“No.”
I barely managed to hold still when he moved a little closer and ran the screen a bare inch from my face down to my waist.
“What happened to the assassin who tried to kill me?” I needed a distraction from the warm heat of his body I could feel beating against my skin. He was so close to touching me.
“He wasn’t an assassin. The oreil wasn’t to kill you.” Larede sounded surprised.
That made no sense. “It sure felt like it was, though. And he told me I was going to die.” Maybe it had been a scare tactic. Or he’d thought I was going to die.
“It was supposed to freeze you into stasis.” Larede’s voice was filled with disgust. “Caeorleia doesn’t believe in slavery, but there are some species in this sector that do. The oreil makes transport and delivery of combative species easier. It’s incredibly painful for the victim to be thawed out, but if they’re willing to enslave someone, I doubt that’s something slavers would be overly concerned with.”
I growled viciously and bared my fangs as the harsh sound went on and on. The doctor stumbled back, his eyes going huge and round. Red tinged my vision, and I couldn’t sit still. I shot to my feet and began pacing.
Slave. Someone wanted to make me into a slave. I stopped inches from one light green wall, my chest heaving as I struggled to breathe. I drove my fist through it. The pain made me roar, but all I left was a small dent. Unsatisfied, I cocked my arm back, ready to hit it again and again and again, until it was destroyed.
Why did everyone want to take away my freedom?
CHAPTER THREE
A hand at my shoulder filled me with anxiety. I swung away from the touch and put my back to the wall, holding my arms up, fists ready.
“Don’t!” I shouted. My instincts had me baring my fangs at him, a nasty hum vibrating through my throat.
He winced and stepped back, his own arms raised with his hands open. It took a moment for the man’s name to filter into my chaotic mind.
Larede.
I blinked, and the red began to fade from my vision. My chest hurt as it heaved, trying to draw in enough air to keep me from passing out from the surge of adrenaline that had spiked so fast and then abruptly faded.
I slumped against the wall and dropped my arms to my sides. “Sorry,” I muttered while staring at the floor.
“No, I’m sorry for invading your personal space, Dade. I didn’t”—he paused and shook his head—“I know you don’t like to be touched, but I didn’t think. I was afraid you’d hurt yourself.”
My hand was already throbbing, and I could tell I’d cracked at least one knuckle and maybe broken another one completely. I’d felt it before. “Too late.” Embarrassment made my voice rough. I flexed my hand and winced.
Larede sighed. “Will you let me fix it?”
I hesitated.
“There won’t be any pain. I won’t hurt you.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. Pain wasn’t a big deal. I could handle pain. I stood up and pushed away from the wall. The sheet around my waist started to loosen, and I grabbed it, closing my fist around the soft fabric. Now I was helpless, with one hand holding the sheet and the other broken. I considered going to the medical wing, but….
“Dade.” The break in Larede’s voice made me look up at him. His eyes looked darker since his face had gone pale. “I feel responsible for upsetting you. You wouldn’t have punched the wall if I had kept my mouth shut. I’m a doctor; please let me help.”
I didn’t like the expression on his face or the note of guilt in his voice. “Not your fault.” My emotions were constantly all over the place. It would have only been a matter of time before I snapped, and I knew it. “Do we have to leave my room?” I asked him.
He seemed to consider my question carefully. “Ideally, yes. I could fix that really quickly in the medical wing. However, I can have my assistant bring a portable unit. It will take a bit longer to heal it, though. If you’re okay with someone coming here, I’ll message him.”
Another person in my room wasn’t ideal, but it was better than leaving. I was on edge and I didn’t want to hurt anyone if I snapped again. It could so easily have been Larede’s face broken, instead of the wall. I had just met the man, but out of everyone I’d met so far, I was the most comfortable with him. He was the first person who seemed to really understand my need for space and he didn’t look down on me or seem to fear me.
“Okay,” I said. “Go ahead and call him, or whatever. I’m just going to go put on a robe.”
Larede paused on his way to the door. “Do you need help? Your hand has to hurt, and you really shouldn’t move it.”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
I went to my closet and grabbed some clothes and then went into the bathroom. It was really huge, the biggest I’d ever seen, and included a deep tub. I wished I had enough time to take a bath. My body wasn’t hot or cold, but some of the chill I’d felt, and then the burning pain, lingered in my mind. A nice soak would help, but I wasn’t willing to spend any more time naked, especially since Larede might come in if I didn’t come out.
The pain in my hand distracted me from my anxiety of another person coming into my personal space. It took a struggle to tie the belt, but I put on the dark red robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door anyway. I looked at my chest in the mirror, pushing the sides of the robe open. The skin was unmarred by anything but the strange blue swirls that had shown up after my latest volunteer fuckup had gotten me strapped to yet another lab chair. They were strangely jagged, almost barbed, unlike the smooth curls and waves I’d seen on most of the others. I traced my fingers over them on the side of my chest where the man had put the weird stick device, but there wasn’t anything there. I shuddered, wishing again that I could take a bath, but I settled for running my good hand under the warm water in the sink and then splashing my face. I scrubbed my hand over my head and the back of my neck.
“Dade?”
