But who did the killing? Jet pressed. Someone must know who you are!
Rebels attacked the Royal Fortress on Astet, Laksri thought back, his mental voice holding almost no emotion again. They killed all who could identify me. The Nirreth Royalty themselves had kept my true identity from most branches in the royal bloodline, once it was discovered I was a traitor. Unlike humans, our faces are not widely known to one another in the royal court. I was from the first family, the oldest son, so they said I was killed in a rebel attack. It was about saving face for them… but their vanity allowed us to erase what had happened. No one left knows the truth about me.
What about those who ran the Rings? Jet persisted.
Dead. Laksri shrugged. Or in prison on Astet. Everyone was under suspicion when a royal traitor was caught. It was not difficult to make some of those in high up positions, including in the Rings, appear to be complicit in the conspiracy.
“Oldest son,” Jet muttered under her breath.
At Laksri’s sharp look, she switched back to her mind.
So you should have been the next king?
Laksri gave an indifferent shrug.
“Yes,” he said aloud. Frowning, he thought at her more bitterly, I, too, could be playing with otters and demanding female mammals take their clothes off for me.
Jet sighed, speaking aloud without thinking.
“You heard about that?”
“I did.” He looked at her, eyes sharper. “Did he force you to do it?”
She shook her head.
“The guard was Parente. He told the Prince that his request was ‘inappropriate.’ And an illegal infringement of a formal coupling. He also threatened to tell his father––”
Laksri snorted.
Jet realized suddenly that he’d wrapped his tail around her waist.
Lightly, but clearly not accidentally.
I don’t like you sleeping with Anaze, Laksri thought at her.
Jet looked up, startled. “Anaze? Why?”
Laksri didn’t look over, or shrug. “I don’t like it.”
“We’re not doing anything.”
“He wants to,” Laksri said.
Jet just stared at him.
Then she shook her head, snorting a laugh. “I really, really doubt that,” she said. If you want your bed back, you should just say so, Laksri––
“I don’t,” he cut in. “…Doubt it. I know.” He looked at her directly, his black eyes holding a faint glimmer of anger. We see heat, you know. Nirreth. Not only color. We see other lights. Other kinds of light––
“You mean infrared?” Jet said, a touch of wonder in her voice. She thought about his words in relation to their conversation then and laughed. So you think there’s “heat” between me and Anaze? Is that it?
“I did not say you.” His face tightened as he frowned. I said he wants you. That much is clear.
“And it’s less clear with me?” she said, still laughing a little in spite of herself, but more incredulous than anything. Are you really jealous, Laksri?
“Yes.” He looked straight at her, as if daring her to laugh again. Would you want me sleeping with another Nirreth? A female?
Jet looked at him blankly.
The thought had never occurred to her.
That he might do it, or that she might mind if he did.
She tried to view his question objectively. It was difficult to put herself in a totally “un-venomed” state of mind, but she knew she viewed Laksri strangely, and sometimes more than a little possessively.
Definitely not like an acquaintance, or even a friend.
Laksri waited for her to answer, then refolded his arms, tighter.
“You get warm around me,” he said, looking down at her with those dark eyes.
Jet had been looking at his head when he said it. The ridged knot of bone on the back of his head was visible, since he wasn’t wearing the cloth covering most male Nirreth wore. Even as her mind noted this, she found herself puzzling over his actual words… then finally understanding them.
“More than I do around Anaze?” she said.
He made a vague gesture, then exhaled sharply. “Yes. You do not know this?”
Turning his words over again, Jet nodded.
“I guess I did.” Pausing, she gave him a curious look. So why do you get jealous?
Because I think you stay away from me because of my race, he thought at her at once. Also, you don’t trust your reactions. Because of the sting. Because of the venom.
Pausing again, he added aloud, “Neither do I.”
Jet nodded, still thinking. So you think I’d be more likely to act on something with Anaze. Because he’s human.
“Yes,” Laksri said at once.
Switching to his mind, he added, touching her arm,
Moreso, if he hadn’t brought you here. Taking his tail off her long enough to flick it sideways in some annoyance, he added, You don’t trust him. It blocks any heat you might have for him. I can feel it, this lack of trust. You see him as Richter’s… He paused, thinking about what he meant. …Richter’s game piece. You think he does only as Richter says. When it comes to whether he tells you lies or not, or puts you in danger or not, Richter comes first for Anaze. Richter is the boss.
Jet frowned, feeling a denser flush of anger.
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yes,” Laksri said. “It is true.”
Then I can’t trust him. I can’t ever trust he wouldn’t sacrifice me. Or my family.
Laksri shrugged, still holding her arm. Maybe you can. I don’t know. But I don’t understand why you trust me more.
Jet thought about that.
As she did, she felt some of her anger evaporate.
I don’t know, she admitted. But I know it’s different, Laks. Anaze and I were friends for years, and he lied to me pretty much every day, that whole time. He let me believe I got caught by a culler ship… when really he’d offered me up to Richter as a slave. And that was after only befriending me in the first place so that he could maybe use me in some plan to bring down the Royals. A plan I still know nothing about, she added.
