Kept by Luna Voss
Chapter Ten
Melyta
“I hope you two had a nice talk,” says Jenyta, winking at me as Barion and I emerge from our cabin.
I stick my tongue out at her. If she only knew.
“So, did you get spanked, or fucked?” she whispers to me as I sit down next to her by the window.
“Neither,” I tell her, blushing, which is technically true.
She gives me an amused look and turns to look out the viewport. “Ready for us to come out of hyperspace?”
I nod. “Definitely. Two days on a spaceship is enough for me.”
The ship shudders slightly, and then in a blink, the lines of stars solidify into twinkling dots. In front of us, a great planet looms. Half of it is lit by its sun, and I see a familiar swath of greens, blues, and browns that reminds me of Tarsheb 8. The other half is cloaked in the darkness of night, the continents gleaming with brightly lit cities.
Wow,Jenyta mouths, her eyes wide. I stare at it too, amazed. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen another planet like this before. And it’s crazy to know that I’m light-years from my home.
“I can’t tell if it looks bigger or smaller than I expected,” Jenyta whispers.
“Bigger,” I say. “Definitely bigger.”
Barion sits down next to me, and I lean against him as we fly towards Gerbbbexai IX and it transforms from a ball in the distance into something vast. Flames streak outside the window as we enter the atmosphere, casting a red glow onto Jenyta’s face.
To my mild surprise, the pilot takes us to the night side of the planet. I can tell we’re going over a city, a big one, as we begin to descend.
“What city is this?” I ask Barion, realizing suddenly that I don’t actually know our specific destination. He was the one who handled all the planning.
“This is Zog, Gerbbbexai IX’s capital,” he tells me. “Right on the ocean, biggest city on the planet, and basically the place to be if you’re visiting. We’ll probably see a lot of tourists.”
“We are tourists,” Jenyta giggles.
“Mel and I are,” he says, indicating himself and I. “You’re here to stay.”
Her face falls a little bit.
“But first,” I say, trying to cheer her up with a big smile, “we are going to be tourists. We’ll have lots of fun together before we say goodbye, won’t we?” I glance at my mate.
“Of course,” he says gruffly.
I grin at him. I know he’s not exactly the tourist type, but I’m looking forward to pulling him out of his shell a bit. There will be lots of time for him to be grim and serious when we return home and need to figure out how we’re going to handle Sarizor.
For now, on Gerbbbexai IX, we’re going to have some fun.
I’ll make sure of it.
* * *
Barion
I’m gripped by a weird mix of anxiety and excitement as we land. By all accounts, I should be happy. We successfully rescued Melyta’s friend and got her off the planet. And despite all the insanity with the Dultaz Family on Tarsheb 8, somehow, my mate and I have been granted a small reprieve. A chance to spend time together away from all of that. To get to know each other without the danger and the stress of life under Sarizor.
Unfortunately, it’s a small shelter in the middle of the storm. Because as soon as we return, I’m going to invite Korva to my living room, and we’re going to speak of things together that could get us both killed.
The necessity of killing Sarizor is plain to me now. There’s no other option. No other path to safety, to a version of the Dultaz Family worth being a part of. The version of him that I’ve seen since Nullion’s death, since Gurt’s death, really, is dangerous. Dangerous to everyone who works with him because he isn’t thinking clearly.
And dangerous to Melyta because he doesn’t trust me.
This has, I realize, been a long time coming. I remember the night I was made underboss, the same night I met Melyta. I was in a crappy mood that night. I felt crushed by the responsibility of reining Sarizor in. Even then, I knew he was the wrong leader for our family.
What I’m planning now isn’t because of one thing, or even two things. It’s because of everything. The totality of it. Sarizor’s reckless, unhinged nature, combined with the incident with Gurt and Melyta, combined with the fact that he is actually shrewd enough to know in his gut that I’ve betrayed him. Put together, it’s all just too much. It can’t stand.
The man has to go.
I never fantasized about being the boss. I never wanted that job, the power, the responsibility. When I became underboss, I didn’t see the prospect of eventually leading the Family as a perk. More like a ball and chain.
That was until I met Melyta. Until Sarizor put her life in danger.
