Page 18

A few days later, Mia watched as warrior after warrior was presented to her and the other humans. It was the Day of Remembrance, a festival of the Fates to mourn those who had passed into the beyond and to celebrate the life they had all been given. It seemed to Mia as if every Xeruvian on the planet was there. She’d certainly met enough of them in the past few hours.

The humans had been given their own space, though Mia had argued against it. “We’re not cattle, to be bought and sold among you for breeding,” she’d said.

Zoran had soothed her with a gentle hug. “We do not see you as cattle, pjora-la , as you well know. If it were possible, I would allow the women to wander freely so long as they were accompanied by trusted warriors. Yet must we remain cautious, as too many unknown warriors are in attendance. I will not allow harm to befall your friends any more than I would allow harm to befall you.”

She hated that he’d been so reasonable about it, and so right. The open-sided pavilion had been set up in a central location, where the women could watch the festivities and remembrances. Merchants hawked wares, albeit quietly out of respect for those who had lost loved ones in the terrible disasters whose aftermath had ultimately carried humanity to Zephyria. A stage had been set up across the way, offering a series of plays and musical groups. Mia watched these with interest, wondering if any of the plays had been recorded for posterity, then made a note to ask Sonja about bringing a film crew here so that Earth could get a taste of Xeruvian culture.

Zoran stood beside her, his dispassionate gaze a warning to every male who entered the pavilion in hopes of finding a mate. Some had, to the delight and, sometimes, dismay of the women. Mia had come to know many of them quite well since their mass abduction and could nearly predict which ones were open to Xeruvian traditions and which ones would balk. They’d shared their stories with her, after all, and prodded her and the other mated humans for details of the process, satisfying their innate curiosity in this as they did in their work.

Zoran had set up a way for the males who found mates among the humans to court them. No one was allowed to carry their prospective mate away, as would normally happen. For those claiming a mate, Zoran first examined the warriors privately, then questioned the chosen females. If he was satisfied with their suitability, he allowed the couple to leave accompanied by one of his mated warriors as a chaperone, so that the women could enjoy the festival and remember their own dead. The women were to be returned to Mother Alara’s care by the day’s end. Anyone who violated the curfew risked forfeiting the right to court their mate, a punishment so severe a few of the warriors protested.

Until Zoran pulled them aside and offered to meet them in challenge. Even the prickliest warrior subsided after that.

Still, Zoran seemed pleased with the way things were progressing.

“It is my hope,” Zoran confided to her, “that every human will be claimed today, so that we may move forward together as one people united in a common cause.”

He’d moved off to examine a warrior in private when Mia felt a presence at her side. She looked up and up at the warrior towering over her, noting the sheer bulk of him and the scar running from the corner of his eye down his cheek. He had to be as tall as Zoran. Certainly, this warlord—for she was sure, by the arrogance stamped into his harsh features, that this male was a warlord and maybe even a clan leader—out massed her mate. His shinsek’uk was a shimmery ice blue in color, reminiscent of glaciers and the frozen tundra, a close match for his hooded eyes.

The warlord bowed respectfully. “ Kii-la, novala , Lady Kerus.”

“Hello,” Mia said. “No disrespect intended, but who are you?”

“Kaelen of Clan Drexus, milady.”

“Lord Drexus?”

One corner of his mouth curved into a smirk. “Indeed.”

“Then I welcome you.”

“You are as gracious as rumor paints you.”

She snorted at that. “For a human?”

“For anyone. Zoran’s instincts chose well.” His gaze drifted to the women gathered near the center of the pavilion. “I confess, milady, that I stood in opposition to your mate on this matter.”

“What, bringing humans here?”

“And mating them. Intermingling our blood, perhaps weakening our species.”

“I think even the people who supported the measure were concerned about that,” Mia said, picking her words as carefully as she could.

Look at her, playing diplomat. Her parents, at least, would be proud.

“Yet must we follow the Fates to our destinies.” Kaelen touched the middle two fingers of his right hand to his forehead, mouth, and chest, then lifted his hand to the sky, palm up. “Humans may appear weak, but they are not. To hear others tell it, you singlehandedly battled a vyirkolen in defense of your mate, then pulled him to safety through the wilderness on a stretcher made of rope and saplings felled by a single bite of your human teeth.”

She blinked at him blankly for a moment, then doubled over, laughing so hard tears rolled down her cheeks. Some of the women looked askance at her. Kaelen merely stared, his head cocked curiously as she’d seen so many other Xeruvians do, watching as her laughter spent itself and she dried her eyes.

“No,” she said, when she could catch her breath. “That’s not even remotely true.”

“I have the truth of it, and it was no mean feat. One day, perhaps, I shall win a mate as fierce and devoted as you.”

“So you’re here to find a mate?”

His gaze drifted over the women again. Mia followed his gaze, wondering if his mating instinct had risen for one of her friends, wondering if he’d abide by Zoran’s strict courtship rules or simply steal his human mate away like warriors of old. None of the women looked their way, though they had to be curious.

