“Let’s get on with this,” Deus snarls. “The sooner you put us to work, the sooner we’re out of here.”
Dexx sneers slightly, but then his eyes fall on me, and he straightens his face.
“I won’t have your female do anything which would put her at risk,” he says. “Females are precious and ones who won’t let their male out of their sight are even rarer.”
Deus glares at him for a short while, not blinking.
“Thank you,” he says, finally, as if the words are being pulled out of him.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Dexx snarls. “You have yet to see your working conditions.”
With that weird swirl the Sarkarnii do to change into dragons, he becomes his Sarkarnii form. “Follow me.”
“Are you ready for this, my Lydia?” Deus says, holding out his hand and unfurling his wings.
“Are you going to be…a dragon?”
“Not just yet.” He grins at me. “I want to see what Dexx has in store for us first.”
I take his hand, and he pulls me into his embrace before he jumps backwards into the void.
This has to be the biggest mistake of my life.
And the best one.
DEUS
I would prefer not to have to kill Dexx on my first nova-day working for him. But if he continues to threaten my mate, I will do it without thinking twice.
Although, from the look on Lydia’s face, if I make a mess of things, I’ll have to deal with her, and that is far more of a concern than having to deal with Dalox or banishment.
She might not let me sheathe myself in her warmth, and that would be the worst punishment.
Lydia buries her head in my scales as we descend into the depths of Dexx’s star fuel mines. The air becomes thick and filled with noise as we reach the bottom of the first level.
“Here.” Dexx thrusts a breathing mask at me. “For your female.”
I help Lydia put the mask on, making sure it is tight over her face. Two eyes blink at me, magnified behind the mask. I cannot smell fear on her, but I hold her tight to me nonetheless.
“You’re going to need to shift,” Dexx growls. “You’re going to work at the face.”
“I will not leave my female,” I retort. “Wherever she works, I will work.”
Dexx glares at me. I can see him working out how to make my life as bad as possible, in an attempt to get me back for my attitude.
But also, his mate knows mine, and if he does anything which might upset either of the two females, he is in for a difficult time.
Not that I would hide behind my Lydia, and she knows it. But it is amusing watch Dexx wrestle with what to do.
“Then she can work near the face with you.”
Nev him.
“When you’ve both quite finished,” Lydia says, her voice loud despite the mask, “can we get on?”
Dexx gives me a look of triumph. I consider giving him a kick but it wouldn’t help our cause. Yet.
“This way.” He gestures ahead of him where two warriors wait for us. Both shift to their Sarkarnii form, and we walk behind them as the dust and heat increases.
