Chapter 38
CORA
Yiri moved around in the dressing room while I did my makeup, the soft rustling of fabric loud in the silence between us.
The dull click of the lid on my favorite glow serum—one of many smuggled surprises from Earth—was unsettling.
The sound was too close to the muted, wet snap of that daernir man’s neck.
I paused, gripping the countertop in front of me, grateful I was sitting down as the memory of his lifeless body crumpling to the dock replayed in my head.
A fine tremor ran through me. I felt Yiri stop behind me, but I didn’t look up at him in the mirror.
I couldn’t look him in the eye yet. Not till I got my head right about this.
It’s not like it was a surprise that he killed the man. We might not have spelled it out in detail, but he never tried to hide who he was from me. The scars, the blood, the cekets. I knew. But… Knowing is one thing. Seeing is another.
He killed that man without a second of hesitation.
He didn’t break his stride. The man was dead and discarded before I could blink.
Yiri’s expression never faltered. There was zero remorse written in those features as he lifted me up and sat me upright, checking me over.
He kept touching me with the same hands that had taken a life right before my eyes.
We’d barely spoken since.
He’d asked me if I was okay, and I told him yes.
He’d asked if he should sleep somewhere else, and I said, “Don’t you dare.”
This hurdle was bad enough without going back to the weird wait-for-my-invitation thing again.
Maybe we already had, though, because he didn’t touch me all night, and even though I put on garters, sheer sellah silk stockings, and a vintage style dress that showcased every curve of my body to perfection, all right in front of my husband, he had yet to bend me over any surface and have his way with me.
Part of me was glad. I was still trying to decide if this was a fight or flight situation.
But part of me wished he would get me out of my head so I could stop hearing that wet snap.
“Aneah.”
I tilted my head to show I was listening, but I still didn’t look at him in the mirror.
“If you’re not up for this, I can tell Della we can’t make it,” he offered.
I shook my head. “No, I want to go.”
With a nod, he stepped closer and set a small silk bag on the counter beside me. “These are yours. Della made them.” He hesitated like he meant to say something more, or he hoped I would. But eventually he just said, “I’ll make sure Zoddi and Xokat are ready.”
When he was gone, I looked inside the bag.
A ring and a set of earrings were nestled within.
I recognized the pretty mint pearl Yiri had pulled from the eslu in his lagoon just a few days before.
It was beautifully set on an iridescent metal band.
Fitting just right on my ring finger, the large pearl made the perfect statement piece to complement my bright pink dress.
I slipped the earrings on as well and looked at myself in the mirror.
With my hair styled in big curls and pinned away from my face, the satin-like material shimmering, and Yiri’s pearls gleaming, I could have been a Hollywood ingenue of yesteryear.
The work it took to pull the look off had kept me sufficiently distracted from working through the mess in my head.
I thought that was what I wanted, but now I just wished I were past it.
I hated the hurt steeping between us, especially since I wasn’t sure whose fault it was.
His for being just what he told me he was? Or mine for holding it against him?
Della’s party was supposed to be more intimate than the gala.
Maybe she got carried away? Or maybe there was something lost in translation, and in Eissoi, intimate meant filled to the brim with the most terrifying daernir males in the star system and their mates, daughters, and dozens of unmarried sons.
Then again, maybe that was just the Ahlon interpretation.
“If I see you more than five paces from my wife tonight,” Yiri told Xokat as we arrived, “I’ll feed you to my cekets one piece at a time and make you watch.
” As furious as Yiri had been with Xokat for leaving me unguarded the day before, there hadn’t been time to replace him before the gala.
Xokat flinched, and so did I, even though I didn’t think Yiri meant what he said.
Xokat made a mistake. Yiri was exaggerating to make sure it didn’t happen again, right?
“I won’t fail you, sir,” Xokat promised.
Zoddi scowled at him with nearly as much ire as Yiri.
“She won’t be out of my reach until you take her to bed, boss,” he said.
With a scoffing sound, I brushed past the three of them. “What could possibly happen to me in your uncle’s house?”
An uncomfortable beat of silence fell for so long that I dared a glance at my husband. His eyes were on me, but they lacked the softness and concern I’d caught glimpses of all day.
“Cora,” he said. “Stay close to Zoddi when I’m not with you.”
Cora. Not little wife. Not Aneah. For the first time, I hated the sound of my name on his lips. Zacal called him away before I could say anything in return.
Zoddi stepped in close, muttering, “Bruukto Shek is here tonight. We don’t know if he or his daughter sent the mercenary.”
I huffed an angry breath, but then let my shoulders slump almost as quickly.
It was more than Yiri had shared with me, and several questions occurred to me in rapid succession.
Why did Yiri suspect Bruukto or D'vinda of sending the mercenary after me? Why did he still allow the male to come to his family’s home?
Why didn’t he tell me himself? But I knew the answer to that last one, didn’t I?
I’d barely spoken to him, barely looked at him, or touched him.
He probably saved my life yesterday, and I’d been icing him out for it.
All the fear and revulsion I’d been feeling at seeing a man killed tied itself into a nasty, tangled ball beneath my breastbone.
It ached and throbbed with every beat of my heart.
We’d only just arrived, and already I wanted to leave. To leave and to be held by my husband.
As if he could read my mind, he looked through the crowd at me.
Our eyes met and held. I’m sorry, I thought at him, hoping he would see it in my gaze.
I miss you. His expression didn’t change at all, remaining hard and grim as he listened to his uncle.
His throat bobbed, though, and he didn’t look away.
He mouthed something to me, and it took a few seconds for the translation to form in my mind.
