by M. K. Eidem
'Gods, please make that true,' Taarig prayed as he followed Jamis.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Cali was still fuming as she worked behind the bar later that dark shift. Who the ruk did Jamis think he was treating her like that? She was California Rose Baker-Wik'ax. The only female of Dakota and Paul Baker-Wik'ax and Caradoc Wik'ax, Paramount of the Zagreus, and no one treated her like that. Hearing a crack, she looked down at the glass she was holding. "Ruk!"
"Cali, are you alright?" Mae rushed over to her as fast as her enlarged size would allow, a concerned look on her face. "Did you cut yourself?"
"No," Cali quickly threw the glass away before Mae saw the fracture lines radiating out from the finger-shaped depressions her anger had formed. "I'm fine. I didn't realize the glass was fractured before I picked it up."
"It was?" Mae tried to look into the recycler, but the glass was already gone. "I thought I checked them all before the shift started."
"I brought some in from the back," Cali quickly lied. "This wasn't your fault, Mae. It was mine."
"You're sure you're not hurt?" she asked again.
"I am," Cali reassured her, then looked to the male sitting at the bar. "Do you need a refill?"
Over the next hour, Cali worked the bar. The shift wasn't busy, as they were getting closer to the next credit allotment's disbursement. Because of that, the smile pasted on her face became more and more natural as she calmed down. That was until three Coalition females walked up.
"What can I get you?" Cali asked.
"Three of those Galaian Wraths we've heard so much about," one of the females said before turning back to the other two. "I thought I had a chance with them this time, even though I'm in the Coalition. They haven't been together with anyone on base since that Councilor’s datter left six months ago."
"You did," the second female replied, "until that rukking Si female slithered in. I mean, really, when did she arrive on the Star Base?"
"It couldn't have been too long ago. Remember how fast the Commanders claimed that last Si female?" The third female nodded her thanks to Cali as she set a drink down in front of her.
"When was that, three-and-a-half standard-years ago?" the second one asked, picking up her drink.
"That's when she left," the first female turned to face the other two, tapping her glass against the others. "Well, to hell with the Commanders. I hope she gives them a case of groin rot tonight that they never recover from." Laughing, the other two agreed, and together they shot back their drinks.
Cali moved away from the females and felt something rising inside her, something she didn't understand. Feeling a tingle, she looked down and saw the veins in her hands were beginning to glow as her Zagreus power rose. She needed to leave before someone noticed.
"Mae, I'm done! Have Ujana take over for me." Without waiting for a response, Cali ducked under the walkthrough and quickly headed for the closest door to her quarters.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Taarig watched as the Si female, what was her name, Tecu - no - Tecumseh, that's right. Taarig watched her pour two glasses of skotsk without the ice. Cali would know better than to abuse it like that.
Cali.
Taarig forced his thoughts away from Cali. It was hard enough acting like he was attracted to the female in the room without thinking of Cali. As he watched, Tecumseh handed a glass to Jamis then moved toward him, seductively swinging her narrow hips. Passing the other glass to him, she ran her blue fingers over his. To cover his reaction to her touch, he took a healthy sip of the skotsk, grimacing at its warmth.
It seemed Jamis didn't have the same problem. He dropped his empty glass and pulled the female close. As Taarig watched, Jamis lowered his head to capture the female's blue lips when at the last moment, she turned her head, giving him access to her long, slender neck instead. The look of disgust that crossed her face confused Taarig.
'Why would she have so blatantly approached them if she wasn't truly interested?' he thought, then wondered why his mind seemed so sluggish. Absently he glanced down at the growing stain on Jamis’s carpet. When had his glass slipped through his fingers, and why hadn't he realized it.
It took more effort than it should to return his gaze to Jamis. He needed to warn him that something was wrong. But it was too late. Jamis was already on the floor with Tecumseh standing over him, a cruel smile on her face. When she looked back to him, it grew, and the last thing he saw before his vision went dark was her dragging Jamis into his resting chamber.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Pacing in her living area, Cali shook out her arms, hoping it would somehow calm her churning energy. She'd only ever seen this once when she'd been very young. It had happened to her mom, but Cali had never known what triggered it, and something told her if she called her mom and asked, it would stir up a solar storm with which she didn't want to deal.
This was all because of Jamis and Taarig. She'd never been this out of control before she'd met them, had never had to use her rejuvenation tank so often until they'd come into her orbit. Now her energy was flaring, and she didn't understand why.
Stopping before her viewport, she gazed out into the deep darkness of space. It usually relaxed her, knowing that in the bigger scheme of things, what she considered a problem wasn't. But it didn't work this time.
Jamis and Taarig were with another female.
It shouldn't affect her this way. After all, she'd only been with each of them twice, once separately and once together.
She'd always been able to easily walk away from a relationship after such a short period of time, no matter how good the sex was.
But it hadn't been good sex.
It had been great sex.
Sex that had touched something deep inside her that had started to grow.
Sex that right now they could be having with another rukking female!
A pulse of light, reflected in the viewport, had her looking down, and she saw that instead of her hands dimming, they were growing brighter.
