Bad Moon Rising

by

Autumn Dawn

(c) copyright August 2003 Autumn Beaudreault
Cover art by Jenny Dixon, (c) copyright August 2003
New Concepts Publishing
5202 Humphreys Rd.
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

Chapter 1

Dey leaned against a giant tree and watched the Beasts ride in. There were six of them this time, and all rode hover sleds shaped like animals. The glowing eyes of their fantastical beast-headed helmets made them look alien and dangerous. Dey was one of those who watched them with suspicion. Allowing the Beasts to come in, even for trading day, was a bad idea.

One Beast turned his head to stare at her. A shiver kissed her spine as he continued to watch her. Unwilling to provoke a scene, Dey turned and walked away.

One month later.

Good. The bad moon was rising.

Dey drew in a deep breath, quelling her adrenaline rush into something more malleable. Legend might have it that the bad moon was the undoing of maidens and favored only wild young men, but tonight this moon was going to open a door to untold treasure.

Sweet, wild night air filled her lungs, laden with the scent of blooming swamp plants. The tree she was perched in swayed gently with a mild spring wind, causing its leaves to rustle and whisper. Below her a river, swollen from the winter storms, had cut a new channel dangerously close to the ziggurat on its banks. One day the rushing waters would engulf the ruins entirely and destroy the prize within.

All the more reason for them to steal it first.

“Soon now,” her friend Luna whispered. She checked her laser gun one last time.

“The sooner the better.” Dey rubbed the chill bumps on her arms vigorously. She hated these nighttime raids, but not enough to give them up. Her part of the booty could be had no other way.

She eyed Luna, thinking that one of them had to be crazy to keep this up. “Creepy old temples.”

Luna grinned. “If you think so, why do you come?”

For my maps. To save your silly behind if something goes wrong. “For the thrill, of course.”

The shadows on the moon dial of the flat-topped pyramid inched closer to their goal. Only at the full rising of the bad moon, when the parent moons were fast asleep, did the opportunity come to raid this ziggurat. It had taken them weeks of clambering all over the jungle-claimed heap and much careful digging, but they’d uncovered the hieroglyphics and ancient warnings. Thanks to them and Luna’s sister’s careful research, they’d known what to prepare for.

Dey grinned. Big sister had never intended her research to be used for this.

She glanced at her partner. Moonlight glinted off Luna’s blond hair, bleaching it white. Tomb raiding was in Luna’s blood. Nothing excited her like stealing a piece of her birthright from those who’d spawned her. It was revenge, and for her it was fun. Had Dey not volunteered to accompany her she would have come alone and risked herself for the thrill.

Not that anything living still haunted these piles of crumbling stone. No, the guardians of these temples had long ago forsaken them for other pastures.

Well, most of them.

A soft chime split the air as moonlight hit full upon the moon dial, reflecting off the silvery fin on top to a precisely placed mirror set in one of the broken columns that had once held the roof. A concealed door slid open. This was it!

Dey jumped out of the tree after Luna, flexing her knees as her boots hit the gritty stone. Laser gun drawn, she watched as Luna drew a thick rod from her tool belt, held it in the doorway and thumbed a release switch. Instantly it telescoped out, jamming the stone door so they wouldn’t be trapped inside.

Provided they survived, of course.

The moment they crossed the threshold the door tried to grind shut. The bar quivered, but held. A faint vibration in the delicate bones of Dey’s ears warned her of danger as she donned her night vision goggles, stolen from yet another buried site.

Luna needed no such augmentation.

With the utmost caution, they descended the ancient stone staircase, testing their surroundings with senses honed by danger to razor sensitivity. Five steps down, Luna stopped.

“Paranoid little beasties, weren’t they?” Dey whispered with graveyard humor. The subtle buzz in the air had increased to a subsonic whine that raised the fine hairs all over her body.

The corridor in front of them remained dark.

Luna took a pebble from her pocket and tossed it into the quiet stairway. Instantly it flashed red and evaporated.

She nodded. “Motion sensitive diffuser beam.” She drew a faceted, mirrored ball from the same pocket and tossed it in the hall. “Let’s see you eat this,” she muttered under her breath. There was a small explosion of white light and a loud, zap!

The ball clunked to the ground, unharmed. Satisfied, she strolled forward, picked it up and stuck it back in her pocket.

Ten steps down, the stairway ended in a black chasm ten feet wide and the width of the passage. On the other side the corridor stretched endlessly, ending in a faint golden glow.

A false end, Dey thought as she watched Luna turn to her left, close her eyes, and feel along the wall. The joining was very smooth, but her sensitive fingertips must have picked up the outline of a door. Further searching revealed the catch.

Luna smiled and drew her gun--Dey’s had never left her hand--tensed, hit the release on the door and jumped back.

The panel exploded against the opposing wall with the force of a battering ram, shattering against the stone. Red eyes glowed from inside the swirling dust, just beyond the black square where the door had been. Fear and thrill sped through Dey’s veins as the robotic guardian, still for uncounted years, rushed them. They fired. There was a--Pop! Ping! Thwang!--and the beast-headed giant crumpled to the ground, trailing smoke.

Luna stood over it in disgust. “We barely hit the thing, and look! The smoke’s not even coming from there.”

Dey toed it cautiously. “Huh. Guess not even the ancient Beasts could make a device that lasted forever.”

Luna shrugged and sheathed her gun. Eager to get her hands on the unguarded technology of ancient civilizations, she entered the now-lighted passage.

Dey followed more slowly, still alert for danger. According to the ancient warnings the robot had been the last menace, but one never knew. Just beyond the darkened hallway she could see the sealed room she knew was full of weapons and machinery that would bring a pretty price from the collectors in their settlement. Even though none of them chose to fight in the far-off Beast Wars, they were eager to arm in the unlikely event that the conflict was ever brought within the boundaries of their swamps.

Just as Luna’s foot landed on the threshold, Dey looked up and yelled. Something huge and heavy dropped down on her from above. Dey fought like a madwoman, kicking and twisting until her teeth found purchase.

“Ow! Little witch,” a familiar male voice complained.

Surprised, Dey let go and looked up. “You!”

“Hello, midget.” Keg grunted as the little fireball stomped his instep in fury and tried to bite him again. “Glad to see you, too,” he grumbled as he spun her around and pinned her to the wall for a quick frisk.

“Get your hands off of me, you goon!” She tried to strike back at him but was foiled when he twisted her arm behind her back, held it in a particularly uncomfortable position and flattened her to the wall.

“Go easy on me, will you?” he asked with as much humor as his exasperation would allow. Who did she think she was? A war goddess? “I’m afraid of pain.”

She mumbled something especially uncomplimentary.

He grinned behind her back. “What? I can’t hear you with your lips on the wall.” She grunted but relaxed enough to show her willingness to cooperate, so he released her arm and patted her down.

“That’s not a weapon,” she grumbled when his hands brushed impersonally against her small but firm breasts.

“Maybe in the right hands,” he murmured appreciatively, then slid his hand inside her bodice to withdraw a tiny grenade. “But I think this is, don’t you?”

She shut up, and her sullen silence continued as he relieved her of explosives, her gun and assorted sharp objects. The woman was packing enough for a small army. Her good behavior ended abruptly when his hands brushed over her personal area, strictly as a matter of course. She tried to hit him, but he pressed his palm against her back, keeping her to the wall.

“Relax, little girl,” he said soothingly as he slowly eased off and let her turn around. “Just checking for surprises.”

Her eyes narrowed behind her blue goggles as she yanked them down around her neck. “There’s nothing there that you need to know about, swamp rat.”

Keg shook his head and gave her a small, guiding push toward the light. “Trust me, midget, I wouldn’t want to know.” That wasn’t strictly true, of course, but his healthy male interest wouldn’t interfere with his job just now. Dey and Luna had been crossing too many lines lately. It was time to put a stop to their adventures before somebody got hurt.

Dey gasped as she caught sight of her friend stretched out on the ground in the lighted chamber, surrounded by Keg’s friends. “You didn’t kill her, did you?”

Armetris, the man at Luna’s side ignored her question and felt for a pulse. His face relaxed, telling Dey that all was well. He scowled at Razzi, the warrior who’d brought her down. “You didn’t need to be so rough, you lug. You know her symbiont is just for show.”

All eyes turned to the silver wristlets he spoke of. Though they were filigreed in the pattern of the living creature it resembled, they didn’t move to heal the slight swelling at the back of Luna’s head as a true symbiont would do for its human host.

But then, Luna was a little something more than human.

Unfazed by the criticism, Razzi shrugged his massive shoulders. The movement made the light flash on his own symbiont, the same as they all wore. “I thought the goal was to give her a scare to keep her out of the old temples. Her finds are stirring up too much trouble. I couldn’t do that by giving her a long kiss goodnight.” His gaze moved to Dey as he spoke.

Keg chuckled, and she glared at him. He could almost read her mind. Anal male humor, he thought as she wrinkled her nose with disgust.

The humor left him as he looked at Luna’s unconscious form. This was no light matter.

“Besides,” Razzi continued, “had we not disabled the guardian, she might have gotten more than a sore head.”

Armetris fingered the hermaphrodite earring in his lobe as he considered the woman lying at his feet.

Keg knew from his cousin’s letters that once Luna would have listened had Armetris asked her to stop her activities. For that matter, she would have traveled the length of the swamps by snake-back had she thought it would impress him. The teenage Luna had been an amusing, but lovesick, tagalong; always right behind the young men who’d followed Armetris into danger. As often as they’d shake her, she would show up in the middle of their adventures at the worst possible times. It had come to teaching her a warrior’s survival skills or tying her up before they left home, something that would be difficult to explain to her overprotective brother. About the time the slim girl had developed budding breasts and unwittingly caught the interest of two of the young warriors who’d attached to them, Armetris had to forever end her adventures. She hadn’t taken well to the exile, but what else could he have done?

The men who had tried to rape her had suffered even worse.

Keg’s jaw tightened as he recalled what else his cousin Armetris had told him. Since her exile from ‘the boys’ Luna had taken to sulking in the swamps for days, sometimes weeks at a time. Even as she’d grown into adulthood, her hostility toward Armetris had not passed. She lived to cause him trouble. Her newest pastime, this technology tomb raiding, had gotten out of hand. Lately all they’d done was chase down and retrieve the things she’d sold to others, hiding them well out of the reach of innocent hands. To give her the credit due her, she’d kept the more damaging items out of the settlement; hiding them away in a yet-to-be-discovered spot. They’d find it. They had to. But first they had to deal with her.

And her man-eating sidekick. He eyed the petite Dey. Early twenties or not, she could still pass for a much younger girl with the pink ribbons woven in her dark hair. Even the slight pout to her full lips whenever Keg was near and the way she looked at him sideways, under her lashes, made her seem younger.

Just now she stood there, arms crossed, pink nails tapping, and a mulish cast to her pretty features. It was ludicrous.

“Whatever moved you to think you could guard her back, midget? One of the spiders crawling through these tombs could wrap you up and have you for a snack.”

She bristled. “A spider like you?”

She’d meant it as an insult, but still his lips curved into a provocative smile. “A leading question if ever I heard one. And here I thought you didn’t like me.” He winked at Razzi, who chuckled.

Dey fluttered her lashes at him, but her expression remained irritable. “How could I not like an overgrown, obnoxious geek with a bad haircut,” she eyed his long topknot--really more of a tail--and the cropped hair below his ears, “bad taste in jewelry,” she wrinkled her nose at his turquoise earring, “a tattoo he thinks is sexy,” she arched a brow at the black thorns circling his biceps, “and poor bathing habits?”

The bathing crack was off the mark and juvenile besides, but he dismissed it as desperation, since it had been a while since they’d traded insults and she was obviously rusty. But still....

He leaned forward and breathed deeply of her own scent, his nose almost touching her neck, relishing her startled exhalation. “Hm. You smell pretty ripe yourself. It’s hard to find fresh water in a swamp, isn’t it?” It was no more true than her own comment, but it did shut her up.

Armetris came to a decision. “She’ll live,” he pronounced, slinging Luna over his shoulder as he rose to his feet. Her hands dangled down his back, brushing across his leather jacket as he moved. Razzi trailed along behind.

After gesturing for the still simmering Dey to precede him, Keg fell in behind him, killing the lights in the now empty chamber.

Luna would never find where they’d stashed the hoard now, even if she were dull enough to come back. Not that he could see her braving the backdoor again, not after this. A smile curled his mouth.

So much easier to use the front door, like them.

* * * *

Hunger woke her.

Dey stirred and winced. She was lying on someone’s bedroll, at the base of a swamp tree with huge aerial roots, and a rock was poking her in the back. Someone had draped a bug screen over the roots, using them as a tent to protect her and Luna from bites. There was a loud splash to her right as something submerged, confirming their location as still in the lower swamps. By the arc of the moon it was well past midnight, edging toward daybreak.

A fire crackled to her right, and she turned her head to squint at the dark shape beyond it. Razzi glanced at her, then went back to his whittling, ignoring her.

The covers fell to her lap as she sat up. Exhaustion from the night before encouraged her--loudly--to lie back down, but she resisted, patting herself down for the packet of cleansing tissues she kept for moments like these. The gentle pop and hiss of the fire wasn’t quiet enough to cover her swearing. Someone had taken her combat vest.

“Having a bad morning?” Keg sat up and tossed off his own bug protection, then reclined on one forearm, watching her. The man had the uncanny ability to wake at the slightest noise, his blue eyes more alert than hers could ever be so early in the morning. Even so, he was human, for his accent--an oddity in a settlement with few new arrivals--betrayed the huskiness of recent sleep.

Sub-human, she grumbled to herself. The blankets slipped down his bare, muscular chest, and in spite of herself she sucked in a breath. No man should look so good that early in the morning, she thought testily. Especially one whom she was determined not to like. Thoroughly put out, she groused, “Where’s my gear? I need to find my stuff.”

He reached behind him and tossed it to her.

She fumbled in the pockets until she found the tissues, sighing with pleasure as she wiped the grime from her face and hands. Someone had left his canteen by her, so she took a swig, dampening her dry mouth. Then she stood up, placed her hands on her lower back as she gingerly stretched. Her brown pants shifted uncomfortably low on her hips, the lacing loose from her hours of sleep. An itching started on her side just under her bustier as the tight muscles pulled and relaxed. Dey scratched it absently with one hand as the other felt around the back of her neck for the claw she kept on a chain. Every time she slept the thing worked its way to the back, and even that faint pressure felt uncomfortable on her windpipe.

An appreciative growl rumbled from Keg’s direction. “Just a little more to your right, if you please.”

Dey dropped her arms and scowled at him. His hair had slipped from the leather thong that held it up and now wafted in a silky fall around his shoulders. At the moment he was pretending to leer at her with all the interest of an adolescent.

At least she thought he was shamming.

Disgusted, she flipped her raveling braid out of her way and pulled on her vest and boots. She appropriated the canteen but left the bedroll. It was only a few hours walk back to the settlement from here.

She bent to nudge Luna. “Hey, wake up.”

Luna moaned something unintelligible and rolled over.

Exasperated, Dey shook her harder. “Come, on, girl. Get up!”

One green eye cracked open. “Oh, it’s you.” Her eyes started to drift shut.

Dey whispered, “Unless you want me to leave you here with Armetris and the goon squad, I suggest you wake up.”

That did the trick. She wasn’t coherent, but Luna was on her feet and moving within seconds.

“Don’t you want something to eat?” Keg asked as they turned to walk away. He was kneeling by the fire, checking a skillet that had been left on the coals. Delicious smells wafted from it. Armetris had sat up and was watching them, but made no move to detain anyone. And why should he? He’d already accomplished his goal.

As far as Dey was concerned, they could all wander into a nest-full of water snakes, but the mention of food brought her up short. Her stomach rumbled, encouraging peace. Still, she couldn’t let him get away with what he’d done without a single word.

Luna took care of that. Turning slowly, she drawled, “Why not? It’s the least you owe me for cracking me over the head and stealing my treasure.”

“First finder is keeper,” Armetris countered without remorse. “And I’m sorry about your head. Have something to eat and forgive me.” Even his apology was a command.

Since it served their purpose, Luna and Dey parked themselves at the fire and gorged on roasted fish stuffed with grain and wild fungi. The food was good, but Dey was starved enough not to care if it had been half-raw and under-seasoned. It was always hard for her to eat in the excitement before a raid, and she’d barely nibbled on her dinner last night. Besides, she had a lot of walking to do today and needed the energy. Slogging through bug-infested bog was hard work.

Finished, the women wiped their hands on their pants and stood up. Already the sun streaked the horizon with crimson and gold. It was time to go.

“Great food,” Luna said. “Enjoy your spoils. See you.” She was half a dozen steps from camp before anyone could stop her.

Intent upon her goal, she ducked under a tree root, using it for balance as she stepped onto a rotting log that crossed a small stream about two feet down. She managed three steps before the loose bark shot out from under her feet, sending her crashing down in a spread-eagled sprawl, her legs barely straddling the spongy wood underneath. “Ouch!” Her feet splashed in the water, wetting her waterproof boots.

Dey winced and paused with one foot on the log. This didn’t seem to be the way to go.

The sympathetic chuckles behind her didn’t help Luna’s now rotten humor. It took a moment, but she managed to sit upright, then made her way to the end, wincing as she slid off the huge log in a shower of decaying bark.

Dey sighed and prepared to follow. This could be a long day.

They hadn’t traveled far when the crashing of large objects through brush alerted Dey that they were being followed.

Determined to ignore their escort, Luna kept her face forward as Armetris pulled up beside her on his symbiont hover cycle. The heated argument that soon ensued had Dey dropping back to give them space. She wanted no part of their private quarrel.

Unfortunately her action put her abreast of Keg’s cycle. The creature, a huge version of the symbiont that all their people wore around their forearms, made no noise as it flowed beside her. Only the slapping of brush betrayed its presence.

Well, that and its obnoxious rider.

Keg hadn’t bothered with his shirt, had simply tossed his jacket on over his bare chest. “It’s a long walk. I could be persuaded to give you a ride back.” His voice held no rancor, only a polite desire to help.

At first Dey didn’t reply. In spite of herself she’d overheard the argument ahead of her and was busy feeling sympathy for Luna. Luna hated to be reminded that because of her mixed blood the symbionts refused to respond to her. Everyone had a silver cycle, took for granted the ease of transportation the shape-shifting creatures provided. Nor did they require maintenance, for at night the huge creatures hunted and sucked the toxins and impurities that were their sustenance from their prey. Anyone who wanted one could have one on their sixteenth birthday.

As punishment for a semi-serious infraction--some priggling little rule of her protective older brother/guardian--Luna hadn’t been allowed to have one until she turned seventeen.

Dey’s jaw tightened. That was the day when Luna had first known for sure what she was. The day the great symbionts, like their smaller cousins, had refused to respond to her.

At the moment Dey was equally dependent on inferior transportation, and resorted to walking or riding with someone going the same direction. Her symbiont cycle had disappeared for the season and wouldn’t be back until it had divided, the symbiont way of reproduction. At times like this it proved an inconvenience, but it was one she could live with.

Besides, walking was good for a body.

Her train of thought was interrupted as she saw Armetris stop and Luna mount behind him. Surprised, she stopped and stared as the pair took off. Luna must have decided that accepting a ride would get her out of his presence the soonest.

Disconcerted, she propped her hands on her hips and shook her head. Now this was unexpected, and unfortunately it left her with no choice but to do the same. She sighed and eyed her nemesis, who had parked beside her and was watching her expectantly. Considering her perpetually dark mood since the moment she’d met him in the tomb, it was surprising that he bothered being polite. Perhaps it was time to grow up and extend him the same courtesy. “All right. Thank you,” she added grudgingly. He smiled at her, and her stomach did a little flip.

Maybe, she thought shakily, maybe there was good reason to remain prickly toward him. The man could be dangerous given half a chance. She placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself and mounted with one fluid motion. Instead of putting her arms around him, however, she rested them on her thighs.

It was much, much safer that way.

Immediately the symbiont cycle extended tendrils and wrapped them around her feet and calves, webbing her to the bike.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Hang on.”

No way. This close contact with him was bad enough. Just the thought of putting her arms around him, no matter how innocently, was enough to skip her heart into double time.

Keg was one fire she had no intention of being roasted by.

“I’m not a novice--you know how often I ride. It’s not like you’re going to go that fast through the brush, anyway. Just g--oh!”

The bike lurched into abrupt motion, so suddenly she knew he’d done it on purpose. It was either grab him or be tossed around by the motion. Nor did he take a safe, sedate pace through the trees. No, Keg sent his request for speed through his symbiont interface and the bike leaped forward. The pace was thrilling, if dangerous, and it was moments before she realized that she was now plastered against his back. Her hands had skipped entirely over his jacket and were now flat against the solid strength of his hard stomach. Horrors!

The speed was wonderful, but the branch that suddenly whipped her bare arm was not. She flinched.

He immediately slowed the bike and stopped. “I’m sorry.” With a frown for the welt on her arm, he stripped off his jacket and tried to hand it to her. “Here. It’s warm enough already, and you need this more than I do.”

Wear something that still bore his warmth, his scent? Eyes carefully averted from his athletic, naked torso, she tried to refuse. “I don’t need it.”

“Take it.” He extended it impatiently.

She shoved it back. “I don’t want it!”

“Lover’s quarrel?” Razzi drawled. He had pulled up and was watching them with amusement. He’d tied a blue bandanna over his hair and was eyeing them with a knowing expression. “Or maybe she’s just wishing you would take a bath. I wouldn’t want to snuggle with a sweaty biker like you, either.”

Dey blushed and snatched the jacket out of Keg’s hand. This discussion could only go downhill from here. Just as she’d feared, the silky lining of the jacket caressed the bare skin of her arms, cocooned her intimately. It was horrible, almost as bad as sleeping in his bed. Not that she ever had, but she imagined that it--Never mind. Best not to go there.

Frustration made her grind her teeth. “Can we go now?”

“Whatever you want, sweet thing.” Content to have his way, Keg swung back around and got them moving--at a roar.

Certain this ride would be the death of her, Dey gripped his waist and held on.

The minute he stopped the cycle near his home, Dey got off and stalked away, still wearing his jacket. He could have dropped her at her door, but he could see Armetris talking with Luna over at the base of her tree house and didn’t want to interrupt.

“Hey, sweet thing,” he called, causing several heads to turn. Theirs was a small settlement and the neighbors were always curious as to what he was up to. New arrival and all that. “Forget something?” He grinned at Dey’s chagrined expression as she looked down and saw she was still wearing his jacket. “Not that you don’t look good in my clothes, but people might get the wrong idea about us if I let you keep it.” She looked good in an angry blush. He’d have to tease her more often.

“God forbid.” She pulled it off and was forced to retrace her steps to hand it to him. “It’s not my style, anyway.”

Instead of taking the jacket, Keg gripped her wrist just above it. As fun as this bantering was, duty called. Quietly, for her ears only, he told her, “Stay away from the ruins, Dey. They’re not for you.”

The little kit actually curled her lip at him. “I’m not your woman, jelly-brain, nor any of your business. I’ll go where I want, do what I want, and wish you to the bottom of the river if you interfere.” Her voice was equally low, but he could tell by her tone it was fury, not caution, that kept it there.

It would take more than wishing to get the job done, but he saw no reason to belabor it. She knew. “All the same,” he slid his palm up her inner arm to her elbow, relishing the way her eyes widened in confusion, “You’ll stay away.”

She twisted her arm away, dropped his jacket in the stone-paved street, and pushed him with the fingertips of one hand, as if he were beneath her touch. “Bite me,” she told him sweetly and stalked away.

“I wish,” Razzi said wistfully as he eyed her feminine walk.

Keg shot him a look.

“Whaaat?” Razzi raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing. Face it, the girl is luscious.”

Okay, so he had been thinking it, but he didn’t like anyone else pointing it out. “Forget it.” He tossed the jacket on the seat of his cycle and retrieved his jumbled gear. They could all do with a bath. In his case, a cold one. “I’ve got things to do.”

Like the majority of the residents of their settlement, Keg lived with Armetris in a tree house as a precaution against the flooding that happened every few years. Unlike the typical set up, though, their house sprawled through the giant branches of a least three trees, connected by a series of clever, enclosed passages constructed to deal with the stresses of wind and battering rain. As interesting as the carved sills and bubbled windows were--Armetris’ grandfather had been quite the architect, and had hoped to sire a large family--they paled beside the treasures within.

Keg kicked the door shut. He draped his jacket over the head of an armored, beast-headed statue in the entryway. His gear he dumped on the floor, to be dealt with later. The custom-woven rug was beginning to show its age, but he couldn’t summon the indignation over it that his great-aunt would have liked, had she lived. She’d always been over-proud of her heritage, anyway.

A sin that ran in the family. Everywhere he looked the spacious living quarters were dotted with reminders of what he was, what the men in his family stood for. There were tall pottery urns with pictures of beast-headed men and woman working in the fields, inlaid screens with ziggurats and ancient buildings, even broken stone reliefs saved from crumbling ruins, though most of the artwork was new, either commissioned locally or ... gifted.

