Lobo stepped forward. “We need to do something, Crow. They’re not going to stop until they see all of us annihilated.”
Josiah went ramrod stiff as he stayed their rebellion against his leadership. “We’re still here. Come what may. Humanity will out. Scraps won’t be taken. You know it and I know it. We’ve made it this far and we’ll see it to the finish line. I have no intention of ceding victory to them. Do you?” He cast his gaze around the group.
One by one, they backed down.
Daria’s heart finally slowed its frantic rhythm.
Josiah dropped his hand and stepped away from her. “I need a group of volunteers for tonight. The convoy they hit has thirteen survivors. Thirteen men and women I intend to bring home. I’m leading the team to evac them before they’re taken too far in and we can’t reach them.”
Daria’s eyes widened at his words. “My parents? Were they among the survivors?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Can I go with you and check?”
Josiah hesitated. “You’re not trained.”
“You mean I’m not to be trusted.”
“I mean you’re not trained.” He jerked his handsome chin at the other humans. “We know each other’s movements and how we’ll react before we breathe. An unknown variable in the mix is a danger to us all. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take. We have one simple rule here—Just don’t.”
“Just don’t, what?”
He counted them off on his fingers. “Don’t give up. Don’t submit. Don’t surrender. Don’t get caught. Don’t be stoopid—as in a double O—oh shit—which is much worse than a simple U could ever do by yourself. Don’t betray yourself. Don’t betray your kin. In simple, Drab, just don’t. Which is the answer to most questions that make your gut tighten with dread.”
She held her chin defiantly. “I thought we were supposed to move boldly ahead in all things.”
“That’s Drab philosophy.”
“And what’s the human, then? To cower and hide?”
Josiah’s gaze smoldered with his pent-up fury. “To survive at all costs. And to kick your gray asses back to the dark corner of the universe where you came from.”
“Why do you hate us so much?”
Josiah sneered at her. “For the lives taken that can never be restored. For stealing a world that didn’t belong to you.”
And with those words spoken, he turned into a black crow and flew off.
Daria gasped at the sight.
Still human in appearance, Xared took her hand and pulled her away from the others before they had a chance to unite against her again.
Shaking and terrified, she fought down her panic and grief as she realized how tenuous a position she was in. She’d been a leader of HELL. Their worst enemy. One they wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
How am I going to survive here? They hate me!
She couldn’t blame them. Not when she hated them back.
“What am I going to do, Xed?”
“I don’t know. But don’t be so harsh on Joey. The Matens took everything from him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was a police officer when the Matens first came.”
“Police officer?”
“Law enforcement ... a Dawner. And he was protecting the first group of Maten ambassadors when their Dawners opened fire on his pregnant wife and killed her for protesting the fact that they were withholding the cure from humans.”
Daria gaped at news she’d never heard before. “What?”
“It’s true. We had the cure and could have saved them all. His wife knew it. The humans weren’t weak as we’ve been told. Rather, they just hadn’t been exposed to our germs. A simple inoculation and one round of Sinctin would have cured them. None of them should have died, or been mutated. Joey’s wife was a research physician and had the research and proof. So, she and her colleagues staged a protest at the embassy where our emissaries were meeting with the humans. To keep her from exposing the truth, the Matens opened fire on her and her research team, and killed most of them, then started the war to make sure no one found out.”
“No wonder he hates us.”
Xared nodded. “He witnessed the entire thing and was unable to stop it. I’m told they had to pry her body from his arms.”
“How do you know he’s not lying?”
“He’s not the only one who saw it. And I know my uncle. Hatred like that only comes from a soul-deep betrayal. From a pain so foul that nothing can dull it.”
Daria stood there in quiet reflection as she came to terms with the fact that everything she’d ever known was a lie. Her background. Her history.
Her family.
Everything.
“Is my name my name?”
Xared scowled at her. “Pardon?”
“My parents lied about everything else. Is that all fabricated, too? Am I even a Stazen?”
His stern expression melted beneath a wave of sympathy. “Darus,” he breathed, using the Maten endearment for her name. “Of course, you are. They were only trying to protect you as best they could. You know this. You know what would have happened to you and to them had anyone ever learned you had human blood in your veins.”
Yeah, red-blooded was the worst insult anyone could hurl at a Maten.
And she was one of them now.
No, actually she wasn’t. Unlike Xared, she wasn’t some Shif who could make herself blend in with humans. She was clearly Maten in looks and manner. But partly human in genetics.
I belong to both.
And neither.
Hated and hunted by both groups.
She would never fit in. Neither would ever fully accept her. No wonder her mother had wanted to go live among the Matens. It must have been unbearable for her maja here where the humans glared at her with hatred, like they were doing to her right now.
And Daria had exposed them all by one unconscionable act of gross stupidity.
You must learn to think ahead. Her father had been right. Too bad she hadn’t listened to him sooner.
Now, she, the leader of HELL, was stuck in hell and there was no one to save her. No salvation to be found.
