by Bex McLynn
Therion wanted to scoff at Lider’s affected heartfelt manner. Those Tendex women weren’t being ‘presented’ but sold in illegal auctions, which served as the perfect cover for Lider’s own lot for sale. With all of the rescued women being neither Teras or Human, Fleet wouldn’t continue to waste resources and raze Lider to ashes. However, the bait-and-switch auctions remained too tempting for desperate Teras houses. Because if Lider truly had an Athela—a female technopath—a house could increase its standing in the Dominion.
Zver, Therion’s brother and thane of House Borac, wasn’t bidding. House Borac had two Athela: Vedma, who was their grandmother, and Seph, who was the first Human technopath ever found. But House Borac’s advantages didn’t stop his brother from urging Fleet to negotiate the release of the Tendex women being auctioned and to press charges against those houses participating in the bidding. It also didn’t stop Zver from exploiting his back channels as the Thanemonger, monitoring the godsawful affair and unleashing Therion to bang Unholde’s drum.
People wisely monitored the Thanemonger, yet foolishly ignored the Bane.
Guess which brother had more blood on his hands?
“What does the Thanemonger hope to achieve by only sending you?” Lider asked. “No flotilla of ships? No cadre of fleetmen? Just you. The fuck-up.” Lider let that last insult linger. “You should hold value, being your brother’s heir, yet here you are, bumbling through an ill-conceived mission. Makes me wonder if there was any intent behind it at all, other than to be rid of you.”
Therion laughed. “I take great pride in the fact that I have no idea what my brother is thinking.”
Lider shrugged. “Regardless, I have an opportunity for you.”
Therion warily side-eyed Lider. “For me?”
“For you. Deal with me or I toss you back to the practice arena.” Lider raked his eyes over him. “My understanding is that the Teras have twenty-two more bones than the Gwyretti do.”
“Hey now! I did exactly as the training master asked me to.”
Lider settled his flat gaze on him. “Failing to harvest resources is wasting opportunities. Either I use you in the sands or I use you elsewhere.”
As far as Therion knew, ‘useful’ didn’t occupy his list of qualities. “Where elsewhere?”
“I want you to befriend the Human.”
Therion chuckled. “You want me to do what now?”
“We need her at ease.”
Therion laughed, guffawing at the brilliant irony as he gestured to his neck. “That thing she shot me with? She’s been shooting you all left and right, hasn’t she?” Surely the Gwyretti hadn’t lost their senses and armed her with a weapon? That meant the Athelasan tech that had darted him responded to her. “What was that, anyway?”
“Something that she wants removed. Our intent is to assist in this matter.”
Lider had given him a partial answer. Fine. He would just have to find out the rest for himself.
Therion let his suspicions color his tone. “That’s all you want?”
Lider nodded. “It’s a small thing to ask. Probably easily achieved with minimal effort on your part.” He gestured to Therion’s soaked crotch. “After all, she seems to have a preference for you already.”
Maude paced her room, wearing a visible path through the sand that scattered across the floor.
The temperature had dropped, letting her know that the twin suns set long ago. Instead of soaking up the cool reprieve, she strode from one wall to the other, willing the spider to rattle. The rattle would mean that someone approached, hopefully with news about the Teras man.
For his sake, she hoped that the spider didn’t harm him. As for her own sake, well, she hoped that too. If the Gwyretti abandoned her because of the spider’s recent behavior, she would be facing excruciating pain as her belly continued to swell within the spider’s rigid cage.
Her shudder faltered her pacing. She extended her stomach, pushing outward, and encountered the hard structure of the spider.
It made no sense to her. The spider could change its shape, flowing as freely as water to reform over her body. But it adhered so close to her skin that sitting on her butt and doing nothing—playing a game of wait-and-see—twisted her gut. If she did wait, all the while hoping for the best, and the spider didn’t accommodate her changing shape, it would be too late.
Flashes of her sister’s baby being slowly crushed inside of her body had bile searing the back of her throat. Nicole must be frantic over her whereabouts. Even though she sourly missed her family and her home, she’d rather not return to Earth at all if she failed to bring the baby with her.
Maude swayed on her feet, not quite knowing what to do with that truth.
“[I wake,]” the voice declared, startling her.
The spider rippled, flowing over her body with the full-plated armor, and the individual plates rattled. The sound of clanging metal echoed off the mud bricks of her room, bombarding her with its warning.
Overwhelming anticipation and dread froze Maude. Finally, someone was coming down the corridor, bringing news that she might not want to hear. That the spider caused more harm. That it would be harder to remove. That—
“[I wake.]” The voice rolled through her insistently as the plates vibrated, giving her a full-body jostling.
That was new.
Maude swept her gaze over her body. The spider had never shaken her like this before, as if it were trying to draw her attention. Her thoughts clicked together as the heavy footfalls from the corridor drew closer. The spider was fully exposed, which meant she was naked.
With a harsh breath, she snagged her cloak off the bed, twirling it about her shoulders as a tall figured darkened her doorway.
Her breath hitched at the sight of him. The Teras man. He was here.
