by Hope Hart
I use one claw to cut the thick strap off the bag and take a deep breath.
This will hurt.
Talis had landed a glancing blow and his weapon was obviously not fully charged or I would be dead. But I am bleeding enough that my death may be long and painful. I take one breath, and bring her face to mind. I focus on that quick grin and smart mouth, forcing myself to stay conscious as I sit up further.
I will make it back to her.
I take the strap and pull it around the worst of my wound, hoping to replicate the technique Harlow used to slow the bleeding when I was injured just a few short months ago. The gleam of the metal of my arm is a constant reminder of how close I came to death. I wonder if I will lose this leg too. Perhaps I will return to Meghan more metal than male.
Tighten the strap, or you will not return at all.
I cannot afford to scream, in case there are predators nearby. I lean over, biting into the thick material of the bag and groan lowly as I pull the strap tight, tying it in a knot.
I slump down and stare up at the night sky.
I am lying on the ship, a flood of blood escaping my body. I hear Harlow scream, and hope she has the good sense to hide amongst the other humans.
A few moments later, my hopes are quashed and she crawls to me as another human provides cover. My King’s mate is fierce. I am proud to lay down my life for her.
I groan in pain as she does something that makes my arm burn like fire.
And then I am awake in the medi-center, meeting her for the first time. Her name is Meghan and she is young. So young. But so alive, her innocent eyes staring at me as if we have known each other for our whole lives.
Harlow says something, but I am no longer listening as Meghan smiles and her face lights up. I harden instantly as those not-so-innocent eyes travel lower to where my sheet is tangled around my waist.
“You left,” I mumble aloud. “You left for her. Now you will die, and she will never know why. Was it worth it?”
It was.
If I am to die, I am thankful that I got to see the female who could have been mine. I got to see her for who she is, and I only mourn that I will not get to see who she will one day become.
I keep her face in my mind as the blood loss hits me and I finally lose consciousness.
Chapter Two
Meghan
I love my mom, but she’s lied to me my whole life.
She thinks I was too young to remember the day my father left. In her retelling of the story, we left him after my mom finally got sick and tired of hearing the late-night phone calls and smelling cheap perfume.
In reality, he left us. I know, because I remember clinging to his leg, begging him not to leave me.
I don’t know if my mom thought it would be better for me to believe it was her choice, or if she just couldn’t cope with the fact that after everything he’d done, he was the one walking out on us.
She doesn’t know that I remember. I don’t know how old I was—maybe two or three— mom doesn’t like to talk about that time. But I do know that I have a better memory than almost everyone I know, and I can recall that moment perfectly.
I still remember how his pants felt, crumpled in my hands as I held on for dear life.
Here’s what else I know: After experiencing how it felt to be left, to be unwanted, I made sure that I never felt that way again. And I didn’t. Until Methi left me.
Everyone thinks I’m pining for him. That I’m in love with him. Did I catch feelings that night he kissed me? Sure. But those feelings dried up and turned to dust the moment I realized he left.
It’s not his fault. People leave when times get tough. It’s just human— and obviously Arcav— nature.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t want my friend back. And I sure don’t want him to die. That’s what I don’t get about everyone around here. They’re so all-or-nothing.
I’ll get Methi back, and we’ll both move on with our lives.
I saunter into the meeting room, well aware that not one person actually wants me there. Varian may have made it happen, but no one looks too happy about it. Whatever. If there’s one thing that the Arcav have taught me with their overnight invasion of our world, it’s that might makes right. She who dares, wins. No one’s gonna give you a thing in this universe. You want it? Fight for it.
I take my seat, glancing at Darja. He’s the top dog around here, and he’s barely tolerated me ever since he was ordered to let me study with the class of Arcav training to be captains. His belief that human women should be far, far from any kind of space ship just meant that I spent a lot of time doing grunt work like basic repairs and hanging out with the engineers. Eventually, he realized I wasn’t going anywhere, and relented enough to allow me to fly.
From the look on his face, he sees this meeting as one more example of me not knowing my place. Bring it on, old guy.
I shift so Blake and Jackson can take a seat, one on either side of me. Blake was Harlow’s partner on Earth back when they were both cops, and now he’s a member of her guard. When she’s not traveling—which is all the time right now— they all have other duties. He’s been assigned a role on the task force looking for Methi.
Unfortunately, so has Jackson.
I grit my teeth. Jackson is my nemesis. He didn’t make the cut as a guard, and he’s been making everyone’s lives hell ever since.
“Meghan. And just what are you doing here?”
“Helping find Methi. What are you doing here?”
He snorts. “Just how is a kid going to help locate him? Shouldn’t you be off taking selfies or something? Maybe eating a Tide pod?”
“Jack,” Blake says warningly and shoots me a look as I open my mouth.
Right. Don’t let him rile me.
There are four other Arcav at this meeting, and I don’t know any of them, but I shrug. Hopefully they’re the best and brightest and can figure out what Talis is thinking and where he would’ve gone.
