Chris liked the sound of Karter’s gratified moan as she dismounted him and rolled onto the cool marble floor of the Arkansas State Capitol. He adjusted onto his side to gaze down the length of her. All of her long strong body bared to him in her ashen skin beneath the open rotunda. Her ungelled rainbow mohawk laid flat and almost hid the shaved sides of her head. He liked the way she smiled at him as she caught his assessment of her. Her sharp teeth more sexy than intimidating. She was a biter, and he certainly did not mind.

On a contented sigh, she declared in her deep voice, “That was fun.” She peered at him and giggled.

“Glad you saved the best of my camp for last.”

She laughed, brightly. The sound echoed within the acoustics.

“What’s that all about anyway?”

“Like everything with Icarean women, our appetite for sex is bigger than the males. It’s worse during war time. Or mourning.”

“But… surely not all of them.”

“The Valkyrie are an exception. It’s true. But the other women are similar enough. Just… Nox keeps them practically lobotomized. The Big Nothing. I was alive when Elden consumed Li and sacrificed himself for us. I remember how things were. The ‘King’ dulls the nacre of the common folk so they don’t remember or don’t want to. No ambition. No lust. No desire for things. It keeps them from starving with the Vittle famine. But it also keeps them docile.” She stared off into the stars beyond the gold-plated copula and frowned. “It was one of the things Xelan promised to end when he woke me from stasis.”

Chris chafed her arm in an effort to console her and kissed her bare shoulder. “We’ll do all we can.”

Her smile softened and grew sad. More so than he expected from her. “Yes. We will.”

News of Xelan’s death and Rayne’s capture hit the camp hard. Jack went into a catatonic state in which he refused to acknowledge anyone from his room. The door was always closed. Chris checked in on him while he slept. On the desk next to his bed, sat a pile of letters all addressed to his sister. The veteran left the fifteen-year-old to mourn on his own for a while.

Karter’s unit suffered, especially. The female Icarean warriors confronted grief with an insatiable hunger for all manner of consumption. In good fortune, the Capitol provided plenty of willing servants to their desires. Chris included.

Lucas and Andrew flew in not long after the news broke with even more intelligence. Before the Shadow went to Enki, Xelan sent his train to Arkansas from Toronto, collecting troops from Iona bases stationed along the way. With the blows to their morale, he found it a little surprising they mobilized the army. With that said, he anticipated the arrival of the caravan with excitement.

A weapon’s forge. On a train.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Both winged men stayed for a day or so before continuing on with their mission to investigate some dirty dealings behind the scenes.

Before they left, Chris confronted the golden-eyed Icarus. “Lucas, is there any real chance of getting her back?”

Standing beside the sandy-blond man, Andrew dropped his turquoise gaze and let his long brown hair sweep over his face. His shoulders sagged. Not a good sign.

Lucas placed a friendly hand on Chris’ shoulder. “I’m a poor replacement for Xelan when it comes to reassuring people, but given Tameka and Sagan made it back unharmed, we’ll save Rayne before too much longer. Can you pass that along to Jack, please?”

Two weeks went by since they left, and the kid still sat in his room. No Story Circle. No training.

Karter broke his concentration. “You have something on your mind.”

“Is there any news on Rayne?”

The Icarean female monitored the comms device left to her by Xelan like she expected him to suddenly come on the channel. Anything was possible, he supposed, with alien technology, but the other aliens seemed less optimistic. After a long pause, Karter answered in a quiet voice, “No.”

Chris frowned.

Karter curled onto her side away from him. Also feeling the need for comfort, he wrapped himself around her. Thank god for air conditioning. Ninety-seven degrees might leave them peeling off each other—

“There was some news.”

He propped up a bit to catch her staring at the marble banister for the rotunda’s balcony. “Good? Bad?” He feared more bad news would cripple this unit.

“The Tritan officer brought a reinforcement scout of sorts. We may receive help soon from the Vast Collective.”

“That’s great!” At her silence, he pressed, “Isn’t it? I thought that’s why the Shadow went to Enki in the first place.”

“It is and it isn’t. Cinder is in violation of a peace alliance between the twelve worlds. With every war crime, the entire planet—the entire Icarean race—accrues another offense tallied against them at the end of this war. They can choose to exterminate us if we’re deemed too much of a threat to the rest of the Collective.” The next she added in a voice so soft he almost missed it. “Xelan saw it happen on another world, once.”

“That’s awful. I mean that is simply inexcusable. How could they blame all of you—even those of you suppressed by your rulers—for Nox’s actions?”

Karter shrugged. “Many Earthlings do.”

“But not the ones in charge, and that’s what matters.” He tugged on her until she rolled over to face him. The sight of all her strength made vulnerable by the destruction of her people wounded him. “We won’t let this happen, and I have an idea of how we can help.”

Even after weeks in her company, Karter’s eyes still startled Chris. The iris split down the center: the inside half bright green, the outside half black. Beautiful but dizzying to gaze into. He caught himself falling into them the first few days during briefings. Tonight, they stared back at him, sharpened with curiosity. “What do you have in mind?”

“We put Jack on a broadcasting mic.”

She chortled at him, but at least that counted as progress away from the sadness.

“No, I mean it. He has real charisma, and the world needs a little hope. I’m sure between you and the others, we can expand the signal to regional or national levels.” Chris grinned at her. “We can do this. Get the truth of the situation out there.”

Karter stretched her naked body and arched her back. He forgot what he was saying. On a groan, she acquiesced. “What’s the harm?” Her muscles bunched as she sat up. “I’ll help with it, tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to find another volunteer.”

Watching her stand with her perfect backside to him, he raised a hand. She caught sight of it and laughed. He liked that sound, too. “What? Are you ready to go again? I don’t want to leave you exhausted and worthless come morning.”

“I am absolutely good to go.”

Karter folded to the floor and approached him on hands and knees in a graceful, sensual crawl. Her exotic eyes flashed as she purred, “Famous last words.”