The man ducked his head as he passed through the doorway, not hesitating on the threshold like the Gwyretti would do. His entire body thrummed with ease. From the bow of his shoulders, to the tilt of his head, to his unhurried gait, he drifted into her room like he’d been there hundreds of times before.
Maude’s jaw slackened as she tilted her head back to take in all of him. The Teras man towered like a redwood. With each step he took, her head tilted up more and more.
He flicked his gaze around the room, and when he saw her, his face lit up. A universal expression of delight had his eyes sparkling and his mouth blossoming into a grin. She kept waiting for it to fade, to settle into something lewd and uninviting.
His charming smile broadened as he approached. Good lord, his enthusiasm was contagious. She wanted to mirror him, to shine back at him with the same joyfulness.
“Gods, look at you,” he said as if greeting a long-time friend. He swiveled toward Kesken, who had followed him into the room, and spoke to him in passable Gwyr. “Half my size and she dropped me like a hunk of sard. That was just brilliant.”
Kesken gave a surly hiss.
“Don’t tell my brother, you got that? There’s no way he’ll let me live this down.” The Teras man gestured toward Kesken, and the odd way he in which held his hands, plus the heavy clanking noise, drew her attention to the shackles about his wrists.
Her attention faltered as cautious curiosity jostled her. Why shackles?
He pivoted back to her, and his smile captivated her. “You can rest easy now. I’m here to rescue you.”
His unexpected declaration had her faltering again. Rescue?
Kesken barked out a laugh that ricocheted off the walls like the crack of a whip. Her confusion grew as embarrassment—always her first reaction when a conversation moved beyond her—rose, heating her cheeks. Her blush had always been her tell whenever she would fall behind in a discussion, and people would give her pitying or frustrated looks as they slowed their speech.
The Teras man and Kesken were definitely discussing things that she knew nothing about.
The Teras man leaned toward her, drawing her focus. He casually used both hands, drawn together
by his chains, to wave off Kesken’s mirth. “Don’t mind him. The plan’s going off without a hitch. Well, except for you darting me. I did not expect that, but it’s all good.”
Maude cringed and took a step back. She turned to Kesken for an explanation, only to see him heading for door.
“You’re not going to leave me with him, are you?” Her panicked voice came high and thin.
Kesken chuckled. “’Fraid I am. You can hash out your great escape.”
“And it’s gonna be brilliant. Just you wait and see.” The Teras man used both hands to point at Kesken. “In fact, if you want the best view, be on the east wall tomorrow afternoon before shift change.”
Kesken glared over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’ve got somewhere else to be.”
The Teras man shrugged. “I’ve got some flexibility. What works best for you, before or after dinner?”
The Gwyretti shook his head and left. “Fucking Teras.”
The Teras man called after him. “I’m trying to be accommodating here!” Then, he turned to her. “Tomorrow after dinner works for you?”
Dismayed, Maude clutched the cloak clasp at her neck. “Works for me? For what?”
The man’s smile never dimmed. “For a riot, followed by a rescue. I mean, if I can change the time for that guy, I can definitely change it for you. You’re the one I’m rescuing. So, tomorrow early evening?”
Lider. She needed to talk to Chieftain Lider.
But that meant dodging the towering man currently planted between herself and the corridor.
He must have seen something on her face, perhaps her dawning apprehension and confusion, because his smile slipped a bit, taking on a pitying quality.
Oh, she resented that condescending look.
As she expected, he softened his voice. It rumbled more like distant thunder rather than a passing freight train. “You do realize you’re being held against your will, right?”
“No. I’m not.” Another, familiar mix of reactions rose in Maude. Frustration minced with doubt because she was right, yet someone else thought she was wrong.
The Teras frowned down at his hands, seemingly dismissing her as he snapped the chains. “These are gonna make things tricky. Know how to pick a lock?”
“Um, no.”
“Ech. I’ll figure it out.” He returned his full attention and his bright smile at her. “I’m Therion.”
Despite her aggravation, his grin triggered her like a reflex, having her whisper back, “Maude.”
He stood there a moment, trapping her with his glittering green-gold eyes as he focused on her.
“Maude.” The man—Therion—gazed at her in utter delight. “Do all humans look this distinct?”
It was all too much. His height. His smile. His sparkling eyes. His rumbling voice. His crazed delusions paired with a disarming ease of presence. He dismissed her as he exclaimed over her.
Hell, he unsteadied her, and what finally tumbled her was one word. Human.
Maude’s heart raced as her skin tingled. “You know I’m human?”
Therion shifted closer, his head dipped down to meet her gaze. “Course I do. I’m here to rescue you, aren’t I?”
Maude found herself listing toward him. She’d become a magnet pulled toward his solid sense of purpose.
His eyes roved over her. “I simply adore that your hair is straight, like a Teras, yet such an otherworldly color. Is that natural? Seph said some humans artificially color their hair.”
She leaned back, the magnetic draw broken.
Yes, she had straight, boring chin-length hair. Nothing like her cousin’s beautiful curls. Keeping herself groomed had been a challenge. The Gwyretti didn’t have hair, thus they had no brushes or combs for her to use.
She fidgeted under his gaze, running her fingers through her hair. Dammit, she snagged every dang tangle.
