“Tell me why I should spare you,” Imril said softly, speaking in Vradhu as he stalked through the undergrowth, “when you so very nearly killed my Source?”

He trembled with anger, almost losing control of the power that surged through his body. The Vradhu remained hidden, saying nothing, but Imril knew the purple-skinned bastard hadn’t gone far. He would be there in the sekkhoi thicket, waiting for the right moment to strike and sink his barbed tail into Imril’s flesh.

Vradhu had only one shot at harming a Drakhin, but it was deadly.

Imril wasn’t worried, though. He was wearing scale-armor, and even at a third of his full power, a single Vradhu was no match for him. “I would normally incinerate you for that, but I have made a promise to my human.” He grabbed a thorny branch, his hands crackling with power. “Your survival is dependent on your cooperation. I will say this only once. Show yourself, or I will burn you alive.”

Esania wisely stayed behind him, but he could feel the anxiety rolling off her in waves. He was glad she didn’t speak the language of the Two Clans, because he didn’t want her to understand that he was one step away from killing the Vradhu.

The bastard’s spear had flown just a hand’s breadth from her face, and that was unforgivable. She could have been seriously harmed, or even killed! Rage roiled around in his veins, surprising him with its ferocity.

He hadn’t appreciated how truly vulnerable Esania was until now. With her soft scale-less skin, limited strength, and seemingly endless supply of vir, she was poorly adapted to survive in the wilds of Khira.

And yet she’d been so fearless when trying to protect the pregnant one, Sara.

Humans.

Such fascinating creatures. Where had they come from? Imril knew there were other worlds out there in the endless Universe. His very own father had been from a distant planet.

“Imril,” Esania warned, and part of him would do anything for her, as long as she asked him in that sweet, patient, calming voice. It was a balm on his seething, restless soul.

She was beautiful. He couldn’t deny it.

But the Drakhin in him couldn’t relinquish control. He waited, ready to send his power through the sekkhoi thicket at the slightest provocation.

Finally, there was a faint rustle of branches, and the Vradhu emerged, materializing out of the shadows, pulling his war-spear out of the tree trunk. He wore the thick, molded kratok armor that was characteristic of their tribe, and he moved with the fluid grace of a seasoned hunter.

A striking pattern of black pigmentation decorated his face, accentuating the fierceness of his glare.

For a moment, he just stared at Imril, not in the least bit intimidated. Then he glanced at Esania, gave her a single nod of recognition, and diverted his attention back to Imril.

“Lightbringer,” he hissed. “What do you want?”

Imril nodded in Esania’s direction. “The human has asked for my protection—for her people. I have an eyrie in the Half-green Forest, in the center of Lake—”

“Kunlo’s old place. I know it.” The Vradhu folded his thick arms and frowned. “Where is the pregnant one? Did you touch her?”

“I did not. You think I would risk the life inside her for a small hit of vir?” Imril glowered at the Vradhu. This upstart had no idea about the rules Drakhin had lived by—rules he had made. Once, Imril would have thrown the young warrior to the ground and impaled him then and there, just for questioning his integrity.

There was a time, long ago, when Imril had been quick to anger, and he had enforced each and every one of his laws ruthlessly, without question, without argument, striking terror into the hearts of the other Drakhin, never letting them forget the true extent of his power, which vastly eclipsed theirs.

Because only he and Mael were true Drakhin, the sons of Acheros, the monster.

The others… biologically competent, but their Drakhin aum-genes were diluted.

Those were the old times, the savage times, when the world of Drakhin was still being built, when the Ancestor was still alive, when Imril was the Favored Son.

But then his empire had grown, and the Kingdoms had been formed, and the Drakhin population grew and grew, thanks to the female Vradhu mates, and their civilization had grown complicated and intricate and Imril had learned of certain truths and horrors, and he had started to think: what the fuck is the point of it all?

Cynicism was a disease, one that had afflicted him for a very long time.

But now, with Esania standing at his back, silent, watchful, hopeful, depending on him for the survival of her people, he started to feel that old fire again.

She had placed her trust in him.

And her vir crackled through his veins.

Life. Returned.

He hadn’t felt like this in longer than he could remember.

“Where are the humans?” he demanded, feeling strangely protective. All for Esania’s sake. What an effect she had on him.

“You will not find them, Lightbringer. Not even you. Especially not you.”

“You think I can’t see their auras from the sky?”

