by Anna Carven
Some Primean citizens—the so-called Purists—preferred for their help to remain silent and express no emotions or opinions, but Esania had always thought their attitudes towards humans were a little ridiculous.
What a difference 0.01% of DNA could make, huh?
Imril rose to his feet in a single fluid motion. Despite his impressive size, he moved with the predatory grace of a fighter.
For a moment, Esania just stared up at him, overwhelmed by his sheer presence.
Why was it only now that she was noticing his magnificently honed body? Encased in that form-fitting dark metal armor, every line and contour and chiseled outline of muscle was visible. The reflected light accentuated his broad chest, his pecs, his rippling stomach, his powerful arms.
He extended his hand. Esania closed her mouth and slipped her fingers into his, her bare skin pressing against that strange smooth metal second-skin.
Always, her power flowed into him, even if their skin wasn’t in direct contact. When they touched, it was a torrent. When they were close like this but not touching, it was a faint trickle; barely there, but noticeable.
Every time he stepped into her personal space, he was going to drain her, one way or another.
She should run far, far away from a creature like this.
But that was impossible now.
He’d protected her, and now he pulled her up off the floor with the slightest movement of his arm, as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.
“Rau will attend to you both,” he rumbled, stroking her palm gently before releasing her. That tiny, almost imperceptible gesture sent a ripple of anticipation down her spine. “Whatever you need to feel comfortable, just ask. You may feed, bathe, dress, and rest.” He looked her up and down slowly with a devastating gaze.
Something had changed between them.
A strange sensation stirred in her core; a feeling she’d never properly experienced before.
She wasn’t naive. She knew what this was.
Oh, for Mars’s sake, she was attracted to this impossible man. If the Serakhine Thought Monitors could stick their probes inside her brain and map her thinking patterns right now, she would never be allowed back into the Primean colony, ever.
Imril shook his head and abruptly stepped away from her, moving backward until she no longer felt the seductive pull of his hunger.
Just like that, her vir stopped flowing, and Esania immediately felt a sense of emptiness.
Had he read her thoughts just now? She wouldn’t put it past him. In a world where fearsome beings could channel light and shadow, anything was possible.
“I just have one question for you,” she said quietly as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. “There’s supposedly this legend about two brothers with the blood of a god running through their veins, who fell to this planet thousands of years ago…”
Imril laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. “I wouldn’t exactly call him a god, but—”
“You’re the one, then? The Drakhin of legend?”
Golden eyes that had been full of concern for her became inscrutable, impenetrable; layered with a thousand years of experience. “I am.”
Esania let out a deep breath. She heard Sara shift on her feet.
This is… insane.
Imril smiled. “But legends are so overrated, aren’t they? Rest and refresh yourself, human. I imagine you would like to talk. When you are ready, you will find me in the central spire. Rau can show you the way.”
Human? Esania stopped just short of correcting him. What did it matter now, anyway?
Before she could respond, Imril turned on his heel and left, his glorious wings folded tightly against his back.
To her surprise, the big doors remained open.
“Whoa,” Sara said. “That was intense. He really has a thing for you, huh?”
“I wouldn’t know about a thing,” Esania muttered, feeling strangely out of her depth. She, who had never ever contemplated the possibility of being attracted to someone, who had received the libido-suppressing injections on Mars just like everyone else, was suddenly dealing with a racing heart and feverish thoughts and butterflies in her gut.
Of course, the injection would be wearing off right about now; she couldn’t even remember when she was due for her next dose.
“That was a thing if I’ve ever seen one, ma’am. I know your kind think lust and sex and are responsible for fifty percent of Earth’s evils… or something like that, and that’s why you’re all so uptight about letting yourselves feel real emotions, but I’ve always secretly thought the Primean way of doing things is insane. You can’t suppress these things forever. You just can’t. It’s nature.”
“Don’t make a fuss, Sara. Emotion counters rational thought,” Esania said, repeating a mantra that had been drilled into her since childhood.
Sara walked across to the massive bed and sat down. She leaned back on her elbows, her eyes narrowing. “Then why did you save us? Was that your rational thought kicking in?” There was irony in her tone, something Esania had never heard from her before.
She shook her head. “No, on my part that move was definitely irrational. A real Primean would have left you to the mercy of the law.”
“So you’re not a real Primean, then, eh?” There was a slight challenge in Sara’s eyes now, and perhaps a hint of anger.
“Let’s just say I’m not Primean enough to sentence an unborn child and an innocent woman to death, no matter what the law dictates.” She made a gesture of dismissal with her hand. “That’s as far as this discussion goes. You’ve just been through an extremely stressful time, and you’re tired. You need to rest.”
“O-kay.” Perhaps sensing that she’d hit a nerve, Sara flopped down on the bed, her golden hair fanning around her face. She cupped her belly with both hands and closed her eyes. “I’m glad, though. I’m glad that we’re here and not on Mars. I’d rather be free than stuck paying off some debt that isn’t even mine. No offense, Esania, but the indenture system is fucking bullshit and you know it.”
