He sat up, and pale wings rose and shifted, creating a rush of cool air around them. Then he drew them together and pulled them tightly against his back, and Esania marveled at the fact that something so massive and powerful could almost disappear, just like that.

“You,” he said in impeccable, accent-less Earthian. “I understood you perfectly just now.” Armor-encased fingers gently encircled her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. As soon as the flow of vir stopped, Esania blinked, feeling like an ice-cold bucket of water had been thrown over her.

“H-how?”

His lips quirked into a wry smile that was oddly reminiscent of Mael’s smirk. “My brother is a sorcerer, conjuring memories out of dead metal. For some reason, Hythra logged your language. It seems she already had records of it from before. She knew of your kind, human.”

“H-how is that even possible?”

“The Hythra is ancient. Perhaps she has visited your world once. She is—was—a keeper of secrets.” His expression became distant. “Now I understand how you came to be on this planet. You were lost…”

“Mael downloaded all that into your brain just now?” A little spooked, Esania spoke in hushed tones.

“Through a tendril of ilverium, if you can believe such a thing. The Hythra’s stored memories are chemicals and electrical impulses, nothing more.” His features twisted in disgust. “And now I have a fucking migraine.”

He closed his eyes and massaged his temple with his free hand, and it was such a weirdly human seeming gesture that Esania almost forgot about the scales and the armor and the magnificent pale wings…

And the fact that he could learn to speak her language just by absorbing a parasitic drop of liquid metal.

Behind them, Sara watched quietly, wisely staying out of this… whatever this was. Esania couldn’t imagine how terrifying this must be for her.

Imril looked up, his eyes narrowing. “You are tired.” He drew her hand away, staring at her long brown fingers for a moment. “Hm.”

“You can tell so easily, huh?”

“I can see your vir, Esania. I know when you’re refreshed, when you’re tired, when you’re angry, when you’re afraid.”

“That’s…” she searched for the right word as goosebumps rose on her forearms. Unsettling.

“It’s only natural for me to be checking on the welfare of my Source. I have taken too much from you these past few days, and you are hurt.” He glanced at her arm. The bleeding had stopped quickly, leaving a dark red trail along her arm. “That must be tended to.” He looked around, his gaze becoming sharp and demanding. “Rau,” he bellowed. The Naaga appeared seconds later, using the servant’s entrance even though the massive doors were wide open.

Rau arrived in front of them and bowed deeply. Imril issued a series of rapid-fire orders in yet another language, and the blue alien scurried away without a shred of hesitation.

He hadn’t even shown surprise at the fact that Imril was sitting on the floor with Esania kneeling beside him. Were Naaga servants not allowed to show emotion? For some reason, that didn’t sit well with her.

Some Primean citizens—the so-called Purists—preferred for their help to remain silent and express no emotions or opinions, but Esania had always thought their attitudes towards humans were a little ridiculous.

What a difference 0.01% of DNA could make, huh?

Imril rose to his feet in a single fluid motion. Despite his impressive size, he moved with the predatory grace of a fighter.

For a moment, Esania just stared up at him, overwhelmed by his sheer presence.

Why was it only now that she was noticing his magnificently honed body? Encased in that form-fitting dark metal armor, every line and contour and chiseled outline of muscle was visible. The reflected light accentuated his broad chest, his pecs, his rippling stomach, his powerful arms.

He extended his hand. Esania closed her mouth and slipped her fingers into his, her bare skin pressing against that strange smooth metal second-skin.

Always, her power flowed into him, even if their skin wasn’t in direct contact. When they touched, it was a torrent. When they were close like this but not touching, it was a faint trickle; barely there, but noticeable.

Every time he stepped into her personal space, he was going to drain her, one way or another.

She should run far, far away from a creature like this.

But that was impossible now.

He’d protected her, and now he pulled her up off the floor with the slightest movement of his arm, as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.

“Rau will attend to you both,” he rumbled, stroking her palm gently before releasing her. That tiny, almost imperceptible gesture sent a ripple of anticipation down her spine. “Whatever you need to feel comfortable, just ask. You may feed, bathe, dress, and rest.” He looked her up and down slowly with a devastating gaze.

Something had changed between them.

A strange sensation stirred in her core; a feeling she’d never properly experienced before.

She wasn’t naive. She knew what this was.

Oh, for Mars’s sake, she was attracted to this impossible man. If the Serakhine Thought Monitors could stick their probes inside her brain and map her thinking patterns right now, she would never be allowed back into the Primean colony, ever.

Imril shook his head and abruptly stepped away from her, moving backward until she no longer felt the seductive pull of his hunger.

Just like that, her vir stopped flowing, and Esania immediately felt a sense of emptiness.

Had he read her thoughts just now? She wouldn’t put it past him. In a world where fearsome beings could channel light and shadow, anything was possible.

“I just have one question for you,” she said quietly as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. “There’s supposedly this legend about two brothers with the blood of a god running through their veins, who fell to this planet thousands of years ago…”

Imril laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. “I wouldn’t exactly call him a god, but—”

“You’re the one, then? The Drakhin of legend?”

