Dark Paradise (6 page)

She’d had a child too. A little girl who’d been ripped from her arms two days after she’d killed the son of a bitch she’d been married to.

Are you sorry
? They’d asked her.
Are you sorry for murdering your husband?

Hell no, she wasn’t sorry. She wished she could do it again. She was sorry for being so impulsive, sorry for losing Alana and her world, sorry for being sent to Ripindal as punishment. But she wasn’t sorry
he
was dead.

“Cin,” Elder murmured, his breath warm against her lips. “Where are you?”

She shook the cobwebs of memories from her mind. “I’m here, trying to forget.”

“I’ll help you.”

“I know.”

She put her arms around him. Before their lips could touch, the area came alive. Elder shoved himself off her and stood, his weapons in his hands.

On her ass behind him, in the dirt, she had little time to be pissed that he’d had the nerve to try to protect her. She jumped to her feet, Saint and Satan in her hands, and positioned herself so her back was against Elder.

Surrounding their little camp, deep in the shadows, were people she could more sense than see. Many people.

“Who are they?” she whispered.

Elder hesitated. When he spoke, his voice was dark. “Housekeeping.”

She couldn’t breathe through the ice blocking her windpipe.
Housekeeping
. That word evoked every nightmare image she’d ever had or imagined.

“Where’s Mach?” she said, or thought she said. Maybe no sound came out at all, because Elder didn’t answer.

“Elder?”

“Don’t speak to them,” he murmured. “Don’t look them in the eye.
Put your knives away before they notice and take them from you
.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. She slid the complaining knives back into their leather sheaths with a quickness borne of terror and pulled her shirt to cover them as much as possible.

The only thing she could do was trust Elder. He had to know housekeeping a hell of a lot better than she did. “Done,” she told him.

Still, it was another five minutes before housekeepers began slithering from the shadows, weapons held in long-fingered hands, still more covering their huge bodies.

Cin called forth every ounce of courage she’d ever possessed or imagined she possessed and wrapped it around her like an impenetrable cloak. Adrenaline streaked through her body, causing every sound to be amplified, every sight to be magnified. Her blood thundered through her, her heartbeat a drum of doom in her ears.

The housekeepers were big, bigger even than Mach, and as she watched them, she realized what the other half of Mach was. He was of these beings. A Mehnarthi, one of the most vicious, frightening races she’d ever heard of.
Housekeeper.

Their features were thicker, more distorted than Mach’s. They possessed no human genes to pretty them up. Their eyes were long black slits, chins wide and carved above necks as thick as her thigh.

Long black hair, just like Mach’s.

Where the fuck
was
he?

One of them stepped forward.

Elder turned to reach for her, and they stood side by side waiting for whatever hell they were about to be handed. She’d never wished for daylight more than she wished for it at that moment.

The lead man was weighed down with weapons; axes, knifes, and other things Cin didn’t recognize. Belts and buckles and scabbards crisscrossed his huge, bulky body, but he moved with a quick lightness that belied their heaviness.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“No one,” Elder said, politely. “We belong to—”

But his words had angered the housekeeper, who backhanded Elder across his face. Elder stumbled backward but did not fall, and Cin grabbed his arm, unable to stop herself from glaring her hatred at the housekeeper.

She was tempted to loose Saint and Satan and let them tear into the hateful men. If she had been less unsure of the outcome she would have, but Elder’s words kept her in check. She would die before she’d let these monsters take control of her knives.

Housekeeping laughed, their rumbles of amusement sounding like distant thunder. Cin clenched her teeth, letting her anger fight with her fear. Better pissed than terrified.

In an instant, the lead housekeeper’s gaze turned to her.

Elder slipped his hand over her arm and squeezed in warning. Hard.

She swallowed and dropped her gaze from the housekeeper’s bottomless black stare. But she had his attention, and he wasn’t ready to ignore her.

Shit.

Elder stepped slightly in front of her. “Sir. Tell us what you need and we will accommodate you. We do not have the virus. Our—”

The housekeeper used the same eerie speed Cin had seen in Mach and grabbed Elder by the throat. He lifted him to his toes, but Elder never made a sound.