“I know that,” Esania said with a sigh. “Why do you think I bought out your debt? Better me than some Fiveways body trader or a robot factory baron who would work you to the bone.” All humans who worked in the Serakhine were indentured—wealthy Primeans frequently bought out their debts, saving them from a lifetime of hard work in the toxic industrial zones of Earth. Esania had brought across many such humans over the years—always women, always burdened with massive corporate debts that had been passed down through generations. She was only allowed to take women, because in the Serakhine, male and female servants weren’t allowed to mix.
Esania couldn’t forgive the debts—that was against Primean law—but she could pay her servants the highest wage allowed, letting them work off their debts in the shortest time possible. Some had already returned to Earth, where they’d reunited with friends, families, even children.
Although Esania never let them know it, many of the humans grew on her. It was always a little painful when she sent them off, but she’d never shed a tear.
Not until she’d come so close to losing Sara and the precious life she carried.
“Speaking of which,” she murmured to herself as Rau appeared, pushing a squeaky metal cart packed with food, water, and folded linens—seriously, where did he find all those things? “I have something I need to discuss with the Drak… uh, Imril.”
An idea was forming in her mind.
“But you need to take care of yourself. You look exhausted. The Naaga hasn’t even dressed your cut yet. Even he said—”
“Later.” Esania strode toward the wide open doors, tasting a hint of freedom—and hope. “This is important. Rau will look after you. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”
“I know. Naaga can’t fight back. It’s in their genetic code… or something.” She glared at Rau. “If he tries anything stupid, I’ll whoop his skinny blue ass.”
“You know more about them than I do, apparently
.” Esania looked over her shoulder at Sara. The look on the younger human’s face was the perfect mixture of naivety and world-weariness. “Eat the berries and nuts,” she ordered. “They’re perfectly safe. I’ll see if Imril can do something about cooking the meat for you.”
The girls had lectured her all about human pregnancy and what Sara could and couldn’t eat. The task of finding suitable food in the Vradhu forest had been fraught with danger.
“Yeah, figures. He shoots blazing energy from his freaking hands. Nice trick, that.”
But before that, there was something else Esania had to convince him to do.
She just hoped the fragile bond that had formed between them was strong enough to extend to the humans in the wilderness.
Chapter Nineteen
“I have a confession to make,” Imril said, his voice a low rumble as he stared out of the crumbling window. He stood with his back to her, his hands folded behind him.
His armor was gone, replaced with his regular clothes. She got an eyeful of pale arms that rippled with corded muscle. Unless one was very, very close, the tiny, almost microscopic scales that formed his skin weren’t visible at all. From where she stood, his skin looked like it was made of velvet.
Barefoot, Esania padded across the stone floor, avoiding the occasional fallen rock or piece of random debris. Strange plants snaked across the crumbling surface; knotted vines and small dark green ferns and tiny tufts of wispy grass.
At one point, her bare foot touched a patch of stunningly vivid purple moss, and she withdrew sharply, fearing it might be poisonous.
Everything on this planet was deceptive. Esania had invented a general rule for Khira: the more beautiful the life-form, the more dangerous it was. Imril was pretty damn beautiful himself, and twice as dangerous, when he wanted to be.
She reached his side and looked out the window. “So the legendary Imril wishes to confess?” From here, the view of the vast lake was spectacular. She was used to the red-dust planetscapes of Mars, not wild, verdant forests and cool bodies of water, so to see this in person was a rare treat. “What can you possibly want to confess to me?”
“Sarcasm does not suit you, human.”
Primean, she wanted to correct him, but what was the point?
He turned to her, looking devastatingly earnest. “The first time I fed from you… the first proper feeding, I came so close to killing you. You shouldn’t have offered yourself to me like that.” There was a hint of reprimand in his voice. He inhaled deeply, locking eyes with her.
Esania went very still as she saw the hunger in his gaze. “You’re a little terrifying to be around. I took a calculated risk. I would rather you took from me gently than violently,” she admitted, suddenly feeling lightheaded.
“You have nothing to fear from me.” Imril said stiffly as he shifted on his feet, moving a few inches away from her. “I’m not as hungry as before. I can control it now.”
“Can you?”
“I just did, didn’t I?” His wings lifted defensively.
“Hm.” Esania stared out across the lake, the wind teasing the ends of her braids. A storm was brewing in the distance, dark clouds gathering ominously. “How long does this last? Until you get so hungry you can’t control it any longer… again?”
“No. That won’t happen. I will make sure it doesn’t happen.”
“Because letting me go isn’t an option?”
“You are mine now, Esania. That is not necessarily a bad thing, especially on this planet.”
“Your servant,” she said dryly, appreciating the irony of the situation. Not too long ago, she’d been the benevolent master. Now she was the helpless one.
“Not a servant,” Imril countered.
“Then what?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
So close, yet just outside of her arm’s reach. She wasn’t imagining things—she could feel his magnetic pull. What are you, exactly? She caught a tendril of his scent—spice, earthiness, male musk—and suddenly her heart was racing again, and her arousal spiked, bringing with it a cascade of strange sensations.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Her ears felt warm. Her breath caught, and her lips parted slightly, yearning for something more.
