Nikol's Surrender (A World Beyond, #10)

by Howard, Michelle

  The lie was obvious and preposterous because anyone would love to have the connection to the Majad, who ruled all of Marenia with ruthless control and a lack of mercy to those who dared cross him. Each time though, Lothar merely agreed and denied the requests.

  His older sisters had grown into beautiful women. Selfish, beautiful women Nikol wouldn’t trust with his eyes closed. They were groomed early to serve and trained to betray. They had all been settled in advantageous kitse for Lothar. Nikol hoped for better for the younger ones.

  As they strolled through the jeweled halls with its abundance of rich artifacts, Renik talked and they caught up on everything going on with Nikol, for the most part. Some things were best not shared.

  At the end of his visit, Renik gripped Nikol’s shoulders and pulled him in close. Their horns rubbed and the physical gesture pierced Nikol’s heart as it always did, for it reminded him of his mother and Mirim, the only ones before to touch his horns in the intimate sign of affection.

  “What of a family? You’ve had a kitse for some time now but no First Placement or child.”

  Nikol leaned back from the embrace and forced himself to mouth the same lies he told Lothar. “I have not found one I wish to own. Children will come when they come.”

  He still had the four women gifted to him from Lothar though he didn’t touch them in that way. Nikol fucked far away from Marenia with unknown females from other worlds. Even then he had to keep his face covered to keep his identity a secret.

  To open himself to a woman would put her in Lothar’s sights and her life at risk.

  Renik’s eyes grew sympathetic and Nikol wished he hadn’t needed to keep up the pretense. He really did care for the Majad.

  “I hope you will have many to call your own from your line and if not, may you gift your heart to a woman who will share openly of her love and fill your life cup until it runs over as all of mine have done.”

  Chapter 3

  Present Day

  The translator they’d implanted in Darcy’s ear allowed her to understand every vile word they spoke. They being the aliens who’d kidnapped her from a ship that was supposed to take her to meet a potential husband.

  “Go. Don’t stop.”

  Darcy shuffled forward with the others captured with her. Two women and a man. The man was a security guard she recognized. Like Darcy, the women had been traveling to another planet to meet men as well. All of them were involved in Earth’s Singles Program. SP, as it was referred to, was to help women find husbands off world due to the shortage of available men and dwindling resources on Earth.

  The process wasn’t supposed to see their ship hijacked and the survivors kidnapped by what she assumed were space pirates of some sort.

  “Wait!”

  Their four-person group jerked to a halt in front of a doorway covered by a dark curtain. Beyond it, the low sound of various voices filtered through. She caught phrases, an odd alien word or two, then muffled laughter. Darcy straightened her shoulders and braced for whatever lay on the other side.

  “One at a time,” the lizard faced man creature said. Then pointed at Darcy. “You, go through.”

  Shivering, Darcy couldn’t have moved if she wanted to. Her feet remained frozen to the spot even as the lizard got in her face and yelled, his tongue flickering with each word.

  “Gooo!”

  “Let her be! Can’t you see she’s scared?!” The security guard from the ship shoved his way to her side.

  Darcy watched in stunned horror as he was hit over and over with a club until he finally dropped to his knees, trickles of bright red blood dripping down his face.

  Lizard man glared at her.

  “Oh, God! Oh, God,” Darcy whispered, wrapping her arms around her naked torso.

  “Go!” The menace in his slitted stare when he snapped sent Darcy forward with a jerky fast momentum.

  The curtain parted and Darcy found herself standing on a four-by-four stage. An overhead light shined directly on her head and the crowd cheered and roared. The stage was built on a platform and gave her a slight height advantage.

  Or disadvantage because Darcy had no way to look away from the leering crowd. Garbled words came at her from every direction. She twitched and turned, but at the curtain, the lizard man narrowed his gaze, his snout lifting to reveal sharp teeth. Darcy faced forward again.

