by Siren Allen
Last waning, Ana had wanted to come over. To both of their surprises, Lark had turned down her offer. For the first time since meeting Ana, Lark had lied to her, telling her she was too tired and could barely keep her eyes open.
Truth was, her body was craving someone else, someone tall and dark with a pair of fangs she yearned to see, feel. Her, the woman who hated pain, wanted to feel Raynor’s fangs. Lark rubbed her neck, still remembering the erotic dream she’d had last night.
In the dream Raynor had bit her neck while he pushed inside of her, chasing away all her irrational first time fears. Remembering that dream only made her hotter. Thank the stars Manuel couldn’t smell her arousal. That would be the ultimate embarrassment.
“Lark, did you hear me?”
Lark blinked. Manuel was talking to her. Damn it. “Uh, yeah.” Another lie. No more lies. “No, I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I said this is an inside job. It has to be.”
“You think one of our citizens did this?”
“I think someone who has become familiar with our system did it. If it was just one or two crafts, I would think a technician screwed something up. But this is all of the crafts, even those we only use for emergencies. Someone intentionally sabotaged our means for evacuation.”
“Why would a Venusian want our crafts stranded here?”
“I didn’t say it was a Venusian.”
“Only our beings are staffed as guards and only the guards and flight personnel have access to the navigation system.”
“There are hackers all over the galaxy. A hacker off site could’ve transmitted the information needed to hack into our system to someone they were working with here.”
“I know,” Lark rubbed her hand through her hair. “But my team and I designed this new system. This is hack proof. It took us years to get it that way.”
“And it’s probably taken some genius years to tear it down. This wasn’t a one waning accomplishment. Look at the last page of the papers I printed.”
Lark flipped to the last page. It was a log list of mechanical malfunctions over the last year. Every month there was errors, all of which were easily fixable and didn’t cause any worry. Damn it. Raynor couldn’t have done this.
“They slowly infiltrated our system,” Manuel pointed out.
“They? You think there’s more than one?”
“Has to be. No one person could monitor our crafts day and night. This took meticulous planning.”
“Fuck. Who all knows that the crafts are down?”
“The two of us, Aron, Edward and Olton.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way. I don’t want our citizens panicking over this. Can you get the crafts back up and running?”
“Yes, but it’s going to take some time. Do you want to follow protocol on this one or do you want us to just work on fixing the problem?”
“Fix the problem. If we can’t have it fixed in a few solar flares, we’ll follow protocol.”
“Should we contact Aphrodite Terra and inform them of our issues?”
That would be the best thing to do. Though Aphrodite was miles away and had crafts of their own, this could still affect them. However, she didn’t want to cause an uproar over something that could be nothing.
If Aphrodite was having problems with their crafts, the guards there would’ve contacted Lark by now. With Luna away and Lark acting as Stand-In ruler at Ishtar, she’d left her cousin in charge of Aphrodite Terra.
If anything was wrong there, she would have heard of it by now. Schools would’ve been shut down there and all the inhabitants would’ve evacuated to Ishtar and sought refuge under their dome.
No, things were fine in Aphrodite Terra. It was Ishtar with the issues. It was Ishtar that housed a vampire. It was Ishtar, the capital of Venus that was being hacked into. Damn it, she didn’t have time for this.
“Contact Aphrodite,” she told Manuel. “Tell only Klaryssa of our issues. My cousin will tell no one of this and she will be on guard in case this is more serious than we already assume it is. How long do you think it will take for us to be flight ready once more?”
“We have to fix them one by one and hope the hackers don’t crash the navigation again while we’re doing it. After I get started I can give you a more specific time frame but for now, I can only say it will take a few wanings. There’s no way I can get your prisoner home today.”
“That’s fine. Just worry about getting the crafts flight ready.” Until they were flight ready Lark was going to feel helpless.
She hadn’t felt this way since the death of her best friend, Caroline. She pushed thoughts of Caro to the back of her mind. Thinking of her friend would lead to a door she didn’t want to open, couldn’t open.
“Any word from my sister, Luna?”
“No word. We’ve been monitoring her craft though. It doesn’t appear to have moved in over six wanings.”
Lark bit her lower lip. “That’s worries me. It also bothers me that she went to the Kuiper Belt without telling me.” Lark had been surprised as hell when she’d had Manuel track Luna last night and the results came back that she was on Planet Qoaran.
The chit had never ordered Raynor as he claimed she did. They’d met when she travelled to his planet and her matchmaking sister had sent him to Venus. Who does that? Luna could’ve at least contacted her and given her a heads up.
The real question was, why did her sister go to the Kuiper Belt in the first place? This wasn’t Luna’s first time going off on her own without telling her sisters what she was up to. But those trips happened when their parents were alive, before Luna was responsible for a whole world.
If Lark had to grow up and start putting their people before herself, so did Luna. She was going to tell her sneaky ass sister that as soon as the chit arrived home. Lark prayed her sister arrived home safely.
