by Maia Starr
“But now that I met you…” he shrugged bashfully. “I’m not sure if I want to be alone anymore.”
“Well, that’s good,” I announced. “Fast, but good.”
He shook his head and then set his jaw, suddenly serious. “Talk to me,” he said slowly.
“Okay,” came my excited response. I slapped my hands on my legs and exclaimed, “About what?”
“Why do you hate the media so much?” he asked, swallowing hard.
“You brought me here to ask about that?” I asked, trying not to get offended. “There are a lot of people who hate the media.”
“Not as much as you,” he said slowly.
“My…” I inhaled, unsure if I wanted to share something so personal with someone so new in my life, “sister,” I managed to force the word out, letter by letter. “She was taken by the…”
He looked sullen, stiff. He swallowed hard and looked intensely at me.
Wisely, he let the silence linger without saying anything. We listened as the crickets chirped and grew louder, as the fire crackled and the sounds of the night filled our little clearing. Then I leaned on my side to face him, and he did the same.
“Okay, don’t think this is weird. Please.”
He nodded. “I promise.”
“Remember the raid of the Parduss? The L7 war?”
“How could I forget?” he said sharply, holding my hands.
“She…” I corrected, “Alexandra, was taken. By them.”
His eyes darkened at that, and he gave my hand a squeeze.
“I know that sounds strange,” I said quickly, trying to hold back my emotions. The truth was, I didn’t really talk about this with people. In fact, the only ones I had ever talked about it with were my boyfriend of the time and Maddie.
Maybe this was just a pattern with me. Maybe every couple of years all of my emotions were bubbling forward, and it just had to come out.
“No, no,” he said, hushing me. “It’s not strange.”
I raised a brow at him.
“Alright, well, it’s not something you hear all the time but…I think that is more common than you think.” He paused, stroking his thumb over my hand and propping his head up on his free arm. “What happened?”
“They took her along with some other girls. They were all part of a terraforming project happening on one of the new colonies near the L7 cluster. The Parduss attacked their base on Earth before they ever had the chance to leave.”
“That’s what the war was named after,” he nodded, probably already knowing the historical tale.
“Anyway, after she was taken there were all these reporters hounding my family and me. Even now, just when I think I’m finally getting on with my life, one pops up! Or, calls my house asking for some kind of comment or asking how I feel about the case never gaining any traction.”
“The Parduss were defeated,” he said slowly. “Isn’t that traction?”
“Yeah, but they never found Alexandra, or any of the other girls who were taken.”
He looked down at my hands and then back up at me, our faces laying sideways, so close to each other I could feel his breath ghosting over mine.
“Have they gotten close?” Korus asked with interest.
“To finding their planet?” I clarified. “Nah. Not that I know of. There are some independent factions looking into it, but if they know anything they’re certainly not telling me.”
A silence lulled over us once more, and I swallowed down a thick, winding ball of emotion.
I was waiting for his apology or his pity. Him to ask about her funeral or what my relationship was like. But instead, his eyes glazed over and he looked just as lost as I had been all these years. Then his pale blue eyes met mine once more, and he said,
“I wish I could find her for you.”
It was one of the single most important things anyone had ever said to me.
For the past ten years I’d heard ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I can’t imagine’ and plenty of ‘My sympathies’—but I’d never heard someone say they wanted to find her. To take it all back so completely. After all, nobody else believed she was still alive except for me.
I smiled at him and let my finger trail down his thick arm and watched as his skin lit up with goosebumps. When I was finished, I looked up at him, watching as he took my hand back into his. They were large and warm and my face flushed as I realized I wished he was touching more of me than just my hands.
“I…like you,” I announced quietly, surprising even myself.
He smirked. “Just deciding that now, are we?”
“I guess I’m slow on the draw.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. I forgive you.”
At that, I moved in, pressing my lips against his, and he instantly followed suit. He ran his hands up my breasts and then through my hair, kissing me passionately and dipping his tongue into my mouth.
Within an instant I was on top of him, pulling his shirt off and throwing it down beside us. His hands raced to my breasts, which were spilling out over my bra. His hands shook as he gently massaged them. I reached behind and unhooked it, slowly slipping it off and watching with delight as his eyes glazed over with lust.
I could feel him getting hard underneath me, and it made me smile triumphantly. I leaned back down, kissing him and running my hand through his wild mane of thick locks. I had never gone this far with someone so quickly, but I couldn’t find any other way to express what I was feeling. I wanted him. I wanted to connect with him the way my mind already had.
With just a few simple words, he’d needled his way into my soul, and I couldn’t shake the need for him.
I ground against him as he kissed, exciting myself with his body and feeling my heart race and pound.
I unzipped his pants and pulled them down, watching with a smile as he kicked them off and repeated the same on me. I sat between his legs, rubbing my hands up his thighs and got ready to greet his thick penis with my mouth, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me back up to his face. The gesture made me like him even more.
