by Carven, Anna
At least her relatives were safe.
With his usual military efficiency, Ikriss had taken control of everything.
It was a little overwhelming having a mate that was so scarily competent, but at the same time, she was grateful for his overprotectiveness, because he made her feel perfectly safe.
And she’d been touched by how he’d fussed and fretted over Eva’s welfare, personally ensuring that Zharek and his medical team used their most advanced technology to heal her burns.
He didn’t even know Eva, but he’d treated her as one of his own. “It is simple, Sienna,” he’d explained to her. “Any human that belongs to your tribe is under my protection, and I do not do protection by halves.”
How could she argue with that?
As Sienna stroked Eva’s hand, her friend’s ridiculously long eyelashes began to flutter. She shifted this way and that, scrunching up the soft sheets that covered her body.
Then she sat bolt upright, snatching her hand out of Sienna’s grasp.
Dark eyes snapped open.
She whirled around in confusion and fear. “What the fuck…?”
“Eva. It’s me. Calm down. You’re okay. You’re safe now.”
“Sienna?” Eva looked around in alarm… at the dark, curving walls of the ship; at the embryonic sleeping pod. “Is this some crazy never-ending nightmare? Have I gotten stuck in some malfunctioning consciousness immersion sim?”
Sienna was used to the strange interiors of Kordolian ships by now, but she could understand how the surroundings could completely freak out any human.
“No, Eva. This is real,” she said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible, because right now, Eva looked the most scared Sienna had ever seen her, and Eva was the most fearless human she knew. “You know me, Eva. You know I don’t put up with bullshit anymore. Do you think I’d really be able to sit here and lie to you about anything? Don’t you think you’d be able to tell?”
Eva’s face scrunched up. For a moment, she looked like she was going to burst into tears.
But then she took a deep breath and turned to Sienna, sticking her chin out in that typical stubborn way of hers. “I wondered where you’d disappeared to. Turns out you’ve just been hanging out in space with the same guys that want to invade Earth and freaking breed us.” Eva’s expression was one of pure disbelief. She let out a weak laugh. “And here I thought you were done with morally challenged insane guys.”
“They aren’t what you think,” Sienna said slowly, forcefully. “Didn’t you once tell me not to take anything at face value? That there’s no such thing as pure good or pure evil; only different shades of grey? That sometimes people do bad shit for good reasons?”
“You know, I probably did, but that was before we got invaded by alien death-elves. I don’t know anything anymore. Are you telling me we’re just going to go back down to Earth and continue on as if none of this ever happened? Like they’re just going to let you go back to the Whisk and start making caramel cronuts again?”
Sienna shrugged. “They sure are. You’ve been through a lot of shit. This isn’t the best place to recover from all that. Why don’t we just go home?”
Eva’s shoulders slumped. She shook her head. “W-what do you mean, go home? We’re prisoners now. They’re going to force us to…”
Sienna rose and put her hands on Eva’s shoulders. “Trust me, nobody’s going to force anyone to do anything. We’re going home.”
Her friend stared up at her, blinking in confusion. “Do you understand how insane all of this is? I feel like I’m going crazy. I just don’t…” She ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head. “If you can somehow convince them to let us go home, I swear I’ll publish that novel you’ve only been bugging me to put out like every day for the past two years.”
“Deal.” Unable to contain her excitement, Sienna grinned. “I’ll arrange a transport back to Earth. Just to warn you, we’re going to run into a lot of these guys on our way back. They look scary, but they’re totally harmless—to us, anyway.”
Eva let out an exasperated puff. “Sienna, you’re doing my head in right now. How do you get away with acting like you have any sort of authority around here, anyway?”
“Let’s just say I’ve got an amicable relationship with one of the big dogs around here.” She decided not to tell Eva about her relationship with Ikriss yet. Kordolians could be overwhelming. She got that.
Eva’s eyes narrowed. “The arrogant asshole that came to get us?”
“He’s not an asshole,” Sienna snapped without thinking. Nobody was going get away with badmouthing Ikriss on her watch; not even one of her closest friends.
“You’re defending him like that? Oh my god. You’re… you’re…”
“In an amicable relationship,” Sienna said calmly. “And we’re going home. Remember, I’m here with you. Nothing bad’s going to happen to us. And think twice about what you’ve been told. Nothing is what it seems. You can see it with your very own eyes.”
Lost for words for once in her life, Eva nodded mutely.
Okay, here goes.
Sienna glance toward the black tentacle-doors, which were sealed shut. “Um, Kail?” She raised her voice ever so slightly. “Eva’s awake. We’re ready to go back…” she gave Eva a pointed look. “But let’s eat something first. I’ll make cacio e pepe. Your favorite.” That was a code. Cacio e pepe—the deliciously moreish pasta with cheese and pepper sauce—and a glass of wine was what they did after a particularly shitty day at work.
Eva laughed weakly. “Like you’re just going to whip that up in their state-of-the-art kitchen? Does this alien doom-ship have a secret stash of pecorino cheese or something?”
“They have lots of things,” Sienna responded lightly. “Pure Ecuadorian cacao too, if you’re that way inclined.”