The bathroom door slid open, and I straightened, jerking my robe closed. I hissed in pain. Not even thinking about it, I’d used my broken hand.
“Oh. Sorry.”
I glared at the other man. I shouldn’t have to lock my bathroom door to keep people out, but I would have, if it had one.
“I just wanted to let you know we were ready.” Larede stepped back out of the bathroom, and the door shut again.
I could feel all the tension that had faded rising again. My jaw ached from clenching it so hard. I closed my eyes and focused, trying to relax all the muscles in my face. It didn’t work very well. When I opened my eyes, I could still see the line between my eyebrows, and the edges of my lips looked white.
Sighing, I turned off the water and then dried my hand. Might as well get it over with.
Larede had a rolling black table with a small clear panel on the side of it by the bed. I’d seen their medical wing once, and their technology still floored me. I couldn’t believe that one table was all the equipment they’d need to heal broken bones.
His assistant was standing with his back to me. He was slim and even shorter than Larede, his bare back tapering down to narrow hips covered in a pale green wrap. I took a quick glance around the room, ensuring that no one else had entered, and then my gaze settled back on the stranger. My nostrils flared as a fresh scent floated over the sweetness of the flowers outside my window.
“Ready?” Larede asked me when he stopped fussing with the panel.
A nod was all I could manage. I was too focused on the other man, the small one, to really think about what Larede was asking me.
“Oh, sorry! Dade, this is my assistant Yaseke.”
My breath caught when Yaseke turned around. I stared into his eyes. I’d never seen such a color on a person. They weren’t yellow. Instead, they were a glossy amber with a rich depth that faded to gold around the edges. His dark eyes dominated his face. I realized his hair matched them, all different shades of amber and gold streaked together into a beautiful spill that fell across his fore
head. The deep buzz of his voice washed over me.
A touch near my injured hand sent a jolt through me, and I jerked back. My knees flexed as I dropped into a crouch. I brought my fists up and breathed through the surge of concern.
Larede stumbled back.
My nostrils flared as I took a few deep breaths. “Sorry,” I mumbled. The skin on my face and neck prickled with heat as I blushed in embarrassment. I looked back at Yaseke.
“No. My fault. I touched you before you were aware of my presence again,” he said. He cleared his throat. “I was asking if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Yaseke’s voice, quiet but firm and certain, fit the man perfectly.
I looked over at him. “I’m sorry,” I said again, automatically. “What did you ask?”
“I asked how you hurt your hand.” His head tilted to one side. “You were just fine when we brought you back here earlier. I know; I checked every inch of you.”
Oh man, my face burned. I looked at my feet. “I lost my temper.”
“Well that was silly of you. Do you often go about bashing things when you get angry?”
I looked over at Larede for rescue. Yaseke’s scolding was delivered in a mild voice, but it was scathing nonetheless. I felt like a giant oaf, and I had no idea how he did that.
“If you’ll come on over here, we can fix your hand. It won’t take too long, but you’ll be more comfortable sitting down.”
I sighed in relief at the out from the conversation with Larede’s assistant. “Sure.” I settled gingerly on the edge of the bed.
“Just put your arm here.” Larede indicated a depression in the middle of the pad on the top of the table.
I winced a little as I stretched my fingers out. A sharp pain lanced through my hand and up my wrist. The middle knuckle was swelling fast too.
“Stupid hurts, doesn’t it?” Yaseke said.
My mouth dropped open. I snapped it shut and glared at him. “Excuse me?”
He approached the table just as the bio net shimmered over my arm and locked it into place. I snarled at the sensation, and Larede took a step back, throwing an arm across Yaseke’s chest to push him away. It took everything I had not to fight the field holding me in place.
A knock on the door distracted all of us. A guard poked his head in when it opened. “Larede? Dr. Handiburge just commed for you. He needs you down at the medical wing.”
Larede looked at the panel on the table and hesitated.
“Go.” Yaseke waved a hand at me. “I can take care of this. I’ll have him right as rain in no time.”
“Dade?”
I gave him a short nod. “Go ahead.” I wasn’t afraid to be left alone with Yaseke, but I did like Larede. He treated me with more courtesy than any alien I’d met so far, and better than most humans I’ve been around too. “I’ll see you sometime later, right? I mean, if I need more medical work or to be checked over.”
Larede raised one eyebrow. It was amazing how similar the Caeorleians were to humans in terms of behavior. This wasn’t the first time something had made me think that, and I couldn’t help but wonder if humans had landed here in the past. The evolution of our species had exploded once we spread out through space. Reality wasn’t the propaganda the masses were fed about the pure human race spreading through the noninhabited planets in the galaxy. I’d been sent to enough back when I was a soldier to recognize the truth. Not all aliens we’d encountered were non-humanoid, and it wasn’t impossible that we’d bred with other species in the past.
“If you like,” Larede said slowly. I think I’d surprised him. “We could have lunch the day after tomorrow. I will not be on shift.”
“That sounds good, but I will have to bring a guard,” I said.
He waved that consideration away. The guard at the door cleared his throat.
“Yaseke? A moment?” Larede asked him as they walked a few steps away from me.
