Dante
From the low level vibrations coming through the metal floor, we are not on a ship and not in space. They’re a similar frequency to those on Vorostor within our sectors. I have to hope it means there is a way out and our ships are still available to get back home.
But only once there is no longer any threat. I cannot return to Vorostor without being sure my Rosalie is safe from this enemy who thought it was a good idea to take Sarkarnii and bend them to their will.
So many have tried and failed. The Gonoz will be one in a long line of others who thought the Sarkarnii nothing more than growls and claws.
I have a mate, and I will protect her with everything I have.
I have a crew, and I have sarkarnlings who I will protect with everything I have.
It’s time to use the chaos.
It’s time for the universe to understand the Sarkarnii belong to the Sarkarnii.
I feel a jump in the vibrations, as if something has interrupted them. It could be anything, but I need to find the source of the power for this place and a way of stopping the Gonoz, as well as finding how they’ve been mutating us, so it can be undone.
I slam into the walls as I make my way down the passage as if I’ve had far more ale-wine than is good for me.
“Dante.” The Gonoz’s voice comes over whatever comm system they use. “You do not need to damage yourself. We have your crew, and we have your mate. Come to us and we can talk.”
On the floor, one of the colored lines lights. The lights flow in one direction.
They have my mate? Impossible.
My Rosalie is safely back on Vorostor with the rest of my crew and the sarkarnlings. She is not here.
The Gonoz are lying, and if they think I’ll fall for it, they clearly think little of Sarkarnii intelligence.
My final ricochet bears fruit in that I hear a hollow ring behind the metal.
I throw out my arm, claws outstretched, and pull the sheet free, exposing the conduit inside.
Without looking back, I shove myself into the opening and wriggle down inside, shifting and unshifting in order to make my way further and further into the bowels of this place.
Because you always find out more from the inside than the outside. It’s the only way to deal with spaceworms, as any good Sarkarnii knows.
The conduit only goes down a short way, then it opens out horizontally. Various cables snap and buzz as I shove myself along. Eventually I will reach a central hub which is certainly going to make finding the Gonoz much easier.
Pushing, pulling, clawing at the rocky sides of the conduit, I make my way slowly forward until up ahead is a dim light. I redouble my efforts, getting closer and closer to what I am hoping is an exit, and if not, it will be the best fight I’ve had in my entire life.
Finally, I shove my head through the hole and come face to face with…
“Rosalie?”
“Dante?” she exclaims. “What are you doing in there? Half of your crew is searching for you.”
My arms are pinned at my sides, and with nothing ahead of me, I cannot get any further forward momentum. Not that I care.
I have my Rosalie. She is here, in front of me, and she smells divine.
Arranged behind her is my second in command, another human female who has my pulsar pistol and is waving it around in an alarming manner, and a cohort of my crew, which includes both those I awoke with and those I left on Vorostor.
“Why are you here?”
“We came to rescue you.”
“I am rescuing everyone.”
“You’re stuck in a tube.”
“And rescuing everyone from the Gonoz.”
Rosalie does something strange with her mouth before motioning over her shoulder to Dart, who, along with a couple of warriors, grab hold of my shoulders and pull.
I slither out easily enough, and before she can blink, I have my mate in my arms.
“I am cross with you,” she says, glaring up at me. “You left without telling me where you were going and you promised you would never leave me.”
“I did not expect my mission to take any time at all,” I murmur into her hair.
“You went after a mythical entity which has already proved it can infiltrate the heart of Vorostor…on your own.”
“I had warriors.”
“You didn’t tell me. You just left. Don’t do that ever again. You can’t just bite a human and then leave them.”
I brush my lips over her skin where I bit her, something which seems so long ago, the feeling of her little body under me, shaking with her anger and her fear.
“Nothing can harm me, little flame. Nothing but knowing I hurt you. I am sorry, Rosie. I didn’t think, I simply did what I always do, and it was wrong. Very wrong.”
She lifts her head and stares into my eyes. I see the pain in hers. My heart cracks in two.
“I will make it up to you, my mate,” I say, sweeping my thumb over her chin. “We will go back to Vorostor, we will mate, we will make sarkarnlings, and we will never leave.”
“What about the Gonoz?” she says, her voice choked with emotion.
“What about them?”
“What if they come for us again?” Rosalie gazes at me. “What if they come for the sarkarnlings and not the warriors. What then, Dante?”
“You…want me to fight them?”
“I don’t want anyone to fight anyone, but I also don’t want anyone to be abducted like I was. I don’t want anyone to feel the terror I did. And if it means fighting the Gonoz, then we fight the Gonoz,” she says, her body vibrating with fierceness.
I adore it and I adore her.
“But it doesn’t mean you’re forgiven, Dante,” she adds. “And if you ever leave me again, I will tell Dalox myself you are to be banished.”
I dip my head to capture her sweet mouth with a kizz. For a moment, I think she will not let me, but then she does, her hand in my hair and her tongue fighting with mine.
“If I ever leave you again, my little flame, I will hand myself over to Dalox and be banished forever.”