Dark's Savior (Dark World Mates Book 2) Read online

  Except that she still couldn't help feeling the obvious hurt and disappointment of the...rejection. Yes, she had been rejected. It wasn't like it was the first time, but this one seemed to bother her a lot more than it should. Why, she couldn't say.

  Maybe she was just confused. He had come up to her on the bridge, had wanted to touch her. She wasn't stupid enough to think he actually mistook her for some giant frog. She could take a hint at an insult when it was thrown in her face. But he had been interested. She could tell, even as he had cautiously approached her that night.

  So why the sudden change?

  Aly let out a frustrated breath and shut her sketchbook tight. Forget it. That's what she needed to do. Just forget it. Even the vrisha had told her as she lay there on the ground in shock. The vrisha had risen from the table as she had watched her companion go then slowly stepped over to peer down at Aly with little concern.

  "Just let it go, girl. The nillium are an uptight race with a lot of pride. You’re lucky he even let you speak to him, really. It is strange..."

  And she left Aly alone on the ground, with a dozen or more pairs of eyes staring at her and the soft voices of laughter filling the room. When she had finally calmed down enough, she had gotten up and—like a dog with its tail between its legs—left the bar more embarrassed than she was sure she had ever felt in her short life.

  Sometimes she wished she could just listen and obey. But maybe it was just in her nature to get into trouble. Her family back on Earth would certainly agree, but then, she had never liked playing by their rules.

  Aly took a sip of the black tea, hot and soothing as it ran down her throat, and set it back when her techband dinged with a message. She looked down at it, and her frown deepened.

  Braxin wanted to see her and the others first thing in the morning. Oh boy, they were in for it now.

  Or at least she was. Once she had gotten back to her unit and settled down a bit, allowing the embarrassment of the moment to dissipate a little, her stomach had dropped, and she'd cursed silently, realizing that talk was going to spread quickly about what the others had seen. There was no stopping its spread to the top. Braxin would hear of it for sure, and he would send her to the warehouses, away from the others.

  Panic welled up in her at the thought, and she tried to tell herself she could convince him to let her stay, though it was probably unlikely. She looked back out the window to the darkness beyond.

  Maybe going to the warehouses would be safest, anyway. Now that she seemed to have made an enemy of the most dangerous person in Lethe Maws. She had never felt any inclination to go to the lower levels, mainly because she knew of the horrors that awaited down there. Now she knew if she did somehow escape the warehouses, she would never allow herself to go beyond even the fiftieth level. If she could obey no one else, she would at least take the nillium's threat to heart.

  ***

  Ryziel stared down at the map before him with the intensity of a predator on the hunt. Yes, this was perfect. The tunnels led straight into the undocumented parts of Lethe Maws, out of Xolis’ marked working grounds. They delved into Yurza's Keep as Xilya said, but that didn't worry him too much. He, instead, focused on the clusters of green and blue dots scattered within a holographic copy of a cave system in red.

  "Can't believe it," Nar said beside him. He pointed to the cluster. "That's a lot of minerals. And they are closer than we thought. Xilya, you are amazing."

  Ryziel nodded in agreement. He pointed to a tunnelway beyond which the minerals were said to be, to a network of caves. "And here is where I want the tracer to start looking. There's an entrance here"—he pointed to a narrow opening—"that goes down a little further."

  Nar looked at it curiously, his beady little eyes blinking. "Looks like the urk party didn't go beyond that point...I wonder why."

  "It is odd," said Ryziel. "What's more troubling is that they didn't harvest most of the minerals within the cluster. By the looks of it, they only maybe got two barrels’ worth. Xilya had said they hadn't taken it all."

  "Because they didn't want to be down there for long," Nar stated.

  Ryziel rubbed at his nose and straightened. "Something keeps them from sticking around for too long."

  Nar shrugged. "It is in Yurza's Keep. Who knows what nasty beast is lurking around...and stories of Yurza's corpse lumbering around have been told to my kind since I was a youngling. Though, they are just stories."

  Ryziel crossed his arms and stared at the map, in deep thought. "We might have to use some of the brightburns, just in case."

  "It's going to be a rough fit in some of these areas," Nar noted, pointing to where some of the minerals sat in tight tunnelways.

  "You think you can handle it?" Ryziel said, forcing his eyes not to linger over Nar's two metal legs.

  Nar snorted. "It's not about whether I can handle it. It's about whether I can be discreet enough. Metal clanging around on rock tends to echo. Whether we use drills or hammers, there's going to be a lot of noise. And someone is bound to hear it."

  "We will use a different method to harvest them, then."

  Nar glanced up at him and grunted. " I know what you’re thinking, but that could take twice the time."

  "It's that or we have to deal with whatever hears us. And it means having to constantly back off, like the urk party."

  Nar grumbled. "Using liquid fire might damage some of the minerals."

  "That's a risk we might have to take," Ryziel said. "Thankfully, there's a lot and, knowing anything, some of them won't even need harvesting. They could just be right on the surface of the rock."

