by Naomi Lucas
His eyes are black.
I can’t decide if the male is either stunning or uncannily terrifying. Or both. He reminds me of the lake. Of deep blue water and all the creatures hidden within it.
Swallowing, my fear ebbs. The glass will hold. It will...
The allure of his coloring, though, screams for me to keep my distance. If I’ve learned anything from visiting numerous planets, it’s that the prettiest, brightest creatures are the most dangerous.
Wanting to get closer, I move into the open space of the room.
What will he do if I show courage? If I stand up to him?
Will he fear me?
I’ve met two of these nagas so far, and both were different. Maybe he will be too?
He stares at me intensely, and I curl my arms over my chest. When I’m standing mere yards from him, he says something to me that I can’t hear through the glass. One of those little white orbs floats around his head.
He bares his fangs and says something more, the intensity going into his expression.
I shake my head.
He slides his hand down the glass, bringing the other forward. He’s holding a knife.
Shelby’s knife.
I forget the naga and search the yard for Shelby. A fist pounds on the glass, startling me. I look back at the male. His flaring nostrils, the frustration etched on his face, sends my pulse racing. I take a step back. He looks around, finds a large rock, and flings it at the glass.
Thump!
I recoil as the rock tumbles to the ground.
The male glances at something behind me, and I turn to see the robot holding out a plate of food. An idea forms.
Zaku programmed the robots to listen to me in all things except for letting me leave.
“Robot…” I say, pursing my lips, trying to find the right words to ask for what I want, trying to keep my anxiety from showing. “I want to speak to him.” I indicate the male outside.
The robot scans me, scans him. Then it scans the white orb hovering beside him.
“Connecting,” it says.
I glance at the trees around the yard, searching for Zaku. He could return at any moment. I don’t know what he’ll do if he sees this other naga speaking to me, but I assume he’ll kill him and put his head on a spike with the other. Or maybe he’d just let it rot on the ground with the others scattered about. If his talk about domination is to be believed, he won’t let this naga live. Facing him, I straighten my shoulders.
If he wants to risk his life, then so be it. He might have news of the outside world. He has something because he’s holding Shelby’s knife. I’ll take something over nothing.
A crackling noise fills my ears, and then a voice.
“Female… where… Zaku?”
My flesh prickles with excitement. It worked! But I shake my head again at him. I sure as hell am not giving Zaku’s location away.
I like Zaku.
More than most people or beings I’ve met.
“He’s around,” I say softly. “Stop making noise or he’ll hear,” I lie.
The male snarls at me. “Open the door,” he demands. “Let me speak to him.” His voice is clearer now coming through the house’s robot. “I am owed.”
Owed?
“I’m not an idiot. I’m not letting you in, and even if I wanted to, I can’t,” I say a little louder.
The male pounds his fist on the glass, clearly annoyed.
“Where did you get that knife?” I ask, pointing to the weapon in his hand.
He pauses, looking at it. “The forest.”
“It’s mine,” I say, growing more confident.
His eyes come back to mine. “It’s mine now. Open the door. I am owed!” he shouts, thumping his tail.
I flinch. Absolutely not. If he’s near Zaku’s home, where there are remains scattered everywhere, then he’s not afraid of Zaku.
Maybe this male is that terrifying. Or maybe he’s stupid.
But then if he’s stupid… if I try the door with his help, perhaps I’d get free. I could trick him.
I could run.
I could make it back to the facility, take the transport ship, and return to The Dreadnaut. There I could find reinforcements, save Gemma, and get my vengeance on Peter and the others.
Zaku will never let me get that far.
I’m mad at myself for even considering such a terrible plan. These males aren’t stupid...and if they were, they’re strong enough to counteract it.
“No,” I tell him.
The male’s lips twist. His eyes go wild with desperation, making my heart race. The scales rise on his neck and shoulders. “He promisssed me a female!” The male strikes at the window again, and I take a step back. “He lied. I will have what I’m owed!”
