror.
And now, looking at this striking Kordolian whose face she had never ever seen before, a strange feeling rose up inside her.
Damnit, Kyuri was right. There was something so dangerously compelling about him.
Why were her palms sweaty all of a sudden? Why was her heart racing at a million miles an hour?
Why was a hint of a tendril of a thrill snaking its way down into her core and pooling in her lower belly, sliding between her legs, paralyzing her right where she stood?
She knew why.
This guy, who looked like power and dangerousness personified, was undeniably fucking hot.
She found all the Kordolians to be incredibly striking; tall, silver-skinned dark-elves that could have stepped right out of some high-fantasy wet-dream, but this guy… there was something different about him.
There was a hard edge to him that both enthralled her and triggered a red flag so fucking big it could have been seen from space.
See, Sienna had previously dated not one, but two powerful men, and in both cases, she’d become the proverbial Icarus, her wings melting spectacularly before she even realized she’d flown too close to the sun.
The first had been a famous chef; the second, a gangster. Michael and Connor. Both had been intense, passionate, driven, and possessive—too possessive—with a mean-streak a mile wide against their enemies.
And slowly but surely, she’d realized that the things she’d found thr
illing at first could become corrosive and dangerous.
She sure knew how to pick them, didn’t she?
The sun always incinerated everything in its path.
This alien sitting before her, who she just couldn’t help but stare at? His amber eyes burned like the fucking corona of the sun.
Sienna forced herself to look away, breaking the spell as she sat down in the dark chair. Its smooth, curved edges seemed to mold around her body, pulling her into a strange kind of embrace… almost if the chair itself were alive. She tried to relax, but she was too spooked.
Hot, but only ever to look at, she decided, feeling a little ridiculous. She liked her current boring nonexistent love life. Don’t be stupid. What would he want with you, anyway?
“Are you well, Miss Siennadamo?” Abruptly, the alien rose to his feet and stepped forward, moving like water through the shadows. Like the assistants, he wore a plain black uniform, but there were subtle differences to his outfit. His jacket was finely cut, with a high collar and long twin tails at the back, giving him a slightly rakish appearance. Sleek, tapered trousers were tucked into high boots. He looked sharp and formal and dangerous, as if he were about to attend some important diplomatic event—and perhaps quietly threaten a whole bunch of powerful people.
Siennadamo? She blinked. What the hell is he talking about? “It’s Sienna. Just Sienna. Adamo is my family name. Wait. How do you know my…” Surname?
She didn’t remember ever telling them that particular detail.
The Kordolian extended his hand, palm facing upwards. His expression was so terribly stern and serious that for a moment she wondered if she’d done something wrong, but he kept his hand just in front of her and waited patiently…
For her to take it.
Oh. Is he actually… trying to shake my hand? His palm is facing the wrong way.
If he weren’t so damn intimidating, she might find it endearing.
Sienna quickly closed her fingers around his and turned his hand so it was the right way; sideways, instead of palm facing upwards. She gave his hand a quick, firm shake and withdrew her fingers, as if recoiling from touching something that was white-hot.
The handshake lasted barely long enough for her to register that his grip was firm and sure and yet somehow gentle. His fingers were long and elegant—a little longer than a human’s—and his touch was intentionally non-threatening.
“I am Ikriss,” the alien said. Although he spoke quietly, his voice carried the unmistakable ring of authority. He was the kind of guy who probably never had to raise his voice to get what he wanted.
“Sienna. How did you know my surname, then?” she asked pointedly. She wasn’t about to let her earlier question slide. “And yes, I am well, thank you very much.”
The Kordolian’s lips curved into a faint smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can understand your curiosity. You haven’t provided any of your personal details to my personnel.”
“Nobody asked.”
“I forbade them from interrogating you.” He offered her a curt bow of apology. “It wasn’t at all my intention to unsettle you. It seems I was given slightly inaccurate information.” His expression turned icy, and Sienna wondered if whoever was responsible for the inaccurate information would be on the receiving end of some serious unpleasantness later on.
“Someone told you who I am,” she said, trying not to let her nervousness show. “You have data on me.” How much, though?
“It’s nothing sinister. We have contacts on Earth within the Federation agencies. There is an agreement in place. We needed to obtain your medical information in order to treat you properly.”
“You obtained my data without my consent…” On Earth, that would be a serious crime, unless one were the Federation, or one of the big datatech companies that every citizen signed their life’s story away to at some point in time.
“The situation was unique. When we first received you, there were high doses of sedatives in your bloodstream and you had serious internal injuries.” The Kordolian’s eyes narrowed, his expression becoming glacial. “In such a situation, consent becomes irrelevant.” He shook his head and uttered a soft, vicious curse in his own tongue. “It is a small miracle that you were even conscious when we got to you.”
