Inferno

by Nancey Cummings

  “No,” Mishal said bluntly. “Now be useful and hand me that piece,” he said, waving to a length of pipe just out of reach.

  Chapter Seven

  Mishal

  Pel’s actions confused Mishal. In the centuries of their being in a triad, Pel had never been the impulsive one. Pel was ever the soldier and followed orders. Mishal knew he thought too deeply before taking any action. It served him well as a Builder. His creations never failed or collapsed. Flin had been the impulsive heart of the triad, chasing an idea as easily as he hunted prey.

  Courting a mate without consulting his triad… Mishal expected this behavior from Flin, not Pel. Why would the male act in such a manner? A soldier followed orders, true, but also knew when to deviate and adapt. Did Pel discover something that prompted his change in behavior? Did the female threaten him? No. She was formidable for a human but could not harm a valo.

  Days passed and grew into weeks. The ferix did not cease. The lava continued to rise. No matter how many systems he repaired, another failed. The City was collapsing slowly but soon it would fall altogether.

  Pel kept his word and did not court Amber without him present. Of course, Soldiers had been deployed to fight back the ferix incursions. When Pel was on duty, Mishal stayed with Amber. Just to supervise, just to protect her if a ferix clawed its way up the city to her habitat level.

  He didn’t enjoy the time he spent alone with Amber and he certainly didn’t court her. He used the time to observe her, to deduce what hold she had over Pel.

  At least that’s what he told himself.

  “What promises did you lure Pel with?” he asked. They were in her private apartment and she prepared a meal for herself.

  “What?” She set down the blade and turned to face him, the meal preparation forgotten on the counter. “I lured Pel?”

  Mishal crossed his arm over his chest and nodded. “Yes. He is not acting like himself, so I must conclude that you influenced him in some way.”

  “Are you asking if I seduced him?” The corners of her mouth quirked up, as if amused.

  Her near-smile dissolved some of his resolve to resist her charm. Scenarios played out in his mind of Amber, scantily clad, offering the sweet warmth of her core with a teasing smile. He could see it vividly.

  “Clearly. That is the only explanation for his change in behavior,” he said.

  “Maybe he came onto me,” she said.

  “Unlikely.”

  She smirked. “Right. Well, he came onto me, so suck on that.”

  Interesting. “Truly?”

  “You think I’m some sort of seductress? Using my feminine wiles on poor, unsuspecting men?”

  Mishal let his gaze take in all her form.

  Yes. Yes, he did think that.

  “That seems very probable to me,” he said.

  She sighed dramatically. “I got better things to do than make up lies. Are you going to help or are you just going to lurk all night?”

  “I am guarding you,” he said.

  “Right, but the attack ended hours ago. You can go away now.”

  “No.” Not until he received an all-clear from Sarsen or another Soldier. Not until he understood the pull she held over Pel and himself. The attraction was there. He’d felt it from the moment he saw her, weeks ago now. He just didn’t understand why.

  He was broken. His triad was broken. He should not be entertaining notions of taking a mate. He should be able to resist. “Do you want me to go away?”

  Amber shook her head. “I’d like for you to not hover over my shoulder all night, but you can stay. If,” she said, stressing the word, “you try to be nice.”

  “Nice,” he repeated.

  “Yes, nice. You know, have a conversation. Swap stories.”

  Pel was the conversationalist. He could talk for hours about nothing. Mishal fought tooth and nail for every word and often decided half those words were unnecessary. Making idle conversation seemed too daunting a task.

  “Would you even know what to do if I tried to seduce you?”

  Her words knocked the air out of him.

  “I would like you to stay and I think we can play nice together. So very nice,” she said, voice lowered to a purr.

  “What happened to your voice?” His body thrilled at the lower, more intimate tone. How odd that a change in a voice pitch could have a physical effect on his body. He’d have to contemplate the phenomenon.

  “Do you like it?”