Cin could feel Elder’s helpless rage. He dropped his short sword and grabbed the housekeeper’s arm.

Cin bent down, scooped the weapon up and with a scream, lifted it into the air. She would take the fucking housekeeper’s arm off.

Then Mach stepped into the clearing, his fury a thing alive. “
Stop
.”

It was as though the world froze for an instant. No one moved. No air stirred; even the fire seemed to stop flickering.

Mach strode to the lead housekeeper. He had no weapons out, but he didn’t need them to show his threat. “They’re mine,” he said, his teeth clenched.

One of the housekeepers behind the lead spit into the dirt. “
Sum-lac
.”

Cin didn’t have to know their language to know what the housekeeper meant. His contempt for the half Mehnarthi, half human was obvious. Didn’t matter on which moon you were born—someone was always going to think they were better than you.

A long, slow rumble began deep in Mach’s lungs, and the man who’d insulted him stepped forward, thumping his chest. In one smooth move, he pulled a long, evil, serrated sword from a scabbard on his side.

Mach grinned, and the sight of it chilled her to the bone. There was enough Mehnarthi inside him to make him one scary son of a bitch. Even the housekeeper hesitated for a second, halting as he looked into Mach’s face.

“
Min ect sul
,” Mach murmured. “Min ect sul.” From his hip holsters he pulled two of his own weapons, short double-edged swords with curved tips. The swords were called cranks, and she had no idea where the name had come from. They flowed like silver water in his grip, ever changing, ever moving. They fascinated her, but not as much as their master.

The Mehnarthi leader lost interest in Elder and opened his hand, releasing the human.

Mach didn’t look around, but Cin knew he was aware Elder had been freed. Elder rubbed his throat with one hand and took Cin’s arm with the other. He pulled her, slowly, very slowly, back a few steps.

Breathless, she turned to him. “What do we—”

He put a finger to her lips. “Wait.”

The leader seemed disinclined to allow his men to face down Mach. His dark gaze considering, he watched Mach for a long moment before turning to his man. “No.” The housekeeper must have known better than to argue, because he sheathed his sword and contented himself with glaring at the half Mehnarthi he’d insulted.

“Mach Koffka,” the leader said. “
Min sine brod
.”

Mach raised his chin, thumped his chest once, and put away his weapons.

Cin began to breathe again. Elder gave a long, slow blink and let out a pent-up breath. “We’re okay.”

“What’s going on?”

“Quiet,” Elder snapped. “Your female voice will—”

But once again, the leader pinned her with a cold black stare. “
Trace-lac
min.”

Elder stiffened beside her, but she only stared at the leader blankly. “What—”

“Come kneel,” the Mehnarthi housekeeper said, his voice clipped, impatient, and completely uncompromising.

“I don’t think so,” she replied.

Elder groaned as Mach strode toward them. “Trust him, Cin. Do everything he commands of you.”

She knew he was speaking of Mach, not the housekeeper. She took a deep breath, and then Mach grabbed her upper arm and began hauling her toward the Mehnarthi.

Chapter Seven

“Mach,” she whispered.

“Quiet, slave,” he said, his voice loud.

Slave? If she escaped this situation, she was going to send Satan right to this one’s black heart. “I’m not your sl—”

He stopped walking and shook her so hard her teeth snapped together. “Quiet!” Deep in his eyes lurked a warning, and she was not so stupid as to ignore it.

“You’d better have a plan,” she muttered.

He planted her before the housekeeper, but his hand never left her arm. “Mine,” he said, his voice proud.

The leader thumped his chest, a particular Mehnarthi habit she was beginning to hate. Fucking apes.

“Danix,” the housekeeper said, as if that should mean something to her.

She glanced at Mach. “What?”

“His name,” Mach said.

“Oh. Hey. Pleased to meet you.” Were they friends now? From the corner of her eye she saw Elder cover his face and shake his head.

Mach squeezed her arm. “Quiet, slave. Kneel.”

“What?”

He forced her to her knees but followed her down, his lips near her ear. “Act to live.” His whisper was harsh, and she got it.

She’d play along because to do otherwise would mean something too awful to contemplate. She nodded, and remembering Elder’s admonishments from earlier, lowered her gaze to the ground.