Armetris was a warrior ambassador, trained both by his father and the culture they represented. As his distant cousin Keg had received the same training, but didn’t have the temperament to hammer out trade agreements and settle disputes. He liked it that way. It gave him more time to enjoy life. Not that he’d ever heard Armetris complain.

The day was muggy, and he opened a screened window to let in the breeze. The pretty neighbor girl in the next tree waved, and he blew her a kiss just for fun. She’d taken to watching for him, and far be it from him to disappoint her. Not that he’d take her up on her invitation; her father was far too protective and watchful. He’d made it clear that his daughter was off limits, and Keg chose to respect that.

Besides, he had his eye on a particular girl.

While the majority of the settlements were in the swamp, nearly the whole of the Symbiont People were engaged in war with the Beasts who had dared to reclaim their cities beyond the swamps. This settlement had chosen another way.

Not that their position was officially acknowledged. He snorted as he stripped off his boots, tossed them in the entryway and padded down the hardwood floor towards the bathroom. Oh, their leaders knew well enough what they did and commended the sacrifices his family had made on their behalf, but the common people were only now, in this third generation, beginning to understand.

Some felt fear, even disloyalty. After all, war was the accepted way to deal with Beast encroachment, and any trafficking with them smacked of disloyalty to humans in general. Others had quietly left to join the ranks of those hopelessly wasting themselves on a battle that was all but over. The Beasts were entrenched; there would be no moving them from their reclaimed cities.

For the last forty years, Keg and Armetris’ family had traded with the Beasts and prevented their people from breaking the peace truce. Police of a sort, they patrolled the abandoned ruins, making certain that people like Luna didn’t dig up old war machines and weapons that might tempt those in the settlement to attack the Beasts, provoking their wrath.

Luna. He stripped out of his pants and tossed them in a corner as he turned on the water. Wavering light from the rippled glass in the windows illuminated a circular tub big enough for two, but the warm water did little to soothe his sensibilities. He scooped up a handful and let it trickle through his fingers, enjoying the lap of the waves against his stomach.

Luna, and by association Dey. He sighed and leaned back against the rim, closing his eyes. So many difficulties wrapped in such a deceptively alluring package. The Beasts would not be pleased with the devices she’d discovered, but they’d controlled the damage thus far. Besides, they were inclined to be lenient with Luna.

After all, she was one of them.

Well, not quite. He sat up and reached for the soap. Luna was only half-Beast; her mother having borne her to an alien lover years after her husband had died. He wasn’t privy to all the details, simply knew that Luna’s mother had disappeared for a time and returned with a child. She’d died shortly after, and the rumors had died with her. Even now there were very few who understood what Luna was, and those few were inclined to keep it to themselves.

He grimaced and tossed the soap back. Beasts. How much simpler their job would be if the Symbionts knew the truth. The reality was that the Beasts looked very much like anyone else, save for the cultural and physical differences that developed in isolated groups of people. It was their insistence on wearing body armor and depicting themselves in art and history as animal-headed which mislead others. It was true that they were very different in many ways, but not the ones that mattered.

Not that Luna knew any of this. The official position among the parties involved was that her conception was a mistake. The Beasts didn’t want her, and it was felt the less she knew of a culture that wouldn’t welcome her, the better. Keg and Armetris didn’t agree, but so far they’d had no reason to seek her out and challenge the ruling. That could change at any moment.

The water closed over his face as he shut his eyes and slid under the surface.

Heaven help him if it did.

* * * *

“What is this?”

Dey looked up from her own plate, a frown of dismay on her face. Dinner had turned out less than edible, but she’d had other things on her mind. “What?”

“This.” Luna stabbed her tined spoon at the brown tuber on her plate. Instead of splitting open to reveal a tender golden center, the spork barely sank into the crunchy exterior. She held it up like an exhibit. “These things are not supposed to crunch, Dey.”

She hunched her shoulders defensively. “So throw it back in the pot. It just needs to cook a little longer, that’s all.”

“And what about this?” Luna stabbed her knife into the gelatinous mass next to the tuber. Clear juices spurted out. River slugs, a local delicacy, were supposed to turn opaque and dense when cooked, not spit back at you when you tried to cut them. “What did you do--have it stare at the pot until it died of fright, dip it in to rinse it off and stick it on our plates?”

Dey snatched up their plates and slid the contents back into the cooking pot, turning up the flame under the tripod as she did so. “Hey, just because you had a bad day doesn’t mean you can take it out on me, you know. Save it for Armetris.”

Luna sighed and got up from the bar to search the tiny kitchen for something to snack on. “You’re right. Sorry. I am in a foul mood.”

Amiable now that Luna had apologized, Dey planted one hip on the counter and nodded. The motion sent her pigtails bobbing. “Who can blame you? I’d say he pulled a pretty foul trick on you.” She grinned wickedly. “Maybe you should get him back. Slugs in his bed should work.”

“Too juvenile.” Luna located a bread stick, only a little stale, and munched on it. “And far too nice. I need something that says, ‘mess with me and you’ll die regretting it’. Slugs won’t do it.”

Dey took the dessert from the cooler and cut them both a quivering slice, carefully transferring the spur-of-the-moment concoction to plates. She licked a bit off one finger and handed Luna the other plate. Mm. Very edible. “You could drench his bike with stink fungus juice. He wouldn’t be able to get near it for a least a month.”

Luna perked up. “Go on.”

“We could hide rotten meat under his doormat. Or sneak into his house and plant moldy mushrooms in his boots.” She smirked as Luna snickered, picturing his expression. Now that would be worth seeing. It was funnier still when she pictured Keg as the victim. She’d have to make certain to doctor his boots, too. She might have only known Armetris’ cousin a few weeks, but she clashed with him more each time they met. There was just something unsettling about him, something that turned her into a snapping turtle. “Or we could tell Libya he’s back in town.”

That wiped the smile off Luna’s face. Libya was like the annual race--every man had taken a go at her. As far she knew Armetris--and possibly his friends--were the exception to the rule; a situation that Libya was eager to change. Much as Luna disliked Armetris, the idea of him and Libya was vaguely revolting. “I’m not sure even he deserves that.”

“Humph.” Dey finished her dessert. “So when are you planning the next raid? I know you won’t let his threats stop you. After all, what’s he going to do? Spank you?”

Luna shook her head and checked the cook pot. Still not done. “Not yet. I have to check my sister’s research first. Somehow I doubt Armetris and his goons got in the same way we did. If there’s an easier, alternate entrance, I want to know. Tomorrow I want to take a boat out there and check it out, if you’ve got time.”

Dey sighed and rolled her eyes. “Great. A trip through the swamps. At least it’s in the daylight this time.” She fiddled with her spork. “You don’t think we’ll run into Armetris and Keg, do you?”

Luna shrugged. “Might happen.” A mischievous look entered her eyes. “But you can always hope. I know how you feel about Keg.”

“Him!” Dey’s nose wrinkled in disgust as she lightly pushed her. The movement sent her bracelets jangling. “Do I look desperate to you?”

Luna tried to hide her smile, but a smirk pulled at her mouth. “I don’t know, he’s kind of cute.”

“Cute! Is your brain soggy? You know he hits on anything over the age of consent.” She hunched her shoulders. “It’s hardly a complement to get his attention.”

* * * *

“I’m crushed.” Keg did his best to look devastated. In truth he was mildly annoyed. No matter what she said now, Dey was attracted to him. Just this morning she’d been classically wary of touching his bare skin. It had been part of the reason he’d teased her so. To be honest, her reluctance had also been rather challenging. It had been a long time since he’d had the chance to pursue a woman, and her virginal manner had been far more arousing than blatant teasing might have been. That she would deny her interest now pricked his vanity.

Armetris uncrossed his arms and shifted his boots from the consul where they’d been propped and dropped them to the floor. He frowned at the device that allowed them to eavesdrop on Luna’s plans as if it might convey his warning. “I will not tolerate mushrooms in my boots. And if she thinks to get near my bike....” He switched off the receiver. The women seemed to be done for the night.

They retired to the kitchen, the one room in the house besides their bedrooms that was free of Beast regalia, to scare up some drinks.

Keg was still muttering to himself. “You’d think the girl would be grateful for any attention, with the way the other men ignore her. That’s what I get for trying to be nice.” He sent Armetris a disgusted look. “It’s not as if I ever made a move on her.” Nor would he have to. Women, for whatever reason, had always found Keg irresistible. And Dey, well....

It wasn’t as if she were ugly. If asked, most men would agree that she was passably attractive. Nor was she too-stupid-to-live or mean spirited. It was just that she was different. A contradiction. The woman walked around armed and followed Luna on her crazy quests, yet wore ultra-feminine pink and had a walk that could raise the dead. With all the mixed signals she was sending it was no wonder men hesitated to approach her.

“Forget her.” Armetris handed Keg a chilled beverage. He took a kitchen chair, spun it backwards, and sat. “What we need is a better way to keep track of Luna’s movements. I hate this eavesdropping on private conversations. Half the time we learn nothing useful, and the other half just provokes us.” The bug had been installed just recently, and he’d been almost to the point of removing it before he’d overheard Luna’s plans for the last raid.

Keg eyed him thoughtfully. “You could court her.” He held up a hand when Armetris gave him an incredulous look. “Hear me out. It might be the only way to make an impression on her. Like she said, there’s not much you can do to her as is--just get in her way when she tries to make a raid, or run damage control when she succeeds, which is way too often. But as her man....” He smiled a little, captivated with his fledgling idea. “There you have possibilities.”

Armetris opened his mouth as if to retort, but didn’t. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. After everything that’s happened between us, if I move in now the entire settlement, Luna included, will think it’s serious. I’m just not ready to suffer puppy-love again.”

Keg snorted. “I doubt it will be a problem. In fact, I’d bet my symbiont she’d slap your face if you were to try anything. She’s a grouch.” A grouch they had to find a way to neutralize. Could it be done without compromising Armetris’ principals? “What if....” he said, thinking aloud, “you simply showed her how to have fun without raiding tombs? Surely part of her problem is too much time to nurse her grudges?”

The skeptical look on Armetris’ face wasn’t encouraging. “And how will I do this without encouraging a crush? You know how women are.”

Keg cocked his head. “Do you have a better idea?”

Chapter 2

“Forget it. You’re better off without a man to complicate your life, anyway.”

The ladies had woken up slightly cross, and a breakfast of stale bakery goods and burnt lizard eggs hadn’t improved anybody’s humor. Though just pulling on her purple snakeskin jacket was enough to move Luna from cranky to a sweeter temper. She loved that jacket.

Dey slammed their door shut behind Luna, still arguing. “How would you know?” She held up her hand to ward off Luna’s hot retort. “All I’m saying is that you ought to give men a chance. They’re not all a waste of oxygen. Just look at Scy.”

Luna stayed planted on the stairs, one hand on the railing, her feet at different levels. “My sister’s husband is a rare exception, but then so is my sister.” She smirked at Dey. “Name me one other man like him. And mind you, he must be still living, not married, and have at least half a brain.”

Frustrated, Dey clamped her mouth shut and crossed her arms. The gesture pulled on her pink snakeskin jacket. Matching pink ribbons wove through her pig tail braids.

Luna smirked. “I’m waiting.” Except for her unaccountable and unacknowledged fascination with a certain new resident, Dey was even choosier than she was. Luna contemplated the pink-tinged clouds with an air of weary tolerance, but a smug smile played at her mouth. “My hair is graying, Dey.”

Dey threw up her arms and flounced past her, her pigtails brushing against Luna’s shoulder. “You’d just argue with any name I mentioned, anyway.” It was as much as an admission of defeat. Besides, it was far too nice a day to spend arguing. The gentle breeze was laden with the scent of morning, and it promised to be a warm day.

Many of the houses in their settlement had been built in the spreading branches of the trees. Some stone structures had been built underneath--well maintained residences with slate roofs, fanciful waterspouts on the gutters and scalloped trim. It was for one of these houses that they headed now.

Luna pushed open the carved door to the building and strode inside. Family never knocked. “Good morning!” The scent of something cooking teased her nose, and she fervently hoped they were in time for breakfast.

Dey sat on one of the red leather couches and admired the huge rainbow-hued snakeskin that hung on one side of the fireplace. Even better was the black and red one on the opposite side. There was a woven rug in front of the fire on the hardwood floor, adding warmth to the room. Various weapons hung on the walls and from the bare wooden beams overhead, along with all manner of herbs and drying foodstuffs. For a stone house, it was really very cozy.

When neither her sister nor her healer husband showed themselves immediately, Luna shouted, “Scy? Leo? Are you in?”

Dey smiled to herself, knowing that Luna would wait right here until they appeared. The pair might be married several years now, but they still carried on like newlyweds. They might not have children, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. She still remembered Luna’s embarrassment at the first time she’d gone looking for them at noon--only to be brought up short in the hall by sound of heated moans coming from their bedroom. It had convinced her to wait until someone appeared or to try back later.

The sound of voices made her look toward the snakeskin curtains that covered the hall leading to the kitchen. She was just in time to see them flung open.

“Hello, little sister.” Her sister’s husband greeted them both with an affectionate grin. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”

Scy was a little over average height, with curly hair that parted in the middle of his ear-length pageboy haircut and frizzed at the sides. In spite of this he was gorgeous. Or maybe he was just so good-looking that nothing could detract. At one time Dey had been just a little sweet on him, but that was before Leo had chosen him for her own. But that was okay, because her interest in him had been a passing thing. Leo’s was for real.

Besides, she thought with glee as she and Luna joined them at the breakfast table, this way she still got to sample his cooking.

Scy’s kitchen was every bit as orderly as the outer room, and as interesting. The counters were all topped with polished granite embedded with fossils. The large bay window in front of the table was framed by a flowering, vining plant and equipped with wrought iron shutters. The bowls and platters were made of pieced wood that alternated light and dark in a diamond pattern.

Dey sat on one of the leather-covered stools around the table--a breathtaking affair made of fitted octagons of polished purple, ivory and honey-colored wood--and tried not to drool. There were a mountain of savory meat patties, wine-sauced fruit and puffy balls filled with creamy vegetables. Best of all was an earthen jug full of her favorite hot, spiced juice.

She closed her eyes and inhaled reverently. “Heaven. I’m in heaven.” She fixed her earnest gaze on the blond Leo, who was already seated at the table. “Have I told you how glad I am that you married Scy?”

Leo snorted and filled her plate, a small smile on her face. “Every forth day. Which is about how often you dine with us.”

“Not that we mind,” Scy added gallantly as he smiled at his wife. “As long as you promise not to return the favor.” His grin was wicked. “I’ve tasted your cooking.” He speared a piece of meat and popped it in his mouth.

Dey and Luna exchanged indignant looks.

“Such abuse,” Dey complained, gesturing dramatically with her spork. “And it isn’t as if we don’t supply you with a fair share of wild-crafted herbs and mushrooms in our wandering. And that’s not even counting the times we’ve grubbed around in the mud hunting for shell fish and slugs.” Dey shivered in mock horror. “If they didn’t taste so good....”

“And we all appreciate your sacrifice,” Leo said dryly. She turned her attention to her sister. “Speaking of travels ... I’ve heard a rumor that yours haven’t gone so well.”

Luna speared some breakfast to avoid Leo’s sharp stare. “I’ve had a minor setback. Nothing to concern yourself with.”

“You know it’s affection, Sis. I care.” Leo smiled, but it was a little sad. “I remember how it was; I want happiness for you.” Leo had roamed as restlessly as anyone before she’d taken up with Scy. She still wandered from time to time, but with him, and less frequently. She claimed that life with Scy was the adventure, and loving sister that she was, she wanted the same for Luna.

Careful not to hurt her sister’s feelings, Luna said slowly, “Leo ... I’ll be all right.” Her smile was less than convincing. “Anyway, what I really came for this morning was a look at your books. There was a site I’ve wanted to look at, and I know you’ve been there. I also wanted to know if you’ve made any progress deciphering the Beast’s hieroglyphics. I don’t know how, but I’d swear Armetris and his lot didn’t enter the same way I did.”

Leo and Scy exchanged glances. There was a wealth of communication in the trade. Leo poked at her breakfast. “Maybe you should ask Armetris to teach you,” she said slowly, cautiously. “About the glyphs, I mean. Compared to what I know, he’s a book.”

Luna’s gaze narrowed. “I doubt he’d willingly teach me such a thing. Why should he?” She held up a hand to halt protests. “I know what he is and who he represents, but it has nothing to do with me. The only time our paths cross is when he gets in my way, and I like it that way. Jackson once told me that the Beasts refuse to have anything to do with me, and that’s fine. I wouldn’t want a whiny throwback making demands on me either--”

“You are not a throwback!” Leo cut in furiously, half-rising. “I won’t have you talking about yourself that way!”

Scy gripped Leo’s arm, concerned. “Leo....”

Undaunted, Luna waved off the protests. “I speak the truth and you know it, Sis. But it doesn’t matter. Let them keep to themselves; I’ll find out what I want to know without their help.” She leaned forward, pressing her point. “You can help me, Leo.”

Jaw clamped tight, Leo looked away. “You know my books are always open to you. Help yourself.” She got up and stalked away.

Scy looked at Luna in reproach as he stood, too. “Don’t hurt her this way. You know what you are to her.” He went to comfort his wife.

Hunger gone, Luna stared at her plate. He was right. She knew how much her sister hated the unvarnished truth, how protective she got. She shouldn’t have opened her mouth.

Dey sighed. “I guess this means we get to clean up, huh?”

* * * *

Dey sat in the shadow of her favorite people-watching tree. It had a bench at the bottom where she liked to observe the Beasts riding in. Much as she distrusted them, she had to admit to a strange fascination. They were the essence of the exotic, and they brought the most interesting trade items.

“See something you like?” Keg asked as he joined her without waiting for an invitation.

She frowned at him. “I see a dubious use of common sense.”

“You’re afraid of them? Don’t you know one of them would faint with joy if you so much as smiled at him?”

She couldn’t tell if he was joking, but he must be. “Be serious.”

“I am.” He nodded toward the visitors. “Beast women are scarce and growing more so. That’s why they fought so hard to reclaim the edge of the swamps. It’s the only place a certain plant grows that allows for the birth of daughters.”

Stunned, she stared at him. She’d never heard of such a thing. “How do you know?”

He simply raised a brow: Remember who I am.

Dey blinked and looked away. “If that’s so, why didn’t they just offer to trade for the plant and benefit everyone? Why start a war?”

“They tried to trade. The Symbionts wouldn’t let them have it. Too paranoid. It was either take the land by force or watch their people die out.”

Uneasy with this new information, Dey kept silent.

As if she’d expressed interest, he went on, “The Beasts will go to great lengths to rebuild their race. Since they can’t force a woman to have their children--the chemistry must be extremely balanced and receptive or the male seed won’t survive--they’ve come here hoping to find wives.”

She gaped at him. “Why would any man let his daughter marry a Beast? They’re not even human.”

Tiny lines appeared at the corners of his mouth. “Were they to remove their armor you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from a human.” He leaned closer and whispered provocatively in her ear, “And they’re better in bed. Taught from a young age how best to please a woman so her body won’t reject their seed. Very important to continue the line, you know.”

Shoulders hunched, she looked around to make sure no one had overheard his outrageous remark. She just knew her face was flushed pink; it was so hot. “Will you hush?”

He grinned. “Want to meet one?”

“No!” But he was already on his feet, dragging her by the hand behind him. Forced to pretend nonchalance, Dey matched his pace and tried discreetly to free her hand. In response, he twined his fingers with hers. Her face burning, Dey followed him right up to the cluster of three Beasts who were gathered around a basket weaver’s stall. She couldn’t help but notice it was manned by a pretty young woman.

“Hello!” Keg wrapped an arm around her shoulders and beamed at the Beasts. “My small friend here wished to meet a real Beast. Do you mind?”

Dey gulped. She was surprised when the tallest of the three glanced at his companions and said carefully in her language, “Well met. I am Drostra. Your honor is mine.”

One of his comrades elbowed him. “It is, ‘the honor is mine,’ Drostra-Ra.”

Drostra cleared his throat. “Honored.” He glanced at Keg’s arm. “You are … promised, then?”

Since the arm served more to keep her in place than as a sign of affection, Dey answered truthfully, “No.”

It caused some muttering among the Beasts. “Would you walk over me, then, pretty one?” Drostra cajoled. “I have many properties.”

Baffled, Dey glanced at Keg.

“He’s rich. Able to provide well for you,” Keg translated. “He wants you to walk with him and consider him for a husband.”

Shocked, Dey stared at the Beast. Keg hadn’t been kidding. “I-I….”

“I will undress for you,” the man offered shyly.

She goggled.

“Bare his head,” Keg told her, barely able to hide his smile. “Beasts don’t usually move so fast, but as I said, they’re desperate. Normally it takes several dates before a woman ever sees a man’s head.”

Desperate to get out of this situation, Dey gulped and lied outright. “Um, I promised Keg here a walk. Didn’t I, Keg?” She smiled forcefully up at him.

“You did?” He grunted as she stepped on the edge of his boot. “Oh, yes. Now I remember. Sorry, gentlemen. Thanks for your patience. Fair luck to you.” He tucked Dey’s arm in his and sauntered away.

Dey waited until they were out of sight and rounded on him. “What do you think you were doing?”

“I wanted you to see they are nothing to fear.” He shrugged. “You were trembling with fear of them, so naturally--”

“I was not trembling!”

“What about now?” Without warning he pulled her to him, bent her over his arm, and kissed her beside her mouth.

Amazingly, his cheeks were bronze when he let her up. Even more astounding, Dey’s lips tingled, begging for a closer hit. Speechless, she stared at him. It was long seconds before she could manage, “I….” And that was it. Too many surprises in too short a space.

“That’s moving at the speed of light for a Beast,” he explained. “But I bet your new friend would have tried it had you taken that walk with him.”

She shook herself and walked off. This morning was too weird. He was too weird.

* * * *

“Whatcha doing?”

Luna looked up from her inspection of one of the Beast’s cycles, practically drooling. “Thinking.”

It didn’t take a great mind to guess about what. There was just one problem. “You can hardly trade them contraband for it,” she whispered, one eye on the Beasts. “And it’s not like a symbiont. It’ll need maintenance.”

“I know.” Luna looked at the Beast called Drostra. “I would like a ride. I will trade for your time.”

For a moment he said nothing. No doubt this Beast had heard tales of the half blood in the human settlement. Maybe he had even been warned away. But why would he care? After all, he was willing to marry a full blood human.

Maybe he decided the same thing. “No price,” he said, and gestured for her to mount up.

Without hesitation, she did so.

Dey backed up and shook her head sharply at the other Beast, who offered with a gesture to give her a ride, too.

“Luna.”

Luna caught her eye. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

The sleek hover sled took off with a roar. Dey clenched her fists and wished her great symbiont had chosen another time to divide. She desperately wanted to keep Luna in sight.

As if he’d read her mind, Keg pulled up beside her. “Want to race them?”

Grateful and unwilling to analyze his generosity, she leapt on back and held on. Silver tendrils wound up her leg, webbing her to the bike as they sped after the disappearing sleds. Keg deliberately stayed behind them, out of sight. When Drostra broke away from the other two, Keg veered after him. They heard the sound of his motor cutting in a clearing just ahead. Instead of following him in, Keg pulled to a stop.

“What are you doing?” Dey hissed. She bounced a little, as if her momentum would get them going.

“He wants privacy. Don’t worry, you can hear if Luna screams from here.” He didn’t seem a bit worried.

Jaw tight, she hopped off and started through the trees.

It was his turn to hiss, “Dey! Woman, wait!” as he followed her. She was quiet, but he was even better. She gave a little start as he crouched beside her behind some bushes.

“What are we doing here?” he groused.

She ignored him and focused on the drama in front of them. Drostra was saying something to Luna. Suddenly his helmet swished down into his armor collar. Dey gasped. The blond stud before Luna was one of the handsomest men she’d ever laid eyes on. Even though his hair was cut in the same way as Keg’s, it didn’t matter. With that sculpted face he could be bald and it wouldn’t matter. “Whoa.”

Keg glanced at her in annoyance. “You had your chance.”

“Yeah,” she said wistfully, then shook her head. “What am I saying? He’s an alien.”

“It didn’t stop you a minute ago,” he said perversely. “Let’s go.” He took her arm and towed her away.

“But--” What if Luna needed her?

“He didn’t expose himself for you,” he added irritably.

“Exposed? You make it sound like he stripped naked. Ouch!”

He slowed down and relaxed his grip so she wouldn’t trip again. “It amounts to the same thing to him. Beasts don’t run around showing just anyone their faces. It’s nerve wracking.” He spoke as if he knew.

They reached his bike, and he set her on the seat. “Now behave.”

Dey rolled her eyes. “Yes, O Great One.” At least now she was less worried. If Luna did need help, Keg would come in handy, but at the moment it didn’t look as if she would. Frankly, Dey was slightly envious. To counter that thought, she drummed her pink nails on her knee. “How long do you think this will take?”

“As long as they want.” The bike dipped as he straddled it, facing her.

Just a little fidgety, she scooted back. There was only so far she could go.

A wry smile curved his mouth. “Now I’m a fearsome Beast?”

