Cold Mark

by Scarlett Dawn

  As one, both Plumas nodded. They had truly listened to me.

  It was at that moment I learned to respect a Mian. No questions. Just action.

  I tried not to let the surprise show on my features, even if I may have squirmed a bit on the cushion. I lowered my eyelids to half-mast and watched what their next move would be.

  It was the right one.

  Without another word, Pluma Creo tapped his finger on the halo-screen.

  The litigator I had first seen, the first Mian I had ever seen in person, appeared on screen. He was wearing his black robe once more, the one with a symbol of Triaz, rather than the west, where his tattooed mark indicated he was from. It was interesting to know that these Plumas had said they trusted him since he wasn't originally from their land. His piercing blue eyes took in the two Plumas in front of the screen, and further into the room, peering directly at me, then Jax, and last Stiller. His gaze swung back to the Plumas and speaking evenly, he stated, "Plumas, I see you have what Pluma Kreob and Pluma Wazra are seeking. I'll put you through directly." With a regal bow of his head, he pressed a button.

  The view promptly altered to Malik and Leo, where they sat side-by-side.

  My chest instantly ached, a tightening that had tears threatening to burn my eyes.

  I missed them. I knew that much to be true when their piercing silver and golden eyes darted past Pluma Creo and Pluma Moir, landing directly on me. Their reaction was physical. Their tense shoulders grew even more rigid, the coolness to their eyes fell even more hollow. And while Malik's hands fisted on top of the table, Leo's lips were thinned so much lines could be seen bracketing his mouth.

  Yes ... I missed them.

  But it still didn't mean I wanted to run back to them with open arms.

  "Braita ... " Malik sat forward, his silver gaze darting over my face. "Are you all right?"

  "She is well taken care of, Pluma Wazra," Pluma Moir stated with frost coating his tone, his interruption making sure I kept my word and didn't speak. "Though, I do find it curious that she was not all right under your care—enough for her to risk her life to escape in search of Mr. Waterston."

  Leo fixed the Plumas with a ruthless glare. "What occurred between our Soul and ourselves is none of your concern." His gaze flicked back toward me, holding my empty stare. His words were instantly light, intimate, ignoring everyone else. "Braita ... we want you to come home. We can work this out. If you would just listen to us—"

  "Silence," Pluma Creo growled so low I almost missed it, cutting off Leo's heartfelt words. "Ms. Valorn is under our care right now. She may be your Soul, but she is ours for the time being." I tried not to flinch at the menace I heard in the undertones of his voice, a true predator peeking out that he had not shown me before. "Until we find out what the hell is going on—and we mean the truth—we will not allow a female to be harmed. As is our law."

  Fuck Mother Joyal. I should have brushed up on their damned laws.

  Still, I kept my silence, trying to keep all emotions from my features ... even while I gripped the cushion I sat on with a white knuckled grip and my heart beat so heavily it pounded in my ears, almost deafening me. I would not allow my Vaq to see how much their deception had harmed me.

  Malik jerked from his chair and leaned over the table on fisted hands. "You would dare to keep her from us?"

  "Yes," Pluma Moir answered evenly, not cowed by the death in Malik's eyes. Both his white brows lifted. "She ran from the two of you."

  Pluma Creo tilted his head and tapped his lips, before snapping his fingers in the air. "Oh, yes. This seems to be important as well." His lips curved into a brutal smile. It was a grin of the heartless, a whole different side to this Pluma ... the botanist in his free time. "Ms. Valorn doesn't want to return to you. Whatever has happened, we need to know before we even consider bringing her back to you—for whatever slight chance of reconciliation there might be."

  The hush on my Vaq's end was unnerving. The way they stared at the Plumas guarding me. The silence in their gaze as they glanced at Jax's still sleeping form, his head like dead weight on my lap. The assessing nature of Stiller sitting near me with a hand on Jax's feet. Then the quiet contemplation as their gazes returned to the Plumas, who were wordlessly waiting for their response.

