Page 11

It had been over two days since he’d seen Aurora. Rhaego paced endlessly through the house, keeping close in case she emerged. He dropped meals at her door, softly knocking and announcing he’d brought her food, but the most he heard from inside was muffled shuffling.

If he didn’t have the log from the sensors in her mattress assuring him she was alive and moving, he might have barged inside. But he’d terrorized her enough, and though he desperately wanted to speak to her again and somehow convince her of his sincerity, he held back.

Maxu hadn’t been as obnoxious as Rhaego had thought he’d be. In fact, Rhaego felt he’d deserved more ridicule for failing to secure Diana. The team was continuing to make appearances near Zentithro , and next week they planned to stage a break-in at a local high-ranking official’s home.

He’d assured Rhaego that Marsol was still managing, though he asked often about his progress. The male’s patience only made Rhaego feel worse. There were so many people in danger of being let down if he failed again. But he’d formed a plan, and all he needed was Aurora’s cooperation.

The weekly luncheon in which all brides would join together and socialize while their husbands saw to chores was a perfect opportunity for Aurora to get some much-needed information from Diana and share his plan.

As of now, the luncheon was still two days away. They had time, but it was dwindling and he was growing anxious. Additionally, Rhaego couldn’t yet judge whether his plan would work. He knew too little about Aurora. What if she refused to help for some reason? What if she decided he was lying and revealed all he told her to the first soldier who came along?

He needed to learn more about her before he told her any sensitive information that could result in his team being found out. I still have time, he reminded himself again. Even if he knew which den Diana was located in, Verakko hadn’t solved their cruiser issue yet. Rhaego could do nothing until they had a confirmed means of escape.

Apart from his brief call with Maxu, communication with the outside world had been limited. All who joined the dissidents were now aware of the Queen’s propensity for revenge. They needed to leave no clues, no messages that could be intercepted, and the easiest way to accomplish that was to only communicate when it was absolutely necessary.

Though he wanted to call his oldest friend, Theo, and his human mate, Jade, to get advice on how to best win over Aurora, he kept himself from reaching out. Not only were the two mated and living in Tremanta right under the Queen’s nose, but they also had a precious baby girl. Would the Queen stoop so low as to remove them from each other or their child if they were found to be traitors? He refused to risk it. Things were not yet dire enough for that.

Rhaego stared at the den’s stream and inhaled a puff of deralja from his pipe to calm his nerves. Long velvety green tendrils swayed under the surface of the small stream like locks of hair pulled along in a gentle current. They curled and undulated, as hypnotic as flames. Rhaego watched the plants, mindlessly retracting and extending his claws in time with his heartbeat.

How to reach Diana?

Carriage or climb? He wracked his mind for a third option. He could try to take Diana from town, but anything public was risky. She’d be bound to her husband with unbreakable fabric. He’d need to kill the male and drag his corpse as he fought his way out. That or sever the arm.

Rhaego let out a chuff. There was no way. He was only one male.

A horde of guards would descend on him in no time. Even if he could steal the tool that would unclasp their binding fabric, he’d still need to fight off an army and somehow get to a cruiser without being followed. No, he had to steal Diana from her den somehow. It was the only way.

Setting his pipe aside, he raked a hand between his horns. He was getting ahead of himself. He didn’t even know which den Diana was in. The first step would be to get Aurora to speak to her during the luncheon. Impatience forced his gaze to drift to the hallway that led to her room.

So far, this marriage resembled his past marriages a little too closely for comfort. His other wives had also kept to themselves, remaining in their rooms rather than spend time with him.

His chest tightened. No Tuvastan would bat an eye if she showed her dislike of him in public. Actually, it would probably help with this ruse.

Rhaego’s sensitive ears caught the creak of Aurora’s door. His spine shot straight, then he froze, afraid any sound would send her skittering back into the safety of her room.

She’d opened the door occasionally, picking items off the trays of food he’d left in her hallway. But she’d always retreat shortly thereafter. Though he wanted to rise and catch her before she disappeared again, he forced himself to stay put.

A small noise hit his ears, and he leapt out of his seat. Footsteps?

His heart drummed an unsteady rhythm as the quiet steps came closer. When his bride’s sweet scent floated down the hallway ahead of her arrival, his pulse thrummed all the way through his horns.

No, not my bride , he corrected himself. She’s just a human under my care.

Then his non -bride appeared, and for a moment, it was as if he had no heartbeat at all.

***

You can do this. Aurora forced her feet to keep moving. He’s done nothing except kept you fed and left you alone.

