by Zoey Draven
When she came to him, when she slipped her hand into his own, he confided, “I have been thinking about my brother.”
Her expression remained the same, but she simply waited for him to continue.
“I have been thinking that I want to see him,” he said, the words draining from him like pus from a wound. “There is much I wish to tell him. Need to tell him.”
“That’s great,” she said softly, running her other hand to his side, holding it there. “But…”
But?
“Tev?”
Her lips pressed together. She gave a small look around the clearing and admitted, “If you go back to the Golden City, will it be safe for you?”
Realization hit him.
“You worry for me now, female?”
“Well…yes,” she said softly. He could see himself in her dark eyes, the little mirrors that they were. “The Ambassador knows you took us, knows that you were responsible. He has to be back by now. Won’t they be looking for you?”
“They will not be looking for me in the Golden City,” he told her.
She frowned. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“I thought you would want to return,” he admitted. “I…I realize that this is not a life that a female would wish for herself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There are no comforts here,” he said, a little ashamed of that. “You bathe in icy water, you sleep on stone. There are no feasts here, no celebrations, and very little contact with other beings.”
Erin shook her head. “I—I don’t care about baths or parties or where I sleep, Jaxor.”
“You know what I am trying to say,” he said, cupping the back of her neck. “Tev?”
She blew out a long breath, but eventually, she nodded. “Yes, I know what you’re trying to say.”
“If you decide to stay on Luxiria,” he started, “I would not want this life for you.”
Jaxor had known all his life that though he would not be Prime Leader, he would still be an appointed Ambassador and a leader of an outpost. That outpost would have been Jiralla, on the edge of their world. The sixth and final outpost of Luxiria.
But with his defection, Jaxor had turned his back on that future, on that responsibility. Instead, he assumed the five Ambassadors and his brother took turns overseeing Jiralla, though Jaxor had always wondered why Vaxa’an hadn’t assigned a new Ambassador in his place.
That life was lost to him now, but it was still the life that he wanted for his mate if she chose to remain with him. A life of never needing to fear kekevir, a life of never needing to worry about patrols or scavenging for repair parts, or whether that rotation’s frost would kill off their crops.
Erin didn’t nod in agreement, or shake her head in disagreement. “If I decided to stay on Luxiria, it would not be for comforts, but for you.”
That warmth in his chest grew. He rubbed at it even as he said, “I want to make things right with you. I want to make things right with my brother. The Golden City is a risk, but I believe it is necessary.”
It was very likely Jaxor would be thrown in the holding cells to await trial and execution or exile. The elder council would not care that he was a son of Kirax’an, a descendant of the throne.
Vaxa’an, on the other hand…
Would his brother want him dead? Exiled?
But there was much at stake. Even now. Because he’d begun to believe that maybe the cure for the virus was not lost to them after all. There was still time.
Erin sighed, squeezing his hand, nodding. “Then we will go.”
So why couldn’t he shake the feeling of dread?
Chapter Thirty-Two
He looked up at her like nothing else in the universe existed, Erin realized. Like it was just the two of them and nothing else.
In response, she snapped her hips back down, feeling his cock slide deep.
“Tev,” he hissed, his strong abdomen clenching, the tendons in his neck straining. Erin liked being on top, liked that she could tease him, liked that she got a front-row seat to watch him lose all control.
Which he was about to do. She could feel his release coming. It was in the little things, the way he gripped her hips harder, the way his brows pulled down ever so slightly, the way his throat bobbed with his swallow. His cock was swelling, readying.
She’d already come twice, riding his cock. Now it was his turn and anticipating it was making her breathless.
Squeezing her inner muscles brought a curse and a growl from his throat. He was holding back like he was waiting for her to come again, but she wouldn’t let him. That challenge sparked between them and his eyes narrowed when he realized what she was doing.
“Nix,” he growled.
“Yes,” she whispered, smiling.
She increased her pace, using his chest to rock and grind on his cock.
“Vrax,” he rasped. “Vrax, vrax, vrax.”
She leaned down, her breasts brushing against the metal piercing through his nipples, markings from warrior training completion, she knew.
“Come, please,” she whispered against his lips before kissing him.
His gasps turned into groans. Erin smiled again, her cheeks flushed, a fine misting of sweat gleaming across their bodies. She dropped her forehead to his, their eyes never leaving each other.
And then she felt him jerk, felt the rush of his seed filling her.
“Rixella,” he gasped, though the word sounded like both a caress and a curse. She continued to rock her hips, wringing every last drop from him until his body relaxed and his chest heaved.
She wrapped her arms around him, falling away. It was morning and they would have a long day ahead, but there was a need that stretched between them. The need for connection and sex. Erin had grown so used to having him inside her, to feeling his kiss, his touch, that some moments, she marveled that she’d gone so long without them.
They only lay in the silence for a moment as Jaxor recovered. They looked at each other quietly. He stroked her cheek, her lips, and Erin thought that she could stare at him for the rest of her life and be perfectly happy. With a sigh, she realized in that moment she was losing yet another piece of her heart to him…and she wondered how many more pieces she had left until he owned them all.
