Loris got up slowly, his face darkening with anger. “Those were lies! Nobody would believe them for a minute –”
“Oh really?” Korum said coldly, looking at the black-haired Krinar with contempt. “We all saw the recording – and heard Saret explain Rafor’s role in his plans. Your son is as guilty as Saret himself, and he’ll be punished accordingly.”
Loris’s hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. “Saret was your friend,” he hissed, apparently no longer able to contain himself. “For all we know, you’re the one behind it all and are now just waiting for the right moment to use your new weapon on us –”
“Loris, that’s enough!” Arus’s voice cracked through the air like a whip. At the resulting silence, the ambassador continued in a calmer tone, “We understand your need to protect your son, but, unfortunately, the evidence against him continues to build. Given this new information, we’ll need to have another trial session tomorrow. It may be the final session –”
Loris’s entire body shook with rage now. “Fuck you, Arus. And fuck all of you. Rafor is not a traitor. That –” he pointed in Korum’s direction, “– is the only traitor here, and you are all too fucking blind to see!”
“The only blind person here is you, Loris,” Korum said calmly, watching his enemy unraveling right in front of his eyes. “And tomorrow, when the Council judges the Keiths to be guilty, the entire world will know about your failure.”
That appeared to be the last straw. With an enraged roar, Loris launched himself at Korum, leaping across the room with full Krinar speed.
Acting on instinct, Korum turned and twisted his body, reflexively shielding his head and throat. As Loris slammed into him, he met the brunt of the attack with his shoulder, jabbing his elbow into Loris’s side as they fell to the floor and rolled toward the middle of the chamber.
With the hard floor scraping his skin, Korum felt his own rage spiking, every cell in his body filling with bloodlust. His fingers curled into claws and raked across Loris’s arm, taking out a chunk of muscle and sinew. At the same time, his arm hooked around Loris’s neck in one of the more complex defrebs moves, baring his throat to Korum’s teeth –
“Enough! That’s enough!” Strong hands were pulling them apart, dragging them to separate sides of the room. Still rational enough to comprehend what was happening, Korum didn’t struggle as Arus and another Krinar held his arms, preventing him from continuing the fight. Loris, however, was completely out of control, twisting and yelling as two other Councilors held him pinned against the wall. Finally, he seemed to run out of steam, panting and glaring at Korum in hatred. His arm was a bloody mess that was just beginning to heal.
“You can unhand me now,” Korum said, his own breathing slowly calming as he glanced at the two men still holding him in an iron grip.
“Sorry, Korum,” Arus said, his lips curving into a faint smile as he released Korum’s arm and took a step back. “Couldn’t let you kill him here.”
Voret followed Arus’s example, letting go of Korum’s other arm.
“That’s fine,” Korum said, wiping his bloody hand on his shirt. “We’ll continue this in the Arena. That’s what that was, wasn’t it, Loris? A challenge?”
The black-haired Protector stared at him, his chest heaving with fury. “Yes,” he ground out between tightly clenched teeth. “You could call it a challenge.”
“Good,” Korum said, giving him a wide, predatory smile. “A challenge it is, then.” He hadn’t had a good Arena fight in a while, and he could feel his blood heating up with anticipation.
“Loris, that’s not a good idea,” Arus said, taking a few steps in the Krinar’s direction. Korum was unsurprised by his concern; Loris and the ambassador were usually on good terms, frequently teaming up against Korum and Saret. Korum imagined it must be difficult for Arus now, taking the side of his former opponent against a man he’d considered his ally.
Loris laughed bitterly. “Oh really, Arus? Not a good idea?”
Arus gave him an even look. “He excels at defrebs. When was the last time you fought?”
Loris’s upper lip curled with derision. “Yeah, fuck you too, Arus. You think I’ve gone soft? I’ve had more kills in the Arena than this fucker has had fights.”
“Then the challenge has been issued.” Voret stepped forward, his voice taking on a formal cadence. “Since the trial is tomorrow, the Arena fight will take place the day after at noon.”
And with that, the Council meeting was adjourned.
* * *
Mia sat on the bed, staring blankly at the green forest outside the transparent wall. She was immortal, and she had a K lover – who was something like her husband, but not really.
It was so incredible she could hardly fathom it, her mind twisting and turning in a million different directions.
After the K left, she’d called both Marisa and Jessie, needing additional confirmation of the impossible claims he was making. Both her sister and her friend had been quite happy to hear from her – and both had mentioned Korum in the course of Mia’s conversation with them. Marisa had gone on and on about her pregnancy and how much better she was feeling thanks to Korum’s involvement of someone called Ellet, and Jessie had asked whether Mia had decided when she and Korum were coming by for a visit.
Still in a state of shock, Mia had managed to give Jessie a vague answer – something along the lines of still needing to talk to Korum – and listened politely as her sister gushed about her newest ultrasound results. To her relief, neither one of them seemed to suspect that anything was wrong, that the Mia they’d spoken to today was far from normal.
She didn’t know why she was so hesitant to reveal the truth about her condition to anyone, but she was. She didn’t want to make her family and friends worry, yes, but she was also almost . . . embarrassed.
How could this have happened to her? How could her entire family know her alien lover, while he seemed like a stranger to her? How could she have forgotten making love to someone so extraordinary? When he’d kissed her, her body had responded in a way Mia had never experienced before – or at least didn’t remember experiencing before. It had been almost frightening, the degree to which she’d lost control in his arms. If he had continued kissing her
instead of stopping when he did, she could’ve easily fallen into bed with him – she, who didn’t remember going beyond a few kisses with guys before.