After days spent cowering, crying, and lying awake in bed, she’d finally begun to feel the fear of immediate danger sputter out. It was now obvious that her demon husband hadn’t been lying in wait to enact some terrible plan.

In fact, he’d treated her like an attentive butler at a fancy hotel might. Bringing her gourmet food, leaving it at the door, then clearing away the old plates. It had gotten to the point she’d felt guilty for allowing him to cook and clean for her without even saying thank you.

Earlier today, she’d decided it was time to face the new situation she found herself in. Though she wasn’t quite ready to trust him, she was itching to hear him out. What if he really was there to help her? It felt like too much to hope for, but if it was true…

Shaking off the nerves still twisting her insides, she’d prepared to face him. She’d bathed in her room’s enormous, round stone pool. Almost unwillingly, she’d enjoyed the soak. The water was fed by a little bubbling stream, an offshoot of the larger stream that wound through the house. And the picture windows above the tub revealed a spectacular view of the fjord.

As she’d pruned, she’d mentally planned what her approach to Rhaego would be. Little birdlike creatures flitting outside the window had quickly distracted her. With four feathered wings instead of two, they used their long beaks to poke the frilly navy-blue and speckled pink flowers vining outside. Their double wings helped them fly backward and forward and hover the way a hummingbird could.

When the strange birds seemed to take notice of her, lingering in front of her window and tipping their single quail-feathered heads at her, she’d wondered how intelligent they were. She let herself ponder the birds for a long time, enjoying the spike of curiosity their presence roused. It felt good to experience an emotion other than fear.

Wandering around her room in a warm towel that left her dry almost as soon as its fibers touched her skin, she stared at the clothing Rhaego had provided her with.

Aurora hadn’t appreciated the clothes when she’d looked at them with Phirdo. She’d been too distraught to concentrate on anything. But she saw them now. Each item was beautiful and crafted from luxurious fabric. The colors were all floral, organic shades. Nothing artificial. Nothing garish. Each one complemented her features.

And the jewelry…glittering gems and pearls strung on delicate chains. Crystal-encrusted headpieces and solid hammered-gold corsets. It was like opening a treasure chest. Many of the items were put together in configurations that made her unsure how they were meant to be worn, but they were stunning all the same.

If this was a ruse, then why had he picked such nice things? Why not choose cheap or at least moderately nice things? Was it because of Phirdo? Because not giving her these extravagant gifts would be suspicious? He must not have intended for her to keep it all. When—if—he got her out of here, he’d probably return it or sell it and get his money back.

Clutching the towel around her chest, she’d eyed the clothes. The first dress she’d spotted was a pretty shade of soft pink. She’d plucked it off the top of the pile, assuming she’d need to try on a few before finding one that fit comfortably. She’d been shocked to find the garment was perfect. It hugged her curves in all the right places as if it had been made for her.

The silken rose-colored bodice had Juliet sleeves, sheer and billowy down to her elbows, then fitted around her forearms. The light skirt comprised layers of fabric that were swishy enough to awaken the urge to twirl.

Clothes had never been this easy back on Earth. Buying outfits was an exhausting ordeal in which she had to try items listed in her size as well as one smaller and one larger. In a perfect world where money and time were no issue, she’d buy everything a size up to fit her gigantic chest, then get the garments tailored so they no longer resembled tents, but she’d never found the energy for that.

All the clothing she’d been supplied with so far on this planet just…fit. Sure, they weren’t exactly her style. Many of the sleeves were loose and flouncy, which would be annoying to deal with while working in the kitchen, and she hadn’t yet found a neckline that didn’t expose more of her considerable cleavage than she was comfortable with, but she couldn’t complain.

Gravity still existed, so without at least a little support they were still annoyingly heavy, but even with only the stiff bust for support rather than the industrial-grade bras she was used to, they looked great…too great.

Aurora had frowned at her own cleavage in the mirror and attempted to stretch her neckline up to a more modest height to no avail. Eventually she’d given up. If Rhaego was really just here to free her, then her boobs shouldn’t matter to him, right?

He probably isn’t even attracted to me, she told herself as she crept out of her room. The memory of the heated trail of his red gaze when he’d caught her in the forest made her steps falter. Maybe the hunger she’d seen in his eyes had just been an act…like he’d said.

Aurora tried to convince herself of this but stopped midway down the hall, rethinking her decision to leave her room. Was she really ready to face him?

