Alien Apocalypse: The Complete Series (Parts I-IV)

by JC Andrijeski

  At her continued silence, Tyra eventually seemed to give up.

  “Well,” she shrugged. “You should talk to his other slaves. I hear he’s got a few orphs in his household still.” She sipped at her straw, glancing at where Trazen stood with the woman in the dark green dress. “He usually lets them go. They come out here. Work. Get boyfriends. But a few opt to stay with him.” She winked at Jet, her smile growing mischievous. “Maybe they’re in love with him? What do you think, Jet? You’re an orphan now too, aren’t you? I hear he saved your ass on Astet...”

  Jet pursed her lips, fighting not to look at Trazen again.

  Some part of her still struggled to believe any part of Tyra’s words.

  Had Trazen put her up to this, too? Had someone else? Because Jet never heard a single whisper of Trazen doing anything remotely altruistic to humans the whole time she’d known who he was. Laksri never hinted of anything like this. Neither had Richter. Trazen was a known racist. He was probably the most famous racist Jet knew from the center, at least before the current First Son took power. Laksri told her more than once that Trazen was dangerous, that he hurt his human consorts, or was strongly suspected of hurting them.

  Moreover, First Son Isreti certainly seemed to see Trazen as being of like mind with him on the subject of humans, and Isreti had been murdering humans since he took power.

  Tyra smiled again, shaking her head.

  “Aw, girl. You really don’t know much, do you?” she said sympathetically.

  “Why?” Jet said, her jaw still clenched. “Why would he do this?”

  Tyra shrugged, her smile growing cold. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s not an asshole? Not all Nirreth are assholes, you know.”

  Jet studied her eyes openly. “Then why wouldn’t he tell me that?”

  “Dunno,” Tyra said. “Maybe he’s trying to keep you out of it. Maybe he’s trying to protect you, Jet. You’re under a lot of scrutiny, you know...same as him. And our thoughts and whatever else still get scanned, being in the Rings.”

  “Protect me.” Jet thought about Tyra’s words. She shook her head, still fighting to make sense of any of it. “No. No, that doesn’t make any sense. Isreti...the new First Son...”

  “––Will find out,” Tyra finished, her voice warning. “It’s just a matter of time, Jet.”

  Tyra’s eyes and voice grew deadly serious when Jet turned.

  “His people will find out soon,” Tyra added, softer. “And Isreti won’t be happy. Just like they’ll find out that my guy, Anslom, fought with the previous Royal Guard when Isreti and his people attacked the center.” Pausing to let her words sink in, Tyra repeated, “It’s just a matter of time, Jet. For all of us. They might have spies here tonight, for all we know. I hear Isreti’s got spies all over the city now...human and Nirreth. I think most of them are still concentrated in the center and that human area, Kabasi, but even if that’s true, it won’t be true for long.”

  Tyra paused, as if waiting for her words to sink in. Shrugging, she added, “...Trazen’s not the only one with a clock ticking over his head, Jet. We all hear it.”

  Jet frowned, turning over Tyra’s words.

  A frown still etched her face when she looked back at Trazen, watching as the human continued to clutch his waist, laughing at something he’d said.

  The look in her eyes as she gazed at Trazen’s face was...

  Adoration. She looked at Trazen like she adored him.

  Jet’s more logical side reasoned that it might be gratitude of course, given what Tyra claimed Trazen had done for her. The woman might have a crush on him as a part of that. She might even think she was in love with him, if Tyra was right in implying that a lot of his “orphans” got confused on that point. At the very least, she appeared to care about him, if only as a friend.

  But it wasn’t just friendship, Jet thought, watching the human gaze up at his face. That definitely wasn’t a friendly-only like of look.

  It hit Jet suddenly that the other woman had probably slept with him.

  Whatever Tyra said about his motives for parading around his so-called orphans, Jet had no reason to believe Trazen wouldn’t have slept with her. The woman clearly was willing, and it didn’t look like Trazen had stung her.

  Well, not tonight. Not yet.

