by Ella Maven
I tried to meet his eyes, but his gaze remained fixed on a spot over my head. I tugged and strained on the ropes, waving my arms wildly in the air, but he completely ignored me.
In my head, I screamed. I screamed and despaired as the Glazistries walked over to him. With their joined hand, they reached out. I caught the slightest tenseness in his body at their touch, but his eyes didn’t flicker. Not even once.
“This property hurt us,” the Glazestries hissed with a delicate flutter and rattle of their bejeweled wrists. “Call your fire and eliminate her.”
They were going to burn me alive? Panic overwhelmed me, further paralyzing my vocal cords as my breath came hot and fast. I flailed more, but the ropes were tight across my chest. Fenix’s eyes flickered once at my face before he dropped his gaze to his hands. With a flex of his fists, flames burst to life on his palms.
Fenix! I screamed in my head.
Scuffling to the side drew my attention for a split second. Heera struggled with a guard. He held a hand over her mouth, but she clawed at him. With a flare of her nostrils, she opened up her mouth and bit down on his fingers, hard. He yelped and in the split second his hand left her mouth, she screamed one word, “Jennie!”
“Shut her up!” The Glazistries hissed, but I wasn’t paying attention to her. The fire in Fenix’s palms darkened for a split second, and his shoulders bunched. He rolled his neck from one side to the other.
“Burn her,” the Glazestries urged at his side. “Burn the enemy.”
A ball formed in the center of Fenix’s palms, just like the ones I’d seen when he fought the ogrices. I refused to close my eyes, but I braced for the first hot lick of pain to singe my skin. I hoped I passed out from smoke inhalation before I felt too much pain. Was there a worse way to die? I wasn’t sure. Sorry, teenage girls of Salem. This must have sucked, big time.
Fenix met my gaze over the flames, and I searched for one ounce of the soul I knew. Seeing nothing, I let out a soundless sob before mouthing, please, as I lifted my hand to the top of my head. Splaying my fingers, I moved my lips to say the last word I thought I’d ever say. Fenix.
He drew back his hand to throw his fire when suddenly he stopped. Frozen, flames licking at his skin, something flickered in his eyes. A muscle in his cheek twitched. He blinked, and then his hands slowly dropped to his sides.
“Burn her now, Drixonian!” shrieked the Glazistries.
Slowly he turned to face them, and I held my breath just as the corner of his mouth lifted into a wicked sneer. “Never,” he rasped as my heart pounded like a steam engine in my chest. “But I’ll burn down this entire place. Starting with you.”
Their bulbous eyes went wide, and they backed up hurriedly, their hooves clomping the ground. But they didn’t get far.
Fenix let loose. With a roar, fire burst from his palms in a solid stream like a flame-thrower. Screams lit up the cavern as he razed the guards who scrambled to form a wall in front of their royalty.
Heera, free from the guard who had been holding her, ran to my side and began to chew through my ropes with her sharp teeth.
I stared in awe as Fenix fought a one-sided battle. The entire cavern was filled with flames and smoke. An alarm went off, and the cell doors burst open, most likely an emergency mechanism in the case of fire. Which… Well, this was such a case. Guards on fire ran shrieking toward the lift before collapsing in blackened husks. A protective group huddled around the Glazistries, moving as quickly as they could toward the lift, but they were no match for Fenix, not like this.
With a scream of pain and frustration, Fenix formed a massive fireball between his two palms before tossing it at them overhand. It hit the group like an explosion. The last I ever saw of the Glazistries and their royal son was a few soot-stained hands reaching for fresh air before they disappeared into the pile of bodies.
Creatures crept out of their cells as Fenix slowly let the fire die in his palms. His body swayed, and he stumbled just as Heera chewed through the last thread of rope holding me in place. I rushed to his side, barely catching him before he hit the ground. He reeked of smoke, and his hands were a melted mess. I brushed my fingers on his pale cheeks and finally uttered one little whisper of a word, “Fenix.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Couldn’t… Remember. Not until… Not until you said my name.”
