by Mary Auclair
“I personally guarantee that you will have everything you need as fast as possible.”
“Thank you, Commander Arlen.” Ava inclined her head slightly to show she meant it. When he pursed his full lips just a bit, barely noticeably, she added, “Arlen. Thank you, Arlen.”
He just stood there, his unreadable eyes on her, as though there was something more he wanted to tell her, but didn’t know how to. Ava tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “Does this mean you found proof of my qualifications? Or do you still plan on replacing me?”
Arlen lifted his chin slightly at her words and growled with obvious annoyance. Ava knew, she just knew that he wasn’t one to be caught in the wrong often. And not one who liked it.
“Multiple humans came forward to testify of your competence.”
“But that wouldn’t have been enough for you to go back on your actions.” Ava studied him, those hard, unforgiving cold eyes. No, a male like this wouldn’t just take the word of a few uneducated humans on a medical doctor’s competence. “You needed more than that, especially after my little performance in your command center.”
She knew she was pushing it, knew her boldness might alienate the powerful commander of the Eok forces, but she had a feeling Arlen had come to see her because, somehow, he felt bad about confiscating her medical equipment under the false assumption that she was unqualified. If true, this made him grim and abrasive, but also honorable.
Ava could work with honorable. In fact, she was in dire need of it.
Arlen seemed to hesitate, then inclined his head in agreement although his expression was still reluctant. “I tasked Officer Shetak with investigating your credentials. It took him longer than I would have liked, but he traced the payments Trade Minister Knut made to four eminent Avonie doctors. All I needed to do after that was mention Prime Councilor Aav’s strict laws on medical formation records to them and they couldn’t send me your qualifications fast enough. Turns out you aced all your classes.”
“So, you have my medical license?”
The thought was like a punch to the gut. That license had been an invisible leash tying Ava to Knut, to this planet, for a decade. Knut had always told her there was no record of her existence in the outside world. That she didn’t exist beyond the sky of this planet.
Ava took a step back, intent on bracing her weight on the surgical table, but she misjudged the distance. She cried out as her body became airborne and she fell.
Then she was enclosed in a multi-dimensional wall of hard, male flesh.
Arlen held her close and as she stared directly into his eyes, she saw that they weren’t as cold as she’d thought they were. They were pale, the color of the sky just before sunrise. Fascinating and gorgeous. Her belly fluttered with something she didn’t recognize, something new and deep, moving through her body, lighting tiny sparks inside her.
Seconds passed and still he held her close, then even closer. His fingers splayed over her back and his face took on a fierce, almost angry expression. His gaze slid down to her mouth. Anger turned to hunger in his eyes as he stared at her lips.
He’s going to kiss me.
The thought sent a riot of sensations all through her body and she inched her head closer without really meaning to.
A movement to her left made her want to turn her head, but she couldn’t. She was trapped in that gaze, in those powerful arms that made her feel things she never had before.
As light footsteps could be heard behind them, Arlen inclined his head, then his eyes slid to the far side of the room. All hunger was wiped clean from his features to be replaced by a look of utter shock. Ava turned, squirming in the Eok’s hold, then saw what had caused this sudden change in his demeanor.
Uril stood there, out in the open, a look of stricken awe on his small, round face.
“I asked you to stay hidden,” Ava told Uril. The boy glanced at her, then went back to staring at the Eok, his features slack and his eyes filled with an almost religious awe.
She knew what was going on behind those golden eyes. Uril was a twelve-year-old boy too weak to go outside to play ball with the others, who spent all his time reading about the greatest warriors in the Ring, alone in a windowless room. He was always blabbering to her how strong, how fast, how dangerous they were.
Of course he couldn’t have resisted the chance to see an Eok warrior in the flesh. And now, he was about to have his small, courageous heart crushed into dust when he realized what his hero saw when he looked at him.
But right now, Uril’s feelings were the least of her problems. Because she’d had a very good reason to keep Uril away from the Eoks for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, what was done was done. There was no hiding the boy now. Still, she could shield him from the heartbreak of having one of his fabled heroes look down on him like he was the result of some sick experiment.
Ava pushed against Arlen’s hold but he didn’t loosen it. Fear twisted in knots in her belly as the Eok kept staring at Uril, shock giving way to something else on his face. Something she didn’t like at all. Something close to disgust.
I have to get Uril out of here.
“Take your hands off me.” Ava pushed with both hands flat against Arlen’s chest.
At her words, Arlen snapped his head back to her. He seemed to only now realize she was still there, in his arms like some damsel in distress. The Eok grabbed her by the shoulders and straightened her up, then withdrew his hands once she was safely standing in front of him. He took a long step back, putting a good two feet between their bodies.
Ava’s cheeks still burned, but now it was anger that made her temper flare. Because she knew that look. That look had defined her entire life.
He’s disgusted by us.
“This is Uril.”
She put herself between the boy and Arlen, spreading her elbows out slightly, placing both hands on her hips. Not that she could pose any physical challenge to the Eok, but she wouldn’t make it easy for him if he decided to take things to a physical level.
