by Lili Zander
“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?
Then it strikes me. How could I have missed it? There were sixteen stasis pods in the back of the ship—Lio and I had opened all of them. Seven had been occupied. And five of the stasis pods had shown signs of use.
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 are 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.”
What did I miss while I was on my date with Zunix and Liorax? “What do you mean, it’ll happen soon enough?” Why do you think so?”
“Oh, come on, Olivia. Have you seen the Draekons? Talk about tall, dark, and handsome.” She fans herself exaggeratedly. “The guys are a cross between male-supermodel and sex-on-a-stick. Three months? I doubt it’ll take longer than three weeks. Plus,” she adds enviously, “Did you see the way they looked at them?”
“Let me guess,” I say dryly. “Like we’re the turkey in a Thanksgiving feast?”
She shakes her head. “That’s what I would have expected, but no. I was watching Paige’s two guys. The way they looked at her…” She pauses. “It’s as if their dream had come true.”
Because soon they will be able to transform at will, I think cynically. But that’s not right. Not all the Draekons seem to care about being dragons. Only Zunix.
My lips twist bitterly. Just my luck. I have four guys fighting over me, but I’m fairly sure that none of them want me for me.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Liv. You’re safe, while Viola, Harper, Ryanna, and Sofia are somewhere out there, lost in the jungle.
“I want to go explore,” she continues wistfully. “But I couldn’t find anyone to tell me if it’s safe out there.”
“You want to go exploring?” I give her a puzzled look. “I thought you’d be freaking out.”
“Are you kidding me?” For the first time, her eyes gleam with enthusiasm. “Olivia, we’re on an alien planet. How many people on Earth can say they’ve visited an entirely different, habitable planet?”
“We’re not visiting as much as we’re stuck here for the rest of our lives,” I point out.
She shrugs, unconcerned. “You can’t get me down about this. I’m just too excited. If I had a knife or a gun or something, I’d set off on my own, but after the sea of crabs last night, I thought it might be a good idea to look before I leap. My brother always used to say I was too impulsive.”
Brother? I’ve looked through the files of the women chosen by the Zorahn, and the one thing they have in common is an absence of close family. Then I remember the details. Bryce’s twin brother died of a drug overdose last year, and ever since then, she’s been fighting depression. She’d even tried to kill herself after his death.
A sudden surge of sympathy for the other woman runs through me. “Come on.” I get to my feet. “You’re right. There’s no reason to be cooped up in here when there’s an entire world out there to explore. Let’s go for a walk.”
“Umm, Olivia. The predators?”
“Don’t worry.” I point to my chest. “Even on an alien planet, the girls attract attention. I’m sure that the moment we go out, someone will show up to ogle them. We’ll ask if it’s safe before we set out.”
She gives me a questioning look. “It doesn’t bother you?”
“I’ve had boobs since I was thirteen,” I mutter. “I’m used to it.”
“Ouch.”
Ouch indeed.
We climb down the rope ladder, and sure enough, we haven’t taken two steps when a Draekon appears, one of the two that set up the target in this morning’s shooting match. I’m pretty sure his name is Bolox. “Can I help you with something?” he asks my cleavage.
Time for Ditz-Olivia. I flutter my eyelashes. “Bryce and I thought we’d go for a walk.” I giggle a little. “It’s such a warm day, and I th
ought we could work on our tans.”
He gapes at me. Before he can think of a reply, a familiar voice cuts in. It’s Liorax. “I’ll show them around, Bolox.”
I frown at him. I’m not ready to deal with Liorax just yet. He’d escorted me back to Dariux’s treehouse twenty minutes ago without saying a single word to me, and I admit, I’m a bit resentful about it. “I thought you said you had some work to do,” I say sulkily.
His lips lift in a smile. “What could be more important than spending time with my mate?”
He lies with such ease.
Redheads are supposed to have a temper. I’ve fought against that stereotype my entire life, staying steady and calm even when I’ve been tempted to lose my cool. But I’ve had enough of Liorax’s hot and cold act. I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think about his so-called desire to spend time with me when Bryce jumps in. “Hi,” she says with a wide smile. “I’m Bryce. Thank you for getting us out of the ship yesterday.”
“It was my pleasure,” he says. “Is your leg well enough to walk, Olivia?”
Yes, he’s concerned, and that’s nice, but there’s no need to swoon all over him because of that. “Yes,” I say shortly and ungraciously. Bryce gives me a sidelong look. “I’m fine.”
Liorax’s blue eyes rest on me. “Let me know if it gets painful, and I’ll carry you.”
As if. Bryce suppresses a giggle at the mutinous expression on my face. “Where are we going?” she asks eagerly. “Is it safe to walk around during the day? Are there animals that are going to eat us?”
Liorax’s lips twitch at her volley of questions. “There are two lakes within walking distance,” he says. “One large lake immediately to the north of us, Lake Ang, and another one, Lake Tuli, to the south.”
We went north this morning, and we’re heading the same direction now, though if I’m judging the distance correctly, we’re heading for the western edge of the lake.
“Is it safe to walk around?” Bryce asks.
“As long as you don’t get lost,” he says. “Just make sure you get to safety by dusk.”