Warm water trickled down my spine, and I groaned as I came to. I was no longer chained to Ambassador Aralias’ bed, but instead my arms were stretched over my head and my face pressed into a wall. I wriggled a bit, realizing after a moment that I was completely naked. I wasn’t digging that fact one little bit.

“Be still,” a female voice commanded from behind me. “I’m merely washing the blood off of you. No harm will come to you … while you’re in my care.”

Ah, so whoever she was knew that the same couldn’t be said with Ambassador Aralias. I decided to try to get some information out of her. “Who are you?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“What’s going to happen to me after you’re finished cleaning me up?”

“Probably more of the same of what you experienced before. The ambassador has a predilection for giving pain, and you are half human and half phoenix.”

“Yeah, so?” I grimaced when it felt like a sponge swiped over the raw flesh on my back.

“Your mate mark is healing you. In no time at all you’ll be good as new.”

I snorted. “I’m thinking in this situation that may not be the best thing.” Was that why the pain had been so intense the entire time I was being beaten? Was there some kind of magic in the mark that had been trying to heal me? I had so much to learn. Too bad I probably won’t be alive long enough.

“You should have killed Ash. You exchanged your life for his.”

“You certainly seem to know a lot about all of this. Again I’m going to ask you, who are you?”

I was roughly flipped around and I gasped in horror. Before me stood a small humanoid female of unknown species classification. Her face was lined with scars, the kind that I could tell were inflicted by a knife. She’d been beautiful once. And in some ways she still was. Her long, flaxen hair was still shiny with health, and her luminous blue eyes met mine with defiance. “I’m someone who understands.”

“He did this to you?” It came out as a question, but I already knew the answer. “Maybe I should be asking who is he exactly? He’s not just an ambassador, is he?”

“No, he is not. He is so much more.”

“I should have known.”

I glanced beyond her, noting that I was in a shower stall, the walls and floors metal, several sets of chains in various places hanging empty. What kind of person installs chains in a friggin’ shower stall? Of course I already had the answer: the sick and twisted kind. How many creatures had bled in the very same spot as me? Blood of different colors washed away so easily from the metallic surface. As if none of us ever existed. I stared at the drain, the pink tinged water swirling around my feet.

A sponge scraped down my arm, the female speaking again as she continued to clean me. “There would have been no way for you to know the truth. So few have that information any more. The Denards are much more clever than most think. They’ve even fooled the Galvrarons, which is no small feat.”

My heart squeezed when I thought of Zula and how I’d never see her blue, sarcastic spewing face again. Then it hit me. “Are you saying that Ambassador Aralias is a Denard?” It was possible. I had no clue what one even looked like. I guess since they were spoken of like some kind of Boogieman, I’d assumed they wouldn’t be humanoid. Looked like I’d been wrong … again.

“Yes,” she hissed. “They hide in plain sight among the UGFS. And they have plans—plans for us all.”

I hung my head in shame. I’d wanted Ash to just hand over the chip and run away from all of this. I guess on some level I never really believed it was as bad as he or Dar described.

“You can make it up to me later,” Ash whispered in my mind.

“No!” I exclaimed.

My scarred attendee eyed me with curiosity as she flipped me back around. “No, Ash! You can’t mean to come here for me. You’ll get yourself killed! I’m obviously being used as bait,” I yelled in my mind.

He didn’t respond, which made terror race through my system. Terror for him. I knew in my heart that I was as good as dead. I was a survivor, selfish to the core, but even I knew when the jig was up. There was no point in both Ash and myself dying.

Besides, maybe he really could bring down the Denards one day. He wouldn’t be doing anything if he was dead. I wouldn’t allow my involvement to mess anything else up.

I knew what I had to do, and it was going to royally suck. But hey … maybe I’d get to die with a little bit of dignity after all.

 

 

“I know what you are,” I spat as Ambassador Aralias loomed over me.

I was once again laser chained to his bed. He wasn’t even trying to hide what he was doing with me, which made me wonder how many of his crew were Denards as well. I’d been paraded back to his room stark naked, and no one had even batted an eye. It’d been humiliating.

“Ah, Nina has a big mouth. I can never seem to punish her enough, though. Her time with me may finally be coming to an end.” He perched himself at the end of the bed, smiling warmly. “You know what I am and I know what you are. I suppose that’s only fair.”

“I don’t know why you—the Denards—are doing this. Why? Why do you want to wipe out species and planets? What good does it do?”

He tapped his chin, regarding me thoughtfully. “I suppose you’re expecting some kind of full disclosure about me and my kind’s motivations. You want me to explain all of our plans, spell it all out for you?” he asked snidely.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” I growled.

I knew he wasn’t going to tell me shit, but it was worth a try. If he knew so much about the phoenix then he would know that whatever he told me, Ash would be able to garner straight from my mind if I thought it at him.

Just thinking about Ash brought me full circle back to my plan. Time was of the essence so I couldn’t dilly-dally any longer. “By the way, if you think you and your Denard buddies are going to get away with whatever you’re planning, you’re full of shit. Ash is going to bring you down.” I plastered my best jovial smile on my face. My goal was to taunt him into losing his temper. If I could do that then maybe he’d end me quickly. Ash would no longer have a reason to put himself at risk to come and rescue me. I wasn’t the self-sacrificing type, but if I was going to die anyways I figured I might as well make it worth something.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His expression said I hadn’t managed to rile him up, not even a little.

I’m just going to have to try harder.

“Just because you fooled me doesn’t mean shit. Ash knew the whole time. Do you really think he would have just handed that chip over to me without some kind of backup plan?”

The ambassador’s eyes hardened. “You seduced him. He mated you. I know how the phoenix works when it comes to such things. He wouldn’t have been able to resist you.”

I quirked my eyebrow. “Really? That’s what you think?” I smirked with satisfaction. “Good to know.”

He grabbed my chin roughly, lifting my head off the bed. “What’s his backup plan? Tell me!” He backhanded me and I recoiled into the soft mattress. The metallic tang of copper bloomed in my mouth. I merely smiled up at him as I watched a mask of rage fall down over his features. That’s right. Lose your temper and then you’ll be right where I want you.

“And is there a reason why I’m naked? I mean, we both know you can’t get it up. It has nothing to do with me being part phoenix. That’s the real reason why you like to beat women. You’re just pissed off because you’re not really a man.” Most species didn’t like their masculinity pissed on. Hopefully the Denard culture wasn’t one of the weird ones that didn’t give a crap about such things.

The ambassador’s fists pummeled into my middle. Score! I’d insulted his stupid male ego. “You’re nothing but a hu-mutt whore. I’m going to get much more satisfaction from making you bleed than I ever would between your legs.”

“Yep, that’s right. Make me bleed,” I grunted as my eyes slid shut. I just wanted it to end. “I wish I could see the expression on your face when Ash ruins all of your carefully made plans.” I forced myself to laugh. “You’re all going to look like such idiots.”

The sickening sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing met my ears. I was somehow removed from it; I forced myself to be. A twisted sort of laugh echoed in my ears. It wasn’t filled with humor but something much darker, and it took me a few moments to realize that it was coming from me. I’d obviously snapped. At least I wouldn’t beg for my life. No, my laugh was a big F-you to death itself. I just wished everything didn’t hurt so much. Not so much physically anymore, but definitely my heart and soul.