“Of course not.” Just really, really sexual. Sensual. A little hungry looking.

Hot eyes dipped to her lips. The grin grew mischievous. “I bet he kisses her.”

“She won’t let him.” Why did that have to come out breathless?

“Maybe not on the lips, but I bet she lets him do this.” He slid his warm hand under hers and raised her hand for a kiss--on her inner wrist.

“No, she wouldn’t,” she whispered.

“And this.”

Warm lips brushed her palm. Was it her imagination or was that an electrifying touch of tongue? Definitely tongue, she thought as he dragged it up to her pinky finger and drew it into his hot mouth. Sleepy eyes met hers as he sucked it deep. Every thought in her brain evaporated as she stared in rapt fascination. No one had ever done anything like this to her before. She hadn’t realized it was possible.

Suddenly she was scared. “Stop,” she whispered, unable to make her arm move.

“All right.” He released her and leaned back. The symbiont cycle obligingly shifted to support his head and back. Reclined like that, he looked lazy, predatory. Definitely a man to watch.

She swallowed and looked away. Small talk was beyond her.

“So would you marry an alien if he were appealing?”

“No!”

“You hate them that much?” he asked seriously.

“No … I just … they’re alien. I don’t understand them, know nothing of their culture. For all I know they’re not even built the same as us.”

Keg grinned. “I promise they’re built the same. Maybe bigger.”

She flushed. “Hey! Behave.” She did not need references to that kind of thing just now.

“All right. Let’s say you were attracted, cared for him. Could you do it then?” Although his pose was still relaxed, his eyes seemed unusually intent.

“Hypothetically speaking, maybe. But we’d have to live here. No way could I transplant to some odd culture. They’d probably make me wear an animal helmet.”

“Women don’t. They wear half veils. And men only do when they’re in uniform, hunting or around aliens.”

She flipped a hand. The whole idea was ludicrous, anyway. And it made her wonder. “Why do you ask? Do you think the only man I’m likely to attract is an alien one?” The idea hurt. She knew she wasn’t the most appealing woman in the settlement--didn’t her lack of suitors prove it? Even worse, she’d never been kissed. On the lips, anyway. No wonder he might think—

He leaned forward, cupped the back of her head in his hand, and rubbed noses with her. “Never fear there. I’m just the curious sort.”

Magnetic attraction arced between them. Without thinking, Dey angled her mouth, but he withdrew. Hot sparks shown in the depths of his eyes.

A frown and the beginnings of a pout drew her brows together and plumped her bottom lip. What was he, a tease?

As if he read her mind, Keg traced the ridge between her brows and then her full bottom lip. “Temper.”

She nipped the end of his finger.

He took her back to town after their quarry drove by. Dey found Luna bare minutes later. Those long legs of hers were on a determined course toward their house.

“You liked the sled?” Dey asked, nearly trotting to keep up.

Luna’s eyes sparkled. “I want one.”

“How will you pay?”

“Snake hunt.”

Alarm brought Dey to a halt. “Snakes? You know I hate snakes, Luna!” Sure, a snake hunt was just the thing to raise cash, because the large ones were deep in the swamp and involved a very uncomfortable journey. Thus they commanded a high price, especially for the prized and deadly white ones. Their bounty was the reason they’d been hunted to extinction near the settlement.

One foot on their stairs, Luna glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t have to come.”

Grim determination made Dey tense. “You know I do.” Only fools went on a snake hunt alone. The huge beasts had to be harpooned through the head. They thrashed in their death throes for many long minutes. A coil of their body could smash bones and equipment, and the unconfined body could escape into the swamp, making retrieval difficult if not impossible. On top of this were the other dangers, both animal and vegetable, in the deep swamps. A partner was essential. More than one partner was even better. “Maybe we should invite your sister and Scy.”

“I don’t want to split the bounty. As it is it will take at least two snakes to pay for what I want.”

“I don’t have my symbiont. We’d have to trek in and out, maybe boat it.” Which made it much more dangerous. It would be hard work, and no bones about it. Just the thought of handling the weight of the snake hide made her silently groan.

“I know. We’ll need a boom on the barge and a winch. Don’t worry about the harpoons. I’ll round them up. With any luck we can be out of here day after tomorrow.”

Teeth grinding, Dey followed her up the stairs. This promised to be one of those adventures.

* * * *

All was peaceful in the swamp. Dey sat alone in her punt, fishing. Tomorrow was the day, and she was putting in a few quiet hours while she could.

The round little boat wouldn’t have been her first choice for river travel, but for this quiet lagoon it was just the thing. Hardly anyone came here, and only the buzz of insects and the occasional splash of an aquatic animal disturbed the silence.

She needed time to think. Luna was off studying her sister’s books, but it was much too nice a day to waste inside, so Dey had volunteered to catch dinner. With luck she’d snare a pair of eels, but if not there was the scuddler trap she’d set earlier. A pot of the small crustaceans, boiled in spices and served up on wild rice, would make a tasty dinner. In spite of what Scy thought, her cooking was improving all the time.

Had to. It was a sure bet Luna’s wasn’t.

And wasn’t that the trouble? Luna had little in her life besides tomb raiding, and now this lust for a Beast sled. It wasn’t healthy. She needed a life. She needed a hobby.

Dey grinned wickedly. She needed a man.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the reeds parted and Keg appeared on the opposite bank. Astride his symbiont, which quickly shifted to become a watercraft, he barely paused before heading across the water toward her. “Good morning, sweet thing.” He peered into her empty punt. “Poor fishing this morning?”

“I just got started.” She ignored the skip in her heartbeat.

“Want company?”

Not his, but since she knew he wouldn’t leave until he was good and ready, she reached into the bottom of the boat and handed him a hoop net on an extendible stick. “No slackers. Make yourself useful and find something edible, would you?” This was said with a slight smile.

With a sideways glance that told her he was only doing what he felt like doing, he accepted the net and lowered it into the water by the attached rope. “You’re not planning on getting married, are you? I’m tempted to warn them away just on principal.”

Her smile became wide and sunny. “Ah, but I intend to be very nice to that lucky man. After all, I’ll want him to stick around.”

A wicked sparkle in his eye, he rested his free arm across his legs and considered her. “You like me. Admit it, Dey. You’re glad to see me.”

“I suppose it’s a slight step up from conversing with the wildlife.” She eyed him. “Very slight.”

“Dey.”

She cringed at his chiding, slightly impatient tone. How did he do it? One word and she was ready to lay down arms. “I’m sorry. Force of habit.” They were silent. It took a moment to figure out something safe to say to him. Something about the man had her unusually clumsy of tongue. “Does Ar--” she hastily cut off the word, embarrassed at her awkwardness. “Er, would you happen to know anyone I could fix Luna up with for the harvest festival? I know it’s weeks away, but it will take at least that long to soften her up enough to agree to an escort.” She wrinkled her nose. “The girl is convinced the entire male populace is a waste of oxygen.”

“Glad to hear you don’t believe it.”

For some reason his comment made her cheeks heat. “You didn’t answer the question.”

He gazed at the edge of the lagoon in thoughtful silence for a moment. “Drostra might be interested.”

“What!” She couldn’t believe he’d say such a thing. “Think about it, Keg. We’re barely at peace with them. It would stir up trouble.”

Keg looked at her, secrets in his eyes. “Sometimes love and war look very much alike, Dey.” The quick grin was back. “Or lust and war, if you will.”

“Lust and war. Love and war.” She rolled her eyes. “You should have been a sage.” Something tugged on her line, giving her a perfect excuse to ignore him. The time passed in surprisingly companionable silence, broken only by brief exchanges. She wasn’t sure what Keg was doing, or why he stayed to help her clean her catch. He even offered to give her a tow for the short trip home. By the time they arrived at the settlement she was thoroughly confused. Was this courtly behavior his new way of keeping an eye on her, and thus Luna?

Conscious of the curious stares they were attracting, Dey was rather stiff as she suffered Keg to walk beside her to the base of her tree. “Er, thanks for the help. It was nice of you.”

“You’re welcome.” He rested his hand on the rail below hers, making no move to leave.

Mouth strangely dry, she took her fish from him. “I need to take this inside.”

He nodded.

Suddenly she wondered if he were waiting for her to remember her manners and invite him up for a share in the catch he’d helped bring in.

Oh, boy. This could get sticky. She didn’t dare invite him up alone in full view of the settlement, yet it was the worst of manners not to at least offer him a cooked portion. Had that been his plan all along? “Um….” She’d never invited a man to dinner before. Was there a proper way to do it? “It takes a while to cook this … we usually eat before sunset … you can come if you like.”

Keg’s smile was breathtaking. “I’d like that. I’ll bring the wine. And the malt. How do you like it?”

“Sweet.” She blurted, her cheeks heating as her imagination teased her with innuendo. It was ridiculous. “I like it sweet.”

“I’ll remember.”

It wasn’t until she was preparing the sauce for the fish that she allowed herself to wonder how she would explain all this to Luna, who was certain to be disenchanted with the idea.

She shouldn’t have bothered. Luna sent word that she was eating at her sister’s house.

Left to her own devices, Dey began to sweat. Would he dress up? Should she? What if he didn’t and she did and he got the wrong idea? There was no help for it. She’d have to wear a dress.

Dey answered his knock just before the dinner hour, smoothing down the skirt of her summer dress that fell just below her knees. The full skirt was a pale flowered peach, and while the sleeveless bodice was demure enough, the back scooped low to take advantage of the slight summer breeze on the deck.

“Hello.” The appreciative look Keg gave her as he drawled the word made her tingle all over. “Very nice.”

“You, too.” It was an understatement. His dark hair was loose, and she’d never seen the dark red silk shirt he was wearing. Coupled with his black pants and newly shined boots, it was quite a sight. Swallowing hard and reminding herself forcefully not to be silly, she opened the door wider and let him in. “Luna sent word that she’s eating with her sister tonight,” she explained as he looked around curiously. She caught herself weaving her damp fingers and forced herself to stop. “I thought we’d eat on the deck. The table’s out there.” He smiled at her, and she forgot what she’d just said. “On the deck.”

The smile got wider. “Then I guess I’d better put these out there.” He lifted the bottles he’d brought in explanation.

“Good.” The word came out strangled as she nodded dumbly. “I’ll check on dinner.”

Dinner didn’t need checking, but her brain did. “Stop it! Stop it right now,” she hissed into a pot while he was otherwise occupied. “You’re acting like a boob.”

Dinner went more smoothly, for it was difficult to remain uptight around someone with Keg’s relaxed manner. The wine helped, as did the brilliant sunset. In fact, she was feeling rather mellow--until she looked at him to ask a question and saw him staring at her lips.

His eyes met hers fast enough, but his interest rattled her, enough that she blurted the first thing that came to mind, a question she’d wondered about for years. “What happened to the men?”

Caught off guard, he repeated, “Men?”

Her thumb traced over the bowl of her wineglass. “When you found Luna and I that time.” It was the only time he’d visited his cousin, and she’d forgotten about it until Luna had remarked on it. She met his gaze. “What happened to the men I disarmed?”

He looked away. “It was a long time ago, Dey.”

“Not for Luna.” Her voice softened a notch. “Not for me.” The attempted rape was not something they’d ever talked about, then or now, but suddenly she felt the need.

She’d wanted to kill that day. She had maimed. Fourteen was too young to play the defender with a cast off blade, and too old to stand by and watch her friend be harmed. “Did you and Armetris kill them, Keg?” Her tone dropped. “I want to make sure it won’t happen again. Tell me they’re dead.” They must be. After Armetris and the rest had shown up to help, she’d never seen the would-be rapists again. And the fury on Armetris’ and his friend’s faces when they saw what had almost happened … the men must be dead.

Instead of answering, he leaned forward. “I know why you follow her on her raids, Dey. I understand, and you need to understand this; another raid and the matter will no longer be under our control. A higher authority will step in.” He let his words sink deep. “You can’t protect her now. You’ve got to stop trying.”

“I did then.”

He looked away in exasperation. “They were boys, and you caught them by surprise. It’s different now.”

“Yeah.” She bumped her side where her gun normally hung with her elbow. “Now I’m armed.”

His expression said he was less than impressed. “I don’t think you know what a man can do.”

That one hit too close to the mark. She looked away toward the darkness, her face hot. “It’s none of your concern.”

Frustrated that he didn’t seem to be getting through to her, he stood up, caught her wrist and pulled her to her feet. “Pick me up, Dey.” When she just frowned at him, he said impatiently, “Go ahead. Can you even lift me an inch? Could you stop me now if I were to toss you over my shoulder and walk off with you? If I wanted to hold you down and--”

“That’s enough!” Every word tore away a barrier, exposed the doubts that cowered within. She had to be strong enough. Because what was the alternative to protecting herself? She had no one else to rely on. “I think you should leave.”

He searched her face for a moment before his expression hardened. “So do I.” He turned to go, got half way, and hesitated. His hand disappeared into his pants pocket. “I forgot. Here.” He placed something on the table, kept his hand over it. “Thank you for dinner. You looked nice,” he added curtly, and was gone.

Bewildered by his abrupt mood swing, she stared after him, then looked at the table. On it was a pretty pink shell.

Dey stared at the shell a long time that night. Played with it as she tried to figure out why he’d left it. Angry as he’d been, he’d stopped and left it for her. Complimented her even. What did it mean when a man did that? She had nothing to compare it to.

Luna wouldn’t be any help. The experience in her youth had left her skittish of men. It hadn’t helped when Armetris had forbidden her to spend time in their company. Dey could see now that he’d been protecting her, but it hadn’t seemed that way to Luna. She’d felt betrayed and still did. Now everything about men was seen through that darkly colored glass.

Mildly surprised when she lifted the wine bottle and found it empty, Dey set it down and went to bed. Maybe the morning would bring clarity.

* * * *

Armetris took one look at Keg’s face and sighed. “It didn’t go well.”

“You could say that.”

Keg sat down in his favorite chair and immediately got up again. “She has no idea of the danger.”

Armetris’ brows rose. “And you told her what it was?”

Keg glared at him. “You know better than that.” He raised his hands, imagining Dey’s slender neck between them. “She’ll just continue blindly following Luna, thinking she’s enough to keep her out of danger, and she’ll walk right into the same trap. I want to just tie her up and….” Beating her wasn’t what came to mind. He tried again. “Someone needs to wake her up.”

“Or separate her from Luna,” Armetris suggested grimly. “Though who knows what that will trigger. Luna is balancing a thin line as it is. I think Dey keeps her from expressing the worst of her anger.”

“Anger you helped put there,” Keg snapped, in no mood to spare anyone’s feelings. “I still say you could solve half our problems just by--”

“What? Seducing Luna and then tossing her aside?” Armetris shook his head. “No. I won’t lead her on, Keg. Twice hurt will not make for a happy ending. I don’t now, nor will I ever love her.” Unflinching in face of Keg’s temper, he added, “But maybe you can save Dey.”

“I’m not in love with her, either.” But he could be. She was a sweet girl, and sassy enough to give a man challenge. Already he’d caught himself staring at her full red lips. Not pink for his girl; no, she had lips the color of passion and flame.

Passion and flame! he thought with disgust. What was happening to him? “Seduce her yourself,” he growled and headed for his room. “I’m not in the mood to devour innocents.” Immediately he regretted the words. He didn’t want anyone seducing Dey.

“Did you know they’re going on a snake hunt tomorrow?”

Keg slowly spun around. “Snake hunt?”

“By themselves.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think it’s a tomb raiding?”

“I don’t know. Drostra told me how determined Luna is to buy a sled. Someone heard Dey groaning about how heavy snakeskin is. They laid in supplies and got a boat.”

Great. Keg didn’t even want to think about Dey on a snake hunt. Two young women alone were just asking for trouble. “Have they even been on a hunt before? Drostra would just give Luna a sled if she asked for it.”

“You know she would never accept that kind of gift. And yes, Dey knows how to hunt. Her father was a snake hunter; used to take her and her mother with him. It’s how he died.”

Appalled, Keg stared at him. “He took a child on a hunt?”

“I know. Everyone thought he was a fool, but Dey’s mother loved him and did whatever he wanted. She died shortly after he did.”

He winced. “Poor Dey.” No wonder she was so protective of Luna. Still, she’d need help this time. And since Armetris had duties here…. Well, it was why he’d come. Besides, he knew just the man to accompany him. And if it was a tomb raiding? His jaw locked. This too, would be dealt with.

* * * *

Dey’s light tank and shorts were already sticking to her when she heard the soft whine of an engine. A glance at Luna said she’d heard it, too. One hand on her gun and the other on her steering pole, Dey squinted against the sun and waited. Surprise made her stiffen. It was Keg and … Drostra?

“What do you want?” Luna demanded as they pulled up beside the boat.

Drostra’s black sled hovered above the surface, but Keg’s symbiont had become a water speeder. It gleamed silver in the sun and kept easy pace beside their barge. “Morning.”

“If Armetris sent you….” Luna warned. Her hand didn’t leave her gun.

“Thought you could use a hand. I heard you were out on a snake hunt. Lots of heavy work.”

“And you thought you’d just invite yourself? We’re not sharing the bounty.”

Dey closed her eyes. “Luna.”

“I mean it, Dey. I’m not--”

“Luna!” It was plain the men weren’t leaving, and Luna was snarling what might be a chance to learn something. “Didn’t you say you wanted help learning Beast script?” She gestured to Drostra.

“I pleased with teaches,” he said gravelly.

Luna grunted.

Dey couldn’t blame her. The man could barely manage to communicate, and she wondered how long he’d known the language. Still, this was a time to give in gracefully. What was Luna going to do otherwise? Shoot them from the water? The blast would never penetrate Drostra’s armor, and Keg would be fighting mad when his symbiont finished healing him. Besides, the idea made her a little sick.

There was silence for a while. Luna was likely trying to think of a way to get rid of them. Dey preferred to find a way to make use of a recurring nuisance. “Trade you,” she said to Keg, with a wistful glance at his self-propelled transportation.

Relief made him grin. “I have a better idea.” He hopped into the barge, took her pole and directed his symbiont to the front of the boat. It attached tendrils to the rings in the boat and took over guidance and propulsion.

“See?” he said. “Already we’ve come in handy.”

Luna gave him a black look, stowed her pole and went to sit in the back of the boat.

“Well, that went better than expected,” he muttered. He appraised Dey, who’d taken the opportunity to sit on a crate under the shade tent. “Why didn’t you fight harder to get rid of us?”

She took a sweet stick from her belt pouch and sucked on it. “Would you have left if I’d threatened to shoot you?”

“No.” He joined her under the shade, but on another box.

A shrug was a good enough answer, but she added, “I hate poling a boat. You were convenient.”

Keg looked at her closely. His black hair was in its usual topknot, so nothing hid his intense expression. “I think you’re glad for the company.”

A bug dared to land on her, and she squished it. “Maybe. Snake hunting is rough work. There’s a reason the bounty’s so high. Luna’s done a lot of hunting, but never big snake, and I … don’t care for it.”

“Because of your father?” he asked sympathetically.

Well, yes. Watching a giant snake swallow one’s father had that effect. She grunted in response, not liking the turn of conversation, and baited her pole, intent on ignoring him.

* * * *

Though she didn’t bother saying it, Dey was mad at him. She showed it by ignoring him in favor of fishing. Whenever he tried to talk she answered with a single word, maybe a nod. It was the politest cold shoulder he’d ever been given, and Dey was a master at it.

Unfortunately he hadn’t thought of a contingency plan for sweetening her up after they invited themselves along. He’d expected more of a fight, so had concentrated on that.

In lieu of an apology, he offered to cook.

“Nope. Got it.” Dey gutted and cut up her fish with quiet efficiency, then tossed it in a soup pot on a tripod with a dried soup mixture. If she was set on showing how unnecessary they were, she was doing great.

“I’ll be happy to stand watch tonight so you can get more sleep.”

“Good idea.” She stirred her soup and ignored him.

Okay, so that didn’t work. Frustration made him desperate. “Are your shoulders sore from poling?”

“Didn’t do much of it.”

And that was that.

“Your women are very difficult,” Drostra said in his language. He’d been an unhappy observer of Keg’s softening attempts and wasn’t encouraged. “They do not care for protecting?”

Keg grunted. “No. These ones would rather rush into danger. They think they are strong enough alone.” He glared at Dey’s back.

Drostra contemplated the stream banks. “I could pick flowers.”

“Good idea. I’m going to try another tactic while you’re gone.” He watched Drostra’s hover cycle veer to the side and took a deep breath. Time to abase himself. Sitting as close to Dey as he could without prompting her to move, he said earnestly, “You know, you have the most gorgeous eyes. Part of the reason I chased you down was because I couldn’t stand not seeing them, even for a week.”

Said gorgeous eyes threw him a skeptical look.

Encouraged, he went on, “And your skin. It’s really … smooth.”

She snorted and looked away.

Keg winced. All right, that had been lame. “I like the way you do your hair. Those ribbons in your braid look great.”

A huge sigh broadcast her impatience. “If your goal is to make me pity you your ineptness, you’re getting close.”

Annoyance made him say, “Funny. You didn’t think I was so inept when you let me suck on your fingers.”

A blush betrayed her. Dey shot a look over her shoulder, checking to see if Luna was about and had overheard. Of course she must have. It was a small boat. “Hush!”

“That’s not what you said then,” he teased. Finally! Progress.

“I didn’t … it wasn’t my idea,” she hissed.

“But you liked it.” That’s it, sweet thing. Forget you’re mad and remember what we felt. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Your fingers weren’t everything I wanted to taste. Too bad you weren’t ready.”

She gaped at him. “I was--” she coughed to cover her lapse. “Wasn’t and won’t ever be ready for your kisses.” Her heightened color said otherwise. “Besides,” she ground out without looking at him. “I think you’re a tease, and I don’t like it.”

Confident now, he leaned back on one hand and looked her over, pointedly staring at her breasts. “You haven’t gone through the change yet.”

Mortified he would mention such a thing, she gaped at him. “It’s none of your business!”

“It is if I don’t want to get lynched. Legally you’re not over the age of consent until your body--”

“I know,” she ground out in a tone designed to shut him up.

Satisfied that he’d made his point and was no longer being ignored, he subsided. Most men felt awkward bringing up such a subject, and he was no exception. But it was undeniable. Her breasts were still small, not yet fully developed. Her voice had not changed, and she did not have the scent of readiness about her. It was late in her life to be awaiting maturity--most Symbiont woman achieved it in their late teens--but not unheard of. He’d bet his bike the minute this one went through the change she’d be trailing suitors like the tail of a comet. They were fools to wait. He’d be there when it happened, and bad luck to anyone who waited to catch the boat.

Chapter 3

She couldn’t believe he’d mentioned the change. Nobody brought up such things, at least not in mixed company. That he’d actually had the gall….

At least it explained why he hadn’t kissed her. If he was playing by the law then he was ignoring the letter, for surely what he’d done so far could be frowned on in certain circles. But she hadn’t thought it really mattered to this generation. Things were looser now, and besides, she was past the age when most girls became fertile. To her mind it was good enough.

Apparently he disagreed.

She could feel a pout coming on. Sure, she was mad at him, but she hadn’t been the other day. Would it have killed him to have given her one little kiss? She was dying of curiosity. Even Luna had been kissed at least once. Of course Luna had changed … Argh!

* * * *

Well before dawn, Dey’s eyes popped open. A sudden, voracious craving for pucker nuts seized her. I hate pucker nuts, she tried to tell herself, and rolled over, plumping her pillow. It was no use. The craving grew in volume until she gave up and flung off her cover. The hammock tilted as she swung her bare feet to the deck. Beyond the bug netting lay Drostra and Keg, who were supposed to be on watch.

Something large and blunt tripped her in the dark, and she swore. At least she’d found the supply crate.

The rustling must have roused Luna, for she muttered, “What are you doing?”

Blind fingers encountered something sharp. Dey gingerly removed a knife. Touch was a lousy way to hunt for snacks. “I’m hungry.” Her fingers closed around the neck of a bottle.

“Are you drinking vinegar?” Luna asked in shock. She could see much better in the dark.

“No,” Dey said self-consciously as she corked the vinegar bottle and wiped her mouth.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“Fine.” Dey shut the supply box and hopped back into bed.

There was a moment of heavy silence from Luna’s hammock, but perhaps she put it down to sleep munching, for she said nothing more.

* * * *

“We need to stop the boat,” Dey said urgently, her eyes glued to the opposite shore. All day long she’d been craving pucker nuts in the worst way, and hadn’t found any. But she had spied a sour maygog tree loaded with the orange, astringent fruits. It would have to do.

“What? Why?” Luna demanded.

“Over there,” Dey said without explaining.

The men exchanged looks, but Keg directed his symbiont to tow them to the base of an overhanging tree growing on a raised bit of swamp land.

“Thanks.” Dey jumped out of the boat with a sack and climbed the twisting trunk. The moment she was in reach she straddled a thick branch and plucked a fruit.

“Oh, Dey! Don’t--ew,” Luna groaned. “How can you eat that?”

The inside of Dey’s mouth felt wrinkled as day old clothes and the moisture had been zapped away, but at least the craving was partially satisfied. She wiped the juices running down her chin with the back of one hand. “Actually, it’s not bad.” She loaded her sack.

