by Zoey Draven
“Vrax,” Rixavox cursed.
“I would do it again,” Devix told them, his voice as hard as the table. “Killing him once did not feel like enough.”
“He threatened your female, brother,” Rixavox murmured. “Any male would do the same and relish it.”
Vaxa’an said nothing and Devix continued, “She chose to stay with me. To not return to Earth. We had just started our lives together when we learned she was carrying an offspring. That is why we came. I had heard rumors on Rozun that other Luxirians had taken human females as their mates. I just…I want Cara to be safe, to know that this offspring will not harm her.”
“The gestation was not easy for my female, Devix,” Vaxa’an warned. “Even now, I fear spilling my seed inside her, so soon after our son’s birth. You made the right choice, coming here. Though many will not see it that way.”
“I did not come to cause trouble,” Devix told the Prime Leader. “Despite what you believe about me, about what I did, I only want what is best for Cara.”
“And despite what you may think of me, Devix,” Vaxa’an started, “I do not believe you raped Arvalla.” Devix inhaled a short breath, staring at his Prime Leader. “But you know our laws and we must abide by them. The female did not speak against your guilt or for it. I had no choice but to exile you. Others, however, are convinced of your crime. It will not be easy for you, being here.”
It was strange, hearing him speak of what happened, because Devix didn’t feel anything. He didn’t feel anger, but he didn’t feel relief either. Devix knew he couldn’t change what had happened. He wouldn’t change what had happened, because if he hadn’t been exiled, he wouldn’t have met Sarkon. And if he hadn’t met Sarkon…Cara would have been lost to him. Forever.
“It was a long time ago,” Devix said. “It does not matter anymore.”
Vaxa’an shifted his eyes to Rixavox and then centered them back on Devix. “If Pidixa learns that you have returned to Luxiria, it is in his right to challenge you to a warrior trial.”
Rixavox said, “He will want to, even with his lies. Warriors will question him if he does not.”
Devix had once been a better warrior than Pidixa. And though Devix kept up with his training, he knew that Luxirian regiments were much more intense.
As if reading his thoughts, his brother asked, “Have you been training?”
“Tev, but not as much as we used to.”
“You must be prepared,” Rixavox told him.
“We will not announce your arrival,” Vaxa’an said, “but soon, word will spread. Especially if they see your luxiva. They will want to know who she is, why she is here. Luxirians will recognize you. Pidixa will know eventually. You must begin training.”
“Cara cannot know,” Devix said. “It will upset her. She does not understand the Luxirian way, the rights and laws in place. She thinks them barbaric and unjust. She will want to leave.”
Rixavox said, “Then for her sake and for the offspring’s health, she must not know.”
“One more matter before we return you to your female, Devix,” Vaxa’an said.
“Tev?”
“I am assuming you have not performed the ravraxia with her?” Vaxa’an questioned.
Devix’s lips pressed together. The ravraxia. The mating ceremony. A time spent between fated mates, where they invited the Fates to look inside them to bless their union, called the Seeing. And after the Seeing, after the initial mating of the ceremony—after which there would be many, many more matings—was the blood bond.
“It can only be performed at sacred places on Luxiria,” Devix murmured. “So how could we have? The Fates have no presence on Rozun.”
“Do you wish to perform it while you are here?” Vaxa’an asked quietly.
Devix stilled. “You would allow that?”
“Your female may see our ways to be ‘barbaric and unjust,’ but outside my responsibilities as Prime Leader, I see you, Devix,” Vaxa’an admitted. “It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I know you are innocent and by performing the ravraxia you can prove to all that the Fates believe you are as well.”
Devix’s heart thudded in his chest. He’d never believed that he could perform such a ceremony with his fated mate, had given up on the possibility.
Vaxa’an continued, “Another pressing reason why you should perform it with your female is because she is human. Lihvan’s human female and Rixavox’s are both pregnant, but their conception happened after a blood bond. Our blood strengthened them, made them adapt easier to Luxiria, and we believe that it makes the gestation period easier on their bodies. Your female…”
“Does not carry my blood,” Devix finished for him, huffing out a sharp breath.
“Tev,” Vaxa’an said, inclining his head. “It would be best for her and the offspring if she does.”
“I have not told her about the blood bond. Or how…intense the mating ceremony is, from what I have heard.”
“It is intense,” Rixavox said. “More intense than you can imagine, but it will bind you to your female so that you can always feel her. Even now, I feel Sessela’s presence in my mind, though she is in the Golden City.”
Devix watched his brother, was happy beyond belief that he had found a female for himself.
“Tev, of course, we will perform the ravraxia,” Devix said.
Vaxa’an jerked his head in a nod. “I will make preparations and you and your female may leave in a couple spans to the plains. The sooner, the better.”
Devix tilted his head down, holding Vaxa’an’s gaze. He watched as the Prime Leader stood from the table and Rixavox and Devix followed.
“For now, let us return you to your female,” Vaxa’an said, “and get you settled in the Golden City.”
NINE
CARA WAS STILL seething on their hovercraft ride towards the city she’d seen carved into the mountainside.
