“Because, my brother, time passes differently in the void. You were out for longer than you thought, and now that you’ve had your fun, it’s time for us to work.” A second skinsuit appeared in Ashrael’s hand. He held it out to Dragek. “In case you’d forgotten, there’s an active hostage situation and a would-be emperor who needs to be taken down. Amun Kazharan could be the key to everything. It’s time to prove your loyalty to us, katach. Time to decide whose side you’re on, once and for all.”
Dragek bared his fangs as he took the skinsuit, letting the strong yet fluid fabric slide across his fingertips. Such a familiar texture. It reminded him of bloodshed and the silence that came after.
It irked him that Ashrael would even question his loyalty.
He’d just claimed his human.
What else did Ashrael think he was going to do?
Fighting the irrational rage that rose inside him, he schooled his features to blankness. He was still in the grip of the Mating Fever. Restraint was harder than ever.
“This mission,” he said at last. “How critical is it?”
The other Silent One’s smile disappeared. “Think of it this way. There are human women onboard that ship. Like my mate. Like yours. Innocents. What do you think they’ll try if we let them get away with this? Earth is under our protection now. Everything from that planet belongs to us. Including them.”
Dragek tried to imagine what Jade would think. With her sense of justice, she would urge him to go after them.
He wouldn’t be surprised if the humans had been treated terribly—as breeding slaves. And the ones that had taken them—cruel remnants of the Noble Houses—wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to Jade or any other human.
The thought of it nearly made him apoplectic with rage.
He would make Amun Kazharan pay.
“Your ka’qui is a little terrifying right now,” Ashrael said mildly. “That’s good. You can use that. Channel it. Since you haven’t yet completely mastered the qim, let me show you something useful.”
“What?” Dragek’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Irritation flared, but he suppressed it. It was true. He might be able to use qim adequately, but he was nowhere near as proficient as Ashrael.
Time to take a lesson from the master.
“The Mating Fever has heightened all of your instincts and made you quick to anger. There’s pent-up energy inside you. If you ignore it, your body will suffer, and your mind will drift toward insanity.”
It occurred to Dragek that these effects were merely physical. In fact, he could just go to her quarters right now and have her. At the height of his madness, with all this fury and lust seething inside him, he could take her again—this time, in his real physical form.
But she was resting in his inner sanctum, asleep for the first time in ages.
“There’s no time for that,” Ashrael said softly as if reading his mind. “We just received communication that our target is making a course for a nearby ice planet. One that’s listed in the ancient records as an abandoned Zor outpost. We must reach them before they land.”
“So, what do I do?” Dragek’s voice came out colder than he intended. He didn’t like the sound of that planet. Zor things gave him bad vibes. There must be a reason Amun Kazharan was so intent on reaching that place.
And whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.
“It’s simple. The energy coursing inside you—you fuse it with your ka’qui and channel it. Qim is the most draining state of all, but you can use that to your advantage. Just like the others use violence, you can use the technique to drain the excesses of the Mating Fever.”
“Hm.” He couldn’t help but agree with Ashrael’s strategy. It was so elegantly simple he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it earlier. How well this man understood him.
But, of course he did. They were cut from the same cloth, after all.
“And now you have a reason not to throw your life away recklessly,” Ashrael said solemnly. “You have to return. And believe me, when you do, the reward will be far beyond anything you could ever have imagined.”
“You speak from… experience?” Dragek couldn’t help the surprise that entered his voice. To think that the infamous Ashrael, the Silent One feared by all others, could sound like this, his expression soft as some tightly held cherished thought crossed his mind.
Even his fearsome aura softened, if just for a moment. “Believe me, brother, I do.”
THIRTY-THREE
At last, it was time.
Brimming with dark energy, suited up, and armed with his slender twin daggers, with the death-mask slung around his neck, Dragek waited in the docking bay as the cruiser’s hatch unraveled. The ramp extended toward the floor, granting access to the dimly lit cabin.