Luna stared at her as if she’d gone mad. Keg and Drostra exchanged looks again, but Dey ignored them all and filled the sack to bursting. “Easy with that,” she cautioned Keg as she handed him her prize. He raised his brows and slanted his eyes to the side, but didn’t say a word.

In the back of her mind Dey knew she was being odd, but she didn’t care. She wanted something sour. Maygogs were sour.

“Now what are you doing?” Luna demanded not an hour later as Dey dug through Luna’s clothes.

“I’m tired of pinks and peaches and stuff. I want something black. Something that doesn’t chafe.” She plucked irritably at her shirt.

Stark astonishment made Luna’s jaw drop just before she plucked a shirt from Dey’s hand and snatched away her bag. “All right! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

“Will you be serious?” Dey reclaimed the silky top. Never once had she thought of wearing the stuff, but she was desperate. The tenderness in her breasts was making her a little crazy. “I need it.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed as she saw Dey scratch the slope of one breast. It wasn’t the first time that morning, either. Comprehension dawned, and her stance relaxed. “Oh.”

“What?”

“The change. You’re going through it.”

Dey stared. “I am not.” She crossed her arms and immediately let them drop. The urge to massage the soreness out of her chest was just too much.

“Your shirts are too tight, aren’t they?” she asked knowingly. When Dey said nothing, she nodded. “Odd cravings. Tender breasts….”

“Shh!” Dey ordered with a chagrined glance at the raptly listening men.

Immediately their heads snapped away and they pretended total disinterest.

“Someone’s getting fertile,” Luna sing-songed in a whisper. Dey tried to hit her with the shirt and she danced back. “Whoa! All right. Take it easy.”

With a disgruntled snarl, Dey moved to the back of the boat, out of sight, and tied the black handkerchief at the back of her neck and the middle of her back. The material clung to her breasts in the humid air and faithfully outlined her nipples, but it was so much more comfortable than her now-confining clothes. Keg would stare, but there was nothing she could do about it.

* * * *

Keg did more than stare. He did a double take and swallowed hard. With some effort, he looked away and pretended all was normal. In reality, the inside of his mouth had turned to dust and he was in a sweat. Dey’s breasts had swollen to nearly twice their normal size and her top looked painted on. He’d known she would be exciting once she matured, but he hadn’t expected it to hit with such a vengeance.

He caught Drostra looking and frowned at him.

“Save your dark looks, my friend.” Drostra’s voice was warm with humor. “Have I not recognized your claim? Besides, she makes it plain enough she prefers you.”

Keg grunted and replied in Drostra’s language, “You tried for her when you were first introduced.” It wasn’t hard to picture Drostra’s grin. After all, they’d trained together for years.

“What did you expect? She is lovely, but I prefer the other one. My Luna.” He practically purred with self-assurance.

“Better not let her hear you say it. At the moment she can hardly stand you.”

“You did not see us in the clearing. She liked what she saw.”

What Drostra didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Besides, he and Dey hadn’t seen that much before he’d dragged her away.

Thoughts of Dey made him look her way. He didn’t realize he was staring until she snapped at him.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

She made a growling sound and crossed her arms under her breasts. They plumped nicely, causing an uncomfortable heat to pool in his groin. Unaware of his condition, she scowled at the swamp, scanning the waters.

“What are you looking for?”

“That.” She nodded at what looked like a drifting log. Closer inspection revealed a snout and two eyeballs on the front end. The powerful jaw and nasty teeth were well hidden under the water. “Ridge backs and the big snakes don’t like each other. We’ll have to travel on a bit before we get to snake territory.”

“How long do you think?” He wasn’t sure how long he could behave himself around her while trapped on this tiny boat.

“Figure one, maybe two days until we see signs.” Her jaw clenched.

“If you’re worried….” he said softly, inviting her confidence. He’d gladly finish the hunt for her and bring her the skins, if only she’d lose that tense look.

“Just be ready,” she said, and turned away to fuss with the harpoons.

* * * *

Drostra made some progress with Luna that night. He even unbent enough to shed his helmet, since there was no one around but the four of them.

Luna noticeably relaxed. “Your own head looks much better,” she assured him.

The slate he was using to teach her Beast lettering dangled from his fingers. “For you, I am glad. At home we are not so rigid, but among strangers it best protection.”

“From lusty alien woman?” she teased.

“From laser blast,” he said seriously.

“No one would shoot you in the back,” Dey protested.

“I believe you wouldn’t,” he said generously.

Keg shook his head at Dey when she would have argued. “Not all humans are so fair-minded, Dey. There’s a reason Beasts come to trade in pairs.”

She left it alone at that, but later, when Dey and Luna were alone--the men had gone off to investigate something--Dey said casually, “I’ve never seen you flirt before.” It was dark, and she could just make out Luna’s shrug.

“Never had a chance. If you hadn’t noticed I haven’t exactly been flooded with male interest.”

“So you like Drostra?”

“I don’t dislike him. Why?”

“He’s not from around here,” Dey said dryly, hoping to convey caution.

Luna abandoned her crate and stood, a black silhouette against the stars. “If you hadn’t noticed, Dey, part of me isn’t either.”

Dey lit a lamp and stared at the flame as Luna went to bed. Luna’s differences had never bothered her, for Dey was different, too. The town had absorbed the stranger Dey, but never really accepted her. Not really one of them, but unwilling to brave the swamp alone, she’d clung to the safety of her one friendship and tried to ignore her loneliness. Maybe that was why she was so unsettled by the alien Beasts in town. They were different, too, and Dey didn’t like to be reminded of her own alienness. At least if she clung to the conservative prejudices of the settlement she was a part of something. A part of it. Home. Safety. The familiar.

But what if Luna left? What if she chose the Beast and stranded Dey in the settlement alone? A shiver made Dey wrap her arms around herself. Who would love her then?

* * * *

“There.”

Dawn had just faded, leaving the sky a gunmetal shade of early morning. Keg had to squint through the haze to follow Dey’s pointing finger. “What am I looking for?”

“See that break in the trees? Make for it.” Tension radiated from her. At the sound of it the others stirred from their slumber and joined them as Keg directed his symbiont to pull them to shore.

“Whoa!” Luna’s eyes grew round as she stared at the small snapped trees and the telltale drag marks of a huge body. “Is it…?”

“Snake.” Her face expressionless, Dey jumped to shore and examined the damaged wood. “This is fresh. The marks haven’t yet weathered.”

For someone who had been fired up to collect snake bounty, Luna didn’t look excited. In fact, she looked a bit green. “How big do you think it is?”

“Keg’s arms might just touch around its belly.” She held up a scale. “It’s a silver. Prime specimen. This one alone should easily buy a sled, but we’ll need another to pay for upkeep.”

“Maybe we should start with a smaller one,” Luna suggested brightly.

Dey’s look was sharp. “I’m not wandering around these swamps all summer, girl. Besides, one thing about the big ones, you can usually hear them moving. Ideally we can get ahead of it, find a couple of big trees to anchor the harpoons. If we’re even luckier it will have eaten lately and be sluggish.”

“And if we’re not?” Keg didn’t like anything about this. Of them all Dey was the only one experienced at this kind of massive game hunt. Anything could go wrong.

“Worse case scenario?” Dey dusted off her hands and jumped back into the boat to collect her hunting gear and harpoon. The look she sent him was droll. “We become snake bait.”

“If you’ve changed your mind, Luna, no will blame you,” Keg told her. “This is dangerous.”

Her shoulders straightened and she bent to collect her own harpoon. “Why don’t you stay here and guard the boat? This shouldn’t take long.”

“We need his symbiont cycle and Drostra’s bike,” Dey reminded her before he could say anything. “And you have no idea how long it can take to skin one of these beasts. They’re going.”

As if there had been any doubt, he thought irritably. No way was he letting these two out of his sight.

They found the snake two hours later.

Keg hissed and directed his cycle to slow. Out of a healthy respect for his hide, he kept well back. Trees bent as the massive animal twined through them, occasionally snapping smaller trunks. Anything smaller was flattened under its great weight. Sunlight glittered off its silver and black bands, making it look as if it were armored with sheet metal.

He swore he could hear it breathe.

“Get ahead of it,” Dey muttered in his ear. The powerful harpoon gun was held tense in her hand, ready to go.

A glance across the body of the beast showed Drostra and Luna on the other side. Luna’s skin looked ghastly pale, but her lips were firmed in a thin line, and her harpoon gun held steady.

Keg moved ahead and chose a massive tree. Dey and Luna dashed off the bikes and cabled the anchor end of the harpoon to the tree. It was critical they be in the path of the snake, and so had to be close, but not close enough for it to see them and possibly turn away.

The sound of breaking foliage grew closer. The day was hot, but a cold trickle of sweat tickled his back. “Hurry up,” Keg hissed.

“Done.” Dey mounted up a hair’s breadth ahead of Luna and waited. Seconds ticked by. Suddenly the bushes parted and the snake’s massive head came through. Its slitted golden eyes widened, and it hissed. A forked tongue slid out and tested the air.

There was a dull thud and Dey’s body rocked against him with the force of the harpoon’s recoil. Without waiting to see if her aim was true, Keg sent the command: speed! Instantly his bike leapt forward, driving them to safety.

The terrible sound of thrashing came from behind them.

When he was certain they were out of range, he slowed and glanced behind them. The thrashing sounded far off. Even better, there was no snake behind them.

“I missed,” Luna said shakily. By the way she clung to Drostra, she had no desire to turn around and retry.

“I didn’t.” Dey had calmly reloaded why they retreated. “You’ve got the laser rifle, Keg. Remember, even when they’re dead the beasties don’t know it. Just shoot it in the head and back off. We’ll collect when it stops thrashing. Try not to get us smashed,” she added as an afterthought.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he muttered as he turned around for another pass. Why had he thought this woman ever needed protecting?

It was a good hour later before the snake finally stopped coiling and smashing against the trees, and fifteen minutes more before Dey let them get close. “You can never be too sure,” she cautioned as she slid off the bike. “One of these coils on you is enough to suffocate you to death. Almost happened to my father once when he moved in too early. Lucky for him my mother was around to save his hide.” She pierced the snake by its head and grimaced as a spurt of warm blood came out and soaked her pants leg. “Ugh! Well, don’t just stand there--get to work!”

Everyone was tired and sticky by the time they finally got the skin loaded back on the barge. Once Dey had cleaned up, she was in no mood to pass the night in idle chatter. Her pillow was calling. So understandably she was surprised when Luna asked a favor of her.

“I need you to distract the men tonight.”

Dey frowned. “Why?”

“Just trust me. Okay?”

So that was why Dey found her sleepy self propped on deck, doing her best to provide a distraction to equally exhausted men. “Pretty moon tonight.” The men had been quiet all day and now seemed pensive. She felt a little edgy herself as she wondered what Luna was up to. “I wonder what’s really up there.”

“Rock,” Drostra answered. “No air.”

Startled, she looked at him. “How do you know?”

“We’ve been up there.”

She gaped at him.

“You’d be shocked where Beasts have been,” Keg said, his tone unnaturally severe.

Was it only her, or did that sound like a warning? Could they possibly know about Luna? Neither of them could see beyond the privacy curtain to the makeshift cabin.

Suddenly a blue light went off on a device attached to Drostra’s armor. He picked it up grimly and met Keg’s eyes. The armor came up around his head.

“What--” her bewildered question was cut off as lights blinded her. The soft drone of sleds shattered the stillness of the night.

One of the Beasts approached the boat. He had Luna.

Keg’s hand covered Dey’s before she could draw her gun. A stupid move, and purely reflex, for she wouldn’t have a chance of stopping them.

“No.” He slid it out of her holster, his eyes unreadable.

A chill made Dey shiver. Those eyes … in the bright light of the headlights they were no longer dark. “You….” Her throat closed up. Desperate for answers, she looked at Luna.

Luna cleared her throat. “There was a tomb in the area.”

Double betrayal made Dey stiffen. Wooden lips said, “We were supposed to be hunting snakes.”

“Um, sorry.”

Sorry? Adrenaline poured through Dey. Her hands closed into fists. Everyone had known what was going to happen but her. One step took her closer to Luna before a hand clamped on her shoulder.

“Don’t make it worse,” Keg warned her. He almost sounded regretful.

* * * *

Armetris pronounced public sentence on Luna, since she fell under his jurisdiction. With the Beasts standing by, he announced without expression, “You will spend three years with the Beasts. Contact with your friends or family is forbidden.”

The leader of the symbionts, Luna’s brother Jackson, stepped forward. Eyes fathomless and cold, he told Dey, “You were not caught with Luna, but your involvement in her activities is well known. You’ve ignored repeated warnings, so the counsel sentences you to banishment for one year.” He fastened a collar of shunning around her neck and locked it. “You may return here after one year, but will be shunned for another two.”

Dey said nothing. There was nothing to say.

“The Beasts have offered another choice.” Jackson glanced at them as if making certain they hadn’t changed their mind.

Drostra inclined his head, indicating it was still valid. By the way the others called him Drostra-Ra and the respect they showed him, it was obvious he was their leader.

“You may spend your sentence with them if you wish. You will not be allowed contact with Luna.”

Her eyes unfocused for a second as she looked inward, examining her options. No, she did not want to go. The barest shake of her head indicated her choice.

A movement caught the corner of her eye, and Keg was there. Whatever his thoughts, they didn’t make it to his face. He wasn’t going to speak for her. But he did attach something to her silver collar. “In case you change your mind. It’s a locator. Activate it and Beasts will come for you.” His again dark eyes were guarded and … intense. “It’s not easy to survive in the swamps alone. I’d hate to see a woman die.”

A woman. Not her. Her cold fingers closed around the pendant. It was shaped like a shell. She didn’t have to look to know it was a pink shell. The very one he’d given her. He’d betrayed her. Seduced her. Been sent to watch her.

He hadn’t even kissed her.

Well, didn’t she deserve something? He’d teased her often enough, made her think of things she’d known were impossible. He owed her this. She refused to live on dreams, wondering what it might have felt like….

Determined, she straightened her spine and stepped closer to him. Her eyes flicked to his lips. “You owe me this,” she whispered, too softly for him to hear. Gently, she touched her mouth to his. There was no experience behind the move, but it rocked her. Wrung a sound from his throat, something between protest and growl.

She pulled away, shaken. She’d stolen a memory, and it left her dazed with a craving for more. Dey looked in his eyes and felt remorse. Her first kiss, and it had been stolen from unwilling lips, not given.

Unable to face him any longer, she looked through him instead, turned, and walked away.

* * * *

It was a death sentence. Keg clenched his fist and fought the urge to chase her down. No one survived the swamps alone for long, especially not a frail young woman. No matter how much her race had learned about living here, even though her father had been a hunter, he could not believe she’d make it alone. Not for a year.

Even if other humans found her they would also shun her, for the collars were widely known and respected. In a few days she’d activate the locator and he would come for her. In the meantime, he’d be having nightmares about that kiss.

A shudder passed through him. It had been the wrong time and the wrong place, but definitely the right woman. She might not know it, but she’d just sealed his determination. If she could still want him after all that had passed between them, then he would claim her. Until then he’d undoubtedly suffer sleepless nights dreaming about where her kiss could have taken them had they only been alone….

Chapter 4

Seven months later….

She’d gotten used to silence.

Birds called to each other in the early morning haze as Dey guided her symbiont-boat among the wild rice. The ripe seed heads shattered easily into her boat with the help of a long stick. The slow, methodical work kept her from thinking, and that was good. Sometimes she’d work until she dropped. Other times she’d pick up her camp and ride off to explore one of the sites on her ancient maps.

It wasn’t nearly as much fun alone.

The rage burned hot as she worked to store her hard-earned grain. The fierce electrical storms would be here any day now, thundering through the land and driving all creatures into shelter. The ruins she’d chosen to shelter in weren’t ideal, but she’d fashioned a pallet and a door, and the alcove she’d chosen had survived millennium. It would last another season.

She was lucky she’d found her great symbiont. Or rather, it had found her. It was much easier to survive with the cycle than without. Certainly no predators could outrun it, including Beast sleds.

The war zone was perilously close to Dey’s wanderings, but she felt relatively safe from them. They had no reason come this far into the swamp. And if she ran into humans…. The weight of the collar around her neck reminded her that she might as well not exist.

It was thoughts like these that made her careless. Instead of carefully checking her home against intruders, Dey simply slung her leather rice sack into the corner. There came a blood-curdling squeal, a hiss, and then a blur of fur and sharp teeth launched itself at her. The swamp vermin’s poisoned teeth sank into her thigh, injecting burning venom. Dey screamed as the acidic stuff entered her bloodstream. One sweep of her knife and the deadly thing fell off her thigh, but it was too late. Already in the grip of fire and nearly numb from poison, she staggered to her bed and crashed on the furs. The odds were five to one that she’d survive, even with her symbiont, which flowed to the sight of the wound and pulsed as it tried to stop the venom’s spread and close the wound. Her last thought before she blacked out was that no one would ever find her body if she failed to wake.

Voices roused her enough to open her eyes. A man and a woman were in her shelter. She tried to call for help but could barely move her lips. Thirsty. Her dry throat begged for water.

The woman glanced at her and started. “She’s awake.”

“I don’t see anyone,” the man replied as he helped himself to Dey’s supplies.

“But--”

“If it’s got a collar it ain’t human. Don’t look again.” He loaded his arms and took the supplies outside. All the rice. Her dried meat. Dey was going to starve. There was no way her weak body could provide for itself.

Dey used her eyes to plead with the woman, but she looked away, guilty.

“She did something to earn that collar,” she muttered to herself, as if trying to justify her actions. Eyes averted, she picked up the last sack and followed the man out the door.

They left the vermin’s body. Nobody would eat such a nasty thing.

* * * *

Five months later….

The Beasts did not know she was there. Too busy looting their sacked village, they moved among the smoking ruins, shooting stray children who tried to run from their hiding places. Women screamed in the dusk, pleading for mercy that was finally granted with death’s embrace. Usually only the males were killed and the women and girls loaded, unharmed--if viewing such carnage could be termed that--into transports and taken away. Dey had learned enough of the Beast tongue to know that the women would become Beast wives, the girls wards until they were old enough.

This carnage was unheard of.

Dybell, the leader, had just finished with a woman and slain her. Dey watched with a hunter’s detachment as he laughed to his friend, joking about the deed.

Making himself her next target.

Dey needed more guns. His looked nice. Of course, he and his companions weren’t just going to hand them over….

She smiled coldly and caressed the butt of her rifle. She couldn’t stop him now and survive, but a patient huntress could extract a great deal of vengeance. Melting away into the night, she took out a perimeter guard on her way past, helping herself to his weapons.

The hunters had just become prey. She’d found the way to survive the swamps.

* * * *

A long time later….

Eyes washed silver as moonlight watched the Beast camp. A strand of venom-bleached hair escaped Dey’s braid and brushed against her cheek. Impatient fingers brushed it away as she raised her binoculars and studied the Beasts. Long ago she’d smashed the shell transceiver into a thousand bits, and she had no intention of making her presence known. Curiosity drove her, and she had plenty of time to indulge it.

Finally she put away her viewers and made her way back to her symbiont cycle. It was near dark, and she had some trading to do.

Her fingers brushed against her neck as she swept her silver braid over her shoulder, and she smiled. The plaguish collar was long gone. She’d nearly killed herself when she’d shot it off, but it had been worth the pain, and her symbiont had healed it.

Ever since she’d been robbed and left for dead, Dey had accepted that she was completely alone. If she were to survive it would be because she was strong enough to do whatever she had to. The men in this war torn part of the swamps were little better than animals, and the women who outnumbered them were grim. Hopeless. The ones she traded with now had formed a community in the swamps. There were a few men, but most had died in the wars. Now the survivors fought the swamp, and in these untamed reaches it was battle enough.

The patrol she saw didn’t really bother her. Sometimes the guilty conquerors brought the women and children food and supplies. Always they behaved themselves--Dybell’s decimated patrol had been a gross aberration. Dey remembered what Keg had told her about the shortage of women among the Beasts. Maybe these were hoping to sweeten up some of the younger woman and carry them off for wives.

Thoughts of Keg made her eyes narrow. Had she been less trusting he’d never have had the chance to trap them the way he had. Even knowing it was his job, that they’d been warned, that Luna had been the one at fault didn’t ease her distrust and anger for him. Her sentence had been up months ago, but she’d stayed away because of him. Part of her wondered what had become of Luna, but not enough to go back. Likely they thought her dead. Good. It was better that way.

* * * *

Kegtaar stood in the center of the human camp, dressed in full battle armor. His helmet was retracted, as were the helmets of his three friends and sub commanders, but it didn’t help much. Even after they saw for themselves that Beasts looked like their men the women still held back. “We need to work together if our races are to survive.”

“You just want women,” one woman spat. Middle aged and wild-haired, Megin was the most difficult and bitter of them all.

The others murmured and stirred uneasily. One woman held her baby in her arms and tried to hush his wails while two young children peeked from behind her ragged skirt.

As if we might attack at any minute, Kegtaar thought. His jaw clenched, but he forced himself to remain mild. It had only been a scant year since the war had ended. These women had lost loved ones to battle. No matter how much their races needed each other, this wasn’t going to be easy.

Especially if he had to force the issue. The beasts needed wives, and his superiors had determined to get them however they could. It was the duty of commanders like Kegtaar to woo them a bit, first. No sense in creating more alarm than need be. Besides, they did not want to leave any frightened children hiding in the woods when they collected the women. Part of their mission was to get to know the population of the village to ensure that every valuable female was rounded up. The beast women might be able to produce daughters now, thanks to the special plants on their recaptured territory, but it would be a long time until those daughters grew up.

Not every man was willing to wait.

“If we’d wanted to harm you it would have already happened,” Ri-chan, his second, pointed out. “Kegtaar-Ra has brought you nothing but good.”

“After he slaughtered our men!” Megin shouted.

Kegtaar shot him a warning look and raised his hand against the murmur. He didn’t need this. It was hard enough making the woman accept their gifts of food and supplies. Had they not been desperate he was sure the women would have thrown them in his face, but they had children to think of. Most of them were from city-towns and had no skills to help them fend for themselves out here. All he wanted to do was help both their peoples.

Before he could say anything soothing, a woman’s mocking laughter broke through the tension. As one the crowd turned to see who found humor in such a brittle situation.

Kegtaar’s first shock was the symbiont cycle. All the great symbionts--in this part of the swamp, at least--had been destroyed in the war. The only ones left were a long way away, in a settlement he hadn’t seen in two years. The second was the woman. Silver, even white hair was common enough among his people, but he’d yet to see the color on a human. She was armed. A powerful rifle was cradled in her arms as she reclined on her bike, one black leather-clad leg braced on the ground and one on her seat. Dark glasses, a costly luxury in these stark times--hid the color of her eyes, but her cynical, amused expression spoke her thoughts.

When she spoke his heart nearly stopped. It was the voice from his dreams, smoky and vibrant from maturity.

“Well, well. Still trying to get laid, Keg?” She slung the rifle strap over her handlebars and sauntered over to him as boldly as an old lover.

“I thought you were dead,” he whispered.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” When she saw his eyes go to her throat, she smiled. “Shot it off. Had no need to go back then.”

Horror made him stiffen. “You could have been killed!”

No humor shown in her smile. “I was already dead.”

“The hair?”

“Rat venom.”

“Your rifle?”

She leaned forward a fraction and said mockingly, “It’s amazing what a man will give you for a little of your time.” It was a lie, for she’d wanted to hurt him, but it didn’t give her the satisfaction she’d hoped for.

His face closed. “So that’s what you’ve become.”

As always, the lie choked her until she added lightly, “Actually I stole it from a corpse. I haven’t seen anything in this swamp worthy of my ‘time’.” Her gaze raked over him insultingly. She shifted her weight to one foot and smirked. “Did I hear you correctly? You want these women to just give up their freedom and bed down with the enemy as if you haven’t just fought a bloody war?”

His words sounded as thought they eased between two grinding stones. “It’s the only way to survive.”

“Ah, to depend on you. What an appalling idea.”

Twin fires blazed in his eyes. “And you have a better plan?”

“The only way to survive is to count on what’s in here.” She made a fist over her heart. “The swamps taught me that.” She turned her back on him, started to stride away.

His hand on her arm stopped her.

One silver brow rose as she glanced at it. “I thought you were here to teach these woman about trust? Getting close and heavy with me seems a brilliant way to do it then?”

He let her go, and she sauntered off without a backward glance.

Kegtaar’s gaze dropped to the unconscious sway of her backside. It had been a long time since a woman had looked at him without fear or awe. She treated him like a man, and he couldn’t help but respond like one. Dey might have won this round, but there would be another.

“Wait!” a woman called as Dey slung one leg over the seat of her bike. Out of the corner of her eye Dey recognized the abrasive Megin. Inwardly, she sighed. It couldn’t have gone better with Keg, and she was in no mood to talk. Her body symbiont connected with the large one, prepared to take off.

“Come to dinner tonight. Please,” she added when Dey looked like she’d refuse.

