Cold Mark Read online

  I groaned softly when Pluma Kreob stood behind Pluma Wazra and hesitantly brushed his own thumb over my forehead. Lightning warmth sizzled through me, grounding me to these two Mian. Shuddering to my core, my eyes closed to listen to the beauty beating inside of me. All I felt was heating warmth as I passed out in the safety of two Mian's arms.

  A rough rocking jarred me awake. I lifted my head from the warm leather my cheek laid upon. I repeatedly blinked , trying to understand where I was. Rubbing my eyes, I tilted my head to the side and stopped stock still.

  I was in some kind of armored vehicle.

  I was also lying on top of Pluma Wazra and Pluma Kreob's laps.

  They were both staring down at me with their simmering, glowing eyes.

  I shrieked and slammed a hand against Pluma Wazra's face, and shoved away from them.

  I fell in a heap onto the floor of the vehicle.

  Pluma Wazra grunted and rubbed his chin where I had whacked him.

  With enormous eyes, I noticed he now wore a black ring on his thumb.

  Same as Pluma Kreob, who lifted a hand in a gentle patting motion. "Calm down, Braita."

  I was anything but calm. "What was that back there?"

  Both blinked, then glanced at each other. Their eyes gradually came back to me in confusion.

  Oh, Mother Joyal, I hated this language. I tried again, speaking slower, "What was that?"

  The confusion instantly cleared from their expressions.

  Pluma Wazra gestured to the seat behind me, the empty bucket seat that faced them. "Sit down and buckle up. Once you've done that, we'll explain." Just then, the vehicle bounced hard, and I lost my balance. My chin struck the abrasive metal coating the floor. I grunted in pain, but just as suddenly, I squeaked in alarm when Pluma Wazra grabbed my arms and shoved me onto the empty seat. He grumbled quietly under his breath, his silver, glowing eyes flicking up to me in irritation as he buckled the seatbelt around my waist. "Do as I say next time." He sat back on his seat next to the other Pluma, both of them glaring.

  I moved my jaw at the lingering pain and silently waited for them to speak.

  Pluma Kreob broke the silence, sighing in aggravation. "That back there is what the Mian call a Reckoning. All women of Harems fear it. It is when a Vaq meets their intended, their Soul." He tilted his head to me. "You ... somehow ... are our Soul. The one woman who was meant specifically for us." His golden brows were deeply furrowed. "A Human bound to two Mian."

  I stared. "Pluma Kreob, that makes no sense."

  "We know," he growled. The muscles in his jaw bounced before he grumbled, "And given the situation, you calling us Pluma is even more ridiculous. My name is Leo." A hand flick at Pluma Wazra. "His is Malik. From now on, call of us by our first names."

  Um ... I still did not understand. "I don't get it."

  Malik cracked his neck harshly, but his words were slow. "A Soul senses when their Vaq is near. It comes on just as it did for you. You became ill until I touched you." One of his black brows lifted. "Or are you going to argue the rightness of our touch?"

  My lips pinched, remembering just how right it had been. But just as suddenly, I glanced down at my bare hands, and then to his face. My gloves were gone. "Wait a second. I touched you and nothing happened."

  He shook his head. "After the initial skin contact, regular contact is normal."

  I felt my brows furrow on their own. "Is that why every time a," I tried not to shudder, "Mian touches my skin it's cold at first?"

  They nodded.

  I scratched my shoulder, watching them eye me. "What do you mean by regular contact?" I did not particularly like having my will taken away from me. What had happened in that room was like my body had not been my own.

  Leo's lips gently curved. "During sexual contact it can flare again."

  I huffed quietly, not understanding them.

  Both blinked. They stared right back at me as if they were trying to figure me out.

  I hated it, my confusion, but I asked, "What is sexual contact?" I had no clue what that was. My lips pursed as their jaws began to slacken. "I'm sorry, but maybe I pronounced that wrong." I spoke slower. "What is sexual contact?" The word sounded ... weird. I flicked a hand between us and continued on when they sat silent. "As I'm sure you know, Humans are forbidden from skin contact with each other." There was no need for it. Our genetic scientists created all new Humans by in vitro fertilization ... .oh ... oh, Mother Joyal. My eyes were as wide as saucers. "You don't mean ... " My cheeks flamed with heat as embarrassment flooded my entire system. "That ... oh, that's barbaric."