The two of them huddled together near the door. I watched them suspiciously. The hum of the bio net holding my arm down drowned out the vibrations as they spoke, so I couldn’t hear them. Yaseke moved his hands a lot as he talked. He nodded, brushing his hair back with one hand, and then gestured toward the door.
Larede turned toward me and raised his voice so I could hear his hum over the bio net. “Yaseke will take good care of you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dade.” He followed the guard out and the door shut behind them. Just like that, Yaseke and I were left in my room. Alone. My heart sped up a little as the small man came toward me. He began to check the information on the panel, his fingers tapping it a few times.
The quiet started to get to me, and I was trapped by the bio net around the table, unable to pace. My free hand fisted against my thigh. I stared at Yaseke. He had really long eyelashes that were dark at the ends and almost white at the tips. The same fresh scent I smelled when I came out of the bathroom, like warm grass, filled my senses. It smelled good.
“You seem young to be a doctor,” I said.
Yaseke glanced up at me. “I’m not a doctor.”
I frowned. “But you said that you’d checked me. Every inch of me, you said. Why else would you have done that?”
His face flushed, and I got the sense he was a little embarrassed. “I’m in training, but I’m not a doctor. I did check on you, though. I stayed with you most of the time while we were warming you.”
“Why would you do that?”
Yaseke looked up, giving me another glimpse of those amazing eyes. “The oreil wouldn’t have killed you, but warming you could’ve caused damage if your temperature came up too quickly. You had to be monitored very closely. I have certain… skills that made it logical to have me assist on your case.” He looked back down and tapped the screen again. The buzzing increased around my hand.
I sensed a mystery around the way he said skills, but I hesitated to ask him what they were. In my own experience, when someone was less than upfront about themselves, they didn’t tend to welcome personal questions.
I knew how that felt.
“Well, thank you,” I said. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had been responsible for the coolness that had finally soothed the burning that had engulfed me. I glanced down at my hand frozen on the table, the buzzing like an itchy vibration just under my skin. “So how much longer should this take?”
Some of the swelling had already disappeared.
“Not much longer. The bone is knitting now.” He turned the screen so that I could see. It showed an internal image of my hand. The break in my knuckle was highlighted. I could see it growing shorter in real time as the ends healed together at a vastly accelerated rate. “The muscle and tendon damage will take a bit longer to heal.”
“Bizarre.” Knowing that my bone was fusing together in my hand at the same time it was on the screen was very strange. It couldn’t be comfortable at all. I was thankful that the bio net kept me from feeling it.
“Yes. You have our fangs, but you don’t have the claws.” Yaseke cocked his head again, looking down at the blood on the knuckles. “I find the color of your blood to be very strange as well. Human blood is red, correct?”
I nodded.
“Very peculiar. This mixing of the blood seems to have altered the shade of yours to a darker color, but not a true blue like my kind.”
“I guess so.” I shrugged.
“I wish I knew how it was done, what else they’d given you. Their methods were obviously crude, but blending two alien species like this….” He paused. “It’s amazing.”
My muscles tensed as he stared at me. I didn’t want Yaseke looking at me like that. “It was sadistic as fuck!” I snarled, my fangs bared. “They injected us full of chemicals and Seral’s blood. It was the most painful thing I’ve ever been through. And I’ve been through a lot.”
I had the scars to prove it too, though most of the really bad ones were hidden by my robe. If he’d tended to me, he’d have se
en them.
“Most of the other guys died. Some went nuts. They made us watch as they dissected one guy after he went starkers. We had to wonder if we would be next, if we would be on that table. We didn’t die, but living was the real punishment. The things they did to Nicklaus were so far beyond humane I wonder how he kept his sanity.”
I snorted and said, “Amazing. The only thing that was amazing was the miracle that some of us escaped that hell at all.” My free hand was clenching and unclenching as I fought my rage.
Yaseke paled, the lines of his isitziu markings stark against his cheeks and neck. Even his chest markings were darker around the pale white space over his heart. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of how my words would sound to you. I really didn’t mean it that way. I primarily do research for just this reason.” He briefly met my eyes. “I really am sorry about what happened to you.” He reached out and touched my fist with the tips of his fingers before I could pull it back.
I gasped. Shock sent my pulse racing as my heart began to pound like a drum in my chest.
Nothing.
I’d felt nothing.
CHAPTER FOUR
“What’s wrong?” Yaseke said. The panel on the table began to flash, and I struggled to pull my arm off it. The bio net held me immobile. I shook my head when he reached for me.
I grabbed the table with my free hand and stood up, stumbling backward away from Yaseke, not stopping until I hit the corner of the room. The table made a horrible scraping sound as the edges dug into the wall as it wedged in place in front of me.
“Dade—” Yaseke took a few steps toward me.
“Stop!” My knuckles were white on the edge of the table. He froze. I stared at Yaseke, at his pale face with the jagged blue lines across each cheekbone and down his jawline. He didn’t look different from the other Caeorleians, even though his eyes and hair were a color I hadn’t seen before. Though, I hadn’t seen all that many of the aliens.
My voice shook when I spoke. “What are you?”
He frowned. “What?” He took a step closer.
“I said stop.”
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