by Shea Malloy
2
Kess
—
The night air welcomed Kess into its embrace, cooling the sweat dampening his skin.
It carried along the stench of despair that clung to this unsavoury part of Onhya.
He ached. That’s all his body could focus on in this moment. All it ever did these days, anyway. His head throbbed, his shoulders were tight. His knuckles bloomed with a searing pain that made him wince as he flexed his fingers. What hurt the most were the gifts he’d received courtesy of a Muridian rat and one he would never get the chance to repay in kind.
Laying a palm flat over his stomach where the perpetual pain had increased tenfold, Kess shuffled to his parked grounder tucked away in an alley. These four squat buildings parallelling each other operated as spaceship garage rental spots. Though Kess had learned they doubled as storage space for black market weapons and other illegal goods.
Kess hissed when the other wound in his back panged as he bent to retrieve the painkillers stored in the trunk. His fingers shook as he peeled off one of the tabs and stuck it in his mouth. The tasteless tab dissolved on his tongue. Closing his eyes, Kess sagged against his grounder and enjoyed the brief respite from pain.
You’re getting addicted to these.
Kess opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead as if he could erase the thought from his mind with his own hands. He couldn’t let himself think this because it led to believing it and then accepting it.
Accepting the fact that he, once lauded as the strongest of his peers, had become so weak.
Kess held his hands up to the dim light affixed on the outer wall of one building. He sneered at the purpling bruises and the blood that wasn’t his smeared on his knuckles. Instead of handing over the information like he’d agreed, that Xarxi bastard, Liol, had ambushed him.
Kess should have expected as much. Men like Liol were never satisfied with keeping a trade honest. It’s why they were criminals in the first place. But the hope that he’d possibly got a lead had blinded Kess’ judgement. Then the fury had set in when Liol showed his true colours. Kess knew he’d gone overboard tonight. He’d beaten Liol’s friends to a pulp in a blinding rage. A shame Liol—the only person Kess knew who had a direct connection to the person who’d killed his brother—had managed to escape.
Disgust in himself and his actions rose in his chest. When had he become like this? Reacting emotionally had never been his style. He’d always prided himself on achieving results through calculated, intelligent methods. He saved violence for those special life-or-death moments that necessitated it. Even then, he always exerted control.
Kess wanted to believe this change was easily corrected once he attained what he sought for over two standard years. Yet a part of him feared that this was it. This was what he’d become, and even if he did finally achieve his goal to avenge Riva, nothing would change. Riva would still be dead and he’d still be the one who failed to prevent that.
The present distracted him from the memories of his brother. A hovervan came to a stop further up the alley and three Xarxi lizards got out. They scanned the area and Kess ducked behind a large storage bin before they saw him.
As much as he’d prefer to put distance between himself and these lizards, Kess knew they were up to no good. These men were runners for Liol, and had shown up with a delivery. Weapons, maybe. Or live bodies for the slave network that refused to die no matter how hard he worked to destroy it.
Suspended from his post as Commander to his division, Kess didn’t have any official authority to stop these lizards from going about their business. Not to mention that this sort of work was in Omaron’s ground division’s jurisdiction. But he could still intervene. All he had to do was put in a call. He still had many strong, loyal connections who would follow his orders without question.
First, he had to make sure these lizards were conducting illegal activities indeed. If it was one thing all Union Police agents despised, it was showing up for a false alarm.
Kess removed his comm device from his wrist in preparation. One of the lizards opened the back of the van while the other two stood guard. The lizard exited with something slung over its shoulder. A body. Its frame petite, its arms hung down the lizard’s back lifelessly. Kess frowned, his finger poised over the button on his comm device that would make the call. He held back. Something wasn’t right. Something…
The lizard shifted his stance, and the dim light attached on the wall of the building shone on the body slung over its shoulder. The pale white light caught in the golden-brown hair and on the creamy skin devoid of the tattoos present on all Dava beings.
This was a human.
The human female he’d encountered in the palace the night before.
The Klara’s kin.
His comm device fell from his hand and he ignored the crunch of it shattering beneath his boot heel as he surged from his hiding spot. His large knife slipped free from its sheath and snapped into his hand telekinetically. He ran toward the lizards, uncaring of the immense pain that resurfaced in his wounds. He flung the knife at the first lizard who stood guard. The vicious knife lodged deep into the lizard’s chest and the lizard fell to the ground, gurgling blood. The second lizard spat expletives in its native tongue and opened fire on him. The third one who had the human female on its shoulder followed suit.
Kess ducked and rolled behind another storage bin, narrowly dodging the retaliatory shots. He sucked in air like a drowning man cresting an ocean’s surface. His injuries were on fire, but the adrenaline coursing through him tempered the pain. He withdrew his gun, waiting for the barrage of laser shots attacking his meagre hiding spot to be over.
The shots came to an abrupt end when one of the lizards let out a snarl of pain. Then a thud like a body hitting the ground hard followed by a soft, pained grunt.
“Fucking bitch bit me!” spat the lizard.
