by Lili Zander
“If you’d like.”
I doubt I can actually bring myself to kill an animal, but I appreciate his offer nonetheless. He seems like a good guy, Liorax. The kind of guy a girl could trust and depend on. Even if he’s making it perfectly clear that he’s not interested.
Zunix settles down on the couch next to me. “Tell me, Olivia,” he asks, “what do human courting rituals look like?”
Oh boy. He’s really close to me, and he smells yummy. Like fresh air and pine trees, and something else that’s entirely male. For a second, a powerful heat washes over me, short-circuiting every thought in my head. “Well, everyone’s different,” I murmur.
His voice deepens. “What do you like, Olivia?”
My breathing quickens. What do I like? I like men who don’t treat me like a brainless twit. I like guys who see past my boobs to the person underneath.
Zunix is just asking these questions to win the contest, I remind myself.
“Well, I like flowers.” I bat my eyelashes for maximum effect. “And shoes and pretty clothes.” Perfect. I’ve brought the topic around to my clothes again. “My poor luggage.” Okay, time to add some sexy to the mix. I put my hand on Zunix’s bicep—holy crap, somebody works out—and lean forward, so that my boobs are just inches from his chest. “I’d be ever so happy if I could get my luggage back.”
Liorax snorts. Man, the guy is not charmed by me in the slightest. It rankles a little. “It can’t be done,” he says bluntly. “It took us more than a month to get to the Lowlands. Even if one of us sets out tomorrow, we’ll never arrive before the rainy season.”
“A month?” I’m aghast. “It didn’t seem that far.”
“That’s because we flew,” Zunix replies. I’m still leaning into him, still resting my hand on his arm. When I realize it, I pull back, and he doesn’t make any attempt to stop me. “To the east of us, there’s a desert. Past the desert is a mountain range, and the only safe crossing is a five-day journey south.”
“What were you doing so far away from home?”
To my surprise, Liorax actually answers the question. “Every year, men fail the Testing and are exiled to the prison planet,” he says. “But we’ve never found any of the others. We were searching for them.”
“Why?”
“Why not? Time hangs heavily here, Olivia. Looking for the others gives us a purpose. A goal.”
I seize on the thin thread of hope that his words offer. If there are other Draekons, maybe they’d have found the four missing human women. “But you think they’re here? Others?”
“I do,” Zunix replies. He’s watching me curiously, and I realize I’m acting uncharacteristically interested in something that isn’t shoes, clothes, or my manicure.
Okay, time to thrust the boobs in his face again. That’ll distract him.
I lean forward, and his eyes glaze over. “So there’s no way to get to my luggage quickly?”
Zunix’s lips curl into a smile. “One rather obvious way, Olivia,” he says. “If you complete the mating bond…”
They’ll become dragons.
I know I said I was ready to put out to ensure the safety of the other women. I shouldn’t hesitate. Zunix is basically telling me that if I mate with him, he’ll get me to Fehrat 1.
Should I do it?
Liorax cuts in before I can open my mouth and reply. “Enough.” His voice is cold, and his blue eyes glitter with anger as he rises to his feet. “I will take you back to the other women.”
What the hell just happened?
My emotions are decidedly subdued as I follow him back to Dariux’s house.
Liorax is immune to my big boobs, and I’m just a pawn to Zunix. I’ve achieved nothing this morning except a guarantee that Bryce won’t go hungry and an offer from Liorax to teach me how to hunt.
Yes, there might be a slight hope that Viola, Harper, Ryanna, and Sofia found another set of Draekons, but it’s not enough. The truth is, I’m no closer to finding the other women.
So far, Step 2 is a colossal bust.
Sigh. Hopefully, tomorrow’s two Draekons are easier to manipulate.
8
Liorax:
I escort Olivia back to Dariux’s dwelling, then return to Zunix. “Are you out of your mind?” I demand. “Bartering with her? Implying that you’d fetch her luggage if she completes the mating bond?”
