Dark Fire

by Cynthia Sax

  He required answers.

  “We have company, mate.” He warned Faylee.

  “Are we running or fighting?” she whispered.

  “We’re asking questions. Stay behind me.” He turned to confront the boys.

  They didn’t flee, didn’t try to hide. There were no weapons in their hands. They gazed at him without fear.

  They were no threat. Dare’s muscles relaxed. “Why are you following us?”

  “Ain’t you we’re followin’.” The smallest one rolled his eyes. “You ain’t stealin’ nothing from no one. You’re too shiny.”

  “You’re following me.” His mate’s face turned red. “Because you think I’ll steal something?”

  “We’re ‘opin’ you’ll steal something.” The largest boy piped up. “Give us a show.”

  “Missed the last one,” the third boy mumbled. “Is it true you stole a sword from the Ruler?”

  “It was a dagger.” Faylee sighed. “And I stole it from Dita, the Ruler’s mate, with her permission.” She moved closer to the boys.

  Dare did also, staying by her side. He didn’t completely trust anyone near his female.

  “She challenged me to steal something from her without being detected.” His mate explained to them. “It was a game.”

  “Whoaaaa…” The boys’ lips formed circles. “She knew you were stealin’ it ’n she still didn’t catch you?”

  “Told you she was good.” Faylee’s smallest fan jabbed his elbows into his friends’ stomachs. “Ain’t no one never stole from the Ruler.”

  “I stole from his mate,” Dare’s female corrected. “With her permission.” She tugged on the smallest boy’s chest covering, straightening it. A cloud of dust filled the air. “Did you eat this planet rotation?”

  The three of them looked at each other, said nothing.

  “You didn’t.” She sighed. “Because no one thinks about beings like us.”

  Beings like us. Dare wrapped one of his arms around his female’s waist. She still thought of herself as one of them, as a hungry little thief.

  “And I shouldn’t think about you either.” Faylee’s body stiffened. “Because I’m supposed to be one of them now.” She said that with derision. “I told myself I’d fit in, be the perfect mate. I will not embarrass my Dracheon warrior.”

  That was why she was trying to fit in—so she wouldn’t embarrass him? “You could never embarrass me.” He was proud to have her as his mate, humbled she was his.

  “I could. Easily.” She looked at him, her big beautiful eyes filled with sadness. “I don’t know how to be a fancy arse.”

  “I don’t expect you to be a fancy arse.” He smothered his laughter, acutely aware that his little female was heart-breakingly serious. “I like you the way you are.”

  She didn’t believe him. That was written all over her face.

  “I know where the boys can get something to eat.” And where his mate could better acquaint herself with some of his friends, the so-called fancy arses she sought to emulate. He looked at the trio. “Come with us.”

  Linking his fingers with his female’s, he strode forward.

  Vicuska hesitated for a moment. “It isn’t like I have anything better to do.” She joined them.

  “She goin’ steal something?” One of the boys behind them asked. “’Cause that’s what we wanna see.”

  “If you ask nicely, she might steal something.” Dare would ensure that something was returned to its rightful owner.

  “Shouldn’t I be trying to stop stealing?” Faylee gazed at him. “Theft is against the rules on Dracheon.”

  “We’re not on Dracheon right now.” He shrugged. A few more planet rotations of stealing wouldn’t make a difference.

  His mate looked at him. He kept his face blank.

  A smile lifted her lips. “Then I don’t have to return this?” She held up a sphere made of wire.

  “Give me that.” The smallest boy snatched it from her hand. “Balvan’s arms, you’re good. I ain’t felt a thing.”

  “’Cause you don’t pay no attention to nothing.” The largest boy gibed. “I told you—”

  Faylee extracted a sparkling rock from one of her pockets.

  “Fraggin’ hole.” The boy cursed, grabbing it from her. “That’s mine.”

  The rest of them laughed. Dare’s amusement was edged with pride. His female’s skills might be unconventional but they were also unmatched.

  He squeezed her hand. She grinned at him, her expression a bit sheepish.

