by Jade Waltz
“We have been careful about not overwhelming Selena. At times, it has been difficult, but the nearer we are, the more our need lessens,” V’dim replied, meeting my gaze.
I grabbed an appendage from both princes and pulled them to my chest, hugging them. Instantly, they both wrapped gently around my wrists.
“You shouldn’t torture yourselves.” I gave each of them a squeeze. “From what Xylo told me, I know how hard it must be on you both—especially when you have to manage your crew.”
I leaned into Odelm’s side as Xylo pulled up my feet and slowly started to massage them. Turning toward Mwe, I asked, “What does my connection with Zirene mean for him?”
He glanced at the two Aldawi princes. “It all depends on who wants to be the next Sovereign.”
“Prince Royak will be the next ruler,” Zirene said regally.
“Are you sure?”
“I have no desire for it,” he growled as his tail whooshed back and forth. “And Izyana would be a fool if he tried challenging for it.”
“Why? Who is Izyana?” I asked, confused.
“Our brother,” Royak replied, crossing his arms as he glanced at me. “He is full-blood, and it would be in his right to do so if he wanted.”
“He can try. We both know he would rather stay within his star system’s boundaries and do as little as possible,” Zirene grunted.
“How many more siblings do you have?” I scowled.
The lack of knowledge they had given me about their family was annoying. I knew Aldawi normally averaged three to five cubs, but rare occurrences of fewer or up to seven were possible. It didn’t occur to me that there were more siblings somewhere in the CEG.
“There were five of us born—Royak, me, Izyana, Vagren, and Masmi. The Fates did a disservice by making Vagren and Pavyrn the only half-blood,” Zirene hissed. “They both should have been full-blood, for Izyana is a worthless coward.”
“If what Prince Zirene said is true, then you should have nothing to worry about,” Mwe sighed, surveying the occupants in the room. “That is, if the Quaww decide to leave Selena and her cubs alone.”
“What are you implying?” Zirene growled. “Are you saying Selena won’t be safe in the Aldawi territory? On her moon?”
“It is not my place to say, but Selena is the center of many conversations on the space station.” His eyes locked onto mine. “It would be safer for you if you stayed with those whose job it is to protect you. The Quaww are highly interested in you, but they are smart enough not to try something that would easily be traced back to them. After their display in the Assembly, it would be foolish to do so.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I would not like to see the CEG divide and fall as a result of war over who can keep a woman in their territory.” He sighed and walked to their glass wall, flexing his wings as he stared into the darkness of space. “The Quaww are up to something. I want to make sure you don’t become…”
“Fodder.”
“Let the Quaww try something,” Royak taunted. “The Aldawi will be prepared.”
“And when they do, we would be the victors,” Zirene purred.
Silence fell in the room.
I grabbed my nestmate’s bond threads. They had delayed telling me what happened to me, and I needed to know why I woke up in Kaede’s bed without clothes.
“What happened to me last night?”
“You went out with Kaede’s sisters while we watched the cubs,” Z’fir answered, his vine twitching in my hands.
“You all know that is not what I’m asking about. Stop hiding it from me.”
“Selena, now may not be the best time to ask this,” Xylo whispered as one of his vines wrapped around my torso.
“Selena,” Mwe called gently, grabbing my attention. “Your nestmates are hesitant to respond to you because they don’t know what happened to you last night. They knew you would be returning late, so they all retired for the night, knowing you should be safe with your company.” He walked over and stopped in front of me.
“In your celebratory state, someone drugged you while the women with you had their guard down, believing their reputation would prevent anyone from trying something.” He bent down to his knees, his wings shifting behind him as a sad expression crossed his face. “While drugged, you attempted to convince the Quaww male you call ‘Q’ to… mate with you. Kaede realized his error in judgment in taking the night off and noticed you weren’t acting normal. When he gathered you, he analyzed your blood, confirming you were drugged and needed aid.”
“I refused to take you the space station’s infirmary, even though that was the nearest location for you to receive the assistance needed. I didn’t know the medical team there and wasn’t going to trust their aid to be completely for your benefit or if they were qualified to assist you,” Kaede barked from his new position leaning against the far wall, with arms crossed. “The nearest safe location was the apartments my sisters and I share. I rejected porting with you in such a state to your bedroom. Your nestmates didn’t answer their pages, and you were becoming more—”
“Needy,” Mwe injected, squeezing my hands and refusing to let me pull them away as his magenta eyes studied me. “Selena, you tried to seduce Kaede into mating with you. Even after you bit him, he refused and locked himself in his bathroom until you were asleep, and he was settled. You removed your clothing before… passing out.”
Everyone watched me as I processed everything they said.
I was somehow drugged and tried to mate with Q on the dance floor for the whole club to see. Why didn’t anyone stop me? Didn’t Q have a thing with B?
Kaede stopped me, and in response, I bit him as I tried to seduce him—and take his will away from him.
Just like my old masters…
Was I now an attempted rapist?
Odelm scooped me off the couch, placing me on his lap. His tentacles wrapped tightly around me as he held me, pulling me close to his chest.
“No, Selena! You aren’t,” Xylo shouted.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Odelm murmured.
