by Octavia Kore
“You’ll be right outside, Xuvri. I’ll shout if I need anything.”
Xuvri frowned down at her, but she didn’t miss the way his eyes lit up. Seeing him happy and excited to do something as mundane and ordinary as playing in the dirt helped to ease the throbbing ache in her head. As he did every time they came back, Xuvri did a walkthrough of their home, checking every room before ushering her inside.
“If you need anything—”
“I’ll shout,” Esme repeated, leaning in to press a kiss to his chest before stepping inside. Despite her assurances to her male, anxiety twisted Esme’s insides as she looked around the empty house. Eina let out a long, pitiful cry as they entered the bedroom, and Esme lifted her out of the sling, hanging the material on one of the hooks near the door. “Shh, it’s nice and quiet in here, isn’t it? All those voices are gone now.”
She practiced pushing calming waves toward her baby as she nursed her. Eina’s little brows furrowed above her red eyes when Esme began humming softly like Ky did when she rocked Eina at night. “What? You like your mitera’s voice better, huh? I’ll tell you a secret, I like it better too.” When her belly was full and they’d both had a moment to snuggle and destress from their outing, Esme laid Eina down inside of the crib, gently patting her back until the baby drifted off to sleep.
With a relieved sigh, Esme tiptoed toward the door. Nursing was thirsty work, and she’d been drinking tons of water along with her newest obsession, galging juice. While that was great for her milk supply, it meant her bladder was in a constant state of fullness, which drove her nuts. Esme rushed down the hall to the bathroom, holding onto the sheathed dagger as it slapped at her hip. It was one of the most beautiful gifts she’d ever been given, but it was also something she was going to have to get used to. By the time she’d done her business and washed up, Esme’s heart was pounding and her anxiety was dreaming up all sorts of crazy scenarios.
Esme was positive all first-time mothers experienced some degree of separation anxiety, but she hated that she couldn’t even run to the bathroom without her mind going into panic mode. When she got back to the bedroom she shared with her mates, Esme peeked into the crib. Her baby was sound asleep, not a single hair on her little head disturbed. Every muscle in Esme’s body eased at the sight and she felt the excitement of the morning catch up to her as her eyelids grew heavy.
Just a little nap, she told herself. A quick refresher and then we can go sit in the garden.
No sooner had she closed her eyes than Esme found herself dreaming. She was standing in their kitchen with Ky, helping her cut up vegetables they’d pulled from the garden. They were going to make a stew from all of the things Xuvri had grown for them. This was going to be special, and she turned back to smile at their male who stood near the long wooden table, but the smile faded from her lips the moment she saw him. His empty arms stretched out before him and he stared back at her with wide eyes.
“Xuvri? Are you okay?” He didn’t answer her, but she swore she heard voices, whispers of words she couldn’t understand coming from somewhere close. “Ky, what’s going on?” Esme asked, turning toward their female.
“Wake up, Esme,” Ky said. “Wake up.”
“Wake up!” Xuvri shouted, startling her.
The whispers were louder now, and she could hear two distinct voices speaking to one another. Esme backed away, her eyes darting between her mates as they began to converge on her. “What’s happening?”
Xuvri slammed his fist down on the table with a loud thud. “Wake up. Wake up!”
“Kaia.”
That one word rang out loud and clear among the jumble of whispers, and Esme was jolted awake, her eyes snapping open. Neither she nor her mates had spoken that name since entering the village. It had no place here, and she preferred to keep it that way.
Movement in her peripheral caught her attention, but something in her mind warned her to be still, to avoid drawing attention to herself. There was a tall, mauve-colored figure… a Grutex, but not Xuvri, and beside that one was another figure covered in a long sheer white garment. The body beneath it was slender and insect-like with what looked like some sort of black exoskeleton protecting it. Two long antennae rose from the creature’s head, twitching as it stared down into the crib.
Eina!
Esme slid her hand down her side until she reached the dagger and pulled it from its sheath. As quietly and quickly as she could manage, Esme crawled out of the bed, but she must have miscalculated her position because she bumped into the bedside table as her feet touched the cold floor.