I never said it. But I’d signed it, and that got through to him. He craned his neck behind me, and I looked in the direction of his gaze. On the dock at the far side of the cavern, the Pliken cargo ship remained. He struggled in my arms. “Gotta get off…this planet.” He stumbled to his feet, leaning heavily on me. “Let’s go.”
I has questions, but not the voice to ask them, so I grabbed Heera’s hand and the three of us made our way, slowly toward the ship. We had ascended halfway up the stairs when the lift doors opened, and a fresh wave of guards flooded the cavern. One section gathered up the freed creatures, and I watched apologetically as they were led away, up the lift.
They were safe, but I’d wanted to save them. Not that they would all fit on the cargo ship, but… frustrated, I focused on the task at hand. Fenix was alive, and so was Heera. That was all I could do for now. I couldn’t rescue the whole world.
Guards were coming at us fast, and Fenix, with a long groan, turned around and formed a wall of fire. The guards skidded to a halt as he stood, feet braced apart, body shaking with pain. “Go,” he shouted over his shoulder. “Get on the ship.”
I opened my mouth, wishing I could protest, but he shook his head. “Go!”
Grabbing Heera, we ran up the stairs and down the dock toward the ship. The ramp was open, and we raced into the ship. I turned to find Fenix lumbering after us, the fire he’d created on the floor of the cavern holding the guards at bay… for a little bit. My wrists burned, and I glanced down, concerned I’d touched something hot, but instead I found a pair of black marks etched on my wrists like a bracelet. I rubbed at them, but they didn’t go away, and the pain intensified. Tearing off two strips of fabric from the bottom of my dress, I wrapped them around my wrists. I’d deal with the injury later.
As he staggered into the ship, he slammed his hand on a lever to close the ramp. I could hear shouts in the distance over the crackle of fire. “Cockpit,” he mumbled through gritted teeth. “Take me… there.”
Between Heera and I, we were able to get him to the cockpit in a chair. I stood by helplessly as his hands, nearly useless from the prolonged fire use moments ago, fumbled with the controls. But soon I heard the engine roar to life, the thrusters engaged, and despite the sounds of laser fire pinging off the cargo ship, we flew free from the dock into the encased tunnel.
Heera and I gazed out at the surface of the planet where winds whipped and rains pounded the ground, but we were in a contained modulated tunnel. It wasn’t until we left the atmosphere with a shudder and black space surrounded us that my knees gave out.
My head pounded, and I sucked in a sharp breath at the throbbing. It was probably from the smoke. Oh yeah and the near-death experience at the hands of an alien I’d fallen in love with. At least my wrists had stopped hurting.
Heera curled up in the co-pilot chair, large eyes staring out the front window in disbelief.
With a groan, Fenix slumped in his chair. His hazy eyes tried to focus on me, but his pupils were blown. “Can’t… remember. Had a plan.”
I cradled his face and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He made a rumbling sound in his chest before letting out a shaky sigh. “Don’t stop touching me, Jennie. Please.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and forced out one more word. “Never.”
Eighteen
Fenix
My memory was fuzzy. I tried to recall how I’d gotten in this cargo ship. Why was I on a bed of furs? Also where was the pain?
I rolled over, finding a sleeping Jennie next to me with her body plastered against mine. Outside the port window, nothing but black space and the occasional distant star was
visible. I could hear the distant murmur of the engine.
Jennie stirred and lifted a hand to brush her hair off her face. Noticing bandages on her wrists, I yanked off the crude cloth strips to check her wounds. Except she didn’t have wounds. I stared at the marks on her wrists, confused as I wracked my brain. Between two golden bands that ran the circumference of her wrist was a delicate pattern.
I knew what those were, but the answer was hidden somewhere in my wreckage of memories. I ran my thumb over them, but the skin was as smooth as ever.
“What?” Jennie rasped. She tugged her hands from my grip and sat up. Rubbing her wrists, she blinked at them when the marks proved permanent. “I—” she cleared her throat and shook her head as she shot me a questioning look.
