“Law enforcement ... a Dawner. And he was protecting the first group of Maten ambassadors when their Dawners opened fire on his pregnant wife and killed her for protesting the fact that they were withholding the cure from humans.”
Daria gaped at news she’d never heard before. “What?”
“It’s true. We had the cure and could have saved them all. His wife knew it. The humans weren’t weak as we’ve been told. Rather, they just hadn’t been exposed to our germs. A simple inoculation and one round of Sinctin would have cured them. None of them should have died, or been mutated. Joey’s wife was a research physician and had the research and proof. So, she and her colleagues staged a protest at the embassy where our emissaries were meeting with the humans. To keep her from exposing the truth, the Matens opened fire on her and her research team, and killed most of them, then started the war to make sure no one found out.”
“No wonder he hates us.”
Xared nodded. “He witnessed the entire thing and was unable to stop it. I’m told they had to pry her body from his arms.”
“How do you know he’s not lying?”
“He’s not the only one who saw it. And I know my uncle. Hatred like that only comes from a soul-deep betrayal. From a pain so foul that nothing can dull it.”
Daria stood there in quiet reflection as she came to terms with the fact that everything she’d ever known was a lie. Her background. Her history.
Her family.
Everything.
“Is my name my name?”
Xared scowled at her. “Pardon?”
“My parents lied about everything else. Is that all fabricated, too? Am I even a Stazen?”
His stern expression melted beneath a wave of sympathy. “Darus,” he breathed, using the Maten endearment for her name. “Of course, you are. They were only trying to protect you as best they could. You know this. You know what would have happened to you and to them had anyone ever learned you had human blood in your veins.”
Yeah, red-blooded was the worst insult anyone could hurl at a Maten.
And she was one of them now.
No, actually she wasn’t. Unlike Xared, she wasn’t some Shif who could make herself blend in with humans. She was clearly Maten in looks and manner. But partly human in genetics.
I belong to both.
And neither.
Hated and hunted by both groups.
She would never fit in. Neither would ever fully accept her. No wonder her mother had wanted to go live among the Matens. It must have been unbearable for her maja here where the humans glared at her with hatred, like they were doing to her right now.
And Daria had exposed them all by one unconscionable act of gross stupidity.
You must learn to think ahead. Her father had been right. Too bad she hadn’t listened to him sooner.
Now, she, the leader of HELL, was stuck in hell and there was no one to save her. No salvation to be found.
Chapter 5
Daria froze at the sight of Josiah’s bare back, and the way his muscles rippled. Her breath caught in her throat as a raw, unexpected wave of desire tore through her and left her speechless and hot.
Holy gods...
Had anyone ever told her that she’d feel such for a human being she’d have laughed them off the planet.
Yet there was no denying the way her heart picked up its pace as he quickly added weapons to the concealed holster at his waist and underarms. Worse? Unwanted fantasies of her running her hands over his body flashed through her mind faster than she could stop them.
What is wrong with me?
She hated humans.
But they weren’t supposed to look the way he did. Ripped and lean. Handsome beyond measure. Delectable.
Lickable.
He was exceptionally well formed, for any species.
And when he turned and caught her staring at him with the full weight of her teenage hormonal surge, she felt heat instantly scald her cheeks. Time seemed to stand still as he froze with one hand on the locker door.
For several agonizing heartbeats he said nothing as her mortification claimed her completely. They merely stood there in awkward silence.
Until he pulled his shirt over his head and closed the locker in front of him. “Did you need something?”
That deep, resonant voice sent another shiver over her. It made her entire body tingle. Stop it, Daria! Get a hold of yourself! She wasn’t some prepubescent child. Technically, she was a grown Maten.
Though at the moment, she felt some inexplicable urge to giggle and hide her face.
Or runaway and hide.
Yeah, that would be a bad idea.
So, she made herself take a step toward him and at least pretend like she still had some sort of brain activity. “I just wanted to thank you. It was rude of me not to do so earlier.”
He tucked a peculiar black knife into a sheath at the base of his spine. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting any kind of thanks.”
From the likes of you. He wasn’t rude enough to add that last bit out loud, but the tone of his voice implied it.
As he started past her, she stopped him. His nearness hit her with another wave of desire that made a mockery of the earlier one. Every part of her was alert to him now. And it took everything she had not to kiss those lips that seemed to be made for just such a thing.
She drew a ragged breath, wishing that they weren’t so different. “I also wanted to say that I was sorry, Commander. I didn’t mean to get anyone hurt.”
Josiah hesitated as he saw real remorse in her dark eyes. And he hated himself for letting it weaken him. She was a Drab. Plain and simple.
His worst enemy. She symbolized everything he despised in this world.
Yet when she stood this close to him, with her hand on his forearm, all he saw was an attractive woman.
A scared, vulnerable one. Especially given the way her hand lingered and trembled on his flesh.
And that weakened him even more. He’d always been a sucker for anyone in need, especially a woman or a child. It was what had caused him to join the police force against his father’s wishes.
Protect and serve those who couldn’t defend themselves. Might shouldn’t make right. It was the duty of the strong to bleed for those who couldn’t hold their own.
He just wished he’d done a better job protecting his wife and family.
“Don’t be afraid, Daria. If your parents are alive, I’ll bring them back to you. You have my word on that.”
The pain in her eyes was one he knew intimately. It was the same ghost that haunted him with every breath he drew. Day and night. It even stalked his sleep and made him dread those few hours when he had no control over his mind that ever wandered off, and left him exposed to his rawest emotions. Those hours when he would venture to the past to be with his wife and live in a time before the Drabs had destroyed his life.
They had taken everything from him.
She hadn’t. Daria hadn’t even been born yet, and she had nothing to do with their cruelty. You know this, Joey.
But it was hard to remember that when all he wanted to do was lash out, and use her as a scapegoat for all the injustices that had left him gutted and bitter.
Left him alone and bleeding.