Page 68 of Crown of Draga

Nash appeared at the threshold with a towel wrapped around his waist, low enough she could see the ‘v’ of muscles pointing down and she couldn’t help but ogle him. Adelina’s mouth watered, but they had work to do.

“Can you put on some clothes?” she asked tartly, opening the book as she settled against the pillows.

Nash grinned, but he slipped on his pants. They were tight and his bare feet and chest looked erotic against the black leather. He settled next to her and opened another book. Adelina found it difficult to focus.

“I can’t read this one,” he said, grabbing hers and switching.

Adelina studied the title. “You can’t read the Ancient language?” she asked.

Nash shrugged. “We don’t use it much in the Khara galaxy. Our files are digital and in our tongue so everyone can gain the knowledge they need.” He ran a finger down the index and then flipped the pages delicately.

Adelina wondered how much knowledge was lost to her own people because they didn’t keep many digital records. “Perhaps when we are at peace again I will suggest we add a digital library with translations for everyone to have access to.”

The book she had was difficult to read, the lettering faded, but her father had marked a few places with slips of paper. “This seems to be a history of them,” Adelina said. “Apparently the Neprijat are one of the Human factions.”

Nash leaned in, his scent curling around her. “Strange, I’ve never heard that before.”

Adelina kept reading. “It says Humans couldn’t agree on which genetic formula to use back when we left Earth. Which I’ve read before and that’s why we have the four we have now. It’s part of Kalan history.”

Nash nodded. “We have the same beginning to our history. The Humans had destroyed our ancestral home and to prevent the same mistakes they sought to remove our weaknesses, the reasons we were so destructive. A few different genetic formulas were created, but the council couldn’t come to an agreement.”

Adelina knew that would never happen now. The most dominant of her people would have demanded the best solution, and their people would have followed based on their trust in their rulers. The strongest of Nash’s people would have done the same. She tilted her head as she considered.

“The genetic formula mapped and designed after the ancient wolves and their pack mentality was used by one faction that broke off and settled in the Draga galaxy. The most dominant leads,” Adelina read. Her people were the wolves.

It was strange to think they all lived on one planet thousands of cycles ago.

“My people were another faction who used the lions and their prides as a map. The strongest of us leads,” Nash stated. “Then we know there was a third faction of Humans who decided against any genetic alterations aside from scrubbing diseases and the like.”

Adelina flipped a page. “The Unchanged are the third faction, and the fourth were a mistake.”

“It’s never really been written how the Drakesthai were created,” Nash said. “Maybe Varan managed to gather some intel on that.”

She looked up at him. “I heard it was some kind of creature called a dinosaur.”

Nash snorted and flipped through his book quickly. “Those are a myth. It was some kind of reptilian bird. It’s why they grow wings.”

“But they weren’t adjusted correctly; there is no pack or pride with the Drakesthai.” Adelina couldn’t imagine what that would be like. Who led, and how did they choose?

Nash sighed and set down the book, stretching those glorious arms.

She smiled, but kept her eyes on the pages. “If you’re going to distract me you have to leave. You need this information.”

Nash ran a hand up and down her bare leg. “I won’t distract you.”

“This book states the Neprijat were a fifth faction of humans, the genetic map is unknown, but one was captured by King Beo.”

Instantly Nash perked up. “What did they find?”

“It says they have mental powers of persuasion. Their voice and brain waves can control someone, much like the Draga dominance. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died because they simply stopped breathing.”

The male beside her tensed. “Why did they stop breathing?”

Adelina put the book down, and a chill of horror ran down her spine. When she looked at the foreign prince beside her all she could imagine was what would happen if he ran into a Neprijat, a true monster and not one of their hounds. “They were told to lie down and die, so they did.”

Red sparked in Nash’s eyes. “Is there a way to counter-act this?”

Adelina turned back to the book. “My great-grandfather said there is a wavelength that can nullify the commands. Otherwise all sound must be eradicated. They wore helmets of armor and tech in their ears.”

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