Zola Flash (The Zola Flash Series Book 1) (15 page)

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.

“My king, did I just see this young lady thrown over your shoulder?” he asks Renz.

“Sir, she is—”

“Renz, I know exactly who she is. I know her father’s family quite well, and the prophecy of her, also.”

“Can you help me?” I ask. “I don’t want to marry him!”

Renz places a hand over my mouth. The priest squints at Renz before walking away, without responding to my question. Once the priest is out of sight, Renz throws me back over his shoulder and continues down the hall.

When he stops us again, it’s in a bedroom with a chandelier made of ice crystals. Everything in the room is green, a color that symbolizes trouble to me.

Renz sets me on the bed. He goes over to a closet and flips through whatever’s in there. He comes back to me and throws a shirt in my face before sitting in an emerald chair near the bed. “That belongs to my sister. It might be a little big, but I prefer you in her things, rather than another man’s.”

Sister? “I’m perfectly fine in Jacob’s shirt.”

“You know what? I am tired of your rebelliousness. You are so lucky I need you. If you were anybody else, I would have you, and that
thing
in the dungeon, killed!”

“I would much rather be dead than spend even a nanosecond married to you! And that
thing
in the dungeon is your brother. How can you be so heartless?”

“Simple. It’s in my blood.” He pauses. “Would mating with me be that bad?”

“Yes!”

“What about your precious Pin?”

Mating with Pin would be more painful than anything I’ve ever felt. He doesn’t love me like I do him. “Yes.”

“Then, you won’t mind if I get rid of him!”

Huh?

Renz turns from me and walks hastily out of the room.

He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. They’re family. What happened to the loyalty my grandfather spoke of?

I throw myself off the bed and race out of the room, towards the dungeon. There are no guards on sentry, so I go inside, not caring what may lay around the corner. Not even caring what happens to me.

My heart pounds as I move swiftly down the narrow way to Pin’s cell. Terrorizing cries of pain and torture rings in my ears along the way, and what feels like an electrical shock brings me up short.

Pushing through the eerie sensation, I run straight to the voices. Reaching the cell, I see Renz stabbing Pin in the stomach with a sword.

Blood flows down Pin’s leg into an ever-widening puddle surrounding both of them.

No.

No.

No!

The image of my handsome prince dying by the hands of his brother is too much.

I can’t watch this.

“Princess! I know you’re out there! I can smell your sweet, sweet skin!” Renz yells raggedly to the door.

I don’t respond.

“Want to see your lover before I finish him off?”

I still don’t respond. A moment passes, and I hear the sword clang to the floor.

Footsteps sound near the opening, and I cautiously move behind the door, nibbling on my lips as my body trembles.

“Oh, Princess, you fear me for the wrong reason.”

“I do not fear you.”

“Then, come out!”

Pushing myself from behind the door, I approach Renz, my gaze fixing on what must be Pin’s blood on his hand. I glance away, trying to steady my breathing. 

“It’s just a little blood.” He laughs and darts from the cell.

“Damn you!” I run farther into the cell and bend over Pin, as I run my palm up his cheeks.

He opens his eyes and attempts to raise his hand. I lay my head against his chest, not caring that I’m getting blood in my hair. He wraps his arms heavily around my waist, and we lay there quietly.

All my fears and longings that have been haunting me since I met Pin are becoming a reality. This is all my fault. If I’d just listened to him, instead of butting heads every time he tried to teach me something, he wouldn’t be lying here almost dead. Becoming queen of Victian would have solved all our problems. I wouldn’t have to feel like my chest has been cut open and someone is slowly squeezing the life out of my heart. Pin wouldn’t be dying.

“What . . . are you . . . doing here?” Pin asks. “You shouldn’t . . . be here. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“See you like what? All I see is the male I love, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“Leave.”

“No.”

“I’m . . . dying, Zola.”

He called me Zola. “No.”

“Since you’re being stubborn …” He closes his eyes for a minute before continuing, “Do something for me?”

“Anything.”