by Tamsin Ley
She gulped, looking around the empty hall, no longer grateful for the privacy. “Where are you taking me?”
“To the harem, where you belong.”
Harem? No one had mentioned a harem. Dread ran cold along her spine. Maybe he wasn’t an assassin. Maybe this was something else. How far would the empress go to keep Georgie away from her son?
Georgie trotted along beside the guard, trying to catch his eye as he stared straight ahead. “You don’t need to do that. I told Arazhi I won’t be his mate.”
The lipless reptilian face beside her seemed to smile, then right before her eyes, it pulled into a real smile as the guard’s features rearranged themselves. The eyes drew closer together, the muzzle formed into a nose and chin, and two ears and hair sprouted from the guard’s head. It was the first time she’d seen a Kirenai shift forms, and it felt oddly personal. Why is he changing?
Never breaking his stride, he turned to look at her, a human face on a Qalqan body. “Perhaps you’d prefer me to fill that belly of yours.”
Disgust rolled through her at the same moment as realization—the empress hadn’t sent him. And he wasn’t here to kill her. This was one of the slavers the empress had warned her about. The ones who wanted to make humans into breeders. They’ve infiltrated the palace. She had to get away. To warn Arazhi. “Guess you haven’t heard,” she said, trying to be flippant. “But I’m infertile. Incompatible, the healers say.”
The guard leaned closer, his smile reminding her of a chimpanzee’s. “I’ve heard quite the contrary. I’m told you’re special.”
She didn’t know what that meant, and she had no desire to find out. Glad Lora’d forced her and Maise to take those self-defense courses, she spun toward him and thrust her free palm upward into his nose.
His head snapped back. The grip on her bicep loosened.
Twisting free, she spun again, aiming a kick at his crotch.
He crumpled forward with a choked curse, apparently not accustomed to his new human anatomy.
“Help!” she screamed as she pelted back toward the clinic. Her voice echoed through the empty hallway.
The doors to either side were made of lavender popotan leaves, but not a single one opened. She didn’t stop to try them. The rooms behind them might be empty, and she couldn’t afford to slow down.
She kept running, terror driving her body past the lingering ache from the accident. Gasping for air, she reached the clinic’s double doors and burst through.
Two healers stared at her with unreadable expressions as she stumbled and fell, crashing to her knees on the stone floor.
All four guards pulled weapons from their belts.
She pointed to the open door behind her, barely able to pant out the words. “There’s a slaver after me.”
The two guards nearest the exit stepped into the hall, while the two standing at the door to Arazhi’s room widened their stance, weapons ready.
She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her skin prickled and burned. And everything in the room felt too loud and bright.
A healer emerged from Arazhi’s chamber—Elthos, she thought his name was. She recognized him by the tiny dark spot he had under one eye, and she remembered one of the others saying she ought to be important if the emperor’s personal healer was seeing her. He’d made her feel uncomfortable during her scans, but she’d shrugged it off—she was being examined by aliens, after all. Now every hair on her body stood on end.
Something wasn’t right.
She scrambled to her feet, filled with foreboding. “Is Arazhi all right?”
Elthos glanced at the guards. “Why is she still here?”
One guard waved his weapon toward the exit. “She said there’s someone chasing her.”
“Then shouldn’t you go look?” Elthos folded his hands, as if waiting expectantly.
The guards glanced at each other, then back to Elthos. “We can’t leave our post for any reason. The other two are looking now.”
The suffocating feeling was making Georgie see stars now, and it somehow seemed to be coming from Arazhi’s chamber. She couldn’t take her eyes off the royal healer. He’d just been in there. “You didn’t answer my question about Arazhi.”
“That isn’t your place, human,” Elthos said. “You already set his recovery back once. I was forced to increase his sedatives to counteract all the excitement you caused.”
If there was one thing being an event coordinator had taught her, it was to always double check the details. She pointed at the other healers. “As his mate, I want a second opinion. Go check him.”
