The Krinar's Bane Read online

  Eva bit her lip. Returning to the safety of the dance floor, with tons of witnesses around, sounded good. Only one problem.

  “I need to pee, first.”

  Adrenaline had made her forget her predicament at first, but now that her stupid body had completely stopped being afraid, against everything her brain told her, she seriously needed to go.

  Zarken smiled, and turned his heels, heading towards the other end of the corridor.

  “So, how many Earth years are you celebrating today?” the K asked, conversationally.

  The banality of the whole exchange made her feel off-balance, like she was edging in front of a precipice, without any harness on. The smart thing was to take a step back, but when the view was appealing, Eva had always been the kind of woman who peeked down.

  This time, it was downright idiotic.

  “Twenty-five,” she replied, and he stifled a grin, doing his best to not laugh to her face. “It’s very young in your culture, right?”

  She’d heard that their kind was long-lived, although, like every other piece of information they had been given about them since K-Day, they’d been as vague as possible. It could mean that he was in his sixties, although he didn’t look a day above thirty. But the rumors said some of them lived hundreds, even thousands of years. She knew better than to believe everything she read online though.

  “Very,” he nodded. “But your kind does mature much quicker, given your short life span. In your society, you’d be considered an adult, I believe?”

  She bobbed her head, all the while wondering what sort of alternate reality she’d jumped into. Because, if memory served, the gorgeous alien just had his hand inside her panties. Now he wanted to talk about cultural differences?

  “I’m getting to know you, Eva,” he said, responding to the question visibly plastered on her face. “And ensuring that you’re of age, because I want to fuck you, and I’m not in the habit of robbing cradles.”

  Her jaw dropped opened.

  “You-”

  “Sorry, did my fingers inside your pussy suggest anything else, doll? I should have made myself clearer. Yes, Eva. I’d very much like to have sex with you. I believe you’re not opposed to this development, are you?”

  Oh, my. She was supposed to talk right now? Because she wasn’t quite sure how her vocal functions worked.

  “Here we are.”

  She came out of her reverie just as they’d arrived in front of the ladies room; there was a small queue, and every single woman was staring at her companion, bearing the same incredulous expression.

  “Hm.” What could she say now? “Thank you?”

  It sounded like a question, because it was. She should have just said thanks, but I’m not that easy so, bye-bye, lovely to have met you.

  But she didn’t want to. Not even a little bit.

  The beat of her heart hadn’t slowed down a smidgen in the fifteen minutes since they’d met, half of it being due to the uncontrollable, subliminal anxiety her brain wouldn’t suppress, and the other half…

  She’d just come in contact with an alien. A sexy alien who’d leaped to her rescue like a knight in shining armor before giving her the most incredible orgasm of her entire life.

  And now, he said he wanted to have sex with her. That was inconceivable. Of course, she couldn’t - wouldn’t. But she wasn’t quite ready to let him go. There was no harm in flirting with him a little, right? Maybe even kiss him again. Because damn, he was good at kissing.

  That was the sort of thing people did when they went out - meet a guy, do naughty things…

  You’re playing with fire, Eva. He’s not normal. He might not take no for an answer.

  As though he’d been reading her mind, he told her, “I’ll be waiting for you here.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  She stayed planted in place like an idiot, before Zarken pointed out, “There’s no one left in the queue, doll. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back to me.”

  Eva wondered if it was a trick of the light when the amber of his eyes became brighter, molten gold. She flushed, and stammered something half intelligible about being back soon, before hurrying to the bathroom.

  After the quickest pee she’d had in her life, she ran to the sink and splashed her face with water, grateful she wasn’t wearing much makeup past a line of waterproof eyeshadow.

  She’d dreamt the whole thing, right? Someone might have spiked her drink with hallucinogens. No way was there an alien hottie, who looked at her like he wanted to take a bite, waiting for her outside of the bathroom.

  Just in case though, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Julie.

  I’m with a K called Zarken, she wrote, proud of herself for thinking of it at all. At least, if something happened to her, her friend would know who was responsible. Not that Julie could have done anything about it, but who knew? It was better than disappearing without a trace.

  Yeah, right, she replied immediately. And the vampire Lestat just bought me a drink.

  Eva chuckled, because it was just as likely.

  For one, they lived in Washington, D.C., and everyone knew how K hated populous cities. They preferred isolated areas where they could do what they wanted, hence why they’d built their colonies in remote areas.

  Had she really dreamt the whole thing?

  Eva was half convinced she had, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing her mini-brush and fixing her hair as best she could, and wising she was the kind of woman who packed makeup in her bag.

  She got out of door, and called herself stupid for the third time in the last few minutes. Because instead of being scared out of her wits, she exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw the Krinar in his light brown suit, hands in his pockets, ignoring the hoard of women who’d gathered around him. His indifferent expression morphed into a grin as soon as she appeared.

  “Eva,” he called with familiarity. “Shall we go, doll?”