I reached for her again, and that was when I spotted my own wrists. Despite the scarred and melted skin, the same golden lines shone on my scales in the same pattern as Jennie’s. Her eyes went wide as she thrust our wrists together. “They… match?”
Her voice was scratchy, and it seemed most of the progress she’d made had been lost. What had happened? I remembered high-pitched voices. Chains. And lots of fire.
A sharp spike of pain seared my brain and I gasped as the room faded in and out. Hands reached for me—warm, soft hands that chased away the pain as quickly as it came. Suddenly the memories flooded back. Everyone. The glazers. The exhibits. Jennie tied to a rock as I stood in front of her with my flames.
I sat up and grabbed her suddenly by the shoulders. “Were you hurt?”
She shook her head and gave me a kind smile. “No.”
“I almost … fleck.”
“You didn’t,” she said. “Wouldn’t have blamed you … if you did.”
I grabbed a canteen of qua off the table beside our bed. “Drink, your voice is strained.” She gulped down a few sips. I looked to the door. “I should get to the cockpit. I didn’t even set a flight path.”
“Heera,” she rasped.
“What?”
“Heera, the hilbob. On our way to a space station to refuel.”
I exhaled. “That’s good. I can decide then how to get you two to safety.”
“Two?” she queried.
I sighed as I rubbed my head. “I won’t last long with no Kixx.”
She reached for me. “But I—”
I grasped her hands in mine. “Your touch is only temporary. And it’s okay. We got the fleck off that planet. I have time. Enough time to figure out how to keep you and Heera safe.”
“How long?” she whispered.
“Long enough.” I didn’t know if that was the right answer. I brushed her cheek with the back of my fingers. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get us out of that sooner. They gave me enough Kixx to get by, but not enough to keep my mind intact.”
“You remembered…” A tear spilled down her cheek. “When it mattered, you remembered.”
I tapped my fist on my chest. “You’re in here. My cora. My blood. My mind. Invaded every crevice. I’m sorry I made you doubt me.”
“I didn’t,” she whispered. “Even when I thought it was the end. I didn’t doubt you. You saved us.”
I shook my head. “No, you saved me. I don’t think I could have come back without you. The memory of you was too strong to be forgotten. I’d still be there, out of my mind as their weapon of destruction.”
“But you’re here…” she shifted closer and nuzzled her cheek with mine. “With me.”
“Back on the ship… before we were taken by the glazers. Did you… did you take me inside you to ease my pain. Or because you wanted to?”
She let out a small puff of air that warmed my face. “Fenix,” she whispered, her eyes filling again.
I dropped my gaze. “You don’t have to—”
“It was both,” she whispered. “But even if you hadn’t been in pain, I would have…” she coughed. “I would have wanted that moment with you.”
“And now?”
She smiled. “And now, we make the most of our freedom.”
Closing the distance between us, she pressed her lips to mine. Immediately a different kind of warmth spread throughout my body—not the biting heat of pain, but like turning my face to the sun.
I delved my tongue into her mouth, my tongue piercing clicking on her teeth and she let out a little laugh before pressing her chest against mine. After a quick stumble to the cleanser to wash the soot from our bodies we tumbled back into the furs naked. As she clutched my shoulders, I held her gaze as I ran my hand down over her pert breasts to her wet cunt. My fingers slipped through her folds, and she arched her back as I plunged two fingers inside her. She immediately opened for me, letting her legs fall to the side. Beneath me, she was pliant, wet, and ready, I sucked a nipple into my mouth and tortured the bud with my piercings as she writhed on the furs, held in place by my body and fingers stretching her.
“Fenix,” she gasped.
The intensity overwhelmed me, and my body felt like it had swelled as my head pounded with my want for her.
“Take me,” she murmured with hazy eyes. “Come inside me, Fenix.”
Cock in hand, I pressed until my entire shaft disappeared inside of her.