“Fucking brilliant.” He surprised her by winking at her, as if her impromptu grooming gave him her answer.
What that answer was? She had no idea.
“And you’re tall.” He ran his eyes over her again, from head to toes. “Seph said she’s on the tall side, for a human. That makes you tall, too. Am I right?”
“Yes?” She was tall, shy of six feet, but again he knocked her off balance. “Seph is?”
“Amazing. Absolutely amazing. She’s the one who sent me to find you.”
“Me?”
“Not you specifically, but other humans. Oh, shit.” He jolted, then shoved his bound hands toward her. “And this. She told me to do this. Handshake. This is how you do it, right?”
His eyes bounced between her face and his extended hands.
Ignoring his hands, she gazed up at him. “Who are you again?”
“Therion.”
That told her nothing, and he beamed at her as if his answer declared him the spelling bee champion.
“Listen, Therion.” She fumbled her next words because he perked up, eager and attentive. She blinked, trying to get herself back on track. “I’m pleased, really I am, that you went out of your way to be here, but I don’t need to be rescued.”
He shrugged and continued to hover too close to her. “Sure you do. Same as I did for Seph.”
“I doubt that. I don’t even know who Seph is.”
“She’s the human I purchased from a Gwyretti trader.”
“You purchased her?” That bit of news stunned her. “I thought you saved her.”
His brow furrowed. “Do you need me to start at the beginning?”
“I don’t know if that would really—”
“See, I used to be Acting Cachemaster on Prykimis, this big, fearsome battleship, that really was nothing but a derelict husk filled with marauders and Unsworns.”
“You’re an Unsworn?” The alien word tangled her tongue.
“In my spare time. When I’m not acting.”
“Acting?”
“As the cachemaster.”
Maude shook her head. “I don’t—”
“This will clear things up.” Therion held his hands up, as if asking for a moment. “See, my nephew wanted a sexbot, so I brought him here to Radost.”
“Sexbot?” Her voice came high, and yes, a bit shrill. “For your nephew?”
Again, he shrugged, apparently brushing off her concern or confusion. “His praal just budded.”
“His praal?”
He overlapped his hands, his fingertips brushing over the turquoise veins that ran all over his golden skin. “Praal. He’s lined like a man now. We’re all very proud of him.”
It amazed Maude that this conversation had started like all the other conversations she’d had over her lifetime. Someone would expound on a subject, talking to her slowly and patiently, while she would find herself lost and confused.
Though, by this point in the conversation, most people would walk away.
Therion, however, didn’t walk away from her. He continued to smile at her with his mesmerizing green-gold eyes and waited.
She tried to pick up where they’d left off. “Um, you bought him a sexbot?”
“Because he wanted one.”
He gave her a steady stare, as if there were nothing left to explain. As if the moments she spent being knocked about had clarity and purpose. But all she’d learned was his name and that he believed wholeheartedly that she needed to be rescued.
Something odd began to happen as she regarded the person before her. Sympathetic concern, for him, started to replace her typical mix of confusion, embarrassment, and frustration. Could it be that he was the one lost and confused?
Remarkably, she found herself on the other end of the stick. What an unexpected turn for her.
“Therion.” For once, Maude was the one softening her tone. “I don’t need to be rescued.”
He matched her tone. “Sure you do.”
Oh, the poor guy. She had a good read on him now. Whatever he perceived her situation to be, he wanted to shelter her from it. She found it precious, his determinat
ion to do right by her.
She reached out and patted his arm. “No. I don’t. I really don’t. I’m not pretending to be anything.” She smiled at him, injecting her words with sincerity. After all, he truly believed what he told her. She couldn’t mock him for that. “The Gwyretti here know exactly what I am, and they’re not trying to sell me. They’re trying to help me.”
“Help you?” His ever-present smile faltered.
A blush flamed her cheeks. “Yes. Um. I have a condition.”
He ran his questioning gaze over her. “Condition?”
She pulled the cloak back enough to expose her arm. “Yes, see. I seem to have been infected by some sort of alien tech—”
She stiffened as alarm blared through her.
What had she been thinking?
He knocked her about so soundly, kept her so unbalanced, that she hadn’t taken care with his safety. The spider had already darted him. Everyone it had previously darted, it then treated them as a threat. Here she stood, far too close to him. Hell, she’d touched him.
Maude pulled back, but she reacted too late. Therion had already reached out, and as he brushed his fingers over her arm, the spider rippled. Then, it retreated.
Stunned, she watched the plates slide away, reforming into the metallic vines. Those vines then slithered away as his large, cool hand covered her skin.
Her eyes remained locked on his hand as he swept over her in a caress. “It’s never done that before.”
“Done what, Maude?”
Her body flared with awareness as he pressed closer to her.
When she redirected her gaze upward to answer him, her crown slid along the underside of his chin, and a shiver rippled down her spine.
Therion tilted his head and his voice dipped, the low register quaking her belly. “Gods, your skin is warm.”
It had been ages since arousal had tingled her, sparking her interest. Unsettled, she snatched her arm back and retreated a step, backing herself flush against the mud bricks.
