But his dread deepened the more he searched. The back quarters were empty, looked to be unused even, the bathing room revealed no sign of them, though there were puddles of water on the stone floor, telling him they had been there recently. The strange scent that he’d picked up was strongest there and he paused for a moment, his brows furrowing, trying to place it, wondering why it muddled his brain. When he finally reached the second sleeping quarters, he found the furs in disarray, a bed roll on the floor.
That scent waseverywhereand his nostrils flared, unease spiraling down his spine.
He paused, hearing a slight sound, which would be undetectable to most. But Cruxan wasn’t ‘most’ and he crouched down, peering underneath the sleeping platform.
A human female had tucked herself away underneath it. Frightened eyes stared back at him and in a low voice, he said, “Come out. You are safe, female.”
“I’ve never been safe. Not here,” she hissed back. The rage he heard in her voice surprised him. “This is all your fault.”
The words cut him deep, momentarily making him freeze.
“Come out, female,” he murmured. When she didn’t move, he asked instead, “Do you know where the other two are? What happened here?”
Outside, he heard a hovercraft land on the terrace, heard Vaxa’an race towards the entrance of the dwelling, heard his low curse when he discovered Horex and Vixron.
“Someone took them,” the female said. “Get them back.”
“I cannot if you do not tell me everything you know,” Cruxan said softly, frustration eating at him. He’d never been a patient male. One of his many faults. “How many? Where did they come from? On hovercraft?”
They would’ve had to come by hovercraft, Cruxan realized. There was no access to the terrace otherwise, unless theyscaledthe mountain.
“I heard none,” the female said, her eyes still gleaming with mistrust, but her body shifted. Slowly, she wiggled herself out from beneath the sleeping platform and sat up. “And I only heard one male. No others.”
Cruxan frowned, just as Vaxa’an appeared in the doorway behind him.
One male scaled the Golden Cityfacev? One male had taken down HorexandVixron, two of the best trained warriors on Luxiria? One male had stolen both females without a trace? Impossible. Even if he had, how did he get both females off the mountain?
That scent filled his nostrils and Cruxan uncurled from his crouched position, taking it in deep. He exchanged a meaningful look with Vaxa’an and he returned to the central hub at the front of the house, knowing he would receive no further information from the human female.
Crouching over Horex and Vixron, he was relieved to see they were still drawing breath. Peering at them, he frowned when he saw a familiar black chip implanted onto their necks and he plucked them away quickly.
“Vrax,” he cursed softly, frustrated.
They were a weapon that Kirov, another of Vaxa’an’s Ambassadors and the latest to have his Instinct awakened, had designed himself not too long ago. A small, yet powerful weapon that pulsed a debilitating current through its victim’s body, rendering them unconscious immediately. Though it would leave them unharmed once they woke, they wouldn’t regain consciousness for another half span.
Vaxa’an appeared with the human female just behind him.
“What is it?” the Prime Leader asked.
Cruxan held up the chip. Not many knew about the relatively new weapon and they were only kept at the command center. Only Luxirians with access could acquire them.
“One of our own?” Vaxa’an growled.
“I do not know,” Cruxan replied, something pulling at the back of his mind. Something still felt…strange. Off.
“Can you track the scent?”
Cruxan nodded and caught onto it once again. It was light, but traceable and he followed it from the central hub, back out to the terrace. Vaxa’an followed him, keeping the human female close.
Cruxan’s brow furrowed as it led him to the backside of thefacev. There was no place for a hovercraft to land there, nor did it have access down the mountain.
The most puzzling part of it all was that the scent simply…stopped. Right at the back of the dwelling.
Cruxan peered around, looking for any sign of something amiss, but he found none.
“Here,” he said, frowning, looking at Vaxa’an, who suddenly looked very somber. “What is it?”
“This is where the scent ends?” the Prime Leader asked, the human female with dark hair shifting at his side. “Right here?”
