27. Old Friends and Thoughts of Escape
TWENTY-SEVEN
OLD FRIENDS AND THOUGHTS OF ESCAPE
Syasku
I rouse, once again finding my body bound to a chair from the neck down. The darkness drifts away from the edges of my vision as I wake, blinking out the dryness of my eyes. Everything burns.
My fingers twitch but can do no more. Blinking some more, I do not know how long I have been out. Slowly my gaze sharpens, and awareness returns as forms appear around me. My fingers jerk further, telling me that whatever drugs the humans have filled me with are wearing off and I will be able to move soon. Grazing my tongue over my fangs, I look around as my eyes finish adjusting to the dim light.
“Good. You’re finally waking up,” Pierce’s thundering voice fills my ears.
My eyes land on Asera, who is in a similar chair across a metal table from me. I am momentarily surprised to see him, having forgotten all about him, my focus having been entirely on Vivian before I was tranquilized.
Pierce stands beside and behind him, while Ursula is nowhere to be seen. In the corner, by the door, is a single armed soldier.
My attention shifts back to Asera as he eyes me, and much like me, there are bands around his arms with hooks for chains, but unlike me, he is not bound to his seat and he wears no collar. And with half of his tail missing, he does not have a band there either. He is free.
Free. The word is bitter in my thoughts. My attention briefly shifts back to the soldier by the door, knowing Vivian is somewhere on the other side, waiting for me to be returned to her.
Be strong.
An angry hiss threatens to leave my throat, feeling the tightness of my collar more than usual. My arms jerk against their restraints as I try to grab it and tear it off.
There is a projection of a landscape on the table between Asera and I where lakes, mountains, forests, and plains can be viewed from above. It is a map of home.
My gaze drifts back up to Asera, who appears entirely too calm. “You have been caught,” I croak, finding my throat as dry as sand. “How?”
He is slow for a naga, not having the full use of a tail, and his coloring stands out, but he would not put himself in a position that he could not wiggle out of. He knows his weakness and accounts for it with cunning and forethought. Even I did not need to teach him this, knowing full well what his broken body meant in terms of his survival.
Across from me now, he is an adult male naga and has been for many seasons. But I can still see the child he once was, the frightened small creature I had saved.
I do not like that he is here.
He shifts and looks at Pierce as if for confirmation to speak. When the male waves his hand, Asera faces me again.
My nostrils flare.
He narrows his eyes, knowing full well I do not approve of his submission to the human male.
“After you vanished,” he says, his voice thick, “I learned of your capture from the Boomslang. He invaded your nest, searching for you, instead finding me. I did not believe him when he said a ship had captured you. But then more and more ships appeared, flying over the wetlands, closing in more each day. I sought the Boomslang in his territory, but by the time I got there, it had been claimed by humans and he was nowhere to be found. I could not deny the possibility any longer. You once saved me, and as the ships encroached our territory, I decided it was time to repay my debt or die trying. If you had been captured, I would have them take me as well.”
“You let them take you?” I growl.
He does not blink. “I let them take me.”
“So that is why you are unbound. They trust you,” I accuse.
“No. I am unbound for other reasonssss, Syasku.”
I hiss, my lips twisting into a disgusted scowl. If he had stayed put, I would be with Vivian right now. “And what are those? Do not tell me you are working with them?”
Pierce taps his fingers on the table, momentarily stealing my attention. “Asera here is willing to do what you have so often refused, snake,” he curses the word. “Had you not attacked and killed my men upon your arrival, your circumstances here could have been different. You have fought us every chance that has been given, and for that, you needed to be put in your place like the mockery you are.”
“You attacked first,” I spit out, reminding him of his error.
Pierce’s jaw ticks. “Whether you accept it or not doesn’t matter. You still killed my men, and because of that, under Sovereign Law, we are allowed to defend ourselves. That you are a new species, one they are only now hearing about is the only reason you still live. Sovereign’s Laws protect you as well.”
Asera’s eyes flick to Pierce. “We care nothing for your laws,” he snaps. “Threatening death is not part of our bargain. He is to be released, and I will take his place.”
