Assassin's Bride Page 3
Donella leaned closer. “Tell me more. Does he eat her or does he breed her?”
“Unfortunately, the transition pulled him down onto all fours as he howled his fury to the night sky. The beautiful queen hurried away from the bestial sound without even seeing him. After the pain of his transition eased, the wolf staggered onto the path, intent on finding her. He stuck his snout to the ground, rooting through the grass and debris, hoping to catch her scent. Feeling more beast than man, he followed the alluring aroma. After a bit, he realized there was only one house along the path and it belonged to an old woman. Knowing that must be her destination, he tore through the forest. The wolf-man ran on two legs with a speed no human could possibly match. His sharp claws dug into bark of trees as he spurred himself forward at breakneck speed.”
Donella was wringing her hands in her lap, clearly enthralled.
“Arriving there first, he bolted through the door, snatched the old woman from her bed, and locked her in a nearby closet. Climbing into bed, he took her place and breathlessly waited for the young queen to arrive. Worried that she would recognize him before she came too close for him to grab, he dimmed the light and pulled a scarf over his head. Hearing the front door open, his heart beat wildly in his chest. He could hear the queen humming a sweet melody. When the door creaked open, she came close to the bed with her basket of goodies.”
Donella interrupted. “Breed her, he’s definitely going to breed her.”
Grinning, Venice got back to telling her own version of the story. “In addition to being beautiful, the young queen was also smart. Standing back a bit from the bed, she spoke.
“‘Grandmother, are you well?’
“Trying to mimic the voice of an older queen, he answered calmly. ‘I am well, my dear. Come sit by me.’
“Coming a step closer, the queen commented. ‘Grandmother, what a deep voice you have.’
“Quickly adjusting his pitch, the wolf replied. ‘All the better to greet you with my dear.’
“Taking a step closer, the young queen tried to get a better look. ‘My goodness, grandmother, what big eyes you have.’
“‘All the better to see you with, my dear. Come a little closer.’
“Catching a shadow of the wolf’s huge paws in the fading light, the queen stepped closer still. ‘My goodness what big hands you have.’
“Leaping from the bed, the huge wolf towered over her, revealing his true form. ‘All the better to grab you with, my queen.’
“Turning on her heel, the young queen tried to run away, but it was too late. The wolf grabbed her, slung her roughly over his massive shoulder and ran from the house. Holding onto her basket with one hand, he pounded him on the back with the other. Her angry voice turned into a pleading one as she realized he was taking her far from the path and the safety of her people. The fearsome creature bolted over fallen logs and through streams, taking her far from all that she’d known.
“He stopped at the mouth of a cave, and caught his breath for a brief moment before crawling into the dark, damp space. The little queen was still draped over his shoulder and now struck silent with terror. Her beautiful red cloak was frayed at the ends from being caught on branches and briars. She realized at some point that they had come out in the huge expanse of an underground cavern. Other wolves were roaming around, growling at each other and some were fighting. Finally, they entered a dimly lit space and Red found herself being thrown down onto a pile of furs. Looking up into the dark eyes of the wolf, she watched him transform back into a handsome wolf-man.”
“What happens next?”
“What do you think happens?”
“He either eats her or breeds her.”
“I created the ending especially for you, because you like dangerous males.”
“I approve of the modified ending. It will give me new and interesting things to think about. Are there really wolf-males on your world?”
Shaking her head, Venice stood. “I’m afraid not. It’s just something we imagine. I should be leaving, so you can sleep.”
Stretching her arms and wings, Donella yawned, showing two full rows of sharp teeth. “Stay. You can slumber here. I will sleep on my sleeping platform. Tomorrow we will seek out a place for you rest.”
“I hate to be a bother.”
“This room will be empty, therefore it’s no bother. Sleep well, storyteller.”
“You too, my friend.”
Donella ambled off to the other room, and Venice watched the door slide closed before snuggling up on a large flat piece of furniture that must have been their version of a settee. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was ten times better than the cold metal floor. She fell asleep with images of wolves and men running through her mind.
*****
Tossing and turning, Venice tried to wake herself up. Unfortunately, she found herself enveloped in a thick fog. Vines pushed through the soft grass, grabbing at her feet. Jerking free, she stumbled along, grabbing at trees for support. Her perspective in the dream suddenly shifted, enabling her to watch from above. Her nails grew, sinking into the tree bark as she flung herself forward. A chill slithered up her spine as she saw the huge animalistic claw marks her hands left behind.
