3. Ayana

Isprawled across the bed in King Soren's quarters, eyes shut against the nauseating blur of stars above me. A meal had come and gone since he ordered me out of his sight, but Soren hadn't returned.

Probably off hunting more ships to turn to scrap.

My stomach churned, a bitter taste rising in my throat.

This was insane. Completely, utterly insane. Abducted by a supposedly extinct wraith king, trapped on his ship hurtling through the void of space, powerless to stop anything.

My fingers brushed against the bare skin of my throat, now free of the damn collar. Free of Ashera's control.

And under another's.

I couldn't make sense of it. Of him. Soren. Oh, I could imagine what sort of use he had for me. With his arrogant smirk and those piercing, golden eyes that ate me up. How his shadows seemed to lick and suck at my power, and stoke the magic even higher. The way his touch had sent a jolt of something indescribable through my very core...

No. I couldn't think about that. Wouldn't let myself. He was my captor, nothing more. As soon as I found a way off the ship, I'd?—

What? Make my way back to Maidora? If I could even find my family, they wouldn't want to help. I brought shame to our line with my verdant blood. Even if they held some affection still, they wouldn't risk harboring an uncollared abomination.

My fellow abominations used to whisper rumors between the beatings and brutal training in the verdant camps. Some claimed other sectors of the galaxy weren't so bad. Civilized, even. Places and planets where we could live and enjoy just as many rights as anyone else.

But there were a whole lot of venterran ships between Triarchy-controlled space and those rumors.

The nausea intensified, and the room spun even behind my closed lids. I needed air. Real air, not the recycled stuff pumped through vents. Somewhere with plants and soil and a hint of normalcy in this madness. Surely even a ship that shouldn't exist had some sort of garden or oxygen bay.

Hauling myself up, I staggered to the door. I half-expected to run into Soren's broad chest on the other side, but the corridor was empty.

A soft blue glowed from the seams in the wall, brightening ahead as I walked, and dimming behind me. Shadows seemed to flicker at the edges of my vision as I moved.

The back of my neck pickled. Was I being watched? Followed?

Only one way to find out.

I picked up my pace, making sudden stops and sharp turns. The shadows shifted, always just out of sight.

Definitely being tailed, then.

I whirled around, glimpsing purple skin and golden eyes before the figure melted back into the darkness.

"I know you're there," I called out, my voice echoing off the metal walls. "You might as well show yourself."

A beat of silence, then a figure materialized in the shadows. His form solidified into a tall, muscular wraith. My stomach did another flip, this time without any nausea, but disappointment flashed through me as the features sharpened.

Not Soren.

"Who are you?" I crossed my arms, meeting the murky-gold of his eyes with a narrowed look. "Why are you following me?"

He pressed his palms to his hearts and bowed deeply. "Vester, my lady. I am to be the head of your wraithguard."

"My wraithguard?" The term was unfamiliar, though I could guess its purpose from the title. A bodyguard, most likely. "I don't need a babysitter. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

Vester straightened, his expression impassive. "It is an honor to follow this order from my king."

We stared each other down for a long moment before I sighed and turned on my heel. If I was to have a shadow, so be it. Not like I had anywhere I could truly run when the darkness itself could catch me unaware.

Vester appeared three steps ahead of me, hauling me up short with a gesture. "Apologies, my lady. The king has restricted your access to?—"

So even without the collar, I was to be told where to go and what to do.

I stepped to the side and kept walking.

"You have hydroponics on this ship? Plants to help with the air?" I asked over my shoulder. I smoothed out my grin at the wraith's spluttering look. How very dare I ignore the good king's orders. "You can guard me there, or you can run off and tattle to your king. Your choice."

The sound of footsteps fell in behind me, but he didn't offer any directions, so I let instinct guide me. I focused on the faint scent of soil and growing things that I just knew to be wafting from somewhere between the glowing metal walls.

Finally, after scouring what must have been the entirety of the ship, I stopped in front of a door etched with intricate designs glowing in the same soft blue as the corridors. It slid open with a hiss, and I inhaled deeply.

Green. So much green. Vertical racks of it climbed up the walls. The plants here weren't familiar, but it was enough to get me grounded and refocused.