  Leo gradually lifted his right hand and rested it on Malik's shoulder, slowly pulling him back down to sit on his chair. He cracked his neck both ways, then steepled his hands on the table, and put the coldest of smiles on his face, glancing between the Plumas watching them. "And here I thought we would be squabbling over that piece of land you've always wanted."

  Pluma Moir shrugged one shoulder. "If we return her to you, we do expect the piece of property directly north of Center to become the land of the east."

  Leo chuckled quietly. "I wouldn't assume any less." His gaze flicked back to me, holding my hardened eyes for a long moment before he cleared his throat and focused on the Plumas once more. He crossed his arms and leaned back on his seat. "We want our Soul. We'll explain."

  I sucked in a breath, ready to stop them from speaking so openly, but Jax's hand on my knee squeezed suddenly. I didn't glance down at my not-so-much-sleeping best friend. I held my tongue though. I didn't speak when I wished to. Perhaps, it was for the best if I ever wanted these Plumas to release me.

  Not peering in my direction, Malik stated in the calmest tone, "Braita walked in on Leo and me having sex." He scratched his chin absently in the dead silence. "She didn't know that we were intimate and that we cared for each other in such a way. We believe it not only came as a shock to her, but that she felt betrayed. It was worse than what most Harems worry about when their Vaq are romantically involved—their anxiety of being left behind." He leaned his head back, swallowing heavily, and stared at the ceiling. "Her expression when she found us ... "

  Leo sighed heavily and uncrossed his arms, rubbing his face roughly, the first crack in his collected composure. "The three of us were just beginning our relationship. She has fragile ideas of what should be, and what should not be. Malik and I didn't want to overload her, so we kept our relationship a secret. For the exact reason why most Vaq lie about it to their Harem until they believe they trust them enough not to leave them." He ran his fingers through his golden hair, appearing tired. "We now know that we should have been more forthright and not deceived her—even if we were doing it out of protection for her delicate sensibilities."

  I swallowed heavily and repeatedly blinked as my throat started to swell with the effort to bawl as a child does. They were right. Everything they said was exactly the truth. Too bad it was too little, too late. I just ... I just didn't know if I could ever trust them again.

  In the descending quiet, Pluma Creo coughed softly. "Well, now I know why you didn't wish to speak about it with us around, and why she did not." He ... actually ... bowed his head ever so slightly. "You've managed to keep that a secret for far longer than what most Vaq manage."

  "Eh." Pluma Moir teetered his head. "I had wondered since they have no Harem."

  Leo interjected evenly, "Just because Malik and I love each other romantically, it doesn't mean that we can't have the same feelings for our Soul. As many in our circumstances do." His eyes darted past the Plumas, landing directly on me. His piercing golden gaze was pleading. "Braita, you didn't even give us a proper chance to know one another—"

  "How could I have known either one of you when you both started it with a lie?" I growled, my anger and depression straining my voice, no longer able to be quiet. I squirmed out from under Jax, even when he tried to restrain me. I charged right at the halo-screen. Standing directly between two mute Plumas, I pointed a sharp finger at my Vaq, barely managing to keep from crying. "You two wrecked what was starting to feel like a true home for me on this crazy planet. I am alone here, and all I had was the two of you. I was supposed to be special to you, someone you allow inside, someone you were honest with, not some damn toy that you handle with delicate care. I would have even
tually understood if you just would have told the truth from the start. Instead, I had to literally walk in on your lie!"

  I heaved in a large lungful of air and shook my hands at them. "How the hell do you come back from that?" Sucking more oxygen, I hissed harshly, "Plus, you two don't truly need me in your lives. You just need me near you. You have each other for love." The undying kind. I had seen it in their eyes. "And no thanks to the two of you, I now know what a Soul does for a Vaq."

  Malik was now staring directly at me. His nostrils flared, and he stated coolly, "Braita, you need to calm down. We need to have a civil conversation, and you're acting child—"

  "Childish?" I asked with eyes wide. I snorted and pointed at myself. "The way I am acting is justified. You both pretended as if I were the one for you, when instead, you truly only loved one another. You were just testing the waters—without informing me—to see if you could find a place somewhere in your heart for me. I acted in the best way I knew how when confronted with the fact that I was just a damn lab rat in your unending maze." I stared him down. "I got the hell away from the both of you."

