The Maji way.
I had been in the company of the Maji for three full days—though I was unconscious for nearly two of them—and all I had heard about was the Maji way this, the Maji way that, and it was driving me up the damn wall. Hearing about the Maji way from the Maji themselves was annoying after a while. Their customs were too bizarre to comprehend, but having to be subjected to it from humans as well was simply too much for me to deal with.
With my eyes closed, I gritted my teeth as Envi, my unwelcome roommate, chatted to her sister, Echo, my other unwelcome roommate, about the Maji way, and I could feel that I would break my word to Kol about not attacking the sisters if this would continue to be the daily topic of conversation.
“Don’t you ever shut up?” I hissed to Envi, keeping my eyes closed. “People are trying to sleep.”
I wasn’t trying to sleep. I was feigning sleep just so the sisters, mainly Envi, wouldn’t be tempted to speak to me. I didn’t trust them, and I knew they didn’t trust me, so it was either pretend to be asleep or stare at them until they fell asleep. I was lying on my bed, my back tight against the oddly warm wall, and my body turned to the right so if I heard a noise, or felt a present close to me, I could open my eyes and see everything I needed to.
“I’m sorry, Nova,” Envi said softly. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Don’t apologise to her. You weren’t doing a damn thing wrong.” Echo huffed. “This is our room, too!”
“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled to myself but knew that the sisters could hear me.
“If you’ve got something to say, Nova, then spit it out.”
This was from Echo, and without opening my eyes, I knew she had stood, her challenge obvious in her tone. I kept my eyes closed just to show her how little of a threat to me I thought she was even though part of me was extremely wary of her. She had a sister, someone she loved and was willing do anything to protect, and that made her even more dangerous. People with something or someone to lose would do just about anything to ensure its safety.
“I’ve got nothing to say,” I said, yawning for good measure. “I just wanna sleep.”
“You’re not sleeping, and you damn well know it,” Echo quipped. “Your breathing isn’t even, and your body is too tense for sleep. I’m not stupid enough to not see what’s right in front of me.”
Well, shit. The cranky twin is more perceptive than I gave her credit for.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked directly at Echo who was standing up next to her bed with her hands balled into fists at her side showcasing how pissed she was. Envi was sitting on her bed, but she kept flicking her eyes back and forth between Echo and myself like we were going to come to blows at any second.
“Sit down, Echo,” I said as firmly as I could. “I’m not interested in arguing.”
“Are you sure?” she quizzed. “You seem like your fixing for a fight to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure.”
“Well, tough, get your ass up,” she all but growled. “I told you not to scare my sister again.”
“I’m not scared,” Envi quickly shouted and jumped to her feet. “Lay off, Echo. I’m not scared.”
“Bullshit,” Echo snapped, still focused on me as I sat upright on my bed. “You’ve been walking on eggshells since that big Maji fellow brought her back here a few hours ago, and I’m not having you scared of the Maji and certainly not from this bitch.”
Unwillingly, I stood from my bed, knowing exactly where this was heading. Envi and Echo were only a few years younger than I was, but it might as well have been decades. I was wise enough to know when to avoid a fight. Heck, I made running and hiding my entire life, but it seemed the twins didn’t.
“Think about this,” I said, flexing my fingers. “We don’t have to fight.”
“When you scare and disrespect my blood, we do.”
I was surprised at how quickly Echo moved. She stood on Envi’s bed and literally jumped at me with her arm extended. Envi was screaming murder before Echo even crashed into me, but as soon as her body hit mine, and we flew backwards onto my bed, her volume increased.
“Help!” she screamed just as pain exploded across my face, and the metallic twang of blood filled my mouth. “Somebody help!”
All bets were off as I focused on Echo, who was on top of me, straddling me, with her arm raised, and hand fisted as she threw another punch at my face. I vented my anger, confusion, and helplessness from the past three days and unleashed it on Echo.