  A flush of anger hit Jet at the thought, before she’d even considered why.

  Tyra must have been watching her face.

  She laughed.

  “Someone’s really turning green,” she teased, nudging Jet’s bare arm with her own. Tyra smiled at Jet more warmly when she turned, motioning towards Trazen with her head. “Go on. Go get him. He’s probably just doing it to wind you up, anyway.”

  “I doubt that,” Jet muttered.

  Tyra snorted a soft laugh. “Well, go get him anyway.” Her voice dropped, holding a darker meaning. “...We should talk. I’ll get Anslom.”

  When Jet glanced back at her, Tyra lifted an eyebrow.

  “Don’t look so surprised, Jet,” she chided softly. “I told you I wanted to talk. And don’t worry,” she added. “We know these people. They’ve swept the grounds twice in the last few hours, so it’s safe...relatively speaking. We can talk more or less freely.”

  Jet felt her doubts return, even as it occurred to her that Trazen might have been right to be suspicious of Tyra and Anslom. Jet had no reason to trust them either, not really. Just being human was hardly enough to qualify Tyra as an ally.

  Maybe that whole spiel just now was just another pile of lies, meant to get intel off her.

  Hiding another scowl, Jet decided she wanted to know, whatever it was.

  For the same reason, she decided to do as Tyra said, and go get Trazen.

  Without letting herself think about how it might look, she walked across the lawn with brisk strides, gripping her glass in one hand and balancing on her high-heeled shoes without looking down. She walked right up to Trazen and the human pressed up against his side, fighting to keep her expression neutral as she stopped a meter or so away.

  When Trazen didn’t look over right away, Jet cleared her throat, causing both of them to turn. She saw the woman’s eyes widen when she saw her. Clearly, the woman recognized Jet, too...although likely from the Rings, not from Trazen.

  Jet looked at both of them, then at Trazen, feeling her face warm.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she said to him, as politely as she could manage.

  She spoke in English, not really thinking about whether it was rude until the woman blinked, giving her an even more blank, puzzled look.

  Jet switched to Nargili as it occurred to her the human might not know English, especially if she’d been raised in the center. Jet had been told that some Nirreth households forbade the use and teaching of English by humans, especially if the Nirreth family didn’t know it. Trazen spoke it well, even compared to most humans, so Jet had forgotten all that.

  “Can I borrow him?” Jet said in Nargili, making an effort to smile that time.

  She did her best to sound friendly to the other woman too, determined not to be a jerk because this stranger had a thing for her so-called companion. After all, she and Trazen weren’t involved. She had zero rights over him, whether he wore a pendant or not. He’d never touched her, not apart from those few kisses in Laksri’s recovery room. That happened months ago, and hadn’t been much, even at the time.

  Anyway, he’d been pretty high on venom that day.

  Seeing the faint tension on the other woman’s face, Jet smiled more warmly.

  “I’ll return him, I promise,” she said, a lame attempt at humor.

  Trazen disentangled himself from the woman’s hands and arm.

  His expression grew more taut not less as he turned, walking towards Jet with a deceptively lazy flick of his tail. Jet didn’t even bother to try to read the expression on his face. At this point, she was beginning to think his acting skills were beyond any ability she might have to see past them. She’d never once been right ab
out him...not once, in all this time. She’d pretty much given up on knowing anything he might be thinking, at least until he decided to tell her the truth.

  Assuming he ever did.

  Something in the scrutiny in his dark eyes made her think he’d noticed a difference in her, too. Like maybe he knew she’d learned something new about him.

  “Tyra wants to talk to us,” Jet said, once he’d gotten close enough. She switched back to English, without really thinking about that either. “Her and Anslom.”

  Trazen’s gaze sharpened still more.

  He glanced back at the woman in the green dress, then faced Jet a second time. His eyes continued to hold a near-wariness as he looked at her. She saw him focus on the glass she held in one hand, right before his eyes returned to hers. He didn’t look away from her face even when he addressed the other woman. His voice came out pleasant, almost warm, but the look he trained on Jet continued to hold that denser wariness.

