Draekon Warrior

by Lee Savino

  “Buddy,” she says, her voice sharp. “You have at least a hundred pounds on me. I’m pretty sure my wrist is broken from punching you. You are the weapon.”

  The beast inside me makes an approving rumble. She is no fool.

  She’s also hurt. Her right wrist is broken, as is her thumb. Both her wrists are chafed and bleeding. I slice the rope around her ankles and reach in my pack for a med-kit. She hisses sharply and crawls away from me. “Are you a scientist?” she asks, her tone drenched with mistrust. “Is that why you know my name?”

  The question is so absurd that I want to laugh. I am the furthest thing from a scientist. “No.” I point to the tattoos on my arms. “Scientists are marked with blue ink. Soldiers use black.”

  “How do you know my name then?” she persists. Her face is contorted with pain, but there’s no give in her tone. She shies away, her teeth bared as if she’ll bite me if I come closer, and tries to get on her feet, but her muscles don’t cooperate, and she falls back on the ground.

  I take it back. The small human is completely irrational. Her wrist is broken, and I’m holding a med-kit that can fix her wounds. Instead of letting me heal her, she is questioning me as if I’m an enemy combatant. Does she not realize she needs to get out of here before the moons rise and the motopo packs come out to hunt? The desert predators hunt by scent. They’ll be drawn to the aroma of her strange, sweet blood.

  “Stick out your hand,” I snap, my patience wearing thin. It’s been a long, frustrating search for the humans. When I’m awake, the rathr’s needle-sharp claws slash me, and the pain is crippling. When I’m asleep, it swims through my dreams and leaves searing agony in its wake. Then there’s the venom the scientist injected into me and my squadron. Some days, I wonder if that’s not the right solution to the rathr. The only thing that keeps me going is a stubborn refusal to fail.

  Still, it’s the merest chance that I found the human today. My squadron and I had started our search in Misram. We’d quickly found out that the humans had been separated, and we’d decided to split up. I tracked a pair of humans to the Coter star system, but once I reached the desert planet of Calis, the trail had ended.

  Calis is a primitive planet. Very little tech, no planetary surveillance systems. The deserts cover half the surface, and it’s easy to hide in their vast expanses.

  I’d arrived three days ago. On the first day, I’d made my way through Kora, the largest spaceport on the planet. I’d visited every bar and every market, keeping my ears open, asking a few discreet questions, trying to find out if anyone had seen two women from an alien race. Yesterday, I’d repeated the same procedure in Lagrone. Today, I’d started my day in the dusty spaceport of Guzek. Once again, I’d found nothing.

  Visiting the city of Akan was an afterthought. Akan was filled with the flotsam and jetsam of the galaxy. It wasn’t the type of place a Zorahn scientist would visit by choice, yet I made my way here. As I walked through the city, I heard two Cotari traders laugh about one of their own, who had shown up to the market trying to sell a smelly, undersized creature that he claimed was sentient.

  The human. She should be grateful I’m here to rescue her, when most of her own people have given her up for dead. Instead, she’s looking at me as if I’m a snarling monster who’s going to attack her.

  She’s terrified. Of me, but also of the med-kit in my hand.

  Hot rage floods through me when I taste her fear. The way she’s looking at the med-kit, she’s seen something similar before, and not under pleasant circumstances. The scientists have hurt her. They’ve made her cringe at the sight of the healing device in my hand.

  My voice softens fractionally. “Your bones are broken. It would be prudent to heal them and get out of here.”

  Distrust wars with common sense. Common sense wins. “Fine,” she murmurs grudgingly. “You can heal me. But don’t think for one second that I’ve forgotten you still haven’t answered my questions. And buddy, I took self-defense classes. You try any funny stuff, and I’ll knee you in the groin.”

  She barely reaches my armpit, and she’s spitting threats at me. She certainly has spirit; I’ll give her that.

  I hold the device over her hand. It hums as it heals her. I wait impatiently, my senses on high alert. This situation doesn’t make any sense. The scientists went through a lot of trouble to seize the Sevril V and capture the humans. Yet Alice Hernandez is alone, discarded as if she were worthless, when, in reality, she is the rarest treasure the galaxy has to offer.

