Chapter 5

FIVE

Taki

Was I completely terrified of being in close quarters with this humian murderer? Yes. Was I also willing to fight for survival the only way I could? Absolutely. I had dug through his stash of food and figured I was going to succeed or die trying. Luckily, the humian was satisfied with my meal. While he was packed with muscle, it was also evident the male was on the lean side. His veins were prominent, and I could count his ribs. He likely ate to maintain mass as much as he could.

"So, what do you, um, do for work?" I asked, as if this was a casual dinner with my father's associates. I cringed at my conversation topic, but I figured it couldn't hurt to be nice.

"Don't," he answered in a low, threatening tone.

Okay, so apparently it could hurt to be nice. I clamped my lips shut. I had been going to offer for him to finish the pot of food, but since he was going to be a nasty curmudgeon, I'd eat the rest.

I crouched near the pot and ate carefully, cringing a little at sharing a bowl and utensil, but this bunker was clearly made for one. And not a plus one.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I glanced up just in time to see he'd been watching me with one eye. He quickly shut it and went still.

I ate the rest of the food without him watching me, and then cleaned the pot in a nearby basin of water. Then I… well, I hoped it wasn't murder time. I curled up in a corner with my skirt still tied between my legs and hugged my knees to my chest. My toes wiggled in the dirt, and I remembered how I never even had a chance to change my shoes. That was all I'd wanted to do. Change shoes because of that stupid broken heel. And that one decision had changed my entire life.

"Will anyone come for you?"

His voice crackled in the dim light, and I startled with a yelp. He hadn't moved, only opened his eyes and leveled that dark green gaze on me. I nibbled the inside of my cheek and nodded. "I think so. Thanks to you, my signal is still sending."

"No word yet then?"

The screen had remained frustratingly stagnant. "Not yet."

He took a deep breath and seemed reluctant when he spoke the next words. "What happened? Meteor collision?"

Well, this was embarrassing. No, of course there was no story about how I gallantly saved my own life. "I, uh, accidentally stumbled into the escape pod on a pleasure space cruise, and it deployed."

His eyes widened for just a moment, and I swore his shoulders hitched with a… laugh? Then his expression darkened. "You're fucking with me," he growled, clearly offended.

"I truly wish I was fucking with you or had the mental energy to spin a fantastical story, but no. I had too many glasses of ferm, caught my behooval cheating on me, and ran away to hide. In an escape pod. And then I launched it." I could feel my vettes flashing green with embarrassment.

"You're really not fucking with me," he murmured, almost to himself.

It was a little surreal to me that I was having a semi-normal conversation with a Radian killer on Xal, but then life was weird. "I'm not."

He snorted and rubbed his forehead. "I'm guessing you're from a family who will come for you."

I swallowed. "My father is the grandmaster of the largest export company in the galaxy."

He barked out a wry sound so sudden that I flinched. "Of course, he is. Don't tell me I can't call you princess."

"I just don't know what it means," I muttered.

"Old Earth royalty," he said in a low tone that was almost soft. "Female offspring of a king, who ruled above all. Pampered and prized."

Pampered and prized. I was both of those. At least, I thought I was. "Not so pampered and prized right now, am I?"

"That's because I don't give a fuck who your father is."

"My behooval did."

"And he sounds like a fucking loser."

"You curse a lot."

His eyes bugged out. "Live my life for just one hour, princess, and you won't know anything but a curse."

"Your bunker is okay." I ran my hand along the wall, which had been dug out and smoothed over. There was even a small bed pallet in the corner.

He watched me carefully before he spoke. "It's not easy getting here from the mines, and if it was ever found out, it'd be raided. But sure, it's not so bad. Better than I had sometimes as a kid." A shadow crossed over his face, and he shifted as if uncomfortable before grunting. "I'm going to sleep."

And then he just… closed his eyes. Right there. Sitting against the dirty wall, still covered in dirt and sweat, his breathing evened out before I could say the Radian alphabet.

