Negative (3 page)

The lady linked her arm with hers. “Yes, you will.”

Having every bit of hair from her nose down removed via plucking, sanding or waxing was as painful as it was rapid. The bathing, scrubbing and hairstyling were only interrupted when an assassin tried to drown Abrieth in the tub.

The spa attendants called the peacekeepers while Aster alternately lifted and submerged the attacker.

Abrieth declared it time for a massage, so she and Aster headed for the treatment room together.

The rest of the day was uneventful until they returned and looked at the boxes that had been delivered.

Aster hadn’t been given a present since her accident, so she felt the thrill of excitement as she opened the box. “Oh, dear. Well, they included a veil.”

Tobr was looking over her shoulder, and he snickered. “I hope you can manage that.”

She gave him a dark look. “Lady, if you need help with dressing, Tobr will assist you while I am busy.”

With a huff, she took her box of goodies and went to get into her costume with her skin gleaming from the polishes and creams of the day.

Before her accident, she would never have put on the leather bikini, boots and weapons’ harness. But, when she covered her face with the veil, it gave her both exposure and anonymity. A rush of power went through her as she held the curved weapons before settling them into their scabbards.

She fluffed her hair a little before walking back into Abrieth’s quarters, and the guards jumped to attention as she passed them.

Abrieth was struggling with a heavy costume and Tobr was all thumbs.

“Stand aside, junior. I can manage a corset.”

Tobr stared. “Uh.”

“I am as covered as I am going to be. Go help the others; they are drowning in their own drool.”

Abrieth seemed nervous. “Thank you, and see, I told you that a little skin was the way to go.”

“This wasn’t my choice; it was what came in the mail.”

Aster worked at the laces. “Do you think they were trying to tell me something?”

“Probably, and me the same. I have never worn this many clothes on a job. The Bo usually reserve this kind of thing for a wedding.”

“Well, you look lovely.” It was true. The fairy-tale dress and corset did look stunning next to her lavender skin.

“Thank you. You have saved my life twice in as many days. I count you as a friend, Aster.”

Aster could feel she was trying to say something under the words, but she missed them. “What is on the agenda tonight?”

“First, we watch the sun set, then the Yodin fighters are chosen, and from there, the battles will be enacted all over Rekfa.” She smiled. “And we will be dancing and having cocktails.”

Aster looked down. “I don’t know if I can dance in this. The blades might get in the way.”

“You will do just fine, I am sure of it.” Abrieth winked and hugged her.

When the sun began to set, Aster felt her link to Abrieth fade. Abrieth was gone, off world and out of her grasp.

Son of a bitch.

The only reason for her being here had just flown away, probably with Lerodan.

She heard cries from nearby. “Yodin, come to me!”

It echoed and other voices took up the call.

Aster was alone on Rekfa, and she had nothing and no one. She whispered, “Yodin, come to me.”

The crowd she was with moved toward the outer courtyard, and they all stared upward. In the night sky above, a nebula lit them in eerie light and the drunken revellers grew quiet.

A rush of energy ran through her.

You have only to ask.

She flexed her hands as the power ran through her limbs.

Come to the center. Others will meet you and the battle will commence.

If her short career in the stars was about to come to an end, she was glad that she had the chance to fight for herself. Since the one person she had been attached to, her anchor point for her sense of being, had abandoned her, she had been shaken dramatically. She wanted to fight.

The path in her mind was bright, so she followed it through the crowds and to a huge, open space with a dais at one end. A figure sat in shadows, and she walked toward it along with dozens of others.

There was a dreamy quality to what was going on. The men lined up and knelt in front of the shadows, and the line moved forward.

When Aster reached the front of the line, she looked into the shadows and bowed shortly, keeping her head up and watching the flickering shadows.

Amusing, little one. You will not give an inch. This should be interesting.

She stood and stepped to one side, lining up on the left-hand side of the open expanse with half the men, facing the other half on the far side.

You are going to have a chance to prove yourself. Prepare to fight.

Aster reached out with her senses and smiled. She pulled the blades that had come with her costume and hoped that they were more than ornamental.

A gong rang and a roar filled the arena, screams from a hundred voices. Aster didn’t waste her breath. She needed to earn her way to a com unit, and involving herself in this fight would do it. She was sure of it.

The line broke and the two sides rushed at each other. Aster moved slowly, gauging the fight pattern of the man coming at her in a rush. She worked on instinct, slashing at his legs and bringing him down.

It was a pattern that she would follow over and over until her blades broke and she had to use her hands and feet.

Pass after pass sent men against men until six remained and Aster was one of them.

Her opponent was the man from the night before. Arez. He grinned and leered at her as they waited for the gong to attack. She knew his fighting style and he knew hers, but he was not drunk tonight, not yet.

When they moved together, he didn’t reach for her; he swung to disable her by striking at her head and legs.

She countered, moving around him and twisting to avoid his flailing arms. He was trying to swat her like a fly, and it was tiring him.

She ducked, kicked, punched, whirled and struck again. Aster lost track of how long they fought, but she finally got him to the ground and punched at him until he was unconscious.

She flexed her hands as she stood, and to her shock, she was the only one left standing.

“What happened?”

The shadows leaned forward and a deep, rumbling voice said, “They did not wish to fight you, so I let them retreat from the battle without dishonour. My little brother has learned his lesson.”

She realised that she was still standing over Arez. “Brother?”

The shadows chuckled. “Yes, Arez is a brother, of a sort. Rekfa is good at giving asylum to a number of creatures from around the stars. Now that you have defeated my champions, it is time that you face me.”

She licked her lips. “What do I get if I win?”

He chuckled. “You can have what you wish. I act as protector of Rekfa. In my place, you would have access to all that I do. That includes the ability to call your Luna Base and ask for help.”