I moved closer and frowned at the drooping leaves. I slid a fingertip down a browning frond and cringed. Dry. Too dry. The soft blue from the corridors shimmered here, too. Stronger than the ambience of the halls, adequate for growth, but still... wrong.

A familiar itch dragged along my spine and I resisted the urge to rub the back of my neck. Without the collar, the pain had dissipated, but the sensation still remained. Like a limb that had been asleep. I knew it belonged to me, that I had complete control, but it still felt like a separate, foreign thing.

I let my eyes fall closed. The power waited for me, resting beneath the surface, and I let it flow out into my fingers. Green sparked under my touch, and the wilted leaves plumped and regained color.

I moved down the row, plucking leaves to give the others space, breathing new life into those that remained. One by one, the fronds perked up, and I lost myself in the rhythm of tending.

"Where are we now?" I asked absently, switching to a new rack.

Relief seemed to flow from the plants into me with every touch. They were happy to be cared for, thirsty and hungry for the nourishment only I could provide. And my power sang. This was what it was meant to do, not keeping a heart pumping while a body was otherwise torn to pieces.

"Above the wreckage of Gamarr. The rings offer enough cover to use as a stopover." Vester glanced at me, his golden eyes unreadable. "We'll orbit here for a handful of cycles to ensure we weren't followed again."

"All to save the fleet that should be extinct?" I asked softly.

A shadow passed over Vester's face as he nodded. "We were nearly wiped out. Our homeworld is in ruins. Some remote colonies initially survived, but even they were hunted down. We tried settling again, and those were also?—"

"Slaughtered," Soren finished.

My hand froze above a leaf. Heart pounding hard against my breastbone, I turned my head.

Vester vanished from sight, hands again pressed to his hearts and bent over in a bow.

KingSoren didn't spare him more than a glance as he strode into the room. "We call those decades the Purges."

He prowled closer, stopping a step away. Close enough that I had to tip my head back to hold his gaze.

"You shouldn't be in here." He smirked and plucked a leaf from my hand. My skin warmed as his shadows skittered over my wrists and danced between my fingers. "No telling what sort of devious sabotage you could get up to."

A shiver ran down my spine at the warmth in his words. He must have recently showered; his dark hair curled at the nape of his neck and around his horns. I took a steadying breath, willing my hands to remain still.

"Your powers are remarkable," he continued, his voice low and smooth. He held up the leaf by its stem and twirled it between his fingers. "Such a shame they were wasted on the likes of Ashera."

"As if I had any choice in the matter." I snatched the leaf from him and twisted away, letting it fall to the floor with the others. Irritation flared to life when a tendril of darkness flicked out, dissolving the leaf into a burst of ash.

"You do now." He circled me, those molten gold eyes fixed on my face. "And look what you choose to do with it."

I stepped back, my heart racing and my skin tingling where his shadows had brushed against me. The scent of him lingered, spice and leather and something uniquely him that made my head spin.

"I didn't choose anything," I snapped, trying to ignore the heat pooling low in my belly. "You abducted me, remember? Dragged me onto this ship while I was unconscious and now you have me under guard like some sort of prisoner."

Soren's eyes flashed, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "You're not a prisoner here, Ayana. You're free to go wherever you please on the Nightfall."

I scoffed, gesturing to where Vester had been standing. "Right. Free to go wherever I want, as long as it's approved by you first. How is that any different from being Ashera's pet?"

"Do not compare me to those monsters in the Triarchy," Soren growled, shadows swirling around him. He advanced on me, backing me against the cool metal door. His eyes burned bright and a snarl exposed sharp canines. "I am nothing like them."

"But aren't you? You destroyed that ship with no hesitation. You threatened to slit my throat if I didn't guide you around the palace." He also took it upon himself to rescue one of his men. Ashera expected such loyalty, but she would never dole it out in return. "The venterrans overthrew their oppressors before, and they will end you again. I'd rather not be around for it."

Soren's face darkened, his shadows lashing out and slamming into the wall beside my head. I flinched, but held my ground, glaring up at him.

"We were the humans of our time," he said, his voice low and dangerous. He caged me with his arms, leaning closer. "They saw our power and tried to collar us, too. Maybe the only thing that saved us from complete annihilation were the screaming deaths on both sides of the connection."

His scent wrapped around me, and the air felt thick. It became harder to breathe as my chest tightened and my heart pounded wildly.

