Collapsed World [MxM, Non-Con, Mpreg]

Part 35 [Lykaios]

Lykaios listened to the currents of quiet rebellion ripple through Iris' mind with a faint smile. Iris was different, and yet the same as many of the Avaens that had passed through before him. He would resist, tell himself all sorts of lies, but finally give in out of weakness or hunger. It was always the same on every planet they went to and it bored Lykaios to no end. Thinking of the note in his pocket, and the information Tajadin had passed on before, Lykaios decided to try something different. Something much more interesting and challenging, yet perhaps also more cruel.

"Julius, aka Julez to his friends, former lieutenant of the Avaen royal guard. Sensual and strong sapphire eyes and silverish hair...." Lykaios described the rebel leader for Iris, watching him and listening to the emotions rippling in Iris' emotional lake.

"Yes, I know who wore the companion mark to the one I removed from your ankle. You'll be happy to hear that he is alive, the spirited leader of the rebels. Very like how'd expect your partner to be. Perhaps you are wondering how I know this? It is simple. Because I have a knife at his throat that he can't see, and a bomb under his feet that he can't imagine." Lykaios tucked back an errant hair from Iris' face before taking a grape from the tray of fruit.

"So let's play a game, you and I. Up the stakes a bit. Perhaps you have been thinking that your life is over, that you do not care what happens to yourself, that Julius is safe so all is well. That is not so, and now is your chance to pay Julius back for allowing your docility and weakness all this time. So long as you show the gumption to live, eat, drink, the little necessities, I will stay the blade at his throat. In other words, your will to live determines whether or not he lives. He does not know you still breathe, but you can make sure that he does." Lykaios bit into the grape, thinking as the juice moistened his lips and he licked it away.

"Let's make it even more interesting, for beings, regardless of their species, cling to hope with an asinine fervor." Lykaios pushed Iris gently onto his back, kneeling over him and stroking his cheek softly, their faces close enough that Iris could hear even as Lykaios whispered.

"If you can figure out why you, why I chose you and the others here, what makes you so special to me, I will drop a hint to your former lover that you live. If you can find out my secret and why I am here, on your planet, I will set you free." Lykaios let his fingers trail over Iris' bottom lip before he kissed it softly.

"And if you can do all of that without falling in love with me, I will give you and Julius the power to get ride of all the Corvines on your planet. But, if you fall for me, or find that your former mate is not so loyal as you think, you will stay with me and protect me from him."

Lykaios was not unaware of the unrest growing among the Corvines and their desire to desert this planet in hopes of finding a more hospitable one. But it would still be awhile before the council sanctioned a move, and a longer time before another planet was found to conquer. They had investigated or conquered all the ones close by and the ones further out required more resources to get to. Iris had enough time to figure out everything he needed to know if he put some effort into it. Of course, Lykaios, for all his faith in the Avaen, did not think Iris would ever get to the bottom of it. Iris, like every other Avaen, would likely go through all the typical and usual reasons and motivation, never guessing at what Lykaios was really after or what it had to do with the Avaens he collected. Lykaios also doubted anyone expected him to spread Azure on yet another planet, at the risk of killing many of his own race. No one knew that his mother still lived, that he had been secretly stashing her on his ship and carting her planet to planet in hopes of finding what he needed for a cure.

The Avaens could not imagine a Corvine with such filial piety. Least of all would they imagine Lykaios, the strongest and most cruel of them. Nor would they imagine the secret he held. It was his secret alone, the others like him having been killed or ignorant to their own ability. But though Lykaios hid it, he knew what he was, why he was special and why the Azure virus had passed him by. But he could not duplicate the rare gene, needed a pure source that did not need to be genetically inherited. Taj was immune because Lykaios was, but Tajma was not. If Azure were to be let loose upon Altair many Avaens would die as well, but Lykaios was certain that many less than had died among the Corvines.

Lykaios pulled back from Iris, waiting for his answer to the proposal. "I have no reason to lie to you, and even if I did, the risk of not believing me far outweighs that of agreeing. If you love your former mate as you claim to, that is. I expect he will find his way here sooner or later, and I find he causes more problems for my enemies than me, so I have no desire to kill him. But I will, if that is what it takes to make you stronger."