Vyktor took the plinth to address the men. They needed to hear good news. “You have heard that the humans are working on the portal. This is the news we have been waiting for. You have also heard that they have made fortifications around it. I will take my pet and we will go to the humans and see if we might negotiate a cessation of hostilities. You have all fought long and hard. You wear the marks of this place on your flesh and will forever remember it in your hearts. But though the end is dangerous, it is the end. With the portal closed, our realm will be sealed from humans.”
“What if they open it again?”
“Humans dropped significant nuclear charges when they discovered what they call fission. They used two detonations on civilian populations. The resulting horror was so great that in a hundred years they have not been used again. Opening theportal has caused suffering on a similarly massive scale. I believe that they will remember this in their collective consciousness, and shy away from any act which might repeat it. Remember, there is little to gain from them opening portals to our realm. They cannot go there themselves, all they can do is invite forces which terrify them to their very souls. We should not forget that this war began over a foolish accident, over their attempt to create a source of abundant power with which to live. They never intended to start this war. Even now, the fortifications at the portal are for their own defense. I have already proved that humans are capable of forming bonds with us. It is time to use what we have learned and secure true peace between our realms.”
A cheer went up from the men. It was not perhaps as enthusiastic as it could have been, but morale had lifted, and that was something. Vyktor no longer felt as though he were standing in a mausoleum. There was a great deal to celebrate… for most of the men at least.
He could not share the excitement, for one very small, very human reason. Aria. He could take her with him, but she would not survive in his world. The radiation would make her very ill in a matter of months, if not weeks. She was too tender for the realm of the winged ones. He would have to leave her behind when the retreat came. Even the thought of it filled him with a hollow sensation deep in his belly. He pushed it away as quickly as possible. He had a job to do for his men, and he could not do it if he was moping about the potential loss of his pet—especially as he was going to need her help to make contact with the human population and negotiate a truce.
CHAPTER 9
Aria waited impatiently for Vyktor’s return. She was aroused and yearning for him. She was half beginning to worry that he had some kind of addictive quality. Whenever she was separated from him for more than a few hours, she began to feel deeply bereft—and horny in a way she couldn’t seem to satisfy without him.
Her heart skipped a beat as she heard the door open. She sat up, eager to receive him, but the moment she saw his face, she knew that something was terribly wrong. He almost looked like a different person, with the weight of the emotion on his handsome features.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Why do you look so… sad?” She had never seen him sad before. It was an odd expression to see written on his handsome face.
“I have good news, pet,” he said, forcing a smile that did not reach his eyes. “The war is soon to be at an end. Your people have found a means to close the portal.”
A big smile burst across Aria’s face. “That’s amazing!” She flung her arms around Vyktor. He hugged her back, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“Eldor is going to order our retreat, which means I will be leaving soon. “
“Oh.” Aria sank back.
Now she understood the palpable sadness that hung about him. She felt it herself, infecting her joy. “And the portal will be closed. So I will not see you again.” She looked up at him. “Maybe…”
“No.” He shook his head. “You cannot come back with me, pet. I wish you could. I wish with everything I am that it was possible, but you could not survive our lands. There is a powerful radiation. We dragons can absorb it in our flight forms, but it is enough to make humans very ill. You would suffer greatly and perish. And that I will not allow.”
“So…”
“I will return you to your base as we evacuate,” he said. “And I will miss you, pet. I will miss you every day of my life.”
Tears welled in Aria’s eyes. “But…” There were no words to fill the space after that. The situation should have been a cause for joy. The end of one of the most terrible wars humanity had ever been forced to fight, a restoring of balance, and perhaps a new respect for the horrors unchecked scientific advance could unleash… and yet this happy ending was going to tear her very heart out. She loved him more than she had loved anyone. More than she had thought she was capable of loving anyone. He had truly tamed her. He had tamed her hatred and fear into love and compassion. He had tamed the wild streak that made hurtlingthrough the sky with no regard for her own personal safety seem like the right thing do to. He had made the life that she had been so ready to sell at any moment on anyone’s command somehow mean something. And now he was leaving her.
She let out a sob, a deep sound of pure anguish. When she looked into his eyes, she saw that they too were watering.
“I fucking hate you,” she cried. “I hate you for making me love you.”
“I am sorry, pet,” he said. “I did not foresee this. I…” His voice cracked with emotion. “I am sorry,” he repeated, drawing her close.
“Just take me,” she sobbed. “I don’t care if it kills me. Just take me there with you.”
“No,” Vyktor said, shaking his head. “Absolutely not. I will not be the cause of harm to you.” He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Promise me, Aria, you will take care of yourself when I am gone. You will find a mate who…”
“No!” Aria whimpered. “I don’t want a mate. I want you.”
“You will have the gold and the jewels,” he insisted. “It will be more than enough to make you rich many lifetimes over. You will not miss me long, pet. You will return to the world as you knew it and you will be the mistress of it. I can work you enough gold to…”
“No,” Aria cried. “I don’t want gold. I don’t want diamonds. I want you. Why don’t you understand?”
Vyktor looked down at her. “You would rather die in an inhospitable environment with me, than live rich here in your own world?”
“Yes,” she sniveled. “Maybe it’s stupid. Maybe I’m stupid, but yes. I love you. And I don’t care about the gold.”
“Maybe… maybe we can come to some kind of… I don’t know,” Vyktor said. “But no matter what happens between you and me, I need to make contract with your leaders. I need to negotiate an exit for our men. I will not have them die. Eldor has charged me with contacting the humans and…”
“They’ll shoot you,” Aria said simply. “They will shoot you right in the face.”