He takes in my obvious anger. “Relax,” he says. “I wasn’t planning on following through. I was just curious to see if she would accept the offer.”
Games. Always games with Zunix. I give him a hard look. “You want to transform again, don’t you?”
“Yes.” His lips twist. “And I can’t do it without you. What’s it going to cost me?”
He’s direct, I’ll give him that. “I want this camp to change. I want us to cooperate with each other.” I stare at him. “Dariux set the tone around here when he demanded payment when Jorix was hurt and needed the med-kit. Remember?”
“That wasn’t his finest moment.”
“There were twenty-four of us on the drone ship. Herrix drove away the Lowborn right at the start. Jorix and four others left after that fight with Dariux. We don’t know if they’re alive or dead. We’re down to fourteen.” A familiar anger rises in me. “The camp is toxic, Zunix. Rezzix couldn’t believe I was giving him a translator without wanting anything in exchange. Why are we doing this? There’s no tech on this planet, but we have everything we need. Food. Shelter. Why are we fighting like seerats over a bareth corpse?”
Zunix frowns. “We’ve been this way for sixty-five years. What’s different now?”
“The women.” Maybe it’s because the humans are stranded here for no fault of theirs. Maybe because I don’t need to hear their story to know that they’re pawns and victims of the High Empire, the same way we Draekons are.
Maybe because, despite my determination not to court her, Olivia was in my dreams last night.
“And if I help you with this,” Zunix says, “you’ll woo Olivia along with me.”
Zunix does not care about the human; he wants to complete the mating bond so that he can transform into the dragon at will.
I know how it feels to be betrayed.
Then again, her other option is Belfox and Herrix.
“Yes.” I ignore the stab of guilt in my heart. “I will woo Olivia.”
Zunix:
All my plans are coming together. Liorax has agreed to cooperate. With his help, Belfox and Herrix won’t stand a chance. Olivia will be easily wooed with pretty frippery, and I’m the only one with the right tech.
I should be filled with satisfaction, but strangely, there’s a niggling sense of unease in the back of my mind.
Will Olivia really be as easily wooed as I think?
I search my memories of our conversation today. When she was talking to Lio about her food, she’d seemed animated. When we talked about finding other Draekon exiles, she’d been curious.
But when she talked about the clothes… she’d been different. More alluring. More provocative. She’d leaned forward, and her beautiful breasts had spilled out of her shirt, and I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t keep my eyes away from them.
Sudden clarity washes over me. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s playing me.
A smile of chagrin curves on my lips. Of course she is. I’ve been a complete fool. I’ve walked into her trap, reacting exactly as she has predicted.
Why is she so preoccupied with her clothes anyway? Her garment is crusted with blood, and I’m sure she’d appreciate a replacement, but this goes beyond that. From almost the first moment we pulled her out of the stasis chamber, her luggage was all she could ask about. Why?
An image flashes before my eyes. The wrecked spaceship. The dead human in the main cabin, the dead technician in the cockpit. We’d feared the worst when we opened the stasis chambers. Then we’d found the five human women.
Is Olivia concerned for the scientists we left behind?
I curse under my breath. She doesn’t want her luggage. She wants to get back because there are other humans.
Why didn’t she just tell me? We would have helped her.
Why would she tell you? My conscience challenges me. So far, you’ve assumed she’s a shallow fool. You want to claim her only for the power the transformation will give you.
But Olivia is not a fool, not at all, and I have underestimated her badly.
This is a mistake I will need to fix.
Someone knocks at my door, jerking me out of my reverie. I climb down the stairs and open it to find Dariux there. Just the person I wanted to see. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You found a ship of the High Empire yesterday.”
“And you want to gossip.” Lio doesn’t trust Dariux, and to be fair, he has cause. Dariux’s idea of right and wrong does not line up with Liorax’s. But I’ve known the man all my life, and I understand him better. Dariux is complicated, and his decisions can seem harsh, but even he has a line that he will not cross.
