by Hope Hart
Alexis chews on her lip. “At this stage, I’m not sure if you can operate the ship independently. It’s possible those algorithms are used to change sequence as the ship is launching and operating and without it, it won’t work.” She holds up her hand as the clearing devolves into questions.
“Obviously, I’m going to try my best to help you guys get off Agron. But I want to be clear. If you get on this ship, you’re risking your lives.” She takes a moment, scanning each and every face as she lets that sink in. “If you stay on Agron, you can have a good life here. It may not be the life you imagined, but we sure like it. I understand the need for revenge, but you have to be sure this is what you want. Because even if I can get that ship launched, you’ll be on your own after that.”
Sarissa gets to her feet. “So you’re saying at the very least, we need to fix the thruster. And you won’t know more about whether or not we can use the ship without the chip until you’ve examined it, which you can’t do until the Dokhalls are no longer a threat.”
Alexis nods. “Pretty much.”
“If they have that chip, they’re not giving it up,” someone calls out, and Sarissa nods, turning back to Alexis.
“Explain the broken thruster to me. Can we take it off the ship to repair it?”
Alexis shakes her head. “Not the whole thruster, but the part that’s cracked can be removed.”
Sarissa glances across the clearing to where Vivian is sitting, and they have a wordless conversation. Sarissa angles her head, and Vivian nods.
“After the battle, we talked about visiting Arix,” Sarissa announces.
“Who’s Arix?” one of the women pipes up.
“Arix is the king who helped save Dexar,” Nevada says. “He offered to help us. Said he had people who ‘tinker with metal and heat.’”
Sarissa nods. “I don’t trust him. But then, I don’t trust anyone.”
Ellie frowns. “I don’t really want us to be separated again. I want us to stay together.”
I wrap my arm around her. Ellie is a sweetheart, a homebody, and she worries herself sick when we’re away from camp.
Vivian bares her teeth in a fierce grin. “Well, I want to be closer to both a Sephora and a Starbucks, but as life has proven again and again on this planet, you can’t always get what you want.”
She winks as Ellie lets out a wet laugh. “If we take the thruster to him, maybe his people can help fix it while the Braxians handle the Dokhalls.”
“Okay,” Sarissa says. “We’ll go to Arix.”
“I’m going too.” I feel my cheeks heat as everyone looks at me, but I ignore them. Vivian doesn’t look surprised, giving me a nod.
“As long as Moni gives you the all clear.” Nevada stares me down when I narrow my eyes at her, and I finally sigh.
“Yes, Mom.”
She laughs, stroking her bump. “One thing is certain. No one leaves camp alone. We use the buddy system. We know these guys have weapons that can take us down. And we know they’re more intelligent than the Voildi and much more organized than the Zintas. They’re a threat that can’t be ignored.”
Tagiz
I survey the training arena, watching as the human females fight. According to Vrex, many of the new females have declared if they’re going to be temporarily on Agron, they may as well train for their revenge.
Nevada stands in front of the group, hands on her hips. Rakiz glances over at her from where he is speaking with a group of his warriors, giving her a heated look, and she narrows her eyes, sending him a lewd gesture in return.
They both grin.
Something in my chest clenches. What would it be like to have that with someone? I have known Malis since we were children, but our parents’ expectations have always been between us. In some ways, it’s ironic. If not for their insistence we commit to mating, perhaps we would naturally have grown closer.
Now the only thing we have in common is loathing for the very thing our parents want so badly.
My father approaches, and I tense. He slides me a look and then returns his attention to the training arena. Some of the new human females are running from one end of the arena to the other while Nevada orders them to move faster.
“Weak human females,” my father murmurs.
I glance at Ivy, Vrex’s mate. She picks up a knife, which is more like a sword in her hand, and raises her eyebrow at her male, who is leaning against the training arena and talking to Terex.
Vrex smirks, jumps the arena fence, and stalks toward his mate.
“You have not seen these females fight as I have, Father. They may be small, but they can be vicious in battle.”
He snorts. “They die too easily. And their children will be weak. I am glad Rakiz’s father cannot see the female his son has mated with. A tribe king has a duty to choose a Braxian female.”
I grind my teeth. “Be careful, Father. If Rakiz hears you speak this way about his female…”
He shrugs but glances over his shoulder, checking our surroundings. For a moment, I feel sympathy for my mother. It’s no secret their mating was not a love match. My father’s family has been committed to “breeding strong and true” for centuries. The strongest females in the tribe are chosen, along with those who can form ongoing alliances with our own family.
My mother has never said she regrets mating with my father. Has never hinted this may be the case. And she agrees with him that I should mate with Malis. But I wonder, when she sees her friends, when she watches how they are adored by their mates…
Does she wish for more?
I shake my head at the thought. This is the future she wants for me. The future both my parents wish for me to have.
“I’m pleased you have no intention of choosing one of these weak human females,” my father says. “Malis will be a good mate.”
I don’t want Malis. I long for the tiny, mouthy female who survived against all odds. The female with bright-blue eyes who challenges me at every turn.
I glance at my father, noting his eyes are on my face, searching for any hint of weakness.