Her chest heaved and the veins in her neck bulged as her mouth opened and closed. “Yes,” she moaned in a fuller sound than I’d ever heard her make.
Pulling out, I plunged back into her.
Her body jolted on the furs, breasts bouncing.
I did it again, and again, the warmth now seeping into my blood, my bones, replacing the constant heat that lurked like a shadow.
My hips worked, slamming into her while the room filled with the sounds of our mating. Small cries left her lips, and her temples grew damp. My subcock latched onto her clit and her eyes went wide. Suddenly her body went stiff and then she let out a cry of pleasure that gripped hold of my balls and squeezed.
Spilling my release inside of her, something ruptured in my head with a shower of sparks. I opened my mouth on a silent scream just as rapture consumed me.
“Fenix,” came a whispered voice. “Fenix, please. Are you okay? Fenix!”
I opened my eyes to find I lay sprawled across a naked Jennie.
She shook me frantically. “What happened?”
I groaned as I rolled off her. Dizziness swamped me and clutched my head. I waited for the sick thread of pain to slice through me, but the ache never came. I frowned as I pulled my hands away. The marks on my wrists were still there, and this time, when I searched through the wreckage of my memories, I found it a whole fleck of a lot more organized.
There was the Uldani in one corner while Rex, Mikko, and Zecri hung out in another. Even the mines had their own place, dark as it was.
And there was no longer pain, but a soft melody that sounded like rainfall hitting leaves in the forest. I stared at Jennie as the melody continued, reminding me of when I used to stand in the rain as a chit, letting it hit my face as it played a rhythm on the foliage. I turned to Jennie, who rubbed at her temple almost in confusion. “What—?” she swallowed, and her brows dipped. “Why does my throat feel better?”
Her voice was still raspy, but the tone was markedly improved. I reached for her hands, comparing the marks on our wrists as I entered the room in my mind, the rainfall following me, where Drixonian legends were kept.
“I remember now,” I said softly. “These are loks.”
“Loks?”
“Fatas blesses us on rare occasions with cora-eternals. Our perfect mates. The loks are a symbol of that blessing and in here…” I tapped my head. “I feel you. You’re a soothing rainfall. A melody.”
“And you’re…” she let out a happy sob and rubbed her throat. “You’re like honey.”
“Honey?”
“I can feel it on my tongue, a sweetness. It’s a golden amber and it’s coating everything.”
“The pain,” I whispered. “It’s gone. And it’s not from your touch. Before I still felt it lurking to return.
But this is… an emptiness. A good emptiness.”
“And I feel full. A sweet fullness.”
“Your voice…”
“It doesn’t sound back to normal, but it doesn’t hurt anymore at least.”
“So, we…”
“We have hope,” I said, barely able to believe it. “If I don’t need Kixx, then our future is wide open. I’ll make you a happy mate, Jennie, I promise.”
“You’ve already made me happy in more ways than you imagine,” she pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Now let’s go check on Heera. You made a lot of noises in here and she might be concerned.”
I sat on the edge of the furs as I pulled on my pants. “We weren’t noisy, were we?”
She snorted as she pulled her hair back into a tie. “Hey, I didn’t say we. You were the noisy one.”
I squinted at her. “When can we make more noises?”
She rolled her eyes as she tugged her shirt over her head and kissed my forehead. “Later.”
There weren’t many places we could refuel without proper travel documents, which none of us had. As we pulled into the dock of a sketchy station too close to Vixlicin for my liking, I wondered how the hell I was going to bribe the guards. There were some czens on board, but not enough to pay for fuel and bribes. On top of that, we needed supplies.
The high of escaping with Jennie hadn’t worn off yet, but it was stained with the uncertainty of our future. Once I had to start thinking practically about how we’d survive, reality hit. None of this was going to be easy. I wished I could talk to Rexor. Had he ever made it home safe? I could try returning to Torin, but the thought of seeing any Uldani again made my hands shake.
I patted my pocket, which held the few precious czens we had. It would have to do for now. I’d figure something out.
