Night of the Zandians (Zandian Brides 1)

Tarren takes another great mouthful, nearly as much as I would eat in a meal and inhales it. “You are developing a reputation as being the master botanist,” he says. “We will need to hold onto you tightly so no being steals you away.” It’s a joke, but his eyes are fierce.

I smile and wrap my arms around myself. “I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him, meeting his dark gaze. When his slow grin starts, the dirty one that tells me what he wants, I flush. “Unless it’s to the hoverdisk,” I add, relaxing my solitary embrace, eager for his touch. For all of their touches.

“No.” his voice is harsh, and he tempers it with a head duck. “I have somewhere else in mind.” He clears his throat, and looks at Jax and Ronan, tilting his head. “Maybe…?”

They nod and Jax smiles. “I think it’s overdue.”

Ronan jumps up. “Let’s go immediately.”

“Go where?” I look from one male to the next. “Do you have somewhere special in mind? Are we going to visit Lily? Or maybe search for Agrax bark? You know I believe that it has a special acid in it, a mild one, that can help reduce pain and fevers.” I’ve been asking them to take me to the forest forever, it seems. If I can get another win under my belt with a new medicine, I will feel more secure in my spot on Zandia.

Tarron scowls at me. “Riya, the bark is in a place that’s not safe,” he reprimands me, his eyes trained on mine. “We will take you in a week or two when we have time to properly prepare for such a trip and can all three accompany you. Until then, it will have to wait. Is that clear? We cannot risk you going alone, not with vipn attacks on the rise in that area.”

I nod, biting my lip. Of course he doesn’t understand how important this is to me. And I can’t tell him. So I just smile. “Yes,” I say, tamping down my anxiety. “So where are we going, then?”

“Where?” Tarron stand up, his massive arms rippling as he stretches. “We’re going to take you to see the crystals at the Eloki Waterfalls. It’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet. After a planet rotation like today, I think we all need to experience the healing properties. Even if there’s no time, we should make time for this.”

Warmth curls in my chest. “I have wanted to see this forever!”

I jump to my feet, heart racing. “Thank you.” I laugh and could even dance from excitement.

The dismal look on Ronan’s face floors me, and I stop. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He swallows. “Except that it took us this long to vecking take you to do something fun. Stars, but we’re miserable mates. How do you tolerate us?”

“Ronan.” I peer at him, trying to decide if he’s serious. I put my arms around him. “How can you say that? All of us have been so busy with work. I am well aware that there is barely time for sleep, let alone pleasure trips. I don’t consider you lacking,” I assure him.

He’s still stiff. “We’ve kept you here alone for lunar cycles without a visitor. We must do better.”

“I can hardly complain,” I say, tapping his horn, which usually makes him growl and smile at me. “I am sure that in a few solar cycles, things will be so calm that there will be nothing but leisure time, all planet rotation.” This thought makes me uneasy, because a few solar cycles from now—where will I even be? I bite my tongue and add, “But today I would love to see the crystals.”

I tap his horns again and whisper, in a voice that everyone can hear, “The only concern is whether we’ll have privacy at the waterfalls?”

His shoulders relax, and he laughs, then grabs me tightly. “In case we need to veck you there, is that what you mean?”

“No, in case we need to discuss land management strategy,” I retort, and make a face at him.

He growls and picks me up in his arms. “Be sure to bring some things from the box,” he suggests to Jax. “This one is acting very feisty today and may need a reminder of how to talk appropriately to her mates.”

I giggle as we head out to our newly delivered pod vehicle, allowing Ronan to carry me. Most of the early domes have shared vehicles now; someday we’ll have our own dedicated one, but production times can’t keep up with the need, so we alternate.

“Thank veck it’s our turn for the pod,” says Tarren, as he syncs his comm device to the controls and types in coordinates. “And that it’s one of the new auto-drive ones.”

“Because you’re too lazy to captain it,” agrees Ronan, nodding.

Tarren snorts. “More because I have to keep an eye on you, to make sure you’re not accidentally falling out of the emergency release door or pushing buttons you shouldn’t.” He rolls his eyes and I laugh. I love their affectionate rivalry. At first, I was worried they really didn’t get along. Now I know it’s just part of the way they interact, and that their bond goes so deep it can’t be shattered, all three of them.

As the pod zooms past our dome, my pulse quickens as new vistas come into view. There are our neighboring domes, and now the Eloki Hill, and—oh, Mother Earth.

Tears come to my eyes and I clasp a hand to my mouth, as the most majestic scene confronts me. The waterfall must be hundreds of feet high, and the water is white and snarled, crashing like waves, but from this distance, it also reminds me of lacey flowers in the breeze. Rainbows flash and dance through the spray, and I can already hear the roar, a mountain of water, falling endlessly down into a deep blue pool, cerulean, azure. And on all sides, as far as I can see there are crystals. Caves, grottos, different colors, all sparkling and twinkling like a vast treasure. It’s something from a dream.

“It’s even better than the holos,” I murmur, eyes wide.

“No image does this justice,” agrees Jax, taking my hand.

All three of them are silent, and I wonder if this affects them more powerfully than it does me. They have a deep connection with these crystals, which power their blood, their very existence. That was part of what made the Finnian takeover so despicable. They sought to clean this planet out of its crystal completely. Sell it for laser guns. Because they knew Zandians required it to live, they purposely tried to exterminate their entire species.

But their time to pay came.