I move to speak but pause, confused. “My place?” I look between Asera and Pierce with narrowed eyes.
Pierce cracks his neck. “Asera has offered to be a delegate for your kind when the Sovereign’s officials arrive. He has already proven his loyalty by directing us toward the technology we seek. We are recovering those relics as we speak. He is a willing participant in Dr. Ursula’s research. And for his allegiance and expertise, you get your freedom.”
I hear Pierce’s words and yet they seem so far off. No longer fighting my bonds, I glance between them. My gaze settles on Asera as I try to understand why he would sacrifice his freedom for mine. “Why?” I ask.
The red-bellied naga places his clawed hands on the table as he leans forward. “I owe you my life. If you had not saved me from that fallen tree, I would have died. With half of my body missing, I can do more here than I ever could on Earth.” His blood red eyes drop to his hands. “I have been in hiding for as long as I can remember. I have never met another of our kind besides you because of my impairment. When the Boomslang appeared, I knew he would win if we fought—any naga with a tail would. It has made me realize… how little I have to offer and how long I would be able to survive without you.”
I do not like hearing Asera’s words. “You were a child,” I say. “I do not seek repayment.” I encouraged his hiding for his safety. For the youngling he once was, saving him despite knowing nothing about him or his clan. He was young and wounded, so I took him to my territory to recover.
He never left.
Asera appeared shortly after my sisters left with the other females, afraid they would die like their mother in litter birth. “When the humans have what they want, what then, Asera? You said so yourself, the Boomslang’s forest has been taken. Do you think he gave it up willingly? These humans will take more than a forest if that is what suits them.”
“The land is ours,” Pierce interjects. “We have only reclaimed what was once taken from us ?—”
The lights flicker, and Pierce’s words fade as everyone looks up. A tense silence fills the room as Pierce waits and watches them. After a minute, his mouth flattens and his eyes drop.
“See? He admits it,” I growl, jerking forward at Asera.
He turns his face away. “It has already been decided. You will be returned to Earth.”
If they return me to Earth, I will never see Vivian again. I can’t let that happen. “Do you know what they have done to me? What you are bargaining for? Who you think you can trust?” My jaw clenches remembering the pain. “They have stripped my skin and scales off. They have starved me, beaten me, electrocuted, and bound me. They have paralyzed and drugged me, stolen my blood, my strength, and even my seed! You should have never left the wetlands. Do you think you will be treated differently because you came here by choice?”
Asera’s eyes close.
“What about Vivian?” I turn my attention to Pierce with a growl. “She was given to me. I will not leave without her. She will come with me. I have kept my end of the bargain.”
Pierce sits back, glancing at the lights again, and as he does, I do too, frowning.
Vivian feared what the lights were doing, and now it seems so does Pierce. Tension radiates up my spine, recalling her words about the ship becoming a tomb. A male like Pierce would not find something as simple as failing lights to be unnerving if they were not.
“Syasku, let me do thissss—” Asera’s plea pulls my attention away from Pierce.
Pierce interjects and the wariness he was exhibiting moments ago is gone. “Her father will never let her go with you. You were well aware that she could be taken from you at any time. That time happens to be now.”
“My bargain was with Ursula, not with you.” I grip the armrests with my hands, squeezing them. “Where is she?”
“You care about Ursula when I am offering you your freedom? Don’t you want your gift?” Pierce cocks his brow, scoffing as his gaze shifts to Asera then back to me. “I would think you would be happy with the circumstances being offered here.”
Happy? I do not even know what that feels like. “Vivian is mine.” Rage simmers in my veins. “You would be better off killing me then trying to release me without her.”
Pierce settles his back against the wall with a look of disdainful amusement on his face. I want nothing more than to claw it off and feed it to him. “All the more reason she should stay here. You have taken my men’s lives, it is only fair I take something from you.”
“You were willing to let her be used by me. Killed by me. Ravaged,” I remind him, swiping my tongue across my fangs once more. “You do not care about her. Why not let me keep her?”
He could be done with us both. If he released both of us, I would take back my vow to kill him.
For now.
