by Frost Kay
“A drink.”
He chuckled. “What’s its name?”
“It’s my specialty.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.” He blew out a breath and held up the drink to the light. “The color’s weird.”
“You said you wanted to live dangerously,” she drawled. “Now, you’re running scared.”
“I feel like this is a trick,” he murmured as he sniffed the drink heavily. “Well, bottoms up.” He took a large swig, and his eyes seemed to double in size. He slammed the drink down and sputtered. “Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, coughing.
“Stop being such a baby.”
“It burns,” he moaned and then took another swig.
Allie sniggered. “I thought you just said it burns.”
“I didn’t say it didn’t taste good.”
She smiled, satisfied. Her Rump Knocker was the best out there. “I knew you’d like it.”
Sid thumped at his chest and wiped at his eyes. “I wasn’t expecting it to be so strong. You didn’t add any booze.”
“The first lesson of mixology is that it doesn’t have to be from a bottle to be spirits.”
“Huh,” he mumbled, staring at the violet drink. “What’s the second?”
“Don’t kill anyone,” she said with a straight face. She bit the inside of her cheek as Sid’s expression turned to one of horror.
“Kill someone?”
“Alcohol poisoning.”
He gaped at the tumbler. “Just how much booze is in this thing?”
“Enough to knock a Kiterran male out for eight hours.”
“Hot damn,” he said, picking up her Rump Knocker. “Well then, I guess it will be you driving me home tonight.”
Allie’s smile thinned. “You mean fly,” she enunciated. “We fly, not drive.” How she wished it was driving. Sid’s death machine would be the end of her, she swore.
Sid downed his drink, and she lunged across the bar, snatching the empty tumbler from his hand. “Why in the world did you do that?”
He laughed. “How do you not know that spirits don’t affect Sarpe?”
She blinked at him. That wasn’t possible. “What do you mean, it doesn’t affect you?”
“Our blood blazes so hot that it burns away the liquor almost as quickly as we consume it. I could drink all day, every day, and never feel anything.”
Allie gaped at him. “That can’t be true.”
Sid turned to the older gentleman sprawled lazily to his right and nudged him. The male growled at him and clutched his whiskey protectively between his talon-like hands. “Leave me out of this, Sarpe. Leave me in peace.” He glared at Sid one last time before staring into his whiskey like it held all the answers to the world.
Sid turned back to her. “Tough crowd.”
“You bring the best out in people.”
“Whatever,” he mumbled, smiling. “Still, ask anyone. They’ll tell you the truth.”
“Jer!” Allie called. There was no way he could be telling the truth.
Her best friend and roommate sidled up next to Sid and sat on the bar, crossing her crazy long legs that were showcased in black leather, thigh – high boots. Jer brushed her wild red hair over her shoulder and arched her brow.
“You called?” Jer purred.
“Sid is messing with me.”
Her roommate glanced between Allie and Sid. “And what trick is his devious self up to?”
“He told me that booze doesn’t affect him.”
Jer’s mouth quirked into a teasing smile. “Allie Sai, did you live under a rock? Of course he’s telling the truth. How did you not know this? That’s why you never engage in a drinking game with them.”
No way. “Are you serious?” She couldn’t believe it!
Sid’s lips twitched, and Jer’s twinkling blue eyes crinkled just a touch, making Allie’s suspicions rise. They were messing with her. “You jerks.” She glared playfully at Jer. “How could you take his side?”
Both her friends burst out in laughter. Sid shook his head. “You make such an easy target, Allie. You’re gullible, and I love it.”
“I am not gullible.”
Well, not that much.
She yanked the towel off her shoulder and snapped it at Jer’s hip. “Get off my bar, you miscreant.” A quick glance at the clock told her that her shift was about to end. “What time are you working ’til?” she asked Jer.
Her friend hopped off the bar, pulling at the billowy tunic she wore that reminded Allie of something a pirate king would wear. “My shift lasts another five hours. I’ll be home in the early morning.”
“Okay, I’m heading home for the night, and Bastian should be rolling in sometime soon. He’s been grouching about the audit he has to start today.”
Jer winced. “Yuck. I don’t envy him one bit.” She rotated her left arm. “Man, my arm hurts.”
“The Sarpe?” Allie asked, wiping the bar down one last time.
“Yeah, he just didn’t want to listen.”
The double doors to the bar of the Scarlet Kiss swung open, and her boss breezed in, looking like a million bucks in a slate grey suit with his black shirt opened at the collar. Bastian nodded at her. “You’re good to go, Allie.”
“Yes, sir.” She flipped the towel into the sink, ducked underneath the bar, and stood in front of her tall friend.
“Lucky you,” Jer complained. “I want to go home. My feet are killing me.”
Her gaze dropped to Jer’s very flat boots. “You’re wearing flats, and I’m wearing heels,” Allie pointed out. “If anyone gets to complain about their uniform, it’s me.”
Jer leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. “I guess you’re right.” Her gaze narrowed on something over Allie’s shoulder as voices behind her rose. “Duty calls.”