  Entirely uncomfortable with this line of conversation, I scratched at my shoulder again and glanced out the window. I changed the subject quickly and tried really hard not to plaster my face against the window, for the first time noticing the scenery outside. "Where are we going?" This was definitely a different planet. Everything was in shades of blues, purples, greens, and reds. All of it. Even the plant life. The brown dirt appeared to be the only thing normal on our travel.

  Malik recovered the fastest, lounging further on their seat. His long legs stretched in the space between us and brushed my right knee. I quickly shot a glare in his direction and lifted my legs to sit cross-legged on the seat. He chuckled softly, the sound of his laughter like a sweet melody filling my ears. "We're going to our home. Our fortress. It is in Belvar."

  I nibbled on my bottom lip and stared out the window again. "Will I live there?"

  This time, Leo's laughter tickled my senses. "You are our Soul." He barely raised his left thumb from his leg where his hand rested. "We now wear your rings." His golden stare was pointed. "Yes, you are living with us."

  My attention was wholly trained on that ring. "What do they do?"

  "The rings do enough," he answered vaguely. He shrugged a negligent shoulder. "You should also know that the three of us are now bound together since the Reckoning has occurred. If we die, you also die." A roll of his finger. "So any thought you may have of attempting to kill us to escape, you may want to set aside."

  I blinked slow as hell. "We're bound?" I tucked that dying information away to ponder later.

  Malik grunted, peering out the window. "It is a Mian way. By touch, our lives are now linked."

  "But I'm Human. How do you know the way of Mian works for this situation?"

  Malik's expression turned grim, his simmering gaze finding mine. "Leo and I can feel you."

  "Feel me?" That made no sense.

  "When you were passed out—which is normal for the female—Leo and I had to deal with the Human slaves. We left you in the care of our guards. The farther we moved away from you, the deeper the pull to return to you was." He sighed quietly, returning his regard to peer out the window. "If you hadn't been unconscious, you would have felt the same. Even with you being Human, the Mian way holds true." The way he said 'Human' informed me he found what I was vaguely revolting.

  That was comforting. The feeling was mutual. "Where's Jax?" I needed him.

  They fell silent as both now stared out their windows. Their shoulders relaxed, and they appeared to not have any inclination of answering me. As if I was not even sitting across from them.

  That was not going to cut it. My voice rose. "Where is Jax?"

  Still, no response. They acted like they had not heard me.

  It was then it occurred to me. Pluma Creo had been interested in him. "He's with them."

  Leo's golden eyes were piercing in their intensity. "Because you are our Soul, we obviously received first pick with the Humans—you." A cruel smile tilted his lips, a merciless gleam of satisfaction. "Pluma Creo and Pluma Moir chose your friend next. So yes, he is now with our enemy in the city Vlymun."

  A rush of despair so grand that I could not breathe, blasted through my entire frame. It took everything I had not to bawl right there. I tucked my chin down, blinking repeatedly to squelch any tears that wanted to fall. Stiffly, I placed my hands on my lap and said nothing more, now alone
on this alien planet without my dearest friend. Heartache could not even describe it. The agony of losing him to the other leaders of the Mian was a steady punch to my heart with every bounce of our vehicle.

  While I waded in my desolation, the only luxury I found in our, now silent, trek to Belvar was that Malik and Leo continued to readjust on their seat, appearing to never find a comfortable position.

  I stood staring out the vast windows of my new bedroom. We had made it to Belvar. The city was truly a fortress. My eyes took in the sites from the fifth floor of the palace that was now my home. In the far distance, I could make out the deadly metal of the wall that circled the perimeter of the city. That wall had frightened me when it first came into view. It was at least a hundred stories high and deeply grooved with spikes and lasers throughout it, appearing impenetrable. The city inside the wall was now visibly vacant of any Mian since the sun was shining brightly on the city. All the Mian were now sleeping, but before it had been bustling with raucous activity when we had first arrived. Mian had been roaming the streets, traveling to their homes in the suburbs or to their condos inside the city.

