Page 29

Chapter Nineteen

Aboard the Aroagni.

D rafe swung his legs off the bed, rested his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face.

Exhaustion remained, sinking through his spine until all he longed to do was sleep.

Rest was elusive. Whenever he closed his eyes, he tested the bond between him and Vic, whether the symbiotes shared as they did with an Ivoyan.

A few emotions trickled through, the strongest being happiness.

Without the medical minds on Ivoy and the guidance of the Q.C.C.

, he wasn’t sure what to expect from this…

Osnir help him, he didn’t know what to call it.

Some would consider it an abomination. What mattered to him was the how, why, and if it would harm a human.

If he managed to get Vic to Ivoy, would they treat her like a specimen to be studied?

Her life was meaningless if the anomaly she was served the greater good.

He needed to find her, to seclude her on Qaldreth.

The warrior in him wanted her safe. As a male, he ached to hold her, as if having her in his arms would bring him the peace he sought.

Pushing off the bed, he crossed to the shower, hoping the hot water would soothe the tension in his shoulders.

Being able to use water as if it wasn’t a precious resource hadn’t changed decades of caution.

Three minutes was all he allowed himself.

He closed his eyes for the jet of soap, then the rinse before the timer shut off the spray. A blast of air dried him.

Clipping boots on and summoning his armor, he left his quarters and strolled to the galley, eager for tulsig or the Ivoyan version of it. None compared to Larya’s, though.

He paused at finding Ulvus enjoying an early breakfast. The male arched a brow mid-bite. Drafe crossed to the replicate and ordered a plate of tulsig. While he waited, he poured a jar of water.

With both in hand, he slid onto the bench at the same table. “Morning.”

Ulvus didn’t say a word but tapped his plate with his regrown hand.

Drafe shrugged and bit into a tulsig cake, savoring the pseudo-saltiness.

Ulvus leaned back and sipped his water. Smacking his lips, he forced a smile. “Rumor has it, you mated with a human.”

Mated? Perhaps, Drafe had. Qaldreth warriors dreamed of returning home to find someone from their tribes.

No female at his village, or those the hunting parties visited, had tempted him.

Mating required the successful transference of symbiotes, which meant…

He grinned. As Aehort had said, Vic was his.

“Unconfirmed at this time.” He finished his cake and reached for another.

Ulvus’s face hardened as he pursed his lips. “I would ensure it’s a no. Meorri do not dilute our bloodlines.”

“Oh?’ Drafe chuckled. “Who will you mate when we return home?” He could count the available females on one hand.

“A weakling from the Ki’irinzi Mountains is preferable to a lesser species.”

Drafe laughed. There was nothing lesser about Vic. Nor did he mention that the female to choose Ulvus for a mate was a fool. Then again, his family did have the oldest symbiotes.

“I cannot recall you being this entertaining, Ulvus.”

The male growled and slammed down his jar. “This is no joking matter. The reputation of our tribe is at stake. The symbiotes remember.”

“That they do. If you had our tribe at heart, you would not have stolen my water pouch.” Drafe licked his thumb and reached for his jar. “The symbiotes do remember, Ulvus Sava.”

“Kreta curse your arrogance, Drafe.”

Drafe grinned. “Osnir protects me. Perhaps you serve the wrong god?”

Ulvus leaped to his feet and stormed off.

Appearing unphased, Drafe devoured his last cake. Dread or anticipation burned in his gut. His knee bounced, and his symbiotes barreled along his veins. An event was coming, one he needed to pay attention to, whatever it was.

“Good, you are awake.” Gusin grinned as he strode into the galley. He hitched a thumb behind him. “What is wrong with Ulvus?”

“Many things.” Drafe glanced at Zuphayr aac Gusin Taed with his shocking blue-lilac hair and eyes. From the sky tribe, against a pale obsidian skin, they were a striking tribe to behold.

“Well, Caah and Vaen are returning with a pod.” Gusin shuffled from foot-to-foot as he waited for his food, a white gooey substance eaten with a scooped utensil.

“Excellent.” Drafe closed his eyes and conveyed with emotion to Aehort that it was time. Pushing off the bench, he slapped Gusin on the shoulder. “Man the Aroagni . Caah will be traveling to the chosen site.”

Gusin nodded, carrying his bowl to the table.

Drafe strode to the bay, patting his stomach.

“Good morning,” Aehort glided into the passage. “Today will be momentous for you, Drafe Arrak.”

He gazed at Aehort, hoping for a little more insight. His uz continued without saying another word or conveying across their bond an emotion Drafe could understand.

The shuttle, sleek and as organic as all Ivoyan crafts, skimmed into the bay, carrying the captured pod. Caah leaped out as soon as the door opened.

Vaen trailed him. “Took some skill to capture it.”

“I masked its beacon as soon as Vaen guided it inside.” Caah grinned, gripping Vaen’s forearm. “A task well done.”

“Good. Our destination is a dwarf planet the humans call Ceres.” Drafe nudged his chin, and his males climbed into the powering down shuttle. Aehort glided across the bay and stepped inside, the high ceilings of the Ivoyan shuttle more than capable of handling his height.

“Ceres?” Vaen raised a brow as he and Caah returned to the shuttle, with Caah assuming the pilot’s seat.

“A rock with massive craters. Humans mine it for water, but the site we chose is far removed from the nearest colony.” Drafe ran his hand over the dull, gray pod that was nothing more than a tube.

Resting on a hoverbed, once they landed, maneuvering it would be easy.

That was smart thinking on his males’ part.

