by Octavia Kore
He grinned down at her and nodded. “I’ll do my best to give you some answers, though I have to warn you that I’m not exactly familiar with the anatomy of your kind just yet.”
“It’s not about me, necessarily, but about the pheromones your males produce when they mate.” God, why did this suddenly feel so awkward? She’d been a nurse for nearly fifteen years, and this was going to make her blush? “I guess I just wanted to know if they can make someone feel like they’re in love?”
The man frowned and tilted his head as he pondered her question. “The pheromones cannot create feelings that are not already there, and many times these aren’t even produced unless one party is delaying and the female begins to ovulate. It’s simply meant to encourage mating so that her fertile periods are not missed.”
Jun felt her breath stutter out of her chest. “So it’s impossible for the pheromone to trick someone into wanting to mate?”
“For the pheromone to work, it has to play off of feelings and emotions that already exist within the other party. It’s essentially a little push in the direction they were already going. The goal is mate and reproduce and it’s the job of the pheromones to ensure that this happens when the female is ready.” The healer smiled at her as her shoulders sagged in relief.
“Let’s say the female in this case is currently pregnant. That would stop the pheromones, right?”
“For now.” He nodded. “It’s normal for the male to begin producing them anytime his partner is fertile. Some of our females, like Nyissa, are lucky to find themselves in a fertile period twice in one solar. As she’s gotten older, they happen less and less.”
“Twice a solar?” She knew that meant a year, but she wasn’t at all familiar with what the equivalent would be on Earth. “Many human women ovulate at least once a month…” She frowned as she tried to remember what that was for the Venium. “Twenty-eight soli, I think?”
“Twenty-eight––” The healer blinked rapidly as if this was one of the craziest things he’d ever heard. “This is… this is wonderful news! Would you consent to let me run a couple tests?”
Jun balked at the word. “I don’t think so.”
“It would be a simple lifeblood draw, perhaps a scan or two? If we can gather information and show the council proof that humans and Venium are indeed compatible, then perhaps we can speed up this arduous process and get the humans the help they need.”
“Brin said something while we were out there about your population declining. I just want you to know that humans aren’t the cure for that, and I don’t want to perpetuate the belief that using us for breeders will somehow make everything better.”
“Make no mistake, I do not believe your species will save us. Our decline will come at the hands of those who cannot see past their own racial puritanism. Our gene pool is so muddled and lacks the diversity it once had, but none of these fools on the council want to acknowledge that.” His eyes darted over her shoulders and he frowned as he took a step back. “I’ll take my leave now. Please consider the offer?” The healer turned on his heel and stepped through the gate into the street.
Well, at least she’d gotten that weight off of her chest.
“Human!” Brega’s voice echoed across the courtyard and grated over Jun’s frayed nerves. “Come quickly!”
Jun turned to her with a frown and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I’ve been searching for you!” Brega’s chest heaved, her gills flaring as her fushori raced over her body. “It’s your Grutex mate. He needs your healing!”
Jun frowned, narrowing her eyes on the woman’s face. She hadn’t told the council about her abilities yet. Had Nuzal told her? If he was injured badly enough, would he have actually told them about her healing so that they would bring her to him? She didn’t trust Brega as far as she could throw her, but could Jun really risk being wrong about this? If she didn’t go with Brega and Nuzal really was hurt, Jun knew she’d regret it.
“I’ll get Brin and then we can go.” She turned back toward the house, but Brega grabbed her arm and pulled her through the gate.
“There’s no time for that. Ruvator doesn’t have the ability to heal your mate. He needs you!”
Shit. Jun stumbled after her, trying her best to keep up with her long strides. “What’s happened? How was he hurt?”
“Quickly! Run faster!” Brega released her when they reached the entrance of a tunnel that branched off of the main walkway. “This way!”
Jun was used to emergency situations, but she usually never had to go into one without knowing at least a little information. Her heart rate spiked as she realized they were alone inside of the tunnel. The blood began to pound in her ears, and she squeezed her hands into tight fists; her nails digging into her soft palms.
“Are we almost there?” she called out as she tried to catch her breath. “Where are we going?”
“The cells are separate from the family areas. Come on. Faster, human!”
There was a set of doors at the end, and Brega waved her on as she passed the woman, but they didn’t slide open at her approach as she thought they would. Jun pressed her hands against the cool metal, pushing at them before turning back to Brega. “I think these are lock––”
A set of transparent doors slid closed between Jun and the Venium woman. Brega’s smile sent a chill down Jun’s spine, and she knew then that it had been a lie. She had done exactly what this bitch had wanted her to. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that Jun feared this might be the moment it actually gave out on her.
“Nuzal’s not hurt, is he?”
Brega’s twisted smile grew wider, pulling on the scar that ran down her face. “Not yet. He’s currently safe within his cell inside the main dome.”
“Brin is going to notice that I’m missing.”
Brega snorted. “By the time my son realizes you aren’t where you should be, you won’t be a problem anymore.”
“You’d do this to him?”
“Oh, little human, you don’t deserve even the worst of my line.”
