Cedroc

Vaznik Warriors: Book Three

Ava York

Starr Huntress

Contents

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Cedroc

Coralie

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rogue Mate

Coralie

“I swear to God, if you post that picture, I’m going to launch you into the black!” I cackled and lunged for the phone in Constalatia’s hand. We sat across from each other on the plush white leather seats of my driver’s car. The sun was just starting to peek up over the horizon. It had been another successful night for us.

We’d started at dusk with the newest, hottest, and most exclusive restaurant in town. From there, we’d moved to a cute little bar for our first round of cocktails. After that, everything blurred together. I knew we’d gone dancing at two different locations, maybe more. All I knew for sure was that, like always, I’d had the time of my life.

“Shut up!” she shrieked back. “You look so pretty in every photo! Don’t pretend you don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I know I look pretty.” I tossed my waist-length hair over my shoulder and made another grab for the phone. This time, I managed to snag it. “I’m just trying to keep a low profile with all the partying.”

I quickly deleted any photo evidence of our rambunctious evening.

“Your dad?” Constalatia asked.

“Yeah. He’s gotten it into his head that I’m out of control. I promised him I’d slow down, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” I said, winking.

She rolled her eyes. “I just don’t get why he’s still trying to control you. You’re a grown woman! You’re allowed to do whatever you want!”

“Right? He pays for my apartment, my car, and pretty much everything else, but why does that mean I have to change who I am?” I huffed. Thinking about my father and the weight of his ridiculous expectations was killing my buzz.

Why was it so bad that I wanted to spend my nights having fun surrounded by people who liked and admired me? Every night, I came home with a smile on my face. Didn’t that mean anything to my father?

“No frowning!” Constalatia shouted and shoved a bottle of something bubbly towards me. “Drink until you’re smiling again.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I chuckled, and took a long swig. Before long, my buzz was back. The world whizzing by outside of our car was blurry and glowing. Nothing looked real. Nothing felt real. That was how I liked it.

“I never wanted to follow in his footsteps,” I muttered.

“Enough about your dad. Thinking about him stresses you out too much.”

“You’re right. You’re right,” I waved her off. “You know what sounds great right now?”

“What?” She leaned forward with an eager gleam in her eyes.

“A pile of pancakes the size of my head,” I giggled.

“Oh my God! You’re right!”

“We should get some.” I looked out the window of the car. The world outside came to a standstill. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“We’ve arrived back home, Miss Sinclare,” the driver said.

“Oh,” I pouted. “Well, I won’t make you drive us back out to get pancakes.”

“That’s literally his job,” Constalatia scoffed.

“It’s okay. We can order pancakes from my suite!”

“Good idea!”

We stumbled out of the car and through the door of my building. My father owned the entire building of course, which was why I had the penthouse all to myself. He lived at his estate on the other side of the city. I had rooms there, of course, but I liked my independence.

An elevator attendant was waiting to take me to my floor, and thank goodness he was. All of the buttons looked too blurry. I wouldn’t have been able to find the right button on my own. When the elevator started its ascent, I nearly fell over. I clutched Constalatia for balance, but that didn’t do me any good. She was falling over, too.

The elevator door opened right into the foyer of my luxurious multistory penthouse. Standing in the middle of the foyer with a huge scowl on his face was my father, Erikson Sinclare.

“Ooh,” Constalatia winced. “Maybe we can get pancakes another time.” She awkwardly patted me on the shoulder before stepping back into the elevator. I stood still as a stone, alone with my father.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Where have you been?” he snapped.

“I went out with Constalatia.”

He winced when I said her name. He’s never liked her. Or her name. “I can see that plainly,” he said.

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Don’t get smart with me,” he snapped. “I checked with the doorman. You’ve been out all night. Winston saw you going into multiple locations of the most unsavory nature–”

I held up my hand.

“Winston? You sent your secretary to spy on me?”

“I sent him to make sure you weren’t making a fool of yourself! The Sinclares have a reputation in this city. It has to be protected! How many times do we have to have this conversation?”

“I’m not willing to let a last name I didn’t ask for dictate my life!” I snapped.

“What life?” he shouted. “All you do is sleep all day and party all night. What are you even wearing? How can you go out like that and expect to be seen as a respectable woman?”

I looked down at my short black dress covered in dark, shimmering sequins. The dress was completely backless. I was starting to feel the chill in the air. I wasn’t sure if that was because I left the air conditioning on or if my father’s cold gaze was the culprit.

“This dress cost more than your entire suit,” I sniffed. “And I don’t believe that how I dress is a reflection of who I am as a person.”

“It doesn’t matter! How you’re perceived matters.”

“Oh, that’s such bullshit,” I snapped.

Behind me, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Three doctors in white coats and blue gloves toting what looked like an entire lab on wheels stepped into the foyer.

“What the hell is this? What are you doing in my apartment?” I demanded.

“It’s my apartment,” my father corrected me.

“But I decorated it, my furniture is here, and all of my clothes are here. That makes it mine.” I folded my arms across my chest. My father gave me a blank stare.

“They’re here because you have no concept of reality,” my father sighed. “You’re never going to accomplish anything if you don’t get your life together.”

“I have a great life,” I argued. “I’ve accomplished so much! That new club in the city? Carnage? I’m the one who gave the interior decorator my opinion on the awful color scheme. Guess what happened? They changed it! Now the place is the trendiest in the area and that’s all because of me!”

“Oh my God.” My father pressed his hand over his eyes.

“I don’t see what these doctors have to do with reality,” I pointed out.

“They’re here to register you for the matchmaking database.”

My buzz crashed to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. I was now uncomfortably sober and starting to panic.

“What?” I laughed. “That’s crazy, Dad. You’ve kept me out of the database for my entire life. Wasn’t your whole thing that your only heir can’t be at risk of being whisked away to an alien planet?”

“You don’t understand the way the world works. I’m having you put onto the registry. With any luck, it’ll ground you and remind you that the type of life you’re living now will not be like this forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to learn a trade. You’re going to have to make a name for yourself. You’re my heir. I refuse to let the Sinclare legacy die because you refuse to be responsible!”

“You’re joking, right?” My throat grew tighter with each syllable I uttered. He wasn’t seriously going to let me be put on the register, right?

He looked to the doctors. “Do what you need to do.”

“You can’t do anything to me! I’m an adult. You can’t do anything without my consent.”

“It’s the law, ma’am,” one of the doctors, a woman, said in a gentle voice. “All childless women of age have to be registered as per our treaty with the Mahdfel.”

“I didn’t think it was that serious!” I scoffed.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” my father snapped. “I know you were too little to remember much about the invasion, but we almost lost everything. The Suhlik killed my brother. They killed your grandfather on your mother’s side. Your mother would’ve been taken away from me if it weren’t for the Mahdfel.”

“Yeah, I took a history class in school. I’m not totally clueless.” I groaned. A doctor pricked me with something while I had my attention directed on my father. “Hey! Don’t you dare do anything with that sample!”

“Coralie,” my father sighed. “This is happening.”

“Fine,” I grumbled.

I remembered from that history class that the odds of getting matched weren’t high. A human woman had to be a ninety-eight percent match or something like that. The Mahdfel were just a big genetic melting pot. I was going to be fine. By this time tomorrow, I’d be partying with Constalatia. This would just be a bad memory in a sea of happy times.

An anxious voice in the back of my mind whispered to me. I suddenly remembered the fun little tidbit about what happened to women who weren’t perfectly suited to their genetic matches. Not often, but every once in a while, a matched woman experienced complications during her pregnancy. In those cases, the mother and baby rarely survived.

Fear formed a hard pit in my stomach as my sample was loaded into the portable lab. I had no idea this kind of test was portable.

It’s fine, I told myself over and over. The chances are slim. You’ll be fine.

I took a deep breath and immediately felt better. Everything in my life had worked out in my favor so far. Why would this be any different? Bad things like this didn’t happen to me. They simply didn’t.

The machine beeped and lit up green.

“Green’s a good thing, right?” I smiled.

My father looked at me with an expression of horror. His face drained of all color. The doctors’ exchanged a tense look.

“What’s happening?” I asked softly.

“There must be something we can do,” my father said. I realized he wasn’t speaking to me, but the doctors. “She wasn’t supposed to be a match.”

“Wait, I’m a match?” I exclaimed. “That’s impossible! I can’t go to another planet.”

“I’m sorry,” one of the doctors said to me. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on my arm. “We can teleport you from here. You won’t have to go to a testing facility.”

“Daddy, do something!” My eyes filled with tears as I looked at my father. I’d never seen him look so helpless.

“There’s nothing he can do,” a male doctor said. “The law of the treaty dictates you must report to your match.” He brought out another odd device and held it to my temple. “You might feel a little pinch.”

Fucker! That wasn’t a pinch.

I glared at him, but he just raised an eyebrow. “You’ll want the translator once you get there.”

“I’ll fix it,” my father assured me as the doctors prepped the teleportation pad.

“It’s calibrated. It looked like there’s a teleportation link near your match.” They said it like it was supposed to make me feel better. I couldn’t speak. I must’ve gone into shock. Nothing felt real.

I didn’t say anything when someone grasped my arm and gently led me to the teleportation pad.

I still didn’t say anything when harsh blue light glowed all around me. The last thing I remembered seeing was my father’s face, filled with sadness and guilt.

Then I was falling.

Cedroc

“Who’s reporting the big nothing we’ve found?” I muttered to Jarvik as we slogged through endless tunnels to get back to the surface.

The Calliope had landed on Gravum IV weeks ago and we were still no closer to finding the damned artifact Command had sent us out here to find. It would have been easier to find it if they’d given us more information than “it’s underground” to go on, but that was beside the point.

Kyre, our genius engineer, had rigged up an underground radar device with the help of his human mate, Ferne, to assist us in our search. It was accurate at detecting anomalies beneath the surface of the planet, but unfortunately couldn’t provide precise details as to what was buried, so that’s where our team came in.

We were responsible for the dirty work, quite literally, of tunneling down through the dirt and soil to figure out what exactly was buried there.

So far, Kyre’s device had indicated anomalies in three underground chambers.

In the first, we’d discovered a giant rock, almost like an altar, set up in the middle of a vast, glittering cavern. In the second, a large crystal, much like the ones Kyre had mined to fix the comms systems when we’d first arrived, in an underground swamp.

Two interesting finds, but apparently not what we were looking for.

The third chamber was a combination of the first two, deep, deep underground and stretching for what felt like miles beneath.

I’d gone down with Jarvik, the Calliope’s medic, while Kyre remained at the mouth of the chamber with Lila, the mate of our captain Rekker, and Ferne to monitor our position. Jarvik and I had to squeeze through various tunnels and through more underground tributaries, only to find another of the same crystals we already had in surplus.

It was maddening.

“I took the lead last time,” Jarvik answered mildly. “That would make it your turn now.”

The trip to the third chamber had also taken the most amount of time of the three.

We’d spent two nights underground and were both cranky, filthy, and exhausted as we trekked back to the beginning of the chamber.

Supplies and morale were running low and although I didn’t mind the challenge, I wanted nothing more than to return to the surface, have a hot shower, and see the sun.

To be honest, the work wasn’t that bad. The only thing I really minded was Command continuing to keep us in the dark.

Rekker had agreed to this mission on the promise that he and his crew would receive a two-week furlough at the end of it, and we were all living for that. We’d been on various missions for well over a year and were all craving some downtime. Command had advised this one would be a quick in-and-out and had failed epically on delivering their end of the bargain.

We quickly discovered it would be anything but ‘a quick in-and-out’.

Our comms went down the moment we’d landed, so we’d had no way to communicate with Command. Kyre had gone out on a recon mission for supplies to fix it, but ended up being gone days longer than he’d originally planned, returning with Ferne, his human mate, and a wild tale of how they’d been matched in the middle of the desert.

With Ferne joining us, that made two out of our crew of five Vaznik warriors who’d been matched by the treaty between the Mahdfel and the humans.

“Dibs on the shower, then,” I insisted. “Even a short one would be welcome after the last two days.”

The two mates, welcome as they were, had unexpectedly increased our numbers.

Which meant we were running out of supplies faster than we’d originally planned. Showers were, by default, fast on a ship, but until we could reliably purify the local resources, we’d need to be careful with our water supply.

I didn’t have the energy right now to run the calculations, but I was sure it meant we had to find that artifact quickly and get off this rock before we starved.

If Command was content to leave us to play guess-and-check with every underground cave on Gravum IV, I doubted they’d send a supply ship out here to restore our cache of food, ammo, and tech.

And it would have to be a supply ship. They’d never spring for the cost of teleporting that many supplies or even the base matter for the replicators.

I never minded being sent out on missions—it was in my blood, after all—but I did mind being left in the dark.

“You’re assuming Rekker and Lila haven’t tried to ‘save water’ again,” Jarvik added. “That wasn’t a particularly well thought-out experiment.”

I couldn’t help but snicker at the memory of our usually stern captain’s burgundy skin darkening even more at the realization that the entire crew had heard the results of that particular attempt at water conservation.

The addition of the human females to the crew, although logistically problematic, was actually a positive to the mission.

They weren’t as durable as Mahdfel males—especially not Mahdfel males who also happened to be Vaznik—but they were both friendly and funny and turned out to be exceedingly capable crew members.

Lila, Rekker’s mate, was skilled in healing and worked in the Calliope’s infirmary with Jarvik. Ferne was an extremely fast learner and easily took to assisting Kyre in his workshop.

The rest of the crew and I had taken to them almost like sisters, bound by the honor of the Vaznik to protect and defend them.

It was interesting to see Rekker and Kyre with their mates. We’d been a team for so long that we worked together almost as a singular being—most of the time, we didn’t need to verbalize our next moves because we anticipated them by virtue of our bonds alone. It was strange to see both males divert their attentions to the non-Vaznik females, but they were well-suited to being mated.

Lila and Ferne complimented them and enriched their lives, and some males flourished under those conditions.

I was not that type of male. I enjoyed working with my team and spending time with them, but I also craved solitude.

As the pilot of the Calliope, I was used to working alone—no one else could fly the ship but me, and that was the code I lived by, as well. No one else was in charge of piloting my life, and I liked it that way. Even though neither Lila nor Ferne dictated what Rekker and Kyre did, it was plain to see that both males were easily influenced by their mates’ desires, and I didn’t want that for myself.

Plus, the entire universe was going to shit, and I’d rather not take on one more thing to worry about. Not even if that one thing came in the form of a beautiful human female.

No thanks.

When Jarvik and I finally crawled out of the last tunnel and met up with Kyre, Lila, and Ferne, we were both sweating, stinking, and parched. Kyre eyed us both, holding onto the tracking device with a ridiculous, hopeful look on his face.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Do you think we’d look this annoyed if we’d found what we were looking for?” I deadpanned.

I pulled myself up out of the hole and held out a hand to him, wordlessly indicating he should hand over the canteen of water. He pushed it into my palm and returned to reviewing the screen of the device.

“I need to figure out how to make this thing track the substance of the anomalies,” he said. “Going down blind is a waste of time.”

“You don’t say,” I muttered.

I took a deep pull of water from the canteen before shoving it off into Jarvik’s waiting hand. He finished the water off as I watched, using the last trickles to wash the dirt from his face.

“What did you find in there, anyway?” Kyre asked.

“Just another stupid crystal,” I said, dumping my pack on the ground and pulling the damn thing out.

“You brought it back? This thing weighs a ton!”

“Of course I brought it back—we need all the supplies we can get. I’m sure there’s something you can do with it. Don’t thank me or anything.”

“I’m grateful, Cedroc. You know that.”

I wasn’t usually so ornery with my teammates, but the last few days had been rough. I desperately wanted a meal that wasn’t out of a ration pack and a good night’s sleep.

“Can we head back to the ship now? I need real rest before we start this all over again tomorrow,” Jarvik said, voicing my exact desires.

Kyre nodded. “I’ll let Rekker know we’re on our way.”

He pulled out a comms radio and powered it on, waiting as it crackled to life.

“Rekker. What do you have?”

Jarvik nodded towards me, and I sighed. “Nothing you want, I’m afraid.”

A long pause, and I could almost imagine the captain glaring at the map. “You did your best, I’m sure. Get back to camp and we’ll decide on the next one.”

Kyre put the radio away, and yet another of the many devices on his person began beeping incessantly. It was a shrill, annoying sound that I very much wanted to cease immediately.

“What the hell is that and how do you make it stop?” I asked him.

“That’s strange—it’s the device that’s tied to the teleportation pad back in the workshop on the ship. It’s telling me the pad is online and trying to activate, which is weird because it’s not in commission. Ferne accidentally broke it last week when we were…never mind,” he said, his voice suddenly trailing off.

I looked over to where Ferne stood with Lila, unable to prevent myself from rolling my eyes at her.

“Hey, I’m not sorry about it. It was a good time,” Ferne replied with a grin.

“I can’t fix the other pad from here, but I can reroute the signal to the one we have with us,” Kyre said, fingers flying over the screen of the device.

Once he finished inputting the rerouting data, he crouched down and pulled his personal teleportation pad from his overloaded pack. He placed it carefully on the ground and powered it up, waiting as it hummed to life before he stood.

A set of coordinates flashed onto its screen once it came online.

Coordinates I recognized from reviewing the previous logs.

Since I’d seen it before, I knew exactly what was about to happen.

Seconds later, a human female teleported onto the pad.

The first thing I noticed were her shoes.

They were the most painful looking shoes I’d ever seen: shiny black things with a high arch, thin, dagger-like heels, and overly pointed toes.

The dress she wore was black, too, but it was more akin to a scrap of fabric, leaving not one inch of her body to the imagination. It sparkled in the bright lights Kyre had set up for us to see by, nearly blinding me.

Despite her smudged makeup, she was stunningly beautiful, with long, honey-blonde hair that fell down her back nearly to her waist; golden, tanned skin, that looked soft to the touch; big, blue eyes that reminded me of Earth’s sky on a cloudless day; and the plumpest lips I’d ever seen. She was gorgeous, yes, but she looked as exhausted as I felt.

The five of us just stared at her, waiting for her to say something, when Ferne suddenly drove an elbow into my side.

“Looks like this one’s yours, Cedroc,” she said with a chuckle.

She was right. The tattoo on my left shoulder—the one that only lit up when my true soulmate was near—was burning white.

Well, fuck.

Coralie

It was bad enough returning to my apartment to find my father had practically broken in and organized the testing without even telling me about it. It was much worse to discover I was a 99% match with an alien male I’d never met.

I didn’t think Daddy really thought I’d actually be successfully matched—I think he was just trying to scare me onto the straight and narrow path he thought I should be on.

Boy, did that plan backfire or what?

I didn’t even have time to process the whole thing before the treaty doctors hustled me onto a teleportation pad and shipped me off. I’d never teleported anywhere before and it was absolutely terrible. It felt like I was being sliced and torn and twisted every which way, like trying to squeeze a size ten girl into a size two dress. It was simply awful.

When I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. My surroundings made me think I was underground, but the light was so bright it couldn’t possibly be so. I blinked over and over again, trying to clear the spots from my eyes, desperate to orient myself to my new surroundings.

When my vision finally cleared, I saw I was surrounded by five people. There were three massive alien males, all of whom towered over me.

Although they looked similar to one another, with curling horns topping their heads and tattoos swirling over the entirety of their bodies, they didn’t match one another. Their horns, skin, and tattoos were all different colors. Two of them looked at me with knowing expressions, while the other—the green-skinned one—had no emotion on his face whatsoever.

Standing alongside the males were what could only be two human females—they looked exactly like me, except for their clothes. Both were beautiful and looked friendly, with wide smiles on their faces, but since I had no idea where I was or who these people were, I wasn’t trusting anybody. My own father had betrayed me, so I wouldn’t put any faith in a group of strangers.

None of them seemed particularly willing to divulge any information, so I guessed it was up to me to figure out what was going on.

“Where the hell am I? Are we—am I underground? Is that why those lights are so damn bright? Can you turn them down a notch, I’m going blind!” I said angrily, unable to contain my emotions.

I’d always been a spitfire, never truly happy unless things were going my way, and whatever was happening now was the exact opposite of my way.

“Why don’t you tell us who you are? We have a pretty good idea, but we can confirm our suspicions if you’d enlighten us?” one of the women said.

She was a pretty redhead with wide blue eyes and a sweet expression. The sound of her voice nearly put me at ease, but not quite.

“I can’t believe Daddy actually tried to bluff me with that treaty! What kind of game was he playing at? All my life he’s tried to protect me from that stupid agreement, just to throw me to the wolves himself? Of all the stupid, idiotic ideas…he’s supposed to be one of the smartest billionaires on Earth! Well, all he’s done is prove he’s a complete moron!” I raged.

The males just stared at me with wide eyes, smartly keeping their mouths shut. As I stared back at them, my history lessons about the treaty came flooding back to me and I remembered what the Mahdfel looked like, which was nothing like the males standing before me.

Sure, they were tall and heavily muscled, but I had a half-memory of maybe some blue ones? And I didn’t remember the horns at all.

Then the other half of the memory popped up. They didn’t all look the same.

Which would make it even easier to fake.

“So, if this is real, which one of you am I supposed to be for, huh? If you think you can just take me from my home and keep me here, you’re dreaming. I’ll never, ever stay—”

At that point, the two women rushed at me, pulling me forcefully away from the males. Despite my trying to get away from them, they hung on tight. Although they were roughly the same height and size as me, they were strong, and I couldn’t fight them off.

It seemed like we were in a small underground cavern, without much space for them to take me somewhere more private. They ushered me as far away from the males as possible and settled me down onto a large boulder, offering me a canteen of water and what looked like a protein bar.

“Here,” the redhead said. “Teleportation is taxing on humans. I’m sure you feel awful. If you eat something, it’ll help. These rations leave a lot to be desired, but it’s better than nothing.”

I eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but took what she offered anyway. I was suddenly starving, so maybe she knew what she was talking about. I wolfed it down, even though it had a texture of pure sawdust, and waited for them to speak again.

“I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I’m Lila and this is Ferne. We’re part of the crew of the Calliope. My mate, Rekker, is the captain of the ship and Kyre, Ferne’s mate, is the engineer. Kyre is actually right over there—he’s the teal-colored male,” the redhead, Lila, said.

“Great to meet you, Lila and Ferne. I’m Coralie Sinclare and I want to go home, right now, immediately, post haste. Do you have a phone or a radio or whatever so I can get in touch with my people so they can arrange to get me the hell out of here? Party’s over, the jig is up—this was all something stupid Daddy organized, I get it. I’ll be good from now on and go like, get a job or whatever to make him happy,” I told them with a wave of my hand, causing my collection of diamond-encrusted bracelets to jingle and flash in the light.

I watched as Lila and Ferne exchanged confused glances. Not only were they strong, they were really, really good actresses. The problem was, I didn’t believe for one second that my father would actually send me away, treaty or no treaty.

It would be just like him to pay some poor, unassuming people to act like I’d been shipped off to the Mahdfel. I was certain he’d paid these two women to teach me a lesson. I probably hadn’t even left Earth—just been teleported to some film set close by, done up to make it look like we were on some alien world. There was no way he’d really send me—his only child —away.

“Uh, Coralie? Sweetheart? What exactly are you talking about?” the brunette, Ferne, asked.

The tone of her voice made me pause. She seemed really, truly confused by what I’d said, but her face was amused. Like she got some sort of sick pleasure from my situation, which only further enraged me.

“Like I said, I’m done with this act. I know my father wouldn’t really send me away. I don’t want to play this game anymore, so just tell whoever’s in charge that I’m ready to go home now.”

Where there was amusement on Ferne’s face, there was nothing but sympathy and concern etched onto Lila’s. She smiled down at me kindly before kneeling in front of me and taking one of my hands in hers.

“Coralie, you’re on Gravum IV,” Lila said. “It’s an uninhabited planet, pretty much as far out in the black as you can get. You were tested for the treaty, right? It’s the only explanation for why you suddenly showed up here. It happened to Ferne a few weeks ago, too.”

I instantly looked over to Ferne, happy to see the smug expression had left her face.

“Is that true?” I asked her.

“Sure is. I was working as an alpine tour guide on Earth and took a nasty fall,” Ferne explained. “I’d worked pretty hard to avoid documentation, so when the hospital couldn’t find a record of me, they figured something was up and tested me right away. I matched with Kyre, so they healed me and shipped me out and here I am, just like you.”

No. There was no way that was true. There had to be some sort of…integration process to the treaty. They couldn’t just test a girl and ship her off like freight! I wasn’t a package, I was a human being, for crying out loud!

“I don’t believe you. My father is one of the richest men on Earth and I’m his only child —the heiress to his fortune—there’s no way he’d just…send me away! Who will run his empire? Who will inherit his money if I’m not there to do it?” I asked, aware of how spoiled I was making myself sound but unable to help it.

“Coralie, we’re from Earth, too. We all learned about the treaty. You have to understand that this is real. This isn’t a joke,” Lila told me, clearly the more empathetic of the two females.

“Well, that’s all well and good, Lila, but I still don’t believe you.” My breaths were coming faster and faster. “Daddy would never do something like this to me. I know I haven’t been exactly the best daughter—I party too much and sleep too much when I’m not partying and I don’t have a job—but he’d never, ever do something like this to me. He loves me. He wouldn’t send me off to a total stranger, possibly never to be seen again. I know he wouldn’t!” I cried.

I realized I was becoming dangerously close to hysterical, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t be anywhere but Earth, it just wasn’t possible. I couldn’t have become the property of some alien male I’d never even met. What if he was awful?

What if he was rude and unkind and…and ugly? None of the males I saw earlier were ugly. In fact, they were the opposite, but none of them stepped up to play the role of my match. Obviously, they were all actors, too. I bet they weren’t even real aliens. Those horns had to be fake.

Before Lila or Ferne could say anything more, I took off, brushing past them and running toward what appeared to be an opening in the wall at the far end of the cavern.

If they weren’t going to tell me the truth—that this was all just a stupid setup—then I’d figure it out for myself.

Cedroc

“If that’s what the rest of them are like, I don’t want one,” Jarvik said, only half-jokingly, watching from a distance as Lila and Ferne tried to reason with the woman.

Due to its size, the cavern didn’t afford much privacy and we could hear most of what they were saying. Again, the woman mentioned her father arranging her arrival as a game, perhaps to scare her into becoming a better daughter.

From the clothes she wore alone, I could tell she was used to expensive tastes and seemed to like having a good time. She looked like she’d been sent here from some kind of party. I might’ve been wrong, but she didn’t seem one hundred percent sober, either.

I was totally confused as to why she didn’t seem to believe what had happened to her. I listened closely as Lila and Ferne explained that they’d also been sent as mates because of the treaty, both women going into specific details about how they’d been matched and arrived here to find their mates.

The look of complete disbelief remained etched on the new woman’s face as she sat before my friends, chewing on a ration bar Lila had given her.

At least she seemed to trust us enough to eat our food.

I supposed that was a plus.

“I don’t know whether to laugh at you or be worried for you,” Kyre said to me as we continued to observe the three women, straining to hear what they were saying.

“Laugh, please. You never need to worry about me—I’ll always figure a way out of a shitty situation,” I told him.

“Ferne was pretty spooked when she first arrived, too. You know she even tried to run off after we’d already spent a few days together. Clearly, she came around. This woman probably will, too,” Kyre said to me.

“I honestly don’t care what this woman does,” I said, and I meant it.

It was clear she didn’t want to be here.

I’d never wanted a mate at all, never mind one that didn’t want me in return.

I’d probably have to bring her back to the Calliope before I could send her back to Earth, but I had no problem doing so.

There had to be a way around the treaty.

Her first impression certainly left a lot to be desired. In fact, she was terrible. Beautiful, but terrible nonetheless, and the sooner I could be rid of her, the better.

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Lila and Ferne rushing back to Kyre, Jarvik, and me in a panic.

“Coralie—that’s her name—ran off!” Lila exclaimed. “Before we could stop her, she made a break for the tunnels. She’s completely in denial about her situation—for some reason, she seems to think her father is playing a trick on her to scare her into cleaning up her act. She thinks this is all fake—that her father hired us.”

“Denial is one hell of a drug,” Ferne said with a laugh.

“Do you really think this is a good time for jokes right now?” I asked, running a hand over my eyes.

When I’d come out of the tunnel into the interior cavern, all I’d wanted was to get back up to the surface and return to the Calliope for a hot shower, fresh clothes, and a meal that didn’t consist of only water and ration bars.

Now everything had gone to shit and I had a possibly-deranged human woman to find, likely lost in a series of underground tunnels.

Fuck. This mission couldn’t get any worse.

“I guess I’m going in after her,” I said, turning in the direction Jarvik and I had emerged only moments ago.

“I thought you said you didn’t care what she did,” Kyre said.

“I don’t.”

“Well you must, or else you’d just let her go and be done with it. If she gets herself lost underground and you leave her there, your problem is solved,” Kyre said.

“I may be an asshole sometimes, Kyre, but I’m not a murderer,” I told him.

Kyre and Jarvik just stared at me.

“I’m not a murderer unless someone’s trying to murder me first,” I corrected.

“That’s better,” Kyre said.

Kyre was right—if I truly didn’t care, I’d just leave her behind and allow her to figure everything out herself. The problem was she was my mate, whether I liked it or not. My glowing tattoo proved it.

And because she was my mate, my instincts were driving me to protect her.

Even if she didn’t want to be here.

Even if she didn’t want me.

Still, she didn’t deserve to be left here.

“Well, wish me luck. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon—if not, it was nice knowing you all. Send my love back to Rekker and Derrix and tell them I’ll miss them terribly,” I said.

“Oh, get out of here, Cedroc,” Lila laughed. “Bring that crazy woman back so we can talk some sense into her.”

“No promises.”

I could already hear her upon my approach to the tunnel system. She couldn’t be that far inside, which wasn’t surprising given the way she was dressed and how dark the caverns were without light. I had to hand it to her, though—she wasn’t crying, which surprised me. Maybe she was made of tougher stuff than I’d originally thought.

I only walked for about ten minutes before I located her, standing in the middle of a small antechamber, shouting angrily up at a crack near the low, sloped ceiling.

