The Artistry of Love

by C. J. Scarlett

  Atik’s face scrunched up in confusion. “You are worried? That I care about your past?”

  With a sigh, I nodded. But he just pulled me close to him again.

  “It means nothing. You are my mate now. You belong to no one else.”

  I nodded again. “Then… I guess… I guess we should start this,” I said. “It’s time now.” And finally pulling away, I gave him one last lingering look before I turned to the tower and began my march toward it, my heart heavy as I thought about what lay ahead of me.

  It was perhaps the longest walk of my life. Without knowing what would happen, or even if I should really be doing this, I kept in the shadow of the tower and made my way toward its base, eyes fixed on the low entrance that I had been taken into when I was first brought here as a captive.

  Now that I was closer, I could see them—the Ak-hal guards at the edges of the base. Just a glimpse of them brought a chill to my skin, but I forced the feeling aside, remembering what I had come here to do. First thing’s first, I needed to figure out a way into the tower. Libba would be in here, and though we hadn’t gotten along in the past, I knew that she sought freedom now, so maybe I could get some information from her—something that could help me, if I promised to help her escape with us.

  Standing back and staying where I hoped I couldn’t be seen, I waited for a long moment until I saw the nearest Ak-hal guard make his way toward the tower. With bated breath, I stood still. Would he see me? Would my plan be ended as quickly as it had begun? I ducked back and out of the way, hoping the mere fact that I shouldn’t be there would be enough to give me some form of cover. Fortunately, that seemed to be the case.

  The soldier stepped to the tower door. He did something with the lock, and it slid open, allowing him entrance. I waited, holding back just long enough for him to step inside and for it to close most of the way. Then, before it was completely shut, I caught it.

  “Shit,” I muttered, using one of the curse words I had learned from my time spent with Shay. My fingers were on fire from almost being slammed on. But I’d managed to keep it from closing, and after a long moment spent being sure that nobody was on the other side, I wrenched it open just enough to slip behind it, very much aware that now I was trapped inside. I would just have to think about that later, though.

  Now I had to find Libba. Her quarters were near the top of the tower, and I just had to hope that her mate wasn’t with her right now. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be that many Ak-hal out and about at present, so I made my way up the winding stairs of the tower without being spotted. It was a little painful to go back in my memory to those days I’d been held prisoner, but knowing that I was doing this for a good cause was enough to keep me moving as I inched forward step by step, almost unable to breathe for fear that someone would hear me.

  Every so often I would hear voices—the harsh male voices of the Ak-hal, or else the softer voices of their female mates. Not for the first time I wondered about those women who had chosen to stay with them and what had driven them to do it. Why opt for a life like this? For mates like the Ak-hal? There had been a time when I had made that choice, but hadn’t I learned quickly how horrible that choice was?

  But I wasn’t here to save them, I reminded myself. I was here to save those that wanted to be free. And so, I pressed onward and upward, toward the room where Libba waited. And finally, I found it, almost at the top of the tower.

  To my great relief, it didn’t seem that her mate was with her—at least, that seemed to be the case. The wide door was open a crack and I thought I could hear the faint sound of a woman inside, humming to herself. Quickly, I slipped in, and then shut the door as quietly as I could.

  Libba was at the far side of the room, standing beside a mirror and brushing her hair. And I immediately realized that something seemed… off. This wasn’t the woman that I had met when I had been held captive earlier—the woman who had been telling me how much she hated her life with the Ak-hal. This woman looked at peace with her fate. She looked comfortable, dressed in a red gown with jewels and a crown of chains along her brow.

  Reaching out, I felt for the door handle, but a voice stopped me.

  “Is that you, Clara? This certainly is a surprise.”

  Libba turned around, eyes glinting as she smiled at me from where she stood. This was the woman I remembered, I thought to myself—the one I had met all those years ago when she first arrived on this planet. This was the woman who had betrayed Shay. This was the woman I had expected to meet when we were reunited.

  “I…”

  “Oh, Clara, don’t look at me like that. Not when you’re the one who came barging in so unexpectedly.” Libba smiled and moved toward me, her head cocked to the side as she examined me. “I have to say, there’s something different about you. What’s happened since you ran off?”

  “Libba. What’s going on?” I finally managed, finding my voice. “I thought you were…”

  “Unhappy?” She laughed. “Why would I be unhappy when I have everything that I need? Of course, it’s terrible that your filthy Kamani destroyed the castle, but the Ak-hal are rebuilding. Getting stronger. And soon, they’ll take back everything that belongs to them.”

  Frowning, I shook my head. What did she mean? The Kamani hadn’t…

  And then realization struck.

  “The ships.”

  Libba gave me a look, as if this should have been the most obvious thing in the world. But I hadn’t even thought about those ships in what felt like a lifetime. I had traveled on one of those ships when I had first come to this planet, but the Kamani had put them away when it became obvious that none of the human women wanted to return back to Earth.

  Since then, they had done nothing but collect ice and snow out on the tundra. The only people who would care anything about the ships were the Ak-hal themselves, who would want the ships so they could return to traveling—so they could begin collecting women from Earth again, after so many of the women they had taken prisoner had either been killed or mated with the Kamani.