One eyebrow lifts. “That’s not how I’d put it, but yes.”
I step aside, and he enters. I pour him a glass of the spirit I distill from the berries that Olivia liked so much, and he takes it from me without comment. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“And the price?”
“Lio wants us to cooperate with each other.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “And you’re in agreement with his approach?”
I want Dariux to rescue Raiht’vi and the other wounded scientist, and I want him to search for the other women. Will he? Dariux, more than anyone in the camp, blames the scientists for his exile. He’s bitter and angry. When he finds out that Brunox’s daughter is on the prison planet, he might decide to let her die in the floods.
Liorax believes that we are all capable of doing the right thing. I take a deep breath and decide to trust the man in front of me. “Yes,” I confirm. “I agree with him. It is time for us to change. To be better.”
His face twists into a sneer. Before he can mock my faith in my fellow exiles, I shift to safer topics. “Fehrat 1 was on route to the homeworld from Earth when it crashed here. But, we both know that the prison planet isn’t on the way.”
Dariux is clever and cunning, and he catches on at once. “The ship crashed deliberately.” He gives me a thoughtful look. “Any idea why?”
“Not yet. Right now, I have more questions than answers. Here’s another one. How much do you think Lenox would have paid the Triumvirate to land a ship on Earth and take ten humans?”
“Lenox is High Emperor?”
It’s my turn to be surprised. “You haven’t questioned the human women yet?” My lips twitch. “Getting soft in your old age, Dariux?”
He snorts. “I didn’t think it necessary to fight my way through the throngs of love-lost men.” He takes a sip of the wine. “A mistake I will remedy once I conclude this conversation. Back to the matter at hand. If Lenox is High Emperor…”
I’ve had time to think about this. “Then Dravex is dead, and so is the Firstborn, Arax.”
A shadow passes over his face. “A pity,” he says shortly. “I served High Emperor Dravex with pride. Arax would have been a worthy successor. But Lenox…” His voice trails away.
We are a product of our training, and speaking ill of the High Emperor is not something that comes easy to either of us, but I agree with him. Lenox is thin-skinned, stubborn, and not very bright.
“Where did the ship crash?”
I pull out the most valuable piece of tech I have. A copy of the ThoughtVaults, the sum total of all Zorahn knowledge since the beginning of time. Not just any copy. Mine is a replica of the Spymaster’s own ThoughtVault. Everything Surax knew is mine to discover.
Dariux’s eyes shine with greed as I pull up a map of the prison planet and navigate to the Lowlands. “It’s just to the south of the river,” I tell him.
I’ve taken Dariux by surprise. He wasn’t expecting me to part with the location of the ship. “You’re not lying,” he says warily. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because there are two scientists still on the ship, and one of them is Brunox’s daughter.”
He inhales sharply. “Raiht’vi?” The wheels turn in his head. “Of course. That makes sense. This mission to Earth could not have been cheap. The Triumvirate would have demanded the wealth of many worlds to allow a Zorahn ship to enter the neutral zone. Brunox would have wanted someone there he could trust implicitly.”
“It is almost time for the rains.” I stare at Dariux. “They will drown if we don’t intervene. I want you to bring them back.”
“I’m not a fool, Zunix,” he replies dryly. “I’m quite aware that you’ve calculated that I’ll be interested enough in Brunox’s daughter that I will take the bait. And you’re right. I will set out tomorrow for the Lowlands. How long do I have before the rains come?”
“Tomorrow? The two scientists are badly hurt. The sooner they get to a med-kit, the better.” I bring up the predictor on the ThoughtVault. “Why can’t you go right away?” I demand as I wait for it to complete its calculations.
“Herrix and Belfox have borrowed my skimmer today.”