“This isn’t funny anymore, Daddy! I get it, okay? You can bring me home now! I promise I’ll change and I’ll get a job and stop spending so much time running up bar tabs every weekend. Can you just send someone to pick me up, please?” she said in a voice that was syrupy sweet.

I’d never heard anyone sound so fake in my life.

My own psyche was hanging on by a thread, but I approached her anyway.

“Coralie, is it?” I asked.

She turned her azure eyes to me and raked them over my body, from my boots to my horns.

“It is. Can I just say, your makeup and prosthetics are amazing? I almost can’t tell they’re fake. Like, those horns really look like they’re growing out of your head!”

I wanted to respond, I truly did, but all I could do was stare at her and blink.

“Hey, do you think you could tell my father that I’m on to him, so he might as well just put an end to this now? It’s getting kind of foolish, don’t you think? I mean, seriously, there’s no way he’d willingly sign me over to a complete stranger, no matter what those women said. I mean, yes, I know about the treaty with the Mahdfel, but like, Daddy isn’t like that. He’d never just abandon me,” she babbled.

“You really think that this is some sort of…trick?” I asked.

“Of course it is, Mister...? What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t, but it’s Cedroc.”

“Mister Cedroc. Coralie Sinclare, nice to meet you. Now, Mister Cedroc, be a dear and just tell your people to call this off, okay?” she asked, voice bright and bubbly. “I’ll make sure you’re all paid and receive handsome tips, as well.” Her smile grew hard. “Maybe next time you play this game, try to remember to speak some sort of alien language or something, right?”

“First of all, it’s just Cedroc, no Mister. I’m a Vaznik warrior, not some civilian. Secondly, this really isn’t a game, Coralie. You were implanted with a translator before you were teleported.” My heart sank as I realized she really wasn’t understanding this, but I kept going. “Lila and Ferne were telling you the truth. The treaty is real, you’ve been matched, and when a human is matched she’s immediately sent to her mate. Welcome to Gravum IV.”

She stared at me for what felt like hours before an uneasy laugh slipped out of her mouth.

“Ohhh, you’re good, Mister, you’re really good. You almost had me there, but I’m not a complete idiot,” she said, turning back to the crack in the wall.

“Could have fooled me,” I mumbled.

I watched her try to reason with the empty hole in the wall again. I had no idea what to do to fix this situation or what I could say to make her believe me. She was making absolutely no sense at all and it was impossible to reason with someone who was being unreasonable.

“Okay, Coralie, I’m not entirely sure why you’re having a conversation with a wall, but I’ve been underground for roughly three days now and before you showed up, I was about to return to my ship and finally get a semblance of a normal life back, so forgive me if my patience is wearing thin. It’s time for you to come with me now.”

I was trying so hard to keep my emotions in check, but I was close to unraveling. Typically, I was a calm port in a storm, but lack of sleep and proper nutrition had frayed my edges. Add a situation I never asked for or wanted on top of that, and I was a bomb waiting to detonate.

“Again, I’m not stupid, there are hidden cameras all over this place. I know how these things work,” Coralie said.

That was my final straw. She was way too worked up to listen to anything remotely logical, so without uttering another word, I bent at the waist and hefted her up over my shoulder, silencing her for a short, blissful second before she truly began to holler.

It was going to be a long trip back.

Coralie

“This is completely unnecessary,” I shrieked while I thumped my fists against the alien’s back. Everything about him felt real and solid.

No body paint or prosthetics to be found. Damn, he was real.

But that didn’t mean anything.

My father could hire real aliens for his little game, I was sure.

I was hoping to expose all of this for the ruse it was sooner rather than later. I’d have to find another way to prove this was all a construction.

“I don’t care about what’s necessary. I care about what’s effective,” Cedroc replied.

“My dress is too short for this!” I twisted my arms in every uncomfortable angle in an attempt to tug the hem of my dress down.

Why the hell wasn’t I allowed to change before I was sent out to this wretched place? If this was real, I would’ve been allowed to change. I would’ve been allowed to pack a bag. I swear, I remember reading somewhere that the women who were matched were allowed to take a bag. If this were real, my father never would’ve allowed me to leave so unprepared. I didn’t even have my nightly moisturizer.

“That isn’t my problem.”

“Oh, I am going to give you a whole world of problems, Mister! Just you wait!”

“Stop calling me Mister,” he shot back. “And I don’t have to wait. My problems have multiplied dramatically since you arrived and I expect them to keep growing.”

“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shifted just a bit, thinking I could get better leverage. Instead, I nearly blinded myself by exposing his weird, glowing tattoo.

“What the hell is that?” I grumbled, covering the tattoo so its shine no longer burned my retinas. It was too damn bright for this dark cave.

“That’s one of my problems.”

“You really have such a way with words.”

“You do a marvelous impression of a grain sack.”

“Excuse me?” I shrieked.

“I’m only joking. I’d much prefer a grain sack. They don’t speak or squirm.”

Anger rose up in my throat and fogged my brain. I wanted so badly to come up with a scathing comeback, but my tongue was all twisted up.

“If you don’t want me to squirm, then let me walk,” was the winning line I came up with.

“Are you going to run away?”

“What good would that do me?” I challenged.

“Fine,” he huffed and unceremoniously slid me off the side of his shoulder. He kept a hand on my arm, preventing me from falling on my ass, but he wasn’t especially gentle. “Don’t make me chase you again.”

I didn’t deign to respond. I stormed ahead of him, my heels clicking against the stone floor of the tunnel. There was natural light up ahead. The tunnels were coming to an end. Thank goodness. The damp air was giving me a chill.

My dress covered basically nothing. I hated being cold more than anything.

Actually, I hate being set up and lied to by my father more than that.

But being cold is pretty up there.

Seriously? Why would I be sent off in the very dress my father made fun of? That must’ve just been another way for him to drive his point home.

“Whatever, Dad. I get it,” I muttered as I looked for secret nooks and crannies that could possibly conceal a hidden camera.

He was probably sitting in his office, watching my struggle. Now that I thought about it, it was pretty messed up that he would use a treaty that had saved our planet as an excuse to teach me a lesson.

So many things about my alleged testing didn’t add up. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like an elaborate hoax cooked up by my father to teach me a lesson. God knows he had the financial resources to pull something like this off.

The aliens were all too real.

I wondered, were they hired to be actors? Did the Mahdfel act? I thought they were too busy saving planets and fighting space evil to do anything else. Cedroc had called himself a Vaznik warrior, too. Was that the name of an acting troop? If so, it wasn’t a good one.

I didn’t care. None of this was real.

Any day now, I’d be back home. Constalatia was never going to believe this. Maybe I could bring an alien or two back for her.

Though their appearance was initially rather startling, they weren’t ugly. In fact, they were quite handsome.

Equally handsome, or even more so, than the best-looking men I’d met on Earth. None of them had immediately tried to get under my dress, either, which was refreshing and yet another reason why I believed this to all be some kind of elaborate ruse.

If that was the case, and I strongly believed it was, then the Vaznik warriors were truly giving it their all. And this swamp, this set, was so well done.

A lump of fear formed in my throat as I tried to convince myself that this massive, dark and dank tunnel system was one of the old movie sets from the early 20th century.

With a shaking hand, I reached out and touched the wall. It was cold and damp. Dirt coated my fingertips when I pulled my hand away.

There was no way this was all fake. I could maybe wrap my mind around the fact that I’d been sent to another planet to make a point.

But everything else? The chances of a genetic match were small. It was far too convenient that I was matched in my foyer. I bet that machine wasn’t even real. I bet it just had a green light bulb that lit up with the press of the button.

But the teleportation pads? How could they have pulled that off? I wasn’t surprised that my father could rent one. They weren’t available for everyday use, but there were dozens of strings he could’ve pulled to make it happen.

Setting up the teleportation receiver pad here, though. That seemed like it might’ve been harder to pull off. Then again, what did I know about teleportation?

I was no longer paying attention to the others in the tunnel with me. All I could focus on was the light at the end. I moved as quickly as my heels would allow. I debated taking them off, but that didn’t seem safe or sanitary.

The more I thought about my situation, the more the one thought I refused to let fully take shape loomed in the back of my mind.

Soon, it would be too big to ignore.

I couldn’t go there. I wouldn’t.

Nothing like this was ever supposed to happen to me. It simply wasn’t. No matter how realistic everything looked and felt, there had to be another explanation. There just had to be. I couldn’t accept any alternative.

I reached the opening of the tunnel and found myself standing at the edge of the smelliest, muggiest, stickiest swamp I’d ever seen. Not that I’d seen that many swamps, but still.

“Are you all right?” one of the human women, Lila, I think, asked me.

“I don’t know how to answer that right now.”

“I know it’s a shock,” she said with a sympathetic nod. “It’ll get easier, I promise.”

“We aren’t going through that, are we?” I asked, trying to direct the conversation toward anything other than the reality of my situation.

“We are,” she nodded. “It’s the only way to get back to camp. I can’t believe you were dropped all the way out here with us.”

“Neither can I,” I said tersely.

“If I’d known, I would’ve brought an extra set of clothes. You can borrow some of mine once we reach camp.”

“Camp?” I sputtered. “Like cabins?”

“Tents,” she grinned. “We didn’t want to keep taxing the systems on the ship, so we’ve turned it into an extended campout.”

This couldn’t be happening. I’d never camped in my life. I wasn’t an outdoorsy kind of girl. I loved nature. Who didn’t? I simply preferred to admire nature from afar, where I could be clean and safe.

“The swamp terrain isn’t that tricky,” the other woman, Ferne, said. “I think you should be fine to walk. Your shoes will probably be caked in mud forever, though.”

“That’ll all right,” I replied. “I have a closet full of them I’ll be getting back to very soon.”

Ferne and Lila exchanged a glance that I pretended not to see. I was going home soon. I’d show them.

We started making our way through the swamp. I’d taken no more than three steps before my heel sank into a damp patch of earth with a sickening squelch. When I tried to yank my foot free, I felt like the earth was trying to tug me in closer.

“Trouble?” The alien who had earlier referred to me as a grain sack stopped at my side.

“Oh, no,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m just enjoying the texture of muck.”

“It’s lovely. I suggest wiggling your toes to really get a feel for it.” With that, he started to walk away.

“Wait!”

He stopped and turned his head, not quite looking at me.

“I’m stuck.”

“No shit.”

“Oh, bite me,” I muttered.

“I will but only if you ask nicely.”

Like a bolt of lightning, my brain illuminated with an image of what it would be like to be bitten by him. It should’ve been frightening, but it wasn’t. I quickly shoved that thought down with a hard swallow.

“Just get me out of here,” I said.

“Last time I transported you, you were less than thrilled with my methods.”

“Because you have no idea how to carry a person.” I folded my arms across my chest.

“I’ve carried every single one of my team members out of tricky situations just like I carried you.”

“Really?” I glanced at the other aliens, all of which were burly and muscular. “All at once?”

“Yes, I can grow extra arms at will.”

My eyes went wide. “Really?”

“No, that’s completely ridiculous,” he replied without missing a beat.

“How am I supposed to know what aliens can and can’t do?”

“Ask.”

“What can you do?”

“I can get you out of the mud.”

“Then do it.”

He fixed me with a hard stare. “What did I say about asking nicely?”

I let out a long sigh. “Please, will you help me?”

“Of course.” Without further comment, he approached, wrapped an arm around my back, and slid his other arm around the back of my knees. When he had a good hold on me, he lifted. The ground released me as I was hefted into his arms.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re getting better,” he nodded. “I didn’t have to remind you about your manners.”

“I have excellent manners when I’m not in stressful circumstances like this.”

“That remains to be seen.”

As he carried me through the swamp, I covered my nose with my spare hand. There was something rotten in the air that I couldn’t identify.

This wasn’t a set.

Cedroc was a real alien.

Reality came crashing down on me so hard that it knocked the breath from my lungs.

“Are you well?” Cedroc asked.

I couldn’t find the breath to speak, but I forced myself to nod.

The genetic test was real.

It was all real. Cedroc was my match. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deny it anymore.

I didn’t speak for the rest of the trip back to whatever camp they had set up. As time stretched on and the sun began to sink, I remained silent.

I was grateful when night fell. I didn’t know much about the alien that carried me, but I knew he was sure-footed enough to get me through a dark swamp.

In the dark, I could let my sadness, anger, and fear show plainly on my face.

I even allowed a tear or two to fall. No one noticed and I was grateful for it.

When the swamp gave way to desert and a real-life alien spaceship came into view, I didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t find the will to speak.

I wondered if I’d ever want to speak again.

Cedroc

“Are you alright?”

No answer.

Again.

Something wasn’t right.

No shit.

That was the understatement of the year. Too many things weren’t right.

Specifically, the fact that the human woman in my arms had been silent for over two hours was my biggest concern.

In the short time I’d known Coralie, I knew only one thing for certain.

When she had something to say, she didn’t hesitate to speak. That was something I liked in a person, human or otherwise. Straight talkers are often the best people to work with. They didn’t layer important information in between too much small talk.

I hated small talk. What a waste of time.

But Coralie wasn’t talking at all. I knew that wasn’t normal for a human, if Lila and Ferne were anything to go by.

Humans were social creatures. They thrived off interpersonal interactions. Coralie’s extended period of silence challenged what I’d learned about humans from Lila and Ferne.

Several times, I checked to see if she was asleep but she wasn’t. Her eyes, which looked blue even in the low light, were open.

She watched everything with an eerily blank expression. Once, I thought I saw a tear slide down her cheek but I couldn’t be sure. When I double-checked, I saw nothing.

I expected at least some kind of reaction when the Calliope came into view, the small cluster of tents only accenting her size.

She was an impressive ship and I wasn’t just saying that because I’m the pilot. The Calliope was one of the best designed ships in the Mahdfel fleet.

She wasn’t the newest or the flashiest, but she was sleek, speedy, and reliable.

I considered saying something to Coralie, but in the end, I decided it was best not to disturb her.

Kyre and Jarvik ran ahead to prep the camp. By the time we approached, they’d started a roaring fire and were cooking meat on sticks for all of us.

I moved Coralie in my arms in preparation to putting her down. I touched a different part of her arm than I was originally holding. I was alarmed to find it quite cool to the touch.

“Are you warm enough?” I asked. Humans were sensitive to temperatures if they didn’t have the correct external wear.

They couldn’t regulate their core temperatures as well as the Vaznik warriors could. Both the Mahdfel and the Vaznik were able to tolerate both high and low temperatures so, genetically, I’d hit the temperature-regulating jackpot.

Coralie shook her head.

“I’ll set you by the fire. Will that be enough to warm you?”

She shrugged.

“All right.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I set her down on a cushion as close to the fire as I could put her without risking burning her. She didn’t once look at me. Her eyes were directed at the flames, but she appeared to be looking at something beyond.

“Let me know if you need anything,” I said before wandering away. I didn’t know how to do this kind of thing. I was an independent individual.

But she was my mate.

Every fiber of my being was screaming for me to look after her, regardless of the fact that I had no idea how to do that.

I spied Lila organizing some supplies for our next expedition. I took a moment to be grateful for the fact that Coralie had arrived during a mission that was relatively close to camp.

Carrying her for multiple days would’ve been rough. Forcing her to travel through caves and swamps in her ridiculous costume would’ve been rougher.

“Lila?”

She looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Hey, Cedroc. How’s it going?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I don’t know what to do about Coralie. I don’t think she’s well. Can you tell me what the signs of shock are in humans?”

“They’re similar to signs of shock in you, I’d imagine,” Lila said. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s cold to the touch. I put her by the fire, but I don’t know how much that’s going to help.”

“Not enough if she’s as cold as you say she is. She doesn’t look like she’s shivering.”

“Look at her eyes,” I said. “They look weird.”

Lila laughed. “She’s zoning out. Humans do that. She’s probably just deep in thought.”

“She won’t talk to me. If she needs something, I won’t know to get it for her. Could you talk to her, please? She might be more responsive to you.”

“Wow, Cedroc.” Lila looked up at me with a smile and an unmistakable glint of pride in her eyes. “You’re doing better at this than I expected.”

“I’m not certain if that was a compliment or an insult.”

“It was a compliment,” Lila assured me. “I just never expected you to have a secret nurturing side.”

I wrinkled my nose as if she’d called me something dirty.

“I’m a soldier. I’m a renowned pilot and warrior. I’m not nurturing.”

Lila rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say. I’m going to go talk to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I muttered as Lila walked away.

Coralie wasn’t my girlfriend. She was something far more than that. She was my mate. That didn’t change the fact that we were still strangers.

I watched Lila crouch down beside Coralie.

I didn’t like this. I felt useless and I wasn’t used to feeling useless. Frustration began to boil up inside me.

I tore my gaze from Coralie, who wasn’t looking at me anyway, and went inside the Calliope.

Making a beeline for the bridge, I sat in my chair. It was worn in all of the right places to mold perfectly to my body.

I felt better the moment I sat down.

When I looked out the panoramic viewports, I couldn’t see the camp but I could see the glow of the fire reflecting off the sand. The night sky and the mountains in the distance were the same shade of inky black. The only reason I could tell where the sky ended and the mountains began was the absence of stars.

I didn’t like being in a planetary system where I didn’t know each star on sight. I was learning the astral formations, but it wasn’t as much fun to learn them if I didn’t know the stories behind them.

Did the stars here have stories? Did some long gone society ever call this system home? I didn’t know.

Our commander didn’t know. I doubted if even the council knew.

As much as I tried to keep my mind occupied, my thoughts kept wandering back to Coralie. I knew she was my mate. I felt her pull constantly. Yet, somehow, the reality of the situation still hadn’t sunk in.

“Are you alright?”

I jumped slightly at Ferne’s words.

“Of course I am,” I answered quickly.

Her mouth twisted into a half-smile. “Proving men are men, no matter what species.” But then her eyes softened. “She’ll adapt, I’m sure.”

“Not worried about it.” And not thinking about it, either, I silently added. “Are you looking for Kyre?”

Ferne shook her head. “Nope, unlocking my door for Coralie and looking for some clothes that will fit her. Thank goodness I’ve got a spare pair of boots.” She bounced away, whistling as she went about her nice, normal tasks.

I thought about those dainty, lethally spiked slippers Coralie had come through the teleporter with.

Didn’t she pack anything more practical?

Actually, why didn’t she have a bag at all?

The whole situation with Coralie made my head spin.

Not only was she contractually attached to me through the peace treaty with Earth, but she was my mate. We were bound to each other in a way that could never be broken or written into a contract. She was the one I was born to be with.

I should’ve felt something other than unease, right? Every Mahdfel, regardless of what they inherited from their mother’s species, yearned for the day they’d meet their mate.

Funnily enough, the very thing that brought her to me was what was causing the complications. The contract. If Lila and Ferne were anything to go buy, humans hated being forced to do anything. They were big fans of their free will.

Of course, in the end, the contracts hadn’t mattered. They still fell in love with their mates.

If anything Coralie had said in the tunnels was an indicator, she wasn’t convinced she was under any contract. She’d thought my horns were fake. She wasn’t in any position to honor a genetic contract.

To be frank, neither was I.

Kyre might’ve been glad when Ferne showed up, despite their prickly beginnings, but he was ready for a mate. I wasn’t.

I’d secretly hoped I’d never meet mine. I certainly hoped I’d never end up locked into a contract based on that stupid treaty with Earth or any of the other worlds the Mahdfel protected.

Fatherhood wasn’t ever something I considered an option.

Was I capable of siring a child? Absolutely. But the Suhlik were still a threat. I didn’t want to bring a child into the world where the Suhlik still stalked the cosmos looking for prey.

As long as their deranged breeding farms still existed, I couldn’t stop fighting.

They’d taken my parents, taken so many others.

Now that I had a human woman who was both my fated mate and contractually joined to me, I had to think about how I was going to handle this. I’d never learned how a male was supposed to support his mate. I’d never gotten to see what it took to be in a committed relationship. I could watch Lila and Rekker or Kyre and Ferne all I wanted, but I feared my abilities to care for and protect my mate were limited simply because of my lack of knowledge.

Coralie still believed she was going to get out of here soon. Once upon a time, that might’ve been possible. She’d already been overwhelmed with information, but at some point, someone was going to have to tell her that the Calliope wasn’t leaving this planet any time soon.

Since there was a contract between us now, she had to stay with me until it was fulfilled.

I only hoped she wouldn’t descend into madness or a blind rage when someone told her.

I had a sickening feeling that someone was going to be me.

Coralie

Sitting by the fire, a multitude of thoughts stormed inside me.

For some reason, the complete ruin of my shoes was really affecting me. It was funny that I’d lived nearly thirty years of my life and I didn’t know that pointy heels would dig into mud and get stuck.

Cedroc wandered off moodily after he left me by the fire.

He seemed withdrawn to me, but what did I know about aliens?

It was far easier to talk to Lila.

I hadn’t found much out here that I could cling to and she looked like the only familiar thing in a vast, cruel universe.

True, she didn’t exactly look like the type of person I would ordinarily choose to hang with, but this situation was worse than desperate.

“So, you guys…got matched and then you were sent here? How was it for you? Were you scared?” I couldn’t help myself from asking some of the stupidest questions of my life.

Of course she had been scared. Of course they’d fought against what was happening to them. What I really wanted to know was, how could they be so comfortable about it? The questions you most need answers for are always the ones you just couldn’t ask.

“All I wanted to do was go home,” Lila admitted. “And I wasn’t quiet about it.” A slow smile spread across her face. “But then, well, I realized that wherever Rekker is, really is home for me.”

Ferne came back from an errand on the ship and jumped in, explaining what her matching had been like, her doubts and resolutions.

But the words didn’t seem to register with me, have any meaning. It sounded pretty scary to me, like they gave up too easily, almost. Didn’t they have anything to get back to? A life they loved?

Was there anything about that sullen, grumpy green alien that would endear him to me so much that I wanted to stay?

I highly doubted it.

I took another look around the camp. Dry, dusty, and windy. The only tech I could see was military-type stuff, No entertainment, no nice food, no music. This was a far cry from my usual scene. I didn’t know how to cope with the silence of the desert.

Ferne laughed about an incident she went through with Kyre, one of the times she realized that they were meant for each other.

My stomach curled itself into knots. Whatever happened to them, I didn’t want it happening to me.

I just wanted to go home.

“So, have you guys heard how long we’ll be here? How do I get home?”

The women looked at each other. There was a stretch of silence long enough to scare me.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lila put a hand on my arm, looking at me gently. “We are looking for something on this planet. Central Command has directed us to stay until we find the valuable item we’ve been sent here to get. No one’s going anywhere, sweetheart.”

I just kept staring at her. It was like being stuck in a vacuum where I heard her words, but they whipped past me so fast I couldn’t understand them.

“I can’t.” My voice came out very small, like my throat wouldn’t let it out. “I can’t just stay here! How the fuck did I get dragged into this?” I was having another one of those small collapses. The world I was in now was so different to the one I was used to. It was almost painful being inside my own head.

I thought about my ruined heels again. Hopefully I could find some decent clothes for the climate, even if I couldn’t see myself in the basic, functional stuff the other women were wearing.

“Do we know what this thing is?” I felt so utterly lost within this conversation I wondered if I cared about the answer.

Lila shook her head. “That’s all part of the adventure.” She grinned.

“I didn’t ask for adventure.” I pouted stubbornly. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to me.”

I saw Ferne and Lila share a look.

Maybe they had felt the same way when they got matched but guess what? They aren’t me. They were suited for this life. They seemed happy here. That was great for them, they seemed like nice women. Certainly they deserved happiness, but I knew I could never be happy here. I had too much of a life on Earth. I wasn’t going to give it up.

“My mate has told me as soon as we have leave, I can go and see my family. I’m sure Cedroc will do the same for you, but they can’t abandon their duties. You’ll find him understanding, I’m sure,” Lila said.

I didn’t bother to shake my head or protest. Cedroc didn’t seem gentle or understanding at all. He didn’t want anything to do with me, as far as I could tell. Fine by me. At least both of us were getting screwed over by the treaty.

How odd that a treaty that is supposed to benefit them ends up being a burden, as well. I had never thought about it that way. Sure, women got sent off, but that didn’t mean the males agreed to the match, either.

I waited to feel excited about the idea of seeing my family again. I had a fierce passion inside me, a sense of urgency that ran in my blood like fire. My spirit should have soared the second Lila said Cedroc would take me home. But it didn’t.

I realized there was a bright, burning ember of anger deep in my heart. It was small, but it was searing.

The idea of seeing my father again, after what he’d done…that idea was certainly of no comfort to me. How could he have done this? He knew the risks of getting me tested, and he just went and did it anyway. He let me go, threw me away.

I wiped my nose a little, looking at my dirty feet. It was a terrible, hard shock to find out people you loved were not what you believed them to be. I’d thought my father would protect me at all costs. Instead, he was the one who betrayed me. I swallowed hard, trying not to fall apart.

“Thank you for helping me.” I looked at Lila and Ferne, feeling grateful but also overwhelmed. I was exhausted and all the edges of this situation had become sharp and hard. No matter which way my thoughts turned, there was only pain and uncertainty.

“Can you guys just point me in the direction of a bed? I’m totally beat.”

“Of course, honey.” Ferne smiled. “You can have my room. I went ahead and opened the door for you and set out some clothes. I didn’t have anything when I got here either, so I learned how to use the replicator pretty fast.” She tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure you don’t want me to show you the way?”

I shook my head, hair flying, ignoring the words that didn’t make any sense. “No, thanks. I think I could use some thinking time.”

She gave me directions which seemed straightforward enough, but as I walked towards the ship, I felt a sense of unreality prickling the air around me. My nervous system was acting up so much it was like walking through a curtain of hot needles.

Real aliens and actual spaceships.

This shit was off the charts. I wondered what my very posh and popular friends might have thought about it. It was like an adventure, only I didn’t have the option to stop when I didn’t want to play anymore.

As I approached the dark beast, I ran my fingers along the smooth side of the ship. I saw words in an alien script running down the side.

What had Cedroc called it?

The Calliope.

Pretty enough, and the cool material it was made of was like silk under my fingers. For the first time since I got here, I actually felt a bit confident.

I actually grinned as I headed onto the ship, thinking that if I could get a grip on myself so well, then I might make it through this.

But the second I entered the ship, I got completely lost. It only took one corner and that was it. Everything looked the same.

I couldn’t remember what Ferne had said.

The place was empty and echoing like a tomb, not that I’ve ever been in one. The comparison was the only one that served the creepy atmosphere.

I came along a high walkway, wondering what it was used for. There didn’t seem to be any windows or doors. I ran my hands along the smooth guard rails, wondering what type of metal it was.

I suddenly wished I had listened, just once, to the people who had always been around when I was growing up. Lots of tutors and teachers who I allowed to give me a basic education, but I’d stopped short of all the boring day-to-day crap.

I was never going to need it.

Hah.

Here I was, lost in a spaceship in the middle of the night, and I didn’t even know how to find myself, let alone a door.

The long, high walkway sloped down a little and intersected a small nest of pathways. I took one at random, following it down a narrow corridor.

“Oh!”

Cedroc looked up at me with annoyance written all over his face, just barely tempered by patience. I stood in front of him for a few seconds, sweating out my nervousness.

I decided to just sit down with him.

Maybe it was too soon.

Maybe I should have tried to talk to him earlier.

And maybe it didn’t matter what happened, as long as I was trying.

It sounded like we were going to have to get used to each other, no matter what happened. I was still damn tired and hoping he could point me towards a bed, but in the meantime, I could try to at least have a decent conversation.

It still felt like we had not been properly introduced, even though we were intimately bound together by a treaty.

I might as well try to make friends.

Cedroc

I had been surprised to see Coralie just wandering up the corridor.

I had resigned myself to being alone, now and for the rest of my life. I wasn’t looking for a mate and my work has always been my focus. The idea of letting someone in, letting them share my life, was confronting and confusing.

I wanted time to think, but even though I’d found a place of peace and quiet, she still found me. I wondered if this was what it was to have a mate.

Would she always find me? The idea was somewhat comforting in spite of my feelings of uncertainty.

Without invitation, she simply sat down beside me. I wasn’t ready to talk, but I couldn’t just tell her to go away. The thoughts I had been trying to straighten out fell together in a great tangle and unfamiliar anxiety twisted my guts.

I had no idea how to talk to her. My tattoos could glow all they liked, yeah, sure. Genetic match. Didn’t I get some say in this? How did you turn a genetic promise into a life of love?

Silence stretched out and deepened between us. I couldn’t worry about upsetting or offending her because I had no idea how to behave. If she saw my silence as unfriendly, I honestly didn’t know what to do about that.

To my astonishment, Coralie turned to me and grinned. Even though her face was still drawn and pale, the smile she gave me was pure sweetness.

Maybe, just maybe, the bratty behavior she’d shown earlier wasn’t her true self.

Sure, it’d been a shock for her. Hell, it’d been a shock for me, and I should have been more prepared, really.

From the looks of things, she’d had even less time to prepare than Lila.

I might not know anything about her, but I could see that smile was genuine.

“So, how do you feel about all this?” She looked down, swinging her legs from the seat which was only just too high for her to touch the deck. My thoughts resolved themselves into a teeming cesspit and I still couldn’t answer. Lucky for me, she wasn’t expecting one.

“I’m a little scared, you know. I mean, anyone would be, right? I heard all about the treaty, I just didn’t pay much attention.” She played with an end of her hair. “We certainly didn’t sit around talking about how we were all going to be matched one day! Hardly anyone in my class took it seriously. I mean, what are the odds that I’m here?”

I could feel my lips starting to curve into a grin, in spite of myself.

“It could be worse, I guess. I could have ended up on some ghastly planet with a really mean guy. I don’t know, I don’t want to be insensitive, but I guess you have jerks in your race just like everyone does.”

She giggled, swinging her legs even harder. “Listen to me! I’ve met one alien, like, one, and now I think I’m an expert of alien races! I’m comparing you guys and any other aliens to humanity. That’s not fair.”

“Why isn’t it fair?”