  “That was the Ak-hal’s plan?” I said in disbelief.

  “What? Is that too clever for you?” She laughed. “You’ve been among those brutes too long, Clara.”

  I was stunned. Here I had been expecting mass slaughter and the Ak-hal were being… well. Much more devious than I had realized, for one. I really did feel foolish. But I had stopped it, hadn’t I? The Kamani weren’t coming…

  “I learned a lot from you,” Libba continued, coming around and standing in front of me. “You were so eager to believe that I had changed. We could never have put our plan together if it weren’t for your help.”

  Flinching, I took a step back from her. Her every word hit me hard as I remembered the time I had spent with her back in those days I was held captive. I thought back to telling her about the Kamani, about my life with them, about their routines, their habits, about the compound itself… And then the full impact of what she was saying resounded with me. Our plan. Who exactly had she been working with?

  I was about to find out. The door slid open behind me, and the presence in the room alone would have been enough to tell me who had entered, even if Libba hadn’t immediately ducked her head down obediently. I shuddered as a chill went over me, and then I heard a voice—his voice.

  “Clara. I knew you would be back.”

  Kypher. Turning slowly, I looked up, over that pale, chiseled face and into those cold eyes. They bored into me, practically turning me to stone as I stood before him. It took all my strength to remember that I wasn’t who I had been before. I wasn’t his mate. I wasn’t his to control.

  I forced myself to speak.

  “There isn’t anybody else coming,” I said. “Your plan failed.”

  “Did it?” he said.

  My head spun. Now the various threads clicked into place. I had been used by him every step of the way. He knew I was close to Shay, to Khofti—to many important people among the Kamani. He knew that I had knowl
edge that many of the other women wouldn’t have had. I had been fed information about a possible trap, too. That was the only reason the Kamani had stayed away for as long as they had—otherwise, they would have been here ages ago to rescue the women who had been taken.

  “But why?” I found myself saying, this final puzzle piece still confusing me. It didn’t make any sense.

  However, it was Libba who laughed at my question, turning those piercing eyes toward me and smirking. “Did you really think,” she said, “that all the women who went with the Kamani would be happy there?”

  “What?” I almost stumbled back, I was that shocked by her assertion. Of course they were happy. They were free.

  But hadn’t there been moments when I’d almost missed my life in the castle, I realized suddenly, as difficult as it had been? In the time before I met Atik, my life among the Kamani had often been unbearably lonely. It was easy to want someone by your side, even if that someone was… someone like Kypher. Maybe, for some of the women…

  “What have you done with them?” I asked suddenly, as everything clicked into place. “And the women who were going to be executed, they…”

  “We did nothing. The women who chose to come back to us have gone with their mates to retrieve the ships from near the Kamani compound. The Kamani will not fight when the women are present, so it should be a smooth enough operation,” said Kypher. “As for the ones who mistakenly thought they would be accepted back after choosing Kamani mates…well. They have been dealt with. Your help was, of course, invaluable, Clara.” Reaching out, he took me by the hand and pulled it close—pulled me close, so that I was only inches from him.

  Nearby, Libba looked on in disgust. “What will you do with her, anyway?” she asked—almost demanded. Almost immediately, Kypher turned on her, bearing down.

  “That’s no way to speak to me, and you know it,” he said. Then he reached out, gripping her shoulder hard. She cried out in pain, eyes widening in shock.

  What he did next shouldn’t have surprised her. It didn’t surprise me. I knew Kypher’s cruelty all too well. All I could do was watch as the silver blade slid into her side—listen as she cried out, gasped, and fell to the floor, the crimson stain spreading over the ground as if it were a part of her dress.

  Libba wasn’t a good person, but that didn’t mean she deserved to die. I would think about that often in the years to come. However, at that moment, all I could think about was how desperately I needed to escape—somewhere out there, Atik waited for me, and I had promised to come back to him safe and sound. I wouldn’t break that promise.

  “I will not stay with you,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. “And aren’t you even going to ask how I got here?”

  Kypher looked down at me, his arrogance on full display. “What do you mean, Clara?” he asked.

  “My mate brought me here,” I said. “His name is Atik. I’m sure you don’t really want me now. Not after I’ve been made dirty by Kamani filth. So, you may as well let me go.”

  Kypher pulled me even closer, his face almost touching mine. “I still own you, Clara,” he said. “Whether you’ve been tainted or not. But if what you say is true, then I guess I have no choice but to kill you.”

  He still had the blade in his hand, now red with Libba’s blood. I could feel him moving— aware when the edge of the blade touched the sensitive skin of my neck. I thought right then that everything was over for me.

  Then chaos erupted in the room.

  Chapter 13

  The door slammed to the floor, brought down by enormous bear paws, and then, almost too large for the space, stood Atik, his massive gray form on two hind legs. He surged forward and slammed Kypher to the ground, forcing me to roll out of the way—knocking the breath out of me in the process.

