“What is that?” I asked, picking up a couple of black strips.
“That is bacon.”
All the plates contained burnt food. “Why is it so…overcooked?” I tried a bite and couldn’t even swallow with a big gulp of water.
No wonder Murda hated Human food! But he hadn’t liked the eggs I had fixed for him either. I used to enjoy cooking when life was simpler. Maybe I could try my hand at it again…
“You will need to speak with Sutar about that.”
“He’s the chef?”
“The cook.”
“Can I see the kitchen?”
A quick nod, and Murda stood. Everyone still stared in silence. Leaning in, I whispered, “Do they know…”
“No.”
Okay then. The way he abruptly cut me off, the fact that he didn’t want me to say it aloud made my chest ache slightly.
I pushed it away.
Walking into the enormous kitchen, I found a flustered Tizun trying to cook. He wore a white apron, grease everywhere, and if I had to guess, he was cursing in his own language.
“Sutar.” Murda drew his attention. “This is Millicent. She would like to see the kitchen.”
Sutar bowed his head. I grimaced. It would be nice to know the hierarchy and practices of the Tizun people.
Smiling down at me, Murda asked, “Will you be alright here?”
I glanced around at the mess, wondering where to begin.
“Yes,” I replied absently.
“I will return soon. If you need anything before then, Sutar knows how to get in touch with me.”
“Thanks.” He held my gaze for a moment, then turned and stalked away like a panther on the hunt.
Turning, I faced Sutar and shot him a huge smile. He shrank away as though I’d branded him with a hot iron.
Okayyy….
“Sorry,” I scrunched my face. “Okay, yes I’m Human and yes, I’m ugly. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, why the hell have you been burning all the food?”
He turned, clearly unhappy with my presence. Well tough! He could just get over himself. I headed to the refrigerator, intent on looking over the ingredients. To my astonishment, it was almost empty. With my head almost inside it, I glanced over my shoulder. “Uh…. where’s all the food?”
He strolled over and jerked open the freezer. The paper-thin sliced bacon had been precooked and frozen, with directions for reheating. The rest of the food was the same; low quality, prepackaged, and already cooked.
“Is this all the meat you have?”
He nodded. Okay, I guess he didn’t want to talk to me.
“Can you order anything new?”
“Yes. But I do not know what any of the items are.”
I smiled. “You speak!”
“Of course I do, Human.” He sounded annoyed, but whatever.
He handed me some ordering forms.
“You never ordered anything?” I asked.
“No. But they still send supplies.”
I glanced over the list and marked a few items. Steak, check. Tuna, check. Pork…no. They seemed to have an aversion to bacon and ham. Salmon, check. Chicken, check.
After looking the list over and selecting a lot of other items, I handed it back to Sutar. “When will these be delivered?”
“In one day’s time.”
“They don’t like to keep you waiting, huh?”
He just stared at me.
Walking over to the cabinets, I opened and closed each door, taking out the ingredients I needed. “You may not know what these are used for, but I do.”
First things first. I found the unused coffee pot and plugged it in before starting a fresh pot.
I set the oven on pre-heat after finding the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla. They had stocked them with essential staples, even if the Tizun people didn’t realize it.
Sutar watched closely as I mixed everything together, then poured it into a greased pan and slid it in the oven.
“Now we wait,” I said while pouring myself a cup of coffee. “Always remember, coffee first.”
“May I try?”
“Sure.” I moved out of the way so he could pour his own cup.
After taking a sip, he grimaced a little. “Not bad. But not too good.”
I laughed. “It’ll grow on you.”
He took another sip. “We will see.”
“This is what most Humans drink in the morning, before starting our day.”
I thought I heard him grumble, “I do not know why.”
With a little time to kill, I sipped my coffee. If this was going to be my new home, I really needed to get to know the people.
“So, Sutar, how do you like living here?”
“It is adequate enough, but just barely.”
So, that’s a definite no. “Do you have family back home?”
He shot me a look of disdain. Maybe he thought I was interrogating him, or he just wasn’t ready to be besties. I didn’t blame him. I sipped the rest of my coffee in silence and waited for the cake.
With only ten minutes left on the timer, I finally asked Sutar, “Where is Murda? I want him to try the cake while it’s hot.”
“He is normally in his office. I can call him for you.”
“In this building?”
He nodded.
“Can you just give me the directions?”
After a little hesitation, he preceded to tell me where to find Murda. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a few.”
14
Murda
Taking Millie to the dining area had been a calculated move. I needed my people to see her, to know that she was there on my authority. But I felt the questions, the tension in the air. It was a welcome relief when she asked to see the cook. Leaving her alone with Sutar would eventually prove beneficial. He could be cold at times, but if they found a common interest, it would help Millie in the long run.
Heading to my office, I knew that Gar, Venge, and Strikr would be waiting for answers.
All three turned as I walked in.
Standing behind the desk, I slid into the chair and propped my elbows on top.
“You may speak freely,” I said with a flick of the wrist.
“Who is she?”
“Why is she here?”
