Out of the Ashes Read online

  She was smiling at me, and a quick glance at Kol showed he was smiling at me too. It caught me off guard.

  “You’re a fierce female,” Kol said, his chest puffed with what appeared to be pride.

  “I agree with my brother; you would make a great party leader at our annual debates.”

  I raised my brows. “You have annual debates?”

  “Of course,” she said. “Maji citizens go to our Citizens Department and leave notes with formal complaints and requests for changes. For example, there are few Maji young, and we had no play sector for them when they were not in their homes, at lessons, or during training. Mothers have complained about this and requested a play sector. We will discuss it at the monthly debate and then vote to decide on a decision in response.”

  “Who is ‘we’?”

  “The Council,” Kol answered me.

  “And who makes up the Council?”

  “Twelve Maji. Four members of the Guard, four members of the royal family, and four citizens of Royal City who are voted by the people to represent them.”

  “I thought you said your father was the ruler? Why do you need a Council if he is in charge?”

  “He is the ruler, and he is still in charge,” Surkah replied. “He’s been the Revered Father for over four hundred years now, and over the past hundred years, he has changed many of our laws. One of them is that the Council collectively makes decisions for the people. He deals with our warriors and all the hard stuff, but he lets the Council deal with the lesser stuff.”

  He doles out the responsibility.

  “He sounds like a good ruler,” I commented.

  “He is the best,” Surkah smiled.

  “Was he the one who gave the order to kidnap humans?” I questioned with a raised brow.

  Kol stepped forward. “I believe the term you’re looking for is rescue.”

  I didn’t want to argue with him again, so I looked at Surkah and said, “I’m really tired, and my head hurts. I think you gave me too much of the konia stuff.”

  She pressed her hand against my forehead, and I felt a huge surge of relief, making my body sway.

  “Surkah!” Kol scolded.

  “She is fine, brother,” Surkah said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m taking her pain away. She is not used to healing, so it just feels strange to her.”

  “A really good kind of strange.” I sighed and smiled lazily when Surkah lowered her hand. “Your hands are magic.”

  She chuckled. “Yes, my lissa is a blessing from Thanas.”

  I nodded in agreement as she removed her hand from my head.

  “Wait.” I frowned. “What is this lissa thing you keep mentioning?”

  Surkah looked at her brother. “How do I describe my lissa?”

  Kol shrugged. “Look for the closest translation.”

  Surkah looked like she was racking her brain then she said, “It is a version of… healing ability. You understand healing ability in your Earth words?”

  Yes, I understand the words, but it left me with more questions.

  “You have a healing ability?” I asked, wide-eyed. “I knew you somehow healed wounds with your hands, but you have a… a real healing ability?”

  Surkah nodded. “Well, yes, how do you think I heal the wounded and sick?”

  I stared at her. “With medicine and machines?”

  She raised her brows. “We only have machines to monitor, not heal. And our medicine is only a substitute until a healer reaches their charge. The kind of machines you mentioned, there is no point of them when healers do the healing with our hands.”

  Well, shit.

  “Enough talking,” Kol said abruptly. “I’m being summoned to the bridge, so she needs to be escorted to human housing now.”

  Surkah nodded and then moved to the far side of the room where she placed her palm on the wall and took items of folded clothing from inside when it opened. She returned to my side and handed them to me. It was a t-shirt and pair of pants in a bright grey. Like before, there were no underwear, socks, or shoes.

  I was about to take off my gown when I noticed Kol’s eyes on me.

  “Go away,” I said, holding his gaze. “I don’t want you here while I change.”

  “Nova.” Surkah frowned.

  I switched my questioning gaze her. “What?”

  “You must learn respect for the shipmaster,” she stressed. “You cannot be a bad influence on the other humans.”

  I hated that Kol was grinning at me like my being scolded by Surkah was amusing for him.

  “Why’re you looking at me like that?” I questioned him.

  Surkah lifted her hands to her face and deeply sighed into them.

  “Come with me, Nova.”

  I instantly stepped behind Surkah when Kol finished speaking.

  “No,” I said. “I want to stay with Surkah.”

  Don’t ask me why because I shouldn’t have felt safe with any of the kidnappers.

  “And I said you’re coming with me.”

  “But… why?”

  Kol stared at me, his violet eyes now filled with annoyance.

  “You’re healed, and as my sister fears you would not do well being accompanied by another male, so I stepped up to bring you to our temporary human housing on board my ship. Do you not remember our conversation when we broke our fast?”

  “Yes, but a lot has happened since then,” I mumbled more to myself than to the Maji watching me.

  Surkah was the closest thing I had to a friend among the Maji, even though she lied to me, and now I was being taken away from her. Kol was placing me in ‘human housing,’ and I was worried sick about it. What if the other humans tried to hurt me when my back was turned or when I was sleeping? What if they feared me as I feared them, and they attacked out of instinct?

  My thoughts plagued my mind as I changed back into my comfortable clothes, bid Surkah farewell, and followed Kol out of the medical bay.

  “You’re thinking so much that your skin is creasing.”

