The exercise pool on the lowermost deck was in use when Enki arrived. Splashes and shouts echoed throughout the vast chamber, and he caught sight of a group of four Kordolian warriors playing takrit, an old Lost Tribes game of skill involving a heavy ball made from stone and leather.

Upon seeing Enki, one of the soldiers stopped, a panicked expression crossing his face as recognition dawned. He muttered something to his companions in Aikun and they all swam to the edge of the pool and got out, silently dipping their heads in acknowledgement. They might not know his name, but they knew what he was.

In the old military, the First Division had always been given a wide berth. As rumors of impossible missions and brutal world-breaking swirled, their notoriety grew, and some idiot introduced the idea that the First Division had been touched by the hand of Kaiin, the death-god himself.

The notion stuck. People feared them, and even in the New Universe, some things never changed. The fading patter of wet feet and dripping bodies told Enki the four warriors had left him in peace.

That suited him just fine. Exhaling, he tried to force some of the tension out of his body, but his efforts were futile. The hold Layla had on him was just too strong. His heart raced, pumping pure lust through his veins. He threw off his kashkan and dived into the cold dark waters, sinking to the bottom of the pool.

Water surrounded him in a frigid embrace. The transparent bottom of the pool looked out onto the stars, giving him a perfect view of the infinite Universe. The glittering stars had been his favorite thing to look at, until Layla came along. Now, he couldn’t get her perfect face out of his mind.

Enki closed his eyes, welcoming the cold and silence. The lack of air didn’t bother him. He could go for a long time without breathing, the nanites sustaining his oxygen-deprived cells. Submerging himself in the pool was an old trick he’d learned from cycles upon cycles of Tharian-induced madness. Down here, it was much easier to overcome the Tharian’s infernal rantings.

Layla was a different matter. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. She pervaded every pore, every cell, every fiber of his being.

It was strange; he’d always expected he would dislike humans if he ever had anything to do with them. On the surface, they appeared to be fickle, contrary beings. Weak in body and foolish, they refused to understand their place in the Universe. He’d never had any interest in getting to know any of them.

But now the madness had overtaken him, so he had to do this.

Tharian. For the first time in his life, he summoned the cursed creature, calling it.

No response.

Enki bristled, suspecting the Tharian was being silent on purpose. Do not act obtuse with me, Tharian. He gathered his willpower and put the Tharian in a tight mental stranglehold. You are in my head. You come out when I tell you to.

A pause, then it surfaced, radiating surliness. I do have a name, warrior.

Enki wasn’t interested in pleasantries. I want to bargain.

Bargain? The Tharian sounded genuinely surprised. What could you possibly want from me, oh mighty one?

Enki ignored the sarcasm. Slowly, carefully, he let his guard down, just a little. It was the first time he had ever done so, and it was hard, especially with this cursed mating fever coursing through his body. Being in control was much easier than letting go, but he had to do this. He extended his senses into the underwater silence, trying to draw the stillness into his restless soul. I… I have a request to make of you. In return, I will grant you a request of your own.

Anything?

I do not lie, Tharian. If it is within my power, I will grant it to you, but first, you must do as I command.

I… will consider. To his surprise, the Tharian was receptive. What is it you require of me?

I need you to submerge.

To…

Submerge. Disappear. Give me a moment of peace. I am tired of your incessant interruptions. I am about to do something very important, and you are not to emerge until I give you permission. Do not interrupt.

I understand. The Tharian radiated amusement. You are besotted with her, aren’t you? You want me to give you some privacy while you—

I do not need your analysis, Tharian. Do you agree to my terms?

I really do not have a choice, do I?

Enki waited. He had nothing more to say. All he could do was wait for the Tharian to come to its senses.

I will sleep, it said finally. You do not need to worry, Kordolian. I have no desire to be a witness to your intimacy. But let’s be clear. I do this for her sake, not yours.

Then you will withdraw.

But you will grant me one request.

One, Tharian. Just one.

That is all I need. It sighed. I have been stuck inside your deranged mind for too long, warrior. It’s time I tried to find a way out.

Why have you persisted with this madness for so long? Why don’t you just leave?

You don’t understand anything about our biology, shadowkin. If I had a choice, I would have been free of you a long time ago, but then you just had to go and eat my cursed blue heart, didn’t you?

Enough. Leave me. Enki slammed down the barriers inside his mind with such brutality that the Tharian actually shrieked. He had no desire to be reminded of the horrors of Tharos right now, not when he was so close to losing control.

He just hoped the Tharian understood exactly what he wanted it to do, because he was on the very precipice of the most important moment in his existence. When he claimed her, nothing else would matter. Not his First Division training, or his tainted blood, or the horrors he’d seen on Tharos. He would forget the suppression techniques taught to him by the Silent One and let go of his icy self-control.

That was the only way he could be with her; the only way he wanted to be with her.

So the Tharian had to sleep, because Enki needed to be himself again.

After so many revolutions spent living a dull, colorless existence—where his own rigid self-control and the General’s commands and the familiar embrace of death and violence were the only things keeping him from pure insanity—who the fuck was he, really?

He opened his eyes, looking out upon stars that blurred and shimmered through the icy waters of the pool. Thoughts of Layla invaded his mind, consuming him, making his claws extend and his horn-bases ache.

His cock was hard again.

Enki pressed his feet against the clear bottom, kicked hard, and broke through the water’s surface, inhaling deeply. He swam to the edge and hauled himself out, the cold water sluicing off his body. He saw the stars again through the soaring windows above the pool, and this time they were sharp and bright, glittering like tiny gemstones as everything became clear.

His dark reality re-crystallized into something completely different, a world where Layla existed, and he was more than just a killer with tainted highborn blood running through his veins. He, who had never known loyalty to anyone but his brothers, was being pulled in an entirely different direction, like a planet whose orbit had just encountered another sun.

He took a deep breath. You be quiet now, Tharian. I need you to do this for me. He, who never asked for anything, practically begged the Tharian to be quiet.

Silence.

He took that as a yes.

Enki slipped his kashkan over his shoulders and ran a hand through his wet hair as he stalked out of the pool chamber, heading for the med-bay, where Zharek al Sirian would return his Layla to him in perfect health, or else.

The cold dip in the pool had done nothing to ease his raging arousal, but at least it had solved the problem of the passenger inside his head—for now.

He would deal with the rest later—after he had claimed his mate.