Zola Flash (The Zola Flash Series Book 1) Page 14

  One of the guards grabs hold of me before another step is taken.

  “Let me go!”

  At the sound of my voice, Pin moves his head.

  Renz emerges from the darkness, into the candlelight. He moves to Pin’s side and looks down at him, and then toward me, and I’m sure he must see the fear in my face. He yanks Pin up from the floor by his hair and glowers at him as if he’s some type of grubby creature. Although Pin doesn’t make any sound of pain, the pain he must feel shows in his twisted features and the way he stares helplessly toward the floor.

  “Release the princess,” Renz yells at the guards.

  The guard complies and pushes me to the hard floor. Looking up at Renz, he blows me a kiss. He then pulls out a small blade, but it isn’t just any blade. It’s made of zipher, the deadliest and most toxic mineral in the entire galaxy. It doesn’t kill right away, but the pain it causes, you’d wish you were drowning in Tiheme.

  “No, please don’t!” I weep. “He has nothing to do with this!”

  “He has everything to do with this. He’s the reason you can’t bring yourself to marry me!”

  “If he dies, I certainly won’t marry you. I will resent you more than I already do.”

  “We’ll see about that!”

  Renz stabs Pin in the back with the blade multiple times. With each stab, Pin wails louder. It is pure agony to watch— I feel each stab he receives and can’t stop the tears from coming, as I collapse to the floor, clasping my chest. I hate that I am unable to provide aid or stop the blade in Renz’s hands.

  Knowing the only solution, I glare at Renz and choke out, “Fine.”

  “What was that, Princess?”

  “Stop and let him go, and I’ll do it.”

  “Only because his life is in danger, you are willing to marry me. What if I don’t want you anymore?”

  “Not true, you need that child.”

  “Come closer. Get on your hands and knees and beg me to marry you, to save your precious Pin. Do it. Come here and get down now.”

  I rise to my feet and move to his side. When I glance at Pin, he shakes his head as if telling me he is not worth it. “It’s the only way to save you.”

  Renz tosses Pin to the floor. Seizing my chance, I bend down and glide my hand across Pin’s face. My heavy heart knew his life and mine were meant to go on. I must do what I don’t want to, in order to save the love of my life.

  As I confront Renz, feeling somewhat stronger, he says, “Begin your begging, child.”

  There’s no way I’m getting on my knees for him, so I wrap my arms around his neck; he smiles. Hopefully, it will take very little begging, after all. Making a trail of kisses along the base of his neck, my pleading begins. “Please, please marry me. Let Pin live. It’s me you want, not him.”

  “You need to beg better.”

  “Tell me what you want me to say.”

  “No. Seeing you plead is quite enjoyable. Continue.”

  “Release Pin and take me to your room. I’m sure I can be better than the girl from earlier. I won’t be stubborn, or disobedient. No fighting, or rejecting. All you have to do is let Pin go. Please. Please. Please. I’m begging you.”

  Renz grins as he releases me. He runs his thumb across my lips as he places a kiss on my forehead. My heart aches at this betrayal. I hate that Pin has to watch this.

  Not wanting to remember Pin this way, not wanting to remember this moment at all, I look away.

  “That’s an intriguing suggestion, Princess. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer Pin’s death over becoming my mate?”

  “My decision is final.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes!”

  “Then, there’s only one thing to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  Renz pulls out a small wooden box that gives off the smell of rubador, a zesty spice only found on Victian during the lunar holidays. He kneels down on one knee and opens the box. A bright blue gem glows, like a thousand stars during a cold season on Victian’s neighboring planet, Zikohna. During the cold season, Zikohna is at its darkest. No light shines from its many moons, which allows the stars to be seen.

  Looking closer at the stunning gem, it’s easy to see that the gem’s glow is fake. It’s not a gem at all, but a captured crystal star. A very rare star that becomes evident only once every five centuries. A star like that was the reason Cleo was born. Or rather, the night the star came is a direct connection to Cleo’s birth.

