Page 19 of Pursued by the Dragon Alien (Zarux Dragon Brides #4)

NINETEEN

Lilas

Lilas stepped up to the Zaruxian ship and came to an abrupt stop. Her breath stalled in her throat.

No. This wasn’t possible.

She knew this ship. She had seen it every day of her life, looming over Settlement 112-1 like a silent predator, watching their every move. It had been the overseer’s fortress, perched high on the clifftop above the fields, shadowing their days with quiet authority.

This was the fortress.

Her stomach twisted. She turned sharply to Ellion, who stood beside Turi. His silver eyes watched her with unsettling calm, as if waiting for a reaction.

“This is your ship,” she said, her voice tight. “The overseer’s fortress.”

Ellion inclined his head. “It is, but I didn’t know it was a ship until very recently.”

Lilas’ pulse thundered. She had always thought of it as an untouchable monolith, a structure so deeply tied to the Axis’ rule that it would stand long after she was gone. And now, she was stepping inside of it, and it wasn’t just stone and metal anymore. It could move . It was free.

Her mind spun, questions piling up against the relief she had tried not to let herself feel. They were in a room that looked more like a great hall than a spaceship. Comfortable sofas and tables sat before a hearth that burned white with an ionic fire. Before she could sit down and take a breath, quick footsteps echoed down the corridor.

“Lilas!”

Lilas barely turned before Fivra slammed into her.

The smaller female threw her arms around Lilas with surprising strength. Her delicate fingers clutched the back of her tunic. Lilas froze for half a second, then wrapped her arms around her friend, holding on just as tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut. The warmth of Fivra’s embrace, the scent of her hair—so familiar, so painfully missed.

“You’re here,” Fivra breathed. “You’re really here.”

Lilas pressed the side of her head to Fivra’s and let out a shaking laugh. “Yeah,” she choked out. “I’m here.”

A rougher voice cut in. “You better not be crying, Lilas.”

Lilas pulled back just as Fivra did and turned to the side.

Sevas stood there, arms crossed. Her crimson eyes glinted with her usual challenge. But her hair—Lilas’ breath caught. The dark, matted mass of hair she remembered was now a striking shade of yellow, catching the light like a flame.

“What the fek happened to your hair?” Lilas blurted, blinking hard as if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Sevas snorted. “Good to see you, too.”

Fivra chuckled beside her, but Lilas couldn’t look away. “I’m serious,” she said. “You look like you stuck your head in a ganther flower.”

Sevas smirked, the corner of her mouth tilting up. “I’d been darkening it with soot to keep my father from seeing the color change. You know as soon as this happens…” She flipped the edge of her shoulder-length hair. “It means you’re mature enough to be given to a bondmate. I really didn’t want one of them.”

“Alas, here we are,” said a tall, scarred Zaruxian who stepped forward. His deep green scales gleamed under the ship’s overhead lights, and the sharp angles of his face accentuated his fierce face. His piercing silver-gray eyes shifted to Lilas, assessing. Scars crisscrossed his arms and a faint one ran down the side of his jaw, a map of battles fought and won.

“Lilas, meet Takkian,” Sevas said with a grin. “My true love.”

Takkian guffawed in a deep rumble. He stood beside Sevas, their arms brushing in a way that was instinctive, unconscious. He inclined his head toward her, as regal as a king. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lilas.”

Lilas blinked her eyes. “Same to you, Takkian,” she said without stammering. He was utterly intimidating.

Sevas rolled her eyes. “What nice manners, everyone,” she said. “Can we get to the part about how Lilas ended up running right into Ellion?”

“I did not run into the ov—Ellion.” Oh, it would take a while to get used to calling him by his name. “He snuck up on me and grabbed me from behind.”

“You were distraught,” Ellion replied, looking faintly hurt. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She didn’t have a chance to reply to that, as a red-scaled Zaruxian, just as lean as he was broad, with an easy smile and dark amusement gleaming in his gaze, sauntered forward. He glanced at Fivra, then at Lilas, tapping his knuckles against his belt. “You must be the infamous Lilas,” he said smoothly. “The one my mate says has a comeback for everything.”

Fivra smacked his arm. “Cyprian.”

“You say that about me?” Lilas said with a laugh. “And you didn’t mention my excellent hugging skills.”

Fivra raised one eyebrow. “You hate hugs.”

“No, I don’t,” she said, quieter. “I never really did.”

Fivra put her arm around Lilas. “In that case, you’ll get all the hugs you want and more.”

“Oh, good.” Lilas winced. She glanced up to see Fivra’s mate watching her with curiosity. “Are you the one who ran the brothel?”

Cyprian made a dramatic bow that had Takkian sighing. “I am, indeed, the former director of Erovik, the luxury brothel.” He looked adoringly at Fivra. “This little Terian turned my existence upside down.”