Fuck.
The figures standing near the crib spun toward her, and the instant Esme met the Grutex’s eyes, her stomach dropped and her blood ran cold. “Vodk…” Every terrifying memory came rushing back, flooding her mind with images of him moving over her, of his teeth and claws in her, of the blood on her thighs as she screamed for help on the floor of her cell.
“What is this?” the alien at his side questioned. It had large, bulbous eyes like the dead Tachin on the ship, but something about this one made Esme think it was female. “Your blade is useless, human.”
“Get away from my daughter.” Esme hated the way her voice trembled as she raised the dagger, holding it the way she’d been taught. “Don’t fucking touch her.”
The female laughed humorlessly, her eyes narrowing on Esme. “Your daughter? This creature shares no lifeblood with you. This is my larva, and I have come to collect her.”
The words slammed into her like a punch to the gut, but she wasn’t going to let anyone take her baby without a fight. “Eina doesn’t need to be my blood to be my child. I’m her mother, and if you don’t leave now, her father is going to tear you limb from limb.”
The female sneered. “My larva called out to me, and I have come. She knows who she belongs with, and clearly it is not you.”
“Look at you.” Vodk’s deep voice sent a shiver of fear racing through her. “Still playing at being a mother.”
Esme stumbled back, the hand holding the dagger shaking as she pivoted to face him. “Stop!”
Eina began to wail inside her crib, her cries echoing within the room. The moment Esme’s attention was off of him, Vodk made his move. “Xuvri!” she tried to scream, but it came out as more of a strangled cry as she swung the dagger. The blade glanced off of the plates that covered his side, barely leaving a scratch.
The back of Vodk’s hand connected with Esme’s cheek, and her ears rang as she was thrown to the floor, the dagger falling from her hand and skidding across the tile before coming to a stop just beneath the bed. “You can’t even see how pathetic this whole thing is, can you?”
When she tried to push herself up on her hands and knees, Vodk kicked her in the ribs, knocking the air from her lungs as she hit the side of the bed with a sickening crack. Pain shot through her, momentarily blinding Esme, but she wouldn’t give up. She only had a handful of days training with her mates under her belt, but she had to protect Eina. Even if Vodk ended up killing her, Esme wasn’t going to just give up.
His footsteps vibrated the floor beneath her, and Esme felt around blindly, snatching the dagger from beneath the bed and clutching it tightly in her hands as she waited for him to come closer.
Vodk fisted his hand in her hair, pulling her up to face him as he crouched down in front of her. “Pathetic little failure.”
“Fuck you!” Esme swung her arm, aiming the blade at his face, but he jerked back in surprise and she felt the dagger move through the lower part of one of his xines. He threw her to the floor and clutched at the bloody stub. It was a small victory and probably her last. “You failed us! You failed my baby!”
High-pitched cackling filled the air, like a thousand crickets all chirping at once, as a massive black shadow fell across her. The alien female cradled Eina in her arms, and Esme felt bile rise in her throat. No, no, no. Her baby’s terrified cry pierced Esme’s heart, and she clawed her way to her feet, her body screaming in agony as she lurched
toward the female. Vodk caught her by the wrist before she even had the chance to get past him, yanking her back against his hard, unyielding body. He crushed her wrist, shaking the dagger from her hand and sending it skidding across the room as his other arm wrapped around Esme, constricting her chest.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Let me go!” Esme screamed. “I’m not going to let you take her from me. I won’t let you!” She went suddenly and terrifyingly still, remembering the details of her nightmare. No, not a nightmare, a warning. The sound of Vodk’s laughter, the same sound that had haunted her since the moment she first heard it, filled her mind.
“You were not fit to be a mother then, and you are not fit to be one now. You’re still nothing but a failure.” His tongue slid up the side of her neck, over the new marks Xuvri had given her. “Unfaithful,” he tutted. “Remember who claimed you first.”
“Xuvri! Xuvri!” Esme screamed as loud as she could, kicking and twisting in Vodk’s grip.