I ensure my face is carefully blank. “We’ve spoken about this, Father. I have no intention of mating with anyone right now.”
He narrows his eyes at me, and my stomach churns. Beneath our every interaction is an unyielding thread of obligation. I owe my father more than I can ever repay. I owe him everything.
He nods at whatever he sees on my face and then points at Nevada. “Human females were not created to breed with us,” he says quietly. “Rakiz hovers around his queen because he knows the truth. The likelihood of her dying in childbirth is high. I know you would not want to sentence a female to the same fate, Tagiz.”
He slaps me on the shoulder, turning to walk away, and I stare at Nevada. At the large mound of her stomach.
A vision intrudes before I can stop it. Zoey, her face twisted in pain. But this time, instead of coughing, she is writhing, attempting to birth a Braxian baby that is far too big for her tiny body to handle.
I see her eyes fluttering shut for the last time. Because of my selfishness.
Jozet approaches from my left, a few steps away. From the look on his face, he was listening to every word my father said.
“Do you think that’s true?” he asks. “Do you believe the queen will die attempting to bring the baby into the world?”
I’m silent, and he blows out a breath as we both return our attention to the arena.
Nevada winces, stroking her hand over her stomach, and Rakiz breaks off his conversation, immediately stalking to her. She smiles up at him, brushing a hand over his jaw, but now I can see the terror in his eyes.
And I understand it.
Chapter Three
Zoey
I hand my first aid kit to Hewex, waiting while he attaches it to the mishua’s saddle, and then I give him my bag. I haven’t packed much—just a change of clothes in case we need to make camp. Vivian has the broken piece of the thruster, while Sarissa has a sketch a
nd a list of instructions from Alexis.
Jozet helps Sarissa onto his mishua, and I take a moment to smile up at the green sky. Other than my constant trips to the forest, this is my first time leaving the camp since I was brought here, unconscious and barely breathing.
Unlike almost everyone else, I’ve never seen any of the other tribes. I was taken by the Voildi, carried to Sebe, and shoved into a cage.
But today, I’m going on a Braxian boat, across the lake or sea they call the Colossal Water, and I’m even going to see the mysterious king everyone talks about in hushed whispers. According to Vivian, he lives in an actual castle.
If this weren’t such an important trip, I’d probably be doing a little victory dance.
“Take that, you purple bastards. You couldn’t hold me down.”
“What was that?” Sarissa asks from her spot on Jozet’s mishua.
“Nothing.”
She pushes her hair out of her eyes, then turns her head, facing into the wind as she pulls it up into a ponytail. I raise my eyebrow at her elastic hair band, and she notices me looking. “I had it around my wrist when I was taken.”
“Guard it like gold,” I advise her, and she laughs.
“There are like forty women here and approximately ten hair bands between us. Blaire’s snapped the other day, and I thought she was going to cry.”
I grin. Blaire is tough as nails. She’s small and fine-boned, which according to her, comes from her Japanese mother. But I’ve never seen her look anything other than coolly amused.
I glance at Hewex. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
He sends me a shit-eating grin, and the expression is so out of place on his craggy face that I blink at him.
“We’re waiting for one more person,” he says. Then he glances over my shoulder, and that grin widens.
I close my eyes. I don’t need to guess who is standing behind me.
“Laugh it up,” I mutter as Hewex chuckles. “You’re on my shit list now. It’s not a good place to be.”
I open my eyes as he has the nerve to pat me on the head.
“That’s it,” I say. “That thing we talked about? It’s happening now. You owe me.”
“What thing?” a deep voice rumbles behind me.
I ignore that, and Tagiz steps into my space as Hewex helps Vivian onto his mishua.
I turn, taking a step back. I don’t need to be close enough to smell the heady leather-and-male scent of the man who drives me crazy.
“None of your business. What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?”
“Don’t answer a question with a question.”
He grins at me, and I roll my eyes.
All amusement leaves his expression as he runs his gaze over my body. Unfortunately, it’s not a sexy look. Instead, I can almost hear him wondering if I’m healthy enough to travel.
I turn away. “I’m not riding with him,” I announce.
I yelp as the world turns upside down, and I smack him on the chest as he stalks to his mishua with me in his arms.
“Ooh, you are in big trouble, mister. Huge.” I’m clenching my teeth, but the jerk doesn’t seem at all worried. He ignores me, climbing up onto his mishua with me still in his arms. He helps me turn until I can throw my other leg over the side of the mishua, and I attempt to block out just how good his arm feels as he wraps it around my waist.
For the second time in three days, I’m sitting between Tagiz’s thighs.
“Did you bring your tonic?” he murmurs in my ear, and all sexy thoughts flee from my head.
“I don’t need it anymore,” I grind out, teeth clenched in annoyance. He leans forward, taking my chin in his hand as he turns my head to face him. His expression is no longer amused.
“Zoey—”
That’s it.
“You listen to me,” I snap. “I’m an adult woman who saves lives on my planet. I’m responsible for my own health, and I’ve been following Moni’s treatment plan. You have nothing to do with that plan. I’m not going to discuss this again, so if you don’t have anything to talk to me about that doesn’t involve my health, I suggest you don’t say anything at all.”
