by Eve Langlais
A loud boom shook the building, thunderclap after thunderclap. She pressed her hands to her ears to block the sound but couldn’t stop the truth from hammering its way in, a storm inside her heart and head until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“No!”
Chapter 16
Darius managed to catch Shereen before she fell. The shocking admission was a little too much. She clung to him and sobbed softly into his shirt, betrayed and hurting.
He didn’t like it one bit. He eyed the smaller man, who still had that annoying smirk on his face. His fist almost fixed it for him.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around Shereen and growled, “Start explaining.”
“Perhaps we should settle the princess somewhere comfortable first.”
He shook his head. “I am not putting her back in one of those cells.”
“Hardly a cell. Those are our private guest quarters.”
“I take it you don’t get many repeaters,” he muttered. “What do non-guests get?”
“Dormitory space. It’s more practical.”
“And less private.”
“That might have been true once. However, we’re not as populous a species as we used to be.”
“Who are you anyhow?” he asked.
“Doctor Pomme.”
“And where are we?”
“The Lazuli capital, of course.”
“Well, Doctor, I’m going to need to speak to whoever’s above you.”
“We no longer subscribe to that kind of concept. As an evolved society, we each perform our roles.”
“You got rid of your king?” Darius’s obviously outdated knowledge still had them governed by an Enclave court system.
“The king died during the Crimson Keep culling and was not replaced.”
“What of the rest of the Enclave?”
“Disbanded. We are now judged based on our scientific merit.”
Interesting how a system that had ruled for more than a century finally showed signs of collapsing. How long before the entire continent developed new governments?
“Where are you hiding the rooms with a view?” Darius supported a shaking Shereen down the long boring hall.
Pomme tried to keep pace at his back. “There are none.”
Darius paused and glanced back at the man. “You mean to say all your rooms are windowless cells?”
“They’re more efficient that way.”
“Seriously?”
“It makes it easier to control the ambient temperature, not to mention keep the air cleaner.”
“But you need daylight.” This was a fact because everyone knew the ghouls evolved because they were forced to live in darkness.
“Some choose to get their quotient of it by going outside, but most prefer the ultraviolet lighting that reproduces it.”
“You mean you fake it.” Rather than keep asking about the Lazuli choice of architecture, he tackled the burning question. “What did you mean when you said you’re the reason she has no power?”
“Her father is the reason she’s spent her life powerless,” Pomme corrected. “We just provided the means at his request.”
“You mean to say you experimented on a child?” His anger roused.
Pomme lifted his nose. “No experiment. The treatment is well established, if rarely used.”
“Why?” was the faint query from his side as Shereen entered the conversation.
“After the death of your brothers, the Sapphire king feared for his only daughter’s safety.”
“My brothers died in accidents,” Shereen stubbornly insisted.
But Darius understood what the Lazuli doctor implied. “I think what the doctor is saying is those weren’t accidents, princess.”
“No.” She sobbed the word.
Darius glanced at Pomme. “I take it the princes showed promise of inheriting the king’s power.”
“They did. Not as strongly, but enough that a lord who greedily eyed the throne felt threatened. The king eventually ferreted out the plotting lord but not before his wife and unborn child, plus his two sons, died. Fearing another lady or lord might one day do the same to his daughter, he came to us for aid.”
“My mother. My brothers. Murdered.” Shereen shoved away from Darius. She eyed the doctor. “You suppressed my deviant gene. You’re the reason I’m not Aunimaa.”
“Our serum did the job it was supposed to. When given at regular intervals, it quells a person’s innate psionic ability.”
“Meaning I have power.” Shereen glanced at her hands. “What kind?”
“At the time of treatment, you were too young to tell, and if your father knew then, he never divulged.” The man shrugged.
“Now that she’s not taking this serum, will the effect wear off?” Darius wondered aloud.
Again with the shoulder roll. “Maybe yes, partially and over time, but not entirely. Given the length of time her treatment lasted, she will need help to fully unlock her gifts.”
“What kind of help?” she asked.
“The kind your father didn’t want you to pursue,” Darius reminded, more gruffly than intended.
Reaching the end of the hall, Darius shoved open a door to a staircase going down. Still no windows, just more annoying lighting. “What floor are we on?”
“Seventh. But the levels are all of the same design except for the first and second floors with the communal space and the medical labs.”
“Seven and no elevator.” He sighed. “Are you good to walk, princess, or do you want me to carry you?”
She began to walk down in reply.
Pomme kept talking. “You have to understand your father requested the treatment out of concern.”
She paused abruptly and whirled on the doctor. “And you did this for what? What price did you extract to ply a child with drugs?”
“That was between us and the old king.”
She snorted. “Unbelievable. You can’t even apologize for doing it.”
“Apologize?” Pomme seemed genuinely perplexed. “We did nothing wrong. On the contrary, we did exactly as contracted.”
“Without my permission because I would have never agreed,” she hissed.
“But your father did, and when he didn’t reverse it as you got older, we reached out. We are trying to make amends.”
