Hyperspeed Dreams by Anna Carven

Chapter Ten

Tasha was screwed.

She’d been in tight situations before, but never anything like this.

A silent puff of disbelief escaped her lips as she sat rigidly on the side of the cocoon-like bed, staring at the obsidian walls. They curved ever so slightly, and for a moment she imagined herself sitting in the dark, hollow insides of a giant monstrous beast—one that had swallowed her whole.

But in reality, she was on a ship.

Thefucking mothership of all motherships.

A Kordolian ship, full of extremely dangerous silver aliens that could obliterate her in a heartbeat if they wanted.

Ha.

Usually, she was the one doing the obliterating.

At least her people were safe—for now. After disembarking, Lodan had left Tasha and Mama and the boys with Alexis and Nythian. Under the big Kordolian’s watchful gaze, they’d been ushered to a cozy little tea room type place. Tasha had no idea why there was even such a room on an alien warship, but it felt homely and familiar enough that they were able to relax. Somehow, they ended up spending hours talking; catching up on old and new things, sharing glimpses of their lives, and coming to terms with the fact that they were on a fucking Kordolianwarship.

Alexis had gone on to explain everything; even the strange miracle that had happened to her. Tasha’s sister had been infected by something called a Tharian; an alien symbiote that had saved her life.

After all that, Tasha was the only one that remained on-edge.

That was because there was a real-live lethal alien watching their every move.

He was there because of me.

Didn’t they understand that there was no way she would ever hurt her family?

After numerous cups of herbal tea and a delicious meal of island-style chicken curry and more than few glasses of red wine—which Tasha had accepted even though she never drank alcohol—they’d all realized they were exhausted.

That’s when a group of silent and deadly looking aliens had arrived to escort them to their new quarters. Nythian took Tasha to her quarters himself, accompanied by Alexis, who couldn’t stop stealing glances at her silver alien lover.

They were completely besotted with one another.

Tasha didn’t understand it.

She didn’t understand a lot of things about her sister.

Alexis had really tried her best to be nice, to make it feel just like the old days, but there was a chasm between them now.

Tasha wasn’t Tasha anymore.

The nine-year old girl that had been abducted from L’Hermitage Beach didn’t exist anymore, and Alexis really had no idea who she was.

And neither did she.

A flutter of panic settled in her chest as she remembered Lodan’s parting words.

When I return, you will tell me everything I need to know.

He was coming.

She wouldn’t get to talk to Alexis alone—the Kordolians didn’t trust her enough for that.

She would have to tell him the truth.

If she refused; if she lied, they would probably torture the information out of her, or use truth-drugs.

If you lie to me again, I’ll have no choice but to mark you as an enemy.

Tasha looked down at her trembling hands. Her skin was pale in the dim light; callused and cold. She turned her hands over. On the inside of her wrists were three thin grey seams that marked the transition from her real skin to the bionic mods. The lines shimmered and blurred as her vision wavered and grew unfocused.

Her heart hammered like crazy. Her mouth was dry. She was angry. Wired. Barely able to keep herself together.

Oh, she knew this feeling.

If she didn’t get another shot of Ambrosia soon, she would start to hallucinate.

Maybe the hallucinations had already started.

Feeling restless, she rose to her feet and ran her fingers through her hair.

She sniffed, and wrinkled her nose.

She stank. She still wore the sweat of the humid Reunion jungle. Thankfully, there was a shower in here—a sanitation chamber, as Alexis called it when she’d shown her around. It had hot water, apparently.

If there was one thing Tasha was going to do before the insanity of withdrawal really kicked in, it would be to take a long, hot shower.

She hooked her fingers beneath her tank top and pulled it upwards, revealing her taut belly with its collection of pink scars; some fresh, others old and faded. In a swift, fluid motion, she yanked off her top, crossing her arms as she pulled it over her head.

Then she stepped into the so-called sanitation chamber, and was surprised when water immediately fell from the ceiling. It was the perfect temperature; blissfully warm, as if it had been calibrated just for her.

