Dennox:

For the last few days, I was happier than I’d ever been in my life. Harper’s quick wit, her ready smiles, the clear bell-like notes of her laugh filled my heart and soothed my soul, and I was truly content.

Then Raiht’vi tells Harper her wound will heal, and when I hear those words, the veil obscuring my memories is ripped away. Images crash over me in a tidal wave, and I remember everything.

Arriving in the Crimson Citadel. Disarming the guards during an unattended moment, and making a break for it, only to be brought down at the gates by a battalion of Brunox’s guards.

The first few months, the scientists that experimented on me were interested in my powers of healing. Sharp knives would slice into me in precise strokes, and the indigo-clad men and women would stand around and watch me bleed, noting my pain responses and measuring the precise moment when my wounds began to knit.

Then they brought the woman in and tried to unravel the mysteries of the Draekon mating bond.

I remember when Raiht’vi first arrived at the underground labs. Her eyes had widened with horror and pity when she’d seen the two of us, bound on examination tables. She’d realized at once that she was witnessing an act of treason. By kidnapping a Zoraken, the scientists were declaring war on the High Emperor.

I remember her body trembling with fear as she was told what she would have to do. She’d been young then, a little over fifteen, a third-year apprentice with immense talent, but with a fatal flaw. She’d had a conscience.

I watched as the senior scientists stripped that away from her, the same way they stripped away my freedom, my pride and my sense of dignity. So many times in the underground citadel, I’d wanted to kill myself, to end the pain and the horror of what I’d stumbled into.

Then one night, Vulrux had appeared, and everything had changed.

At my side, Harper’s stiff and pale. I put my arm around her shoulder, taking comfort in her softness, breathing in her warmth. I’m profoundly grateful that we were lucky enough to find her. “I need you, diya,” I say quietly into her ear. “Come with us.”

She doesn’t respond but lost as I am in my thoughts, I don’t notice.

* * *

Vulrux:

So many conflicting emotions.

I don’t know what to think. My entire world has been upended. My emotions swirl over me like an angry sea, and I’m afraid I’m going to drown under the weight of my past.

But at my side, there’s a woman that anchors me to the present. In my past, there is darkness, but Harper Boyd is my present and my future. A woman who has brought color and laughter back into my world, a woman who makes me want to live, not just survive.

“I don’t get it,” I’d told Arax once, shortly after Viola came to the camp and Arax introduced her as his mate. “I don’t understand how you can take one look at a stranger from a faraway planet, and know that you belong together. Isn’t it important that you get to know a woman and find out if there’s something deeper than sexual attraction that binds you together?”

He’d looked at me, a typically serious expression on his face. “My soul recognizes Viola,” he’d said. “I don’t know how to explain it, Vulrux. What I feel for her is so much more than a physical urge. Until she arrived in my life, I didn’t know that there was a hole in it, but now that she’s here, I can’t imagine my life without her.”

I think of my cousin’s words now. Sixty years ago, the dragon inside me recognized the woman in the underground lab as my mate, but she’d been killed before I could even say a word to her.

It’s so much better with Harper. The dragon inside me wants her, but that urge is primal. The dragon doesn’t appreciate the sparkle in her eyes, but I do. The dragon doesn’t see the way her gaze softens when she looks at Dennox and me, but I do. The dragon doesn’t value her sharp wit and keen curiosity, but I do.

Harper is more than our mate. She’s the woman I’m in love with.

Without Raiht’vi’s intervention, our first mate would still be alive.

Without Raiht’vi’s intervention, Harper would have died.

The seven of us crowd into Arax’s living space. Viola’s eyes are wide and worried. Nyx’s usual cheerful expression has been replaced by a grim sternness. Harper is pale and quiet. “Is your hand hurting you?” I murmur.

“No,” she whispers back. Her tone is uncharacteristically flat, sending a pinprick of worry down my spine.

Once upon a time, I would have sworn that I wanted revenge on the person that took my mate away from me. Now, the need for vengeance is dimmed. I’m too aware that if it hadn’t been for Raiht’vi, Harper would be dead.

One life taken. One life saved.