He had a bed pallet within reaching distance with a relatively clean pad and a blanket full of holes, but he hadn't made a move to use it. I hesitated a moment, watching him as he slept, before slowly creeping toward the pallet. I'd been warm while cooking but now that the fire was out, the cool air of the planet was seeping through my skin.

I crawled toward the bed pallet and curled up on the pad as far away from him as I could get. The blanket didn't offer much warmth, but it at least took away the chill. The lantern was still lit, and the flickering highlighted the deep shadows on the humian's face. Etched into every groove of his tan skin was the weight of fatigue. Braced on his bent knees, his large hands hung limply, covered in cuts, dried blood, blisters, and thick white circles of skin.

I wasn't sure what to make of him. He was a killer. Sentences to Xal were almost always for a lifetime, so he likely had nothing to lose in hurting me. Did he expect a reward if he kept me alive?

I thought about how G'ersh had wanted to see a humian male naked on the stage and now I had one in front of me, shirtless. Radian males valued modesty. Tauran and I had never mated, as we'd planned to wait until after our ceremony, so the only time I'd seen him naked was when I'd caught him cheating on me. I clenched my teeth, but couldn't summon up much rage, as I was too drained.

If Tauran and I were in this bunker, would he have saved some of the soup or would he have eaten it all? Would he have claimed the bed pallet for himself or allowed me to use it?

I was crazy for comparing them, wasn't I? But I couldn't seem to shake the idea that I'd had the wrong impression about humians… and this humian in particular. He didn't seem like a killer. He was the opposite in a way—my rescuer.

"Stop, Taki," I whispered to myself. "He probably just wants a reward or sentence reduction."

I closed my eyes, and it didn't take long until I, too, fell asleep.

032

I entered the gate to the supply drop, and my ankle monitor buzzed. I had one minute to gather my rations before the fucking thing began shocking me with an increasing voltage of electricity until I got out or my heart stopped.

Today was supply day, which meant that the monitored building was stocked. We all had a set amount of rations we could obtain based on a point system. Water was five points, meat jerky was two per stick, and so on. As always, fights had already broken out for the more popular food items. I ignored the shouts and sounds of fists hitting flesh as I grabbed what I thought the female could use for our meals, and what she needed for herself. I chose a pair of small boots that I hid under an extra blanket so the other prisoners wouldn't see and question, and a thick hat to keep her head warm. I had a decent supply of food, and even though my bunker now fed two people, the female had found a way to make a lot of my food last longer. So, I took some of the less popular food to avoid the fights and replenish some of my stock. I shoved everything into my bag and strapped it to my back.

I headed for the last item, one I rarely ever bothered with, but I figured the female would like. Near the hygiene shelf, 005 had 145 cornered with a dirty hand wrapped around his throat. Supplies littered the floor. 005's crew wasn't nearby for once, and despite my precious situation—carrying supplies that would raise questions—I aimed a kick at the side of 005's knee. He toppled to the side with a pained cry before whirling on me. 145 stared at me and nodded a quick thanks. I jerked my head to the side in an order for him to flee. After gathering his supplies off the floor in a messy bundle in his arms, he took off.

005 rose with revenge in his eyes. "You have a death wish 032?" His eyes gleamed as he took in the pack on my back. "What you got in there? Anything good? It's not yours until you leave this building."

He cracked his neck as if gearing up for a fight to take my supplies, and I narrowed my eyes. "You wanna do this here? Really?"

Some of the other prisoners had abandoned the shelves and instead were intent on watching whatever showdown they thought they'd get to witness.

"That was a long time ago, 032," he hissed.

"You think I'm weaker now?"

"I might be stronger."

I shrugged. "I doubt it." I changed the subject. Or tried to. "What are you doing near the hygiene shelf? Didn't think you liked getting clean since it messes with that amazing nose of yours."

He grabbed a bar of soap with one hand and a handful of his junk in his pants with the other. "Plan on using this soon so I want to be ready." His tongue snaked out, long and discolored. "I can smell her. I know she's alive. And I'll be breeding that bitch till I die. I already rule this planet. If I have a cunt to barter with? I'll be king."

