“That is all the more reason you should not be out here alone and upset. Will you allow me the honor of your company?”
“You always come to my rescue. Don’t you?”
“Always. I enjoyed the pleasure of your company for such a short time.”
“Yes, Eli came for us. It all happened so fast. I’m a terrible princess. I should be making things better, not worse.”
Pax stopped walking and took my hands in his. “You are perfect. Those who treat you like a political prize are the ones at fault not you, never you.” Pax placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “They frightened you. That is the reason for this walk.”
I nodded. “They’ve been hiding everything from me. I can only suspect the worst. Does the Warrior Caste still war with one another?”
Pax grinned. “Yes, but that is nothing new. You haven’t had time to study the last five hundred years, have you? This is normal. We are a society of warriors. It is the very reason our Houses form alliances.”
“There are other castes.”
“Yes, but they have no real power.”
I had thought the Imperial family had power. We continued to walk. Pax gave me his arm and picked flowers for me along the way. “What was that? Did the beautiful Teagan just give her Pax a smile? She did. Now, all of my worries are gone. I think I have an idea of something else that would make you happy.”
“What?”
Pax gave me a sly grin. “How would you like to fly me around for a little while? However, just above Dario’s property so you can see what other parts of it you might like to explore, and so everyone can keep an eye on us.”
“Okay!” Pax held my hand and led me through thick foliage to a small shuttle. “Oh, I’ve never flown one of these.”
“It is easier than a fighter. Would you like to watch me first? Then, I can land and let you have a turn.” Happy with the idea, I nodded. Thunderdrop climbed to my shoulder as I stepped inside. “Have a seat,” Pax said with a smile. He taught me the controls and then took us up.
“The jungle is so thick that it’s hard to see anything.”
“The other side of the property had a pond and some rock formations.” Pax landed and traded seats with me.
“You’re the best,” I said as I kissed his cheek and took us back up flying in the direction he indicated. “Look, Thunderdrop! There’s the pond.”
“Chitter chirp.”
“I know. You don’t like water.”
“Teagan, let up on the thrusters and decrease the stabilizers by….” The shuttle began making a noise. Pax met my eyes. “It’s nothing. She’s an older model. There is a beach to the north. Can you put us down there?”
“Sure.” After I landed, I began checking systems.
“Something is wrong with the thrusters. I’m truly sorry about this. If you give me a moment, I’ll try to fix the problem. It should be safe if you and Thunderdrop want to walk on the beach. We are still on Dario’s property. Someone will be here for us any moment.”
“Come on, boy.” I stepped out and looked at the pebbly beach. Soon, the steamy heat made me thirsty, and I walked back. “Pax?”
“Yes, Teagan, my beautiful princess?”
I laughed. “Is there anything to drink?”
“Yes, and I’ll have this repaired in a moment.”
I entered the shuttle and took a bottle of water from Pax’s bag along with his vid-screen. Then, I walked down the beach to a shady spot and sat down. Thunderdrop had a fat lizard cornered.
“Think of Pane. What would he say?”
My spider blinked at me and then pounced on the lizard. Sighing, I took a sip of water. Pax had removed his shirt and one of the shuttle’s panels. He smiled at me, so I blew him a kiss and took a gulp of his water. I activated his unlocked vid-screen and froze. All of the files on it belonged to Inquisitor Drex Licinius. I found a file with my name on it. There were videos. I opened one. It was of my bedroom on the Empress. I saw myself sleeping with Neema curled up beside me. Then, the view turned from my bedroom to the stars as a drone removed the tiny camera. The next image was of Kaoti as he made an obscene gesture at the camera before destroying it. I sent my fear to Thunderdrop. Eventually, he returned to me. If Pax had Licinius’ vid-screen, then Pax had been the one to cut the Inquisitor up into pieces.
“Something wrong?”
I jumped and dropped the vid-screen to the sand. “I want to go back.”
Pax came closer. “Don’t be afraid of me, Teagan. His continued harassment of you made me sick. Even worse is that the Emperor and your husbands allowed it to continue. I had hoped that Dario would have had the testicles to blow Drex and his ship into particles, but he disappointed me, too.”
“I begged them not to. Inquisitor Licinius was one of us, a Parvac. I just didn’t want him.”