“You were there? You…”
“I am the one that found you.”
“You’re the Shadow,” she blurted before she even realized what she was saying.
You’re him...
That terrifying, obsidian-armored, stone-cold killer.
Holy crap.
But looking at him, she could see that it made perfect sense.
“Shadow?” Ikriss’s lips curved upwards ever so slightly. “I have been called something similar in the past, but that was a long time ago. Are you perhaps psychic, human?”
“No way.” Psychic? Is that even a thing in their Universe? It took her a moment to realize that he might actually be teasing her a little. A flush of heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks. “When I first saw you, that’s what you looked like. A black shadow. I was drugged up to the eyeballs, so my memory’s a little hazy. I wasn’t in a good way. All I can say is thanks.”
To her surprise, the alien’s hard expression softened. “No need for thanks,” he said gruffly. “It is my duty.”
A sudden realization hit Sienna in the chest like a sledgehammer. If he was the Shadow, then…
He’d seen her naked.
He’d held her in his arms.
He’d seen her at the lowest, most vulnerable point in her entire life, and yet here he was, acting completely normal about it all.
Well, as normal as an alien could be, anyway.
Ikriss took a seat across from her, his movements eerily graceful. Kordolians just moved differently to humans. “You are my direct responsibility.” He leaned forward, capturing her with his golden gaze. Even his scrutiny felt alien; it was somehow more intense than what she could ever experience with any human. How scary. “I need to ask you some questions, Sienna.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “I thought interrogations weren’t your thing.”
“I would never interrogate you in that way,” he said softly, and even his reassurance sent a chill through her, because it gave a hint of what he could really do to her, if he wanted. “But I need to find out what happened to you before you were abducted.”
“Why does any of that matter now?”
His features hardened, like the surface of a lake freezing over. “I am trying to understand, Sienna, how and why these Ephrenians were able to reach you on Earth. We need to know so we can make sure it never happens again.”
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I-I’m not involved with anything like that.”
“You misunderstand me. I know you have nothing to do with the perpetrators. But there has to be a reason that out of four billion females on Earth, they decided to abduct you from one of the most densely populated metropolises on the planet. They could have gone for much easier targets.”
He knows I live in New York? Sienna glared. “If you’re capable of finding out where I live, then you probably don’t need to ask me all these questions.”
“I’m not going to waste time sifting through cold data when I have you right in front of me,” the Kordolian growled, baring a pair of sharp, gleaming fangs. Fangs! Sienna stared at the alien in fascination. She was vaguely aware that they all possessed fangs, but she hadn’t really paid much attention until now. “If you want to stop this from happening again, then you will tell me what I need to know.”
His commanding, arrogant tone rubbed her the wrong way. This guy had seen her at her lowest point; naked and incoherent. He appeared to have access to her personal information. She was on his warship, a million miles from home, at his complete mercy.
He’d saved her from a fate worse than death.
So now she owed him her life, too.
That was both mind-blowing and a little bit shitty.
; “I’ll answer your questions,” she said quietly, summoning her courage against this all-powerful adversary—or ally; she didn’t know which. “But only if you answer my questions first. You haven’t told us anything.”
Ikriss inclined his head. “Fire away.”
“Uh…” The ease with which he agreed took her by surprise. She was expecting him to be a little more guarded. “Well, firstly, what’s going to happen to us?”
The alien leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, his expression unreadable as he regarded her with a calculating golden stare. “You are under observation for the next twenty-four Earth hours. We need to make sure you are completely healed and that it is suitable for you to return to Earth.”
Return? Disbelief and excitement made her heart race. After all this time… after all the horrible shit she’d been through… they were actually talking about sending her back home?
It wasn’t so long ago that she’d resigned herself to the fact that she might never see her home planet ever again.
For the first time in so long, she allowed her thoughts to turn to Earthly problems. There was the matter of her small restaurant, where she was the head chef and the brains behind the entire operation. Her staff, who needed to get paid… and who were probably desperately wondering what the hell had happened to her. Her sister. Her mom. Debts that needed to be paid. Loan repayments, suppliers, bills…
Her loyal customers.
How was she going to explain away her sudden disappearance?
Oh, god.
She had a life to go back to on Earth. A crazy, hectic, busy, fulfilling existence that she’d created for herself through her own sweat and tears and hard fucking work.
She was going back?
A lump rose in her throat. A tear threatened to slip from her eye.
No way. Don’t do this, she told herself. You’re not going to lose it in front of this guy. He’s already seen too much of you.
“Suitable?” she asked quietly, daring to hope. “What do you mean by that?”
