One second, I was standing in a water-logged street, glimmering in the streetlights, and the next, I was in a room full of odd beings and shiny machines with iridescent blue lights.
“Um, what?” I asked as every muscle tensed.
A flurry of words assaulted my ears. They were rough and guttural, sounding like growls and snarls. My mouth opened and closed as I backed up, bumping into a wall, which released a mind-numbing shriek. I leaped, ramming into the machine. Despite the ongoing noise, I pressed back to get away from the odd creatures.
A person or animal—I wasn’t quite sure from their appearance—stepped closer, hands raised. Maybe a woman if the fact she had breasts and softer features meant anything.
Her short purple hair hung around her long face, and tapered ears, like she was from a fantasy novel, poked through the strands. She was tall, taller than me, and broad with well-defined muscles. Her light purple arms weren't entirely one color. Scattered crescent shapes of blues and pinks went up her arm, making me realize she had scales, not skin.
She said something and bared her teeth, revealing pointed canines. I yanked back, ramming into the hard wall. More shrill beeps sounded, but I didn’t move. She spoke again, staring at me like she expected some kind of response.
“I don’t understand.”
Another flurry of words came from her and the others resembling her, though they came inwaymore colors than humans did. I spied a gray person, bright pink, and green. Everywhere I looked there was a different color. The machines squawked, and lights flashed.
Black spots floated across my vision as my lungs refused to work. I tried to breathe, but no air would come in. My gut clenched, and my thoughts whirled. The woman started to speak again, but I couldn’t hear her over the white noise filling my ears.Knees trembling, I fell to the ground. Pain stung my palms and knees, but the throbbing was disconnected from my body.
The alien-snake-whatever woman came closer, and I tried to move. I didn’t shift in the slightest, like weights were tied to each of my limbs, anchoring them in place. Darkness encroached on my vision until a pinprick remained before nothing.
“Is he alright?” I asked Doctor Qinlin, studying the unconscious human. The first glimpse in person I’d had of him. Seeing him in the flesh versus on a screen was indescribable. Deep in my gut was a draw toward him—a powerful need. My very soul called to him, demanding he was mine.
“As far as I know, yes,” she said, purple-pink tail lashing. “I attempted to speak to him when he arrived, but he lost consciousness.”
“But he will recover?” My hand hovered over him. My fingers itched to touch his skin, to glide down the length of his arm in some small attempt to soothe the rapid beat of my soul. I needed him to be well. Despite the bone-deep longing, I did not give in to the desire.
Her deep brown eyes never deviated from her screen. “I don’t know much about human physiology, but yes. I’ve downloaded all the medical texts and documents NAID found, but it’s a sizable amount, and NAID cannot translate them yet. Not to mention, it will take me quite some time to get acquainted with his anatomy. I did a scan, and he is well by our standards. I imagine he’ll wake up soon.”
“You don’t know what’s wrong?”
“Psychic shock?” she offered, lifting her hands, palm up.
I growled at her, and Qinlin exposed her throat.
“Prince Kalvoxrencol, you’re not supposed to be in here, to see him yet,” she reminded me, her rough voice softening.
“I am aware,” I said, unmoving. “I thought he was injured.”
“And now, you know he’s not. Tradition must be honored.”
“Inform me when he wakes.”
I headed toward the exit, only to turn back to peek at him. An urge, almost overpowering, insisted I return to his side. Seth Harris was mine. I alone could keep him safe.
Tradition, I told myself.
I must honor the age-old tradition. I’d appealed to the Crystal, and it gave me Seth Harris. Now, I had to follow the path set ahead of me, even if it didn’t make sense. Eyes wandering over his inert form, I buried the urge to remain by him and strode from the room.
Chapter 2
Where exactly am I going?
Gray was my first impression. The wide room was gray from the oddly textured walls to the slate floor. My second thought was—where the fuck was I? Strange monitors and items surrounded me. I couldn’t even guess their purposes, but my anxiety brain immediately conjured the worst-case scenario: dissection, experimentation, probing, and such.
My heart began to pound. The beeping intensified, and a blue display near my bed changed with wavy symbols. The same woman as before appeared, speaking in snaps and snarls.
I went to clutch the front of my shirt, but I found nothing but skin. I wasn’t wearing anything. All I had was a thin blanket covering me from my gut down. I tugged the dark blue fabric to my chin, trying to breathe, but my lungs felt like a weight crushed them into my spine.
She spoke again, her tail swishing. I followed the movement. She had a tail. A fucking tail. A purple tuft on the end, like a lion’s, caught my eye before my gaze went up the long appendage, tracing the scales.
