Draekon Abduction: Exiled to the Prison Planet(12)
Trust does not come easily to me. Sometimes, I wish it did.
Olivia:
I watch Liorax covertly from the lake. While he’s near enough that he’ll hear me if I cry out, he has his back to me, and he’s methodically shooting arrow after arrow into the same tree he told me to aim at. Every arrow lands within an inch of the previous one until they’re tightly clumped together.
Your cover slipped back there, Liv.
I sigh as I splash around. The water is cool and refreshing, but I feel more tired than ever. The truth is, I’m doing a terrible job keeping my cover in place because subconsciously, I don’t want to lie to Liorax and Zunix. I feel connected to them.
Seriously? After one morning? Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just adjusting to the prospect of being stuck on this planet forever.
Right. There you go. That’s a perfectly valid explanation for the way I’m feeling. It has nothing to do with Liorax and Zunix.
It’s late afternoon when I get back to Dariux’s treehouse. I wrung out the bottom of my pants to remove some of the caked blood. Thankfully, the navy fabric doesn’t stain easily, otherwise, I’d be looking like an extra in some kind of low-budget horror movie. My clothes are still kinda grimy, but since I didn’t really relish the idea of walking back to the camp wearing dripping wet clothes, I couldn’t wash them in the lake.
Everyone’s already there. Bryce has a big pile of vegetation next to her. “I quizzed the Draekons about which ones are edible and which ones aren’t,” she reports happily. “Look. Salad.”
Hang on. Bryce isn’t wearing her NASA gear. None of the women are. May is wearing a flowy orange top that shimmers with every move, and the same kind of black pants that the Draekons wear. Felicity is wearing a sheer blue shirt with voluminous sleeves. Bryce and Paige aren’t as fancy, but they have new clothes too. “Your pile is here,” May says, looking up at me.
What am I missing? Is there some kind of alien mall that everyone has failed to mention? “Where did the clothes come from?” I ask, sorting through the large pile sitting atop a brand-new bed-roll. Holy shit, is that a pillow? It really is.
“From Zunix’s synthesizer, of course,” May replies, giving me a ‘well duh’ expression. Seeing that I have no idea what she’s talking about, she smiles smugly. “You spent all day with Zunix and Liorax, and neither of them told you that Zunix has a synthesizer? It’s like a 3D printer, you know. It makes things.”
“Probably too busy looking at her boobs to talk much,” Felicity says cattily. “I’m so glad that Luddux and Xanthox value me for something more than my body.”
I don’t give a damn about Felicity right now. I’m barely paying attention to her bitchiness because I’m fighting back a hot surge of anger. It’s becoming obvious that Zunix deliberately didn’t mention his synthesizer to me.
Bryce frowns at Felicity. “There’s just five of us here,” she says. “Can we try to get along?”
“She’s right,” Paige says. “Let’s not channel ‘Mean Girls,’ please. I had enough of that growing up; I don’t want to repeat that here.” She looks up at me. “Olivia, Dariux came by earlier. He has a vehicle of some sort.”
“A skimmer,” May says. “That’s what he called it.”
“Right. Well, he’s heading out tomorrow morning to look for the others. He said that it would take him most of the day to get to the spaceship, but that’s still a lot faster than walking, isn’t it?”
My hot surge of anger bursts into incandescent flames. Liorax told me the Fehrat 1 was a month away, deliberately failing to tell me that Dariux had a way of getting there faster.
It’s obvious that neither man trusts me.
My spine stiffens, and my earlier warmth fades. If that’s the way the two men want to play it, then fine. Zunix wants to become a dragon? That’ll happen when hell freezes over.
And tomorrow’s date with Herrix and Belfox? Well, let’s just say that despite my instinctive dislike for the two men, I’m going to be very friendly.
Zunix and Liorax have made me feel like a fool. That’s the one thing I won’t tolerate.
11
Olivia:
Belfox and Herrix show up bright and early at Dariux’s door the next morning. Once they introduce themselves, Herrix clears his throat. “I was planning to go to the lake today,” he says. “The fish are plentiful this time of year. You will come along with me.”
“With us,” Belfox corrects with a smile, smoother than his friend.