Arlen’s eyes went from the boy to her, then back to the boy. His features had regained their former icy calm and he held himself straight as he studied the boy’s features. Uril stayed mercifully silent as the Eok looked him over.
“How many other hybrids are there?” Arlen’s tone was as merciless as any she’d ever heard as he asked the question.
Ava flinched. She’d known what would happen when the Eoks found Uril, but somehow, she had imagined Arlen wouldn’t react this way. It seemed like she had been wrong about him.
He wasn’t honorable, he was a self-righteous bastard.
“Uril, go back to your room.” Ava spoke softly, glancing back at the boy. Uril suddenly looked like he wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor under the Eok’s stare. “I’ll come fetch you later.”
Uril nodded, then bit his trembling lips, passing by Arlen with his head held high and his back straight, but his golden eyes filling with water. As soon as he was through the doors, he ran.
Anger coiled inside Ava like the eye of a tornado, spinning and growing until it became a scalding fury. She watched until Uril disappeared around the corner then turned on the Eok, her protective rage unleashed.
“How dare you?” She spat out the words, stepping into the Eok’s space, ready to pummel him down. It didn’t matter that he could break her in half with his bare hands. She was past being afraid. She was blind with hurt and anger. “He’s twelve years old, and he was looking at you like you were some kind of savior!”
Arlen looked down at her, his face closed off, his full lips in a straight, unmoving line. “It seems Trade Minister Knut created more illegal hybrids than I was informed about. I will need a list of all of them.”
This made Ava lose the last shred of control she had over her temper, and she shoved him. Arlen staggered back, but it was clear that it was more in shock than because of her strength.
“Bastard!” Her voice sounded like a str
ing pulled taut, and she heard the tremors just under the surface. Years of scorn and open hostility had piled up, coming to a boiling peak at Arlen’s words. “Is that what we are to you? Hybrids, not people? Abominations?”
Ava moved closer, her temper uncontrollable. It hurt in an almost physical way, what Arlen had said to Uril, and she wasn’t going to back down now. Not now, not ever. She was done with playing nice.
“Will you stick us behind bars like animals? Well, I’d like to see you try!”
Arlen scowled at her, creating deep lines in his alien features. It would have been scary—downright terrifying—if she weren’t so far gone.
“I have given you no reason for such outburst.” His voice was controlled, but she sensed that his hold on his own temper was lessening. Good. If she was done playing nice, she was also done with dealing with a block of ice. “That young male is obviously the result of gene engineering between humans and Cattelans. Gene engineering that is strictly forbidden. I will have to report this crime to the Gene Protection Council.”
Just like that, her anger was gone and a cold, slithering fear replaced it.
“Don’t. He’s just a child.” She stepped even closer to Arlen, her hands instinctively going for the folds of his vest. The Eok stepped away as though her touch burned him, and it was like a slap to the face. He’d suddenly remembered what a filthy creature she was. Her very existence was illegal, so what did she expect? “If you report him, Uril will be taken away. The Gene Protection Council will keep him locked up, study him like some lab animal. It would be torture. Please, I’m begging you.”
Arlen stared at her, a perplexing mixture of longing and reluctance in his face, then he walked to the farthest point away from her in the room. It stung, but Ava didn’t say anything as he paced in front of the door.
She had to say something. She had to make Arlen understand.
“Report me.” She swallowed hard, forcing her voice to maintain a semblance of strength. “But don’t report Uril. Please, I am begging you.”
“I will have to report both of you.” Arlen watched her intently, his sharp mind missing nothing of her reactions, his voice devoid of emotion. “It’s only a matter of time before the existence of human hybrids is out in the open. Too many people know about you already.”
Ava staggered back as vivid, stark dread overcame her. She shut her eyes against the visions of locked, all-white rooms and steel medical tables with straps to hold down reluctant specimens. This was her future. Worse, this was Uril’s future.
Had she been working all her life towards freedom just to lose it so close to her goal?
Despair washed over her, and she turned her back to Arlen. Her hands somehow found the table with the medical equipment and she stared at the short-wave X-rays that had given her the picture of Uril’s failing heart. Maybe this was a mercy in disguise. He wouldn’t live long enough to be treated like a lab animal.
No.
The word came to her mind as she steeled herself, bracing her weight against the metal table. She had come so far, sacrificed so much. She wasn’t giving up now.
“Do what you must.” Her voice was strangely strong, betraying nothing of the storm inside her. “Just give me time. I need to prepare him.”
Seconds ticked by as Arlen was silent behind her.
At length, he spoke. “I won’t report you, or the young male.” There was no mercy in his tone, nothing but cold duty. “But I am not alone on this planet. Anyone can report you.”
“You’re the Commander, aren’t you? They all answer to you.” She turned around and glanced at him, not bothering to hide the loathing in her voice. “We are at your mercy.” Then she turned her back to him and walked away. As she did, she could feel his gaze on her like a burning iron.
4
Arlen
Arlen stalked down the hallways, passing a young Eok warrior whose name he wasn’t sure of. The youngster flattened himself against the wall, eying Arlen cautiously like he was some feral beast instead of his commander.
And maybe he was. There was no telling what he was now.
A fool. He was a fool.
