by Lee Savino
My heart stabs. She’s trying to pretend that last night never happened. Is that what she wants? I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’ve never cared about the women I’ve bedded. I’ve never worried about their feelings after sex. This is entirely new territory for me.
She’s still having nightmares, my dragon rebukes me sharply. She was abducted by the scientists, one of whom you killed last night. She’s very far from home. Yesterday, she ran into Olivia Bucknell, another human. She might be homesick. If she wants to pretend yesterday didn’t happen, then go along with it.
I make myself nod. “Yes, we will need to leave soon,” I confirm. “But we have another problem.”
“Of course, we do,” she says wearily. “What sort of problem?”
My mind had taken a long time to start working. I blame the shock of finding the slaughtered Draekons, and then, the much happier feeling of Alice in my arms. The question hadn’t occurred to me until very late last night. “The scientist yesterday, how did he find us on Frez?” Only one person knew where we were headed, and that’s the serench.
Realization dawns on her face. “The serench sold us out.”
She’s always in step with me. I never have to stop and explain the obvious to Alice. “I planted viewers in their compound. Let’s see.”
“You left cameras behind?”
The note of admiration in her voice makes my dragon preen. “Of course.”
She follows me into my bedroom. I pull up the serench’s compound on my screen.
It’s a wreck. The front of it has been destroyed. Smoke rises from what’s left of the beautiful home.
Bast. The serench trusted me, and I got them killed. Ignoring my pang of guilt, I rewind the feed to the start, just after we left.
Nothing happens for some time. I speed through the footage. A couple of hours after we left, a sleek spaceship lands where the Bikana had been parked. A squadron of heavily armed Crimson Guard soldiers jumps out.
The compound’s security forces are no match for the elite battle-hardened veterans. The massacre is swift and merciless. In less than two knurs, the serench’s soldiers lie dead, and the Crimson Guard leader gives the all-clear.
Three Zorahn scientists emerge from the spaceship. When she sees their faces, Alice sucks in a breath. “Nara’vi, Fal’vi, and Kravex.”
The scientists who tortured Alice. Kravex is no longer a problem, but I fix Nara’vi and Fal’vi’s faces in my memory. I’m coming for you. I will not let you live.
The three of them walk into the ruined compound. I switch to an interior camera. They march into the living area, where two members of the Crimson Guard are holding the serench. Nara’vi’s face breaks into a sneer. “I’m looking for the hoo-mans,” she says. “Tell me what you know.”
The serench straightens. “You invaded my house. You murdered my retainers. I will tell you nothing.”
Nara’vi nods to Kravex, who pulls a syringe from a case. “I’d warn you that this will hurt, but you probably already know that.”
The needle plunges into the Cotari. For a moment, there’s perfect silence, and then the serench starts to scream.
I pause the feed and put my hand over the screen, blocking Alice’s view. “You don’t need to see this.”
She swallows. “Bossing me around again.” She takes a deep breath and gathers her composure. “I’m okay.”
She’s not okay. I bite back my sigh and play the feed again. The scientists let the serench scream for a very long time, and then Kravex injects something that seems to stop the pain. “I’ll ask once again,” Nara’vi says. “Where are the hoo-mans?”
They torture the Cotari for a long time. Eventually, the serench breaks. Everyone does in the end. “Frez. The Swamplands.”
“Thank you,” Nara’vi says. She makes a gesture, and Kravex kills the prisoner. The three of them walk back to the spaceship. “The nearest major port is Kosagash,” she says. “Kravex, you check there. Fal’vi and I will search the swamp.”
I turn off the feed. Night to night, I think, my lips soundlessly forming the words of an ancient Zorahn prayer for the dead. Earth to earth. Blood to ashes. May your light find a home in the darkness.
Alice’s eyes are wide and staring. “It’s too late,” she whispers. “This was yesterday. By now, they’ve probably already killed Tanya.”
Her hands are cold. I warm them between mine. “Alice. Listen to me. Even in death, the serench helped us. The swamplands are vast, five times the size of Kosagash. The scientists will have to search for your friend, but the serench gave us a precise location. All is not yet lost. We still have a chance.”
