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I leaned closer to Yani. “Does he need to be in water? Tentacles don’t seem suited to walking.”

“He is native to an ocean world,” Yani confirmed. “But you might be surprised at the things those Graniks can do with those tentacles.”

The way she said it had me shooting her a glance.

Not that I could see much—she’d bundled herself up in a full-bodied and hooded snowsuit.

I hadn’t realized they made them in purple with pink polka dots, but apparently so.

Even her tail was wrapped in a crocheted cozy.

I’d helped her adapt a leg warmer pattern for that.

When I opened my mouth to ask for elaboration on that comment, I noticed she was breathing like she’d just run a mile, almost panting, really. She hurried to add, “My cousin raves about her tentacle encounters… and I did like to watch. It was—stimulating.”

She watched ? My mouth slammed closed. I knew nothing about Drolgok arousal but I found myself examining the tentacles with more interest. The things you discovered about your friends… my mind buzzed with possibilities as the Drakes keyed open a door and led us down a long hall.

Despite being behind a locked door, the metal walls were dented and damaged, the floors so dirty that dust bunnies the size of camels resided in the corners, and the air stank of mold and old smoke.

“The retrofit will take two hours,” Senaik told us as he ushered us into a dimly lit room. “You will remain here. Elimination facilities are across the hall. A guard is assigned to you, so do not attempt to go elsewhere.”

The second Drake hadn’t taken his eyes off me the entire time, and from behind his back, Kurt glowered at him.

I ignored all of them, concentrating instead on getting off my feet for as long as possible. I collapsed onto a long, rather battered couch, desperate to lie down. I didn’t ache anymore, but the dizziness was still there.

The Drakes left the room and closed the door. Although the smell coming off the couch did not encourage lowering my head anywhere near it, my true reason for refusing to lie prone sauntered over to me.

“Two hours,” he said. “We could spend the time getting primed for our mating ritual.” He waggled his brows suggestively.

“Ugh,” commented Yani. “Could you be any more disgusting?”

He glared at her. “You could wait in the washroom. Jaz and I would like to be alone. ”

“Princess Jazmin”—I wiped more sweat off my face—“does not want to be alone with you.”

“Princess?” He frowned at me. “What is wrong with you, anyway? You look like crap.”

I scowled at him. “You certainly are exceeding your romantic capabilities.”

I should have known that sarcasm would be lost on this idiot. “Who said anything about romance?” Kurt countered, his brows dropping low. “One way or another, I am going to bang you.”

Yani did something I rarely heard her do—she hissed, before snarling, “Even Graniks have better courtship rituals than you.”

He glowered at her. “What’s a Granik?”

“They have slimy tentacles,” I supplied. “And yet still beat you on looks.”

When he took a long step toward me, Yani said, “I’m sure the Drakes would be impressed to know you want to ‘bang’ her before she’s been evaluated and the license has been approved.”

That stopped him cold, and his gaze hardened. “You are both supreme bitches. If she weren’t the only game in town?—”

“Then you would only get more rejections.” I exhaled as a bout of shivering swept through my body.

Yani sat and put her arm around me. “You are still way too hot,” she said.

“She shouldn’t be piloting like that,” Kurt protested.

“Leave her alone. If she gets too sick, I will take over,” Yani growled at him.

Kurt snorted a disparaging laugh. “I can fly better than you, Drolgok.”

Yani’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t me who crashed the last ship into the receiver tower.”

Kurt’s lips twisted. “It had engine trouble.”

“Just fu—eff off and leave me the hell alone,” I grumbled.

He glared at both of us as he left the room. I heard the Drake say something to him, but I ignored the ensuing conversation .

Yani had me stretch out on the couch. I tried to ignore the way it stank.

“Look at me,” she said.

I peered up at her, and she frowned. “Your irises are changing color.”

“What?”

“They are. They’ve gone almost violet.”

“That makes no sense. Why would they change color?”

“I have no idea,” she stated, sounding troubled. But then she smiled, and handed me Sookie. “Maybe you just need rest.”

I closed my eyes, violet or otherwise. The hedgegopher curled up with me as her owner took the nearby chair.

My unsettled dreams were filled with chaotic images of towering forms with green eyes and orange Birkenstocks. Even stranger, chains wove through everything.

Yani was still there when I awoke. My head pounded, and the stripes of her crocheted hat seemed to pulse with new, screaming color. I blinked and averted my gaze.

