by Celia Kyle
With each beat of his wings, he thought of his mate—his Grace. Her eyes. Her smile. Her frown. Her growl. Her teeth on his flesh.
He would have that all again.
Kozav drew nearer to the training platform, the edge nearly in reach, and he folded his wings when he approached one of the engine repair posts. A small shelf cut into the side of the platform used by engineers to rest during repair work. He used it for another purpose now. He fought to calm his racing heart and drew air slowly into his lungs. As soon as he’d gotten himself under control again, he would—
The scream that rent the air pushed him into action when he would have waited. He reached up, grasped the top edge of the platform and hauled himself onto the scarred metal. The ship Impe stole teetered near the edge of the opposite side, the large swath of black char showing the path it’d taken when they’d landed. He scanned his surroundings for the male and his mate, and rage infused him when he caught sight of the pair.
Of Impe standing tall, wings spread.
Of Grace huddled on the ground, clothes torn and blood coating her pale skin.
Of Impe pulling his leg back.
Of Grace tightening into a small ball in preparation for the kick.
The roar that tore from him was more dragon than male, and he did not realize he was flying until he landed in front of the other osri. He caught Impe’s leg, lifted it and twisted the ankle. The move forced the other male to flip over and fall to the ground. To become vulnerable like his mate.
With a snarl, Impe shot to his feet, wings spread for balance. When the other warrior reached for his blades, Kozav did the same. He would gleefully cut Impe into pieces and feed him to the sharks circling below. Metal clashed, swords gleaming and sparking with each blocked strike. But this was not a sparring match, it was a battle to the death—Impe’s.
So when the male left himself open, Kozav stabbed deep. When the male stumbled, Kozav did not give Impe space to right himself.
Kozav cut and sliced, kicked and shoved, beat the male with the base of his blade and broke Impe’s nose with his forehead. Blood flowed freely, painting the metal in a deep red, and Kozav couldn’t wait to see all of it coating the platform. They circled left, then right, each of them searching for an opening—a vulnerability.
Movement behind Impe reminded Kozav his greatest vulnerability was not his own body, but Grace. Somehow Impe caught his slight inattention and whirled, capturing Grace before Kozav could stop him. The warrior bled freely, but he still had enough strength to hold his mate tightly in his grip.
“No more. Be ssstill,” Impe rasped and Grace strained against the male’s hold. When Impe pressed the tip of his sword to her flesh, she froze. “Good.” Impe glared at Kozav, one eye swollen shut while the other narrowed to a mere slit. “I have your little breeder, Kozav. Will you listen now? Will you hear me when I say that humans can only weaken us? They do not listen. They do not do as they’re told. They will not be good mates and their dragonlets will be weak.”
Each word was a blow to Kozav, another ember added to the dragon’s fire in his heart. It pushed him closer to the edge, closer to the point where he’d lose control and kill the man where he stood no matter the cost.
But he could never hurt Grace. It would kill him to harm her and his fury needed to come back under control.
“Weak like you, Impe? Weak like your uncle?”
Impe hissed and Kozav did the same, letting lies leap to his lips. “Taulan did not even have to touch Sugal to get your secrets out of him. We know all, Impe. Release Grace and—”
“He wouldn’t.”
No, for all Kozav knew, he hadn’t, but Kozav needed to keep the male unbalanced. “He is weak, like you are weak. Your line should not have even been granted passage and the chance to seek out a mate.” He sneered and stared at Impe, searching for any opening. “Your line is filled with cowards and useless males. Your line is nothing.”
The words pushed Impe into action and the male threw Grace away from him before launching himself at Kozav. He watched Grace tumble to the ground, catch herself on the damaged surface and… continue falling.
She didn’t stop as she neared the edge, or even when she balanced right on the rim. She tumbled over the side while Kozav could do nothing but watch.
No.
He was merely an observer once and failed. He would save his family this time.
Impe’s lurch was awkward and stumbling, giving him the perfect chance to bury his sword in the male’s chest. It was a quick death, the strike precise and sinking through the heart. A well-practiced killing blow. One he did not derive pleasure from despite the male’s actions.
Before Impe’s body teetered to the ground into a lifeless heap, Kozav was gone, diving over the side. He held his wings tightly to his body, forming an aerodynamic pod that sliced through the skies. His speed increased, bringing him closer and closer to his flailing mate. She twisted and spun, body twirling and hands snatching at air as if there was something that could slow her fall. There wasn’t something, but there was someone.
He flicked his attention to the waters, gauging the distance, and he knew he would have to time his next movements precisely. Otherwise, he’d lose his mate before he had a chance to truly have her.
Kozav tensed his muscles, constricting himself further to help speed up his approach. He had to catch her at the right moment, let everything flow through him at the precise second…
He let his dragon’s soul ease closer, close enough that the mind was present, but the body remained a tight streak of flesh and wing. It was there, ready and waiting to spring, to do as demanded to save his mate. They drew nearer to the watery grave below, hitting the liquid a sure death sentence at these speeds.
Seventy-five feet. Fifty. Thirty.
