by Eva Brandt
My comment drew a tiny giggle out of my friend. “He is very handsome. I’m jealous you’ll get to spend time with him.”
The prince would most likely see me as beneath him, but I didn’t want to get into that. “I doubt we’ll be that close. I’m sure he has other classes and a schedule that will be different from mine. If I see him on the flight there, I’ll consider myself lucky.”
“I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Louise replied. Her expression sobered and she pressed a hand to her screen. “Take care, all right, Selene? Don’t get blown up by the Sun-Dwellers.”
The Sun-Dwellers hadn’t even occurred to me as a problem. I had to survive my own people first before I could think of facing the alien invaders. “Don’t worry,” I told my friend. “I might be going to Tartarus Base, but Gaia will still be with me.”
At this, Louise was reassured. My father wasn’t so easily convinced. He managed to show up at the tribunal half an hour before I was scheduled to leave. “Oh, Selene,” he said as he hugged me, “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I replied. “This is what I’ve always wanted.”
“It isn’t. I should’ve known better than to encourage it.”
My mother had said that too. She couldn’t even look at him now. I wondered if she blamed him for my less than womanly inclinations. Maybe she did. Louise, who didn’t have as much contact with her father as I had, displayed no interest in chimeras. Maybe my father had influenced my love for the mechas in some way.
It didn’t matter anymore. Either way, I was a tamer now and it was what I wanted to be. If I had to go to Chimera Academy and face everyone who deemed me unsuitable for the role, I’d do it. I wouldn’t give up on the Sphinx.
“Precious things always come with toil,” I said. “That’s what Mother always taught me. I might never be able to help heal the earth, but I can protect it, and that is a gift. I won’t reject it out of fear.”
My father nodded, but my mother just seemed more stricken. Looking at her, I suspected she believed this was the last time she’d ever see me.
She hugged me tightly and pressed another kiss to my forehead. “You’re so strong, Selene. Stronger than I ever was. The power of the gods runs through your veins. I believe in you.”
But she didn’t, not really, because if she had, she wouldn’t have been so pale. I didn’t call her out on her lie. I hugged her back and when I broke away, I forced myself to smile. “Thank you, Mother.”
After that, my parents led me to the shuttle. Much to my surprise, Knox Alexander was waiting for me in the hangars. “High Priestess,” he said, greeting my mother with a light, formal bow. “Ms. Renard. Mr. Graves.”
My mother eyed him from head to toe, and I wondered what she knew about him that she’d never mentioned. “Flight Lieutenant Alexander. I take it you’ll accompany my daughter to the ship of His Royal Highness.”
“Indeed. If Ms. Renard is ready to depart, her luggage is already on board.”
He smiled, and there was something dark and dangerous in his eyes. My father clenched his fists, but said nothing.
Men from Earth didn’t have any authority or power against people like Knox Alexander. He might not be Chimera royalty, but he was close enough. He was the pilot of the Cerberus and he’d barreled over the wishes of the general earlier that day, when he’d helped me connect with the Sphinx.
I wondered what would’ve happened if he hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t shown me how to summon her. The Sphinx would’ve probably been taken from me and I wouldn’t have had to go to the academy. Had he realized that when he’d offered me his aid? What was he playing at?
I wasn’t sure, but I did know that I had to be careful around him, around everyone I’d meet from now on.
“I’m ready to go,” I told him, displaying none of the anxiety that bubbled in my heart. “Besides, as long as the Sphinx is here, I don’t need that much.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard such a comment from a woman,” Knox replied. “But I suppose you’re not like other women I’ve met.”
He seemed to be ignoring the presence of my parents, his predatory aura suffocating me with its intensity. If he thought he could intimidate me, he had another think coming. “Well, then, you must not have met a lot of women. Or you kept company with all the wrong ones.”
“Or maybe you’re just special. After all, there’s never been a female chimera tamer before.”
