12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
MIRO
His hand closes around my arm, and he hauls me from the room, Percy clutched against my chest. The corridor sweeps past at a pace I have to stretch to match. His grip is immovable without being painful, but falling behind isn’t an option.
Nyssa’s face is front and centre in my mind.
One second in the entertainment quarter.
That was all I’d had, and now I’m trying to reconstruct it.
Her smile keeps coming back, the one that hadn’t reached her eyes, but the rest of her features slide away every time I reach for them.
I remember the bruised wrists though. And what I’d said to Zavin.
Impressive. You even document the damage.
I’d said that to him about a female who is now dead because she passed me in a corridor. My presence in this House is a contagion and she caught it by breathing the same air.
Bile rises into the back of my throat. I swallow it and keep stumbling beside him. He doesn’t let go of my arm. He doesn’t slow down.
His head turns at every junction. Left. Right.
His eyes track the shadows. He’s sweeping for threats and I’m supposed to feel safer for it, but the biggest threat already saw me.
I thought silence was safer than confession.
Now Nyssa is dead and I’m being dragged through the Warrens by a male who isn’t going to stop moving until I’m behind a door he controls.
His quarters aren’t far from where he’d put me, to my surprise. The door slides open silently and he hauls me inside.
There are books. Real books with cracked spines stacked on a low shelf.
They’re the only things in the room that look touched.
The sleeping platform through the archway is made.
Tight corners. No indent in the pillow. Personal items on a shelf: few, chosen, arranged precisely.
Nothing out of place. The room smells like cedar and dry stone underneath the standard environmental filters, but under that, him.
One person’s scent in a space that barely shows he exists. This is where he lives.
“These are your quarters.” He doesn’t deny it. He drops his grip from my bicep but his eyes that see everything lock on me. “I’m not staying with you.”
He doesn’t move. Just draws in a deep breath. His nostrils flare as he breathes out. “There’s nowhere else.”
“There’s an entire House.” I hug Percy harder. I can’t stay here. Not being so close to him. When he said ‘by his side’, I didn’t imagine this. And now I have a second reason to squirrel through my blind panic, I’m starting to panic even more.
“This is the only one I can secure. The only space I trust.”
I take in the room. It’s smaller than I expected. The quarters he gave me were larger. My eyes snag on the one and only bed. “I’ll go back to the Splits.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” he snarls.
“At least I have my own bed there.” Probably not. I’m sure someone took over my room within the hours of him hauling me away. He’s done the same again.
Resh is still standing by the door, silent, watching our exchange. I forgot he was there. That’s not like me. I duck my head, hating the way my cheeks heat.
Zavin speaks over his shoulder, body still angled toward me. “Find my father. Tell me exactly where he is, who he’s with, and, if he’s in the Warrens, which sector he’s in and what he’s doing there.”
Resh nods and steps through the door, closing it behind him. But not before his eyes flick to mine, sending me an undefinable look I don’t know what to do with.
I pluck up my courage because Zavin is right. I’m compromised and it’s not safe anywhere here. I know that, but I also know that I still feel his kiss on my lips. The kiss I ended and shoved him away for.
“You can’t tell me what to do or where to go,” I say, panic making me reach for any words that come to mind.
He steps toward me, looms over me. He’s so much taller than I am. The top of my head only reaches his shoulder. He has fangs. Claws. A tail. I only have a battered sense of survival. “I’m not only telling you where you’ll go. But this time I’m ensuring it.”
His scent washes over me. That delectable masculine spice. His hair flows over broad shoulders, and cascades down his back. His high cheekbones flash in the low light. Smooth scales reflecting like tiny jewels embedded in his skin. Even in his rage, he’s stupidly attractive.
Or maybe I’m just plain stupid for noticing. “How are you going to ensure it? I have Percy. I know your systems. It’s nothing for me to break out whenever I want to. You can’t watch over me all day.”
His eyes flash, a warning I pay no heed to. I’m going numb. Standing outside my body and watching myself make stupid mistakes. Like arguing with a crime lord, but I’m past logical thinking, operating on pure adrenaline now.
He plows his fingers through his perfect hair. “Female, you will do as I say to keep you safe or—“
The lock disengages and the door slides open. Zavin whirls around as Kazren walks into the room.