“I assure you he’s fine.” Elthos remained planted in the middle of the doorway.
“Forgive me, royal healer, but perhaps you missed something?” one of the guards said. “I did sense distress from the prince a few moments ago. I must insist that you allow your assistants to double check.”
Elthos lifted his chin and stared down his muzzle at the guards. “The emperor will be hearing about this, and I assure you he will not be pleased.”
He strode toward the exit as the other healers headed into the room, snatching up a strange medical instrument from a table along the way. He passed Georgie without a second glance.
She wanted to tell the guards to stop him, but had no basis for the request, plus it was taking everything she had to remain standing.
A crash from Arazhi’s chamber made Georgie spin, and she rushed forward to find the healers scrambling with loose tubes and wires. They both knelt on floating stools, hovering above the green fluid puddling on the floor. The sickening smell of rotten strawberries permeated the air.
One shouted, “Charge now.”
What sounded like a bug zapper filled the room, and light surged from Arazhi’s tub.
Georgie gasped. “What’s going on?”
“The recirculation unit came loose. He’s destabilizing,” one said without turning around.
Gripping the doorframe, she watched helplessly while they worked. Her feelings had been right—Arazhi was in danger. He was dying.
The healers argued over the next course of action, speaking too fast for Georgie to understand. All she knew was she needed to see Arazhi. To connect with him, even if only visually.
The green fluid was receding into a drain in the floor, so she stepped inside the room, careful to stay out of the healers’ way. “Arazhi, I’m here,” she called, hoping he could hear her. “It’s me, Georgie. Please, wake up.”
Like a man in a coffin, Arazhi lay with his eyes closed and his arms at his sides. He was completely naked, but fully formed, a blue human. He wouldn’t look human if he was dead, would he?
“We must try the antitoxin, quickly,” one of the healers said.
The second healer picked up what looked like a needle the size of a drinking straw. With barely a pause, he slammed the point straight into Arazhi’s chest.
Georgie gasped, her own heart seizing as if she’d just been stabbed.
Arazhi’s body arched. His chest heaved. Green foam erupted from his mouth.
“Arazhi!” she called out, panic seizing her. Don’t die.
The healers blocked most of her view, but between their shoulders, Georgie thought she saw Arazhi’s eyelids flutter. His hands rose and gripped the sides of the tub. “Stop him,” he groaned.
Shit. She’d forgotten entirely about Elthos. Georgie called to the guards, “Arrest the royal healer. By order of the prince.”
She didn’t wait to find out if they complied. Arazhi was alive. The healers had stepped back, so she hurried forward to take his hand. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live.” He smiled, although she could see how much it pained him. “But promise you won’t leave me again.”
Her legs felt weak with relief. “I’m right here.”
But even as she said it, her heart ached. This didn’t change what she had to do. It only altered her timeline. She couldn’t be his mate, but she could at least stay by his side until he was well.
18
Arazhi insisted on transferring back to his own rooms, refusing to relax into his resting state while the healers saw to his recovery. He didn’t want to take his eyes off Georgie again, especially after she told him about the slaver in the hallway. His days of being shadowed by a single guard were a thing of the past—not to mention his most trusted security officer, Zhiruto, was still back on Earth.
Almost a week had passed since the accident, and Elthos had so far managed to elude capture. Arazhi had been overseeing the palace investigation, trying to determine how deep the Senburu’s infiltration ran. He’d picked a few key personnel who were not only investigating each other, but also every palace guard, healer, bondservant, and dignitary who’d had access to the palace.
“Leave no stone unturned,” were Georgie’s words, and for once, her idiom made perfect sense.
He gazed at her now from where he sat propped in his bed. She was swinging back and forth in the hanging chair she favored for reading, her bare feet tucked up beside her, pale hair catching rays from the afternoon sun streaming through the window. He wanted to kneel in front of her and kiss every one of her adorable pink toes. But she’d been keeping him at a distance, hovering nearby like a satellite that never landed.
