Vykor Read online

  “I’m fine.”

  “Humour me, razdi.”

  “There’s nothing you can do. Well, not unless you’ve got an ice pack in your pocket. Maybe some ibuprofen?”

  “I’m afraid all I had in my pocket were some breath mints, but they took them, along with my phone, communicator, and my wallet.”

  “Same here.” She uttered a rueful laugh. “If my digital farm animals starve to death because I couldn’t log in to feed them, I’m going to be really unhappy.”

  He liked the way she laughed. Soft and warm, just like the rest of her. “I’d still like to help ease your discomfort, Lily. Please, let me.”

  She considered for a second, carefully eased out of her jacket, and set it on the bunk. She wore a light top beneath, the fabric patterned with subtle swirls of indigo blue and silver.

  He moved behind her and raised a hand, then paused. “May I touch you?”

  She went still. “You were serious about that whole ‘not without my permission’, thing?”

  “I was.”

  Her shoulders drooped and she bowed her head, hiding her face. “I don’t usually like being touched. But…” She exhaled in a rush.” I trust you.”

  “I won’t hurt you.” He made the words into a vow, and something deep inside him resonated with the words. He’d never hurt her. If he was right, she was his mate. It shouldn’t be possible, but it was getting more difficult to deny what was happening. Dragon spirit or no, somehow, he had found his sadina.

  He laid his hand on her shoulder blade. She flinched away, and he whispered her name in soothing tones.

  “Sorry. It’s not usually this bad, but seeing John again, getting hurt. I’m a mess. I need to get my head on straight.”

  “Right now, all you need to do is stay still and let me fix you.”

  “I should be trying to help you, not the other way around. You’re the one they beat up.”

  “I’ll heal on my own.” He’d been so concerned about Lily he’d forgotten about his own injuries. The cuts were already closing over, and in an hour or two the swelling would subside.

  He performed a slow, gentle exploration of her shoulder, working down to her wrist. She was tense and wary at first, and he took extra care not to cause her any discomfort as he assessed the injury. He found heat, a little swelling, and more temptation than he’d ever experienced.

  This close to her there was no escaping her scent, or the warmth of her skin beneath his fingers. Her body was lush, with full curves he wanted to explore at length. Her hair fascinated him, each curl a perfect spiral of pale gold.

  He returned his hand to her shoulder, and this time she barely flinched at all. He did what he could to ease the injury, infusing intention and energy into every touch, and by the time he finished she seemed more relaxed, her energy flowing more easily.

  “Thank you. Was that some kind of Romaki magic?” She froze. “I’m sorry. I guess it couldn’t be, but it felt like magic to me.”

  Her voice held no condemnation, but he felt the sting of shame anyway. If he was right about their fate, then she had been cheated. She deserved better than a freak like him. “No magic. An old technique I learned at the temple. Humans have several disciplines along the same lines.”

  “More proof that your people have visited Earth before?” she turned to face him, her eyes bright with curiosity.

  “Maybe. I imagine it will take me years to gather all the evidence and verify it.”

  “You’re going to stay here on Earth? Even after this?” She gestured around them to the cell.

  “I am. I want to. I have no reason to go back to Romak. I like your world. While there are still some who see me as different, many don’t seem to care. I’m more accepted here than I will ever be back on my planet.”

  Lily’s face clouded. “Most humans are decent enough. Not like these idiotic Humanity First followers. The Pyrosians coming here was a blessing. They’re no threat to us, and neither are the Romaki.” She gestured beyond the cell door. “They’re following my brother, for heaven’s sake. He’s not involved because he believes in the cause. He’s here because it benefits him some way.”

  “Power?”

  She nodded. “Or money, though based on what I’ve seen, they’re barely keeping the lights on around here.”

  She looked out the door again, then uttered a soft gasp. “Cupcake?”

  She was gone before he could ask what she was talking about, dropping to her knees by the gate, her hands held out through the bars. She whistled softly, and a massive shadow detached itself from the far wall and trotted toward them.

  “What in the name of the Lady of Flame is that?”

  “Cupcake, come here sweetie,” Lily crooned to the approaching beast. It was some kind of canine, though he’d never seen one that big before. Its head was as broad as a shovel, and its fangs gleamed as the big creature came closer.

  “Lily, do you think it’s safe for you to be that close to that thing?”

  She shot him a surprised look over her shoulder then turned back to the dog, her next words coming in a sing-song cadence. “Cupcake is not a thing. She’s a good girl. Isn’t she? Yes, she is.”

  The dog pressed her muzzle between the bars and started to wag her stumpy tail so hard her entire body moved. Her black eyes closed in bliss as Lily started rubbing her ears, and the dog leaned into the gate so hard Vykor heard the metal creak. Frost and flame, the animal was huge.

  “Cupcake? Who named her that? And how do you know her?”

  She continued petting the big, black beast and Vykor felt a pang of utterly irrational jealousy. “I named her. My brother called her Ravage, but then John got tossed into prison again and my mother agreed to take care of his puppy. I came over one day and discovered Cupcake had been left alone in mom’s kitchen. She’d eaten an entire batch of cupcakes, papers and all. She even mangled the baking tin.” She laughed. “After that, we started calling her Cupcake. By the time my brother was released, the name had stuck.”