  My nerves prickle. I don’t like this place. It feels dangerous. I’m not worried about myself—I am more than capable of dealing with whatever Calis has to offer—but Alice Hernandez is human and can be easily hurt. The sooner we’re on my ship and flying back to the rebellion headquarters, the better.

  The med-kit beeps to let us know it’s done. Alice Hernandez pulls her wrist away immediately. “Thank you,” she says stiffly. She tries to stand again. This time, though she sways, she manages to remain vertical. “I appreciate your help.”

  She doesn’t look healthy. She’s likely been in the sun all day. The Cotari wouldn’t have fed or watered something they can’t sell. She needs nutrients before we can go anywhere.

  The human turns in the direction of the Akan city wall and starts to hobble toward it. My jaw drops, and I gape, astonished. Is she not right in the head? Why is she walking away from me? Did she not understand when I said I was here to rescue her?

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” she shoots back. “The traders took my friend, and I have to find her.” She waves her hand toward Akan. “This is a city, isn’t it? Maybe someone there knows where I can find Tanya.”

  She’s completely delusional. Pretty eyes, though. Deep brown, with small flecks of gold. “And do you speak Cotari?”

  She stops in her tracks. “I admit there are flaws in my plan,” she says. “I’ll figure something out.”

  Muttering a curse under my breath, I approach her, swing her into my arms, ignoring her screech of protest, and set her down against the city wall. I hand her water from my pack. “Drink.”

  She looks at the water, then at me, her eyes sharp with suspicion. “What’s the catch?”

  “What?”

  “What do you want in exchange? You want to see the hoo-man’s tits? Want to cop a feel? What is it?”

  An image flashes into my head of the small human lying on a bed, naked and warm. Her legs spread open for me, her gold-flecked brown eyes shining with invitation. Desire fills me, swift and sure.

  She is irrational, and you are insane for wanting her. “I am here to rescue you,” I say through gritted teeth. Again. “Drink the water before you faint. Don’t worry,” I add mockingly. “I remember your threat. You’ve taken self-defense classes. If I try any funny stuff, you’ll knee me in the groin.”

  She finally takes the water from me and gulps it down as if she hasn’t drunk for days. Guilt surges through me. The small human is thirsty and hungry. I should be tending to her, not trading barbs with her. Digging around in my pack, I find the nutrient bars that have been specifically formulated for humans. “Eat.”

  She bristles at my order, but her stomach growls, and she takes it from me. She takes an experimental bite, and her eyes widen. “This is sweet,” she says, sounding astonished. “I thought it’d taste like the food the scientists gave us. Flavorless sludge.”

  Finally, a mention of the Zorahn scientists.

  Alice Hernandez takes another bite, her tongue darting out to catch a stray crumb at the corner of her mouth. Her lips are deep pink in color, and they look succulent. Unexpected hot lust surges in me, and my cock hardens. Stupid cock.

  “This tastes almost like chocolate.” Her eyes narrow. “Why does it taste like chocolate?”

  I ignore her question. “Tell me about the scientists. Why aren’t you with them?” I fish another bar out of my pack and dangle it in front of her, my meaning clear. Talk, and I’ll f
eed you.

  A half-smile touches her pink lips. “Halfway across the galaxy, and there’s still no such thing as a free lunch,” she says, her tone tinged with bitterness. “Very well. There were two of us, Tanya and me. The scientists have a lab in the middle of the desert. We were held there for seven months.” She looks at the vast expanse of sand. “I won’t be able to find it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  Seven months as a captive of the scientists. It’s shocking that she’s not a wreck. Alice Hernandez shows true courage.

  “Then, a couple of days ago, Kravex, one of the scientists, sold us to a pair of traders. They were tall, thin, had two white braids… They took Tanya.”

  “Cotari traders,” I reply automatically, handing her the nutrient bar. Bast. They could have taken the other human anywhere. Then the full meaning of her words sinks in, and my sense of unease sharpens. “What do you mean, a scientist sold you to the Cotari?”

