Page 48 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Warlords #2)

I t’s entirely possible my confidence was misplaced. Without Dexx, his clan warriors are listless. I don’t want to order them around. After all, helpfully, Dexx hasn’t claimed me, and I haven’t been elevated to being by his side and his equal, like Kerra has with Darax.

But also, these are warriors who are exhausted. With the fact they have no option but to shift every twelve hours, they’ve been fighting among themselves ever since mining functions had to cease, and now they are leaderless.

I probably shouldn’t be mad at them for mostly ignoring me, but I am. I’m furious at the big dragon guys.

I walk into the dining hall. There are half a dozen warriors eating in silence. A couple look up at me and leave. Those remaining ignore me.

“Has anyone seen Dalsor?” I ask.

I don’t get a reply. It makes me want to shout at them, but I don’t think it will help.

“I need to find him to help Lord Dexx,” I add.

A couple of the warriors look up at me and then at each other.

“He was last seen in the secondary control center, mistress,” one of them says.

“Drex?” I peer through the gloom at the warrior who spoke.

He gets to his feet and gives me a slight bow. “Yes, mistress.”

“Can you take me to where he was last seen?”

Drex comes towards me. His scales are still pale, but otherwise he looks fully recovered. I smile at him and his lips twitch slightly in return.

“I will if you make sure you tell Lord Dexx I was assisting you and not encroaching on his mate,” Drex says quietly.

My stomach chills. What I took for indifference from all these warriors to me is no such thing.

It is fear. They do not want to be the subject of Dexx’s wrath on his return. And they clearly expect him to return.

The chill turns to warmth. All these warriors care deeply about their leader. They do not want to upset him by interacting with his mate.

I’ve been a fool. My warmth is the growing embarrassment that, in my haste, I’ve misjudged them all.

Once I’m claimed, they will not be concerned about interacting with me, like Darax’s warriors are with Kerra, but unclaimed…

because I was scared and didn’t push the subject with Dexx, his warriors dare not risk his ire.

Save for Drex. This warrior has interacted with me before and he is bold.

“Why do you seek Dalsor?’ Drex asks me quietly.

“I have some questions for him, that’s all,” I respond.

“About the devices and the explosions?” Drex persists.

“Maybe, something like that.”

“Dalsor was often doing work for Lord Dexx which took him into the other sectors,” Drex says. “He was very busy when he wasn’t in the mines.”

“Oh, was he? He must have been a good warrior.”

I catch the look on Drex’s face before he manages to control himself.

“He did what was necessary.”

Which I think is Sarkarnii for “no, he was a terrible warrior” if the look of disgust which briefly appeared on Drex’s face is to be believed.

“And Lord Dexx trusted him.”

The twist in Drex’s lips tells me everything I need to know. Dalsor wasn’t liked. Shame Dexx hadn’t noticed.

“He trusted him,” Drex says. “Most of us would not. Most of us knew he did not do his share of the work needed.”

We reach the end of the passage as it opens out into the main atrium surrounding the mine entrance.

“What if I were to say I think Dalsor was behind the explosion in the mine and in the other sectors, that he is a traitor?” I fire out in a hoarse whisper at Drex.

“I would say out of all our clan, Dalsor would be the only warrior I would expect to be a traitor,” Drex says. “He thought being related to a great general would get him what he wanted.”

“And what did he want?”

“He wanted glory and power. But that comes from within, not what you get given to you by your birth.” Drex pulls himself up to his full height, which, although still smaller than Dexx, is a good six foot plus and significantly taller than me.

“I agree.” I nod.

“If he is a traitor, then we need more warriors,” Drex says with a grin. “Wait here.”

Before I can stop him, he’s scampered away with youthful exuberance, leaving me hovering on the edge of the atrium.

I suddenly feel very alone and very…Dexx-less.

This was a terrible idea.

“Looks like I’ve found what my master wanted,” a voice growls out of the dark as Dalsor steps out of the shadows.

“And I’m guessing your master is not Dexx.”

Dalsor’s already grim expression darkens further, his eyes almost flat, like a great white shark rather than the usual Sarkarnii fire. “Lord Dexx”—he spits out Dexx’s name like a sour fruit—“is not my Lord. He is a speck of dirt in this galaxy compared to the one I serve.”

“As we’ve got that cleared up”—I start to back away from Dalsor—“I’ll be going.”

“Dexx thinks he can destroy the darkness. He is wrong,” Dalsor says. “The darkness is coming for us all, and only those who have proved themselves worthy will survive.”

He holds out his hand, and something which is like smoke but not smoke writhes there, moving and spinning as if it is alive.

It is alive. And it is…not good.

I don’t hang around to get any further information from him, despite how chatty Dalsor apparently wants to be.

I know all I need to know.

And Dexx has put himself in more danger than I realized. I have to get one of the other warlords to go after him. It’s the only way he can possibly escape.