Kess took that opportunity to run out into view, shooting the second lizard on sight. The woman crawled on her hands and knees, struggling to escape the third lizard aiming a kick to her stomach. Furious, Kess seized the lizard with his invisible power. He threw the monster back against the building’s wall with enough force that the wet, cracking sound echoed around the area.
But the lizard he’d shot wasn’t dead, and in that brief moment of inattention, the lizard hit him in the shoulder with a laser blast. Kess fell to the ground, the pain from the searing heat of the laser blast and his earlier wounds winding him.
“No!” shouted the human just before the sound of scuffling. A laser blast missed him by a hairbreadth, scorching the floor beside him.
“Stupid bitch!” shouted the lizard and Kess knew what was going to happen. The bastard was going to kill her.
With whatever strength remaining, he yanked his knife telekinetically from the first dead lizard. He hissed and gritted his teeth against the excruciating pain, against the darkness creeping in at the edges of his vision, against the voice that said he’d arrived at the end of his rope and had nowhere else to go but the dark chasm yawning beneath him. Even though this was his end, he couldn’t let the human go down with him. He’d not been there for Riva, but at least he was here for her.
He could protect her.
He could save her.
He surged to his feet with a roar and ran to where the lizard strangled the woman. She kicked and squirmed, her eyes wide with terror as she pried at the lizard’s steel grip around her throat. With a sharp wave of his hand, Kess flung the lizard off the woman. He sent his knife flying at it, the satisfying sound of the blade lodging itself deep into the lizard’s body music to his ears.
His ragged breathing and thumping heart was loud in the silence that followed. The woman scrambled to her feet. Even though his vision was getting blurrier by the second, he saw the shine of tears on her face.
She tried to speak but only managed a pitiful rasp. She rubbed her throat then tried again.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice hoarse.
Her eyebrows drew together. “I got chased, tackled, drugged, kidnapped, flung to the ground, kicked, and nearly strangled to death. Yeah, I’d say I got hurt alright.”
“Did they force themselves on you, human? That is what I meant.”
She shook her head, her features sincere, relieved.
“No.”
He was relieved too even though she was nothing more than yet another individual he’d saved from an unfortunate experience. The acrid scent of laser blast residue and the metallic stench of Xarxi lizard blood permeated the air. He retrieved his knife from the dead lizard telekinetically, wiping the blood coating it on his pants leg then sheathing it. He shook his head to clear the fogginess but it only worsened his disorientation.
“Come,” he said and pivoted away from her. He walked toward his grounder, every step sending a wave of agony through his body. Her tentative footsteps followed him.
He retrieved the packet of tabs from his trunk, sticking twice the recommended amount in his mouth. He peeled off a tab and handed it to her.
“Suck it and swallow,” he instructed.
Her gaze snapped to his as she took the tab from him.
“If that’s the way you like it,” she said, amusement shining in her eyes as she stuck the tab in her mouth.
He pretended he didn’t hear her. Pretended that the mental image of her down on her knees between his legs didn’t flash in his head with startling clarity. Instead, he straddled the seat of his grounder and entered the destination of the palace on the map.
“Get on.”
“I’m a medical student.” She indicated his shoulder. “I can wrap that to slow the bleeding.”
“That’s not your concern, human.”
“You’re in no fit state to drive,” she argued, her voice laced with concern. “You’ll pass out if you don’t let me bandage that injury.” She eyed his jacket, then pursed her lips with determination. She clutched the material of her own shirt, clearly intending to tear it to construct a makeshift bandage.
“Bandages,” he said curtly, pointing at the trunk. He frowned at her, unable to place the emotion he felt that she was willing to give up the clothes on her back to help him. She nodded and immediately dug through his trunk, retrieving a thin, white, rectangular pad.
She held it up. “This?”
“Yes.”
She peered into the trunk again. “Got anything to clean the site?”
“There is a sterilizing chemical inside it. Be quick, human. We need to leave.”
“Look, I don’t want to stick around here either, but you need help. Have a little patience.”
Bristling at her tone, he scowled at her. At least one of her. His eyes said there were two of her glaring at him. He blinked to clear his vision. If this weak little human female knew who he was—who he used to be—she’d know never to speak to him like that.
Nevertheless he did as she commanded and remained patiently seated on his grounder. She moved closer, her sweet flowery scent underlaid with sweat from her ordeal.
“Open your jacket,” she said.
He slid his finger down the front, the centre binding undoing at his touch. She eyed it with intrigue but remained silent. She peeled aside his jacket and set to work.
Task complete, she met his gaze. He was struck, once again, by her beauty. Even in the minimal light, her eyes were gleaming silver inflected with blue, her hair the colour of sun-dried fields. The urge to kiss her accosted him, just like it did in the palace, but he pushed it aside.
“Get on and let’s go,” he ordered.
She opened her mouth to speak but closed it with a snap and slid onto the seat behind him. Despite the pain and thickening sensation in his head, some part of him responded t0 her warmth and softness pressed against his back. She wrapped her hands around him, holding on for balance as he started his grounder and sped out of the alleyway.
