Kovas

KOVAS

The first thing I was conscious of when I woke up was the pain. Searing pain, blocking all memory, all thought, and I couldn't open my eyes to tell where I was, much less try to remember how I got there.

"Good morning, sunshine." A voice rang from the other side of the cell, completely out of place in both words and tone. I opened my eyes to confirm where I thought I was – prison.

"You in there?" asked the voice. I tried to turn my head and retched. "Easy, easy," it soothed. Female, I supposed, but I'd been fooled before. I felt a cool hand on my brow.

"Take it easy," said the gray mass floating in my field of vision. I couldn't remember the last time I felt that terrible.

"What… happened?" I mumbled, shocked at the sound of my own voice. It was detached and gravelly, as if coming from a creature made of stone.

The gray mass that now looked like a humanoid silhouette scoffed. "I was hoping you could tell me. For all I know, you were engineered in a lab as an injured adult Vinduthi and dumped here."

"Injured," I managed to croak before I touched my body. I felt cloth and picked at it, sending burning sensations knifing through my belly.

"Don't. Leave it alone," the voice chided as the cool hand left my brow and took my wrist. I liked hearing it. It didn't sound as if it meant harm. Not yet, anyway.

My hands were pulled from my abdomen with mind-boggling strength. That, or I was actually weak enough to lose an arm wrestling match to a female. I tried not to think about it, which was remarkably easy. Every ten seconds, another pulsing wave of nausea blocked all thoughts from my head.

"Shh, shh," the voice said, and I realized I moaned. "I know it hurts. Try to think of something else."

Easy for you to say , I thought. Someone could have pounded a drum next to my ears, and I wouldn't have heard it over the blood flow in my ears.

"What's your name?"

My name? I knew I had one but couldn't formulate it. "K… K…"

"There you go. Come on." I wanted to remember my name just so this inane chatter would cease.

"Ko-vas," I breathed.

"Kovas," the voice repeated. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mera."

"Me-ra," I said slowly. Why did that name sound familiar?

"Good, good." I wanted to tell her where she could put that patronizing tone, but the words wouldn't come out past my dry lips.

"Thirs-ty," I croaked. Mera held a wet cloth to my lips, and I sucked the moisture out of it like a pathetic, sunburned child. The pain in my head subsided a little, and my thoughts cleared. "Where… who…" I couldn't get the questions out.

"Don't think about that now. Try to get some more rest." Her tone was infuriating. Whatever it was, I could handle it.

I tried to figure out if she could be one in a long line of creatures whose demise I had engineered, but all that came out was a low, humiliating growl.

She laughed, compounding my shame. "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it?" I imagined tearing her limb from limb, and she quieted as if I had projected my intentions on the wall. "From the look of you, you'd probably do a lot if you could, but you can't. The Nazoks made sure of that."

Nazoks. That rang a bell. I shifted my weight again and pushed through the initial stabs of pain to roll to my side.

"Whoa! Take it easy! You shouldn't be attempting this much movement!" Mera insisted.

I lifted myself to a sitting position. "I'm awake, so I'll live. Vinduthi are quick healers."

"Maybe, but you were at death's door when they dropped you here."

I shrugged and was able to ignore the stabs that time. Looking closer at my compatriot, I saw a mess of strawberry blonde hair, framing piercing green eyes. Her form was draped in a gauzy silver dress that was ludicrously out of place. Despite her dirty, battered appearance, she smelled like fresh orli blooms.

But that didn't matter.

She was a human. This was going to be easy. "Tell me how to get out of here, or I'll kill you quickly."

She sighed. "I wish you would, but I've tried a million times and haven't figured it out yet."

Her lack of self-preservation irked me. She was supposed to be at least a little frightened. How bad did I look? I scanned my torso and saw that it was covered in thick, bloodstained bandages.

"Who did this?" I demanded. It was a little sloppy, perhaps, but I'd seen worse.

"Do you see anyone else here?"

"This prison doesn't have doctors?"

She snorted. "Of course, but not for us. They save those for the creatures they might get money out of later." She eyed my abdomen, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. "I'm flattered that you think my work is fit for a medical professional."

I bristled. "Under these conditions, possibly. Your sarcasm is earning you more pain, human. Where are we?"

She rolled her eyes. "And to think I wanted you to get your personality back. My name is Mera, and I told you – we're in some sort of Nazok stronghold."

Her name still sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it, and it annoyed me. Something else dawned first. "Nazoks. I was searching for someone."

"Starting to come back, is it?" She looked as though she no longer cared if I regained my memory.

I ignored her. "The last thing I remember is getting into a fight, but I don't remember what else. There were too many of them."

Mera nodded. "That sounds like the Nazoks' style. What were you doing when they attacked?"

Tipping my head from shoulder to shoulder, I tested my equilibrium and gave myself time to think. "I was… looking for someone. A human. Tessi said…"

Mera's face lit up. "Tessi? Tessi Carmichael? You know Tessi? She's alive? Is she okay? Where is she?" All the questions poured out of her mouth in one breath, and I stared at her, memory flickering.