  She went still. “Oh, damn. Mom. That has to be it.”

  “I’m sorry. Has to be what?”

  Lily sighed, her voice weighed down with sadness. “She must be the one who told John everything. The tracker, our arrival. All of it.”

  He joined Lily near the door, though he stayed behind the wall, out of sight of anyone outside. “Why would she do that?”

  “Because she doesn’t see what John is. She never has. When she looks at him, all she sees is the boy who sacrificed his freedom to save us from a monster.” Lily shuddered. “While all I see is another monster.”

  Chapter Four

  Lily couldn’t find it in her to be angry with her mother. The woman had never been a good judge of character. She believed John was as much a victim as they had been. She was always making excuses for him, all while encouraging Lily to allow her half-brother back into her life. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that would happen. John might have fooled her mother, but Lily knew better. Not all the scars she bore had been inflicted by their father. Her brother was just as vicious, and a great deal more cunning.

  “He hurt you.” There was an undertone of anger to Vykor’s statement.

  “Our father liked to take out his rage and frustration on all three of us. Until the day he killed our father, John only had one target. Me.”

  “He killed your father?”

  She nodded. After so many retellings, the story had lost most of its impact for her. She recited the details as if she were talking about the weather. “John shot him in our kitchen while no one else was at home. He’d planned everything. The killing, how he’d get rid of the body and dispose of the murder weapon, all of it. But I came home early from school and found the body. I called the police before I knew who had done it…and John went to prison.” She shrugged. “He still blames me.”

  “It was that bad at home?”

  “It was bad, but we could have left. I wanted to go so badly, but I was too young to do it
on my own, and mom was too scared to leave. I don’t know why John stayed. It wasn’t to protect us. I think he was too angry to go until he’d had his revenge.”

  “No one else knew? Why didn’t anyone help you or your mother?”

  “There were some people who knew, or at least suspected, but none of them did anything. Not while he was alive, anyway. They were all happy to testify at John’s trial, though. Thanks to them, my brother got a lighter sentence. They thought they were saving him.” She snorted. “None of them had any idea how dangerous he was, and none of them ever considered he wasn’t the one that needed their protection.”

  Cupcake licked her fingers, and Vykor crouched beside Lily, offering her the comfort of his presence. She surprised herself by leaning into him, and a moment later his hand was at the base of her neck, his touch so gentle she barely flinched. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. It was another reason her dating life was almost non-existent. Who wanted to be with someone who reacted to even the slightest touch? The only people she didn’t react to were her mother and her friends, and even that had taken time.

  “I want to protect you. I may not have magic, or the power of a dragon, but I can do that much,” he said, his voice soft but determined.

  “And if you do, they’ll hurt you. Maybe even kill you.” She shook her head. “I don’t want that.”

  He reached up with his free hand to capture a curl, twining it around his finger. “And I don’t want you hurt, either. You’ve already risked yourself for me. More than anyone else ever has. Why?”

  She didn’t look at him. “Because I’m not like my brother. I couldn’t live with someone else’s blood on my hands.”

  “And neither could I.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. So, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she ruffled Cupcake’s soft ears, eliciting a delighted grunt from the dog. She hadn’t seen Cupcake in a few years, but she clearly remembered her.

  “I hope John’s taking good care of you, girl.” She hated the idea of leaving the dog with someone with John’s vicious nature. If she could have taken her, she would have, but she travelled so much and her apartment had a strict no pet policy. Besides, John would never have let her have Cupcake, and trying would have brought him back into her life. One thing today’s encounter had made clear, she wasn’t ready to take him on. She was still too afraid.

  “Does he take you for walks? Hmmm?” Walks. The word bounced around her head for a long moment as an idea started to form. “Walks!”

  “I think I’m missing some context here.” Vykor’s puzzlement was obvious, but there was a note of wry humour in his words.

  “Sorry.” She turned to face him. “My bracelet. Megan warned me it had a limited range, especially if we were deep underground or surrounded by metal.” She waved around them excitedly. “But Cupcake needs to go outside at some point.”

  “And?” Vykor asked, then his eyes widened. “Walks!”

  She stopped petting Cupcake and tried to undo her bracelet, but her fingers shook and she couldn’t manage the clasp. She’d never met a guy who could follow her leaps in logic before. Even Hanna sometimes had to laughingly tell her to slow down and explain her thought process.

  “Let me.” Vykor’s big hands wrapped around hers, he deftly undid the bracelet and then placed it in her hand.

  She looked at Cupcake’s collar, then the bit of silver jewellery. If she clipped the whole thing onto the collar, it would be noticed. How could she make this work?

  “Could we separate the charm from the bracelet?” Vykor asked.

  Once again, they were on the same wavelength. She flashed Vykor a pleased smile, and his answering grin made her stomach flutter. It was getting increasingly difficult to remember that it was not a good time to go all mushy around the edges over a guy. Not even one as hot as him. “I think so.”

  A piercing whistle tore through the air and Cupcake flung her head up, out of Lily’s reach.