  I looked up at Kol as we walked and jumped a little when he gently tapped on the centre of my forehead. He chuckled to himself, seemingly amused.

  “I’m just scared,” I admitted.

  He brought us to a stop, all traces of amusement fleeing his sculpted face.

  “Why?” he asked, and he sounded concerned.

  I shrugged. “The other humans will try to kill me.”

  I knew they would; we were survivors and eliminating a threat meant survival. Everything was a threat to a human. Everything.

  The shipmaster blinked. “Why would they try to kill you?”

  “It’s what my people have become,” I said solemnly. “It is difficult to find someone civilised. Trust me, I’ve looked far and wide, and almost every person I’ve encountered has tried to harm me in some way or simply kill me. It is the way now.”

  I took a step away from Kol when he growled.

  “Do not fear me,” he said, “or your people.”

  I frowned. “It is hard when all I’ve known is to fear them.”

  Kol cursed, and then after a moment of tense silence, he said, “I will place you in private quarters until we have determined which humans are to be trusted and which are not. I am aware you’re also fearful of Maji, and since I am the shipmaster, you will become my responsibility, and you will see that we’re trying to help.”

  I raised my brows. “You don’t have to—”

  “It is decided,” he cut me off.

  I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at him.

  “You can’t just make decisions for me.”

  “Would you prefer I throw you to the mindless humans you fear instead?”

  I flinched, and Kol’s tense look on his face fell.

  “Forgive me.” He sighed. “I did not mean that. It is just… no one talks to me like you do.”

  “Because they know you,” I countered. “I don’t.”

  “We will have to change that.”

  I sw
allowed.

  “Come,” he said and began walking again. “You need your rest. The next few hours will be trying.”

  They will?

  “Why will they be trying?”

  Kol didn’t speak until we got into an elevator that brought us to the highest level of the spacecraft. After walking down a few hallways, Kol stopped next to a black door that opened when he pressed his palm on the door. The area around his hand lit up green then the door opened.

  “In mere hours, we take off from Earth’s surface, and I will activate the craft’s warp, so it will bring us closer to my home world—Ealra. I am aware you humans have never experienced warp so get all the rest you can now as it will be a little… unsettling for a few hours later.”

  I was not looking forward to that. I was not looking forward to leaving Earth, no matter how terrible it was.

  My worries faded when we stepped into a large, dimly lit room complete with a single bed and an entertainment unit of some kind that was fixated to the wall facing the bed. A fluffy white rug adorned the floor, and I resisted groaning out loud when my bare feet pressed down onto it.

  It was so soft.

  “I’ve never had this before,” I whispered as I glanced around.

  “Private quarters?” Kol asked.

  “Quarters of any kind,” I admitted. “I’ve never had a home. I sleep where I can hide from sight. I’ve never had somewhere like this. I love it very much. Thank you.”

  Kol didn’t reply to me, so I looked at him and found him staring at me with such intensity that I stepped back. For a moment, his eyes glowed like when he brought me to orgasm, but the light left his eyes almost instantly. I didn’t bring it up in case I insulted him. It was probably a Maji thing like Surkah’s ability to heal with touch, and I didn’t want to say something about it and upset him because he’d probably take away my beautiful room if I did that.

  “Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “This room is now your quarters while you’re aboard the Ebony, so you need not fear it being taken away from you. It is yours until we reach our destination.”

  “Truly?” I asked.

  Kol nodded. “Truly.”

  Without thinking, I crossed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his waist. I was considerably shorter than he was; my head just barely pressed against his chest, and I couldn’t get my arms to meet each other because he was so wide with muscle. But it didn’t matter. When I felt Kol’s large hands flatten against my back, I relaxed even more. He was hugging me back.

  “Nova?” he murmured after a few moments.

  “Hmmm?”

  “Can you… Can you release me?”

  I opened my eyes and quickly stepped away from him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I had no idea what possessed me to hug him.

  “Don’t be.” He cleared his throat. “I would gladly hold you all day, but I have duties to attend to.”

  I felt my cheeks burn with heat. “Of course, Kol. I apologise for keeping you from them.”

  “Do not apologise. Time spent with you is not time wasted.”

  I felt my cheeks heat even more, and I wanted to kick myself because of it. I was getting embarrassed, and my stomach fluttered with a sensation my father used to describe as ‘butterflies.’ I knew it wasn’t right because Kol wasn’t human—he was Maji—and I had better remember that.

  “I am ashamed,” he said after a long moment.

  I raised a brow. “Why?”

  “Because my earlier behaviour has made you fear me and fear that I will forcefully take you. You challenged me, and my reaction was to make you heel to me. And as you’re an attractive female, my choice was an orgasm. I did not mean for it to happen, but my instincts can be hard to deny.”

  It was idiotic to feel stung at his admittance that he didn’t want to touch me willingly, but only because his instincts told him too. I couldn’t help the emotion that stuck like a needle in my heart.

  “I don’t fear you,” I said softly. “I just thought you wanted to touch me to see… how I differ from you.”

  Big. Fat. Lie.