She felt his seed leaking from her body and when they both finally rose, knowing there was much to be done, she took a clean cloth and water and washed it away. In the back of her mind, a part of her feared pregnancy.
She knew that Luxirians and humans were compatible in that way. But the logical part of her knew it was impossible, at least right then. She hadn’t had a period since…well, since her abduction from Earth. She couldn’t get pregnant if she didn’t ovulate, after all. Once she began to bleed again, then she would revisit that possibility.
They both dressed in comfortable silence, sparing lingering glances at each other. Because she couldn’t resist, she quickly darted over to him, went on the tips of her toes, and gave him a quick peck, watching the amusement and the warmth filter across his features afterwards. She loved that expression of his.
“How long do we have?” she questioned, following him out of their cave, looking back one last time. They were leaving for the Golden City that morning. Most of the supplies—clothing and food for the journey mostly—had already been loaded onto the hovercraft the night before.
“I will do one last patrol and try to keep the other shield links supported,” he said, his eyes going to the sky. He’d told her that was how he kept the base hidden from above. Shield links acted like mirrors. But even now, as she followed his gaze, she saw one section of them flickering. “I will be back within the hour, tev?”
She nodded. “I’ll fill up our water and make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
There was a lingering question between them, one they hadn’t voiced. She wondered if they’d ever be coming back here.
He nodded once, sweeping his eyes around the base. She bit her
lip, still a little hesitant about going to the Golden City, especially given that they didn’t have much of a plan. She didn’t understand the sudden urgency in returning either, but Jaxor had said it was necessary. It was crazy to think that just last week, she would’ve given anything to return to the Golden City. Now, she was dragging her feet because it posed a risk to Jaxor.
“We will leave as soon as I return,” he said, brushing her cheek with his fingers, and then he was turning for the pulley that would take him down to the bottom level.
Erin watched him descend and then she took a deep breath, looking around at the quiet space. She listened to the silence when she couldn’t hear the chains from the pulley turning anymore. She felt a small gust of chilly wind on her face. It was lonely here, but it hadn’t felt lonely with Jaxor.
She only ached when she thought about her affectionate and grumpy male living here all by himself for so many years.
He doesn’t have to be alone anymore. And neither do you, that voice whispered in her mind.
She took in another breath and made herself useful. She checked the crops for the fifth time, wondering if there would be rain and thinking it was more than likely. She refilled their water skins, packing extras for the journey. They’d already packed dried meat and an armful of obiraxi.
Erin checked the cave one last time, more out of boredom and nerves than actual necessity. She knew there was nothing that remained there that they needed to bring. She was folding up the furs in neat squares when she heard a sound in the base.
Thinking Jaxor had returned, she stepped out of the cave, calling out, “Are you back alre—”
But her breath hitched and the words fell away.
There was a male, one she didn’t recognize, in the base. In their base. He didn’t look like a Luxirian from the Golden City and when his eyes cut to her, fear jolted in her belly.
And she knew this was one of the Mevirax. Curling blue ink ran up his arms, similar to Jaxor’s own faded markings, ones she’d never asked him about because he seemed ashamed of them.
Her swallow was loud. Movement from the corner of her eye made her look up and she saw a hovercraft, another one, parked precariously on the cliff of the crater. Another male was standing next to it, looking down into the base. And all at once, Erin knew that the shield links had failed. She knew that they’d just happened to spot the base from above as they were flying over.
“What is it that you want?” she called out, trying to keep her voice level and even. As if it was a perfectly normal occurrence for strange males to be in the base.
The one on top of the crater called down to the male closest to her. It was Luxirian and yet it was not. A strange dialect.
“We are here for what Jaxor promised to us,” the male in the base said. He had blue eyes and long hair, his English heavily accented.
“And what is that? Perhaps I can find it for you,” she said, hoping that was all they wanted. Maybe they would take it and leave.
The male was approaching the steps leading up to the cave. Erin took a step back, her hands curling around the handle of the door. If he tried to harm her, she could lock herself in. Except there was nothing in there that she could defend herself with. They’d taken everything to the hovercraft.
“He promised us you,” the male informed her, his voice deceptively calm. In the blink of an eye, he made two large leaps until he was only an arm’s length away from her.
Erin gasped and whirled into the cave, tugging the door behind her—
But the male caught it in his grip and tore it away. Erin cried out when she felt something in her arm pop. When she darted her gaze to the male, she saw the door hanging from his grip. Just like Jaxor, he’d torn it from the stone with his strength. He threw it aside as Erin backed farther in.
“I—I’m sure you’re mistaken,” she said softly, her breath heaving, her heart pounding. Her arm was limp at her side and she knew that her shoulder must be dislocated, but she tried to ignore the icy pain that tingled up her spine.
The male’s eyes watched her like she was prey. Like the kekevir eyes in the darkness, always tracking, always waiting. There was a small opening to the left of him, one that led out into the cave.