His attention moves from my face to Percy on the desk to the sleeping platform visible through the archway, and then back to Zavin. A smile settles into the corners of his mouth as he focuses back on me. “I see you’re redecorating.”
Zavin snarls, baring his teeth as he strides across the room. Lethal black claws extend from his fingertips and he slams into Kazren, notching his forearm under Kazren’s chin. Kazren stumbles backwards as Zavin pushes him out of his room. Kazren’s back slams into the corridor wall outside.
“How did you open that door!” Zavin snarls.
The fury is open now. Red hot and flowing bright. His tail lashes behind him, slashing through the air. The tip sweeps across the floor, gouging the concrete.
Kazren lifts his hands, palm side up. I don’t understand how he can smile in the face of Zavin’s fury. And then I realize with a sickening clarity that he’s smiling because he got what he wanted.
“Easy, brother. Your door was unlocked and I knew you were inside,” Kazren says.
The door was not unlocked. I heard the click after Resh left. Saw the light flash from red to green. The lock was engaged.
Zavin snarls, baring his teeth as he leans close to Kazren. “And how did you know I was inside?”
“I saw that guard dog of yours stalking the corridors and put two and two together.” His eyes slide to me. “Your latest conquest is quite the beauty.”
Zavin moves, blocking Kazren’s view of me. “You will not look at her. You will not speak to her. Do you understand?”
“Tsk tsk, the great Zavin has lost his temper. Over a female, no less.” Kazren taps Zavin’s shoulder. “No need to strain. She looks too breakable for my tastes. Humans always are. I’ll let you get back to your… personal meeting.”
“You come into my quarters uninvited again and—“
“And what brother? You’ll kill me and bring the wrath of our father on your head.
Not to mention what will happen to that female.
I don’t think you’ll do anything.” Kazren slides out from under Zavin’s arm.
He smirks as he makes a point of looking at me as he adjusts his jacket and Zavin snarls at him again.
Kazren makes a thoughtful sound and walks away. Zavin’s tail lashes as he stares at his brother and then he stalks back inside, slamming his palm on the control panel and closing the door. The lights flash from green to red, locking me inside with a raging Zavin.
Kazren is right about one thing. Humans are easily breakable and Zavin vibrates with rage. He’s a dangerous male. I’d forgotten my place. Became too comfortable.
I go rigid. There’s nothing I can do if Zavin lunges for me. I don’t stand a chance other than to beg for it to be over quickly. I’ve compromised Zavin. Not only that, he’s second in line to lead House Sethrak. His father is the Dom that runs this whole house and he demands complete obedience.
Beings disappear every day on this godsforsaken planet.
At least my parents already think I’m dead.
They have already started to heal over these last few months.
I only hope that he looks after Percy. Percy might only be a machine but I swear he knows me more than any other being on this planet. Which is also kind of sad.
Zavin locks blazing eyes on me and I take an involuntary step back, swallowing hard.
His scales almost glow an iridescent orange.
His hair is a wild tangle down his back.
His claws are still unsheathed. Tail lashing.
He looks every inch the harbinger of death he’s known for. The cog in his father’s wheel of blood.
I swallow hard and notch my chin. The only thing I have left is to die with some dignity. And then Zavin falters to a stop. His brow lifts. His mouth parts. Closes.
He stares at me, searching, recalibrating. “You think I’d harm you.” The words scrape out of him, barely voiced. Hollow.
“I…”
His tail goes still against the floor and his shoulders sag. I’ve never seen him so defeated. So… gutted.
My stomach hollows. I don’t like seeing him like this. As though my step back was an insult. As though my fear was a slap. I had it all wrong. Let my assumption color what’s in front of me.
He’s… not angry with me. He was never angry with me.
The fury when he came to collect me. The fury that threw Kazren through the door. The fury that filled this room thirty seconds ago. All of it was… fear.
Fear that someone would reach me. Fear that he would fail. Fear that I would become one more thing this House took from him while he was still learning how to want it.
He cares for me.
The knowledge lands cold. Sickening. Complete.
In his world, caring is a weapon. Caring is used against you. Loving is a weakness and I’ve proved his point.
“You really do want to keep me safe,” I whisper.
He’s breathing hard, nostrils flaring. He’s crossed a line he never wanted to cross. “You’re an asset. I need you to do your job. Nothing more.”