I didn’t think I was that special. My love for chimeras notwithstanding, I’d always been a pretty regular girl. But I didn’t bother correcting him. If he and other people like him assumed I was different from other women, it could only be an advantage, at least for now.
“In any case, we should get on board,” he continued before I could come up with an actual reply. “His Royal Highness wishes to return to Tartarus Base as soon as possible. We shouldn’t leave him waiting.”
“Yes, of course,” I answered, trying very hard to not think about what that meant. I turned toward my parents once again. “Mother, Father, goodbye. May Gaia guide you on your path. I’ll do my best to contact you as soon as I can.”
“And may Tartarus guide you on yours, my daughter,” my mother said. “I’m sure you’ll make us all very proud.”
The comment took me by surprise, since it wasn’t my mother’s habit to deliver blessings or farewells in Tartarus’s name. It was another sign of how much things had changed. All of a sudden, I realized how much had remained unsaid between me and my parents. I wanted to hug them one last time, to tell them I loved them, to thank them for the way they’d raised me and to reassure them that, no matter what happened to me, I’d never blame them. But I didn’t get the chance. Knox grabbed my elbow and ushered me into the shuttle. The hatch closed, shutting my parents out.
I ached to rage at him for denying me the opportunity to finish my conversation with my parents. But lashing out wouldn’t help me, so instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. “How long will the trip to His Highness’s vessel last?”
“Only a few minutes,” Knox answered. “Brendan brought the ship as close to New Washington as possible.”
“That was kind of him,” I offered, not knowing what else to say.
Knox shrugged. “Kindness had nothing to do with it. If he’d been elsewhere, it would’ve just taken us longer to get back to base.”
I wondered if the prince had come specifically to pick Knox up. Knox had called him by his given name, so they were likely very close. It occurred to me that even if I’d wanted to seduce the prince, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
Knox would be a very effective barrier between the two of us. The thought was strangely reassuring and the knot of tension inside me unraveled.
Knox guided me to the passenger section of the shuttle and buckled me in. His hands didn’t linger on my body and I began to feel stupid for my previous concerns.
Knox and other men like him must’ve seen and slept with countless other women, far prettier than I could ever be. There was no reason why anyone would want me in particular. I was going to Chimera Academy as a tamer. My gender was irrelevant.
Taking that into account, I thought back at my interactions with Knox Alexander. They hadn’t been great. I had to try to be a little nicer to my fellow students. I wouldn’t sleep with any of them like my mother had suggested, but surely, making friends was possible.
Biting my lower lip, I turned toward Knox and shot him a hesitant smile. “Flight Lieutenant Alexander, if you would be so kind… Could you tell me more about the academy? It’s a bit of a mystery on Earth. What does a tamer study there?”
For a few moments, Knox just stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head. Then, all of a sudden, he was in my space, practically on top of me, showing no signs of losing his balance even if the shuttle was already in flight. He trapped me between the chair and his massive, muscular form, and my senses began to scream in alarm.
“You shouldn’t
do that, Ms. Renard,” he whispered huskily in my ear. “I’m trying very hard to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I’m a man and if you make an invitation, I’ll take you up on it.”
I wanted to kick myself for my behavior. Hadn’t I decided mere minutes earlier that I’d be careful around him? Why had I changed my mind so quickly?
“It wasn’t an invitation of any kind,” I replied. “I was just asking a question. But if you’re not capable of answering it without physical assault, fine. I’ll find out more about the academy once I get there.”
My voice came out much too breathless for my comfort and my head was spinning. A strange warmth coursed through my body, one that had nothing to do with the power of Tartarus. My breasts felt heavy and my stomach fluttered with a powerful physical awareness and a need I’d never experienced before.
No. I refused to do this. There was no shame in having a sexuality, but if I followed such impulses, my fellow students would never respect me. “Now, please, remove yourself,” I continued. “I don’t like to be touched.”
