ways, trying to modernize nagas and change the way we did things and protect ourselves, but she died…just like the others.”
“And now you need to call your…co-ruler?” Raphael looked at the phone. “If your numbers are so low, why aren’t you…mated? Having kids? I mean, I’m sorry, that was really fucked up to ask. It’s not my business—”
“Finding a mate is hard. They’re biological matches.” I always said biological because I refused to believe the gods were so cruel to leave our people without mates for so long. I didn’t like the idea of fated mates either. Fate was for the faint of heart, people who didn’t want to forge their own destiny but wanted to have one given to them. “We can’t just mate anyone, which means we can’t have children with just anyone. Adhar is several centuries older than me and has never found his mate. Never. If he had, he would have popped out as many children as he could by now.” It was about time I explained some of it. The more I gave him, the more I could ease him into my world. I knew if I ever got the chance, I would cut ties and run, to protect both of us, but since that wasn’t looking likely, I had to prepare him for the day I lost my control.
“Our mate is truly immune to our venom. When ingested or injected into them, it’s an aphrodisiac. Same as if I were to accidentally ingest it while trying to milk. That’s why I’m so careful.”
I picked up my phone and flipped it around, considering if I should tell him more. He was a sponge, staring at me like a curious child but with an adult edge. There was a keenness in his eyes that told me he was thinking about what I said in ways I didn’t need to know yet. He wasn’t a threat to my species—only my peace of mind.
“Beyond that, I refuse to have children while I know there’s an evil in the world trying to kill me and my kind. It’s unfair to a child, and I know I can keep myself alive. As long as any naga is alive, there’s hope. I won’t be a part of a massacre of another family but in my mother’s shoes. I won’t choose to bring a child into the world, knowing that child might grow up without parents.”
“That…makes a lot of sense. I’m sorry. It was really messed up to ask. I won’t bring it up again.”
His sincere apology was more than Cassius had ever given me on the topic. Cassius knew I was touchy about the subject and treaded carefully and respected my decisions, but when he asked me the same question decades ago, he hadn’t cared to apologize. It had become a passionate argument where the nobleman couldn’t bring himself to admit he had done anything wrong.
Beyond Cassius, most people told me to shut up and breed if I wanted to save the nagas. My plight wasn’t theirs. Mostly. Hisao had never even covered the topic, which I felt was for the best. He had always thought of my future, not the future of my people.
“Let me do this call, then we’ll get to what’s next.” Hitting Adhar’s name in my contacts, it rang only once.
“I was wondering when you would call me. I was called by Matilda several hours ago about you being injured, and your status looked precarious to the wolf pack when they saw you. And the prison had a breakout, but you couldn’t be bothered to call and tell me the female representative of our species was in mortal danger because of the job she shouldn’t even have? Kaliya—”
“Not right now, okay? There’s a lot going on,” I hissed. Remembering what Mahavir had just told me, I bared my teeth, wishing I was in Adhar’s face to chew him out instead of on the other side of the world. “You fucking piece of shit. There’s a lot we can talk about that makes us both look bad, and the last thing I want is our species going down because we hate each other. So, you need to listen to me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let me run through an important chain of events I think might impart to you the danger of the situation. One hundred and fifteen years ago, Nakul’s family was murdered like mine and some others. It was a slaughter. Nakul then went on a fucking murder spree, but