Page 5 of The Naga Inventor's Clever Mate

The silvery-blue scales of my companion were a beacon in the dark; they would be hard to lose sight of. He was holding a scrap of lavender-colored leather with black scribbles—I hoped it was a map. Corin usually knew what he was doing. Out of all the Naga here, he seemed to know the most about the ancient technology that remained. Well, maybe the Shaman knew more, but Corin was fascinated and completely unafraid of anything new or foreign.

“You’re quiet,” Corin said, tilting his head as he glanced over his shoulder at me. His half-long hair slid over his scales, the deep, dark blue locks shimmering like midnight in the faded crystal light. His eyes were the brightest silvery blue, swirling like quicksilver. That stare hit me like a punch to the gut, and I was certain he could see right through me, to my core. Nothing would remain secret if he kept looking at me like that—I’d spill my deepest desires, my greatest fears to him.

So I looked away first, even though it was usually me who pushed and prodded. “Why are you quiet?” he asked again, but I felt his gaze slip away. A rustling sound made me think he was focusing on his map again, but I didn’t raise my eyes from my feet to check. “You always talk, why aren’t you acting like yourself? I said stay close, not stay quiet.”

Though I felt called out, vulnerable because of that stare earlier, I also felt a flush of warmth. That didn’t sound like he hated it when I endlessly chattered his ear off. He sounded like he missed my talking. Dare I say, he even sounded a little worried. That had to mean something, but did it mean what I hoped it meant? Or was it just another part of his caring nature, the nature he tried to hide behind his silence and distance?

I rolled a shoulder, not that he could see it. When I lifted my eyes from the steel toes of my combat boots, I was startled to find that Corin had turned around and was now blocking the tunnel with his big, looming presence. The rubber soles of my boots squeaked on the stone floor as I came to an abrupt stop. If I had kept walking, I might have run into him, might have actuallytouchedhim. But I knew he wouldn’t have let it get that far; Corin avoided my touch at all costs. It was the main reason I still held on to this stupid crush.

I thought you’d prefer the silence,” I said, balling my hands into fists at my sides to stop myself from reaching out to him. He’d reject me, move away, and I didn’t want to end this moment, whatever it was. He was close enough that I could feel his warmth in this cool, slightly damp tunnel. If I breathed deeply, his scent filled my lungs: sweet, spicy, and with a typical male musk that I found intriguing.

His mercury eyes gleamed, and I fought the urge to look away again. He was right, I wasn’t acting like my usual self. It felt different down here in the tunnels, and for once, he wasn’t avoiding me like the plague. He hadn’t even told me I couldn’t stay. It brought me back to the basics, to the things I really felt and thought. No facade, I’d been thinking earlier, I didn’t need it withhim.But maybe it would be safer if I did.

“Look,” I said when his stare started to become too much for me. “I try not to be a burden in Haven because I haven’t forgotten that I wasn’t in one of the stasis pods. I was the pilot. Everyone else seems to have forgotten that, but I haven’t.” I shrugged a little helplessly when he kept staring, and I shuffled my feet.

“Pilot?” he demanded in the awkward silence. Ah, I kept forgetting which words were unfamiliar to the Naga, especially with Corin, because he knew so much about the technology they still had. He was the one who had helped lobby for the translator implants for the aspirants, so they could talk to us and understand us. If not for Corin, I wouldn’t have understood a single word any of the Naga said.

“Yeah, pilot,” I replied with a nod. “I trained to fly the skyships.” I gestured vaguely toward the ceiling, but I knew he’d understand; the interested gleam spreading in his volatile eyes said it all. Corin was always craving more information, more knowledge of how things worked, especially the skyships and the machines that could be found all over the planet. I had a feeling that, for once, I wouldn’t be the one leading the charge in a stilted conversation.

“You can fly a skyship?” he clarified, slithering a little closer, a small miracle all on its own. My nipples perked beneath my shirt, and I wrapped my arms around myself to hide the evidence.

“Yes, it means I was the one that caused all of us to crash on Serant. It was my fault. And not just that, but it means everyone thinks I played a willing part in getting them here. You know they were all supposed to be executed for a crime, right?” Vera, Reid, all the other girls. On Earth, they had been condemned for a crime, big or small, false or true. They thought they were dead, only to discover the UAR had put them in stasis and shipped them off to god knows where for some nefarious reason.

Thinking about it made my stomach twist painfully, and any excitement over Corin’s interest in talking instantly vanished. Even his warmth didn’t soothe the chill that filled me now. I was no slaver. I didn’t agree with any of it, but I couldn’t deny that I’d played a part in their fate. A big part. It was wrong, and I had to make up for it. My survival meant I depended on their willingness to forget who I was, a UAR soldier who’d followed their orders with blind loyalty, right until we’d crashed on this planet.