  “Ravage! Where the hell did you go? For fuck’s sake, who let the dog out of my office?”

  The dog dropped her head and whined softly as she got to her feet.

  “Cupcake, come here for just a second. Come on, girl,” she called softly, but she already knew the dog wouldn’t come back to her. John was as unkind to the dog as he was to everyone else, and Cupcake had learned the same lesson she had as a girl – obedience was the best way to avoid pain.

  She watched in frustration as Cupcake left, trotting by the pair of guards that stood watch, both of them wearing matching expressions of boredom and disinterest. They didn’t so much as look at the dog as she passed.

  “Damn it.” She got to her feet, stuffed her bracelet into a pocket, then stared out the gate in frustration. “If they ever feed us, remind me to keep aside some treats so we can tempt Cupcake back here.”

  “You think she’ll come back?” Vykor rose from the floor to stand beside her, close enough she could feel his body heat, but not quite close enough to touch.

  “I hope so. She’s starved for affection. She might come back just to get more pats, poor pup.”

  “Your brother doesn’t deserve her.”

  “I know.”

  “When he goes to jail this time, will your mother take the dog again?”

  “She usually does.” Then the rest of what he said sank in. “You think he’s going to jail for this?”

  “I know he is.” Vykor turned and looked down at her, his jaw set, eyes blazing. “We’re going to survive this. Your friend Megan isn’t the kind to give up, is she?”

  “Megan is a freaking terminator. She’ll never give up.”

  “Neither will my friend Karos. He’s the first one of my kind to ever treat me like an equal. The first one I considered a true friend.”

  “He’s a fire dragon, right? And the head of embassy security?”

  “He’s also a determined, dangerous male. He’ll find us.”

  “They will.” She clung to that thought, willing herself to believe it.

  “And then, I’m going to ask your mother for ownership of Cupcake.”

  She blinked in surprise. “You will?”

  Vykor’s determined expression softened into a boyish smile. “Do you think she’d like living at the embassy? Plenty of beings around to pat her, and well…you could help me learn how to take care of her.”

  “I think she’d love it at the embassy.” She found herself reaching out to squeeze Vykor’s hand. “And I’d be happy to help you. Maybe I could even come to visit her sometimes?” She felt like an idiot for making the suggestion but before she could take it back, Vykor captured her hand in his, ignoring her reflexive attempt to pull away.

  His smile widened until she could see his fangs, and her heart started to pound so fast she felt dizzy. “I’d like that.”

  “I’d like that, too.” He didn’t even know if the embassy allowed pets, never mind one as massive as Cupcake, but he’d find a way to make it work. Not because he wanted the dog, exactly, but because he wanted to make Lily happy. He had no idea how to care for the animal, but he’d learn. For Lily, he’d do anything.

  The thought shattered his reality, and when it reformed everything was different. His existence had always been a solitary one, a reality built for one. Not anymore. In that moment, he knew she was part of his life. Now, and forever.

  “What’s wrong?” Lily asked. “Is it your head? I bet it’s your head. I knew you had a concussion.” She led him to the shelf-like bunk and fussed at him until he sat down.

  “I’m fine. No concussion.”

  She arched a delicate blonde brow and fixed him with an expression that would have made a charging k’taar change course. “Humour me.”

  “Of course, razdi.”

  She retrieved a small container of hand wipes from beside the toilet and then knelt on the bunk beside him. “May I clean up the blood and check your injuries?”

  “Please.”

  She set to work carefully, her to
uch so gentle he barely felt it. “What does razdi mean?” she asked.

  “The light of a star,” he replied.

  Her hands froze. “You’re calling me starlight?”

  “I am. Do you dislike it?”

  “No! Uh, I mean I don’t dislike it. It’s pretty.” She moved around behind him, her hands gently stroking through his hair as she checked him for lumps and cuts. “Why?”

  “Because that’s how I see you. A light in the darkness. Pure and constant.”

  The smallest of gasps escaped her. “That’s… wow. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.” She paused, then added. “But, don’t stars twinkle? That’s not very constant.”

  “They don’t twinkle when you’re in space.”

  “I didn’t know that.” She found the lump at the back of his head and he tensed as she brushed her fingers over it. “Maybe one day I’ll see that for myself.”

  “You want to leave this planet?” He wanted to make his home here. What would he do if she wanted something else?

  “Well, yes. Before the agreement with the Pyrosians is signed, Hanna wants to visit the planet. I’ll go with her, of course. But unless there’s a match for me on the Pyrosian’s database, then I don’t imagine I’ll be staying.”

  “No,” he growled, twisting around to look at her.

  “No? No I can’t go to Pyros? Why not?” Lily’s eyes were wide and she pulled away from him, hands drawn in close to her chest.

  It took longer than it should have to calm himself. It was likely the rux. He’d never expected to experience the mating fever, but he’d read the descriptions. A Romaki in the thrall of the rux was more primal, more in tune with the instincts of their dragon. Which would be fine, but I don’t have a flaming dragon. So, how is this happening?

  By the time he was in control again, Lily had her back to the wall and all the colour had left her face.