by Zara Zenia
“Thank you,” I muttered softly as I gave him a pitiful smile.
He gently lifted a loose tendril of my hair off my cheek and delicately tucked it behind my ear. Chill bumps of pleasure prickled on my skin.
“Let’s run away,” I stated. Only part of me was joking. “Let’s get out of here. The crowd is closing in on me and making me hot.”
“You are already hot even without the people in here.” He grinned in a flirtatious way.
I was getting ready to quip something witty back to him as we bantered mischievously back and forth, but I got interrupted as soon as I opened my mouth to speak. I enjoyed being privately naughty with him, discovering the more daring and carefree side of myself that I usually never explored.
Any attempt at broadening my horizons and having fun with my new friend, confidant, and lover all came to a crashing halt in the blink of an eye.
“Hello, Prince Darbnix,” a woman’s voice cooed behind me.
I spun around in shock, and apparently, so did Darbnix as his mouth gaped open in surprise.
“Hello.” He apprehensively shifted his focus and gaze back and forth between me and this gorgeous tall woman standing before us.
“My name is Tia Teller,” she stated confidently in an adorable country accent. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She extended a perfectly manicured hand to Darbnix. He took it reluctantly. “You as well,” he mumbled in a halfhearted way, glancing back at me as if he was afraid to hurt my feelings or offend me by talking to another female other than myself.
“I’m a beauty queen from Little Rock, Arkansas,” she proclaimed with a bubbly, confident smile and a flash of pearly-white, perfectly-straight teeth.
“Uh-huh,” Darbnix managed. I noticed how he swallowed hard.
I glanced at Tia Teller, jealous of her profound beauty. I was trying not to leer, but any attempt I tried to subtly look at her came out as more of a glare than anything else. She had wide blue eyes and seemed charismatic from the moment her eyes locked on ours.
“I’m so happy to be here at this party tonight,” she purred in a sugar-cured Arkansas accent. She looked as if she had been home-grown on the farm but used her charm and good looks to make a name for herself out in the real world.
She wouldn’t stop smiling, which made me cringe. She was so fake that I was certain even a brick wall would see through her bubbly demeanor. She was tall and slender, but curvy in all the right places. Perfect platinum-blonde hair flowed down her back and her skin was golden-toned as if she’d just spent a week on a private resort island in the Caribbean.
“I think we all know why I’m here,” she said in a breezy tone, tossing her gorgeous blonde locks behind her shoulder.
“Do we?” I blurted out, unable to help myself. The words escaped my lips before my mind had a chance to convince me to keep quiet.
Darbnix glanced at me and gave me a subtle smile through the awkward pain of the moment. His eyes were tormented with a struggle of knowing that the inevitable was just around the bend.
“Well, what are you waiting for, you dreamy hunk?” I froze as Tia placed her delicate, slender fingers on his arm and began grazing her nails gently across his skin.
Darbnix politely pulled away, behaving like a true diplomatic gentleman. “Right.” He nodded mechanically with a sigh, refusing to make eye contact with the perky woman with the round cleavage spilling out of her dazzling and sparkling evening gown.
He turned on the scanner and I held my breath.
As soon as he pointed it in Tia’s direction, it began to vibrate at first, buzzing softly, and then colors began to shimmer and erupt from the sides of the device. As the nightmare unfolded before my eyes, I watched in horror as the scanner began to register at one hundred percent compatibility.
It was as if I was witnessing a crime, a murder or a car wreck. I knew I should look away, but my muscles wouldn’t budge. My eyes were locked in on the scanner pronouncing this vile, blonde sex pistol as the perfect match for Prince Darbnix.
As soon as the device started lighting up, Tia erupted into gleeful shrieks and cheers. She clapped her hands together animatedly and immediately propelled her body into Darbnix, hugging him as phony tears pooled in her ocean-blue eyes.
“Isn’t it amazing, darling?” she wailed with delight and joy into Darbnix’s ear. “We are a match!”