  “Shit!” I managed to pull myself up just in time to see Atik tear through the wall, pulling Kypher out with him. Then I ran forward and watched as the two hurtled to the ground together in one massive tangle of limbs, bear and man. The sun had just begun to rise on the horizon, and light filtered down on them, allowing me to see them as they pulled apart from one another. Kypher managed to get himself to his feet as Atik let out a mighty roar that echoed throughout the base, alerting every Ak-hal around to his presence.

  “Shit,” I said again. All I could do was stand at the torn edges of the tower and watch as Kypher shifted, white scales erupting from his body, his form elongating and glistening brightly in the pale morning light. He was even more deadly beautiful than I remembered, a thought that didn’t settle well with me as I took in the raw force that emanated from his very being.

  Clara, stay back, Atik warned me, as if I could do anything else. Meanwhile, he paced the ground below the great dragon that now clawed at the ice, preparing to make its first strike. I could see that other Ak-hal and other women gathered around to watch, but none of them interfered in this match. It seemed that this was a one-on-one encounter.

  My breath hitched as Kypher took the first blow. Claws struck out, but Atik managed to dodge out of the way just in time. Snow exploded from the ground where Kypher’s forearm struck the ground, his claws embedding for just a moment before he pulled free. But in that short time that he was caught, Atik managed to come around and make a swipe at him, catching him in the chest and landing a great blow. Kypher let out a great, ear-piercing screech like nothing I had ever heard before—it almost stopped my heart—and then swiveled around to strike at Atik again with his other set of claws.

  This blow got Atik in the shoulders, and for just a second, I thought it would be enough to stop my mate in his tracks. But Kamani were made of sterner stuff than that. He may have slowed down for a moment, but before too long, he was fighting again, up on his hind legs and bearing down on Kypher, his jaws clamping down on the great length of the dragon’s neck.

  Kypher struggled, but he seemed unable to break free. Not until he finally lifted off into the air on his massive wings, forcing Atik to release and drop to the ground, where he paced in circles, watching the dragon as it continually dropped and false swooped on him from the sky.

  Hearing movement behind me, I turned slightly, seeing that a few other women had come in from the lower part of the tower to see what the commotion was. They looked at me in confusion first, before spotting the hole in the wall and the fight that had broken out on the ground below.

  “God,” one woman murmured, staring down, placing her hand over her lips.

  I turned and looked at her. And froze. “Jessica?” I stammered.

  She looked at me, and her eyes widened. “Ah…”

  “I thought you’d been killed!”

  Apparently, the Ak-hal were being less picky about their mates than Kypher had led me to believe. Deciding to ignore this new revelation, I turned back to the battle. Kypher swooped down on Atik again, but my mate had managed to catch him by the wing and pull him to the ground. I held my breath as I watched. Would this finally be it?

  Perhaps not. Kypher pulled himself up, and so did Atik. They circled one another, each preparing to strike. The question was, who would strike first? I watched with bated breath… and then Atik lunged. In slow motion, I saw his jaws close on Kypher’s throat, tearing through the white scales, and then the dragon crashed to the earth.

  I almost couldn’t believe it. Was this really possible? It seemed like I was dreaming. But no. Atik had done it.

  Realizing that I had to move, I slid to the edge of the hole that had been torn in the wall and grabbed hold just as Atik came to me. I dropped down onto his back. Then I heard the words that, finally, brought me peace.

  Clara. Let’s go home.

  Chapter 14

  Shay explained some things to me about women who had been through traumatic experiences.

  “I’m no expert,” she said. “So, take this with a grain of salt. But sometimes people just can’t let go. They’re drawn back. They can’t let themselves heal. That’s what makes you different, Clara. All this time
, you’ve been healing. You’ve been getting better. And now, you’ve found a mate who loves you. Who wants to take care of you. Who will make you even better and stronger than ever before.”

  I shook my head. Was I really so different than those other women? Sometimes, I caught myself thinking… it could have been me who chose to go back to Kypher, like the others who went back to their mates. One bad thought could have led me to flee my freedom, like those other women did.

  “I don’t think I’m special,” I insisted.

  “But you are,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along. I’ve known it since I first met you.”

  Leaving Shay, I set out for a walk on the Kamani compound. Things had been a bit more solemn than usual since everybody had found out what happened with the women who were taken, and we didn’t know what would happen now that the Ak-hal retrieved their ships. It was frightening to think they were in a better position than before to rebuild their empire on this planet, after everything that we had been through to take them down in the first place.

  “I will keep you safe, no matter what happens,” Atik told me when I brought up my concerns.

  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” I told him as we walked across the snow, my hand held firmly in his. He always reassured me that he would keep me safe, as if it were some sort of mantra. “There are just so many things to think about. Now, the Ak-hal can kidnap more women. And what will happen with the women who went back to them? So many of them will regret it, but…”

  “You always worry about everyone else,” said Atik. “But never about yourself.”

  I looked over at him. “What do you mean?”

  “You are important too.”

  “Well, I mean…”

  “To me, you are the most important person.”

  I felt my face heat up at this statement. The idea that I could be so important to anyone, but especially to someone like Atik… it sent my head spinning in a million directions. Thinking back to that shy girl I had been back in that ballroom, that girl who had willingly gone with the Ak-hal for the promise of what had seemed like love at the time…