“Why?” No one here had ever made her feel welcome. They took one look at her hideous hair and they treated her like a half-blood pariah. Megin had been as outspoken as anyone, once even spitting on the ground Dey walked on.

“Because we do need help. No one wants to accept Beast charity, but none of us can hunt. We can barely survive here. You bring meat every time you come. You know how to beat the swamps. We need you.”

“I’m not a leader.”

“We don’t need a leader. We need someone to teach us. Come tonight.”

“I’ll think about it.”

The drive home was a blur, though by habit she was careful to avoid being followed. The drafty old temple wasn’t the height of comfort, but it boasted a roof and four intact walls. One thing about the ziggurat structures--they certainly stood the test of time. She could appreciate that.

Sadly, this moldering old pile had guarded no treasures, but the jungle overgrowth protected her from curious eyes. Had she not practically fallen through the secret door, she wouldn’t even have found it, so she was fairly certain she would remain undiscovered there.

A touch on the pitted stone wall opened a hatch, which she and her symbiont cycle entered. Amazing how well it was designed--the weighted door made only a slight scraping noise as it closed behind her.

Afternoon light poured through the high window slits, illuminating the mosaic floor. Geometric cuts of multicolored stone swirled in patterns, their joining undetectable by touch on the highly polished surface. One or two of the ancient solar lamps still worked, providing light throughout the lonely nights, but not enough to attract unwanted attention.

Lonely. She dropped her saddle bags to the floor in the corner and withdrew some savory rolls and rounds of bread, trying not to think too much. The cloth wrapped bread went in a small wooden box. The roll filled her mouth, but did nothing to stop the flow of her thoughts.

Yes, she was lonely. So what? She’d been lonely a long time. Megin’s offer of dinner wasn’t going to change that. Besides, she might see Keg there.

A surge of isolation so strong it made her chest constrict stuck her. She would not think about Keg.

Her hammock swayed as she sat in it, then swished as she climbed back out. Pacing helped channel her nervous energy.

She’d seen Keg today.

Jaw clenched, she swore to herself that she wouldn’t go back to that village. The symbiont could carry her great distances, easily to another settlement. She’d never have to see him again.

Silent minutes ticked by. She closed her eyes and listened to the faint calls of chattering birds. Suddenly this haven she’d found felt more like a tomb than a shelter.

But she was not going to Megin’s that night.

* * * *

After much consideration, Dey chose to go to dinner. It had nothing to do with who she might or might not see. She was tired of her own cooking. If the woman wanted the work of preparing a meal for Dey, then fine.

There were Beasts in the shadows around the settlement. Dey circled silently in the night, knowing they knew she was there, testing the waters. They did not react to her presence.

She raised a brow. Hm. So Keg was guarding his prizes in the village. Did the women know?

First hand experience told her it was excruciatingly difficult to avoid a Beast patrol once it gave chase. They had tracking equipment, experience and sheer nerve on their side. Dey had a fast bike and a knowledge of the swamps. Not much of an advantage.

She went in anyway.

Megin opened the door wide at her knock and exclaimed over the bristled fawn carcass Dey had brought as if it were gold. “It’s been so long since we had meat I’ve forgotten what it tastes like!”

Embarrassed, aware of the eyes in the night, Dey tried distraction. “These are for your children.” She handed the eldest girl, a child of perhaps twelve, a small bladder full of wrinkled brown balls, a delicacy known as sweet nuts. She often ground them together with seeds to make a sweet flour. “Try it. It’s like candy,” Dey assured the polite, but doubtful looking girl.

Reluctantly, with the rapt attention of her younger brother, the girl took a tiny bite. “It’s good!” she exclaimed in surprise, and her brother quickly crowded in to claim his share.

“Where do you find all these things?” Megin asked as she ushered Dey to a rickety chair.

“The swamp is full of things to eat. Most of the time it’s harder not to become dinner than it is to find it.”

Megin’s cooking was nothing to brag about, but Dey ate it without complaint. She’d had worse. Besides, the shabby interior of the tiny hut told her that it was probably the best Megin had.

“So when can you start to teach us?” Megin asked toward the end of the meal. “I’ve spoken to the others and they’ve agreed to make it worth your while. We’ll feed and house you.”

Dey almost pointed out that she fed and housed herself quite well, but bit her tongue as she recalled how these people would hate charity. Instead she raised another issue. “Do you know that the Beasts guard you at night?”

Megin froze. Her voice came out a fearful waver. “They’re out there?”

“Yes.”

Shoulders hunched, Megin looked away. “They want to make slaves of us.”

“If so, you would be,” Dey echoed Keg’s friend’s words. “You should consider what it is they do want. I’ve been all over these swamps. There aren’t a lot of human men left.”

Rage twisted Megin’s face into a snarl. “The Beasts killed them!”

Not about to get into the politics of it, Dey looked at her steadily. “Some of the women will choose to go with them. Quite a lot, considering what they have to offer. What I can teach you will be small buffer against that. The handful of you that will be left behind will be lucky to last the year.”

“You’re on their side!” Megin shot to her feet, her posture saying she’d love to attack Dey.

Dey rose too, ready for anything Megin might try. Warning in her eyes, she said, “It’s time you accepted some grim truths, Megin. Your way of life is over. I can’t change that. Someday soon they’re going to take you all away.”

“Why did you come here, then, if you thought that? Aren’t you afraid they might take you, too?” Megin flung at her, tears of fury in her eyes.

Dey shrugged. “My days are numbered, anyway. You have no idea how hard it is not to become breakfast out there. I might be well fed, but so are the other predators in the swamp. It’s just a matter of time before I run into something I can’t outsmart or outrun. If the Beasts do take you, they’ll be doing you a favor.”

“Get out!” Megin shrieked, her face red with fury. “Get out!”

I guess this means that dinner’s over, Dey thought grimly. Careful not to turn her back on her screaming hostess, she edged out the door.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she left the hut. One hand fell to the butt of her gun. Danger.

“Hello, Dey.” Keg stepped out from the shadows, still dressed in armor.

“That must chafe,” she said in annoyance. Her grip loosened on the gun as she slowly withdrew her hand.

“The armor?”

“No, your shorts,” she snapped. She mounted her bike, glad for the tendrils which immediately webbed around her legs, securing her to the symbiont.

Much to her shock, he mounted behind her.

“Get off!”

“We need to talk.”

“Concerning?”

“Us.”

“There is no us.”

“There should be.”

She growled. “I’m not discussing anything here. Just how many men do you have in the shadows, listening?”

There was a telling pause. “I know a place. No one will follow us.”

“And I’m supposed to just trust myself to your tender mercies?”

“You know I wouldn’t harm you.”

She glared at him over her shoulder. “There are a great many things I don’t know about you, Captain. Like your real name, and age, and--”

He placed a finger on her lips. “Then come and talk with me, Dey. Let’s settle this.”

Tempting. Very tempting. Too bad she wasn’t in the habit of trusting anyone, especially him. “I made that mistake years ago. I’m not doing it tonight.”

He sighed and snuggled a gun against her spine. “You make this so difficult, sweetheart.”

Frozen in place, unable to quite believe he’d pull a gun on her, she said stiffly, “I was right about your desperation, wasn’t I? Though even I would have doubted you’d use a gun on a woman.”

If he was angry, he didn’t show it. “Get off the bike, Dey.”

Laughter at his expense bubbled out. “It is difficult to get me loose unless I will it, isn’t it? What would you do if I refused? Somehow I doubt you’d really shoot me. Your kind needs women too badly.” In fact, she was counting on it.

“I could shoot your symbiont,” he said in a sinister tone.

For a moment her heart stopped. He could not be so cruel. Then reason asserted itself. “You wouldn’t, not while I’m attached. The shock to my system might kill me, too. That isn’t what you want, is it?”

Two other Beasts had drawn near while she talked. In the distance, she could make out the blinking red lights of Beast aircraft--big aircraft. Other Beasts began to move around the darkened village.

Ignoring the motion around them, Keg swiftly sheathed his gun and pulled her hands behind her back, securing them with binders. “Then here’s how we do this,” he whispered in her ear, his breath caressing her cheek. “I’ll have my men throw a tent up around us. Right here, in the dark, we’ll settle this. I think you’d like it, Dey.”

Absolutely still, she considered his threat. Oh, yes. He’d do it. Already his hands had settled at her hips, his thumbs circling slowly at the small of her back, under her shirt. It would take so little for those hands to move higher.

Or lower.

She shivered.

Keg moved in for the kill. “Is this how you want it, Dey? I wouldn’t mind. You might be webbed in, but you could stand up. I could stand behind you. It wouldn’t be hard. Or maybe it would.” He laughed, low and mocking.

A fine trembling overtook her whole body as a sheen of sweat popped out on her skin. “You’re crazy.”

She felt him shift as he snapped to one of the Beasts, “Bring us a tent.”

“No!” Now she was certain he really would carry out his threat. He was so not the Keg she remembered.

The Beast kept walking away.

“Tell him to stop!” she ordered Keg, really worried now.

“Un-web from your symbiont,” he said calmly.

A snarl crawled from her throat. She’d underestimated him, based her plans on what she’d known of the other Keg, a pre-war Keg. That man would never have forced her like this.

The Beast was coming back. He had something with him.

“Make your choice,” Keg demanded.

With a silent curse, she disengaged from her symbiont cycle.

And was pulled away from it with amazing swiftness.

“You give up too easily,” Keg said with a smile that was not.

A withering look was all he got in reply.

* * * *

Dey glowered out the window. A glowing blue city appeared in the distance and rapidly grew larger.

“Your new home,” Keg said. He’d sat beside her for most of the way, guarding her like a family heirloom. Defiant satisfaction fairly radiated from him.

She grunted. More like her prison, at least until she found a way to break out of it.

The walls of the city were laid out in a ring, and the whole thing shimmered with what she suspected was another shield. As they got closer she discovered that the walls were truly massive and completely smooth, like metal.

Big hairy deal. She refused to be impressed.

Intermittent sniffling broke out among the other prisoners, making her edgy. Dey had little illusions about what awaited them, but memories of a younger Keg and even Drostra tempered her own concern.

For the other’s benefit, she drawled in a carrying, insolent tone, “So this is what you’ve come to, eh, Keg? Enslaving women for your friends to beat and rape?”

Startled anger flashed in his face. “You are to be wives, not slaves, and the man who harms a woman here is executed. You are far too valuable to us to abuse.”

A snort expressed her opinion of that. “So you don’t consider rape to be abuse?”

“You know better,” he said, his tone quiet with fury. A warning glittered in his eyes.

Aware of the many listening ears, hoping that she was giving them comfort, she said, “I see. So you will force these women into marriage, but their husbands aren’t allowed to force anything else on them, is that right? Then why bother stealing them? From my point a view you’ve got a problem.”

“Why do you insist on speaking as if what happens will not concern you?” Keg countered sardonically. “In case it’s escaped your notice, you’ve been captured along with them.”

She gave him a superior smile. “I’m a long way from a slave, boy. You let me worry about that.”

The intensity of his gaze got sharper with every word she spoke. He raked that potent stare over her body. “There are ways to make a woman feel desire, sweet thing. I believe you’re acquainted with a few. You women won’t resist for long.”

Eyes wide in shock at his boldness, hot blood in her cheeks, she looked away. The old Keg had never been this bold, this … a small shiver racked her.

Maybe this Keg was more than she’d bargained for.

* * * *

“Kegtaar! Well done.” Prince Dagon, his father, greeted Kegtaar with a salute. Not satisfied with that, he put his arm around him in a fast, rare hug. “You bring hope to your brothers. Tonight we feast in your honor.” Shiny acid burns like silver paint ran in a narrow, long streak from his left eye and curved behind his ear. Ice blue eyes and dark hair, combined with his imposing height, only added to his presence. As a warrior, his father was feared throughout the land. As a father, he was the best thing that could happen to a child.

A grin of triumph on his own face, Kegtaar slapped his father’s back, then turned to greet his scowling mother, Vana. Still pretty and only slightly mellowed since she’d wed his father, she made it plain with her stern expression what she thought of his return with the women. Still, she kissed his cheek, hugged him and said, “Welcome home, Keg. I’ve missed you.” Her eyes moved to his left and slightly behind to narrow thoughtfully on the scowling Dey.

“Mother, Father,” Keg said respectfully, reaching back to tug Dey forward. “This is my adajah, Dey. With your permission I would like to board her in your house, instead of with the others.” He waved a hand at the throng of women descending the transport ramp under heavy guard. A line reached from the courtyard to the fortress-like Bride House nearby.

His mother eyed Dey’s binders with displeasure. “Are those necessary?”

You have no idea, Keg thought ruefully, but turned to Dey questioningly.

She slanted him a cool, narrowed glance back.

Keg sighed. “I’m sorry, mother, but it would be wiser to wait until we’ve reached the house, if you’re willing. Dey’s still sulking.” That earned him a hot glare.

“I disagree. Unbind her,” Vana said with rare command. Once a captive herself, she had little patience for the sight of others still bound.

With a apologetic glance at his father, Keg shook his head. “I’m sorry, no. But soon, I promise. I don’t intend to keep her bound all day.”

But Vana was not easily thwarted. She asked Dey straight out, “Would you really try to run in broad daylight, with two Beast warriors at hand and a hundred nearby?” She clearly expected a negative.

Dey raised an imperious brow.

Vana laughed outright. “Mm. Maybe Keg’s finally found one I can approve of after all.”

* * * *

Dey didn’t want to like Keg’s mother, but it was tough. Tired, grumpy and stressed as she was, she appreciated that Vana led her straight to a bedchamber and ordered food to be brought immediately. Nor was it a second-best room, not with a polished pink marble floor, a gleaming blue-and gold glass bed and lavender and gold, floor-length curtains for the bay windows. Silky throw rugs in blue, purple and gold carpeted the floor, and brass furniture with blue glass accents and multi-colored cushions in jewel tones invited one to rest.

Dey blinked at all the bright colors. Living in the swamp for the last few years hadn’t prepared her for the visual riot.

Vana grinned. “I know. It’s bright, but I like it.” She nodded her thanks to a servant, who left a laden tray on the table and retreated. Delicious smells rose from that direction.

Smile fading, Vana said, “You’ll be under guard. I’m sorry for that, but it’s not my choice. At best I can say, as Keg’s mother, that he would never hurt you, whatever happens.”

“I know that,” Dey said impatiently. The situation was making her snappish. Not that she felt particularly sorry just then. It had been a long night.

Surprise lifted Vana’s brows. “I forgot--you know him from before. It’s been some time since I’ve heard him say your name, though.” The tilt of her head suggested curiosity.

Dey stared back.

Ignoring the obvious hint, Vana skimmed her fingers over the footboard, as if searching for dust. “There was a time when he could hardly sit at dinner without mentioning your name. Of course, during his search for you in the swamps after your exile, we hardly saw him. When we did, he was very tired. Very grim. I would never like to see him that way again.” She paused, and when Dey said nothing, she added, “These years of war have been hard on our men. Keg is not the same person he was.”

Dey refused to be moved. “Neither am I.”

“I hope that’s not true. I would have welcomed the girl Keg loved as a daughter,” Vana said softly. “I’ll see you again once you’ve rested.” She bowed gracefully out.

Alone, Dey prowled the room, made quick use of the bathroom, and ate. The food was good, the bed soft. Dey slept.

* * * *

Keg entered the room quietly, knowing from the sensors that Dey was still asleep.

She looked beautiful on the blue bed, inviting. Instead of crawling between the covers, she’d chosen to forgo blankets and lain on top. That white braid of hers glowed against the dark backdrop, an interesting frame for her creamy skin.

Pity for the girl she’d been, remorse for what she’d been through moved him. He reached for her face--

And barely missed disembowelment by a symbiont-claw as she boiled out of bed, snarling.

“What the--” he cursed and leapt back, ready to defend himself.

At that moment she became fully awake. Her voice was scratchy, rough. Her eyes widened at the sight of his blood. “Keg.”

“Remind me not to wake you in the mornings,” he snapped, pressing his hand against the three claw marks on his stomach. It was a good thing he had quick reflexes, otherwise it would have been his guts he’d be holding in his hands. “A simple, ‘go away’, would have sufficed.”

With the symbiont now retracted into its normal gauntlet form, she rubbed her face, then her arms. “A dead woman wakes nicely in the swamps.”

“You’re not there now.” He pulled his short sleeved shirt off and bunched it against his stomach, ready to leave.

Dey stopped him. “Why don’t you have your symbiont….” Her eyes moved to his wrists, narrowed in confusion. “Where’s your symbiont?”

“It was never real,” he said tightly. “Just as Luna’s was never real. Even my great symbiont was just an advanced machine.”

“Why?” She rubbed her arms harder.

“To fit in. The real symbionts don’t like my kind.”

She stopped him as he turned away. “Wait! Let me heal you.”

“Why?” he bit out. “Don’t you like the sight of my blood?”

Without answering, she pushed at his arm, found it immobile. Annoyance in her expression, she tugged harder, daring him with her eyes to provoke her.

Reluctantly amused, he let her move his arm slightly, a little mollified when she hissed at the sight of his wound.

She touched him, and her symbiont started to move down her arm. It was clear that she meant to heal him.

“No.” He grasped her wrist and pulled her hand away, tucking his shirt back against the wound. “I told you, symbionts don’t like us. You’ll make yourself sick helping me.”

“I owe you,” she whispered, stricken.

Keg stared at her, weighing the moment. “Repay me another way.” Slowly, he claimed her lips with his own.

The melting started. It had been a long time coming, and he didn’t rush it. She was soft, and sweet under his tongue, as captured as he was by the blaze between them. A softly breathed sigh, the way her hands hesitantly settled on his bare chest…. He crushed her to him, then broke their kiss with a hiss of pain. But he didn’t let her go.

“You’re hurting!” She tried to push away without hurting him more, failed.

“I’ll live.” He aimed for her mouth again.

She dodged him, wiggled away with his reluctant permission. “Go fix yourself. You’re getting blood on me.”

He looked at the red smear on her shirt. “We could wash together,” he suggested.

“Don’t push me, Keg.” By the vulnerable look in her eye, the way she turned away, he’d better not.

“Later, then. But don’t kid yourself, adajah. I intend to push you right over the brink.” He touched her hair, then left.

His brother, Roac, was loitering outside the door. He frowned at the blood soaked shirt at Keg’s midriff. “What did she try to do, little brother? Geld you and miss?”

“Very funny.” Keg walked on, ignoring him.

Roac, whose hair was nearly as white as Dey’s, easily matched his stride. A good half-head taller than Keg, he wore his long hair braided at the temples. No two brothers could have been more different in looks and similar in spirit. “You know, if you keep letting her beat you, little brother, she’s bound to think she’s master of the bedroom.”

“Shouldn’t you be finding a woman of your own to place in your bedroom?” Keg hinted, knowing that any attempt to dislodge Roac would only make him more determined.

“It’s far more entertaining to see you bumble in yours,” Roac assured him.

“She wakes up fighting, and kisses sweetly when she’s sorry,” Keg admitted. Nothing less was going to gain him privacy.

Roac chuckled. “I would expect nothing less from the woman you searched for for so long. Does she know that you turned the swamps inside out looking for her? It might earn you more of those kisses.”

Keg tripped him. And while he didn’t go down, the stumble did temporarily halt Roac’s teasing.

* * * *

Dinner with his family was a trial he would have rather skipped. Dey was tense and watched the room as if expecting venomous swamp rats to swarm the place at any moment. Even worse, she kept slowly opening and closing her right hand while her eyes tracked over the long table and cozy dining room. Anyone entering and leaving was treated with an appraising stare.

Shell-shocked was a mild term for her behavior.

It hurt. He knew how dangerous the swamps were. Anyone weaker wouldn’t have survived. But to see her changed to this….

Her hand flexed again, and he reached across her body and gripped it. She tensed at his touch. “What are you doing?” he asked, concerned.

“It keeps me alert.” She pulled her hand away, hiding it under the table.

Knowing that she was still doing it, he gritted his teeth and directed his killing glare to his plate. Curse Jackson and the Symbionts! They should have known better than to send her into the swamps like that.

His father, who’d been watching their reluctant guest, asked casually, “Tell me, Dey, what was your favorite hunting in the swamps? It must have been difficult to have to do your own cooking every day.”

She focused on him for a moment before her eyes started roving again. “You learn to have a care after a few raw or charred meals. It was harder not to get eaten by something sneaking up to my fire than it was to cook.” She paused. “Fish and swamp slugs were easy to come by. Eggs, birds … sometimes I hunted spiny-fawn or grazers.”

Dagon nodded. “Did you prefer a rifle for that?”

She shook her head. “It’s hard to get ammunition, so I saved it. Most of the time I trapped dinner and slit its throat with my symbiont.”

He canted his head in mild surprise. “Hard to get ammunition? That surprises me, considering the state of constant war.”

That caught her full attention. “It’s easier to steal it than to buy it. When I could I robbed the dead. Buying it … the men who have it rarely care to trade money for it. It’s not fun to hold a man at gunpoint while conducting a trade.”

Her remark was treated with uncomfortable silence. She continued her scan of the room.

Grief and rage made Keg’s vision blur. Someone might have hurt Dey. In his relief to finally have her in his home, he hadn’t considered that. If she had been hurt, she would need healing. Did he dare hope he could accomplish that?

As if she sensed his agitation, she glanced at him. In her own language, she said quietly, “No one got close enough, Keg. I know better than to trust like that.”

Relief made him slowly exhale. Even as his shoulders relaxed, her words settled heavily in his gut. I know better than to trust like that.

His mother cleared her throat. “Well, you can rest easy now. Here at the edge of the swamps, we have less dangerous predators, and what we do have can’t possibly penetrate the city’s shields.”

Dey’s expression turned inscrutable. “Hm.”

Suddenly weary, Keg massaged the bridge of his nose, then scrubbed a hand over his eyes. Nightmare visions of chasing an escaped Dey down through the swamps assailed him. He didn’t even want to contemplate it.

Again his mother came to his rescue. “Perhaps you would like a tour of the house, Dey? Keg and his father have some catching up to do, and I’d be happy to show you around while they talk.”

By the way her eyes lit up, Dey saw that as the perfect chance to reconnoiter the place. “Sure.”

Suppressing his silent groan until the two parties had left the table and split off into different directions, Keg followed his father and brother into the family room, casting himself down on a backless couch with a growl.

“Well, that was a disaster,” his brother remarked as he claimed a cushioned chair. “It’s a good thing our sisters didn’t come to the table--I think your sweet bride might have scared them off.”

Taking his arm off his eyes, Keg glared at his brother.

“Quiet, Roac. Now is not the time to tease him,” their father admonished. He sat down and steepled his fingers, gazing into nothing. “You’ll have your work cut out for you teaching that one to trust, Keg. You’re fortunate you have a prior acquaintance with her. I’ve seen my share of men with battle illness, but she’s the first woman. It’s a pity, but I have faith in you. You can overcome this.”

The words soothed him, and Keg tried to relax. This would go a lot better if he didn’t try to rush it, he reminded himself. It would just take time.

The image of Dey’s clenching hand flashed before him, and he grimaced. Okay, lots of time, but he had that.

He knew the way he wanted to soothe her. Ever since her exile and that first, bittersweet kiss, he’d ached for her. It was the force that kept him going, a need that never slept. Judging by her response to him earlier, she felt it, too.

The world got a little hazy as he mentally took that moment farther, to a soft bed and softer sighs, to heat and a lover’s caress.…

A servant ran into the room. “Kegtaar-Ra! Come quickly! Your woman has escaped!”

* * * *

Dey quietly crept along the rooftops, her ears tuned for pursuers. The evening was quiet, except for the sounds of celebration here and there. The Beasts were congratulating themselves on their latest capture.

The gates were a good distance away yet. She wasn’t sure how she’d get out, but something would come up. With patience, it always did.

She felt a little guilty for knocking out Keg’s servants and tying up his mother, but at least she hadn’t hit her. Hopefully he’d appreciate that, especially since the chances of her getting away were slim. Still, she had her pride. It was worth a try.

Water dripped in her eyes and she swore silently. The swimming pool had seemed like a great hiding place, had worked like a charm, but now she was paying for it with soggy clothes. On a rooftop, that was hazardous, but she’d have to make do. More annoying was her shivering. These northern latitudes got chillier than she was used to.

Well, that was unimportant. She’d survive.

Flattening out against the rough stone of her perch, she scanned the skies for prowling Beast hover-sleds while she considered strategy. Instinct said run for the gates and don’t stop. She rejected that; they’d be expecting it. A better plan would be to stay concealed for at least five days, then run for it when their guard was down. If she--

“Hello, Dey.”

She started and looked left. Keg was there on his hover-sled, and he looked annoyed. Before she could speak, another sled rose up on her right, blocking her view of the gates.

“Good evening,” Roac said pleasantly.

Dey rolled her eyes. “How did you find me?”

Keg slowly shook his head. “You’re good in the swamp, where all you have to avoid is animal senses and natural dangers. Beast technology is another thing.”

She grunted. Obviously she’d have to rethink her strategy.

