22. Chapter 22 #2
Another ripple hits the dome, harder this time. The pretty colors blink out for a moment like a faulty data pad. “What was that?” I whisper before repeating it louder.
“Those seeking what is not theirs to take,” he growls, glaring up at the dome.
Poachers.
A frigid chill slips down my spine. “Why?”
“That question is beneath us both,” he responds curtly. “You know why.”
I frown. “The toxins, but what do they do… to them?”
He simply stares at me.
I huff. “Nobody else will talk about it either. Anything even remotely informative is too unbalanced.”
He seems to consider that for a moment; his attention pulled toward something I can’t see deep in the field.
I stare harder, trying to see it too, goosebumps suddenly erupting along my arms. I’m busy freaking myself out when he finally speaks, so naturally, I jump as if I’ve just been electrocuted.
Which he thankfully ignores. “They force them to excrete. Force them into pleasure for drugs more powerful than anything in the galaxy. Force them into fear for weapons strong enough to end it. It has become our purpose to simply prevent a catastrophe while the universe paints us as those who want nothing more.”
We both sit with that for a while.
Until his attention falls to the empty, energy-filled space in the field again, and I feel so uncomfortable that I’m forced to speak to ease the sensation. “I had a purpose once, and I failed. I think I’m failing again.”
I clear my throat, standing abruptly from the grass, brushing off my nightdress. The sheer fabric silky underneath my cool palms. “I’d better get back to—"
“Perhaps you have not failed as you think, Human 74-B.”
My head snaps toward him, my chest stilling, trapping air within my lungs until it bursts out incredulously. “How do you know that name?”
He shrugs, groaning again as he gets to his feet. My mind is so fucked I don’t even offer to help him up, not that he’d appreciate that anyway. “Close to the veil, there are always whispers.”
“You’re creepy, stop that.”
He smirks. “No, and I am also right.”
I open my mouth to offer a witty remark to hide the way my hands are shaking, the way I keep staring at that empty spot in the field, and I don’t know why, when I’m suddenly jerked off my feet with a ragged gasp, I half choke on it.
My mate snarls as he heaves me over his shoulder. I curse at him, struggling to get out of his arms when Jin’rayal’s voice finds me over Sor’en’s displeasure, snarling in a way I’ve never heard before. Cold and viscous. “Just who I was waiting for, young botanist.”
“You are a long way from your home, Jin’rayal,” Sor’en warns.
“And you have brought more upon us than your mate,” the elderly man snarls.
My eyes widen as he straightens, gathering something deep within him, standing taller than even Sor’en as he gathers himself to his full height.
I can see how much it costs for him to do it, something about that strikes a chord of concern deep down somewhere I don’t focus on.
Not if I want to retain any semblance of sanity.
I finally wiggle free from my mate, making him growl at me. I ignore him, dropping to my feet with a thud that jars my ankles. Scratching my belly after I right myself.
“You have no idea what I’ve done,” Sor’en bites out, his white eyes incensed. “Leave my mate out of your—"
“Spare me, you unbalanced fool. Your mate is the best thing you’ve done for ages.”
Indignation for Sor’en fills my chest as I whirl to glare at Jin’rayal.
But the male isn’t done. “What would the Bella’mar say if he knew you did not get your human from a pod? That you are something of a star child yourself?”
Sor’en steps closer to the male, his fingers lengthening into claws. His dark form begging to be unleashed. My pulse quickens in equal parts anticipation and worry. “You cannot begin to realize the gravity of what you speak. Stay your fucking tongue.”
Before I can think better of it, my heart slamming around my chest like a battering ram I wedge myself between them. “Stop! Both of you!”
Another ripple, larger this time, hits the dome.
“They are not poachers, are they, botanist?”
I turn toward the older male. “Enough!”
But once both males calm a fraction, my eyes are on my mate.
He refuses to meet them.
That dark, sick feeling uncoils in my gut.
A worn, leathery hand pats mine softly before gripping it, turning my attention back to Jin’rayal. “You are brave, star child. You are capable of goodbye.”
Sor’en snarls, jerking me away from the other male, making my head light as he phases back to the house. I’m still catching up when he plants me on my feet, checking me over like a madman as he sniffs my palm.
I frown as he checks for hints of Jin’rayal’s oil like a madman.
That does it.
I jerk away from him, landing a slap on his hard cheek. It barely moves him, but my hand aches something horrible. “Enough! What is going on, Sor’en!?”
He snarls at me, his neck lengthening as he starts to slip.
I shove a finger into his chest before gripping his face, slamming my head a little too hard into his. “Enough… that’s enough.”
The next few minutes are heavy and tense as he slowly slips into himself more.
When the male is standing in front of me, still gripped in my small hands, I move away from him, but he doesn’t like that.
Sor’en jerks my wrists roughly. But not enough to actually hurt his long purple tongue snaking out to lick the palm that touched Jin’rayal before smearing it with his oil.
My cheeks flush, but I’m too pissed to worry about that or the sudden throb between my legs. “Explain what you’ve done.”
His eyes are alight with anger and something deeper, something that looks a lot like shame. Each word spoken between gritted, sharp teeth. “I have kept our people safe.”
I shake my head, backtracking. “But they aren’t safe, are they? That’s why you need the dome. That’s why nobody is supposed to leave. Why don’t you have protected status?”
He scoffs, finally towering to his full height. His eyes cold and cruel, making my chest ache. “We are too dangerous and advanced to qualify. Leave it, Hue.”
“No! That… it isn’t enough! None of it makes sense!”
“Why does it matter?” He turns away slightly before focusing every inch of his cruel attention on me. “You still plan to leave us, do you not?”
The breath is knocked from my lungs. “That’s not fair.”
“It is fair!” he roars, jerking me into his arms.
I cry out at the sudden height as I smack, bite, and thrash at him. “You don’t understand!”
“And neither do you.”
“Fuck you, Sor’en!”
He laughs, but it's not a cheerful sound as I’m deposited on the bed. “Not tonight, my gift. It seems I have a sneaky mate to put to bed.”
My eyes burst open as I try to bolt, but he’s fast… so much faster than me that his hand snags my ankle and drags me back across the vast bed as I scream. “Don’t you dare!”
His hand captures my jaw, his lips commanding mine, slickening them with oil, and quickly, my head feels light. “I suppose we should both keep our secrets, sweet Draya’la.”
My eyes are getting too heavy to hold open, my kicking and hitting growing uncoordinated and sluggish. “I hate our secrets…” I whimper.
“I love you,” he whispers, tucking me into his arms before sleep takes me.