Page 6 of Possessed by the Dragon Alien (Zarux Dragon Brides #6)

She hustled down the mosaic path, boots clicking in purposeful syncopation, a brittle ache in her spine.

Rounding the bend at a large sunken pool, she caught motion near the fountain—a pair of tall figures, their silhouettes sharp against the milky night-cycle light.

She recognized their attire instantly as that of the Twelve.

Their uniforms were immaculate black with a sheen like the scales of a prikka rat , and they appeared to be deep in conversation.

She jolted to a halt, her pulse hammering as she remembered Lulit’s advice to disappear.

There was no elegant way to vanish. She darted left, off the main path, and wedged herself behind a tangle of green- and pink-striated fern and some tall silver grass.

The stems left sticky lines across her cheek and the pollen stung her nose, but she crouched low, willing herself invisible.

The two officials did not pause their low, urgent discussion.

That had to be a good sign, at least. She watched their hands, their posture, the odd tilt of one’s jaw, but then the taller of the two leaned in and said something in a clipped dialect.

He appeared to be of the same species as the overseer at the settlements from her old life.

His aqua-colored scales glinted like jewels.

His wings were massive and powerful and slightly spread.

They made him look bigger, more menacing, and he wore his dark, nearly black, sapphire hair swept back from a cool, aquiline face.

The other, a painfully thin older female, hissed back at him and slashed a long, narrow hand through the air.

She was not intimidated by him in the least. They were arguing about something.

That had to be good. If they were arguing, they were less likely to have noticed her . She’d wait for them to move away, to dismiss the possibility that a worker might be lurking in the foliage…

She was about to exhale a small breath of relief when a pair of icy silver eyes shifted from the face before him to directly where Nena hid.

It was as if nothing lay between her and this member of the Twelve.

As if he could see straight through the ferns and grasses that she thought hid her pretty well.

His gaze hit her with the force of a cold wind on a winter morning—freezing and ominous, with a smack of existential dread mixed in.

Nena did not move as her pulse kicked up to a painful thud.

It sounded so loud to her, she wondered if the male could hear it all the way over by the fountain.

She did not even blink. Her lungs ached with the effort of holding her breath.

Her mind whirled with the dark possibilities of punishments she was sure to receive for being dirty and being noticed by one of the highest authorities in the Axis.

But the male— who very clearly saw her —turned his gaze back to his companion with a smirk that might have been a lip twitch, and a slight quiver of his massive wings.

The two resumed their low conversation, but Nena could feel the burn of attention lingering on her, like an invisible brand.

When they finally moved on, walking toward the central tower, Nena waited another full five piks before emerging.

Her uniform was beyond salvaging. Her hands were raw and sticky, and her arms trembled with the aftershocks of adrenaline.

She made for the relief station through the back service tunnel, keeping her head bowed and eyes on the composite floor.

Inside, the rest station was harshly lit and lined with rows of clothing recyclers and hygiene pods.

A few other workers lingered in the corner, speaking in low voices.

Their uniforms were clean and their faces relaxed.

Nena ignored their stares and stripped off her filthy outer layer, shoving it deep into the disposal chute, hoping the machines would destroy any evidence before a supervisor could see it.

It was too late for that, of course. She’d been seen .

As she stood in the opaque hygiene pod, shaky from hunger and exhaustion, she stripped down to nothing and turned on the device to the highest cleaning setting.

Her mind replayed her interaction with the member of the Twelve.

He’d been quite tall, and powerful. Hot, forced mist sliced over her skin in waves, removing all the sweat and dirt that she’d accumulated during the shift.

She rested her forehead on the side of the tube and shut her eyes.

What would that male member of the Twelve do to her?

Or had he already forgotten about her transgression?

His gaze had been like a knife—silver and sharp and lethal.

But there was something about him that made her unable to turn her mind away from him.

A weariness to the set of his shoulders and a trained hardness to his jaw.

He was all angles and coiled strength, but something wild runs under the surface of that one , Nena thought, spontaneously, surprising herself.

Logic rejected that notion, but if there was one thing Nena knew in her bones, it was that her gut feelings always told her the truth.

That member of the Twelve had made her heart pound, and it wasn’t just from fear.

If the situation had been vastly different, she’d say he was handsome. She’d say something about him was familiar in an ancient, forgotten way. If the situation were different, they would not be enemies. They’d be…

The cleaning cycle ended and along with it, Nena’s musings on the most lethal individual she’d ever encountered.

She shoved them away and exited the pod.

Nudity in this space was common and accepted, and Nena snatched up a fresh uniform from the racks.

She put it on and hurried directly toward her cell.

Food could wait. All she could think about was staying out of sight from all officials and hoping against hope that the member of the Twelve who’d seen her had forgotten all about her by now.