She scratched her hand and willed her stomach to stop roiling. A million terrible possibilities zoomed through her mind, but she couldn’t rationalize any of them. If he wanted to do anything awful to her, wouldn’t he have done it by now? Unless his kink is long-term mental manipulation.

At length, she convinced her feet to move again. When she emerged from the hallway, she spotted him at once. It was hard not to. He took up so much space.

He stood in front of a large sage-green chair on the other side of the long open-air room. Though he faced her, his body was angled away as if he’d just risen.

Even at this distance, with seats and tables placed between them, he still terrified her. She knew from firsthand experience how fast he was.

Aurora swallowed.

If he wanted to grab her right now, she estimated she’d be able to do little more than turn around before he caught her. Her throat closed at that thought, but she pushed past it.

“Hello.” Her voice cracked.

Rhaego turned his body toward her and tilted his chin up, bearing his strong neck. She’d seen other people do that too. A greeting? “Good day.” His rumble reverberated through the room and lifted goose bumps on her arms.

There was a heavy silence as they stared at each other. His eyes flicked across her outfit. The look was so brief that she might have concluded he was, in fact, uninterested, but the way his gaze remained stiffly averted from her body felt intentional. She’d dated enough to recognize the look a man got when he was trying very hard not to leer.

“Would you care to sit?” He gestured to the chair next to him. Then, as if understanding the seat was far too close to him for her comfort, he took a few steps back and stood in front of a love seat farther away.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Aurora inhaled a deep breath and made her way to the chair. He remained standing until she perched on the edge of the deep cushion, then he sat too.

“Are you well?” he asked.

No was what she wanted to say to the ridiculous question, but the glimmer of genuine concern in his voice held her back. “Yeah. I’m feeling a little better.” She glanced around the pretty room as if what to say next might be written on the walls. It wasn’t. For lack of a better idea as to how to segue out of this awkward small talk, she blurted, “So you’re here to free us?”

His heavy brows hitched upward in surprise. His mouth opened, but something kept him from speaking for a moment. Slowly, he answered, “That is the goal. If you wish to leave.”

Aurora nearly chuckled. “Why in the world would I want to stay?” A flush traveled up her neck when she realized how insulting that sounded. This very well could be his hometown, after all. “I…I mean…” she stammered. “It’s a beautiful city, but—”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “No need to worry, little human. I know my city’s faults.” His shoulders rose and fell in time with his deep breath. “The offer stands nonetheless. Recently I made the mistake of rescuing a female who preferred not to be rescued, so I find it prudent to ask now.”

He looked truly regretful, and Aurora’s interest was piqued. “You’ve done this before? I mean, I know you said you’re part of an organization, but you’ve actually gone to other places and freed humans? Did you have to marry all of them?” She sped on before he could answer, suddenly bursting with questions. “How many of us are there, and how long has this been going on?”

His mind worked behind his pale gray eyes as he waited for her to take a breath. “May I begin with your last question?”

Aurora assumed the question was rhetorical until she noticed he was waiting for her to answer. “Yes, okay.”

“A little less than a year ago a human, my friend Jade, was discovered in a forest. At the time, we knew little of humans. We treated her as Intergalactic law dictated rogue Class Four species be treated, and we integrated her into society. She was forced to marry as well, though the ceremony in the city she lives in, Tremanta, is not as…intense as it is in my homecity. I apologize for scaring you.”

So the bride chase didn’t happen everywhere. Interesting. Questions were already pouring through her mind, but she didn’t want to interrupt, so she only gave a small smile as acknowledgment.

“Jade and her husband, Theo, grew close, and she called his mating marks to life,” he continued. When Aurora knit her brows, he explained, “When a Clecanian’s eyes change it indicates they’ve potentially found their mate, their divine other half. This can happen for multiple people. But when mating marks—designs—appear on a Clecanian’s hands, it confirms that they’ve found their mate.”

Multiple people . Aurora’s mouth had gone bone dry. His eyes had changed. They’d turned red. So had that awful doctor’s, Buhmek. How often did that happen? She peered down at his hands for the briefest moment but didn’t see anything except smooth red skin. Perhaps it happened so often it was akin to getting a flutter in your belly when you saw a hot person.

“This was an extraordinary occurrence.” Rhaego’s expression took on an urgency. “Matehood had died out for our people. No Clecanian had recognized a mate in hundreds of years. So for someone to recognize an alien…it seemed like a miracle.” His jaw clenched then, undercutting the awe she’d seen shining out of his eyes a moment ago. “But then we learned her presence on our planet was not quite a miracle.”