Chapter 5
Daria froze at the sight of Josiah’s bare back, and the way his muscles rippled. Her breath caught in her throat as a raw, unexpected wave of desire tore through her and left her speechless and hot.
Holy gods...
Had anyone ever told her that she’d feel such for a human being she’d have laughed them off the planet.
Yet there was no denying the way her heart picked up its pace as he quickly added weapons to the concealed holster at his waist and underarms. Worse? Unwanted fantasies of her running her hands over his body flashed through her mind faster than she could stop them.
What is wrong with me?
She hated humans.
But they weren’t supposed to look the way he did. Ripped and lean. Handsome beyond measure. Delectable.
Lickable.
He was exceptionally well formed, for any species.
And when he turned and caught her staring at him with the full weight of her teenage hormonal surge, she felt heat instantly scald her cheeks. Time seemed to stand still as he froze with one hand on the locker door.
For several agonizing heartbeats he said nothing as her mortification claimed her completely. They merely stood there in awkward silence.
Until he pulled his shirt over his head and closed the locker in front of him. “Did you need something?”
That deep, resonant voice sent another shiver over her. It made her entire body tingle. Stop it, Daria! Get a hold of yourself! She wasn’t some prepubescent child. Technically, she was a grown Maten.
Though at the moment, she felt some inexplicable urge to giggle and hide her face.
Or runaway and hide.
Yeah, that would be a bad idea.
So, she made herself take a step toward him and at least pretend like she still had some sort of brain a
ctivity. “I just wanted to thank you. It was rude of me not to do so earlier.”
He tucked a peculiar black knife into a sheath at the base of his spine. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting any kind of thanks.”
From the likes of you. He wasn’t rude enough to add that last bit out loud, but the tone of his voice implied it.
As he started past her, she stopped him. His nearness hit her with another wave of desire that made a mockery of the earlier one. Every part of her was alert to him now. And it took everything she had not to kiss those lips that seemed to be made for just such a thing.
She drew a ragged breath, wishing that they weren’t so different. “I also wanted to say that I was sorry, Commander. I didn’t mean to get anyone hurt.”
Josiah hesitated as he saw real remorse in her dark eyes. And he hated himself for letting it weaken him. She was a Drab. Plain and simple.
His worst enemy. She symbolized everything he despised in this world.
Yet when she stood this close to him, with her hand on his forearm, all he saw was an attractive woman.
A scared, vulnerable one. Especially given the way her hand lingered and trembled on his flesh.
And that weakened him even more. He’d always been a sucker for anyone in need, especially a woman or a child. It was what had caused him to join the police force against his father’s wishes.
Protect and serve those who couldn’t defend themselves. Might shouldn’t make right. It was the duty of the strong to bleed for those who couldn’t hold their own.
He just wished he’d done a better job protecting his wife and family.
“Don’t be afraid, Daria. If your parents are alive, I’ll bring them back to you. You have my word on that.”
The pain in her eyes was one he knew intimately. It was the same ghost that haunted him with every breath he drew. Day and night. It even stalked his sleep and made him dread those few hours when he had no control over his mind that ever wandered off, and left him exposed to his rawest emotions. Those hours when he would venture to the past to be with his wife and live in a time before the Drabs had destroyed his life.
They had taken everything from him.
She hadn’t. Daria hadn’t even been born yet, and she had nothing to do with their cruelty. You know this, Joey.
But it was hard to remember that when all he wanted to do was lash out, and use her as a scapegoat for all the injustices that had left him gutted and bitter.
Left him alone and bleeding.
The world was callous, and it had turned him into a monster long ago. Sadly, it was easier to be that monster than the man he once was.
“Xed told me that I could trust you.” Unshed tears made her eyes shine in the dim light. “I pray he’s right.”
Josiah stamped down his urge to hurt her in retaliation for all the ills of the past. Yet it was hard.
Indifference was the best he could strive for, given his innate hatred. And even that was difficult. “I won’t hurt you.” He hoped that wasn’t a lie.
She offered him a shy smile. “Again, thank you. If you need anything from me in terms of intel or insight, please let me know. . . . Stay safe, Commander.”
With those words spoken, she stood up on her toes and laid the most chaste kiss imaginable against his cheek.
Yet for all its innocence, it left his skin burning for reasons that didn’t bear thinking on.
She’s a child.
And a Drab!
Too bad his body didn’t listen. Drab or not, she was a beautiful creature. One who smelled like sunshine and spring. And it’d been way too long since he’d last held a woman in his arms.
Far too long since he’d allowed himself to look at one as anything more than a sister in need of saving.
But he was looking now ...
I need to gouge out my eyes.
Only problem was, he didn’t want to. And before he could stop himself he heard himself making an offer to her that wasn’t as disgusting as it should be. “Would you like for me to show you around later ... after we get back?”
Her cheeks darkened again, and she nodded. “I think I’d like that a lot.”
Why was he so breathless?
Why was she?