With a grunt, I rolled us over and pinned her under me before she could hit me again. I quickly slammed my fist into her face. I ignored the pain that shot up my arm and delivered two more quick punches, hitting Echo’s jaw twice. I used my free hand to tangle in her hair, so I could keep her head still. I rasped in pain when her knee smashed into my side, knocking the air out of me. I applied all my weight on her to keep her from using her limbs as weapons, but the crazy bitch switched things up and head butted me. I saw stars for a few seconds before I turned to the side and rammed my elbow into her temple, dazing her.
Envi’s panicked screaming broke through my clouded mind, and I yelped when I felt my head being yanked back. The force of it pulled me clean off Echo, and the bed, and resulted in me hitting the floor with a mighty thud. I groaned in pain but opened my eyes to focus on the twins. Envi was the one who grabbed my hair and pulled me off the bed, but it was only so she could get me off her sister. I knew that the second Envi went to Echo’s aid instead of jumping on me.
I looked to my right when the door to the room opened and two male Maji hustled inside. I knew there would be no more fighting, so I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to the floor. I gripped my left side and silently cursed when pain pulsed with each breath I took. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Echo had cracked a couple of my ribs. The pain from it overwhelmed the throbbing on my face.
I heard rushed talking when Envi stopped screaming; she was still pretty hysterical as she shouted at the males, though. I opened my eyes and saw a familiar face was hovering over mine, and I tried my best to smile without wincing.
“Hey, Vorah.”
He touched my face, and I hissed in pain which only caused his face to scrunch up in what appeared to be anger.
“You fought bravely, Nova,” he said with a firm nod. “You fought with honour; your opponents did not.”
How does he know how I fought?
“Thanks,” I hissed as I moved. “I guess.”
“You’re a fierce female,” Vorah continued.
He looked at me with so much admiration that I honestly felt gutted we couldn’t go on a date to see if we liked one another. Kol, prince dick, made sure of that with his orders.
“I can’t be your intended,” I told him, gripping my side. “Kol forbid it.”
Vorah’s shoulders slumped. “I know. My prince requested an audience with me not long after our first meeting.”
Worry surged through me, and it was only then that I noticed the discolouration to different parts of Vorah’s face.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I asked, swallowing down the blood that filled my mouth.
Vorah didn’t respond to me, but his expressive face answered for him. Kol had harmed Vorah for doing what the Maji were supposed to do—seek human females to be their wives.
“I’m going to kick his ass!” I swore.
Vorah smiled. “You truly are a mighty female.”
“I don’t feel very mighty right now,” I admitted.
He frowned. “You were attacked without honour and could not defend yourself when the small female with yellow hair grabbed your hair from behind. Do not feel bad.”
I blinked a couple of times. “How did you know Envi pulled my hair?”
Vorah pointed up at the blank ceiling. “Motion capture.”
Motion capture.
I widened my eyes. “There’s a camera in here?”
Vorah nodded. “Of course. How can we make sure human females are safe if we cannot see them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I remained mute.
“Are you angry?” Vorah asked me, his purple eyes scanning my face. “You look angry.”
“I’m not angry,” I assured him. “Just annoyed that I wasn’t informed of the lack of privacy.”
Vorah bobbed his head in understanding. “We don’t track our females back home; it is only aboard the Ebony to protect human females until both Maji and humans are known to the other. And to make sure you humans play nice.”
I understood the need for security, but it’d have been nice to be informed. Years of survival and the need to know every single little thing about my surroundings meant it was hard for me to hand over the reins to someone else where my safety was concerned, but I’d have to if I wanted to fit in with the Maji.
“It’s okay, Vorah.” I winced when my ribs screamed in protest of my breathing. “I just need to get to the medical bay. Is Surkah still working?”
“I’m unaware of my princess’s schedule,” he said, his face flushing pink.
I wanted to smile at how he reacted to my question about Surkah, but I couldn’t because black dots began to spot my vision.
