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Ryziel didn't move to follow her this time. Instead, he drew away in silence, deep in thought.

He had never considered just taking someone, and he certainly couldn't imagine it going well for him. He took lives by his father's command, sure. That came easy, but to force one to please him and serve him alone was honestly unthinkable. Because he wasn't like other nillium, and, despite his brother's words, he was not his brother in that regard. Korzien was charming and talented at seduction. He took those he wished, certainly, but they never said no, never fought him because he knew how to talk, and he was handsome beyond measure, and he had the practice. His brother had many women, it was true. And Ryziel? Ryziel had never been allowed to be touched. He had been forbidden to be alone with any woman, and he’d only spoken to those of his House. He knew nothing of love (though lust, he certainly was familiar with), and he knew nothing of affection. Only the violence and death that was his training since he was young.

And when he had touched another, he had been severely punished. Because he wasn't like other nillium, regardless of his birthright. He was Nihl's master of death, his father's prized assassin, but he was not in-line with the others. And so, he was not allowed to be with one of them.

If he could have been born of the sun and the light and not of the dark, maybe things would have been different. He would have had many women. And he wouldn't have to ever consider taking one by force.

The thought appalled him now. And he hated that he was losing control again of his Drega over such an idea. It had taken years to master his darker self. To control his bestial instincts. And suddenly, it all seemed to be crumbling before him.

All because of a human woman.

Ryziel stalked the dark tunnels, roaming nowhere in particular, not knowing where to go, when his techband sounded. He checked the message and saw it was from Xilya. She was back. And wanted to know where he wished to meet her.

Ryziel stopped. He could meet her in any old, abandoned cave system and get the info he needed, but he was feeling frustrated now and could really use a moment to take the edge off. He'd garner more than a few shocked responses; he hadn't been seen in weeks, after all, and people were always bound to talk. But damn if he cared. He messaged Xilya back then continued onward, trying not to think about the past, his brother, or the human woman.

Chapter Six

As soon as her shift ended, Aly rushed back up to her unit to take a quick shower and scarf down a meal before meeting the others. Her unit was small and needfully simple. A one-room apartment within a hub on the ninth level, fixed with a bathroom as tiny as a walk-in closet, a bed in one corner, and a "kitchen" in the other. It surprised her how similar it was to her unit on the ship. Until she discovered they had purposely redone the empty units to reflect human necessity, so that it felt familiar. The one thing Xolis seemed kind enough to do for them given the circumstances.

She had no other clothes to wear save for the slipsuits, so she threw the dirty one aside and put on a clean one. It wasn't like she was going out with the thought to impress, anyway.

Shadowpoint was a low dive place at best. A high dungeon dressed up like a bar. A drinking-hole shoved into an artificially carved room on the eleventh floor. One of the few places miners could go to drink their tastelessShvas(the closest thing to beer) and their bitterNuri (a strong, warm drink that Jamie said reminded her of sake from home). Neither of which the team had much taste for but downed, regardless. Only Mark refused to drink, and Aly hadn't tried, mainly because she was already a lightweight and didn't really feel like getting "white girl wasted" in front of the others. She had her share of those moments in her youth and hadn't been in the mood to recount them in a place like Lethe Maws.

They had only gone once and didn't stay long. Having felt too many pairs of eyes at their backs and hearing too many hissing whispers with the word "humans" thrown in, they didn't need to be told they were bringing too much attention to themselves that first time. It was why they had been holding their meetings at an undisclosed location for so long. Now, however, Kate and Julian had decided to give the place another try. Messages flew around, a couple not too happy, but the captain and his second were adamant about going. Perhaps they were finally coming around to the idea that they needed to mingle more with the aliens. Though Aly had a feeling it had something more to do with getting out of their units and not feel completely miserable talking in the old station.

To keep morale up in the others.

As Aly slipped into her clean slipsuit and reattached her techband, she looked in the bathroom mirror one last time. Her face was pale, her lips a light pink, eyes bright still but dull circles were beginning to form underneath. Before she forgot, she opened one of the cabinets below the mirror and took out a metal canister. She took out a honey-colored pill and stuck it in her mouth, then cupped her hands under the faucet and took a long drink of water.