She nods. I wait for her to pull away from me, but she stays where she is. Finally, she stands on tiptoe and brushes her lips over mine. “Thank you, Kadir.”
I breathe her in and whisper another silent prayer under my breath. I really hope I’m not lying. I really hope we’re not too late.
A pleasure cruiser filled with Frez’s rich and famous had vanished in the swamplands two months ago. Nobody had survived. After a fierce bidding war, Bad Breath had bought the rights to the salvage. The serench had given us precise coordinates to the wreck’s location.
We land as near as we dare. I arm the Bikana against unauthorized access. “What happens if it gets towed away again?” Alice says teasingly.
“I took some precautions.” I can’t hear anything. All is quiet. Thick clouds of insects swarm the air, but they leave us alone, choosing instead to land on the bodies of the amphibious red-striped uakari that float like silent logs through the muddy water. The uakari are the swamplands’ biggest predator, but while their viciously sharp serrated teeth will tear our flesh to shreds, they are helpless against the insect swarms.
I take a look at the screen. “This way. And Alice…”
“I know. Stay behind me.” Her earlier despair has vanished, and she’s back to her normal take-no-prisoners self. “Do you know you repeat yourself a lot? Obey, Alice. Follow me, Alice. Come here, Alice.”
My lips twitch. “Bend over, Alice.”
“Really?” She pretends to be annoyed, but the color in her cheeks gives her away. “Is now the time to flirt?”
An uakari explodes out of the water, its jaw agape. I grab Alice by the waist and swing her to safety, and the thwarted predator gives me its best ‘I-wasn’t-planning-on-eating-anyone’ look and slinks back into the swamp. A vividly colored bird, startled by the uakari’s silent approach, flies into the air with a shriek of outrage.
“The uakari agrees with me,” I tell Alice with a wink. “You’re a very tasty treat. Keep your eyes open.”
Her heartbeat is racing in her chest. “Idiot,” she says after a moment, giving me a grateful smile. She’s about to thank me when I hear something.
I gesture for silence. Alice clamps her mouth shut immediately. We emerge from the patch of trees to a clearing, and in the middle of that open field is the Cotari spaceship.
The cruiser looks like space garbage. The wings are patched in several places. The body is paper-thin and dented. They flew this piece of junk from Calis all the way to Frez? It’s a miracle it hasn’t yet blown up. Forget the scientists—Alice’s friend is more in danger from the ramshackle spaceship.
Speaking of the scientists, there’s no sign of them. “Two people inside the ship,” I say softly to Alice.
“Is one of them Tanya?” she whispers.
“I can’t tell.” I rip the door off its hinges and throw it aside. A Cotari trader squawks with alarm. He puts down his meal and gets to his feet, drawing a weapon with shaking fingers and pointing it at me. I snap his wrist and throw him through the door into the swamp. Here you go, uakari. Have something to eat. “Only one way to find out.”
I wait for Alice to demand that I fish the man out of the water, but she doesn’t. She’s kneeling next to a sleeping woman. “It’s Tanya,” she says, her eyes glistening with tears. She checks her pulse. “She’s still alive. Kadir, thank you. I
don’t think I can ever express how grateful I am. You said we’d get here in time, and we did. You said you’d save her, and you did.”
A thin whine fills the air. The sound grows louder.
The scientists are here.
It would have been so much easier if we could have rescued Alice’s friend before the squadron of Crimson Guards got here. Ah well. I guess I’ll be doing this the hard way.
20
Alice
A spaceship touches down in the clearing. A door opens, a ramp slides down to the ground, and a dozen red-clad soldiers erupt from the belly of the ship, weapons in their hands. Nara’vi and Fal’vi bring up the rear.
Same modus operandi as the serench’s compound then. The soldiers kill everyone, and then the Zorahn scientists move in.
I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we’re the targets. There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. The paper-thin walls of the Cotari spaceship won’t withstand this assault. We can’t fly it either. For starters, it’s missing a door. Besides, if we take off, all we’ll be doing is inviting the Zorahn scientists to blow us out of the sky.
Well, fuck. Looks like it’s time to panic.