A cold sweat breaks out on my skin. I shake my head again. The male hisses, flings his long tail like a whip upon the glass.
The window shudders, the sound louder than the thump of the rock. “I will have what I’ve been promised! I will have her!” his roar thunders through the robot, making my soul quiver. I back up until my butt is against the kitchen counter. “He promisssed me! A so-called king,” the naga spits, “never breaks a promise!”
The further I back up, the angrier he gets. He slams his tail against the glass over and over. Harder, heavier, the pounding rumbles through my whole body, filling me with terror. He thrashed, beating at the window.
I hear the glass crack.
“I will have what I am owed!”
Eighteen
Broken Promises
Daisy
Glass shatters, and I dart to the side, sprinting to the red door. I slam it closed behind me, frantically searching for a lock, a weapon, anything. There are only the paintings on the walls and the spiral staircase on the far end that leads to Zaku’s nest. Nothing else.
Then I see the panel next to the door. Pressing buttons at random, I pray it locks.
I hear more glass shatter, growing louder by the second. The glass isn’t working, my thoughts reel. The door isn’t going to keep me safe. I can’t stay here. I pivot to flee below when Zaku’s voice stops me.
“Vagan!” he bellows, the sound eclipsing all else.
There’s another crash, and I stop.
“I gave you what you needed, and you deny me my prize!” Vagan roars. “I bought her, not you!”
Bought...her? Anger streaks through me. Who?
Sliding my damp palms on my pants, I crouch as I hear more things break and shatter.
After a time a thunderous hiss pierces through the door and straight into me. Zaku’s hiss. It slithers through me and over my flesh, entering me and invading every nerve ending. I lick my lips and open the door to peer outside.
Shaking, I find Zaku in the middle of the room, towering over the other male’s form, and the naga, Vagan, coiled, glaring up at him.
Shelby’s knife is sticking out of Zaku’s chest. Fear rips through me.
They’re poised, the both of them, waiting for the other to make the next move. Zaku’s tailtip sways tensely from side to side above his shoulder.
I clutch the door as the blue naga hisses, “We had a deal.”
Slowly, Zaku lifts his hand and grips the knife. “You dare enter my den? Attack my queen?” he grits. “Any deal we had is gone for your foolishness.”
“Gone? It was my tech. Mine! I will have what I’m owed!”
Zaku’s lips curl and he pulls the knife from his chest. “You are owed nothing. You did not capture a female. The hunt was fair.”
“Fair? There was nothing fair about it. You threw me off the mountain. You denied me the chance,” the blue one sneers. “I will take yours in compensation,” he hisses.
Zaku lifts the knife and stares at it. Just like the Python had that first night. Blood spurts from Zaku’s chest.
Transfixed, fear cramps my stomach.
Zaku’s cowl flares, his eyes darkening when they return to the blue male. “You will never have my queen, Vagan. And for this int
rusion, I will make you pay.”
Vagan rises to face him. “Dishonorable sssnake,” he says. “You’re the one who will die today, and I will claim your female upon your corpse! I will take her as your punishment for your deceit!” He attacks, and I shove open the door, screaming when his tail snaps behind Zaku and comes down.
Zaku braces against the hit, tenses at my voice, and strikes out, thumping Vagan in the face. Vagan roars, and then there’s nothing but a flurry of tails and limbs. I hear grunts, snarls, and groans. Vagan flings away and twists in my direction. He rushes for me.
He abruptly stops and is dragged back by his tail. I dodge behind the door and close it again, sliding down the frame with a whimper. I need to do something. I need a weapon.
There’s no fucking weapon in this house!
“I will have what I’m owed!”
“She is not the one you want,” Zaku bellows.
“You allowed the human males to leave without delivering her, without giving her to us! She is mine!”
“She is gestating. How was I supposed to know this? Do you want a human litter to fend for?”
“The human males lie. She is not gestating!”
They’re talking about Shelby.
“I can’t give you what I don’t have. The hunt was fair, Vagan. Leave now and I will let you live,” Zaku growls. “For the history we share, I can be merciful.”