The door shut a second before Caah piloted the shuttle out of the bay. Spreading his legs, Drafe clasped his hands behind his back and watched the space whizz past the front screens. Aehort sat on a mounted chair, staring at the pod, his wide mouth pursed in displeasure.

Minutes later, they descended and touched down on a marbled-gray landscape. With a tap to their throats, they activated their shields and filed out of the shuttle. Vaen directed the hovering pod meters away from the shuttle. All five of them studied it.

“The last one detonated after a few hours of breaking the seal.” Drafe met each male’s gaze through his shield. The shimmer was slight, not hindering his ability to see. The air trapped between him and the thin shield would last no more than two hours. They didn’t have much time.

“Work fast. Gather what information you can, and do not disturb me.” Aehort extended his arm to hold his palm above the capsule, his eyes rolling back.

Drafe gestured to Vaen to pry open the pod.

He held his breath when the lid edged up.

With a shove from him and Caah, it slid off, revealing the corpse of a woman.

Drafe frowned. He’d expected it to be a man, as per the last time.

Drawing near, he studied her unmottled skin carrying a tinge of gray. She hadn’t started to decay yet.

“Mm,” Aehort hummed. “She endured great pain.” He winced. “Even in death, her cries for mercy fall on muted ears.”

“Her body has been enhanced.” Nenn scanned her, holding his arm over the gaping pod. “Every inch, including her organs has been altered. What remained human was removed.”

Caah frowned, the flop of his white hair ruffling his shield.

“I don’t like this. Some of her enhancements have been stripped from her.

” He gripped the side of the pod, careful not to touch anything but the edge.

“The pod has been fitted with an explosive device. I would need to remove it to study it.” He tapped the holographs on the model shining from his arm.

“If I hazard a guess, once the sealed pod is opened, there is a time limit to reseal it before it explodes.”

Drafe gritted his teeth at the logic of it and the arrogance of the Ivoy and Qaldreth not to test for explosives. “That makes sense. If they have to open a pod, they need a bypass.”

“They expect these pods to be destroyed upon impact.” With shielded fingers, Vaen caught a lock of her brown hair, as if he tested the texture of it. Drafe had done the same when he first met Vic, relishing the softness of her hair. “Why do this? Why not burn or bury the bodies?”

At Vaen’s words, they spun as one to Aehort still in an Ivoyan trance, all hoping the Ivoy would answer or complete his assessment.

“Burying would require soft soil, a mine, or cavern.” Nenn pinched his lips, his red hair rising and falling the faster he typed. “They would need immense fuel reserves.”

“This close to Jupiter?” Drafe waved his hand at the looming giant.

Nenn shrugged and deactivated his arm.

“Hydrogen gas is volatile, and mining it would be hazardous.” Caah as a tech expert, a Taed, traced a thin line across the woman’s skin.

Drafe’s symbiotes rippled in alarm. He leaped across to study the crisscrossing scars. “What the foq?” He’d seen those before. How was Vic tied to this? He closed his eyes, willing his racing heart to calm. There had to be a logical explanation.

“Place the sensors, Caah. Let us have done with this rock.” Vaen scanned the surrounding hills. “We have an Ivoyan in the open.”

Drafe grimaced. “We wait for Aehort Uz. Spread out.” His males obeyed, halting ten meters away in perfect synchronicity. Drafe remained by Aehort’s side as he should have done with Luharp Vadril Ot.

Time passed, the silence calming, yet his symbiotes leaped and bounced, as if warning him of impending danger. He clenched his fists, willing to endure all manner of pain to protect Aehort. Having failed the Ivoyans, he wouldn’t do so again.

His males were better trained, remaining still with only their heads turning from side-to-side as they scanned the horizon.

Aehort gasped, stumbled back, then spun on his heel and marched to the shuttle. Drafe’s males closed in. He waited until the last male stepped inside before he shut the door on the pod and this desolate gray rock.

“Caah Taed, hurry.” The steel in Aehort’s voice straightened Drafe’s spine. He met the Ivoyan’s gaze, waiting for something to cross their bond, something more than a deep-seated urgency.

“What is it, Aehort?” Instead of answering Drafe, Aehort shook his head.

Frowning, Drafe focused on their bond until the intense dread became his, like a solid weight in the pit of his stomach. The more he assessed the symbiotes’ reaction, the more it didn’t flow from Aehort. Sadness and longing leaked through. Vic was in danger.

Drafe tapped his smart band and whispered her name. The shuttle’s droning engines and the muttering between his males highlighted the silence from her.

“Drafe Arrak, we have a problem.”

Drafe touched the implant in his neck. “What is it, Gusin?”

Aehort slumped, his skin fading from amber to orange. “It has begun.”

Foq. Luharp Vadril Ot had been as secretive with his motives. Drafe should have expected the same from an uz. Ivoy was Ivoy.

“We have collected a stranded human.” Gusin hesitated. “Ulvus Sava intends to interrogate.”

“Foq.” Leaving anyone in Ulvus’s hands would be murder. “Caah, get us back now.” Drafe lunged to the front of the shuttle, slamming his hand into the power lever. The shuttle shot forward, the full-pulsed engines bringing it in hot.

Caah’s fingers flew across the console, the male laughing as he steered the shuttle with admirable skill.

“The bay is prepped for landing. Ulvus Sava has the human trapped near the airlock.”

“I will return to my quarters.” Aehort rose to his four-toed feet. “No escort is needed.”

The shuttle tinkled when Drafe disembarked. He didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he bolted. All knew the wickedness of Kreta lurking in Ulvus’s mind.

Drafe sprinted around the corner and into the airlock prep room, then skidded to a halt. He gaped, disbelieving his eyes.