My blood boiled, my heart pounded, and I could feel the incessant fiery burn of my vettes on my outer thighs as I resisted the urge to crush 005's head. I needed to get away from him before I blew everything. I grabbed a bar of soap off the shelf and forced myself to say, "Guess I better get clean then too. Might want some of that cunt myself."

He barked out a laugh as I strode away. "Can't wait to hear you beg me for a taste of what's mine."

I seethed the entire way to my bunker, which took forever since I had to disguise my route back. By the time I threw back the hatch, I wanted to crawl out of my skin

I dropped down to the floor of my bunker to see the female sitting on the floor with my spare pair of pants in her hands and a bone needle in her mouth. She glanced up at me with her wide blue eyes and offered a small smile. At the sight of her, the tension eased from my shoulders.

With a snap of her wrists, she shook out the pants and pointed to a patch at the knee. "These should hold for a while. I'm good with stitches."

This was what I'd come home to now for three days. I dragged my weary ass home in the dark, dropped down into my bunker, and found that the female had been busy. She prepared food. She mended my blanket, arranged my supplies in some order I was still learning, and now she was fixing my pants. I should have barked at her and told her to leave my shit alone, but she always seemed so damn proud of herself.

I should never have told her that we only bartered in food and flesh. It had been an off-the-cuff comment, more of a remark to explain to her that her status was no good here. But she'd taken it seriously, like she was actively fighting for her survival by feeding me soup. I'd already decided I wouldn't abandon her, and I'd do everything I could to keep her alive. But since I really liked her soup, I let her believe what she wanted to believe.

She no longer cowered in front of me. She offered me smiles. I hated to admit it, but I was starting to look forward to them. Which was stupid. She wouldn't be here forever. Someone would find my bunker and take her. Someone would come rescue her. This peace would not last.

But today… today was the day I looked forward to the most… if looking forward to something was actually a thing on Xal.

Despite the fact I'd worked all day to make my daily quote of fraxis, I was amped up from my run-in with 005. The thought of him getting his hands on this female and her smile dissolving into tears of fear and pain made me seethe.

The female must have sensed my anger, because her eyes went wide, and she hurried over to where I stored my food. "Sorry, sorry," she murmured quickly, voice shaking. "I lost track of time down here, you know? I'll have your meal ready in a moment."

I picked up the mended pants that lay on the ground and ran my fingers over the neat, even stitches. Knowing the female's background, I was surprised she had some domestic skills.

"How do you know how to do these things?" I heard myself ask. I didn't want to be curious about her, but I was.

Her movements stilled, and when she glanced over her shoulder, her expression was pleasant, as if eased I was making conversation rather than tossing her out.

"My mother died shortly after I was born, and our human housekeeper was the only mother I knew. I wanted to be like her, so I followed her around and asked to learn her skills."

Rubbing the soreness out of the back of my neck, I sat on the ground near where she was assembling hard crackers smeared with different protein pastes. "I see."

She handed me a stack of crackers, and I shoved one in my mouth whole. The flavor surprised me. How did she manage to make my bland rations taste like this?

Crouching next to me, she nibbled on one herself and motioned to the bag at my side. "What's in there?"

"Supply day."

"Oh!" She brightened and reached for the bag before hesitating. "Can I … look?"

Most of it was for her, so I nodded, my mouth full of dry crackers. As I snagged a water skin and took a few deep gulps, she rummaged through the bag. Small noises of pleasure rumbled from her throat, and I tried not to focus on the pink flush of her vettes. When she pulled out the boots and pants, she studied them, her big eyes flitting from my feet to the smaller boots. "Are these?—?"

"Yours," I grunted.

"You got me shoes?"

"Lots of sharp rocks hidden in the ash."

Her lips parted and a soft gasp escaped them. Her vettes reddened as she murmured in a husky voice, "Thank you."