“Merciful? You don’t know the meaning of the word. You owe me, King Cobra. You owe me. Help me! Help me steal her. Now that would be mercy.”
“I’d rather see you maimed.”
Abruptly fighting returns, louder, wilder this time, and closer to the door. I fall back when something crashes through it. It cracks, shattering, wood splintering everywhere. Fleeing, I race for the safety of Zaku’s nest.
A tail wraps around my ankle, jerks me, and I drop hard to the ground, hitting my head. Crying out, I’m dragged across the floor and into a cage of arms.
“Release her,” Zaku snaps, poised in the doorway, a hand clutching his chest where his blood spurts. Sharp claws press into my neck.
“I want my mate,” Vagan wheezes against my ear, lifting me against him. Corded muscles press into me. His claws push into my skin and I wince.
Zaku strains but remains where he is, meeting my eyes. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I will do more than hurt her,” Vagan threatens, “if I don’t get what I want.”
“Shelby,” I rasp. “You want Shelby.”
Vagan goes taut, his chest pushes into my back. “Ssshelby,” he repeats her name. “The one with bright eyes.”
Zaku’s tail inches closer.
“Yes!” I burst out, focusing on it. “Shelby, you want her, don’t you? Her eyes are special,” I say, distracting Vagan.
“Ssspecial?”
I lick my lips. “Very special. They’re… they’re enhanced, her eyes.” Vagan’s claws lift from my skin slightly. “She’s very special. Only one in a million have eyes like hers.”
“She is,” he agrees. “She excites me. She… she has turned my body against me. Why?” he roars, sending my hair flying from the ferocity. “Why is my body quaking!?”
Zaku’s tail gets even closer. I feel Vagan’s tail coil up my leg and something hard digs into my lower back, something more than his chest.
Knowing what it is, I try not to be sick. “How does she excite you?”
Vagan grunts and his cock grows harder, bigger, wetter. “She makes me want to mate. Tell me more about her eyes. Tell me anything. I want to know everything. I need—”
Vagan’s hold on me drops, and I fall forward. Zaku catches me as Vagan is ripped back, pulled away by Zaku’s tail. Zaku thrusts me behind him, and I tumble to my knees as he jumps atop Vagan’s form, his fangs sinking brutally into the blue naga’s arm.
Vagan screams, clawing at Zaku, refusing to give up. Zaku's entire body twitches, straining against the place where his fangs are deep in Vagan’s skin. I scurry away and into the foyer, not wanting Vagan to grab me again. Zaku’s fangs hold.
Vagan rolls onto his back, his eyes glazing over. They meet mine and he hisses weakly, “Shelby.” Like he is satisfied dying on her behalf. For a woman he has never even met.
I frown.
Zaku slides his tail over Vagan’s form, pulling his fangs out as Vagan falls unconscious. Zaku presses his hand back to his wound. Minutes go by—minutes that feel like an eternity—and Vagan doesn’t rise.
Zaku slumps to the floor, keeping the heaviest part of his tail draped across Vagan’s chest. His eyes hood, finding mine. They dull further as I rush to him. There’s blood everywhere, pooling from his wound. It’s all over his scales.
“Zaku,” I whisper, spanning my fingers, uncertain if I should touch him.
“Vagan… will not be out long.” He sags, his hand sliding down his chest. “You… must hide.”
“We need to stop your bleeding,” I say. I sprint into the front room, grabbing some towels from the kitchen, and when I do, I spot dozens of robots everywhere. They’re picking up the rubble, the broken furniture, and the glass strewn about. Some are beginning to repair the walls. I don’t wait to watch, returning to Zaku’s side.
His eyes follow me as I press the towels to his wound, staunching the blood as best I can.
“We need to stop the bleeding. Do you have anything that can help?” I call for the robots when he shakes his head. Soon, several come to my aid. “Help me,” I beg them.
One of the robots scans Zaku. “Emergency medical aid has been called. They are on the way.”
Zaku reaches for me. “I will regenerate.”
