Zar: Science Fiction Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Raiders' Brides Book 1) Page 12

  The Reaper approached them. Zar could hear Ashley gasp under her breath.

  The Lord of the Black Hall was formidable, despite his paleness that gave the false impression of age. He marched toward them with all the right and presence of the man who ruled over everyone he saw.

  Zar had sworn a long time ago he wouldn't be one of those. It was the reason why his domain stubbornly refused to be joined with The Reaper's.

  "Zar Kohora," The Reaper said, loudly so everyone could hear. "The Black Hall welcomes you."

  "It's good to be back, Reaper," Zar replied, aware of how many people were looking at them.

  It was not the place to start a fight, not with the long night coming fast as he'd sensed outside. He searched The Reaper's eyes for any sign the other warlord might want to provoke him, finding none.

  Of course not. He wouldn't risk me taking the females away.

  "And this must be your fated female?" The Reaper asked, coming closer.

  Zar felt his fingers twitching, aching to draw the sword on his back and make the damn bastard a head shorter. Even seeing the Lord of the Black Hall so close to Ashley made his blood boil.

  "This is Ashley," he forced himself to say. "I'd advise you to look with your eyes."

  The Reaper's hand stopped mid-air and the gaze of his milky light eyes fell back on Zar.

  "You are an interesting man, Zar," The Reaper said quietly. "To think I will take advisement from you in my own hall."

  "It shouldn't be said at all," Zar replied, raising his voice to be heard in the furthest corners of the vast hall they were in. "If your own mate happens to be on her way here – gods willing – you wouldn't let me near her either. That is our way."

  The Reaper backed away, a smile so fake on his lips it hurt to see.

  "Just testing you," he said in what he clearly hoped was a conciliatory tone. "Just to see if you are still the man I know. Of course your fated is safe from me. I have had rooms prepared for you on the lower levels. Very warm there this year.

  "Are the rest of the females on their way?"

  The question you've wanted to ask since you laid eyes on me, but you needed to taunt me first.

  Zar nodded, hearing the murmur rise among the waiting Nayanors.

  "They will be here shortly," he said. "I trust you will see to their accommodation as well. It's not ideal that the long night is coming, but we have to make do. I'm sure you'll find a way to make sure they are separated from the others."

  The Reaper bared his teeth in a vicious snarl.

  "Who do you take me for?" he asked. "I know how to handle my own hall. You have changed, Zar, and not for the better."

  "I am as I've always been," Zar lied, before deciding he'd had enough. "I will see the rooms you set aside for me now. Captain Roagh should be here shortly with the rest of the females. You can give us a guide so you don't have to bother yourself and can be here when they arrive."

  This time, The Reaper didn't seem to have any words for him at all. There was too much at stake for him with the precious haul on the way.

  He waved for a guide to come running to them and giving Zar one last sharp look, left them be.

  Ashley breathed out.

  "That wasn't so bad," she said quietly.

  The guide saluted Zar and pointed them toward the exit. As they walked, Zar could see Ashley peeking back to see if the gate had opened yet again.

  "They will be seen to," he said. "Say whatever else about him, but The Reaper wouldn't hurt a female. We are on Luminos now. They are more valuable than all the riches in our mines."

  Ashley nodded, but Zar could see that she was still troubled.

  He wasn't surprised. She had that look on her face that most females had when they first came to Luminos. No matter what Ashley said, Zar knew that finally arriving on the planet felt like a door closing behind her. Her fate was sealed at last and any hope she might have had for escaping was quickly dissipating.

  It was discouraging even his fierce fated.

  The guide led them to a carrier, a smaller version of the hovership that had brought them from the Foront's landing area. Ashley sat down wordlessly and Zar took a seat next to her, wishing that he knew how to put that gorgeous smile back on her face.

  When the carrier took off, taking them to the depths of the Black Hall, Zar could feel Ashley's hand slip into his.

  The Reaper had done as he'd promised, at least.

  Zar wondered if it was the warlord's clumsy attempt to seek peace between them.

  The halls he'd set aside for Zar, his crew and his domain were some of the most beautiful and warmest in the Black Hall. The harbinger told the pilot of the carrier to slow down when they were passing through his temporary home.

  Some life was returning to Ashley and Zar didn't want to squander the opportunity to show her the beauty of the Hall. True to that fact, her beautiful neck was craned back as she took in the statues and endlessly stretching walkways.

  They were seeing the living quarters now too. Some – but of course not all – of the Hall had been carved to house people during the long night. There were lights flickering under the statues, some coming from inside them. Like tiny villages hidden inside a single room of the stone giants.

  Their guide finally stopped before a small hall near the very end of another hallway.

  Zar recognized the place. Up ahead, he knew there were quarters fitted for The Reaper's most powerful guests. The set of rooms was hidden in the shadow of a gigantic warrior, fitting for a harbinger.

  The guide left the small carrier for them to get around and left, heading back to catch a ride in one of the many similar crafts moving around the Black Hall.

  "It's so quiet here," Ashley said when they were alone, looking at him with frightful eyes. "And so dark. I almost feel like we're inside a tomb."