  I remember the day as if it has just happened. The crystal stars were due to arrive. My family camped out under the cool topaz and lime sky, waiting for the night stars. The night before the arrival, my parents sent me away so they could get the campsite ready.

  That night, I snuck out and followed them to the grassy cliff. One star appeared early, and there was something about that one star. It was easy to see that it was going to be the brightest of them all.

  Deciding the star was too worthy for other eyes to witness, my father captured it and embedded it into my mother’s wedding ring, since she love it so much. Three months later, Cleo was born.

  I snatch the ring away from Renz, and he goes stumbling backwards, glaring up at me in shock. There’s no doubt that he is a terrible person, but this is an all-time low. That he would use my mother to get me to say yes to marriage is contemptible.

  “Where did you get this?” I ask pushing back unwanted memories. “Don’t even answer that. It’s quite clear who owned the ring.”

  “It is the perfect wedding ring. Don’t you agree?” He snatches the ring back from my hand.

  My nostrils flare and my eyes narrow. “That’s my mother’s ring!”

  Renz rolls his eyes. “How about I just release the star and dispose of the ring! Would that make you happy?”

  Morph! “No!”

  “Then, be happy! It’s not like you’re dead. You’re alive. And if you behave, Pin will be too.”

  Morph! Please morph! “Why are you doing this to me? Is all this necessary to mate with me? Does power means so much to you that you would risk our lives for some powerful offspring you don’t even know you can control?”

  Come on! Morph, Zola, morph!

  For some reason, my capability to morph does not work.

  Renz forces the ring onto my finger. He kisses my forehead then each cheek.

  Looking into his eyes and unable to transform, I say, “You win.”

  For now!

  “Never doubted I wouldn’t, sweetie.” Renz places a soft peck on my lips, and instructs the guards, “Take my brother to the dungeon.”

  Confusion takes over. I turn to Pin with questioning eyes, and he looks disgusted. No way can this be true. Renz is lying. No way are they brothers. Pin’s brother?

  “Brothers …?” Pin opens his mouth as if to say something then closes it.

  Renz leans closer. “Yes, we’re brothers,” he whispers in my ear, but my gaze remains on Pin.

  He doesn’t struggle or fight to get free of the guards, as they drag him away.

  They are brothers.

  “Pin lied to you,” Renz says. “He didn’t tell you he was a prince of your enemies. To be honest with you, he was to marry you. His pretense of a Payohlini Guardian was a ruse to get close to you. He knows how to get what he wants. And he’s wanted the power he was promised, ever since our father promised you to him. He had you, and you cared for him. Now the tables are turned, and you belong to me.”

  He gives me permission to leave the dining room, and feeling dejected, I explore the palace to settle myself. So much to think about. Two men, one I detest, and one I can’t get out of my head. I can’t believe they’re brothers. How could Pin do this to me?

  They are so different, though. Pin is sweet and caring, and controlling and protective. He betrayed his people . . . though, I guess he didn’t really betray them. It was just deception. At least, that is what I want to believe. No power in the world could make a male act the way Pin did when he found out about
Trevor, surely?

  I come across a set of guards at a door. As if they recognize me, the guards bow before standing big and strong.

  “Who are you hear to see?” asks the shorter guard.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Who are you here to see?”

  Must be the dungeons. “If this is the entrance to the dungeons, then, Pin.”

  He opens the door and walks down a long narrow passageway. I follow. It is so narrow, the walls on each side rub against my shoulders. There are only few lights, so it’s quite dim.

  The male stops in the middle of the skinny hall, causing me to bump into him. He pulls out a key and opens a door. I walk inside, and my heart nearly stops.

  Pin is shackled to a wall. He doesn’t open his eyes when I enter. He just hangs. Although it’s awful to see him in this condition, I’m still hurt that he lied to me.

  Pin finally lifts his lids, and my arms fly around his neck. “What are you doing here?” he questions.

  “I needed to see you. I guess my heart don’t care that it’s betrayed.”

  “Leave!”

  I step back. “What?”

  “Leave! Morph and get off Payohlini. Forget about me, Zola!”