The ride back, seated behind Keg, brought back memories. It had been a long time since they’d rode double, and this time he had more clothes on. Well, that and they were riding several stories above the ground. Still, her thoughts mellowed her. When his home came into sight, she said in his ear, “You know, you could just keep going. Find a nice patch of forest to camp in and I might be more inclined to be friendly.”

His head came up and she felt his deep sigh. “You’re a cruel woman, Dey. I think you’re just looking for a way to get me alone so you can bash me over the head and steal my sled.”

She thought for a moment. “What if I gave you my word not to leave your side while we’re out there? Could we go then?”

There was silence for a moment, then he called to his brother. “If I’m not back by noon tomorrow, come looking.” His brother shot them a startled look as their sled broke away from his brother’s and headed for the gate.

Dey threw her head back and laughed in sheer exultation. That he would do this for her … maybe he was still the Keg she knew. Maybe there was hope.

They rode away from the swamp. After a while the terrain began to rise. Familiar swamp trees gave way to conifer and papery barked trees, the likes of which she’d never seen. Fascinated, she watched in wonder as they climbed ever higher, eventually traveling through a narrow pass and out into a lichen covered meadow. The bike slowed as they approached a boulder garden, and then stopped. A steaming lake, edged by rocks and clear enough to see the shallow, sandy bottom, stood before them.

“Welcome to paradise,” Keg said as he dismounted.

She just sat there and looked around until she noticed his watchfulness. With a laugh, she dismounted.

“Are you hungry?” He retrieved a satchel from the bike and handed her a canteen and a curious little packet. He chuckled at the way she eyed it and took it away to open it for her. “It’s survival rations.”

“Hm. Tasty!” She devoured it.

Keg laughed. “You have been in the swamps too long.” Much of the tension was dissolved by their laughter. He took her hand and led her to a pool. Suddenly the night felt friendly, warm. Fate seemed to be smiling on them. Even the stars twinkled down with a benign light.

Oddly enough, she even felt relaxed. Maybe it was the alienness of the place, so different from the swamps. Maybe it was him. The easy grip of his hand spoke tenderness to her soul, soaked into the dryness there. Suddenly she realized just how thirsty she was.

“The waters are always warm here, and I thought you would like the view.” His gaze turned challenging, daring her to live up to the promise that had brought them here.

He stripped down to his scanty drawers.

Dey looked aside, feeling rather faint. She did not want to see the man half-naked, not while things were so unsettled, but it looked like she wouldn’t be given a choice.

No, the only choice she had was to either go along with his crazy plan and try to have some fun, or to spend the night pouting. Besides, it had been eons since she’d last had company. Maybe she should savor the moment?

He had brought her here in good faith.

She glanced over her shoulder as she heard a splash. She sighed and slipped behind a boulder to strip down to the essentials.

Keg’s eyes glowed as she came back into sight, but he said nothing, just smiled a little. “Purple’s your color,” he offered as she slid into the water.

She cupped some water in her hand and watched it flow through her fingers, feeling shy. She didn’t know how to handle him, this situation. What did he want from her? What did she want to give him?

A single glance at him, and she knew what she wanted from him. But Keg wasn’t the kind of man one dallied with, then left. Not when he looked at a woman as he looked at her. The hard thing was that she wanted to stay. More than ever in her life, she wanted to trust.

“How did you know about this place?” Dey stared through a break in the mountains at the peaks on the other side. Never had she seen the mountains, and this place awed her. Besides, it was one of the few safe topics that came to mind.

“It’s an old place.” Keg swam over to her and made himself comfortable against the bolder she leaned on. “Few people know about it.” He smiled at her, and at close range the impact was devastating. “It’s the kind of place you take a woman you want to impress.”

“Which means you’ve been here a lot.” Dey’s disappointment did a good job of dousing her pleasure in his compliment.

He smiled. “I wish you’d bet money on it.”

Dey closed her eyes and ignored him.

Though he’d claimed to be in a hurry to talk, he maintained his silence until she was forced by curiosity to ask, “So what became of Luna?”

“She married Drostra within an eight month and has two children. They live in the new territory. The captured lands,” he added, for her benefit. “Are you surprised?”

“Yes, but not shocked. She never really felt at home in the settlement.”

“What about you?”

“It was a place to live. At least when I was accepted. Of course it helped when I didn’t have this hideous hair.”

“It’s lovely. And very common among my people.”

“You’re a Beast,” she said flatly.

“Half. My mother was a human who crossed over. ‘Love has no politics’, she says.” And never once had she said anything about regretting it, although her choice couldn’t have been easy. But one look at his parents together was enough to convince any skeptic. Love could overcome any obstacle. It was part of the reason he’d vowed to marry a human when as a prince among his kind he could have easily found a wife. Someone had to lead the way. And there was no other choice, not for hundreds of their men. There just weren’t enough women to go around.

He’d thought he’d found the right woman in Dey, even with their problems.

Which she was happy to bring up. “You were sent to spy on us.”

“I had a job to do. I did it. It was yesterday, and you were no innocent. Let’s leave it there.” He was not about to feel guilty for doing his job, but…. “If it comforts you, I fought to have you exiled with Luna. Your sentence was too harsh.”

“I didn’t see you running after me.” Her tone was light, but with underlying heat.

“You destroyed the transceiver. By the time I realized a couple of days wasn’t going to make you ready to talk, you’d disappeared.” Remembered anger and fear heated his blood. He’d wandered through the swamps for months trying to find her. Even after she hadn’t shown up in the settlement after a year he hadn’t given up. When he had finally accepted, recently, that she was dead and he’d have to choose another, a bitter taste had still lingered. He’d wanted her.

He moved closer. “It could be good between us, Dey,” he whispered as he cupped her cheek.

She flinched and got out of the pool.

A long sigh came with his disappointment. So much for easy conquests.

Keg built a fire and did the cooking. Dey watched the coals pop and snap in drowsy silence, nearly falling asleep from the lingering affects of the water. Her earlier surge of adrenaline had faded, and now she felt foolish. In truth she was less afraid of what he might do to her than she was of her own ignorance. She’d never been kissed, save by him. Twenty-seven years old, and she was still a hopeless innocent. Even the thought of exposing her inexperience was enough to make her cringe. What would he want with a white-haired outcast, anyway? Surely he hadn’t been serious when he’d claimed to like her hair. It was the kind of thing men said to avoid the truth. Wasn’t it?

What did he think? That she’d spent the years dreaming of their reunion? That many nights she’d retired from an endless day only to dream of his arms around her, of his heart-stopping kisses?

She sent a guilty look his way. Was the man a mind reader?

But what future could they have, even if he wanted one? Sane people didn’t just marry on a whim and run off into the mists.

To keep herself awake she moved off to the break in the mountains to watch the stars. The night was cool, and she couldn’t help but be grateful when Keg brought her his jacket. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” He tipped his head up and studied the stars. “It’s hard to see the sky this clearly from the swamps.”

She nodded. “Too many trees.” There was an awkward pause. Dey couldn’t stand it. “What do you want from me, Keg?”

Starlight reflected from his dark eyes. “What I’ve always wanted--to make you my wife.”

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t look at him. A wife. His wife. “I … I’m not….” Not what? Much of a wife? The kind of woman a man desired?

A gentle touch made her look at him. “I’ve always wanted you. Always. Be mine.” Slowly, his hand slid into her hair, wiping away her doubts. “Adajah … be mine.”

Chapter 5

Heat flooded her brain and melted her sense as his tongue parted her lips and made her burn. Sparks jumped along her nerves and jellied her knees. Her back touched the ground, and she didn’t even consider the danger to her virtue. All that mattered was his searing touch and incoherent, molten promises. Half of what he said was in his native tongue, but it didn’t matter. Her body responded as if it knew precisely what he meant. If the moans coming from her mouth were any indication, it did.

Keg knew he should wait. Even if it was what they both wanted, it was too fast. She deserved a proper marriage ceremony, and he desperately wanted to honor her before his family. But she felt so good, smelled so good. All he could think of was tasting every luscious inch.

Just a little loving … they’d waited so long.

She didn’t protest when he feasted on her breasts. Instead she clutched his head and cried out for more. It didn’t help his logic. Logic flew out the window when he unlaced her pants and tasted her honey. The hands in his hair tightened and she screamed her pleasure to the night. Even when he slid two fingers into her and felt the evidence of her virginity, she didn’t stop him.

She was absolutely wild.

Feminine hips arched upward, begging for what he now knew she’d never tasted. Her nails scored his back, speaking in the most primitive manner of her feral pleasure.

Pity made him gentle his touch, attempt to gentle her. Pleasure in any form must have been scarce in these last years. No wonder she lost her restraint now.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped, though he doubted she knew what she was saying. “Please!”

“I won’t.” Though he would not take the selfish pleasure his body demanded. That he would save for his wedding night.

He placed a gentle kiss on her stomach as he continued to love her with his hands. Let her have this night.

Dey lay quivering when he finally released her from his lover’s spell. Nor did she protest when he carried her to the fire and the blanket he’d laid out. His body felt so right curled against hers, and she couldn’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t be there. Heaven was in his arms, and she intended to stay there as long as he let her. Drunk on love, she fell asleep.

* * * *

Dawn woke her, and Keg gave her new pleasure. His hands and lips made her wild and ready, then took her over the edge again and again. He demanded that she surrender all, yet when her hands moved over him, he captured them and placed them around his neck.

“Later,” he whispered. “I can’t stop myself if you love me now.”

Sometime later, she gasped, “Do you want to stop?”

His hands slowed, then soothed her back to a calmer state. “I have to take you back and marry you first.” He smiled at her as he brushed her hair back. “I want to do you that honor.”

Though she was too sated to get up, Dey hid her face against his chest. “Keg….”

“Tell me what the problem is and I’ll fix it.”

The uncertainty in his voice slayed her. “You do not want me.”

He whispered something naughty and a little raunchy in her ear.

She gasped and sat up. “What!”

Unrepentant, he smirked at her. “You heard me.” He mellowed. “It’s not my feelings in doubt, so don’t try to project your fears onto me. I’ll disappoint you.” He rose and hauled her to her feet, then grabbed his blanket and shook it out.

Annoyed at being managed, she raked her hands through her tangled hair, gave up, then tied it back with a thong. She’d probably scare elders and small children this morning, but it wasn’t her fault.

Keg was staring at her.

“What?” she asked defensively.

A slow, hot grin inched over his face as he scanned her. “I’m thinking about staying an extra day or two.”

She shoved him and went to sit on his sled.

Grumbling good-naturedly, he followed and stashed away his gear, then slung a leg over the machine.

“You did tell your brother to find you if you didn’t show up by noon,” she pointed out.

“I could send him back after he showed up.”

“Drive, Keg.”

“Slave driver,” he said with a smile in his voice.

They’d driven for a little while when he asked, “So what kind of dress do you want for your wedding?”

She sat up straighter. “I haven’t said I’ll marry you yet.”

“Yet? Why stall? Besides, I captured you, remember? And Beasts always marry the women they capture. If you look at it right, getting married will be all my fault.”

“That’s so soothing,” she said dryly.

“I’m happy to take all the blame,” he said generously. “Now, what’s your favorite color?”

Groaning silently, she shook her head. “I beat up your servants and tied up your mother. She’ll hate me.”

“You’re marrying me. She’ll love you.” He was silent for a moment. “We’ll get her a peace offering, just in case.”

“I won’t be a captive.”

Long moments passed. “I had hoped you’d want to stay with me, adajah,” he said softly.

Unfair! He had to know that the softness of that word wreaked havoc on her control. “What does that mean?”

“’One whom I admire, or adore’, and you’re dodging the subject. Do you or do you not care for me?” he demanded.

That wasn’t the issue. “You know I do, but--”

“No buts. We’re getting married. I’ll deal with your fears later. Sometime after the wedding night.”

Men! “Is that all you think about?”

He shot her a look of disbelief. “After the way you begged in my arms all night? Oh, yeah.”

“I don’t beg!”

“Baby, you do, and I have the scratches to prove it.”

She didn’t talk to him for the next twenty miles.

Keg’s mother was not wearing a smile when they pulled into the yard, but she wasn’t holding a gun, either.

Roac, who was checking something on his sled, presumably preparing to go after them, looked up and grinned. “Hello, brother. I was just getting ready to retrieve you. Glad to see she didn’t stab you and toss you in the swamp.”

Dey glowered at him. As a potential brother-in-law, he was not promising.

Apparently Keg agreed. “Careful how you speak of my future wife.” He helped Dey from the sled as if it were a grand conveyance and she were wearing silk instead of leather.

Roac’s brows shot up. Clearly Keg’s actions were unprecedented. “You must have come to terms while you were gone. So when’s the wedding?” He scrutinized the two of them closely.

“We haven’t decided,” Dey said repressively.

“Tomorrow,” Keg said at the same time. He stared her down. “She’s going to pick out a dress today.”

Dey nodded. “Good idea. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go hunt up a garment maker.” She turned away from the house and took one step.

And was snagged by the collar. Keg gave her a sarcastic smile. “Very funny. My mother will escort you.” He frowned. “And five or six of my brothers.”

Surprised, she said, “You have that many?”

“No, and since I don’t, I guess Roac will have to do.”

Dey appraised his big blond brother and grunted. He didn’t need more with that hulking Beast following her around.

Roac smiled pleasantly, not fooling her for a minute. She knew dangerous when she saw it.

“You’ll enjoy yourself, little sister. I know every embarrassing thing Keg’s ever done. As his future wife, it’s only fair that I fill you in,” Roac promised, wagging his brows evilly at his brother.

“And I’ll be there to make certain he doesn’t get out of hand,” their mother promised, halting Keg’s budding retort with a look. “We’ll leave after the meal.”

Dey was very surprised to meet Keg’s sisters at the table--all eight of them. She tried not to stare as she was introduce, but must have failed, for Vana laughed.

“The city is swarming with young ladies these days. We wives are expected to make up for the deficit from so many years of infertility.”

Eyes wide, Dey shot Keg a look.

Adopting an expression of innocence, he slung an arm around her and found them seats. “I like children.”

“I’m not having a herd of children, Keg. Believe it.” She shuddered. Motherhood material she was not. She could just imagine the chaos that would result if she attempted it.

Undercover of everyone sitting, he whispered in her ear, “Hey, you play, you pay.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I can forgo playing.”

Under the table, his hand slid up her thigh.

She inhaled forcefully.

“Oh, yeah, sweet thing. You have great self-control,” he mocked in her ear.

She bared her teeth at him. Unfortunately, Keg’s sister Amee, the oldest of the girls and a pretty brunette, distracted Dey from her revenge.

The fourteen-year-old bubbled with enthusiasm. “I’m so excited to finally meet you! We were so disappointed that we couldn’t last night. Keg’s been looking for you for years. It’s so romantic that he finally found his lost love.”

Dey raised her brows doubtfully.

Keg cleared his throat. “Ah, Amee--”

She dimpled at him. “I’m so excited about the wedding. I won’t be able to wed for another two years, but--”

“Two years?” Dey swiftly calculated, wondering if she’d misheard Amee’s age. “You’ll only be sixteen!”

“Our women mature much faster than yours,” Dagon interjected. “We are already considering potential suitors for her.”

“Though we might wait an extra year before we let her wed,” Vana said with a forceful look at her husband. This seemed to be an old argument.

“Can I go shopping with you, mother?” Amee pleaded, ignoring the strife. “You said yourself that I have excellent taste.” Immediately her sisters clamored to go as well.

Dey looked at Keg and whispered under the noise, “One baby. Maybe two. Anything else and I might have to geld you myself.”

He just smiled.

* * * *

Shopping was an adventure. Though understandably edgy about finding herself in the middle of a Beast city, Dey was awed by the number of tall, armored Beasts striding around the city, occasionally accompanied by timid, often veiled women. Occasionally she saw groups of young men or boys running about the paved streets, but no girls. Dressed as she was in her customary huntress garb, Dey received her share of stares.

“Why are they so timid?” she asked Roac, who was fully armored and scanning the street in a menacing manner.

It was Vana who answered. “It comes from the days when women were a rarity. Although there have been more of us … imported, many women still fear being snatched. You’ll notice how diligent their escorts are.”

“Are they made to wear veils?” Dey demanded, frowning so fiercely at a passing woman that she ducked her head and hastened past. The idea of subjugation didn’t suit her.

Vana half-smiled. “Those who cover up fear their beauty will make them more appealing targets. We often hide the least bit of attractiveness behind veils.”

Dey scanned Vana and Amee’s naked faces. “You’re pretty enough, and seem unafraid.” Dey was convinced that she herself would never where a veil. To her mind, there was little allure to hide.

With a fond glance at her son, Vana said, “We are too well-known to hide. Besides, a woman can rest easy when she has one of the house of Dagon guarding her.”

A grunt was Dey’s answer to that. She was well able to guard herself. “Your women should learn to carry arms if it’s so dangerous.”

“Many of us do,” Vana surprised her by saying. “Though male armor is hard to penetrate with small firearms.”

“Wear armor yourself, then, and learn the dirty tricks to take them down. My people managed it.” She ignored the scowls that earned her. Her point had been personal protection, not politics.

A moment later, that abstract argument became personal reality. A glance to her left, and she saw him. Dybell.

Trying to fade away, she slipped behind Roac, but it was too late. He’d spotted her.

“You!”

Her worst nightmare had three others with him, and Dey was never one to hide behind others. Racing for the sidewalk, she leapt up, grabbed the low wall above a shop front and swung up. Stone shattered over her shoulder as she dropped down flat. Swearing about her confiscated rifle, she crawled on her belly to the roof’s edge. Climbing claws formed around her fingers as the living metal of her symbiont shifted from her wrists to her hands. Undercover of the shouts below, she leapt up, twisted, and grabbed onto the rough stone blocks of the building, rapidly scaling them to the roof. Only when she was safely on top did she dare risk a peek. Roac was fighting Dybell’s companions.

Dybell was looking at her through the his rifle sight.

Stone shattered as Dey jerked away, running flat out. If Dybell had a hover sled handy, she was dead. She searched urgently for a place to hide.

It was just her luck to run into him here. Oh, she’d known the odds were good, for it was said there were few Beasts and fewer cities left. It made sense that he would get supplies here, but she hadn’t expected her first outing to end in such rotten luck. Men like him were the reason she hadn’t wanted to come to Keg’s city. She knew too many by sight--too many had died by her gun.

She spotted a rooftop door and sprinted to it. A sharp tug didn’t budge it, so she used the symbiont to flow into the lock, popping the mechanism. Flinging it open, she found herself in a dusty storeroom. There was old furniture, boxes, nothing of use except--Ah, hah! She spotted some curtains flung haphazardly over an old chair. Dust swirled in the air, and she sneezed as she flung one on, forming the enveloping robe so favored by Beast women. Careful to keep her head low, she hurried down the stairs, surprising the proprietor of the furniture shop on her way down.

“Just looking for a bathroom,” she explained. Before he could question her, she shot past him and into the street, joining the throng of women being rushed from the scene. Acting panicked, she hurried up to one group and their protector. “Help! I lost my escort!”

“Come with us!” one of the women said urgently. “Degalt and Rega will keep you safe.”

“Oh, thank you!” Dey gushed. Ideally, she would have gone back to help Roac, but common sense told her that she’d be of more use drawing Dybell away. If he was forced to look for her, he couldn’t stay and fight.

Grimly, she decided that she and Keg would have a long talk. She did not want to spend the rest of her life as a target.

Thanks to the generosity of her temporary protectors, Dey made it home quickly, but had to wait for Keg and his father to return. The servants told her that they’d rushed out in response to his mother’s distress call. Dey listened intently to the chief servant’s description of Beast communication devices and vowed to get one. No telling when it would come in handy.

Less than ten minutes later, Keg strode in. First he ran his hands over her, checking for injuries. Then he kissed her so vigorously she nearly swooned.

“What happened?” he demanded, breaking off as suddenly as he began. “Is Dybell an enemy of yours? What did you do to piss him off?”

Dazed from the rapid change of subject, she blinked. “Er … yes and everything?”

His eyes narrowed. “Define everything.”

“But what about your family? Are they all right? How’s Roac?”

“Bloody, but standing,” Roac answered for himself as he strode in the door. “And I’d like to know why I just got into a small war for you.” The women followed him in and stared at her, followed by Dagon.

Faced with an angry mob, Dey tried to smooth the waters. “I’m sorry I left you there to fight, Roac. I’d have gone back to help, but I figured it would be better to draw Dybell out after me.”

Angry color flushed Roac’s face. “You’d better never dare! If you ever put yourself back in danger after I got you out, I’ll spank you myself! Your job is to run.”

“You’d have to beat me to it,” Keg warned.

She frowned, confounded. The idea of letting others fight for her was alien. At least she didn’t have to worry that he thought her a coward.

“But you still haven’t said what Dybell has against you. Saints! It has to be bad. He’s signed his death warrant for firing on a woman--if he’s ever caught.”

She tensed. “He’s still out there?” A glance at the windows showed them to be too close. Cautiously, she moved deeper into the room.

“Nothing he has can penetrate the protection on those windows,” Keg assured her. “Not that he’ll escape for long. Harming a woman, or attempting to, is punishable by death here. But you still have something to tell us.” He took her arm and led her into the family room. Servants came running with medical supplies and helped his mother to clean Roac up.

Dey watched for a moment, then looked away. “I used his soldiers as my private hunting ground. After I witnessed him sacking one village, I felt he deserved it.”

“What happened?” Keg looked at her intently, as if he could see inside her head.

Without looking at him, she crossed her arms. Her thumb moved slowly back and forth over one bicep. “I don’t know how you Beasts make war, what rules you use, if any, but what I saw of him inspired hate. There were no prisoners taken, male or female. Most of the men were slaughtered outright, and the women died slowly. The children were killed as they found them.” She looked at him, through him. “I hunted his men like animals, and didn’t cry over the bodies. When I was done, only three men still rode with him.”

She looked at him then, deadly ice in her gaze. “If I’d had a rifle today, I would have finished him off.”

Keg drew a deep breath but didn’t flinch from her gaze. “Normally, only men are killed. The women are rounded up and taken home. Unhurt.”

She stared at him. “And the children?”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “The females are kept. The boys are shot.”

She looked away. It hurt, but at least he hadn’t lied. In spite of what she’d said, she knew full well how Beasts made war.

“It will go the worse for him for firing on an unarmed women,” Roac said, gritting his teeth from the pain of his wound. “You’re Keg’s now, and the council will never stand for him shooting at you.”

It was too much. Dey turned away, walked purposely from the room.

“Where are you going?” Keg made no move to chase her … yet.

“To rest. I’ve had a busy day.”

Vana looked up from Roac for the first time. “I’ll walk you to your room.”

Not bothering to protest, for Vana looked determined, Dey set her jaw and braced herself for a verbal assault, fully expecting to be denounced in the most hurtful way possible. Many in Vana’s position would feel they had the right.

Instead, they walked in silence for a bit. Spotting a stray silk scarf belonging to one of her daughters, Vana scooped it up with a smile. “So many children, so little time.”

Forcing herself to make small talk, Dey nodded, aware that her expression was grimmer than the subject warranted. “All those daughters and only two sons.”

“I used to have more,” Vana said softly. “Your people are fierce fighters.”

Dey slowed to a halt, facing the woman. Hate she could deal with. This soft hurt was something else. She searched Vana’s eyes, wondering when the condemnation would come.

Instead, she saw compassion and a desire for peace.

“The war is all but over, Dey. Don’t let it live inside of you. Don’t lend it immortality in your heart.” She nodded in a little farewell, then left, her daughter’s scarf draped forlornly over her arm like a banner of mourning.

Lost brothers, lost sons. In all the bloody fighting, could Dey honestly say she’d lost anyone she loved?

* * * *

Keg watched Dey go, trailing invisible blood.

It hurt. The last thing he’d wanted for her was more pain. He couldn’t take away the last few years, but he wanted to fade them.

As the son of a Beast leader, he’d grown up knowing how desperate their people were, how slim his chances of ever having a wife were. Vana had been a welcome edition into his life, for his own mother had not wanted him, the least of her many sons. She’d adopted him, and he’d grown up treasuring what so many young men lacked.

When the fruit that allowed for the birth of daughters was discovered, he’d known it would still be many years before he could hope for a union. As a boy, it hadn’t mattered so much. As a man, it had galled him to see the Symbionts refuse the generous offers to purchase the land where the plant grew. He’d gone to war freely, unwilling to let his people die. He’d had the privilege to serve under good men, and had risen to be a leader. Efficient and a skilled warrior, he’d ensured that the women and children his men captured were treated with care--or as much care as could be expected under the brutal conditions. While sickened at the waste, he’d dispatched what men and boys remained with swift mercy. As hardened as they were against the Beasts, they would have only grown into a fresh crop of enemies, spawned new wars.

The brutal work had aged him in spirit. It had been a relief when he’d been reassigned to investigate Dey and Luna. Dey had been a welcome surprise, and her village, so far from the ravages of war, had refreshed him. He’d been so glad to meet her that way, where the armor he wore wouldn’t kill her attraction.

And then she’d been exiled into the heart of the war.