  The boys checked their pockets, reassuring themselves that nothing else had been stolen. They then looked at Faylee as though she were their hero.

  Which Dare suspected she was. His mate had come from nothing, as they had. She was one of them, a being to emulate.

  She didn’t have to change to fit in. Not in the boys’ world and not in the Refuge. She’d discover that…soon.

  He navigated the pathways of the settlement with his female and their followers. Additional boys joined their group. The tales of his mate’s feats were repeated, exaggerated more and more with each telling.

  Dare ended the ragtag parade of outcasts outside a one-level domicile situated near the center of the Refuge. “Speaking of Balvan’s arms.” He wondered if his friend had heard of that hilarious phrase. “His mate fabricates the best nourishment bars in the settlement.”

  He doubted Elyce had fabricated enough of them for all of the boys to have one, but they would share. A little bit of a nourishment bar was better than nothing.

  He placed his free hand on the control panel.

  Balvan opened the door, the green gatekeeper filling the space, his huge arms crossed. The male grunted.

  The boys behind them gasped, stepping backward. Faylee’s fingers trembled against Dare’s, her fear felt.

  Balvan was an intimidating sight.

  “I’ve brought my mate to meet with yours.” Dare stated his reasons for the surprise visit. “And, if your mate has any nourishment bars left, we’ll gladly purchase them.”

  “I have some left.” Elyce’s face appeared next to Balvan’s right arm. “But not that many.” She gazed at the crowd before her, her eyes wide. “Girls,” she yelled. “We have to fabricate more nourishment bars.” His friend’s mate disappeared into the depths of the domicile.

  “She doesn’t have to do that.” Faylee protested. “We’ll be happy with any nourishment bars she has.”

  Balvan grunted and shrugged.

  “Balvan’s mate, Elyce, enjoys fabricating nourishment bars.” Dare explained that to his female. “Her lifespan hasn’t always been…happy.”

  Faylee looked sharply at him. “She went hungry?”

  Balvan nodded, the male silently answering for him.

  “Then she won’t judge me by my garments?” She ran one of her hands over her chest covering.

  “None of my friends will judge you by your garments.” He assured her. Elyce had arrived at the Refuge naked and badly beaten, on the verge of death. No one had judged her for that. “They aren’t fancy arses.”

  “When I first escaped the Humanoid Alliance, I would have judged you.” Balvan surprised Dare by speaking. The big male usually kept silent around beings he didn’t know and trust.

  “You would have?” Lines appeared between Faylee’s eyebrows.

  “The Humanoid Alliance kept us naked.” The gatekeeper loomed over them. “I would have looked at your garments and envied you for having them.”

  There was a stretch of silence as Dare’s mate absorbed that revelation.

  “I’m a thief,” she blurted.

  “I enjoy crushing skulls under my boots.” Balvan’s casually spoken words set off a wave of murmurs behind them.

  Faylee smiled. “I like you.”

  Balvan’s bald head dipped, the big male’s face turning a darker shade of green.

  “Steal from me.” A voice from the back of the group shouted the challenge.

  His little thief grinned.
“That request must be for me.” She released Dare’s hand and waded into the pack of excited boys.

  Dare, noting the affection on his mate’s beautiful face, suspected he was now temporarily responsible for thirteen pint-sized half-wild beings. “Is this how you ended up with two half-grown girls and two puffkers?”

  “Three puffkers,” Balvan corrected. “The girls came home with a new one two planet rotations ago, called it Cutie.”

  “That’s better than Sparkles or Glimmer.” He had teased his friend about the names of his puffkers.

  Balvan’s gaze slanted to him. “Cutie is a male.”

  Dare barked with laughter.

  Faylee entertained the boys, giving them tips on how to steal without being detected. That required skill, cunning, intelligence. It wouldn’t take much effort to train the little thieves for different roles.

  Someone else would have to do that training. Some of Dare’s joy faded. They weren’t staying in the Refuge, wouldn’t witness the boys’ transformations. He would have to assign the tasks of caring for them, of supervising them, to another warrior.