“Oh, because obviously, you’re going to be totally different, aren’t you? This stuff is way beyond me. Your customs, your goals…if there was someone teaching them to me at some point, I’ve forgotten the entire lesson.”

She giggled again and I sensed that it was a reflex, something she did to cover her nervousness.

I wished I had such a tactic, but my only reflex was silence.

“I hope we can get to know each other.” Her smile had deepened, her eyes were wider and softer. She put a hand on my arm and squeezed it gently. “It looks like forces greater than us are pulling us together. We should try to get along.”

I nodded my head slowly, lost for words. Even if I was the type of guy who talked about my feelings, I’d be lost right now.

And any words I might have had were burned away by her touch.

“I can’t say I ever really thought about my future like this. Marriage, babies, and all that always seemed so far off.” She kept kicking with her feet, pointing the toes up as she swung back and forth.

I had come here to find myself, gather my thoughts, and understand how I felt. All I had done before she found me was wallow and confuse myself, now she was trying to have a conversation I wasn’t ready for.

I had a sharp stab of anger in my chest that made my temper short.

I didn’t want to take it out on her, even though my feelings for her were causing my frustration. It was too much for me to deal with, that I suddenly had a mate and all the responsibilities that went with it.

“I guess I never really thought about the future at all.” She looked up to the ceiling, leaning towards me a little. “It was always this thing I wanted to push off, filled with responsibilities, choices that weren’t my own.”

Listening to her voice cascading like a waterfall of tiny bells, I looked at her while she was distracted. Her body was small and lithe, so short compared to me that I could lift her with ease. Her skin, especially her hands, was very pale and soft.

Everything about the way she held herself screamed privilege. Right now, she was completely genuine and unaffected, but the comfort she was used to was evident in her every gesture.

She was gorgeous.

Even in a moment of casual appraisal, I noticed. My body was crying out for her, an instinct I couldn’t ignore. As she talked, I felt more at ease, even if I didn’t understand everything she was talking about.

I pulled back from my admiration of her physical beauty, realizing that she had moved on to talking about spaceships and ports.

“It must be so exciting,” she said, eyes shining. “You’re so lucky to see all these new worlds, all the different species that are out there. I’m just glad that humans now get to be a part of it, even if the beginning was a little rocky.”

I almost laughed out loud.

She was completely unaware of the restrictions that existed within the system. She also had no idea about the military, enemy encounters, and the fierce competition for resources.

Something in my chest tightened.

She had never seen anyone die.

She had never even seen anybody get seriously hurt.

The more she talked, the more I realized she had only seen stylized violence, such as on film. She had read about it and learned of all kinds of horrible things humans and aliens had done to each other.

But she really thought that was all done now, with everyone living in harmony. It made me sad.

Not really for her, but for me.

As a Vaznik warrior, my training had begun early. We always knew that death was waiting for us, and we challenged him at every opportunity. We were made to be fierce, to inflict pain and survive against all odds.

That kind of truth was one Coralie simply did not understand.

I was shocked to find that I envied her on some level. I couldn’t imagine growing up safe and sheltered. I tried to imagine what it must be like to have days full of luxury and comfort, where I could do as I pleased instead of what I must.

“So, what do you do for hobbies?”

I blinked. “Hobbies?” Maybe there was a translator malfunction.

“You know, stuff just for fun?”

She waited expectantly, but nothing came to mind. I never had an opportunity to develop such frivolous things. I was always working, and all of my hobbies were connected to it.

“There’s not really a lot of free time in my life right now,” I started. “I do like to memorize star charts and configurations for different sectors.”

Her lush lips pursed as she tilted her head to the side, pondering. “That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me, but whatever makes you happy, I guess.”

She smiled and carried on as if my answer was perfectly natural.

There was a sense of self-entitlement in her tone, as if everything normally fell her way. She rambled on, and I just watched her, every feeling written large over her expressive face.

She had this cute little line between her brows when she talked about something that she didn’t like, a fierce tilt to her chin when she thought about changing something she didn’t like.

But her most common expression was that beautiful, open smile.

I realized that I wanted to keep her away from the darkness I’d had to learn to live with.

I had never felt like that before.

The longer I looked at her, the more important it became to treasure her and never upset her with the true knowledge of how the universe worked.

It made me mourn for a version of me that could have been, watching her smiling and kicking her legs. She was completely oblivious to the fact that horrible things occurred every moment, right across the galaxy.

I couldn’t stand the thought of that innocence being shattered.

I went to open my mouth to talk to her about the differences between our upbringings, but she poured out another torrent of words.

From the way she was starting to smile up into my eyes and laugh, I figured I must be doing something right, even if I felt that so far, I’d had about the same charismatic quality as a large cactus.

“You know, Cedroc, you’re a really good listener.” She leaned against my shoulder, sighing. I tried not to pull away, unsure how to handle her closeness.

She stood up slowly, looking around.

“Ferne offered me her room, but I got a bit lost. I really should get some sleep, I’m so tired.” Her ready grin came to her face and I found myself smiling right back.

“It’s that way.” I pointed down the hall, explaining which door was the right one. She nodded gratefully. I was just glad that Ferne had thought ahead about the locks.

Otherwise, Coralie would have to be in my room…and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that. Not yet.

“Thanks. It’s been nice talking to you.”

I wondered if that was one of those meaningless earth platitudes. I hadn’t done any talking, not really.

“I…uh.” She looked away, then back, an uncertain edge creeping into her voice. “You’re a good listener, Cedroc, so quiet and understanding. I appreciate it. Usually, the good-looking ones aren’t good at that.”

She stepped back, cheeks flaming as she gave me a wave and turned to head down the hall.

I was left, dropped back into the silent solitude I had been seeking but now didn’t want. I’d thought that Coralie would be annoying but somehow, I’d enjoyed the conversation. Even if I still didn’t understand most of it, I was eager to hear more.

And her parting words circled in my mind: “The good-looking ones…”

Huh.

Coralie

A glorious few seconds of consciousness stroked my thoughts before I fully woke. I felt so thick and heavy, my eyes didn’t want to open. I must have been on one hell of a bender last night.

Maybe I should stay in bed today.

Make a concentrated effort to do absolutely nothing.

Then there was a strange clanking sound and, as my eyes flew open, I realized where I was.

Not in my comfy chamber with my huge bed. In a small, cell-like room that didn’t have any luxuries at all.

I had never seen a bathroom so spare before. You could hardly move in it, let alone wash.

I spent a few seconds staring at myself in the mirror. I had heard that this was a good way to pep talk yourself.

I pointed at the pretty blonde in the mirror. You. Get your shit together.

That was a pep talk, sort of. The best I was going to pull together, at least until I got my shit together.

Hell. Did I need to be peppy before I could have a pep talk?

I was so fucked.

The important thing here was to have a plan, right?

Something I could focus on. There was hope for improvement in every situation and I was determined to find it.

Looking into my own eyes didn’t do me much good, even though I tried a few different expressions to scare myself into action.

Eventually, I sighed and turned from the mirror, getting ready for the day so I could go and find someone to tell me where I was supposed to be.

Thank goodness Ferne had apparently used my measurements from the teleporter to make some new clothing for me, because my dress needed to go to the cleaners.

The new outfit was ugly, drab, and plain.

And the shoes were awful, heavy and clunky. No style to them at all.

But apparently, that’s what was needed to survive here.

I kept giving myself the pep talk as I moved through the ship. I was going to do this. All I had to do was throw myself into it, body and soul.

Become a little wild girl, someone who didn’t need anyone else to survive.

It was hard for me to think of survival at all. Everyone else here seemed to think that the conditions were more than adequate.

I just had to accept the same and see myself differently.

Even though I could feel that screwy, scared feeling in my guts, I held it in. I was determined to do this, to prove that I could do it.

I thought angrily about my father, but it gave me more triumph than pain. I was going to show him what happened when I got pushed. I was going to turn into a new woman.

He wanted me punished?

Fine.

I could drop all my old routines and accessories and become one of those hard-core survival chicks.

He’d be so impressed by my change and so sorry he did this that he’d bring me home right away.

He’d cover us both for the breaking of the contract.

He didn’t need the money from it, and he was powerful enough to protect me from any consequences.

Alright. I had a plan. Become a survival chick, learn all the things.

Today.

That decision gave me a boost of confidence and a decent shot of optimism, both of which I sorely needed.

I hurried around in circles for a short while until I finally came out of the big door of the ship.

Gangway? Was that only on pirate ships? Whatever. I’d figure it out later.

I looked around with new eyes. I wasn’t stuck here, not forever. That made everything bearable. Daddy would have no trouble sorting this whole mess out, all I had to do was make something of myself.

I saw Cedroc working nearby with a couple of others and hurried over there. As I walked up, he saw me and stumbled with the box he was carrying.

I wanted to laugh, but for all I knew that was some kind of mortal insult, so I kept my mouth shut.

I was already adjusting to the roughly put-together clothes and shoes the ship’s replicator had made for me.

They were ill-fitting, spartan, and utilitarian, but what could you expect when a machine resynthesized molecules?

“What can I do for you, Coralie?” he asked carefully, as if I might be a volatile chemical compound that needed to be handled very gently.

“I want to do this survival stuff.” I fixed my fists on my hips and gave him what I hoped was a confident stare. “I may have been dropped here as wobbly as a newborn lamb, but that doesn’t mean I have to keep acting like one. Teach me some stuff!”

“Okay.” He was spare with his words as usual, but I was starting to read different expressions on his face. They were very subtle, but they were there. I felt pleased to have learned something about him.

See? I wasn’t useless. I could learn things.

I was going to be fine.

“First, you’ll need this.” He pulled a bracelet out of his pocket. “Kyre made one up for you this morning.”

Jewelry was good. Jewelry was always good.

This didn’t look exactly like jewelry, just a plain, dark metal band.

He held it out to me patiently. “You’ll need to wear it to get through the camp boundary without setting off all the sensors.” Cedroc held out his arm and I noticed the dark band at his wrist. “We all wear them. Easier than causing a false alarm every time we go out and come back in.”

Right.

That made sense.

They’d want to have some sort of protection against whatever creatures roamed around here.

The thought of alien creatures didn’t make me feel much better, though.

Except I was the alien here, on their world, I guessed. Still. Spooky.

Cedroc picked up a battered pack and gestured to me as we headed down a nearby gully. It was pretty steep, and I felt scared straight away.

I didn’t let it stop me, though. I squared my shoulders and tried to take the path with the same light-footed bounce Cedroc used.

Survival-chick plan, step one.

Gravity overbalanced me straight away. I ended up face first against a tree and gripped it with pale fingers as I let it halt my fall.

Cedroc glanced over his shoulder and grinned. I smiled back as if it was perfectly natural to embrace a tree halfway down a steep path.

When he turned back around, I started scooting down the trail on my butt. I made it just a few seconds after him so I could hide my unorthodox method of descent. Even though he was trying to look impassive, I could see his eyes glowing as his lips twitched.

“We’ll just do a bit of basic foraging today.” His voice sounded like something that was part of the wilderness.

Something violent yet tuned into the balance of the world. A savagery that was saved for moments of greatest need.

As I heard my thoughts gallivanting off into poetic imagery, I wondered where the hell that had been when I was flunking English.

“Forage?” I asked as I struggled along behind him. We had reached the bottom of the gully and the swamp was getting deeper and thicker the further we moved down the canyon. I knew what forage meant…kinda.

It had something to do with grazing animals.

“It’s important to know what’s poisonous and what’s not.” He kept a step ahead, making me chase his back. “So if you get lost you can feed yourself. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, breathing hard as I came up level with him. I didn’t really understand, but ‘okay’ seemed a lot easier right now than a million questions.

Was he suggesting that if I got lost out here by myself, I should eat random stuff off trees?

As Cedroc wandered up to a tall plant with yellow flowers, he nodded seriously. “These will replenish your energy. They are totally harmless, and you can pick them with your fingers.”

“Okay,” I said again, getting close. He pushed the branch towards me.

“Go ahead. Pull some blooms off, get used to how they feel.”

I did, reaching out for them hesitantly. The second I touched them, they crumbled across my palms, making my hands all yellow.

“Oh, wow.” He muttered with the shadow of a smile. “That happens sometimes.”

“But I’m yellow!” I looked at my hands in dismay.

“Oh, that’ll wear off.”

I could swear he was grinning. He looked completely serious yet there was something about him that was not right.

We walked up a bit further and Cedroc paused by a small pool.

“Oh, these fish here are good to eat. Just call them pretty and they jump into the net.”

I sat down on the edge of the pond and held Cedroc’s net out.

“Hey, pretty pretty. Come on little fish.”

Some of them swam lazily to the other side of the pool. Others looked at me, blowing bubbles.

“What’s happening?” I asked Cedroc, just a bit alarmed.

He shook his head with a serious face. “You’re doing everything right, I think. Maybe you just don’t have the knack.”

I started to get really discouraged.

I never thought it would be easy, but I was hoping to be able to do something by the end of today.

Anything to make me feel like I was getting somewhere.

“Oh, try these flowers.” Cedroc stopped suddenly. “They have pain killing properties.”

As I reached for the crimson bloom, I saw it had the same shape and texture of petals as the yellow one I’d touched before.

I snatched my still stained hand back.

“Hey! That thing is going to dye me red, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Cedroc said. “Orange, actually. Since you’re already yellow.”

I wanted to scream at him. I felt like such an ass!

How could I not realize such simple things? I was furious.

As I looked into his sparkling eyes, I realized I was only furious with myself.

I couldn’t go getting mad at Cedroc, especially when he was finally opening up to me. I felt the scowl melt off my face as I snorted with laughter. Cedroc laughed, too, and I felt an intense connection between us as we shared the joke.

“I’m sorry.” Cedroc nudged my shoulder as we started to walk back. “I was just having a bit of fun before we got started. We’ll start some real things now, okay?”

I nodded eagerly, about to ask what we’d be doing. Suddenly I saw a round, squishy looking berry and it sparked a memory.

It looked surprisingly like a plant we’d had for a short time on the grounds of our country house.

I’d come home covered in the juice when I was eight, and my father promptly ordered them all dug out and thrown away.

Maybe, just maybe…

“Oh, hey, Cedroc!” I picked a berry very gently. “You look like you got a bit burned on the nose. This berry juice acts as a sunscreen. Just squish it on your nose.”

“Hey, thanks.” He looked down at the berry, then slowly squeezed it across his nose.

I stood and waited.

Cedroc yelled, swiping at his face. I started laughing, watching his antics. He eventually settled down, found a rag, and started rubbing the juice off his nose.

“Stink juice, huh?” he asked with a wry grin.

I shrugged. “I thought you knew.”

The smile we shared next seemed to put another brick on the bridge between us. Neither of us had even been sure if we wanted to build it.

Now here we were, both of us putting down a brick at a time.

Slowly and hesitantly, getting closer.

Cedroc

The flames started to leap around the pot as I readied my cup. I had never been more eager for a measure of sjurla broth. Lila and Jarvik had discovered and analyzed it a week ago, and we were all thankful.

It took the tension out of your muscles and soothed the joints.

It had become routine for the crew to join around the fire together, and I had been late today because of spending time with Coralie.

Everyone understood, but still, I resented having my routine disrupted.

“Here, try this.”

Even though my mouth was watering, and my muscles were screaming, I gave her the first cup of broth.

Coralie took it with a grateful smile, wrinkling up her nose at the aroma. It smelled pretty bad, but the taste was good.

She didn’t complain as I took my cup and sat next to her. Her face twisted every time she tried the broth, but she kept drinking it.

Our lessons had progressed by the end of the day to where I could tell her the broth was good and she would believe me.

It was important to discern the jokes from the serious stuff.

I put the cup down between my feet and let my head hang. Even with a nice swallow of the broth, my muscles were taking their time uncoiling. Today had been a hell of a day.

I knew I needed to go easy on Coralie. That she had never been in a situation like this before. But time was of the essence and I also knew I couldn’t coddle her.

Whatever her old life had been like, here she’d need to be stronger. It was the only way she’d be safe.

I looked at her in the firelight. She was smiling at something the others were saying and sipping at her broth with far less distaste.

It had improved her mood so much, just feeling like she’d achieved something. I wasn’t going to take that away from her. She would get better as time went on—I wouldn’t have to help her every day.

I sat up a bit, waiting for my spine to crack. I downed the last of my broth, then ladled up some stew for both of us. To me, it looked thick and glossy, full of chunks of meat and hearty pieces of vegetables. The smell was so savory my mouth was watering.

“Dinner time,” I passed her a plate. “Dig in.”

She took it eagerly but sniffed it suspiciously.

I had taken her out mushroom picking in the swamp, so she knew they were good.

When she’d told me she didn’t like mushrooms, I had the feeling I was severely misunderstanding something.

There were foods I liked above others, but I was so used to survival, I would eat whatever was available. Eating wasn’t a pleasure for a warrior, it was a necessity.

When Coralie said she didn’t like something, it was with a terrible finality. Like that’s it, she couldn’t eat it because she didn’t favor the taste or texture.

I watched her spoon up some meat and mushroom. A look of surprise passed across her features, then she took a big mouthful of the stew.

From my short distance away, I could hear her stomach rumbling and I thought that maybe Coralie was understanding her body and her mind had different ideas of what tasted good.

Dinner lasted an hour or so, everyone handing out more cups of broth or ration biscuits after the stew was finished. A couple of people went off to clean the dishes and Coralie offered to help, but they waved her back.

“It’s your first day on duty. Just take a rest.” Derrix smiled indulgently at her. I appreciated the attitude, even if she really hadn’t done much for her first day.

Conversation began to wind down. The flames started to flicker low and no one built them up again.

Kyre and Ferne slipped away to their tent, maybe a little early, but we were all too tired to tease them.

Once we’d realized how long we might be on this damn planet, we’d moved outside to tents to conserve power in the air recirculator and started foraging to supplement meals.

It was probably the only good thing about being stuck here.

Coralie put aside her teacup, watching everyone eagerly. “I want to sleep out here. With all of you. Is that okay, Cedroc?”

“Of course, it’s okay,” I answered with the obvious and didn’t think much past it until I saw her staring at me.

“Oh. Okay.” I got up quickly. Of course, she needed my help.

Why would I assume she could set up a tent by herself if she couldn’t even make a cup of tea over an open fire?

Tomorrow I’d figure out about setting up a new tent for her. Right now, the sky was clear, and I’d be fine sleeping under the stars.

I started pulling a few things out from the tent I’d been using, grabbing spare blankets from Jarvik and Derrix to make up an extra bedroll.

As I finished, I felt pretty good. I was looking forward to putting my head down and I just wanted to see Coralie settled before I did.

When I turned around, I saw her face. It had that half terrified, half pissed off look I’d come to know so well.

“What?” I snapped.

“Well…I just don’t know how you get a bed in there. You know, one of those camping cot things?”

Silence met her words. Nobody even breathed.

“Maybe you should set the tent up over the cot.” She frowned, framing with her hands. “But I still don’t see how it would fit.”

I chuckled, but I tried to keep it in. The rest of the circle wasn’t capable and suddenly laughter rang across the plains.

She shook her head, looking up at me from under her lashes.

“What the hell did I do wrong now?”

I held up a sleeping pack. Just a tight roll of a padded blanket that would keep its occupant cool or warm.

“This is what we use.”

“You sleep on the ground?” Her voice rose to a shriek and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle it, looking either horrified with herself or horrified with the situation.

Maybe both.

I nodded, watching her face fall apart. She looked so upset I could feel it tugging on me. I had to do something.

I couldn’t let her feel this way.

“Hey.” I reached for her, but gently. I put a hand on her arm, wanting to hold her tight but realizing it might be more to comfort myself than her. “I can get you a mattress. Some pillows. Would that help?”

The smile that lit her face banished the shadows. All her frustration and indignation smoothed out into gratitude, the bratty princess easily put aside at my offer of kindness. She nodded.

“Okay. That’s very nice of you.”

Before I could think, I set off, heading into the ship to gather some pillows and blankets. I managed one trip of bedding, then I had to go back for the mattress.

There was a frantic edge to my energy as I hurried through the ship. Why did I care so much about her every little comfort?

I couldn’t believe the effort I was going to, just because she looked a bit upset for a few seconds. It was like I didn’t know myself anymore.

As I shoved the mattress along the hallway, trying not to get caught on the corners, I wondered what the fuck I was doing.

She was such a tiny, fragile little thing. I didn’t know why I was pandering to her when all of us were roughing it and she should look after herself.

But I thought about those wide eyes, trembling little pout, and lilting voice, and something in me stretched tight as a drawn bow.

I couldn’t see that face and do nothing. I had to see her smile. If it was within my power to banish her demons, then I had to do it.

Even if today’s demon was just a sandy, rocky floor.

The mattress got caught on a corner and my already tired muscles shrieked at me, reminding me how much extra work I’d done today.

It didn’t matter. I expected to feel put out on some level, but I really didn’t.

I just liked her. It was the simple truth. It made no sense to me, but I just liked her. I wanted to please her.

And she had been trying all day. I couldn’t forget how much all of this was new to her.

Everything I took for granted was a complete surprise to her.

But still, I’d never thought much about the practical points of being mated before all this. I understood the old saying now—one thing to be mated, another to like your mate.

I was afraid it might be such a good joke because you couldn’t help liking them, no matter how incompatible you seemed to be.

I was afraid I might have become the punchline. Even worse, I didn’t care.

Coralie

I stood uncertainly beside the fire and stretched out my hands, allowing them to be caressed by the warmth of the fire. The Vaznik warriors must’ve had some sort of special way of building a fire.

Since it was ignited, the flames hadn’t diminished or needed to be rekindled. The flames burned constantly.

Unfortunately, the everlasting flames hadn’t done much to warm my hands. If I wasn’t directly exposed to the heat of the fire, my body went cold immediately.

I simply wasn’t meant for certain climates. I always thought of deserts as scalding hot wastelands. Though it still looked like a wasteland, I’d never imagined a desert could be this cold.

I greatly appreciated the clothing Lila and Ferne had lent me, but I needed at least three more layers and a down jacket to keep warm in these conditions.

“I’m going to turn in,” Lila said to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I smiled. “I’m just waiting for Cedroc to bring a mattress and bedding. I’ve come a long way, but I don’t think I’m ready to sleep on the ground. It’s so cold!”

“Deserts get extremely cold once the warmth of the sun is leached out of the sand,” Lila agreed. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but whatever it was, she held back.

“I wish I’d known that before coming out here,” I joked.

“Me, too. I’m just grateful we didn’t end up on a snowy tundra. Good night.”

“Good night.” I watched her as she ducked into her tent. She was the last of the team to retire besides the captain. I believed he was somewhere inside the Calliope doing important captain stuff.

I looked around the campsite, becoming more and more aware of how alone I was out here.

What if some vicious fanged creature scuttled up to the fire and dragged me into the night? What kind of beasts even lived out here? Was standing near the only light source for miles the smartest thing to do?

How exactly did the sensor work? Did it actually keep animals away, or just let the crew know when they were coming in to eat us all?

“Don’t lose it, girl,” I muttered to myself.

Where the hell was Cedroc? How hard could it be to carry a mattress and bedding?

I actually didn’t know the answer to that because I’d never transported my own mattress or bedding before. It didn’t seem that hard. Cedroc was big and strong. I was sure he could manage it.

Before everyone had gone to bed, the camp was a flurry of activity. Everyone was doing something to prepare for tomorrow.

Except me.

I’d just stood there. Why hadn’t they given me a job?

The realization rose up and crashed over me like a tidal wave.

I didn’t offer to help. I’m sure if I had, I would’ve been given a task. I wasn’t sure what kind of tasks would’ve been within my ability, but surely there was something.

I could’ve organized something or…

…or helped Cedroc fetch the mattress.

He was only doing it because I’d asked him. It should’ve been second nature for me to offer my help. How many times a day did people offer to help me back on Earth?

Too many to count. Granted, nearly all of those people offering help were paid by my father. It was their job to help me.

Despite that, I distinctly remembered several occasions where someone who wasn’t employed by my father offered assistance and expected nothing in return.

There was that nice older gentleman that helped me collect my belongings when someone bumped into me and I’d dropped my purse.

There were countless people who offered to give me directions when I traveled to a new city.

People holding doors, carrying heavy things, or informing me that I’d dropped something. The list went on and on.

Had I ever done something like that for someone else voluntarily?

I’d done plenty of things for Constalatia, but that wasn’t the same. Our friendship was based on transactions.

She got me into a new club, so I bought her something designer, and so on. Was there any trust or mutual respect in our friendship? Or were we simply two rich brats who needed someone to party with?

God, maybe I really had been as bad as my father’d said I was. Basic human decency was a concept I’d only just grasped.

How many times had I breezed by someone lost or in distress? Had I ever stepped over someone frantically trying to pick up their belongings?

I felt certain I had.

I should go help Cedroc. He’d been gone a while. Maybe the mattress got wedged in one of the narrow corridors or a doorway.

I stepped away from the warmth of the fire and regretted it immediately. Already, my teeth were chattering. It was uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t kill me. Probably. I’d made some progress but I still hadn’t fully mastered survival skills.

I didn’t know how much my body could withstand or how far I could push myself. Up until the other day, I’d never been pushed in my life.

Just before I reached the bottom of the ramp that led up to the Calliope, something caught my eye.

At first, I thought I imagined it. I stared into the darkness of the desert beyond the glow of the fire.

Just when I was ready to accept that I hadn’t seen anything after all, it happened again.

A bright light flickered like a candle flame in the breeze, only a million times stronger. That light had to be electric.

It was small but I couldn’t tell if it was a tiny light nearby or a huge beam miles away. It was easy to miss unless you were looking straight at it—something I was doing.

There was a one in a million chance that anyone would be looking in exactly that direction.

But it was there, and whatever it was, I was pissed.

Didn’t Lila and Ferne say there wasn’t anyone else on the planet? Wasn’t that a huge part of whatever weird mission this team was on?

I still didn’t fully understand it, but the bottom line was there wasn’t supposed to be anyone else here.

Then who was flashing that light?

Anger and hope swirled through my veins, mixing together to create a potent, heart racing emotional cocktail.

We were being watched. There was someone else here. I bet they knew my father. I still wasn’t sure if he sent me to this specific planet on purpose, or if it was all a cruel twist of fate.

Either way, I should’ve expected him to send someone after me. I knew he was going to monitor me in some way or another.

I felt so stupid. Here I was ready to become a big, tough, survivor-girl when a connection to home was on the other side of the dune.

Did Lila and Ferne know?

Did Cedroc? I found it hard to believe that with all their fancy equipment, they couldn’t tell if other people were on the planet.

I hated the idea that they would willingly lie to me. I thought we were becoming friends.

Maybe they hated me.

Maybe they didn’t want anything to do with the spoiled rich girl who never thought to offer help. Maybe they were as ignorant about the flickering light as I was. Either way, I was going to find whatever was out there.

If they had a light, they had power. If this planet was supposed to be uninhabited, maybe they were just visiting, like the Calliope crew was.

I was willing to bet they had a ship. Whoever that light belonged to could be my ticket home.

I couldn’t walk that distance without supplies, I knew that much. I couldn’t be certain how far away that light was.

I grabbed a water canteen from the supply table. I figured I wouldn’t get as thirsty while the desert was this cold, but it was a good idea to bring water anyway.

Also taking one of the horrible ration bars, as well, I hoped I wouldn’t have to eat it. If I didn’t, I would make sure I returned it. Someone here would likely need it.

Someone had left a jacket on one of the cushions near the fire. It was huge. It must’ve belonged to one of the Vaznik. I tugged it on. I’d return it later.

There must be some kind of intergalactic shipping company.

I’d charge it to my father’s card. I’d pay for rush shipping, too. That massive shipping fee would teach him not to send me off to random, deserted planets.

I stayed near the camp until I saw the light flicker again. I kept my eyes trained on that spot as I started to walk. Hopefully, it would keep flickering as I walked. If it suddenly stopped, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.

It was easy enough to pass through the perimeter. At some point, the perimeter looked to have been set up to have its sensors pointing out to pick up anything coming in. But people could apparently freely leave.

Much as I did.

I’d have to go back to the camp, but what then? Would I try again tomorrow night? Would I tell the team what I saw? Would they believe me? Would they lie?

As the questions spun around in my brain, multiplying with each passing second, my heart rate started to speed up and my breath came in quick little bursts. I had to calm down. I couldn’t start this trek in a panic.

I stopped walking, careful to keep my eyes on the exact spot where I’d seen the light. I sucked in a slow, deep breath, held it, and then slowly released it. I did that four more times until my heart rate dropped back down to an acceptable level.

I learned that breathing technique in an experimental scuba-yoga class. It was a lot easier to do without a breathing apparatus in my mouth. That class was terrible.

The light flickered again. I sighed with relief. It was exactly where I thought it was.

I could do this.

I could make my way across the desert in the dark.

Wild beasts be damned!

If I could outmaneuver holiday shoppers, I could handle whatever this desert might throw at me. I dared something to get in between me and my ticket home.

I was a different person now. I wasn’t the naïve socialite I was yesterday.

This planet could do its worst.

I felt ready.

Cedroc

As I came clear of the doors, the mattress slid down the ramp and thumped to the ground, sending up a cloud of sand. I watched it fall, wondering if it was the worst thing in the world if it got dirty.

I looked up at the campsite and saw no one. The fire had settled into a few flickering embers and the few people left had gone to their tents.

“Coralie?” I whispered.

Where the fuck was she?

I felt a sudden wave of indignation that I just worked so hard to please her and she wasn’t even here. Maybe she got bored and went back inside.

It would be like her to do that, just wander off without thinking about anyone else.

I should have seen her pass me at some point through the halls, but I was so busy with my late-night furniture moving that I might not have noticed.

I headed back in and checked out the spare rooms and small nooks and crannies of the ship. No Coralie.

I headed back out to the fire, taking a careful look around. I peered into tents, trying not to rouse the occupants. The camp was still and peaceful.

Maybe she’d stepped away from the circle. I wanted to say no one would be dumb enough to wander into the desert in the middle of the night…but I knew Coralie better than that by now.