My legs straddled either side of him as I slipped Korus inside of me. He grabbed my hips, one in each hand, and we both breathed out a groan of ecstasy at the sudden connection, the slippery feeling of one another’s most intimate embraces.
He pulled me down to his face and kissed me, rocking my hips against him. I writhed and moaned on top of him, already feeling my orgasm building. “You feel amazing,” he said with a startled breath, looking up at me.
“And look,” I said breathlessly as our bodies moved in a passionate, desperate rhythm. “No complaints.”
He smirked at that, cocky and sexy as pulled me close, kissing me as I trembled with a full body orgasm. He held my breast in his hand, squeezing it tightly as he came shortly after.
We stayed frozen in position when it was over, unsure what to do.
It was that magical moment after being with someone for the first time. Wondering what the other person was like after sex, what the connection would be like, how things would change, whether they like to kiss or shower or hell, even smoke. To my delight, Korus simply pulled me close to his body so that my head was resting against his racing heart.
“That’s not why I brought you here, I hope you know,” he said with a startled laugh.
“Funny, because that’s why I showed up,” I teased, crawling my fingers across his chest like a little bug.
“What we have here is special, isn’t it?”
He asked his question so genuinely, so innocently that it sent butterflies through my entire body.
I giggled at the sentiment. “It is for me.”
“I’ve never felt like this before,” he said. It was a line that guys said. I knew that, and I would have rolled my eyes if I didn’t feel the same way.
“Me neither,” I mused with a laugh.
“Look…Brooklyn,” he breathed. “I have to tell you something.”
My heart sank at the sentiment, a sudden rush of bloo
d crashing in waves through my head. I knew it. I knew it had to be something.
What…was he married?
A secret spy?
On the run?
I had horrible, horrible luck with men. My last boyfriend turned out to be in love with his best friend. His male best friend. The one before that was constantly trying to get me to drop out of med-school and become his little pregnant wifey. And the one before that…well…he was my boyfriend when Alexandra went missing, and I really put him through the wringer.
Put us through the wringer.
I forced myself to pull away from my thoughts, and I looked over at the beautiful man before me. The one who had just swept me off my feet and so naturally had to rip my heart out now.
“What?” I said, shaking my head and pressing my eyes shut. “I’m sorry. What did you say, Korus?”
My heart was beating so fast I could barely hear what Korus was saying.
By the time my eyes had focused on his, he was bringing his finger to his mouth, his expression pale and stoic and frightened as he said: “Get down and don’t make a move.”
Then I heard the sound of wind whipping wildly, like a confined tornado, it sounded like something massive hurtling toward us. Then I heard a loud crash, like steel on steel, and the sounds of the Earth aching below the wreck.
I swallowed hard and pressed myself low to the ground, feeling the dewy blanket cold against my breasts. My palms were flat on the ground, and my body shook at the sudden vibration I felt across the field.
Looking up ever so slightly, I could see the plumes of smoke coming from the crash site. Another ship that had plummeted into our world.
My eyes darted up to Korus, and he stood erect, too shocked to move, his eyes scanning the field. Suddenly, amidst the crickets and night birds and the crackling fire, we heard an intense, hollow, guttural roar that whipped across the valley.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, trembling. “Korus, what is that?”
He crouched quickly, lowering himself to the ground and covering my body with his.
“Holy shit,” he whispered out, and we heard an unearthy, rumbling bellow sound through the field again.
“It’s them,” I said to myself. I knew it. It was the Parduss.
Korus’ body went cold, and I could feel his fear radiating. “It’s them,” he nodded, “Stay quiet. They’re coming.”
Chapter Six
Korus
I waited.
My body was crouched on top of Brooklyn as she shook beneath me, waiting for any sort of calm to wash over the field.
The timing of this could not have been worse.
My tongue found its way to the corner of my lip as I listened to the furious howls of my brethren. The Parduss’s cry wailed in a low, guttural vibration—a throaty demand.
To Brooklyn, the growls of the Parduss were wild and animal as they echoed throughout the field. But to me, it was a calling. The Parduss were calling to each other, talking. Where is he, they were saying.
When silence came, Brooklyn moved. The silence eased her, but it unnerved me. As long as they were talking, I could hear what they were saying—what they wanted.
I could see the fear in her eyes as she scrambled for her clothes, looking up at me every so often as though I would lead her to safety. But I knew the only way to do that was to get far away from her.
With a simple gesture of my hand, I told her to get back down, which she obeyed quickly. Then, I crouched down beside her.
“We should get out of here,” I said, against my better judgment.
Her hands were shaking wildly, and her face was beet red from holding back her tears.
“It’s okay,” I said lowly, trying to keep her calm. “They’re not here for us.”
“How do you know?” she whispered back shakily.
I set my jaw. I didn’t know. In fact, I knew the opposite was true. They were looking for me.
“There’s a fire here, remember?” I said, trying not to sound panicked. “If they were looking for just anyone, they would have come straight to the fire. It would have been like a beacon. But we shouldn’t risk staying here any longer than we have to. Come on.”