  “I’m required elsewhere,” he said to the woman in Nargili. “I’ll find you later, Chloe, if that’s all right with you?”

  The woman in the green dress looked at Jet, obviously a bit taken aback at who she was, but now trying to cover that in friendliness too.

  Jet could only assume that Trazen neglected to tell her he’d come here with someone.

  She could hear the woman’s embarrassment in her words, what might have been an apology, likely because she’d been touching Trazen when Jet walked up. This Chloe must have seen images of them on the television. She would assume what the rest of them assumed.

  “Of course,” Chloe said, still smiling a little too widely at Jet. “Don’t let me keep you. I just wanted to say hello. I should go find my friends, anyway...”

  “I will find you,” Trazen assured her. He didn’t take his gaze off Jet as he said it. “...Before we leave, I will find you, Chloe. I promise.”

  Jet felt her jaw harden, hearing the sincerity in his voice.

  She wondered if that was deliberate.

  She couldn’t be certain if she’d understood the meaning there correctly or not. She couldn’t even be sure if the message was meant more for the other woman or for her. As she returned Trazen’s stare, however, Jet decided it was safer to assume she had understood him. She averted her eyes, fighting another flush of anger.

  Yes, it was definitely safer to assume she’d understood him.

  Trazen stepped closer to her.

  Moving before she knew she meant to, Jet side-stepped his tail as he unfurled it in her direction, stepping back and to her left to get out of his easy reach. She felt his flinch at her avoidance but she didn’t look up at his face to try and gauge his reaction. Fighting to keep her expression calm, she placed a hand on her hip, gazing down at the grass where he stood.

  “Are you ready?” she said.

  “Where are we going, Jet?”

  She glanced up without thinking, saw the scrutiny intensify in his nearly-black eyes.

  He stepped closer to her again, and she had to fight not to retreat a second time. She stiffened instead, her fingers tightening on her hip as she held her ground.

  “What is wrong?” he said, lowering his voice. “What is it, Jet?”

  He spoke English.

  She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said.

  Again, he moved closer to her, uncoiling his tail in her direction.

  Again, she avoided his touch, right before she smoothed out her expression a second time, shaking her head more vehemently.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said lightly, smiling up at him. “I was just making sure you were ready. Are you? Ready, I mean?”

  Trazen continued to stare at her, his tail snaking behind him now.

  “Yes,” he said.

  She nodded, her face deliberately blank. Unable to hold his gaze, she looked out over the rest of the party guests, realizing only then that she still carried the glass Tyra had given her, now only about a third full of the blue liquid. Staring at it for a second, she barely hesitated before placing it on a nearby table.

  When she glanced up that time, she saw a few of the party guests glance surreptitiously away. She and Trazen were being watched, both by humans and by Nirreth who stood within visual range. They’d likely had an audience during that whole interaction with her and Trazen and Trazen’s friend, Chloe.

  Which meant at least a few of them had seen her avoid his touch.

  “Okay,” she said, folding her arms as she looked back at Trazen. “Okay. Well...I guess follow me. If you want to come.”

  Seeing him about to speak, Jet turned her back to him.

  She didn’t wait but began walking to where she’d left Tyra and Anslom.

  After a bare hesitation, she felt Trazen follow.

  He reached her side in a handful of long strides, walking level with her before she’d covered half the distance back to where Tyra and Anslom stood. Jet found herself thinking that Tyra and Anslom had likely been watching her interact with Trazen too, although they appeared to be trying to hide their stares now. Jet saw them looking out over the valley instead, their arms looped around one another’s waists.

  Trazen didn’t say anything for those first few steps, but Jet could feel his eyes on her again, boring into her face as she stared stubbornly ahead.

  “Jet...” he began, hesitant. “Can we talk?”

  “Now isn’t a good time, Trazen,” she muttered.