He laughed, and the sound flowed over me like a physical caress. “Liar. You’re practically begging for it. Terran women are all the same. They always want to be—”
The memory of what my mother had told me flashed through my mind. Fury replaced my incipient arousal. Suddenly, the fact that he was so close to me seemed unbearable.
He wasn’t completely wrong. I did like to be touched. But not like this, and not by men who saw me as nothing more than a sexual object.
Snarling, I tried to shove him back. When that proved to be a futile effort, I slapped him, and the force behind the blow made my hand ache. It was still satisfying, because it left a distinctive red mark on his cheek. His eyes widened in shock, and I savored the knowledge that I’d proven him wrong. “Like you said, I’m not like the women you’ve met before,” I reminded him. “In fact, for you, I won’t ever be a woman at all. Just another chimera tamer. Is that perfectly clear?”
He pulled away and got up, his seductive aura fading into a far colder, calmer demeanor. “Yes, Ms. Renard. I understand.”
Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed out of the compartment. I slumped against my seat, feeling exhausted even if I’d just left New Washington.
This trip to Chimera Academy hadn’t started well, had it?
Tamer of the Serpent
Brendan
When Knox had told me about the woman who’d claimed the Sphinx as her chimera, I hadn’t known what to expect. As soon as I’d ended the conversation with him, I’d sought more information on her. Unfortunately, the priestesses of Gaia tended to be very secretive about their offspring. There was very little information on Selene beyond the fact that she existed. She was 19, and her father, Raul Graves, was the secretary for The Grand Judiciary ambassador in New Washington. Under normal circumstances, her path should’ve never crossed mine.
And yet, she’d managed to tame a chimera—the Sphinx, no less—and because of that, she was now my responsibility.
I was getting a headache just thinking about how much trouble she’d cause.
That train of thought lasted until the moment Knox’s shuttle boarded the Venom. It wasn’t my style to have Knox come to me. Decorum dictated that I put at least some distance between me and anyone not a royal, but my fellow Chimera Warriors had always been an exception to that rule. I went to greet him upon his arrival and, naturally, ended up running into her.
Knox and Selene came out of the shuttle together and the moment I saw her, I felt like I’d taken a blow to the solar plexus.
Her sharp dark eyes showed no sign of being affected by Tartarus’s Gift, but I sensed its presence in her anyway. Her beautiful red hair tumbled down her shoulders in wild waves and her Terran clothes accentuated her bust in a way that made me think of thrusting my dick between her breasts.
Our women tended to be less gifted in that field and the Terrans who came to Tartarus Base lost weight quickly too. It was a constant irritant for me, since I liked my lovers to have some meat on their bones. Selene was definitely a daughter of Gaia, much prettier than any of the other women I’d had before.
I wanted to throw something at Knox, because he hadn’t warned me she was so beautiful. Then again, I couldn’t blame him. He tended to be very reliable, but his instincts were more powerful than mine and on occasion, that showed. It wasn’t his fault. Cerberus would’ve had that effect on any tamer, not just Knox.
My friend was studiously ignoring Selene and alarm bells started to ring in my head. “Our Cerberus seems to have some issues,” Typhon hissed at the back of my mind.
“Yes, I can see that,” I told him.
Outwardly, I showed no sign of my restlessness. I met Knox and Selene halfway, all the while trying to find a solution for the problem Selene posed.
With Knox it was bad enough, but once we added August and Pollux to the mix… Fuck, it would be a disaster.
Selene curtsied in front of me, completely oblivious to the danger she was in. “Your Highness, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m Selene Renard, daughter of High Priestess of Gaia, Tanya Renard and the recent tamer of the Sphinx.”
“Ms. Renard, welcome to the Venom,” I answered. “I am Prince Brendan Chimera. I trust your trip from New Washington has been enjoyable so far.”