3
Karen
—
Their surroundings whizzed by in a blur as the Dava man sped them along on the bike.
The breeze whipping her hair behind her eradicated all the residual panic, terror and dread coiled tight in her belly.
She’d been kidnapped, her fate lying in the clammy hands of three, monstrous, spandex-wearing lizards. Who knew what fate they’d had in store for her? Nothing good without a doubt. Thank goodness she’d never find out thanks to this incredible man who continued to put her safety above his health.
She was so relieved, she wished he wasn’t injured so she could raise her hands higher and squeeze him hard in a tight hug. And a hug wouldn’t even begin to repay him for what he’d done. He’d risked his life to save hers. Their unpleasant encounter from the night before was completely washed away by this new experience they’d shared.
Soon, the palace loomed in the distance before them. She thought about her sisters and how they’d react once they heard about what had happened. Karen’s already battered body grew tired at the thought. They’d freak out and worry. They’d definitely go into overprotective mode. Maybe ship her back to Earth, come to think of it.
Then again, they didn’t have to know what had occurred. If she told her rescuer not to divulge anything to her sisters, he’ll—
The bike swerved on the path, breaking Karen’s train of thought. The man shook his head and righted the bike but it swerved again.
“Stop,” she ordered, certain he’d ignore her. Their interactions with each other might have been limited, but she already knew he had a stubborn streak.
So it surprised her when he slowed them to a stop. She unhooked her grip from around his waist and hopped off, missing his warmth immediately. Her eyebrows shot up in alarm when he slumped off the bike.
“Hey, are you OK?”
She held onto his bicep with both hands to keep him steady, finding hard, thick muscle which her fingers couldn’t even meet around. It was an effort to keep him upright because he was solid like the huge trees that lined the path they were on.
“Follow the path and it’ll lead you to the palace gates,” he said, his words slurred. Strands of his inky hair obscured his face, his glassy eyes the colour of onyx. He was on the verge of passing out despite her attempt to stymie his blood loss.
“I’m not leaving you here,” she said.
“You don’t have a choice, human.”
“My name is Karen,” she said. “You need to remember that.”
“I do not. Names are useless to the dead.” His eyes drifted shut and he began to slide off the bike.
“Hey!” She didn’t know where she found the strength to support his dead weight and prevent his fall. She carefully laid him on the floor and knelt beside him. Panic rising, Karen patted his cheek. “Hey, wake up!”
But the man remained unconscious. What was she to do now? She wanted to help him, but how? She glanced at the bike. It had an uncanny resemblance to an Earth motorcycle except its wheels were huge, its long frame gorgeous black chrome. It had a screen with a map like the hovercar she’d driven earlier. Was it capable of auto-driving like the hovercar? And how would she even get him onto the bike and keep him from falling off?
Karen stood up. She had to find another way. She could follow the path back to the palace like he’d said and get help, but she didn’t want to leave him lying by the side of the road unconscious.
Lights approached. Someone was coming. It could be someone who could help. Or it could be more evil lizards hot on the trail of revenge. Karen hesitated then ran out into the middle of the road. She’d already cheated death tonight. Maybe she’d get a twofer on the lucky breaks.
She waved her arms frantically, relieved when the hovercar came to a stop and didn’t run her over. Karen was further relieved at the sight of Suri, Mikaal’s half-sister, when she stepped out of the vehicle.
“Karen, why are you here?” Suri asked in alarm, her gaze shifting to the prone man on the ground beside the bi
ke.
“Suri, thank goodness!” Karen pointed at the man. “He’s injured. I need your help.”
It was obvious the princess had a lot of questions, but she kept them to herself and gave a curt nod instead. She lifted the man’s body telekinetically and placed him in the hovercar’s backseat. Karen rearranged his long legs in order for him to fit. Then she hopped into the seat beside Suri as they raced to the palace.
—
“He is dying, my Yena. He will not last the night.”
Karen raised her eyebrows in alarm. When the man had mentioned death, she’d thought he was being melodramatic. Now Zezvar said the same.
“From a shoulder wound?” Karen asked.
“He has other injuries,” said Zezvar. “He was poisoned by Muridians. The amount of poisoning he sustained would have killed him were he not put in stasis soon after the attack.” Zezvar rubbed his ribbed forehead. For the first time, the alien doctor looked defeated. “His liver is irreparably damaged and his vital organs will begin shutting down. For the past several months, I have been treating him but none of my methods seem to cure him.”
Karen tightened her fists at her sides. He was dying? After what he’d done for her, nothing could save him?
“However, where traditional medicine has failed, I have considered an unorthodox solution,” Zezvar said, as if he’d heard her thoughts.
Karen perked up. “So there’s a cure after all?”
“There might be.” He retrieved a translucent tablet from his cluttered desk and read its content. “Due to research I’ve been conducting since Klara Megan’s remarkable conception of Paer Kelan, I’ve learnt that there are incredible healing properties found in the blood of an unborn baby created through kainaan. From my research, the healing properties are strongest at the point when the essence fuses with the mother.”