“Ursula is not finished with her. You, on the other hand, have nothing left that Asera here can’t give us.” Pierce straightens away from the wall. “Finish saying what you need to say to each other. You will be on a ship to Earth before the end of the shift.” He turns to the soldier by the door but pauses. “Be thankful, Syasku, that this decision isn’t up to me, because if it were you would already be dead.”
Asera hisses out a growl, clearly displeased at Pierce’s words. Unfazed, he strides to the door and takes the device the soldier standing there hands him, raising it to his ear. He speaks into it, giving someone orders, only partially paying attention to us.
“I did not know you found a mate here,” Asera says, his eyes still staring at his hands.
I look back at him, testing my restraints once more. “Would that have changed anything?” I bite out.
He meets my eyes. “I… Does it matter anymore?”
As much as it pains me to see him here, my anger continues to simmer. “What have they offered you to stay here with them? To help them, these people, who take and only give back when it suits them? Did they torture you like they have me, break you? Flood your veins with drugs? Did they offer you a female too?”
He winces, and I have my answer. I inhale deeply, searching for an unfamiliar feminine scent on him. Of all the scents that could be wafting off of him, it is only Ursula’s I smell. “Have you mated?” My voice lowers to a whisper.
His hands fist, and the muscles along his arms flex. “Yessss.” He breathes the word like it is heaven.
I inhale again, confirming the only female smell coming from him is Ursula’s. Disgust surges through me at the thought, and my stomach shrivels. Sickened, I eye his countenance sharply, finding him… cowed.
Mating Vivian made me feel empowered, unbeatable. Not cowed.
Sighing deeply, I feel… sorry for him. “Then you should know I would rather remain here or die than to be separated from her. We are nesting, and she is out of my sight, out of my reach. They will have to drug me and scorch my bones with their weapons before I willingly leave without her. I will not abandon my female.” She has told me a little of what life has been like for her, her research, her oppression.
“Syasku—”
“We will fight,” I suggest, growling at him. “The winner stayssss.”
Asera’s gaze meets mine and his nostrils flare. “You know you would win. I will not fight you.”
“Coward,” I hiss. “You have always been a coward.”
His face pales at my words. “I was not told about her, but it does not make a difference—I will not fight a losing battle. I will not risk my mate any more than you would yourssss.”
“Then you have failed what you have come here to do. I will not go willingly,” I threaten.
His chest expands and he releases an angry hiss. “What would you have me do?”
I eye his free hands, and the rest of his unbound body. The bands around his arms mean nothing if they are not used. Pierce continues talking into the device in his hand, and except for the soldier, who watches us, they both remain on the other side of the room and by the door.
I look at Asera. “Release me.”
He shifts uncomfortably as he glances at Pierce and the soldier.
“It is too risky.”
“His life will make us even,” I lower my voice, nodding at Pierce. “I will have vengeance for what has been done to me. His spine will do.”
“Ursula will not forgive me?—”
“Ursula? Your deranged female? Mine is sick and waiting for me to return to her!”
Asera jerks forward, baring dripping fangs. I match his ferocity, blood racing through my veins, making my heart thunder. I can taste death in the air, feel it at my fingertips.
We stare at each other, and all I can do is scowl, trapped while he is free. The circumstances of how we met, coming back full circle. “I freed you once. Now it is your time to free me. If you do not do this, you will have to live with the burden of my death after trying so hard to prevent it.” I cannot help being cruel. He is a naga and cruelty is second nature to us.
He closes his eyes, and the tension in his muscles grows as veins bulge from his arms. Every moment he takes to decide is a moment I lose. A hiss of impatience releases from my throat.
His eyes snap open. “Be fasssst, Syasku, faster than them.”
The armrests I have been squeezing are released. “I will.”
He lunges across the table and tears at the bond on my right hand, then my left, freeing them in seconds.
Yanking my arms free of the chair, I shoot across the room just as the soldier’s mouth parts open in warning. Reaching Pierce just as he turns to look, I pin him to the wall, sinking my teeth into his neck and tearing it out.
Blood sprays across the room, splashing my face as my head falls back in bliss. Clamping my teeth down on his torn-out trachea, it shatters in my mouth.
Turning on the soldier, I spit the gristle into his face and smile.