  There were so many more Mian just inside Belvar than there were Humans on Joyal.

  All in one place.

  It had been an overload to the senses, scaring the crap out of me to the point I had wanted to hunker down on the floor of the vehicle as we drove through the winding streets. There were enormous concrete skyscrapers and brutally curved glass buildings circling the palace, which was so fortified with guards that it made me feel claustrophobic. That was before we had even exited the car. Once inside the palace, I had become even more uncomfortable as Malik and Leo stood on either side of me while they showed me my new home ... and all the guards inside who had stared with disgust and curiosity.

  And this was where I would live.

  I turned away from the floor to ceiling windows, peering into my new bedroom. It was bare except for a bed and a chest of drawers that had no clothing inside of it. Malik and Leo's bedroom was adjoined through the door on my right. They said this was a room made specifically for their Soul if I wished to sleep outside of their room. They had created it many years ago, but it was for me to design the interior.

  I sighed quietly and walked to the door that led to their room, the oversized white nightgown I had been gifted swishing around my bare feet. I placed my hand on the doorknob, gazing at it. Leo and Malik had been correct. When I was not directly next to them ... I could feel them. The oddest part about it was, it felt natural, just a simple pull to be near them. Though earlier it had not been. I had literally walked out of my bedroom and came face to face with six guards standing outside my door when Malik and Leo had gone to tend to business. There had been a brutal need to be near them, even though I had no clue where they had been.

  I had been plenty upset when the guards would not let me find them.

  Apparently, on this ruthless planet, making ones guards bleed was not the done thing.

  I now had ten new men with guns outside of my door, the other six fired.

  My chest heaved as I glanced back to my bed. I had laid there for two hours staring at the ceiling, wallowing in self-pity from missing Jax. I had even flipped the switch so the windows frosted to black, eliminating the sun shining inside. It had done no good. I was still wide awake ... and frightened. There were noises outside from animals I could not name, and they sounded dreadfully vicious. The deep rumbles of the guards' voices outside my door did not soothe, instead bringing on panic.

  I did not trust Malik or Leo for that matter, but it was better to be with the devils I knew.

  I opened the unlocked door as quietly as I could.

  Their bedroom was even larger than mine. At the front of it there was a large black leather couch and two silver recliners with a coffee table between. Bookcases lined each side of the room, which were overflowing with ancient books. When they had first shown me their bedroom, I had been shocked by the quiet nature of it, but then I had seen all of the weapons they had inside their immense walk-in closet—most with dried blood on them—and decided against the room being unassuming. The one massive bed inside the room had confused me, but Malik had informed me that all Vaq slept next to each other.

  By the slim glow that shone from my room to theirs, they appeared to be doing just that. I sighed in relief and quickly went back to my bed and grabbed my comforter. Dragging the ridiculously enormous thing behind me, I silently slipped into their bedroom. Only their heads showed above their own fluffy comforter, but there was a light snore coming from Leo, his golden head of hair shimmering in the light of the sun from my room. Malik was not snoring, but his breathing was heavy with the rise and fall of the comforter on top of his body.

  Once I had my comforter all the way past the doorway, I dropped it on the concrete floor. I moved to one of the silver recliners and, quietly grunting with the effort, shoved it across the room to the foot of their bed. I stood on tiptoe, peeking at their faces, but both were still asleep. The heavy breathing and quiet snoring never stopped. Already feeling a little safer, I grabbed my comforter from the floor and shut our adjoining door, letting the darkness consume the bedroom. Padding quietly across the cold and smooth concrete floor, I lowered myself onto the recliner, covered myself up, and released the footstool.

  In a rush of movement, it lifted with a loud thwack.

  "Shit," I whispered in English, my attention slamming in their direction.

  They did not stir.

  My lips lifted in victory. I may actually sleep this day.

  Though my smile faltered when the snore abruptly stopped, and Leo grunted, "For a Human, who bears ten marks on her wrists, she is remarkably pathetic at stealth."