“Hush. The robots said aid is coming—we need to put pressure on your wound. We need to stop the bleeding. Try not to move.”
“Aid isn’t coming. I need… sleep. Rest. You need to hide. Vagan will not be down long. My venom—”
“Not without you. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
He just saved my life. There’s no way I’m leaving him, but if what he says is true and Vagan will soon wake, he’ll kill Zaku and finish the job. He’ll come after me. He’ll go after Shelby.
I need a weapon. Straightening, I run back to the front rooms and find my knife. Covered in blood, I wipe it on my pants and return to Zaku.
He eyes me and the weapon. I go to Vagan’s side.
I poise the knife over Vagan’s chest and sink it in, putting my weight down on it to push it through the naga’s muscles and organs. I hit bone. He groans but doesn’t wake. I yank it out and stab him several more times in the gut.
“Shelby will never be yours,” I whisper, “You’ll never hurt her baby.” Pushing my knife into Vagan once more, I leave it in. “You’ll never hurt her or her baby.”
I turn back to Zaku. He’s slumped over, and I crawl to him. “What about the medical pod?”
“I… will not… fit.”
Glancing at the robots gathered around us, Zaku grabs my wrist, forcing my eyes back to his.
Slowly, he lifts, pinning me with his eyes, towering over me, blood spurting between his fingers when the towels plop to the floor. Some of it gets on me. He tugs me to my feet, and my mouth slackens as he drags me toward the stairs.
“What are you doing?” I choke. “You’re going to hurt yourself further. You’ll die!” He leads me toward his nest, his grip tightening when I try to pull away. “Stop, Zaku! You’re making yourself bleed more!”
“If you will not hide—” he wheezes. “I will make you hide.”
Zaku falls against the wall, taking only a moment to steady his body with his arm. I gag, glancing back at the trail of blood he leaves in his wake, his tail slipping through it, half tumbling down the stairs.
“Please stop,” I beg him. “Please. I’ll hide, I promise, just stop!”
He uses the wall the rest of the way down.
A robot is waiting for us at the bottom. Zaku groans and stares at it. I try yanking my wrist from his grip again. “Why are you doing
this?” I gasp.
“From this… point on,” he hisses at the robot, “you will follow no one’s… commands but my own.”
My brows furrow. Zaku drags me into his room and toward the golden cage. He thrusts me inside. I catch my footing and turn as the cage’s door closes.
“Sssafe,” he says. He tumbles to the floor.
I rush to the bars. “No,” I cry, reaching my arm through them. My fingers brush his scales. “Zaku!”
He doesn’t respond.
“Wake up!” I scream.
Nineteen
Trapped
Daisy
I lose my mind.
I scream, I rattle the cage bars, I curse. All the while, Zaku’s blood slowly covers the floor, making the cage feel even smaller.
The stench of it fills my nostrils. I can’t stop breathing it in, no matter how hard I try. I can’t get away from it. My clothes are soaked with it. I shout for Zaku to wake up. I scream for the robots that no longer respond to me. I vomit up bile, nauseated with fear.
I climb onto the swing in the cage when the house robots enter the room, fearing it’s Vagan back from the dead to finish the job.
The robots clean the blood. They wash the walls. They laser the ground. They even wipe the blood off Zaku. I beg them to let me out of the cage but they leave me be, cleaning what they can through the bars.
The smell of blood remains.
When the robots are done, I move to the lock and try it. Only I can’t get a good look at the mechanism on the outside. I can’t reach it with my fingers. Straining, pushing I still try, giving up before I hurt my hand. Holding it to my chest, I curse some more. My attention returns to the giant, unmoving male and my heart constricts.
He hasn’t stirred, his coloring continues to diminish. The yellow, browns, beiges, and even his black scales have gone grey. I calm, staring at him, or go numb, I don’t know anymore. His bleeding has stopped, but he’s also still not moving. I gaze at his motionless form, begging for him to wake up and then cursing him for putting me in this situation. Eventually, the robots leave.
And I’m alone.