“Don’t dwell on what you can’t change,” his father advised, quietly putting a hand on Keg’s shoulder. He could still move silently after all these years. “Give her new memories, powerful ones. And if need be, apologize.” He grimaced. “There’s not a woman born who won’t find favor with that.”

Smiling at his father’s attempt at humor--Beast men never apologized for wars or winning wars--Keg nodded. His problems weren’t solved, but it was good to know that other men had faced them and prevailed.

He waited long enough to honor her need for privacy, then sought her out.

She was in her quarters, gazing at the stars, wearing a pensive expression.

He took her hand, kissed her knuckles, and slowly brought it to his cheek. “Am I going to have to let you go, Dey?” he asked softly. It would never happen, but he needed to hear her answer, to know where they stood.

She looked back at the moons. “As if you would.” She was silent for a little while. “My father was a chieftain’s son.”

He frowned, wondering where this was going. “I didn’t know.”

“No one knew. He ran away from the settlement he was raised in to escape punishment for his crimes, dragging my mother and me behind him.” She paused reflectively. “He didn’t love her. He just liked to have someone he could intimidate. I tried to stay out of the way.”

Keg stroked her hair away from her face. “I’m sorry.”

“He beat her. No one knew, because her symbiont healed her right after.” She laughed without humor. “Did you know that? A symbiont is the perfect tool to hide abuse. Mother used it often.”

Defiant now, she faced him. “Over and over I heard women like Megin say of Beast atrocities, ‘A Symbiont man would never do that’.” She sneered. “I saw our men do worse. My father did worse. A man should protect what is his, not fling his woman against the wall and beat her beyond recognition. Our men are not gods,” she finished bitterly.

Somehow he was missing the point of her argument. Since it seemed to be part of the battle she was waging within herself, he concentrated on what he could do, which was slide an arm around her waist. Anything more and he sensed she would pull away. “Did he hit you, adajah?” he asked softly, hoping it was not true.

She bowed her head. “He never even saw me. He’d wanted a son, and I wasn’t that, so he played as if he didn’t know I existed. Of course, I was bright enough to run when he was in a hitting mood.” She didn’t protest when his arms tightened around her, merely sighed as if her fight was done and rested her head against his chest. “I am no traitor for choosing a Beast man over my own kind.”

Ah. Now he understood. “Do you choose me?”

“I’m thinking about it,” she said grumpily. “Compared to my father, you’re a saint.”

If she was trying to overlook his bloody past, he was more than willing to let her. “I have always wanted you, Dey. Even when I wasn’t supposed to. You have no idea how hard it was to walk that fine line. I needed to do my duty, to spy on you, yet I wanted you too. I didn’t care about your silly laws about waiting until a woman hits her ‘maturity’. You were ready in my eyes, but I couldn’t take what I wanted, not while I was still deceiving you.” He growled in remembered frustration. “That day on the boat, when you were going through the Change … that scrap of black silk you were wearing over your swollen breasts … I wanted to rip it off and lick your breasts until you begged me to make you mine.”

She swallowed hard. “You did stare.”

He looked at her in disbelief. “With that humidity, it looked as if it were painted on. I could see your nipples….” Lust made him stare at the breasts in question. Sweet memory reminded him how well they fit in his mouth. By the look in her eyes, she was feeling heated herself.

It was time. Too many wasted years had come between him. War had taught him that life was too uncertain, and never to take such moments for granted. Suddenly he was afraid to wait one more minute.

Before she could tell him no, he’d swept off her shirt and cupped her naked breasts in his hands. Her moan as he took one jutting nipple into his mouth only encouraged him. Pinching the other, he enjoyed the softness of her skin and pebbled texture against his tongue. So sweet….

“Mine!” he growled the word against her mouth as he lifted her, kissing her with sweet promise. Instinct had taken over. It was time to finish this.

In ancient times, a warrior first claimed his woman, then joined his friends and family to celebrate the union. There were no elaborate ceremonies, only the promises exchanged in the heat of the night, solemn words of passion and love. He gave them to her now, laying her on the bed amidst a torrent of heartfelt words he’d been waiting a lifetime to utter.

Dey heard them. Even through the haze of pleasure, she understood the foreign words, for she’d made it her business to know her enemy’s tongue. A tongue that was feverishly trailing over her skin, exciting her passion as he slayed her heart with a lover’s vows.

“Adajah, my queen. I will possess you, and you will hold me forever. I will love you with body, mind, and heart. Mother of my children, my lost soul….”

She couldn’t concentrate. Naked, she writhed on the bed, returning his wild kisses, clutching his back and arms with hands and nails. And when he mounted her--

“Aiiee!”

Embedded to the hilt, he reared back. “I’m sorry--”

Stilling his lips with her fingers, she waited as her symbiont flowed down from her wrists to the site of her injury, healing the burning.

Keg gasped, then laughed. “That tickles!”

She giggled, wiggling a little as the living metal flowed back to its accustomed place. “Welcome to a Symbiont husband’s first bedding. Had you possessed your own symbiont, they would have come together and … um, let’s just say it’s supposed to be very pleasurable.” By the heat in her cheeks, she was blushing. His purr made her tremble, for she felt it where they were joined. She shifted with longing.

“Hm. I didn’t think I was doing so bad, even without a symbiont. But just so you have no complaints….” He began to move in a way that soon had her gasping for more. Pleasure built in waves, and she cried out as she climaxed, nearly blacking out from the pleasure of it. His matching cry of pleasure was smothered against her neck.

For a long moment, she simply enjoyed his weight. Then, “Keg, you’re crushing me.”

He grunted and rolled over, bringing her to rest on top. “Demanding wench.” He smiled as he said it.

“Me? One moment I’m talking and the next you’re taking me in some alien wedding ceremony. I have a feeling your mother will be furious.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll marry you again tomorrow with all the trimmings and show you public honor. I want my family to know I’m going to do this properly.”

She tapped his naked chest. “This is proper?” She barely caught the hot gleam in his eye before he rolled her on her stomach and took her from behind.

“This is proper,” he said in a rough whisper. “You under me. Me inside you. Don’t you agree?”

“Ohh….” It was the last coherent thing she said in a very long time.

* * * *

Roac was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching Dey’s room. He raised a brow when Keg stepped out early that morning. “You might have turned off the sensors before you spent the night with her. Lucky thing for you I got to the logs first or our mother would have your head.”

Keg froze for a moment, then relaxed. “I thank you. I’m happy to say the formal wedding today should make up for it, if she ever suspects.”

“Hm.” Roac fell into step with him. “How was it?” There was a touch of wistfulness in the question. Roac would never know until he took a wife, and he’d yet to meet a woman who qualified.

Unable to hide his satisfaction, Keg just smiled. “Everything you’re hoping for, and then some.” He was amazed he was up as early as he was. If it hadn’t been for his growling stomach, he never would have left his bed. Three times they’d made love last night, and the minute he got back to bed with a snack, he planned on a forth.

Ruefully, he acknowledged that Dey had an advantage over him in that. Thanks to her symbiont, she never suffered from soreness. Unlike her, he was going to have to pace himself more carefully, but in the meantime, he wasn’t going to complain about a minor inconvenience.

“Keg, are you listening to me?”

Jerked out of his pleasant thoughts, Keg grunted impatiently. “Eh?”

“Try to pay attention to more than your libido for a minute. I just told you that Dybell was seen outside the city. He eluded his pursuers, but it’s only a matter of time until he’s caught. At least this way you’ll know he’s out of the city for your wedding.”

“All the more reason to get it over with soon. Security at large functions is always difficult.” There was no sense in taking chances when Dey’s life was a stake.

Their father, always an early riser, met them on the way to the dinning room. He took one look at Keg’s ruffled hair and sleepy eyes, then leaned over and sniffed inches from Keg’s face. Frowning at his youngest son, he said sternly, “Either you’ve taken to wearing a very interesting cologne, or you’ve been with a woman.”

Keg’s cheeks heated. He tried to ignore his brother, who was choking on his laughter. It took a lot to look his father in the eye without fidgeting like a boy caught in serious mischief. “I made Dey my wife last night.”

Dagon cocked a brow. “Unorthodox. You couldn’t wait one more day?” Under the sternness, laughter lurked.

Keg cleared his throat. “No.”

“Hm. I suggest we not tell your mother. She’s gone through a lot of trouble to plan your wedding. A public celebration wouldn’t hurt.” He slung a companionable arm around his son and accompanied him into the dinning room.

Roac, still snickering, brought up the rear.

Dagon looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Be careful, Roac. You never know when the woman for you will come to your attention. We’ll see then if you have any more restraint than your brother.”

* * * *

Dey was only half awake when Keg entered her. Still slick from their last loving, she smiled. A woman could get used to his methods of rousing her. “Hm … mornings seem to suit you, love,” she said in a husky purr.

He mumbled something naughty and nipped her ear. “Call it compensation for a very long wait. I can’t get enough of you.”

Much later, Dey rolled back over, tempted to fall asleep again in spite of her hunger. Repeated nudging by Keg changed her mind. “Okay, I’m moving! Mercenary.”

“Grouch,” he said affectionately. He nibbled her shoulder. “I tried to sneak us up some breakfast, but my family is up and nosy. We’ll have to go down.”

She grunted, reluctantly got up and pulled on her clothes. “I hate mornings.”

Keg slung an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. “It doesn’t show.”

Grumpy from lack of sleep, Dey glowered at the world in general, refusing to be cowed by the speculative looks from her husband’s family. As far as she was concerned, their wedding was accomplished, but if Keg wanted a big party to go with it, that was fine with her. Symbionts liked to party.

“Are you going to be my aunt?”

Dey blinked at Keg’s second-to-youngest sister, Gem. The little girl had entered the room and run straight to Dey, and now stared hopefully at her in the most disarming fashion. “If I were, I suppose it would be my job to spoil you.” She smiled and lifted the child to her lap. “So tell me, what do I have to do to spoil you?” To her surprise, the little girl crooked her finger, signaling Dey to bend her head.

“I want a jewel bird,” she whispered in Dey’s ear.

Dey smiled at her, suspecting that she’d fallen into a well-baited trap. “A jewel bird? That sounds pretty.”

“They are!” Gem said eagerly.

“They can also be temperamental. We’re not certain she’s ready for one,” Vana, who’d herded the children in, said with a stern look at her daughter as she joined Dagon at the head of the table. It seemed to be a sore subject.

“I’ll take good care of it,” Gem said earnestly, looking at Dey.

“It’s a big responsibility,” Vana replied. She did not look thrilled.

“Hm.” Dey thought about it. Fingering Gem’s glossy dark hair, she said, “What pretty hair you have, Gem. Do you brush it all by yourself?”

“Sometimes.” She smiled shyly.

Dey grinned at her. “And what pretty teeth. I bet your mother never needs to tell you to clean them, they sparkle so much.”

Gem giggled. “Never.” She glanced at her mother. “Well, sometimes.”

Laughing, Dey rubbed noses with her. “And such a clean face you have there. It shines so much, I bet you wash it all the time, without anyone telling you to.”

Sheepish now, Gem said, “Um.”

Dey sat back and looked at her. “I tell you what. Your mother doesn’t think you’re very responsible yet. What do you think you can do to change her mind?”

Face scrunched in thought, Gem didn’t seem to be having any inspirations.

Happy to help, Dey prompted, “I bet if you cleaned your teeth, brushed your hair and washed your face all by yourself, without anyone telling you for a whole month, that your mother might think you were pretty responsible. Maybe even responsible enough for her to think about letting you have a jewel bird.” She glanced at Vana, who was frowning at them, but in a fond way.

“I can do that!” Gem bounced on Dey’s lap, eager to get started.

“You can’t miss a single day,” Dey warned sternly. “If you can’t take good care of yourself, how will you ever be able to take care of a pet?”

“I can do it! I promise I can,” Gem said earnestly.

“Very well. We’ll see how you do. If you can do all that for a month, then I suppose you’ll have to start paying for the bird. I have a feeling that jewel birds are very expensive.”

Gem’s face fell. “But I don’t have any money.”

Dey shook her head. “Jewel birds don’t cost money. They cost flowers.”

“Flowers?”

“Yes. A flower every day at dinner time, right here on my plate. Thirty flowers, really nice ones, with no bugs. Can you do that?”

Excited again, Gem bounced. “Oh, yes! I can get lots of flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. Mama has a big garden, and we can go to the park and pick flowers, too. I love you, Aunt Dey!” She flung herself at Dey, locking her in a chokehold.

Unaccustomed to the gesture, Dey’s eyes rounded. Gingerly, she returned the favor, carefully patting the girl’s back. A little hoarsely, she added, “Um. Thank you. Just remember, if you do forget, it starts all over from the beginning next month.”

Blaming the prickling of her eyes on a dust mote, Dey patted the girl again and then sent her back to her seat.

“Nicely done,” Keg whispered in her ear. “Gem’s been begging for a bird for months now. You just made a friend for life.”

Dey colored. It had been a little enough thing.

Gem bounced in her chair and chattered at her mother. “Can we go to the park today? I want to find Aunt Dey the biggest flower in the whole world. Aunt Dey’s never seen the park. Pleeeeease?”

Vana sent her a fond, long-suffering look. “If you be quiet during breakfast, I will think about it.”

Delighted, Gem bounced some more. “I’ll be the quietest person at the whole table. Watch!” She shut her lips tight and looked around to make certain everyone was watching.

Lips quirking, Vana said, “Thank you, Gem.” She looked at Dey. “I understand the wedding is to be tonight. If you’d like to go with Keg to pick out your robes, then I will see to the rest. Perhaps when you are done you could pick up Gem and take her to the park?”

Dey shrugged. It wasn’t as if her schedule was overflowing, and she was too sleepy and sated to do more than pleasantly contemplate her day. Whatever bridal jitters she might have had had already been dealt with. “Sure. We can do that.”

It wasn’t until later, when she was yawing on the way to the garment maker’s, that she thought to ask about the wedding itself. Glancing out the windows of the armored, chrome hover-car, she asked, “So, what happens during your wedding ceremonies? I assume there’s food and music and such.”

Keg leaned back against the seat and grinned. Dressed in full amour, as were most of the men in public, he looked every inch the conquering male. “We walk down an aisle and get married in a booth.”

“Oh.” She smothered a yawn, wishing she could either wake up or take a nap. “Sounds simple enough.” She glanced out the window and missed the smile of anticipation Keg sent her way.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said with relish.

Intrigued by the husky note in his voice, she glanced at him, but chose not to comment.

They picked out two wedding robes of exactly the same size. Both covered Dey to the ankles. Made of a rich burgundy material, his sported a tasseled sash and beautiful gold embroidery. Although she liked his robe the best, he talked her into a red, blue and gold brocade with a tasseled gold sash.

“Trust me, you’ll want the stronger colors,” he assured her, exchanging a grin with the male shop keeper.

Refusing to be baited, she eyed the two of them and refused to ask. Whatever it was couldn’t be that bad.

Afterward, they picked up his little sister and took her to a lovely old park. Absolutely bursting with pink blossoms, stately trees ringed the place, providing shade and fragrance. Although flowerbeds ringed the place, there was plenty of open space for children to roam, and play sets were set up in one section.

“Now you stay here,” Gem instructed Dey. “Keg has to help me find the perfect flower, but don’t worry, we won’t be far. Don’t wander off.” It sounded like something Gem’s mother might have said to her, and often.

Chuckling, Dey obediently sat on a stone bench.

With a helpless grin, Keg let himself be dragged off a little ways to hunt flowers. “I’ll keep an eye on her,” he assured Gem. With a wink for Dey, he took Gem’s hand more firmly in his and led the way.

Dey rested her arms on the back of the bench and looked around. Some women were walking in the park, escorted by several armored Beast guards. Other men, some with their helmets retracted, were talking to some of the women. To her surprise, Dey recognized some of them. One of them was Megin.

Megin caught sight of her and hurried over. She must have caught the fond looks being passed between Keg and Dey, because she slowed as she neared them. An expression of disdain contorted her features. She stopped and stared defiantly at Dey.

“He’s a killer, you know,” Megin said.

Dey followed her rabid gaze to Keg, who leaned casually against a tree, talking with a man who’d joined him, perhaps a friend. Since their rush down this morning she hadn’t had any time to talk to him. It had been a good excuse to delay talking, but nothing kept her from thinking. There was so much to consider, and Megin’s acid comments didn’t help. No one had missed his appearance with her this morning, and from the hot, possessive looks he kept sending her they could surmise what had passed between them in the night.

“He’s a warrior,” Dey said slowly, turning her attention back to the irate woman who presumed to judge her. Megin never changed. “Should he apologize for being a good one?”

“He killed our men!”

“And we killed Beast men,” Dey said, out of patience. Saints, but she wished that woman would do the world a favor and fall down a dark hole.

“In self-defense! If you give in, you’re a traitor,” Megin challenged. Her chin went up another notch, as if she thought it would add to her authority.

Dey blinked calmly at her. “I’m a captured woman. A captured woman has no choices. Hence, how can I be a traitor? A warrior knows when to lay down arms. A woman knows when to open them.”

Megin’s eyes narrowed. “Just because you’re slut enough to lie with him--” She broke off as her gaze went fearfully, rebelliously, over Dey’s shoulder.

A warm hand slid casually through Dey’s hair and a hard male hip bumped her shoulder as Keg joined them, Gem trailing uncertainly behind.

“Is there a problem?” Keg asked.

With one last fulminating look, Megin left them alone. The others who’d accompanied her pretended not to see them.

“You’re not making this easy,” Dey chided him. She made no move to remove his hand.

“No, it’s very hard,” he agreed amicably. He kissed her. “Call if you need me.”

Dey watched him walk away, her mind made up. Whether he knew it or not, he’d just won over the last of her resistance. It was time.

I accept your troth and give you mine. You are my husband. As long as you live, I will have no other. The unspoken words brought a rush of pleasure and relief. By her customs they were not fully married until she acknowledged it. It felt right to do so now. Whatever the future held for them, they could make it. Megin had reminded her of just how little she was giving up by joining Keg. So long as they never discussed politics, as long as they kept the focus on themselves as husband and wife, they would be all right.

Some things were just meant to be.

* * * *

“Are you nervous?”

Dey glanced over her shoulder as Vana finished weaving her hair. “No. I like parties.”

Vana laughed. “About the marriage?”

“In my heart, it is done,” Dey said simply. Throughout all her many concerns, it had never been Keg himself that had troubled her. How they might deal with those around them, yes, but never how it would be between them. He was a good man.

Vana began inserting gem-studded pins into the woven locks. “I see. I’m glad for you, then. I think it will work out well for you. I wish I’d been as calm during my wedding.”

Dey turned in her chair to look at Vana’s wistful smile. It was clear she was remembering her own wedding. “Tell me about it. You were a captured woman, too, weren’t you? What part of the swamp did you come from?”

Eyes sparkling, Vana straightened Dey’s lapels. “No part you would know of. In fact, I come from a bit farther away than that. Once you and Keg are settled, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Dey opened her mouth to ask a question but was cut off by a knock.

Roac poked his head inside. “We’re ready.”

Keg was waiting for her outside the door the dressing room. His eyes lit up when he saw her. As he offered her his arm, he leaned over to whisper, “You look beautiful.”

Cheeks heated with pleasure, she smiled back. “You look a lot better out of your amour than in. I’m going to have to steal that robe of yours now and then.”

His eyes heated. “You’ll get the chance sooner than you think.” Side by side, they walked down the flower-strewn path of the counsel chamber, flanked on each side by seated drummers. The beat started out solemn and grew more brash, cumulating in a rapid drum roll as they came to a stop before Dagon. Vana and their family stood off to the side, beaming.

To Dey’s surprise, Dagon said nothing, merely stood witness as four men, Roac among them, came forward with poles and brocade drapes. The drums grew loud and the crowd buoyant as Keg took her hands and grinned. “As soon as they finish setting up the booth around us, we exchange robes. We aren’t properly wed until we’ve finished the exchange.”

Her eyes widened and dropped to the front of his robe. Judging by the naked slice of chest visible through his parted lapels, he was wearing as little as she was underneath. Now she understood why Vana had told her not to wear undergarments.

She shot a look at the crowd, highly embarrassed. “Keg….”

“It’s tradition. No one will see,” he soothed her, all the time wearing the most wolfish smile she’d ever seen.

It was too late to protest. With a naughty grin, Roac winked at her and put the final panel in place, shutting them in. The drums roared.

Resigned to the silly ceremony, Dey grabbed her belt, determined to make the switch in record time. To her surprise, Keg swept her up and gave her a mind-boggling kiss.

“What--” she protested.

“Shh. It’s tradition. Your job is to get the robes switched. Mine is to see how long I can distract you.” So saying, he sizzled her with another kiss, sliding his hand inside her robe to caress one breast.

Moaning, she tried to dislodge his hand, but it merely slid deeper into her robe, caressing her ribs and hip. Cheat! Tearing her lips away, she gave up on his hands and undid her belt, intending to let her robe fall.

Instead, he caught it and drew it back and forth over her body as he slowly lowered it, sinking to his knees as he did so, trailing kisses.

Panicked, she grabbed his head, hampered by the robe dangling over her wrists. “Oh, Keg, no! You--oooh….” There was something erotic about being enclosed in complete privacy, yet knowing that there was a boisterous crowd just outside, cheering him on. Meanwhile, his naughty tongue lapped between her wet folds, making her ache with pleasure. For long moments she could only enjoy, undulating against his mouth in mindless delight.

Too her shock, Keg seemed to like it too much. He opened his robe. Eyes glowing wickedly, he suddenly lay her down on her robe and mounted her. Shocked, she gasped as he slid home, grinning like a conquering raider.

“That’s it love. Take your pleasure. Be my wife.” He slid her legs higher around his waist, rubbing against her with devastating results. Swallowing her climactic scream into his mouth, he gave her his own release. Allowing them only seconds to enjoy the afterglow, he pulled her to her wobbly feet and helped her on with his robe.

“What if the curtains had fallen?” she panted, unable to quite focus.

He grinned as he donned her robe and tied the sash. “I’m good, sweetheart, but not that good.” Giving her a quick kiss, he added more seriously, “My best men would never let that happen; first as friends, and second, because dropping the curtains is punishable by death.” He wiggled his brows, wrapped an arm around her waist and opened the curtain.

A deafening roar of approval met their emergence.

Blushing to the roots of her hair, Dey turned her face into Keg’s sleeve, shaking her head in embarrassed laughter as he squeezed her.

Mischief sparkling in his eyes, he said kindly, “Well, wife, we--”

Those were his last words. In a quick blast of laser fire, Keg was taken from her as surely as if he’d never been.

Chapter 6

Chaos erupted into the room as the guards on duty returned fire. Dey dropped over Keg’s body, shielding it with her own as women screamed and men cursed. Someone--likely Dagon or Roac--stood over her, firing a weapon and shouting orders.

She saw none of it. Keg’s head was a mess, and she didn’t have much time. The shot had been a little off. If not for a bad aim, he would be dead.

The symbiont on her arms didn’t like it, but she overrode its natural reluctance to touch Keg with her own fierce will. “Do it!” she growled at it, unwilling to let her man die.

Slowly, it oozed out to touch Keg’s head, then shuddered. It withdrew.

“Do it!” she roared at it, directing all her will to see her man healed.

Trembling, the creature did as directed. Dey saw the tissue knit even as her own strength fled. He was going to live….

“No!” Roac saw what she was doing and jerked her away. “No, Dey! Stop it!”

She fought him desperately but was too weak. “I have to save him!”

“You’ll kill yourself! Let the medics save him.”

“I can’t--”

He got in her face. “Keg would rather die than let you come to harm. You’re pale as death, Dey! It’ll kill you.” More calmly, he tried to reason with her. “Your symbiont can’t mesh with our bodies. It’s been tried.”

“I was doing it….” She tried to peer around him to see the crowd of medics now swarming her husband, but could no longer hold her head up. “Keg….”

Cursing, Roac swung her up in his arms. “We’ll follow them. Saint’s know you need a medic, too.”

Whatever else he said was lost to darkness.

* * * *

The urge to pace was killing her. Only the lingering weakness--she would never let Roac know how close she was to falling over--kept her in her waiting room chair. Dagon was there, too, having left Vana home to care for their daughters.

“What is taking so long?” Dey growled, glaring at the surgeon’s door. “He was next thing to healed.”

Roac sent her a narrow-eyed look. “You closed his head and kept him breathing. It doesn’t mean he was healed.” He looked at her closely. “You’re too pale. I’ll take you back to bed.”

“Lay a hand on me and I’ll cut it off,” she warned him in a deadly tone. “I’m not moving until I get word from the healers.” Ignoring his contemptuous glance at her slack symbiont, which was still a sickly green in spite of her blood transfusion, she fixed her determined stare back on the door. Coming as she did from a race accustomed to healing themselves, she held healers in low regard. The idea of taking someone else’s blood into her veins was barbaric and gruesome, but no one had asked her opinion, and she’d been too weak to fight. It angered her now to be barred from Keg’s side while his people did who-knew-what barbaric things to him, but Roac had physically blocked her from the following the healers into Keg’s room. Badly as she’d wanted to move him, she’d been too weak.