“He never would have stopped pursuing you, making you cry, or angering you. You should be loved and protected. You should be treated like a beautiful exotic bird and kept safely in exquisite habitats full of things that please you. None of this ugliness should touch you. The only tears that should ever fall from your sweet eyes are the ones that women cry to get what they want.”
Pax was on me before I could move. He kissed me with a possessive fury. In my mind, I saw a severed hand, one that had given me roses at one of our last meetings. I pushed at Pax’s bare chest.
“Teagan, I won’t fail you. I’ll isolate you from what distresses you. I’ll destroy anyone who thinks of harming you.” He slid his hand under my waistband and over my bare hip.
“Take me back, please. I’ll think about your proposal.” Pax stared at my eyes. Trying to hide my terror from him, I said, “I need to feed Niklos.”
“I’ll take you back, but let me love you first,” he whispered.
Stalling, I looked around at the pebble-covered sand. “Here? But anyway, no. I haven’t accepted your marriage contract. It wouldn’t be right.”
Pax moved one of his hands under my shirt to my breasts. “That didn’t stop you with the black-eyed mutant. Drex watched you with him. He invaded your privacy. I punished him for you.” Pax ground himself against me making me moan. “That’s it. You need me. You are Parvac, not Laconian. You should be with your own kind.”
Fear and lust coursed through me. I was helpless against my physical responses. “Pax, take me back to my babies. Please. We can’t do this.” He wasn’t listening or stopping. I feared my pheromones and lust had robbed him of what little sense he had. “Pax, stop.”
“You don’t mean it. You want me. You’re confused from living in the Galaxic Expanse. You’re confused. Just relax.”
“No, stop.” Frantically, in my mind, I called out to Zared, but he had gone with Nico and Eli. I called to Izaac. I couldn’t sense them and panicked. Suddenly, Pax was yanked up and away from me. Thunderdrop turned the struggling man around and around coating him in silk. “Thunderdrop, come!”
Thunderdrop left Pax suspended from a tree and jumped down to me.
“Teagan, what is the matter with you?”
“I told you, no.”
“You’ve kissed me, touched me, flown us out here, and made me passionate for you only to run away? Do you enjoy teasing me?” Pax smiled. “You want me to chase you. Is that it?”
“No.”
Pax smiled. “I can feel your need. You draw me to you. I won’t disappoint you. Run. I will follow. When I catch you, I will make love to you.”
“No, Pax.”
He grinned at me. He didn’t believe me. I ran for the shuttle. He had disabled it. The communications didn’t even function. In my mind, I screamed Izaac’s name, but I couldn’t sense him. Had Pax killed Izaac?
“I’ll be free soon, my love. Your Pax will hold you and take away all of your cares. Don’t go far. You’ll just tire yourself and strain your heart. I won’t lose you. I’m an expert tracker. However, if my sweet Teagan wants to be chased, that is what her loyal Pax will do.”
From the door of the shuttl
e, I watched in horror as Pax freed one of his hands and drew a long sharp knife. Bile rose in my throat. Had he used that knife to kill Licinius?
“Thunderdrop, hurry. I’ll follow you. We have to get away from him. He’s a crazy bad monkey.”
“Chitter Chirp!” He told me what he did to monkeys.
I told him what Pax had done to Licinius.
“Chitter chitter.”
“Why can’t we share images?”
Thunderdrop didn’t stop to ponder my question. He scurried over fallen branches and jumped from tree to tree as he avoided puddles that were littered with fallen leaves and bugs. I wasn’t so lucky. We were miles from the house, and from our aerial view, I hadn’t been able to see any roads through the thick vegetation. I looked back at the clearly distinct trail I was leaving behind. Trying to be more careful, I kept Thunderdrop in sight and tried to be faster.
The bugs were a nightmare. I had given up swatting them and was grateful to Thunderdrop for my braids. Bugs might be on my hair, but they weren’t in my hair. Sweat rolled off of me, and I regretted leaving the bottle of water behind.
“Chitter.”
“What?”
The foliage had become so thick that each step earned me a new scratch. Thunderdrop leapt straight for my face. Instinctively, I leaned back just as he shot silk from his abdomen and quickly worked to trap the yellow and brown snake that had been about to strike me from a tree. My sweat turned cold.