I went out quite far, letting my eyes adjust to the true dark as I searched between boulders and around nearby trees.

By the time I reached the fire again, I was almost ready to wake the entire group. I refused to let my anxiety rise in my stomach, mostly because it was such a strange emotion to me. I walked around the campfire again, slowly.

I could hear myself cursing under my breath as I walked a tight spiral from the fire to the outskirts of the camp.

That was when I saw the print of her shoe. No one else had such tiny feet.

I glared at it as I leaned over, looking for more. There were hard slabs of rock around this area and I could find only a few footprints on the sand, leading straight towards the desert.

Now I really was ready to wake the whole group. Stupid, reckless, stubborn…what the hell was she thinking, disappearing into the desert without supplies?

I sighed as I turned back towards the fire. The others wouldn’t be happy, but I needed help. I couldn’t find her on my own.

I cast one more look over my shoulder in the direction she’d gone and that was when I saw the light.

It was way too bright, something unnatural. If there was an animal that could make light burn that way, I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet it.

One thing was for sure, if Coralie saw that, she would have run straight towards it.

I started jogging towards the light, glancing down to check her tracks. The clear ones were far apart and very few, but it was obvious she had come this way.

I was starting to get really worried that there were things on this planet we didn’t know about. My adrenaline was answering my fear and I began to run even faster.

Suddenly I needed to see Coralie, I needed to see her right now. I had to prove to myself that she was okay.

The brilliant light kept getting bigger and brighter as I rushed towards it. When I saw Coralie’s dark silhouette against it, I felt my chest loosen. I charged up behind her, grabbing her shoulders.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” My voice came out as a muted roar while I tried to get myself under control.

My heart was still hammering, my breath burning. My relief at finding her was only rivaled by the feeling I could never her let get that far away from me again.

“Who do you think you are, lying to me?” Her eyes were practically throwing sparks, she was so angry.

I hadn’t been expecting that reaction. After all, I was saving her.

“Lying? What are you talking about? You can’t be out here on your own. Don’t try and make excuses to cover yourself.”

“You’re the one who’s making excuses! How dare you?” Her hands came up to her hips as she glared at me. “Why would you tell me that we are the only ones on the planet?”

“Because we are.”

“Then who is out here playing with lights, huh? Do you think it just switched on all by itself?”

“I don’t know.” I looked around. “It could be anything. We can investigate it in the morning.”

“No. I’m chasing it. I thought if other people were here, I might be able to get home.”

“Home!” I couldn’t hide my astonishment. Even if she did find a bunch of natives or other aliens out here, I seriously doubted they would have the power to get her anywhere.

“Look, we have to get back to the campsite.” I reached out, holding her elbow. “We really can’t be out in the dark.”

“No! I want to know what the lights are.”

“Is it worth your life? Anything could be out here.”

She stared me down, face icy and hard. It actually made me step back a bit.

“Aren’t you interested in the lights at all?”

“Of course I am. But I’m not about to go charging into an unfamiliar situation by myself. I’ve got no backup, no weapon. If we get nailed, we can’t assume the others could reach us soon enough to help.”

“That makes sense.” She nodded. “But I’m still going to look.”

As she turned away, I grabbed some of my hair and tugged on it with intense frustration. “Coralie!”

She turned back to me, folding her arms.

She wasn’t tapping her foot in impatience, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she started any minute.

“Stop! Don’t go towards it.” Around the light were deep shadows as if it were surrounded by a circle of rocks, or people, or large animals.

I was hoping it was just rocks, but the way they were placed seemed to scream sacred circle. Those things were often booby-trapped. I didn’t want to go in there.

“I’m not going back until I look. You can stay there and if I get nailed, at least you’ll know what got me.”

The teasing curve of her lips made me utterly furious.

Playing some little tit for tat game in a situation that could be really, potentially dangerous. I tugged on my hair again, hurrying after her.

“Oh, so you changed your mind and went against protocol.” She grabbed my arm and squeezed it. “Good for you.”

I sighed, looking around the circle.

We were pressed between two tall, flat rocks. There wasn’t much smoothness to the pieces, they all had ragged edges and were pulled into strange shapes.

They were all the same height and thickness but the shadows they threw into the desert were sharp and deep.

We pressed against each other, slowly moving between the rocks until we stood in the circle.

I started feeling bad right away.

My instincts were screaming that something here wasn’t safe. I kept back near the stones, but Coralie walked right up to the tallest pillar.

“It’s beautiful.” Coralie’s voice sounded astonished and somehow reverent. Her eyes were riveted to the top of the pillar where a crystal glowed, brighter than any star. It seemed to throb gently, getting brighter and dimming to some rhythm beating out of time to us.

“Okay.” I took a few steps towards her, feeling the nasty atmosphere of this place running over my skin. “You saw it, let’s go.”

“Aren’t you curious, even a little bit?”

“Of course, I am. But we can’t discover anything about it on our own. We’re vulnerable right now and as I said, if we get killed, we can’t even give the others a clue about what happened. Does that sound fair to you, Coralie? That our team members would look for us, never knowing our fate?”

She scowled and pouted. “I never thought about it that way.” A light dawned on her face as she considered the perspective of someone other than herself.

“Let’s go then.” She reached out for my hand and we started walking back the way we came. I was only two paces from the edge of the stone circle when the ground began to rumble, the sand vibrating up and down in little clouds.

I tried to yell, to pull Coralie to me and jump.

If that wasn’t possible, then I wanted to hurl her to safety before I went down.

But before I could turn, her hand slipped from mine. The momentum flipped me, and I saw her going under a wave of rubble that was reaching out for me, as well.

The earth roared as it devoured us, as if it were truly angry that we’d invaded its sacred space.

Coralie screamed in terror, and it was the worst sound I’d ever heard.

Then it stopped and I realized there was something worse.

Silence.

Coralie

The hard smash of the floor left me winded and for a few seconds I couldn’t do anything except wriggle like a beached fish. I felt disembodied but at the same time, shockingly aware of every single part of my body—and how much it hurt.

Small rock shards and bigger lumps of dirt still fell, and I tried to roll myself into a ball. I felt a heavy, warm weight on top of me and realized that Cedroc was shielding my body with his own.

We listened to the tinkling of rocks and the rumble of earth for a bit longer before he rolled off me and we both stared at the big hole above us. It was a beautiful view of the stars, but the edge of the hole was too far away.

We couldn’t get back up there.

Well. I wasn’t a soldier and I sure as hell had never climbed anything. Maybe Cedroc had some wicked skills and he could haul us up there. I really didn’t know.

I sat up, very slowly. My chest was still hurting, but I could finally draw breath without feeling like I was dying. I saw that we’d landed on a small pile of boulders within the cavern.

Cedroc sat up next to me and went to speak, words drying out on his tongue as he looked behind me with wide, shocked eyes.

I turned around slowly. I had no idea what I was going to see, but if Cedroc was shocked, it was going to be rough.

Coming out of the darkness was a whispering crowd of winged creatures. When they stood up to their full height, they were about as tall as Cedroc.

Their knee joints bent the wrong way and their arms were thin and very long. Most of them carried lit torches. A few placed theirs in brackets attached to the cavern wall.

As they got closer, their painted faces became visible. The rushing sound sweeping around them when they moved was the rustling of their wings.

Cedroc started getting up. He was still wobbly from the fall, but I could feel him drawing energy in, building up for a violent burst, to attack or defend.

I didn’t see the need.

Most of the strangers were holding weapons but they didn’t attack as they approached.

I put a hand on Cedroc’s chest, shaking my head. He shot me a nasty look, but I shook my head again, more firmly.

“No,” I whispered. “Unless they attack us, we can’t attack them. We did just fall into their home, right?”

“Whose fault is that?” he muttered.

Cedroc leaned against my hand and I shoved him. One of the creatures stepped up ahead of the rest and I noticed a pointy crown of bones on his little head.

The King, perhaps? Did bird-like alien tribes have kings? A chief, maybe?

Whatever he was, his crown and garb indicated a position of power.

And if there was one thing I knew, it was how to dress to convey power.

“I’m so sorry to have disturbed you. We didn’t do it on purpose,” I said in a calm, friendly voice.

The creatures all looked at each other, a flurry of talk chattering around the group. I caught a few words and that reminded me of my translator device.

But what about them? How would they understand me?

“Coralie,” Cedroc whispered. “Your translator works both ways. They should be able to understand us, no matter what language we speak.” At my confused look, he shrugged. “If we get out of this, you can ask Kyre how it works. For now, we just need to get to get the strangers to talk for a while so that the translator can begin piecing the language together.”

“Okay. How you doing back there, tiger?”

“Fine, but one wrong move and I slaughter them all.”

“Duly noted.” I turned back to the tribal chief. “Will you accept my apology?”

The creatures stared at me, looks of curiosity and hostility on their faces. Despite the pale, rough skin, big fangs, and sharp talons, I didn’t think they were aggressive. If they were, they would’ve killed us by now.

They spoke amongst themselves and I waited as they kept speaking gibberish to me. But slowly, I could start to make stuff out.

Eventually the translator kicked in.

“What are you?” The chief’s words were suddenly clear. “And that.” He pointed at Cedroc. “That’s not the same type of creature that you are. What are you?”

“I’m Coralie.” I thumped my chest once. “I’m human.”

Whispers flew around the little group before their bright eyes focused on Cedroc. He tapped his chest hesitantly.

“I’m Cedroc. I’m of the Vaznik Mahdfel.” He said it with some confidence but when it became clear no one would react I saw his look of confusion.

“They must be primitive,” he whispered to me. “If they don’t know what the Mahdfel are, then they are beneath our notice.”

“He doesn’t know me, either.” I watched them chattering to each other. “Aren’t they fascinating?”

Cedroc pulled a hand down his face, shaking his head. He spared a glance to the roof again, as if wondering if we could get up that way.

The chief turned back to us with a smile on his narrow lips that looked positively terrifying with fangs poking out of it.

He gestured with both hands.

“Visitors to our land! Be welcome in the tribe. We offer our hospitality. Come with us, rest, eat, drink. Tell us more about who you are, and we shall do the same.”

I grinned and held out my hand, letting him help me down. He was very careful not to touch me with his claws, just supporting me gently as I jumped.

“You have arrived during our celebration feast. It must be a good omen.”

The group moved towards us and a couple of braver ones stepped forward, touching our clothes or my hair. In return, I stroked their smooth wings and rubbed my finger across their hands to feel the rough, scratchy skin.

They surrounded us and we started walking through the corridors. Small torches lit the way, letting us see the deep red of the rocks that made up the underground chambers.

Behind me, I heard Cedroc radio the team. I shushed him. I didn’t want to upset the natives.

“I have to,” he whispered furiously. “I’m about to lose the signal. If I don’t radio now, I might not get another chance.”

He pushed the button lightly and I heard him begin.

“We’ve discovered unexpected life on this planet.”

There was silence.

“Do you need backup?” Rekker asked.

“Negative. I have it handled. Everything is nice and peaceful right now, but if a crowd of Vaznik show up brandishing guns, all that could change.”

I moved up the corridor, reassuring the chief that I was following. Cedroc finished his report, joining us a few seconds later.

The chief smiled so wide that his eyes almost closed and every single razor-sharp tooth was exposed. As we came to the end of the corridor, he made a sweeping gesture and Cedroc and I both stopped, looking out with amazement.

The corridor led to a massive cavern, a big, wide room. Instead of torches, the ceiling was filled with glowing pink and amber crystals.

Other creatures were scurrying about and without thinking, I simply joined them.

There were lines carrying food and drink to the big tables and others scurrying around with musical instruments. Some of the creatures gave me indulgent smiles as I hurried back and forth.

I saw Cedroc still standing at the end of the path, even though all the creatures were now running around here. I waved to him and he waved back. He was clearly uneasy, and I wondered why.

Maybe I was just naive, but I always loved a good party. The vibe here was one of the best I’d ever felt, the mood was high with excitement.

I found myself grinning as the table loaded up and the music began to play. I got into a conversation with a couple of females about how the food was prepared as we filled our plates.

“You are not afraid of our food?” one of the women, Riewyn, asked.

I had never given much thought to those that prepared the food at my place, and I really didn’t know how much skill or effort was involved.

Tasting the food tentatively after they nodded to me, I appreciated that these creatures had both. I had taken a chance there, but so far, I was okay.

“It’s delicious!” I exclaimed. “Why would I be afraid of yummy snacks at a party?”

Her sisters, Swira and Kala, laughed. “You must like parties very much,” Kala replied. “So do we!”

I turned around and gestured to Cedroc. He should eat. He started to move through the crowd, watching all the creatures with a blank expression.

They were singing, dancing, twirling and hardly paying attention to us. I had to laugh when I saw a whole table of them engaging in a drinking competition.

Once I finished eating, I ran out onto the dancefloor. Everyone was having so much fun, it was infectious. I needed to let myself go, just for a little while.

The women led me into the center of the circle and started kicking their feet, showing me the steps of their dances.

“No, kick like this!” Swira showed me, and I stumbled along until I caught the rhythm.

Soon enough, I joined a whirling ring, and everything blurred into an expression of exuberance. I realized that one of the reasons I was so angry about my fate initially was because I thought there would be no more parties.

Everyone on the crew was so serious, working all the time, focused on their task.

But I thrived on fun. Maybe I could learn to do whatever spaceshippy things needed to happen, but what about the fun?

I was even a bit surprised at myself for jumping in here and loving it, but it was also nice to know that I could vibe on any kind of party.

I still didn’t know much about the creatures, but they all smiled at me and whispered words of welcome.

I knew I should find out their names and how they thought of their own race, customs, and taboos. It would be the smart thing to do, but I had to let myself go.

First, I’d have fun, because you never knew when it would end. After, we could do the information part.

Cedroc stood by a table, sullenly shoving some food into his mouth. I whirled over to him and grabbed his arms.

“No, I don’t—” he started.

“Oh, yes you do.” I tightened my grip and dragged him onto the dancefloor. We were forced to move right away to keep out of the path of other dancers. I linked my hands around Cedroc’s neck and pressed my body against his.

That was when I noticed his eyes were fixed on mine with an intensity echoed in our bodies. I felt myself turning to flame, my nipples hardening and my clit throbbing.

I leaned in, unsure as to my purpose. I felt confused and dizzy, not in my right mind.

Maybe that was how it should be.

I pressed my lips to his, gently testing his mouth on mine. Both of us tried to absorb the moment slowly, but once the kiss was joined, neither of us could stop.

Cedroc

The kiss seemed to sink through my lips, caressing every inch of my skin. I could feel her hands linked behind my neck, the gentle pressure of her body as she pulled closer to me.

Suddenly I was hypersensitive, aroused both mentally and physically.

Suppressing desire was something I was good at. Since I’d met Coralie, I’d had to work even harder at it and it started to put me on edge. It wasn’t easy to stay cool when your mate was with you every second of the day.

I should have been analyzing the room, investigating these new possible allies, examining their odd mix of primitivism and technology.

Kyre would be interested in that lighting system, antiquated as it seemed. It was possibly in need of maintenance, if the flickering in some areas wasn’t purposeful.

And what sort of crystals were those?

But when her lips met mine, all that left my mind. Suddenly the power of my body, the force of my need, was the only thing that mattered. It was like waves of lava that rolled through me, burning to ash any reservations I had.

For the first time in my life, I let go of all the desire and passion I had been holding in. Her hands grasped at me as she started to writhe and grind. I actually cried aloud as the power of my sexual urges rushed through me, urgency making my muscles hard and tight.

My cock stood up, responding to the tension flowing through my body. The deep throbbing was as if my desire came from somewhere inside my heart and my cock was merely its tool.

I tugged Coralie towards me and let my tongue part her lips. She rocked her head back eagerly, letting me in even deeper. I couldn’t believe how simple and natural it felt to kiss her. All the reasons I had to keep her at arm’s length suddenly made no sense at all.

Why hadn’t I opened up to this bond before? Struggling against it seemed not just useless, but painful.

While I held her in my arms, twirling gently to the music, I kept kissing her. Our bodies fit, neither of us uncomfortable as we reached for each other’s lips. I felt a sense of great joy, something like discovery.

There was a lot about this woman I hadn’t liked initially. I supposed that she would always be a brat the same way I’d always be an asshole.

For some reason, I found all of that very amusing. Cute, even. I didn’t see those things as faults, not really. It endeared her to me, made me treasure her even more.

She was imperfect and yet that did not make her undesirable. It gave me a reason to protect her, to adore the parts of her that I liked the most while keeping her safe from her own naivete.

The aspects of her that I had found most annoying would get easier with training and she was willing to learn, hoping for change. I couldn’t fault her for anything when she was so willing to learn and grow.

I pulled back a little, holding her hands and swaying to the music. Her eyes glittered, mouth stretched into a wide smile. She was completely relaxed, hair down and laughing. I couldn’t stop thinking about her beauty.

She seemed to be eyeing me the same way. I was surprised and pleased to see her sly gaze slipping down my body. I gripped her hands a little tighter, holding her against me so she could feel my stiffening cock.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I murmured.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She reached up and stroked the base of one of my horns, and I shuddered, the spike of pleasure almost unbearable.

I leaned down to kiss her again, this one even harder than the last. She seemed like a little, delicate creature, but I remembered the trick she’d played on me with the stink berry.

There was much more to her than met the eye.

I smiled through the kiss, tugging her close so I could grab her ass and squeeze it hard. She broke off the kiss to laugh out loud, letting her hands roam, too. The sensation was intoxicating. I had never realized the extreme pleasure that could come just from skin on skin contact. Right now, it seemed like the most important thing in the universe.

Getting as much of my skin touching hers as possible.

I looked around, checking out the sides of the room. “It’s getting a little crowded in here, let’s get some air.”

There were several small alcoves around, and I took Coralie’s hand, leading her towards one. I was a little worried about offending the aliens, but only at first.

Parts of the party had descended into a full-on orgy. I saw a group of limbs and wings getting it on behind a table. There were another two nearby sitting in each other’s laps and gently running their hands all over each other. Another couple was kissing and slowly flapping their wings as they hovered above the ground.

Coralie giggled as we hurried into the alcove, a sound of mischief as well as excitement. I battled an intense urge to tear her clothes off and service my cock immediately, but I wasn’t about to throw down in the midst of an alien orgy. My first time with Coralie was too special to waste.

I couldn’t stop, though. I had to have something and so did she. We sat down on the little bench inside the alcove, lips and hands clashing as we tried to grab each other at the same time. I pushed her back against the stone slab, letting my tongue fall into her mouth. Hers answered mine and the kiss went so deep I felt it somewhere inside where it tugged on my cock.

As we kissed, a subtle sort of communication seemed to awaken between us. I was completely awash with pleasure, in a new sensory place. It awakened something in me, some kind of hypersensitivity. It raced across my skin and settled in my neck, humming away and making goosebumps ripple across my skin whenever Coralie touched it.

It bled through my whole body, making my hands light. It trembled across my lips and it seemed to live in every cell of my flesh. Pleasure not just of the body and mind, but something in the soul.

“Oh God,” she said as if in a trance, her eyes closed halfway.

“Trust me,” I whispered.

The mystical sensations blended together in me and my body seemed to roar. I held Coralie even tighter and kissed her even deeper, seeking the ultimate connection between our bodies.

“I’m all yours,” she whispered back.

“Then I will make you mine,” was my only reply.

Coralie bucked under me, moaning. She spread her knees apart, making me fall between them. I felt my cock touch her through both our clothes and the moan that ripped out of Coralie was fuller of need than my own.

“Please…” she trailed off.

She was grinding against me and I was thrusting with my hips, feeling the friction building between us. Her hands roamed over my body and I knew I had to do something. We were both going to lose it.

“I need your cock,” she murmured.

“Not until I claim that pussy,” I growled.

I pushed myself up, leaning down to tear off her pants and pull them off her long legs. I could smell her pussy, the warm, wet heat of it. My mouth watered and I took a moment to look at her stretched out before me.

She kept her head back, resting comfortably on the shelf. I ran my hands down her smooth thighs and sank down, looking at her gorgeous pussy as I made my way slowly towards her clit.

“Oh yes,” she moaned.

I reached out with my tongue, gently and slowly parting the plump lips to slip between them and graze her clit. She moaned so loud it hurt my ears.

“Fuck! Oh my God!”

I pressed my lips to her, gripping her thighs tighter as I made my way down. I opened my lips and started eating deep into her cunt, chasing the slick juice that was starting to pour from her.

Her hand came down with tremendous force, grabbing my hair and pressing her clit to my mouth. I obliged her with deeper, firmer strokes of my tongue, caressing her with my lips.

Her gasps changed and became high and breathy. I wrapped my lips around her clit and sucked on it as hard as I could, teasing her entrance with my fingers.

The strangled cries kept coming and I took that to be a very good sign. I slipped a finger into her and pumped it inside her, lapping at her clit and sucking it into my mouth.

Her hands twined through my hair, stroking at the base of my horns, and I groaned against her slick folds, eating at her even harder.

Suddenly her hand buried in the back of my head and yanked painfully. I only smiled against her pussy because I could guess what was happening.

Bit by bit, her breathing went ragged.

Her hot pussy clenched around my hand and her clit pulsed in my mouth as I kept licking, encouraging her to soak me with more of her sweet cum.

“That was…I don’t even know,” she said with a sigh.

I took her into my arms, holding her against my chest. She was warm and wet, limbs loose and a smile stuck on her face. I kissed her gently, dying for the moment we could be alone.

Coralie

The dim, confused grasping of my thoughts was too familiar. I felt muddled. Heavy and lazy.

It didn’t come with a rush of nausea and a terrible blinding headache. That low, sharp ache that seems to live in your body after getting very drunk was nonexistent. My mind struggled to accept the feeling of being hungover without the benefit of alcohol.

I didn’t want to open my eyes yet. I was comfortable, safe and warm. I stretched a little and stayed pressed up against the warm, firm thing I was lying on.

I had woken up from lots of parties in my time. I had the slow limbs, the aching muscles. My thoughts were groping around in the dark with very little organization.

It really was like a hangover, except I hadn’t drunk any alcohol.

I had stayed with water purposely, not knowing what alien drink might do to my system.

Like an answer to my heart, I could hear the drumming. It wasn’t just in my mind, it was like the drums really were still playing. I heard the sweet strains of their wind instruments hush just on the edges of my hearing and goosebumps raced across my flesh.

Their music was more than beautiful. It seemed to have a profound physical effect on me, making all my cells desperate to resonate in harmony.

I still felt like dancing. The beats sang through my blood as if they were part of me now and they would never go away. I had never felt this good waking up after a party. Even if I didn’t get drunk, excess food and too much dancing could wreck you to pieces.

Maybe the water wasn’t just water. Maybe I should have asked. It had never occurred to me that their water might be special in some way. I’d guessed that it wasn’t poisonous, but if it had restorative qualities, that made it very interesting indeed.

Well. Interesting to some science-type person.

I was just wondering if I could have a little more to help me wake up.

I blinked my eyes again, feeling my fingers curling. Consciousness began to flood through me, letting me wiggle my toes and fingers. When I finally let my eyes open, I was on top of Cedroc. A quick glance around reminded me we were in a little tent.

I didn’t remember everything from last night. I knew that we slipped away to have some private time midway through the dances. I actually remembered dancing with a few of the strange creatures. I shook my head slowly, letting myself roll off Cedroc.

He leaned over immediately, half awake. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him. I had to admit, it felt pretty amazing.

I lay on my back, letting Cedroc’s hand caress me down my chest and belly.

After he’d brought me to earth shattering orgasms in the alcove, we’d slipped, giggling and grasping for each other, into this small enclosed space, losing our clothing along the way.

I’d had every intention of returning the favor to him, but for once, I’d wanted just a touch more privacy.

But instead, we’d snuggled together, cuddling, content with just touching each other, stroking ourselves into drowsiness, and finally exhausted slumber.

I didn’t feel strange about it. I probably should have, and I questioned myself again, something I seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

Cedroc opened his eyes slowly, blinking as he focused on me. His fingertip tracing down my chest was a carnival of sensation, thrilling and sensual.

I might have been content with just touching before, but now my body burned with heat, trying to predict where his hand would move to next.

He slid his hand up toward my breasts, cupping one and then the other. He pressed my nipples between his fingers, looking up at me and kissing me gently as he caressed me.

As his lips met mine, my pussy came alive. I rocked my hips from side to side and tried to pull him over on top of me. He plunged a hand between my legs and his long fingers pushed apart the slick, hot lips and dove inside. I heard sharp cries coming out of my mouth as he worked his hand into me.

Suddenly, there was chatter from outside. Cedroc cursed and sat up. I went to cover myself only to rediscover that I was naked and I didn’t have any clothes in here.

“We’ve come to seek audience at your tent. We wish to speak to you, Cedroc and Coralie,” the voices called out.

I tried to manage my embarrassment as I slipped my head through the tent flap. Swira, Kala, and Riewyn stood with a small group of other aliens.

People. Whatever.

Now that the party was over, I noticed those ladies didn’t seem to wear much of anything. A few of them had little skirts of white fabric or leather and some wore robes over their shoulders.

Nudity didn’t mean the same thing here, obviously. I tried to keep my head high as the females whisked me away to a nearby chamber.

They held up pretty robes, long, sweeping pieces of fabric. There weren’t any actual garments, not as I understood them, just lots of different colored lengths woven into squares or long rectangles. I chose a nice dark green piece and the women helped me wrap it around myself like a toga.

“You look beautiful for your strong mate!” Swira, standing in front of me, chirped, her voice melodic and sweet, a sharp contrast to her savage face.

“Yes. Lovely warrior mate.” Kala nudged me with her elbow, a very human gesture. I grinned back, winking.

I didn’t know how to handle their congratulations, so I just smiled and nodded to them. I didn’t mind the idea of Cedroc being called my ‘mate’. The more I heard it, the more I liked it.

After playing with my green robes for a while, the women escorted me back to the main area. Lots of the creatures were sitting around, eating. The females took me up to a wide circle where Cedroc waited for me. He wore a deep blue robe, caught around his waist with one piece across his chest.

He looked like some conqueror out of a legend. A bashful smile crossed his face as he ducked his head, and I sat down next to him.

He handed me some tea, with a plate of nuts and bread. Utterly famished, I started eating right away. Cedroc was ahead of me and put aside his plate to talk.

The creature sitting next to us on a pile of colored cushions had an air of purpose. It wasn’t the one in the bone crown we had met before, this one was much older. Maybe the other guy wasn’t king, after all. I guessed it was time to start asking questions.

“What exactly are your species and where do you come from?” Cedroc asked.

The leader-guy thumped his chest.

“Weral,” he announced. “Elder chieftain. Bornue, who you met yesterday, is attending to chores. We are the Qitzal and we have lived under the surface here for thousands of years.”

He beamed like that should mean something. I was amazed by how their faces could take on such comforting expressions when they were full of such long, sharp teeth.

Cedroc dismissed the comment, but I reached out to take Weral’s hand.

“Thousands of years? How did you come to live underground? Don’t you have wings? Surely you must miss the sky?”

He looked up, thrusting his fingers at the roof.

“We chose to go beneath the earth when the war came and changed everything. We make frequent hunting trips to the surface, but it is safer here.” He grinned with sharp teeth and gestured to the glowing crystals embedded in all the ceilings I’d seen. “Can’t be seen by your tools, at least.”

War?

As far as I knew, Cedroc and the crew thought the planet was uninhabited. So whatever had happened, must have been very, very long ago.

I was really fascinated by that and wanted to ask more questions, but Cedroc talked over me.

“Are you…territorial?” He took his time on the word, testing the ground. Weral grinned at him.

“If we wanted the Vaznik dead, they would be, boy.”

Cedroc bristled at the comment and I put a hand on his arm. Now wasn’t the time to test out who was the better warrior.

Weral shook his head again, as if Cedroc were a very young child.

“We saw you. We pay some attention to what you do. We want to avoid conflict, so we stay down here. We won’t trouble you.”

“Then perhaps I might ask a favor?” Cedroc had his game face back on now. He was realizing these people were just open and honest and he didn’t have to play games.

“We’re looking for something. It’s under the ground. We don’t even know what it is, exactly, but it’s very powerful.”

Weral sat up straight, staring at Cedroc with alarm.

“We know of something…it may be what you seek. It is cursed. Horrible things happen when it is touched, or so my elders have recorded.”

“Any specifics?” Cedroc asked.

Weral shook his head. “None of us have dared to touch it. We do not even look upon it. None of my tribe has laid eyes on it in generations. We do not seek it. It’s bad luck. Leave it alone.”

“I can’t,” Cedroc said softly. “I need to tell the others about this. Once we extract it, we can leave. You’ll be back to your peaceful lives again.”

Weral shrugged. “You haven’t made much change, boy.”

I saw Cedroc struggling to accept that ‘boy’ with good grace. Clearly, Weral being older didn’t give him any authority over Cedroc, not as far as Cedroc was concerned.

“It is a long way.” Weral looked us both over. “Would you allow us to help you travel back to your camp? We would be happy to give you a lift.”

“That would be amazing!” I bulldozed right over Cedroc’s reply. If there was any chance of a lift home, I was going to take it.

Weral picked up a long flute and smiled, playing a short tune. The music enveloped me all over again as it came spiraling up through my core. Just like it did last night, right before I finally came together with my mate.

My mate? My love? Those questions were the only ones I cared about. How strange and how silly that people would do just about anything to avoid getting answers to the questions they just had to ask.

Here I was, getting ready to be a part of an expedition to find an alien device and making friends with a native tribe, when all I wanted to do was stand in front of Cedroc and ask one question.

Do you like me?

Cedroc

When the Qitzal offered to give us a lift back to the Calliope, I really should have clued in that they meant an actual lift, as in flying. Since I’d already agreed to it, I couldn’t back out, which is how I found myself being carried across the desert by two winged males. It was definitely not my favorite method of transportation and one I’d avoid entirely in the future if I could manage it.

Luckily for Coralie, she’d only required one male to carry her small frame. She looked to be having the time of her life as we soared across the desert. The biggest smile I’d ever seen spread across her beautiful face. She looked happy and alive and like she belonged on Gravum IV, a major change from when she’d first arrived.

