5. Naeris
I woke tangled in silver sheets that did not belong to me, with the taste of Thyros still lingering on my tongue. For one disorienting moment, I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Because the dream clung too tightly.
No, not a dream. This had been so much more. A memory.
The certainty of it settled unpleasantly beneath my ribs.
Heat still ghosted across my skin where his hands had touched me.
Large hands. Rough hands. Reverent hands.
I could still feel the weight of him behind me, his mouth against my throat while stars burned overhead in endless spirals of gold and black.
Mine.
The word echoed through me again, low and possessive enough to send heat curling traitorously through my stomach. By the three suns. I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes. Absolutely not.
I had spent years fighting my way out of one system that believed destiny mattered more than choice.
I had clawed my way free from priests, bloodlines, sacred breeding rituals, and every carefully polished cage the Sythari built around females like me.
I was not about to throw myself willingly into another.
I didn't care if this new cage came wrapped in amber eyes and enough raw power to make my pulse stumble every time he looked at me.
Especially not then.
That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that it didn’t feel new. The closeness. The bond. Him. That was what unsettled me most.
Attraction, I understood. Lust too. I wasn’t na?ve enough to pretend Thyros wasn’t devastatingly male. Massive. Dangerous. Beautiful in the sort of way storms and collapsing stars were beautiful.
But this, I shook my head as if that would help.
This felt ancient. As though somewhere deep inside me, something was stirring that had already known him long before we met.
Long before I boarded this ship. Long before I was born—a feeling which was supported by the visions and dreams that had haunted me for years.
Like I had spent entire lifetimes searching for him without realizing it.
The thought made my stomach twist.
No.
I refused to romanticize biological manipulation simply because the universe apparently had a sense of humor.
The Temple had taught me enough about engineered devotion to last several lifetimes.
On the other side of the cell, through a viewport, Earth slowly rotated in endless darkness. The ship hummed softly around me, powerful enough that I could feel it beneath the floor.
Footsteps coming down the corridor made me jump out of bed. I didn't need any psychic abilities to know who was walking down the hallway. The same group who’d come yesterday.
I sat up immediately, every instinct sharpened. Strange how quickly I had learned the cadence of them.
Xandros moved like a war machine, every step heavy and deliberate enough to make the deck subtly vibrate.
Zapharos walked quieter, despite being even more massive than him, controlled power wrapped in cold precision.
Dravok barely made noise at all. If not for the occasional whisper of fabric or shift of air, I doubted most beings would notice him until it was too late.
And Thyros? Gods. I always knew when he was near. Not by sound. By awareness. Something inside me reacted to his presence before my mind caught up; my body recognized him on a level I deeply distrusted. He was such an infuriating man.
But it was the human women who intrigued me the most. Ella, Ashley, and Nadine were unmistakably human, and yet…
not entirely like the humans I knew. There was strength in them.
A strange steadiness. They stood beside warriors and gods without shrinking from them.
Spoke to them as equals. Argued with them.
There were few women in the rebellion, but every single one was just as tough as these three.
Ella rolled her eyes at Zapharos like he was merely an overprotective annoyance instead of what he clearly was: something ancient and terrifying enough to unmake armies. Ashley outright mocked Xandros to his face.
And Nadine? Nadine looked at gods the way scientists looked at particularly interesting explosions. I didn’t know what to make of any of them.
Which probably explained why I found myself wanting to.
Ella stepped forward, carrying two steaming cups. She smiled sheepishly when she saw me tense.
“Sorry. I probably should’ve warned you first.” She lifted one of the cups slightly. “Peace offering?”
I eyed the drink, my suspicion becoming even stronger when a soft click and hiss announced the protective shield's retreat. Zapharos glared at Xandros, who had deactivated it, while keeping as close as possible to Ella.
“That depends. Is it poisoned?”
Ella snorted softly.
“No. Though Nadine did once accidentally dissolve part of a table trying to make coffee stronger.”
“That was one time,” Nadine held her own cup up.
Ella rolled her eyes affectionately before walking farther inside.
“You slept almost fourteen hours,” she informed me. “Which apparently means either severe exhaustion or that Arkhevari mating bonds are extremely inconvenient biologically.”