  “That’s the problem, Pin! Forgetting you is too hard! I should be very angry at you, but my heart won’t let me! You’re in my thoughts all the time. No matter how many rejections, I still love you!”

  “Don’t! Don’t say that!”

  “No! I’m done lying to myself, because it hurts. I don’t want to hurt anymore. Just let me love you.”

  “Just leave! Don’t come back. Leave me. Leave Payohlini. You won’t find what you want here.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  WHEN I OPEN THE door of Pin’s cell, Renz is standing outside. I take off running, not wanting to explain my visit to his brother. That wouldn’t go over so well, especially since Renz has finally gotten what he wants. He won’t let Pin be a distraction to that.

  Once at the room I was given, I duck inside and collapse onto the bed, catching my breath. My cute kit leaps to the bed, and as I grab it, a knock sounds at the door. It can’t be Renz; he wouldn’t knock.

  I get up and open the door. Britney shoves Carmen, Daisy, Jacob, and Sofia into the room. She closes the door behind Sofia. Everyone but Jacob glares at me. Understandable, considering they’ve obviously all been kidnapped and dragged to a different galaxy.

  Looking only at Jacob, I ask, “What happened?”

  Carmen steps forward, her fists clenched at her side. “We’re on a different planet!”

  “You’re angry. I can explain.”

  “Explain what? That you’re not what I thought. That the girl who was supposed to be my friend is not even human!”

  So, someone has filled them in. Closing my eyes and pushing back the hurt that desperately wants to surface, I slide my gaze from Jacob to Carmen. She’ll never understand. She just an Earthling.

  “You’re a freaking alien!” she yells, and something snaps inside me.

  I may not be human, but I’m the only person who showed her any kindness. And was actually genuine about it. “You’re right! I’m not human. But you know what? Being a runaway Victian is better than being someone who can’t stand up for herself. You couldn’t possibly live in my shoes. You have no clue what I’ve gone through. And you wouldn’t be able to handle it. You wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch your family get slain or losing your home. You’re too weak to do that.”

  Silence fills the rooms, and I stump out and drop to the floor outside the door.

  Jacob steps out of the room and offers me his hand. When I accept it, he pulls me up. As we walk down the hall in silence, his hand intertwined in mine, which is a little awkward.

  Without warning, Jacob stops and loosens his hand from mine. I stare up at him in question, but he merely smiles and pulls me into a hug, a friendly hug, before releasing me.

  “Do you know why you were brought here?” I ask him.

  “No. I was blindfolded and forced as the girls were put on the ship. Zola, talk to me.”

  “It’s just . . .” I look over at the door along the corridor and my inner alarm bells warn me not to say another word! “Shouldn’t we get back to Carmen and the others?”

  “They’ll be okay. Talk.” He pats my hands. “The sooner you tell me what’s going on, the sooner we’ll get out of here.”

  Tell him. “Pin is . . . is Renz’s brother.”

  I start to tell him everything. It seems, once I start, I can’t stop. I tell him about my grandfather, and the legend Renz believes will happen. I tell him the reason behind the war, which he says he already knew most of. By the time I’m done blabbering, great relief rushes through me. Not the nervous kind that I overlooked when telling Zel, but actual relief. Like the gravity has been turned off and I’m weightless. Jacob may not know the way of my people, or even his own, but Earth has made him a great person.

  “You must be hurting,” he says. “You know, none of us would ever hurt you the way Pin did. I may not know you that well, but you seem like a decent person; someone we would all grow to like. We really don’t care what planet you’re from. We just didn’t expect an unauthorized tripped to another galaxy.” He laughs.

  I let out a small giggle. “Jacob.”

  He pulls me in for another hug. As I draw away, my flimsy dress catches on his zipper and unwraps. I really should have kept the denim jacket on. I completely forget I was in this all-baring dress.

  Jacob stares at the birthmark on my upper body, yellow stars that coil around my torso, for a moment. It’s like he’s never seen a birthmark before, but I’m pretty sure humans, or in his case, half-humans, have them, too.

