by Roxie Ray
The moment the words escaped my lips, I cursed myself inwardly. I hadn't wanted to give him any clues about my abilities – but how the hell was he supposed to take a comment like that one?
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “I can't hear any difference.”
“Well, maybe our species are sensitive to different frequencies or something.”
“Indeed they are,” he replied, gesturing to his pointed ears. “We Valkredians are capable of perceiving far more of the auditory spectrum than humans can. So if there were a discrepancy, I'm quite certain I'd be able to hear it for myself.”
“Must be one of the universe's many mysteries, then,” I snapped. “Now, was there something you needed from me?”
“As a matter of fact, there is,” he answered. “The way I see it, we've both been hiding things from each other. And that, I feel, is not an auspicious start to our relationship. I'd like to correct that.”
“What is it you think I've been hiding from you?” I met his gaze evenly, trying to conceal my nervousness.
“Come now, there's no need for pretending. You have an ability. One your fellow humans do not share. Even the blindest Delvyan cave mole could see that.”
“Okay, you've found me out. It's no use hiding it from you anymore, I can see that now. You're just too clever – you'll find out about my secret talents eventually. So here it is.” I took a deep breath, and then said, “I am an awesome singer. Like, fucking phenomenal, seriously. Beyond the capabilities of all other Earthlings. Do you want to hear some Cher? Maybe a little Celine Dion?”
He threw his head back and cackled. “Oh, you are good! It will be a great pleasure to have you with me on this journey, ha! And I would love a chance to hear you sing at some point, once our mission is behind us. But I think we both know I was referring to your mental powers. Your… what's the proper word? Your clairvoyance. Your ability to perceive things that others cannot. There's no need for you to pretend otherwise. When we had physical contact on the station, you saw something – heard something – that was in my mind. There was no other way you could know.”
I sighed. I hated that he'd been able to figure all of this out, but it seemed senseless to keep denying it – clearly, he had no intention of just letting it go. Still, my heart was pounding with panic at the idea of speaking the words aloud for the first time in my life.
“Yeah. Fine. You're right. I can do… that. I guess that makes me more valuable to you, huh?”
“More than you know,” he agreed smoothly. “You see, Torqa's treachery isn't the only reason I'm trying to find her. She has something. A very important book. One that I must locate as quickly as possible. Your assistance in this regard would be invaluable. If we succeed, you have my word that I will set you free and return you to your planet.”
I couldn't believe my ears. “You'd do that? You'd let me go home?”
“If you agree to cooperate? Certainly.”
“Well… I mean, obviously, I'd love that.” My mind was racing at the idea. I'd spent so much time on that space station that I'd given up on ever seeing my own planet again. Now it seemed like that possibility was within my reach. “But I'm not gonna lie, Zark: I'm kind of worried. See, if these things I can do are as rare and useful as you claim, won't other people come and try to take me by force, so they can put my abilities to work for them once they realize I have them?”
“I can promise you that I will never allow that to happen. You will have my full might behind you, along with that of this ship, my brother, and his empire. Those who attempt to seize you do so at their peril. If you doubt me, by all means, touch me again and look into my mind and heart.”
He pulled up one of his sleeves, offering his bare forearm to me.
I reached out, winced in anticipation of the flood of sensations I was about to experience – and touched his skin, hoping it would work.
It did.
His thoughts and feelings washed over me like a powerful ocean wave, battering me, taking my breath away. He did need my help – in fact, he was far more desperate for it than he'd let on. He did mean to protect me from any threats that might present themselves, viscously and swiftly. He did have strong feelings for me… ones he couldn't explain, but refused to deny.
“Mate?” Why did that word flicker through his mind? What did it mean to him?
I wanted to probe him more deeply, to determine the exact nature of his need for the book. But I couldn't bear it anymore, and disconnected sharply before I became too overwhelmed by the psychic force that was assailing me.
“Have you ascertained that I'm telling the truth?” Zark asked.
“Yes. I have. And I accept your offer.” I had to admit to myself that my decision wasn't based solely on what I'd read from his mind. There was also an undeniable magnetism to his presence. I was… drawn to him. Part of me was even eager to embark on this mission with him.
Besides, how hard could it be to find a book?
5
Zark
I clapped my hands together, overjoyed by her acceptance of my proposal. Inwardly, I also breathed a huge sigh of relief. My time was swiftly running out. One more moon cycle, and I would surely be dead. Now, I had the strongest plan I’d come up with so far, the best chance at finding the book within the curse’s restrictions.
And even if we didn't succeed, well, at least I'd get to spend my final weeks with this fascinating woman by my side. Not bad, as consolation prizes went.
“Splendid!” I exclaimed. “Thank you, Miranda. I am most grateful to you.”
“Hey, you're probably my only ticket home,” she answered ruefully. “So, tell me about this book, and why it's so important to you.”
I sat down on the bed next to her, trying to think of the best way to explain my circumstances to her. “How much do you know about Lunians, Miranda?”
She thought it over for a moment. “They're the ones with the silvery glowing skin, right?”
I nodded.
