Page 6 of Defiance (The Intersolar Union #7)

Novak stood in the lift with his back against the far wall as the doors opened, tail sweeping into the sensors so they’d stay that way while he gathered himself. His mind was a wreck, senses overloaded and raw. He pressed on his fangs and rolled his hips to alleviate some of the swollen ache in his helices.

A moan rumbled in his throat and he closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall as he drew venom from his glands and swallowed it down. The human woman Charlie haunted him. She’d been his ghost ever since that single glimpse he’d caught of her all those months ago. The back of a human woman with defined shoulders and a long plait of fiery silk.

Imagining her face and voice had been his singular obsession in the hour since Vindilus laid out Ferulis’s plan. Foolishly, whether because he yearned for the freedom his species had lost or because base instinct demanded it, Novak had agreed.

Make the human woman his quarry. And if she went missing, go on the Hunt.

Waiting for Imani to approach her and then relay her decision was absolute agony.

His eyes drifted open and dragged across the hallway to the eastern suite, where his sensitive ears picked up the gentle beep of a vitals deck and murmured voices. Clinical odors like rubber, lubricant, and isopropyl alcohol seeped through the seams in the door. A woman carrying young that he’d helped sire was inside. All these years being a compulsory donor and this was the first moment in which it felt real.

The door slid open before he could decide whether or not to flee, the midwaif he’d escorted from Huajile leaning out into the hallway. She gave him an ancient smile that was surely missing a tooth or two and waved him over.

“All is well. Come. The mamau is expecting you.”

Novak pushed off the wall with an exhale, expelling the scent of jungle and filtered air as he exited the lift. He strode forward with his usual confident sway, tail brushing the walls. He smiled at her, flicking one ear.

“I’m honored that she thought of…”

He came to a slow halt in the living room, his eyes widening in awe. Amelia Ahlberg sat in a pool of choppy water with a towel draped over her naked chest and her hair in the same bird’s nest atop her head that he remembered from the last time they’d met. But now her stomach was swollen like a melon with a taut line down the center that pulled on her navel. She smelled of sweat and… milk? It was a flavor he barely recognized since he rarely had the chance to catch it.

And just a little bit, deep in her blood, there was a hint of himself.

“Novak,”

she said sweetly even if her eyes were ringed in dark splotches and pain pulled at their corners.

“I’m so glad you came.”

Novak’s feet were rooted to the spot, frozen like a statue but a raging storm on the inside. How was that possible? Her scent had grown to include him like a sibling. Vin had always been his brother, through thick and thin, but this was the first time he’d smelled kin. His tail brushed against Dr Ahlberg’s pool with inquisitive concern.

Ezraji Zarabi came around the kitchen counter and clasped his elbow in a shilpakaari greeting, stealing Novak’s focus.

“Apologies for not greeting you earlier,”

he said, tendrils still twisting with anxiety behind his shoulders. It was odd to see the reserved researcher so jittery.

Novak’s ears turned back.

“No apology necessary.”

He looked at the human mother-to-be again and felt honored to be a donor for the first time since his youth.

“It’s a privilege to be here with you and Dr Ahlberg. Are things going well?”

The doctor blew a stray clump of sweaty silk from her forehead.

“Mel, please. And Ezra.”

Then that same sweet smile crawled over her lips and she nodded to a holopuck on the counter.

“And yes, all of our vitals are excellent.”

She grimaced and to Novak’s extreme surprise, her rounded belly tightened.

“Six beats,”

the midwaif said, restarting a new timer on her holotab.

“If you’d like any other visitors, you might want to call them, mamau.”

Mel gave a tense nod, breathing in short huffs. Several agonizing bits later, her stomach relaxed and she sighed, holding the weight of her belly. Ezra and Novak let out a breath in unison and shared a helpless look.

“I understand why you look such a mess now. Is that normal?”

“All of her levels have plummeted,”

Ezra grumbled, his ultramarine speckles glowing in a fit of exhausted frustration.

“She’s severely deficient in iron and glucose, but refuses to eat. And all of their heartbeats are erratic.”

“Yes, it’s normal,”

Mel assured them both, probably for the dozenth time. She nodded to the counter.

“Show him, Ezra. And I think I’ll take that anesthetic now, Dr Singh.”

The midwaif chuckled, her knees popping as she knelt on a towel at Mel’s side. Ezra pulled Novak towards the counter where three pucks were lined up, their holoscreens minimized. A multi-vitals deck glowed off to the side where three distinct heartbeats raced in place accompanied by meters for oxygen levels and blood pressure.

Novak stared at the two heartbeats that were lighter, faster, and fluttered like bird wings. His plume mail rose across his hackles, catching the dim light. Ezra glanced at him, enlarging the displays at the other pucks.