  “Jacob! It’s just a birthmark! You don’t have to stare!”

  “Sorry. I’ve seen that before. Just don’t remember where.”

  “That’s impossible. No Victian has the same birthmark. This is how we’re identified.”

  “Well, I’ve seen it somewhere.”

  As if realizing that I’m almost naked in front of him, Jacob turns around and takes off his shirt. He wears a ribbed white top underneath, and when he hands me the oversized shirt, I pull it on over my head. I tap his shoulder once I’m decent, to let him know it’s okay to turn.

  Taking hold of Jacob’s hand again, I say, “Sorry . . . about what I said back in the room, about humans. I didn’t mean that. Carmen is the one person I didn’t expect backlash from, and her judging me hurt. But I really am sorry.”

  “I understand, but you should apologize to her, not me.” He frowns. “Are you going to go through with the marriage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? What about Pin? You love him.”

  Yeah. I do. But he doesn’t want me. “Grandfather said that the prophecy will happen sooner or later. I’d rather it be sooner, than to live life wondering if I’m going to be hunted.” I don’t mention Pin. Discussing him is too difficult. He’s already taken over my mind. I don’t need him worrying my friends, too. Besides, I don’t love Pin. I roll my eyes at myself. Who in the Glucoxi galaxy do I think I’m kidding? I’m trying, though. Not to love him. It’s just hard when my heart aches for him.

  Renz pounces out in front of us from behind a sliding panel invisible to the eye. “There are eye cams all over my palace. My guards caught footage of my mate with some boy. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t destroy him, like I did your family.”

  I stare at the weapon Renz holds, too afraid to respond. This situation looks bad, but if he would stop assuming that I like every guy he sees me with and let me explain, there’d be no problems. I take a step towards him, and his hand moves to the trigger. I freeze. Oh, gods, I don’t want to die—wait, isn’t death what I’ve been wanting? To rejoin my family. The whole galaxy would be better off without me, and this ridiculous legendary war would be over. The destruction of one helpless princess is not as valuable as the lives of many.

  Keep telling yourself that. I
don’t want to die. At least not by Renz’s hands. I seize the weapon he has pointed at me before he has chance to stop me and point it at his head.

  His eyes widen, become bluer, before they resettle. “Ha, ha, ha!” Renz fakes a laugh. “You are becoming bolder. I like that. But you, my darling, know how to use swords, and they are no comparison to that weapon you hold now. Your parents failed you by not providing you with all the training necessary to fight a war, or me. To be honest, you have the capacity to kill me. You just don’t have the courage, or the nerves, little girl.”

  He’s right. I can’t kill him. But I can bluff. “You’re right. I am learning. I do have the nerves to stand up for myself, which is why marrying you is so offensive. Now, you will let my friends and me leave …” I pause before adding, “and you will also release your brother.”

  Renz rolls his eyes, but an evil expression quickly enters them and he refocuses on me as if he has something planned, which makes me take an involuntary step backward. A mistake. Because Renz snatches out and recaptures the gun, knocking me backwards to the floor, where I hit my head. Why am I so incredibly clumsy?

  Renz bends down and smiles at me like he knew this would happen. Like he knows me better than I know myself. “Are you okay, my queen? I need you in good health for our mating ceremony, which I’ve decided to move forward before you can do something crazy.” He turns to Jacob, who inches closer to us. “Don’t move! Or I’ll shoot.”

  Placing his arms around me, Renz pulls me over his shoulders, which causes my head to slam hard against his butt. He carries me from the room and down the hall in a rush, but slows his pace, just as I hear another pair of feet come towards us.

  I try to twist, to see who’s coming, but see only feet.

  Renz sets me down and steadies me. Then he surprises me by bowing his head. “Sir.”

  The new male ignores him, but stares at me through wide eyes. He is dressed in long, green robe with the Payohlini crest embroidered over his heart. His hair is silver and shiny, and his face shows his age.

  I bow my head out of respect. Very few Payohlini live long enough to become a priest. Even fewer are pure enough to even be considered for the honor.