  “If something happened to you and your mate, who would you want to care for your girls?” he asked Balvan. The big male had lived in the Refuge longer than he had, knew more about their fellow warriors.

  “You.”

  Dare gaped at his friend, unable to believe his hearing. “You would trust me with your girls?”

  He couldn’t control his beast. Balvan knew that yet would give him guardianship of his girls, beings he loved more than life?

  The big male dipped his head.

  Dare rocked back on his boot heels, stunned. Dracheons, his own kind, had ostracized him but his friend trusted him with his world.

  He must not have considered the alternatives. “What about Orol?” The winged male was the best warrior in the settlement.

  “Too busy with the babies.”

  That was true. Orol and Rhea could barely keep an eye on their three flying boys.

  “Kralj is an option.” The Ruler was all-powerful.

  “The girls are scared of him.”

  Kralj wasn’t the right choice for the boys Faylee was amusing either. Dare doubted they would show the Ruler proper respect, something he would insist upon receiving.

  “How about Tech? Libor?” He named warrior after warrior.

  Balvan dismissed each of them, stating different reasons for each rejection. His friend had thought about every possibility.

  He had still chosen Dare.

  “I’m honored, my friend.” It meant more to him than he could ever express. “But my mate and I are leaving Carinae E.”

  And he had to find a replacement protector for the little thieves. They needed someone to think about them, someone worthy of the role.

  “Are you leaving?” Balvan nodded toward Faylee.

  She was laughing so hard at one of the boy’s antics she held her stomach. Her face glowed. Her smile lit up the space.

  Dare couldn’t look away from her, her beauty almost bringing him to his knees.

  Elyce appeared in the doorway. She passed Balvan flat serving containers piled high with nourishment bars.

  Balvan and Dare distributed the treats. The wonder on the boys’ faces mirrored Faylee’s when she’d bit into a bar that first planet rotation they’d spent together.

  “Look at how happy they are, how loved they feel.” His mate hugged him, her eyes shining. “No one has ever cared for them like this.”

  No one had ever cared for him like she did. He wrapped his arms around her. “Elyce did the bulk of the caring.”

  “She fabricated the nourishment bars.” Faylee leaned into his body. “But you brought them here. Elyce and Balvan and their girls are your wonderful, generous friends.”

  They were wonderful and were his friends. It warmed his heart that she liked them.

  “If you have friends like this on Dracheon, I’ll be happy there.” His mate smiled up at him.

  Dare said nothing. He didn’t have friends like Balvan and Elyce on Dracheon.

  “Faylee.” Vicuska appeared in the domicile’s entrance and beckoned to his female. “Elyce wants to show you something.”

  “I’ll be back in a moment.” Faylee ducked under his arm and danced away from him, looking joyful, free, like herself.

  Balvan grunted, standing beside him.

  That grunt told him Faylee wouldn’t be back in a mere moment. “My mate needs new garments.”

  His friend groaned. The big male, having two growing girls, was a frequent visitor to the garment section of the market. He lavished his females with gifts.

  As Dare would lavish his female with gifts.

  If they ever arrived at the market. Time passed. The females didn’t reappear.

  “Did Hulagu leave?” Had he missed the opportunity to say good-bye to the kid?

  Balvan’s slight head shake communicated he hadn’t.

  “I suppose his brother and the other Chameles have already arrived.” More than two planet rotations had passed. They should have landed.

  The noise from his friend confirmed they’d reached the Refuge.

  “I’ll miss the kid,” Dare confessed. He’d miss Balvan also. And the other warriors.

  “I’ll miss him if he leaves.” The green gatekeeper crossed his arms and cast a hard glance on one of the boys. The little thief immediately stopped stuffing nourishment bars into his pockets.

  Dare looked at his friend. “Hulagu might not leave the Refuge?”

  Chameles were extremely family-focused. Their entire sector was currently ruled by three brothers. Their kin were everything to them.

  And all of the kid’s kin lived on Chamele 2.

