Rosalie
Dante is my shadow as we go through the currently silent neutral sector until we reach the airlock into his. He presses a palm against a plate which is surrounded by scratches almost like a lock, and the airlock eye opens with a hiss.
An arm with a gun is shoved outwards at us.
“It’s me,” Dante says. “Dalox let me go.”
“Does that mean we can start the testing again?” The gun disappears and instead there is a cheerful Sarkarnii who looks younger than Dante dancing from foot to foot.
“We might need to leave it a while. He did threaten to banish us to a barren moon,” Dante says.
“That was Driok’s idea,” I point out.
The new Sarkarnii huffs out a great cloud of smoke. “I bet he would.”
“Go get the clan captains. We need to discuss the next pirate raid,” Dante says.
Beside him, I cough.
“Are you well, my sweet mate?” Dante says, his face filled with concern.
“I am not your sweet mate, and yes, I am well, despite everything.” I lean my neck to one side where the marks on my skin are silvery. “Despite you not being yourself.”
“Is that what we’re calling it these days?” the young Sarkarnii says. “I thought our brains were nevved because of the wormhole. I prefer your version.”
The young Sarkarnii grins at me until Dante releases a growl which could curdle milk.
Undeterred, the warrior turns sinuously, his tail fully shifted, and bounds down the passage to the interior of Dante’s quarters.
“What does he mean?” I glare at Dante.
“Nothing important.” He flashes his fangs at me. “Let me show you my ship, the Golden Destroyer,” he says with all the enthusiasm of a pirate captain.
“The Golden Destroyer?” I query. “That’s some name.”
“Probably because we used to blow up most things we came across, even if Dalox didn’t want us to,” Dante says with an even bigger grin. “Oh, and there was that time we managed to deal with an entire fleet of Farker by ourselves,” He adds. “Which was fun.”
I’m not entirely sure what to make of his puppyish enthusiasm for destruction, some of which I’ve seen firsthand.
“I’d prefer not to be blown up,” I say as Dante ushers me into his ship.
“First rule among my crew is not to get blown up,” Dante says. “Well done.”
We make our way down the passage until it opens out into a large atrium which is filled with greenery, something I absolutely wasn’t expecting in Dante’s sector.
Huge vines with heart-shaped leaves tumble from high above, and great tall plants with their leaves almost as big as a Sarkarnii wing cast shade from the two bright suns above the atrium glass high above us.
I think I can hear water running, and as Dante goes deeper into this internal jungle, I see the water flowing from a spout about halfway up a wall and creating a mist as it descends into a pool which is a beautiful deep blue.
“My crew like to tend to plants. We grow most of them for their chemical properties, but it helps with calming too.”
“Chemical properties?”
“We manufacture a variety of different chemicals. Some for the production of star fuel, some to trade with other warlords for supplies, and some to trade off world,” Dante says. “Some we use ourselves though.” He gives me a funny fanged smile as if he’s letting me in on the biggest secret.
“Are those the ones which make you forget your pants?” I query as a couple of Sarkarnii wander past, arms around each other and pantsless.
“In my sector, pants are optional,” Dante says.
“Yes, I can see that,” I respond.
“Pants are very restricting when it comes to wanting to shift.”
“I appreciate that too.” I look up into the atrium where I see a dragon fly overhead. “You go outside?”
“As Sarkarnii mostly, to stretch our wings. It makes us feel better,” Dante says, leading me further into the jungle. “Most of what we do is to feel good,” he says as another Sarkarnii, maybe a little older than the guard on the airlock, sidles up to him.
I recognize this Sarkarnii from the clan chamber. He was stood next to Dante before Dalox gave his verdict and disappeared soon after.
“Boss, I’ve got the clan captains ready as you asked.” His eyes flick briefly to me and away again.
“Excellent.” Dante thrashes his tail. “Dart, this is my female,” he says. “My second in command, little mate.”
“Rosalie,” I respond. “Or Rosie.”
Dart looks very hesitant as I hold out my hand. Dante growls like a V8 engine through a loudspeaker, and Dart takes several paces back.
“Mine,” Dante says.
“Let’s get one thing clear right now.” I put my hands on my hips. “You bit me. I didn’t choose this, Dalox did, and I’m not spending the next month cooped up in some living quarters somewhere without seeing my friends or meeting other Sarkarnii.”
Dante’s growling goes down a notch.
“I expect to have free rein to go where I want when I want. Without an escort.” I glare at him.
“I wasn’t even considering an escort,” Dante says.
Before I can blink, I find myself shoved through a selection of vines and leaves until my back is against the wall and I’m caged by a huge Sarkarnii, his eyes burning into me and smoke curling from his nostrils.
“You will never walk alone in my sector or in any other as I will be by your side,” he rasps, hands planted on either side of my head and his abdomen dangerously close to me.
I can see every scale on his sculpted chest, even the tiny iridescent ones which act as glitter in some lights. His hand cups my chin and lifts it up. I feel the pinpricks of his claws on my skin.
“Rosalie, little flame, you belong to me, whether you want to or not. And not because of the bite, but because of fate.”
His thumb strokes over my cheek. I am mesmerized by the fire in his eyes, a hologram which draws me closer and closer as I lift up on tiptoes, my face close to his.
This shouldn’t be happening. I was firm with myself. Dante might be easy on the eyes, but he’s pulled me into something I didn’t want…
Or did I?
“Boss!” Dart calls into the mass of plants. “There are alarms in section delta four two.”
“Nev,” Dante mutters under his breath as his head dips away from mine. “I need to deal with this, little flame, if you don’t mind.”
I’m about to ask what it’s all about when his hand closes over mine, and I’m whisked, breathless, out into the open again and towed at breakneck speed down a passageway free of plants but with Sarkarnii who all seem to be running in the opposite direction as a bleating alarm grows ever louder.
Because, of course, I couldn’t be in Dante’s sector without an imminent explosion, could I?