  "True," Nar said, though still not sounding entirely convinced. "Even if we decide on that method, me crawling around with metal legs isn't going to be totally quiet."

  "Then you will just have to go slow."

  Nar grumbled again but didn't argue this time. "So, how long?"

  Ryziel took a deep breath and leaned forward, placing his hands on the edge of the console, where the map was projected before them.

  "A couple mooncycles at most. Xilya will be down before then, and we will have everything ready to go, including supplies for the trip. Then we get to work."

  Nar was silent longer than usual and Ryziel knew he must be thinking about something. He waited until the urk said, "So, I take it you figured things out above, right?"

  "I don't know what you mean," Ryziel said, though he thought he knew.

  "You know, with what set you off? Just making sure your head is clear now."

  Ryziel closed his eyes and an image of the woman—Aly—lying on the ground, cowering before him, lit in his mind. His hands slowly formed into fists, and his jaw clenched, as if he were bracing himself for a hit.

  "I'm clear. And ready to get this job done," he said, unwavering. And he felt it was the truth. He had made up his mind coming down that he wouldn't return above unless it was by ship. He would not go near the humans again, especially the one called Aly. Maybe when everything was said and done, when he had gotten home and took revenge on his uncle and reunited with his brother, maybe he would try to come back for her—

  No. For them. And only to understand why.

  Ryziel took another long breath then moved away from the console and the map. "Let's get to work."

  Chapter Nine

  Aly felt awful waking up and more awful as she got ready to meet the others at Braxin's work unit. With the Nuri from the night before mixing with the little sleep she had gotten, she had a recipe for the start of a very bad day. She took a quick, lukewarm shower and ate a small meal that was a near equivalent to sloppy oatmeal, then dressed in her usual slipsuit before inevitably slipping out the door.

  Outside the hub, the rain made it down to the middle levels, pelting the ground in heavy splats. Aly drew on her hood and rushed for the elevator, quickly becoming soaked in the places her slipsuit could not protect. Great flashes of lightning lit the surface above, the light penetrating the dark even from where she stood,
giving off a white, eerie glow against the backdrop of the cave. The elevator trembled as she took it down, and though the slipsuit was meant to keep her warm, she shivered regardless, hugging herself tight. Her heart leaped and her stomach rolled when she made it to the fifteenth level, where the rain still cascaded down in torrents. She feared what was coming, even if she told herself last night that she would be prepared for the reprimanding she was surely going to receive. She felt sick at the thought of being alone in those cold, metal-laid warehouses, working on the conveyor with bots to transport the minerals to a ship sent down to the mines.

  Alone and no one to talk to. Nowhere to find a familiar face. It was an awful nightmare she couldn't escape.

  She dragged her feet into the hub and forced her way over to the large entry of the storeroom, where Braxin's work unit was located. As she entered the space, she found her team already there, standing in a semi-circle around Braxin, whose snarling face looked annoyed, as usual.

  Aly made her way over without meeting his gaze, knowing he was probably giving her the dagger treatment, and slipped beside Mark and Ethan.

  "Now that you all are here," Braxin said as he sent a message onto his techband, "I have been contacted by several Xolis council members, discussing your placement on Lethe Maws. It is their decision that you remain here a while longer. Until a... better situation can be made."

  No one moved or said a word. The news came as no surprise to any of them, and they knew arguing was pointless. At least where the lygin was concerned. Likely, there would be much to talk about (or argue over) at the next meeting.

  "Is that all, then?" Ethan asked.

  "No, that isn't all," Braxin nearly growled. "Marzin wishes to speak with you lot."

  That got a few responses out of them.

  "Why?" asked Davis

  The lygin's eyes shifted over to him, his expression unreadable. "It is not my business to tell, only that it is the wish of the captain." With that, he disconnected one end of his techband, forming a slim silver ring, which he slid from his wrist then placed on the ground. He tapped on the remainder of his techband, and the silver ring lit up.

  There was a brief shimmer of light. Then, as if appearing from nowhere, Marzin stood before them. He was not actually there, but the holographic ring certainly fooled the team into thinking he was. Every detail was exactly as Aly remembered, from his slick black hair down to the golden shine of his skin. His black, gold-flecked eyes stared at them with no hint of pleasure or amusement.

  Aly noted that the horns (or antenna) on the sides of his head were smaller than Blue's and curved ever so slightly. He was more...stern and official; pride sitting plainly on his face. He looked over each of them with quiet regard before speaking.

  "As you each know, it is the Xolis Council's will that you remain on Lethe Maws," he began. No curt greeting or 'how are you'—just down to business. No one dared protest or interrupt, as if to do so would end in a worse punishment than remaining in the mines. He studied each of their reactions and nodded, satisfied. "It is also the Council's will," he continued, "that you be further monitored upon request."

  "Requested by who?" Aly blurted.

  Marzin's eyes drifted over to her and lingered longer than she liked. She felt heat rise in her face and looked away.

  "It is for your own safety, the Council finds, that you should be more closely looked after," he said after a pause. "As of today, you will be given new techbands to help keep you safer in the mines."