“I . . . guess . . .” Darbnix muttered, staring at the ground as if he was completely baffled. A distressed pang of guilt flashed in his eyes, but he refused to look at me. He seemed hesitant and dubious, as if he didn’t actually believe the results to be accurate.
Tia either wasn’t picking up on his doubtful radar, or she didn’t care. She snaked her arms around his neck and moved him through the crowds, proclaiming herself as the match for all eyes to witness and ears to hear.
“I’m Prince Darbnix’s match!” she exclaimed. “Look at the scanner! He pointed it to me and I am the winner.” She smiled and laughed maniacally. “One hundred percent compatible!” she boasted.
I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to run from the room and burst into tears. She pushed past me. “Oh, honey.” She waved me off dismissively. “I think it’s time for you to go.”
Anger boiled in my blood. I clenched my fists, but I couldn’t move a single muscle. Tia paused, staring at me as if I were mentally challenged and hadn’t understood her correctly.
“I’m sorry, dear,” she addressed me again as if I was a first grader. “Darbnix is going to be busy planning our wedding. I think it’s best if you give us some privacy now to celebrate.” Her lips curled into a bragging smile as she continued to crow about being the genetic match to the handsome prince.
I glanced up at Darbnix, who appeared sheepish. The color had drained from his mocha skin. Crushed and humiliated, I ran from the room as I realized that he wasn’t going to come to my defense. I raced out the doors of the ballroom, gasping for oxygen and trying to capture any ounce of pride I had left in my body.
Chapter 11
Darbnix
I saw Rose scurrying from the room out of my peripheral vision, but I was frozen in place. My feet were locked to the floor, rooted by shock and surprise. I had not been expecting the events of the last several minutes to play out like they had. Not at all. It was as if an electric bolt of sheer terror had briefly paralyzed me. I wanted to call out to Rose, to run to her side, but nothing happened. My muscles were suspended.
My mouth gaped open. I was stunned silent for a few brief seconds, unable to think or speak.
“Darbnix, get your act together.” My youngest brother, Rawklix, came to my aid as he whispered in my ear, coaxing me to do something, anything . . . to just react.
He looked embarrassed for both of us. After all, this was our gala. We were there for the sole purpose of finding a match to be read by our scanners. I had simply been doing my job and due diligence for the sake of my native home planet.
“Huh?” It was the only word I could muster. I was dumbfounded as I deliriously gazed around the ballroom full of partygoers who were staring at me as if I had lost my mind, waiting expectantly for me to do something. They were waiting for a performance they wouldn’t receive.
I shook my head, as if either the contents would leak out of my mind like dirt from a dust pan or the action might erase the events that had unfolded.
My scanner had lit up for this loud-mouthed, big-chested woman who was spilling out of her top so wildly that part of me was compelled to drape a scarf over her shoulders in order to modestly cover her up to a more dignified and ladylike exposure.
She was chattering like a maniac, flipping her bleached blonde dramatic waves of hair off her shoulder. she animatedly boasted to anyone and everyone who would listen that the genetic scanner had registered her as a match.
Yes, her, the country bumpkin turned self-proclaimed model superstar. I wondered whether an ounce of her body from head to toe was real, including her demeanor. She looked like a plastic
Barbie. Nothing about her was natural. She was a phony, inside and out. I didn’t even know her yet, and I had already intuitively discovered that much.
My jaw locked, and I fumbled to keep a steady grip on the scanner, which to my dismay was still sending strobes of light through the room. In my toxic state of mind, I was so absorbed in my shock that I hadn’t even realized that I’d never stopped pointing it at her.
I quickly shot my arm down like a cannon, flipping the device off in one jerky and hasty movement. I didn’t even know what to say. I glanced at my brothers for some kind of resolution or advice, but they were just glancing at me as if I were a circus animal to observe.
I wished I could fling the damn scanner across the room and shatter it into a million pieces. Surely, it had to be broken somehow. Surely, this wasn’t my fate. The universe would not be that vicious and cruel to me.