But when it did… Be good, little wife. I smiled and shook my head no.
Something flickered across his stoic visage, and then his attention was drawn away again.
“Is Thisa here?” I asked Zoddi.
I found Thisa giggling with two other young daernir ladies who both fell silent as soon as I approached. At least I wasn’t picking up mean girl vibes. They greeted me with big eyes and open faces as Thisa proudly made introductions.
“She’s a personal friend of Qhev’in Kon, you know,” she said. I bit down on my tongue, not wanting to laugh at her air of importance. It was so strange to be the subject of her bragging. “At his last concert, we spoke with him face to face.”
The other girls dissolved into excited chatter, asking about the tenor of Qhev’s speaking voice, the outfit he was wearing, and, of course, his eyeliner.
One of the girls had done her own winged look tonight, which I complimented because she’d used a lovely shade of dark violet.
We were still swapping cosmetic tips and already a little tipsy on the zibe nectar cocktail that was on all the trays floating around the party when Della appeared.
The girls all gushed their thanks for her invitation, excusing themselves and disappearing one by one until it was just me and Della.
When I started to thank her, too, she waved it away. “I won’t hear any of that from you,” she said. “Yiri is as good as my own son, and I’m thrilled to see him finally mated. How are you settling in here in Covara?”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the wonder of it all,” I said. “Everything is so beautiful here.”
“Has Yiri been showing you the beaches this week?” she asked, a knowing expression on her face as her gaze settled on the ring I wore. “Zacal tells me he took some time off to spend with you.”
“Yes, the beaches,” I sighed. “We’ve decided to live in his cruiser and never go home. Who needs a big, lonely house when you can wake up to pink sand and turquoise water every morning?”
She made a dismayed sound. “Don’t let him keep you cooped up in that silly thing! It’s so dark and outdated.”
“I love it, though!” I reassured her, laughing. “On Earth, we’d call it vintage. Maybe it lacks a few amenities, but to me, anything that can fly through outer space is high tech.”
“He could buy you a new one,” she said, as if she didn’t believe me. “He can afford it. He’s not being stingy, is he? You can tell me and I’ll sort him out.”
“Not at all,” I promised. “I have more new clothes than I know what to do with, and he surprised me with a huge shipment of my favorite things from home yesterday. He mentioned a new cruiser if I wanted it, but I’m sure you know how much he loves the one he has.
How could I take that away from him?” I shook my head.
“Even if I hated it, I’d try to live with it. But I really do like it.”
Della’s face softened into a gentle expression. “I’m so glad he found you,” she said. “He’s a good male, but I think you’re better than he deserves.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said, my eyes happening to meet with Yiri’s across the room. I didn’t say any more because I wasn’t sure I was better than he deserved, and I wasn’t sure he was a good male either. Maybe once upon a time, he had been. It didn’t matter, though. Good or bad, he was mine.
Though I felt his eyes on me all night, Yiri didn’t make it back to my side for more than a minute all evening.
His fingers would brush the small of my back, but before he could so much as say my name, someone else would call him away again.
It was amusing until it wasn’t, and I didn’t think I was the only one becoming frustrated.
It happened again, and he heaved a heavy sigh as he began to turn, but I caught his arm and he paused to look at me.
“This is the last time,” I warned him. “After this, your wife has dibs.”
The warmth of his hand curled around the back of my neck as he pulled me in for a quick kiss. The rush of endorphins from finally feeling his touch again hit me hard, but he pulled back much too quickly.
“Yes, Aneah,” he agreed and strode away.
I huffed out a breath as I watched him go, barely resisting the urge to cross my arms over my chest and have a quiet tantrum.
For the moment, I was alone. Or as alone as I ever was.
My guards were ever present as I slipped through the crowd and out onto a beautifully decorated veranda that overlooked the city below.
I took a moment to enjoy the fresh air and the remarkable view.
The glitter of muted lights below, the soft sounds of music and laughter drifting on the breeze, and the scent of cooked food mingling with the salty sea air gave me a sudden sense of contentedness.
I laughed, almost startled by how at home I felt here.
The only thing that would make it better was having Yiri by my side.
Quick, heavy footfalls broke the moment, and I looked over my shoulder to see Xokat striding toward me, his brow furrowed. “We have to go,” he said, taking my elbow in a firm grip. “Come with me. I’ll keep you safe until Yiri joins us.”
Inside, the party went uninterrupted, people mingling and talking, drinks and hors d’ouvres floating around.
Yiri and Zoddi were nowhere to be seen, but there were no screams, no signs of alarm.
Then again, everything was fine at the warehouse yesterday, until it wasn’t.
I felt the same instinctual unease creep in now, though I didn’t know where it came from.
“We have to hurry, Cora,” Xokat said with hushed urgency.
I let him lead me off the veranda, down a set of stairs away from the house, and into the shadowed grounds. I had to take two steps for each of Xokat’s long strides, but his strong grip on my arm left me no choice.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my breath sawing in and out of my lungs as I struggled to keep up.
“Quiet!” he snapped.
I flinched away at his tone. No one had spoken like that to me since I’d arrived in Bion 8KV. Other than the unpleasant woman at the gala, no one had been rude to me at all, let alone barked at me like Xokat had just done.
“Excuse me?” I huffed, wrenching my arm from his grip.
“I’m doing the best I can in these shoes, okay?
And I’m not exactly being loud. The least you can do is tell me where we’re go—” My words cut off with a gasp as Xokat slapped something on my arm, and a heartbeat later, all the strength was zapped right out of my body, my vision going black.