The nerve of that healer, saying what he did about Devix, as if he was guilty of the horrendous act he’d been accused of! When she’d been reunited with Devix at the command center, it had only been a slight relief, but already, she didn’t have a good feeling about this place.
More than ever, she just wanted to go home with Devix.
Even as they flew over the city itself, keeping to the edges so they could stay out of sight, the thrill of seeing a strange, new place wouldn’t stop the growing ball of dread in her stomach.
“What is wrong, female?” Devix murmured to her once they’d landed on the second highest terrace of the city. It was a small terrace and looking down its length, she could see that it housed five domed homes, very similar in build to their home on Rozun. Otherwise, it was completely private and the view from that height was spectacular. “Is it the offspring?”
Still, she turned to her mate with a sigh, “No, I just…”
She trailed off, not really wanting to have this conversation on a terrace when Rixavox was waiting for them. Vaxa’an had stayed behind at the command center for whatever reason and Cara was glad for it.
“Let’s talk about it later,” she murmured instead. “Come on, your brother’s waiting.”
Rixavox was standing outside the third home down from the one they’d landed in front of.
“That is Lihvan’s dwelling,” Devix told her. “We will stay here.”
“Was he a friend of yours?” she asked softly as they approached.
“We saw one another often because he is a friend of my blood brother’s. I liked speaking with him. So yes, I suppose he was.”
“It’s nice of him to let us stay here,” she commented before they stopped in front of Rixavox.
Then to her astonishment, a human woman stepped out from the doorway of the home, right at that moment.
Cara looked at her, lips parted, as if she’d never seen a human woman before. She had brown hair and grey eyes, had a small petite build—especially standing next to Rixavox and her own mate—and she was pregnant. Heavily pregnant.
“Oh!” The woman exclaimed in surprise. Then she smiled and stepped forward to give her a hug, though Cara was still reeling. At the last moment, she remembered to return the gesture and then the woman stepped back, saying, “Hello, my name is Cecelia.”
Hearing that accent, her own accent, almost brought tears to her eyes. She just couldn’t believe it.
“Hi,” Cara managed to get out. She blew out a breath. She gave Cecelia a small smile, saying, “I’m Cara. And I’m sorry, I’m being totally weird right now. I just…it’s been a while since I’ve seen…since I’ve heard…”
“I get it,” Cecelia said, touching her forearm. “It’s quite a shock.”
“How…how did you get here?” Cara asked. “I know that Vaxa’an got his um, mate from the Pit. But—”
“We are all from the Pit,” Cecelia answered. “There are five others that I came with. The Luxirians,” she said, casting a smile up at her mate, “came to save us from the Krevorags. They brought us here.”
Rixavox spoke, “Sessela, this is my blood brother, Devix.”
“I am so glad that I can finally meet you, Devix,” Cecelia said, smiling up at Cara’s mate.
“Let us go inside,” Rixavox said, wrapping an arm around Cecelia’s lower back to curve around her waist. “It is cooler there for Cara.”
Cecelia smiled at her knowingly and murmured, “The heat is pretty intense, huh?”
“You look like you handle it well,” Cara commented, noticing that she wasn’t sweating, not even the tiniest hint of perspiration on her forehead.
“The blood bond helped me adapt to the heat here in the Golden City. Thankfully, where we live, it is much cooler.”
Blood bond?
And they didn’t live in the city?
Cara was just about to open her mouth to ask when Devix murmured to her, “Come inside, luxiva, and rest.”
She nodded and Devix led her inside the dwelling. Rixavox and Cecelia followed and then the door swung shut behind them.
Sighing in relief, Cara instantly felt better. The stone the home was built from made the temperature cool and agreeable.
It took Cara a moment to really look around but when she did, her heart instantly panged with longing.
Turning to Devix, she murmured, “It looks like our home.”
“Tev, I built our home from the traditional Luxirian style.”
Cara squeezed his hand. Despite the fire pit—or central hub as the Luxirians called it—being more in the center of the room instead of nearer to the front door as theirs was back at home, the home was almost identical.
Although, with one glaring exception…it hardly looked lived in. Their home on Rozun had trinkets and rugs and Cara had hung tapestries on the wall they’d purchased from the capitol. Their kitchen was functional, well-used, with drying herbs and jars of spices lining the space.
This home had none of that, except for a few cushions lining the fire pit.
“Lihvan and Beks don’t spend much time in the Golden City,” Cecelia told her, no doubt reading the expression on her face.
“No wonder,” Cara said softly.
Seeing the home made Cara feel off. Everything was just…off. And maybe it was her hormones or just being overwhelmed from the journey to Luxiria or that healer’s comments earlier or the heat, but it all seemed like too much.
Devix’s hand smoothed down her back, no doubt sensing her unease and trying to calm her. And his tenderness only made it worse.
To her horror, her eyes filled with tears and before she could dash them away, one tumbled over her cheek.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cecelia cast a look at Rixavox. And then, the other woman murmured, in a soft, gentle tone, “How about we leave you two alone to rest for a bit and then later, we can have dinner together and talk? Okay?”
“Tev,” Devix answered, “I think that is best.”
Rixavox clasped Devix on the shoulder as the two brothers passed.