Thanks for asking me what I want to do with my day, buddy.
I’m wearing one of Zunix’s gifts today, a pale green top with pretty, fluttery sleeves and a pair of black pants. All the men in the camp wear the same kind of pants, and come to think of it, Beirax and Mannix were dressed in them too. Maybe they’re like the Zorahn version of jeans?
I covertly study the two men as we get going. Both men are blond, but Herrix is broader than Belfox, who is tall, lean, and built like a runner. “I went hunting this morning for your breakfast, Olivia.” He moves closer to me, invading my personal space, so close that I can smell the meat on his breath. I fight the urge to take a half-step back. “Did you enjoy the fresh meat? I gave you the juiciest portion.”
“Yes, thank you.” I’m lying; the meat had been tough and flavorless, but beggars can’t be choosers, and I’m sure Herrix meant well. I give him a wide smile, wondering if that’ll be sufficient to get him out of my face.
Nope. No such luck. “I am the best hunter in the camp,” he boasts. “None of the others can run fast enough to bring down one of the great beasts except me.”
Belfox smirks. “If you become our mate, we will keep you satisfied in more ways that one. Unlike your other suitors, I’ve always been able to please a woman.”
Oh, some juicy gossip. “Unlike my other suitors?” I ask, my voice innocent. We don’t appear to be going to Lake Ang today. We’re headed in the direction of the southern lake, Lake Tuli.
“The precious Firstborn of Laris,” Herrix spits out. “The Highborn of Laris were treated like commoners. Except for Liorax, of course.” He smiles spitefully. “Became a laughing stock, didn’t he? When Kat’vi left him for his father.”
“Kat’vi was his mate?”
“Bondmate,” Belfox corrects.
Ouch. Liorax’s wife left him for his father? No wonder he seems to hate women. If that’s the case though, why is he even bothering to compete for me?
Because they’ll become dragons, Liv.
That stings, but I refuse to dwell on that prickle of emotion. “Had she been mine, I’d have killed her for shaming me in front of everyone,” Herrix continues, his face dark. “In Pleno, we would have made her disappear. No matter what the laws of the Empire are.”
I shiver. Herrix is not a nice guy.
Belfox laughs sharply. “He probably has a small penis,” he says. “Why else would his bondmate leave him for the doddering Lord of Laris? Derix is in his third year of decline. I doubt the old fool can get an erection without the help of his healers.” He gives me a sidelong look. “You needn’t worry about us, Olivia Buckner. Both Herrix and I have very big penises. We will show you.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I can travel to the other side of the galaxy, but I can’t escape the dick shots.
“That’s okay,” I say faintly, stopping them before they strip off their pants. “That’s not how we court on Earth.”
Herrix and Belfox seem disappointed that I’m not jumping up and down and clapping my hands in excitement at the prospect of seeing their junk. Herrix grabs my arm. “Mate with us, and you’ll lack for nothing,” he says. His fingers dig in painfully into my flesh.
I’ve taken down larger men in the training ring, but if I employ my self-defense moves on Herrix, it’ll blow my cover to smithereens. “Oh, but I can’t,” I giggle, batting my eyelashes at the Draekon. “Dariux said I have to wait six months.”
“No, you don’t,” Belfox replies. “Once we become dragons, there’s nothing that Dariux can do to stop us.”
Great.
I’m starting to get a bit of a complex here. “Why do you want to be dragons? Is it because you can fly?”
Herrix stares at me, still holding onto my arm. “Liorax is disgraced, and Zunix is Midborn,” he says, his eyes gleaming coldly. “I am Highborn, as is Belfox. You will do well to ally with us.”
That’s a thinly-veiled threat. If being Highborn is the carrot, what’s the stick?
“So, not a good date?” Bryce looks up, her lips twitching as I enter the treehouse, irritated beyond belief.
“How can you tell?” I collapse on my pile of bedding.
“You look like you’re going to start throwing things,” she answers. “Want to talk about it?”
“Well, let’s see. Within the first ten minutes, they offered to show me their cocks. Then, when we got to the lake where they were fishing, they shushed me every time I said something.”
“Why?”
“They said I’d disturb the fish.”