“It was actually a very nice brothel,” Fivra said in a whisper, patting her hand. “No one was forced to…you know.”

Lilas stifled a giggle and couldn’t find a single thing to dislike about either Zaruxian male. And even Ellion, now that he wasn’t the overseer anymore, was pleasant and kind. He was clearly smitten with Turi, but that wasn’t new information to Lilas. He’d seemed smitten long ago, when he put her family farm under his protection. She cocked her head to where Turi stood beside Ellion, their hands loosely entwined.

“So the settlements are free, now?” she asked. “No one is forced to work for no food?”

Turi nodded. “It will be hard to undo so much damage, but things will change in time. Having food will help, now that every crop isn’t crated up and sent to the Axis.”

“I want to know what happened to you , Lilas.” Sevas crossed her arms, clearly done waiting. “ Who is Razion.”

Lilas swallowed hard and released a shaky breath. She lowered herself to the soft sofa and rested her elbows on her knees. The others sat, too, with Fivra settling beside her. Lilas had pushed everything that had happened on the Darkslip into the corners of her mind, but now that Sevas had asked, it all came rushing back—a storm of stolen moments and words she wished she hadn’t overheard.

She forced a smirk, though it felt brittle. She ran a hand through her hair, ignoring the way her fingers trembled slightly. “At the auction, I was sold to some disgusting trade master with a skin condition we will never speak of again.”

Fivra winced. “That bad?”

“Worse,” Lilas muttered.

Sevas’ arms flexed at her sides, anger flickering in her crimson eyes. “How did you get out?”

“Razion and his crew raided the ship before we arrived at the harem I was supposed to live at.” She tilted her head and glanced down to her hands. “Razion let me stay. I joined the crew.”

Turi nudged Fivra aside and raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me you ended up on a raider’s ship?”

“Yep.” Lilas let out a tight, humorless chuckle. “I expected it to be another cage. Figured he’d sell me off or throw me out an air lock if I wasn’t useful.” A flicker of pain curled around her ribs, but she ignored it. She focused on the facts. “But he didn’t. He let me work in the cargo hold, let me eat whatever and whenever I wanted. Taught me to read. I… I started to trust him.”

Sevas narrowed her eyes. “Lilas,” she said slowly, “how much did you trust him?”

Lilas’ fist clenched around the fabric of her tunic. “Enough.” There was quiet. “Fine. I fell in love with him, okay?”

Fivra’s soft expression barely changed, but her hand slid around Lilas’ shoulders, squeezing gently. “Oh, Lilas…”

Sevas let out a slow exhale and scowled. “And? What happened?”

Lilas swallowed hard. “And I thought he loved me, too,” she admitted, voice rough. “But I overheard him.” Her hands clenched into fists. “He was talking to Krask, his first officer—who, by the way, had never been a fan of mine. Krask had arranged to sell me to a trafficker like I was some extra cargo to unload—and Razion just agreed .” She forced out a bitter laugh. “Didn’t hesitate. Didn’t even question it. He just ‘took the meeting.’”

Turi’s breath caught, and Ellion’s silver eyes darkened.

Fivra pressed her small hand to her mouth, and Cyprian cursed under his breath while Takkian remained stone-still.

Sevas, however, was already fuming. “He said he was going to what? ”

“I heard it myself,” Lilas said sharply, forcing herself to stay steady. “Krask set everything up. The whole deal. And Razion took it like it was nothing. Like I was nothing.” Her throat burned. “So, I ran.”

Turi turned to Ellion, eyes wide. “Would Razion really do that? Would he really just—sell her?”

Ellion’s expression furrowed as he glanced at Takkian, something unspoken passing between them. “I don’t know this Razion,” Ellion said slowly. “But if he is like us—lost, reclaimed, learning—there is a possibility this is not what it seems.”

Lilas stiffened. “It doesn’t seem like anything. I heard it.”

“Perhaps,” Ellion murmured, “but it doesn’t match the rest of his action up to that point.”

Lilas’ breath hitched. A sharp wave of doubt tried to sink in, but she crushed it under the weight of her fury. “That doesn’t change what he said.”

Takkian, who had been silent until now, leaned forward slightly, his scarred arms crossing over his chest. He studied her, eyes sharp. “No. It doesn’t. Go on.”

“That’s it. I ran, then Ellion and Turi found me. Now, I’m here.” Lilas dragged in a breath as the room fell into silence. The newly familiar walls of the ship pressed in, the soft glow of the ionic fireplace casting shadows against the floor. Every single one of them—her friends, the Zaruxians—was watching her. She shifted her feet, crossing them at the ankles while trying to steady the storm still raging in her chest.

