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Chapter Eighteen

VOLAN

“Y ou can trust me,” I tell the little human standing before me. Maya’s dark eyes stare up at me wide, blinking with disbelief and utter hope.

I have the urge to wrap her up in my arms, to hold her close and dispel the shadows that flitter across her face. My body, my very instincts, drive me to step closer to her and protect her from any dangers that might threaten her.

But does that include me? I haven’t exactly been truthful with her. She thinks I’m leading her somewhere specific, and little does she know that I have no intention of actually taking her there.

“I do,” she whispers, voice barely audible. She looks up at me with shining eyes, full of vulnerability.

“I trust you.”

Fuck. I bite back a flood of emotions. Giddiness that someone so pure, so perfect as her, would put her trust in me. Dismay… because everything she knows about me, our entire relationship, is a lie.

She still doesn’t know who I really am, that soon I’ll be returning to my duties of Prince… hopefully King of the Sulthari on planet Atraxis.

Honestly, I’ve been enjoying our interactions, perhaps far too much. She just sees me as ‘me’, a male whose immediate actions and words create an impression. There’s no judgement, no assumptions, no deceit… well, apart from me.

She doesn’t look at me with thinly veiled greed, plans running through her mind about rising in the ranks for personal or family gain. I don’t need to worry about her whispering about me behind my back, telling the court - or darkness forbid - my father about any of my plans for our kingdom’s future. My hopes and dreams are personal, not something that I want brought to the light and constantly critiqued - especially when I haven’t had a chance to solidify them. Wanting to integrate other species into our kingdom is a grand ideal - but without putting safeguards in place, and having the time and resources to do so, could be disastrous for my people. It’s been a long-held dream of mine to work with others, to share resources and actually thrive, rather than constantly fear an attack, warriors spending more time patrolling our borders, stepping further and further into dark and dangerous tunnels than spending time at home with their mates.

Or the dream of having a mate, one that actually cares about me as an individual…

“We are nearly at a place we can eat. Why not tell me over food?” I tell her.

“Oh, okay,” Maya responds, looking both relieved and disappointed. And that expression, as if I’ve failed her somehow, eats me to the core.

I turn and briskly walk away. My feet stomp upon the rock floor, rather than my usual silent steps. The blood pumping furiously in my veins urges me to fight. To move. To do something, anything. The frustration I feel boils beneath the surface, my luminae glowing as I fight the urge to run. I tell myself it’s because Maya needs the light to see by, not because of this tingling sourness that’s pressing at my lungs and making it hard to breathe. It’s got nothing at all to do with how I’ve lied to Maya… how I’ve treated her like so many people treat me—someone to be used and discarded, with little consideration of my feelings.

It’s okay to be excited about my future, I tell myself. I’ve worked so long for it. How many times have I walked alongside the warriors, guarding our people and home while we patrolled darkened corridors in search of threats? How many times have I joined campaigns, silently stalking beasts that prey on those both above and below the surface—including the tribes that have forgotten what honor means.

My people are warriors. We are knights, meant to lead others through the darkness and into the light…

Not leading defenseless, trusting humans into traps. Not tricking the very female that I want to take as a mate.

And I do, I really do. The more time I spend in Maya’s presence, the more I find myself admiring her. The more I am seeing her as an individual, not just someone like all the others. Despite her very real and overwhelming fears, she charges into battle and difficult decisions alike fearlessly. She does so because she cares, deeply and honestly. And once she sets her mind to something, and sticks to it with a stubbornness that I can’t help but find cute, especially when her lips turn down at the corners, begging to be kissed back into a smile.

She’s a human. She’s someone other than Sulthari… and yet, I’m becoming more than certain that she would make a fine Queen.

Every moment I am in her presence, my skin prickles. It’s not just the electric currents running beneath the surface, lighting up my luminae. It’s her. I’m hyper-aware of each breath she takes, the rustle of her clothing as she moves, her very scent driving me insane!

Whenever I’ve felt this frustrated, a sparring match has always helped take the edge off… I walk backward, watching the female so carefully following behind me. She’s so close, I could reach out and gather her in my arms. There are other ways to soothe the body, to expend the excess energy…

I turn to her, ready to grab Maya into my arms, just as her stomach growls. Her eyes humorously widen as her cheeks darken, just as they did when I pleased her over and over again last night.

As much as I long to take Maya to the floor, to drink my fill of her until my very soul has found solace, my protective instincts demand more. Feed. Care. Protect.

Claim.

I can’t claim her until she knows about who I really am, but I also don’t want her to know about that identity as I desperately want her to see the real me, to fall in love with me. And the longer I put it off… the harder it is to bring up something like that.

“We are nearly there,” I tell her. I turn down passages, my eyes seeking the small details around us that indicate our location. A red vine with dark plump nodules rather than leaves, its roots twisting into nooks and crannies of the rock face as it spreads across the surface like a soft curtain of fabric. Several long, deep gouges furrowed into the soft rock, evidence of a beast that passed through the area long ago.

