The Barbarian's Owned(41)

“I have a knack,” Sylla whispered, absorbed in that tea cup.

“How did you get into the lab? You’re Ythirian, aren’t you?”

“We all have our gifts. From a young age, I realized I could fool the domé and cloak myself from them when it suited my needs. I passed into that ‘lab’ much the same way.

For instance, right now I’m broadcasting false information to Kaython. The drug in your drink disabled your own connection, so our domé now believes we’re sitting together in companionable silence.”

“Why would any domé give you such a dangerous gift?”

“Some gifts are not given.” Sylla smirked.

“Our species adapts naturally, even without domé to guide us.” She went to her teapot, emptying the fluid into a planter bed. She overturned it and spilled the head of a serpent from the pot into her hand.

Unwinding its coils from the pot, it had sharply ridged scales and three eyes. Each of its terrible eyes was orange with rectangular pupils like a goat’s.

“The scales of a ridgeback adder secrete paralytic venom. It’s quite immune to boiling water, since they live in geyser vents. Warm it with your tea, and it makes a nasty brew. Its bite, of course, is more fatal still.”

Rae watched in horror as Sylla approached with snake in hand.

“Garr will be so unhappy to find his mate dead in the observatory where he left her.” She handled the serpent with care, keeping its venomous snout dangling in front of her.

“Alas, it turns out the potted soil was the perfect hiding place for this creature—no doubt released in the tree house by Vaya a few days ago.” Her grin was pure malice.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Do you really think I’ll let Garr mate with a weak, barely-fertile, genetically dead-ended alien?” She huffed.

“He’s a prime of pure and unmitigated strength. The strongest in many cycles. To have him sullied by Earth trash?” She snorted derisively.

“It can’t be that. You must have started building that monster right after Garr read those reports from Vaya, the moment he showed an interest in someone else.” Rae narrowed her eyes. “It’s not even about me. This is because you want Garr, isn’t it?”

She chuckled. “He’ll come to see me as his mate eventually. We were 98 percent compatible.”

“You’re Yahlalla?”

She grinned. “Sylla was from Tanu, but she was tragically killed during her journey to our domé.” She allowed an assuring smile.

“Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t kill her. I merely came upon her remains. So, with access to the genetics lab, I elected to take her place. I needed more time to convince Garr that he belongs with me.”

This creature’s gift had let her slip between the cracks of Ythirian society, deceiving primes and domé alike. “I’ll bet you were never even a 98 percent match. Not really. You altered your genes to fake a higher score with Kaython, didn’t you?”

“It’s not fake!” she hissed. “Garr and I were always destined to be together. He only needed to be convinced.”

“How do you expect to get away with this? Vaya will tell him the truth, and he’ll believe her. Then it’s only a matter of minutes before they put together who really did it. And if I die here after Garr left me locked in a room with you? He’s not an idiot.”

“All men are idiots,” she snapped. “Especially after I let the adder bite me. With the lab’s aid, I’m nearly immune to its venom, but I’ll be sick enough that suspicion will slide right off me. That’s all you need to do to win a male—they’re attracted to weakness. It makes them feel strong when they prop us up.”

Lowering the snake so that its forked tongue flicked inches from Rae’s nose, she whispered, “And all the while, a clever female steers her mate precisely where she wants him. You don’t have the strength of character to lead from your mate’s shadow. I will be more suitable for the taliyar of domé Kaython.”

“You’re sick. This whole world has your head twisted around. You don’t need to be like this, Yahlalla.”

For a moment, Yahlalla paused with the serpent in her hands, as though considering Rae’s words. If she were being honest about not killing that poor girl from Tanu, this was the first time she would actually murder someone.

“My only regret,” she said, building up her rage, “is that I couldn’t let this snake slither into your bed and bite you, the same way you slithered into Garr’s and poisoned him with your pathetic, human charms.”