“I wouldn’t call you a good mother at all, but I didn’t think you would go to this extreme. I’m his mate, Brega!”
“So he says, but Ruvator has always defied me. From the moment he took hold inside my body, he has done nothing but make me suffer! Once I’m rid of you, I’ll allow him a chance to redeem himself, to provide me with an heir worthy of my lifeblood.”
“He can’t give you that! Were you not paying attention in the meeting when he told you that the Grutex had sterilized him? There won’t be any children with your blood!”
Brega shook her head, her braids thrashing around her shoulders. “All Venium are unable to reproduce until they find their true mate. You, human, cannot be his mate.” She raised her hand to the wall and tapped something into the panel on the side.
The doors behind her slid open just a fraction and cold water began to pour into the room, swirling around Jun’s feet, slowly rising. Jun slammed her hands on the glass, drawing Brega’s attention.
“You would do this to him? You would take away Brin’s baby just because you’re losing control over him? You would kill a baby?” Brega’s face was devoid of emotion as she watched the water lap against Jun’s knees. “You know what it’s like to lose a child! You lost Ruvator, and you’re going to force Brin to go through the same thing!”
Brega sneered as she stepped up to the glass that separated them. “You shouldn’t speak of things you know nothing about.” The water reached Jun’s hips, and she smiled. “If you truly are Venium like you claim, then this shouldn’t end in your death. If not, then you’re even weaker than that disappointment that was given my son’s name.”
The water was up to her chest and still rising. Jun pressed her hands over the bump where her baby moved gently and felt her anxiety rise. She knew she should control her breathing, that she shouldn’t let the panic take over, but as the top of the water reached her chin, Jun felt her lim
bs seize. She couldn’t swim.
She tried to remember what papa had told her. Don’t struggle. It’s the fear, not the water that will kill you, but that didn’t seem to apply to this situation. She wasn’t going to be able to float much longer. When her hands made contact with the ceiling, Jun gasped, filling her lungs with as much air as she could just before the water closed in over her face.
The sound of her heart racing seemed to amplify underwater, and she looked around, trying to center herself and think. There had to be something she could do, but she couldn’t focus. She moved her limbs, struggling to get to the surface even though she knew there was nothing up there but more water. Bubbles escaped her mouth as her body began to run out of oxygen.
Her lungs burned, and it felt like she was going to be torn apart. The baby inside her belly moved as if they were feeling her panic and desperation, and her heart broke knowing that these were their last moments. She would never see Brin or Nuzal again, would never be able to tell them how much she loved them or see them hold their baby in their arms for the first time. Her baby would never get the chance to know what amazing fathers he or she had. All of this—her life and her little one’s life—were going to be stolen from them, and she had no way to stop it.
Her mama and papa would never get to meet their first grandchild, but Jun hoped they never knew he or she had existed at all. At least then they wouldn’t mourn their loss. Brin and Nuzal would have one another, and she prayed they would know that in her last moments she’d been thinking of them.
Water rushed into her mouth and down her throat as her body forced her to inhale. Panic overtook her, and she clawed at her throat and chest, kicking and twisting as her lungs filled. There was a sharp pain on the sides of her neck, but she barely noticed it. She slammed her eyes closed, not wanting her last image to be that of Brega watching her drown.
She felt the water rush along the sides of her neck as her skin flared and she stilled. Was she dead? Had that been it? The skin flared again, passing more of the water into her. What the hell was happening? The burning in her lungs began to recede, and she reached up, brushing the tips of her fingers along her neck.
Gills? She gasped—well, the equivalent of a gasp. She wasn’t sure how one did that when they had honest-to-God gills. It took her a moment to realize she could control her breathing again, that she wasn’t dying. Jun tried to move forward in the water, but apparently having gills didn’t mean she automatically knew how to swim. She let herself sink to the bottom so she could push off the floor, and pressed her hands against the glass.
Brega’s eyes widened as she stared at Jun, and she didn’t even notice when Brin shoved her out of the way. His fists pounded on the glass, as his fushori raced over the exposed areas of his body. He was yelling her name as Oshen’s father ran up behind him, slamming his palm against the panel Brega had used to lock her inside.
She heard a hum and felt a vibration move through the water as it began to drain. As soon as her head and shoulders breached the surface of the water, Jun began to gag, coughing up the water that had filled her lungs and replacing it with air.
The transparent doors slid open before the water had even completely drained away, and she found herself pressed up against Brin’s warm chest with his arms wrapped around her back. Jun didn’t even have the strength in that moment to lift her arms and hold him. Her body was so heavy.
“Shayfia,” he breathed against the side of face as he pulled her higher up his body. “Goddess help me, I thought we’d lost you.”
She could hear and feel his heart thundering in his chest, and she turned her head, pressing her lips against his skin as the reality of the situation began to set in. “You came,” her voice was barely above a whisper. “You found me.”
“Caly saw you coming in here with Brega and rushed to find us.” His hand ran over her drenched hair. “I’ve never been so braxing scared in my life.”