  A smile hovered over her lips as she made her way toward him, hips swinging. Each step revealed a flash of thigh and he wanted to see more. She knew he couldn’t take his eyes away from her. She watched him with hooded eyes and her pink tongue darted out to lick her lower lip. She stopped just out of his reach, hip cocked dramatically to the side, pulling the fabric taut across her hips and chest.

  Mishal groaned.

  “When I think about you, I get an appetite,” she purred, taking the final step toward him. Her chest pressed against him, sensation sparking along his nerves. “And there’s only one thing that’s going to really satisfy me.”

  “What do you desire?” he asked, grinding out the words.

  “Mmm. I think you’re hungry, too, and want something to eat.” She walked her fingers up his chest, the point of contact sending him into overload.

  “I do not require sustenance,” he said. At the moment, he couldn’t explain why he didn’t have to eat or drink. Every living thing did, and he certainly felt alive with her pressing against him.

  “I wasn’t talking about eating food.” Her fingers skated down his abdomen, lingering at his loincloth. Desire flared in his heartstone. Controlling his body temperature took all his concentration. “I meant me,” she said.

  “Eat you?”

  “Mmm. I want you to lick me.” Her blue eyes looked up at him, round and pleading for his tongue. It was too much.

  He leaned in, ready to lick—

  Amber pulled back, a laugh on her lips. “That’s what seducing you looks like.”

  “You do not desire me to eat you?” Disappointment curdled in his gut. He couldn’t say why he felt disappointed as he would gain no nutritional benefit. Perhaps just the taste and sensation of touch would be gratifying enough to proceed.

  Mishal leaned toward her and dragged his tongue down the side of her face.

  Amber’s hand covered her mouth as she fought back a giggle. “I’m not laughing at you. I meant my pussy.”

  “Then why did you not say so?”

  “I was trying to tease you. Make you want me like I want you.” Color flooded her cheeks and she pulled away. “Never mind.”

  Mishal grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her toward him. “I’m a simple male. If you want something, please tell me.”

  Amber nodded. “Okay.”

  “Now tell me what you want.”

  She swallowed and Mishal found himself entranced by the cords of her throat. He wanted to lick those. He wanted to lick her everywhere, honestly. Her throat seemed as good a place as any to start.

  His tongue rasped up the column of her neck, taking in the flavors of her skin and the soap she used. He tasted a medley of berries and leaves from the forest, fresh and bright. Her hand rested on the back of his head, cradling him to her.

  “I want you to lick my pussy,” she said. “It’s all I’ve thought about for days.”

  “And Pel?”

  “I want both of you,” she said, her voice soft and so completely unlike Amber that Mishal pulled back to check on her wellness. Eyes bright, she smiled at him. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work with three of us, but I want to find out.”

  “Four. Flin is not awake, but he is with us.” Mishal touched his heartstone.

  “Okay, four.”

  Mishal lifted Amber and set her on the counter. He pushed up the tunic, heartstone burning with anticipation. Her arousal perfumed the air and it made him lightheaded, like the fermented berries the tribe once brewed. He spread her thighs
, parting them and finding a scrap of fabric.

  “What is this?” His thumb brushed across the fabric. He did not understand its purpose, and it blocked him from her pussy.

  “What? My panties?”

  “I don’t like them,” he said, pulling at them.

  “Don’t rip them. Do you know how hard it was to explain underwear to Tonai? I’ve only got like three pairs.” Amber wiggled them down. When the panties were at her knees, Mishal finished removing them. The garment concentrated her scent. He sniffed them.

  Yes. Definitely concentrated. They must function to attract a mate.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe you did that.”

  “Why? Am I not supposed to savor your scent?”

  “It’s just dirty,” she said. Her tone implied a shameful and exciting activity, not something requiring cleaning.

  “Tell me what you desire,” he said. Her legs wrapped around his waist. His cock rubbed against her core, his own loincloth acting as a barrier.

  Her hand rested on the back of his head and she pulled him down to her mouth. Her lips pressed against his, sweet at first, but quickly grew heated and insistent. Her lips parted as his tongue gained entry. The heat of her mouth staggered him. She burned hotter on the inside, like him. Humans had their own fire. A pleased rumble sounded in his chest. This human was so different from a valo, but she felt correct against him. Pel had the right idea in courting his female, but Mishal would never admit that.