As a reply, Kaelen dropped to his knees in front of her and clasped his hands in hers, bringing her fingers to his forehead in a shocking act of supplication. “I have come to beg for your intercession on behalf of the northern clans.”

“Intercession?” she said slowly.

“Zoran’s hatred of me is well-known. He and I have clashed on more than one occasion, and now I fear that he will deliberately thwart any affiliated warrior from claiming his human mate.”

“Oh. I see.”

He remained as he was, kneeling before her, his hands clasping hers so gently, she barely felt the pressure of his touch. After a moment, he added, “What would you ask of me in return?”

“Nothing,” she said, appalled at the very idea. “I won’t stand between these women and a chance at happiness.”

“Yet you will not soften your mate to our plight.”

“I don’t think he’ll listen to me.”

“Then we are lost.”

His quiet confession made her heart ache. She tightened her grip on his fingers and was about to speak when a warrior’s roar ripped through the air behind her. Zoran , she thought, her heart tripping again. The women gave startled screams and scrambled aside as Zoran’s arms wrapped around her and lifted her bodily away from Lord Drexus.

Zoran drew his sword and roared, “How dare you touch my mate!”

Kaelen laughed and drew his own sword. “I will dare as much as needs must, Lord Zoran.”

Mia groaned. For a guy who wanted Zoran’s help, Kaelen sure knew how to push her mate’s buttons.

Hard hands wrapped around Mia’s arm and yanked her backward, and Mother Alara said, “Run, my daughter.”

“I’m not afraid of him.” Though a shiver of that very emotion ran down her spine.

“This is not the mating frenzy, child. It is pure rage. He cannot temper himself so long as he believes you to be in danger. Run, now.”

“Where?” Mia breathed, but Alara was already turning away, placing herself between the dueling men and the humans, her own sword drawn.

Mia caught a glimpse of Zoran’s eyes and inhaled sharply. White hot fury gleamed in his face, matched only by the deceptively calm eagerness in Kaelen’s eyes.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed. “They’re going to kill each other.”

“Mia,” someone hissed, and with that, Mia turned and fled.

Zoran faced Kaelen, bitter rage twisting inside him. He’d tolerated the other warlord’s insolence for far too long, both before the disasters and after. That Drexus now wanted contact with the human women, after so viciously opposing Zoran in the Warlord Council, was bad enough. But now to approach a mated female?

To touch his female?

And to have Mia accept that touch meekly, to bestow her beautiful smile upon that wretched northern claw?

Zoran’s vision narrowed to the warlord who had thwarted him at every turn. “I shall kill you for looking upon my mate.”

Kaelen smirked, his sword held at his side. “Will you then kill every male here as well? For surely all who have met your beloved have admired her grace and charm.”

“She is not a work of art for the masses to admire.”

“I know too well what she is, Zoran. How human she is.” Kaelen rotated his wrist, swinging his sword in a neat and deadly circle of glinting steel. “I grow weary of talk. Attack me or run after your little klika .”

The insult hit Zoran exactly as Kaelen had intended it to, breaking Zoran’s control over his fury. He whipped his sword in an arc, swiping the sharpened tip at Kaelen’s midriff.

Kaelen leaned back, narrowly avoiding evisceration, and laughed. “The Southern clans must have forgotten their discipline, for yours to break so easily.”

“A warrior of the southern clans would never insult another mate’s pjora-la .”

“What insult did I proffer upon your exquisite mate? If she were mine, I would never allow her to escape my bed.”

In some dim part of his mind, Zoran knew the other warlord was baiting him, and knew, too, that it was working. Now was the time to pull back, to regain the rigid discipline that had allowed him to rise to the warlord rank in the first place. The discipline that had given him the necessary control to woo his mate when the temptation to simply claim her had ridden him so hard.

Perhaps if the male challenging him were any other, Zoran could have embraced his control. Yet was Kaelen Drexus the male to challenge him, and such challenge must be answered.

Dimly, Zoran remained aware of their surroundings, of the crowd quietening and stepping out of the way. Of his mother placing herself firmly between them and the most vulnerable among them.

And he was aware also of the sneer on Kaelen’s face and of the many, many times the Drexus warlord had thwarted Zoran’s purpose. From the time of their childhoods, when they first entered the clan-wide Ky’Lota trials, Kaelen had set himself against Zoran, for no other reason than that he could.

Then to bring Mia into their feud?

Enough!

With fury adding strength to his blood, Zoran attacked, pressing a hard offensive that few other warlords could hope to match, his sword a merciless harbinger of the Fates’ bidding. Kaelen parried every slash and thrust, eagerly matching Zoran’s zeal as they danced around the pavilion.

They had made a full round when Kaelen made his first offensive move. His sword hacked down, aiming to cleave Zoran’s face in two. Zoran easily blocked the downswing, and the two warlords’ swords slipped along the blades, locking at the guards.