  “Oh,” Kol said, a light tint of purple staining his cheeks. “Well, yes, I wanted to see your differences, but I cannot find any other than size. You’re very small, a lot smaller than Maji females. Weaker.”

  My embarrassment faded at the bristle of the insult. “I’m not weak.”

  Kol suddenly smiled. “I did not mean to wound your pride. I just was stating a fact that our females are naturally tall and strong. Not as tall or a strong as our males, but compared to a human female, they are superior.”

  “Yeah, you’re not helping your argument at all.”

  “Forgive me.” He chuckled. “I meant no offence.”

  “Sure, you didn’t.”

  Kol watched me for a moment then said, “Are you going to fight me on everything, Nova?”

  I wanted to say no, but my pride and stubbornness wouldn’t allow me to.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Reconsider,” he asked. “Accepting your new life will be a lot easier than fighting it.”

  I remained silent

  “And Nova?” he said.

  I looked up at him.

  “My sister informed me I should apologise for… earlier.”

  I waited for the apology, but it never came.

  “Aren’t you going to say sorry?”

  “Maji don’t apologise when they’re not sorry.”

  I gasped. “You aren’t sorry?”

  “Making you come, feeling you let go…” Kol paused and licked his lips. “I will never be sorry for that gift; I will only be thankful so… thank you.”

  “Are you serious right now?” I incredulously asked as he back out into the hallway.

  He turned to face me, and just as the door closed, he winked and said, “As a heart attack.”

  I hated that he used my own words against me and that he made me smile. I also hated that he gave me butterflies when the only thing I should feel when it came to the Maji shipmaster was disgust and anger.

  I shook my head clear and resisted the urge to punch the air as I glanced around my new room. Though I never voiced it to Kol or anyone else, I felt beside myself at the prospect of a new home, new law and order, a new life, and a new start. I hadn’t felt safe since the night before my father died—so the feeling felt foreign to me. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe everything the Maji told me after finding out they lied to me in the first place, but I didn’t feel as nervous around them. I felt as though Kol was being honest when he said it would be a good change for me and my people.

  I’d just have to cross the ‘breeding with Maji’ bridge when I came to it, or maybe I’d just go under the bridge when nobody was looking.

  Voices woke me the following morning. Loud voices.

  “Echo,” an annoyed woman’s voice clipped. “You’re going to wake her up!”

  “How the hell am I supposed to be quiet, Envi?” a second woman’s voice quipped. “They just put our beds in here and told us to be nice to her and that it was ‘shipmaster’s orders’. Whatever that means.”

  “It means they were the shipmaster’s orders. Duh.” The first voice snickered.

  I opened my eyes and instantly sat upright. I stared at the two human women who were busy putting clean linen on their beds. Single beds that were only a few feet or so away from mine. They weren’t here when I fell asleep last night, so I had no idea how they were brought in without waking me up.

  That pissed me off because my instincts were normally much better than that. It took a lot for something to get passed me, but these women somehow managed to move into my room without disrupting me from my sleep at all. That disturbed me greatly.

  I watched the two women with caution and decided if they attacked me that I could take them both on. They were skinnier than I was, which meant they were more malnourished. They were a bit taller than I was and had the advantage of backup, but if they backed m
e into a corner and left me no choice, I’d fight for my life. The last time that happened to me, I killed a person. The vision of my arrow piercing the watchman’s eye socket replayed in my mind.

  I shook my head clear and looked for something I could as a weapon, but I saw nothing on my side of the room. Both women were silently struggling with their bed linen, so I quietly slipped from my bed and stood, facing them.

  “Hello,” I said, my voice gruff.

  The woman with the waist-length black hair yelped and spun around to face me. The woman with shoulder-length dirty blond hair mimicked her actions but held up her hands in an awkward defensive stance. Both women had scars on their faces and some down the length of their arms. They both had sullen grey eyes, button noses, and round faces. They were related, that much was obvious. If I had to guess, I’d say they were sisters.

  “You scared the shit out of us,” the black-haired woman said and placed her hand on her chest.

  “Sorry,” I said, though I didn’t exactly mean it.

  Silence stretched between us until I said, “So, um, what’re you both doing in here?”

  The black-haired woman got defensive; I could tell by her change in demeanour and the narrowing of her eyes.

  “What do you care?” she asked, her tone clipped.

  I raised a brow. “Kol said this was my room.”

  “Which Maji is that?” Blondie asked, her tone much softer.

  “The shipmaster,” I said, keeping my eyes on Blackie.

  She seemed to be the more threatening of the two.

  “You met the shipmaster?” Blackie asked followed by Blondie saying, “And you’re allowed call him Kol?”

  I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

  “I’m sure it is.” Blackie blinked.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Are we going to have a problem?”

  She stepped forward. “I don’t know, are we?”

  “Try me, and you’ll see,” I challenged.

  Blondie moved to Blackie’s side and took hold of her hand.

  “We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” she said, squeezing Blackie’s hand. “I’m Envi, and this is my sister Echo. We’re twins. Not identical… obviously. We were brought here by a Maji fellow, and he told us this was our new quarters. We didn’t ask to be moved here. I promise.”