Because Lethe Maws was always so dark, they had been given vitamins to keep their nutritional needs in check. Some of the other races had no trouble in the dark, but, even with the vitamins, some of the group still felt lethargic at times. Not a good thing to feel in this line of work, when a wrong step could mean death and one needed to always be alert.

Aly splashed her face also then dried it with a towel. She took a deep breath and turned away. As she exited her unit, she looked down the hall to a door opposite. She could go and knock on Mark's door and ask if he wanted to go together, but she quickly thought against it. She had already made her one mistake today. She thought about that kiss, and her stomach dropped. She shouldn't have done it. She had known too, as soon as he opened his mouth, what he was going to ask her. The same offer he had given her on the ship. Only, this time, she wasn't sure how she would have answered. She had been shamefully relieved in that moment for the message that had interrupted them and given her a chance to leave.

No, she would see him there. And they would talk again like nothing had happened.

Aly turned down the hall and left the hub in which they lived. She bounded over to one of the elevator cars, squeezing herself in with a few other miners, who gave her silent glares, and made her way down to floor eleven. When the doors opened, she stepped out onto a platform and went down one passage and then across a long bridge, over a deep chasm, and through a carved tunnelway lit across by deep red lanterns. She stopped just below the lanterns and waited by the wall until her party appeared.

"Oh, look, little miss sunshine made it before us. What a surprise," Ethan said, walking—or rather limping—past, barely looking at her. Aly rolled her eyes as Davis followed with a tight frown then Jamie behind him, her head low, eyes averted to the ground. She looked like she had been crying again. Cilia was beside her, patting her back. Kate and Julian walked up next, both speaking in a low whisper in their native French tongue before seeing her and nodding their heads. Mark came up last and gave her a quiet smile. Aly returned with one similar.

"Ready to get shamefully wasted?" Mark said sarcastically.

"I sure as fuck am," Ethan said before Aly could reply.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now, Ethan," Julian said, stopping before the entrance. His steel-gray eyes looked over his crew, assessing them. Behind him, other miners strolled past, staring curiously. "Now, we will go in and be respectful as usual, yes? We will sit quietly. And—" he looked at each of them—" no staring and no talking about the others around us, we clear? Yes? Good. Ah and—" he pointed at Aly—"no trying to make conversation unless invited. Got it?"

Aly saluted. "Yes, sir."

Someone snorted behind her, but Julian only smirked. "All right." He clapped his hands and gestured down the tunnelway filled with the red lanterns to the large open doorway at the end. "Let's go."

Julian and Kate led the way, and the others followed. As they entered Shadowpoint, it took Aly all her mental strength not to stop in the middle of the doorway and stare just like Julian had warned them not to.

The place wasn't huge. Not by any means. But it was still a strange sight to see, like walking into another time or place. Even if this wasn't her first time inside, it still surprised Aly, like she was stepping into a great dungeon in some dark castle. Arched pillars rose up to a ceiling, where floaters of all sizes and colors hovered. The floor under her was paved in dark-blue stone similar to marble, leaving no shine. Tables were stationed by the walls and near each pillar, carved in the shape of a crescent moon and made of a heavy black metal, welded to the floor. A curved bench accompanied the outer rim of the table while stools were placed on the inner side.

Miners of all races sat and drank while oracles, programmed to take orders, zipped around in their white and gray uniforms, with trayboxes full of drinks to serve them. At the center of the chamber, down a small set of steps, large tanks were stationed in a circle behind a long crescent-shaped bar. There, Aly could see the drinks being produced and taken by the bots.

Aly followed the others as they made their way over to a seat by the wall, close to the door. Kate and Julian slid onto the long bench first, situating themselves at the center. Davis sat beside Kate on the left and Cilia took her spot by Julian on the right, leaving the stools for the rest. Ethan pulled his out next to Davis, and Jamie took hers next to Cilia. Mark gladly took the stool opposite Julian, where he could just stare at the wall, and Aly made do with the seat between him and Ethan.

They sat for a moment, saying nothing, looking not much better than they had at the old station.