When the distance narrowed to twenty, Kozav let the dragon take control. The transition washed over him in a blinding rush, body expanding, wings stretching, face transforming until a two-hundred-ton dragon covered in teal scales emerged. Claws outstretched, he caught Grace, cradling her as he allowed ocean winds and his wings to lower them into a smooth glide above the rolling sea waves. The water churned a mere six feet beneath his claws, death lurking near while he cradled life—and his future—in his claws.
21
Four days later and her hands still shook. No matter what she was doing or where she was, they shook. The trembles never left, not even when she slept. Just a constant vibration that seemed ingrained in her body.
She wondered if it’d ever go away. Though, does a person ever get over being kidnapped, beaten, thrown over the edge of a training platform and then rescued by a dragon?
The Heart Master Sobol joi Zurer didn’t have an answer for Grace. Typical.
But today wasn’t about her or her shaking or the nightmares she hid from Kozav. The silent, brooding Kozav who kept his distance. He’d saved her, watched over her while the healers repaired her injuries and then was just… gone. They still shared rooms but they were near strangers. Who knew a fight over a job would end in such a tangled mess?
Another question Sobol couldn’t answer.
Right. Today. Today was about her mother. She stood beside Donna’s medical platform, fingers twined around her mother’s, while the maroon warrior—Skala—remained on her mom’s right. In reality, Skala had hardly left Donna’s side since she’d arrived on the ship. He was still a total stranger to Grace, but Kozav had assured her he was an honorable First Warrior who acted as guard to Lana joi Taulan.
And Skala, in turn, brought her mom comfort. When her mother patted Skala’s hand, some of the wrinkles on his face would ease. When Skala grunted because a healer got too close, her mom would chuckle and smile.
Grace’s mother said there was nothing going on between them. Though, really, as sick as her mother was, a platonic relationship wasn’t surprising. But the occasional twinkle in Skala’s eyes and the blush on her mom’s cheeks had Grace skeptical about the platonic thing.
Donna squeezed Grace’s fingers gently. “You okay, Gracie?”
Grace snickered. “Asks the woman who’s about to have her DNA screwed with.”
“There will be no screwing.” Skala’s voice was a harsh, forceful rasp.
Grace suppressed her grin and raised a single brow. “Right. Of course not.”
Skala grunted and the entire exchange reminded her of time spent with Kozav before Impe had their world imploding. She peeked at her mate from the corner of her eye and caught him staring at her, a look of pure longing and utter desire etched into his expression. She missed that. They hadn’t enjoyed much passion before their fight, but she missed the closeness they’d shared for that short time. She missed talking to him. She missed just being near him.
Then he noticed her staring at him and the expression vanished as if it’d never been.
She turned back to her mom and found her whispering to the winged warrior, only catching snippets of their conversation.
“Shouldn’t get your hopes up.”
Skala grunted.
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed. If you don’t hope for…”
Another grunt. “A Preor lives life with hope.”
Those few words ended their not-quite-private conversation.
“Mom? Something you wanna tell me before we get going?” She tilted her head meaningfully toward Skala.
“No. Nothing to tell.” The smile she got was wide and faker than press-on nails.
“Uh-huh.” If that was how her mom wanted to play things, that was up to her.
Ever since moving to the Preor ship, the weight of responsibility had lifted from Grace’s shoulders. More and more as her mother recovered her strength. With daily injections, her mother could live a fairly healthy life. But that wasn’t enough for Donna Hall. She said she had grandbabies to live for and wanted a cure.
Grace was pretty sure some of her mom’s motivation for a cure came from Skala, as well.
The healer approached their small group, a hypo resting in the middle of a small tray. “As we discussed earlier, the side effects of this injection—”
“I know.”
Her mom’s hurried interruption had Grace panning her gaze slowly toward her mother. “Mom?”
Donna took a deep breath. “At worst, nothing changes. I keep living as I have been here on the ship. The treatments keep me fairly healthy though I get tired. I’ll be able to have a life outside of a bed. I’ll be able to have my own room near medical and be independent. At least, a little.”
The healer spoke once more. “Donna Hall, there is another negative—”
“Negative to you.” Her mom’s response was whip fast and Grace knew that tone. That was her mother’s “proceed at your own risk and I may rip your face off” tone.
Apparently the healer was familiar with it as well because he remained quiet as he lifted the hypo from the tray. “Are you prepared, Donna Hall?”
Grace squeezed her mom’s hand, holding tight, and was surprised when a large hand came to rest on her shoulder. She glanced back and met Kozav’s gaze. There was the mate she’d been missing, his emotions lurking in his eyes.
There was the mate she’d get back once this was done. They’d have a come to Jesus meeting and work through their problems if it killed them both.
“Ready.” Her mom nodded and held out her right arm. Skala mirrored Kozav’s position, holding onto Donna’s shoulder as well.
The hypo hissed as it dispensed its contents into her mom’s bloodstream. Then it was merely a matter of waiting.
Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Da—
Seconds won.
Her mom’s first gasp was followed by a groan and then a growl from Skala with a demand to help her. But there was nothing anyone could do. They could only watch and wait and see how Donna’s world had changed with the genetic modifications. Not modifications so much as a tidying, as her mom called it. Just a quick scrub of the old DNA, repairing the Pol Mutation, and then all would be well.
