Decadence: Darkstar Mercenaries Book 4

by Carven, Anna

  The Kordolian pressed a long gloved finger to the side of his head. His fingers, she realized, were a little longer than a human’s would be. “Your thoughts must be calm. Your body needs to be fully healed. There will be questions. You must be able to withstand the scrutiny of your people and the transition back into your ordinary life. Of course, we will provide the necessary protection. My men are securing the area as we speak.”

  “S-securing?”

  Ikriss smiled, his fangs gleaming in the faint starlight. “Flushing out potential threats. Neutralizing hidden surveillance. Dissuading any of your infernal human media from thinking they can investigate. You are under our protection now, Sienna. We would do no less if you were one of our own.” A devilish glint entered his eyes. “Do not look so worried. We can be very discreet when we choose. Ordinary humans will never detect our presence.”

  And just like that, her hopes of returning to any semblance of normality were snatched away.

  “I don’t understand. The ones that abducted us... y-you dealt with them, didn’t you? Why would I still need security?”

  “The ones that orchestrated your capture were not Ephrenians. The Ephrenians were just the traffickers.”

  “Pretty brutal for just traffickers,” she muttered bitterly. “But I get your point. There was another one. A total asshole. He was calling all the shots, but he wasn’t in the room with me. He was one of your kind.”

  “I know him,” Ikriss’s voice turned deathly cold, “and I will deal with him. Rest assured that revenge will be exacted.”

  Revenge will be exacted. Jeez, he made it sound like a transaction. An eye for an eye, only it was her pain and humiliation and suffering that he was dealing back.

  Did Kordolians have a special thing about revenge?

  Deep down, there was a small part of her that relished the thought of her abuser’s suffering. The idea that one of his own kind would be the one to mete out punishment and probably even death on her behalf… it filled her with a savage kind of satisfaction.

  And she had no doubt Ikriss could be cruel and ruthless when he wanted.

  What the hell is wrong with you? Thinking about revenge and torture like you’re some damn Kordolian…

  She wasn’t even angry about what had happened to her. When she thought about it, she just felt cold… and numb.

  “I don’t care what you do with him,” she said quickly, suppressing a shudder as she blocked out the violent thoughts. “I don’t want to know about any of that. I just want to go home. I want to go back to how things were before all this happened.” She had a perfectly good life back on Earth. “Even these security measures… are they really necessary?”

  The alien gave her a darkly intense look that made her insides turn to mush. “You don’t know my people very well. I do. The security remains until we deem it unnecessary.”

  “And what if that never happens?”

  “Then you will just have to get used to us, won’t you?” The alien flashed a sharp-toothed grin. It took Sienna a moment to realize that he was kind-of teasing her, in a weird and darkly alien kind of way. Did Kordolians have a sense of humor, then? “Consider yourself fortunate. Most humans would never be able to afford our protection services, but you get them for free.”

  “Free? I think I’ve paid my dues,” she said tersely. A sudden terrifying thought occurred to her. “I don’t know what exactly you have in mind for security, but your people… they can’t be in my shop.”

  Ikriss’s left eyebrow arched ever so slightly. “You are a cook, are you not?”

  “Chef,” she corrected, a little indignant. She’d worked hard enough to get where she was. She wasn’t going to downplay her existence for anyone, not even this intimidating alien, who probably didn’t understand anything about Earth’s food culture. “I run a small and extremely busy restaurant in one of Earth’s cities called New York, but you probably already knew that. It’s a tight ship and it’s fucking hard work. I create the menu, prepare the food, pay the staff, pay the debts… that’s why I need to go back as soon as possible. The whole thing’s going to collapse soon if I’m not there.” If it hasn’t already. She just hoped her staff had been able to keep things going in the face of her unexplained sudden disappearance.

  She was pretty sure she’d already missed a payment on her business loan. Soon, the Syndicate’s menacing debt collectors would be hanging around in the dark alleyway behind her shop again, issuing not-so-veiled threats until she paid her monthly installment.

  And every time she felt like she was just about to get on top of things, they raised the fucking interest rate. Bastards.

  But she’d known what she was getting into when she’d accepted those dark-money credit chips. If she hadn’t taken the risk, she wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

  Maybe having a few scary, intimidating Kordolians around wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

  “So you have created a small empire for yourself,” Ikriss mused, appearing thoughtful as he looked out the window to the stars beyond. “All empires, even the smallest ones, have many moving parts, each one depending on the success of another. That makes them vulnerable to failing. I do not want your empire to fail, Sienna. You will be allowed to return to Earth, but you must work with us.”

  Sienna’s eyes narrowed. Was that a threat? An iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove type of threat? “I wouldn’t exactly call it an empire,” she muttered, “but I do have some very loyal customers who will be extremely disappointed if I don’t come back, or if things start getting weird around my shop.”

  “You think we’re going to scare away your customers?”

  “No offense, but you don’t exactly fit in with the hygge vibe I’ve tried to create.”

  “Hygge?”

  Sienna shrugged. “Another word for cozy, but more than cozy. It’s the middle of winter down there, and it’s brutal. People want warmth. A sanctuary. I don’t think I can explain it any better. You’d have to see for yourself.” She bit her tongue at the last minute. Had she almost just invited this alien to her restaurant?