  “I wouldn’t leave.” Balvan’s gaze flicked to the domicile’s doors.

  “Azalea would leave with him.” Chameles were like Dracheons. They mated for life, the couple rarely parting.

  Balvan grunted.

  His friend’s reply said that wouldn’t make a difference to his decision.

  Azalea, Hulagu’s mate, was scared to leave the Refuge. The thought of taking one step outside the walls terrified her.

  But she also loved Hulagu, would do anything for him. And she would be safe. The kid would protect his female. His family would protect both of them.

  As Dare would protect Faylee when he returned with her to his home planet. Dracheons didn’t settle permanently elsewhere. That was a rule no one, including him, dared to break.

  They had ten planet rotations to leave Carinae E after they completed their bonding. If they stayed one additional planet rotation, they’d be permanently exiled. He and his mate would be cut off from his kind forever. Their offspring, offspring’s offspring, and all future generations would have to denounce them to return.

  It was a harsh reprimand, which was why no one risked it. He couldn’t risk it.

  “The Humanoid Alliance males retreated.” Balvan surprised him with that random comment. “They’re no longer directly outside the gates.”

  The extra males must have been needed to fully surround Kralj’s terrain.

  “They’re not to be underestimated.” Dare cautioned. “If it weren’t for my mate’s assistance, I would have failed in my mission.” It irked his pride to make that confession. “The Humanoid Alliance arrived at the Rebel structure mere moments before we did.”

  Balvan grunted, twitched his bald head toward a group of boys. They lingered close, had stopped talking, were listening intently to the conversation.

  “Are you Humanoid Alliance spies?” Dare already knew the answer.

  Kralj, his leader, could read minds, wouldn’t allow Humanoid Alliance spies within the Refuge.

  “No, sir.” One of the boys spoke for the group. “We hate dem Humanoid Alliance scum.” He spat on the stone pathway. “Dey’re bad news, prone to kill our kind for shits and giggles.” The other boys nodded. “You need our help? Ask.”

  How could they help? Dare didn’t ask that ques
tion. His mate had shown him even young thieves had pride. “We have the situation handled.”

  The boys shook their heads and turned away from him. They huddled together.

  Dare, with his exceptional hearing, could only detect non-explanatory words like yes and no.

  He gazed at Balvan. His friend shrugged.

  The boys must be communicating non-verbally. Dare pushed his concerns away. Kralj could read minds. If their plans were destructive, the Ruler would stop them.

  The boys couldn’t be his responsibility. He was leaving the Refuge soon.

  Chapter Twelve

  Faylee was happy.

  Dare’s friends had accepted her, liked her for who she was. She didn’t have to pretend or be someone else when she was with them.

  They weren’t fancy arses. Not at all. They had helped to feed the boys, not making a fuss about the youngsters’ dirty hands or rough manners.

  When the pack of thieves-in-training had drifted away, kicking stones and chattering, Dare had cautioned them to be careful, reminded them the Ruler was always watching. That had touched her heart. He cared for them.

  Elyce and her girls, needing new garments also, had joined the outing to the market. Balvan had accompanied them, scowling at anyone who dared to get close to his females.

  Faylee was now clad in a semi-respectable black flight suit with numerous pockets. She kicked her legs as Dare carried her back to his domicile…their domicile.

  “No one cares that I’m a thief.” She smiled up at him.

  “No one cares here.” His eyes glowed with flames.

  She heated from her head to her booted feet. “My stealing planet rotations are over.” Because they were going to fuck a second time. Which meant… “I’ll soon have scales like you.” She didn’t know how she felt about that. Everything was changing, including her body. “I’ll be too shiny to be a thief.”

  Her male lowered his gaze. “Normal Dracheons can rescind their scales without effort.”

  She had never been normal, doubted she’d have the ability. And without that ability, she wouldn’t go unnoticed, a must for a successful thief.

  But she could advocate for other thieves, steer them slowly into different, less dangerous roles.

  Then she remembered. “They don’t have thieves on Dracheon, do they?”