No cold three-minute showers here.

Stupid Praetorian.

She closed her eyes and tipped her head back under the cascading water, luxuriating in its perfect warmth.

It was the best thing ever.

For a sublime moment, all her problems slipped away, and Tasha was perfectly at peace.

Then her body started to shake. Her eyes felt strange. She thought she might be crying, but she wasn’t sure, because she couldn’t remember what crying felt like.

Stop it.

Tasha found a couple of bottles in a rack on the wall; Earth-sourced stuff called Tropical Mountain Passionfruit, Neroli, and Ylang Ylang Bodywash, and some sort of Hydrating Vanilla and Sandalwood Shampoo and Conditioner. She quickly lathered her hair and body, enveloping herself in a cloud of heady scent.

Then she rinsed off and looked for a towel. The shower had felt so good. She could have stayed in there longer, but it was too good—for some reason, she felt like she didn’t deserve it.

Tasha found some simple but comfortable and extremely well made clothes in a wardrobe-thing. She donned a pair of plain tad undies and a simple bra. Then she pulled on a pair of stretchy grey leggings and a loose grey long-sleeved top. The outfit was sized perfectly for her compact frame—suspiciously so.

Then, with nothing to do but wait, she went and sat on the cocoon-bed with her legs crossed. She closed her eyes and rested her palms on her knees.

She breathed in and out slowly.

She emptied her mind.

And thought of perfect nothing.

Time passed; minutes and hours became insignificant. Away from the heat of the shower, her body grew cold. Her hair dried. Remnants of alcohol flowed through her veins, dampening the effects of withdrawal, dulling the faint tremor that was now constant.

She floated on nothingness…

Until the danger-sense at the back of her neck tingled, and somehow, she just knew he was here.

As always, he hadn’t made a sound.

She didn’t open her eyes. She just sat there, waiting…

For a while, he just watched her, not saying a word. She didn’t care. She was caught halfway between infinity and reality. She wouldn’t open her eyes for him until he acknowledged her.

“Merry Christmas, Tasha,” Lodan said at last, speaking half in English, half in Universal.

His low voice wrapped around her like liquid silk.

Merry Christmas? What the fuck?

He was right, though. Christmas would be sweeping across Earth right about now.

Not that it mattered.

She didn’t care much for Christmas these days. Some people did, but a lot of humans didn’t. It was a quaint little tradition—deemed unfashionable in many quarters—although

Tasha hadn’t celebrated Christmas since she was nine.

And now she was stuck in space on a massive alien warship, alone in a dark chamber with the most dangerous being she’d ever encountered.

Her heart pounded.

Her concentration collapsed.

Warmth spread between her thighs.

No,she told herself. Not this. Not now.

She was absolutely stupid to be feeling this way.

He was here to interrogate her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Slowly, she opened her eyes…

And saw him.

He leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, looking deceptively relaxed. The obsidian armor was gone. Instead, he wore a midnight-blue robe over a pair of loose trousers. He was barefoot. Made from a soft, silken-type material, the robe draped over his shoulders and torso, crossing his chest in a V to reveal a glimpse of his smooth silver pecs.

Tasha’s heart beat a little faster.

Without his armor and weapons, he looked so different. Oh, he still looked like a cold, dangerous hardass, but the normal attire made him appear a little less machine-like; a little more human…

Or whatever the Kordolian equivalent of human was.

Tasha didn’t say a word. She gave Lodan a stony look.

How the hell did you get in here without making a sound?

His stealth unnerved her. She had pretty good hearing. She should have been able to detect something.

But he moved like a damn ghost.

“According to the Federation database, you are classified as provisionally dead,” Lodan said coolly. “But there is no doubt that you are Natasha Sedova, born of Igor and Katrina Ivanov, raised by Virginie. You…” His gaze traveled down her body. She caught a flash of fangs, quickly hidden. “You are the strongest human I’ve ever encountered. I don’t normally let anyone strike me once, let alone three times, but if it’s you… I will allow it.”

