Her unibrow dropped. “In the end, your friend gave us what we wanted. He was so tasty. And he will die with a smile on his face.”
Even with everything Senaik had done, her comments angered me. I had to correct her. “Senaik was never my friend. Although I wish him a good death.”
I glanced again over to the other Drake. Even though Brentoq had rejoined us, he seemed incapable of doing more than moan. I did not think his demise was far off, now. One more feeding. Maybe.
I could only hope that my end would be as swift. I had my doubts about that, too.
Brentoq reached out to caress my wing above its binding, and Ibarely suppressed a shudder. She leaned close, and I winced as her rank breath ghosted across my skin.
“The longer you hold out, the sweeter you will taste. I have sent word to my hive sisters on Givnia. They will meet us at Xalcim—and then we will feast.” Her forked tongue ran across my jaw, and in that instant, she sank her stinger into my thigh.
I embraced the pain of the stab, as well as the burn of the venom entering my body. Anything was better than the lust that followed. It took everything I had to fight it.
She chuckled coarsely into my ear, her tongue trailing over my skin before she pulled away to gesture to the males that had followed her in. “You can take that Drake”—she pointed to Senaik—“and when you are finished with him, dump him out the airlock.”
Brentoq enveloped me in her ripe stench with more flatulence before she walked out of the room. I watched the males eagerly detach Senaik’s form from the restraints and drag him away. He was far enough gone that he did not rouse when they did so.
When the doors closed after them, I received a pulse of something—a message, of sorts. In images, rather than words.
Images of theStardrifterapproaching a planet that I recognized.
Givnia.
Shaftz.They were coming after me.
Concentrating to make my opinions on that known, I conveyed images of the ship slipstreaming back to Earth. There was nothing they could do for me.
I sent another image of our mate standing between Rhodes and Xandros. The meaning was clear.Protect Jaz.
Then, suddenly, she was there. A warm presence in my mind. The image changed to include me standing behind her.
No.My denial was overridden by three very strong impressions that showed I was delusional if I thought they were going to run and leave me like this.
I gritted my teeth, shoving them all away. They would die trying to save me. So long as I remained alive, they would be at risk.
My thoughts froze.
There were some things I might have control over…
All I had to do, was stop fighting.
25
Jaz
From space, Givnia shone gold.
“Is it mostly desert?” I asked.
“Desert and ocean,” Rhodes said. “Some claim that the Nirzks are so vicious because they evolved on a world where life fights for every breath.”
“It is not even a nice place to visit,” Xandros stated from behind us. “It is hotter than hell itself. I would be bad tempered, too, if I had to live there.”
Rhodes was tapping at the navcube, calling up a city named Xalcim. He had more to add. “The Nirzks may have fur, but they are as cold-blooded as they come.”
“There is no mercy in a manticore,” Xandros agreed. “Even their children must fight each other to survive.”
I rubbed my temple—I’d developed a headache that would not quit despite popping pills. At the Drakes’ urging, I’d tried to get some sleep. However, even with them providing me with privacy in my room—otherwise sleep would not have been on the agenda at all—it was not something that was possible, not until we got Zyair out of there.
