Forest more abundant and rich than anything she’d ever seen; waterfalls so blue and pure she could stand underneath them for hours. The air. The sky. The dragons.

This was paradise.

The first day off from training, Nalini headed straight to the wild gardens and spent her time in there, breathing, smelling, just being. One could grow old in peace in these lands.

Peace. It had been a while since she’d felt like it was an achievable concept. And once she reached it, she felt him.

Kai.

She’d believed she’d closed her mind off against him after Itri, to avoid any communication between them, and prevent him from showing up, but there he was, right in front of her in her mind. Dammit. Too taken by her contemplation, she’d dropped her wall and let him in.

“Nalini.”

Her name came out softly.

“Akai.”

He looked around, a frown marring his features.

“Where are we?”

She had to roll her eyes. “I thought I’d made it clear I wasn’t going to share my whereabouts just because you asked.”

“I know this place. This garden.” He seemed confused and, for one moment, vulnerable. “There’s a palace north of here. Close.”

There was.

Then his attention focused on her again.

“No matter. Just give me your coordinates. I have to find you.”

Her eyes cut to his. “Have you stopped murdering, burning cities, and demanding obedience in all things of late?” she asked rhetorically.

“I demand they stop killing children. I demand they stop using slaves.”

She wasn’t petty enough to mention Kronos, although his name hung between them.

“And when they don’t immediately fold to your will, you slaughter them.”

He titled his head. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

Kai kept staring at her, those dark eyes burning into her mind. Probing it. Pushing against it. He was strong enough to obliterate all her barriers, she felt it. But she pushed back, stubbornly.

When the mental fight started to hurt her, he released his hold.

“You don’t belong here,” he told her, using the knowledge he’d managed to see in her mind. “You’re trying to fit in, but you just aren’t."

“I don’t belong anywhere.”

The way he looked at her would have made a lesser female beg for mercy, or break eye contact, at least. She took it full force.

“You belong with me. Pretending otherwise is offensive. Don’t insult me again, Nalini.”

She snorted. “I don’t know what I’ve done to make you think you could throw your dominance at me, Kai, I really don’t. But let’s get something straight right now. Talk to me like you expect me to heel again, and I’ll drop by wherever you’re hiding in the galaxy and kick your ass into next year.”

Her threat amused him. His expression didn’t change much, but he might as well have said, “Aren’t you cute, thinking you can intimidate me.”

Asshole.

“It’s bigger than you think. The Belt isn’t safe right now, Nalini. I’ll do my utmost to protect all of my systems from the storm coming, but if you keep on gallivanting Goddess Light knows where, you might get hurt. You saved my life. I owe you. Let me protect you.”

She inclined her head.

“And when that imaginary, and rather alarmist danger passes, what then?” she challenged.

He ignored that question. “Come with me.”

Why was it still so tempting, despite everything? Was it his voice, his eyes, or the raw need she saw behind it all?

She averted her eyes. “I can’t.”

And with some effort, she managed to shove a wall between them, shutting off their connection.

Her beautiful sanctuary in the gardens was now violated by his presence. If she stood there again, she’d think of him. Nalini walked away, heading toward the city, seeking any form of distraction she could find.

Nalini stopped by a little shop with an open window; inside, there was a male with a stern brow, bent over the tanned, exposed skin of a large warrior.

She’d seen that most of the males and females of Tejen bore beautiful marks on their skins, drawings that seemed to tell a story.

She went in, and an assistant came to greet her, explaining the process and showing her the sort of designs the artist could tattoo on her skin.

“This is traditional and a little painful. Androids can mark you with lasers now, you wouldn’t feel a thing. But the warriors still get it done with needles.”

“I’m not afraid of a little pain,” Nalini confessed.

Pain was… distracting. She could use some of that right now.

She waited her turn. When the artist asked what she had in mind, she shrugged. “I just want something around this scar.” She showed the ugly mark on her arm and shoulder.

“It’s an important scar,” the artist guessed. “Beautiful to you.”

She nodded.

It marked the day she’d left one warlord. Fitting, on the day she’d just shut another one out, that she highlighted it with decorative tattoos.

“Let’s make it beautiful to the rest of the world then.”