Kadir turns to me. “You wanted to see the dragon. Here he is.”
He steps out into the clearing. Weapons lock onto the target he’s presenting. For a split-second, nothing happens.
And then the air shimmers. The temperature, hot and humid, gets noticeably chillier—as if someone’s sucking the warmth from the swamp.
Kadir’s body tears open.
The skin on his back rips apart. Huge, curved, spikes emerge from his spine. Leathery wings erupt from his back, each over ten feet long. His face transforms. His jaw elongates. Viciously sharp teeth fill his mouth.
He becomes a dragon.
Holy fucking shit.
A few months after my mother had been killed, I’d traveled to Thailand. I wanted to go somewhere far away, as if distance would help heal my heart. I did the obligatory tour of Bangkok’s temples, but the statues of Buddha hadn’t brought me the peace I craved. I tried a beach resort, but the sun and sand didn’t help either. I knew enough not to deaden the loss with alcohol; I knew that if I stumbled into that dark pit, I wouldn’t emerge.
Eventually, I’d made my way to the northern part of the country, and I’d visited an elephant sanctuary. I knew elephants were large, of course. But I hadn’t truly understood how massive they were until I’d stood next to one.
Up close, they’d been huge. Easily twice, two and a half times my height. The males had curved tusks. When they bellowed, the ground shook.
It had been intimidating, and it had been awe-inspiring at the same time.
Kadir, in dragon form, stands taller than the biggest elephant in the sanctuary. He’s as big as a house. His tail whips to and fro. His claws are as long as my forearm. His head is the size of a truck. Blood-red scales cover every inch of his body.
He is terrifying, and he’s beautiful.
He’s positioned himself between the soldiers and Tanya and me. He’s so big that I can’t see them anymore. If they shoot, his body will block the hail of bullets.
And then what? He’d been hurt in Akan. He’s not invulnerable. Impossibly bossy, stupidly protective jerk. The thought of him getting hurt makes me want to hurl. Either that or march up and smack some common sense into him.
The soldiers seem to be frozen in horror. Can’t say I blame them one little bit. A couple of them shout in panic. I hear the sound of running footsteps. Then a man, probably their leader, seems to recover. “Halt,” he bellows. “Crimson Guard, remember your orders. There is only one of him, and there are twelve of us. Fire at will. Destroy the creature.”
Weapons spit fire. Energy beams flash against the dragon’s scales. My heart contracts in alarm. Please let Kadir be okay. Please don’t let him be hurt.
Then the dragon opens his massive jaw and he exhales fire.
Have you ever seen someone burn to death? I hadn’t. Not until now. I’ve treated burn victims. I’ve seen charred corpses in the morgue. Nothing—none of my training, none of my experience—prepares me for this moment. The heat, the smoke, the stench...
They die, all of them. It’s quick, that’s the only mercy. The scientists that tortured me for seven months. The soldiers that wiped out everyone in the serench’s compound. One moment, they’re living, breathing, sentient beings, and then, in the next moment, all that is left of them is charred sinew and bone.
Next to me, Tanya makes a choked sound of horror and shrinks back against the wall of the Cotari spaceship.
That snaps me out of my fog. “Come on.” I grab her elbow and push her toward the exit. “We don’t know if they have reinforcements. We have to get out of here.” Are my words sinking in? Does she understand what I’m saying? I have no idea. She looks freaked out. Finally, something’s penetrated her thick wall of numb apathy. Too bad that that something was Kadir’s display of rage and destruction. “We’re going to run for it now. Our ship is an hour away. Stay behind me, okay?”
I dart forward, dragging Tanya with me, and smack Kadir’s scaly leg. I can’t reach any higher; he’s that big. “Hey, dragon guy. We should get out of here, right? You planning on getting two-legged again anytime soon?”
The dragon’s neck pivots around, and his giant obsidian eyes rest on me. Umm, Alice? This is Kadir, sure, but he’s a big scary beast. He just burned an entire army unit. You sure that smacking him is a good idea?
He spreads his wings in reply.
Dragon Communication 101. You can do this, Alice. “You’re going to fly?”
The dragon nods his head. He looks at us, and then at his wings again. My eyes widen. “You want us to climb on your back? Seriously?”