  'Safer how?' Aly wondered. And she could see the others thought the same.

  "Forgive me, Captain," Julian said, "But would it not be more beneficial and logical to house us in a more secure location?"

  "These techbands are of a special design and will alert standing enforcers on Lethe of your location if you come into danger," Marzin said, disregarding him.

  A few couldn't help glancing at each other with tight suspicion.

  Why keep them in the mines in such a dangerous place but then suddenly care about their safety? It made no sense.

  More disturbing was the indication, whether accidental or not, that the Council and enforcers who were going to know where they were at all times. Why did they suddenly care? What had changed?

  "If you lose or destroy your techband, you will be judged under Xolis law and punished accordingly," Marzin stated, with little emotion on his face. "Already, your shifts have been confined to the upper levels."

  They could see he was finished and there was no way to argue or question this odd new predicament.

  Jamie, with her head low and face pale, tugged on Julian's arm and whispered in his ear, "Ask him about Sarah." Julian shook his head, but Aly felt it was a fair question.

  "When is Sarah coming?" she asked aloud, ignoring Julian's warning hisses.

  The nillium stared back at her again, and Aly barely met his gaze. The way he looked at her for that brief moment almost reminded her of how Blue had looked at her on the bridge, only there was something more dark and unpleasant about it. It wasn't the first time she had seen that look on him. She had caught it once on the ship taking them to the refugee facility, and even still, it made her stomach turn and chilled her to the bone.

  "Sarah will not be coming," he replied. "Because she is ill and needs to be strictly monitored."

  They all turned silent from shock.

  She was ill? No, that couldn't be. She had been perfectly fine on the ship. How could this be?

  "That is all I have for you. Let Nihl be in your sight." And with that, he disappeared and the holographic ring went dark. Braxin picked up the silver ring and reattached it to his techband then turned back to his office, leaving them standing there, stunned.

  "Fucking bullshit," Ethan uttered quietly. "This is seriously fucked."

  "There's no way he's telling the truth, right?" Davis asked. "Like, we saw Sarah, before we left. She wasn't sick."

  "And why are they suddenly keen to look out for us? They certainly didn't care to throw us into this cold hell," Cilia said with a sneer. Jamie whimpered and came up close as Cilia put an arm around her.

  Kate said something to Julian in hurried French, and he nodded. "Something is off. But there is little we can do right now."

  "Seriously?" said Cilia. "They could be doing messed up experiments on Sarah as we speak. And now they wanna watch us every waking hour. We have to do something!"

  "Julian's right," Mark said beside Aly. "What? Are you gonna try to call up Marzin again or get in touch with the Council and try to change their minds?"

  Cilia opened her mouth to argue but cursed instead.

  "You could talk to them again," Aly said to Julian. "Talk to the Council and ask why. Maybe we can't change their minds, but we have a right to know what's going on."

  Davis snorted. "Like they are gonna tell us. You heard that golden stiff just now. He barely told us shit. Like the Council will be different. "

  "If you are persistent enough, maybe..."

  Julian rubbed his face, his tired eyes looking more defeated than before. "I don't know. Perhaps I can see. But for now, we should comply without issue. Let us just do as they like."

  Braxin returned with their new shiny techbands. Their old ones were deactivated and shucked to the ground while their new ones were activated accordingly and clasped to their wrists.

  "Remember, you lose these ones, and it's more than me who will come after you," Braxin warned. His eyes fell on Aly the longest as he said this ,and she had to turn her back so as not to give him a dirty gesture. "And from now on, you go no lower than level twenty. You disobey these rules, and you will be begging instead to stay on Lethe Maws."

  ***

  The first few days of harvesting went about as slow and challenging as Ryziel should have expected. Getting all of their gear together had been no issue at, nor was figuring out their initial route to the Keep. The first day of actual harvesting, however, proved to be as tedious and time-consuming as Nar had warned.

  Wi
thout the use of drills and hammers, getting to the necessary minerals took nearly an hour longer than usual. With the use of a dissolver or "liquid fire drill" as some called it, the process was at least much quieter, but even Ryziel's patience wore thin at the end of the day.

  The chemical, once sprayed on the surface of a chosen area, would begin to slowly melt the rock away, but it wasn't instantaneous, and the deeper the minerals were buried the longer it took. And though it was meant to react only to rock—being completely harmless to skin or suit—it sometimes took a bad effect on metal if exposed too much and for too long. This being discovered on the fourth day of harvest when Nar's legs started to creak and grind, with one of the bolts coming loose, inevitably, not long after, forcing Ryziel to support the urk back to the lair, a not so pleasant journey.

  "We barely scraped the surface of that blasted cave system, and I can barely walk," Nar complained after they counted the amount of minerals harvested in one of their converter tanks. "This is going to take ages."

  Ryziel crossed his arms and glanced over to the ship. When they had first found it, it had been nearly a wreck. Only now could he finally start to see a fully functional ship. But it still needed a lot of work if it was ever going to fly. Which meant a lot more minerals.