“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kimmy said. “But just because your people are fighting with…I guess my people’s friends, that doesn’t mean we have to be enemies. Does it?”
“Most sentients think that it does.”
“Why?”
“Because Centaurans are extremely loyal to our clans, to our people. And my people want vengeance for the terrible things the Coalition has done.”
She remembered Marvin talking about that, too. Len hadn’t denied any of it. He just kept saying that they had changed.
“I thought it was the High Council that had done the terrible things,” Kimmy said. “And they’re gone now.”
“They may be gone, but the people who followed those orders are not and we can’t be sure that everyone who was sympathetic to them has been neutralized.”
“Neutralized?” Her voice rose to a tiny squeak.
“Not like that,” he said. “Not in all cases, anyway. I mean removed from positions of power. It’s hard for Centaurans to trust others, especially with how our trust was betrayed when we were first brought into the Coalition of Planets.”
Kimmy reached for his hand. She held it in both of hers, resting them on his thigh.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The room grew cold again. She scooted closer to him, but that only seemed to make it worse.
“Let me get you a blanket,” she said.
He held tight when she tried to pull her hands away.
“It won’t help,” he said. “The cold is coming from me.”
She felt her eyebrows rise. “You have cold powers and you’re a shifter? Wow.”
That time, he was the one to pull away. He clamped his hands together in front of him.
“I can’t always control it,” he said. “It’s an automatic defense mechanism.”
Defense mechanism? Did that mean he felt threatened by her? The idea was ludicrous. And yet…
“Centaurans are structurally and genetically similar to Sadirians,” Serac said. “Similar enough that the High Council took a very keen interest in trying to understand and replicate what we can do.”
Kimmy tried to keep her voice gentle. “I’m guessing they weren’t very nice about it.”
“They started by initiating mating bonds with Centaurans,” he said. “Like Earthlings, Sadirians are close enough biologically that the mating instinct can be triggered with the right person.”
His cheeks darkened and he looked away. For a moment, Kimmy wondered if maybe she had triggered that response in him. If they were meant to be together, it would explain the incredible kisses and the instant attraction she’d felt.
“Let me guess,” she said. “They did that so the Centaurans would feel loyal to the Coalition and would go along with what the High Council wanted.”
His mouth dropped open, then closed. He shook his head.
“Yet again, you hold an understanding of my people that amazes me,” he said. “I must read some of those paranormal romance novels you’ve been talking about.”
“When we get back to Earth, you can borrow whatever you like.”
And after he read the books, he’d have to return them. She’d be sure to loan him more every time to keep that going. The idea of him walking out of her life when this was all over was not something she could face at the moment.
She scooted closer and rested her arm on his back gently. There was more to the story. She could sense it, but she didn’t want to push.
“The High Council created situations where many Centaurans and Sadirians were together, trying to trigger mating bonds,” he said. “And when we bonded with them, some of our abilities transferred to our new mates. They couldn’t shift or generate cold, but mated pairs could sense each other’s emotions. Our Sadirian mates became immune to the temperature changes we can create—and to all cold.”
For the first time ever, she saw him shiver. Now she knew it definitely wasn’t because of the temperature.
His voice became gravelly as he went on. “The High Council became focused on trying to find a way to extract the source of that change. They wanted to see if they could genetically engineer Sadirians who could survive the cold of space, even without a uniform.”
Kimmy did not like where this was going. “So, they experimented on you.”
Serac nodded. “And our mates. Those who had been recruited tried to explain that the ability wasn’t something that could be replicated, but the High Council wouldn’t listen. They also wouldn’t stop.”
“That’s awful.”
“Few of the Sadirians survived. Centaurans mate for life, and when our mates die, so do we.”
The temperature in the room dropped at least another ten degrees. Kimmy started to shiver. She couldn’t help it.
“I apologize.” Serac reached for the blankets and draped them around her. “I shouldn’t be thinking of this, let alone telling you.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I want to know.”
He nodded. “It is wise to know your enemy.”
“What? No. You’re not my enemy.” She reached out of her burrow of blankets to hold his hand again. “I want to know because I want to know more about you. Who you are and what you’ve been through. What makes you…Serac.”
Some of the tension eased from his expression.
“You should know that I’ve been exiled,” he said.
She gasped, the implications of that running through her mind. She knew a lot of her reactions were coming from what she’d read in books, but so far, they seemed to be spot on, and the idea of a werewolf being kicked out of his pack was awful.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “That must be terrible for you.”
“The High Council has been destroyed. My people have had their revenge. Yet they insist on pursuing their war, letting the Tau Ceti urge them on.”
Len had called the Tau Ceti “vampire space frogs.” She was glad she’d encountered the space version of a werewolf first.
“Centaurans have a source for…advanced technology. I can’t tell you more than that. But the Tau Ceti carry the bloodlust in their hearts. This ship was an early prototype of a scouting vessel capable of entering blue space without a drop gate. No one has ever been able to achieve that technology in a ship this small.”
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “If the Assembly could mass produce ships like this, they would be able to reach every corner of the galaxy. Sentients would be at their mercy. But the Tau Ceti are even worse than the High Council in many ways. They have no mercy.”
“Then how can you be allied with them?”
“I can’t.” He spoke more quickly as he went on, as if he was afraid something would keep him from continuing. “I stole this vessel and destroyed all of the records regarding its creation. It set us back decades. Enough time, I hope, for this conflict to be resolved peacefully.”
The despair in his expression left little doubt in her about his fate.
“But you won’t be able to go back,” she said. “Even then.”
He let out a slight chuckle—the saddest laughter she’d ever heard.
“Yet again, you know us so well,” he said. “No, they won’t accept me again. I’ve betrayed my people in their eyes. I will not be welcome on my homeworld again.”