He paused, and I saw a flicker of pain flash across his face, as if the memories were still raw and bleeding. "And then came the destruction of Gamarr, sealing our fate. Our homeworld, reduced to nothing more than rot and rubble. Everything we had ever known, gone in an instant, at the hands of our greatest enemy."

"So, is that why you took me?" I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze. "To recruit me into your quest for revenge?"

His story did not match what the venterrans taught, but I didn't have any trouble believing him. Every child in the Triarchy went through the verdant testing until they aged out. Humans weren't the only ones crushed under their boots. The wraiths were just the first to crawl back for more.

Soren tilted his head, those eyes raking over me, a feral smirk curving his lips. He brushed his fingertips over my cheek, and I fought the urge to lean into the touch.

"Why help us?" he murmured, tucking my hair behind my ear. The change in subject and tone felt like a trap. "Alarms, we can be certain will bring troops. But you warned us about the exact sort of trouble we could expect. Why?"

I hesitated, searching his face. There was no anger there now, only curiosity and something else I couldn't quite name.

"It was the right thing to do," I said finally, shrugging one shoulder.

Soren's lips twitched, and a new tension seemed to thrum in the air between us. He slid his hand down to rest on my neck. "Freeing you was the right thing to do."

Those golden eyes held mine captive as his thumb stroked over my skin. My cheeks heated and a delicious warmth began simmering in my veins.

Soren's fingers tightened on my neck possessively as he leaned in closer, his breath hot against my skin. "But leaving my Cor Umbra behind was an impossibility."

I frowned slightly, the foreign word tugging at something deep inside me that I didn't fully comprehend. "What does that even mean?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead, I felt the cool brush of shadows curling around us. They caressed the bare skin of my arms and legs, sending goosebumps pebbling across my flesh. My eyelids drifted closed, and a shuddering breath escaped my lips.

"It's a mating bond," the wraith king said, his voice taking on a husky edge that sent a shiver down my spine. "A connection between two souls, deeper than anything else in the universe. And you, Ayana, are mine."

"You're mistaken. You must be." I struggled to breathe. To think. All I could focus on was the hardness of his body, the warmth of his skin. The darkness seemed to pulse, driving me mad with every beat. "I'm human. A slave."

Not a king's... anything.

And then his mouth was on mine, his lips claiming me in a searing kiss. I gasped, my hands coming up to grip his shoulders as he pressed me harder against the wall.

His tongue swept past my parted lips, exploring my mouth and tangling with mine. My nails dug into his skin as he devoured me, sucking on my bottom lip. A moan rose in my throat as I gave myself over to him, losing myself in the taste of him, the feel of him surrounding me.

My power surged, green sparks dancing along my skin where it met his shadows. The sensation was intoxicating, like a jolt of electricity and a slow burn all at once. Growing, building, feeding off each other until my entire body hummed with energy.

Soren groaned into the kiss, his hand sliding from my throat to tangle in my hair, tilting my head back to deepen the angle. My thoughts blurred into nothing but him. The scrape of his sharp canines, the press of his chest against my breasts, the hard length of his cock against my hip.

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, a rush of heat and power and rightness that threatened to consume me whole. I kissed him back with everything I had, pouring all of my fear and anger and longing into it.

He pulled back from the kiss, leaving me breathless and trembling, a desperate ache pulsing between my thighs. Molten gold eyes found mine, his shadows swirling around us like a living thing.

"Tell me that felt like nothing," he rasped, his fingers tightening on the back of my neck. "Tell me you can't feel your power call to mine."

I swallowed hard, my lips still tingling from his kiss. I could still taste him on my tongue. A piece of him had lodged itself in me somewhere, and the sensation was maddening.

It was too much, too soon. I doubted even a day had passed since he'd grabbed me near my cell, a handful of hours more since I'd been forced to revive and heal one of his men repeatedly to draw out his interrogation. And in the span of those hours, everything had changed.

I knew nothing about him. Our histories were not the same. He had the loyalty of his crew, but they were a crew that advocated for a ship's destruction.

I didn't want another collar to close around my throat again.

"I... I don't feel anything," I whispered, my voice shaking.

But gods, every bit of him overwhelmed me.

A wicked smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, his shadows curling around my wrists like a caress. "Liar."