  Tension crawled up her spine. The things in the audience raised fists and shook them in the air. Some were human-ish. Others appeared to be straight from a sci-fi vid and bore no resemblance to a being she’d ever crossed.

  Not that she’d crossed many. This SP trip was supposed to be Darcy’s first time meeting alien life forms. She’d been prepared based on the information in her packet to find a husband or partner that at least resembled someone from Earth. She’d narrowed her search to Enotia and Garulax. Enotia had insanely hot men and Garulax followed a two husband culture.

  The audience in front of her was beyond what her brochure covered. There were some who looked liked lizard man with green scaly skin, snouts with nostril holes and funny eyes. She caught a range of skin colors and numerous appendages beyond the standard two arms and two legs.

  “Do a complete turn, please.”

  Darcy jumped at the voice coming from behind her. She swallowed and glanced over her shoulder. A bald-looking humanoid man joined her on the stage, a smile on his narrow lips. He twirled his three-fingered hand. “Turn so everyone can view the merchandise.”

  Merchandise? “W-what?!”

  “Buyers want to see merchandise before purchase is confirmed.” He continued to smile as if this was a perfectly normal conversation and nudged her forward.

  “I’m being sold?” she whispered in disbelief.

  When she didn’t move immediately, the man gripped her shoulders and pushed her again. Her feet stumbled clumsily. Her mine whirled, not wanting to grasp the reality of her situation. The voices from the crowd reached a feverish pitch.

  This was some sort of alien sex slave ring. The gathered crowd shouting took on new meaning. They...they were here to buy her.

  After turning her in a full circle, the man stepped away and started yelling numbers. Trembles started at her knees, working their way up to her shoulders. Sold. She was being sold at an auction.

  Nausea swirled and her stomach lurched. All of the faces below the stage blurred. Darcy pressed a hand to her midsection. She wanted to scream, but her throat locked. Heat rose in her face then cooled and a dry sweat broke out on her skin.

  I’m going to be an alien’s sex slave.

  Darcy swayed, then caught herself. Now wasn’t the time to faint. She needed to be awake to see what her future held. Her lips firmed. She didn’t plan for things to go like this but she damn well wouldn’t be passed out on the floor while her future was being decided.

  “Fifty thousand open credits. Paid in full. Today.”

  Silence swept through the audience, followed by groans. The man on stage with her paled, the bulge in his throat popped and there was no missing the sweat dabbing his bald head. “Fifty thousand?”

  Darcy stretched her neck and tried to see beyond the blinding spotlight to the voice but the alien who’d called out was too far away.

  “Yes.”

  Boots thumped down the center aisle. The previously bold aliens all jumped out of the way of the newcomer. Darcy waited, her world suspended for this moment in time. Her buyer had a darkly tanned face with a hint of red on the skin, thick thighs and a muscled body capable of crushing any of them present. His appearance was the epitome of threatening but what held Darcy memorized were the twin horns at the sides of his head.

  Horns!

  “Done.”

  The man on stage gripped Darcy’s hand and led her to a set of stairs at the side of the platform. Voice low, he murmured, “I will send blessings that you die a quick death.”

  The words were the last blow and Darcy shuddered at what was to be her fate.

  ***

>   Nikol burst through the door open to Lothar’s office. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Seated behind his large desk, Lothar lifted his head and his mouth twisted in a cruel snarl. “Watch how you speak with me.”

  His anger too great to heed the warning, Nikol marched toward the desk, pounded both fists on the surface and gritted out between clenched teeth, “I said: What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?”

  The only response was the narrowing of the black eyes staring back at him. Aggression vibrated on the air between them. Nikol refused to stand down. Lothar did things to enrage him all the time but he’d gone too far this time.

  Lothar sighed and tapped a finger on the top of the desk then without a semblance of guilt on his face, he rocked back in his seat. “Someone told you about the shipment of bliss, I gather.”

  A sustained usage of bliss resulted in its users going crazy and committing murder while under the influence. Those who retained their sanity often died a painful and immediate death from the attack on their nervous system. After complaints had reached the Majad, Lothar had been ordered to withdraw from manufacturing or selling the drug.