“We know what you’re capable of. You won’t find them this time.” Unexpectedly, the Vradhu smiled, revealing his sharp teeth. “I understand Drakhin law, Overlord. I am a Lord of the Two Clans myself. I also understand that desperate circumstances can make ancient laws seem irrelevant. You Drakhin have caused more death and destruction on this planet in a few thousand rotations than we Vradhu could ever have conceived of, and now your blue magrel servants are loose, and they are multiplying and causing chaos, destroying the natural order like you wouldn’t believe.” His smile was wide, but his eyes were cold, holding a glint of accusation. “How am I supposed to trust you when you have left such chaos in your wake, Overlord?”

Imril shrugged. “You know what I am. I will give you a choice. You can stay in the wilds with your humans and wait for the Naaga to find you, which they have done before, or you can send a scout to my eyrie and see for yourself that the pregnant human is untouched, and you can accept the offer of my personal protection, for you and your pack and your human sisters. You see who accompanies me now. Esania is unharmed, and unafraid. It is she who asked me to come here.”

The Vradhu’s black eyes flicked in Esania’s direction, and they shared some sort of silent communication.

Esania nodded slowly.

“Both times, I found you easily,” Imril said softly. “Their vir burns so brightly it is visible from the sky. It will only be a matter of time before others come in search of their power. It’s strong, Vradhu. More potent and intoxicating than anything I’ve ever seen.” Even now, he could feel Esania’s life-force, and the beast in him wanted to go to her and clamp his hand around her neck and drink until he was filled to the brim with her power.

With great effort, he kept the madness in check.

At least, he tried. His cock was hard again. This had been happening a lot of late. He was going to have to do something about it soon, or there would be problems. “Decide for yourself.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Go, Vradhu. Discuss with your pack if you must. You know where to find me.”

“I hear you, Lightbringer. Meanwhile, your Naaga are really multiplying like fucking veppits. We, would appreciate if you could do something about that. Think of it as a way to court our trust. You will hear from us soon, Overlord.” The Vradhu gave a mocking bow before making a subtle sign with his left hand. Imril heard faint rustles of movement all throughout the dense, shadowy thicket. Vradhu. He was surrounded, but he couldn’t see them, and he couldn’t sense them. Vradhu males didn’t give off vir like their female counterparts. Their innate energy was too tightly tethered to their bodies.

The Vradhu Lord disappeared, making barely a sound as he melded with the shadows.

Vradhu were exceptionally good at hiding. Humans, not so much.

That reminded him. They had to leave, now. He couldn’t leave the eyrie unguarded for too long. Rau had strict instructions to take Sara into Kunlo’s underground stronghold at the first sign of danger, but even the thick stone barriers and double-sealed doors would not hold potential invaders off for long, especially if they were in possession of Drakhin-tech.

“Esania,” he snapped, turning around.

He came face-to-face with a glaring human, her brilliant green eyes blazing. Furious, she put her hands on her hips. “They’re leaving? What did you tell them?”

The full force of her anger washed over him, and for the first time, he saw her; the real her. She, who was better at hiding her thoughts than a cynical old Drakhin lord, who could make him second-guess himself even when her vir was tinged with emotion… Now she faced him with rage and betrayal writ large across her face.

She did not speak Vradhu. She wouldn’t have understood the importance of what he’d just discussed with the Clan Lord. She did not understand their culture. Vradhu-Drakhin relations were complicated. The Vradhu had their own customs and laws, and the purple-skinned warriors were notoriously stubborn and secretive.

And even though she was wrong about him, her reaction disturbed him greatly. He did not like her mistrust, her disappointment.

He did not like it when she looked at him like that.

“You’d better have a good explanation for me, Drakhin.” Her vir was tinged with anger and confusion, but not a shred of fear. She’d eaten and rested before they left the eyrie, and she was almost back to full strength.

She was radiant.

His cock stiffened.

Za’s burning hells, what he wanted to do to her.

“Vradhu have their own minds,” he slowly, removing his helm as he walked toward her. “They can’t be convinced or coerced or forced. I have told the Clan Lord exactly what he needs to know.”

“You threatened him.”

“He threw a war-spear at you.” Imril’s voice grew cold as he remembered how close he’d been to killing the insolent wretch.

“Maki wouldn’t hurt me. I’ve seen him in action. His aim is perfect. He’s an exceptional hunter. It was a warning shot, nothing more.”

“Oh?” Energy flared from his fingertips as a sliver of jealousy entered his heart. He did not like it when she praised another male. He wanted to go after that cursed Maki and burn him to ashes.

“Maki wouldn’t hurt me,” she repeated stubbornly, and her unshakeable faith in the Vradhu irritated Imril all the more. “You should have let them take me to the others so I could talk to them and convince them that you’re not dangerous.”