“Why would you bring a Human to our territory?”
“How long will she be staying?”
I held up a hand to halt the flood of questions. “Her name is Millicent, and she is Colonel Petroff’s niece.”
“She is a spy?” Gar’s eyes turned hard. He knew of her, knew that I had been meeting with her, but I’d kept certain details secret. Such as the fact that she’d fought beside me, let me rest and heal with her people. It felt intimate and I was ready for neither interrogation nor suspicion.
“No.”
“Then why is she here?”
I found myself in an unusual position. I could not bring myself to admit that my possessive instincts dictated that I keep her safe; this was a new and unwelcome concept for me. And since when did I care what the others thought? Realistically, I feared they would see only the ugly Human and not the fierce warrior I knew. But they were also my closest comrades—my closest friends—and I owed them an explanation.
I just didn’t know what to say.
“She has certain abilities which, in the wrong hands, could be used against us. I wanted us to have the advantage, so I brought her here.”
“So, it is strategical?” Gar asked.
“Of course. Why else would I bring a Human here?”
Even as I said it though, it felt wrong, almost like a betrayal.
“How long will she be staying?” Venge asked, now a little more relaxed.
“I am not sure.” I knew they would assume a week or two, and I let them.
“How do you stand to look at her?” Strikr asked, as the others laughed.
“We can find her a different room than yours. Then you may rest i
n peace.”
They joked and laughed at Millie’s expense, offering unwanted advice. The urge to defend her, to tell them I no longer found her ugly and liked having her around, warred with admitting my softness toward the Human. And so I kept quiet.
A small, barely audible gasp outside my door; the other three turned and stared in unison, their laughter cut off to a deafening silence.
I knew Millie had overheard them, and my hearts sank. With all that she had done for me, taken care of me, given me her honesty and trust…now I felt lower than the low dwellers on my home planet for not defending her.
I steeled my shoulders, willing such thoughts away. She understood this was a union of protection, nothing more.
“Should I check that out?” Gar asked, all humor gone.
“No. Now tell me, what of the intruders that you apprehended?”
Gar proceeded to report on the two Andores caught sneaking into our territory. I barely heard him though, and I certainly could not focus; my thoughts were solely on Millie. The glyph on my chest ached a little, which made no sense at all.
Millicent
Okay, so I knew this was a marriage of convenience, but to hear them laughing at my expense? I felt lonelier than ever, even more than when I was truly on my own. When Murda told them I had abilities, it burned my throat. So much for keeping my secret. But what did I expect? Had I truly been so deluded as to believe he was actually different than every other man I had ever known?
After a minute or so of feeling sorry for myself, I did what I always did best: turned my hurt into anger and shoved it away.
Years ago, when my parents were still alive and life was simpler, I’d honed my skills at deciphering emotions. It had once been a useful tool but…I lost a lot of friends that way. I called them liars, when they swore they weren’t mad. I saw their jealousy, knew when they tried to deceive. After losing enough friends, I stopped looking at the strands. It made my life much easier.
And then the Andores showed up. My drive to find Raun ran so deep, I didn’t care about the aura or the strands. I’d already labeled them as evil bastards who destroyed families.
I needed to pay more attention again, to learn and protect myself. If I had done that to begin with, maybe I would’ve seen Murda’s true motives behind his offer of marriage. Right now, he was no better than the colonel.
Walking back into the kitchen, Sutar turned. “Did you find him?”
“I did. He was busy so I left him alone. We can eat the cake by ourselves.” I tried to smile but it felt forced and I knew it didn’t reach my eyes.
Needing to hone my skills, I studied Sutar when his back was turned. A gray aura, yes…but I had to look closer, dive into the gray and check the strands surrounding him. I could do that easily when someone was raging mad and the strands basically screamed at me to watch out. Now however, I needed to really look at all the colors.
Underneath, I watched brown and orange intertwine with a slight charcoal. “Do you like Earth?”
“It is not ideal,” he replied, as the orange and brown surged. So no, he didn’t. He loathed Earth and missed his home planet; at least that’s what the brown meant. The orange though, I couldn’t remember.
The timer on the stove beeped. I grabbed some potholders, opened the door and pulled out my perfectly baked chocolate cake. It had been a few years since I’d made one, but you never forgot the perfect recipe.
Sutar took out two plates from the cabinet and I poured two cups of coffee, then sliced us both a piece. He carried the plates while I followed with the coffee. The large dining table dwarfed the two of us, the room sounding hollow as I urged him on. “Take a bite.”
I cut my own piece and when the hot moist cake hit my tongue, my eyes closed in pure delight. I swallowed, my eyes fluttering open. Sutar stared with an odd expression on his face.
“Sorry.” I smiled as I cut another bite. “I know I’m hard to look at, but you’ll get used to me in time.”
He cleared his throat. “It is not that…” and then he shook his head and took a bite of cake.
Eyebrows raised in anticipation. “Well?”
He chewed slowly, swallowed. “It is different, an odd texture, but very good. Much better than the bacon and ham.”