  “He said they’d been summoned back, and they couldn’t take us with them.”

  Mahr. This is extremely bad. The scientists would have been instructed to kill the humans, and instead of following orders, one of them had gotten greedy and decided to make some money on the side.

  Lenox personally guaranteed the humans’ safety. If word gets out that scientists had experimented on humans, the High Emperor will be furious. And when the High Emperor rages, civilizations die.

  Dangerous. Reckless. I can’t believe the stupidity of Kravex. But his fellow scientists can’t be as foolish. The instant they find out what he did, they’ll be back. They’ll be hunting Alice Hernandez. They can’t let her live.

  “We have to get out of here.”

  “No,” she says, a stubborn glint in her eyes. “I’m going after Tanya. If you’re really here to rescue me, then help me find her.”

  No, what I have to do is get Alice Hernandez to safety. I really don’t want anything to happen to the small human. The dragon inside me has very strong feelings about that. Alice Hernandez needs to be protected. “We have no idea where the other human was taken.”

  She bites her soft lip, and another shaft of desire pierces me. I push it back. As the Supreme Mother pointed out to us repeatedly, we had no bloodlines, no family. We were created in a laboratory. No respectable woman would mate with us.

  “They said that she was a tribute to someone called the Great One.”

  Kashrn. I’ve done my research. The Offering of the Tribute will happen any day now on the moon of Nomi. I do not have enough time to take Alice Hernandez to safety before Tanya Sinclair is handed over to the Cotari leader.

  “I can retrieve the other human after the Offering of the Tribute,” I say. “The Great One won’t kill her. Humans are something new. She'll be a novelty in his court.”

  She grabs my bicep. “Please…” she says. “You can’t let that happen. They’re going to rape her. Please help.”

  I freeze. It’s the first time we’ve made contact, skin on skin.

  Her hand feels soft. When she touches me, the cold bite of the rathr recedes, and warmth rushes in. I stare at her, startled by the sudden loss of pain, and her cheeks flush red, and she snatches it away. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

  I’m too shocked to reply. The rathr is specially coded to each of us. The only thing that holds it at bay is a drug created by the Supreme Mother. Its formulation, a closely guarded secret, disappeared with her death.

  “Tanya’s already not in a good place,” Alice Hernandez continues. “I can't imagine what would happen if they raped her. The traders left me behind because I’m scarred and defective. They called me worthless. They obviously have no qualms about letting us die. If Tanya falls out of favor with the Great One, who knows what they’d do? What if they dump her in the middle of the desert without any water and proceed on their way?”

  I go very still. A film of red coats my eyes. “They called you scarred and defective?” I touch her cheek with the tip of my finger. “Because of this?”

  She swallows. Nods.

  My voice goes very soft. “What are the names of the traders?”

  “Zelae and Suhas.”

  They called her worthless. They tied her up so she would be defenseless, and they left her behind to die. Neither of them will live to see the festival.

  “Please,” she says again.

  I really don’t want to put this human in danger. My dragon is restless and agitated. I’ve learned to pay attention to my feelings; more than once, my instinct has saved the lives of my team. How can I change her mind?

  “You’ll slow me down.”

  The words come out harsher than intended, and they have the desired effect. She stiffens in anger. Her chin lifts, and she glares at me, her brown eyes shining in the moonlight. “I’m not weak,” she snaps. “I can take care of myself. For seven months, I survived in that lab, and I came out alive. You try it and see how you do.”

  The fabric of her shirt stretches over her breasts, and I force myself not to stare. She is angry with you, my dragon roars. Fix this.

  “I have,” I say flatly. “Spent time in the scientists’ laboratories, that is.”

  Her expression crumples. She buries her face in her hands. For a long moment, she doesn’t say anything, and then she raises her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I shouldn’t have assumed…” She takes a deep breath, and her chest rises and falls. “I’m not having a good day. The traders called me defective and abandoned me here, which is probably, as it goes, a good thing, because at least I’m not some kind of sex slave, but it still rankles, and I’m touchy.” She gives me a tremulous smile. “I’m blabbering.” She holds out her hand to me. “In my part of Earth, we shake hands as a greeting. Can we start over? My name is Alice. What’s yours?”