The doors unravelled. Kail strode through, looking like some lost guardsman of the underworld. Even though Sienna was one hundred percent sure that none of these Kordolians would ever harm her, she still found Riana’s mate freaking scary. Ikriss had asked the big warrior to keep an eye on things while he attended to some urgent business.
At first, she’d scoffed at the idea. Eva was not a threat to her in the slightest. But after everything that hand happened, she could also understand how they could be so hyper-protective.
It was going to take a while to adjust to this new normal, and Sienna predicted there would be a lot of push and pull between her and Ikriss over these security arrangements, but she could be very persuasive when she wanted, especially with him.
“You are ready,” Kail said softly, and it was more of a command than a question. His voice was colder than an arctic storm, and his hard, scar-marked face was like chiseled granite. He was utterly alien and impossible to read.
“After we eat,” Sienna replied firmly. “We’ll be heading straight back to Earth… back to New York. I take it everything’s under control now.”
Kail scrutinized them with a wintry gaze. “The security barrier is down. It will be business as usual.”
“Oh. That was quick.” She’d half expected he Kordolians’ secure lockdown area around her restaurant to be there forever.
“Ikriss’s orders,” Kail shrugged. “He wants you to feel comfortable.”
“So it’s safe enough to withdraw?”
“No. We will provide the same level of security. Humans just won’t know about it. Apparently, we have become what my mate calls Public Enemy Number One.” He flashed his fangs in an almost-smile. Sienna couldn’t imagine him ever actually smiling. “Foolish humans.”
“Security?” Eva hissed.
“I’ll explain everything later,” Sienna said hastily, giving Eva’s shoulder a squeeze. Relax. She really didn’t want to have this talk in front of Kail of all people. “Why don’t you take advantage of the sanitation facilities and get yourself freshened up? Then I’ll go and rustle something up for you, and then we’ll catch a ship home.”
“Um,
okay. If you say that’s the plan, then I’ll go with it. Just pinch me now and then to remind me that I’m not dreaming.”
Kail inclined his head. “I will wait outside—but do not take overly long. A small delegation of humans has arrived from Earth to greet you. The General’s and Ashrael’s mates are amongst them. They have been pestering us to allow them to meet you ever since they learned of your existence.” He snorted softly. “Like you, they can be quite adamant.”
“Mates?” Eva was aghast.
“As I said, I’ll explain everything.” Sienna breezily waved a hand in Kail’s direction. “We won’t be too long.”
The big warrior snorted for a second time and quietly showed himself out, disappearing behind closing doors into the silence and darkness beyond.
Like a freaking wraith.
Leaving Eva staring at Sienna like she’d just seen a ghost. “Clearly, I don’t know shit about anything anymore.”
“Kordolians,” Sienna said dryly. “They tend to have that effect on people. You get used to the feeling… and after a while, you’ll start to realize that they really aren’t all that bad.”
“Oh, Sienna. You’re already in so freaking deep, aren’t you?”
If only you knew. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.”
“But you know,” Eva said slowly, shaking her head sharply as if trying to snap herself out of a trance, “I can kind of see how it could happen. There’s just something darkly fascinating about them, isn’t there? Alien space-elves with technology that makes them almost as powerful as gods.”
“Sounds like something you would write about,” Sienna said dryly.
A spark lit up Eva’s brown eyes. Her lips curved into a tentative smile. That’s better. “You know what? Maybe I will.”
Chapter Thirty
Ikriss left Sienna on Silence in the company of her friend, who, much to his relief, had responded very well to Zharek’s nanoparticle treatment.
He remembered the feeling of satisfaction that came over him when he told Sienna the good news. For the first time since he’d encountered her, she’d seemed completely at peace.
Her clan and her business and her home were very important to her. Ikriss understood that now. She was firmly grounded on Earth, and he had no intention of tearing her away from all that. Secretly, he was touched to witness such loyalty from his mate toward her companions—and toward him.
Nobody had ever stepped forward to defend him like that—even if it was only against foolish human misinformation.
He rarely ever needed defending.
Ikriss smiled to himself as he went back to the now-empty medical bay, walking past empty treatment rooms and silent glowing blue stasis tanks.
Sienna’s humanness made her vulnerable and delicate, but it also made her courageous and strong and protective.
She was everything he could have ever hoped for in a mate. He almost didn’t deserve her.
Slowly, deliberately, he made his footfalls louder, giving the medic a chance to detect his presence. He supposed he should show Zharek at least this much courtesy. The medic could be irritatingly arrogant at times, and he sometimes behaved as if he were a god, but he had helped them immensely over the past few rotations.
He had healed Sienna and her friend.
And he had saved Ikriss’s life.
“Go away. I’m busy.” Zharek’s annoyed voice rang out from behind a row of holo-monitors.
“Are you sure you want that, Zharek?” Ikriss said mildly as he stepped around the monitoring equipment and into a soft halo of glowing blue light.
“C-commander,” Zharek blurted. He’d been studying something intensely on the holo, but he quickly ordered the image to disappear as Ikriss approached.
Ikriss wasn’t certain, but he thought it might have been a human female.