“Oh, shit,” I murmured. “I’m gonna pass out.”
Vorah’s eyes widened, and aloud, he said, “My prince, she is losing consciousness. Permission to carry her to the med bay?”
I heard the door to the room slide open.
“Permission denied,” Kol’s voice almost growled.
I cried out when arms slid under my knees and neck and lifted me into the air. My ribs throbbed in protest, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick.
“I have you, shiva,” Kol’s voice whispered seconds before I blacked out. “I have you.”
I found more comfort in those words than I should have.
I awoke with a start.
Unlike the times before when I suddenly awoke from a dreamless sleep, I wasn’t confused. I was aware of where I was, whose company I kept, and what had happened to me. I sprung into an upright position and instantly brought my hands to my ribs. I waited for the bone-crushing pain to consume me, but I felt nothing, not even a twinge of discomfort. I softly pressed on my ribs before rolling up my t-shirt and examining my bruise-free skin. No trace of my ribs ever being injured existed, and I knew who I had to thank for that. I lowered my t-shirt and exhaled a deep breath.
“Surkah.”
“Yes?”
I screamed and instinctively covered my head with my arms to protect it.
“I’m sorry,” Surkah’s rushed out. “You said my name.”
I lowered my hands and pressed them against my chest as Surkah stood a few feet away from me, mirroring my actions. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who got a fright.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to calm my rapid breathing. “I wasn’t calling for you. I was thinking of you when I noticed my ribs were healed, and I guess I just said your name out loud without realising it.”
Surkah lowered her hands to her side. “I healed you quickly. You had three nasty breaks and a couple of cracked ribs too.”
I rubbed my healed ribs.
“Yeah.” I snorted. “They felt pretty messed up.”
“You harmed the human female greater if it helps your pride?” Surkah offered. “Her left eye socket was shattered, and her jaw was severely broken. It took longer to heal her.”
That didn’t make me feel better at all.
I winced. “I didn’t mean to do that… but she attacked me.”
Surkah nodded. “Kol informed me of the incident. It is why we have separated you from the other humans. You don’t have to share a quarters with them anymore.”
Kol.
“Where is your brother?”
“The bridge.” Surkah shrugged like that was an obvious place to find him.
“Can you call him for me?” I asked politely. “I need to speak to him.”
I needed to find out why he attacked poor Vorah, and if he would kick me off his ship for attacking Echo when he gave me an order to leave her and her sister alone.
“I have already hailed him,” Surkah said, blushing. “He ordered me to do so when you awoke.”
I nodded but said nothing.
Surkah wrung her hands together, and after a minute of silence, she said, “Will you be my friend again?”
I wanted to correct her and tell her we weren’t true friends in the first place, but I didn’t.
“Why?” I asked with my shoulders slumped. “I’m not exactly good company.”
I was miserable to be around if I was being honest with myself.
“I care for you greatly,” Surkah said. “I have bonded with you very fast.”
She said that to me the last time we spoke, too.
“Would you have lied to me if Kol hadn’t ordered you to do so?”
“No,” Surkah said instantly. “I would not have.”
Surkah’s face was too expressive for me not to see the truth in her words.
“I believe you,” I said. “And I do want to be your friend, but I just don’t know how to be a good one. I’m not very good with others… as you already know. I’ll try my best, though, so yes, if you want me as your friend, you’ve got me as your friend.”
Surkah let out a little cry as she quickly crossed the room and gathered me in her arms.
“I am so glad, Nova.”
I was a little hesitant, but when I put my arms around Surkah, it felt right.
“I am too,” I told her, and I meant the words. “I’m very sorry for upsetting you.”
“It was I who upset you, so I deserved your anger.”
We only separated when the door to the room opened. When my eyes landed on Kol, I narrowed them almost instantly.
“You’re a huge bully, do you know that?”
