SEVEN
“ARE YOU READY?” Cara asked Devix, as they walked down the darkened hallway on the bottom level of the spaceship. It had been over two months ago when Cara had first walked on board and it still boggled her mind how much her life had changed between then and now.
Devix was quiet. He always grew quiet when he was on edge, though he tried to hide it from her. He should know by now that not much escaped her when it came to him.
“Tev,” was all he said, but his hand was warm and comforting on her lower back, giving her the courage to walk forward.
She was nervous. They were steps away from stepping foot on Luxirian soil. And frankly, Cara didn’t know what would greet them once the spaceship doors opened and they disembarked.
I’m about to find out, she thought silently, watching Devix activate the door and the ramp.
She watched as the doors peeled away with a metal creak and then shafts of bright sunlight speared the hallway, filtering into the spaceship from the docking bay.
Cara took a deep breath, glancing over at Devix. He was watching her. Slowly, he took her palm and brought it to his lips, before pressing a kiss right in the center.
Her heart sped up even more at the tender gesture and she gave him a small smile and a small nod.
Together, they descended the ramp.
A group of Luxirian males were waiting at the bottom. She recognized Vaxa’an, from the video call before they’d entered Luxiria’s atmosphere, and Rixavox, Devix’s blood brother.
When she first saw Rixavox, she knew he was Devix’s brother. They looked so much alike, except for the long, dark hair that reached Rixavox’s waist and the strand of silver that ran through his otherwise obsidian black horns. But their features both held the sharp, proud angles and their eyes were the same electric blue.
The docking bay was quiet as they walked the length of the ramp. Behind Vaxa’an and Rixavox were a group of warriors. All armed, she couldn’t help but notice. Devix’s grip on her hand tightened when he saw them, but despite positioning his body slightly in front of hers in an effort to shield her, he kept propelling them down the ramp towards their ‘welcoming party’.
Rixavox stepped forward once they reached the bottom and immediately clasped his brother in an embrace. Cara dropped Devix’s hand so that he could return the gesture.
And she watched, getting slightly teary-eyed—damn hormones—as the two brothers reconnected.
Cara’s eyes found Vaxa’an’s in her attempt to give them privacy. He looked the same as she remembered him. She could still smell the heat and the saltiness of the sand on the Pit, recalling the way he’d entered the fighting arena to the roar of a frenzied crowd. She couldn’t even recall how long ago that had been.
Her lips tightened as he studied her and then she looked past him, to the armed warriors. There were five of them, standing in a half-circle behind their Prime Leader. Their eyes were trained on Devix like he was an unpredictable animal, their grips tight around their long-silver blades.
Beyond them was sunlight. The large docking bay doors were wide open, revealing a peach sky and what Cara thought were black or grey mountains in the distance.
“Cara,” Devix called, recapturing her attention. She looked back at the two brothers and saw they were both watching her. “Come. Meet my blood brother.”
Cara stepped forward, unsure how Luxirians greeted each other. A handshake hardly seemed appropriate, but Rixavox made the choice for her as he stepped forward, clasped the back of her neck, and brought their foreheads together. She recognized the gesture as Devix had often done the same. It was intimate and Cara knew that strangers wouldn’t greet each other that way. Family, however, yes.
And that was what they were, she realized. She and Devix were as good as married and she was meeting her ‘brother-in-law’ for the first time.
“I’m glad to meet you,” she said softly, once they pulled away.
“As am I, Cara,” Rixavox returned, straightening to his full height. Both brothers had similar builds, similar heights. Cara was surprised they weren’t considered twins. “My luxiva, Sessela, awaits your arrival once we return to the Golden City. She is human, like you.”
It was difficult for Cara to wrap her mind around the fact that other human women resided on Luxiria, that they were also mated to Luxirian warriors. The last time Cara had spoken to a human had been to the woman Vaxa’an had taken from the Pit. It would be strange to speak with someone of her own species, but welcome.
And if there was one thing she’d learned since her capture from Earth, it was that she could handle basically anything that came next. She’d been caged, captured, abused, saved, and loved. She could handle anything, especially with Devix at her side.
Vaxa’an stepped forward then. He was bare-chested, the golden bands she remembered cutting into his biceps, similar piercings through his nipples to indicate he’d completed warrior training, or so Devix had told her. All the warriors were similarly dressed—or rather, undressed. All wore similar pants of a leather material that encased their thick, muscled thighs.
“Devix,” Vaxa’an greeted.
“Prime Leader,” Devix responded, inclining his head in a bow. Cara marveled at his restraint, at the level of respect he showed a male that had exiled him. Cara didn’t think she would be as…agreeable.
“Your presence is required at the command center,” Vaxa’an started, “while Privanax examines your female.”
Cara’s heart jolted. “I stay with him, Prime Leader. Remember our deal?”
“Tev, female, but you will be in the same building. We have matters to discuss with your mate and you agreed to be seen by Privanax immediately to ensure the offspring is safe and healthy. It is only for a short time and then you will both be taken to Ambassador Lihvan’s residence to rest.”
“Lihvan is in Koratax,” Rixavox murmured to Devix. “He told me that you may stay at his dwelling with your female. He will not return to the Golden City until the lunar celebration.”
