Page 16 of Taken to Nobu
She’s red again and advancing on me now and I’m ready to fight. Trying to be ready. Trying not to be made to feel so small. She says words I don’t understand and others that I do.Bo’Raku. Does she know him?Bo’Raku. Okkari wanted to fight him? I shudder, wishing something strange. Wishing something terrible — that the Hunt had happened one rotation ago, just so I could have seen that battle. So I could have seen the Okkari shred my tormentor to pieces. Purple beats red. Maybe I could have gotten away in the aftermath.But would I have wanted to?He called me warrior. He called me Kiki. And even back then when I didn’t notice him, heknew.
She balks, “I do not pretend to understand you, but for the Okkari’s sake I will help you escape from here. He deserves better.”
The words sting like a slap in the face and I hate that I break her gaze first. Breathing in and out heavily, I say, “I never asked for him.”
“The Xanaxana does not ask for permission. But if you choose to turn your back on it, perhaps it can be undone. Perhaps Xana will choose another for his Xaneru, for his spirit. Someone more worthy of a male of his caliber.”
To this, I scoff. “Let me guess. Someone like you?”
“Of course. I have tried many times to win the Okkari’s affections.” Her lips pucker at that. “He has resisted, and though I would have liked to have been his first and only female, I will content myself knowing that I am his last.”
A balloon expands in my stomach, coming to fill my chest. I freeze for an instant and don’t breathe, but words I do not dare speak, squeeze out of me, “What do you mean his first female? Surely he’s had many if he’s the leader of this place.”And since he knew exactly what to do to pleaseme.
She makes a clicking sound in the back of her throat and comes to the edge of the tub where she settles onto her knees. “He is an honorable male and would take no females unless they revealed themselves to be his Xiveri mate. And yet, all of that waiting was wasted on you. Now hold still.”
She picks up some sort of comb, one that looks like it’s made out of bone, and lifts a clump of my hair. She teases the bone through it slowly and as she works, she drops her pitch and says, “You cannot escape now. The Xanaxana mating has not yet been completed and the Okkari will hunt for you until it is. You will need to mate with him and complete the Xanaxana union. Then, when he is at peace, you will leave his nest and take the hall to the left. Where you reach its end, I will be waiting. I will show you the way to the transport pods and then you will be gone from here…”
I nod, mute, hardly hearing what she’s said. Because all I can think about is the fact that I took his virginity. He said something aboutfirstson the mountain top, but I didn’t understand. Or maybe I just didn’t want to. Because knowing that he waited his whole life to give his virginity to the one he thinks is his true mate — and then gave it tome— burns.
I took his virginity with hate in my heart and have every intention of betraying him.Then maybe I will have something in common with him after all. His first time will be also be ruined by an alien. And unlike in my case, it’s a moment he won’t get back.
7
Kinan
I approach the door to my nest —ournest—clean, wounds tended, the Xanaxana firing through me in intervals as rapid as the infant water skubbs enjoying their first thaw. The hasheba wait, as commanded, in the corridor, their faces illuminated by the ioni in the walls. Kuana’s head is bowed, nobly, while Kuaku meets my gaze, boldly.
Inviting these two to be hasheba was a move atypical of an Okkari — normally, the Xhea would select her own — but as she does not know our customs or the members of this tribe, I made this selection for her. Kuana appears to have been a good choice, while Kuaku has behaved in a manner that has been somewhat difficult to interpret thus far. If she does not improve, I will need to remove her.
“Your report on the wellbeing of my Xiveri mate, hasheba,” I say in a low tone, not wishing for my Xhea in the next room to hear us.
Kuana bows more deeply then, honoring herself, before rising to stand. “She is well, Okkari. The healing salts have already done wonders for the wounds on her forearms, the few that she had. I have placed bandages on your table. She waits for you there.” Kuana makes a pleased expression, a display of emotion I would not tolerate from one of my warriors, but here and now from a hasheba, I feel my own expression threatening to mirror hers.
“You have done well.”
Her ridges bathe in an orange glow, her pride well deserved. I fix my attentions on Kuaku then, who quickly averts her gaze.Petulant as a child, as she always has been.“You will tell me if you have anything to add, Kuaku.”
Her ridges betray no color, but there is a tightening in her jaw that I will need to address. Not now. Certainly not now with the Xanaxana hanging over me like a threat. All I desire is to forget formalities and forsake restraint and go to her. My title be damned. I am Kinan for her anyways. Always.
“I have nothing I wish to add.”
“Xhivey.”
I start past her, but she jerks and says, “She did express some degree of emotion when I told her that you had not been with a female before. I believe the emotion may have been one of dismay. She spoke highly of human males who had been with many females prior to finding their Xiveri mates.”
I stiffen. My gut sinks and my spine arches back. My fingers form fists but I flex them and attempt to ease control back into my muscles. “You will tell me why you spoke of this with her,” I say in a growl, tone dark and intentionally obliterating.
“The human asked me questions about Voraxian couplings and male anatomy. I believe she found ours strange.”
Rage. Doubt. I feel my ridges threaten emotion but reign it in. “You dare address her as such. You are hasheba…”
“Apologies, Okkari, but she asked us not to address her as Xhea or Va’Rakukanna. She wished to be addressed as human. I believe she views herself above us.”
Doubt swells even greater. I switch my gaze to Kuana. “You will confirm whether or not this is true.”
Kuana’s mouth opens. She meets my gaze with difficulty. “I was absent for a time, fetching the combs you provided, so I did not hear this conversation.”Xhivey. I exhale, allowing myself to believe that Kuaku manufactured or exaggerated this.
Then little Kuana severs such a hope cleanly. “However, shedidask me not to refer to her as Xhea or Va’Rakukanna. She wished to be addressed as human. I do not know why.”
