ISBN – 9781616504151 | Length – 61,000 words | ePub Page Count – 128 | Publication Date – October 8, 2012
Copyright 2012, Ella Drake
All rights reserved, Lyrical Press, Inc.
Lye tilted his head, his dark eyes troubled. “You have as much reason to resent the Syndicate as I, it would seem. I thought you were one of them.”
“Never,” she hissed before she caught herself. She buttoned up the resentment and plopped into the chair. It groaned beneath her and made a disconcerting popping sound. She muttered, “Damn place is too fragile.”
“You’re not a diplomat?”
“Not what I’d call myself, no.”
“Why are you here?” His brows slanted down, and she battled the urge to smooth them. She shifted in her seat and caused more creaking.
“It’s…” What could she say? She wasn’t really sure what she was doing here except to kidnap the enigmatic man in front of her. “It’s complicated.”
Lye’s face cleared, a smug expression spread across his features. “The Lover’s Moon brought you here.”
“What in blazing comets are you talking about? I know you speak proper Standard, and I’m curious about that, but I haven’t understood half of what you’re saying.”
“I pick up languages easily. We had a dozen on Brutus, and I’d learned them all.”
“Smart guy.” She slumped in her seat and tried to escape the building rancor, the reminder of being ripped from school at the age of ten. Lye hadn’t earned the usual resentment she reserved for the privileged, but he would if he showed an inkling of the same entitlement she ran into from anyone with enough cred to not live in fear of the Syndicate. Yeah, she knew she was prejudiced and unreasonable. So what?
“We called our moon many things, like Mother Light or Night’s Eye. But throughout Brutus, the magical phase of our moon is for lovers. Lover’s Moon. It is the time for dedication ceremonies and, for some, the mating ritual.”
The last words, mating ritual, stated with a husky murmur, sent a zing straight through her, like recognition. Like a caress. Like fire in an engine’s fuel lines.
“For some?” she croaked.
“Yes. The royal house. The Keeper chooses his mate and when the moon is in phase, so are we. We complete the mating to carry the line of the Keeper.”
“You’re speaking a different language again.” An inkling of trepidation hooked into her gut. Her gut was better than any compass. He spoke to her as if he trusted her. This history of his people could be used against him, and he didn’t hesitate to talk. He didn’t know her, didn’t know she’d sell out anybody to take down the Syndicate.
“This.” He parted his robe at his neck to reveal flawless skin over a muscled chest adorned with a gold chain laden with an amulet. “This is the burden of the Keeper.”
The stone in the middle glowed with a constant yellow light. It mesmerized her, called to her, and a whispering in her head seemed to urge her forward, to touch, to grab, to keep.
With a halting reach, she leaned toward Lye and stroked the amber. Smooth and warm, it pulsed beneath her shaking finger.