“Willing?” Corin said, latching onto that one word with alacrity. Of course he did, he was the smartest person I knew. He could read between the lines. I opened my mouth, which had gone dry as a bone, struggling to find the right words to answer his question. I wanted to brush it off, deny it, so he couldn’t strain my relationship with the others at Haven. Except a bigger part of me was suddenly convinced that he would never do that, say anything that could harm my safety. It had to be wishful thinking once again.

I was saved by the bot. The little cleaning machine whirred as it suddenly rolled around my legs and positioned itself solidly between the two of us. It beeped twice, and several yellow and green lights flickered across the dome-shaped upper portion. “What does he want?” Corin asked, his low voice taking on a sharp edge of annoyance; a tone I knew well.

“He?” I asked, a smile suddenly finding its way onto my face. I didn’t think I could smile so soon after that conversation, but the admission of something other than dislike for his recently acquired shadow was too much. “You’re calling it a he? Did you name it too?”

The guilty look on his face made me think that yes, maybe he had named it. Though maybe that look was more about being caught assigning somethingmoreto what was supposed to be a thoughtless machine. Taking hold of this timely distraction with both hands, I said, “What is it? Not Mrs. Mop since you decided this bot is a guy… Bolts? Circuit? Oh, Robbie maybe?”

He bared his teeth, displaying the frighteningly sharp fangs that protruded from his upper jaw. The hiss that rattled from his chest was dark, primordial, and threatening. It was a sound that should have sent me running in the other direction, and certainly, a small part of my brain took note. A very small part, mostly I just thought it was hot.

Then he turned his bared fangs on the still happily beeping little bot, and that threatening display turned into something far more akin to disgust. “I didnotname the stupid bot.” He spun around, his hands flying into his dark hair in what was clearly frustration. He gave those silky-looking strands such a rough yank that I winced in sympathy.

I opened my mouth to lob a few more suggestions. It was easy to fall into the familiar groove, where I did my very best to get a reaction out of him. His quick departure made talking all but impossible. I had to jog to keep up with him, and the little cleaning bot whirred next to me, keeping pace on its rapidly spinning bottom section.

“Chip? Sparky?” I yelled after him.

Chapter 4

Corin

I hated the silence that followed us for the rest of the day. I kept track of the time by the distance we traveled and the way my stomach felt, pausing only long enough to pull out travel rations on the fly. We didn’t have time to linger anywhere; those warriors were counting on us to find them. Still, I missed the lively conversation Min-Ji usually kept going all on her own when she was around me.

Her words had set my mind spinning, and I wanted to curse the little bot for interrupting us just when we were starting to get somewhere. The fact that she was a pilot of skyships was exciting— that topic alone deserved a hundred questions— but it was the other things she revealed that really made me worry. The tiny female didn’t feel safe in Haven. She didn’t think her position in the new Clan was secure because of who she’d been and what she’d done in the past. I knew better than most that past actions didn’t dictate who a person was now.

She was keeping up, and though she was a distraction, I had to admit she was likely no more distracting than she would have been back at Haven. I had to face the truth: every second was filled with thoughts and worries about her. The bot, however, was a nuisance I could do without. I’d slipped up, calling it a ‘he’ again, and it drove me crazy that Min-Ji had instantly caught on. My mate was far too clever.

If my map was accurate, we should almost be at the first hydro plant location. I hoped it was the one that held the trapped warriors, but there werefourlocations to check. Our chances weren’t great, and nothing in Zeidon and Farah’s account of their adventure had helped me narrow it down. The door that glimmered silver in the distance looked promising, and it appeared solidly locked.

My heart rate sped up, thumping rapidly in my chest as my body prepared itself for a possible fight. “Stay back, we’re at the first location.” I had not explained anything to my human companion yet, but she didn’t ask questions. She flattened herself against a nearby wall with a determined nod, her leg slipping forward to jolt the bot to a stop. I saw her hand drop to her thigh, where a curiously shaped holster was strapped to her leg.

It could be a weapon I didn’t recognize, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I freed one of my spare knives and, holding it by the blade, extended the handle to her. “Take my knife as a precaution. More than likely, that room either holds our lost males or nothing interesting at all.” I hoped my words were true, but unease filled my belly, making the scales along my back twitch.

When she nodded and stayed in place, I focused all my attention on the metal door in our path. If there was any door that was going to be locked, it was this one—unless the Revenant had truly been defeated. But I was certain we hadn’t heard the last of him. Farah’s description of their final confrontation left a very bad taste in my mouth. Maybe the machine core was too damaged to be fixed, but I doubted it.

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