She’d certainly held her own with the Qitzal.

Things could have gone so much worse when we’d fallen into their underground home, but thanks to her diplomatic skills, her ability to just join in with their festivities, they’d readily accepted us as guests of their tribe and taught us more than we needed to know about their customs and way of life.

The information they’d provided about the artifact—although not the precise location—was invaluable.

I couldn’t wait to tell the rest of the team. Even though we didn’t know exactly where it was buried, at least I now knew where we should look. Kyre would certainly appreciate the tip—he was already working on a device to help us dig deeper below the surface. Kyre would be especially intrigued by the crystals lining the caves, which we believed acted as some sort of shielding that prevented scans of lifeforms from showing up.

My arms were killing me by the time I spotted Derrix and Kyre who stood on top of the Calliope, casually holding their weapons, waiting for our approach.

I didn’t blame them one bit. This whole thing had been weird.

“See you inside, guys,” I shouted as we landed by the gangway, and stretched out my arms as I bid my transport team farewell.

“Ready to go on in?” I prodded Coralie, eager to get inside and debrief with Rekker and everyone else.

“You go ahead,” she laughed. “I’m not done saying goodbye.”

Before I entered the ship, I couldn’t help but turn back and look at her. Her blonde hair dazzled under the midday sun like a golden halo, nearly bathing her in light. I felt a tug deep inside my core at the sight of her, although I couldn’t say why.

We’d shared some intimate moments together the night before, but I still wasn’t sure what to make of the whole mating bond. It had felt natural and amazing to kiss her like I’d found something I’d been looking for without even knowing I’d been searching for it, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced we were meant to be together.

I supposed we could only wait it out and see what more time together would bring. I already knew that I was starting to enjoy her company more and more each day. Exploring the curves and contours of her body hadn’t been anything to complain about, either. She’d clearly enjoyed herself as well, so what was wrong with two consenting adults getting to know each other carnally as well as emotionally?

Nothing, that’s what. We’d both enjoyed ourselves and I wasn’t going to feel bad about it.

I pulled myself together after a moment, tearing my eyes away from her before entering the ship. I found Rekker easily enough, sitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge, fiddling with some of the dials on the command panel. He looked bored as hell.

“Honey, I’m home!” I announced, causing him to bolt upright in his seat.

“Finally, and thank fuck you’re not hurt. Where’s Coralie?” he asked, his face etched with concern.

“She’s fine. She’s outside bidding our new friends farewell. They flew us back here and I never want to do that again,” I told him.

“Oh? Are their ships very different from our own?”

“No, there was no ship. The Qitzal have wings longer than I am tall. They literally flew us back. I think my arms will be sore for a week.”

“Well then—better you than me. I trust they were friendly? Did you learn anything more about this rock?”

“Yeah, I think you’d better get Kyre up here. Bring the rest of the crew if you want, but Kyre and Ferne especially.”

I watched as he flipped on the Calliope’s comms system and advised the crew to assemble on the bridge. Within moments, they’d all joined us, including Lila and Ferne.

“As you know, Cedroc and Coralie spent the evening with the natives of this planet, quite by chance, I might add, but they evidently gleaned quite a bit of useful information during their time away. I’ll let Cedroc enlighten us,” Rekker said.

“Well, I figured if anyone would know about an important artifact supposedly located on this planet, it’d be a tribe who’d lived here for thousands of years. You’ll be happy to hear my thoughts were correct—the Qitzal knew what I was describing and advised that it’s located in the deepest underground cavern,” I told them.

“That’s excellent news, Cedroc. When you were gone, Ferne and I completed a full scan of the planet so we know exactly where that is!” Kyre said, excited to start getting answers to his questions rather than more obstacles.

“Not so fast, there’s a reason why the artifact is in the deepest cavern on this planet—it’s said to be cursed. These people live underground, but they literally won’t go near that thing. Are we sure we want to?” I asked.

“We don’t have a choice,” Rekker said. “Command wants that artifact and we want our furlough. If we don’t report back with it—and soon—we might spend the rest of our lives here.”

“Honestly, how bad can it be, anyway? Did they elaborate on the curse? What does it do?” Ferne asked.

“They didn’t, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to find out,” I told her.

“We’ll go down there as a team—we’re always stronger when we’re together,” Rekker said.

“Touching,” I said. I couldn’t help but laugh at Rekker’s words, even though he was right.

Kyre booted up the scanning device he’d brought with him from his workshop and tapped some commands into it.

“Let’s look at the new deep scans and see if there’s anything we can go by to form a plan,” Kyre said.

We all nodded and gathered around him, with Lila and Ferne joining us alongside their mates. Although Rekker hadn’t said so directly, surely he wasn’t going to allow them to accompany us down into the cavern.

They were too precious. It would be too risky.

“It looks like we can access the cavern via this swamp, but it’s fifty miles away from here. It’s too short of a distance to fire up the Calliope to fly to, but it’s much too far to walk. How will we get there?” Kyre asked.

“Maybe we could ask our new friends to take us,” Coralie said as she entered the bridge.

“I’d rather walk, thanks,” I said, watching as she sidled up next to me.

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad, you big baby,” she teased.

As the crew continued discussing how best to enter the cavern, my mind began to wander, especially since Coralie was standing so close to me. I inhaled her light, sweet scent with just a hint of spice, wondering how she smelled so good after all she’d been through out here in the desert. I certainly didn’t smell that amazing after our little adventure with the Qitzal.

With her nearby, I couldn’t stop thinking about our night together. Images of her dancing with the Qitzal females assaulted my mind, turning me on all over again despite myself. She really knew how to move, her hips undulating to the sounds of the drums as if she’d been doing it her whole life.

At that thought, I couldn’t help but remember how they’d moved later that night when I’d pressed my face down onto the apex of her thighs, bringing her to the height of ecstasy. My name on her lips was something I wouldn’t soon forget, and even though I was meant to be planning yet another recon mission, all I could think about was how I wanted to taste her again, as soon as possible.

I wanted more of her—all of her. I wasn’t sure how I’d broach the topic, especially now that we were back on the Calliope and once again surrounded by too many familiar faces, but I had to figure it out.

The mating bond was a siren song, beckoning to all my base instincts and clouding my common sense.

But I didn’t care. Rekker, of all people, would understand.

I couldn’t believe a human female could affect me this much, and in only a matter of days.

I’d been a complete fool to think I’d be immune to the mating bond. As Coralie smiled up at me, I knew without a doubt I was hers.

Coralie

Cedroc asked me to meet him in the galley.

At that point, I was too embarrassed that I still didn’t know where the galley was to ask for directions. The Calliope wasn’t that big. There were only so many rooms. I knew the bridge’s location. I could make my way to the cabins and the observation deck.

How many more rooms could there be?

A lot, apparently. The Calliope, as compact as she was, was packed with all sorts of clever storage rooms. The next time I needed a closet designed, I was coming to whoever had built this ship.

Nearly twenty minutes passed before I stumbled into a room I hadn’t yet entered.

“There you are!” Cedroc grinned.

So, this was the galley? I looked around at the shelves lined with preserved food and a small cooking station tucked away in the far corner.

It was a kitchen.

Why couldn’t Cedroc have simply said kitchen? It still would’ve taken me just as long to find it, but I would’ve known what I was looking for.

“Sorry it took so long.”

“That’s all right. It gave me a few extra minutes to set up.”

“Set up? What are you setting up?” A tingle of anticipation ran down my spine. Cedroc was standing in front of a cloth-covered table, but I couldn’t see anything else beyond his broad frame.

“A surprise,” he said with a wicked smile.

I arched a brow. “What kind of surprise?”

“Don’t judge me too harshly,” he prefaced as he stepped aside to reveal two table settings, a bottle of what I assumed to be alien wine, and a deep purple candle lit with a sapphire flame. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

My hands flew up to cover my gaping mouth. I wanted to smile more, but my cheeks were already aching with the effort.

“What’s all this?” I giggled.

“I’m not one for expensive dinners and fancy things. But you are. You’ve put in such an honest effort to better yourself since you arrived. You’ve slept on the ground. You’ve trekked through swamps. You saved our skin with the Qitzal. You’ve earned a reward.”

“Cedroc,” I whispered.

“I know it’s not going to be as good as the meals you used to have on Earth.” His voice wasn’t as steady as normal. He was nervous. My heart tightened behind my ribs.

“It’s perfect,” I assured him. “I couldn’t have asked for a lovelier table. What will be served for dinner?”

All of Cedroc’s nerves flew from his expression as he grinned at me.

“If I tell you, you probably won’t want to eat it,” he teased.

“Fair enough. Where would you like me to sit?”

“Would you prefer a kitchen view or a storage view?”

“Hmm.” I made a show of tapping my chin, weighing my options. “Kitchen, I think.”

“Excellent choice, my lady. It’s a far superior view,” Cedroc laughed.

He pulled my chair out from the table so I could sit. Then he grabbed the empty plates and took them to the cooking unit installed in the back of the room. I hadn’t noticed at first, but sure enough, there was something in the oven as well as several steaming pots on the stove.

“No rations tonight?” I asked.

He stirred the contents of one of the pots. “No, unless that’s what you’d like?”

I wrinkled my nose.

“That’s what I thought,” he said dryly.

He turned and carried two full plates back to the table. When he set my plate before me, I tried not to make it obvious that I was inspecting the contents.

“Take a guess at what it is,” he suggested.

“Well,” I said thoughtfully, “this here appears to be some sort of root vegetable. I’m willing to bet this meat is some kind of poultry. The green things must be some sort of edible plant from the swamp. Am I right?”

“Not even close.”

My brows shot up. “Can we pretend I’m right?”

“Absolutely. What you came up with sounds better than what it actually is.” He took a big bite of the meat.

I examined the food on my plate. Nothing looked or smelled repulsive. In fact, it looked mouth-wateringly delicious.

“I’ve come this far,” I said with a determined nod. “I’m not running scared from a plate of unfamiliar food.”

“I can’t believe you’re the same socialite who teleported from Earth in a party dress,” Cedroc smirked.

I dug into the meat and took a small bite. It tasted like fish rather than poultry. There was a heat to it that I couldn’t place. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

“I really hope this isn’t toxic to me because this is amazing,” I gushed. “Thank you so much for cooking. You’re a Vaznik of many talents.”

Cedroc puffed up his chest. “Thank you. It’s about time I got the recognition I deserve.”

“What’s in the bottle?”

“Oh, you’re going to love this,” he chuckled.

He reached for the bottle and pulled out the stopper before tipping the neck in my direction.

“Smell this.”

“Is this a trick?”

Cedroc tipped his head back and laughed. “No, it’s not. Just smell.”

I took a delicate whiff of the contents.

“It smells like aloe and burnt sugar,” I mused. “What is that?”

“Cactus wine. Kyre and Ferne were clever enough to figure out that drinking the juice from the cactus leaf gets you absolutely hammered. Drink sparingly.”

I lifted a brow.

“Please,” I rolled my eyes. “I spent every night on Earth hammered. I can outdrink you.”

A wicked smile spread across Cedroc’s face. “That sounds like a challenge.”

Feeling bold, I leaned forward across the table. “You bet your shapely ass it is.”

“You think my ass is shapely?” he asked as he poured the wine.

“Oh please, don’t act like you don’t know.”

“True,” he nodded. He slid my glass across the table. “Ready?”

“What are the stakes?” I asked. “If we’re going to do this, we have to make it interesting.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“For every successful drink, one gets to ask the other a question.”

He reached across the table and took my hand. “You know you can ask me anything.”

“All right,” I nodded, and quickly downed the contents of my glass. Cactus wine was unbearably sweet and unexpectedly potent. After just one glass, my head felt swimmy. “What do you think of the contracts?”

“Contracts?”

“Like the one that joins us,” I explained.

“Oh.” Cedroc looked down at his plate. For a moment, I worried I’d offended him. “I don’t like them.”

“Oh?”

“Not to say that I’m not grateful, but I don’t support programs that take choice away from the people they affect,” he said.

“Well said!” I poured myself another glass. “Did your parents meet under a contract like ours?”

“Isn’t it my turn to ask a question?”

“You didn’t drink,” I said before draining my second glass. “Now I’ve had two, so I get to ask another question.”

“This game is rigged in your favor.”

“Absolutely. Now, answer the question.”

“All right.” Instead of speaking, Cedroc went quiet. He finally spoke, his low voice serious. “My mother was mated to my father the same way you are mated to me. She was Vaznik. But shortly after I was born, she was captured by the Suhlik. He went to search for her and he died, too.”

“How awful,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry for prying. You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Really.”

It might’ve been the wine, but I swore I heard relief in his voice. Had he told anyone this before? Something in my gut told me he hadn’t.

I reached across the table and squeezed his shoulder.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“For what?”

“Your honesty.”

“Oh, I thought you were going to thank me for letting you win the game.” Just like that, he was back to his normal self.

“Let me win?” I cackled. “You haven’t even started. What’s the matter? Can’t handle even one drink?”

A feral grin appeared on his mouth. “Watch this.”

He swiped the bottle from the table and took a long swig. I kept expecting him to stop, but he didn’t. Once the bottle was drained, he set it back on the table.

He smirked. “How’s that for not being able to handle a drink?”

I blinked. “Wow.”

“Don’t I get to ask a question now?”

“Go for it,” I laughed.

“Are you wondering what we’re doing after dinner?”

“That’s not a fair question,” I pointed out.

“I didn’t realize I had to meet your question-asking standards.” He rolled his eyes. “But you should answer it anyway.”

“Fine,” I chuckled. “Yes, I am wondering what comes after dinner. Did you make dessert as well?”

“No,” he said, a hungry look flooding his gaze. “I had something else in mind.”

I knew it wasn’t the food he craved.

“Oh?” I lowered my voice. “What’s that?”

“I was thinking we could pick up where we left off in the cavern.”

The same hunger in his eyes now ignited in my core. He saw it, too.

Without another word, he rose and extended a hand to me, which I took. I wasn’t unsteady on my feet, but I did waver slightly as he led me through the belly of the Calliope.

When we arrived in his cabin, I pressed against him.

“Eager, are we?” he murmured in my ear as he closed the door.

“Have you seen yourself? Who wouldn’t be eager?”

His arms snaked around my waist, pulling me so that my hips pressed against his. I felt his cock already stirring in his pants.

“Eager, are we?” I fired back with a playful wink.

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” he whispered.

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. He walked backward toward his bed, pulling me with him, never taking his eyes off mine. When we reached the bed, he lifted me up by the waist.

My legs locked around his hips. I rocked against him, letting my desire flow freely. Frantically we tore our clothing off, tangling and untangling our limbs with desperate need to stay connected with each other.

Cedroc laid me on my back, letting my legs dangle off the edge of the bed. Gently, he parted my legs, kissing up my thighs as he did so. I squirmed impatiently, longing to feel him in whatever way he was willing to give.

With one finger, he stroked the length of my slit. He gently pushed one figure inside me. I shuddered at the sensation. I felt his warm breath against the skin of my inner thigh. When I felt his tongue press against my already sensitive core, I cried out.

He worked his finger in and out of me, slowly at first, but quickly increased his speed as he swirled his tongue over my clit. Before long, I was a panting, trembling mess, gripping his horns as he drove me to the edge of my climax.

Satisfied with his work, he pulled away, grinning.

“How are you feeling?” he asked with that sense of smug satisfaction I’d come to adore.

I pulled him in and kissed him hard. When we broke apart, I brought my mouth to his ear, stroking the base of his horns, reveling in his reaction.

“I want more.”

Cedroc

Her wish was my command. I climbed onto the bed, hovering over her perfect body. I positioned myself, ready to sink my cock deep inside her.

“Wait,” she whispered.

I stilled. “What’s wrong?”

“Lie on your back,” she instructed.

I wasn’t expecting her to say something like that, but I did as I was told. She climbed on top of me. It took all of my self-control not to take her by the hips, position her over me, and lower her onto my cock.

Coralie leaned forward, planting a trail of soft kisses down my neck and over my chest. She moved lower, sliding down my body.

“I don’t want you to think I’m a selfish lover,” she murmured against my thigh.

The brush of her lips against my skin drove me wild. I was about to explode from my deepest, most primal desires when I felt her warm, wet mouth slide over my cock.

I reached down to caress her hair as she bobbed her head up and down. She moved her lush lips and clever tongue over me, increasing her speed as she grew in confidence. I sucked in a sharp breath as she took as much of my length as she could. My hips jerked in response to the incredible sensation of her mouth.

She glanced up at me, her eyes sparkling with desire and mischief. She held herself still, allowing me to thrust in and out of her mouth. I moved gently. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

Suddenly, she removed her glorious mouth and sat back on her knees. With a wink, she crooked her finger, beckoning me to her. I sat up. Once I did, she grabbed my arms and pulled me closer to her.

“On your knees, soldier,” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.” I grinned and rose up on my knees. She took my cock back in her mouth, grabbed my hips, and urged me to rock into her.

“You are a treasure,” I moaned as I gently took her face in my hands and held her steady while I slid my cock in and out of her mouth. She gazed up at me while trying to take as much of my considerable length into her mouth as she could handle.

When I felt like I was going to burst, I removed my cock from her mouth.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, tilting her head to one side.

“Nothing at all,” I smiled. “But if I’m not inside you in the next few seconds, I’m going to go insane.”

“Say no more.” Coralie rolled onto her back, her gaze never leaving mine. She spread her legs, allowing me a perfect view of her dripping slit.

I was on top of her in an instant. I kissed from her navel up to her breasts, biting and sucking along the way. I swirled my tongue over each of her nipples until I felt her trembling beneath me again. My mouth found hers. We became a flurry of hungry lips, grasping hands, and frantic moans.

“I want you,” she pleaded against my lips. “Please, Cedroc, I need you.”

She wrapped her legs around my waist, arching up into me. I teased her slick entrance with the head of my cock. She dug her fingers into my back as her frustration grew. She lifted her lips higher, eager to take me inside her, but I wasn’t done teasing her yet.

I slipped the head of my cock inside her. She shuddered against my mouth, whimpering for more like her life depended on it.

When I couldn’t withhold pleasure from her, or myself, any longer, I sank into her. She let out a long, sweet cry of relief as she took all of me into her. She lifted her legs higher and higher until I draped them over my shoulders. I sank still deeper into her. With each thrust of my rigid cock, she let out a small cry. At first, I feared I was hurting her, but when I pulled back to look at her face, she wore an expression of ecstasy.

Seeing her writhing beneath me as I thrust in and out of her tight center was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to make her feel this way every night for the rest of our lives. Every primal urge and instinct within me was screaming with satisfaction. This was what I was meant to do as a mated male, bring pleasure to my female.

Her thighs tightened together and her walls clenched around my cock as I felt her surge into another climax. The sensation was enough to drive me over the edge. I buried myself as deep inside her as I could. My blood sang in my veins as we crashed over our peaks together.

Spent and drained, I rolled off to the side and pulled her in close to me. She tucked her head under my chin and draped a slender arm across my chest. Our legs wound together as our chests rose and fell in unison.

“Wow,” she said in a giggly sigh. “You’re incredible.” She planted kisses wherever her lips could reach without movement.

“You’re better.” I pressed a kiss onto the crown of her head.

“No, you’re better,” she mumbled.

Her eyes closed, her breaths slowing. Certain that she was safe and comfortable, I allowed my eyes to slip closed too. Just as the lazy tendrils of sleep began to wrap around my brain, a loud roaring noise jostled me awake.

“What was that?” Coralie asked, confirming that I hadn’t imagined it.

“I don’t know.” I frowned. “It sounded like another ship.”

“Is that possible?”

Without answering, I leaped out of bed and tugged my clothes on. Coralie followed suit.

“Stay here,” I told her.

“Yeah, right,” she rolled her eyes. “If there’s another ship here, I want to see it.”

I must’ve looked worried, because she quickly put a hand on my arm.

“Not because I want to leave,” she assured me. “I just get the sense that no one else is supposed to be on this planet.”

“The only others who’d be actively searching for the ship are the Suhlik,” I explained.

“Shit.”

“Which is why I want you to stay here.”

“Are you leaving the ship?”

“No.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

I could tell from the set of her jaw that there was no changing her mind. I allowed her a few moments to wiggle into her clothes before taking off toward the bridge. She stayed on my heels the entire time.

“Cedroc,” Rekker called from farther down the corridor. “What was that noise?”

“Investigating now, Captain.”

“Report to me once you know.”

“Yes, sir.”

I entered the bridge and powered up all my radar and sonar scanners.

“I don’t see anything,” Coralie said as she peered out the panoramic viewports.

“Suhlik ships have advanced cloaking tech. They could be right above us and we’d never know.”

“But all of your fancy machinery can sense them anyway, right?”

My radar began to beep frantically.

“In this case, yes.”

I touched the red dot on my radar screen to open up a page of information about what the scanner picked up.

“It’s a Suhlik vessel.” I frowned. “Small, not a warship. Likely just a scouting crew.”

“I think I see something out there,” Coralie said.

“Where?”

She pointed in the direction of the standing stones in the Qitzal tribe’s territory. Sure enough, a small vessel flew slow and low over the desert.

“What do you think they’re here for?” she asked.

“If they’re hovering around the standing stones, it can’t be good,” I said.

“Should we tell the captain?”

I nodded and left the bridge, knowing Coralie would follow. Rekker was waiting just outside of the bridge, looking tense.

“What did you see?” he asked.

“A Suhlik scouting vessel moving in the direction of the standing stones,” I relayed.

“How many in their crew?”

“My scanners couldn’t give me a detailed image, but the vessel is small. There are likely less than five crewmembers aboard, with minimal supplies.”

“They must be here for the artifact.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Coralie murmured beside me.

Rekker’s eyes shot to her, only just realizing she was there. He offered her a kind smile. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “No harm will come to you.”

Coralie smiled in return but I still saw the worry in her eyes. I tucked her under my arm, holding her close against my side.

“What are your orders, Captain?” I asked.

“Assemble the team. If the Suhlik are preparing to ambush the Qitzal, we need to be there to stop them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What should I do?” Coralie whispered to me as I stalked back into the bridge to sound the alarm. It was loud enough to rouse any Vaznik warrior from the depths of sleep.

“You’re going to stay here,” I said.

“No way!”

“Coralie,” I groaned. “Please, don’t fight me on this.”

“I don’t want to fight you.” Again, I felt her gentle touch on my arm. “But I can’t just sit here while some intergalactic bad guys are trying to hurt the Qitzal. They’re my friends now. No one fucks with my friends. I’m sure as hell not going to let my mate go out there alone, either.”

“I won’t be alone. I’ll—wait. Did you just call me your mate?” Warmth bloomed in my chest. I couldn’t help but smile.

She grinned up at me. “I sure did and I’m sure as hell not letting you do this without me.”

I considered my options. It went against every instinct to willingly bring my mate into danger. I hated the thought of her going anywhere near the Suhlik. On the other hand, she had the best relationship with the Qitzal. She could be an asset if we needed to convince them they were in danger.

“Fine,” I sighed. “But you will do exactly as I say, without argument. Understood?”

Her eyes raked over my body. “Sir, yes, sir!” she grinned. “I like it when you take command.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for when we get back to the ship.” I bent down and stole a kiss. “Now, go find Ferne and Lila. They’ll get you outfitted with the correct supplies. Meet me outside the bridge in five minutes.”

She nodded and left briskly. I stared after her as she left, overcome with a deep sense of pride. That was my mate, and she was a badass.

Coralie

“Lila! Ferne!” I ran into both women as I exited the bridge. From the look of it, they were coming this way to ask Cedroc why he’d set off the alarms.

“Can you show me where the field supplies are kept?” I asked.

“Sure, if you tell us what’s going on. What’s with the alarm?”

“We saw a Suhlik ship,” I explained. “Rekker wants to check it out.”

“And you’re coming?” Ferne said slowly.

“Damn right,” I said.

“Are you sure you’re up for this? The desert is freezing at night. The Suhlik are terrifying. I was interrogated by one once.” Lila’s gaze dropped to the deck. “I still have nightmares.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I frowned. “Are you going with us?”

“Absolutely.” Lila perked up. “I’m not letting Rekker face them alone.”

“That’s why I’m going,” I said. “I hate the idea of Cedroc walking off into danger. Plus, the Suhlik landed near the standing stones. They might be trying to harm the Qitzal. We have to warn them.”

“Coralie,” Ferne said gently. “Are you really sure you know what you’re signing up for?”

I tried to rein in my temper. After all, Ferne was speaking as a professional survivor-woman from a place of genuine concern.

“It’s a small ship. Cedroc says there’s likely not more than five of those bastards on board,” I continued. “As long as I have an extra jacket or something, I won’t freeze my ass off on the way there.”

“Okay,” Ferne said. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you guys, either. This team sticks together for a reason, right? To look out for each other.”

“That’s right,” Lila smiled. “You’ll be fine, Coralie. We’ll find an extra jacket so you can layer up.”

I followed them to one of the Calliope’s many supply closets. It took only a few moments to load up with everything we might need.

“Should I take a flare?” Lila asked.

“I’m not sure if we’ll need one,” Ferne said. “We’d be better served by a weapon.”

“I have the daggers Rekker taught me how to use.”

“You guys get to use weapons?” I gasped.

Lila shrugged. “Rekker taught me how to use a few of the things from the armory.”

“I learned how to shoot back on Earth,” Ferne added.

“I need to learn to do that,” I said. “Can I have a blaster or a dagger? Something? I won’t use it. I’ll just make the Suhlik think I’m going to use it.”

“You won’t need a weapon if you have Cedroc. All of the team members have their personal weapons.”

“Oh. I’m still learning all of the particulars.”

“Just stick close to Cedroc and you’ll be fine.”

Lila passed me two fluffy jackets, which I immediately put on.

“Come on,” I urged. “The team’s waiting for us.”

“She’s really stepped it up,” I heard Ferne muttered to Lila. I smiled to myself as I made my way back to the bridge.

Cedroc looked me up and down when I approached. “You look…cozy.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s freezing out there.”

“Are we ready?” Rekker asked.

The other Vaznik warriors were armed to the teeth, ready for anything. I wished I had something to fight with, not that I expected to fight. I simply wanted to be prepared.

“Yes, sir,” the men said in unison.

“Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Consider this a recon mission unless the Suhlik behave aggressively.”

“They’re Suhlik. All they do is behave aggressively,” Jarvik pointed out.

“I don’t want unnecessary bloodshed,” Rekker said as he descended the entry ramp. I followed behind Cedroc, bracing when the cold night air rushed up to meet me.

“I don’t feel right about bringing you with me,” Cedroc said softly so only I could hear him.

“Why? You don’t think I can handle it?”

“Oh, I know you’re more than capable of handling this,” he chuckled. His faith in my abilities made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. “I just hate the idea of putting you at risk unnecessarily.”

“I know.” I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.

I stuck close to Cedroc as we moved deeper into the desert. Even though I’d done it before, being in the desert so late was a strange experience. Last time, I’d focused on that tiny beckoning light, focused on my anger, not really paying attention to my surroundings.

It was like walking through the black itself.

We reached the stone circle quickly, though I didn’t know for certain how much time had passed. The Suhlik ship was far smaller than the Calliope. It had come to rest perhaps a quarter of a mile away from the stones, though it was hard to judge distance in the dark.

“It doesn’t look like they’ve left their ship,” Jarvik said.

“They’re obviously after the Qitzal,” Derrix reasoned. “Why else would they choose this exact spot?”

“I agree,” Rekker said. “It can’t be a coincidence.”

Movement off to the left caught my eye.

“Look!” I whispered, pointing to a group of five Qitzal warriors stepping out from beyond the stones.

“What are they doing here?” Lila whispered.

Rekker signaled for silence. Kyre procured a small device from his pocket. He powered it on. It picked up the sound of the Qitzal’s wings dragging across the sand. The device must’ve been some kind of amplifier.

“Take cover,” Rekker whispered. We moved behind a rock formation, putting some more distance between us and the Suhlik ship.

“Jarvik, keep watch,” Rekker ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

Jarvik moved into a position where he could observe the Qitzal and the Suhlik.

“Have the Suhlik left their ship?”

“Yes,” Jarvik reported. “They’re approaching the Qitzal. Neither appear to be aggressive toward each other.”

“Is the chief there?”

“Negative.”

“The chief might not know about this,” I said. “Why else would those warriors be sneaking around in the dark like they’ve got something to hide?”

“How do you know that’s what they’re doing?” Derrix asked.

“I am the queen of sneaking in and out of places where I’m not supposed to be. If my father knew half the shit I got up to, he’d have a heart attack.”

Talking about my father left a bitter taste on my tongue.

“Are you alone?” A soft voice that sent shivers down my spine came through the amplifier in Kyre’s hand. It didn’t have the birdlike overtones of the Qitzal I’d spoken to. It must’ve been the voice of one of the Suhlik.

“Why did you send a message so weak we couldn’t understand your meaning?” the speaker continued.

“We want to trade,” a Qitzal voice answered. “Your technology. We want to reclaim our place in the sky.”

“There is only one thing on this desolate place you might have that would interest us,” the Suhlik scoffed. “Do you have it?”

“The cursed object is not in our possession. No one in the tribe dares awaken the dark spirits linked to that foul thing.”

“Where is it, then?” The Suhlik sounded impatient. “Without it, you have nothing to trade.”

“Far within the earth,” the Qitzal replied. “It’s buried. Unfortunately, there is no cavern deep enough to keep its wickedness at bay.”

“What, exactly, does this cursed object do?”

“It gives off terrible, violent energy,” the Qitzal explained. “We feel it in our bones. We feel it in our blood.”

“They must be talking about the artifact,” Kyre said. “The Qitzal might be naturally sensitive to energy. No wonder they think it’s cursed.”

“Will you help rid us of such an unnatural force?” the Qitzal asked. “And reawaken our technology, give us the freedom of the skies again?”

“Oh, no,” I sighed.

“The Qitzal think the Suhlik are here to help,” Cedroc echoed my thoughts.

“We can’t let the Suhlik get to that artifact,” Rekker growled.