"Are you Mera Lashley?"

"Yes! Yes! How do you know Tessi? Does she work for you? Is she okay? "

I muttered a curse under my breath and sighed. "Yes, she's fine. I was sent to look for you, and now I've found you, and we're stuck. You're all caught up."

"What's wrong?" she asked, then narrowed her eyes. "Tessi is fine, isn't she?"

She was brazen. To think she was trying to threaten me was laughable.

"Yes, it's nothing. It's just…"

"What? Tell me!"

I raised my eyebrows in contempt. Even in my injured state, I would have liked to see her try something. "I lost a bet," I said harshly. "I told Makar I'd buy him three lap dances if you were alive."

Her lip curled in disgust. "Sorry to disappoint you."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, we're here now, okay? That makes you my mission." I checked out the cell. Thick walls, metal door, basic prison-type stuff. "What supplies do you have?"

She brought out some bandages, a tube of antibiotics and a bottle of water from a roughly carved niche in the wall.

"That's it?" I asked.

"What do you expect? This isn't a hospital."

"Well, where did you get this stuff?"

"From the infirmary when the guards took me to get blood out of my dress." She looked down at herself and back up at me. "Long story."

"Could you get more? And food?"

Mera thought for a minute. "Maybe, but I'd have to get out of here first, and Garlku hasn't sent for me in days."

I knitted my brows in confusion. "Garlku? The leader of the Fanaith?"

She set her mouth grimly. "He's… taken an interest," she stated cryptically.

Before I could ask anything more, we heard footsteps outside the door. I went with a gut feeling to pretend I was still comatose, barely laying down with enough time for the door to unlock and open.

"Ah, I see the Vinduthi is still here," a smooth, self-confident voice oiled. "He's not dead yet, is he? That would be a shame. I've bought into the pool for next week."

Mera sounded anything but triumphant by my survival, her low voice beaten, remote. "What do you want, Conii?"

At that moment, it was all I could do to hold still. Taking down the Nazok leader would be the sweetest accomplishment of my life.

She'd made things difficult for Alkard and the rest of my family, and it was my job to take care of any little ‘difficulties' that sprang up, quickly and efficiently.

However, with these injuries, I wouldn't get very far afterward, and I had a mission to complete.

"Testy, testy," she taunted. "I just dropped by to tell you Garlku's left the station."

Mera exhaled too soon because Conii continued. "I thought you might like to hear that, but don't relax too much. When he's back, he's requested a special audience with you in his chambers." Conii's laugh crackled through the cell. "It's your own fault. After your last little stunt, I needed to give him something else to keep him happy. Blame yourself."

The sudden urge to jump up and ream through this Nazok filth's guts washed over me with startling intensity. Sure, Mera was my mission, but I had never felt so strongly about a mission before.

I had heard Alkard talk about finding his mate, Tessi. How even before their first coupling there was a sensation throughout his body unlike anything he had ever felt before.

It could be. I couldn't be in the presence of my mate. It couldn't be this human woman.

Could it?

It didn't matter. What did matter was we needed to get out of here.

Conii left the cell, and I sat up. "We have to get you out of here," I said when I was sure she was out of earshot.

"Yeah, I'd love that, but I don't think you're going anywhere anytime soon," Mera said, a half-smile twisting her lips. "Even if the door was wide open, do you think you're in any shape to fight Conii's guards?

She was right. But we needed to do something.

An obvious solution came to mind, but I ignored it.

"Can you get out, get me some food?"

She leaned back against the cell, her eyes closed and I turned away from the fluttering pulse at her throat.

"They don't always feed us when we want. I know where to get some nutrient pouches, but I'd have to be out of this charming chamber." She swallowed hard. "The next time they'll take me out will be when they take me to Garlku."

Anger burned through my veins. "Let me worry about that. If you can get me something to eat, something to boost my metabolism, I can get us out of here."

Head spinning, I pushed myself onto my hands and knees and crawled to the door, pulling myself to a standing position and sizing up its frame.

"What are you doing?" Mera asked suspiciously as my vision blurred.

"Getting you out of here."

Breaking the lock would be easy. But then our captors would know Mera had been out, and whatever chance we had would be squandered.

With a quick jab, I forced my finger into the mechanisms, ignoring the blood that slid hot down my hand, dripping to the floor.

Twisting slowly, I found the pressure catch in the mechanism and applied all of my strength. It hurt like hell, but within seconds, the door was open. I fell back on the floor with a sickening thud.

Mera rushed to my side, her tiny hands sliding over my face, her scent filling my mind.

"Go. Get out!" I insisted as my vision blackened. My last thoughts, as unconsciousness overcame me, were of Mera as she exited the cell.

I had to survive for Mera so I could help her when she came back.

Please come back , I thought. Don't die. Don't. Die.