“Trust me, homemade is much better than frozen or burnt.”
He smiled as we polished off our pieces.
“I think I’m going to have one more. Want some?” I asked, standing.
“Yes, thank you.”
When I returned, my steps faltered. Two others sat at the table with Sutar.
“Hmm,” I headed over and set the plates on the table. “I’ll be right back.”
“I will help you,” Sutar said, rising.
We carried the rest of the cake along with extra plates to the table. The other two took a slice.
“This is Zuar”—Sutar pointed to the one with buzzed dark hair— “and this is Mui.” The second one had short dark hair.
They both looked so different, yet their sunken cheeks, ashen skin color, those long claws…they were the same.
“Nice to meet you.”
They nodded.
I savored every bite of the moist cake while the other three polished off the rest.
“Can you show me how to make other foods like this?” Sutar’s orange band flared and I smiled, remembering now what the color meant: uneasiness.
“Yes.”
To my surprise, Zuar spoke. “Thank you for the food. It was a welcome surprise.”
Mui nodded. “We smelled it down the hall and decided to investigate.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
Sutar appeared hesitant. “Will you be staying with us long?” The orange flared again.
Murda didn’t want to tell them about our sham of a marriage. I’d just overheard him say he wasn’t sure how long I’d be there, confirming that it was a “strategical” move. And yet, I didn’t normally like lying. Until the threat was over, which it never would be as long as the Andores were here, I had no intentions of going anywhere. I’d simply move out of his room and keep away from everyone.
As angry as I was, I still knew that it was better to remain here. If I left, Jenna and the kids would be in jeopardy, and my other home—my Great Papa’s house—would be the first place the colonel looked for me.
“Yes. I believe so,” I answered after a moment.
Sutar sat back in his chair, relaxing.
“Do you mind if I hang out with you in the kitchen while I’m here?” I asked.
Orange flared again. “If it pleases the Kyrio.”
My eyes narrowed; I’d heard that term before. “The what?”
Each man stiffened suddenly, their eyes trailing over my shoulder.
“Millicent,” a deep, barely audible voice said.
I glanced back. Murda stood in the doorway, a hard look on his face. I studied the strands. Anger was the most prominent, mixed with two other colors I’d yet to master.
“Yes?”
“Let’s go.”
I bristled at his cold order, but kept a calm outward appearance. Turning back around and standing, I smiled. “Thanks Sutar, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye Mui, bye Zuar.”
Standing in front of Murda, his face looked even icier than before, if that was possible.
Silently, I followed him back to his other apartment, the one located in the same building as his office, even though it was still early. Or was it late? The Tizuns apparently slept during the day and stayed up all night.
The silence was deafening, the tension thick as I followed him inside. Without a word, I headed to the bathroom. A warm soak would defrost the icy feeling in my heart.
Bending over, I’d turned the water on, testing until the temperature was perfect.
“Millicent…” His voice was low, hesitant.
I froze, never turned around, never answered. Just let him stare at my back.
“Are you not speaking to me?”
Anger, maybe
hurt, but definitely anger flared strongest in a burst of emotions. I spun, jabbing my finger at his chest.
“Why? What’s the point?” (I may have been yelling).
He stepped closer, eyes blazing. “Explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I’m the ugly Human and you’re ashamed of me. I get it. Whatever!” I threw my hands in the air, then turned my back on him again.
His hand gripped my arm, spinning me around to face him. One hand circled my neck without squeezing as he pressed me against the wall, his body almost touching mine.
Inches away, he said while staring into my eyes, “I am not ashamed, but nor am I am willing to share with them.”
“And yet, you told them I had abilities!” I spat. “You let them make fun and laugh at my expense. How terrible it must be for you to have to sleep with me.”
His nostrils flared; his eyes trailed to my parted lips. “I have told you I am not Human.”
“News flash: I fucking know that!”
The glyph on my hand heated. Being this close to Murda, my emotions heightened, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to knee him in the balls or ride him until we were both spent.
He stepped even closer, if that was possible. “You do not know our ways.”
I still pushed him, but I didn’t know for what. These feelings confused me, but I wanted…something. “You should have thought about that before you married me!”
Lightning fast, his hand snapped around to the back of my neck, his fingers fisted in my hair and pulled. With my chin tilted up, those intense brimstone eyes blazed with bright orange flecks scattered like the stars in a red sunset.
Something coiled inside and I wanted—no I needed— something other than indifference. Something only he could give me.
Without warning, his lips crashed down on mine, moving with a desperation that matched my own. This—this is what I craved.
No! I screamed internally. I will not be controlled, either by my own lust or some alien stranger I stupidly married!
With both hands on his chest, I shoved as hard as I could, breaking off the kiss. “No.” I shook my head and tried to think straight, then curled my upper lip in a snarl. “You let them laugh at me!”
He growled, his face transforming into…I don’t know what to call it. His eyes narrowed, wrinkles crinkled his face, and his teeth grew in length. He looked, scary—feral—exotic. His lips devoured mine again, and this time I couldn’t make myself resist.
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