Page 48

I want to shift. I want to shift so nevving much it’s hard to keep my tail and wings under control. My fangs drip with venom, making me drool worse than Dante.

If I can’t get a hold of myself, I am not going to be able to take control of this situation.

My quarters are dark and quiet. I’m aware of the bustle of warriors elsewhere on the ship. Those who are not on patrol or on supply runs have been recalled to Vorostor Central. We are to do a sweep of our sector to find any further signs of the Veseli.

I want to be in the forbidden sector right now. It was only Dante’s warning that entering it without the proper equipment and timing could trigger some of the traps set inside, ones which there was a risk might injure Kerra, that kept me from going.

For all my brother’s madness, I want to believe he wouldn’t hurt her deliberately. He was no more violent or feral than any other Sarkarnii when he had all his mental acuity. But his real strength lay in his mind. He was the cleverest Sarkarnii I ever knew.

But the wormhole and his subsequent unrequited rut changed all of that.

I want the darkness to swallow me and spit me out next to Kerra. Every atom of my being wants to be with her. The mating mix makes me feel invincible, but the rut makes me feel like the crotch of Dante’s pants.

When the door to my quarters snaps open, I have to half shut my eyes at the light which streams in around his nevving form.

“How the nev did you bypass my…” I start with fire but end with smoke. “Never mind.” I heave myself out of my den and stride towards him. “Let’s go.”

“You look like a nevving Habosu with a headache,” Dante says as I reach him. He slaps me on my arm. “Have this. Works for me.”

“Nev!” I scrabble at the patch he’s stuck to my scales, but before I can get it off, it sinks into my skin and is gone. “What was that?”

“Energy which isn’t from the mating mix.” He looks me up and down. “You’re going to need it.”

“I should kill you right here, right now, and be done,” I rasp, as my guts churn, my accelerant sacs filling unexpectedly.

Dante claps a hand on my shoulder. “But you won’t,” he says cheerfully.

When it hits, it really hits.

“Nev,” I say, with zero power behind the sentiment.

“I find it’s always best to go into the forbidden sector well lubricated,” Dante says, patting two of the patches onto his skin.

“Try that again on me and you’ll lose your tail,” I say with no malice whatsoever. He grins the way he always does, grabs hold of one of my wings, and tows me out of my quarters.

We make it to the airlock into the zone which is open, contrary to my orders, but before I have a chance to do or say anything, Dante has pulled me through, and it closes up.

The zone is empty. Our footsteps echo as we make our way through to the entrance. The huge claw-like locking mechanism holding the tritanium airlock closed begins to open as we approach.

Dante is the only Sarkarnii authorized to go into the sector. Even Dalox doesn’t have these privileges.

“How did Deus get through here?” I ask watching the myriad of colors bloom over my head.

“He has another way in, one we cannot take without instant death,” Dante says as if he’s talking about space weather.

I slam my fist over his wing and spin him towards me. “What about Kerra?” I snarl, venom spitting from me.

Dante shakes himself free, wipes off my venom, and…tastes it. He makes a sour face.

“Your mate, as long as she was with him, will be unaffected. The sector is his, after all.”

The growl I release makes me feel a whole lot more like myself. The last lock detaches and the airlock hisses with ancient wind, making a plume of white as it swings open.

“You first,” I snarl at Dante.

He strolls inside with the air of a warrior going to the dining hall. But then Dante doesn’t have a mate to find, nor does he have any concept of danger.

I follow, my shift threatening but kept at bay. I have a creeping feeling Dante’s choice of narcotic patch might have something to do with it. I make a mental note to find out who is supplying him and get it stopped.

The nevver is feral enough without artificial help.

The tunnel into the sector is dark. Ahead of me, I can make out Dante’s form. He keeps a flame dancing in front of him as we make our way down and down until finally we reach the lake.

It’s the one thing I remember from before. From the time when Deus held his sanity. Without thinking, I dive straight in, the water cooler than an aquium but as silky smooth on my scales as it always was.

Dante is alongside me, his tail and wings flicking him as easily through as mine are. We both know what we’ll find on the other side.

I burst out, heaving myself into the air, liquid sluicing from me as I exit through the cave and into the heat and humidity of the forbidden sector.

The sector none of us know exactly what it contains, and given Deus stumbled out all those nova-years ago, pulsar in hand attempting to kill as many warriors as he could before he was subdued and placed in my custody, one we’ve never discovered anything else about.

It was sealed off, only Dante having access, granted to him as one of Deus’s final sane orders.

I land on a rocky outcrop, lift my head, and do my best to pull Kerra’s scent from the air.

Dante thumps beside me. His brows are drawn low.

“What is it?”

“They’re here.”

“Kerra…and Deus?”

“I don’t know.” Dante scents the air. “All I can smell are Veseli.”