  “I think you underestimate our ability to be discreet,” Ikriss said quietly. He leaned forward…

  And then went quiet.

  His features tightened. His gaze hardened.

  For a moment, Sienna was transfixed… and a little terrified.

  What’s gotten into him?

  The alien’s long gloved fingers pressed into the strange black metal of his armrests. He looked like a wolf that had suddenly caught the scent of its prey.

  His left eye twitched.

  She could see the twin gleaming points of his fangs between slightly parted lips.

  His brow creased ever so slightly, almost as if he were… in pain.

  “One of my officers will summon you later to ask some questions,” the Kordolian said slowly, deliberately, his voice low and laced with sudden tension. What’s gotten into him now? “Now that I have your agreement, rest assured that you will be returned to Earth once the medical observation period is over. I will co-ordinate all security arrangements. There is no need to be concerned. We know how to be discreet if the situation calls for it. But if one of my agents appears at your doorstep with a request, I would strongly advise that you accommodate him—if you truly want to prevent things from getting weird.”

  Another threat, disguised as a bargain?

  Now his startling golden pupils had darkened ever so slightly. Almost imperceptibly, his nostrils flared.

  Slowly, he leaned back into his chair, becoming alien and inscrutable once again as the shadows enveloped him.

  His eyes burned in the darkness.

  Beneath the barely-civilized veneer, there was something savage and intense about him. She couldn’t help but remember the cruel Kordolian that had masterminded her torture for his own sick gratification.

  What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?

  What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?

  But this was different, be
cause she didn’t feel afraid or disgusted. For some reason, she just knew this guy wouldn’t harm her.

  After all, he’d saved her ass.

  He’d killed a sentient being right before her very eyes; coldly, dispassionately, as if he were flicking away a bug.

  And yet she couldn’t help the way her heart fluttered; the way her insides twisted; the warmth slowly spreading through her like an infusion blossoming through water.

  What’s wrong with you?

  She was all messed up right now. She needed to get back to Earth, to her sanctuary—her kitchen—where she could get back to doing what she loved.

  How she missed it; the work, the fresh ingredients, the aromas, the tastes, the satisfaction of bringing raw elements together to create something beautiful.

  Something that gave great pleasure to her customers.

  Right now, she needed all of that so badly.

  To ground her.

  To restore her sanity.

  I have to get out of this place.

  So Sienna made a quick decision. It wasn’t as if she really had a choice, anyway.

  “I’ll tell you what you need to know,” she said quietly. “Let’s get this over and done with. I just want to go home.”

  Abruptly, the alien stood, his movements swift and graceful; too fluid to possibly be human. “As I said, I will send one of our people to question you shortly.” He made a small but annoyingly imperious gesture with his hand, indicating that she should stand too. It was a cold, curt dismissal. After all that, it felt like an anticlimax. “You have nothing to worry about. You are our responsibility now, and we will take care of everything. Asherin will take you back to your quarters.”

  She couldn’t help but feel slightly deflated… and strangely disappointed.

  As if summoned by magic, Ikriss’s assistant appeared from behind silently unravelling black doors.

  She would never get used to that sight; of thousands, if not millions of obsidian tendrils peeling apart as if they were alive.

  It creeped her out.

  For a moment there, she’d almost forgotten she was on a strange alien ship in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beings she knew barely anything about.

  Come to think of it, none of the Kordolians she’d encountered were female. That was weird. Were they a highly patriarchal society, then? Were their women not allowed to work?

  Sienna swallowed her disquiet and glared at Ikriss. “What do you mean, responsibility? I’m in the habit of taking responsibility for my own fate,” she said quietly. “It looks like I don’t have any choice in the matter, but you should know that I just want to get back to my old life, without all this…” She waved her hand in the general direction of all the darkness. “Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely appreciate what you did for me back there. You saved my life, and if I was ever in a position to return the favor, I would gladly do so, although I don’t think that’ll ever happen.”

  “That makes sense,” the alien said quietly. “But you don’t owe me anything. I was merely doing my duty. Goodbye, Sienna Adamo.”

  “Bye to you, too,” Sienna said, taking one last look at the Kordolian before she tore her gaze away. If she stared at him for too long, she feared she might drown in his intensity.

  And that would be dangerous.

  So she turned away, toward the promise of home, resolving to forget about dark, alluring, silver-skinned aliens once and for all.

  Chapter Five

  Ikriss strode down the corridor, quickening his pace as the headache throbbed right through his fucking temples and into the bases of his ultra-sensitive severed horn-buds. At those very points, the pain turned into exquisite agony that sharpened with every step.

  What is this?

  He’d never experienced anything like it in his life.

  But deep down, he knew what it was.

  Oh, but he was screwed.

  And after this cursed meeting with these so-called Federation humans, he was going to go find Kail and drag his ass to the training chamber for a pounding, because the big warrior’s words had proven to be more than little prophetic.

  What was once perfectly calm suddenly becomes unpredictable. It can happen quickly; without warning. You might think you are perfectly in control, but even you are not immune, Commander.