That can never happen again.
Being a mated man has changed me. It took me time to realize that, and I’m probably still realizing it. But my priorities aren’t the same anymore. I’m not content to live life the way I was, sitting in Sarizor’s shadow, always yielding, never standing tall. I need more than that. I need to be the man Melyta deserves. Someone who can protect her, who can provide for her, who can carve out a life for her and the family we’re going to make. None of that can happen while Sarizor lives. None of that can happen when every day, I risk being led into an empty room by someone I trust and shot in the back of the head.
“Barion?” says Melyta, shaking me from my thoughts. From her tone, I’m pretty sure it isn’t the first time she’s said my name.
“Yes?” I grunt. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”
“We’re here,” she tells me. “We just landed. Is everything okay?”
I blink, trying to snap myself out of my thoughts and return to the excitement I owe her for our trip. “Yeah, I’m fine. Here, let me grab your suitcase.”
* * *
Melyta
Gerbbbexai IX feels different from Tarsheb 8 and familiar all at once. The amount of gravity is the same, and the temperature is comfortable. But the smells are so different, if only subtly. There’s something sweet in the air, a plant, maybe, that I’ve never experienced anything like.
“Holy shit,” Jenyta grins as she steps off of the ship. “I have officially set foot on another planet.”
“Me too!” I laugh, jumping down next to her. “Ahh, that breeze feels nice.”
Aboard the spaceship, I hear Barion talking to Frank, and then he joins us, carrying his bag in one hand and mine in the other.
“Show off,” says Jenyta, rolling her eyes as he effortlessly puts down a huge suitcase the two of us couldn’t lift together.
Barion just gives her a confused look and shrugs, which makes me laugh. He wasn’t showing off. He’s just strong.
“I scheduled a limo to pick us up,” he grunts as I insist on taking my suitcase from him so that I can wheel it behind me. “Come on, this way.”
We follow Barion from the outdoor airstrip to what looks like a private hanger. A Voorian man is waiting for us there, dressed in a suit.
“This way, sir, ma’am, ma’am,” he says, nodding to each of us in turn. “Your car is parked out front.”
“Ooh, a limo,” Jenyta whispers to me excitedly. “I’ve never ridden in one of these before.”
It’s not just a limo; it’s a hover limo. Korva would be proud, knowing how much he enjoys hover cars. We pile into the back, my friend and I staring out the window as we begin to drive through the brand-new city.
“This is downtown Zog to our left,” says the driver, gesturing at the glowing, multicolored lights that remind me of the city I grow up in. “You want me to take you down Star Street and see the sights? Hell of a landmark.”
Barion glances at me, and I nod eagerly. “That would be great, thanks,” he replies.
Even though in most ways, Zog isn’t any different from Dalax City, Jenyta and I are still both transfixed. The very fact that we’re on a foreign planet orbiting a different sun makes this interesting. And I notice the little things. The cars around us are subtly different, as though different brands and styles are favored here. The whole place somehow seems less seedy, and more commercial, then the Dalax City I grew up in.
“That’s the Bell Theater,” the driver informs us, pointing at a building to our right. “You’re going to want to make sure you catch a show before you leave town. Trust me, you’ve never seen anything like it.”
“What’s that over there?” Jenyta asks. “In the distance, with all the lights? And that spinning thing?”
“That’s Rangasta World,” he tells her, as though it’s the most obvious thing. “Biggest amusement park on Gerbbbexai IX. Definitely worth visiting if you’re into that kind of thing, especially if you have kids.”
I rest my head on Barion’s shoulder as we finish our tour, suddenly tired. Something about travel is just weirdly exhausting. When I wake up, the car is pulling up outside our hotel.
“Thank you very much,” says Barion, tipping the driver.
“You folks have a great night,” he smiles at us. “And welcome to Gerbbbexai IX.”
We check in at the desk, and none of us says anything as we ride the elevator to the second floor. I think Jenyta is tired, too.
“I’ll see you tomorrow!” I say to her, poking my head into her room on the other side of the hall from Barion’s and mine. “We’ll get breakfast?”
“No promises,” she sighs happily, flopping down onto the bed. “This place is so nice I might just sleep.”