I nearly choked on air. “There is no mating bond.”
Ella handed me the drink carefully. “Mmhm.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. She smiled directly into her cup.
I noticed that only the women and Xandros held cups; the Arkhevari lingered in the back, their hands empty.
I filed that piece of information away, unsure if it was important or not.
Probably not. I accepted the drink and noted how the warmth seeped pleasantly into my hands.
Ella settled casually onto my cot, like she belonged here now. She noticed me studying her. “You’re trying to figure out how I ended up surrounded by giant alien warlords without screaming.”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” I admitted with a slight smile.
“Honestly?” Her smile softened unexpectedly. “I’m still figuring it out too.”
Something about the answer eased a tiny knot of tension inside me. Not because I trusted her. Not fully. But because she sounded honest. And stars, I was tired of lies.
Ella tucked one leg underneath her. “The others wanted to continue questioning you immediately.”
I groaned softly.
“Relax,” she laughed. “I told them if they cornered you again right away, you’d either shut down or stab someone.”
Reasonable assessment.
“And?” I asked cautiously.
“And we compromised.” Her eyes sparkled slightly. “Me and the girls get to talk to you first.”
That explained why the men, albeit grudgingly, lingered on the other side of the hall where the shield to my cell had been.
Ella watched me over the rim of her cup for a long moment before speaking again. “You dreamed about him, didn’t you?”
I froze. Completely.
Ella sighed dramatically. “You really need to work on hiding your expressions.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right.” She looked deeply unconvinced. “That explains why Thyros spent half the night pacing the hallways like an emotionally constipated guard dragon.”
Heat rushed straight into my face. I hated that she noticed. I hated even more that part of me wanted to know if it what she said was true.
“He was not pacing.”
“Oh, he absolutely was.”
Gods.
I took a long drink just to avoid answering. The concoction Ella had brought tasted exotic. Not unpleasant, but nothing like I ever had before.
"You like?" She asked, pointing her cup at mine.
"It's different."
"It's coffee. Real coffee. Ashley had it brought up from Earth."
Ashley lifted her cup with a wink. Whatever this drink was, it had to be something special. I took another sip. Black and bitter.
Ella’s expression softened slightly.
“You don’t have to figure everything out today,” she said quietly. “None of us did.”
The gentle understanding in her voice unsettled me more than pressure would have. Because it made me want to trust her. And trust had always been the first step toward losing control.
As if by secret agreement, the men entered the small room, one after the other, making it almost suffocatingly smaller.
If they intended to intimidate me, they'd be in for a surprise. I really didn't care if I lived or died, but the only person in the universe who knew that was Kael’Varyn. The only reason I had for staying alive was to get as many punches in as I could to the Sythari Empire. I had no family—not that I even knew what that really meant—and my only close friend was Kael’Varyn.
Xandros entered first, broad enough that he seemed to fill the doorway by himself. Zapharos came next, all controlled golden power and sharp watchfulness, followed by Dravok. Thyros came last.
The moment he stepped into the room, my body reacted like it had been waiting for him specifically. Heat slid low through my stomach. As much as I tried to suppress it, it fought back with just as much vengeance to stay in place.
His gaze found mine instantly, his amber eyes darkening slightly, as though he felt the same thing. I looked away first out of pure spite.
Ashley handed me a plate without ceremony. “Eat before the interrogation starts again.”
“I appreciate the honesty.”
“I’m from Earth,” she replied dryly. “Passive aggression is one of our primary communication styles.”
Ella snorted, while Nadine immediately became distracted by something on the wall display.
“Technically, sarcasm and passive aggression are not identical?—”
“Nadine,” Ashley interrupted.
“Right. Social moment.”
I sat carefully on the edge of the bed next to Ella, who had made herself completely comfortable, and balanced my plate on my knee while the others spread through the room with varying levels of intimidation.
Or attempted intimidation. Ella still looked incapable of threatening anyone intentionally. Zapharos leaned against the far wall, studying me with unnerving calm, while Xandros remained near the deactivated shield like he expected me to launch myself through it at any moment.