  “I gave the Majad my word we would stop selling it. If he finds out about this, I’ll look like a liar,” Nikol spat.

  Lothar had directed him to pick up and deliver an extremely large shipment, claiming it was high-level trade merch. One of the crates had dropped and broken open to reveal the thick packs of bliss inside. Otherwise, he’d never have known.

  Nikol hated that he’d had any part in putting more of the dangerous product out. Year by year, his very sanity was challenged by the things he did on behalf of Lothar. This latest was shoving him closer to an edge he wasn’t sure wouldn’t break him.

  “My brother will not punish you. It’s obvious he’s favored you since your youth. Even my useless daughters seem to be under his protective eyes.” Lothar said the last on a sneer.

  Probably because only one of his younger daughters had been placed in a kitse. Hauka also happened to be deliriously happy and in love with her master. Much to everyone’s surprise, Beren appeared to return her feelings and treated Hauka as precious. She held First Placement and was expecting his only babe so far.

  It helped that Beren was one of Majad Renik’s closest allies and governed one of their largest nations. He’d do well to never jeopardize the relationship with their ruler.

  “Niko.” Lothar stood and came around the corner of his desk, his dark eyes glinting. “This was a one-time thing. A favor for an ally. The credits transferred will go far.”

  It had nothing to do with credits. It was about spite at being told what he could and couldn’t do by his brother. With the large business empire Lothar had amassed, he had no shortage of credits and by default, Nikol was a very wealthy individual as well.

  Marenia kept their edge by ruthlessly crushing opposition. They owned a large portion of the trade in this part of the Alliance vector and threats of retribution minimized the number of those willing to steal from them.

  Of course, if they were actual members of the Alliance, they would fall under their range for protection and a host of other benefits. Unfortunately, Lothar wasn’t responsible for that bit of fuckery. Nikol knew the Majad would never agree to align with an organization that was vehemently opposed to the way their societal structure subjugated women. Renik assumed this was the best and only way for their women to be safe and flourish no matter how many times Nikol broached the topic.

  He straightened and backed away from any potential physical contact. “Don’t ever use me like that again.”

  Outwardly he maintained his mask, but inside he seethed at this latest act of betrayal. The man who’d contributed to his birth was a schakal, a beast found in the wilds of Marenia, which fed on its pack without remorse.

  Lothar lost his feigned jovial attitude, his black brows clashing downward. His voice lowered to a deep rumble when he replied, “Or what? What do you think to do to me...son?”

  Nikol knotted his hands at his side. They stood close enough he could drive his fist into the gloating face in front of him. The vision alone filled Nikol with pleasure. Still, he kept his hands to himself. Lothar’s guards would react to the slightest sign of provocation. They’d been trained under brutal conditions to do no less.

  He had to respond to Lothar’s taunt, though. He couldn’t let his father get by with this slight or he’d seek to trick him more and more until Nikol crossed an invisible line he wasn’t even aware of creating.

  “I don’t think you want to find out. Father.” He spat the last word.

  Lothar stared, his black eyes smoldering before going blank. In the next moment, he relaxed on a loud booming laugh and clapped Nikol on the shoulder. “Every time. You do it every time. Just when I question if you could truly be my son, you prove it.”

  Lothar dropped his arm and stepped back to lean his hip on the edge of his desk. “I know you don’t often trust me, but you have my promise no more bliss.”

  Cheating and stealing was a way of life for Lothar. His word wasn’t much to go on, except this time Nikol believed he meant the words he uttered. His father didn’t toss around promises especially ones he had no intention of keeping.

  Nikol eased his shoulders and let out a breath. “No more.”

  “No more.” Lothar agreed, the half-smile still playing about his mouth. “We should share lunch. I’m feeling good for some reason.”

  Never. If he could avoid it, Nikol never willingly spent time with him. He backed up and changed the subject. “I’m eager to return to my kitse.”