“Why?” Tasha whispered, more confused than ever. Kordolians were supposed to be cruel and ruthless. He could have so very easily killed her a thousand times over.

“Because it’s obvious you don’t want to hit me. You’re not that stupid. Something’s wrong with you. Someone with your training should have better control, but your reactions are strange. Impulsive. Almost as if your body is overriding your brain. You are running from someone, and you have no plan. That is unacceptable.” He peeled away from the wall and stalked forward, pinning her with his golden stare. “You will tell me everything. Now.”

He came to a stop just inches away and stared down at her, all blazing eyes and hard, lean muscle and terrifying intensity.

Her gaze dropped.

She couldn’t believe it.

Was that a bulge in his pants?

A fucking hard-on?

Desire swirled through her…

And then the panic set in. Unwanted images flashed through her mind.

That asshole Gage—muscular and bull-necked, reeking of stale Juvi smoke and sweat—entering her cell, reaching her bedside, laying his disgusting meaty hands on her as she was paralyzed by the euphoric rush of an Ambrosia shot, delivered just minutes ago.

She wanted to kill him so badly, but she couldn’t move.

She couldn’t do a thing…

“…Tasha. Tasha.”Lodan’s voice broke through the cold, iron grip of her distress.

Fuck.

How could she be so weak that she would let some stupid memory distract her…

Lodan wasn’t Gage.

Lodan wasn’t even human.

And she wasn’t helpless anymore.

Fine. Here goes nothing.

Tasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I… I used to work for a company called Praetorian. It’s the biggest mercenary corporation on Earth. The mercenary corporation. They’re huge. They have hundreds of thousands of people on their payroll. Humans and aliens. They have endless resources and quadrillions of credits at their disposal.” Her voice was a flat monotone, as if she were reciting instructions from a weapons manual. “On Earth, Praetorian is untouchable. Sometimes they do unsanctioned work for the Federation. They have their own research labs. They make in-house weapons that beat the capabilities of even the Federation’s military hardware. They modify humans. They create metas… like me. Once you’re in Praetorian, you never get out. When you found me in the jungle, I was trying to do something crazy. Escape—without getting everyone I care about killed. they’ve been hanging that threat over my head for years. That’s how they control you. They use your weaknesses against you.”

Lodan dropped to his haunches right in front of her. “Weakness?” He shook his head. “No. The only reason they were able to control you is because you’re strong.”

Strong?That doesn’t make any sense.

Lodan reached out.

Tasha flinched.

“Don’t,” he murmured as he took her left wrist into his hand. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He ran his fingers up and down the scarless metal-to-skin seams on the inside of her forearm. “I did not know that humans also did this sort of thing to their own kind… modifications and such. You are unnatural… like me.”

Like me?

Tasha shuddered. His touch was molten silk. His fingers were hard and callused, but he was unbelievably gentle with her.

“They bonded metal to my skeleton so my bones don’t break. They strengthened my large blood vessels with carbon-fiber, so they can’t be cut. They put something inside my muscles to make me strong. They modified my nervous system, and…”

The Kordolian placed her hand into his, her palm facing upwards. She was trembling. It was worse than before. She tried to make it stop, but she couldn’t. The shaking spread up her arm, across her chest, and into her jaw.

Her teeth started to chatter. She couldn’t say another word.

“You are coming to the medical bay for a full assessment, right now,” Lodan growled. He rose to his feet and curled his fingers around hers, pulling her up. “You can—”

Tasha started to rise.

Then it hit her.

A pure thunderbolt of pain, slamming into her skull.

She would have fallen flat on her back, but she was dimly aware of Lodan’s strong arms curling around her, preventing her from slipping onto the bed.

“Tasha!” he snapped, his voice filled with concern. “What is wrong?”

Her vision went white.

A soft whimper escaped her lips as pain engulfed everything.