“There is no time for this, Grutex. Leave her!” The female hissed as she looked down at Eina, who continued wailing. “Silence, you repugnant excuse for a larva.”
Vodk released Esme’s wrist and curled his clawed fingers into her hair, fisting the tangled strands and dragging her farther away from her baby. She reached up, scratching and tearing at his hand and arm in an attempt to free herself, but he jerked her to one side before slamming her head into the wall. With a pained groan, Esme sank to the floor, her vision fading in and out as tears fell down her cheeks.
“Please don’t…” She reached out with the last of her strength, her hand trembling as she watched a bright light engulf Vodk and the alien female who held Eina. A second later, there was nothing there but an empty space.
Someone was screaming, a terrifying, bloodcurdling noise that churned Esme’s insides. The wooden door to the room splintered as it was forced open, and Xuvri rushed into the room, his eyes going to the empty crib before he dropped down to pull Esme into his arms. She felt his hands on her and saw the soft red glow on his plates that originated from where they touched.
“He took her,” she whispered. “She’s gone…”
Xuvri’s mouth was moving, but Esme couldn’t hear him… couldn’t hear anything. Darkness closed in, blinding her, and she closed her eyes as it pulled her under.
Chapter 24
Xuvri
The sound of Esme’s screams echoing through the house and the way her body went limp in his arms after she uttered those gut-wrenching words were things that would haunt Xuvri for the rest of his life. Icy fear coursed through him as he ran across the courtyard and out of the gate into the empty streets. They’d been in the village long enough for Xuvri to know most people would be at the midday meal so he clutched Esme to his chest and took off.
What if he lost her? Esme’s injuries were significant, and if he didn’t get her to Ky or someone else who could help her, he might lose yet another piece of his heart. “Don’t leave us,” he whispered to her. “Hold on, Esme. Hold on.”
Find them.
Kill them!
Their offspring was gone, and the memory of her empty bed made him want to unleash the fury that was building within him. Xuvri clawed at the last shreds of his controls, putting the thoughts of destruction out of his mind until he was sure Esme would be all right.
A female stepped out of one of the shops, arms filled with rolls of colorful fabric. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of him running toward her.
“Which way is the temple?” he shouted, not bothering to be pleasant.
“What have you done?” she asked, her gaze fixed on Esme.
“The temple! Which way is it?”
The female jumped away from him, clearly terrified, but pointed to her left. “Down two homes that way and then take a right. The temple will be at the end.”
He heard the echo of her muttered prayers as he raced down the streets, following her directions. Xuvri took the temple steps two at a time before shouldering his way through the large doors, his voice bouncing off of the walls as he shouted Ky’s name. “Ky!”
“Xuvri?” His female spun around, the writing instrument in her hand falling to the floor the moment her eyes fell on them. “Esme! What happened to her?”
“I found her on the floor in our room.”
Ky brushed trembling fingers over the lifeblood-stained golden hair on Esme’s head. “She is covered in bruises, Xuvri. Who did this?”
“If I knew the answer to that, they would no longer be among the living,” he growled.
“Bring her here so I can check for any other injuries.” Ky rushed over to a long table, knocking things to the ground as she made room. A frown tugged at her brows, and she glanced behind him as if she were expecting to see someone else. “Where is Eina? Did you leave her with Trakseer?”
Xuvri swallowed the bile that threatened to choke him. “Eina is gone, Ky.”
His female blinked up at him. “Gone? Gone where?” When he didn’t answer, Ky clutched at his arm, her claws lengthening and scraping against his glowing plates. “Explain!”
“I don’t know where she is, Kythea! Esme is the only one who might know and right now she is unconscious.” Tears filled Ky’s eyes, and Xuvri cursed himself. “We will find her, Ky, but we need Esme’s help. When I found her, she told me ‘he took her,’ but I don’t know who she was referring to.”
Bathe in their blood.
Drink from their skulls.
“Her dreams,” Ky whispered. “The nightmares she told us about… what if it was him?”
The scientist.
“Then we are going to need a ship, or something even faster.”