Aurora’s brows hitched higher and higher as Rhaego explained the insidious underground movements of a group known as PRIC. Apparently they’d been bringing humans and other aliens here for longer than anyone knew in the hopes of finding a compatible species that would help them avoid extinction.

At first, cities across the world had been elated at the discovery of humans and their ability to mate with Clecanians, but the low quantity of humans available as well as the current Class Four designation of Earth had started to turn the world impatient and made some forget their morals.

When he revealed that the old Queen of Tremanta who’d been an ally to humans had been assassinated and her cunning daughter had been elected as the new Queen, Aurora audibly gasped.

“It was a sad day for us all,” Rhaego agreed. “But what has happened since is why my band of dissidents has risen in opposition to her. To reclassify Earth, we need to convince the Intergalactic Alliance Council that humans are prepared to be introduced to the wider universe. A hearing has been called, and the elected Clecanian planetary representative will be the one to argue the case to the council. The old Queen of Tremanta was the representative, but the seat opened when she died. Vila, the new Queen, wanted the position and in order to gain the votes needed, she bribed city leaders with a stockpile of humans a male named Fejo had found in cryosleep pods months ago and delivered to the old Queen.”

“I’ve been here for months?” Aurora scratched at her hand. “I…I’m a bribe?”

“Yes,” he said, his jaw grinding. “If the Alliance knew what she was doing here, she’d be jailed or worse. But no one will reveal such a thing to them because if we did, we’d risk planetary punishment. Currently we’re a designated shelter planet for Class Four assimilation, but that could be taken away if the Alliance finds out our planet has been openly trafficking Class Four beings.”

“So, if you tell on her, humans would be taken back to Earth?” Aurora asked slowly, not daring to hope.

His claws retracted and extended, but he seemed unaware of the movement. “No. You would be transported to another shelter planet. The only way you could return to Earth is if your species is reclassified and Earth is opened—integrated into the sentient universe.”

Aurora worked through everything he’d said. There was so much to process that an ache built in her temples. “This Queen is getting away with all of this because she knows no one is going to tattle on her? We—the other humans and me—don’t want her caught because we’d lose the chance of going home, and you don’t want her caught because we’d be taken away and your people would be back to square one. Going extinct, I mean.” Rhaego nodded silently. “That makes things…tricky, doesn’t it?”

“Incredibly so,” he agreed. “Some cities, like Tuva, have allied with the Queen. They voted for her and received humans in exchange, and they will continue to support and protect her for as long as it takes to get Earth reclassified. But there are some cities fighting back. They want Earth reclassified as well, but they believe the way she is going about it is unconscionable, and they’ve taken a stand. After the Queen’s victory was announced, we knew she’d begin shipping you humans off to the cities that had remained loyal to her, and we’ve made it our mission to intercept those shipments and deliver them to the cities that stood against her instead.”

Aurora’s head throbbed. She’d landed herself in an absolute mess. One in which she was a powerless political pawn. Nausea had her skin going clammy at the idea that there were other humans still asleep in pods somewhere. How many?

Was there a warehouse of sleeping humans she was keeping stashed away until she found a use for them? The Queen hadn’t even bothered to wake her, Diana, or Maggie and allow them to come to terms with their new life before shipping them off. Aurora’s throat burned. Of course not. That would’ve been too much trouble.

“Are you alright?” Rhaego asked.

Aurora glanced at him, realizing she’d been silent for a long time now. “It seems like it’s common knowledge that humans are the key to saving your species.” She waited for him to nod. Her gaze unfocused again, lingering on the bubbling stream near her chair. “It’s like we’ve become so important, we’re no longer people. Just symbols. Or potential.”

Rhaego shifted forward in his seat, drawing her attention. The inner corners of his brows were lifted, creating lines of concern on his forehead. “You’re a person to me . To many of us.” Aurora couldn’t tear her gaze away from his steadfast stare. It was as if he were trying to will his sincerity into her through those handsome eyes.

Aurora blinked. Handsome?

She didn’t have time to acknowledge the passing thought before he spoke again. “The dissidents’ numbers are growing. We’ll continue to rally against her until she changes her ways, or…” His lips sealed at that, and he sat up straighter.

“Or?” she prompted, needing to know.

This time, when he eyed her, his expression was more hesitant. Like he was judging how much sugar to coat the truth with. “Or,” he began, “we’ll ensure she no longer has the authority to enact her plans.”

Aurora tried to keep her face blank. Though he’d said authority , she’d heard ability , and the implication of that made her shudder.