No one had ever looked at me like I was a hero, and I felt the way this Radian female blinked at me reverently down to my bones.

"Put ‘em on," I grunted, breaking our stare as I shoved the last cracker in my mouth.

There was some scuttling in the dirt, and then a booted toe knocked into my feet. "They fit," she murmured, and when I glanced up, her smile nearly stopped my heart.

I grunted, my skin tight as an uncomfortable ache started in my groin. I swallowed and drank more water, trying to down out these thoughts and feelings that I couldn't get away from.

"What's this?" She held up the soap, and I knew I had to get out of this bunker.

Snatching it from her, I stood. "Come with me."

She rose cautiously. She'd altered her dress so that the skirt was now a wide-leg pair of pants. The sparkly material shone in the lantern light. "Come where?"

"Bathing day."

The wariness dropped from her face as she took an excited step forward. "What? Are you serious?" Her long-fingered hands clapped over her mouth. "Wait, where do we go? Will we be seen?"

"Why would I take you somewhere that you could be seen?" I groused at her.

Instead of frowning or wincing at my tone, she smiled. Fucking smiled . I'd lost my edge. "Right. I guess you wouldn't do that, would you?"

"No," I snapped, irritated she'd questioned my judgement. "That's why we're going so late. No one bathes now."

"But us."

"But us."

"Thank you," she clapped her hands together. "I didn't want to waste your water."

"There are several underground reservoirs heated by residual lava pools. The one I'm taking you to is far enough from the mines that as far as I know, I'm the only one who has gone there. But there's still some danger. So, listen to me and stick close."

She nodded, clearly eager to wash. After stuffing the soap and some supplies—plus a weapon—into a bag, I slung it over my shoulder and led her above ground. The sun had set, and the only light was the distant twinkle of stars. The female stood so close to me that I felt the heat of her breath on my bare back.

"I-I can't see," she whispered.

I grasped her wrist and tugged her along behind me. "I know the way. Just keep walking."

By the time we reached the mouth of the cave, the female was panting, and her arm trembled in my grip. Once the tunnel narrowed, the ground began its steep decline, which I was aware of, but it took the female off-guard. With a little squeak, she slid into me until her front was plastered to my back. Her hands clasped my waist to keep her balance, and her hair tickled my skin.

"Sorry," I murmured. "Just go slow."

I heard a gulp in answer.

Only when we were sufficiently enclosed in the cave did I light the torch I'd brought. I glanced at the female, who gazed around us with wide eyes nearly taking up her whole face.

The tunnel widened, and the torch lit up the smooth cave walls of a small cavern while the flames reflected in the pool of water in the center. Steam fluttered off the surface, and the female let out a gasp. "Oh!"

"It's not the luxury you're used to," I said. "But it's clean."

She didn't seem to even listen to my words. Forgetting her fear, she skipped ahead of me and crouched at the edge of the pool. Dipping her long fingers below the surface, she turned and shot me a smile over her shoulder. "It's so warm!"

I slotted the torch into a holder I'd long ago built into the wall. "We have to be quick." While the water was warm and clean, bathing was when I was most vulnerable, so I was accustomed to bathing as fast as I could. So, I didn't think a thing of toeing off my boots, stripping off my socks, and shucking my pants. Nude, I strode towards the pool, and only stopped when the female let out a surprised gasp and nearly tumbled into the water. Grabbing for her hand before she went under, I tugged her upright. The momentum caused her body to slam into mine.

Her free hand settled on my shoulder, right below my neck. And my cock took notice as well as the vettes on my outer thighs as they heated with lust. Despite my best efforts not to see this Radian as…well, a breedable female, my body had a mind of its own. The Radian side of me growled to throw her down and conquer her, to fill her with my seed until she was round and ripe with my offspring. The human side of me rejected everything she stood for.

Turned out my cock was full of Radian blood as it pulsed against her stomach like a hot brand. My head swam, and I was about to push her away with the last good sense I had when the red flash of her vettes froze me in place.