Finally, when she’d been just about to storm the operating room, the healer came out--and shook his head.

Unwilling to wait for the fool to speak, she stalked past him. He wisely didn’t follow.

Keg was lying very still on a bed, a bandage around his head. Frantic, she felt the rise and fall of his chest. Thank God, they hadn’t killed him! She looked over her shoulder to tell Roac as much and caught his grim expression.

“What?” she asked warily. “He still lives.”

The tension did not leave his face. “His mind is gone, Dey. The damage is too bad. It will be kinder to let him go.”

Shocked, she stood protectively before Keg’s body. Never had she heard such heresy! Surely these Beast were more bizarre than she’d imagined. What would he tell her next, that they ate their dead? “Are you deaf? He lives! I can heal him.”

A frightening determination settled on his face. “Not at the cost of your life. I know my brother. Keg would never countenance that. We have no choice.”

It was murder. He was talking about murdering his brother. Sickness swirled in her belly. Her people would never let a family member go like that. “I said I can heal him!”

Roac stepped forward. “Not at the cost of your life!” he shouted. “My brother may be all but dead, but I will protect his interests. You are his interest. I will not let harm come to you--not while I live.”

An ugly suspicion clouded her vision. “Just how good of care are you planning of taking of me, Roac? If you let him die, your brother’s bed is the last place you’ll sleep.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Don’t flatter yourself that I would trade you for Keg, girl. I want my brother back, but I’ll not see him linger here, unable to function. Such a thing is every man’s idea of hell, and I’d expect him to do the same service for me. And don’t say you’ll heal him again. We’ve been through that.”

She took a deep breath and looked away, thinking furiously. There were options. There had to be.

An idea came to her and she looked quickly back at Roac. “You keep harping on my health. Very well, if that’s the case, I know of a way to heal him and myself afterward. We’ll just go back to the swamp, find my great symbiont, bring it back here and—why are you shaking your head?”

“You’re forgetting Dybell. He’s out there, just waiting for a chance like this.”

She looked at him a little desperately, then at his father, who had been standing there the whole time, silently listening. “I’ll dress as one of you, wear the Beast armor, everything. He’ll never know I’m there, I’ll be able to get the symbiont, come back, heal Keg, and live happily ever after.” When they just looked at her, she came close to begging. Come on! Don’t you care about his life?

The medic entered and cleared his throat. “If you are prepared now, I’m ready to shut off the life support.”

Dey followed his gaze to the tubes and wires coming out of Keg. Horrible things, but if they were keeping him alive…. She stepped in front of the doctor, ready to take him apart if he moved. “Touch him and I’ll kill you.”

He regarded her warily. “It is not our custom to—”

She stepped into his space. “Turn off those machines and I will disembowel you. I have slaughtered Beasts before for killing my people. I tell you now—Keg is my family. Defy me and die.” The words could have seemed melodramatic had they not been so cold, so low. She might have been weak, but she would grow stronger, find this man, and strew his guts all over the streets. The warning must have registered, because he backed down.

Dagon stepped forward. “Dey—” By his tone, he was going to be “reasonable”.

She’d had it with reason. “I’m going to put my own guard on him, then I’m going to go to the swamps and get my great symbiont. Anyone who gets in my way will be flattened.”

A spark of respect glimmered in Dagon’s eyes. “I see. And who is it you plan to stand guard over him? I doubt your own people will be helpful here, and Keg’s friends believe as we do.”

He had her there. Most of the symbionts here would be glad to watch Keg die. And those from her old village … her eyes lit up. There was someone! Even better, if he came, she wouldn’t have to leave Keg’s side, wouldn’t have to slog through the swamps hoping to find her symbiont cycle as she tried to avoid getting eaten. But would he be willing to do her a favor for Keg’s sake?

Decision made, she faced Dagon and dared him to contradict her. “Are you willing to send to Armetris, his cousin? If he will come, he can certainly heal Keg. He won’t linger in a coma, and I’ll get my man back. All it will cost you is a little time.”

“It will be expensive,” the healer interjected. “These machines cost a fortune to run….” He trailed off at her killing look.

“You’ll get paid,” Dey told him frostily. “It’s a small price to pay for a life. Now get out of here. I’m no longer interested in your babble.”

Casting an angry look at the room at large, the medic left.

Dagon smiled at her. “All right, daughter. I’ll send your message. Let us all hope that Armetris can do what you think.”

“He will.” Dey promised. He had to.

* * * *

Armetris was delayed. For three long days Dey never left Keg’s side. She watched Keg and Roac watched her. It got old.

“I could just heal him and end this boredom,” she offered, watching him through half-lowered lids. The seat on the chair she used was hard, so she’d stuffed a pillow under her rear and tilted her chair back on two legs to help keep herself awake. Not that she thought Roac would dash across the room and pull the life machine plug, but…. No sense taking chances.

He snorted and continued to tinker with the machine he had apart on a small table. “I noticed you really loved your blood transfusion. Keep it up. If you try it often enough, you won’t have a drop of original blood in your body.” He gave her an evil grin.

Quelling her roiling stomach, she glowered at him. “Very funny. We Symbionts should have annihilated you while we had the chance.”

“You tried--and failed,” he taunted her with a superior smile. Thoughtfully scratching his back with his blunt-ended tool, he remarked, “I’ll give you points for loyalty, though--once you’ve acknowledged your conquerors.” He nodded at his brother.

Knowing he was provoking her, but irritable enough to take the bait, she groused, “I didn’t have to get myself captured, flea-brain. I chose him.”

“Nice of you to admit to it,” he said with a smile, visibly relaxing more than she’d seen since the shooting. “His mother wasn’t nearly as willing to adapt.”

“His mother? Vana--”

“Is not his birth mother. She adopted him when he was a half-grown mongrel, along with me and Dagon’s little brothers.”

Confused, she tried to work it out. “Dagon’s … wait. How could she adopt her brothers-in-law?”

“Long story.” He waved his hand.

Determined to sort that out later, she got back to the most important question. “Tell me about Keg’s mother.”

Roac ran his thumb over his implement, frowning. “She was a mean one. Keg’s father captured her before the idea became popular. No one interfered with them, since he treated her well, but she hated all things alien, especially Keg’s father, and later, Keg.

She refused to nurse him or care for him at all, leaving him in the care of his father’s servants. When Keg’s father was killed, she ran away, back to her people.”

The story hurt, and she could easily see it happening. Feeling sad for him, she stroked Keg’s hand. “What was her name?”

“Mekin? Mugin?” He shrugged.

“Megin?” Dey took a deep breath, expelling it slowly. Ay! To have such a mother. She could see Megin doing such a thing, and the name was an uncommon one. “You take a horrible risk, stealing women for wives. What if more of them react like Megin?”

“Extinction is a bigger threat,” he said, as obstinate as all the Beast were over the issue. Maybe he thought they had no choice.

Maybe he was right.

Refusing to be drawn into the issue, she tamped down on her instinctive antagonism and cleared her throat, intending to query Roac about his adopted brothers.

A knock sounded on the door. At the sound of their relieved greeting, Vana poked her head in. The shadows under her eyes attested to her own lack of sleep. “May I join you?”

“Please.” Roac hastily deserted his chair and offered it to his mother. “Have a seat. I’ll go find you refreshments. You look starved.” He nearly trampled her in his haste to be away.

Vana laughed as the door shut behind him with a muffled bang. “You’re getting to each other, aren’t you?”

“Only every other minute,” Dey said tiredly. She smiled at Vana and stretched out in the cot beside Keg. The only time she slept was when Vana relieved her in her vigil. Being a non-Beast herself, she did not hold the same views as her Dagon and Roac concerning Keg’s coma, and had she not given her word to wait for Armetris, would likely have turned her head while Dey healed Keg.

“I’m lucky you’re a Symbiont,” Dey murmured sleepily, ready to drop off.

“Oh, I’m not,” Vana confidently.

Shocked, Dey bolted upright and stared. Had she been lulled into foolishness, believing that Vana was one of her own? She looked Symbiont, but who could tell?

Vana laughed at her expression. “Relax, child. I’m as human as you are. It’s just that I come from a different place than you imagine.” Since Dey was still frowning suspiciously at her, she added, “Dagon lured me and others like me from Earth. That’s another world. In fact, Dagon tells me that it’s the place where your people wandered from, a very long time ago.”

Earth? Dey had never heard of it or traveling to other worlds. Unsure what to believe, she said cautiously, “And how did they get to this … Earth?” She recalled Keg once hinting that the Beasts had been to the moon. Could they have taken their sky barges to other planets?

“They built a gate with their technology, one that opened onto my world. They tricked us into coming to a fake “academy”, then snatched as many of us as they could before the authorities caught on and they had to close the gate.” She grimaced. “Then they discovered that a deficiency was behind the inability to have girl children, learned that the fruit to cure it grew exclusively on the edge of the swamps, and failed to negotiate a treaty with the Symbionts to obtain the land peacefully. The rest you know.”

Did she? After three days of vigil, this information dump was draining. Keg had a mother. Her people had wandered into the Dark Lands from a place called Earth. Vana was from Earth.

Dey raised her hands to her temples and growled. “I swear you and Roac are doing this to me on purpose. No, don’t say another word. I have to get some sleep. Maybe after that we’ll talk.” Muttering to herself over the craziness of Life After Keg, she lay down and fell instantly into REM.

The sound of Keg’s labored breaths jerked her awake. He was convulsing.

Swearing, she reached over grabbed his chest, trying to still him. She could hear Vana’s deep breathing in the background. The fatigue and stress of the last days had sent her into a deep sleep. Without her training in the swamps, Dey might not have woken, either.

Not bothering to call for a medic--what could those butchers do for her man?--Dey forced her symbiont to attach to Keg, sinking deep into his mind even as she fought her symbiont’s natural repugnance.

Nausea swamped her. She could sense Keg’s spirit leaving. He warned her without words to leave, that she would be hurt saving him.

Fighting his will, her symbiont’s will and the painful, queasy shudders as she worked to repair his fried synopses, she blasted him with pure emotion in that wordless place. Either he would work with her and come back or she would go with him. There were no other choices. Death did not scare her. Life without him would be agony.

He stopped fighting her. The mush inside his head took shape, reformed into proper synopses and gray matter. Keg healed.

And she started to falter.

* * * *

Roac strode into the room, bursting with hope. Armetris and his friends had arrived, and with him Keg’s best hope for survival. He was going to get his brother back without sacrificing Dey to do it. She might be angry at him for a time, but once Keg was whole again she’d come around. After all, they’d both wanted the same thing.

“Hey, guess who I found--Sweet Father of Mercy. Dey!” His smile changed to a look of horror as he rushed to Dey’s side and lifted her bloodless, green-tinged body. She was barely breathing and her symbiont hung off her in blackened, shriveled strings. He barely had time to note his brother sitting up in bed or his mother’s sleepy, startled gaze before Dey started to gasp.

Hot on his heels, Armetris entered the room. One look at Dey and he started swearing. Ripping the dead symbiont from her arms, he tossed the remains on the floor and took her from Roac’s arms. “See to your brother. I have to get her out to the bikes,” he snapped when Roac balked. “Stupid girl’s tried to kill herself.”

It took three different Great Symbionts--the bikes--to draw off the worst of the poison. Each enveloped her in turn and took a little, then moved away sluggishly, swirling with streaks of slime green. When the worst had past, Armetris knelt at her side on the grassy lawn before the hospital and probed her with his own symbiont. “Wake up, brat. You know better than to try to heal an alien.”

She sat up, wincing as she rubbed the back of her head. “Husband, not alien.”

“You should have waited for me. You killed your symbiont.” He sat back on his heels and fingered his hermaphrodite earring, scowling.

“You’re turning into an old man, Armetris.” She froze his retort with her fingers on his lips. “Thank you for what you did.” The words were tight with emotion. She’d miscalculated. Keg would not have appreciated the gift of his life at the cost of hers.

Assured that she was in one piece, Dey shut out the grief over killing her symbiont with thoughts of Keg. “Take me back inside.”

He carried her, cutting off her weak muttering with a curt, “Shut up, brat.”

It was so like what he’d called her as a child that she suffered a sharp stab of homesickness. The material of his shirt against her face even smelt of home. The disorientation of it all made her dizzy. It had been a long time since she’d simply been, “brat” to somebody.

Unwilling to face any more lectures, she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep, soon tumbling into a true, healing slumber.

* * * *

“They’re still weak. Now is the perfect time.” Dybell faced the Symbiont woman, wanting to pace with frustration. Megin was his best chance for revenge, and she was wavering.

Keg should never have survived that rifle blast. If not for that Symbiont bitch, he wouldn’t have. She was the one he wanted to see pay--she was forever ruining his plans.

Dybell knew her name, but he never used it. Women were for using, not naming. Hadn’t his own mother taught him that? When she’d rejected him and his twelve brothers, wasting her life grieving the daughter she would never bear, he’d learned to despise her. What she had wasn’t good enough for her. Why would he bring more greedy women into the Beast nation? The Symbionts had an endless supply. Better to take from them, then exterminate them. What did he care if his nation repopulated? He didn’t want daughters, anyway, or sons for that matter.

After he’d risen in the ranks, he’d carefully sought out men who felt the same and wallowed in the pleasures of slaughter and rapine. Even his superiors hadn’t a clue what he was doing, for who was alive to seek vengeance? Until the bitch had discovered him.

And that wench had the audacity to hunt him. All but two of his men had died, stalked like helpless prey in the dark of the night. If only to himself, he’d admit that he’d felt fear.

For that she would pay.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

Rage flared in him, and he barely checked himself from backhanding her. “You don’t have a choice.” He gave her a small weapon and showed her the trigger. “Keep this in your pocket and kill them the moment you have the chance. Fail me and I’ll eviscerate you.”

* * * *

Dey rolled over on the bed and looked at Keg. Their bedroom was the same, but she feared that everything had changed.

He was awake. For a long moment he said nothing, merely looked at her. Finally, he sighed. “I won’t say it. I know Armetris has already seared a strip off your hide.”

She looked down.

“Dey?” He nudged her chin up with a gentle hand. “Thank you. I love you.”

The lingering fear sifted out of her. Her man was back, and they were all right. She kissed him softly, still a little weak. “I couldn’t not do it. I need you.” The words were simple, but the emotion behind them was anything but. She did need him.

Wiggling his brows, he gave her a tired, roughish grin. “You know what I want to do now?”

She grinned faintly back and snuggled closer. “The same thing I want to do.”

In moments, they were fast asleep.

* * * *

Breakfast the next morning was an adventure. Armetris and Dagon shared a mutual respect, but there was barbed bantering between Armetris and Roac. Whatever the history between them, it was clear they shared a barely contained rivalry.

“Your symbiont cycles might be fast, but they have nothing on the new hover-sleds,” Roac said with a challenging smile as he passed the hot spiced juice.

Armetris answered with an aloof smile. “Speed was never what beat you in the swamps. Only a living thing such as the symbiont can know how to move away from a tree before it thinks about it. It’s special senses are something you can never mimic.”

Dey tuned out Roac’s retort as she leaned over and whispered in Keg’s ear, “I don’t know what Leo ever saw in him. The man is far too sure of himself--he’d make her crazy.”

Keg grinned back. “She agrees. She’s much happier with her Beast.”

Thoughtfully, Dey chewed her sweet-sour swamp slug, a gift from Armetris. “I suppose I should see her.”

Razzi, who was seated to Dey’s right, said casually, “She comes every year to visit her family. It’s fun to watch Jackson dote on her daughters while ignoring her husband.” He crunched a paste-covered vegetable slice, talking around it. “Drostra’s very patient about it.”

Smiling at the image of Jackson and a Beast brother-in-law, Dey said, “How many daughters does she have?” Listening quietly as Razzi filled in the blanks, she wondered how motherhood had affected her old friend.

She’d long ago forgiven Luna for her deception. After all, the council probably wouldn’t have punished Dey if they hadn’t known about her past crimes.

Going back to the Symbiont village wasn’t big on her to-do list, but she didn’t fear it. Maybe she wouldn’t want to live there again, but Armetris and Razzi had reminded her of the good memories there. A visit wouldn’t kill her, if Keg wanted to go.

A question in her eyes, she turned to Keg.

He smiled at her. “We can go if you like.”

“I wouldn’t want to live there.”

“Good. My family would miss us.” He kissed her hand and picked up the flower beside Dey’s plate, tucking it in her hair. “Gem hasn’t missed a day. They’ll be picking out a jewel bird soon now.” He nibbled on her lips.

Across the table, Roac rolled his eyes. “All right, you two.”

Smugly, Keg informed him, “If you’d get busy and find your own woman--”

A servant entered. “Excuse me, Kegtaar-Ra. There is a woman here to see you. She calls herself Megin.”

Vana and Dagon radiated sudden tension. All conversation at the table stopped.

Dey stiffened, and Keg looked at her curiously. Could he really not remember his mother’s name?

“Send her away,” she said harshly.

Keg rose. “I will see her.” He placed a hand on Dey’s head. “It will be fine, love.”

Keenly missing the feel of her body symbiont and chief weapon, Dey rubbed her arms and followed him. Whatever was to follow, she wanted to be there.

Megin’s face showed no warmth as they joined her in the family room. Her eyes flicked over Keg and returned just as empty. She held out a small weapon. “Here. Dybell wanted me to kill you with this.”

Frowning, Keg took it from her. He slowly turned it over in his hand. “Why did you give me this?”

Hauteur befitting a queen contorted her face. “I don’t kill my beget, no matter how it came about. You might be impure, but I’ll wager you have some of my honor mixed in that demon blood. I gave you your life--give me and my children our freedom. I’ll bear no more live seed to a Beast keeper.”

Vault-like silence gripped the room. If she’d expected to see a wounded child in Keg’s eyes, Dey was disappointed. Only the calm face of the leader Kegtaar-Ra looked back.

“It will be arranged. Go to your children.” He called for a servant and gave him instructions.

Megin left without another word between them.

Noticing Dey’s distress, Keg put an arm around her. “Why are you upset?”

“Keg, don’t you know who she--” Dey couldn’t finish. The knowledge was agony for her.

He lifted her chin and gently stroked her lips with his thumb. “I have a mother--Vana. I have a father--Dagon. And now, I have you. I am content.”

“But--”

He kissed her. “Life is good, love. Don’t bring pain into it.” And with those simple words, the matter was done.

* * * *

Gem begged them to go to the park the next morning. She wanted to find the perfect flower, and her mother’s garden just wasn’t promising that day.

Not even bothering to disguise their self-appointed roles as body guards, Armetris and Roac tagged along. Razzi might have followed, but he got sidetracked with an errand.

“You were never this protective of a baby-sitter when I was a kid,” Dey grumbled good-naturedly. The day was fair and the park popular, and she was privately glad for his presence. Even the short walk to the park made her long for a bench. It would be a long time before she was fully recovered. Keg might be doing better than she was, but she noticed he wasn’t moving too fast, either.

Beside her, Armetris grinned and flicked her ear. “You’re still a kid, kid. And for the record, I kept a closer eye on you than you thought. I just didn’t want to look like it.”

She snorted and sank gracefully onto a bench, sighing with contentment as Keg joined her, resting his arm behind her back. The sun was warm. Life was good. “You were a horrible caretaker then. We followed you into too much trouble.”

He snorted and scanned the area, looking lethal in his snakeskin jacket and dark glasses. The light glittered off the silver and sapphire scales like primitive armor as he glanced down at her. “We tried to throw you back, as you’ll recall. I don’t remember inviting you on our hunts and fishing trips.”

Grimacing, she pulled out her own shades and donned them. “Luna had to be where you were.”

“And you had to watch Luna.” He gave her a half-smile. Nothing more needed to be said--their history was comfortable memory on a pleasant day.

Lazy with sunshine, Dey turned her head and frowned in Gem’s direction. The child had tramped a good distance away while they bantered and was now sniffing a perfect bloom critically, her hands behind her back.

“Gem,” Dey started to call, then sat up with a rush of fury.

Dybell had leapt from behind the tree and grabbed Gem.

“Don’t move,” he warned, twisting the girl’s hair in his hand and holding a gun to her head.

Armetris, Roac, and Keg had their guns all trained on Dybell. “Let her go or die, snake,” Roac snarled.

Dey remained silent. Dybell wouldn’t have bothered with this high drama scene unless he wanted a reaction. The men were giving him one. She wasn’t going to.

Sure enough, Dybell sneered at Dey, “What’s the matter, bitch? Too scared to plead for the little one’s life?”

Deliberately, Dey folded her chilled hands over her stomach--and yawned. Obnoxiously wide, rudely long.

Whipped into a frenzy, Dybell shook Gem. “I’ll kill her! Then I’ll come for you.”

Dey blinked at him slowly, as if studying a moron. “You’ll try.”

“Stop it, Dey!” Keg grated in her ear. “You’ll kill her.”

Dybell shoved the gun against Gem’s head, making her scream. Tears ran down her face as she cried out for mercy. “Beg for her life, bitch,” he snarled.

Coolly, Dey crossed her ankle over her knee, resting her arm on the back of the bench, ignoring her thundering heart. Gem’s life was no longer in her hands, and she refused to play Dybell’s game. Wasn’t that how all the sorry heroines ended? Pleading for the monster to go away, groveling to save the life of a loved one, only to be scorned? Dybell had made a mistake. Dey never begged. “That’s what you like, isn’t it? For women to beg. That’s why you fear me. I don’t beg--I kill.”

Her tactic worked. Lost to fury, Dybell aimed for Dey--and jerked violently back as three shots scored his body. Still clutched in Dybell’s grip, Gem went down with him.

Stiff with reaction, Dey clutched the bench and let out a slow, shaky breath. Why did Dybell’s type always have to make a scene? He had to have known that he wouldn’t escape. Either that or he was mad. Idiot.

Keg and Roac had run to Gem. She clung to them, sobbing but alive.

A lethal shadow, Armetris remained at Dey’s side. Sunlight glinted off his dark glasses as he looked at her. There was a long, considering silence. “I was wrong, Dey. You’re no longer a kid.”

Dybell’s friends were picked up soon after that. Tried before a jury of their peers, they were executed the next day.

While Dey wasn’t sorry, she also wasn’t settled. Too much remained on her mind.

Keg found her the day after the execution, aimlessly filtering water from one of his mother’s garden fountains through her fingers. He joined her on the stone rim, ignoring the soaring bird caught in stone as it gushed water into the shallow pool. “What’s wrong?”

Water caught on the droplets as she flung water from her fingers. “Your mother spoke some interesting things about her origins, and mine. That of my people, that is.”

“And…?” He’d learned to watch her warily when she got like this. Anything could be on her mind.

“I assume you know some of the same history.”

He settle more comfortably on the stone rim. “What do you want to know?”

She looked at him as if braced for an unpalatable truth. “Are my people aliens here? Were the Beasts here first?” She clenched her teeth. “I know there are many Beast ruins in the swamps.” She wanted to know if the wars were really the Symbiont’s fault. Had they just been squatters on a world that didn’t even belong to them?

Thoughtfully, Roac studied the stone retaining wall restraining the riot of herbs and flowers. “Actually, we’re all strangers here. While my people spent time on Earth, they came from … elsewhere. True, we found the gates and came here first, but we abandoned the swamps long ago. When your people came through, no one cared. We had a policy of leaving aliens to themselves then. A handful of lepers were of no interest to us.” He shrugged apologetically.

Brow furrowed, she asked, “Lepers?”

“Sickly types. Body parts rotting off, that kind of thing. The symbionts found you such good hunting, they permanently bonded to your people. I’m not surprised your ancestors chose not to leave a record of their true origins.”

She grimaced in distaste. Neither was she. Maybe she should give up wondering about the true causes of the war. It was over. The Beasts had won. However it had come about, there was peace now. If she was smart, she’d concern herself only with that and her own happiness.

Keg noted her smile and grinned. Leaning forward, he whispered against her lips. “Does this mean you’ll stop worrying and give me a kiss?”

“Now why would she want to kiss you?” someone interrupted, sounding greatly amused.

Keg pulled back and glowered at Armetris and Razzi. “Can’t a man get any peace around here?”

Laughing, Armetris came closer. In his hand was a small sack. “We came to say good-bye. If you two think you can stay out of trouble, then we’ll see you in a couple of months when you come for the spring festival. But before we go….” He handed the sack to Dey. “Our wedding gift. Razzi went home and got it for you.”

Mystified, Dey eyed them, then gingerly opened the sack. Inside was a ball of liquid silver, pulsing with life.

Dey’s lips parted, and she felt tears sting her eyes. They’d brought her a symbiont. “You….” The words choked her.

Her friends smiled fondly at her. “Try it on,” Razzi urged.

Biting her lip, she gently tipped the living metal onto her palm--and gasped in surprise as it zipped up her body, tickling as it ranged from head to toe before dividing and settling around her wrists. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Razzi beamed. “Couldn’t leave you here without a symbiont. Whatever else happens, remember that you’ll always be one of us.”

Keg gave her a fond hug.

She looked at him, the love of the moment shining in her eyes. “Much as that means to me, Razzi, you’ve got it skewed. The important thing is, no matter what happens, I’ll always be his.”

The End