  Zar chuckled softly, pulling her in for a kiss, which his mate resisted only at first before her lips responded to his.

  "I know it feels dark now," he said. "It's because we are the first who will be staying here. Soon, the crew of the Foront will arrive, hopefully some with their new mates, and settle in here. The people of my domain in south will come too.

  "I believe you will find their mates to be good company to you. They have been here longer and can answer any questions you might have."

  "Will you not be staying?" Ashley asked and the fear was clear in her voice this time.

  "I will never leave your side again," Zar said, holding her tighter against him. "I was implying the females might share their experience with you, give you some comfort. Most of them have found a way to make a life for themselves here. Some are even happy."

  His fated's eyes were filled with some emotion Zar couldn't recognize, but he understood that its nature was positive. That gladdened him.

  "Come," he called her. "I will show you our quarters. Until the long night lasts, this is our home. When the storm passes, I can take you back to my domain and you can fit our fortress to your needs."

  "Our fortress," Ashley repeated, laughter back in her voice. "Gods, this planet."

  She didn't say anything more, letting Zar lead her into the quarters. The door opened for his handprint and Zar could see the look of surprise on Ashley's face. She seemed to have thought they were going to live inside a cave, where in truth all the rooms inside the structure were reinforced and fitted comfortably.

  When the lights of their quarters turned on, Ashley's smile widened and she seemed to forget about the world for a while.

  Zar didn't let her explore very much before catching her in his embrace and pulling her to their new bedroom.

  Holding her in his arms afterward, hearing her rapid breathing evening out, Zar couldn't help feeling like The Reaper had been right.

  He was changed. Only unlike The Reaper, Zar was certain it was for the better.

  20

  Ashley

  The first few days on Luminos were the strangest in Ashley's life.

  As a person
who was set in her ways – for a human – it was interesting to learn that she was a very adaptable creature when compared to Nayanors.

  Every part of Nayanor life was ruled by something. After just a few days, Ashley was ready to admit that a part of why everything was so messed up on Luminos was because no one ever changed there.

  "What are you doing?" she asked Zar three days after she'd moved into her new "home".

  The harbinger looked up from his work, which was sharpening the dagger he kept by their bed. The blade was already so sharp that Ashley would have bet a great deal of money that the notion was pointless.

  She had no idea what the dagger represented, but every night when they went to bed, Zar set it on the table next to it, within his arm's reach.

  The enormous sword had been close by as well at first, but Ashley had managed to get rid of that after a scare she didn't want to repeat. Getting up in the middle of the night, looking to have a sip of water, she'd knocked it over. The sword had been rested against the wall, unsheathed because why would Nayanors bother with any safety regulations?

  She hadn't gotten anything more serious than a cut on her finger, but it had been a close call.

  Seeing the blade coming toward her from the darkness, gleaming edge like the face of death itself was haunting. Ashley had screamed her heart out.

  Zar had moved so fast it had to count for a world record sprint time. The harbinger was out of the bed in a heartbeat, catching the blade before it connected with her.

  Helping her wash and mend the wound, Zar had diplomatically agreed that the sword could stay out of the bedroom.

  "This?" Zar asked, holding up the dagger. "It's... a tradition."

  "I noticed," Ashley said, taking a seat opposite of him and observing his handiwork.

  She didn't go any closer. The incident with the sword was all the contact she wanted with deadly weapons.

  "Does it have a sentimental value to you?" she asked. "I don't know much about knives and such, but even I can see that it doesn't need sharpening. Why do you do it?"

  Zar regarded the dagger with an expression like he'd just realized it was in his hands.

  "It's always been done," he said.

  "That's not really a reason to keep doing it," Ashley replied. "Not that it's harmful unless I mistake it for a comb one night, but why? Where does it come from?"

  "The old days," Zar said, the tone of his voice changing when he slipped onto a subject he knew more of.

  He resumed working on the dagger regardless.

  "You've seen Luminos," the harbinger said, keeping his eyes on the blade. "It's not a planet an intelligent species would pick for their home."

  "No," Ashley agreed with a soft smile.

  Zar snorted.

  "Exactly," he said. "One of my tutors once told me that he believes that our species isn't very old. That we are a part of some rogue group of another species that's dead or gone now. There isn't anyone like us in the Union, but we speak the common tongue."

  "I hadn't thought of that," Ashley admitted. "But the Union thinks you're immortal. You can't be that young. There has to be a reason why everyone believes it."

  "Thousands of years is young for a species," Zar pointed out. "The first females who started telling us of the history of the Union said that Palians can trace their history back to nearly a hundred thousand. And that's just what we know now."

  "Point taken," Ashley nodded.

  She couldn't take her eyes off Zar's hands. They were strong and beautiful in their power. Sparks flew around the blade as he worked, without tiring or trying very hard. There was something mesmerizing in the play of the sparks that she couldn't look away from. One quick motion after another, it was like she was hypnotized.