“Should we attack?” Cedroc asked.

“No,” Kyre replied. “The Qitzal might think we’ve turned hostile. They might fight with the Suhlik against us. We can’t win a fight like that.”

“We can try.” Derrix’s feral grin gleamed in the dark.

“Not with the human women here,” Rekker said. “We can’t risk the Suhlik discovering them.”

“We can’t let the Suhlik leave the planet,” Cedroc pointed out. “This is just a scout team, but if they believe the artifact is here, they might bring an entire war vessel.”

“Would they hurt the Qitzal, even if they gave the artifact thing willingly?” I asked.

“Without a doubt,” Rekker said darkly. “They’d certainly take several Qitzal females for their breeding programs and genetic testing.”

I looked at Cedroc, wide-eyed, thinking Kala and Riewyn and Swira, all the other women who had been so kind, so happy.

“We can’t let that happen!”

“We won’t,” he assured me. “We just need to figure out a way to prevent it.”

The team fell back into their hushed debate, but the thoughts in my head were wheeling too far out of control for me to focus. The Qitzal were good people, if a little rough around the edges. They needed to understand who they were getting involved with. Even if the Qitzal chief did send this group to the surface to negotiate with the Suhlik, he couldn’t be aware of how monstrous they were.

I looked around the rock formation. Last time Cedroc and I were here, we hadn’t exactly entered the home of the Qitzal the normal way. There must’ve been a path or a passage hidden somewhere. Those Qitzal soldiers didn’t just appear out of thin air.

I slowly backed away from the group, examining each boulder as I moved. I could’ve sworn the Qitzal came from somewhere around here, hadn’t they?

I touched a boulder and it shifted beneath my fingers as if it weighed nothing. I pressed on it again. It slid out of the way, revealing a tunnel.

This was my chance to warn the Qitzal. If I didn’t go now, Cedroc would surely try to talk me out of it. We didn’t have time to stand around debating what our next move should be.

A tiny voice in the back of my head told me to stop. Told me to talk with the others, explain to Cedroc.

But my way was safer for everyone, even, especially him.

I was sure of it.

Probably.

I took a deep breath and entered the tunnel.

Cedroc

I glanced up from the conversation just in time to see Coralie duck into some sort of tunnel.

“What the hell?” I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down.

“What?” Rekker whispered.

“I think Coralie just went into that tunnel.” I pointed to the dark, gaping hole in the side of the rock formation.

“No,” Lila gasped softly.

“I knew she wasn’t ready for this.” Ferne’s face was a mask of worry.

“I’m going after her,” I insisted.

“Go ahead,” Rekker nodded. “We’ll continue to monitor the Suhlik.”

“I’ll be quick,” I assured them. “She can’t have gone far.”

“Hurry back.” Rekker nodded.

“Did you hear something?” a Suhlik voice came through Kyre’s amplifier.

“Who else is here?” another Suhlik demanded.

“No one,” a Qitzal warrior answered. “There is no other tribe in this region.”

“Scout the surrounding formations,” a Suhlik ordered. “Make sure we’re alone.”

“Go,” Rekker jerked his head toward me. “Find Coralie. Return to the Calliope. We’ll meet you there.”

“Are you certain?”

“Now is not the time to argue, soldier. Get Coralie. That’s an order.”

I felt conflicted. The mating bond coursing through me wanted to go after Coralie. Who knew what she’d stumble upon in that tunnel? Did she even have a flashlight? The soldier in me was reluctant to leave my team with the Suhlik skulking around.

“I see movement!” a Suhlik cried.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Scatter!” Rekker ordered.

The team broke off in pairs, except for me. I took the chance, the only chance I’d get, to duck into the tunnels unseen.

“Coralie?” I whispered into the darkness. I heard no response. I kept close to the entrance of the tunnel, ready to cut down any Suhlik who might investigate. Instead, they were busy pursuing my teammates. With any luck, one of the other Vaznik warriors would get a chance to thin the Suhlik numbers.

From what I could see, the Qitzal weren’t joining the Suhlik’s hunt. I took that as a good sign.

Once the Suhlik and my team were out of sight, I turned my back on the mouth of the tunnel and ventured deeper into the darkness. I had a flashlight. I kept one on me at all times when I was out in the field. Standard procedure. However, I was hesitant to light it. It might help me find Coralie more easily, but it was too risky. If I drew the Suhlik into this tunnel, I couldn’t take all of them on my own. If I fell fighting them, who would protect Coralie?

I wasn’t too worried about finding Coralie without my light. An instinct deep inside me I couldn’t quite explain pulled me to her. She was up ahead. Every nerve in my body was attuned to her. The deeper into the tunnel I walked, the stronger the sensation became.

I wouldn’t feel such a sensation if she weren’t alive, would I?

A slick stone of fear formed in my stomach. What if she fell, like we had the first time we met the Qitzal? What if she was seriously injured? What if the Qitzal formed an alliance with the Suhlik and turned on her?

The thought of it made me feel insane. The thought of losing her made me feel physically ill. What would I do if I lost my mate?

“Keep it together,” I hissed to myself in the darkness.

As I walked, the sound of voices reverberating off the stone walls grew louder. I couldn’t make out any of the words, but I picked up a distinctly female voice. That had to be Coralie.

I took off at a sprint, barreling down the tunnel. I didn’t care if I stumbled or fell. It only mattered that I reached Coralie.

“You have to listen to me.” Her voice came through the din clearly now. Thank the black she was all right.

“Calm down, dear friend,” came the voice of the chief. “How did you get down here on your own?”

“I found a tunnel by accident and followed it,” came her explanation.

The tunnel grew lighter by the second. I rounded one last bend and stumbled into the same cavern Coralie and I had fallen into before.

She stood on top of a large, flat slab of rock, talking to the chief.

“Coralie,” I called out.

“Cedroc!” Her face lit up when she saw me. She scrambled down the side of the rock and flung herself into my arms.

“Why did you sneak off like that?” I demanded, clutching her to my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured against my neck. “I saw a chance and I took it. You were all so busy trying to decide what to do.”

“You could’ve said something.”

“But if I was caught, I didn’t want anyone to know I was with a group,” she explained. “You, Rekker, and the rest of the team still would’ve been in the clear if I got caught.”

I pressed my hand against the back of her head and stroked her hair.

“You were trying to protect us?”

She nodded against my chest. “I’m so glad you found me. I’m having a hard time communicating the gravity of the situation to the chief. I’m bad at explaining things when I’m flustered. Will you help me?”

I tipped her chin up so that I could look into her eyes.

“Of course.” I pressed a kiss into her forehead.

“Thank you.”

“What, exactly, is going on?” the chief asked.

“We spotted Suhlik soldiers in discussion with some of your warriors,” I said.

“They were talking about a cursed object,” Coralie added. “Apparently your people messaged them somehow?”

The chief’s eyes widened with a mix of shock and rage. “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Coralie said.

“I didn’t order such a talk. I know nothing of these…” he trailed off.

“Suhlik,” Coralie supplemented.

“Who are the Suhlik?”

“A terrible race responsible for the creation and enslavement of my people,” I explained. “They sweep the cosmos abducting women, children, and warriors for their sick experiments. My team, as well as thousands of others of the Mahdfel race, have risen up against the Suhlik.”

“They tried to take over my planet,” Coralie said. “It’s because of the Mahdfel that my planet wasn’t lost to the Suhlik.”

She looked up at me, smiling softly. I reached for her hand and held it tight. The chief looked between us, noting the change in our behavior since the last time we were in his caverns.

“I see.”

“Do you think the object they’re talking about is the same thing for which I was looking for information?”

“I do,” the chief said, suddenly looking very tired. “We do not speak of such things here.” He sighed. “And yet, that may have been a mistake.”

“Your soldiers were asking the Suhlik to remove a cursed object,” I explained. “However, my team is here to recover an ancient artifact. We think our artifact and your cursed object are one and the same. If that’s the case, it cannot fall into the hands of the Suhlik. Whatever it is, they will use it for harm.”

“If they are as evil as you claim, then you are absolutely right,” the chief agreed. “We must get rid of them, immediately. How strong are they in number?”

“Only five,” I replied. “They’ve come on a scouting vessel. They can’t have enough supplies for more than a few days.”

“Then we simply wait them out,” the chief nodded.

“With all due respect,” I said, “if we allow them to leave, they will only come back in greater numbers. They could return with an entire warship full of soldiers who’d like nothing more than to kidnap your women and slay your warriors.”

“We cannot allow that,” the chief snarled.

“My team is trained to fight the Suhlik,” I explained. “We can handle this.”

“I’m sure you can,” the chief said. “But you do not have to handle it alone. My warriors will gladly lend their spears and talons.”

“We have to lure them to one place,” Coralie said. “We can’t just go crashing about through the desert and swamp tracking them down. What if we set up an ambush?”

I looked down at her with a sly smile. “Have you been reading the reports on my desk?”

“Nope,” she shrugged. “But I’ve seen a lot of vids.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re full of surprises.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” she smirked.

“How do you propose we get them in one location?”

“We know where their ship is,” I said. “We could just wait for them to wander back on their own.”

The chief shook his head and began to pace. “No, no. If they are as dark as you say, I will not simply wait for them to gather when they’re ready. We need to lure them in and take them down.”

“Order those same warriors to arrange a meeting,” I suggested, then a thought struck me. “How did they even contact the Suhlik?” I asked, looking around. “No offense, but I haven’t seen much in the way of a comms system here.”

“They must have used the lost technologies. We have pieces, remnants of that world, but want no more of it. This was a green and pleasant place before the war. No more.”

He lifted his great wings and flapped them furiously.

“How can I trust those traitors? If you did not see their faces clearly enough, they could be anyone, anywhere!”

A violent gust of wind struck Coralie and me. It was almost enough to knock her off her feet.

“Damn,” she gasped. “That’s impressive.”

“Remind me never to get on their bad side,” I murmured to her.

Coralie stifled a giggle with the palm of her hand. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. She let her hand fall back to her side.

“I have an idea!”

“What is it?” the chief asked.

“We lure them in with something they can’t resist.”

I had a bad feeling about this.

“Such as?” I prompted, already knowing I wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Me. They can’t easily access humans for their breeding programs. They won’t be able to resist taking me.”

“I’m not leaving you out in the middle of the desert to be scooped up by the Suhlik,” I said firmly. “We’ll find another way.”

“No, not like that,” Coralie replied. She turned to the chief. “You’re going to arrange a trade. I’m going to be the merchandise.”

“No,” I snapped. “Coralie, it’s too dangerous.”

“Cedroc.” She turned to face me, taking both of my hands in hers. “This will work. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

I studied her face. Her striking blue gaze never wavered.

“Alright,” I sighed. “I trust you.”

Coralie

“I still don’t like this,” Cedroc said, folding his muscular arms across his chest. “I don’t want to let you do it.”

I arched a brow. “Let me?”

His gaze flickered to mine. “You know what I mean,” he shrugged.

“I’m not sure I do.” I tilted my head to one side and narrowed my eyes. “Do you not think I’m capable of pulling it off?”

“It’s not that,” he said quickly.

“Are you sure?” I pursed my lips. “It sounds like you don’t think I can handle this. Do you still think I’m just a prissy little heiress who can’t do anything?”

“No!” Cedroc’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to say something else, then a spark of realization lighted in his eyes. “I see what you’re doing.”

My lips twisted into a wry smile. “What am I doing?”

“You’re trying to trap me into saying I don’t believe in you so you can hold it over my head and force me to let you pull off this ridiculous plan.”

He was exactly right.

“I would never do such a thing!” I brought my hand to the base of my throat to clutch my imaginary pearls.

“You’re a good actress,” Cedroc smirked, “but you can’t fool me.”

“Exactly. I’m a good actress. I might not be able to fool you, but I can fool some greedy-eyed lizard-men who just want to use me as a baby maker.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Think of something better.”

“I have two plans,” Cedroc said.

“Oh? Let’s hear them, then!”

“One.” Cedroc held up one huge fist. “Two.” He held up the other.

“You’re going to hunt down all five of those bastards and…punch them?”

“It’s a better plan because it doesn’t put you directly at risk. You realize that, if we fail and they leave this planet, they’ll come back to hunt you down and kidnap you for real?”

I couldn’t be angry or even annoyed with Cedroc for wanting to come up with another idea. If I was being honest, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the plan.

But this was my chance to prove to Cedroc, and everyone else on the team, that I was useful!

This was my chance.

“We’re doing the plan,” I said with a firm nod. Something in my eyes or in the set of my jaw must’ve told Cedroc I wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise.

“Okay,” he frowned. “But I don’t like it.”

“Did you expect it to be a walk through a flower field?” I teased. “Besides, it’s not me who has the hard job.”

“Right,” Cedroc said through gritted teeth.

The plan was simple.

Chief Weral was going to lead me to the surface as if I was a prisoner.

As a gesture of goodwill to the Suhlik, to make up for the disturbance earlier, I was going to be offered as a token of trust and friendship.

The chief was going to stall the conversation long enough for Cedroc to sneak onboard the ship, and only then would I be given to the Suhlik.

Once onboard, Cedroc was going to carefully incapacitate the Suhlik one or two at a time and then wipe the onboard navigation system so no one would ever know the scout team had made it to Gravum IV.

Everything was going to be fine.

Chief Weral gently bound my wrists with a length of hide rope. “Ready?” he asked me.

“Ready,” I nodded. “Cedroc? Will you go to the surface and get in position?”

He nodded tensely. “Be careful,” he murmured to me before pressing a kiss onto my forehead.

If my hands hadn’t been bound, I’d have wrapped my arms around his neck and never let him go.

“You, too. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

He managed a smile. “Okay.”

He turned and made his way up the tunnel to the surface just as a Qitzal warrior came flying in.

“The Suhlik are ready to meet with you,” he informed the chief.

“Excellent. How does the prisoner look?”

“Convincing,” the warrior nodded.

“Good. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

The chief took me in his arms and spread his wings. We flew up through the hole in the ceiling Cedroc and I had made when we first discovered the standing stones.

Five Suhlik waited just beyond the stone circle. Even they knew it was not a space to be entered lightly.

“Voyagers of the star sea,” Chief Weral spoke loudly and with authority. “I wish to offer a gift in exchange for your services.”

“A gift?” one of the Suhlik said, suspicion in his voice.

“You wish to rid us of the cursed relic, do you not? Such bravery should be rewarded. I offer this!” He released me from his arms. I fell to my knees, scraping them against the rough ground.

“Is that a human?” a Suhlik asked, leaning closer.

“I know not what the wingless beast is called,” the chief continued. “I caught it trespassing on our sacred lands. I care not what you do with it.”

“Was she alone?” the first Suhlik asked.

“I have not seen any more of her kind, nor have my scouts.”

“We’ll take her. Load her up,” the Suhlik who appeared to be the captain ordered his team with a jerk of his head.

I looked up at the chief with panic in my eyes. It was too fast! Cedroc hadn’t made it onto the ship yet. He needed more time.

“My new friends,” the chief said warmly. “To avoid bringing a curse upon your metal sky beast, we must…dance!”

Dance? Where was the chief going with this?

“Dance?” the Suhlik captain repeated slowly, sounded as confused as I felt. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am most serious.” The chief’s voice dropped low. “I cannot release the prisoner into your care knowing it might bring a curse on you and your crew.”

“Just hand over the human,” the Suhlik captain snapped.

The chief yanked me to my feet. My cry of discomfort was all too real. What had I gotten myself into?

Panic fluttered in my chest.

“Before I do, I have questions that need answering,” the chief said. “I want to know how you found my people.”

He whirled on the Qitzal warriors that had accompanied us to the surface.

“Was it one of you?” the chief demanded, knowing full well it was. These were the very warriors the team and I had spied talking to the Suhlik earlier, before everything went to shit.

None of the warriors spoke.

“Cowards,” Chief Weral hissed. “You bring strangers to our land and you lack the courage to claim your actions!”

“We did not bring them here,” one of the warriors spoke at last. I slowly sank back down to the sand.

If the Suhlik grew impatient and tried to take me by force, I could make it harder on them. It wouldn’t buy much time if it came to that, but it would buy a little.

Where the hell was Cedroc?

I scanned each of the Suhlik. Two had their backs turned to us, watching the perimeter. As long as they were keeping guard, Cedroc wouldn’t have a chance to get onto their ship. It wasn’t parked close to the stone circle, but it was still within sight. His glowing tattoos were a beacon out there in the dark.

“Then how did they find this place?” the chief demanded, jabbing his finger at his warriors. “How?”

“Does it matter?” the Suhlik captain demanded. “We tire of this. Hand over the human female.”

“Not until I get to the bottom of this.”

The Suhlik captain placed his hand on the hilt of his blaster. It was a small movement but it was heavy with meaning. I sucked in a breath.

“Shoot him,” one of the other Suhlik said to the captain. He had the nerve to sound bored.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” The chief whirled on the Suhlik who’d spoken. He spread his wings to their full span. “If you harm me, my warriors will attack.”

“There are only five,” the Suhlik captain shrugged. “It’s not hard to shoot birds from the sky.”

“But how many of us live below?” the chief asked. “Do you know? There could be a mere handful. There could be a legion. You don’t know. Are you willing to risk that?”

“We have numbers greater than yours,” the captain said. “We may not have them now, but we can have them here very soon.”

A war vessel must be nearby. Cedroc needed to wipe the navigation system right away, before it was too late.

“Oh, please!” I cried loudly enough to get the attention of all five Suhlik. The two standing guard turned to stare at me as I crawled to the chief’s feet. “Please, just let me go! I’d rather die in the swamp than be traded away!”

I gave the performance of a lifetime. Every tool in my arsenal of manipulation was put to use. I worked up some crocodile tears. I made my breath go ragged and uneven. I made myself look as small and pathetic as possible.

I kept my body trained at just the right angle so that I could see past the Suhlik toward their ship.

“I will be in your debt for life,” I pleaded with the chief. “Do not give me to them.”

“But you must!” one of the Qitzal warriors spoke. “Without a fair trade, the outsiders won’t remove the cursed object from our planet. That is why we sought them out with the technology of those who came before us.”

“You admit it at last,” Chief Weral said with a feral grin.

Well, at least some good had come out of this farce.

Just then, a flash of movement caught my eye. It took every ounce of self-control I had to keep my expression neutral while I watched Cedroc successfully board the Suhlik’s scout vessel.

Chief Weral must’ve seen him, too, for he suddenly turned to the Suhlik.

“My warrior’s truthful confession has cleared the dark energy from the sacred circle. We do not need to dance or sing. The human is yours.”

Fear crept into my chest and took root in my heart. Not even the knowledge that Cedroc was aboard the ship made facing the five Suhlik any less frightening.

Cedroc

Aided by Coralie’s diversion, I managed to sneak onto the Suhlik ship without detection —not an easy feat for a large male made of solid muscle—and seemed to be in the clear.

The lack of supplies made it obvious the Suhlik were only on a recon mission out here, although what they were looking for, I couldn’t wager a guess.

They’d been close enough to answer a weak signal from the Qitzal, so it was entirely possible they were looking for the same artifact we were.

Void. They could have been looking for us.

If that were the case, well, the boys and I would give them a welcome they wouldn’t soon forget.

If we let them keep their heads.

I made my way quickly and quietly through the ship in case there were any more of the bastards on board, hoping to end up on the bridge.

Thankfully, the ship had a standard layout and it wasn’t hard to find. I hated that I could no longer see Coralie, but we each had a job to do and I was becoming confident in her abilities—she’d be fine, I told myself.

The bridge wasn’t really a bridge at all, more like a wide-open bay serving as a control room, with just a pilot’s seat and a control panel. The ship itself was so rudimentary an Earth monkey could have flown it.

It’d be easy to take offline.

My goal was to cause as much damage as I could to ensure the Suhlik couldn’t make it off this rock.

If they couldn’t get away, my team would have no problem wiping out the whole sorry lot of them. I was just about to start smashing when my guts twisted uneasily and my heart began hammering in my chest.

The sensation that overtook my body was like nothing I’d ever felt before, but almost immediately I heard Coralie’s muffled scream, a terror-filled cry that shook the very foundations of my soul.

At the sound of her voice, I knew exactly why my physiology had changed so drastically —my mate was in danger and our bond was so strong I’d felt her fear before I heard her.

Her terror caused my feet to move without my brain telling them to. Against every bit of training, I immediately abandoned my own mission and crept back toward the door, needing to see her face to know if she was continuing her ruse or truly in distress.

I slipped into a small storage closet behind a stack of supplies and watched through a crack in the door, hoping everything was still proceeding according to plan.

The Suhlik didn’t enter the ship first. Instead, they threw Coralie—bound, gagged, and terrified out of her mind—violently down onto the deck like a sack of grain, as if she was completely worthless to them.

Unbridled rage coursed through my body, causing my tattoos to flare in response. They smoldered with my anger. My adrenaline spiked hotly and it took everything I had to stay hidden.

I’d always known the Suhlik were scum—you couldn’t be a Vaznik warrior and not know that—but to treat an innocent woman like she was nothing but a piece of trash was beyond comprehension.

I’d be enraged to see them do that to any female, but the fact that it was my mate they’d thrown so carelessly onto the deck made it a thousand times worse.

The group of them entered the hold only moments after they’d tossed Coralie in, standing around her in a semi-circle as they continued what must have been a conversation they’d started outside.

Coralie never stopped struggling and fighting against her bonds until one of the brutes shoved a foot hard into her ribs. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from shouting and storming out of my hiding place.

As much as I wanted to go to her, giving up my position so soon would mean certain death for us both.

Coralie stopped fighting against her bonds, but continued whimpering against the gag covering her mouth. Tears shone in her eyes in the lights of the hull and it tore me apart to see her so clearly terrified.

Was it acting, or had something gone wrong?

It felt like hours had passed before the Suhlik left the hold, retreating past my hiding place and leaving Coralie where she lay on the deck like a broken doll. I couldn’t see where they’d taken off to, but I waited until I could no longer hear their footsteps or voices before slowly inching my way out of the closet.

I crept down low and kept my footsteps light, quickly making my way to her.

I pressed a finger to my lips once I was in her line of vision, signaling for her to be absolutely quiet. Once she nodded her understanding, I proceeded to pick my way across the deck nearly on tiptoes, holding my breath.

At my size, it wasn’t easy for me to be soundless, and if the Suhlik heard me, we were done for.

When I finally reached her, I tore away the ropes that bound her with my bare hands before doing the same to the gag they’d used on her. Before I could toss them to the deck, she was up on her knees, throwing her arms tightly around my neck and burying her face into my shoulder. Her entire body trembled as she sobbed in my arms.

“It’s okay—you’re okay. I’ve got you now. I’m not going to let them touch you ever again,” I told her, whispering the words against the shell of her ear.

Standing in that closet, unable to do anything to help her, had been the worst moment of my life. Although I knew it would have meant a death sentence for us both if I’d moved, the guilt of allowing them to hurt her weighed heavily on me.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Cedroc. I saw you board the ship, but I was so scared that something was going to go wrong. I felt so sure you were going to get caught or killed! I was so scared I was going to be taken for real,” she cried softly against my skin.

I pulled back to look at her. Our eyes met and held, like the silver lining of a cloud against a perfect sky. In them, I saw everything—my past, present, and future, and I didn’t want to ever let her go.

“I’m here. I was always here. I just couldn’t come out of hiding until they’d gone. I didn’t want to leave you alone, and I’ll kill them for hurting you,” I said, not one word a lie.

She continued to cling to me, her warm, soft body pressed up against mine, and even though we’d never been in more danger than we were in at that moment, I couldn’t stop the desire that rippled beneath my skin.

All I wanted was to get us off this damn ship and back to the Calliope so I could make love to her until we were both rendered completely senseless.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? I promise they won’t touch you—I won’t give them the time to get that close. It’ll be over before you know it,” I said.

“I trust you, Cedroc. I’ll be fine. This will work—it has to.”

Then she kissed me. She took my head in her tiny hands and pulled my face to hers, pressing her full lips against my own and giving me the sweetest kiss anyone ever had.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t die on me, okay?” she said.

“I promise,” I said, nearly struck dumb by the strength of my feelings for her.

I knew I was in way too deep, but I didn’t care. She was the one for me, for now and for always, and I was going to get us out of this mess.

Just as she pulled out of my arms, I felt the telltale rumbling of the ship’s engines powering to life and then the engaging of the thrusters as it began its ascent into the sky.

With one final look at Coralie, I steeled my nerves, returned to my hiding place in the storage closet, and waited for her to start screaming.

Coralie

The rumbling of the ship struck fear into my heart. The damn thing was beating so hard I thought it might tear right through my breastbone. Shock piling on top of shock was making it hard to breathe. As the lack of oxygen shuddered through me, I realized I couldn’t feel my heart anymore.

All I could feel were solid jaws of terror that were clamped around my throat. My heartbeat fluttered in my neck like a butterfly trying to rise from a glass cage. I saw spots in front of my eyes and prayed for the blissful peace of unconsciousness.

I realized I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. I couldn’t let that happen. I had a job to do.

I closed my eyes and tried to banish the fear from my heart. I’d thought I could handle this, but the Suhlik were terrifying.

I didn’t want them to come back into the room. I didn’t want to see them hurt Cedroc.

I pictured Cedroc in my mind’s eye. I imagined the warm pressure of his hands, and the concern in his eyes touched me through my panic, then a moment of calm cleaved through me like a shaft of sunlight slicing through storm clouds.

I had to take several deep breaths to find my voice again and when I did, I threw my head back and screamed with everything in me.

It was like being a volcano. I started off on a small note, but as I let myself think about where we were and just how fucked up it was, I found the scream ripping out of me, pouring, cascading, a river of fear that tore the air with its icy barbs.

Two of the scouts showed up and I screamed at the sight of them.

I scurried across the deck, shrieking and trying to put as much distance between them and me as I possibly could. They looked at each other and back at me, clearly wondering what to do about the situation. Hopefully they wouldn’t have time to wonder what had happened to my bonds.

Cedroc appeared out of the shadows like living darkness. I hadn’t even seen him move, but suddenly he was behind them, striking one in the curve of his neck and grabbing the other from behind.

I watched with a sick fascination as he choked the guy down, dropping him almost apologetically on the deck as he breathed his last.

He reached over to the other one, who was trying to get up, and grabbed his cheeks, snapping his neck in one sharp movement.

I tried to scream again, but my mouth opened and closed uselessly.

Then I started to cry. I kept looking at the dead guys and Cedroc standing over them, and I couldn’t stop the tears. A wailing sound came out of my chest and it didn’t stop.

“Coralie…” Cedroc stepped towards me, smudges of red on his hands. I backed up, wanting to put distance between myself and the blood on his hands, but only succeeded in smacking myself against the wall.

He stayed a few paces away, looking at his own hands with regret.

“Just do it again, Coralie. The others will be wanting to check on them when they don’t come back, but I need you to scream some more and get them in here.”

I shook my head uselessly, trying to speak with a throat full of tears. The basics of my existence—breathing, moving—made no sense to me.

Cedroc leaned over and caught my eye, the power of his gaze calming me in seconds.

We were together. We might be in it up to the neck, but at least we were in it together. I smiled, surprising myself. Cedroc stepped towards me, kissing me quickly.

“Now, do it again.” He hurried off behind the crates.

I sobbed a bit, trying to call up my voice. All I had to do was let the reality of my situation pound into me and suddenly I was screaming again.

No acting required, just a submission to current events.

I heard a single pair of feet charging down the hall and my scream died down into some sobbing. I didn’t look up when the Suhlik came in, curling myself into a ball.

I heard the scuffle, thick blows of bones and flesh coming together, harsh snaps and the grunts of those locked in combat.

I covered my ears with my hands, putting my head down. I kept my eyes screwed shut and tried not to think too hard.

I heard Cedroc’s feet moving towards me and I let him hug me. I started to come out of the tiny ball I’d wrapped myself into, clinging to him.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him.

Calm sighed through me, the moment after the storm when you see the rainbow and you knew that you had survived.

When he touched me, everything else disappeared. Even now, twisted as I was, it didn’t fail to affect me.

I pressed myself against him, feeling his hand come around and hold my head, pulling me onto his lap. I turned my head, brushing his cheek with my lips, and he met mine with his own.

The kiss was desperate, something needy and urgent. It was as if our bodies needed the immediate imprint of the other.

Seeing each other was not enough to prove to us that our bond wasn’t broken. Only our touch could do that.

My arms tightened around him until I was squeezing him as hard as I could. My arms started to hurt, I held him so tightly.

When I felt his fingers gently pulling my hands from his neck, I shook my head, moaning, trying to get back onto his lap.

“Coralie…Coralie! We don’t have much time.”

“Don’t leave me!”

“I have to move now. If I’m going to salvage this, get us back to the others, I have to keep going. Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not fucking okay!” I yelled at him.

He absorbed my words with a calm grace. “But will you be, if I go? I’ve got to take out the other two.”

I wanted to nod with a stern look on my face and bid him to go. I tried to catch the vibe of every single tough chick I’d ever seen in a vid. At least offer to hold his weapon for him or something.

But I wasn’t a ninja badass that could support my man in a fight.

I was just me. Even if I pulled myself together, I wasn’t going to be much good to him.

On some faraway level, I was grateful that he was spending so much time patching me up when time was something we did not have.

“Coralie?” he asked again.

I drew in a shaking breath and nodded. “I’m. Okay.” Those words were the hardest I’d ever had to say.

He peered into my face, clearly not believing me. He looked hurt and let down, as well as full of urgent need to act. It made me stop and pay attention.

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly, my only care was for him.

A flash of uncertainty painted his features. I felt like something cold got shoved into my guts. What was wrong now?

“I’ll make you a deal, Coralie.” His voice was softly encouraging. “Just hang out here, keep yourself safe, and take it easy. Once I’ve got control of this thing, I’ll take you home.”

“What?”

“Well, not all the way home. But I can use this ship to take you to the next major space hub. Then you can get home from there. Okay?”

I tried to nod and shake my head at the same time. I was too fragile for this. A few seconds ago, all I wanted was for him to never leave me.