“I just wished she would’ve let me know something,” she told Manuel. “I don’t like worrying. It causes wrinkles. I’m too young for wrinkles.”
Manuel grinned. “You know Luna, she likes doing things her own way. I’m sure there’s a reason why she deviated from her plan.”
“Yeah, I know. But with all that’s going on, I won’t feel comfortable until my family is under one dome.”
“Understood. I’ll go check on her location again, if there are any changes I’ll notify you. I’ll also keep you updated on the craft situation.”
“Thanks, oh how is Gabrielle?”
Manuel grinned, something he always did when she asked about his very pregnant mate.
“She’s fine. She’s tired of being pregnant. Every solar flare she complains about how big she is. I try telling her she’s beautiful but she ignores my compliments.”
“She’s hormonal. How far along is she?”
“Ten months.”
“Oh, well in two more months those twins will be here. I’ll stop by later to check on her.”
“Thanks, she’ll like that. Later, captain.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
“It’s your title. You earned it. So I’m going to use it.” With a wink, Manuel left her chambers, leaving her alone to contemplate how bad things really were.
Her crafts were grounded for now. There were no means to evacuate if something happened. Protocol would be to contact their neighboring planet and ask for assistance. In this case, they needed extra crafts.
But Lark didn’t know who or where the hackers were. If they contacted their Venusian ambassadors living on Earth their message might be viewed by the hackers. The safest thing to do would be to fix the problem and install a new, better security system.
Instead of updating the system every year they would start doing it every six months. Lark tossed the technicians’ report onto her bed then strode into her kitchen. She poured herself a glass of wine.
As the liquid travelled down her throat she prayed that the hackers weren’t from Earth. She would sure hate to cease trad
ing with them. Venus got all of their wine and other spirits from Earth.
They also got their water and their vegetables in exchange for technology. Sixteen Venusian scientists currently resided on Earth and in one Earth year those sixteen would return home and sixteen more would take their place.
Venus allowed their greatest minds to work with NASA on various projects in exchange for wine, water, vegetables, clothing and other items not commonly found on Venus.
Lark would hate for that trade agreement to be terminated all because of some silly hackers whose fathers worked for NASA, therefore the kids knew about life outside of Earth yet weren’t allowed to tell anyone.
The hackers probably lived in their parents’ basements and were doing this just for the kicks. Right now, she wished she could kick them. Lark finished her wine and poured another glass.
Normally she didn’t drink this much. But with all that was going on she deserved another glass. Once the last drop was gone, she washed her wineglass and returned it to the cabinet over her sink.
She glanced at her wristwatch. It wasn’t yet time to meet her sister and Farah at the gym. And she wasn’t in the mood to tackle the list of things she needed to do today. She decided to do something she hadn’t done in months. Visit her father’s library.
If she wanted to know more about vampires, she would have to research them.
***
The moment she stepped into her father’s library she smiled.
It was just how he’d left it. Even the scent of his cologne lingered in the unused room. She walked over to his desk and sat in the large chair. Someone had straightened up his desk, that was the only thing different. Probably Lola.
Even though she was the shyest sister, when it came to loss, she was the strongest. That girl really stepped up big time after their parents passed away. If it hadn’t been for her help, Lark probably never would’ve gotten the harem up and running as quickly as she had.
Their parents would’ve been proud of the way the three of them had worked together during that time. They hadn’t argued or fought, like they usually did. They worked as one to continue their parents’ dream.
Trailing her hands over the mahogany desk her father had purchased on an impromptu trip to Earth, Lark recalled all the times she and her sisters had sat in the middle of this very room and listened while their father entertained them with tales of planets far, far away.
Most of his tales were of Earth. Her father had been obsessed with the blue planet and its clear waters. He’d told them how Venusians had been the first creatures to visit the people of Earth.
At the time, Earth had been a newly formed planet. The life forms there could barely speak, only grunted and gestured. A Venusian astronomer had taught the people words and how to build.
Soon they’d formed entire civilizations. Mankind turned out to be fast learners, and when they no longer needed help from the Venusians, her people left, but they left behind a few of their most talented, who helped the people of Earth progress further.
Lark’s ancestors found Earth fascinating and continued to mark its progress. Her father would bring her into his office and sit her in front of the monitors on his desk. Together they would watch Earth and he would point out the continents. He would tell her about Earth’s seasons.
It amazed her that a True Day on Earth was only twenty four hours while a True Day on Venus was over forty-eight hundred hours. Yet, Earth wasn’t the only thing that got her father excited.
He admired Earth, but he adored Venus and its people. When he spoke of his dreams for his home, you could hear the excitement in his voice, see it in his eyes. It had been just as contagious as his smile was. Stars, she missed that smile.
Lark wiped the tears from her eyes. This was why she’d avoided coming in here. Crying made her feel weak. Right now her people needed her to be strong. Lark pushed away from the desk and walked over to the shelves of books that lined the wall.