Ky glanced back at the statue. “I may have something for that, but this wound is beyond my abilities. The bleeding and the gash I can mend easily, but there is more beneath the surface and I suspect there are broken bones,” she said, her jaw clenching as she examined Esme’s eyes. “Whoever did this—” Ky’s voice cracked, and she swiped at the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
Xuvri leaned down and took her face into his hands. “We will find them, and they will pay for what they’ve done, but we need to find a way to heal her first.”
Blue light from Ky’s fushori reflected off the walls, and she gazed down at her wrist where the Venium AI had been implanted. “Wayward tech, ping Amanda.”
“Pinging Amanda,” the AI responded.
A soft chime filled the room a moment before the dark-haired female from his past appeared on Ky’s arm. “Sometimes babies just cry, Zar. If he’s changed and fed and you’ve checked him over twenty times, then he might just be fussy.” Amanda sighed as she looked down and smiled. “Hey!”
“I do not have much time to explain, but I need a healer to be sent to the village as soon as possible.”
The smile slipped from Amanda’s face a second before the screen went dark. They could hear rustling and then she appeared again, this time in a small room that looked suspiciously like a bathing chamber. “Okay, I need you to run that by me again. What the hell are you doing in the village?”
“I said I did not have time to explain. Please, Amanda, I would not ask if this was not important.” Tears fell freely down Ky’s cheeks. “You are the only one I can trust with this.”
“Ky…” The female frowned. “I just had the twins a few days ago. I can’t go anywhere, and I’m not sure which healers are avail—”
“Xuvri said they took our offspring, and I do not know who else to contact!”
Amanda froze, her eyes going wide. “Wait… I’m sorry, Xuvri said they took your offspring?” A knock sounded over the comm, and Amanda jumped. “Just a second!” she shouted before glancing back at Ky. “You said there’s no time to explain, but after this is over I want the entire story, Ky.”
“You will have it,” Ky promised.
“I’m going to send help. Hang tight.” Without another word, Amanda disappeared and the screen went dark.
Ky rounded the table, pulling jars from the shelves that lined the walls and dumping some of their contents into her hand before popping the mixture into her mouth. Xuvri took Esme’s hand in his as he watched Ky chew. She spit the ground herbs into her palm and began covering the gash on their female’s head, laying it carefully until she’d used all of it.
“This will do until Amanda’s help arrives. Everything else requires time we do not have.” Ky cleaned her hands off on her skirts as she turned toward him. “If Eina was taken by this scientist, then how are we going to get her back and where will he go?”
“Esme said she was kept on the Kaia’s ship. Even with the knowledge of its location, the only ship capable of traveling there fast enough is currently in pieces in the forest. If he was working with the Tachin like I suspect, then he could already be back on the Kaia’s ship.” He could be anywhere. “No one but the Tachin has the capability to teleport and to move entire spacecraft across the galaxy.”
“They may not be the only ones…” Ky moved toward the statue, her tail whipping back and forth as she began to pace in front of it. “Goddess, why was the portal between the worlds destroyed?”
“Ky…” Xuvri began, but she silenced him with a look.
“Access denied,” the statue answered.
“I cannot for the life of me figure this thing out!” Ky slammed her hand down on an open book that rested at the foot of the goddess. “This female was secretive—she was full of herself!” He watched with wide eyes as his mate let loose every filthy curse she knew. “Every single passage of this text reads like some sort of narcissistic vouken waste! ‘I, Hylanthe, command you to–—’”
“Access granted.” Ky’s mouth dropped open as she stared up at the goddess. “Welcome, esteemed Elder. Out of many, you have been trusted with the knowledge of our true history.” The statue continued. “Would you like to open ‘Hylanthe’s History: Knowledge of the Elders?”
“Yes!”
A light near the bottom of the statue flickered before the room was filled with the projection of a village, not unlike the one they resided in. People filled the streets, and there was advanced tech, things far beyond what currently existed within the tribe and even in many other places in the galaxy. The people in the projection faded away, replaced with a map of what seemed to be the surface of Venora. It was a view Xuvri had seen many times in many different life cycles.