Erin didn’t think, she just acted. She tried to dart out, past him, before he could react. She needed to get to the hovercraft. She could pilot it if necessary.
But he caught her easily. Laughably easily. Fresh waves of pain went through her arm when he slammed her into the wall of the cave, her head cracking into it, making stars burst in her vision.
Then she was up and over his shoulder, even as she kicked and struggled, even though the pain from her shoulder made her want to vomit. She heard the unmistakable sound of a hovercraft. The male from above was coming towards them. So they could take her away.
That thought brought a fresh wave of panic and she fought harder, struggling against her captor.
Tears blurred in her vision, but even still, she saw the pulley. And she remembered. He wasn’t far away. He would hear her, wouldn’t he? He would come.
“Jaxor!” she screamed as loud as she could, her voice echoing against the crater walls. “Jax—”
Pain exploded at her temple. Everything went dark.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Her scream pierced through him like a blade.
Jaxor didn’t freeze with the deep, chilling fear that threatened to still his bones. Instead, he sprinted, still hearing the echo of her voice reverberate through the mountains of the Kokillix. As if the mountains wanted him to hear.
He’d gone too far from base, but he sprinted as fast as his body would allow, his heartbeat drumming in his ears until it was the only thing he heard.
“Erin!” he bellowed when he saw the crater come into view. “Erin!”
He heard nothing, which made him curse. When he saw the pulley, he launched himself onto it and pulled himself up to the base, bloodying his hands on the chain with his frenzied pace.
“Erin!” he called out, his eyes scanning the place he’d called home for the past five rotations, seeing it with new eyes. It was no longer his sanctuary, but the place where he might have lost her forever.
There wasn’t a kekevir in sight, which was what he’d originally feared, but when his eyes went to the cave, his heart froze as he saw the door torn off its hinges.
He sprinted there, launching himself up the steps, fearing what he might find. Profound relief and mind-numbing terror met him when he saw it was empty.
Jaxor cut a look back to the base. It was empty too. When he looked up at the sky, he saw it. The shield link in the northwest corner, the one over his crops, had failed.
“Vrax!” he roared, launching himself off the cave platform, quickening his pace towards the tunnel that led to the hovercraft.
Maybe she escaped. Maybe she was able to escape them.
Because he knew. Tavar had come, or he’d sent his warriors to search for him, to punish him. Only, they’d happened upon his base instead…and in the process, they’d happened upon her.
The gleam in Tavar’s eyes the night he’d met them by the Lopitax Sea had been one of distrust. Jaxor had always known the Mevirax leader was intelligent, not easily fooled. When Jaxor betrayed him, when he hadn’t delivered on his promise though he knew how much Jaxor wanted his revenge—the only thing he’d ever wanted—it told him everything. Tavar would have questioned what changed. Had he guessed that he kept a human female for himself?
Pushing his body faster, Jaxor sprinted down the tunnel, but the hovercraft was still there. They hadn’t taken it, but it almost certainly meant Erin hadn’t escaped.
His anguished bellow made the kekevir screech. They clamored down the tunnel, their claws scraping at the stone, their eyes flashing behind the gate.
Launching himself into the hovercraft, he powered the engine on and shot up through the entrance of the tunnel. It was a clear span, perhaps another reason why the Mevirax had spotted his base.
“Erin!” he bellowed into the endless sky, wind rushing. He knew where the Mevirax base was. But looking in that direction, he saw nothing. Not a glimmer of metal on the horizon. He’d strayed too far from base during his last patrol, had taken too long to return.
Jaxor couldn’t think. Rage and worry and dread filled him. He needed to think.
His hand shook when he brought it up to his horns, when he clawed at the thick bone. Just that morning, he’d had her in his arms. Just that morning, she’d smiled and kissed him and looked at him like—
Vaxa’an.
His brother’s name cut through his jumbled thoughts and he latched onto it, desperately.
Even in the frenzied state he was in, Jaxor knew he couldn’t very well storm Tavar’s base alone. He had planned to tell Vaxa’an everything in the Golden City, which was what he should have done from the very beginning. But would his brother listen to him? Would he help him? Or would he turn his back on him, just like Jaxor had done to Vaxa’an ten rotations ago?
But he couldn’t do this alone.
As much as his Instinct clawed at his chest to go hurtling after his female, he couldn’t take on over two hundred of the Mevirax alone. He had a single weapon on the hovercraft.
He turned his sight south, towards the Golden City. His brother would be there. If he flew through the night, he could be there by morning. He would beg if he had to, he would agree to anything, as long as Vaxa’an would help rescue Erin from the Mevirax…before they had the chance to hand her over to the Jetutians.
He didn’t have time to think about it. There was such little time to be had and he didn’t know what Tavar knew or if he’d already been in contact with Po’grak.
But if he reached the Golden City, he could out the spy in the command center. They would realize Luxiria had been breached multiple times and they could ensure that no vessels entered. If only he could reach the Golden City before Erin was delivered to the Mevirax base.
He didn’t have a choice.