Kol looked over his shoulder to—surprise—Mikoh and said, “What did I do now?”
“To annoy that female, your heart beating would surely do it.” He grinned.
I scowled at Mikoh, and so did Surkah.
“Why are you upset with me?” Kol asked, regaining my attention.
I scoffed. “Do you want the list?”
He raised his brows. “There is a list?”
I rolled my eyes.
“You beat up Vorah, who is only a kid and was doing your bidding by searching for an intended, you shouted at me on the bridge and that both upset and scared me, and then you put me back in a room with Echo—who attacked me by the way. I wasn’t exactly innocent in the build-up, but I didn’t throw the first punch either.”
“Why do you care what happens to Vorah?” Kol growled. “He is not your intended.”
I gaped at him.
“Out of everything I just said, you focus on that?”
Kol growled at me once more, and I fought off the urge to throttle him.
“You’re the most trying person… being… Maji I have ever met!”
“Do you care for Vorah?” Kol pressed.
I face palmed. “You’re unbelievable, Kol.”
“Answer me!” he demanded.
“I care for him as I would a new friend!” I angrily shouted. “I don’t know him at all, but he seems very sweet, and he didn’t do anything wrong, but still you hurt him. It’s not right, Kol. You can’t just hurt someone because their motives don’t suit yours!”
Kol’s stared at me, his expression hard.
“It is the Maji way to challenge a male for the intention of a female.”
I sucked in a breath. “Excuse me?”
He was not saying what I thought he was saying!
“You gave your verbal consent to test a bond with Vorah, and I had to challenge him and beat him to break that consent and restore your status.”
“My status?” I repeated. “My status as what?”
“A single female.”
“Hold on a second,” I said and held my hand in the air as I stood from the medical bay bed. “You beat up Vorah to break my consent to marry him? Is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s exactly what he’s saying,” Surkah murmured from my side.
“How can that be legal?” I shouted. “It’s up to me who I pick as a husband, right?”
“Yes.” Kol nodded. “But if another male challenges your intended male and wins, then the challenger wins your intention.”
“That is barbaric!” I shouted.
Kol shrugged. “It is the Maji way.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said with a shake of my head. “Are you telling me that you are my… intended?”
Kol smiled. “Yes.”
My heart slammed into my chest as I sat down.
“No!” I bellowed. “No, you will not take another choice from me. I picked Vorah!”
“And I beat him!” Kol snarled, the smile vanishing from his face. “I could have killed him to end the intention, but I didn’t because I knew he didn’t know that I had the intention of having you.”
I was glad I was sitting on the bed when he finished speaking because I had a strong feeling I would have otherwise collapsed on the floor at his declaration.
“Since when did you have an intention for me?”
“Since the very moment I first laid eyes on you, and you fainted before me.”
That was almost romantic, but I refused to show I thought that. I got up from the bed, spun away from Kol, and hugged myself with my arms.
“You’re a prince,” I reminded him. “Shouldn’t you be married to a nice noble Maji female?”
“Nova—”
“Won’t your parents, your society, expect the royals to keep their bloodlines pure?” I pressed.
“You let me handle my parents and the people.”
That meant yes.
I swallowed. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
I noticed that Surkah had moved away from me, and when hands touched my shoulders, I knew they weren’t hers.
“I will be a good mate,” Kol said softly. “I will care for you, I will provide for you, and I will make you happy. Just… just give me a chance, shiva.”
My eyes welled with tears.
“I’ve been so horrible,” I cried. “Why do you want an awful human like me?”
He turned me to face him and swiped his thumbs under my eyes.
“Because I have never known a female so fierce or one with so much pride. Because I have never seen true beauty until my eyes rested on you. Because you challenge me, fight me, and treat me like a regular male, and not a prince of the people. Because your stubbornness matches mine, and because I have never wanted a female in my two hundred years in the way that I want you, shiva.”
I brought my arms around his waist and pressed my forehead against the top of his stomach.
