For a moment, the Dramok’s brows drew together, and he wavered with indecision. Worry pinched his handsome features.
It cleared. “She’ll figure out quickly that we’d never harm a Matara, my Imdiko. The sooner we show Tina—if she’s who we decide on—that she’s the center of the clan, she’ll adore us. Especially you, with your ridiculously pretty self. I’m still having to warn Zevs off, the stubborn jerk.”
He’s not thinking this through. He’s being impetuous again. On the heels of that came the reminder that this could be their only chance to have a lifebringer.
And Tina was beautiful. How could they say no?
“We’re a good clan. We can make a Matara happy.” Yorso spoke again, this time with conviction. “We will make her happy.”
Tukui grinned and slung his arm around Yorso’s shoulders. “Yes, we will.”
They hurried to the shuttle bay.
Chapter Two
Tina did her best to stop crying. She hated to be a burden on her fellow aspirants and particularly Sister Katherine. But the tears kept falling, and she felt vulnerable as Katherine walked away from the huddled group of girls, heading towards one of the fiercer-looking Kalquorians guarding them.
Waking up in the convent’s dining hall, in a space cleared of tables and chairs, had been disconcerting. Seeing many of Europa’s women unconscious on the floor had brought terror to the fore. Then when Sister Bernadette had stood up, shouting at the Kalquorians and brandishing a knife—Tina had kept from screaming only because she didn’t want the aliens to notice her too.
She couldn’t stop weeping, though. Under the strange, cat-slitted gazes of the muscled behemoths, the tears had streamed without end. At least it wasn’t only her being emotional. Someone else had screamed upon awakening, though Sister Bernadette had been taken out by then—Mary Anderson, who was the same age as Tina.
When Mary’s terrified shriek rang out, Tina hadn’t known what to expect from the Kalquorians. They wore blasters. She saw the handles of knives sheathed in their belts. Not that they would have needed weapons against captives in their nightgowns. A single slap would have broken Mary’s face.
They offered no violence. The dark-skinned men darted glances at each other. They shifted, like nervous horses scenting danger. Their expressions spoke of discomfort, as if they found Mary’s distress upsetting. As the other girl burst into loud sobs and several joined in, the dark-skinned men grew more unsettled.
Such big, terrifying brutes. Yet they seemed unhappy to be viewed as the monsters they were supposed to be.
They don’t look like monsters. Tina would even qualify a few as handsome. Their bodies—
She cut that thought off with a silent prayer for forgiveness. She forced herself to concentrate on the situation.
Many of the enemy glanced at a particular Kalquorian. Tina recognized him as the brute who’d caught and sedated her. He was impressive, and if she were to be honest, far more than handsome. He had a strong jaw and pointed chin. His beard shadow was dense enough that she’d almost missed the dimple in his chin. His nose was slightly crooked, evidence of a past break. His gaze was clear, unwavering. His physique—Tina flushed and glanced away only seconds after noticing him. However, his pronounced musculature, a framework of carved strength, had been burned in her retinas. She remembered all too well how he’d felt against her, holding her prisoner against himself. Warmth filled her, making it hard to breathe.
Why was such a monster so beautiful?
Of them all, he’d appeared unaffected by the sobs and moans of the waking women. He stood motionless, his gaze sweeping over the gathered prisoners, betraying no emotion. No mercy. Tina’s heart raced at the idea of his gaze settling on her for longer than an instant.
It was this beast Sister Katherine had approached, to beg for answers as to why the convent had been attacked and its nuns and aspirants taken prisoner. In the voluminous nightgown she wore, she appeared little more than a child. Katherine was impossibly fragile compared to the staring Kalquorian. Why would she talk to such a fearsome example of the aliens? Then Tina noticed the four silver bars on the upper left chest of his black uniform, more than any of the other guards wore. Naturally, the scariest of the group would be in charge.
Tina was terrified. She couldn’t stop weeping. Yet she gathered her legs beneath her, crouching in readiness to spring to Sister Katherine’s aid should she need it.