She stepped away, then hesitated and turned toward him. “How do humans say ‘roundabout’?”
He intended to answer with goodbye. Really, he did. Yet somehow, he pulled her against him and kissed her instead.
Daria gasped the moment Josiah’s lips touched hers. At nineteen, she’d only kissed Frayne, and he’d never tasted like this. Raw and powerful. All masculine.
Like divine paradise.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled the warmth of Josiah, and gave in to the fantasy she’d had earlier of rubbing her hands down his back over those bulging muscles. His body was every bit as ripped as it’d seemed.
She sucked her breath in sharply, wishing for a lot more than just this hot, insane kiss, and knowing better than to even think about it.
He tensed and pulled away. “Sorry,” he breathed with a sincerity that should insult her.
Yet she suspected it came from more than just the obvious.
In fact, she had a good idea of what might truly be bothering him. “Just how old are you? Really?”
Josiah ran his thumb along her bottom lip as if debating on whether or not he should kiss her again. That action made her chest tighten. “Physically, only five years older than you. Realistically, I’m horrifying and should be ashamed of myself.”
“But you’re not.”
A wicked gleam darkened his eyes. “Hard to be truly ashamed when every woman my age is long dead and decayed into dust. Can’t exactly date in my age group, you know?”
He had a point.
“And the one time I tried to date an older woman, it gave her such a complex over my age and appearance that I haven’t tried it again. Every time we went somewhere, everyone thought I was her son and she couldn’t deal with it.”
“Well, your age isn’t what bothers me,” she reminded him.
“My species does.”
She squirmed uncomfortably at his accurate guess. “Are you saying that mine doesn’t bother you?”
He dropped his hand from her lips. “It’s not as much a factor at the moment as it was before.”
“Truly?”
A deep, dark pain settled behind his eyes. It was so profound that it brought a lump to her throat. “I’ll make a deal with you, Daria Stazen. I won’t hold your black blood against you if you don’t hold my red blood against me.”
He held his hand out to her in a peculiar manner that suggested she was supposed to do something.
Arching her brow, she tapped her hand against it.
Josiah laughed, then took her hand and showed her what he wanted her to do. “It’s called shaking hands. This is how we humans make bargains.”
“You don’t post your bargains?”
With a snort, he shook his head. “No, we don’t.”
“Humans are a strange lot.”
“That we are, Miss Stazen. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few of us to save.”
“Good luck, Commander.” And this time, she actually meant it. Most of all, she looked forward to his return. For once, she wanted to get to know him better and see what lay beneath his dark and sinister façade.
Hours later, Josiah flew through the darkness of what had once been the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, silent and watching. No longer part of the military he’d once known, the station now belonged to their enemies who used it as a detention facility for the humans they captured. Worse? They used it to conduct auctions for, and operations on, the Scraps of humanity.
Scraps. That was what the Drabs called them. It was how they viewed them. Nothing but cast-off remains to be used and discarded at will.
Worthless. Except to the ones who needed human body parts or those depraved beings who should be jailed for their crimes. It was nauseating that humanity had been reduced to this by
a bunch of hypocritical creatures who thought of themselves as enlightened and morally superior.
Rise up and slam them to the ground. That had been his father’s teachings. Strike fast. Strike hard. Let no one see you bleed. The world belongs to those who have the cojones to face adversity and make it their bitch.
If you go down, you go down swinging.
Yeah, no one would ever confuse Takoda James Crow with Gandhi. His father had been a staunch naval commander who brooked no lip, or attitude, from any of his seven sons.
Or anyone else.
And little did the Drabs know that their base was one Josiah knew like the back of his hand. It’d been one of his mother’s favorite haunts while his father was out at sea for months on end.
He’d come of age here and the surrounding areas.
Now he came here for blood vengeance.
Josiah swooped down to get a better view of his enemies and the ones they were holding prisoner.
The Drabs lay far below, going about their business as if they had every right to exist on this planet. It galled him to the deepest part of his soul. Nothing had been right in the world for so long that he had to struggle most days to remember why he kept fighting when every omen seemed to foretell his doom and the end of humanity as a whole.
But in spite of the ache, he knew why.
Mohani. She would be the first to tell him to stand strong in this resistance. If you don’t fight for what you want, then don’t cry for what you’ve lost.
God, how he missed her and her sayings that had once driven him crazy. Never cry for a person who cares nothing for the value of your tears. She’d had something to say about everything. The perfect kick in his butt whenever he needed it.
The perfect kiss whenever he saw her. She could humble him with a simple smile. Wrap him around her finger without any effort. For her, he’d always been a fool.
Josiah winced as memories sliced through him with talons made of steel, and him feel guilty that he’d kissed Daria earlier. They burned deeper than his soul and left him raw and screaming inside.
But the one that never left him was those last moments of Mohani’s life when she’d struggled so hard to stay with him. When her pain-filled gaze had looked up at his. Not with accusation or regret.
Insurrection [Nevermore] Page 5