Abruptly, something shifted again in her dreamscape. Instead of running from something dangerous, she became the something dangerous. Several forms moved in the distance, each in different directions. Taking a deep breath, she found only one smelled right. Tearing off after the being, she felt her body growing in strength. Her legs became powerful enough to catapult her forward as she took gigantic leaps. Some long-dormant need flared to life as she caught a stark musky scent on the wind. The delicious masculine fragrance grew more potent. The simmering need turned into a burning desire, lighting a fire between her legs. A primitive mating lust swamped her as she pursued her mate.
Her eyes flew open and she bolted upright. She pushed off the firm surface, grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She found herself walking down the corridor, tugging her cloak tightly around her slight form. Barely sighting anyone, she found herself speed up slightly. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and leftover lust from the dream haunted her every step. Unexpectedly, she picked up some speed that could only be described as a brisk power walk. Feeling some dark force at her back, she found herself jogging, and then, for no reason she could discern, she was moving through the ship at an all-out run. Unsure what she was running from, she flew towards the only other place on the ship that felt at all familiar.
Sliding to a stop inside the now empty bay the women had shared earlier, she climbed up to the cat walk. Standing there, out of breath and staring at the still open door, her mind filled with worry. The doors always slid shut behind a person. Why was this one still open? Trying to force herself to calm, Venice knew she’d let herself get carried away with her made-to-order fairytale for her new friend. Calm the hell down and pull yourself together, girl.
That’s when the doorway filled with a dark shadow. At first she could see only the dark outline of a head and shoulders. It was jostling slightly. A cold chill slithered up her spine as she realized whoever it was, he was walking straight into the bay. Venice wanted to step back into the shadows, but nothing could pry her terrified hands from the cold metal safety bar. She watched as the shadow grew into a muscular male form. It stopped just outside her visual range. She could see a set of black military boots, like the crew wore.
Relief surged through her body as she realized it was a real person and not a figment of her overactive imagination. He stepped forward into the soft glow of the lighting, making her gasp. The creature staring up at her was a man in form only. His green skin was marred by scars and his eyes were luminous black, like the other drones. His pose was authoritative. This was definitely a man who was in charge of some shit. His short thick antennas were searching around, probably for an explanation as to why she was out of place aboard his neat, organized battleship.
He was locking her in for safety, telling the door to only open for a human female’s voice command. The tone of his voice did strange things to her body, making her nipples draw into tight points and her clit tingle. Slapping her girl parts, she whispered to herself. “Bad, bad girl. Cut it the hell out.”
Slipping back out, Venice double checked to make sure the bay was empty. Something interesting caught her eye. It was a round air vent. It was huge, wider in diameter than she was tall. Rather than a grid, there were thick bars spread about a foot apart. Jumping up, she grasped the bottom indentation in the metal wall. Feeling a slight lip, she guessed this was how the drones accessed the vent. Naturally the ones with wings could fly up, but the wingless one must climb. The spaces between the hand holds seemed gigantic, but she made it.
Squeezing through the bars, she found the interior to be a round metal conduit that branched out in two different directions. Her breathing slowed as she realized this was a relatively safe place for her stay out of everyone’s way. Donella was nice, but sleeping around others had always made her panicky. Venice doubted her new friend would think anything of her taking off. Curling up, she dozed off in the dry, dark hole in the wall.
Chapter 4
Chance Encounter
~ Haden ~
Music Mix
Haden was irritated by the chance encounter with the human female. Though her scent was intoxicating, he was annoyed that she refused processing. The Golugua had to enter her in the system under an alias.
Dropping down at the computer console in his quarters, he pulled up a holographic image of the diminutive human running down the corridor. Feeling his frustration peak, Haden swore under his breath. The little queen looked panic stricken and her vitals were all out of whack. The other drones had been afraid to pursue her, for fear of terrorizing her further.
Why did human women all have to be so different? In his world, one drone was much like the next. There was honestly very little to distinguish one from another. He liked the uniformity of being one of many. He doubted humans could fall into line if their very lives depended upon it.
A light started blinking on his com, alerting him that he had a message. Voice prompting it to play the message, he smiled when he found it was from his best friend, Raec.
It was early evening on his home world. Haden could tell because it was still light outside Raec’s window in the image. His longtime friend always looked happy, but this evening he appeared overly excited.
“Haden, you’ll never guess what I found when I was knocking around the new uploads to the entertainment archives. One of the new human queens on your very ship is a storyteller. A real storyteller, like the queens of old, and her Golugua uploaded a story. She’s a really good speaker. The story is filled with action, and best of all there is no ending. It appears the story was designed to prompt the observer to supply their own individual ending. I’ve attached it. Watch and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll com you during my midday meal.”
Haden was more than intrigued about the story with no ending, but having something to discuss over their midday meal that didn’t involve either Haden taking a mate or the queen he tried to kill was the real excitement. Sitting back he loaded the attachment and waited patiently for it to play.