Cara reached out to take Cecelia’s hand before she left and said, “T-thank you. I—I look forward to getting to know you. And I’m sorry I’m being so…”
“It’s okay, sweetie. I completely understand,” Cecelia said, smiling. She gave her hand a squeeze. “Rest up. We’ll see you for dinner.”
Then the couple left, the door closing softly behind them. Through the window next to door, she watched them walk back towards the house at the end of the row.
Cara was beyond embarrassed and she blew out a wobbly breath, turning into Devix before burying her face in his chest.
She felt his arms come around her, clasping her tight.
“I feel like a fool. They must think I’m nuts,” she murmured into his chest, hearing his solid heartbeat thump against her skin. It comforted her more than anything could.
“It has been a long span, luxiva,” he told her. “They do not think you are ‘nuts,’ whatever that means.”
Cara looked up at him. “I think I need a nap. And we need to talk. We have so much to talk about it.”
“Tev, we do,” he murmured, looking down at her, softly trailing the tips of his claws through her hair. She melted whenever he did that. Positively melted.
Slowly, her tears dried up and she began to feel sanity return. He always knew how to make her feel better. Whether it was stress from the restaurant or when she was frustrated with a budding recipe, he always made her feel better.
Cara squeaked in surprise when he swung her up in his arms and began walking towards the hallway. “Come, let us find the sleeping platform.”
The home was slightly bigger than theirs on Rozun, but the bedroom was in the exact same place. The door swished open after Devix touched a silver screen with his hand and then walked forward towards the bed.
The furs looked freshly washed and dried and Cara knew that it was Cecelia’s doing. In fact, the entire place looked clean and dusted. That was probably why she’d been there before.
She so owed the woman a thank you. A huge thank you.
Before Devix was about to lay her on the bed, she asked, “Is that the bathroom?”
There was another door on the furthest wall and when Devix walked her over to see, when it opened, Cara gasped.
Because it was a bathroom. But not just any bathroom. It had a huge sunken in pool in the middle of the floor. Steam rose from the surface, curling towards the curved ceiling.
There was no shower tube in sight. Only a silver toilet, that looked similar to the one they had on Rozun, and the most luxurious looking bathtub she’d ever seen.
“I changed my mind,” she murmured. “I don’t want to nap. A hot bath sounds much better.”
When he set her down, she immediately peeled off the flowing dress she’d worn that day, letting it pool around her feet. An interested growl rose from her mate at the sight of her nudity but she paid him no mind, venturing immediately for the stairs that gently sloped into the bath.
A rustling of clothes told her that Devix was also undressing and he joined her on the stairs before wading all the way to the middle.
The bath was deep. So deep that she had to tread water in the very center, although Devix reached the bottom just fine, the water lapping around his shoulders.
So, Cara shamelessly clung to her mate, feeling his slick, muscled body against hers. His erect cock slid against her belly when she wrapped her legs around him and his chest rumbled in appreciation.
Cara rested her head against the crook of his neck and for the first time since they’d arrived on Luxiria that day, she felt…relaxed. The bath was hot, soothing the knotted muscles in her back and shoulders.
“Do you want to talk now, luxiva?” he murmured after a lengthy bout of peaceful, comfortable silence, the only sound being the lapping of water as he stroked down her back.
“Not really,” she whispered, “but we probably should.”
“Tell me how your visit with Privanax was,” he said. He’d asked her after they reconnected at the command center, but she�
�d still been seething then that she hadn’t wanted to talk. Now, she realized that was selfish. Devix had only wanted to know if the offspring was well.
“The baby’s healthy,” she told him, lifting her head from his shoulder so that she could look at him. “Perfectly healthy.”
Devix blew out a breath. “I had feared…you seemed so quiet that I feared the offspring was not.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It wasn’t about the baby. It was the doctor that I was angry with.”
“Why?” Devix asked, eyebrows furrowing, becoming more alert. “Did he do something to you?”
Now, he was getting angry.
“No, Dev,” she said, running a hand over the back of his neck. “No. He just…he said something about you. And it made me mad.”
His bunched shoulders relaxed but only slightly. “What did he say?”
“He told me that Vaxa’an’s mate had difficulty around the one month mark of her pregnancy. He said that the…the ‘Fates’ were kind to her, that they saved her baby.”
“I do not understand what this has to do with us,” Devix said.
Cara took a deep breath, feeling that deep sizzle of anger reignite as she told her mate, “He believed that the Fates wouldn’t be so kind to our baby because of your ‘past actions.’ Can you believe the balls on him for saying that to me?”
Devix went quiet, but Cara could sense the rolling rage that emanated from him in waves.
“I got mad. Really mad,” she continued. “I told him off a bit and then had to sit in that room with him until you came. And all the while, my anger just grew and grew. That’s why I was so quiet. It had nothing to do with the baby. It was what he said about you.”
“Luxiva,” Devix started, “this will continue to happen.”
“But—”
“Most believe I am guilty. You must accept this.”
“I will most certainly not acc—”
“You must,” he repeated, his voice stern. “Luxirians are rooted deep in their ways and laws and traditions. If a male is judged guilty at a tribunal, then he is, even if he is not.”