“How many more of those are there?”
Thunderdrop blinked at me and then lifted his legs a few times. I took that to mean that there were snakes in the trees all around us.
“Oh,” I said in a terrified whisper.
I followed him at a faster pace, but I was tired. The next time Thunderdrop chittered, I dropped into a crouch and covered my head. However, this time he crawled up my back and began spinning lines of silk around my chest and shoulders like a harness. Then, he leapt up to a branch.
“Chirp.” He blinked at me and then lifted me from my feet and climbed higher.
Large leaves slapped me in the face as I swung through the air. For a moment, I enjoyed blissful clear air, but then I looked down and panicked. Thunderdrop was swinging me over a deep gorge. It looked maybe fifty feet down to the rocky trickling stream below and about twenty feet to the other side.
“Chirp.”
When ground was visible beneath us, I clutched at leaves but Thunderdrop kept pulling me along above the ground. I caught a glimpse of an image from Thunderdrop of a rat before it vanished from my mind. Sensing our presence, rats scurried away and were silent. Even though I was soaked with sweat and condensation, two large milk stains made embarrassing messes down the front of my shirt making me feel even more disgusting. On the bright side, if Pax did catch me maybe he’d let me go.
“Teagan, my love, however did you cross this? You’d better not have hurt yourself,” Pax shouted.
Panic gripped me, but then a thought occurred to me. “Neural blocker,” I whispered to Thunderdrop.
He blinked at me and continued drawing me along through the air like a deer he might have been saving for later. I had thought he carried me this way either because we were moving so much quicker or because of the rats. However, then they came into view. I could see three large lizards on the ground below us. They tore what might have been a rat into chunky, red pieces. They were loud noisy eaters. Bile rose in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut. Each one of them that I could see was as long as my arm with rows of sharp teeth that would be able to tear through me like butter.
Thunderdrop didn’t put me down until we were on the other side of a narrow fast moving stream. I could sense his thoughts again. In desperation, I screamed in my mind to Izaac. Immediately, I felt him lock onto my thoughts and feelings. Dizziness overcame me as he rifled through my recent memories. Then, he vanished again.
I heard movement and blaster fire. Pax had found the lizards. Thunder rumbled. While Izaac had scanned my mind, Thunderdrop had been scouting. He led me to a small cave and waited inside for me. It began to pour. I stood in the rain and scrubbed at my insect stung arms, legs, and face for a selfish moment. Then, I opened my mouth and managed a few swallows before following him inside.
Thunderdrop crawled along the wall and blinked at me to follow. It was narrow and dark. Carefully, I followed him by sound. He returned to me and wrapped a thin line of silk around my wrist. Then, it was as if he held my hand leading me along the dark cave tunnel. I was glad of the slow pace since my energy was all but gone. I was glad of the darkness because I didn’t want to know on what I might be stepping. Trusting Thunderdrop, I stumbled along as quickly as I dared bruising my knees and jerking him to a stop a few times as I tripped and fell. Each time, I got back up hoping that if I went a little faster I’d be able to sense Izaac again.
Eventually, I felt an air flow and saw a speck of light. I spurred myself into an uncoordinated jog. Relief overwhelmed me at the sight of a small crevice. Thunderdrop disappeared into the light, and I turned sideways and squeezed out. Thunderdrop hissed. His line tugged at my wrist lifting my right arm straight up into the air.
“No!”
Feathers of red and blue fell around me as my hand snapped free. With a string of angry hisses, Thunderdrop was snatched away into the air. I ran after him.
“Thunderdrop!” I watched as he fought the bird that carried him from sight. “No!” I screamed in agony as my spider baby was taken from me.
I ran after him through the dense jungle that was scattered with clumps of hard rock. Ferocious pain lanced my heart as I feared the worst. Instead of ground, my right foot kept going downward until my knee hit rocks that prevented me from falling into a hole. I clawed myself forward and onto my side as stabbing pain in my knee forced my eyes closed. Rustling noises coming to me had me opening my eyes again with hope that it was Thunderdrop.
“There you are, Teagan. You gave me quite the chase, but I’m here now,” Pax said. “Have you hurt yourself? Let me see.”