Arax is about to open his mouth, but before he does, I lift my hand to forestall him. “Before we do this,” I say to my cousin, “I need to tell you something.” I glance at the Zorahn scientist, whose expression is unreadable. “Privately.”

The urgency of my tone isn’t lost on the room. “I’ll escort Raiht’vi back to Zorux’s house,” Nyx says. “And arrange for a guard.”

Raiht’vi chuckles bitterly. “A guard? Where am I going to go, Thief? The rains trap me on this mountain.”

“Nonetheless,” Arax replies, his voice harsh. “I refuse to take any chances.”

When Nyx returns, I take a deep breath. “For years,” I begin, “it’s eaten away at me that that woman was killed because of me.”

“Because of both of us,” Dennox interjects. “This isn’t your fault alone.”

I nod to my pair-bond. “Had we not transformed inside the Crimson Citadel, she would still be alive. Many nights, I’ve stayed awake, consumed with guilt that I was responsible for her death.”

“We were responsible for her death,” Dennox mutters under his breath. “Not just you.”

Arax agrees with the soldier. “You are Draekon,” he says. “You cannot control the first transformation. The person responsible for the death of your mate,” he says, “is the person that gave the order for her to be killed.”

I ignore the interruption and get to the point. “When the scientists crashed on the prison planet, I burned to know the truth. I questioned Beirax.”

“How?” Nyx asks. “Arax couldn’t get the man to talk.”

My cheeks flush. “Ahuma venom is a very effective truth serum. In the last sixty years, I’ve managed to collect two vials of it. I used one on Beirax.”

Nyx whistles under his breath and Arax surveys me with an astonished expression on his face. “You drugged a patient, violating the core principles of your training as a healer? It mattered that much that you knew?”

It did, but not for the reasons he believes. Dennox was resolute that he wouldn’t complete the mating bond until he knew what his missing memories concealed. My motivations were more complex. For sixty years, I was obsessed with discovering the truth. I had to find out, if only to lay my long quest to rest and focus on the future.

“It’s complicated,” I murmur. “Besides, I never completed my training as a healer. I didn’t take the final oaths.”

Nyx’s eyes flicker to Harper, and then back to me. I understand the unspoken message. The thief has an unerring ability to hone in on what’s truly important, and he’s right. My past lies behind me. A future with Harper lies ahead.

My mate seems distressed, her face pale and pinched with misery. I wonder if it is because she thinks we’re going to demand that Raiht’vi be killed for her crimes. I want to reassure her and tell her that I have no such bloodlust, but first, I need to tell Arax what I discovered.

“What did you learn from Beirax?”

“His purpose was to learn if the human women could mate with us,” I reply. “But that’s not the most important thing.” I draw a deep breath. “Beirax claims that the Order of the Crimson Night has been dropping supplies on the prison planet, and somewhere out there,” I wave a hand to the jungle below us, “there are the component parts of a Cloakship, waiting to be assembled. Beirax never intended to be exiled on the prison planet. He had a way back home.”

Arax’s head snaps up with shock. Even Nyx looks intrigued. “What’s a Cloakship?” Viola asks.

“A top-of-the-line spaceship,” Arax replies grimly. “Small, faster than light, and virtually undetectable. Only one planet in the known universe possesses the ability to make them.”

Understanding dawns in Dennox’s eyes. “Adrash. Of course. That’s why we were sent into battle. The High Emperor wanted to bring the techmages under his control.”

The Firstborn’s eyes narrow. “How did you know about Adrash?”

“I fought in that battle,” he replies. “I watched soldiers die around me.” His lips twist into a bitter smile. “At least now, I know why.”

A cold realization cuts through me. “You were captured by techmages,” I say slowly, looking at my pair-bond. “Who surrendered you to the scientists.” My mind spins as I try and understand what’s going on. “Why would the scientists ally themselves with an enemy of the High Emperor?”

Arax’s voice is cold. “Brunox covets power,” he says. “I advised my father to take precautions, but he liked the man, and he wouldn’t listen to me. Then I was exiled.”

The four of us go around in circles for many minutes, trying to figure out the ramifications of everything we’ve learned. Finally, Viola cuts in. “Guys,” she says. “Do you know where Harper went?”

Just as she speaks, a great wave of unease washes over me. Our mate is in trouble. I can feel it.