“And what do you want with us?” Lainey demanded.“Is that why we’re here?So you can run experiments on us?”
“Nix,” he said, jerking his head and frowning.Cecelia figured—or at leasthoped—thatnixmeant ‘no.’But then her stomach dropped when he turned his gaze onto her.His eyes were that piercing shade of blue and they made her feel like she was a specimen pinned underneath a microscope.“I have come for you.Not to experiment on you.To heal you.”
Heal me? she thought, her heartbeat picking up.
Could they—Luxirians—have that kind of medicine?
She felt the women’s eyes on her and she licked her suddenly dry lips.“Why—why should I believe you?”
Privanax tilted his head to the side.“Ask yourself this, female…do you have a choice?”
TWO
Rixavox stepped off the Luxirian war vessel, feeling something release inside him as a result of returning to his home planet of Luxiria.Tension rose from him like curling red smoke fromtevvax, a pleasure drug he’d taken on more than one occasion.
As one of the Prime Leader’s war generals and as an Ambassador to one of six outposts spread across Luxiria, he had been sent to retaliate against the Jetutians for an attack they’d waged against them while transporting the human females from their captivity.His attack had been successful, but now that he was home, he wished to finish his duty in the Golden City quickly so that he could return to his outpost, to his home.Once there, he would find a willing pleasure partner and bury himself within her for at least a few span as a proper homecoming.
Or perhaps two pleasure partners, he thoughtbefore striking down the fantasy.Unmated Luxirian females were hard to come by even in the Golden City, which was easily ten times as populated as his outpost in the cold, silver frosted northern lands.Maybe he shouldn’t be so greedy.
Rixavox chortled and stepped out of the docking bay, giving his last orders to the Luxirian warriors that had accompanied him on the mission, before jumping aboard his hovercraft.He engaged the thrusters and then shot off the docking bay cliff, hurtling towards the Golden City, their capital that was carved out from thefacev, the mountain.It was a city of levels, with the lower levels used for food stalls and merchants, and the higher levels as housing.The Luxirian suns had just peaked high in the sky, bathing thefacevin their golden light.
He had a dwelling he used whenever he returned to the Golden City.It was situated towards the top of thefacev, on the terrace below Vaxa’an’s, their Prime Leader’s, residence.But he knew that he would be needed at the command center, to brief Vaxa’an, the rest of the Ambassadors, and the elder council on his battle with the Jetutians.
The command center was a steel compound, tucked into the base of thefacev, and near the research labs.It was unbreachable, constructed from the strongest of metals mined on their planet, engineered by Kirov, one of their best technology advisors and a fellow Ambassador and friend.
And since it was one of the safest places in all of Luxiria, it was where Vaxa’an had ordered the human females to be kept until they made other arrangements.Rixavox had not seen the females yet since he hadn’t been on their rescue mission and even though his curiosity was strong, their Prime Leader wanted limited access, in case a Luxirian male’s Instinct was triggered.
Because a mated male was dangerous…because he would most likely never let the human female go.The male would cherish her and breed her until the end of their spans together.It was the Luxirian way.
The Ambassadors, council elders, and Vaxa’an were all waiting for his arrival in the war room.
The doors swooshed closed behind him and he straightened.Rixavox hoped to make this quick so that he could go take a long needed soak, find an eager pleasure partner for the night to release some of the tension that had been building during his time off planet, and get some rest.
He could think of no better way to spend his night.
* * *
Cecelia found herself back at those damned labs again, sitting on a chilly examination table, her legs dangling over the side, as Privanax calibrated some equipment.
“What…what exactly do you think you can do for me?” she asked, her voice sounding slightly breathy and…hopeful?No, she didn’t want to get her hopes up, but the thought of possibly curing her cancer…well, perhaps this alien race actually had that ability.
He didn’t look at her as he tinkered with a slim, white device in his hands.“What I discovered in your blood is something Luxirians experience calledhellixaxava.It happens occasionally in our youth, but is treatable.”
Cecelia’s heart stuttered.“But…I’m not like you.I’m human.You’re Luxirian.”God, it felt weird saying that.“How do you know that it will even effect me?”
Privanax looked up at her and his blue eyes pinned her in place.Cecelia held her breath as he spoke, “We do tests.”
“Experiments, you mean,” she whispered, shaking her head.“There’s no guarantee.”
“We are not so different,” Privanax said, returning to his instruments.He crossed the room to another table and picked up a tool she recognized…the one that had drawn her blood when she’d first been there.“Or else we could not procreate.”
Her whole body jerked.“What?”
Surely she hadn’t heard him right.
“Thelavrix’anis heavy with the Prime Leader’s offspring.She is from your planet.”
Cecelia shook her head, her brows furrowing.“You’re not making any sense.What are you talking about?”