We all take a tablet, and I study the information in front of me. Methi, Talis, and their small crew were headed toward Fecax. But we know they never arrived, and their signal disappeared before they even got close.
I compare the flight plan to what we know.
“What’s this blip, right here?” I ask Darja.
“A misfire. Once a locator has been turned off, it will occasionally send random coordinates.”
I frown. “Sounds stupid.”
Blake clears his throat. “You know how on Earth, you could use your Google Maps with your wifi turned off, but it would get confused?” He smiles slightly. “I’d always end up driving in circles before I remembered to check that the wifi was on. Even though we weren’t actually using wifi, our phones needed it. Before Talis took off with this ship, there was no reason for an Arcav ship to fly without its locator connected. So it’s likely that it’s just a bug.”
“Did someone check the location anyway?”
Jack snorts and I ignore him as one of the other Arcav begins to speak.
“The closest planet is called Udek. We sent a ship, which was near the area. It was able to land, however the beings are primitive and immediately attempted to attack our men. It is likely that the same actions would have occurred if Methi and Talis had landed on the planet. The Arcav crew saw no sign that the ship had landed anywhere near the most likely landing spot.”
I frown, depressed. This is like finding a needle in a bunch of other needles.
No one has anything else to say, so Darja gets to his feet.
“Take this information and study it. We will meet again in one hour.”
The Arcav tend to be kinda unemotional. They’re all about logic. But I see concern in Darja’s eyes as he strides from the room and I sigh in relief. He’s known Methi for decades, and he’ll do everything he can to find him.
We all stand, and I lock eyes with Jack as he pushes his chair back.
“What, no other insights from the resident genius?”
I smirk. “I didn’t hear anything from you, Jack. Tell me, who’d you bribe to play with the big kids?
He flushes a dull red. “You know, someday, someone’s going to take you down a notch.”
“Maybe. But we both know that someone won’t be you.” I give him a wide smile and then I’m out the door, hauling ass to the dock. I’m friends with one of the Arcav engineers, and I’m hoping she can help. Something is niggling at my brain about the whole situation, but I can’t figure out what it is.
I find Loni in one of the labs, studying a microchip. She raises a brow as I come in, out of breath. She looks cool, calm, and put together in a way that few human females could ever achieve.
She brushes her hair back from her face and straightens. I’m tall for a human woman at 5’9. But she’s got at least half a foot on me.
“Hey, got a minute?”
She nods. “I was actually going to take a break soon. Still no news about Methi?”
“Nope. I was wondering if you could help me out with something though.”
I show her the tablet and the blip from the communicator.
“So I get how Blake explained it to me but is there any other reason you can think of that would make this blip happen?”
Loni studies the tablet, frowning. “No,” she says slowly. “I don’t think so. Unless…”
“What? Unless what?”
“Usually, locators on Arcav ships are continually sending signals back to Arcavia. It allows Commander Jaret and the generals to know exactly where each ship is. But they’re also used to send out distress signals.”
“You think that’s what it was?”
“If Talis had disabled the locator, I do not see how it could happen. Unless he only thought that he’d disabled it. The ship is older than most, but, as you know, it still would have largely run on an artificially intelligent system. It is possible that the system attempted to override Talis and send its coordinates.”
I frown. “Why would it do that?”
“If the ship was… in trouble, it may have attempted a distress call. But with the locator manually disabled, combined with the age of the ship, this random set of coordinates may be all it could manage.”
“In trouble? What kind of trouble?” I try to stay calm, but I’ve got a feeling I’m not gonna want to hear what Loni says next.
“If a crash-landing was likely.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat.
“I’ve got to take this back to Darja. I’ll talk to you later.”
I slowly stroll back to the palace, considering what I’ve learned. I don’t know which is worse- the idea that the ship has disappeared completely, or that it crash-landed somewhere, and Methi’s injured on a hostile planet.
I refuse to entertain the possibility that he’s dead. Maybe it’s burying my head in the sand, but unless I see his body for myself, I’m not thinking about it.
I take my seat, watching everyone else file in. As soon as Darja appears, I relay what Loni said.
“What makes you believe this theory?”
I blow out a breath. “I don’t necessarily believe it, but it’s all we’ve got. Unless anyone else has come up with something new?”
Jackson sighs, leaning back in his chair. I guarantee he’s man-spreading under the table.
“Ever heard the term Occam’s razor?” he asks.
“Of course I have,” I grit out. “But you guys have already checked the most obvious theories, right? If the ship was going down, this may have been this ship attempting to do what it would usually have been able to do.”
No one at the table looks convinced.
Jaret walks in, and everyone sits up straighter. He nods to me and I smile. The guy is still about as warm and cuddly as a cactus even though his mate Amanda swears he’s a big softy when they’re alone.
He addresses the room. “What do you have?”
I meet Darja’s eyes and he frowns but turns to Jaret.
“We do not have much. We are currently debating whether the set of coordinates sent by the ship after the locator was turned off were random or not.”