I also hated to sound like a sullen and spoiled child who didn’t get his way, so for a few brief moments, I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know what to say anyway. As soon as I opened my mouth, it would seem so raw and real, so . . . final. I didn’t want to officially proclaim this woman as my bride-to-be.
I swallowed hard, taking another glance around the room, mentally preparing myself to say . . . what, exactly? I had no clue.
How to begin. My throat was dry and felt hollow, like it was swelling beyond its natural size. I was discombobulated in my head. My lips and tongue were like gritty sandpaper. Everyone was still searching my eyes with expectant expressions. If not for Tia continuing to buzz with gloating about being my genetic match, it would be a highly awkward scenario.
My blood was boiling. How could this atrocious, flashy woman be my match? The scientists who’d provided the devices in the first place had never offered us any guarantee of having chemistry on a deeper level. In fact, some of them were so severely blunt about the bleak options to stoop as far as saying we might end up despising our matches.
But, alas, a match was a match. The biological readings were claimed by our team of intelligent scientists to be accurate and almost one hundred percent failsafe unless tampered with. What were the chances of someone else breaching the system and taking my device into their control? The concept was remote at best.
There was nothing I could do about the situation or the current outcome. I didn’t have the capability to rewind the clock and erase the events of the night. I would have to do my best to exercise resiliency, putting one foot in front of the other. My survival instinct kicked into overdrive.
I glared at my brother Gardax. I was fuming, livid. If not for him, I would still be able to enjoy my time courting the delightful Rose, a person I actually did have things in common with. I clenched my teeth. He’d gnawed at my psyche, convinced that the only option for breeding was contained within this huge hunk of plastic with an intelligence scanner.
Tia was still extravagantly spewing her delight from beside me, ranting and raving about how fate had shifted against all odds in her favor. It was nauseating.
“Can you believe it?” she squealed with excitement. “I’m going to be the bride of the prince.” She held her palm to her chest and feigned humility, even going as far as to muster up a rosy flush to her cheeks.
My patience was a thin line, stretching to the limit. Soon, I was going to erupt like a volcano, spewing the hot lava contents of my frustrated emotions out into the eyewitnesses of the party. I had to bite my tongue and restrain as much as possible before I turned this into a media field day, sprouting with negativity for me and my brothers. I had to look at the big picture here. I had to be calm and rational if I wanted to get through this nightmare.
Slith, on the other hand, was less mindful of his composure and perseverance for withstanding Tia’s annoyingly shrill and boastful voice. By this time in the chaos and debacle, he had wandered over to stand by my side, taking a less-subtle approach to his disapproval of the gloating platinum blonde.
“Easy, boy,” I hissed under my breath and began stroking the top of his head in order to pacify him.
Slith wasn’t lulled by my attempts to comfort him. His purple, scaly skin was shimmering with bitter contempt as he continued to glare at the unsuspecting Tia Teller. The annoying woman was locked in her own little delusional world where she was the queen of the universe. I didn’t know anything about her other than the fact that she seemed extremely obnoxious and prided herself on being as arrogant about the situation as possible.
“Take that thing out of here,” my brother Lortnam murmured in my ear. “The damn beast is a distraction and it’s scaring everyone.”
I glared at Daren. “He is just being protective. He obviously isn’t a fan of this woman.” I nudged my chin subtly in Tia’s direction.
Daren rolled his eyes and gave me a sympathetic look. “My dear boy, I don’t think there is anything in the world you can do about it now.”
I clenched my teeth. There had to be some mistake. I walked up to Gardax. “I told you these stupid scanners were unreliable. They can’t be trusted.”
Gardax raised his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?” He pointed to the scanner. “It seemed like it worked to me a few minutes ago. Turn it back on to recheck.”
“No!” I snarled. I am not going to give her even more of an excuse to gloat and taunt everyone in this room with her obvious motives to get my wealth, power, and status.”