  Four

  Prototype

  The last painful six minutes did nail home how unusual the little human doll was. The moment she left, a group of women zeroed in on him, and started to talk his ear off, reminding him why he generally stayed away, not letting any humans see him. These women who were interested in his kind - any Krinar would do. They wanted to say they’d had a night with one of them. They wanted to know whether what they’d heard about them was true.

  These humans didn’t only bore him; they made him wish they had an off button. Their constant buzzing, the questions, the squealing, their smell; all of it made for a particularly unpleasant interaction.

  What was different about Eva? Not much. Except that, for one, she didn’t want him simply because he was a Krinar. He read her easily enough; his nature was her main problem with him. She had enough sense to fear him. But on a personal level, he found her less exhausting. She didn’t babble, her voice wasn’t annoying, and focusing on her was no ordeal. He didn’t mind conversing with her, probably because he wanted her enough to render the small talk tolerable.

  Besides, he was mildly curious about her. He couldn’t place why, but that interest was one of the three reasons why he’d opted against taking her home right after he’d made her come on his fingers. He’d define the cause behind it before he unwrapped her from her pretty dress. The second reason was that she did seem a little too anxious. There was no doubt that she wanted him, her body told him as much, but attempting to take her out of the relatively safe, familiar environment might prove problematic.

  The third and most important thing keeping him in the club was that he wasn’t done with his work here yet. Zarken had to stay another twelve minutes at least, for the nanotech he’d dispersed in the room to finish doing their job.

  “We wouldn’t want to make Julie wait.”

  “I texted her,” she admitted. “Told her I was with you.”

  Zarken lifted a brow, surprised.

  “Clever girl. You should always let someone know before leaving with a stranger.
You never know who could wish to hurt you.”

  Of course, no one could stop him if he did, in fact, want to kidnap her, but still. Good thing he didn’t. Not for long, in any case.

  “Do you?” she asked. “Wish to hurt me?”

  The woman looked at him with the first hint of real fear, and he couldn’t say he liked it. Not at all, in fact.

  Strange. Zarken was accustomed to being feared, even amongst his kind. It wasn’t in the nature of Krinars to harbor that kind of feeling towards their fellow citizens, but he wasn’t exactly what one would call a regular Krinar. Generally, he relied on that fear - or reverence, as some would call it. Now, he found himself wanting to crush it into oblivion.

  “Look at me in the eyes, doll,” he told her, looking right at her until she turned and looked back. “I want many things from you. To make you come again - on my tongue, around my cock - for example. None of them involve hurting you.”

  As he said it, his eyes flicked to her neck, and he wondered how much of a lie that was. No doubt some humans’ definition of “hurt” included biting them and drinking their blood.

  And he really would enjoy doing that to her.

  “Why me, though?”

  He didn’t understand the question at first. Was she under the assumption that he’d come here in order to find a woman, and had set his mind on her? How amusing. He was working; sex had been the last thing on his mind, before he’d seen her. But yes, that was exactly what she believed. That she was replaceable by any other pretty face in the room. Somehow, he felt like letting her believe that delusion was the best course of action, for now.

  “Perhaps because I like these pretty doe eyes, or that mouth of yours.” Her intake of breath was as adorable as her blush, when he brushed his thumb over her lip.

  He saw so much innocence. Ignorance. Naivety. His instincts told him to take her from this harsh, uncaring world and lock her up in a controlled environment where she’d be safe. And where she wouldn’t ever need to wear clothes.

  Zarken smiled at himself, knowing it’d pass. The intensity of his desire would fade in the blink of an eye, and he’d return to his default state: bored. So bored he sometimes wished it was possible to be, as humans said, bored to death.

  Enjoy this flickering passion, he told himself. It won’t last.

  “Have you ever encountered one of my kind, before?” he wondered, betting on a firm no.

  She shook her head, predictably. Therein lay the reason behind the skittish behavior.

  “No, you’re my first Krinar.”

  “Yours? How presumptuous,” he teased, setting her cheeks ablaze.

  She’d meant nothing by it, of course, but the claim pleased him immensely. Her Krinar - the only one who’d ever possess her. He liked the sound of that. Of course he did. His kind didn’t like to share.

  “Come now, doll,” he said as they reached the edge of the dance floor. “Julie is waiting, I’m sure.”

  If they stayed in darkness another moment, he wouldn’t be able to help it: he’d just take her there and then. He gestured for her to enter the crowded floor first, and followed close as she made her way through the sea of entangled bodies emanating so much sweat and pheromones he found the mixture heady, feeding his arousal.

  The humans parted to give him some room as they saw him, some staring in terror, others in excitement.

  He ignored them all. From here, he could see the curve of Eva’s lush ass sway beneath the flowy material of her clothes, and nothing else mattered. She wore a sundress, very different from other women on the dance floor; not as tight or revealing. But she’d paired it with a heavy pair of boots riding up under the hem of her skirt, and the odd combination enticed him.

  The dress could go. He’d get her to keep the boots on.

  “Hey,” Eva yelled over the music, waving her arm at a redheaded girl who stared past her, directly at Zarken, open-mouthed in shock.

  “What the actual fuck?” the woman yelled back, her surprised morphing into frenzy. “What are you doing with one of them?”