“He agreed to this?” Devix questioned, brow furrowing.
Rixavox said, “He never believed Pidixa’s claims. He knows who you are.”
Devix inclined his head and Cara watched the way the brothers’ gaze connected and held. They had much to talk about, Cara knew. A lot to say to one another. And she was glad that Devix would finally be able to get everything he’d bottled up over the years off his chest.
Devix’s hand spanned her lower back and he jerked his head in a nod at Vaxa’an. “Let us depart for the command center then.”
Vaxa’an turned and spoke in Luxirian to the five armed guard behind him. Then he motioned for Devix and Cara to follow him.
Once they cleared the docking bay doors, Cara got her first, clear, unhindered view of Luxiria.
Two suns shone down, already high in the sky. And Cara finally processed how hot it was on the surface. No wonder the Luxirians present were all shirtless.
Her second realization was that they were on the cliff of a mountain, the docking bay for the spaceships perched high above the land, offering her a vast view of the planet.
And it was beautiful, in its own strange, alien way.
The surface was covered in what looked like black sand, but it was hard to tell since they were so high up. And for as far as she could see in the distance, the sand created rolling waves over the ground, softly lapping at the base of jagged, dark, majestic mountain ranges, like black, ocean waves crashing on cliffs.
And on one such mountain, to her immediate right, was a city. A terraced city that was actually carved out of the face of the mountain. Even from that much of a distance, Cara could perceive buildings, some domed, some towering high, some narrow and stout, winding along the terraced sections.
And to the right of the city, at the very base of the next mountain over was another set of buildings, also carved into the mountain.
Cara could only stare, trying to commit everything to memory, as sweat beaded across her forehead. It was beautiful, more majestic and dramatic than their peaceful colony of Rozun. But it was also overwhelming, due to their situation and the uncertainty they faced.
Cara felt Devix brush her hair at her back and she looked over at him, at the Luxirian warriors behind him, at Vaxa’an and Rixavox and realized they were all letting her get her fill of the planet’s landscape.
“What do you think?” Devix asked her quietly, but she knew the others could hear.
“It’s not as beautiful and lush as Rozun and this heat is killer,” she teased softly, “but I can see the appeal.”
Devix huffed out a surprised laugh and Cara was glad to hear it. He’d been so tense since they left their home that it was nice to see him somewhat relaxed.
“I had forgotten the heat,” he admitted. “I am not used to it anymore.”
“Rozun?” Rixavox questioned suddenly, stepping up beside his brother. “That is where you have lived since…Petrika?”
Devix’s smile left his face at the mention of that filthy colony he used to live on, the colony where he’d first encountered Cara.
“Tev, Rozun is our home,” Devix answered.
“I had searched so long for you,” Rixavox admitted softly. “That was one place I had not looked when I decided to stop.”
Devix clasped his brother’s forearm, his voice suddenly gruff as he said, “We have much to speak of, brother. And I will tell you everything you wish to know.”
Rixavox stared at Devix and jerked his head in a nod. With a look at Cara, he motioned them over to what looked like a transport craft back on Rozun, but larger and circular.
They climbed inside. Cara looked around in confusion, for some sort of road that would lead them off the mountain. But the moment that Devix, Rixavox, and Vaxa’an stepped onto the transport craft, leaving behind the five armed guards to their own vehicle, Cara realized they wouldn’t need a road.
Because when Vaxa’an stepped up to the control panel, the transport craft started humming…and then it started hovering off the ground.
With a gasp of delight and surprise, Cara’s hand curled around the edge of the hovercraft as they shot off the mountain, flying in mid-air with a hot breeze brushing her cheeks.
The hovercraft was fast yet stable. And in seemingly no time at all, Vaxa’an slowly brought them down to the set of buildings she’d seen next to the mountain city. As they neared the ground, Cara peered over the edge and saw that the black sand was indeed black sand, so finely ground and glinting under the hot twin suns.
The hovercraft landed next to the base of the mountain and the sand billowed out from underneath them, floating in the air for a brief moment before settling.
“The command center,” Devix told her softly when she regarded the set of doors carved into the mountain. “Privanax’s labs are also here.”
“Labs?” she questioned.
“He is a researcher as well as a healer,” he told her. “The best on Luxiria.”
The nerves that had been briefly distracted by the newness of Luxiria slowly began their return and Cara nibbled on her lip. She didn’t like that they would be separated so soon into their arrival.
Quietly, she whispered, “You’re sure this isn’t some trick, right? To get you away from me?”
“Nix, luxiva,” he said. “I trust my brother with my life. I have never doubted him and he would never betray me this way. And despite what you think, Vaxa’an is an honorable male. I believe his word.”
Cara blew out a breath as Rixavox and Vaxa’an disembarked from the hovercraft and went to stand near the command center doors.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll trust them. Just be careful.”
He gave her a small smile but a long kiss, trying to ease her nerves, she knew.
Then, under the watchful and curious gazes of his brother and his Prime Leader, Devix helped her down from the hovercraft and they approached the command center doors.
Cara took one last deep breath. And together, they stepped through.