He didn’t bother to question it. He wasn’t even curious. Zharek had his oddities and obsessions. Didn’t they all?
“I heal almost as fast as a First Division warrior,” Ikriss growled as he loomed over Zharek. “And my cursed horns keep growing back, no matter how much suppressant I paint on them. Explain.”
“By the time I infused the nanites into your body, your horns had already grown back,” Zharek shrugged. “Why is it bothering you so much? Think of it as a favor.”
“Horns come with obvious tactical limitations.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure out a solution. Don’t the benefits outweigh the risks?”
Ikriss remembered the delicious pink flush that had spread through Sienna’s cheeks when she’d found out about his unique predicament.
He remembered her devious smile…
And just like that, he had a raging erection again.
“Well, I’ll leave you to make your own conclusions about that,” Zharek said lightly. “The simple explanation for it all is that the nanites will try and restore your body to the state in which they found it—in this case, with horns intact.”
Ikriss glared at the medic, not knowing whether to be irritated or overjoyed. “Why did you put the nanites inside my body? And why haven’t they eaten me alive?”
“Version 2. The first lot I made were bound to a vector called Draekus—a virus that has a ninety-seven percent fatality rate in ordinary Kordolians. With this version, I figured out how to neutralize the virus, and the viral load I infected you with is nowhere near as high as what I put into the First Division. You do not need to learn the forms as they did. It is not necessary for you to learn how to exert your subliminal ka’qui over the nanoparticles. They will not kill you or your mate. They will simply heal you, each and every time.”
Ikriss took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm. “You did this because it was necessary… the damage I sustained was more than what you could heal on your own.”
Zharek swiveled in his chair and looked Ikriss straight in the eye. His demeanor changed, becoming perfectly cold. “No. The truth is, you would have survived without the nanites.”
Ikriss fought very hard to stop himself from tearing Zharek’s throat out. “Then why did you put them in me?”
The medic’s amber gaze was clear and brilliant. It was as if a mask had slipped away. “I am no fool, Commander. Believe it or not, I see what happens outside this lab, and I know what is coming. Did you forget that I am also a son of House Sirian? I know my brethren, Ikriss Peturic. I know very well what they are capable of, and I will do everything in my power to help you and the General finish off what you started. You are just a little invincible now, and when war is upon us again, you will thank me.”
“Perhaps,” Ikriss conceded, studying Zharek intently. The facade of the eccentric-but-brilliant nobleman was down, revealing a calculating mind. “But the next time you intend to carry out any modifications on my body, you will seek my consent first. And you will never, ever experiment on any of our females. With them, you heal. That is all.”
“I-I would never dream of it,” Zharek stammered, his calculating expression evaporating.
“Good.” Ikriss turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder. “In that case, I owe you thanks. And a favor, should you ever need to call on one.”
“S-sir!” Zharek was so surprised he almost snapped to attention.
Ikriss gave him a curt but respectful nod and disappeared, lengthening his strides as he left the medical bay.
He had another visit to make, and this one would not be half as pleasant.
* * *
He went down into the lower decks, past the secret tech development labs and the weapons stores, past the powerful quasar reactors that provided Silence with its inexhaustible source of energy…
Down into the silent, dark cells where they held their enemies.
Where Sagarath Rexu sat in isolation and prayed for death.
Ikriss’s need for revenge deepened as he thought of the honorless bastard that had orchestrated Sienna’s capture and torture from afar. It wasn’t just Sienna Rexu had made suffer; it was at least
a dozen other innocent human females.
But it was the thought of Sienna’s suffering that filled him with white-hot rage. He truly wanted to tear Rexu’s black heart out of his chest with his very own claws and devour it—in the way his ancestors would have done to their sworn enemies.
But this was the new universe, and although he had won the right to carry out his blood-revenge on Rexu, Ikriss had thought long and hard about it since coming back from the dead. Revenge was as innate to Kordolians as breathing, but perhaps Rexu was worth more to them alive.
The guard at the entrance gave Ikriss a respectful nod as he passed through the secure Qualum doors.
Into perfect darkness.
There was not a single ray of background light in this place. Even with his sensitive dark-sight, Ikriss found it a little difficult to see. He came to a row of five secure cells. All of them were open, except for the very last one.
“Molgu,” he said. Open.
The Qualum doors unravelled to reveal a figure sitting against the wall, staring straight ahead.
Sagarath Rexu made no effort to move. He didn’t say a word. His once arrogant sneer was gone, replaced with an expression that was utterly devoid of emotion.
The former Death Squad soldier had given up. After surviving an interrogation by Tarak himself, Rexu’s mind was broken.
He was just waiting for the Goddess to take him.
Ikriss’s desire for revenge waned. What would be the point of tearing Rexu apart now? There was no honor in destroying a man that was already weak and defenseless. It would be too easy.
So he forced himself to ignore the dark instinct that threatened to consume him, because there were more important things that needed to be done.
I should tear you apart with my bare hands right here and now. I should make you feel the very same pain you so carelessly inflicted on my cherished mate, and I should multiply it a thousandfold. But she is stronger than you could ever have imagined, and you are nothing more than a bad memory to her.