It would appear Dyana got Dalox somehow. But given he was what she wanted all along from the moment she and her cronies entered the bridge and managed to take me by surprise, I can only assume she bit him.
My stomach chills. Other than her informing the others he wasn’t to be harmed, I don’t know what her intentions are. What’s more, given all the Sarkarnii females are supposed to be dead, killed by the mutations they suffered when they ended up on this planet, I’m extremely confused as to how there appears to be some alive.
Dalox was so very certain they were all gone.
But they are not. And it would appear they are really rather unhappy about being left behind. As I’ve seen where they came from, I don’t suppose I can blame them. But also, they used me as bait, knocked me out, and they’ve taken Dalox who knows where. Which means I can sort of blame them if I want.
No matter what they might think about the male Sarkarnii, what I saw in Dalox is not a male who wanted to lose all the females from his fleet and would have them back in a heartbeat.
Perhaps not quite this way. I think he’d have preferred a more gentle reunion than being bitten and envenomated.
Which is presumably why he isn’t here. Unless he’s negotiating with them.
I shake my head, something I wish I hadn’t done. Dalox doesn’t negotiate. He takes. And as he’s not here with me right now, there are two options. One is that he can’t get here and the other is that he’s decided if there are Sarkarnii females to be had, I’m no longer of any use.
Except everything I’ve learnt about Dalox suggests he would never leave me. I find it hard to believe the rut is something he can turn off, or presumably he would have done so.
“It’s awake,” a rough female voice calls out.
A pair of shapely legs walks around my cage. I attempt to look up but a sharp stick is punched through the bars at me.
“Let me get a good look at it,” Dyana says.
The Sarkarnii females are tall, nearly as tall as the males I’ve seen, so closer to seven foot in height. They have similar scaled skin in a variety of colors. The main difference being the stripes and spots which sit just under the scales, giving them a glittering subtle camouflage effect.
They are all completely gorgeous. High cheekbones, full lips, and stunning eyes which burn and swirl as their slit pupils expand and contract.
They also have sets of extraordinarily sharp teeth, ones Dalox has already been on the receiving end of.
The front of my cage is wrenched open and two grasping clawed hands come for me. I kick them away and throw myself out, rolling across the jungle floor until I come up against a thick tree trunk.
As I scramble to my feet, something grabs my shoulders. I twist at the touch, but the grip is like an iron clamp. A rather unhinged laugh comes from above, and as I look up, I see a female Sarkarnii face, her nose dotted with bright red scales against blue skin, rather like freckles. She is grinning at me and it’s not in a good way.
“Well done, Dotyi,” Dyana says as she approaches me, and I’m lifted up bodily to her eye level. “You’re a feisty little one, aren’t you? No wonder Dalox wanted to keep you as a pet.”
“Dalox said she was his mate.” A second Sarkarnii female joins her and narrows her almond orange eyes at me.
“Dalox wouldn’t know a mate if he was bitten by one, Dyris,” Dyana growls.
“I’m guessing there’s some history between you two?” I say. “Given you’re so down on him.”
“Everyone knows Dalox,” Dyris says. “He’s the admiral of the fleet.”
“The one who left us to die.” Dyana shoves Dyris away from me. “And he doesn’t get to rut for a female, even a tiny one like you.” She looks me up and down with a sneer. “Whatever you are.”
“I’m a human and we are deadly if provoked,” I respond.
“Ha!” Smoke curls from her nostrils. “You have no fangs, no claws, no fire, and no venom. You are about as deadly as a leaf insect.”
“I have no fangs or claws or fire or venomyou can see,” I point out.
Dyana stands back from me, reappraising.
“You would have had me,” she says, folding her arms. “But we scanned you, and you are the least deadly thing in this forest.” She turns to Dyris. “Get rid of her.”
“We need her to bargain with Dalox once he’s recovered from your bite,” Dyris says with a swift glance at me. “If he has no mate, he has no reason to live. You know what happened with Lord Deus.”
My ears prick at the name of the Sarkarnii whose ship we were supposedly taking the mapping system from, the one who was mad and missing.