Kadir seems to laugh at me. If he could talk, his lips would quirk. Scared, Alice?
Fly on the dragon’s back. I’d freak out about falling, but we don’t have time for that right now. “Okay, I guess we’re getting on.”
Tanya wants no part of this. She flinches and tries to pull free of my grasp. I grab her tight. “Listen to me,” I say fiercely. “We have to leave. Kadir is a friend. You will be fine, I promise. I won’t let you fall.”
Does she want to climb onto the big scary dragon’s back? No, of course not. But she’s not stupid, and she’s finally thinking again. I never want to see another Zorahn scientist in my life, and neither does she. Her face pale, she steps up on his tail, makes her way up his back, and settles in the hollow between two spikes. I follow, a lot less gracefully. Oh, who am I kidding? I do the climb on my butt. Hey, unlike Tanya, I’m not a former gymnast.
“Hold onto the spike,” I tell Tanya. I sit down, wedging myself between two spikes. It’s like a seat. Not a particularly comfortable one though. Dragon scales are not easy on the butt. I’ve always thought my bottom was too big, but I give silent thanks for the extra padding.
Kadir waits impatiently. I wrap my arms around Tanya’s waist so that even if she freaks out mid-flight, she won’t fall. “We’re good to go,” I call out. Holy shit. I can’t believe I’m going to fly on dragonback. “And hey Kadir? You drop us, and I swear I will come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life.”
A puff of smoke escapes from the dragon’s mouth. Is he laughing at me again? Probably. He flaps his wings and takes to the air in a powerful leap.
The last thing I see is the Cotari spaceship, lying on its side. That thing isn’t going to fly anytime soon. Bad Breath and Suhas are stuck in the swamplands. Too bad. I wonder how long it’ll take for them to walk out.
Tanya screams. I tighten my grip around her waist. “Don’t look down,” I scream to make myself heard. Oh God, this is amazing. I thought I’d be terrified, but this is exhilarating. The wind swoops through my hair. From our vantage point, I see the entirety of the swampland laid out in front of me. If I were Kadir, I’d fly everywhere. This is addictive.
Five minutes later, we land in front of
the Bikana. Tanya and I slide to the ground. There’s another shimmer in the air, and the dragon shifts back into the man. A very naked man. I ogle him openly before I realize that Tanya is with us.
We huddle into Kadir’s spaceship. Kadir grabs a pair of pants from the closet and puts them on. He heads to the cockpit, and I follow him there.
He gives me a wickedly amused look as I enter. “Enjoyed your first flight?”
Oh God, yes. My insides heat. The look in his eyes… He’d looked like this last night as I’d begged him to hurry. Then he’d taken his time exploring every inch of my body. It had taken all my willpower this morning to leave his bed. I’d wanted to stay there and rub up against him like a cat in heat, but I’d made myself get up. Play it cool, Alice, I’d told myself. Nobody likes clinginess.
I want to rub against him right now. He’s so freaking powerful. I never thought I’d be the sort to be turned on by all his raw strength, but I totally am. He’d thrown one of the Cotari traders into the swamp. He’d burned the scientists alive. He’s protected me. From the moment I met him, he’s kept me safe.
“I didn’t fall off,” I reply airily. “I call that a win. Are we taking off for the rebellion headquarters now?”
Kadir is reading something on his tablet. “No,” he says grimly. “Bast. Someone must have reviewed the serench’s security footage. There’s a security alert on the Bikana. We’re wanted by the authorities.” He exhales in frustration. “We’re not going to be able to leave Frez right away.”
“What do we do?”
“Wait until nightfall. Tonight, I’ll talk to Third.” He corrects himself. “I’ll talk to Ruhan. He’s good with technology. He’ll be able to get around the restrictions and make the Bikana a fake identity that’ll pass the planet-wide security.”
Now that we have Tanya, I want to get the hell out of here. “We couldn’t just find another ship?”
He shakes his head. “The Bikana is the best ship in this star system,” he says with a touch of arrogance. Given the state of the Cotari ship, his pride is probably justified. “Nothing we find will be comparable.”