Jet shrugged, meeting the Nirreth’s gaze.
So far, anyway, I don’t have as many reasons to not trust you. But I also don’t have as many reasons to have trusted you in the first place. I thought of Anaze as family before this. I would have sworn we’d die for one another.
Laksri nodded, still holding Jet’s arm. So I’ve neither earned nor broken your trust?
“Exactly,” Jet said aloud.
And if Anaze won your trust back? the Nirreth thought at her warily. Would you have warm feelings for him then?
Jet sighed, leaning against his side.
That time, Laksri didn’t push her away, but curled his tail more tightly around her.
“I honestly don’t know,” she told him, then added in her mind, I never felt that way about him before, at the skag settlement. I’m not sure why that would change. I loved him, but he was more like a big brother to me. Family, like I said.
Thinking about that, she added,
Anyway, how can I trust what I feel about anyone here? Without the stinging, who knows if I would have been warm to you? I’m a prisoner. Tell me, if you were me, would you trust anyone?
“No,” Laksri admitted. His tail coiled around her a little tighter. But you did get warm around me, before I stung you. The second time, he added, as if suddenly remembering their fight on the culler ship.
At Jet’s puzzled look, Laksri shrugged.
That time, she felt embarrassment on him.
It is why I got carried away. Last time. Not entirely for that reason… he added. …Only partly. It was easier to convince myself you were okay with it. With me doing those things.
He looked at her, as if waiting for her response.
When she didn’t speak, he prompted her again.
“Were you?” he said aloud. “Okay with it?”
Again,
he tightened his hold on her, speaking to her mind.
I expected you to be more angry with me. Once the empathy wore off… the residuals from the sting. I was worried about this.
Jet shrugged. “I seem to remember us both being pretty high on life when that whole thing went down.”
But I could have taken the drug then, he reminded her. I didn’t. Some part of me wanted to see what might happen between us. Whether I was honest in myself about this or not.
Jet laughed aloud. “Which part was that?”
Laksri shrugged, his lip curling slightly.
That time, Jet saw a faint mischievousness behind the smile.
He didn’t answer her question though, at least not in actual words.
I don’t want you sleeping with the boy anymore, he thought at her instead. And yes… to your earlier question. I want my bed back, he added.
“Do you want me to move back to the other apartment?” Jet said, trying to wade through his words. “With Anaze?”
When he made that rumbling sound in his chest, she glanced up.
“What?”
He switched to his mind.
I want you to sleep with me, he thought at her. It does not need to be sex. But I want my bed back, with you in it. Pausing, he added more pointedly, Will you sleep next to me, instead of the boy? I would like to do with you what you let him do.
“We don’t do anything,” Jet said, exasperated.
“You understand,” he growled quietly. “I know you do.”
Jet stared at him, wordless for what felt like a long beat of time.
Finally, she sighed, still studying his deep black eyes.
“Why do you even like me, Laksri?”
He shrugged, averting his eyes. “You know one reason.”
“Is that the only reason?” she said. “You like to have sex with mammals with long hair?”
“Only if they cut me with swords,” he smiled.
“Funny,” Jet said. “Really. Are you going to tell me why?”
“Answer my question first,” Laksri said.
When she bit her lip, he stroked her arm, loosening his tail around her waist.
“Please answer, Jet. Please.”
“No,” she said, giving a short laugh as she looked up.
“No is your answer?”
“No, I won’t answer before you!” she said, exasperated. “My answer depends partly on yours.”
Exhaling, as if half in exasperation himself, he seemed to think about her words.
A few seconds later, he shrugged again.
“You are like me,” he said after a pause. His voice held a note of surprise, especially when he repeated his words. “You are. You are like me.”
“I’m like you?” Jet laughed again. “How do you figure?”
“You don’t like being ordered… made to do things,” he said.
Switching to his mind, he added,
You don’t like injustice. And you fight. I like this. Too many of my people just do whatever they are told to do. Even among the rebels, he added, seemingly as an afterthought. Many follow me only because I am the son of a king. Not because they think I am right, or because they want what I want. They expect me to take Prince Ogli’s place, simply because of the blood of my birth.
Jet thought about his words.
“So why do you do it, then?” she said.
He shrugged, smiling at her wanly.
For the same reason you do, he thought at her softly. I have hope.
14
Whose Bed Is It Anyway
They ran the course at least five times before Jet could feel her muscles start to shake from tiredness, and the stronger effects of the venom leaving her system.
By then, it had to be close to two in the morning, Earth time.
When Laksri looked her over critically and pronounced that she’d had enough, Jet didn’t argue.
She decided to wait and shower when she got back to the room so she could put on clean clothes, doing her best to ignore Laksri’s wrinkled nose and occasional snort as they walked back through the narrow corridors to his apartment.
When they got back to the room, Anaze was still up, and clearly waiting for them where he sprawled on the couch.
He looked wary, more cautious than angry.
Jet knew that would change––right after Laksri had his say about the new sleeping arrangements.