Jaret listens as Darja explains, and then nods.
“You have checked this planet?”
“Of course. Although we could not stay for long.”
“No sign at all that a ship could have crash-landed there?”
Darja looks uncomfortable. “The ship was instructed to land and look for Methi or his ship. They did not see either. However, they were also immediately attacked upon landing. As they were outnumbered, they chose to leave.”
Jaret’s face hardens. “Any suggestions?” he asks the room.
“Check somewhere else,” Jack mutters.
“Go back. Take enough Arcav to make the locals think twice about attacking and take a good look around,” Blake says, and I shoot him a grateful look.
Jaret takes a moment, cool eyes scanning each one of us. While I wouldn’t say Jaret and Methi were close, they definitely knew each other well, and I can tell from the look on Jaret’s face that the last thing he wants to be doing is hanging around Arcavia trying to figure out where the hell Methi is. If we could tell him exactly where to find Methi, Jaret would probably be on the first ship outta here.
Darja sits taller. “We have another ship close by. If we sent the first ship back, along with the SSA Spirit, we would likely have more than enough Arcav.”
“Make it happen.”
Methi
I lie on the ground, bleeding as the twin suns rise. It is almost ironic. In Arcavia, I am constantly searching for some peace and quiet, some time to simply think.
Well, now you have it.
My body will have begun the healing process. Arcav can take much more damage than humans and will heal faster, thanks to the Alni plant we are given as younglings. However, our bodies are still flesh and bone, and it is unlikely that my leg will allow me to get up before I am targeted by a predator or die of hunger.
I have been rationing the small amount of water that Talis left. Maybe he enjoyed the thought that I would take a long time to die.
Gold rays begin to spread, like long fingers stretching toward me as both suns bathe this world in a soft light. If this is how I am to die, I have only one wish. I hope that Meghan has a long and happy life.
She will see through Talis’s lies. I have never met a more intelligent, aware human.
My thoughts conjure her, and we are dancing as I attempt to keep my eyes on her face, even as she shifts closer, her dress a dark blue, almost black, flecked with silver. It cups her breasts the way I want to, and I am shaking, desperate with want.
I know then that I cannot stay.
“I don’t understand you. You kissed me. And we both liked it. Now you can barely look at me?”
Her voice is hurt, even as she steels her shoulders. She may be young, but I see the woman she will one day be. A once-in-a-lifetime female. One who would change my world.
I grit my teeth. “It was a mistake.”
She stiffens in my arms, and I pull her closer, desperate for just a few more moments with her.
“It wasn’t a mistake. You changed the rules, and now I want to play.”
Play? She believes this is a game? That we will be some kind of a fling?
She leans closer, attempting to pull me down for a kiss and I almost allow it. Then I remember where we are. I jerk away, and she stares at me cooly for one moment, before those incredible eyes fill with tears and she walks away.
“Meghan,” I am sweating yet shaking with cold. I know what this means. Fever.
I shift, restlessly, and my ears pick up a sound. A group of beings, heading toward me. It’s likely that someone noticed Talis’s arrival and departure and they were sent to check this area.
I am lying in the medi-center, although now I have lost interest in whatever Harlow is saying. The young female—Meghan— has walked away, hurt by Harlow’s reference to her age. I want to bare my teeth and growl at my Queen fo
r her words. It is this urge that makes me listen.
“You know how blood tests are only done on adult human women?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“They are more than two human years older than Meghan is now.”
It takes a moment for the words to sink in. She is telling me that the one with the bright blue eyes, who smells like a dark, complex, delicious female is a youngling.
“You think I would attempt to mate with a child? She is no child, Your Majesty.”
“I’m sorry, Methi. I just…she’s still a kid to me, and I know the Arcav have different ideas about…adulthood.”
She eyes me warily and I smell her fear. My horns straighten in insult.
“You think I would hurt you? I would lay down my life for you.”
She demeans the honor I have fought so hard for.
“No. Look, Methi, when a giant alien stares at me with his horns getting all sharp, and his claws poking out, I’m going to need a minute. Especially after the shit that went down today.”
I force myself to relax back in the bed and she sighs.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “If I get Meghan to come back, will you forgive me?”
“I will forgive you anyway, Harlow. But I will be pleased to see Meghan.”
Her name is pleasant on my tongue, and I look forward to learning about this female with the grin that lit up my room.
Harlow hesitates. “I need you to promise me one thing.”
“Anything.”
“If Meghan is your mate…”
Something shifts inside my chest and I taste the word. Mate. Is that what this is?
“Actually,” she says, “even if she isn’t your mate, I need you to promise that you won’t… mate with her until she is a human adult.”
I resist the urge to bare my teeth at my Queen. “I do not believe Meghan would appreciate this promise,” I say. I am sure she will not be pleased to be treated like a youngling.
“Probably not. But will you promise anyway?”
“I do not touch children. No Arcav does.”
She frowns and I explain that matings do not occur until both Arcav are old enough to handle them.