And it was. Mostly. Cries turned into groans turned into moans and then back to cries again. She writhed in the bed, Grace still clutching one hand while Skala refused to relinquish the other.
Kozav stood sentry over them all, his gaze a comforting, heavy weight on her while time slipped past them. Grace wasn’t sure how long it’d been when Donna’s thrashing finally ceased, but it eventually did.
A few other things happened when the last tremors left her mom, too.
Skala, the warrior who’d snarled and growled at everyone, who’d fiercely defended his place beside her mom, fell to his knees beside the platform. His scarred hand brushed Donna’s hair aside and he cupped the woman’s pale cheek. Tears slipped from his eyes, trailing down his weathered cheeks and his lips formed two words that shocked Grace to her very center.
“Shaa kouva.” Skala’s words resonated in the room.
Okay, it definitely shocked Grace. It did not, however, shock her mom. As proven when her mom cupped Skala’s cheek in return, brushing aside the tears that continued. “Shaa kouvi.”
Nor, apparently did it shock Kozav because he was quick to shuffle Grace out of the room after she’d given her mother a kiss and continued leading her down a twining path of passageways.
Did everyone know they were mates but her?
Screw that, she’d ask it aloud.
“Did everyone know they were mates except me?” She jerked to a stop, arm wrenching free of her mate’s hold, and she propped her hands on her hips. “Did they?”
Kozav ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture he was doing more and more and definitely reminded her of a frustrated human man. “I wished to have this conversation after our next, but it seems it cannot be delayed.”
She had no idea what the other conversation was going to include, but this one needed settled. “Nope, it can’t. Did everyone—”
He came closer but stopped just shy of touching her. She struggled not to lean into him, to take comfort in his presence. The turn of events wasn’t bad, but unsettling. So many changes, so short a time.
“Your dam did not experience a full Knowing, but did begin receiving knowledge she should not have had when she arrived on the ship.” His movements were slow when he reached for her hand and she met him halfway. Something inside her said that their relationship wasn’t lost, but it did require compromise.
She could do that. “No one said anything.”
“Your mother demanded it of every male who spoke to her.” It sounded like Kozav was more than a little pissed about that rule.
“And Skala? He felt…”
Kozav nodded. “From the moment she was brought aboard. He searched for her. It was not a full Knowing, but it was enough to bring them together. They have spent this time getting to know one another.”
“And no one…”
Kozav’s free hand stroked her cheek. “Your mother felt that our mating deserved a ‘good start’ and she did not want you worrying over her. The healers were instructed to mention nothing of Skala’s importance to your dam and simply report that her health improved. You saw the improvements yourself.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. She had, but… her knees went weak and she leaned against the wall. “I’m so selfish.”
“Shaa kouva.” Those two words struck her heart and she felt tears gathering behind her eyes. It was the first time he’d called her that in days and she’d almost thought she’d never hear it again. “You could never be selfish.”
“My mom had all this going on and I’m just flitting off and—”
“I do not believe you are capable of this flitting. And you must recall you also had to deal with a pig-headed male for a mate while some other asshole attempted to put your lights out.”
Grace wasn’t sure she was ready to accept his explanation, but his words did bring a smile to her lips. “Did that come from my mom or one of the other human-Preor mates?”
“Our dam.”
“Ours?”
Kozav puffed out his chest. “I have been instructed to call her dam. It is an Earth tradition.”
Yeah, yeah it was. In the good families. In the families that got along and were loving and stuck together when shit blew up.
Grace figured crashing on a training platform and then falling over the edge only to be rescued by her dragon mate was as close to blowing up as the Preors could get.
“It is.” She reached for his hand, twining their fingers together. “It is.”
“Good.” He tightened his hold on her hand and gently pulled her away from the wall. “There are other traditions I would like to explore. Dam gave me a list and I would like to share a few with you in the senchamber.”
She was good until they got to the senchamber bit. “Kozav?”
“Peace, shaa kouva. I…” He frowned and stared at their joined hands. “I cannot tolerate the idea of you seeking another. It was what drove my anger.” He frowned harder. “Your dam slapped me for being pig-headed.”
Even if she hated that her mom hit him, Grace had to smile.
“She also said you would find it humorous.”
She just shrugged and waited for Kozav to continue.
“We both had lives before we found one another. Yours much shorter than mine, but no less diverse. I must learn to accept that your past actions are in the past and working for the IMA was out of desperation and need. You did what was necessary and I would have done the same if it would have saved my family.” When he looked at her again, it was with a wary yet hopeful expression. “The female who stands before me today is my mate. I wish to forget our pasts and start over. All that matters are our days going forward.” At Grace’s nod, he continued, his voice hesitant. “I would like to try going forward with you again, Grace joi Kozav Hall, if you allow it.”
22
Kozav waited, holding his breath until he believed his four lungs would burst. Grace’s dam truly had slapped him and even though her strength was nothing compared to his, the strike hurt him in his heart. He’d erred with his mate, pushed her away when he should have pulled her close, and now he waited to see if she would give him another chance. A chance to make it right and forge a future together.