Page 18 of Golden Darkness
The captain raised his brows. “You would have us confine them?”
“I would have you exhaust them. Determine where they are going to end up and train them accordingly... and don’t let them near any air or spacecraft. The idiots will take off, not knowing where they are going.”
Kethen chuckled. “Like late adolescents. All the energy, none of the control. The moment they threaten one of my people, I will lock them back in with the Vel-ech. No barriers between them.”
Janessa shivered. She had been threatened with consumption multiple times during the torture. The Vel-ech preferred live food.
Kethen stroked her arms and held her close. “Not you, pet. Never you. If any of the Terrans or Kethic lay a hand on you, they will rapidly see a return to my less favourable self.”
She pressed her face to his arm, and he stroked her back and hip.
The captain said quietly, “We will make it clear. Are you going to be speaking with the Terrans?”
Kethen chuckled. “Oh, yes. I will. I will lay out their options in no uncertain terms.”
He brought a cup to her lips again, and she drank until he lowered it. It was a weird reflex that had started in the cell, but she trusted whatever he put to her lips. That was definitely going to be awkward once she got more comfortable with his body.
She finished her tray of food and drank one last time. She was pretty sure she had a food baby, but she didn’t feel bad. “We can go now.”
The captain nodded as she got to her feet. He smiled and took her hands in his. “Please, allow me to introduce myself, Lady of Kethen. I am Altuin Neebath. Captain of theGolden Darkness.”
“Neebath’s family has been working for me for twenty generations.” Kethen got to his feet and did that controlled flexing of his wings.
Janessa was going to walk, but he picked her up. He murmured, “When I give you shoes, you can run around all you like. Your feet are definitely bare right now. I like your tiny little toes.”
She clapped a hand over her face as the captain chuckled. She muttered, “My tiny toes are not up for discussion.”
Kethen laughed. “They are if I say they are. Isn’t that fun?”
“As soon as I get some footwear, I am going to start kicking anything I can reach.”
“I welcome light combat from you. It will be a relief to see you strong enough to pick a fight you cannot win.” He grinned. “I promise to be a generous winner.”
She sighed and shook her head.
The command deck was alive with repairs and scans.
Neebath had the large display put up so that Janessa could see where they were in the grand scheme of things.
She stared at the stellar map, and her mouth dropped. She was in space. She was really in fucking space.
This wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t a nightmare, it was real, and as she looked up at Kethen, she inhaled sharply.
A giant of a male was holding her. Golden skin carved with ancient designs, pointed ears, dark gold hair, and huge wings that were soft as velvet and strong as steel with claws at the upper fold and the tip. His eyes were solid back with a slow swirl of the stars in them.
She fought him, and he looked at her with surprise. He caught her wrists in one hand, and the crew stared at them.
He gripped the back of her neck, and he held her. She could feel her eyes rolling with panic.
“Ah, there it is. I thought you were too compliant.” He chuckled. “And way too happy.”
He held her as she thrashed, and she heard his words from a million miles away. It was like her mind had just come back online and was processing everything that had happened from the moment the asteroid struck Earth.
He kept her confined as she fought him. He crooned to her softly, and in her weakened state, she tired quickly.
“I am really in the space between worlds,” she whispered as she felt the tension in her limbs. “My planet is dead, and I survived. I am here, and I was tortured, but I am still alive.” She chanted it through chattering teeth.
“You are. You are safe. You are treasured, and if you want to fight me, you will learn to do it properly.” He pressed her head to his chest and crooned to her until she relaxed.