“Really? Exciting?” Abil frowned. “Maybe I should get my own. I am next eldest, after all.”
Styra chuckled. “You won’t have to look too hard. I think that now that we are all adults, Mr. Blue has decided to bring the mates to us. Mine was just the first.”
Abil chuckled. “There is another one on the way right now. His ship is docking right now, but I am to keep you away from him. Your pheromones are a little potent.”
Styra blinked. “Really? I can’t smell them.”
“You smell like sweet flowers to me, but the boss said that you would smell different to each drake.”
“He mentioned this to you?”
“Yeah, he seemed concerned about you but amused and cheerful at the same time.”
Styra glanced at the corner where Yr-el was sitting. He was leaning back casually, and he had a drink in one hand. Even from across the room, she could see the stars moving under his skin.
There was a stack of parcels for her, and each had a new outfit that didn’t look like something that would suit her for daily work but, instead, looked very pretty and feminine. Abil smiled. “Mr. Blue’s suggestion, as well. He said that you wouldn’t need bodysuits and that your mate would appreciate skirts for your daily wear.”
Styra hugged her. “Thank you.”
“So, he healed you, huh? That’s good.” Abil reiterated what the other girls had first exclaimed at.
“It hurt like hell, but it has helped me to move like an average person. No more hunching over in pain. Getting used to food is strange, but that will probably come with time.”
Abil nodded. “I can see that it would be a problem. The supplements that you had to take were far more extensive than the ones we take.”
Styra paused. “You are on supplements as well? You never said.”
“We all are. I am guessing it is a top-up of the boss’s blood, but we all take it, and it helps us with the interface.” Abil smiled. “Your mate’s ship will be leaving tomorrow morning. There isn’t a gate window, but he says that you need to go.”
Styra blinked. “So, that is the reason for the emergency party. I had better hug my way out of here. I am so tired.”
Abil nodded. “The first shift and an entire day of coitus would take it out of you. Be well, and I would like to visit you if I am able.”
“I would like that.” It would be a touch of something familiar to have her cousins visit one by one.
Abil nodded again. “I will have your new clothing brought to the captain’s ship.” She made notes on her clipboard and smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Abil. You always know what needs to be done.” Styra smiled. “Despite your slow start, you have the quickest wit that I have ever dealt with.”
“I wish I could speak as fast as I think, but that is what I have to work with. I do get a little better each day.” Abil sighed.
Styra hugged her again. Her cousin had arrived unable to speak at the age of ten. She had been found in a forest, living alone, and Mr. Blue had arranged for her delivery to the station. Like the rest of his descendants, she had ended up alone. It was a curse that had touched most of those related to Mbrak the Blue.
She looked around the group and sighed. Every one of them was orphans through death or surrender.
Styra got up, hugged her way through her relatives, and then, she went over to Yr-el, and she crawled into his lap. She sighed deeply.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I am. I am exhausted, and I will miss them all in my own particular way.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Only juice. I have no idea what kind of reaction I would have if I imbibed.” She sighed. “My organs are still settling in.”
He kissed the top of her head. “It is best to take some things slowly.”
She grinned and looked up at him. “That isn’t what you said right before the party.”
“That was different.” He smiled and kissed her. “That was for mutual gratification.”
She sighed. “So, we leave tomorrow, huh?”
“How did you...”
“Abil. She talks slow, but she knows everything. She’s the true second-in-command on this station.”
He nodded. “I am beginning to understand the role that you and your relations play on this station. I got a copy of your resume when you were getting dressed. You can really code that quickly?”
She nodded. “That was my skill. I can react rapidly to the information flow, and I can bend it just enough to slip past.”
She paused and then said, “I am ready to leave if you are.”
He grinned. “Sweeter words have never reached my ears.”
He picked her up, and her relatives cheered her as she was carried off to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
She laughed for five minutes at the thought that she was going to get much sleep.
Chapter Nine
She held still as the ship disconnected from the station and floated away. The crew was seated at the controls, and Yr-el had left her with a quick kiss to the cheek and retreated to another part of the ship.
“Where did he go?” She asked the crew.
The lieutenant chuckled. “He is going to fly out, grab the ship in his mouth, and then tear a hole in space to get us directly to Harva. No delays.” There were a pause and an alarm. “There he goes.”
She looked at the monitor and saw the drake circling the ship before they jolted, and they started moving forward at an accelerated pace. He moved them around the traffic approaching the station with ease, and her heart thudded as she left her home.
The ship rocked and rattled as Yr-el picked up speed. Styra gripped the sides of her seat, and she winced. “Save the rough ride for solid ground, Yr-el.”
The rocking immediately smoothed out, and the ship hurtled toward a rift that appeared in front of them. There was a low hum of a growl that went through the entire ship in response to her words.
She looked at the speed and the smoothness of the vessel’s trajectory. “Can he hear me?”
The crew was laughing at her, and she blushed. She may or may not have propositioned her mate. Her body was still humming from his early morning attention.
They shot through the rift and came out the other side in a matter of minutes. Harva was waiting for them, a bright and lively world.
Yr-el carried them to a point near one of the moons and released the ship for landing.
They descended, and he followed them to the port on the surface. Styra watched the progress, and she found it fascinating that they could travel so quickly from world to world with a drake controlling them.
When they were settled, the lieutenant stood next to her. “We are offloading your things to Yr-el’s home. He will probably want to fly you there as soon as you clear customs.”
“Customs?”
He nodded. “Just like on the station. Certain worlds require registry of transient populations. You won’t have any trouble.”