His eyes widen slightly as he examines my face. Whatever he sees must convince him I’m one-hundred-percent serious because his jaw tightens, but he nods, releasing my chin. I blink back tears as I make eye contact with Hewex, and he gives me a sympathetic look.
With a nod from him, we’re on the move.
Tagiz
“Zoey.”
She ignores me, and I sigh. “I…apologize.”
She ignores that too, and I stare at the back of her head. Zoey is quick to laugh, and I have never seen her hold a grudge. I push down the panic that begins to rise at the thought of her no longer speaking to me.
When she was recovering from her illness, we would spend long nights talking. She told me of her work as a healer on Earth, and I explained how I grew up with Rakiz, certain I would continue my family’s tradition and become one of his most loyal and trustworthy warriors.
I miss those nights with her.
Regret washes over me as I study the beautiful female who is busy ignoring me. She turns her head slightly as Hewex says something, and I ignore the jealousy that stabs into me when she gives him a tiny smile.
She never smiles at me anymore.
“Zoey,” I murmur again.
She stiffens. “What?” she finally says, and a surprising warmth in my chest makes me want to pull her even closer.
Zoey is the only female who has ever made me feel tenderness.
“Please accept my apology,” I murmur. “I know I am…protective. It is only because I care about you.”
She’s silent for a long moment. “You may not see me as a woman, Tagiz, but I won’t have you treating me like a child.”
My mouth twists. “You were so sick…”
“And you’ll never get past it. I understand, Tagiz,” she says, and her voice is hollow. “But I won’t allow you to interfere in my life.”
I grind my teeth. I don’t know how this happened. How I put that sadness in Zoey’s voice. But I will fix it.
“I see you as an exquisite female, Zoey. You…dazzle me. If you can’t see that, you haven’t been paying attention.”
I lean forward and whisper the last few words in her ear, and she shivers, glancing over her shoulder at me, those big blue eyes wider than ever.
“Don’t play with my feelings, Tagiz.”
I sigh. I should let her go. Let her find another warrior who will walk through the forest with her before dawn. Who will murmur with her at night and show her all the ways a Braxian can make a human female scream with pleasure?
The thought makes me clench my fists, and Zoey taps on my arm as it tightens around her waist.
I lean forward and murmur in her ear again. “Did I ever tell you what I thought the first time I saw you open your eyes?”
Zoey laughs but not like the question is funny. “I give this weak human female two days before she’s dead?”
I growl at that, leaning forward and nipping gently at her earlobe. I’m rewarded with her low groan, and she clutches my arm tighter as I murmur into her ear.
“I looked into your eyes, and all I could think was ‘finally, I found her.’ But you were so sick. The Voildi and the Zintas almost took you from me before I could even find you.”
“If that’s how you feel, then why wouldn’t you kiss me?”
I open my mouth to attempt to explain, but Hewex pulls his mishua to a stop, and Jozet does the same.
“From here, we move fast,” Hewex says in a low voice. “This is the perfect place for an attack, so we will not be lingering in this area.”
We all nod, and my mishua needs no encouragement when Hewex directs us to gallop across the open clearing. She snorts, throwing her head in glee before sprinting after Hewex’s mishua at a pace that makes Zoey clutch even tighter at the arm I have wrapped around her tiny wa
ist.
As if I would ever allow her to be harmed. I scowl at the thought.
I continually scan our surroundings, aware everyone else is doing the same. The Dokhalls don’t appear to be lying in wait; however, they may be waiting closer to the Colossal Water or perhaps planning to attack us when we return.
Who knows what these strange purple creatures have planned? All I know is we will slaughter each and every one of them before we allow them to take the human females from us.
Zoey
The trip across the water will only take a few hours, but the sound of Hewex’s retching makes it feel longer. The poor guy pukes again and again, and Vivian wrinkles her nose at the sound as she offers him a cloth to wipe his face.
Tagiz murmurs something to him at one point, and Hewex scowls, his expression deadly before he turns away to hurl once more.
“What did you say to him?” I ask when Tagiz sits back down beside me.
“I told him he should have learned from the last time he crossed the Colossal Water.”
Hewex wipes his mouth, his face pale and sweaty, and I feel for the guy. I wish I had some anti-nausea meds or something to give him so he could have some relief.
Earlier, Vivian warned me not to get too close to the edge of the boat. Yalex—our captain—nodded his head in agreement. “There are many different beasts waiting beneath the surface,” he murmured, his eyes on the horizon. “You would likely be nothing but a snack.”
I planted myself firmly in the middle of the boat, and now I’m keeping a close eye on Hewex as he loses his breakfast over the side.
Vivian and Sarissa are murmuring to each other as we approach the town, and I tamp down the jealousy that rises as they laugh.
I always wished for a sibling or a cousin, but I’m an only child. Mom came from money, but her parents disowned her when she fell for a man she later learned was married. When he abandoned us, she refused to give them the pleasure of saying “I told you so.” Instead, she worked three jobs only to be struck by a drunk driver when she was crossing the street for her night shift at the diner. I was nineteen.