Golden eyes that had been full of concern for her became inscrutable, impenetrable; layered with a thousand years of experience. “I am.”

Esania let out a deep breath. She heard Sara shift on her feet.

This is… insane.

Imril smiled. “But legends are so overrated, aren’t they? Rest and refresh yourself, human. I imagine you would like to talk. When you are ready, you will find me in the central spire. Rau can show you the way.”

Human? Esania stopped just short of correcting him. What did it matter now, anyway?

Before she could respond, Imril turned on his heel and left, his glorious wings folded tightly against his back.

To her surprise, the big doors remained open.

“Whoa,” Sara said. “That was intense. He really has a thing for you, huh?”

“I wouldn’t know about a thing,” Esania muttered, feeling strangely out of her depth. She, who had never ever contemplated the possibility of being attracted to someone, who had received the libido-suppressing injections on Mars just like everyone else, was suddenly dealing with a racing heart and feverish thoughts and butterflies in her gut.

Of course, the injection would be wearing off right about now; she couldn’t even remember when she was due for her next dose.

“That was a thing if I’ve ever seen one, ma’am. I know your kind think lust and sex and are responsible for fifty percent of Earth’s evils… or something like that, and that’s why you’re all so uptight about letting yourselves feel real emotions, but I’ve always secretly thought the Primean way of doing things is insane. You can’t suppress these things forever. You just can’t. It’s nature.”

“Don’t make a fuss, Sara. Emotion counters rational thought,” Esania said, repeating a mantra that had been drilled into her since childhood.

Sara walked across to the massive bed and sat down. She leaned back on her elbows, her eyes narrowing. “Then why did you save us? Was that your rational thought kicking in?” There was irony in her tone, something Esania had never heard from her before.

She shook her head. “No, on my part that move was definitely irrational. A real Primean would have left you to the mercy of the law.”

“So you’re not a real Primean, then, eh?” There was a slight challenge in Sara’s eyes now, and perhaps a hint of anger.

“Let’s just say I’m not Primean enough to sentence an unborn child and an innocent woman to death, no matter what the law dictates.” She made a gesture of dismissal with her hand. “That’s as far as this discussion goes. You’ve just been through an extremely stressful time, and you’re tired. You need to rest.”

“O-kay.” Perhaps sensing that she’d hit a nerve, Sara flopped down on the bed, her golden hair fanning around her face. She cupped her belly with both hands and closed her eyes. “I’m glad, though. I’m glad that we’re here and not on Mars. I’d rather be free than stuck paying off some debt that isn’t even mine. No offense, Esania, but the indenture system is fucking bullshit and you know it.”

“I know that,” Esania said with a sigh. “Why do you think I bought out your debt? Better me than some Fiveways body trader or a robot factory baron who would work you to the bone.” All humans who worked in the Serakhine were indentured—wealthy Primeans frequently bought out their debts, saving them from a lifetime of hard work in the toxic industrial zones of Earth. Esania had brought across many such humans over the years—always women, always burdened with massive corporate debts that had been passed down through generations. She was only allowed to take women, because in the Serakhine, male and female servants weren’t allowed to mix.

Esania couldn’t forgive the debts—that was against Primean law—but she could pay her servants the highest wage allowed, letting them work off their debts in the shortest time possible. Some had already returned to Earth, where they’d reunited with friends, families, even children.

Although Esania never let them know it, many of the humans grew on her. It was always a little painful when she sent them off, but she’d never shed a tear.

Not until she’d come so close to losing Sara and the precious life she carried.

“Speaking of which,” she murmured to herself as Rau appeared, pushing a squeaky metal cart packed with food, water, and folded linens—seriously, where did he find all those things? “I have something I need to discuss with the Drak… uh, Imril.”

An idea was forming in her mind.

“But you need to take care of yourself. You look exhausted. The Naaga hasn’t even dressed your cut yet. Even he said—”

“Later.” Esania strode toward the wide open doors, tasting a hint of freedom—and hope. “This is important. Rau will look after you. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”

“I know. Naaga can’t fight back. It’s in their genetic code… or something.” She glared at Rau. “If he tries anything stupid, I’ll whoop his skinny blue ass.”

“You know more about them than I do, apparently.” Esania looked over her shoulder at Sara. The look on the younger human’s face was the perfect mixture of naivety and world-weariness. “Eat the berries and nuts,” she ordered. “They’re perfectly safe. I’ll see if Imril can do something about cooking the meat for you.”

The girls had lectured her all about human pregnancy and what Sara could and couldn’t eat. The task of finding suitable food in the Vradhu forest had been fraught with danger.

“Yeah, figures. He shoots blazing energy from his freaking hands. Nice trick, that.”

But before that, there was something else Esania had to convince him to do.

She just hoped the fragile bond that had formed between them was strong enough to extend to the humans in the wilderness.