  Malik leaned forward, fury beginning to enter his eyes, but Leo slammed his hand down on his shoulder. Leo glanced at him once in warning, then turned his attention to me. His tone was soothing like he was trying to entice a cloned-doe. "Braita, I think we're done with this conversation for now. When you come back, we can talk about this in private—"

  "Oh!" I lifted a finger into the air, stopping his condescending words. "Why didn't the two of you ever gift me a Solo?" When both remained mute, their expression carefully shifting to neutral, I laughed as a new hurt smashed against my chest. Another deception. "That's what I thought. You wanted me to need you. You would rather I be in pain when you two were gone during your meetings outside of the fortress than to give me the freedom to decide about you." I leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially—in English so they would know I wasn't fumbling their language, "You see, Oh Great Cows, that was a wrong move."

  The resounding silence ... was immense.

  No one moved. No one blinked. Everyone, besides me, appeared to be stunned at my words.

  Take that, Cows.

  Pluma Creo recovered the fastest, gently sliding a step in front of me, effectively cutting off my view of my Vaq. He stated softly, "Now that we know the situation, Phila and I will talk amongst ourselves, and Ms. Valorn will remain safe under our care. We'll get back with you in a days' time." He lifted his hand and touched the screen with one finger ... and it went black. The call ended.

  I growled under my breath, my hands even shaking in my continued fury. "Those bastards."

  No one glanced at me. They still stayed motionless.

  Jax cleared his throat from the couch. "Don't you mean cows?"

  "That, too."

  Pluma Moir snorted. Covered his mouth with a fist.

  And then, he bellowed with the deepest laughter, the sound vibrating my left eardrum.

  "Laugh it up," I grumbled. As one, each person started following Pluma Moir's lead, snorting and choking on their hilarity. I huffed and walked toward the kitchen—to the Plumas' bedroom. I hissed over my shoulder, "I'm going to bed, and I do not want to be handcuffed tonight!" I shook my hands in the air as their laughter only became louder. "And don't worry your pretty, ego-filled heads too much. I'm not planning to find your control panel to escape. Not tonight, anyway."

  I couldn't sleep. Instead, I stared up at the white curved ceiling while I lay on the softest mattress between two Plumas ... who were not my Plumas. Though they did smell wonderful. Each had taken a shower before crawling into bed. While I was still fuming with righteous—and confused—anger, they had tossed their pillows to the foot of the bed and laid down on either side of me, not saying a word, just giving me the space I had so desperately needed ... but also the warmth that, at least, kept my body from being just as frigid as my thoughts.

  They weren't sleeping, even though it had been two hours since the sun had risen.

  The Plumas were quiet. Silent predators. I had seen that much tonight.

  But I had also experienced their honesty while in their 'care.' I needed more of it.

  Carefully, I lifted my right hand from my stomach and placed it on Pluma Moir's.

  I touched him.

  Lying on his side facing me, he didn't move as I raised his hand above my head to stare at his three rings. His arm was heavy with muscle, so much so, that I used my other hand to hold his arm steady. A soft shimmer of a glow shined on the right side of my face when he opened his eyes to stare as I turned the ring on his thumb again and again.

  Gently, I whispered, "What do these rings do?" He and Pluma Creo had three in their Harem. My stomach twisted as an unfamiliar emotion burned my gut, but I pushed it aside quickly. I wanted answers, and they would give them to me. "Stiller said the rings allow Vaq to feel their women's emotion, but what else do they do?"

  Just as quietly, he answered me. Truthful once again. "These rings also allow me to find my Harem. Their exact location. It's a homing device made to protect the women."

  "That's all?"

  "Yes."

  "Can the rings be replaced for the woman?"

  "No. Once the mark is given, only those rings will work."

  That might be an issue at some point.

  Pinching my lips, I continued twirling the ring on his thumb. "How old are you?"

  He paused at this question but quickly cleared his throat. "Twenty-seven."

  "Pluma Creo?"