There was only one way she could resolve this.
By confronting Jamis and Taarig.
Now!
Spinning on her heel, she headed to her private lift.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Before stepping into the corridor on the Command Level, Cali tapped into the lens feeds, and after making sure the path was clear, she paused the system so there would be no record of her being there or from where she came. Once done, she quickly moved down the corridor, not stopping until she was in front of Jamis’s door. Overriding his code, she entered Jamis’s office.
It was empty, but then Cali expected that. After all, Jamis wouldn't have a tryst in his office. Now his private living area was an entirely different story. Closing her eyes, she listened. Hearing nothing, she moved toward the door and overrode that code too.
Her gaze traveled over the room as she stepped inside. The stopper was off Jamis’s coveted bottle of Apreian skotsk. Something she knew Jamis would never have done. On the thickly, carpeted floor lay an overturned glass. As she advanced farther into the room, she saw another glass on the floor, an amber stain surrounding it. Reaching down, she dipped her fingers in the liquor then touched them to her tongue.
It was Apreian skotsk, but it didn't taste right.
What the ruk?!?
Female laughter from Jamis’s resting quarters had a knot of fury forming in her chest and Cali's energy flaring stronger than before.
Were they really doing this to her?!
Had she meant so little to them?
Well, she was going to show them what happened when you pissed off a Zagreus female.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Tecumseh couldn't help hiss with glee at how well her plan had worked. Taini had told her in great detail about her time with the two Apre Commanders. So, Tecumseh had known how to approach them, what to wear, and what to say, exactly. Gods, males were so gullible. Did they think just seeing them made a female want them?
Idiots.
It had taken her longer than expected to drag, strip, and get the two large males on the bed. But now that they were, she wanted to make them suffer the way Taini had.
Reaching into one of the secret slits sewn into her dress, she pulled out a Sion Viper, the length of her arm. Sion Vipers were indigenous to the homeworld of the Si people. The planet was riddled with steep, deep crevices that were perfect for their nests. Any creature that fell into one could never climb out and would suffer a slow, agonizing death. While Sion Vipers were venomous, the venom they secreted through their top and bottom fangs didn't kill an adult Si. Rumor had it, the vipers paralyzed their victim and sent them into a dream-like state, so they were alive as the vipers slowly consumed them. It could take a full month for an adult viper to consume their victim, alive the entire time, feeling every bite. The victim finally succumbed when the viper attacked its heart. It was why the Si used the crevices as the ultimate punishment for those that broke their laws.
The bite from a viper this small wouldn't affect an adult Si, as they'd developed some immunity to the venom. That wasn't true for other species. The venom would kill them. Rubbing the viper between her hands, warming it, Tecumseh hissed, "Time to wake up, bey-bee."
When it began to respond, she placed it on the bed, knowing it would instinctively slither toward its victim. From a different slit, she removed another inert viper and repeated the process. She'd specifically designed her dress, so the vipers remained dormant until she needed them. It hadn't been that difficult, especially since she'd separated them from their dame.
Again and again, she revived her pets, gleefully watching as bite marks began to appear on Jamis’s and Taarig’s bodies, and their breathing started to slow. When her pets were satisfied, she would arrange the two arrogant, uncaring, murdering Apre in a position that would not only destroy their reputation but shame them in death.
Triumphantly, she began to revive her last viper, knowing that soon she'd have her revenge for what these two did to her sestra. The nearly silent opening of the resting room door had her spinning around in shock.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
"What the ruk!" Cali exclaimed, stunned by what she found in the room. It wasn't what she'd expected. Yes, Jamis and Taarig were naked in the bed, but they weren't having sex. Instead, they were lying on their backs as if they were asleep, except their eyes were open and staring straight up at the ceiling.
The movement to her left had Cali turning. She caught whatever was hurled at her, thanks to her Zagreus reflexes. Stunned for a moment, she couldn't believe what was writhing and hissing in her hand. A Sion Viper? Really? How the ruk had someone been able to transport one onto a Star Base? Even one as small as this. When the viper reared back its head, preparing to strike, Cali grabbed it by its snout and separated its head from its body.
"No!"
Dropping the dead viper, Cali found the source of the screech. A Si female was standing at the foot of Jamis’s bed, her elongated eyes filled with insane rage. In an instant, the female was charging Cali. Her nails extended like deadly daggers. At the last moment, Cali ducked, and the female flew by.
"What the ruk do you think you're doing?" Cali demanded.
"I'm getting my revenge!" she spat out triumphantly, pushing herself away from the wall. "And there'sss nothing you can do to ssstop it!"
The absolute certainty in the female's voice sent a chill up Cali's spine. Looking back at the bed, she noticed four more vipers, and they had already delivered multiple bites over Jamis’s and Taarig's bodies.
"No!" Cali gasped in horror.
"Yousss too late!" she hissed gleefully, moving to attack Cali again. "Yousss too late!"
Knowing there was no time to waste, Cali touched her link, then turned and struck the chortling female in the mouth with all her strength. She was beside the bed before the other female hit the floor or her link connected.