Now he wanted to get rid of me?

“I…”

“I don’t have time,” Cedroc snapped, looking towards the door. “If you don’t have an answer, that’s okay. But think about it. You’ll be fine. You can go home! Doesn’t that give you strength?”

He smiled at me and it felt false. There was nothing behind it. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks, but the hysteria was gone.

Maybe it just wore off, like all high emotions, leaving me flat in its aftermath.

“Okay,” I whispered, not even knowing what I was agreeing to anymore.

He nodded. “Alright. Settle yourself in here and stay down. I’m going to go and finish this job. Don’t be scared, Coralie. This has been one big disaster of a fuckup, but I’ll make it right. You’ll get home.”

He stood up and left the room quickly, with his usual athletic grace. All I could think about was how, just a few days ago, all I had wanted was to go home.

Now that it looked like it was actually going to happen, I didn’t think I wanted it anymore.

Not at all.

Cedroc

Charging through the ship, I cleared my mind of everything except what needed to be done. Being a soldier, a warrior, was something that was learned and if you crippled yourself with too much thought, action was the one thing that wouldn’t be found.

My thoughts became clear and cold. My body was responding to the situation with even more adrenaline and I used it, powering it into my muscles and letting out a roar.

Let the fuckers hear me coming. They didn’t know it, but they were all alone now.

I’d love to use a blaster, clear the ship. But a stray bolt could pierce the hull of a ship this small, kill us all.

Not even the Suhlik were that stupid.

As I ran towards the control room, I saw the glittering scales of the captain, just for a second. He was hanging around near the door, waiting to nail me when I ran into the control room.

I pulled myself against the nearby wall, feeling my body settle immediately. I kept my breaths quiet and felt my heart slowing down, never losing its firm, even rhythm.

I peeked around the corner, looking for him. I saw nothing but the wide-open door that revealed the pilot.

He was taking his time, adjusting his instruments. Neither of these bastards had realized just how bad the situation had become right under their noses.

I looked around carefully and saw no sign of the captain. It seemed he wanted to play games but I decided to jump right in.

Stepping to the middle of the hallway, I walked towards the control room. I kept my eyes fixed on the pilot as he worked the controls.

Just as I came level with the door, I sensed a movement behind me. I ducked, only just in time for the heavy club to miss my head and smash into the door frame. The captain dropped the weapon reflexively, shaking his hands at the shock.

Battle readiness surged as I turned on him, uncoiling from the floor like a cobra. He hissed at me and I bared my teeth right back.

“Die, scum!”

The stench of those things, the disgusting miasma around them. It made me sick. They were so repulsive I would rather not touch them at all, even to kill them.

But I could stand some discomfort if it got me what I wanted.

The captain sank onto his knees, opening his arms wide as he hissed at me. His teeth glittered like gold, shining venom locked up somewhere in his jaws. I stood quietly, arms ready by my sides as he got himself into a full threat display.

It was impressive. His movements demonstrated athletic prowess and all his natural weapons. The forked tongue tasted the air, his third eyelid flickering in response. I couldn’t be sure, but I think the thing was grinning.

Maybe he took my lack of response for fear or submission. I wasn’t going to waste any energy dancing around the place. I was only hesitating to see if I could figure out his next move. From the looks of his little show, he didn’t actually have one.

I lunged for his throat. He ducked and swiped at my legs with his claws, slashing across one calf as I jumped out of the way.

He sprang out of his crouch, arms wide and claws pointed at my throat. I rolled to the side just as he landed, claws rattling against the deck.

I flipped up to my feet, bringing up my fists and centering my weight. The captain rose, hissing and spitting. He started moving around again, showing off all his power but carefully staying out of reach.

The pilot looked over his shoulder, eyes widened in alarm. He started pressing buttons and I realized I had to get in there.

I had spent enough time playing with the captain.

While he was in the middle of a crouch, hissing and wriggling his claws at me, I turned away so he would move towards me.

Then I leaped at him.

We went down together, heavily hitting the deck. I twisted on top of him, getting my hands around his throat. I saw fear flash through his eyes but only for a second, as I snapped his neck.

I turned towards the pilot. He was getting up, moving around his chair. I was worried about what transmissions he was sending, just like I was worried about the ship itself and where these guys were hoping to go. I had to push it away, though, and focus on this one fight.

The pilot and I stared at each other for a few seconds. His movements were fluid and efficient, without any affectation. This one wouldn’t waste time on a threat display, nor would he risk losing energy with flamboyant moves.

When we stepped towards each other, it was a moment of connection between warriors. We both wanted to get it done and we also knew this wouldn’t be easy.

I came in with a hard right which he blocked, slamming his fist into my gut. I stomped on his foot, ramming an elbow into his ribs. He shoved me, using the momentum to snap back and punch me in the face.

I stumbled, almost going down. He flew towards me and I threw myself at the deck while his spin-kick went over my head. I launched myself at his supporting leg and we both went down.

The next few seconds were insane as we scrabbled against each other. He raked his claws down my face and I punched him in the mouth. When he tried to slash open my guts, I got a foot up, balanced it on his midsection, and thrust him away from me.

We both stood up slowly, eyes locked together. This was more than just a feature of the mission now. This guy was good and there was a feeling in the air that seemed inspired by our intense concentration. Something of respect.

He rushed me and I threw my hands up, blocking his blow. I roared, holding his hands away with one of mine so I could punch him in the stomach. He got an arm free and I heard my own scream as he raked his claws down my face, then scoring my side from my armpit to my hip.

I staggered back, holding my side. Hot blood was pouring over my hand, dripping down my leg. I looked up, blood obscuring my vision as well as running down my body.

When our eyes met again, he smiled. He was winning. It looked pretty bad for me.

I glared at him, my gaze not that of a cornered animal, but of a proud warrior who has used up all their tricks.

The only trick left in my bag was death.

I waited for him to come to me. His overconfidence saw him come in too fast. I sidestepped, grabbing his head and slamming it into the wall of the ship. I heard the crunch of his skull breaking on the metal and stepped back, gasping.

I looked over my two enemies, crumpled at my feet. Holding my side, I started shuffling into the control room.

Just as I suspected, the pilot had begun a distress call. The best action was to cancel it and hope it remained unheard. I went through the list of ship controls quickly, finding that there was no escape pod.

And we were on autopilot to fuck knew where.

I had to get this thing back to Gravum IV.

But first I had to disable all of its tracking systems and network hardware. If I left anything transmitting, the Suhlik could track it down.

My hands flew over the controls as I slowly disconnected all of the ship’s computer network. No one would be able to access the ship’s current or past location. Gravum IV and the Qitzal would stay hidden from Suhlik eyes, for now.

Now that the fighting was over, my mind found time to idle, thoughts of Coralie returning.

What I’d promised her.

I had told her she could go home.

What an idiot.

I didn’t know why I’d said something like that. She was just so frightened, I would have done anything to comfort her at that point. I told her the one thing that I believed she needed to hear to get through this.

And it was breaking my heart.

I couldn’t lose her. I loved her. If she went away, I’d feel like half a man. My life would never be the same again.

Emotion rose in me as I settled the ship, stabilizing it. Soon I would have to face her, make good on my promise.

No matter the cost to myself, all I wanted was for Coralie to be happy. If we got through this and she still wanted to go home, I would make sure she got there.

It was a strange feeling, tearing out my own heart to save someone else’s. I knew the ache would get worse every day of my life, but that didn’t matter.

The only thing that mattered to me was her. If leaving me was what she needed, I wouldn’t stand in her way. I couldn’t.

I tried to focus on flying the ship, but the pain had hold of my mind now and was running with it right through my every cell. Even though I knew I was condemning myself to misery, I tried to think of Coralie being happy. The thought brought me some comfort.

The best thing to do was simply give her what I’d promised. I thought about how her face would light up when she returned to her home and life. It made me smile, too.

I enjoyed it for as long as I could.

Pretty soon, I wouldn’t have anything to smile about.

Coralie

I stayed in that corner for what felt like eternity. The ship shuddered under me and the sounds of fighting rang through the halls.

I had no idea what to do, unable to imagine how I would react if someone tried to attack me. I doubted I could even manage any bravado before I went down.

My breathing made the biggest difference. As my panting began to settle, my ears stopped ringing and my heart began to calm down. With my blood slowing and my breath easier, I started looking around, actually thinking about my situation.

Despite still shaking, I managed to crawl towards the door. The corridor was completely silent and that freaked me out the most. I decided that if I was going to do this, I had to get on my feet.

I didn’t care how wobbly my legs were, I refused to crawl everywhere.

Just making that decision gave me strength. I pulled myself to my knees, using a crate to haul myself up. I staggered a little but kept my balance. I beamed around the room like I had an audience to show off for.

I actually felt capable and strong as I got to the door. Once I stuck my head out, all my confidence just faded away.

Another body.

I managed not to scream, but as I started edging up the hallway, I did cry a bit.

I knew that these guys were bad guys. I didn’t feel sorry for them. I felt sorry for me. I had never experienced carnage like this before.

You didn’t read about it; you didn’t see it in movies. At least, not any books or movies I’d ever seen.

I tried focusing my eyes up higher, but then I ended up putting my foot into disgusting things, so I had to look down again. I tried to just edge past puddles of blood and strips of torn flesh like this was all fine and I did it every day.

I was really shaking by the time I finally saw the corridor open up. Ahead of me, I could see an open door and, mercifully, Cedroc inside.

He was sitting in a big chair, swiveling back and forth to touch the controls. I was so excited to see him well that I just stared at him for a few seconds, letting the moment sink in.

We’d made it. We did. We were both alive and it had all worked out.

I started hurrying towards him, desperate to celebrate.

That was when I noticed the blood.

He turned his head to look over the console and I saw ragged scratches down his cheek. His left calf was marked with scratches and on his side, there was a long bloom of red that stayed freshly wet as my lover’s blood flowed thickly from the wound.

“Cedroc!” I screamed and ran towards him, falling into his lap. I hadn’t meant to fall on him, it was just my tired legs collapsing as I got near him. The smile he gave me cheered me up instantly. Surely, he couldn’t smile like that if he was really dying.

“Are you okay, Coralie?” His voice was deep and so sincere it brought tears to my eyes.

I nodded, gesturing at his wounds. “You’re not, you’re hurt. I have to see to it.”

“It’s not that bad.” He tried to wave it off but just the movement of his arm made him wince. I quickly got off him.

“I knew you were hurt! I have to find some supplies—” I looked around the room, wondering if I was going to have to search the ship. I pulled a couple of boxes out of a nearby cupboard and found a med kit.

I felt very capable indeed as I snapped it open sitting beside Cedroc. Once I was looking at the neat rows of packaged dressings and elastic wrap, I realized I had no idea what to do.

“The cheek and the calf just need a straight bandage,” Cedroc said with some amusement. “Easy enough to cut a piece off and stick it down, but you’ll need to clean them.”

I stared at the box, then glanced back at him.

“Use those gauze pads there…that stuff is antiseptic, just pour a little on the cotton to clean the wound’s edges…OUCH!”

I scuttled back, clutching the gauze and antiseptic to my chest.

Cedroc looked over apologetically. “Sorry. Hit a soft spot.”

I cleaned and dressed the superficial wounds, finally peeling back his shirt to look at his ribs. Long slashes stretched from his armpit all the way to his hip, looking very painful across the ribs. The wounds were still oozing blood and didn’t look like they were going to stop.

“Just grab that big dressing.” He gestured to a sheet of cotton. “Press it down, then wrap me in that stretchy stuff. Make it tight. We just need to get some pressure on it, try and keep it together until I can get to Jarvik.”

I got him to hold his arms up while I pressed the dressing to his body and wound him up in the bandage. I was actually starting to focus on the job itself more than the gore and my stomach hadn’t flipped even once. I was feeling pretty accomplished.

Now that one side of his body was less mobile, Cedroc got me to help disconnect the rest of the computer system.

It didn’t look anything like a human system, but with Cedroc to guide me, the process wasn’t hard.

“How do we get where we’re going?” I looked out into the stars as the ship moved under me.

“I can still navigate manually.” He followed my eyes out the viewport. “I can follow the ion trails back.”

I shook my head. “It’s beautiful, but it’s so empty.”

“No, it’s not. We just feel empty when we look at it. Deep space is its own ecosystem. Just like any living body, it has life teeming in it at all times. Just because it’s life we don’t understand doesn’t mean it isn’t life.”

I turned slowly to look at Cedroc, thinking that I had never heard him be so fanciful before.

He gave me a sheepish grin. “Blame it on the blood loss?”

“No way.” I grinned at him. “You’re going to wear that for the rest of your life.”

“Speaking of that…” His face tensed up as he focused hard on his controls. “I had better turn this baby to the nearest spaceport. I promised you.”

“No.”

Cedroc looked towards me, then back at the controls. “What?”

“I said no. I don’t want to go back to Earth.” I swallowed hard. “At least, not yet. Maybe for a visit later. If it’s convenient.”

He turned to me, forgetting the console. “Are you sure?”

I just grinned and nodded. I threw myself at him at the same time he reached for me and we tumbled back into the pilot’s seat, kissing and laughing.

I didn’t think I had ever seen Cedroc so uninhibited.

“I love you.” He looked into my eyes tenderly, gripping my arms as he spoke the words. “I love you, Coralie!”

I stroked his face, lost in the power of his gaze. I shook my head, thinking about how all I’d wanted was to get away, get home. But the second I had the opportunity to run, I didn’t want to go.

“I love you, Cedroc.” I put my hands on his cheeks, carefully avoiding the wound. “I can’t quite believe it myself, but it’s true.”

He gave me a smile that truly touched my heart. Instead of the locked up, emotionally absent man I had first met, here was one laid open to me by the force of his sincerity.

From the first moment, he had cared for me with more attention than anyone I’d ever known. The connection had been there from the start, but I had just been too stubborn to see it.

Holding him carefully around all his wounds, I pulled us closer together and leaned into his kiss. Cedroc wrapped his hands around my waist, sliding them down and grabbing my ass. I giggled through the kiss, thinking that he couldn’t be that hurt if he was still horny.

His hands came up to touch my cheeks again, softly stroking me from my cheekbones down to my chin. His eyes were wide, face soft. In that moment, there was nothing to say. The love between us was a force, it was part of us now and its power had shattered us both.

We had both been made into new people, just by meeting each other. Nothing could ever be the same now. The things that had meant so much to me before now seemed like cheap distractions.

I wanted none of it.

All I wanted was Cedroc.

The console began to beep, and I grinned. “Don’t you need to get back to that?”

He smiled slyly, running a hand up my side to caress my breast. “It can wait. At least a few minutes.”

I pressed my lips to his and let myself forget everything, everything except his hands and his mouth, mine just as I was his.

Cedroc

Spinning the ship back to Gravum IV didn’t take much time. With all the comms systems destroyed, we couldn’t signal Rekker, but we’d find him soon enough, I was sure.

I landed the Suhlik ship well away from the circle of stones, where a crowd of Qitzal had already gathered. Gathering up a few supplies that would be useful to replenish the stores of the Calliope, we headed out.

Chief Weral waited there for us. We bowed to each other in greeting. Normally, a Vaznik warrior didn’t bow to anyone, but the mutual respect between us demanded the gesture.

“All those who betrayed us have been banished.” Weral shifted his staff, making its decorations clatter.

“Banished?” I looked around curiously, thinking that if they didn’t banish them far enough, they’d just come right back and start more misery. Chief Weral shook his head softly. He gestured with his staff over the desert with its white-hot heat shimmering over it.

“Criminals get banished to the sands.” He sounded satisfied with himself and I had to admit, so was I. It had been a hard damn day and it wasn’t even over yet. Knowing that a few traitors were frying certainly put me in a better mood.

“I need to head back to my people,” I said.

“You need rest,” Chief Weral said gently, looking at my wounds. “You have fought hard, boy. I sent runners to your people. They should be here soon.”

For once, being called ‘boy’ didn’t send me into a towering rage. I understood that he didn’t mean it in an authoritative or disrespectful way. He meant it as affection, almost like saying ‘son’.

“Yeah. I could use some food and sleep.”

Weral looked me over, his face impassive while his eyes were full of feeling.

“Tell me, boy. You’ll give it up now, won’t you? You can’t go after the cursed thing. Surely now you see—”

I held up my hand, shaking my head. “I can’t give up. It’s what we came here for.”

Weral shook his head, glaring at us both. “To what value do you hold your duty? Is it the same that you value as your lives? Nothing could convince me to go down there!”

I saw Coralie’s face fall. I wanted to say that these were just mindless rantings from a primitive shaman, but I knew better. He wasn’t giving us the pitch to keep us away from the artifact. He was actually scared.

“I really have to.” I tried to reach out to him, but he turned away.

“It is in the deepest, darkest pit. The one nearest the core. Even if the thing itself were not so dangerous, don’t you fear the planet itself?”

“I do.” I looked him square in the eye. “But I can’t let it stop me. I have so many people depending on me.” I wanted to be offhand and say something like ‘how bad could it be?’, but I had a feeling that might invite bad luck. I was quite superstitious after hanging out with these guys.

“There is no other option. I have to go for it, but I appreciate your concern.”

When Weral turned back to me I saw such horrible sadness in his eyes, I almost went back on my words. He was grieving for me already. Just in response to my certainty that I would go there.

“You’ll be changed, boy. And that’s if you live.”

The wind stirred us, making him look like an old mystic. I wanted to follow his advice, but it wasn’t possible. Whatever that thing was, we had to get it.

“Let’s focus on something we can do.” Weral smiled. “Let me send some helpers to dispose of that.” He waved a hand at the Suhlik ship. His face showed a fair amount of distaste as he looked it over.

First, I tore all the things out of it that could be useful. Lengths of wire, circuit boards, medical equipment. The Qitzal helped me get it all inside the tunnels and pack it into a spare room.

I stood looking at the ship, rubbing my hands together.

“What are you going to do? How exactly do you ‘get rid of’ a whole ship?” Coralie asked softly.

“Well.” I grinned. “The best thing to do is bury it…or blow it up.”

“Which are you going to do?”

“Both.” I grinned at her.

I watched the slow, confident smile on her face. The wind stirred, caressing her cheek and I thought she looked like a goddess. Something carved at the beginning of time that retained its beauty over the course of a millennium.

With Coralie and the others standing way back, I got some of the younger Qitzal to help me lay charges that I had brought from the ship. I had to stop and hold my wound a few times, cursing the fact that it was still oozing and I hadn’t had time to wash it yet.

The young Qitzal and I capered around like maniacs as we set the charges along the structural lines of the ship as well as around her base. The Qitzal helped ensure that it would be away from their tunnels. I didn’t know how they did that, but I assumed it was either through more of their lost technology or deep knowledge of their world.

Either way, it worked.

I think most of the community came to watch. We made sure everyone was out of the blast radius, then I detonated the charges.

Rumbles ripped through the earth, shaking us all off our feet. Dust clouds rose and above it all, I could see the explosives firing into the air. More booming rang through the earth as well as thundering into the sky and a great tearing sound echoed around us.

The structural lines of the ship bent and folded. More sparks and lines of fire shot into the air and with a boom to put the others to shame, all the main charges went at once.

The sands shivered, particles of rock tinkling as they rolled across the ground. The ship disappeared under waves of red earth, parts of it falling away until it was nothing but a mass of shattered, charred metal.

The Qitzal started to cheer and some hugged each other. Younger ones started playing, excited from all the action.

The Suhlik would never find the ship and with any luck, they would never even know it had come here.

Lost ships were not uncommon in the black.

“This is what you’ve been doing?” A voice cracked through the crowd like a whip. I saw Rekker striding towards me and I didn’t know if I should be relieved or prepare myself for an ass-whooping.

He stopped in front of me, looking me over. I saw his lips twitch in a smile that he tried not to show.

“How many went up against you?” He raised an eyebrow. “Were there more hidden on that ship?”

“Just the five, sir.”

“And here you stand, ripped to shreds. It’s unacceptable.”

I could tell from the glint in his eye that he was making fun of me.

“You better get tended, soldier.” He poked my ribs. “It looks like your playmates got a bit rough.”

I saw Jarvik some distance away and waved to him, ready to have him rewrap me.

I loved Coralie but…let’s just say I wouldn’t want her to be my only medic.

Ferne and Lila ran over, flinging their arms around Coralie. The women made happy noises as Coralie wiped away a few tears. She started to tell the women everything that happened, but when I saw her legs shaking so hard she sat down, I felt worse than I ever had in my life.

I had gotten it into my head that she was strong, like me. That she could handle anything. Even when I saw her freaking out on the ship, I thought it was just a moment, a buildup of stress that could happen to anyone.

Now as she hunched over, sobbing as the others tried to comfort her, I realized the cost for her to stay with me.

She was a gentle soul, a sweet creature. I couldn’t just drag her into my life and expect her to love it. The way this looked, I couldn’t even count on her staying the same.

The woman I had fallen in love with would need to evolve to remain in my world.

But then, I wasn’t the same Cedroc, either. She had changed me just as much as I had changed her.

Our life together was meant to change, and so were we. The best thing I could do was embrace that, look forward to many future days where we could talk about the changes in us as we grew closer and closer.

Rekker came back around, bringing Jarvik with him.

“Let’s get you properly stitched.” Jarvik shook his head as he pulled out a med kit. “What kind of soldier are you, still bleeding over a scratch like that.”

I tried to laugh, but it hurt too much, so I let it turn into a cough.

“All jokes aside, Cedroc,” Rekker said quietly. “Those were some incredible tactics, soldier. You were beyond brave, full of courage, and you brought the mission home.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He nodded firmly as he looked over the area of upheaval where we’d destroyed the Suhlik ship.

“Job well done. I won’t forget valor like that.”

I was trying to think of something eloquent to say when Javik jabbed me with a needle. I yelled so loud, everyone turned to look.

“You big baby.” Jarvik shook his head again. “Sit still, or you’ll end up with more wounds instead of nice, even stitches.”

I tried not to laugh, knowing it wouldn’t help me or Jarvik deal with the wound. Instead, I looked over at Coralie, who grinned when she saw me looking at her. She waved, the look on her face telling me everything I needed to know.

Coralie

I felt so much better after having a good, long cry. My father had always told me to control my emotions. I wasn’t allowed to look angry, upset, or hurt. When I moved into my penthouse, I vowed to never, ever hide my emotions again.

My penthouse.

Well, Daddy’s penthouse, actually. I hadn’t thought about it in so long. It felt like a lifetime ago that I used to wake up to the sound of my maid bringing me breakfast in bed. Upon further reflection, I realized I didn’t miss my penthouse very much.

I didn’t really miss my old life at all. I hadn’t thought about Constalatia since my first day here.

My old life was as insubstantial as smoke. I saw that now. Everything I once was had blown away on the wind.

I wasn’t sure who I was now, but I was eager to get to know her.

“Are you all right?” Lila asked softly, her soothing hand rubbing small circles in the middle of my back.

“I’m fine,” I nodded. “I just needed to get it all out.”

It worked. Now that I’d had a chance to cry and scream away the shock of the last few hours, I felt much better. My mind felt sharper. Thoughts fell together with ease.

“You don’t need to push yourself,” Ferne advised.

I looked at her with a grin. “I haven’t even begun to push myself.”

It was true. Every inch of my body hurt, but I was ready to keep going. For the first time, I understood what I was capable of. I wanted to know how far I could push myself. I wanted to see how much I could accomplish now that I knew I could do things for myself.

Cedroc must be worried sick. I know he’d seen me crying a few minutes ago. I didn’t want him to think I was afraid of him or that I hated the idea of being here. Truthfully, I was excited to be a part of their mission.

Chief Weral had spoken about the deepest pit on the planet. Rather than wrinkling my nose at the thought of going deep underground, excitement surged in the pit of my stomach.

“You should return to your camp,” Chief Weral advised Rekker. “Rest. My people offer whatever supplies you may need.”

“Thank you for your kindness.” Rekker bowed his head. “We need nothing more than a good meal and sleep. You needn’t trouble yourself.”

“We can take you back to your camp,” Chief Weral offered. “The sun will rise soon. The walk will quickly become perilous.”

“Absolutely not,” Cedroc blurted. I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter.

“What Cedroc means,” I said smoothly, “is that he is more comfortable walking. I, however, would be grateful for a lift back to camp.” I might be a new woman, but I wasn’t so new that I was going to walk across a barren, scalding desert when I didn’t have to.

“Us, as well,” Lila said, glancing at Ferne.

Cedroc’s gaze met mine. He looked concerned, even a little sad. I gave him a sly wink, hoping that would ease some of his worries.

“My warriors will escort you when you’re ready,” Chief Weral said.

I walked over to Cedroc and knelt by his side. “How are your wounds, soldier?” I asked lightly.

“I heal quickly. Are you all right?” He fixed me with a look so intense I nearly fell over.

“I’m fine,” I assured him.

“You were crying.”

“But I’m not now. Sometimes, we all need a good cry.”

“I don’t,” he scoffed.

“Riiight. Because you’re a big, tough, warrior who punches his feelings away.”

“Damn straight,” Cedroc grinned. Relief bloomed in my chest now that we started to sink back into our usual back-and-forth.

Normalcy was what we both needed the most after the day we’d had.

Apparently, sitting in a cavern surrounded by winged aliens and joking about our coping mechanisms was normal to me now.

Whatever. I’d take it.

“You’re sure you don’t want the Qitzal to carry you back to camp?” I asked.

Cedroc gave me a blank stare. “I’m sure. I’m not a fan of being carried.”

I rolled my eyes and pressed a kiss into his forehead. “Suit yourself. I’ll see you back at the camp.”

Cedroc took my hand and squeezed it before releasing me. I strode up to one of the Qitzal standing beside Chief Weral.

“Are you my ride?”

“Ride?” he repeated slowly.

“Are you taking me back to camp?”

“Indeed.”

Two other Qitzal held Lila and Ferne.

“None of the males are taking advantage of the wonders of flight?” I asked.

“No,” Lila shook her head. “None of them want to be carried.”

“What babies,” I smirked.

The three Qitzal spread their wings and lifted off the ground. Within seconds, we were gliding over the desert. The horizon was a vibrant shade of pink, ready to welcome the rising sun. Cool night air whipped my hair around my face.

“Holy shit!” Ferne cried.

I looked her way just in time to see her throw her head back and laugh.

“Isn’t it amazing?” I called to her.

“I could do this all day!” she cried back.

I looked the other way to check on Lila. “How are you holding up?” I asked her.

“I didn’t think I was scared of heights until now,” she replied while adamantly refusing to open her eyes.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “We’re almost there.”

Five minutes later, we were back on solid ground. Lila looked pale and unsteady on her feet. I rushed to her side and offered her an arm.

“Thanks,” she groaned as she leaned against me. “Next time I’ll walk.”

“Can I go again?” Ferne excitedly asked the Qitzal who’d brought her here.

“My wings could use the exercise,” her Qitzal escort replied.

“Hell yes!” Ferne shot a fist into the air. “Let’s do this.” She resituated herself into position and they took off into the sky.

“Kyre’s going to get a kick out of that,” Lila joked.

“Do you think Ferne will ever want to walk again?” I giggled. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

“I can manage,” Lila said just before her face turned green.

“No, you can’t,” I laughed. “It’s okay. We’ll just get you lying down. Want some broth?”

“That sounds lovely,” Lila admitted. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do after all everyone has done for me,” I said with a shrug. We walked inside the Calliope together.

“I’ve never been this motion sick before,” she mused.

“Well, you’ve never been carried by a flying alien before,” I reasoned. I took her to her cabin and helped her get into bed. “I’ll be back with your broth.”

“Thanks again,” she said from atop a mound of pillows.

I made my way to the galley. As soon as I entered the room, warm memories of the special dinner Cedroc had made for me flooded to the forefront of my mind. I should cook something for him, too.

We could make it our little tradition. It wasn’t as if we could go out on date nights here. Not unless the Qitzal operated a five-star restaurant I didn’t know about.

As I prepared a small portion of sjurla broth for Lila, my thoughts wandered to my father. What would he think if he saw me now? I’d like to think he’d be proud. Would he want me to come back? Would he find a way to release me from my contract to Cedroc?

I didn’t want to leave Cedroc, but it would be nice to rid myself of that contract. If Cedroc and I eventually wanted children, I wanted that to be a choice we made together, not because some treaty forced us to.

Children. The word reverberated through my thoughts. I’d never thought about having kids before. The thought wasn’t as alarming as I expected. Cedroc would be an amazing father, too.

First, we had to get off this planet.

Once the broth was ready, I ladled it into a bowl and brought it to Lila. She was already fast asleep, so I left the broth on the side table and crept out of the room.

All I wanted in the whole wide world was a shower. I was still in the length of cloth the Qitzal women had lent me. I needed to wash off the sweat, dirt, and blood that covered me in patches.

In Cedroc’s cabin, I took my time showering, scrubbing every inch of myself ten times over. It was the most thorough washing I’d had since I came here. I was in pure heaven, even without my arsenal of shower products.

I stepped out of the shower and collapsed naked on the bed. I was asleep within seconds.

“Coralie,” a gentle voice whispered. A large warm hand stroked down my back, over the curve of my ass.

“Hmm,” I murmured, still half asleep.

“We’re back.”

My eyes flew open. Cedroc sat on the bed beside me, smiling down at my naked body.

“How long was I asleep?”

“At least an hour,” he said. “I wanted to let you sleep more, but you’re covered in goosebumps.”

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel rather cold. I hadn’t pulled the covers over me before I passed out.

“How’s Lila?” I asked. “Did she drink her broth?”

“Lila?”

I quickly explained her motion sickness, as well as Ferne’s extended joy ride.

“I haven’t seen Lila yet,” Cedroc said. “Ferne looked pleased with herself when we arrived.”

“Good,” I grinned. “What are the next steps?”

“I don’t follow.”

“We have to get that relic, right? What are the next steps?”

Cedroc took a deep breath tinged with frustration.

“Aside from entering that deepest pit and seeing what we find, we can’t make a solid plan. We simply don’t have enough information. That’s an issue we’ve been running into since we started this mission. Either Command doesn’t know anything or they’re withholding information from us.”