An inhuman scream split the air, sending the first glide of fear along Zoran’s skin.

“ Vyirkolen ,” Kaelen growled.

Zoran snarled, “Did your Var’Kolite blood urge you to send it to harry my clan?”

“When will you forget the taint of my great-grandmother’s blood?” Kaelen snapped. “Think what you will of me, Zoran, but even I would not risk the future of our race by setting a monster upon the human females.”

Alara snapped her sword flat against one of the pavilion’s posts. “Enough foolishness for one day. We must—”

A woman’s shrill scream pierced Zoran to his soul.

“Mia!” he roared.

Kaelen danced back and fell into a defensive stance. “Go! Find your mate. We shall track the vyirkolen while you protect her.”

His fury forgotten, Zoran left without acknowledging the other warlord again. He had vowed never to allow harm to befall his mate, and now, because he had indulged his fury, she was alone without his protection. Cursing his foolish pride, he raced through town in the direction Mia’s scream had come from, praying for the Fates’ intercession with every step.

The first thing Mia thought of as she ran away from the pavilion was the science center. Several other women, human and Xeruvian alike, were running with her, goaded into action by Jyrak and another mated female warrior.

The second thing was home.

But home lay on the other side of a long stretch of road exposed to the jungle. If she’d learned anything in her time on Zephyria, it was to avoid the open jungle.

So, she veered toward the science center instead. Her office was as good a place as any to wait out Zoran’s wrath and the fight between him and Kaelen. When Zoran calmed down, there’d be plenty of time to lecture him about losing his temper over a perfectly innocent conversation.

They were also going to have a long, long conversation about trust. As in, he’d better start trusting her. No or else to it.

Her legs burned after no more than a block and a half of running. Mia slowed, panting, and placed a hand to her side. She really did need to find a good walking path or exercise to help her stay in shape.

Ahead of her, Jyrak turned and jogged back. “You must get inside, Mia. The breeze will carry your scent to Lord Zoran, and he will never calm so long as he believes you to be in danger.”

“I know, I know,” Mia panted. She waved a hand toward the science center, which was still out of sight. “Just…go. Keep the other women safe. I’ll be right behind you.”

Jyrak’s lips tilted into a frown. “I should not leave you to fend for yourself.”

Mia snorted. “It’s not like I’m alone. Look around. Everybody on the planet’s here today, and no male will try to make off with a woman who’s openly flouting her mate’s bites.”

“He did mark you rather heavily.”

“You should see what I did to him.”

Jyrak rolled her eyes, a habit she’d picked up from her human peers. “Head straight to the center, yes?”

“I will, promise.”

Jyrak turned and jogged after the other women, lengthening her strides until she reached them.

Mia caught her breath and set out at a much slower pace. The festival really was crowded. Vendors lined the streets, waving to her as she passed. Attendees walked past her, quietly chatting among themselves, some relaying the news that Lord Zoran had challenged Lord Drexus.

By the excitement in their voices, Mia guessed that was a rare sight.

It was her first time wandering Arkkukari alone. She wished she had time to poke and putter.

One of the humans approached, escorted by the warlord who’d just claimed her as his mate, with another warrior as an escort.

Quickly, Mia explained what had happened and asked the group to turn away from the pavilion until the fight had petered out. Their escort suggested retracing their steps to the Council Grounds where sanctioned Ky’Lota trials were being fought.

Mia walked with them for a while, then split off when the science center came in view. The crowd had lessened here, concentrated as it was deeper into the town center or at one of the other venues. She went to the front entrance, punched in her door code, and presented her biometrics.

The door remained locked.

Mia frowned. How odd! It had never refused her before. Maybe she’d punched in the wrong code?

She tried again, with the same results.

Great , she thought, huffing out a laugh. The back entrance it was, even though the building’s rear faced the jungle. It was just a small stretch of jungle, though, nothing like the long walk home.

Mia walked around the side wishing for a glass of water, air conditioning, and a snack, not necessarily in that order. When she reached the back entrance, she saw Raelka Korlis standing just inside the door. Like the front entrance, the back one was fronted by a durable, see-through substance much tougher than glass. Mia gritted her teeth and waved at the young woman, then entered her code and scanned her biometrics. The door’s lock refused to disengage.

Mia pointed at the handle and yelled, “Can you release the lock from the inside? I’m stuck out here.”

Raelka’s gaze had drifted away from Mia. Fear flashed over her face, then she bared her teeth in an ugly, ugly smile.

The hairs on the back of Mia’s neck prickled. Slowly, she turned around. There, at the edge of the jungle, stood a massive vyirkolen , its razor-sharp fangs on full display.

The animal screamed at her, sending terror down Mia’s spine.

She backed into the door, clawing at the handle, trying to open it. “Let me in, Raelka,” she hissed, then risked glancing over her shoulder.

The foyer visible through the barrier was empty.

And Mia was trapped between death and a tightly locked door.