“That would be pointless. They know who I am. The Vradhu will never reveal their hiding place to a Drakhin.” The more he said, the angrier she seemed to get, her vir turning incandescent. Why was this upsetting her so? He was trying to explain things to her, and he’d never felt that he had to explain himself to anyone before, ever.

“My people are in that hiding place, Imril. They don’t have poison barbs or spears or fancy armor or impossible powers. They only get one chance on this planet. I only get one chance. We can’t afford to make a single mistake.”

He came to a halt in front of her, and his cock grew even harder as he walked inside the radius of her vir. “I told you, I gave your Maki all the information he needed to make the right decision. The Vradhu will come to their senses.”

“And what if they don’t?”

“They will.” He stared down at her, taking in her perfect features, complete with a smattering of dark pigment spots across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. He noticed the slight flush in her cheeks and the rapid patter of her pulse, barely visible in her elegant neck. She looked so good in that golden jacket, the one he’d found carefully folded and stored in a chest in one of Kunlo’s many rooms.

He breathed in her scent and became obsessed with her luscious pink lips, which glistened with a hint of moisture.

He wanted to devour her. Not just her vir, but everything.

“You…” She looked up at him, and there was something else mixed in with her anger. Her eyes were fixed upon his face, and she studied him with great intensity.

He’d seen that look before, countless times, on the faces of the dozens of female Vradhu who had come to Eleia to vie for his affection.

You find me pleasing, don’t you, sweet human?

Even when you are angry at me.

In the end, the Vradhu females had always become afraid of him, of what he was, and that was the biggest turn-off in the Universe.

And he never heard the song when he was in their presence.

In the end, he had given up trying to search for a mate.

But this human…

Her anger, her complete absence of fear… it was glorious, and it turned him on.

“What, Esania?” Their faces were so close. He leaned in just a little bit more and inhaled her sweet scent.

“How can you be so sure they’ll come?”

“Because, sweet human, I am the Overlord of Khira. I was here when that upstart Vradhu’s ancestors used to roam freely across the Twelve Continents.” I was here when the Vradhu used to walk freely amongst the Drakhin. I was here when the Shadowring fell across our skies. I was here during the First War and during the Great War, and soon you will see what it truly means to be one of my subjects.

Her lips remained parted, an expression of mild shock flitting across her perfect features before she quickly concealed it.

“What, are you surprised that I am so old?”

“No, I knew that already.” The corners of her mouth twisted into a delicious frown, and her anger abated, just a little. She blinked. “Sweet?”

Caught in the heady cloud of her aura, Imril nodded.

They were so close.

She had no idea how tense he was right now, filled with hunger and lust.

He actually trembled as he nodded slowly, compelled to reach out and touch her. His wings flared. He drowned in her scent, drank in her beautiful form, imagined what it would be like to taste her as she lay before him, naked.

Not just her vir, but all of her.

“We have to go,” he said instead, his voice thrumming with urgency. They’d already been away from the eyrie for too long. Until he got a better feel for what was going on in the Drakhin Territories, he wasn’t going to take too many chances.

There would be time to deal with Esania’s misunderstandings later.

Later.

Amongst other things.

You are sexually attracted to an alien, Drakhin. You have not even asked her about her world, the place she comes from, her customs, her expectations. Does she even find you attractive?

He knew she did… he could feel it in her vir. It drove him mad.

Esania exhaled slowly, her anger slowly starting to dissolve. “You’d better be right about this. I don’t like the idea of them staying out in the wild.”

“The Vradhu are some of the most cautious creatures on this planet, Esania. They won’t make the same mistake twice. Do you understand?”

“I… think so.” Finally, she relented.

Whatever he was doing, it seemed to be working, because she was starting to calm down. Imril stared at her, torn between wanting to devour her and protect her.

No. He must never take her by force, ever. The mere thought of it was enough to put a dampener on his arousal.

“We have to go,” he snapped, pulling the sulak rope from his belt-pouch. “Are you coming with me, Esania, or am I going to leave you behind so you can rejoin the Clan?”

“Are you seriously offering to let me go?”

He said nothing as he uncoiled the rope in his hand. Her vir was driving him mad. He had the means to restrain her, and the strength to do so. “Are you coming with me, Esania?”

Her eyes widened, and she trembled a little.

That’s when he felt it.

Her intoxicating aura flared, giving off a faint hint of…

Arousal.

Thick and sweet. He could smell it, too.

Unable to help himself, Imril leaned in and kissed her.