  A bright “Hello!” followed by a knock on the door shattered their moment.

  Amber

  “Sorry to interrupt but we’re having a tribe meeting,” Lucie said, standing in the doorway.

  Amber groaned in frustration, half tempted to keep her legs wrapped around Mishal and tell Lucie to get stuffed. She didn’t care about a tribe meeting. Mishal’s body language shouted his reluctance as he pulled away. He would rather be with her, but he cared about his tribe.

  Their tribe, she reminded herself.

  She pressed her forehead to Mishal’s. She had only intended to tease him, but his enthusiasm excited her. “Give me my panties back,” she whispered.

  “No. They are mine now.” He patted the pouch on his loincloth.

  Dirty valo.

  Amber mustered all her discipline and did not squirm with obscene delight knowing that Mishal had her panties. She lifted her head and faced Lucie. “You’re not sorry,” she said.

  She tried her best to keep frustration out of her voice. Another tribe meeting.

  Now was not the time to have a tantrum about spending time with her guys but she could not recommend dating during a crisis.

  With the ferix infestation—really, that was the only way she could wrap her head around creatures birthed out of a lava lake—the valos confined the humans to the upper levels for the time being, rather than have free reign in the city. The valos were operating with an all-hands-on-deck mentality. The ferix came around the clock and the only means of eradication was blunt-force trauma. Every valo took a rotation guarding the humans or eliminating the ferix. Amber itched to get out to the village again, but those plans had been put on hold. Between the ferix and vents that oozed lava opening in the ground, the village and forest were not safe. No one was happy, but the situation was something everyone had to tolerate, even if it did wreck her dating life.

  Pel and Mishal visited her when they could. They brought by fruit or a fresh kill and sat patiently in her apartment while she cooked a meal. Pel always had a smile on his face and Mishal accompanied him, somber and more reserved, but present. Pel peppered Amber with questions about Earth, what her life had been like and how life on Sonhadra compared. Mostly he wanted to know practical things, like how she hunted for her food. If she left a mate behind. What her home had been like. She tried to explain the concept of air conditioning and the two valos just couldn’t grasp why she’d want the air to ever be cold.

  She missed air conditioning so hard it hurt. The apartment came equipped with ceiling fans that circulated the air and the room stayed comfortable, even with two valos lounging around, chatting.

  She liked talking to them. Okay, Pel did most of the talking. Mishal listened. Occasionally his eyes flashed like he had something he wanted to say, but mostly he kept quiet. She liked it, how he soaked up a conversation and considered every word. She suspected she liked him, too. The trouble was just as they got too into a comfortable groove, where the stories flowed, someone came along and ended their date night. Usually, a new incursion of ferix required Pel, or the regulators broke—again—and Mishal had to make emergency repairs, like tonight. Or Lucie showed up with a bit of Creator tech for Amber to poke at and figure out. Since Lucie’s hands were empty, it had to be about the regulators again.

  “Sarsen is calling for a meeting with the entire tribe,” Lucie explained.

  Amber knew the routine. Gather the tribe, assign tasks to the valos, and tell the humans to stay put. “How many more times can you repair those things in the tunnel?” Amber asked Mishal, anticipating the meeting’s agenda.

  “Not much more. The chemical composition of the lake has changed. It is far more corrosive than it was when the regulators were constructed,” Mishal said.

  That didn’t sound good.

  “It’s not about that,” Lucie said. “Come on. Everyone is waiting.”

  Amber jumped off the counter and straightened her long tunic. Falling to her knees, it was long enough to cover up her lack of panties. If she sat carefully, no one would be any the wiser. “I’m surprised they sent you to fetch us.”

  “Are you kidding? No one wanted to get in the middle of your fight.” Lucie eyed Amber’s mussed hair and smiled, knowingly. “Or whatever it was you were doing.”