Arlen growled, low and vicious as he approached another officer, a Relany this time. The male jumped through the nearest open door in his hurry to get away from him. Then Arlen was at the door to his own private apartments.
He hadn’t even been inside yet, despite landing on Aveyn two days ago. He had just worked straight through without stopping, fully focused on the gigantic task at hand… until this morning, when a tiny female had arrived and turned his neat, well-organized plans upside down.
As the door shut behind him, Arlen’s growl turned to a roar of rage. He paced the length of the room—not paying attention to the decor—all the way to a semi-circular balcony overlooking a river flanked by exotic flower gardens. The hot, humid air did nothing to appease his turmoil, and Arlen clenched his hands around the stone balustrade, extending his talons without meaning to.
I’m out of control. This is ridiculous.
The sight of all those colors, all those precious plants and trees, stolen from a thousand worlds to be forced to grow and bloom only filled him with loathing for the one who had built this despicable, ostentatious monster of a house. Then a breeze floated up and Arlen inhaled the scent of the garden, that mixture of flowers and heavy, sensual spices.
An image intruded into his mind. Two purple eyes—so close he could see the tiny veins of darker purple in their irises—staring up at him in shock; plump, pink lips, ripe and open like fruit ready for the taking.
Her. Her face flashed in front of his eyes, vivid and entrancing.
The discovery of the second hybrid only made things worse. He had no choice, really. He had to notify the Gene Protection Council, but he didn’t want to. Because Ava was right. They would lock up both her and the boy, experiment on them like they were animals. Hybrids didn’t benefit from the Ring’s legal protection. They belonged to no specific protected species. It was a gruesome prospect, one he couldn’t stand to see befalling the beautiful, smart female.
Arlen turned away from the garden and went back inside the room, roaming aimlessly between priceless furniture and precious artwork, shoving things out of his way without care.
This had been Trade Minister Knut’s bedroom. The large bed sitting proudly in the middle had been where Knut had slept. The airy, pristine cleansing room had been where Knut had washed his pampered body. That river, that garden and that perfumed breeze had been what Knut had loved to see, to smell. The despicable male’s presence was as palpable as if he were standing in the corner, his narrow face twisted in disdain, watching.
Every inch of it deserved to be burned down. But not now. Right now, Arlen had to clear his head.
As he made his way from the bedroom to the sitting room, he paused. His breath caught and he approached carefully. The portrait of a young female was hung on the wall, painted in pure, lavish Arcadian crystal. The painting was exquisite, obviously done by a master from Arcadia itself—an extravagance even for Knut with his fortune.
The female in the painting wasn’t smiling. Her wide purple eyes were glittering with defiance; her dainty, pointed chin slightly upward, like she was challenging the painter to capture her beauty. Pale, luminescent skin glowed against fiery red hair that cascaded over her naked shoulders. A delicate purple gown clung to her body and her long, fine-fingered hands held a bouquet of Allenflowers, immaculate and white. That bouquet alone was worth a decent-sized spaceship.
“What are you to him?” Arlen asked aloud as he stared at Ava’s portrait. “Who are you, really?”
“Maybe she was his mistress.”
Arlen turned to see Khal walking up to him, his usual nonchalant grin on his face. Arlen frowned at his brother, then turned back to the painting.
“No.” He shook his head. “She couldn’t have been involved with him.”
“And you know this how?” Khal stopped at his side. “She’s part Avonie, p
art human. The best of any female species put together. She received a higher education when all the other humans on this stupid, vegetation-covered rock barely know how to read. And he has a portrait of her in his bedroom. A priceless portrait, if I might add. Yep, your new doctor was Knut’s little plaything.”
“She’s not the type to lie with him for money.” Arlen wanted to dismiss his brother’s words but the possibility had slithered inside his mind and now, all he wanted to do was destroy everything he saw that reminded him of Knut. And everything reminded him of Knut. “She’s too bold, too smart.”
That much he knew. Ava was smart, and she was also brazen, defiant. No, he wouldn’t expect this of Knut’s lover. The Trade Minister was likely to enjoy a meek female, one to bend meekly to his every desire.
She didn’t belong to Knut. She couldn’t have.
“It’s not like she would have had a choice.” Khal shook his head, then planted himself solidly in front of Arlen, blocking his view of the painting. “But I’m not here to talk about the doctor, even if she is the most attractive female I’ve seen on this planet so far.”
Still, jealousy bit at Arlen, vindictive and imperious. His talons shot out of his fingertips, nipping his palm. Arlen opened his hand and stared at the red drops of blood pearling on his skin. His jaw was clenched so hard it hurt, and he fought the impulse to run back to the medical wing. Run back to Ava, rampage every room until he found her.
And what? What would I do then?
“Brother.” Khal’s voice, devoid of his usual humor, brought Arlen back to reality. “What happened to you?”
Arlen turned his back on Khal, then stared at his talons, willing them to retract. And they did, but it took just a few moments too long. “I’m fine. Report back to control. I want an update on the census. All humans need to be accounted for and settled into the main housing building. And all our troops need to be informed on how to react to altercations with humans as well. That species doesn’t know how to handle its temper.”