“Not a lot,” she said. “There was one who used to hang out at the bar all the time… drinking, asking endless rhetorical questions about the ironies of the cosmos, and boring everyone around him utterly shitless.”
“Well, they are indeed a philosophical race, though most of them are far more… shall we say, austere than the one you've described. They are oracles, seers, weavers of spells. Some say they even live forever. One of the most notable and mysterious among them is named Respen. He is known for having a vast library of ancient and powerful tomes, of incalculable value.”
“Okay, I'm with you so far,” she said. “So what does any of that have to do with you?”
“Exactly one year ago, my brother and I were on a diplomatic mission to his home planet of Yuluna,” I continued. “Naturally, Torqa accompanied us, as Akzun's chief advisor and head of security. Our hope was to enlist the Lunians' aid in our war against the Mana. Unsurprisingly, the Lunians refused. Their abilities are formidable, and they would have been excellent assets, but they do not involve themselves in such conflicts. Frankly, even seeking a summit with them about this was an act of desperation on my brother's part. And while we were there, one of Respen's books – indeed, one of the grandest prizes of his entire collection – went missing.”
“What was it?”
“The Grimoire of Gaussanak. Written by mighty celestial creatures birthed at the creation of all things, who have been extinct for millennia now. No one is entirely certain of the exact secrets it contains… even opening the book requires strong magic, and most beings in the galaxy can't read the words without their eyes burning. Respen is the only one alive in all the universe who has read it for himself, and he's never revealed the contents.”
“Yikes. And he assumed you guys stole it, huh?”
“Of course he did! We were the only non-Lunians on the planet! That damn book had been undisturbed for five hundred thousand years, and suddenly it was gone? How could it have been literally anyone else? And the hell of it was, he was right. I
saw Torqa with it afterward. She had stolen it, certain that she'd be able to use whatever was in it as some kind of ultimate weapon against the Mana.”
“Why didn't you report her?”
“We… were close friends,” I said reluctantly. “She could be smug, and arrogant, and hot-tempered, and damned impossible to deal with at times, but there was another side to her, too. Back then, anyway. And she was so cunning and strong, so brilliantly mercurial. A perfect warrior of Valkred in every way. I was appointed advisor to the Blood Ruler because I'm Akzun's brother, and I've always done my best. But Torqa earned the position, a thousand times over. I used to believe that if we had any hope at all of winning the war against the Mana, it was because of her.”
Miranda's eyes softened with sympathy. “Sounds like you admired her a lot. It must have been awful for you when she turned on you.”
I nodded, even though the way she put it made it all seem so simple – when in truth, it had been anything but.
“Later, when I tried to convince her to return the book so we could salvage this political nightmare, she claimed she'd lost it. I didn't believe her, but what could I do? Interrogate her? She'd only have laughed in my face. And perhaps there was some small part of me that had hoped she had it, that she'd use it to end the war after all.”
“That makes sense.”
“The way I saw it,” I went on, “it was my duty – to my brother, my friend, and the entire empire – to claim responsibility, so our planet wouldn't be dragged into another horrible war. Even though I couldn't produce the book, I could still say I'd stolen it, and that I had lost it. I didn't go to my brother first… I knew that if I had, he wouldn't allow me to do what needed to be done. Instead, I went straight to Respen and told him my story. I was sure he'd kill me on the spot. Just point his long white finger and zap me out of the space-time continuum.”
She raised her eyebrows skeptically. “What stopped him?”
I frowned. “I'm not sure. Maybe he saw through my lie, but admired the fact that I'd taken responsibility. The motivations of Lunians are often impossible for other races to understand. They do things their own way, in their own time. But he charged me with finding the book and returning it to him. He locked me into an individual curse and allowed me to go, in order to spare diplomatic relations between our people.”
“In thirteen moon cycles or you die, right?” Miranda asked. “That's what I saw inside your head. What's a ‘moon cycle?’ A month?”
I swallowed hard. “Roughly, yes. And Respen promised the death would be slow, gradual – not to mention remarkably agonizing. If I do not find the book within the next moon cycle, my life will be forfeit.”
Miranda reached out, putting a hand on my shoulder tenderly. “God, you must be terrified. I'm so sorry to hear you've been going through this for a year… it must have been hard on you. Does your brother know?”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “He never found out I went to Respen. I never told him – as far as he knows, Respen just let us go and somehow persuaded the Lunians to let the matter rest. Akzun has too much to worry about already, and it was important that diplomatic relations be maintained for the good of our people. I had hoped to fix this myself so he'd never have to know. And now, with your help, there's a chance that I can.”
“I'll do everything I can, of course.” Her voice was husky, concerned. Could it be that she was concerned with more than just returning to Earth – that she actually cared about my well-being?
“I appreciate that. Thank you. How did you come by your abilities?” I asked briskly, hoping to change the subject. Thinking of my own impending death had deeply shaken me. On that night a year ago, my decision to take responsibility and damn the consequences had been impulsive. But having thirteen moon cycles to agonize over it had often come close to driving me utterly mad. Still, if I had to do it over again, I knew I'd have made the same decision. Being the brother of the Blood Ruler meant placing the needs of Valkred ahead of my own.