“I’m so scared, Kol.”
I’m terrified that I have growing feelings for you.
He tipped my chin up until I was looking up into his eyes.
“I will take your fear away. I promise, shiva.”
I licked my lower lip. “What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?”
“Shiva,” I said. “You’ve called me it a few times.”
“I hadn’t realised I have been calling you it,” Kol blinked, “but the closet words in your language are ‘my treasure’.”
I sucked in a breath. “That’s so sweet.”
Kol smiled down at me and brought both of his hands to my face where he stroked his thumbs over my cheeks.
“Will you accept me as your intended?” he asked me, his voice soft.
I squeezed his waist. “I thought you won the right to be my intended?”
“I did.” Kol grinned. “But I’m learning that you want to make some decisions instead of them being made for you.”
Butterflies exploded in my stomach.
“I’ve never had a boyfriend,” I whispered. “I’ve never… never known anything about being intimate with a man. I’ve never even kissed one.”
“It will be my honour to teach you, shiva,” Kol murmured as he lowered his head to mine.
His lips barely touched mine before Mikoh said, “We need to get to the bridge. If warp is not activated soon, we will lose time.”
Kol growled so deep in his throat I felt it on my lips.
“Kiss your intended later, friend. We have work to do.”
Kol turned to face his friend.
“I give the orders, Mikoh,” Kol snarled. “Not you.”
Without warning, Kol surged forward and smashed his fist into Mikoh’s face, and before I had time to verbally react, Surkah was on her brother’s back and was biting down on his shoulder. Kol’s roar was deafening, but either he scented Surkah, or knew with his mental comm thing that it was her, but other than let out a roar, he didn’t make a move to remove her from his body. He didn’t make a move to touch her at all.
Surkah was growling, and I noticed it wasn’t only her teeth that were sunk into Kol’s flesh, but her nails were also all imbedded into Kol’s skin. I winced for him, knowing how much it had to hurt. I moved towards Kol and Surkah, but a warning growl from him kept rooted me to the spot. Mikoh was already on his feet and moving towards Kol with his eyes on Surkah. I was suddenly so scared they would both team up and hurt Kol, and before I knew it, tears fell from my eyes and hiccups tore free from my throat.
“Come,” Mikoh purred to Surkah. “Come to me, faya.”
Surkah reacted like she was an android. She released Kol—who didn’t even wince—and grabbed Mikoh’s hand and pulled herself flush against his body. He stroked her back as she nudged his chest with her face, and gripped his arms with her hands. Surkah didn’t really look like Surkah; her eyes were charcoal black, and she looked like she was acting on instinct when she saw Kol hit Mikoh in a way that was not playful.
This must be the edge thing they mentioned.
“Leave,” Kol ordered the pair. “We will be on the bridge in two minutes.”
Without a word, Mikoh and Surkah left the med bay, and Kol turned to face me. I stopped a step away from him, not out of fear, but out of worry.
“Why did you do that?” I asked, wiping my tears away.
He rolled his neck onto his shoulders.
“Mikoh questioned me.”
“So you punched him?”
“It is the—”
“Maji way,” I finished. “Yeah, I know.”
“Why do you cry?” he asked, frowning.
“I thought they were going to gang up on you, and it scared me.”
“Shiva.” Kol rumbled with laughter. “Surkah attacks me at least three times a month when I hit Mikoh. Her instincts as his intended force it. Their bond is so close to being in place that they may as well already be mated. You have much to learn about the people.”
I most definitely did.
Kol stepped towards me, and it was at that moment that I realised we were alone, and apprehension gripped me.
To drive the mood toward conversation, I asked. “Do you have cameras in all the humans’ rooms?”
Kol blinked at my question but nodded. “Of course, we can’t have a male assigned to every human, so monitoring you seems the best way to keep you safe.”
I dropped my gaze to my hands.