Her world turned into pure hell.

This is it. I’m going to die.

The pain was like an inferno, swallowing everything, threatening to destroy her sanity.

Then it stopped.

It just stopped.

W-what?

She was left boneless and shaking and infuriatingly weak. She gasped and dug her fingers into whatever she could find, blinking furiously as she tried to clear her vision.

A choked sob escaped her.

What the hell was that?

It felt like…

Like the time Lisa Oni had deactivated the tracking implant inside her head.

It was the same kind of pain.

Her fingers dug into something warm and hard—yet covered in a layer of softness.

His… arm?

She didn’t care.

She pushed hard against Lodan’s arms, but he held her in an unbreakable embrace. Something wet and sticky coated her fingers. She looked down and saw black liquid.

His… blood?

Kordolians bled black. She understood that now.

“What was that just now, Tasha?” Lodan asked, terrifyingly calm.

Stunned, she just leaned back in his arms and stared up at the dark ceiling. She could smell his blood on her fingers; it was acrid and bitter.

A thousand possibilities whirled through her mind.

Was the implant defective?

Was it an effect of the withdrawals?

Had she just had an aneurysm?

No.

The answer was obvious.

Lara Oni was a fucking liar.

Someone had just reactivated the implant.

Someone was tracking her… right to this Kordolian warship.

Someone who has alien allies… Avein? Or something else?

This was bad.

Verybad.

“Lodan…” She looked into his eyes, expecting darkness.

Instead, she found perfect, icy calm.

It was exactly what she needed.

“Talk to me, Tasha,” he said softly, and something in his voice made her want to yield so badly. Beneath his cold, patient logic, she sensed an undercurrent of fury that was so tightly restrained it would burn down the entire fucking Universe if he ever released it.

He was scary.

But not to her.

Not right now.

Just tell him.

“I think we’re going to be attacked,” she said at last.

“What makes you say that?” Lodan didn’t scoff or tell her she was crazy, or ask stupid questions. He simply accepted what she was saying.

“There’s a device in my body that allows Praetorian to track my location. I had it deactivated before I arrived on the island, but…”

Lodan nodded. “Someone messed with it just now, didn’t they? You think they might be tracking you.”

“How did you figure that out?” Can Kordolians read thoughts?

“I’ve been around the Universe long enough to know how these things work. In my line of work, everything’s a threat until proven otherwise.”

Tasha became acutely aware of the fact that she was still in his arms. He was kneeling on the bed, holding her upright, refusing to let her go.

His black blood was on her fingers, but there was no trace of damage to his skin.

He… healed?

He was impossibly warm.

And strong.

And gentle.

Tasha had never experienced anything like it before. She almost wanted to close her eyes and surrender…

Lodan drew her into his arms and lifted her up off the pod.

Tasha started to protest—nobody carried her around like this, ever—but she was still suffering the after-effects of that awful pain. She felt so horribly weak.

“Don’t even think about it,” he whispered, his breath feathering her cheek as he put his lips close to her ear. “I can tell you right now that even though you’re plenty fast on your own, you have nothing on me when it comes to speed, especially on this ship.”

Tasha snorted. She would have called him arrogant, but she knew he was speaking the truth.

She would have kicked his ass and busted her way out of his damn arms, but she couldn’t move right now.

She would have thought he was deceiving her; that he was only being nice to her to gain the answers he sought, but for some inexplicable reason, she got the feeling these Kordolians didn’t lie.

He carried her out of her quarters as if she were as light as a feather, even though she was much heavier than she looked.

“I’ll allow it this one time,” Tasha growled, feeling his arms bunch and flex against her body. Every inch of him was chiseled and hard—yet impossibly warm. Why did he feel so irritatingly good?“Your medic… would they know anything about addiction?”