Aster didn’t ask how he knew about that. He was the voice in her head, after all. “What do you get if you win?”

She got the feeling of amusement out of the dark shape that was stepping toward her.

“I get you.”

“I never agreed to that.”

“Those are the rules. You get all I have or I get all you have and all you have is yourself.”

He stepped onto the sand with her, and she could see why Arez was the little brother. The shadows were huge.

She waited and he waited. Arez woke and scrambled back to safety.

When the shadows shifted toward her, she moved and the dance was on. She fought him hand to hand, and each time she shifted, he countered and she did the same.

They were equally matched, positive and negative, dark and light. Her opponent suddenly shifted, and she ended on her back with his hand to her throat.

She struggled but there was no way to gain leverage on his wrist. She thrashed, she kicked but he held her down.

“Do you yield?”

She fought to breathe but she kept fighting.

“Do you yield?”

Aster looked up at the black flickering shadows that had kicked her butt. She wheezed, “Yes.”

His hand released her, and he pulled her to her feet. “Stand proud, Champion. Tonight, you will be heralded as a winner of the trials; in the morning, you will come with me.”

“Why do I need to be in public?”

“To prove that the winner of the trials stands strong without grave injury. Go and fight, win and return to me at dawn.”

Aster cocked her head. “Where is Lady Abrieth?”

“She is still on the surface, with her mate. They are safe and hidden.”

“Why did she disappear from my senses?”

He smiled. “Because she had to. You would not have left her otherwise.”

That was true. “Wait, how did you know that?”

“Her situation was the bait to get you here, now you are here and you were exactly what I thought you were. I keep an eye out for any information for another one similar to myself.”

She looked at the roiling shadows. “I don’t see much similarity.”

He chuckled. “I will see you at dawn, Aster Marquis of Terra. Do not make me come for you.”

She had no interest in the parties, but somehow, it seemed a better place to be with the nebula sparking wildly overhead.

Aster left the arena, limping slightly, heading toward the sounds of laughter and fighting. She looked up and felt the light of the nebula against her skin and smiled; it was the best part of Rekfa.

A crowd of revellers saw her and they bowed, staggered and invited her in to join their fun. How they knew she had been the last one standing was not something she would learn that night.

Drink flowed, and she was invited to wrestle with the nobles. She flipped and pinned one after the other. Each triumph was greeted with a glass of strong liqueur, but she wasn’t affected. She did the shot, got back in position and took on the next challenger.

Quite a few of her challengers tried to cop a feel, so there were a few dislocations involved in the celebratory wrestling.

Laughter punctuated the night, and it wasn’t until the laughter and conversation stilled that she realised the passage of time.

“It is after dawn, isn’t it?”

One of the women near her nodded with her gaze focused behind Aster’s head.

Aster tried to feel his approach, but there was nothing. Negative space was central to the party filled with drunken revellers.

“You are late, lady.”

“I do not have a watch, sir.”

He moved closer. Aster could tell because the folk near her backed away.

“The sun is not a good method of telling time?”

“I am indoors.”

There was a sound like a sigh. “Will you come with me?”

“That was the arrangement.”

She didn’t hear anything, he swallowed her in shadows and his arms wrapped around her. She could see nothing, hear nothing.

The arms around her held her around her ribs and waist. She remained in his grip for several minutes before the shadows thinned and she was standing on a polished stone floor, high in the hills, overlooking the city below.

“So, you flew us up here?”

“I did.”

“May I know your name?”

“Yodin.”

Her knees buckled. “What?”

“Did you think I was a myth, a legend?”

She nodded, keeping her gaze on the city below. “Yes. I thought I was hallucinating your voice in my mind.”

“And the others who came to the arena?”

“Group hallucination triggered by the sparks in the nebular light?”

His hands remained on her, warm and comfortingly solid for a myth or a legend.

“Aster Marquis, will you hold to your agreement?”

She nodded. “I said I would, so I will.”

“Then you might want to face me.”

“No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head. Her senses told her nothing, and it was extremely unnerving.

He chuckled and turned her around. He was touching a lot of exposed skin, but she had the feeling that smacking him down might be impossible.

She was staring at a chest wearing a velvety black fabric, silver embroidery across the neckline and in icons on his chest. She kept her gaze forward.

He sighed. “Look at me.”

She set her lips and kept her eyes forward.

“Fine.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as they moved without moving into a closed chamber.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but he knelt, lifted her veil and kissed her, swallowing her comments.

His skin was rich bronze, and she couldn’t make his eyes out because her own were crossing. She settled for textures. His cheek was smooth leather, his hair cold satin and his lips were firm, warm and seemed to know what they were doing.

He broke from her, and she opened her eyes to see him smiling at her. “I have waited a very long time for a woman like you.”

“Like what? With an obsession for sit-ups and low body fat?”

He stroked her abs in acknowledgement of her comment. “No, one who has died and lived again. There are very few of us around, you know.”

He kissed her again, and she was left with more questions building in her mind, and he was obviously not inclined to answer her.

When he parted from her for an instant, she gasped, “How long am I bound to you for the loss in the fight?”

He grinned, “For eternity.”

She didn’t think that was fair, but he kissed her and his hands removed her leather clothing with light flicks of his fingers. Her veil went fluttering to one side and the leather pinned it down.

Aster gripped his shoulders, still not sure what was going on aside from the welcome seduction.

Back home, everyone had considered her too delicate for sex. She had worked to build her muscle mass, but that had the effect of frightening off men who were intimidated by her physique. She couldn’t win.

Yodin knew of her previous injuries and he didn’t care, her physique wasn’t doing his libido any harm either; he could see it all and he was still coming, so to speak.

When he suckled at one breast, she blanked her mind completely. She was willing to give him one night for her own benefit as well as his.