I grabbed her hand and tightly swung my fingers around hers as her cold, delicate palm pushed up against mine.
Pulling her deeper into the woods, I could finally see the Parduss. Brooklyn’s breathing quickened as she caught sight of them as well. I tried to see if there was anyone I recognized, but there was only one.
She caught my eye, a white dragoness, and started marching her long,
Her long neck was covered in a white, silky mane that also fell down her chest and at the end of her tail. It was rare for a dragon to have hair or fur—so spotting one in person was alluring and intoxicating to my people.
But I knew this dragon too well to be intoxicated by her.
“Shit,” I whispered, spitting on the ground. I turned my profile to Brooklyn and said, “Quick, head back to the lighthouse.”
The lighthouse stood at the edge of Gazers Field and was right next to the parking lot. “There’s a video phone there,” I whispered, hurrying her along. “Go call security and then get in your car.”
“Are you insane?” she said, pulling my hand and urging me to go with her. “You’re coming with me, right?”
“I don’t want them to follow you so…I’ll be there but give me a minute.”
Her eyes went wide, and she hunched over further, stepped back into the dark brush of the forest. “I thought you said they weren’t after us?”
“Yeah, well, with all this waiting around, I worry they might get bored,” I winked.
“That’s comforting,” she snapped. “Korus, come on.”
“I don’t want them to follow you,” I said, teeth clenched.
She scowled at me, yanking my hand down so hard it pulled and ached through newly relocated shoulder.
“Ow!” I whispered in protest.
“Don’t be a dumbass!” she swore.
My brows shot up and I felt a sting of panic go through me. “I’m a dumbass now?”
“Yeah!”
I scoffed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, you are if you stay here!” she urged me furiously. “With the dragons! What are you going to do? Charge them if they start coming after me? Just come back to the car and let’s make a run for it!”
“Brooklyn,” I snapped intensely. “Just go!”
My eyes flicked to the side, watching the white dragon getting closer. Her thick legs crashed against the ground, sending rocks flying up.
She made eye contact with me, and I hunched down, making good use of my fight or flight reflexes. My heart started pounding harder as she approached us, alone, and stormed up to the edge of the forest. The beast craned her long neck and, without thinking, Brooklyn let out a shriek.
The white dragon perked up, looking right at us. I half thought she might vault forward and try to snatch us up, but instead, she took a careful step inward, cracking trees at their roots as she tried to get into the thick brush.
She growled at me, deep, from her throat. They were sharp, small cries.
I raised my chin to her and Brooklyn grabbed my hand, still pulling me back.
“Brooklyn, go,” I said and set my jaw, grit my teeth at the Parduss furiously. She was purposely putting me on the spot.
Of course, I could transform and get away from her or fight her, but that would give me away to Brooklyn.
The white dragon looked at me, breathing sharply through her nose so that her huge breaths blew warm air all across my body.
“Leave us,” I shouted to her, vaulting forward.
She lifted a foot, almost like she was going to step back, but then she stomped it back down.
And, just like that, she left.
“Dath Sa’dah!” the white dragon cried as she flew back into the valley and the lot of them took to the sky in fury, five or six Parduss wiping out the stars as they spread their wings and fled
the scene.
I closed my eyes and felt goosebumps race down my arms, my small human body feeling worn and panicked.
“What…just happened?” Brooklyn asked, but I didn’t answer her.
At Brooklyn’s urging, and against my better judgment, she said she was going to report the incident to SAEW, the Space Administration Extraterrestrial Watch.
If I went with her, they would question me…or if they found any video footage of the white dragon conversing with me, they may know something wasn’t right.
But then she looked at me with scared, wide green eyes and I knew I couldn’t say no. I would have guessed it would be the end of…whatever this was…but at the massive, sickly white government building, she froze.
“Turn it up,” she said and gestured toward the radio.
I fiddled with the knobs until a man’s voice was loud in the car as a news reported sounded across the airwaves:
“—ews that Parduss have been spotted in Gazers Field. The Parduss are back. I repeat, the Parduss are back. Authorities have the armies ready and are sanctioning a curfew for females following the Parduss abduction of three more females…”
The announcer droned on, but Brooklyn burst into sobs.
I put my arm around her as she set the car in park. “Did they say three more girls have been taken?” she cried against the steering wheel.
My heart sank.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Come on; you should get out of here.”
Tears fell down her tanned cheeks, and she looked up at me, wiping them. “Can I…come with you? Back to your place?”
“Of course,” I nodded, and then wondered whether or not the Parduss might have been tracking me, that they might already know where I live.
“Why don’t I come to your place?” I suggested quickly. “It’s closer to your work, and there’ll be less…”
“Reporters, you’re right,” she said quickly. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Seven
Brooklyn
Three more girls taken…
The phrase swirled around in my. The Parduss were back, and this time not only had they taken more innocent women, but they’d come face to face with me.