  Her smile is like the bloom of a nefris in the middle of the cold season, unexpected, and all the more beautiful as a result. “Kadir,” I reply. “Kadir ab Usora.”

  My dragon rears in shock.

  She’s holding out her hand. I take it in mine. So warm. So soft. Once again, the rathr retreats, and all I can feel is this woman.

  My brain must be addled from the loss of pain. That can be the only explanation for the words that leave my mouth. “We will find the missing human together.”

  I’m still holding her hand. She doesn’t make any move to pull it away. A strange sense of contentment fills my heart.

  She is not for you, the Supreme Mother’s voice cuts in, cold and vicious. The prickles of danger intensify. “We must go now. My ship is on the other side of Akan. If you cannot walk, I will carry you.”

  The faint whine of a skimmer engine pierces the night silence. Lights appear in the distance, growing brighter as the craft approaches us.

  Scientists.

  I ram the Akan city wall with my shoulder. Once, twice, a third time, until the tightly packed mud disintegrates.

  That’s when the shooting starts.

  The beam slices into my back, ripping my flesh open. Hot pain stabs me. I ignore it. Must keep the human safe.

  Lifting Alice into my arms, shielding her with my body, I duck into the twisted maze that is the city of Akan.

  5

  Alice

  Do I trust the massive alien, who appeared out of nowhere, with both water and chocolate, claiming he’s here to rescue me?

  Hell no. How stupid do you think I am?

  But the thing is, I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. I have to find Tanya before the traders can offer her up to their Great One. And, as Kadir so helpfully pointed out, I don’t speak Cotari. The scientists fit Tanya and me with translators when we arrived, but we quickly realized it only translates English to Zor, and vice-versa.

  Cotari is an entirely different language. From today’s market experience, I’ve learned that nobody here has a translator that understands English. I look alien. I don’t speak the language. I’m smaller and weaker than any of the local residents. I have a gigantic target on my back. I’m practically i
nviting people to attack me.

  Nobody in their right mind would think of attacking Kadir. The alien radiates menace. He’s huge and powerful. The city wall had to be over sixteen feet tall, and he’d braced himself and rammed his shoulder into it as if it were nothing. With barely any effort, he’d brought down a section of it. Now he’s carrying me as if I weigh nothing as he threads his way through a warren of suffocatingly narrow streets.

  For the moment, I’m going to pretend to cooperate. I’m going to bide my time. Everyone wants something. I don’t know what Kadir wants yet, but I’ll figure it out. Whatever happens, I will figure out a way to survive.

  The alien is tall. Broad-shouldered. He looks like he might be Zorahn, but unlike Kravex, his head isn’t shaved, and his skin color is a warm shade somewhere between terracotta and gold. His hair is short and dark, and his eyes are obsidian.

  Obsidian. The months of captivity have made you a poet, Alice.

  Let’s be honest. Kadir is gorgeous. When the moonlight first fell across his face, I had to hold back a gasp. He looks like the alien version of a young Gregory Peck. (My mother was a fan.) Chiseled jaw, high cheekbones, and brooding, intense, masculine perfection.

  Too bad about his personality, which has all the softness of a porcupine. Because let me tell you, nothing drives me nuts faster than a guy barking orders at me and expecting me to obey.

  The city is dark. The moonlight tries and fails to penetrate the gloom. Dense clusters of buildings rise all around us. The streets curve and twist on themselves, and in minutes, I’m completely disoriented.

  Kadir makes his way through the night, his tread soft and sure. Cradled against his muscled chest, my mind starts to wander. He’s like a big, powerful cat. Maybe a tiger. Or a panther. I can see the outline of his nipples through his thin shirt, and, if I’m not mistaken, they’re pierced, metal bars running through them. Are they erogenous? If I touch them, would I arouse him?

  What is the matter with you?