“My slave.” Mach straightened up and placed his warm hand on her head. “
My
slave.”

They talked, mainly in their own language, and she didn’t even try to understand. Still, each time she stole a quick look at Danix, it was to find his gaze glued to her, and she couldn’t mistake the lust in his eyes.

At long last, Mach pulled her to her feet. Housekeeping began to break up, but to her dismay, they didn’t go far. Mach led her to Elder, who stood in the same spot she’d left him in, waiting for them.

“I heard,” he said.

Mach sighed. “They will leave us soon.”

“Soon,” said Cin. “Soon like in a few minutes?”

“Maybe days,” Mach replied. His voice was gruff, but it didn’t hide his worry.

“What the fuck for? What do they want?”

Elder stared at Mach for a long moment, then looked at her. “Danix desires you, Cin.”

She shuddered, and sat down on her haunches before the quickly dying fire, suddenly chilled. “What’s to keep him from taking me?”

“Mach has claimed you. Their code prevents a Mehnarthi from taking another Mehnarthi’s property.”

It was almost laughable that those brutish creatures had a code of honor. “Well, then, I’m okay. Right?”

“Not exactly. Danix will travel to the post with us. He’ll watch you. He’s not completely convinced you belong to Mach. And…” He hesitated, his gaze going back to Mach, who stood staring into the fire, his face closed and proud. “Because Mach is half human, they aren’t as apt to adhere quite so stringently to their own rules.”

“Shit,” she whispered. “What can we do?”

“Show that you belong to Mach,” Elder said. “It’s simple really. If it works, it does. If not…”

“Then Danix will take me.”
He can try, the bastard.

Mach turned from the fire, and when he thumped his chest this time, it didn’t piss her off. It brought tears to her eyes.

“
Never
,” he said. His voice was fierce, promise in his eyes. He reached a hand to her hair and gently lifted a strand. “Never.”

She swallowed over the sudden lump in her throat and did what she always did when she was uncomfortable. She glared.

Mach only grinned and tugged her hair gently. “We should eat.”

He added more brush and dry sticks to the fire, then pointed to the game he’d thrown to the ground. He’d brought it back from his foray into the forest before his confrontation with the Mehnarthi leader.

Three rabbits, one for each of them. She still wasn’t good at skinning and preparing small animals to cook but was better at it than when she’d first arrived. On Ripindal, a person would adapt and learn—or die.

Her stomach growled, and she found her skinning knife and went to work. Despite the nearby threat, she was starving. But then, no matter what else was going on, when she had a chance to eat, she ate.

And even with housekeeping surrounding their small camp, watching their every movement, she felt safer than she’d felt since she’d arrived on Ripindal.

And that was because of Mach and Elder.

The Mehnarthi sat around their fires and cooked their dinners, maintaining enough distance so that Cin could almost pretend they weren’t even there. If only they’d not been prone to yelling and laughing and quarreling in that loathsome language of theirs.

Elder had told her that come morning, many of this band of housekeeping would go on to wherever Danix sent them, but he would retain a few to secure Mach should it come to that. Obviously he didn’t find Elder and Cin threats, but with Mach, he would show caution. And he was right to.

She had a feeling her men were silently laughing at her as she devoured the singed meat, but she didn’t care. She tore into it with gusto, grease on her chin and water in her hand, and it was the best meal she’d had in many, many months.

The scent of roasted meat surrounded them, and the blazing fire kept the shadows and fire-fearful creatures at bay. The men sat on either side of her, their hearty appetites and warm conversation keeping her entertained.

Secure at last, she began to let her defenses weaken and prayed silently that it would last. She realized she hadn’t thought about paradise for most of the evening.

A month after she’d arrived, she’d made a promise to herself that if she hadn’t bought her reward and her entrance into the Gamlogi’s perfect world in two years, she’d end her life.

She smiled and let that promise float away. Who knew, after all, if the stories were true? Maybe they were just empty promises given to the hapless miners to keep them hunting. After all, if there was nothing but endless mining, year after year, on this hellish moon, most of the humans would have been likely to jump off a cliff. But no, she didn’t really believe that. There
was
a paradise, and she was going there.