  It was an excuse Lothar would understand. “Ah, very well. Perhaps you will make a son this night.”

  Ignoring the hopeful note in his voice, Nikol turned and left. He was never raising a child under the same roof as the one who’d killed his mother and forced him to abandon his brother.

  Chapter 4

  Traveling by ship in a comfortable cabin with your whole future ahead of you was a lot different than traveling with an unknown alien who threw you naked in a tiny cell with pulsing electric bars. At least Darcy assumed them to be electric by their static-like blue glow. The menacing buzzing sound they gave off also served as a sufficient warning. Whatever. She had no intention of testing what would happen if she touched one.

  Her kidnapper only stopped by to shove a tray with odd, tasteless porridge and water to her twice a day. Each visit shook Darcy. He was large and muscled from his thick arms and chest down to his beefy thighs.

  After his first leer, she avoided eye contact, which had the added benefit of avoiding the fact that he had curled dark brown horns at the side of his head. He never spoke to her, only grunted as he shoved the tray through the gaps in the energy bars, but there was no missing the way the crotch of his blue pants jumped and bulged as he watched while she finished the strange food and water.

  Probably because she had no clothes on and he’d paraded her from the auction to this ship in the nude. There had been two other guards with him, but they hadn’t been back to see her, only the one who’d purchased her and made sure she was fed. Obviously, he didn’t want to damage the goods he’d bought.

  Bought. Darcy shook her head in disbelief, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she, an actual being, had been sold like livestock or merchandise. An object without thought or rights. The very idea was unfathomable in this time and age.

  Adding to her growing level of fear was the loss of time. Darcy had no clue how long she’d been with her new owners. The length of travel on the ship couldn’t be deciphered, but they must have reached their destination if the chain and collar swinging from her captor’s wide palm was any indication.

  “Come.”

  Tempted to refuse the gruff demand, she reminded herself that survival was the name of the game, not foolish stances that would see her killed immediately.

  Although she wanted to cower, Darcy rose and approached him on shaky legs. The glowing blue lights of h
er prison bars winked out.

  Her captor smiled, the gesture full of evil. “Good. You follow direction.”

  His rough hand twisted one of her wrists and slapped a cuff on it, then clamped the collar about her neck. He dragged her from the cell and they exited the room into a narrow corridor with running lights along the ceiling.

  “Where are we going? What do you want with me?” There was no one else around, but she attempted to shield her nudity with her free hand as she skipped to keep up with his larger stride.

  He didn’t answer. Not so much as a grunt or glance in her direction as he led her through doorways. The level of her terror increased as they passed more of his kind in black and gray uniforms who leered at her.

  They stopped in front of double metal doors that slid open at their approach. A shove made her stumble forward and into an elevator of some sort. The alien muttered a command and they dropped. Darcy gasped and grabbed at her stomach from the weird sensation. Unfortunately, it was the hand attached to the leash.

  “Cease!” he snapped with a glare.

  Darcy curled into herself from the harsh tone. Lack of clothing added to her feeling of vulnerability. “Can I at least have something to put on?”

  The doors swished open, bringing a swift draft of cold air. Taken off guard by the chill she sucked in a breath. She didn’t have time to recover as her captor yanked her forward. The chain connected to her neck clanked with the movement.

  Their steps led them to an opened archway and Darcy glimpsed paved grounds outside. A guard stopped in front of them, blocking the way and tapped his chest upon arrival. Her buyer tapped his chest in the same gesture, his grin wide. His bronze skin and rough features were not enhanced by the gesture.

  “Welcome home, Brax. Was your journey profitable?”

  “Indeed.” Brax yanked her forward and grabbed the end of her ponytail to control her movement. “This is a prize worth having, Calix.”

  Calix studied Darcy with a piercing gaze, his brown eyes narrowed in contemplation. A low rumble rolled up from his chest as he cupped her jaw in his rough grasp. “A female from Earth?”