I was borderline frantic. My cheeks were flushed and my skin felt clammy and sweaty. My stomach rolled with waves of trepidation. I suspected something was amiss here. I was drowning in a sea of turmoil, but as I reached up for a lifeline, no one would extend me one, not even my own brothers.
“Help me do something about her,” I fired back defensively when it was clear to me that I wasn’t going to get the rescue I so desperately needed.
Rose had fled the scene a while ago, humiliated and hurting, I was certain. I needed to do an exceptional amount of damage control, but first, I had to eliminate the current problem, or at least attempt to sort out this wild and far-fetched scenario.
Slith was still snarling at Tia, barring his teeth in her direction. The sound of his aggressive growls captured her attention. She spun around like a top, staring down at my beloved watch-lizard with a horrified expression.
“What in the world is . . .” she trailed off with a repulsed pause and then pointed a perfectly manicured French-tipped finger at Slith. “This thing?” She completed the sentence, spitting out the word as if she were utterly disgusted by Slith’s presence.
“This is my pet watch-lizard,” I explained as patiently as I could muster. “His name is Slith, and he’s very loyal once you get to know him.”
Tia didn’t bother to allow me to finish my speech on selling Slith’s personality. She interrupted me in a hasty instant.
“Eww,” she whined. “He shouldn’t be here. There are people here,” she proclaimed as if I had some nerve, allowing an animal to enter such grandiose ball.
“She’s right—” Gardax began.
“Shut up!” I roared, holding up my palm to silence him. “Everyone just . . . please, shut up.” I took a deep breath, but I realized I was panting with anxiety over the situation.
Tia stared at me as if I had slapped her in the face. She began to scowl, and dark features shadowed her otherwise blue eyes. She placed a taunting hand on her hip and pouted out her lip as if she owned the place and it was high time everyone knew their role in her world.
“I want that beast turned into luggage as soon as we are married,” she exclaimed.
“No!” I snapped. “You will do no such thing.”
“Excuse me?” She scoffed, placing her palm to her chest. “How dare you speak to me like that,” she drawled in a feigned offended farm-girl voice.
“I am the prince of Noor from the planet Trilynia,” I proclaimed in a firm voice. “I can do exactly as I want. You are not the princess yet. You have no right to speak to me like this,” I stated in a booming voice, instantly re
versing the roles.
Tia opened her red cherry lips, but no words, or sound, for that matter, escaped. She clamped her mouth shut again and her cheeks flushed in intense and fresh anger. Her blue eyes flashed with fury.
She looked like a spoiled child who was gearing up to have an intense meltdown or tantrum. I didn’t have the patience or the time to deal with a stranger throwing a fit in front of me. I needed to find Rose, to set things right with her once and for all. I could explain everything once I saw her gray eyes and felt that intense flame of attraction at the curl of her smile in my direction.
Even though I was as confused and baffled as she probably was at the moment, I could at least attempt to work through this drama with her by my side. I was fully prepared to argue the scanner’s results. I wouldn’t take this lying down.
“Why should you get to marry the woman you love?” I hissed with frustration aimed at Gardax. It was his stupid idea to hold this gathering tonight in the first place. He was my intended target because in my rage, I couldn’t reason with anything other than the practicality that he must be to blame as the source of my terrible night that had just been one nightmare after the next.
“Amy was my match! My scanner had been tampered with,” he argued.
I shifted my weight and licked my lips, pointing to my chest. “What’s to stop those wretched engineers from doing the same thing to my scanner?” I protested. I already was wary about the results, especially after the suspicions explored by Davon.
“I don’t know.” For the first time since the match had been discovered by the scanner, Gardax finally looked puzzled and slightly apprehensive about the remote possibility that I could be onto something here.
“Excuse me?” Tia interrupted the private conversation I was attempting to have with my brother in front of hundreds of people.
Gardax and I spun around to gawk at her. She was still standing in that same position with an entitled hand on her hip. “Is there something you want to discuss with your future bride? If so, you can tell all of us.”