Although his matrix was growing stronger every day, taking less effort to maintain his human shape, he hadn’t admitted that to anyone. He knew Georgie intended to leave as soon as he was well. He felt the clock ticking and knew the truth would have to come out soon.
Suddenly, Georgie gasped and looked up from the data pad with bright eyes. She’d been scrolling through the morning updates from his new security team. “They say your father was able to speak to them this morning.”
As suspected, Elthos had also been behind his father’s illness, or at least his continued decline. Under the guise of keeping the emperor’s condition from going public, he’d insisted on being the only healer to treat him. All the while, he’d been continuing to administer the poison.
Arazhi patted the mattress beside him. “Come sit by me so I can read, too.”
She raised an eyebrow. “It didn’t work yesterday and it won’t work today, Sneaky Pete. I’m not getting in your bed.”
Leaning forward, he smiled, making sure his dimple showed and enjoying the surge of her attraction flooding his Iki’i. “Don’t you humans have an idiom about sexual healing or something?”
She laughed. “That’s not an idiom. It’s an old song from the eighties.”
“Whatever. I’m going to die if I don’t get to touch you. Don’t make me get up and come over there.” Though she’d remained in his rooms, she’d been sleeping on a sofa. She refused to let him touch her, let alone come to his bed. He understood her reluctance to share him with a surrogate—he found the idea equally distasteful. All he could do at the moment was hope for a miracle that would allow them to be together.
Standing, she moved to the chair next to his bed. His momentary elation to have her near faded as she pushed it back just out of his reach before she sat. “Arazhi, I’m here until you’re well, but I can’t touch you. You need to sire an heir.” Her voice grew thick. “And since that has to be with someone else, I prefer to make a clean break sooner rather than later.”
“But now that my father’s well, my parents could have another child.” That was unlikely, but he was willing to hope for anything. “I don’t have to be the only one in line to become emperor.”
She shook her head, a sad smile ghosting her lips. “You said children are rare among Kirenai, that most couples are lucky to have just one. What’s the chance of them having another?”
A raspy voice from the doorway behind Georgie answered before he could, “Possible, but not likely.”
Qantina, the new head of the clinic, stood there with a scanner in one hand and a vial in the other. Deshel stood next to him, bowing deeply as apology flowed toward Arazhi’s Iki’i. “Pardon us, Prince Arazhi,” Deshel said. “I didn’t realize you and your mate were busy. I can tell the healers to come back—”
“No, it’s all right.” Arazhi frowned. “Is it time for my therapy already?”
“We’ve been concerned about your slow recovery and have a new treatment that should help fortify your matrix more quickly.” Qantina stepped forward. “But first, I couldn’t help overhear that you and your mate have not yet bonded. This is relieving news.”
Georgie aimed a tight smile toward Arazhi and stood. “See?”
Qantina tilted his head at her. “I believe you’ve been misinformed about your compatibility.”
Arazhi sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
“Our scans revealed Kirenai markers in Georgie’s DNA.”
Georgie’s face paled. “Markers in my DNA? What does that mean?”
Arazhi didn’t like where this was going; Kirenai left a marker in a female when they pair-bonded with one. “Impossible. Surely I’d have felt if she was already mated.”
“She isn’t bonded.” The healer set the vials down on the bedside table. “Her father is Kirenai.”
Shocked silence filled the room.
Then Georgie took a step back, shaking her head. “What? No! My dad is… Dad. He’s as human as I am.”
Qantina bowed slightly. “With all respect, the DNA doesn’t lie.”
Georgie’s face went ghostly pale, and he didn’t even need his Iki’i to sense her dismay. “You mean it’s true? This whole time…”
Concerned she might faint, Arazhi threw back the covers and shot to her side. “What’s true?”