I scrambled away from him backwards and tried to gain my footing to run. Pax swooped me up into his arms.
“Let me go! Thunderdrop! Thunderdrop!” My screams caused birds to flee from their trees up into the sky which the thick jungle hid from view. I slapped at Pax with a line of spider silk dangling from my wrist.
“Be patient, my love. I’ll have you calling out my name in a moment. Are you thirsty?”
Furious, I stuck my fingers up Pax’s nose and yanked. He squeezed his eyes shut. With my other hand, I whacked him repeatedly in the side of his head. Something hard behind his ear made painful contact with my palm and fell to the ground. He placed me on my feet. Suddenly, I could sense Thunderdrop’s righteous indignation at the now dead bundle of bright feathers as he chittered at it. Relieved tears streamed down my face. Also, the combined mental force of my searching Omnes Videntes latched onto and engulfed me.
“You may be as rough with your Pax as you wish. You are as wild and untamed as the jungle.” He unfastened his pants, smiled seductively, and came toward me.
“No! Get away!”
Blood streamed from my throbbing knee. Why did it always have to be my right knee? Pax’s face took on an unfocused look, and he collapsed. My fear and panic vanished along with my pain and the itching of the bug bites. The red and blue feathers on the ground lifted up and swirled in lazy circles. I looked up as the leaves parted. Rozz floated down. He had a sleek black propulsion pack on his back. Rozz picked me up into his arms and then lifted us straight up above the jungle’s canopy. I put my arms around his neck and held on.
I saw Zam fly up from the jungle with Thunderdrop clinging to his chest. In his left hand, he held a poorly shrouded bundle that had red and blue feathers poking out of it. Thunderdrop told me that he was eating that bird for dinner. A small black shuttle passed us at a safe distance.
“You couldn’t just have a girlie pampering day. Could you? If you’d stayed put, you’d be smelling pretty,
and your hair would look nice. Instead, you smell like bug shit,” Rozz said.
“I was only going for a short walk to clear my head. I thought it was safe to be with Pax. He’s Nico’s friend and one of my guards.”
“Pax isn’t one of your guards. He’s a fucked-up creep. That’s why Inquisitor Licinius broke the bastard’s legs. Pax wanted to treat you like a pet. He would never intentionally hurt you. Pax has no idea that he’s a sleazy bastard. He thinks he’s romantic. He has no idea you’re terrified of him. Some of these Parvacs are stupid fuckers. They are blind though, not being able to sense emotions.”
“Teagan, we saw everything in your mind and in his the moment you deactivated that neural blocker. He didn’t kill him though. Here, have some water.” Rozz pulled a bottle from his belt. I drank thirstily. “Being a stupid fucker isn’t going to save him from the ass kicking he’s about to get,” Rozz said with a laugh.
“Zared?”
“No, Fitz was in the shuttle. You had better be clean, bandaged, and having your hair done by the time he gets back. If he smells you, I mean sees you, like this, he may kill Pax with his bare hands.”
“I’m glad you don’t want Fitz to kill Pax.”
“Yes, my brother should have that privilege. You are his woman. By Laconian custom, it is his right. Zared will get to Pax before Lord Yukihyo ever learns of this. Lord Yukihyo detected only a touch of fleeting sadness from you. At the moment, he is buying you boxes of sweets.”
My stomach growled. “Rozz, Licinius was spying on me in my bedroom.” Rozz was suddenly contrite, and I sensed embarrassment from him. “What? Have you been spying, too?” I asked angrily.
“Not on purpose.”
“What’s that mean?” I could see a clearing in the trees not too far away.
“You know that when you feel intense pleasure, we enjoy it through you. When you give pleasure to Zared, it is indescribable,” Rozz said with a husky voice.
“Oh.” My cousins and Quaid’s Laconian crewmen had similar experiences.
“We are all of us bound. Don’t be embarrassed.”
Zam and Thunderdrop, being lighter, beat us back to Dario’s house. Rozz drifted down to the front porch and handed me over into Traviz’s arms. Traviz wrinkled his nose at me and carried me up to my room. Pierce turned on the shower as Traviz placed me down on my feet inside of it. Then, he saluted me, wrinkled his nose at me again, and left.
Omnes Videntes (The Space Merchants Book 4) Page 29