Sevas widened her crimson eyes. “So, what was your plan, Lilas?”

Lilas huffed, rubbing a hand over her face. “I was going to find a ship. Hide, sneak on board, something. Then I’d figure out my next step once I got somewhere far away.”

Cyprian let out a low whistle and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Did he see you leave?”

“No,” Lilas said firmly. “I left before he realized I was gone.”

Cyprian tapped his fingers idly against his crossed arms. “And in all this—” he arched a dark brow at her, “you didn’t speak to Razion at all?”

“Of course I didn’t.” Lilas’ stomach twisted. She braced herself against the raw scrape of emotions she wasn’t ready to name. “I wasn’t going to stand there and ask him politely if he was planning to sell me to a trafficker later that cycle. That would’ve been—”

“Risky,” Sevas said with a nod. “I get it. And it’s not like Terians have such a great history with trust and security.”

Lilas’ jaw clenched. “Maybe I should have talked to him,” she ground out.

Takkian tilted his head, arms unmoving from his chest. “Well, we’ll get to the bottom of it when he gets here.”

Lilas’ heart stuttered. “Excuse me?”

Takkian crossed his arms over his massive chest, tilting his head slightly, watching her with the gaze of a fighter who had already predicted the next ten moves of his opponent. “We left an energy trail.” His deep voice was even, measured, but there was something knowing in the way he watched her. “A faint one. Difficult to track unless you know what to look for.”

Lilas’ pulse faltered. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Cyprian said with a smirk, “if he wants to find us, he will.”

Lilas shook her head. “That’s assuming he even follows it.”

“Zaruxians do not sell females,” Takkian said, his voice raising with conviction. “We do not sell living things, period. It is not our way.” He raised his chin and flared his nostrils. “If Razion truly intended to sell you, we will, ah, impress these principles on him, then send him on his way. But if he cares about you the way you say he seemed to, we will give him a chance to explain himself.”

Lilas scoffed and threw up her hands. “He took a fekking meeting with a trafficker. He’s not coming for me.”

“Oh, we’re pretty sure he’ll come,” Cyprian said smoothly from his perch on the sofa’s arm beside Fivra. Amusement flickered in his silver eyes. “And we really want to have a word with him.”

Lilas clenched her teeth. “I can’t believe this.”

“We are on a mission to find our missing brothers and reunite you Terians,” Takkian said, his tone low and steady. “So, yes. We would meet him and speak to him. But we will not accept a corrupt and evil sibling into our group, even if he is related to us by blood.”

A thick knot of frustration coiled in her chest, tightening with every breath. “I wouldn’t call him corrupt or evil,” she muttered. “He’s dedicated his life to disrupting the Axis and learning where their headquarters are.” Lilas inhaled sharply and dropped her shoulders. “He just doesn’t want me .”

Turi, who had stayed quiet until now, shook her head. “That just isn’t possible.”

Lilas let out a snort-laugh, “Oh, it is. I’ve always been trouble.”

Sevas laughed. “Lilas, you are the most trouble. And yet, you said he loved you.”

“No. He never said that.” Lilas shook her head. “I thought I believed that.”

Sevas tilted her head, glancing at Takkian before settling a firm stare on Lilas. “Think about it,” she said, irritated. “Were you just some spare baggage to offload? He took you onto his ship. Gave you a role. Let you eat all the food. He kept you close and, uh—whatever the two of you did—”

“ Fek , Sevas. Yes. We had sex,” Lilas said flatly. Her face went hot, but she folded her arms tightly, refusing to budge. “Maybe he just wanted that . It happens, right, brothel director?” She aimed that at Cyprian, who just shrugged.

“Zaruxians are not typically ruled by our base urges,” he replied, glancing at Fivra. “Unless it is for our mates, that is. Then, we struggle to control them.”

“Well, I’m not his mate, am I?” Her eyes burned just thinking about that, because there had been a hot moment when that was exactly how she’d thought about him.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Ellion’s words held a finality that made Lilas wince. The logical words should have soothed her, but all she could think about was hearing Razion’s calm words as he agreed to that meeting.

“Well, I’ll say it.” Sevas slapped her hands on her thighs. “I hope he comes. I want to ask him what the fek is wrong with him.”

Lilas’ throat tightened. “ If he shows up,” she said carefully, barely above a whisper, “I’ll hear him out. Maybe I got it wrong.”

Takkian tilted his head, something unreadable behind his scarred features. “Then, we’ll see.”

Lilas swallowed, trying to ignore the clench of unease in her gut. Rationally, she knew she shouldn’t want him to come. If he was truly planning to sell her, why let herself hope? But some fragile, stubborn part of her wouldn’t let it die.

She didn’t want to hope.

But she did.

And that annoyed her more than anything else.