“Can you fix the last twenty some years where I was treated as inferior?” The anger fairly simmered from her.
Darius grabbed her hand and squeezed it. A slight shock went through him at the contact, as if he’d touched a live wire. She leaned into him.
Pomme still didn’t look chagrinned. “You are angry with the wrong person.”
“Well, I can’t exactly yell at my father, can I? He’s dead!” She stomped down the stairs.
Darius let her simmer. She had a right to be angry. “You said something about my ship being here with my crew?”
“Yes, they are currently docked in the bay.”
“Which is in what direction once we leave this building?” Darius resumed their trek down the stairs.
“South, but you can’t leave. Not yet. We have to help the princess,” the doctor sputtered.
“Never said I was leaving, but your accommodations suck, not to mention the princess needs to process the news about her father and eat some real food, not slop. So we’re going to spend the night in comfort on the Avenger where we will discuss what she wishes to do next. If you want to help your case, you might want to prepare a report on exactly what you’ve done to her and what you plan to do to reverse it, including possible side effects and dangers.”
“You can’t expect us to divulge our secrets.” Pomme drew in a breath to puff his chest.
“Actually, as the queen’s counsel, I can do whatever the fuck I please.” With that final retort, he skipped down the steps, catching up to Shereen, who’d paused and obviously heard him.
She didn’t giggle until they reached the bottom and emerged from the building. The air stung the lungs wi
th hints of smoke. A residue clung to the outside of the structures and the street. Everything appeared dirty, which might explain the decision to not have windows.
“Queen’s counsel, huh?” she snickered
“I had to say something to shut him up. All this pressure to make amends and shit. He obviously wants something from you.”
“Or maybe he truly feels guilty about what they did to me when I was a kid.”
“Doubtful.”
“Don’t forget, they did send an offer to fix me.”
“Didn’t the offer come with a price?”
She shrugged. “Nothing is ever free. Although, in this case, they broke it, meaning they should fix it.”
“Fix it?” he exclaimed. “They’ve already messed with you once. You can’t let them do it again.” He kept their pace quick, especially once he noted those outside all seemed to wear masks on the bottom halves of their faces.
“But that’s just it. They’re probably the only ones who can undo it.”
“What if they can’t?”
“What is it with you? Why don’t you want me to have my power back?” She yanked her hand from his.
He turned to meet her stubborn stare. “The truth is I want you to have it, but I don’t want you to subject yourself to any hokey science to do it. I don’t trust that doctor.”
“Me either, but what choice do I have?”
He gathered her close. “Let me bring you somewhere that’s never heard of the Enclave or the Sapphire kingdom.”
“What about the citizens?”
“Let them fend for themselves.”
Wrong thing to say.
“That’s cold,” she declared.
“Did they come to your aid when you needed them?” was his harsh reply.
She dropped her gaze. “They never had a chance to step up. And you’re one to talk. I recall a certain pirate giving his first mate a dressing down for coming to my rescue.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?”
He almost said before I started caring for you. “I don’t want you to be hurt.” he admitted instead, saying aloud the thing he feared most.
That brought her attention back on him. Her hand reached to cup his cheek. “I know. But—”
She never got to finish.
“Capn’! There you are.” From the fog stomped the first mate. Jorah appeared hale, but his timing could be better.
“What are you doing here? You should be watching the ship.”
“Da ship is fine, and I know da pompous prick said ya was sleepn’, but I was tired of waiting.”
“How are the rest of the crew?” Darius asked, looping Shereen’s arm in his and following Jorah to the dock.
“Good, although Tanzie is pissed. She donna like surprises.”
Being drugged in an ambush would certainly count. “The Lazuli have some interesting toys.”
“Der hologram defense shields have gotten sophisticated since I left,” Jorah remarked.
“Why did you leave?” Shereen entered the discussion with a soft query.
“Da water was bad.”
“I know that,” she exclaimed. “But you chose to leave the kingdom entirely instead of moving downstream where it was safe. Why? Are the Lazuli rulers mean to their citizens, too?”
Jorah glanced over at her. “Nope. Not nice either. Dey are only focused on da science, and I’m better at sea.”
“They like to play with things they shouldn’t,” Darius muttered, referring to the fact their experiments with genetics weren’t just rumor.
His brother had tried to tell him someone was messing with nature. Making monsters. Roark was right. Some species should never be mixed.
“Ya, da doctors, dey playing with things dey shouldna. And it was bad. So I left.” Jorah led them to the dock and the welcome sight of the Avenger bobbing alongside it.
It didn’t take long to relax at the familiarity of his deck underfoot. It eased him somewhat that no one stopped him from boarding. He saw the reason why a moment later.
“Are we locked in the bay?” Darius asked, noticing the wall of metal marching across the mouth.
“Yup. Dey say it’s ta keep da river monsters out.”
“Monsters, eh?” He eyed the wall a moment longer before turning away. “Anything to report?”
“Nothing since we woke in our beds a day ago.”