  With an aggravated huff, Malik rolled in bed. "At least she finally shut the damn door."

  I blinked. "Good night." Or afternoon, whatever it was right now.

  Malik grumbled in irritation, "Just go to sleep, Braita."

  "Okay," I whispered. I snuggled further into my comforter and closed my eyes. They were letting me sleep here. And they were not too angry. That, I could handle.

  My groggy eyes slammed open into darkness when I heard their bedroom door click closed. I watched as Leo jerked upright in bed. His golden eyes cut through the darkness with a violent glow. He also appeared to have a gun aimed at the door. I still did not remove my hand from under my nightgown where my palm rested on the handle of the knife I had thieved from their closet of horrors.

  Unexpectedly, Leo lowered his weapon and yawned so grandly that I thought his jaw might crack from the pressure. "Winslet, this is not a good time." He lifted his free hand in my direction. "As you can see, we have company."

  I peeked over my shoulder. All I could see were two green eyes glowing near the front of their bedroom. Having Human eyes in this situation was more than frustrating. That green gaze bore directly at me, and I watched as they narrowed to thin slits.

  "She's not Mian," the intruder, Winslet, whispered. "What is she?"

  "Human," Malik grumbled harshly. I felt the bed shake, and then he growled, "Get out. Our sleep has been interrupted enough this day."

  There was a minute pause, and then I squinted when their bedroom door jerked open, allowing a brief glare of bright light inside. I saw a flash of a Mian woman with deep crimson hair wearing a black robe disappear out the door. It shut with a booming slam hard enough for the steel door to vibrate. I blinked, gazing at where the woman had disappeared. "Acquaintance of yours?"

  "She's one of our lovers," Leo huffed, lying down. "You know, for our barbaric needs."

  In the blackness of their bedroom, my cheeks flushed. "Do you want me to leave?" I knew they did not have a Harem. It had been obvious by the fact they wore no rings other than mine, but they had explained as much when they had shown my bedroom to me. But even in my own discomfort, my brows began to furrow. I grumbled, "You two weren't very kind to your ... friend."

  Malik snorted, getting comfortable once
more. "I was growing bored of her."

  "Same here," Leo muttered, his voice muffled with his face smashed against his pillow.

  Interesting. "You didn't answer my question."

  "For the love of all that is holy, just go to sleep," Malik growled.

  I grunted, whispering in English, "Someone's grumpy when he doesn't get his beauty sleep."

  There was a long pause, then a hard snorting laugh erupted from Leo. "True enough."

  I had just learned their hearing was also exceptional—even in English. Another fact to ponder.

  After I got some sleep.

  My stomach growled. "I'm hungry." These Mian seriously did not eat. "I haven't eaten since I left Joyal."

  Malik peered up from the book he was reading on Human genetics. "What?"

  "Food," I expounded, throwing my hands up in the air. We had been inside their bedroom since we had woken. The only time I had left was to take a shower in my own bedroom and change into a t-shirt of Leo's and a pair of pajama bottoms of Malik's. Both were utterly enormous on me, but at least they were clean. I pointed at my stomach. "Humans obviously eat more than you people." More jabbing motions at my stomach as it growled again. "Food. In my belly. Please!"

  Malik blinked, then flipped to a page in his book. He read from it a moment and then leaned to show Leo, where he sat next to him. He pointed at the page. "It does say here that Humans should eat at least three times a day. At the minimum."

  I stared in frustration, crossing my arms.

  Leo read the passage and then lifted his glowing eyes to me. "You should have told us before now." A golden brow rose. "What do Humans eat?"

  My nostrils flared. "I want meat. Bread. Maybe some damn pasta." I glared. "Even pets on Joyal are respected better than this. Humans do research before we own a living, breathing being."

  Malik actually rolled his eyes. "We know plenty about Humans, but Leo and I didn't expect to have to deal with one so ... closely." He tossed the book aside and stood. "Come. I'll take you to the kitchen. You can pick out what you want and, hopefully, quit whining. The cook will help."