Haden jolted upright. Their new storyteller was the panicked queen from earlier. How fascinating was that? Something about this queen’s voice immediately drew his notice. It was deep and scratchy, like she was pretending to be an old crone. He listened intently as she strung sentence after sentence together to create a spellbinding tale of danger and romance. Held in thrall by the images her story drew, time stood still as they danced through his mind. Drones loved stories and mind puzzles. This story of hers seemed to be woven of both.
Munching on a piece of chelva, his mind wandered back over the details of the story, leaving him with more questions than answers. Prompting the file to play again, he shoved his box of chelva away. Lying back on his settee, he grasped his pleasure stone and tossed it into the air and caught it repeatedly as he listened to the story again. Finding himself captivated by the storyteller’s voice, he sunk into the story all over again.
Haden was fascinated by the imaginary young queen’s longing for a mate. It made him wonder if it reflected the beautiful storyteller’s own desires and longings or if it was simply part of the time-honored story.
Her cleverness in sensing the wolf’s presence was odd. A drone would have been able to discern the difference between a human and an animal at a hundred paces, even if the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Since he knew the frail little humans didn’t have a drone’s ability to distinguish subtle scents or their keen night vision, it meant this queen was cueing off her intuition.
Try as he might, Haden simply couldn’t get his head around the wolf imprisoning the aged queen in the small dark space. It seemed evil and marked the wolf as criminal to his mind. The queen’s devotion to her aging family member was a quality to be commended and indicated that she was an honorable person.
He immediately voice prompted the computer to load any and all information on their little storyteller. There wasn’t much. All the women were scanned upon arrival and she seemed to be relatively healthy. The Golugua listed her under the name storyteller so Haden didn’t even know her real name. There was another holographic file. When it came up, he sat staring at the image. It was a short sequence in the loading bay when she first came aboard. She was smart and curious to have elected to view the processing from a higher vantage point. He smiled to himself, hoping to run into her again in person.
Chapter 5
Tall Tales For Short People
~ Venice ~
Music Mix
Venice woke with a start to the clicking of a claw on the bars separating her cool new hidey hole from the loading bay. Peering through the bars, she blinked and rubbed her eyes.
“Donella, is that you?”
Sighing the sentinel grumbled, “Gods of chaos, who else in the ‘verse would it be?”
Crawling forward, she asked, “How did you find me?”
“I ran an internal scan and only one human was out of her designated area. I didn’t need to ponder the possibilities very long to realize who that human might be.”
Venice laughed at the woman’s phrasing. Gripping the bars, she peered out. “How did you get in?”
Looking all kinds of annoyed, the creature replied, “I had to do a manual override on the door lock. I almost broke a claw.”
Her accusing glare almost made Venice laugh. “We can’t have that. Have you ever thought of polishing your claws?”
“I apparently have no time for such pursuits because I am called upon to save your life, yet again.”
“I’m not in danger.”
“You are in danger, small human. I came to tell you that this is not a safe place for you to be. The drones open this bay to flush particles from the air processors and such venting will be held shortly. I have mapped out several other small areas for you survey for possible hiding places, but you must come with me now.”
Venice squeezed between the bars, tugging her bag through afterwards. Following after Donella, she noticed several drones walking around punching buttons on the walls. “Thanks for alerting me to the danger.”
“I could not let you die. You might have more interesting stories to tell me.”
Venice could tell by the look on the creature’s face that she was trying to be funny.
“Good thing I do hav
e lots more stories to tell.”
“I hope they are as good the one you told last night. It has been accessed over three hundred times already. It’s all anyone is talking about this morning.”
Venice came to a staggering stop. “What?”
Looking over her shoulder, Donella kept flying. “Do not worry. The drones are aware that you do not wish to be processed. I have entered you into the system under the designation of Storyteller. I believe you have several dozen pending questions about your story and several suggestions for possible endings to the story.” Turning to glance at her again, Donella’s expression turned mischievous. “Some of the suggestions were quite lurid. You can access them on your data-pad.”
Rubbing her temple, Venice quickly pulled up her hood to cover the messy bed hair. “Do you mind if I ask where we’re going?”
“To the dining hall. Even humans must eat to survive.”
“Thank you. The food you brought last night was delicious.”
Venice tried not to notice how the room went still upon their arrival. The women were still talking but most of the males just stared and whispered occasionally to each other.
“Ignore the drones. They’re all idiots.”
Venice took a step forward to walk beside Donella, unsure why she was insulting drones. In the back, a string of huge tables held an assortment of food. There seemed to be no distinct difference between breakfast food and dinner food. Venice carefully picked up a plate and placed small pieces of food on it. They settled at a table in the corner.