by Elin Wyn
Cazak
Conquered World: Book Sixteen
Elin Wyn
Contents
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Cazak
Sybil
Letter from Elin
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Navat: Sneak Peek
Don’t Miss the Star Breed!
About the Author
Sybil
“Three!” The entire crowd shouted with one voice.
“Two!” The energy in the room was electric, a thousand voices oiled by alcohol turning into a chorus. I let a smile spread across my lips as I focused on the holographic screen behind the DJ and held my flute of champagne up in the air.
“One!”
The whole crowd went nuts.
The retractable ceiling started sliding back to reveal a starry sky, and the whistle of a hundred fireworks climbing up into the night blended with the chorus. When the first fireworks went off, an explosion of light pushing away the darkness in the sky, I joined the others and cried out at the top of my lungs.
“Happy New Year!”
The room, which had its lights dimmed for the countdown, was now filled with the bright colors of the fireworks. They went on for almost ten minutes, covering the sky in colorful teardrops, and every single person in the club watched the show with a kind of wide-eyed amazement.
It had been a while since Kaster had seen such a celebration and, after a couple of rough years, I figured the entire city needed something like this.
I knew I did.
“Let’s get this party started,” the DJ screamed into his hovering microphone. He pushed a few buttons on his control panel and the holographic screen behind him lit up once more.
The neon colors there ebbed and flowed with a rhythm that matched the music, the pounding bass making my chest vibrate.
Placing my empty champagne flute on the counter, I headed onto the dance floor and brought both my hands up. Running my fingers through my hair, I swayed my hips to the rhythm. I whipped my hair back and forth, enjoying the vibrancy of the night, and let a wide smile take over my lips.
There was nothing better than a good party.
“Having fun?” Someone screamed into my ear, but I still had a hard time making out the words. I turned to see a handsome young man standing beside me, the sleeves of his white button-up shirt rolled up to his elbows.
He had the kind of grin that meant trouble, and there was a glint in his eyes that told me I had snagged all his attention.
“What?”
“Enjoying yourself, aren’t you?” he repeated, and this time I replied with a wink. Facing him, I ran my hands down the sides of my body and dragged my teeth over my bottom lip.
I kept my eyes on his as I danced, and it didn’t take long before he closed the distance between us. My father would’ve hated to see me dancing with a stranger, but what the hell.
Some dancing and innocent flirting never really killed anyone, right? No harm in living life and having some fun.
Even if, night after night, it felt like less fun.
But that wasn’t a problem for right now.
At least, not a problem that couldn’t be solved pretty easily.
“What do you say we grab some shots?” The guy screamed again, doing his best to talk over the loud music. He pointed toward the corner, where a group of five or six guys was busy downing shot after shot and I gave him a quick nod.
See? Problem solved.
Grabbing my hand, he led me across the packed dance floor and, somehow we managed to make our way to the place where his friends were. He motioned at the bartender for two shots and, just a couple of seconds later, I had a small glass pushed into my hands.
“Bottoms up!” I laughed and, without waiting for him, threw my head back and drank it all. I grimaced as the alcohol made its way down my throat, but I didn’t let that stop me. Once another shot somehow appeared in front of me, I reached for it and drank it, too.
“Slow down,” the man laughed. “You keep that up and you won’t last the night.”
“I can handle my liquor.”
“I can see that.”
“Are these your friends?” I asked him, pointing at the group of twenty-somethings surrounding him. He replied with a nod, and then started naming his friends. They all winked and nodded at me as my new friend introduced them all, but I wasn’t really paying attention to any of it. I couldn’t hear what their names were and, truth be told, I didn’t really care.
All I wanted was to dance.
“Sure feels good, huh?”
“What does?” I asked him.
“Look around you,” he smiled, waving at the crowd. “Notice anything?”
“Not really,” I admitted.
“Not a single alien in here,” he laughed. “I can’t remember the last place I walked into without having to see one of them. Feels great, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t get it,” I frowned. “Are you one of those anti-alien people?”
“Well, wouldn’t you say that it’s high time we—”
“I’m gonna dance,” I cut him short and, without waiting for his reply, I turned my back on him and slipped back into the crowd.
It seemed like all everyone wanted to do nowadays was dabble in politics and talk smack about the aliens.
Why ruin a good party with such boring conversation?
“Who’s your friend?” I heard someone laugh right behind me, and I spun on my heels, to see Aman, one of the girls that had come with me.
She was rocking back and forth on her heels, her eyes already turning glassy. Still, that didn’t seem to stop her from sipping on whatever cocktail she had in her hand. “His friends are cute. Care to introduce me?”
“Nah,” I laughed back at her. “They’re boring as hell.”