She grabbed his arm, seemingly glad for the support. “Mom said she was abducted by aliens right after Dad was deployed the first time. Everyone thought it was just her throwing a fit so he’d come home.” She met his gaze. “It happened about nine months before I was born.”
Earth was supposed to have been closed, so Arazhi’d never considered that she might have Kirenai bloodlines. Slavers must’ve impregnated her mother and then returned her to Earth once they realized she was carrying a girl. The knowledge made him twitch with anger. But it also finished the puzzle about why Georgie had trouble conceiving; she needed to pair-bond first—with a Kirenai male.
Shock made the air feel fuzzy as Georgie collapsed into a chair. Her voice shook as she asked, “But if I’m half Kirenai, why am I not blue?”
Qantina answered, “Kirenai traits are almost entirely contained on what you humans call the Y-chromosome. Only the Kirenai empathic power is sometimes present in female progeny.”
Arazhi nodded. His persistent sensation that Georgie had understood his emotions made sense if she had a trace of the Iki’i. “This is good news, kikajiru.” He knelt to take her hand. “It not only means we can have children, but that we’re more compatible than either of us ever imagined.”
Georgie’s eyes widened. “How?”
“Kirenai females need a pair-bond to conceive, but if they find a suitable mate, they often have more than one child.”
His Iki’i felt a moment of vertigo, then she turned her attention toward Qantina. “So, let me get this clear. I’ve been unable to have a baby because my Kirenai DNA requires me to be bonded to a Kirenai mate first?”
“Correct,” Qantina said.
“If Arazhi and I bond, I’ll be able to get pregnant?”
“Considering the human half of your DNA, I theorize you will conceive almost immediately.”
Georgie sucked in a breath and gripped Arazhi’s hand.
Qantina added, “Once the prince has adequately recovered, of course.”
Arazhi could swear he felt mischievous amusement coming from the Qalqan, as if the healer had suspected his improvement all along. Standing, he pointed toward the door. “Thank you for your visit. Now please leave us.”
The healers bowed as they departed.
Georgie frowned, looking up at him from her seat. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
Pulling her to her feet, he guided her backward to the mattress. “Neither sh
ould you, kikajiru.”
She sat on the bed and yielded to his hand pressing her back onto the pillows. “You’ve been faking illness to keep me here, haven’t you?”
Her words held only mild reprimand; most of his Iki’i was saturated with the euphoria of love. “I was debilitated by lovesickness.” Lying down beside her, he stroked her cheek, looking deeply into her eyes. “Only you can cure me.”
She smiled and leaned in to kiss him, the softness of her lips quickly igniting his passion. He slid his fingers into her hair, reveling in the heat of her body against the length of his.
When he finally paused for breath, she asked, “Are you well enough for this?”
“I don’t want to wait another moment to make you mine. But there is one problem.”
Concern flickered through her. “What?”
“You have not yet agreed to marry me.”
She laughed, pure joy rolling from her like sunbeams after a long winter. “Of course I will, Arazhi. I want us to be together forever.”
He smiled back. “Then let’s make it so.”
Inhaling her sweet musk, he kissed her again, moving along her jaw and down her throat as he parted the front of her tunic.
Her hands clawed at the nightshirt he wore—he’d discovered wearing human clothing was far easier than simulating it—and pulled it up over his head. Within moments, they were both naked. His cock throbbed with the need to fill her, but he didn’t want to rush this moment. He wanted their bonding to be a memory they treasured. He pushed back onto his knees to look down at her naked body. “You are so luscious.”
She spread her knees and beckoned him toward her with both hands. “I want you.”
“In due time, kikajiru.” He bent and sucked in a nipple.
Her back arched to meet him, the bud hardening under his tongue. He loved how responsive she was, the little mewling noises of pleasure that escaped her throat. Her arousal was like a drug threading through his Iki’i, making his heart race and his blood grow hot.
She dug her fingers into his hair, gasping as he sucked hard before moving to her other breast. She wrapped both legs around his backside, trying to draw his hips toward hers.