  Ah, so Julie was that sort of human. The reason behind his presence on Earth in general, and his presence in this club, in particular.

  Horizon was notably not frequented by Ks which meant that he was guaranteed to find her kind here. Those who feared, and even hated Krinars on principle.

  Various mind experts had studied them, but the Elders had come to him, because he could do more than simply understand them. He could predict their actions.

  Zarken, unlike many amongst his kind, had reached the status of expert in various domains. A dabbler at heart, he’d started out working on a wide range of subjects, but after many, many years spent working in each profession, he was the best at each and every one of them. Except perhaps engineering. That title was reserved for another Krinar.

  Up until recently, he’d been content overseeing his seven companies, but the Council had notified the Elders of a problem on Earth, a problem born of hatred. No one could control hatred, and they didn’t need to. But knowing what those who would always fight against them were up to, that was an incredible advantage.

  “I can probably predict their course of action,” he’d announced, when Lahur had brought the issue to his attention, shrugging it off like it was something simple. To him, it was. “Study enough of them, add all the information into the algorithm I use for another program and we can create a sequence that will determine their most likely reaction.”

  The eldest of their Elders had been thrilled. If they could monitor any key member of the human resistance, and predict their actions, no situation quite as alarming as what had happened two months ago would ever occur on Earth again. The human resistance had formed an alliance with traitors, and attacked their Centers on Earth. The issue had been taken care of, but it should never have arrived at that point. Had the traitors and their human pets been successful, the very foundation of their current society might have been twisted, setting them back thousands of years.

  A long time ago, when they’d had to fight for their territories, there had been so many vendettas – entire families had died – until they’d found a better, more civilized way to deal with irreconcilable quarrels: the Arena. If two Krinars reached a point where only violence could solve their differences, they did it in a one-on-one in there. Zarken had never issued a challenge, but plenty of Krinars had challenged him. He’d won every single time, which explained why he was alive: while Arena fights weren’t supposed to be to the death, it was easy to lose control and tear an enemy apart.

  A contradiction: they stayed civilized because they gave in to a barbaric tradition. But it worked.

  The traitors – the Keiths, they’d called themselves – had schemed and plotted their demise, planning to kill plenty of Krinar. This wasn’t their way. If they had managed, Zarken had no doubt that vendettas to avenge their fallen children, parents, and friends, would have started everywhere on Krina.

  When his program was operational, never again would they have any reason to be concerned about human behavior. They’d always be two steps ahead.

  Zarken had adapted his algorithm for its new purpose from Krina, but he’d needed quite a few different studies done with humans in their natural element, just like this club. He could have sent anyone to do the job; it was just a matter of releasing the right nanocytes, and gathering the information they captured. But he’d come to oversee it himself.

  For four endless weeks, he’d regretted it, wishing he’d sent an apprentice. Now, the intergalactic flight almost seemed worth it. How long had it been since anything had interested him quite as much as this human? He didn’t remember. Pinpointing what had captured his attention was hard, too. Perhaps it was her vulnerability, or even the fact that she didn’t seem to know just how appealing she was. Krinar women lacked that innocence.

  Smiling, he called out to his computer, silently willing it to turn on.

  Launch prototype E063, he commanded in his mind.

 
His algorithm wasn’t even close to ready yet, but it could deal with an irrelevant, tipsy woman.

  “Zarken,” he introduced himself.

  “You’re a Krinar,” Eva’s friend yelled accusingly, almost spitting the last word.

  Subject one will attempt to get subject two away from you, and talk her into leaving.

  The woman’s arm hooked around Eva’s, and she looked right at her, narrowing her eyes as she bit out, “I need to speak to you.”

  Zarken smiled, glad his program was functioning correctly. “Of course. I’ll see you shortly.”

  Julie dragged Eva towards one of the alcoves, glancing at him a few times to make sure he didn’t follow. Playing along, Zarken casually strolled to the bar, and ordered himself the strongest human drink on shelf.

  Five

  Undetermined

  When she believed him out of earshot, Julie said, “Are you serious? Come on, Eva, I know you’re a free spirit, but you’re out of your fucking mind, hanging out with one of them! Have you seen the YouTube videos of what they can do? You don’t know what he wants from you!”

  Prototype, update, Zarken commended.

  Response inconclusive. Subject two’s reaction is undetermined.

  That made him pause.

  Conjectures?

  Type A individual would agree with subject one. Type B would blame the alcohol imbibed for the irresponsible behavior. Type C would disagree with subject one and await a conclusive analysis of your intentions. Type D would…

  His program was still babbling on when Eva shrug.

  “He’s been a gentleman, so far, and he doesn’t have to be, Jules. We’ve both seen what they can do, so he could have dragged me out of here if he wanted to. He hasn’t. That’s worth something.”

  “But he could still kidnap you and lock you up in a lab or god knows what!”

  “So could just about any stranger in this room,” Eva rolled her eyes. Then, she added at a lower decibel, “He said he thought I was pretty. Or that my eyes were pretty, whatever.”