“Really?”
“They just wanna talk about aliens and whatever.”
“Ugh.” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “Let’s get out of here then, before this entire party turns into a snooze fest. I know of a club just around the block, and a friend of mine told me they’re partying hard in there.”
“What are you waiting for?” I grinned. “Lead the way.”
We stumbled onto the streets a few minutes later, the chaos of a New Year’s celebration punctuated by loud chants and the laughter of people drinking outside the bars. I followed after Aman as best I could, but it didn’t take a genius to see that I would have to put an end to my night.
I was already swaying like a boat during a storm, and the world around me seemed to be spinning too fast for my eyes to keep up.
“You go ahead,” I finally said, hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. “I think I’m gonna call it a night.”
“It’s not even two,” Aman protested, but I just gave her a sheepish smile. “C’mon, you’re not gonna leave me alone, are you? I can’t handle all the cute boys by myself, can I?”
“I’m sure you’ll manage.” Standing straight—at least as much as I could—I ran one hand through my hair and scanned my surroundings, trying to remember where I had left the car. “I think I’ve just drunk too much.”
“You’re a
disappointment, Sybil,” Aman laughed. “C’mon, I’ll walk you to your car.”
The two of us went along a side avenue, and it didn’t take long before I spotted the turquoise sports aircar parked in front of a club. I unlocked the door with my fingerprint, and then climbed awkwardly inside. Sprawled in the back seat, I waved Aman goodbye and told the computer to close the door.
“Take me home,” I said, doing my best not to spill dinner all over the leather upholstery. My dad would kill me if that happened.
Probably.
He frowned at everything I did, but whenever I tried to change, take some classes, move out, maybe find a job, he’d been just as dismissive.
I knew he missed mom, but he couldn’t pretend nothing had changed.
“Destination set as: home,” the car’s AI droned in its monotone voice, and the engine came alive with a growl. “Estimated arrival time: 25 minutes.” I bounced in my seat as the car pushed its weight off the pavement, and I quickly buckled myself up.
I spent the entire journey with my eyes closed, and I only dared to open them when I became certain dinner would remain in my stomach. I looked out the window to see the quiet suburbs underneath me, the brightly lit center of Kaster just a flash in the distance, and I rested my forehead against the glass.
A few minutes later, the car started its descent into the gated courtyard of a stately manor. It stopped right in front of the imperial staircase that led the way to the front entrance, and I jumped out of the car as silently as cat.
A very drunk cat. Even though I was pretty sure someone must’ve heard the car, I still hoped I’d manage to get inside my bedroom without anyone noticing me.
I held my breath as I opened the front door, but my father’s voice immediately boomed from the entrance hall. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” He stood just a few steps away from the door, both hands on his hips as he stared me down.
He was wearing a tailored suit that somehow managed to hide the weight he had put on these last few years, an outfit he must’ve chosen for whatever boring party he’d had to attend.
You’d think that the mayor of Kaster would be livin’ it up, but that wasn’t the case.
It was never the case.
More often than not, all my father had to do was go to infinite administrative meetings and attend functions so boring I could fall asleep just thinking of them.
“It’s...uh...two in the morning,” I mumbled, trying to pretend I was sober.
It didn’t work. Every word I tried to push out of my mouth was as mellow as a caramel that had been left under a summer sun.
“Are you drunk?”
“It’s New Year’s,” I said. “I’ve had a few drinks. So what?”
He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me, eyes narrowed, and clenched his fists. He started to shout at me, but I was so damn drunk I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying.
“I’m going to bed,” I merely said, and turned my back on him. He kept on shouting as I stumbled up the stairs that led to my bedroom, but I just ignored him.
There was something odd about him. Even though he didn’t really like my partying habits, my father wasn’t really the kind of man to act as angrily as he was right now.
Whatever.
Stepping into my bedroom, I made a beeline straight toward my bed and collapsed on top of the covers.
I was so drunk I didn’t even fall asleep.
I straight up passed out.
Cazak
I enjoyed working the night shift. It was quiet, simple, peaceful, and the best time for me to sit back and think. The night shift was a great chance for me to get away from the insanity and the stress of the day-to-day comings and goings of my job.
Of course, ever since the Xathi were defeated, our jobs had changed. We were no longer strike teams being sent out to conduct covert acts against our enemies. We were now being used for supply runs, security work, and the occasional protection details for whoever might need it.
Like tonight.
Tonight, Jalok, Navat, and I were on security detail, helping the local police force maintain sanity during the New Year’s celebrations.
I liked New Year’s celebrations. They were always a time to throw worries and concerns to the side, at least for an evening, and celebrate the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one that would hopefully be an improvement over the previous.