That takes me by surprise. Dariux bargains hard for access to the skimmer, and Belfox and Herrix have never shown any interest in exploring the planet surface. Is this something they’re planning to do to woo Olivia? Fear trickles up my spine. I’ve already underestimated her and given her reason to dislike me. Now, I confront the very real truth that I could lose her, and it sends a sharp stab of pain through my chest. “What? Why? And what are they offering you in exchange for access to the skimmer?”
“Do you think I’m going to answer that?”
My jaw tightens. I might volunteer information, but Dariux isn’t planning on reciprocating. “Fine,” I snap. “There are two other things though.”
He looks up, waiting for me to continue. “The first: I believe there were four other human women on Fehrat 1. I want you to find them.”
“In exchange for what?”
I shake my head. “Come on, Dariux. How much of a fool do you think I am? You’re going to look for them no matter what I say, because the human women trigger the mating bond, and one of them could be your mate.”
His lips twist wryly. “Very well. What’s the other thing?”
Time to woo the human woman in earnest. “Olivia’s luggage,” I tell him. “I want you to bring it back.”
He laughs out loud. “Oh, Zunix,” he says, his voice thick with pity. “I never thought that you’d act like a lovestruck fool. Surely you can’t be serious. We are spies, my friend. Mates are not a luxury that we can afford. Bed the human, if you will, but don’t get attached to her.”
He’s saying exactly what I told myself just yesterday. There’s no reason for my temper to rise, and yet, I have to take a deep, calming breath to keep myself from rising to his bait. “Her luggage,” I repeat. “I’d like it.”
“It will cost you.”
I incline my head in agreement. “What do you want?”
“Access to the ThoughtVault,” he replies promptly.
The device chooses that moment to beep. I look at the message on the screen. “According to the predictor, you have a week before the rains come.”
He nods. “Do we have a deal?”
When we first arrived on the prison planet, Dariux spent hours poring over my ThoughtVault, looking for something. I don’t know what he was searching for, but I don’t think he ever found it. In fact, I thought he had abandoned his quest. For the last twenty years, he’s expressed no interest in borrowing it from me.
Now, he’s looking again.
The human women have come to our camp. Belfox and Herrix a
re borrowing Dariux’s skimmer, and now, Dariux wants to comb through my copy of the ThoughtVaults. Are these things connected?
“Yes. Bring me back Olivia’s luggage, and you can have access to my ThoughtVault.”
He smiles triumphantly, and once again, I can’t shake off a feeling that I’m walking into a trap.
9
Olivia:
Bryce is the only one in Dariux’s treehouse. “Everyone else is still out with their respective guys,” she explains before I can ask. “Except May. She went to be zapped by Dariux’s gadget.” She tilts her head to one side. “I didn’t expect to see you back until the evening.”
I sit down on the wooden floor. “It’s a long story.” I’m not ready to think about Zunix and Liorax just yet. “So you’ve just been sitting here by yourself?”
“Yeah,” she sighs. “You know what I do when that happens? I worry.” She gnaws on her fingernail. “I really hope the others are okay. May told me that Viola, Ryanna, Harper, and Sofia went to look for food and water. Talk about a bad break, right? Had they been on the ship, the Draekons could have rescued them too.” She takes a deep breath. “At least they have a gun.”
“A gun?”
She nods. “It was Beirax’s. May said that the four of them had taken it.”
The tight knot of anxiety in my chest eases a little. The situation is still dire, but it’s not quite as hopeless as it was last night. Liorax and Zunix are certain there are other Draekons, and the women have a weapon. “May’s going to talk to her mates about the others,” Bryce adds. “See if they can come up with a search party.”
“That’s good,” I say automatically.
“If you ask me though, the only way that’s going to happen is if someone completes the mating bond. That’s when they can become dragons at will, right?”
I look at Bryce with newfound respect. She’s certainly on the ball. Flying is the only way we can get back to the ship. It’s too far away to journey there on foot. What had Liorax said? It’s going to take a month to get there.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll happen soon enough.” She leans back against the wall and stretches her legs out. “I only hope it’s not too late.”