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Marzin turned back but did not fully look at him. "They are ours now. We need them."

And that was all. Marzin left them, and Aly and the others were pulled away. Kate reached for Juilan, shouting his name. The others cried out, as did Aly, knowing more than any of them what was going to happen. Mark called out to her and Aly, without thought, screamed for Ryziel. Panic-driven, she clawed at the one who held her and beat at his arms, but there was no stopping them. The shouts and screams of her team rang heavily in her ears, but no matter how she fought, the ship drew closer and the men slipped farther away.

The enforcers who gathered around the men shoved them back. Then, as if time had suddenly stretched itself thin, turning seconds into hours, Aly watched as the enforcers drew out their shooters, aimed them at the men, and fired.

Aly saw Mark's face last before a flash of white light hit them and they each went limp on the ground. A piercing, awful scream ripped from Jamie's mouth, followed by a heart-wrenching moan from Kate. Aly went numb. She stopped fighting the man who held her and let him carry her the rest of the way to the ship. She felt nothing, thought nothing. All she could do was stare at the bodies of her crew spread across the floor and of the women fighting to reach them.

She couldn't even think of Ryziel in that moment or of the fact that she was leaving Lethe Maws without him. Leaving for Nihl.

She had no thoughts at all, as if she had left her body and was watching everything from afar. All until she was pulled onto the ship and the door closed behind her, shutting her away.

***

The first tank was finished, the second was more than halfway done, and the third (filled specifically with ionx) would follow soon after. From the converter, Nar began to create the ship’s exterior parts while Ryziel began to sift through and reorganize all the necessary equipment they would need to bring onboard. A few things would have to be left behind, he realized, in order to make room for the humans, but it didn't worry him in the slightest. He would destroy any evidence that he had been there, returning the cave to nothing more than the empty shell it had been when they had first discovered it.

They had been working all morning when the wide outer door opened suddenly, and Xilya shot into the room before it had risen halfway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nar asked. "Aren't you supposed to be—"

"They're gone." It was the first time either Ryziel or Nar had seen her flustered. Her tail swayed from side to side her, her eyes searching around until they found Ryziel.

"Who?" Nar asked.

Xilya stared at Ryziel, and in some terrible way, he knew.

"The humans," she said. "I heard it for myself and saw the ship go. The men are dead. The women have been taken. Aly with them." She bowed her head at Ryziel, who hadn't moved, had barely drawn breath, his Drega woke in a violent fit as if someone had smacked it in the face.

"Where?" he managed to growl out. His body tensed to run, to fight, but there was no enemy to chase or to strike. Panic and despair and unfathomable rage welled in him instead. "Where?" he snapped.

Xilya did not snarl or snap back at him. Her expression only darkened as she said in a quiet but unfaltering voice, "To Nihl. They have gone to Nihl."

Chapter Thirty

Nihl

The first thing Aly saw as she exited the ship was the light from the sun, an orange orb in the sky that dipped low to the horizon but never touched it. The light made her squint her eyes considerably, blinding her, forcing her to shield her face with her hands. She couldn't see much of anything around her except for the outlines of buildings nearby and the tan-colored ground beneath her feet.

She remembered very little of her trip to Nihl. All was mostly darkness and the soft, sometimes wailing, other times muffled, cries of the others around her. Even now, Kate's face had aged from the time between leaving the mines and landing on the hot, bright planet they tread across in that moment. Jamie, too, looked like a stranger, her face hollow and tear-stained. Cilia seemed the only one who had kept some of her composure, though she looked ready to kill. Aly had been silently numb the whole way. She did not cry or scream or fight. Instead, she had drawn away from the situation altogether, crawling deep into herself. A robot who only walked where Marzin and the others told her to.

Eventually, they stopped just before the gates leading into some courtyard and were ordered to declothe; to wear some kind of thin red dress similar to a sari with a hood and shawl.

Whether out of fear or hopelessness, they complied. Their suits were thrown away, though they were allowed to keep their packs. Then, hoods were tossed over their heads to hide their faces. They were marched through the gates, past the courtyard with a magnificent fountain and plants of a kind she had never seen. Things she might have appreciated and looked on fondly if the situation were different. If she were with Ryziel by her choosing and not ordered by Marzin.

Once they entered through a large set of doors and started down a large passage with open rooms to each side, Aly began to wake out of herself and memorize her surroundings. The house—as she was sure that was what it was—was more than just some mansion—it was a palace. The pink and tan walls were decorated neatly with glittering blue and green mosaics, the floor of the same color was carpeted with lush red and purple rugs; golden lamps sparkled with colors, some she couldn't even describe, and satin curtains swayed along the frames to each open doorway, beckoning them to enter. There was the smell of something sweet in the air, like roses or lilies, and she could hear the singing of birds somewhere unseen as they passed by a well-kept garden.

It was a paradise. A dazzling, beautiful heaven.

And she hated it.

They came to another set of doors at the end of the hall and stepped on through into what Aly could only describe as a lounge or sitting area. Couches and chairs made up most of the room, along with a smattering of tables, one of which seemed to hold enough food for a banquet. Statues stood within alcoves, reminding her of those found in Yurza's Keep, holding bowls of flickering flames.

Aly only took in these few details as they were ordered to a halt before a group seated in front of them, a regal pack of nillium in their finely cut suit coats and dress. Aly's eyes drifted over them and stopped dead on a man lounging in a chair, staring calmly back at them.

"Nihl Korzien." Marzin bowed his head slightly toward the man. Before the man could speak, a sort of whimpering cry escaped from Aly's dry lips. The man's gaze fell on her, and Aly stood there, shocked by her reaction as much as by the nillium male before her. A man who, by some unfair draw of the gene pool, resembled Ryziel in almost every way save for his golden skin and hair and his eyes.

The man tilted his head at her, amusement flashing in his gaze. "So, these are the human women we have come to hear so much about." His eyes flickered down her body, and Aly wanted to shrivel up and disappear right there. "Hm. Odd as they are, it is the same stirring as I felt before. You were right after all, Marzin."

Aly didn't know what he meant and didn't care to. She and the others stood as still and quiet as ghosts before his critical stare. He eyed each of them until he returned to Aly. With a gesture of his hand, Aly found herself dragged closer before him. He took her hand in his, turning her wrist upward as his fingers stroked gently at her skin. "What is your name, girl?"