Her father kept books on all of the eight planets. He also had books on the dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt. Lark found those books on the corner shelf. There were so many to choose from. She settled on one titled, Vampires: The Kuiper Guardians.
She sat down in the comfy lounge chair and opened the book to the first page. With each page she read, she felt more and more convinced that she needed to get rid of Raynor as soon as possible.
Not because he was a threat to her people, but because he was a threat to her. Lark reread one particular passage three times, hoping that she’d read it wrong. Unfortunately her eye sight wasn’t failing her. The passage read:
Vampire Mating – Like most species, vampires mate for life. It is said that the mate of a vampire will calm the darkness that swirls inside of him. Like with all matings it is unknown why two people are paired together.
However, vampires believe that their mates are chosen based on each individual vampire’s needs. Once mated, the vampire is strengthened by his or her mate and can survive off their partners’ blood, never having to feed off anyone else again.
However, if by their six hundredth birthday, a vampire has not found a mate, their minds begin to deteriorate. If by their seven hundredth birthday they are still mateless, their brethren will be forced to end said vampire’s existence, for he or she will become a threat to themselves and any other living being he or she encounters.
How screwed up was that? Lark continued reading, growing more and more disappointed with each passage she read.
Unmated vampires are conditioned to not feel worldly desires. To keep the darkness inside of them sated, they fight. Vampires have been known to be hired by worlds as soldiers for hire.
Vampires have no known weaknesses. They are immortal and once mated, their mates drink from them which gives their life partner the ability to share in their immortality. Vampires live in seclusion but may travel outside of their home planet to find their mates.
Once they’ve caught the scent of their mate, they will not cease until their life partner is claimed. Death is a sure end to any who try to stand between a vampire and his mate.
Okay, that escalated fast. Lark flipped through a few more pages and continued reading.
A vampire’s mate is treasured by their brethren. They protect her and defend her as if she’s their own. Vampires are infertile and cannot mate amongst themselves, which is why they find mates from other planets to continue their family line.
Once mated to a warm blooded creature, their bodies are able to produce semen or eggs, depending on the vampire’s sex. Until then, they are cold, lifeless creatures.
She was warm-blooded which meant Raynor could knock her up. Pregnancy and the pain that came with it was another one of her irrational fears. Raynor could get her pregnant, another reason why she couldn’t be his mate. She flipped through a few more pages.
A vampire knows his mate the moment he sees her. Yet his or her mate may not recognize them at first. It takes time for other creatures to realize they are mated to a vampire, thanks to the bad reputation vampires have.
Most try to ignore the feelings. But the more time they spend with their mate, the more those feelings will grow until they are consumed by it. If they do not complete the mating ritual they will go insane with need and forever live with a hollow feeling they cannot escape.
She slammed the book shut and leaned back against the seat cushion. According to this book, the feelings she had for Raynor proved that she was his mate. She already felt like she was going insane. He was all she thought about. She even dreamed about him.
Damn.
Lark stood, tossing the book onto the couch she strode out of the library. There had to be a way to get out of being mated to a vampire. Her Comm-Phone rung, vibrating against her hip.
Pulling the device out of its holder she stared at the screen. Ana. Damn. Another complication. She didn’t want to talk to her, which was unfair after all Ana had done for her. But what could she say to her?
Sorry, Ana, but my body no
longer craves yours. I now crave the attention of a blood thirsty vampire. Or how about, hey Ana, I think I’m mated to a dark lord from the Kuiper Belt which means my body and my blood now belongs to him.
And if I don’t go through with the mating, guess what? He’ll go crazy and harm everyone he sees. Oh and I’ll go crazy too and forever have a hollow feeling inside of me. Yay me, I’ve hit the jackpot. Yeah, she couldn’t tell her friend that. Ignoring the call, Lark shoved the phone back into its holder.
She still had time to blow before she met her sister at the gym and she still didn’t feel like doing any actual work. Though she’d tried to avoid it, Lark knew exactly where she wanted to be.
With Raynor.
To question him of course. Not because she was cool with this whole mating thing. She would never be cool with that. Lark ventured to the dungeon speaking and smiling to people that she passed on her way.
Her people were going on with their lives, not knowing that they were actually stranded on their planet, with no way to leave if an emergency arose. Shit, she hoped Manuel and his team got the crafts up and running quickly.
When Lark made it to Raynor’s cell she found him seated on the bench against the wall, staring straight forward. He looked as if he was awaiting her presence. When their eyes met, he grinned.
Yep, he’d been awaiting her presence. That angered and excited her. Her flesh heated as his gaze roamed over her. Why the hell was she blushing? She wasn’t the blushing type. That was Lola’s department.
To cover up her embarrassment she mimicked him, staring at him just as intently as he stared at her. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t smell his arousal the way he could smell hers.
She knew her scent was in the air when his nose flared and he clenched his hands into fists. He was struggling with keeping himself in check. Serves him right. No one should have the heightened senses that he did.