  Instantly, the left side of my face gleamed as Pluma Creo opened his eyes, also lying on his side, facing me. He responded smoothly, "I'm also twenty-seven."

  My fingers stilled in their action. "Your father was busy."

  "Yes, he was," Pluma Moir answered when Pluma Creo did not. His tone was hard-edged, indicating the topic was off limits. "Our father, one of the previous Plumas of the east, is not spoken of anymore."

  My brows rose, and I ignored the warning. "Ever?"

  Instant. "No."

  "Is he still alive?"

  Pluma Creo did speak then. Harshly. "Fuck no. That bastard died when my mother killed Phila's mother, who was his Soul."

  My jaw dropped. I couldn't even ... "Oh ... um ... that sounds complicated." Understatement.

  "It was," Pluma Moir grumbled, taking his hand back from mine and resting it under his pillow.

  "Hmm." I cleared my throat. "Which one of you is the true heir to—"

  "I am," Pluma Moir growled, done with this line of questioning. He leaned up on his arms, placing his face over mine. His white, long hair draped over one of his shoulders, soft as silk as it brushed my face, but it didn't lessen the ferocity in his demeanor. "Enough, Ms. Valorn."

  "Okay, okay," I mumbled, sighing heavily. I peered at his forehead. Stared there. It was easier to view than his daunting gaze. I needed to sweeten both of them up a bit. "You can quit calling me Ms. Valorn. My name's Braita. Feel free to use it."

  Pluma Moir didn't lower back to the bed. Instead, he continued to stare down at me. Though, his tone did change. It became lighter. More accepting. And definitely more formal. "Thank you, Braita. You may call us Phila and Killeg, as well." Until his lips twitched, and he bent his head down just an inch further ... and teased. "What do you really wish to know, Braita?"

  I glanced down once to his mouth, seeing the handsome smirk there, then back up to his forehead. I tried not to scowl too much being caught. "Phila, how old are my Vaq?"

  He tilted his head, causing his hair to brush my cheek again. "They are both twenty-five."

  My brows slammed together. "Is that like a 'thing'? Vaq being the same age?"

  "Yes," Killeg answered, sitting up slightly to crook an elbow and rest the side of his head on a fist. "All Vaq are the same age." He stared pointedly. "As is their Soul."

  Turning my head to focus on Killeg, I brushed Phila's hair off my shoulder when it tickled. "That is interesting. Stiller also appears to be abou
t the same age as you two. So it seems that when Humans and Mian are linked, they don't follow that same rule?"

  He nodded his head, his white, choppy hair in normal disarray about his head. "It would appear that way." His captivating blue gaze never left mine. "Get to what you really want to ask, Braita. Perhaps then we may get some sleep this day."

  Almost there. "What did Malik mean about Vaq who are in an intimate relationship normally waiting to tell their Harem about it?"

  Killeg raised a brow, knowing I was still deflecting, but he kindly answered, "A Harem is under a Vaq's protection. If they worry that their Vaq love each other more than they love them, then they fear that their Vaq might one day leave them. It is rare that it happens, but it has. So normally, a Vaq pair will wait to prove they are men of their word before indicating they are sexually involved."

  I huffed softly. "That's bullshit."

  "Possibly." He didn't argue.

  Turning my attention to stare between them, up at the ceiling once more, I asked my true question. The one I needed to know. I tried not to sweat. "Are you going to send me back to them?"

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Phila's lips curve into a slow grin. "About time." My gaze swung to his. I scowled in the wake of his inflated ego. He merely smirked further, but his words were calm, though set in steel, as he dealt out my fate. "We are. They have done nothing legally wrong. We won't start a war over a misunderstanding."

  Killeg added steadily, "But we will be going with you. We'll require that we meet at Center, where Mian from the east and the west are both allowed. It's where you first landed here on Triaz." He winked ... and my stomach fluttered. It wasn't nervousness of seeing my Vaq again that had me holding my breath either. He whispered softly, "Even though we won't start a war over a misunderstanding, we aren't entirely sure that we're ready to give you up so easily. Especially if your heart does not belong to them yet."

  My eyes widened, and I inhaled harshly. "Oh, that's really not a great idea."