Lodan started to run. Run was perhaps the wrong word for it. The way he moved was more like gliding; so smooth and fast that the dark walls and roof became a blur. “Addiction?” he spoke slowly; softly, not even out of breath even though he was moving so inhumanly fast. “If there is anyone that knows about addiction, it is Zharek.” He looked down at her, his golden eyes narrowing. “It explains a lot about you.”

“They forced it on me.” Tasha’s voice cracked. “They used it to control me. I…” Why was she telling him all this? Why did it feel so easy? She’d never allowed herself to be so vulnerable before. How was it possible that he was the one she ended up spilling her guts to—this cold, hard, arrogant alien warrior, who had also shown her just how restrained he could be.

He wasn’t what she’d expected a Kordolian to be like.

At all.

“They always seek to control the strong ones,” Lodan murmured as he rounded a corner, sweeping past a group of startled Kordolians, not even acknowledging them. His attention was only for her. “Tell me what it is, Tasha. We’ll fix it.”

“I don’t know if you can.” She felt like she was floating. She was trembling all over now; cold and a little delirious. “The drug they’ve got me on… it’s called Ambrosia, and it’s an absolute bitch. Nobody knows how to get off this thing. I could be dead in a couple of days… I’ll probably be incoherent soon, so don’t hold it against me when I start cursing you out.” Tasha lay back in his arms and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lulled by the steady rhythm of his movement.

She didn’t know why he was being so nice to her all of a sudden.

Especially after she’d punched him.

To her surprise, Lodan chuckled; a low, delicious sound that wrapped around her and threatened to drag her into some sort of blissful silver-male-induced stupor. “Why would I be worried about a few bad words after you’ve kneed me in the jewels and ruined my pretty face?”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Kordolian,” Tasha sniped, unable to help herself. She never joked around with anyone, ever—she didn’t think she even had a sense of humor—but for some reason, this alien made her say the most inane things. “The only one who could ever think a face like yours is pretty would be your mother.” She was taunting, of course, because she actually found him quite beautiful. The more she stared at his sharp, elegant, elf-like features, the more entranced she became.

Stop it. This is stupid.

“Now you’ve destroyed my ego, too,” the Kordolian lamented, his lips curving upwards in a self-deprecating smile. But before she could blink, his expression turned serious. His voice deepened. His warm breath feathered against her cheek as he leaned in. “Your masters used a terrible form of control on you, but my kind know coercion and control like the back of our hands. We will break this chemical restraint. No one will control you ever again.”

The cold certainty in his voice sent a ripple down her spine. His promises sounded almost too good to be true. “And then what?” Her eyelids fluttered. She saw golden embers amidst the darkness, like fireflies in the night.

His fangs flashed. “Maybe I feel like destroying this so-called Praetorian.”

“No…” she shook her head, trying to fathom how he could be so calm; cocky, even. “You don’t understand. You can’t just destroy them. It’s not that easy, even for someone like you. They’re huge. They have The Federation under their thumb. They—”

Lodan let out a low, dark chuckle. “You do not know us yet, Tasha.”

The room lurched violently to one side.

It wasn’t just the room… it was the entire ship!

Lodan stopped dead in his tracks and swore viciously in Kordolian. Slowly, he let her down. Tasha’s legs wobbled as she stood. Her teeth chattered. She felt like she could collapse at any moment.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm.

Lodan pointed at the wall. It started to unravel, revealing a cavernous chamber illuminated by soft blue lights in the walls.

“Zharek!” he yelled, before barking a series of orders in rapid-fire Kordolian. She’d never heard him sound like this before; stern and commanding, a hint of terrible urgency bleeding into his voice.

As if he knew something they didn’t.

Something really, really, bad.

In a split-second, a tall, wild-eyed, disheveled looking Kordolian appeared.

He had long white hair and horns. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.

Fucking horns.

Why didn’t Lodan have horns?

Were Kordolians… supposed to have horns?

The thought made her a little giddy.

As soon as this Zharek saw Lodan, he straightened his rumpled grey robes and snapped to attention. His expression became serious… and a little wary; almost fearful.

