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Frowning, I look around. There’s no point in it—nothingness is all around us. I suddenly feel grateful for Niko’s presence. I’d rather not be alone out here. A few minutes pass in silence as we float, drifting at a glacial pace. The link between us holds strong, but Niko has not let go of me.
“I think I’ll go insane if we wait in silence,” I admit to him.
“Is it the situation we find ourselves in? Or do you always prefer to fill quiet with conversation?”
“A little of both,” I reply. “I’m impatient. I don’t usually sit around and think.”
“You do strike me as a female of action. I don’t mind a moment of quiet. I simply occupy my mind with other thoughts. It’s a skill one learns while imprisoned.”
“I thought you were an upstanding citizen.”
“Depends what territory I find myself in.”
“Hm, I see.” I wiggle my brows at him skeptically. “What were you occupying your mind with now, then?”
He hesitates, a twinkle coming to his eye.
“I don’t think you want to hear.” His hand grips my waist. “It started with the shape of your body against me. I imagined all the ways I will claim you and make you scre—”
“Okay!” I cut him off. “I agree. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Apologies. It is too tempting to make your eyes bulge and your nose wrinkle.”
“We have hours to kill. So now is as good a time as any for you to explain why you think I’m your mate.”
“I thought you didn’t want to hear about it.” He hesitates, frowning now. I get the sense he doesn’t want to grin and joke about serious matters. I’m glad he has the ability to be serious, but I wish it weren’t his feelings for me that brought that side on.
“I’d like to understand. Maybe I can convince you it’s not me you’re after.”
“That’s not how it works,” he says firmly.
“How does it work? Humans don’t have these kinds of bonds.”
“I know most species don’t, but your kind are so similar to Kar’Kali; I wonder if you haven’t suppressed it over the years. That happened to our people.”
“What do you mean?”
“A long time ago, when our planet was invaded, half of our people decided that our mating bonds were a distraction. They began a campaign to use tech that would stop the matings. They created hormone suppressor chips. Eventually, all those who didn’t want these suppressor chips were forced to flee the planet.” He wrinkles his nose. “They called us Deviants. Even thoughtheywere the ones deviating from nature.”
“Your family fled your home planet?”
“Ancestors,” he corrects. “It’s been something like a thousand standard passings since then.”
“So your home planet is controlled by those with the chips that don’t mate?” This would explain the rude comments that both Aarth and Varger made about his species.
“It was until recently. It seems that getting rid of mating distractions was not enough to save them from destruction. My home planet was taken over by our enemies.” His grip on me tightens.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Are they a colony like Earth? Controlled by some bigger conglomerate now?”
“The planet, yes. The people? Well, they’re dead now. The Azza Empire killed them all. They’re calling us an endangered species now.” He laughs coldly. “As if we weren’t endangered before, when Kar’Kal was under constant attack. My people called those others Deadheads—” A derisive snort. “—And now they’re just dead. Killed by the same chips that they clung to. A cruel irony.”
“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry.” These are the first idiotic words that spill out of my mouth. The Azza Empire is a name that I know. The Alliance that colonized Earth is at war with them. They are populated by the same ugly jelly monsters I encountered during my captivity.
“You don’t need to show your sympathy,” he says with a shake of his head. “It’s sad, but they were never my people. All we share is a history. Nothing else. Not even the planet means much to my kind these days. We’ve been divorced from it for centuries.”
“Oh,” is all I can say. I’m not sure I believe that he doesn’t care. His jaw is flickering.
“My point was to ask you whether humans have done this too. Was there a time when mate bonds were observed in your planet’s history?”