Kurt was leaning on the wall near the door. The two were exchanging glares, as if I’d interrupted a conversation.

Unexpectedly, the door opened, and Senaik entered, followed by my guard. Whose dark gaze immediately assessed my prone state.

I scooped Sookie and sat up. The entire world spun for a moment, before settling.

“Everything is ready for departure,” Senaik said. “None of you are to enter the aft storage bay during this voyage. It is off limits.”

A million questions danced through my fevered brain. But all I did was stare up at him, and mentally chant a quote from one of Yani’s favorite movies?—

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

I shrugged, and said, “Okay.”

I was relieved to get the Stardrifter out of that place with our repulsor covers intact.

Being owned by a Drake likely had a lot to do with it. No one willingly messed with the Tazier Clan.

When we achieved orbit, Senaik gave us the destination.

We all stared at him without meeting his obsidian eyes.

“You have your orders. The slipstream will take us deep into Nirzk territory. They will escort us to Givnia.” He turned and left the bridge.

“Did he say Nirzk?” I asked when he’d passed out of earshot.

“He did,” Yani affirmed. She was in the navigator’s seat, and I couldn’t interpret the undercurrent to her words. But her hairless brow ridge had drawn down low. And I was going to have to make her a new hat, if just looking at the existing one continued to give me a headache.

“Why would Drakes be going there?” Kurt sounded both dismayed and alarmed.

For once, I was in full agreement with him.

“I have no idea,” Yani admitted, exchanging a long look with me.

Kurt abruptly left—I hoped he’d lock himself in his quarters for the remainder of the journey. My suddenly bounding pulse only added to my general state of dizziness as I set the coordinates for the closest slipstream gateway into the ship’s autopilot. It would take us most of the day to get there.

We had a problem. Givnia was not the best destination for Yani and me to jump ship and bolt. The Nirzks’s reputation as overlords made the Drakes look like hedgegophers.

The Taziers weren’t just visiting their mortal enemies on a whim. There was something in the aft cargo hold that they were planning to deliver.

To their mortal enemies? Nothing about this made any sense.

Activating the autopilot, I sat back to meet Yani’s concerned gaze. For the first time, I noticed tiny sunrays of gold amid the orange irises. I held up a finger—for all we knew, the Drakes had planted a bug in the bridge. I would have, if the situation were reversed.

Yani and I went to the small galley. Our supply crew was run by a guy who loved to eat, and he’d stocked the fridge with all kinds of goodies. We made ourselves tasty wraps, and we’d only just heated them and placed them on trays when two Drakes appeared at the entrance.

We regarded them in surprise, because neither of them was Senaik or my guard.

How many Taziers were on the ship? We had no way to know for sure, they’d disabled the monitors in the bunkrooms too.

They weren’t cloaked, but wore only their modified gladiator-style sandals and a wrap around their hips—a simple loincloth-style garment held on by a belt that could be released with a touch if they needed to shift.

The fabric in front fell to their knees, and the back had accommodations for their tail.

It left the sides of their hips completely exposed.

And of course, everything above that was bare skin.

A lot of bare skin. Holy crap. There wasn’t a spare ounce of flesh anywhere on them.

I’d rarely seen Drakes uncloaked, and never so close. Again, I noticed the rainbow reflections in their black hair—it would be attractive if their other features weren’t so severe.

They entered the galley, where their size immediately caused issues. Yani and I edged around the table, eager to get away from their massive, half-naked bodies.

“If there is anything your lordships need, I can give you a hand with it.”

I looked past the Drakes, to where Kurt hovered in the hall, obviously eager to ingratiate himself. My gut clenched in disgust.

Then one Drake lifted his head, and inhaled. His wings unfolded along his back, bumping into the walls. Both ignored Kurt, and also looked straight past Yani as if she didn’t exist.

They were staring at me.

Their eyes glowed bronze from within the blackness. I glanced fast, and looked away. It made their sharp Tazier features look particularly alien.

“She is ripening,” one said.

“Yess,” hissed the other.

I had no idea what they were on about, but I shivered like a mouse cornered by a cat.

“Jaz was just recently registered,” Kurt stated, but he didn’t sound quite so friendly, now. “She hasn’t yet been evaluated.”

“Does not need to be,” one of them said. “We will tell Senaik.”

“He has a nose,” the other sniped. “He—he already should know.”

Was he saying I stank like—what? I was ripening ? What the effing hell did that mean?