"What do you need, Cali?" Xanto teased through her link, the noise from The Brink easily heard in the background.
"Help," Cali told him as she grabbed the closest viper and quickly decapitated it before moving on to the next.
"Where are you?" all the humor fled from Xanto's voice along with the noise telling Cali he had left The Brink.
"Jamis’s resting quarters." She crawled over Taarig's unnaturally still body and pulled off the viper that had sunk its fangs into Jamis’s bicep. "He and Taarig have been attacked by Sion Vipers. I have the culprit incapacitated but need help."
"I'm on my way."
"Good, make sure the lenses see you. I deactivated Jamis’s doors. All you'll need to do is touch the security panels." Another viper slithered out from under Jamis as Cali spoke and sunk its fangs into her hand.
"You rukking piece of shit!" she cursed and, ripping it away, disposed of it as quickly as she had the others. Closing her eyes, she used one of the gifts she'd received from her father and sensed there were no more vipers about which she had to worry. She was also able to sense how quickly Jamis and Taarig were succumbing to the vipers’ venom.
She wasn't going to let that happen.
Placing a hand over one of the multiple wounds on each male, Cali allowed her power to flow through her unrestrained for the first time in her life. She just hoped it was enough.
Chapter Sixteen
Xanto moved as quickly as he could without drawing undue attention. He needed to be seen but not seem rushed. He had a hard time believing Cali had actually seen Sion Vipers because the adults were nearly impossible to capture, and their young didn't survive long without their dame.
Reaching the Commander's door, Xanto placed his hand on the panel as Cali instructed, and the door slid open. He quickly made his way through Jamis’s office, and the next door then came to an abrupt halt when he entered the resting chamber.
What in the name of the Gods…
Cali was kneeling on the bed between the two Apre males, but that wasn't what shocked Xanto. What shocked him was the energy he could see moving between the three of them. It flowed down Cali's arms and into each male wherever she touched them. As he watched, Cali moved her hand to the Sub Commander’s chest, covering what looked like a bite mark before her glowing eyes turned to him.
"She's over there."
The power vibrating in Cali's voice snapped Xanto out of his stunned state, and he looked to where her eyes had gone. Lying there was a Si female.
"Restrain her, Xanto. She tried to assassinate the Commanders."
Xanto followed her order as if she were the Paramount, then moved toward the bed, stepping over the multiple decapitated young Sion Vipers, unable to believe they were actually there. He also couldn't believe what she was doing.
He was older than Cali knew and had lived the majority of that time working for the Paramount. Because of that, he was extremely knowledgeable of the gifts that came with being Zagreus. He was also aware that those gifts came with a cost. While the Zagreus had long life spans, they also had an extremely low birthrate.
Breeding with other species was only possible if the Zagreus was powerful enough to meld their energy with that of their mate, tying their life spans together. Even then, there was no guarantee that any offspring they produced would inherit the gifts as a pure Zagreus would.
Yet Xanto hadn't heard even a whisper of the possibility that Cali had inherited the rarest and most prized of her father's gifts. It was rumored that she received no gifts, which made her worthless in Zagreus society.
To have the power to heal…
It made her the rarest and most prized female in the universe.
Yet her family allowed her to travel the universe unprotected.
Why?
As he watched, Cali moved her hand, and the wound that had been on the Sub Commander's chest transferred to Cali's where her shirt had fallen to the side. Yet instead of the injury dissolving like he'd seen happen when the Paramount healed, it remained.
"Cali, what's going on?" he asked, moving
closer to the bed.
Instead of answering, she straddled the Commander's chest and, using both hands, covered the most vicious bite Xanto had ever seen. If an adult viper had delivered it, the Commander's throat would have been crushed, killing him almost instantly. As he watched, the energy that had flowed so powerfully from Cali dimmed, and beads of sweat began forming on Cali's forehead.
"Cali, you have to stop!"
"Not yet," she said through clenched lips, she had to pull him back. "Jamis still has too much venom in him."
"Now!" But when Xanto tried to grab Cali's arm, a pulse of energy knocked him off his feet.
"Gods be damned, Cali!" he cursed. His twitching body made it impossible for him to do anything but watch as the wound on the Commander transferred to the base of Cali's neck, just moments before the visible flow of her energy dissipated, and she slumped down on top of Jamis.
"I'm getting you out of here," he told her, getting to his feet.
"No," while her voice was weak, Cali was still able to fend off Xanto's hands and sit up on her own. "You need to stay. You need to contact the Meddygs and explain what happened."
"And just how do you expect me to explain all this?" He swept his arm out to encompass the room.
"Just stick to the truth as much as possible." Carefully Cali moved off the bed, hoping her legs would support her. "You came to discuss something with the Commanders, and you found them incapacitated and subdued the Si female you believed responsible."
"What about the vipers?"
Cali looked around the room, seemingly having forgotten about them. "Gather them up and put them in something I can carry. I'll take them back to my quarters. We’ll figure out what to do with them later."
"And when she," he gestured to the still-unconscious Si female as he gathered up the viper remains, "wakes up and starts telling everyone you were here?"