“Let me stop you there,” Lois says, holding up a hand. “No one knows why men do any of the things they do, but if you ask them, it’s probably their mother’s fault,” she says, popping up a finger to begin listing off all her answers. “The plastic one is just capitalism. I don’t know what else to tell you there. The size one is - as always - good ol’ fashioned patriarchy. Yes, ice cream tastes pretty fucking amazing. And do not get me started on the Kardashians.”

“Oh. Alright, let me just write some notes on that.” Vel says, quickly scribbling something down on her tablet. “Do not mention the Kardashian,” she murmurs along as she writes the words. Vel’s blush deepens as she looks back up at us and says, “I suppose we should stay on topic anyway.”

The projection in front of us changes again, showing an impressively tall building with multiple towering spires and connected archways, but some walls are made of shimmering glass and it looks like there’s little flying pods hovering in mid-air all over the place. It kind of looks like a medieval fairy-tale mated with Tomorrowland at Disney World.

“This is the palace in the Northern Principality,” Vel explains.

Jaya swings her legs down over the edge of the bed - the thing is so tall, she can’t touch the floor. “That’s where we’re going to live?” she asks, eyes wide as she stares at the illuminated image.

“Yes,” Vel smiles, showing us another image of the palace from a different angle.

“Wait,” Lois says, “for real? We get to live there?”

Vel nods her head and changes the projected image again. This time showing a weirdly perfect oval-shaped valley full of thick forest and dotted with little spots of glowing light. “And this is a drak-ball game in its final quarter. It’s a team sport involving finding glowballs and a drak to ride in the forest before taking to the skies and getting as many glowballs in your team’s net as possible.”

Jaya, Lois and I just blink back at her, utterly baffled by everything she just said. In response, Vel zooms in on the image, and what initially looked like a little speck in the sky soon became an image of Az. He’s wearing black leather pants and is shirtless again. And he’s… well, he’s riding what looks like a two-headed dragon?

Jaya giggles as she turns her head as if trying to get a better look at the dare-devil alien on the projection. “Lois, your man is kinda hot. No wonder he’s used to getting lots of action.”

“He’s not my man,” Lois complains, but I see how her cheeks flush a little as she stares at the photo of him riding that ‘drak’ thing. She blinks and then shakes herself out of her stupor before addressing Vel. “Wait, is this where he brings all his… you know?” she gestures to the bed we’re all sitting on. Vel stares at her, her brows knitted in confusion. “I mean, I’m no prude, but if this is where a fuckboy brings all his conquests, then I’m not sure I really wanna-”

“Oh!” Vel says, finally catching Lois’ drift. “Oh my horns! No, Az doesn’t-… we don’t-… I-…” she closes her eyes and gently slaps her forehead repeatedly a few times with the flat of her palm before taking a calming breath. “I’m so sorry - I forget that humans don’t know about the bonding bites.”

For some unknown reason, the little downy hairs on the back of my neck prickle to attention and something in my stomach swoops uncomfortably. “The what now?” I ask.

OceanofPDF.com

11

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 11 - Niska

Vel had decided that whatever she needed to tell us, it needed to be told somewhere else. So she leads us through the corridors of this massive royal spacecraft until we come to what feels very much like a conference room. The area is completely oval in shape, with one long, curved wall comprised of floor-to-ceiling of windows, looking out to the views of the deep space beyond. On the opposite wall is a painted mural sectioned into four, with each flowing into one another, but clearly different in theme. Each section depicts a female Xaviaan, posed and depicted like they were legendary mythical characters, separated and surrounded by vines and beautiful alien flowers. One of them is cloaked in dark, flowing colors and instead of being framed by delicate flowers and vines, she’s almost swallowed by a mass of thorned plants dotted with purple blooms that seem to drip with a glowing substance. The horned Xaviaan woman depicted in that section is staring directly at me as she holds a male’s back to her chest. She’s smiling wryly as she slits the man’s throat with an ornate silver dagger, blood dripping like rubies from his exposed neck. You would think the male should look horrified, like in the artwork, Judith slaying Holofernes or something. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t even look shocked. He looks serene, and almost happy at being murdered.

“Whoa,” Jaya says, coming to stand beside me as I stare up at the mural. “She looks scary.”

“That’s Nex,” Vel supplies as she takes a seat at the huge oval table made of dark, polished wood that takes up the center of the room. “The painting depicts our four Goddesses, and Nex is the guardian of death. Come, sit,” she smiles, gesturing to the high-backed chairs opposite her. We each take a seat, noting how huge the furniture is when it’s made specifically to fit aliens who are typically seven or eight feet. It kind of makes me feel like a child at the adult table.

There’s a screen set into the tabletop in front of Vel, and she mutters to herself as she taps away, logging in or whatever. “Ah-ha, here we go,” she finally says before she gives one final touch of her finger to the screen, and from the center of the table, out pops a projected hologram, floating just above the surface. The image is of two small three-dimensional Xaviaans. One is male, and the other female. They’re both stripped down to their underwear, like we’re about to have a biology class crash-course.

Which… I guess we are?

Using the screen, Vel makes the image zoom in on the male Xaviaan’s mouth, and we watch as the model parts his lips to show his teeth. “All Xaviaans possess two venoms,” Vel starts as the hologram shows the male’s canine teeth quickly grow into sharp fangs, “a Bloodline Venom, and a Bonding Venom.”

The image of the male’s teeth zooms out so we can see both of the figures again now. There’s a bit of static that messes with the hologram before the thing changes again as we’re looking at-

Jaya squeaks as the three of us each comprehend what we’re being shown now. There, hovering over the center of the table, are the two miniature versions of a male and female Xaviann going at it. As in, they’re both totally buck-naked now, with her legs wrapped around his hips while his thrust game looks like it won’t quit any time soon.

“Please tell me this isn’t how you guys teach biology to your kids,” Lois asks, pointing at the holographic softcore porn playing out in front of us.

“Sorry,” Vel winces, gaze averting down to the screen as her fingers fly across the panel. Her gray cheeks are tinged a little pinker when she looks back up again. “I should have warned you about the mating. But this is important, especially for Niska.”

I can’t help but fidget in my chair at that as the image in front of us zooms in to frame the couple’s faces, the male hovering over the female, both of them panting while their bodies are still in the throes of passion.

And then the male bites the female, right on the neck.

She cries out silently, and… bites him in return.

The three of us humans sit here staring long after Vel makes the hologram disappear.