“We want to give you freedom aboard the Ebony, and we don’t want to scare humans any more than they already are, so motion capture was a good option.”
“I never said they weren’t,” I mumbled.
“You never said they were, either,” Kol countered.
I sighed and looked up at him. “I would have just liked it if you told me about them. I feel weird knowing Maji security were watching me.”
Kol raised a brow. “Maji Elite weren’t watching you. I was.”
My pulse spiked. “Excuse me?”
“I had the feed from your quarters transferred to my comm so I could… keep an eye on you.”
My heart started to beat fast.
“Did you do that with other c-camera feeds?” I stammered.
“No,” he said, his lips turned up in a half smile. “Just yours.”
It was idiotic for pleasure to flush through me with that knowledge, but I couldn’t help but like that Kol singled me out to watch over. Echo and Envi suddenly invaded my thoughts and ruined the joy I felt.
“Because you were afraid I’d hurt Echo and Envi?” I asked, not being able to stop myself from frowning.
“No.” Kol chuckled, crossing the space between us to tip my chin up with his finger. “To make sure you were in no danger from them.”
“They’re skinny little kids,” I scowled. “They weren’t a threat to me.”
Kol dropped his eyes to my ribs, and I gritted my teeth.
“My ribs were a minor setback,” I stated. “I was handling Echo… It was Envi who caught me off guard.”
Kol’s lips quirked. “I know, I saw the fight through my comm, remember?”
That’s right. He did see the fight.
“Did you send Vorah and the other male to help?”
Kol tensed. “They were the closest males to your room. I allowed them access to the feed, so they knew what they were rushing in on.”
He really didn’t like when I mentioned Vorah or something about him.
“Are you going to kick me off the ship for breaking your rule about not harming the twins?” I questioned. “Because if you are, I’d be much obliged if you touched back down on the Earth’s surface before you do so.”
Amusement flashed through Kol’s eyes.
“I was thinking of changing your quarters, so you weren’t around other humans at all.”
Hope surged through me.
“Oh, yes, please,” I practically burst. “I’ll get better with having company in time, I promise.”
Kol folded his thick arms over his broad chest.
“I’m sure you will.”
I beamed at him. “I’m getting my own quarters?”
“Not exactly.”
I furrowed my brows. “But you said I wouldn’t be around other humans.”
“And you won’t be.” Kol nodded.
“Who will I be around then?”
Kol leaned his head down to mine, stopping mere inches from his lips touching mine.
“I’ll give you one guess,” he whispered.
A shudder ran through me.
“Y-you?”
Kol winked. “Clever human.”
I sucked in a deep breath.
“I… I’m going to be staying wit … with… with you?”
Kol laughed. “You looked terrified.”
I am, but because I knew were this was headed.
“I’m not,” I lied. “I just don’t understand why you want me to stay with you.”
“Yes, you do.”
I felt heat stain my cheeks.
“Give me your answer,” he said as his eyes started to glow.
I knew what answer he was referring to.
“I’m worried you’ll regret asking me,” I nervously admitted. “For your kind, marriage is for life, and I don’t want you to regret me.”
“I’ll never regret you,” Kol said, a hint of a growl in his tone. “Never.”
My mind was screaming at me to accept for two reasons. One, being with Kol, a royal prince of the Maji, would ensure my safety, and my safety was my number one property. Two, I couldn’t deny any longer that I was attracted to him, and if I had to mate a Maji, I wanted it to be with a male who I would willingly want to touch and have touch me in return. Even though it killed me to admit it, Kol was the only Maji I wanted that type of intimacy with. He was captivating to me.
With my heart slamming into my chest, I whispered, “Yes.”
“Yes?” Kol repeated.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’ll be your intended.”
Kol suddenly picked me up off the ground and pressed my back against the wall. His lips covered mine as he gifted me my first kiss, a kiss that he claimed with assertiveness. It was a kiss of promise… a promise of so much more to come.