Endosymbiosis

42. Thirst

Part 5
Oxytocin

Third circle of the Empire
Tower of Crimes

We returned to Venerna the following night, while the newly conquered pione soldiers stayed in the Venom District, to conquer it in a chain reaction.

I hid in the columbas' chamber, fleeing from Kadi and the leaders of the revolution - those who might actually be responsible for my mother's death... But I couldn't hide forever.

That night, as I was getting ready for bed, Korrok entered the room.

I jumped back and huddled against one of the rock walls. How would I crush his head against the black spikes if he attacked me? The sheer terror on my face made him laugh.

"I don't think I'd be dressed up just to kill you in the middle of the night..." Korrok scoffed, and then I realized he really did look fancy, wearing some sort of vorrampe suit.

"This is the least I would deserve, don't you think? An appropriate attire." His husky laugh grazed my ears. "What is the occasion then?"

"To celebrate the taking of the Poison District."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you think it's too soon for that?"

"The Aulics tend to fight back faster when they think they have a chance of recovering the planet." He explained. "Their silence is our victory."

"And are you inviting me?" Korrok confirmed, as I overflowed with suspicion: "Why didn't you ask Plumala to come and call me?"

"Because the place where we're going isn't for tiny doves."

"And is it for tiny humans?"

"You've already shown us that you're not just that." I opened my mouth, but he continued: "And before you ask, Phaga didn't want to come call you because he 'doesn't want to see you with beds around', whatever he means by that." I blushed and immediately changed the subject:

"Why do you call him Phaga, anyway?"

"For the same reason you call him Kadi."

"Because the names we give are parts of ourselves that we leave with others to carry?"

"No. Because it pisses him off." I rolled my eyes. "We'll be in the parking lot in thirty minutes."

And then he left without tearing my throat.

• • • ֍ • • •

The echo of my heels against the stone floor announced my arrival in the parking lot. Kadi was waiting for me outside the ship, while everyone else was already inside. He was wearing a minimalist black suit that fit his body to perfection, and just as I savored it, he explored me up and down with his eyes.

I was covered in a satin dress that clung to the curves of my body, dyed red so no one would ever see my blood if it was spilled. The piece had a "V" neckline that went up in two thin shoulder straps. And from them hung chains of stones that fell to my bare back and jangled with every step I took, like the rattle of a rattlesnake.

That dress turned me into the elegant and dangerous creature I needed to be. Someone who could survive anything.

Upon noticing my presence, Kadi broke into a feline smile.

"You look like you're ready to kill a man."

I smiled. So he had noticed.

"And you look like a great victim."