Then again, it was also a time to throw inhibitions and willpower on the back burner in order to enjoy one evening of fun, debauchery, and insanity.
As long as you maintained a semblance of control over your actions. I used to be one of those people that would lose control and just focus strictly on the fun and debauchery.
It had cost me.
However, after a life-changing moment, followed immediately by a universe-changing moment, I was no longer that person and I was now the one that tried to help control and save the people that lost control.
That’s what we were working on tonight, trying to control insanity.
“Cazak, we got a call,” Jalok, my cousin, said as he clicked off his communicator with the police. “They want us at a party near some place called Leverage Tower. While it’s not out of hand yet, they’re worried that it will be soon, so they want us there to help keep an eye on things.”
“Okay, let’s go watch people dance in the snow,” Navat said with a smile. I turned my head up for a moment and watched as the snow fell through the lights.
Dancing in this would have been fun in my younger days. Of course, humans were the only ones that held their New Year’s celebrations in the middle of winter, the rest of the sane universe held theirs either during spring or just before the summer equinox.
“Drive or jog?” I asked as I turned my head back to the others.
“Jog, it’s not far from here,” Jalok smiled. He started jogging, Navat and I only a few paces behind. The city was unnaturally beautiful with the holiday decorations, the snow, and the lights. The revelers that were walking and dancing in the streets stayed away from us.
As we jogged, Jalok put his hand up to his ear and spoke to someone. I couldn’t hear his words, but when he started jerking his head around in anger, I got the gist of the conversation. “Move it, people are starting to argue and there’s some minor physical activity. They’re worried it’s gonna turn into a fight and we need to get there, now.”
We picked up our pace, turning our jog into a run, but not quite a sprint. We were at Leverage Tower within six minutes. As we arrived, there was a small scuffle happening between two groups of partygoers, and I could hear their argument from where we were.
“You fucking alien-lover! You’re probably pregnant with one of their spawn, aren’t you?” The speaker was a large man, not muscular, and he was picking on a young lady, yelling at her. When her date, or just someone trying to help her, stepped forward, the large man pushed him.
I stepped forward and he turned to me.
“Yeah, you, you alien dumb fuck,” he growled as he pointed at me. “I asked, what the hell are you looking at? You staring at one of our women? You thinking of taking one of our women? What, you think we’re here to serve you, to get down on our knees and bow down to you?”
“Don’t respond,” Jalok said quietly. “Let’s not provoke them.” Then he turned to the crowd. “We’re not here for any trouble. We’re simply here to ensure that everyone has a good time without anything untoward happening.”
“Go fuck yourself,” the loud man yelled. He was a young one, possibly mid-twenties, if that. He was dressed very well, with a bright green shirt, dark gray vest, gray tie, and gray slacks. It was an impressive ensemble. Too bad the clothes were filled with an idiot with a big mouth.
“I’m going to apologize for my friend here,” I said as I took a step forward. “He forgot to mention that we’re working with the local police force and that we have jurisdictional rights to arrest anyone causing trouble. Now, we’re simply here to ensure t
hat everyone has a good time and that no one does anything to mess up said good time. Let’s simply leave it at that, shall we?”
The human rolled his eyes and stumbled a bit to one side. His friends laughed, but one of them leaned into his ear and started talking, pointing at us. “I know, shut up,” Green Shirt snarled. He turned his attention back to us. “It’s simple, alien bitch, get the hell off our planet.”
“Come on, man. Leave him alone,” another one of the men said.
“Shut the fuck up, Eric, or I’ll stick your head up his alien ass. You know what? Screw this.” Then Green Shirt started walking towards us, almost stomping.
“Don’t do this,” I said. “It’s not going to end well for you.”
He was only a few paces away, snarling. His eyes flashed and I knew right then that he was being taken over.
“He’s possessed,” I warned the others as they raised their weapons.
I, instead, let go of mine and let it swing on its strap behind me. “Don’t do this,” I repeated. “I really don’t want to hurt you. Just go back to the party and celebrate.”
I stepped a few steps forward, my hands held out to my side, palms out.
That didn’t calm him down as I’d wanted. Instead, it seemed to infuriate him more. He got within swinging distance and threw a left hook. It was an easy blow to block, as he was off-balance, and in his inebriated state, he didn’t have the power that he would have had if it was simply anger driving him.
So, I blocked it and pushed him away. His eyes went wide and he charged me. He tried to tackle me, but I grabbed him, caught his shoulders, spun him around, and pushed him away again. “Please stop. I warned you that this was not going to go well for you.” I turned back to Jalok and Navat. “When are the police getting here?”