He didn’t know how he managed to keep it in check, but he forced himself to remain where he stood.

Nalini. He felt her. Smelled her. He had to hold on to what remained of his senses as everything in him stopped and then started again, recalibrated, reborn.

Finally, he turned to her. He’d purposefully avoided looking at her until then, needing an instant to prepare himself for it.

She was it now. Completely. His dreams and nightmares, the vision he couldn’t chase away. Sometime over the last few years, she’d completed the tattoo around the scar that ran along her shoulder and down her arm. Right now, as he looked at her, both of her eyes were blue, like they’d been in the vision branded in his memory so long ago.

She was dressed plainly, in dark gray, cheap cloth, not the colorful satins, velvets, and leather he would shower upon her. Seeing him, the female froze, her eyes widening in surprise and concern.

Kai noticed him then. The male who rushed next to her, adopting a possessive, protective stance. His veins turned to ice. Looking away from her took every bit of self-control he’d gained over the course of the three decades he’d lived through.

But somehow, he managed.

He signaled the leader of a small unit. “Take them to the Dominion,” he ordered sternly. “Give them private quarters.”

His order would have been different if Nalini hadn’t been amongst them. Eight amongst the group wore loyalist colors. They were prisoners, at best.

“Yes, sir.”

“Everyone else, with me.”

And he advanced, heading out to secure the rest of the planet.

What was left of it, in any case.

He’d only moved three steps when he heard her voice.

“Just try to touch me, see how it turns out for you.”

Kai smiled. A tigress. She was a tigress. He saw it in her fierce eyes, in the way she held herself. Five foot six, tops, when most females reached five ten. Males topped her at six foot three or more. Yet turning to see what it had all been about, he saw the squad leader squirm.

The male bravely stood his ground. “The beast can’t come. Might be infested. We have strict directives aboard the Dominion to keep the environment clean and safe for everyone.”

“Then fucking leave me here,” she countered.

Kai turned on his heels and advanced toward her, each of his steps purposeful. He would have been logical and reasonable about this, had she not said those precise words.

Leave her here? He glowered.

Kai stood right in front of her and stared. Even Ian Krane would have faltered under that look. She stared back defiantly.

“I’m not going anywhere without this neko,” she informed him.

Kai glanced down toward the animal in her arms. A young, wild beast, dirty and sick.

“No, I don’t suppose I can stop you from saving a pathetic creature at your mercy.”

He found himself smiling.

“We have a veterinarian on board. The beast will be cared for.” So would she. He didn’t add that. “I’m in charge of this evacuation. You’re going onto my ship. Tell me we understand each other, Nalini Nova.”

«Tell me you’ll be in the Dominion when I head back.»

He didn’t say those words out loud, but she’d heard them, he was certain of that. Yet, she gave no answer.

Which left him no choice.

Kai turned to the squad leader. “You’re now in charge. See that this operation goes according to plan.”

He wasn’t losing her again. He just wasn’t.

He’d found her. Finally, after all this time, he’d found her. She was really here, not a vision based stars away. He felt her mind. Smelled her. Apple, cinnamon, pine, and Heaven all wrapped in one heady flagrance. A scent that could drive him mad, engulfed his senses.

She was small, yet not fragile. The voice, the gaze, the presence—it was all strength. She had an inherently majestic way of moving and talking.

She was a queen. His queen.

Now, it was just a matter of holding on to her.

«Come with me, Nalini. We’ll talk... later. And I’ll let you go if you demand it of me.»

He gestured her forward, and remained in that position until she sighed.

“Alright. Show the way.”

Glaring all the way, she nonetheless moved, following him as he walked toward his ship. He felt the corner of his lips inch up under his mask.

Finally. Fucking finally.

* * *

We’ll talk... later.

The words were a haunting promise.

They ran through Nalini’s mind, again and again, as she followed silently, her eyes never leaving his back. Their transport left the ground, heading up towards a sleek, black, gorgeous, custom command ship. Only the best for the warlord, she supposed.

They reached it in no time, speeding through clearance when Kai talked to the command ship’s security guy, simply stating, “It’s me.”

The shields were lowered immediately without anyone asking for a code.

The transport’s doors slid open, and Kronos gasped as his eyes took in the seemingly endless white hall, where thousands of such transports were neatly parked. Nalini just glanced at her new surroundings before her gaze returned to the warlord.

It was really him under the mask. Kai. The subject of her every dream and nightmare. The main character in most of her visions. Darkness reborn.

He was cold. He gave orders that sounded like threats; his enforcers tripped on their own feet to obey rather than face the consequences.

And yet….

Kai was the first to step out of the transport; he was greeted by half a dozen enforcers ready to take his orders.

Kronos leaped out after him.

Nalini’s hands were filled by the sleeping neko, or she would have held him back—by his arm, hair, or the scruff of his neck if necessary—as he smiled and dashed up front, passing through three rows of enforcers.

He stood next to Kai’s imposing figure.