But most powerful of all was the feeling that spread through her core, awakening a part of her that had long been suppressed.
Heat surged between her thighs. She froze, overwhelmed by this… this… arousal. Is this really happening to me? Esania fought to keep her expression blank. If the Drakhin ever found out that her body was responding to his presence in such a way…
“After you offered me your vir,” Imril continued, his voice a low rumble, “I was determined that you wouldn’t be my only Source, so I went in search of another.”
“And so you abducted Sara, a pregnant woman?”
“I did not know she was with child. Had I known…” He shook his head. “I was wearing full armor. That would have blocked the drift. I did not feed from her.”
“I don’t understand. You… you wanted to show me that I’m not indispensable? That I can be replaced?”
He went quiet, his golden gaze roaming slowly over every inch of her, which only had the effect of stoking her arousal to new heights.
He mustn’t know he has this kind of effect on me.
“I was wrong.” A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth… Stars, did he know?
Ba-bump.
“You are unlike any creature I’ve ever encountered, Drakhin or Vradhu or otherwise.”
Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump.
“You’re mine now, Esania. Make no mistake, I do not plan on letting you go.”
She should be angry at his haughty expression, at his insufferable imperious tone, but all she could do was stare at his face, watching the bright afternoon light play across his pearlescent skin. “You’re clearly comfortable with the idea of owning people.”
He chuckled a little at that. “It is a fair trade. I don’t believe in abusing my Sources. You will be well looked after and given everything you need… everything you desire. You are under my protection now. When I am stronger, I will reclaim my eyrie above the ocean and start to rebuild my House.”
House? Eyrie? “Who exactly are you on this planet, Imril?”
“I am—was—the Overlord. Along with Mael, I was the first of my kind. We are twins, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
No, I hadn’t.
Imril and Mael were polar opposites.
His expression hardened and his eyes became distant, reminding Esania of a statue. Imril took another step backwards, his nostrils flaring as he took a deep breath. “You brought me back to life, Esania. For that I owe you a debt that I fully intend to repay, but I can never let you go. Not now.”
Oh. Somehow, she didn’t exactly desire freedom from him. Freedom was the wild jungle and living with the Vradhu and hunting and gathering food until the end of her days.
Freedom was washing in cold water collected from small ponds and cooking outside over an open fire, the smell of woodsmoke lingering in one’s clothes and hair for days.
Freedom was sleeping in a hut constructed of wood and vines, the unnerving sounds of the forest beasts filtering through the walls at night.
Esania didn’t want to go back to that. Here she had food and shelter and clean clothes, and a proper bed, not to mention hot water.
It was… civilized, and Imril could protect them from the Naaga.
Things were better here.
And he’d just told her he owed her a debt.
“Then I want to call in that debt,” she said quietly, her heart pounding as she made a decision. “You have to do something for me.”
“Oh?” He inclined his head, not promising anything, a half-smile playing across his lips, as if her request was absurd but he would tolerate it anyway.
“You abducted me,” Esania accused, taking a step forward. “You started a fight with the Vradhu, seriously injured one of them, to
ok me from my people, and locked me in a tower. You took my… my… strength without asking, like some sort of energy vampire.”
Imril just stared at her haughtily, not offering any form of apology. He shrugged. “I am not interested in your analysis of what I am. What is your request?”
Esania took a deep breath. “Actually, there are two things. My people. I want to bring them here, along with the Vradhu who protected us—if they choose to come—and I want you to promise to protect them… us. Secondly, Sara tells me one of our own might have been taken. If she really is gone, I want you to help find her, and bring her back.” She was taking a risk by asking him this, but she had to. The longer the girls stayed out in the wilderness, the more chance they had of getting abducted. The Vradhu were fierce hunters, but the Naaga had technology on their side.
Now more than ever, her people were in danger.
“Vradhu…” Imril’s expression darkened. “I will not have Vradhu in my eyrie.”
“One of my people is mated to a Vradhu… well, two of them.” Technically, Calexa Acura wasn’t her people, but the mercenary had put her life on the line to make sure they all got off the Hythra safely, so therefore, she was her people, along with the other mercenary women—tough, level-headed Zahra and that firebrand, Mai.
Imril shook his head. “Obviously, a lot has changed since I fell asleep inside Za. Vradhu mating with other species?” He scoffed.
“Get used to it.” From the interactions she’d observed between her girls and some of the gruff Vradhu warriors, there were probably going to be a few more of those unions. “I want them here.” She adopted the tone she used to use when speaking in the Primean Senate—cool, rational, a little bit conciliatory. “Think about it. You have a whole bunch of humans running around in the forest with their bodies full of that precious energy. Can you afford to let them fall into the hands of your enemies?”
“No,” he growled, his wings rising. For a moment, he just glowered at her, radiating tension, his scary eyes glowing. Had she overstepped? “You make a point,” he said at last, his voice low and dangerous. “I will bring your people to you, without the Vradhu.”
