Page 12 of Bound By the Alien King

“You have not wronged me,” he said gently, and she saw him for the king he was. How had she missed it? She could only blame the dark, because had she seen his noble face, the way his eyes burned with truth and lips parted with compassion, she would have known from the beginning.

She lifted her chin. “I have. In the same way I have wronged Mithri. If I had simply asked her—” she broke off when her voice cracked. Why had she never thought to ask? Why had she never conceived that her nightmaid might be suffering in her company? Why had she been so callous as to leave her behind, abandoning Mithri to some punishment once her own escape was realized?

“We should hurry if I am to cross in the next ebb,” she said. He moved to lift her, but she shook her head, hitching her skirts and making her own way.

Chapter 7

They walked in silence, only the soft hiss of the waves audible as they traversed the narrow beach around the Bite. Aster had listened, as he knew she would. She shed tears for his people. She agreed to trade her freedom for theirs. It was a sweet victory, but it tasted bitter.

Damir could tell by the rhythm of her breath and the sag in her shoulders that she tired as the night wore on. The sands grew rockier, demanding they pick their way through the sharp shards, but she did not complain, and he did not insult her by requiring her to rest. Not until the mouthwatering scent of her blood reached him over the marine bouquet of sea things the retreating tide left behind.

He stiffened. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing,” she said quickly, twitching her skirts to cover her exposed toes. “I’ll be fine. Only a little farther.”

“Let me see it.” Without waiting for her protest he sank down and folded the heavy hem back. As he’d guessed, red seeped from her foot, staining the sand. This was no scratch. It was an offering to Salaan, and the planet was starved for a taste of her, sucking away as much as she spilled.

He offered his shoulder for her to balance and took her foot in his hands, turning it so he could see where her sole was sliced across the heel. Her blood welled appealingly, begging for his tongue, and he had to swallow the rush of venom released by his fangs at the sight.

Never had he craved his prey like this. And he wasn’t even hungry.

“I stepped on a shell, I think,” she said apologetically.

“It won’t fester with my venom so recently in your veins.” He held her ankle steady with the barest touch and kept his voice level, though it roughened with the memory of how she’d tasted. “May I sacrifice some of your skirt for a bandage?” With his other hand, he fingered the thick fabric, knowing his claws could easily rend a usable portion.

Aster bit her lip and then shook her head. “It’s better if I arrive home bloody and damp with skirts intact, I think. If I’m too…cared for, my father will be instantly suspicious about my ribbons. I’ll be a bride of Corek before the sun rises, and as you’ve witnessed yourself, I’ll make a wretched nun.”

Damir tensed. The idea of Aster being a bride to anyone, even the brother moon, did not sit comfortably with him. Even less so, the idea that her own father would begrudge her care—the man she’d insisted was not cruel! If she called her cousin crueler than him, she was doomed. These were the men he condemned her to.

They were also the men who’d already condemned the females of his kind, he reminded himself. The ones who held them hostage for generations and mutilated their bodies beyond repair. Aster was the price that must be paid in ransom, and even she could see it was the only path. She was willing to bleed for it.

“Let me carry you the rest of the way, then,” he said, standing and lifting her in one movement, grateful she did not struggle as he cradled her to his chest.

No, she wound her arms around his neck and clung to him, her lids falling shut as he strode toward the bar that marked the start of the sand bridge. The path she’d take away from him, forever. He slowed his pace, stretching these last moments together as long as possible.

Night Mother, it was unfair to have delivered me this female, knowing I cannot have her. Was it a starcursed test? Must he prove with further sacrifice his worthiness to lead? He was already willing to do anything, give up everything—and now he must give up still more?

“Aren’t you angry?” she asked abruptly, as though she’d read his thoughts.

“Furious.”

“But you will honor the treaty’s provisions anyway, knowing the council will not do the same? Knowing you will have no choice of bride but the one they set before you?”

“It does not matter who she is.” Because she is not you. “As long as the council releases the nightmaids, it only matters that she is willing and human.”

“She is those things.”

Shock speared through his spine. Aster knew her. It was a small island, and they would be near the same age. But somehow, he had not expected it. “A friend of yours?”

“No. The council brought her from the city beyond the sea. Do you know of it?” Damir nodded, and she sighed deeply. “I did not, of course. I met her, only once, when she first arrived. She told me she came of her own accord and did not dread the match. Relations between Nightborn and humans are not uncommon where she comes from, she claims, although she told me other unbelievable things, so perhaps she was not being truthful about the place. Still, I hoped it would be better than the colony.”

“Is that where you planned to escape, to the city beyond the sea?”

She gave a jerky nod, her voice thick with emotion. “But I was ill-prepared for the journey, as I proved so readily when I did not even make it out of the Bite.”

He was silent, thinking of how near to death she was when he found her. Perhaps the Night Mother was merciful after all. Perhaps that was her gift, her recompense to him, the knowledge that Aster was alive and safe, even if he could not keep her.

Aster added, like an afterthought, “She’s very pretty.”