Jun made a note to thank the woman for saving her life. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“What are you doing here, Calder?” Brega demanded, her tone filled with annoyance and agitation. Apparently, being interrupted during an attempted murder didn’t sit well with this lunatic.
“I would ask you the same thing, but it’s painfully obvious what you were doing,” Oshen’s father hissed.
“I was instructed by the council to have her tested, and I was in the middle of conducting said test when the two of you interrupted me.”
“This was no test, Brega! You were drowning her!” Brin growled. “Is this what they asked you to do?”
“My idea of testing seemed more efficient.” She shrugged. “You said she was Venium, so what better way to find out if it was the truth?”
Jun was jostled violently as Brin jumped to his feet, and she turned her head just in time to see Brega’s eyes widen as Brin’s hand wrapped around her throat. He slammed her back against the wall, snarling as she grasped his wrist. “You tried to kill her!”
Calder pushed himself between them, wrapping an arm around Brin and Jun as he placed his hand on her mate’s cheek. “Release her, son. She isn’t worth the repercussions.”
Brin’s chin trembled as he stared at Calder. Jun could see the battle raging in his eyes, but after a long moment, he looked down at her and swallowed. Brega dropped to the ground when he released his grip on her, coughing and gasping as she glared up at them. Brin pressed his forehead against hers as his hand slid over her belly, and as if the baby recognized his presence, they moved against his palm.
How had she ever doubted her feelings for them? Brin and Nuzal had shown her in so many ways that they not only cared for her, but that they loved her. In that moment, it seemed so obvious that the only thing controlling her actions this whole time had been her love for them.
“She told me something had happened to Nuzal. I don’t know if she was telling me the truth, but we need to know he’s all right, Brin.”
Her mate narrowed his eyes on the woman as she got to her hands and knees. “Where is he, Brega?”
“He’s exactly where he should be.”
“A location, Brega.” Calder snapped, obviously losing his patience.
“In his cell, Calder. He’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.”
“I want to see him. I want to see with my own eyes that he hasn’t been harmed.” Jun wriggled, trying to shimmy her way down Brin’s body, but he tightened his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Will you just let me hold you for a moment, Shayfia?” he spoke against her skin. “I thought you were gone. I thought I’d have to tell Nuzal––” His voice wobbled, and he shook his head. “Just give me a moment, okay?” Jun put her arms around his neck and slid her fingers into his hair. “I don’t trust her, Calder.”
“Neither do I,” the older man grumbled as he pulled up his comm. “Let me make some calls. One way or another, we’re getting in to see the council today.”
Chapter 37
Nuzal
He’d heard the saying that time was an abstract thing, but Nuzal supposed he’d never really understood that until the Venium had placed him in the windowless cell. There was nothing to mark that passage of time here, no clocks, no night and day cycle like on the Kaia’s ship.
Was this how it had been for the humans in the lab? No, he was sure it had been far worse for them.
Unlike his human counterparts, Nuzal was not afraid of what the Venium would do to him, but he did fear that his mates might be punished for his involvement in the Grutex’s experiments. He wanted to see them, to know that they were safe and taken care of, but he trusted his bondmate. Brin wouldn’t let anything happen to Jun and their offspring.
Still, Nuzal struggled with his frustration and the urge to break through the barrier in front of him. He tried tugging at the mental thread that tethered the three of them together, but there was only silence.
Roman sat in the corner of the cell they
shared, brows arching as he grinned. “Don’t like being on this side of the cell, huh?”
Nuzal knew the male was making a joke, but his attempt at humor did nothing to calm the thrashing of his xines. “I don’t like being away from her. She’s in a vulnerable state.”
“That woman is anything but vulnerable. She’s a force to be reckoned with.” Roman shook his head. “I’m sure it’s hard though. I can’t imagine I’d want to be separated from my partner.”
“Partners,” he corrected.
Roman lifted his hands in apology. “Partners.”
A sigh escaped Nuzal as he rested his head against the wall at his back. He wasn’t naïve; he knew the council was in no rush to decide his fate or those of the awakened humans who had been detained alongside him, but the longer he was in here, away from his mates, the more desperate his mind became.
Rationally, he knew that there was nothing he could do from this cell to speed up the process. In fact, any rash actions would delay their decision. Nuzal closed his eyes and thought back to the moment on the ship when Jun rested her hand on him as she gazed out at Venora, and for a moment he swore he could feel the heat of her palm on his hip. She’d looked down on this planet with such hope that he had to believe this was right. It was the only thing really keeping him in this cell. He wouldn’t risk ruining their chances of a better life for themselves and their offspring.
“You look a little lost in thought over there,” he heard Roman comment as a door swung open and footsteps echoed down the hall. “Sounds like we’ve got a visitor.”
Nuzal sat up on the bed, his elbows coming to rest on his thighs as a red-eyed Venium male stopped in front of their cell. “I’m going to assume you are Nuzal.”
“Who wants to know?” Roman crossed his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes on the male.
“My name is Calder, and you’re going to come with me.”
Nuzal huffed. “Am I?”
“There are questions the council needs to have answered––”