Nalini groaned.

“Hey, I recognize the presence,” the boy announced. “Wanted to say thank you for last time, for… you know.”

Oh. Bringing him back to life. Of course, he wanted to thank him for that.

“You’ve already expressed your thanks. It wasn’t required the first time around.”

Cold. So cold and formal, even with an enthusiastic teenager.

“All the same,” Kronos insisted, not bothered by Kai’s response. “I figured we wouldn’t see much of you after this, so I wanted to say it while I got the chance.”

Kai stopped, looking right at the boy through his visor. The twelve enforcers behind him had come to a halt. He gestured two men forward wordlessly.

“The boy and his caretaker,” he said, rather than pronouncing her name; again, acting like he didn’t know her. Nalini knew it wouldn’t last. “Take them to Clera before assigning them a residence in the upper deck.”

“Yes, sir.”

He went back on his way, cape floating behind him, not sparing her a glance.

Her heart rate slowly returned to a more appropriate rhythm.

“This way,” one enforcer indicated, pointing to the opposite way from the direction Kai had just gone.

“Where are we heading?”

“To Clera, ma’am. The veterinarian on board.”

An unexpected rush of grateful surprise seized her. Kai had prioritized the neko’s health to whatever showdown he’d planned between them, which was not what she’d expected at all.

The vet was stationed at the forefront of the medical bay, in an elegant office with translucent walls. She welcomed them with open arms and a ready smile.

“I haven’t gotten to treat a feline in a long time.” She seemed enthusiastic at the thought. “And never one of these. Is it truly a nekoderian? I don’t think anyone I know is crazy enough to get close to their den.”

“I can’t say I know much about the race at all,” Nalini admitted.

The vet’s careful hands found the neko’s neck and spiked it with a tranquilizer before she started to work on his wound, cleaning it and then sealing it with a machine that neatly sewed him up in an instant. As she worked, she talked, bringing Nalini up to speed.

“This’s one of the old races our ancients revered back on Tejen; so they brought some with them once they started exploring space. The same way our people used to bond with dragons, some mages formed a bond with these creatures. But then mages were slaughtered, and the nekos’ descendants were born in the wild. There’s a few of them on most planets in the Belt, less in the Empire. You’re fortunate to have found one so young; but, regardless, once he heals, you’ll have to let him go back to the wild.” She smiled sadly, not unkindly. “Only mages can hope to control these beasts.”

The female was assuming that she was a regular. Nalini smiled. “I just want him to get better.”

The stars knew, if he didn’t, his mother would hunt her down and kill her—slowly.

“Great. Well, I’m done here. He’ll be grumpy when he wakes up, and I want to check his vitals. Leave him with me. I’ll comm you when he’s ready to be picked up.”

Nalini frowned. “I don’t have any comm device on me.”

Clera smiled kindly. “You’ll get one on debriefing. Search for me and dump your ID number in my messages.”

The enforcers led them out of the medical bay. As they did, Nalini had to point out, “Your orders were to take us to our residence, not to debriefing.”

Under their exosuits, the men were so nervous, they sweated. Probing a little deeper, Nalini felt their anxiety. Nothing had gone according to plan since they’d landed on Nimeria. Kai had gone off script. And he never did. That confused and frightened the daylights out of both of them.

The male on the right, Park, was Kai’s best guard. On the left, Ollis was the second best. That both of them had been dispatched to take care of her shocked them, and they took this job seriously. Very, very seriously.

Nalini wanted to tell them to chill out. She simply was a valuable asset Kai didn’t mean to lose. Enlil had also set his best troops on her.

“Yes, ma’am,” Park replied formally. “We’re taking you up to your quarters right now.”

Another detail that made them uncomfortable: everyone went through debrief, not just newcomers. Even Kai had his own debrief meeting with his cabinet after every mission. The very first meeting strangers passed was crucial; it determined who was a potential spy, for one.

She and Kronos were spared the hour-long ordeal, although they’d been with loyalists. Park and Ollis were sweating. The whole thing stressed them out.

Again, she wanted to pat the males on their shoulders and tell them to chill. Kai was simply planning to make her squirm in a meeting himself.

They took her to the upper deck, where officers were stationed. Ollis and Park’s own places weren’t far. Each apartment had large rooms, equipped with entertainment and little kitchens, lounges, and individual showers. Below, the rooms were only slightly larger than broom closets, and the common folk had to deal with communal bathrooms.

Nalini shuddered and blessed her stars. Communal bathrooms. She would have jumped in the void of space without a suit within one week, tops.

They never commented upon it, professional to a tee.

“You’ll find the apartment fully functional. Should you wish for anything, a domestic android will be at your service. If that fails, you can call to maintenance or housekeeping through the comm situated next to the door,” Park said, opening their door.

Both enforcers froze right there.

When they entered the dark room, she felt him immediately; only Kronos displayed any surprised when he turned the lights on to find Kai standing next to their main window, arms crossed behind his back, looking at the skies.