Thankfully, no disturbed dust upon the floor; meaning no Scampers have trampled through the area in their blind search for food. I will not be making that mistake again.

As we get closer to my kingdom, I start seeing the small pools of water scattered about. Maya does too, if her quiet gasp is anything to go by.

She pauses by one, gazing in at the small pool carved into a nook in the wall; one of the first signs that intelligent beings have passed through the area. It won’t be long before we are in the tunnels, when the entire underground changes as we step foot into my kingdom.

I’ve never been more torn; I want to present her to my father, to see how magnificent she is, and yet I also want to take her and just leave, to be alone together forever.

“It glows!” Maya states, leaning closer to the liquid in a way that its shine catches upon her face, her lips parted in wonder. Will she look at my home with the same delight?

I dip my hand into the small hole, allowing the coolness of the water to wash over my fingertips like a soothing caress. The glow brightens at my touch, and I swirl the liquid to bring out its full glory.

“Glowleaf,” I explain to her. “My ancestors brought it with them from our home planet.”

Maya leans closer, studying the glowing liquid. I raise an eyebrow when she pulls out her tablet, holding the device over the pool. A light flashes over the surface, tracing the surface in a clear line, like an electronic eye searching for danger.

“It’s safe,” I tell her. “There are pools like this one scattered throughout all the tunnels and caverns, particularly around my home. Whenever you see a pool like this, you should wash.”

Maya raises a brow at me as she glances up. “You just want me to get naked again, don’t you?”

I laugh. “Honestly? Yes. But glowleaf has both antibacterial and healing properties. It’s extremely useful for when living in enclosed quarters like these caves and tunnels. It’s all too easy for disease and sickness to run rampant, and would destroy my people faster than any war would.”

“Huh,” Maya states, a line forming between her eyebrows as she considers my educational wisdom, some of her humor dulled as she realizes the implications. “It was pretty smart to bring it to Atraxis then, I guess. But how do you keep it alive without sunlight?”

I bite my tongue to tell her it was only by pure luck that it came to be here with us on the planet. The chances of a Sulthari having it on their person at the time… Since that fateful moment, no one travels without glowleaf. In a small concealed pocket of my belt, craftily stitched into the material, are a few tiny flakes of the dried plant. It’s enough for emergencies. And that’s ignoring the small pouch of powder more readily available in case of more serious injury. Powder that is likely to be more sludge now since we submerged into the hot pool fully dressed. Powder that spilled out into the water, healing wounds and aches, all while Maya was unaware of its benefits.

“The plant doesn’t need sunlight. From what I understand, it feeds off of the nutrients in the water. As long as you provide it with fresh water or top up the minerals and nutrients… It works wonders in the bathing areas.”

Maya turns to face me fully, her lips pressed into a tight line. She blinks once, a slow and measured move, and then asks, “Are you saying that you all pee in the bath?”

I laugh. It comes from deep within me, the joy of being around this female highlights my day and makes me seek out her company. It’s impossible to get her off my mind, even when I should be focused on other things. It’s honestly scary and exhilarating how quickly Maya has become the center of my world.

“No!” I choke out the words, nearly doubled over as I gasp for breath. “It’s good for your skin. For easing sore muscles.”

Maya crosses her arms over her chest, gazing at me with a less than trusting expression. “Sure, whatever you say.”

“I mean it!” I cackle, defending myself and my people’s cultural practices, all while knowing that there’s nothing I can ever say again to convince her otherwise. “Besides, you bathed with me not long ago and you seemed to enjoy it.”

Maya squeaks, eyes opening wide as she realizes the implications… that I definitely did not pee in the hot pools. Of course, the flush on her cheeks could very well be because she enjoyed what we did too.

A grin cracks my face. “Oh, my little Maya, you enjoy being naughty, don’t you?”

Her entire face blushes. She looks up at me with those panicked eyes, like she feels trapped and unsure of what to do, but stares me down with the courage of a predator. “My little halvi… are you wanting to get clean right now? Because I have to tell you, if we return to the hot pools, you won’t be getting clean. Naked? Yes. Clean…”

She pants, breaths coming shallow as her arousal perfumes the air. It’s enough to make me want to throw her over my shoulder, to rush through the darkened tunnels and hide her in a place she’ll never escape from. To keep her forever, to spend my time claiming her as my one and only.

“Food,” Maya squeaks out, choosing instead to duck under my arm and make a hasty retreat. “I think we need to keep our strength up. That would be the smart thing to do right about now. Not to go falling in…”

“Falling in?” I ask as her words trail off.

“Falling into bed with each other.” She finishes.

I scowl at her, at her abrupt answer. I can’t help but believe that was not what she had initially intended to say. But with the way she hastily walks down the tunnel, it’s clear she’s not ready to talk… yet. She’s full of mysteries, this one. Like why she felt the need to run from the safety of her village alone, and how she ended up with a map to one particular building - the very one that my people guard the secrecy of with their lives.

Each of my steps is quiet as I follow her. I stalk her like a predator would prey. Because she’s mine. I always get what I want, and I want her. Answers, body, and soul.