  “Why?” he said, his voice holding an edge. “Why isn’t it a good time, Jet? You just made a public spectacle of being annoyed with me. You could at least tell me why.”

  “I’m not annoyed with you.”

  “Is it Chloe?” he said, blunt. “Are you angry about her?”

  “I’m not angry at all, Trazen.”

  His tail lashed behind him, an aggressive slash through the air.

  She winced but her steps barely faltered.

  “I’m not mad, okay?” she said, firming her jaw.

  “They why won’t you speak to me?”

  “Because I need you to keep your eyes open right now,” she said, her gaze still trained ahead, focused on Tyra’s profile. “...Because I’m a little nervous about what you asked me before we left your house...about why they invited us here. We can talk about whatever else later.”

  She felt the male Nirreth’s stare intensify at her words.

  His eyes jerked forward then.

  Jet watched out of her peripheral vision as he focused up the small slope at Tyra and Anslom. She couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. He didn’t say anything, so she really had no idea.

  Then again, Jet thought in more than a little annoyance, she was beginning to realize that her not understanding what was going on with Trazen was pretty much a given.

  THE ENEMY

  Jet found herself fighting to keep her expression still as she slid her butt over a cold stone bench. The four of them had just walked up the stairs to sit beneath a wooden pavillion on one end of the gardens. Now Trazen and Jet sat directly opposite of Anslom and Tyra with a stone table filling the space between them.

  The pavillion sat at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by trees on all sides but one, where a lake lapped close to the stone steps. Above, a waterfall cascaded down, too symmetrical to be anything but Nirreth or man-made. Looking up at the falling sheets of water, Jet had a strange feeling of déjà vu. She found herself remembering her first meeting with Anaze behind the Trevi Fountain on the compound of the Royals, where he told her who he really was.

  Here, too, the sound of gushing and rolling water filled the ambient space, making it difficult to think clearly.

  Distracted now by Trazen and whatever was going on with Tyra and Anslom, Jet barely glanced at the fountain other than to note it would be difficult to climb, if they needed to get out of here in a hurry. Each level was made of wide, steppe-like stone flats and seemed to be cut into the mountain itself. Those steppes were steep, though, and looked slippery from moss and spray. So yeah, diffic
ult to climb.

  She had another flicker of realization that this wasn’t her home.

  She didn’t belong here.

  She belonged in the north, where the water flowed more freely, where oceans stretched to the west and the north, where the monsoon turned everything green and black with plant life and mold, where the only water didn’t come from Nirreth-made fountains and lakes.

  Jet knew the land up there. She knew the trees. She knew how to get out of places if she needed to.

  She didn’t belong here.

  She finished arranging her seat and looked up, only to find Trazen staring at her again. The look in his dark eyes made her wonder if he’d heard her somehow.

  But that was impossible. He wasn’t even touching her. Even if he was, there was no possible way the venom from her training would still be in her system.

  Even as she thought it, he wound his tail around her waist. She flinched slightly when he pulled her closer, the feeling behind the gesture less of a question than an insistence. She didn’t protest, but felt her expression harden briefly before she forced herself to relax.

  “You should have stung me,” she muttered to him, once she was close enough.

  He gave her a sideways look when she glanced up.

  “Not with you wearing that,” he said, smiling faintly.

  She snorted, rolling her eyes. She felt the barest edges of a peace offering in his words, but couldn’t say she really understood how he’d meant them. Was he flirting with her to appease her in some way? Did he really think she was jealous?

  Feeling her jaw harden, she clenched her hands on the tops of her thighs.

  Hell, maybe she was jealous.

  His tail tightened around her, pulling her even closer.

  “I’ll sting you now, if you want,” he said, his voice a murmur against her ear. “Maybe I should. I’m a little tired of this sparring match.”

  “Fine,” she murmured back out of the side of her mouth. She looked up, staring at him unflinchingly. “Go ahead. Sting me.”

  He tensed, not looking away from her eyes. Before he could answer, Tyra spoke up from the other side of the table, speaking louder to be heard over the gushing fountain.