  As he’d sat there in his chambers across from the human, who had pale golden hair and piercing grey-green eyes that held haunting echoes of suffering and pain, the headache had come down upon him like a thunderclap.

  His claws had shot out of his hands, digging into the hard material of the chair arms, and it had taken all his willpower to slowly retract them without the human noticing.

  Serves you right for summoning her. It wasn’t necessary. You could have sent one of your subordinates to deal with her.

  Why had he done it, then?

  You know why.

  Because he wasn’t in the military anymore, but he still had power, so he could do anything he wanted—within reason.

  Even against his better judgement.

  Because he’d held her in his arms as she was close to death; as he’d stood over the dead Ephrenian that had tortured her at his master’s request, and he’d felt cold rage in his veins.

  Because when he returned to Silence, he’d reviewed the transmission logs from the Ephrenian ship, and he’d seen what the Kordolian on the other end had ordered done to her.

  The whippings. The beatings. The collaring. The sleep-deprivation. The starvation. The bindings.

  All because the Kordolian buyer wanted her meek and submissive—broken—when she reached him.

  How fucking predictable.

  When had their people turned from proud warriors into cruel, sadistic slave-owners? Like many from the Lost Tribes, Ikriss had always secretly longed for the Old Ways, which taught that slavery was dishonorable, and that females—the mates and bearers and protectors of their precious offspring—should be treated with reverence.

  The worst thing about it all, though, was that he himself had been an instrument of the Kordolian Empire. He’d been complicit in enforcing their dominion over the rest of the Universe.

  Maybe that’s why his anger kept returning, each wave burning hotter and wilder than before. Maybe it was the reason he planned to personally seek blood-revenge on behalf of those human females—especially her.

  Because in this whole scenario, he saw echoes of his past self; the one that had put ambition and empire above everything else.

  And now he had it.

  It.

  The fucking Mating Fever.

  It was as if the Goddess herself was deliberately taunting him.

  As he reached a bend in the corridor, a pair of familiar voices reached his ears.

  “Hold up, ‘Kriss,” one of them said before he even rounded the corner.

  Nythian. Of course, the First Division warrior knew Ikriss’s identity even before he caught sight of him, just by hearing the cadence of his walk. All Kordolians possessed exceptionally good hearing, but the elite genetically modified soldiers of the First Division had been enhanced far beyond normal limits.

  Ikriss took another step and came face to face with Nythian and his battle-partner, Lodan. The two were like fire and ice; Lodan was cool and logical, and Nythian was hot-tempered and expressive and open with his opinions and emotions—in a way that Ikriss sometimes envied.

  But now it was the big, imposing Nythian who looked cool and relaxed, and that obviously had a lot to do with the fact that he had recently found his mate, a strong, clever female called Alexis.

  In contrast, Lodan—lean and swift and cold-eyed—looked like he was about to fucking kill someone.

  Ikriss had always had his reservations about the pilot, who he’d worked with on more than a few missions. Lodan was too cool, even for a warrior. He never got angry about anything, and Ikriss got the feeling that one day he could very well snap.

  And the thought of a First Division warrior losing his control like
that…

  Well, that was a terrifying thought indeed.

  But then, they all skirted the edge of control sometimes, didn’t they?

  Ikriss was secretly dealing with that very specific problem right now. “What is it, Nythian? Can it wait until later? I am late for a meeting.”

  “Whoa.” The warrior held up a placating hand. “Don’t want you to be late for anything. I just noticed you had an aura about you.”

  “Aura?” Ikriss’s left eyebrow twitched.

  “You look like you want to go and kill someone specific.”

  “Don’t we all?” Ikriss said carefully, restraining the tension that threatened to creep into his voice. He glanced at Lodan as his headache intensified, forcing him to clench his hands into fists. His claws shot out, tearing through the material of his gloves, puncturing his flesh and drawing blood.

  The pain lancing through his hands gave him a moment of clarity. Ikriss took a deep breath and tried to center himself. He needed to be at least half-rational for this infernal meeting.

  “We’re going fishing on Earth,” Lodan said with a tight smile, and although his tone was light, his golden eyes were as cold and as sharp as iceblades. Ikriss knew of many that had suffered greatly after underestimating the pilot because of his calm, easy demeanor. “You look like you could use a swim in a frozen ocean. It’s always a good cure for temporary insanity. Why don’t you come with us?”

  “I might take you up on that offer if this meeting doesn’t run too long,” Ikriss replied. A quick trip to one of Earth’s frozen poles sounded highly tempting. He hadn’t yet had the chance to sample the planet’s wild edible creatures, and the Aikun in him longed for a real hunt, even if it was just catching these so-called fish.

  “We’ll wait for you. We’re between missions, and Alexis has kicked me out for the time being. Apparently, we can be overbearing, and all human females need something called alone time.” A rumbling laugh rose from deep within Nythian’s chest. “Strange creatures that they are. She’ll be longing for me soon enough.” His eyes narrowed with curiosity. “Who’s the meeting with?”

  “Humans,” Ikriss shrugged. He was to deliver an official communication on the rescued females from Darkstar Command—which in this case, consisted of himself and Tarak—to the human authorities.