“It’s not the best set-up. I would have preferred going to Samridve—”

“Secret babies, remember?”

Amelia called.

“But yes, right.”

He took a deep breath.

“My priya is courageous and stubborn.”

Novak grinned, smacking the backs of Ezra’s calves with his tail like one might shove a friend’s shoulder.

“Brave enough to keep you calm while she goes through that.”

He nodded to her and Ezra exhaled, leaning his palms on the counter like the weight of the world was on his back. He gave Novak a human nod.

“All I’m good for today is entertaining her with my nerves. I’ve read so much and made so many plans, but this waiting while she’s in pain is killing me. Someday you’ll—”

The delegate cut himself short, catching Novak’s eye. The agent kept his smile intact. It wasn’t the first time someone had slipped up in casual conversation, talking as if he had the same opportunities to build a life that they did even if they knew that wasn’t true. He raised one brow nonchalantly and leaned his elbow on the counter.

“I don’t think parenting is for me, so how about I spoil yours rotten from afar?”

he teased, releasing the tension. Maybe he could redirect Ezra’s focus. A dangerous thought, but his nerves were frayed anyway. A little tussle would be good for him.

“Especially since she smells like me. Will the neolates, I wonder? Perhaps my donations are more potent than I thought.”

As expected, Ezra’s nervous twisting instantly focused. His striped pupils narrowed on Novak, jaw ticking.

“It’s a human phenomenon. The spats leave genetic markers in their maan’s blood. She’ll have that scent the rest of her life.”

“Must drive you wild.”

Ezra’s smirk was dark as he tapped each of the pucks to maximize their displays. Blue light bathed their faces and Novak stood up straight, his ears forward. Each puck was focused on a little bundle of limbs and tendrils that could fit in Novak’s palms. His plume mail shot straight up, showing off the orange downy beneath.

“I’m pretty confident that they’re mine,”

Ezra said in a smug tone, crossing his arms.

“Mm,”

Novak hummed in agreement, entranced by one little face with squashed shilpakaari gills and human fringe around its closed eyes. He wanted to reach out and touch that little cheek. Would he be able to see himself in their features at all? “But at least you aren’t a nervous wreck now.”

Then his eyes latched onto the mini vitals hovering beneath the neolates. Their names glowed against the counter, accompanied by a ribbon of ongoing data and meters.

Novit and Matteo.

“Both boys. Believe it or not, I insisted on Novit,”

Ezra said, pushing the little one’s holopuck closer.

“It means ‘Little Novak’ in Dharateen. Mel doesn’t know how dangerous it was for you to help us. We owe you our family and want you to feel welcome.”

Novak’s silk-tongued teasing suddenly felt cheap. He stared at the little one with a crease in his brow, ears turned back.

“Thank you,”

he said with simple seriousness. He met Ezra’s eyes and told him the plain truth.

“She smells like a sister. Which means I’m looking forward to being an uncle again.”

Ezra smiled, scraping his palm over his jaw.

“Speaking of your niece, Pom Pom has put together an entire afternoon of activities for you. Starting with teaching you how to play frisbee.”

Novak’s holotab vibrated with a notification.

“I suppose I’m being summoned then.”

“Oh good,”

Mel called and both men turned towards her.

“Because as much as I want to get to know you better, Novak, I’m about at the stage where I start screaming, so…”

She grimaced as the midwaif helped her sit up a little straighter.

“I’m afraid I have to kick you out anyway.”

“Well I certainly wouldn’t want to intrude on the screaming,”

Novak said, noting how Ezra’s tendrils started twisting up once more. He approached Mel and knelt down next to her.

“Thank you for thinking of me today, sister. I look forward to meeting my nephews soon.”

“You’ll be here tomorrow, won’t you?”

she asked, crestfallen. Novak’s tail curled up.

“Probably not,”

he admitted, brushing his muzzle across her temple. He could hardly believe that she let him. The trust she afforded him felt sacred, but she just patted his knee with a soft, pale hand, kissing the air beside his cheek like it was nothing.

“But I’ll return soon. A few weeks.”

“Alright. Stay safe wherever you’re going.”

The midwaif shooed him away, fretting over Mel’s towel.

“Come now, mamau, let’s try kneeling with your elbows on the sofa...”

Novak excused himself as Ezra stepped in to help and the door hissed closed behind him. He opened his comms and Imani’s profile rotated lazily in the corner. Heart in his throat, tongue as heavy as lead, he opened her message.

Imani Renatex, 11:52: We’ve put you on patrol tonight. You’ll start down at the river after sunset. Route and schedule attached.

He deleted the message as soon as he’d read it and stared at the lift in shock.

Charlie had said yes.