My words were bland and meaningless, more so since her trip had been very short. She seemed to read more into them than I’d intended. Her fingers twitched and her veins glowed with a flicker of crimson energy. Anyone else might have missed it, but I was Chimera royalty. I was attuned to the specific feel of tachyon discharges, no matter how small they might be.
“Yes, Your Highness,” she said. “It’s been great.” She was lying through her teeth. Her new powers betrayed her.
Had something happened between her and Knox on the way here? I needed to get Knox alone and ask.
“Is that really what you want?” Typhon whispered. “You already know what he’s going to say.”
“And that’s exactly why I have to step in before the situation escalates.”
“You don’t owe this girl anything,” he replied. “In fact, why not take her to your bed and share her with your wolf?”
The thought appealed to me. It was so easy to imagine her naked, with her legs spread, welcoming us inside her tight, wet heat.
But Selene Renard was the pilot of the Sphinx, not one of my regular women. That tachyon discharge might have been involuntary, but it also served as a useful reminder. If she was going to Chimera Academy, it was because she was a tamer and she needed to train that skill.
“I suppose that’s true,” Typhon told me. “Well, this might be a good thing. I did miss Sphinx. She and I used to play such excellent chess games before she went dormant. As much as I like Scylla, it’s not the same with her.”
He sounded excited now, and I couldn’t help but be happy for him, at least a little. Selene might be a problem for me, but the Sphinx was a huge asset and she was Typhon’s friend.
With that in mind, I shot Selene a quick smile. “I must thank you, Ms. Renard, for returning the Sphinx to us. She’s been greatly missed.”
She blinked in surprise, having obviously not expected that comment. “You don’t have to thank me. She just… came to me.”
“Even so, our chimeras will undoubtedly be very eager to welcome her home.”
Selene frowned and tilted her head. Her eyes glazed and I could tell she must’ve been talking to Sphinx. She was unaccustomed to it, so it wasn’t as smooth and effortless as it was for me and the other Chimera Warriors. There was more leakage and I suppressed a grimace of my own as her untrained power licked over my skin.
“Chess?” she finally asked, unaware of what she’d just done. “They play chess? How is that possible?”
“Anything is possible, when Grand Chimeras are involved, Ms. Renard,” Knox replied in my stead. “And chess is the least interesting game they play.”
“Unrefined m
utt,” Typhon hissed. “Chess is very interesting. One of these days…”
I tuned out his familiar rant. It wasn’t the first time Typhon took offense at Cerberus’s less intellectual interests and it wouldn’t be the last. And I had no doubt that it was Cerberus he was talking about, not Knox, which made my previous plan even more urgent.
“In any case, today must’ve been tough for you, Ms. Renard. Why don’t you go take a bath and rest? Once we get to the academy, you won’t have a lot of private space or time to relax.”
I snapped my fingers and one of my attendants approached. “Robert, take Ms. Renard to a guest room and make sure she has everything she needs for the flight. Prepare a bath and a meal.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Robert replied. “Of course.”
Selene looked like she had a lot of questions and didn’t want to go with Robert. Just the same, she didn’t protest. “Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness. I look forward to the time we’ll spend together at the academy.”
If she had known about my previous thoughts, she wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic. But she’d find out, in time. I wouldn’t enlighten her, not yet, not today.
As soon as she was gone, I gestured for Knox to follow me. We walked in silence through the corridors of the Venom. Together, we made our way to my personal quarters, where I knew we wouldn’t be disturbed and where we’d be safe from prying eyes.
The moment we were behind closed doors, he grabbed my arm and shoved me against the wall. He crushed his lips to mine so hard I tasted blood. My body responded to his almost hostile need for me and I kissed him back just as savagely.
“I want you,” he growled against my mouth. “I want you so much.”
His almost desperate tone reminded me why I’d brought him here and why I’d been so concerned about him in the first place. I buried my hands in his hair and pulled him away from me. “Do you really? Or do you want her, and I’m just a replacement?”