“A day?” Did everyone wake before him?
“The Lazuli brought me ta see ya and da princess. Ya were both healing, so we made sure da ship was good and was waiting.”
“Any paths out of the city?”
“Only one through da mountains via train. But it left a few days ago. Won’t be back for a few more.”
“Meaning if we want out of here, we need to make sure it’s by boat.” Good because he wasn’t ready to abandon his faithful vessel.
“What we do now, Capn’?”
“That is what we have to figure out. If you don’t mind, the princess and I need some privacy to discuss some things.”
“Aye, Capn’.”
Shereen didn’t need prodding to head to their room. She whirled and started to talk the moment they got inside. “Listen I know it’s danger—”
He stifled her words with a kiss. A hot one that branded her lips. “No talking, not just yet.” He needed to touch her. Reassure himself she was all right. He only meant to kiss for a bit. Touch enough to ensure she was whole.
He should have known better. Being near her ignited all his senses. He tried to pull away. They did have important things to discuss. Decisions to make.
But she stood on tiptoe and nipped his chin. “Don’t you dare stop now. You made me a promise. I’m still waiting.”
The promise to give her pleasure. “We should—”
She cupped him. “You should stop talking and get naked.”
As she stepped back, she peeled her jumpsuit, revealing her body. The shape of her was pleasing to his gaze. Her hips undulated as she neared him and dragged a finger down his chest.
It brought a shudder as he tried to hold himself in check. They really had more important things to handle. But how could he just ignore her seductive allure?
Her hands gripped the fabric at his hips and tugged, freeing him. It was more than a man could resist. With a groan of surrender, he caught her around the waist and lifted her enough their lips could meet.
Lips joined, they stumbled backwards to the bed, his legs hitting the edge hard. He sat, dragging her into his lap, the skin-to-skin contact sizzling.
With her in reach, he could explore the flesh that taunted his every waking thought. Invaded his dreams. She sat on his thighs, her eyes half shut with smoldering passion, her lips swollen from his kiss, her skin flushed.
He stroked a finger down the side of her face. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
Her breath caught. “You don’t need to tell me that.”
“It’s the truth.” He cupped her head and drew her close for a kiss. A deep one with tongues and hot breaths, lips that couldn’t stop tasting.
He wanted more than kissing, though. He wanted to worship her. To taste and touch every inch of her flesh.
But he couldn’t do that with her on his lap. He lay her down on his bed, admired the view of her.
When she reached for him, he didn’t stop her. Couldn’t. She tugged that tight garment down over his hips. Burned him with her ardent gaze. When she brushed her hand over his dick …
He shuddered. Never before had he felt so out of control, so needy…
Before she grabbed him tight and made him lose himself, he fell upon her, his lips coasting over the velvety smoothness of her flesh. He cupped her breasts, squeezing and pushing them together. He spent a moment teasing her taut nipples, sucking at the buds, tugging them hard enough to make her moan.
He inserted a thigh between her legs, pressing against her wet cleft. Already she was ready for him. He wanted nothing more than to sink into the heat of
her. Instead, he played some more.
He sucked at her nipples, replacing his leg with a hand. He stroked her nether lips with his fingers, finding her button and rubbing it until her hips jerked and she grabbed at him, biting at him in her eagerness.
She panted into his mouth, “Darius. I need you.”
And he needed her.
Positioning himself over her, he laced his fingers with hers and placed their linked hands over her head. Her thighs were spread to welcome him. He held her gaze as he thrust into her.
She gasped each time he penetrated her deeply.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she growled, “Kiss me.”
He kissed her and thrust at the same time. The connection between them unlike anything he’d ever experienced. The sense of rightness overwhelming. The pleasure…
Fuck, the pleasure. There was nothing better than being buried balls deep within her.
Especially when she chanted, “Yes. Yes. Oh. Darius.”
As he thrust, the strong suction of her sex had him barely holding on. She gripped him so tight he had to pull and push, stretch her and fill her.
When her body went rigid and a long cry exhaled from her lips, he could hold on no longer. He came, his cock pulsing in time to her climax. Pure bliss.
Absolute perfection that was so rare he almost said the words he never thought would pass his lips.
He bit his tongue instead and collapsed beside her. “Damn, princess.”
“I would have said double damn,” was her huffed reply.
He chuckled. “Are you feeling okay?” He’d noticed the pink flesh of her healing wound.
“Better than okay.” Shereen panted as she lay on her back, the picture of flushed satiation.
“And I guess we have our answer,” he said, stroking a hand up and down her body.
“What answer?”
“As to what we do next. We’ll ask the Lazuli to open their gates so we can sail in the morning.”
She lifted herself on an elbow to face him. “I don’t know if they can treat me that quickly.”
That brought a frown. “You can’t still mean to let them ply their sick science on you.”
“Who says I ever changed my mind?” Then her eyes widened. “Did you think us having sex would make me forget why I’m here? You heard him. I have power,” she insisted, sitting up in the bed. “If they can unlock it—”