  "There's more proof," Zar went on, casting a quick look her way and smiling back to her when he saw her watching. "The fortresses themselves suggest they weren't built by – or for – Nayanors. He thought that we arrived here not so long ago. It's entirely possible that we didn't choose Luminos, that Luminos was the only planet the old Nayanors could find."

  "It must have been quite a blow for them," Ashley mused. "I can't even imagine what happened during the first long night. If it really happened like that, what warning do you think they would have had?"

  "None," Zar said. "The storm is so quick and so swift. It's possible that the reason why we're on the brink of extinction is because it took us so long to figure out the storms. My tutor even suggested that it might be the planet that took the females from us.

  "The truth is, no one knows. But his explanation included the daggers."

  Zar held it up, observing it in the light, turning it before his eyes and judging it harshly.

  Ashley had no idea what could possibly be wrong with it. She could see her reflection on the surface, lounging against a low sofa with her head rested on her arms, watching her fated.

  "How so?" she asked.

  "It's supposed to be a remnant of survival methods," Zar said, deciding that he hadn't done enough for the blade and continuing. "Warriors used to keep their weapons close for predators and enemies. I imagine that in times before Nayanors knew how to close up the fortresses, resources and every other luxury were rare. There are bloody feuds now, so it had to be a lot worse back then.

  "The daggers were there so that a man could immediately and always protect himself from harm. His female and children, too."

  Ashley didn't say anything to that. She was thinking about the species that found a world that quickly turned into their worst nightmare. The hope they might have felt when there was solid ground beneath their feet would turn into horror so fast when the first long night showed its colors.

  Was it true, then? Had those people turned into Nayanors with their cruel raids and rule-filled lives?

  Zar was regarding the blade again, speaking more to himself than her.

  "It's interesting," he said. "I never really cared for this tradition. I remember my father doing it when I was a small boy. When I became a warrior myself, I tried to keep it up, but as you said, it's lost its meaning now. I stopped."

  "Why now, then?" Ashley asked.

  The harbinger turned his sharp, deep eyes to her and the smile told Ashley the answer before the words reached her, on a level much more meaningful.

  "I have someone to protect now," Zar said.

  Ashley didn't know what to say. What was there to say to a man as complicated as Zar? On one hand, he was a complete product of the harsh society he lived in. On the other, he was nothing like them, as far as she had seen.

  She wished she knew where that left her. Being set in her ways wasn't a bad thing and one of the truths Ashley had always believed in was trusting her heart. Right now, her heart was telling her that she had found a treasure, rough but real. It needed a lot of polishing and patience, but Ashley had just caught the first glimpse of the true nature of the man the gods had destined her to be with.

  The moment was growing to be too heavy with emotion between them, so she broke it.

  "And I made you get rid of the sword, so you have to make do," she added.

  Zar laughed, lowering the blade and regarding her.

  "Made me?" he asked. "You overestimate your influence over me. Not to mention you confuse my desire to keep you in one piece with giving in to your every whim."

  Do I?

  "I fail to see how not wanting to get cleaved in half qualifies as a whim," Ashley argued.

  The harbinger chuckled.

  "You're funny for a female," he said.

  Ashley started to yell something at him, a carefully chosen parade of words on the topic of sexism waiting to be hurled at the harbinger when she saw the glint of humor in his eyes.

  "Now you're just trying to piss me off," she said accusingly.

  Zar shrugged, nodding.

  "You can't blame me," he replied. "You look gorgeous when you're mad at me. I guess it's my luck that every word out of my mouth happens to upset you."

  "
I was hoping you were the strong and silent type, yes, when we were back at the station and you were just looking at me," Ashley shot back.

  Strong and silent and so goddamn sexy.

  "Your fondness of that moment might have something to do with the plasma gun in your hands at the time," the harbinger pointed out.

  "It did help, yes," Ashley agreed.

  For his part, Zar didn't look upset at all. In fact, he was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the universe to him. The more time passed, the harder it was for Ashley to believe that she wasn't.

  And if she was, there was no harm in that, was there?

  21

  Ashley

  Two weeks later...

  Ashley woke up in Zar's arms as she did every morning.

  She opened her blue-gray eyes and allowed herself a soft smile. The minutes after coming back to the world were her favorite. For just a while, she could forget all about the Black Hall, The Reaper and the rest of Luminos.

  It was just her and Zar in those blessed moments, curled up together on their low bed, buried under a warm blanket. She'd quickly discovered that the Fermanolis really were the creatures whose fur was best to sleep under.

  Outside the Black Hall, the temperatures were dropping so quickly that after the first two days, Zar hadn't allowed her to go outside anymore.

  "It's not safe for Terrans," he'd said.

  Even the Foront had been sent back to orbit to wait out the storm before it could venture out again.

  Ashley didn't like thinking about that. It was too much for her to try and fit the two images of Zar in her head. The harbinger hadn't stopped being what he was, after all, just because he now actively made her happy.

  He was still the leader of a Nayanor raid ship and as soon as the storm cleared, Zar planned on going out again. They'd been told that the storm growing in the distance was already showing signs of being one of the most violent and harsh Nayanors had ever experienced.