“I can't say for sure,” Miranda answered. Even with the change in subject, her hand remained on my shoulder.
Interesting.
“There were old stories my grandmother and aunts used to tell, about how all the women in my family were descended from witches,” she continued. “They laughed about it and told ridiculous tall tales, treated it like it was a big, long-running joke whenever they were together. None of them ever actually had supernatural abilities, though. Not that I ever found out about, at least. Looking back, I wonder if they were just hiding it, like I was.”
“Why did you never ask them?” I inquired. “Surely, you must have felt lonely, with these strange powers and no one to confide in about them.”
“About as lonely as you feel, carrying around a curse without being able to tell anyone,” she replied smartly.
I grinned. “Touché.”
“Still, you're right. It was extremely difficult, growing up with these…” She grimaced. “Christ, I never know what to call them. ‘Abilities’ makes me sound like something from The X-Files. ‘Powers’ is, like, from a comic book.”
“Perhaps ‘gifts?’” I suggested. “There are many in the universe who would envy them.”
“Yeah, well, they never felt much like gifts to me,” she scoffed. “And if that's what they are, I wish they'd come with a receipt so I could return them. I wanted to tell my family about them, or my friends. Hell, there were times when I almost did. The right boyfriend, the right time, the right number of beers… I desperately wanted to talk about it. But I was terrified that if I ever did, they'd think I was crazy. Then the wrong people could find out, and I'd be sent to a damn insane asylum for the rest of my life.” She paused, and then laughed. “Actually, it's kind of a relief, being able to discuss it with you openly.”
“I'm exceedingly glad I can put you at ease,” I said. It seemed my decision to give her space, to build her trust, was beginning to work. “Particularly after everything you've been through since you were taken from Earth. Forced to work for that perverted troll Nos, pawed at by the alien trash of the galaxy…”
“Stolen away suddenly by some weirdo claiming to be a prince.” She smirked.
I grinned back. “Well, a good-looking weirdo, at least.”
She tilted her head, squinting at me. The effect was quite disarming. “You are, actually. For a, you know…”
“Vampire?” I guessed.
“Yeah, for a vampire. Those wings of yours are very pretty, and you have nice hair. Kind eyes, too. And for what it's worth, you do seem to have a lot of charm and compassion – two traits I haven't encountered in anyone since I was taken from Earth. I was starting to think the entire galaxy was full of terminally shitty people.”
“It certainly has more than its share,” I admitted.
“Plus, there's something else,” she mused. “You're a psychic, too.”
I shrugged. “If you say so. I'm Valkredian, nothing more. Our ability to communicate with our minds is no different to us than your ability to communicate verbally. We don't give it much thought.”
“Even so, you know how I feel – what I've experienced – better than anyone on my own world ever has. That's a special thing. To me, at least.”
Her hand was slowly traveling from my shoulder to the back of my neck – stroking it softly. The sensation sent delicious shivers up and down my spine. Could this really be happening? Could she actually be attracted to me, as I was attracted to her? It seemed like too much to hope for.
“You are… trying to distract me,” I whispered. “You want me to lower my guard so you can attempt escape.”
“How could I do that?” she purred. “You said the escape pods were only programmed to obey Valkredian commands.”
“A resourceful woman like you?” I laughed, my voice shaky. “I doubt you'd let a tiny detail like that stop you.”
“Maybe not. Maybe this is just something I feel like I have to do first.”
And with that, she lea
ned in, kissing me.
6
Miranda
I couldn't believe what I was doing, but I couldn't stop myself, either.
Of all the times in my life when I'd been overcome by my abilities – when I'd felt them pulling me in a very specific direction, one that didn't seem to make any sense to me – this was the most overwhelming and undeniable by far. It was as though I was on some strange and wonderful autopilot, with no choice but to simply give in and let my body take me where it would.
Was I trying to escape? To throw him off with my feminine wiles, like some sexpot from a spy movie? Perhaps, but it sure didn't feel that way when I was kissing him. It felt like something I desperately wanted to do… something I'd been searching for my entire life, without ever realizing it.
And now that I'd found it, I couldn't help but hang on with both hands.
Our lips moved together, our tongues exploring each other tenderly. He held me tight, pulling me closer. I could feel the purple curls of his hair gently tickling my forehead, my cheek. I don't know what I expected from the breath of a creature who fed on blood, but it tasted oddly sweet and flowery, like lavender.
Zark's hands caressed my body as he ran his palms over my upper arms, my sides, my chest. I was still wearing the flimsy dress Nos had forced me to wear, and I could feel the chill of his fingers through the thin material. My nipples hardened immediately, and from the way he exhaled, I could tell that he noticed – and approved.
He slid the silky dress down, exposing my breasts and teasing them with his cold fingertips. As he did, he planted a series of kisses down the side of my neck. My heartbeat quickened, and for a moment, I felt doused by a cold panic – certain that all of this had just been a pretext for him to bite me, to suck out my blood.
But no. His kisses kept coming, harmless and beautiful. I vaguely felt the points of his fangs behind his lips, but they didn't prick my skin. He was being careful, even loving.