Not wanting to hear the argument that would inevitably ensue, Jet announced she was taking a shower, grabbed clothes from the left side of her wardrobe, and disappeared into the bedroom, then through the low entrance to the shower cubicle.
She closed both doors behind her, and turned the water on full, so that it echoed in the small, tiled space.
She still managed to hear the yelling on the other side of the walls.
She took her time in the shower, in the hopes the worst of it would be over by the time she got out. Even after she finished bathing, Jet dressed slowly, despite the silence that now emanated from the other side of the walls. The venom had pretty much worn off by then, but she still got the feeling, somehow, that the argument wasn’t completely over.
Venturing out of the washroom with her hair combed straight down her back, wearing loose clothes after putting on a kind of Nirreth skin cream and brushing her teeth, Jet walked cautiously into the bedroom.
When she didn’t see either of them, she poked her head into the common room on the other side of the taller door.
There she found the two of them waiting for her, in almost the identical positions she’d left them in.
Looking between their faces, Jet mostly just felt tired.
Anaze sat, arms crossed, on the green-cushioned couch. Laksri stood over him, but a little distance away, his own arms folded over his shirt, his tail flicking in annoyance behind him. That tail was the only real difference Jet noted between them.
She watched those muscular waves as the sleek appendage rippled back and forth, expressing an almost tangible emotion.
Both of them looked tired, too, Jet thought.
Despite this, Laksri’s expression remained immovable when he said,
“He thinks you would not agree to this. That I must have stung you several times, to get you to agree.”
Not surprised by this, even a little, Jet sighed, looking at Anaze.
“It’s his bed, Anaze,” she said. “He wants it back.”
“With you in it?” Anaze burst out angrily.
“What’s the difference?” she said with a sigh. “He’s not going to be stinging me in his sleep.”
Anaze gave an incredulous laugh. “Of course he won’t. He’ll do it while he’s wide awake!”
“It looks better, if anyone decided to check,” Jet said, now slightly annoyed. “And what’s it to you? Seriously?”
At Anaze’s cold look, she folded her own arms, so now all three of them adopted roughly the same posture. Sighing, Jet went on in a tired voice.
“I don’t know why any of this would surprise you, Anaze. This whole thing with you and me was never meant to be a permanent arrangement––”
“He wants you, Jet!” Anaze snapped. “Are you blind? Or just willfully stupid?”
Jet’s jaw abruptly clenched. “Funny. He said the same thing about you.”
Anaze’s skin darkened, but he didn’t lower his gaze.
Instead, he shifted it to Laksri, letting his voice grow openly derisive.
“I see. So the lizard skin is jealous. And you’re suddenly okay with indulging that, Jet. Funny, back in the settlement, I would never have guessed you were such an easy mark. I thought all of that stuff was just rumor.”
Jet knew his words were meant to anger her, but she didn’t change expression. Instead she just looked at him.
When her voice came out next, it sounded strangely quiet, even to her.
“Look,” she said. “I’d rather sleep with him than you. It’s that simple. I need his help to get ready for the Rings, and he tells me more
than you do. I have more reason to trust him anyway, because of the venom––”
“More reason to trust him because of the venom?” Anaze said incredulously.
Jet flinched at his tone. His face hadn’t moved, but she could tell her words cut him more than he was letting show.
“That’s an interesting theory, Jet––”
“I can feel things off him,” Jet said, biting her lip as she raised her voice for the first time. “It’s better than nothing. Which is pretty much all I get from you and your father––”
“Do you seriously believe the lizard-skins haven’t figured out how to hide things they want hidden, venom or no?” Anaze asked coldly, his voice holding a faint note of incredulity again. “Or that him and my Dad don’t have their own games going, regardless of what they tell either of us? Much less what he must be planning with his own people? He and Richter don’t exactly see eye to eye on everything, Jet… or hadn’t you noticed?”
Laksri looked at him, his eyes now filled with a near-violence.
He looked close to speaking, but not before Jet snapped back at Anaze,
“You might be right,” she said. “But it’s more than I can feel off you.”
At that, Anaze blinked up at her in surprise.
He frowned again a few seconds later, staring at the floor. She saw a conflict of emotion flicker across his tanned face, right before he shook his head, rising to his feet.
“I request permission to stay in my assigned quarters,” he said, looking straight at Laksri.
Jet frowned, folding her arms tighter, but Anaze wouldn’t meet her gaze.
When Laksri gave him the permission sign and stood out of the way of the door, Anaze gave him the countersign even as he’d already began to walk.
Without looking at Jet, he headed straight for the door and hit the panel to let himself out, exiting through the opening as soon as it was large enough.
He didn’t give a single backwards glance.
Jet watched the eggshell white surface close behind Anaze, and swallowed.
Feeling a twinge of regret, she quickly pushed it away.
“I’m exhausted,” she said into the silence, looking at Laksri for the first time since Anaze left.
The Complete Alien Apocalypse Series (Parts I-IV Plus Bonus Novella): An Apocalyptic, Romantic, Science Fiction, Alien Invasion Adventure Page 31