“Go get ’em,” Allie said as Jer skirted her and made a beeline for the arguing couple to her right. Exhaustion settled heavily over her; she could barely keep her eyes open. Every day, it had been getting worse. She rubbed her chest over the hidden cyan markings. They needed to figure out what was wrong with her, and fast.
Sid slapped a hand on her shoulder and pulled her close to his side. “You ready to go home?”
He steered them toward the door, and the shadow that had been watching her all night detached from the wall and materialized in the form of Kale. She smiled at the Kanji and then stared at the looming doors that led to the outside world. A thought occurred to her.
“Did you bring helmets?”
He grinned at her, guiding her through the doors and into the humid night air. “Would I forget the helmets?”
“Yes,” she gritted out. “Since you tend not to wear one, which is totally not safe.”
“Right, because a helmet will protect you from a thousand-foot fall.”
She froze, her body flashing cold as the image of her falling seared into her mind.
Sid shook his head and pulled out the helmets from the bag attached to the back of his hover. With shaking hands, Allie put on the helmet and buckled it under her chin.
“Was it really necessary to remind me of the fall?”
“No, but it was fun to tease you. Now, stop stalling and get on.”
“So bossy,” she grumbled as she forced herself to climb onto the hover.
“It’s all the rage in female books, so I’m told.”
Allie snorted, losing some of her fear. “You reading romance novels again, Sid?”
A beat of silence. “Maybe.”
Her laughter filled the air as he took off into the melee of traffic.
Sid was good for one thing, at least.
He could always make her laugh.
4
Snakes… Eve should’ve known better
She rolled her eyes and kicked herself. Sid wasn’t capable of flying at a reasonable speed.
Allie barely managed to get to her door and press her palm against the scanner. Between being sick and Sid’s terror inducing drive, she was utterly worn out. The
edges of her hand lit up with bright blue light and hissed open when it recognized her. “Home sweet home,” she said, mostly to herself, as she stepped into the apartment. After the shift she’d had, she was more than ready to crawl into bed with a good book and then pass out.
Leaning against the wall, she pulled her shoes from her feet one at a time and groaned when her toes sank into the soft carpet. “Mercy,” she breathed, wiggling her toes. There was nothing better than lush carpet on abused toes.
“Should I leave you and the carpet alone?”
Allie rolled her neck to shoot Sid a wry look. “Only if you insist.” She pushed away from the wall, eyebrows raised as Sid continued to stand just outside her door in the hallway. “You coming in?”
He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment, standing gingerly inside the threshold like she’d bite. She chuckled and made a face at him for a moment before moving into the living room. He played the flirt and rogue perfectly, but he was always gentlemanly and proper when it came to being alone with her, which she appreciated. She was sure her mama would’ve loved him for that.
“Close the door,” she hollered as she plopped onto her comfy blue couch. A sigh escaped her when she slung her aching feet onto the shiny metal coffee table. She rubbed a toe along the top, making a smudge. She grinned. Jer was obsessed with keeping all things spotless, and marks on the coffee table drove her nuts.
A hiss followed by soft footsteps approached her from behind. Sid rounded the couch and leaned against the adjacent wall, his gaze distant, as if he was lost to a completely different world.
Allie flopped her head to the side of the couch and snuggled into it. “You seem like you have the world on your shoulders. You wanna talk about it?”
Sid blinked his alien eyes and slowly seemed to pull himself from wherever he was. He smiled weakly, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Which was unlike him. Her friend was full of smiles, charisma, and charm. The silent and serious Sid kinda freaked her out. Genuine concern filled her.
“You know you can tell me anything, right? I’m a great listener. Anything you say to me will stay between us.”
His lips thinned in reply, showing just a touch of fang. Well, that wasn’t the response she’d expected.
He pushed away from the wall and began to slowly pace the room, passing the coffee table over and over. His mouth opened a few times as if to say something, before he snapped it closed, remaining silent.
Her worry deepened. Something was seriously wrong. He never held back anything. That was part of what she loved about him.
She jumped when he finally spoke, his voice dark and weary. “Have you ever done something completely wrong because it is the right thing to do?”
“I can’t say that I have,” she said slowly. What in the world was he talking about? “Have you gotten yourself into some sort of trouble?”
He stilled. Light shone off his inky little scales along his cheekbones and arms. “I feel like I’m stuck. There’s no way out.”
She straightened, her gaze shrewd. “There’s always a way out. Sometimes, we need to look for a new angle or have someone help us with the problem. What can I do to help?”
He laughed, the sound hollow and eerie. “There’s nothing you can do. I’ve made my decision, and now I have to live with it.”
Sid blew out a breath and then sat on the coffee table, his long legs stretching out, almost touching hers. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and loosely clasped his fingers hanging between his legs. The picture of defeat.
Allie leaned closer, pulled his hands apart, cradling his right one in her lap, and threaded her fingers through his, his scales catching on her dry skin.
“It’s not like you to beat around the bush,” she said quietly. “You’re really starting to freak me out. Please tell me what’s going on? I can’t help unless you talk to me.”
He tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling, the scales on his neck catching the light. Allie squinted at the column of his throat. She’d never noticed before, but there seemed to be a pattern to his scales. She peeked at his arms, and then back at his exposed throat. Well, the pattern was only on his neck. Weird. What did it mean?
He squeezed her hand, distracting her from her thoughts, and nodded. Sid released her hand and pulled away as if he regretted doing so. He dropped his head and stared at her for a moment.
“Can you promise that you’ll still be my friend if I tell you?” he asked.
The hair along her nape rose, and her stomach churned. What was he so scared of? Why was he so worried? What in the Sam Hill had he gotten himself into?
“You know I love you,” Allie said softly. “You’re my friend. I’ll help you through whatever I can, but I can’t promise I’ll always be your friend. You know how I feel about honesty. I won’t lie to you. But I can promise to hear you out.”
Sid swallowed hard, his expression grim, and for a moment she thought he’d get up and leave, but he didn’t. He nodded and slowly pulled something from inside his pants pocket.
“Do you know what this is?”
She squinted at the vial he held in his claw-tipped fingers. The dainty bottle was shaped like a heart and filled with black liquid and hung from a velvet ribbon. A necklace.
“Take it.”
She hesitated. What if it was dangerous?
“It won’t hurt you.”
Allie stared into Sid’s eyes and found no deceit. With care, she reached out and gently pulled the vial from his hands, a black velvet ribbon dangling off the top. She held the vial to the light and turned it back and forth, noticing that it wasn’t a black liquid at all, but a deep purple. It sparked a memory.
“Such a unique color,” she murmured absently. “I’ve only ever seen this color once. I remember how enamored I was with it. It was the deepest eggplant color I’d ever seen.”
“Eggplant?”
“An Earth vegetable.” Allie turned the glass pendant in her hand and shivered at how cold it was. It almost seemed alive. “What is this? Drugs?”
“It’s your elixir.”
She glanced sharply at him. “My what?”
Sid reached out and touched the cyan lines that grew every day. “The lines are spreading, and you don’t have much time. What you hold in your hand is your elixir for the poison.”
Her brows furrowed. She stared blankly at her friend as she tried to process his words. An elixir. It couldn’t be. How could he have an elixir for her?
“How is this possible?” she whispered through numb lips.
“You know how,” he said, equally as soft.
Her fingers clenched around the vial as she tried to understand the simple words that had passed his lips. He had her elixir. Sid knew what was killing her. There was only one other person who had that information…
Allie jumped to her feet, tripping over Sid’s long legs in her attempt to put space between them. His hands wrapped around her waist to steady her, but she slapped at his hands and moved so the couch became a barrier between them. A tremor worked through her as she lifted the bottle by the velvet ribbon.
“How did you get this?” she demanded to know, desperately hoping she was wrong.
He sighed, a wealth of emotion and pain in the action. “I’ll answer all of your questions, but you need to drink that elixir.”
“I’m not drinking a darn thing until you tell me what the hell is going on.”
He winced like he was tasting something sour. “I work for Sloven.”
Four words. Only four little words. That’s all it took.
All it took for the world to slip out from beneath Allie’s feet once again.
5
Back biters and back stabbers
“How could you be working for him?” Allie yelled.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
If he believed that, Sid was delusional.
“Everyone has a choice.”
“Not everything is black and white, Allie.”
; She ignored his sorrowful eyes as anger, shock, and betrayal worked through her.
“Why does this keep happening to me?” she whispered, rubbing at her heart like she could make the pain go away.
Was there a mark on her forehead that said “Fool me?” “Abuse me?” “Use me?” Her gaze narrowed on Sid as he sat on her coffee table, the picture of dejection. How long had he been tricking her?
“How long?” she barked, feeling sick to her stomach.
Sid’s gaze dropped to his fingers. Coward.
“From the beginning.”
“What do you mean the beginning?” Allie wished something more intelligent came from her mouth. It seemed all she could do was repeat the Sarpe.
He looked up at her, clearly ashamed. Good, he should be.
“As soon as you stepped off that ship, I marked you. I was made aware of my assignment weeks before you entered our atmosphere.”
Her lungs labored to breathe as the information settled in. He wasn’t her friend. She was a job. Tears threatened to make their appearance, but she gulped them back. “Why?” she asked.
“Because I had no other choice.”
“Utter rubbish,” she hissed. “That’s the excuse criminals use when they don’t want to be accountable for their actions. Man up and take responsibility for your choices.”
“They have my mate.”
Four little words.
“And she’s pregnant.”
Three more to shake her world again.
Mates were precious on Sars, but children were even more revered. Allie leaned heavily against the back of the couch, her fingernails biting into the fabric. It was a rarity for females on this planet to conceive, a blessing. Her papa once told her he’d do anything for his children, and that she’d understand when she got older. And as she imagined having a child of her own, she knew her papa’s words were true. There would be nothing and no one that would hurt her child. She’d kill them first.
She exhaled deeply and rubbed at her forehead, feeling like she’d been through emotional whiplash. How could she blame Sid for protecting his family when she would have done the same?