Lodan had that effect on other Kordolians, it seemed.

But then his golden eyes—a shade lighter than Lodan’s—flicked toward her, dissecting her with a look that was as cold and clinical as anything she’d ever seen. “What have you brought me now, Lodan?” He didn’t seem in the least bit surprised to see her. Maybe he was used to humans.

“This is Tasha,” Lodan informed him. “You will complete a full medical evaluation on her. She will tell you everything you need to know about her condition.” He said something in rapid-fire Kordolian, his gaze becoming distant. It took Tasha moment to realize that he was speaking to someone on his invisible comm. “Nythian is coming to watch over you.”

“I won’t go anywhere,” Tasha began to protest. “I’ll be fine without—”

“No,” Lodan growled as the ship lurched again. “Nythian is my brother. He is one of the few people in this Universe that I completely and absolutely trust. I protect his mate as if she were my own, and he will do the same for anyone I choose. Don’t argue, Tasha. You need protection right now.” He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “Do you want Alexis to be here? Will that make things easier for you? Because we can arrange—”

“No,” Tasha blurted, not even thinking about it. “She doesn’t need to see this.” I don’t want anyone I know to see me like this… anyone human, anyway. The thought of sharing her flaws and weaknesses and terrible truths with her family… she couldn’t stand it.

She didn’t want to taint them.

“Fine.” Lodan simply accepted her decision. He barked more orders into his invisible comm. Then he dropped to his knees and placed his palm against the floor. “Wait…” His voice sounded strained.

What the hell?

His body grew tense. A pained look crossed his face. He trembled ever so slightly.

Tasha caught a glimpse of a shadow in the distance.She recognized Nythian’s massive form.

“Oh, she’s really in a mood now,” Lodan growled. The muscles of his arms strained against some invisible force. His jaw tensed. The tendons in his neck stood out like cables. “I have to go and deal with this. Brother, guard Tasha with your life. If the ship starts to behave strangely around her, you pick her up and keep her away from any moving parts. I want Zharek to make sure she is medically stable, but he is not to do anything invasive. No excuses.”

“What in Kaiin’s Hells is going on?” The big warrior’s expression was pure thunder.

“No time to explain. I’m going to put a stop to it once and for all.” To Tasha’s horror, something moved around on his left cheek; a dark shadow rippling beneath his silver skin like some malevolent parasite.

What is… that?

At last, he looked up—at her.

Gone was the icy control; the military precision.

In its place was pure wildness. His golden gaze burned hotter than the sun.

He didn’t say another word.

He just gave her a look that was full of fire and savageness.

Then he turned, disappearing down the dark corridor on silent, impossibly fast feet—like a damn wraith.

Leaving Tasha, Nythian, and Zharek staring after him in silence.

After a long, awkward silence, which was punctuated only by strange machine-like rumbles in the background, Zharek cleared his throat. “Ah… Tasha?”

“Yes?” She met the medic’s strange golden eyes, which were both calculating and panicked—how was that even possible?

“I think I know what’s wrong with you,” he said quietly. “If it is what I think it is, then things are about to get interesting… well, more interesting, because that substance really shouldn’t exist in this corner of the Universe.”

“Explain.” All traces of the affable Nythian that Tasha had witnessed earlier—the one who’d sat beside Alexis with a soft half-smile plastered across his face, doting upon her even when he was on sentry duty or whatever it was supposed to be—that Kordolian was gone, replaced with this fierce, hard-eyed warrior.

The same warrior that had once decked her in the blink of an eye and ground his boot into her back, on the verge of killing her if she tried anything stupid…

Tasha reminded herself not to ever forget who she was dealing with.

Impatiently, Zharek gestured toward the inner chamber. “Lodan was right to insist on an urgent medical assessment. I need to analyze her condition and confirm what I think I’m seeing before I can explain anything to you. Hurry up, before things get out of hand.”

“You mean the ship, or the human?”

“Both.”