“Which do you think it is?”

“Well, since I’m so relentlessly optimistic,” he said with a wry smile, “I think they know more than they’re letting on. I can’t prove anything, though. Rekker’s keeps hitting them with requests for more intel.”

“Is he going to tell them about the Qitzal?”

“We discussed that on the walk back. No, he’s not. The Qitzal have taken great precautions to keep their race hidden. We can’t disrespect that for the sake of protocol.”

“That’s a very noble decision,” I said with an approving nod. “I’ve learned a lot about noble decisions this week, so I’m basically an expert.”

Cedroc chuckled and reclined on the mattress, pulling me close to him. “You smell nice,” he murmured against my damp hair.

“You stink.”

“Yeah, but it’s a nice stink.”

“Says who?” I laughed.

“Me. Now, go back to sleep.” Cedroc buried his face in my hair. Within seconds, he was unconscious. I curled closer to him, soaking up his warmth.

Once again, my mind wandered back to my father and the life I’d had before. I believed I could forgive him for what he did.

After all, his actions brought me to the love of my life.

Cedroc

All I wanted to do once Coralie and I returned to the ship after our mission was to take a hot shower with her—in the hopes we’d get clean only to get sweaty again—but my tired body had other plans.

I’d never realized how damn comfortable my bed was, especially with Coralie in it.

Once we woke up, my plans were delayed yet again. The captain asked us all to assemble in the large tent Kyre had turned into a workshop to go over the plan to acquire the cursed object. It held more space than his workshop on the ship, and I didn’t have to worry about bumping into one of his ongoing projects.

At least, not as much.

A shower, sex, and more sleep would have to wait.

I’d left Coralie with Lila and Ferne, thinking she’d appreciate a bit of downtime. Although she’d certainly changed since her arrival, no longer the clueless party girl she’d started out as, she wasn’t used to going from mission to mission with little rest. While I appreciated her assistance and all she’d done for us, I knew she’d burn out in no time if she didn’t take a few moments for herself.

Lila and Ferne were all too happy to spend time with her. It didn’t shock me that the three women had grown so close in such a short time. Circumstances had certainly forced their relationship upon them, but I felt like they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, which was always a good thing out here in the black. Life was so much harder when you didn’t like the people you lived and worked with.

Once Jarvik, Derrix, and I had joined Rekker and Kyre in the workshop tent, I learned that Kyre and Ferne had been working night and day on the devices and tools they felt were necessary to get us as far down into the planet as the scans revealed we needed to go.

The bad news was that—again—we didn’t have the right supplies to make it happen.

I didn’t want to admit it, but this mission was beginning to wear on me. It was a whole lot of two steps forward, one step back, and I hated that Command was keeping us in the dark. I was starting to think having two weeks off wasn’t worth the hell this mission was putting us through.

“The good news is, I’m working on making some stuff with the resources here on Gravum IV. Ferne and I are confident we’ll come up with something soon. We just need some time to figure it out. I’m sure it won’t take us long,” Kyre said.

“Isn’t there any way to force Command’s hand? I mean, can’t we tell them we won’t do anything unless they send us what we need to get this job done?” I asked Rekker.

“Do you think that’s wise?” he asked, holding my gaze.

Rekker had been our leader since our team had been assembled. I respected him and trusted him, always. I knew he was trying his best and his hands were tied, but I was just so frustrated.

“Probably not, but maybe it’s time we force them into action,” I said.

Rekker looked thoughtful before he answered me. “I’ll contact Command again and see if Strygan is willing to assist, but don’t get your hopes up. I know you’re tired, Cedroc—we all are—but I’m hopeful we’re almost finished. You and Coralie did good work out there with the Qitzal. Without you two, we’d still be at square one.”

“Honestly, there’s not much for the rest of you to do right now. If I need your help with anything, I’ll let you know, but you all might as well take it easy and let Ferne and me get to work,” Kyre said.

“I can do that. Permission to depart, Captain?” I asked.

The sudden urge to find Coralie and get some much-needed rest was overpowering once I knew there wasn’t anything for me to do but wait for Kyre and Ferne to figure out yet another problem.

“Granted. Get out of here, the lot of you. Take some time for yourselves and don’t bother Lila and me unless you or the ship is on fire,” Rekker said.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who needed some time with his mate.

I hastily made my way out of Kyre’s tent, intent on locating Coralie as quickly as possible and whisking her away to my cabin aboard the Calliope. I’d waited long enough for time alone with her. Alone time when we were both awake, that is.

She wasn’t hard to find. I came across her quickly, sitting outside her tent by herself, staring off into the distance with a pensive look on her face. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice my approach and startled when I sat down next to her.

“I didn’t think it was possible for a male my size to sneak up on anyone, but here you are, proving me wrong once again,” I said with a laugh.

She turned her entire body towards me and caught my eye.

“Sorry—I’ve just got a lot on my mind. How are you? How’s the rest of the team?” she asked.

“It was just a standard debriefing—same old shit as always. Kyre’s working on another device to help us get that damned artifact, Command’s still got a stick up their ass and won’t do anything to assist, Rekker’s caught between a rock and a hard place, and I just want to get the fuck out of here,” I told her, unable to stop myself.

Without even trying to, she made me feel so at ease. I never felt like I had to hold back around her, never felt like she was judging me for blunt speaking. Most people found me abrasive and even irritating, but she never seemed to and I appreciated how she always just let me be me.

“How are you doing?” I asked, reaching out to take her small hand in mine.

She immediately threaded her fingers through mine and pulled both our hands into her lap.

“I’m tired even after that nap, but I’ve never felt so…awake. It doesn’t even make any sense, but I can’t describe it any better than that. I’ve never felt like I had a purpose before. Back on Earth, all I did was hang out with my friends and party and spend my father’s money, and I know it wasn’t so long ago, but it feels like another life that I barely remember now.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Who’d have thought that the most pampered woman I’d ever met would have become the most useful in such a short time?” I asked her.

“Stop.” She elbowed me in the side but her eyes were bright.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself because this mission is far from over. Once Kyre and Ferne figure out how to get us down into that cavern, it’s just going to get more dangerous,” I told her.

“That’s fine. I know I’m not as experienced as the rest of the team, but I’m willing to learn. I want to help.”

“If you’re willing, I’ll teach you anything you want to know,” I said, unable to keep the flirtatious tone from my voice.

She didn’t miss it, cocking an eyebrow in response. “Anything?” she asked, the tone of her own voice dropping to a husky whisper.

“I thought you were tired.”

“I could stay awake if you’d like to teach me a lesson.”

I could barely take my eyes from her mouth after she said that, licking my own lips surreptitiously.

“Come with me,” I said, pulling her up by our already joined hands.

She giggled in response and the sound nearly drove me mad with desire. Instead of waiting for her to follow me, I bent and threw her over my shoulder, much like I had the first day we’d met when I’d retrieved her from the cave and booked it for the ship.

I took her straight to my cabin, slamming the door shut with a kick of my foot, and tossed her onto the bed. She landed with a bounce and squeal of delight. It was music to my ears.

My cock hardened painfully at the sight of her lying on my bed, fully clothed. I’d desired her for what seemed like endless hours and craved release, wanted her like I’d wanted no other female before. I leaned down over her, placing one hand on either side of her body, and lowered my mouth to hers.

She allowed my lips to assault hers, the pressure I applied causing them to swell even more becomingly. I took her bottom one between my teeth and sucked it into my mouth before nipping at it, wrenching a pleasured cry from her throat. Her moans encouraged me, and I trailed my lips from her mouth, down her neck to her collarbone, before reaching up to tear open the front of her shirt to expose her full breasts.

“Yes,” she hissed, reaching up to hold the back of my head as my tongue teased her nipples.

“I hope you didn’t care for that shirt,” I breathed against her skin.

“You can tear every piece of clothing I own off me whenever you want,” she panted, her head thrown back against the bed.

Her hips rolled deliciously against my own, making my cock throb even harder in response. I quickly moved my mouth from her chest to the sensitive skin above the waist of her pants, biting and licking my way down. I wasted no time in unbuttoning them and pulling them off her, throwing them unceremoniously to the deck. Once she was naked beneath me, I lifted myself off her, kneeling back to admire my handiwork.

Her entire body was flushed with desire, chest heaving gloriously, lips swollen and eyes hooded, pupils dilated. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched me watching her without an ounce of shame.

“Like what you see?” she asked.

This woman was going to be my undoing.

“More than you’ll ever know,” I told her.

She wasted no time in divesting me of my own clothing, pulling off my shirt and pants. She ran a hand over the length of me, lingering for only a moment before lying back on the bed and spreading her legs wide.

“Teach me a lesson I won’t soon forget, Cedroc. Teach me how to make you come,” she said with a wicked gleam in her eye.

I was only too happy to oblige her, pressing my lips to hers once more as I drove myself into her slick heat. As she moved beneath me, I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be than right there, with her fingers digging into the skin of my back and her mouth against mine. I’d willingly spend the rest of my life learning all there was to know about her—and then some.

Coralie

As he thrust into me, I could feel every single cell light up like New Year’s, humming with the anticipation of my climax, begging him to send me over the edge.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and lifted my hips, providing his massive, throbbing cock with a deeper angle, and cried out when it brushed against my most sensitive places.

I’d never imagined anyone could bring me such pleasure. My fingernails gripped the muscles in his back, leaving tiny, crescent-shaped indentations in his skin from how tightly I clung to him. I couldn’t stop the moans that escaped my throat as he fucked me, loud, hoarse, and endless.

As if sensing I was nearing completion, he angled back slightly, giving himself just enough room to place a hand between us. He traced it down my belly and then lower. I gasped when his fingers finally found my swollen clit, aching to be touched. I watched his mouth twist into a smug grin as he rubbed it gently, and within seconds I was seeing stars.

I couldn’t stop myself from calling his name as I came. It spilled out of my mouth over and over again as he quickened his pace, his voice joining mine as he found his own release. He came with a roar so loud, I was sure everyone on the ship could hear it—and probably the Qitzal, too, deep underground in their caves.

After he was completely spent, he dropped down next to me on the mattress with a dull thud. He pulled me to him, wrapping his strong arms around me and enveloping me in warmth. I’d never felt so completely satisfied, my limbs had gone loose and languid as I cuddled in close to him.

“I never thought I’d be thankful for that stupid treaty between our people, but I really, really am,” he said breathlessly.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ve definitely changed my mind about it, that’s for sure. I guess there must be something to it, because we’re definitely a good match,” I told him.

“Only a good one?” he asked as he ran his fingers through my hair.

“So far,” I said jokingly.

In response, he dug his fingers into my ribs and tickled me until I could barely breathe, only ceasing once I was begging him to stop.

I couldn’t believe the change in him from the first day we’d met. He still put on a serious face around the crew, but with me, he was so different than who he’d been when I arrived. He smiled and laughed more and he was so good to me. I felt so grateful to have him in my life, in whatever capacity he was willing to give.

I still didn’t know if I’d ever forgive my father for what he’d done, but getting Cedroc out of the deal served as a small boon against his betrayal. I might never inherit his fortune, but I’d found something far more valuable.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said as we lay there on the bed, turned on our sides to face one another.

“Oh, that’s dangerous,” Cedroc replied with a wicked gleam in his eye.

I swatted his chest with the back of my hand.

I kissed him. He kissed me back with renewed fervor before pulling away and tilting his forehead against mine.

“Are you trying to kill me, woman? You can’t kiss me like that and expect me to keep my wits. We just had a roll in the sheets—give me an hour to recover and we can have another go if you wish.”

“That would be great, but that’s not the reason why I kissed you,” I said.

“Oh? Well, please enlighten me, mate.”

I looked around before answering him, surveying the tiny space. The cabin wasn’t comfortable—the air was stuffy and stale and there really wasn’t enough room for us to spread out.

It was nothing like my condo back on Earth with its granite countertops and chandeliers and bathtub so deep it covered me to my neck, but it had something my previous life had not had: Cedroc, my partner and my soulmate, worth more to me than any of the luxuries I’d been accustomed to in my old life.

I turned to face him, to stare into the depths of his mercurial eyes as I spoke.

“If someone had asked me a month ago what I thought I’d be doing today, I never would have told them this. My life was so different then. I had so much, but it was all quantity, not quality. I had tons of friends, tons of money, tons of clothes—but nothing meaningful. I thought I had it all, but I can see so clearly now that I truly had nothing until I found you, Cedroc,” I told him.

His eyes searched my face for a long moment. Instead of answering me with words, he did so with a searing kiss. When he pulled away, he didn’t open his eyes, taking my hands into his instead and dropping a kiss onto each finger.

“I’m sure you know by now that I find it difficult to share the more vulnerable parts of myself, but I want you to know that if you stay here, I’ll never hide who I really am from you. There won’t be any secrets between us. You are the best part of me, Coralie,” he said.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to find a way to tell Daddy his plan to scare me into changing my ways backfired epically. I’m sure he had no idea that signing me up for the treaty registry would mean losing control over the heiress to his empire.” I grinned. “There’s no way I’m going back to that life. Now that I’ve found you, I’ll never give you up, but maybe you’ll have to spend some time in a suit and tie, just to meet the investors.”

“That’s the scariest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, wrapping his arm around me and kissing my neck. “Who would have thought a society girl like you would have turned me into an emotional, romantic wreck?” he said with a laugh.

“Who would have thought I’d find a home at the edge of the universe with such a cold, unfeeling brute?” I joked back.

Laughter pealed out of us as we kissed again and fell back onto the mattress, easing back into one another’s arms as easily as slipping into a favorite shirt. As he pushed my hair back off my face and kissed me for what felt like the thousandth time that day, I’d never been happier in my entire life than I was at that very moment.

Of one thing I was absolutely certain—I wasn’t going anywhere unless it was with Cedroc by my side.

Cedroc

Coralie woke me up the next morning, sitting over my chest with a fire in her eyes.

“Teach me how to fight.”

I blinked at her and carefully shifted her weight from my body so I could sit up.

“Why would I do that? You’re already very mean to me,” I deadpanned while brushing her hair behind her ears.

She shoved me gently.

“See?” I put my hands out, pretending to defend myself.

She laughed, but caught my hands.

“I’m serious, Cedroc. I want to be able to defend myself, help out the crew, be your knight in shining armor.” Her tone was almost pouting, but her bright eyes were determined. I resigned myself to a morning of whittling down her resolve to something reasonable. I wasn’t about to let her handle a phaser.

“It’s going to be hard work, you know. And none of our armor is very shiny.”

She nodded and made a show of tying her long hair into a ponytail. “I know. I’m ready. I was thinking maybe starting with the phaser. Or that electric scimitar thing. Or—” Her eyes widened and she grinned. “Does the Calliope have cannons?”

She was cute and excited. I couldn’t help but smile.

“We’ll start with some stretches, some light jogging. Let’s see if Ferne is willing to help us out with some survival training. She knows better than I do what humans are capable of.” Though, I was learning fast. I’d never pictured myself with a mate, but Coralie kept surprising me. While her skills on Earth were…well, unusual to say the least, she had a way of bending the world to suit her.

It was impressive.

Adaptable, one might say.

I was pleased that we managed to get through a rather lengthy run before Coralie finally tired out. She was red-faced and panting, but rolled her eyes when I offered to carry her.

“I can walk, asshole.”

I tipped my head back and laughed.

I jogged circles around her until she threw a rock at me, then slowed my pace to walk beside her. “You did well. You say you’re not in shape, but I don’t think you’re out of shape, either. We’ll take a short break, then find Ferne for some less physically demanding lessons.”

“Fine. Sounds good.” She took my hand and slipped her fingers through mine.

I smiled at her and she returned it tiredly. “This way, if I collapse, you’ll have to drag me back.”

I didn’t wait that time. I just scooped her up suddenly and started jogging back to the ship, laughing loudly over her sputtered protests.

We found Ferne at her and Kyre’s favorite climbing spot and I took a break to watch the lessons. The human women got along great and it was fun to watch their familiarity and goad them with unnecessary comments. They went over several securing knots and I made a point to hum suggestively and ask about various possible uses. They ignored me for the most part, but I did catch Coralie blushing and fumbling with the rope for just a moment.

Walking out into the desert, Ferne stood with her hands on her hips. “Hopefully you won’t end up in this kind of situation, but sometimes things happen. If you find yourself lost in the wilderness, you’ll need to be able to travel a straight line.”

She pointed to the clear alien sky with a slightly sad look on her face. “I used to be pretty good at using the stars to keep direction as long as I could get high enough to see them.” She waved a hand at the alien cosmos above us and huffed a quiet laugh. “That doesn’t do me much good anymore. I don’t recognize a single thing up there. So, for every hundred paces or so, you want to take a big step toward the nondominant side. It’ll compensate and you won’t end up walking in circles.”

My mate looked skeptical. “I think I can walk a straight line without help.”

Ferne looked at me and smirked. Then she gestured for Coralie to step up and close her eyes. “Alright, go for it. Two minutes in a straight line.”

To Coralie’s credit, she did well until the last few hundred yards, then started veering off towards a rock formation. Ferne was ready to shout to her to stop, but I put my hand on her shoulder and grinned. “Let’s let her go for just a little longer, don’t you think?”

Ferne raised her hands in surrender and started walking back to the ship while I watched my mate slowly walk herself into the rockface. She didn’t have any trouble running a straight line back to slap my shoulder repeatedly while trying not to double over with laughter.

“I’m going to get you back for that,” she giggled as I dodged her harmless swipes.

“I’d like to see you try.”

That violent attack led nicely into my next plan for basic hand-to-hand combat. We went back to the ship and entered the training quarters which were, thankfully, empty. I didn’t want anyone to be a casualty during Coralie’s training. I left her a moment to grab some supplies and when I returned, I caught sight of my mate through the doorway.

She was going through our morning stretching routine again. With her back to me, I could admire the way her body curved and flowed from one stance to the other. It would be another couple of weeks before the toning of the muscles started to appear, but I didn’t doubt she would be just as attractive to me as her softer form was now.

All she ever really wanted was a purpose. On Earth, she had so much potential, so much energy. But she never took an opportunity until this was forced on her. Once offered, she would never let it go. She just needed a reason to really start living.

The slowly growing assuredness behind her eyes was one of the most empowering things I’d ever seen. It hadn’t been an altogether easy shift, but she had grown in the short time I’d known her. If not into a powerful, capable woman yet, then into someone who would one day become a powerful and capable woman.

And I could not feel prouder or more privileged to watch and assist her in the journey.

My focus was drawn from my thoughts back to my mate as she bent forward, thrusting her backside towards my spot at the door. She was stunning, and the sight filled my mind with thoughts of our first night together and those that followed. I must have made a tiny noise because at that moment, she tipped her head to the side and grinned at me.

I snorted, coming into the room and realizing that she had known I was standing there for some time. She had been purposely teasing me and it had damn well worked.

“Your stretches are coming along nicely. Though I do think you might need more practice,” I said, standing close behind her and settling my hands on her hips.

She laughed and straightened up. “Oh really? And what about your stretches? Maybe we could make it a team effort?” She bit her bottom lip lightly and looked up at me.

“Definitely later, my dear.” I patted her shapely ass. “First, though I will certainly live to regret it, you’re going to learn how to throw a punch.”

The look in her eye told me I was definitely going to regret it.

We spent a long time working on hand-to-hand combat. We didn’t do anything at speed, of course, but she and I moved from stance to stance as I showed her how to shift her balance and keep firmly centered.

“It’s almost like dancing.” Her eyes were focused on my fist as it came towards her slowly and she carefully blocked it, turned and planted her feet, then punched toward me.

I let the blow hit and smiled at her. “You are a very angry woman. That or I am an incredibly bad dancer.”

Coralie laughed and made a ‘so-so’ motion with her hand as I crossed the room to a small box. I pulled two carved practice knives from it and offered her one, handle first.

“Just a bit of this, we can do more in the coming days while we wait for Kyre to figure out his tech. You can learn to use the stances and maneuvers with the knife as an extension.”

I had her move slowly through the same offensive and defensive actions but this time adjusting her grip and holding onto the knife as we went. She fumbled a few times and about the third time we finished a half-speed spar with a knife at her throat, she let out a frustrated groan and stomped her foot.

“Just give me a minute, I can do this!” She glared at me and tightened her ponytail.

“I believe you.” I did, but I said it with enough of a tone that she stuck her tongue out at me before settling back into her starting position.

We began again and two motions through, she lost her balance, tripping hard into my elbow and falling back with a strained grunt. I quickly moved to her, already apologizing, but as soon as I bent down to check her for injury, she tackled me. Before I had a chance to protest, Coralie was straddling my chest and holding the wooden blade to my throat.

She was breathing hard but grinning triumphantly.

I grinned at her and shook my head slightly, “That wasn’t the sequence.”

“No. It wasn’t.” She did not sound apologetic in the least. “But it was good, though, wasn’t it?”

Pushing myself up on my arms, I leaned in and kissed her hard.

“It was very good. Come on, we’ve got another half hour to go. Then we’ll move on to target practice with the phaser.”

She stood and offered a hand to help me up. “How about if I get you on your ass again, we move straight on to target practice?”

I did love that sparkle in her eye. “It’s a deal, but you won’t. Stance one.”

Coralie

“Come on!” I tugged on Cedroc’s arm as we trudged across the desert. “It’s bad enough that we have to make the trip on foot. Do you have to be so sluggish?”

I regretted the words as soon as they escaped my mouth, not because I worried about causing offense, but because Cedroc was bound to retaliate in some form.

“Sluggish, you say?” he said just before coming to a complete standstill. I pulled, yanked, and twisted his arm, but he would not be moved. “I don’t think I’m sluggish. Jarvik, do you think I’m sluggish?”

“You possess the grace and speed of a boulder rolling on flat terrain.” Jarvik strode by without looking up from his tablet.

“Thank—wait,” Cedroc frowned. “Bastard!”

I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing. “Come on!” I gave his arm another tug.

“Why are you so eager to return to the caverns?” he asked me.

“Because I like being around the Qitzal,” I explained. “Is that a crime? They’re fun. Their music is amazing. They know how to have a good time. And it’s nice to get out of the sun.”

“Are you saying I’m not fun? That the team isn’t fun? Ouch. Rekker’s going to be so upset when he finds out you think he’s boring.”

“Oh, my God!” I tipped my head back and let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re impossible! Keep it up and I’m going to move in with the Qitzal. Swira already told me I’m welcome to stay with her whenever I want.”

“Who’s Swira?”

“She’s the one who lent me the leather and fur skirt,” I explained.

“Oh, that?” Cedroc brightened immediately. “Ask her to loan you more.”

“Stop,” I cackled, swatting at him. Finally, he allowed me to drag him forward. “Why are you resisting so much?”

“Honestly? It’s just fun to mess with you,” he grinned.

“I’m going to pour cactus wine on your head while you sleep.”

“Just keep in mind that we share a bed.”

“Fuck.”

Chief Weral waited by the standing stones, ready to welcome us. He escorted us down into the caverns.

“I’m still not sure what we’re doing here,” Cedroc whispered to me.

“Chief Weral wants to offer protection while we search for the artifact,” I explained in a hushed tone.

“He’s giving us warriors? I thought the Qitzal refused to go near the artifact.”

“No,” I replied. “But they are going to perform a ritual on our behalf so we’ll be safe on the journey.”

“A ritual?” Cedroc said slowly.

I nodded.

“And that’s going to keep us safe?”

“Look,” I sighed. “They’re doing a nice thing for us, so you will be polite and respectful or, so help me, I will hang New Year’s decorations from your horns.”

“What are New Year’s decorations?”

“They’re festive as fuck and look ridiculous. Very sparkly.”

Cedroc made a face. “I’m not one for sparkles.”

“I know, so be nice.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be nice during the ritual.”

Once inside the cavern, Chief Weral motioned for us to sit in a semicircle in the middle of the open space. I sat cross-legged between Lila and Cedroc, practically vibrating with anticipation. Several Qitzal went around the cavern extinguishing the torches until only one torch, hanging directing above the semicircle, remained. Its flickering light cast an eerie glow over everything. I reached for Cedroc’s hand and gave it an excited squeeze.

“Ow,” he whispered with a chuckle.

“Sorry,” I giggled.

Eight Qitzal women stepped into the semicircle and began to dance. I realized there were eight of them because there were eight of us. I could imagine each dancer weaving a web of protective energy and draping it around us.

Chief Weral stood in the middle of the dancers, chanting in his deep, rumbling voice. The sound of drums filled the cavern, though the drummers were concealed by the darkness.

Maybe I allowed myself to get caught up in the music and the dancing, but I swore I felt something slither over my skin. I felt an invisible web of friendship and protection settle over me. Regardless of what the others believed, I knew the ritual worked.

Just like that, the dancers stopped. Chief Weral went silent. The final torch was extinguished. We sat in the dark, completely silent. No one dared move or speak or even breathe too loudly. Cedroc laced his fingers through mine and pulled me closer to him. I wrapped an arm around his and laid my head on his shoulder.

All the torches came back to life with a shower of sparks.

Blinking rapidly, I felt like I was coming out of a trance.

“You will be protected on your journey,” Chief Weral said with a graceful bow.

We all inclined our heads to mimic the gesture. Rekker got to his feet and extended a hand to the chief.

“Thank you for your kindness,” he said.

“If you are able to rid our land of the cursed object, then it is I who should thank you for your kindness.” Chief Weral laughed for a moment before his face took on a serious expression. “There is something I must warn you of before you depart.”

“Oh?” Rekker’s brows shot up.

“There is another tribe of Qitzal,” the chief explained. “They aren’t like us. They live deeper underground. They only go to the surface when absolutely necessary.”

“Will they give us trouble?” Rekker asked.

“They might,” the chief nodded. “They are far more territorial than we are, though if you do not act in an aggressive manner, they are less likely to attack.”

I chewed my bottom lip as I listened to the conversation. I wanted to hear more, but my three Qitzal friends approached, arms out and welcoming.

“We should teach you more of our dances,” Kala said, extending her hand to me.

I took her hand and allowed her to pull me to my feet. I glanced over my shoulder and winked at Cedroc as I was led away.

“I’d love to learn your dances,” I said. “But I’m curious about this other tribe. What can you tell me about them?”

“Those brutes?” Riewyn narrowed her eyes. “They do not dance like we do.”

“Or sing,” Swira added.

“They don’t?” I found that hard to believe.

“There is no life in them, no spark!” Riewyn groaned.

“They are as dull and serious as the stones around us.”

“But are they violent?” I asked.

“More so than we are,” Kala said. “I will not say that they are bloodthirsty. No Qitzal is.”

“But they are dangerous?”

“They hold their legends closer to their hearts than we do. Their superstitions are as good as law.”

That was all very valuable information. Cedroc and the team needed to know.

“Thank you for sharing your wisdom,” I said with a respectful bow. “I must speak to my mate about what you’ve told me.”

“Maybe you’ll get a chance later,” Riewyn chuckled. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you left his side. What I wouldn’t do for a mate like that.”

I looked over my shoulder and, sure enough, Cedroc was watching me closely.

“Excuse me,” I smiled and swiftly left the conversation.

“Making friends?” Cedroc said when I approached.

“Always,” I grinned. “I’ve learned a little more about that other Qitzal tribe. They don’t sound friendly.” I relayed the information the three Qitzal sisters told me.

“Rekker will want to know that. Good work.”

“Thanks,” I chuckled. “Though it didn’t feel like work. I’ve always been good at weaseling information out of others. It’s because I’m so personable.”

Cedroc barked out a laugh. I bumped his shoulder.

“Personable isn’t how I’d describe the woman who was teleported into a cave in a party dress,” he teased.

“Are you going to hold that over me forever?”

“Probably. I respect and admire all of the progress you’ve made so far but, come on. Those shoes were ridiculous.”

“You like those shoes! Don’t lie.”

“I like it when you wear them in the bedroom…with nothing else,” he grinned.

“You better take full advantage of having a cabin before we set off. We might not get some true alone time for a long while.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that, actually,” he said. “Once we leave the Calliope, things are going to get rough. Rougher than you’re used to. The food is going to suck. Sleeping is going to be difficult. I can’t prepare you for every danger we might face.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

“I want you to know that if you decide you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. I’ll even stay with you at the Calliope if you need me to. Or maybe you can stay here with your Qitzal friends,” he suggested.

I frowned. “Do you think I can’t handle it?”

He took both of my hands in his.

“It’s not that at all,” he insisted, running his thumb over the back of my hand. “I’m worried about myself more than I’m worried about you.”

I furrowed my brow. “What?”

“I don’t know how I’m going to keep it together when I’m leading you into danger. I love you too much to put you at risk. I’m going to drive myself mad.”

“Cedroc,” I whispered, taking one of my hands from his and placing it on his cheek. “I’m not staying behind so you can walk into danger alone. That’s not how this works. We’re in this together now. That’s what it means to be in love.”

“But what if something happens to you?”

“Something probably will happen to me,” I shrugged. “Something’s probably going to happen to you, too. The best thing we can do is be there for each other, to heal and protect each other from whatever we’re going to face.”

“I’m supposed to protect you, not the other way around.”

I tipped my head back and laughed.

“That’s not how this works, my love. I’m here for you just as much as you’re here for me. We’re going to do this together, to whatever end.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you out there,” he swore.

“Good. I’m not going to let anything happen to you either.”

He pulled me in for a deep, slow, kiss. I let my body relax against his, content to be held and loved by my strong, dedicated, alien mate.

Whatever the future might bring.

* * *

Next up? Derrix, book four of the Vaznik Warriors. Click to get it now!

Derrix figured a mate would be nothing but asking for trouble.

For heartache.

Heartbreak.

When the teleporter delivers another luscious human female, he can only hope she's not for him.

But she is.

And unlike the other women, she's happy and excited about her new adventure. They're about to move into a new, dangerous phase of the mission.

How can he keep her, and his heart, safe?

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XOXO,

AVA

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Rogue Mate

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

Our rescuers are a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They're not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they're giant, golden skinned aliens...

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

Rogue Mate is the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

Copyright © 2019 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.