on,” he ordered quietly, bringing her up in front of it. She frowned as he made her leave her semi-defensive crouched position near the wall to stand in the middle of the hallway, but said nothing. Kanthi respected her blind faith in him and kissed her knuckles in appreciation. Blood rushed to her face, and only when he realized what he’d done was he reminded of the bond.
On his planet, a bond was often initiated during times of extreme stress, an old mating tactic that’d somehow survived through years of evolution in the Eiztar line. It was something to ensure that a pregnancy – and, therefore, the future of his people – would be carried out. Sort of a last ditch effort to protect the species. After the rebellion it had happened far less often, though Kanthi knew it to be true that the male had to at least find the female attractive for the pheromones to ever be released.
Still, to initiate a bond with an alien? It was incredibly rare; practically unheard of, even between the four other planets that shared the same solar system with the Eiztar. Some scientists speculated that it was because they had all shared the same ancestor, but that certainly didn’t explain the woman. Kanthi wondered where exactly she must have come from – an alternate universe, perhaps? It wouldn’t have been hard to mistake her for an Eiztar, as the Thagzars had already done, even with her unusual height. Did the people even bond on her planet?
As they stood in front of the door, the weighted latch beneath their feet caught and the gears on the other side clanked and turned, forcing the metal doors open. They groaned as they moved, in perfect condition but weary from years of preservation rather than use. Kanthi grinned. None of the snakes ever willingly came here, which was why it was kept in such pristine condition – so that none would be forced to go inside and fix it.
It’d make the perfect escape route.
Once the doors were open just enough, Kanthi started inside, grasping the woman’s hand as he went. She followed at an easy pace, her hazel eyes taking in everything while her body remained tense and alert. He wondered what she made of this place, and if she had similar enemies back on her own planet. Or had her people never encountered Thagzars, and that was why she smelled so completely of freedom and Eiztar summers?
He glanced at her, hating the desperate clenching of his gut to know who she was.
Taryn
Taryn had no idea where she was.
One minute she was locked in a cage, at the mercy of a crocodile-faced alien, and the next she was holding hands with the brooding humanoid that’d been locked up across from her.
Part of her knew that it was probably a bad idea to follow him deeper into enemy territory. For all she knew, he could’ve been locked up for several counts of rape, and the language barrier wasn’t exactly putting her at ease. Still, he’d be easier to handle than one of those snake aliens.
She tried to say alert as he brought her inside some sort of ancient passageway, but there was a chill in the air that only heightened with every step she took. The large silver doors that had parted for them just seconds earlier were already closing behind them, the gears pulling them glinting with frost.
“Where are we going?” she asked before she could stop herself. The man looked at her, apparently surprised, and tried to say something himself. It came out harsh and guttural, and she shrugged to let him know that she didn’t understand. He shrugged back, and they looked away from each other again.
Charming.
Taryn sighed, her body reduced to small shudders as they walked. The doors were shut now, heavy and locked back into place behind them. She could only hope that the man knew where he was going.
Taryn wasn’t normally so sensitive, especially to the temperature. It had to have been that drink earlier, the one that the snake man had given her. She’d taken a sip before she had dropped it – in fact, the drug was probably why she’d dropped it – and she’d hoped that such a small dosage would leave her body quickly and quietly.
As a particularly violent shiver overtook her, the man glanced at her again. Taryn just glared back, daring him to say something, but he simply raised an eyebrow and looked away. That