  Amber smoothed back her hair and pretended not to care.

  All the members of the tribe, all twenty-six humans and valos, had gathered in the upper gardens. Mishal found a seat near the rock fruit bed. He picked a handful and placed it in on her lap. Pel found them in the crowd. He sat on her far side, flanking her with Mishal. Brandi and her three men arrived, sitting nearby.

  “What’s going on?” Amber asked Pel.

  “Nothing good,” he said. His words surprised her. She expected the doom and gloom from Mishal, not Pel, the optimist who saw the potential in every situation now worried.

  Nothing good indeed.

  Sarsen stood in the center of the garden on a small dais, shaped out of dirt and stone. Exhaustion hung off him like a tattered coat. Lucie sat at the front of the audience, flanked by quiet Ertale and not-so-quiet Asche. They didn’t look well-rested, either. Their color was off. Drained, almost. Now that Amber looked at all the valos gathered in one place, she saw that no one appeared well-rested and energetic. Every single valo looked like a faded copy of themselves. It wasn’t just her guys who worked around the clock. It was everyone.

  Amber grabbed Pel’s hand and laced her fingers with his. Once his long fingers had freaked her out, reminding her of their fundamental differences, but now it was simply the rough and calloused hand of a man who cared for her.

  “Pay attention,” he whispered.

  “I am.” She imagined his charcoal-toned fingers on her pale body, spreading her thighs or digging into her ass. Acutely aware of her lack of underwear, she squeezed her thighs together to ease her ache. Mishal wound her up, and she wasn’t the type of person who could just walk her desire off.

  Pel noticed. Her frustrated sex drive must be obvious. He moved her to his lap and wrapped an arm around her waist, letting his warmth soothe the tension in her back. She squirmed, wiggling her ass to get a rise out of him. “Pay attention, or you won’t get a reward,” he murmured in her ear.

  She liked the sound of that and focused on the tribe meeting.

  “The situation is not sustainable,” Sarsen said bluntly. “The lava lake continues to rise. The regulating equipment in the service tunnels cannot keep up and are on the verge of failing. The ferix continue to claw their
way out of the caldera, into our homes. For every one we slay, a new one appears, larger and stronger. We cannot defeat them.” Sarsen’s chest rose and fell steadily with even breaths.

  “What are you suggesting?” a male valo asked. Amber recognized him as Nuriel, one of Brandi’s fellas.

  “We should leave this place,” Sarsen said. An excited murmur went through the crowd. “The humans cannot stay here. We know this. Why should we work so hard to stay here? This is not our home. This is the monument to our Creator’s vanity.” The audience hissed.

  Brandi leaned in. “Finally. I can’t wait to get rid of that god-awful statue.”

  Amber agreed. She remembered the Fire Valos’ initial reaction of suspicion to Brandi which confused her until she saw the Sheenika’s statue, which shared the same coppery brown complexion as Brandi. She paid close attention to any potential mistreatment of her in the weeks that followed but, thankfully, none occurred.

  Maar took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I like your brown skin, sweet one. I shall push that offense to good taste into the lava for you.”

  Brandi fluttered her lashes and sighed, her other hand over her chest.

  Amber pressed closer to Pel, just in case the cutesy-pie from those two was contagious.

  “Where will we go?” Crystal asked, sitting next to Evan.

  Kira sat next to the couple and Amber notice Evan translate for her.

  Sarsen rubbed the back of his neck. “The village will be as vulnerable to the ferix as the City in the Caldera. A new settlement, built for valo and human alike, across the river is the best solution.”

  Every valo in the audience gasped. Amber had never seen a crowd gasp before. “The water valos, the Ghians, will never let us pass!” someone shouted.

  “Perhaps,” Saren said. “But the ferix are unable to cross water. It is the safest location for our tribe.”

  A female valo, Shol, crossed her arms. “I’m not wading through the river. I don’t trust the water valos.”

  “I’ll swim the length of the river twice if that’s what it takes to ensure my young can roam the forest safely,” Sarsen said without missing a beat.