“She isn’t what?” Kaede asked.
Odelm placed his hand on my head, placing it against his chest as I watched Kaede walk to my couch and pause in front of it. His head moved as he scanned me in silence.
Was he angry at me? Would he ask to be reassigned?
Was he upset I was wearing his clothes after everything I did?
Did he now hate me?
I closed my eyes, unable to look at him; I felt too ashamed at how I acted.
Tears fell, and I growled in anger.
Why couldn’t anything go right? Was this my payment for the Fates and the Stars saving me that one destined night? Would I have to continue to fight with everyone?
“She isn’t what?” Kaede repeated, annoyance filled his voice.
“Like my old masters,” I said, opening my eyes as I pulled my head from Odelm’s chest. “I didn’t mean to do what I did.” I glanced at his sisters standing behind him for a moment before meeting his gaze. “But you were right. You are the best guard I will probably ever have. I am sorry…” I sighed. “I hope you will forgive me—”
“There isn’t anything to forgive,” Kaede scoffed.
In an instant, he was gone.
“We will return to our apartments, Prince Zirene. And continue… supervising from there if that is okay with you, Sire,” B asked.
“Permission granted,” Zirene said, nodding to them.
They saluted and left, not looking at or saying anything to me. Were they upset at themselves for failing? Or at me, for trying to seduce both Q and Kaede?
“Are things always this exciting around here?” Mwe murmured.
“I could use less excitement. You don’t have another trial or something I need to attend—unprepared—do you?” I asked.
“No, but I do want to know something.”
“What else is there to know?” I asked, drying my eyes.
Mwe looked down at all of my nestmates' appendages wrapped around my limbs. Instead of feeling restricted, it was comforting as I leaned back against Odelm’s chest.
“I sensed the presence who spoke to you.” He winced. “Could you tell me what it said? I know its signature, so if they reach out again while you are on the space station, I should be able to intervene.”
“I will be able to as well,” Oeta voiced. “That is, if I am approved to work with your team.”
“Her credentials are outstanding. The best in the batch we received,” Xylo said.
“And the others?”
“There are a few that stood out from the others.”
“Any Quaww?” Z’fir asked.
“One. A stubborn and arrogant male but intelligent with the credentials to back him up.”
“Contact whoever you believe is worthy and won’t cause any problems. I trust your judgment.”
“If you are still interested, Lady Oeta, we would love to hire you to be a part of Selena’s team,” Xylo announced.
“Excellent,” she smiled as her fuchsia glow brightened. “I will prepare my things once we are done here.” Her wings fluttered. “I believe my father asked about the presence, which I am also interested in. We have never felt such a strong thread before.”
I sighed and looked down at my hands as I gently grabbed the princes' appendages, tracing their unique skin with my thumb.
I told them everything—what happened from the moment the presence took over to when Zirene saved me, not leaving out at any detail. They needed to know what he had said because I feared he would come for me again… or worse, invade while looking for his lost brother.
I could feel both Odelm and V’dim trying to calm me and sent them my appreciation.
“And then?” Royak asked.
“I don’t know how to explain it other than I felt like I was choking.” I looked up at Zirene, meeting his amethyst eyes. “Can you die while you are dreamscaping?”
Zirene glanced at his brother.
“Until today, I would have said no, but you have a lot of unknowns to consider,” Royak replied.
“Dreamscapes should have no factor in reality, but what I saw and felt today went against those rules.” Zirene sighed as he met my gaze once more. “Selena, I don’t know how to explain this, but you almost died.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Xylo
Xylo knew there was something wrong with Selena when he first felt the extreme heaviness that fell on him. His vines went wild as his bond thread tugged on him, forcing him to follow it.
Reflecting on that moment, Oeta must have felt a similar disturbance as he did, for she stared in the same direction as Selena as soon as it started—occasionally giving him curious glances.
Mwe and Oeta were two beings he didn’t want to anger. They were rumored to be more powerful than the Circuli Queens—fully capable of scrambling connections and mind-wiping those who needed. Not that Xylo ever witnessed such things. Those were the things they whispered in the shadows of the space station.
Mwe was the sole being capable of gathering information from a Yaarkin via interrogations whenever they were unlucky enough to get caught instead of killed. Most warriors killed them on sight, for the Yaarkins killed those who weren’t worthy and enslaved those who had an attribute they were looking for.
Earth was their last invasion, with humans being their latest test subjects.
How did they get so deep into the Euph Galaxy without getting noticed? And why was Earth their goal?
“Once they discovered humans on unregulated ships, they captured and studied them. By using the ship's logs, they learned of Earth’s location, and the rest is history,” Mwe said, his mental voice like a gentle whisper caressing his shields.
Xylo jerked, sitting straight up on the couch, his teal eyes meeting Mwe’s magenta.
“Is something the matter, brother?” Odelm asked, voice slightly alarmed.
Xylo waved him off, not wanting to waken the drowsy Selena, who had dozed off.
“Are you saying there may be others like Selena somewhere in the galaxy—the universe? Other humans altered so much, they hardly have their original base forms?”
Mwe sighed and surveyed the remaining occupants of the room.
Oeta had left to gather the cubs from Pavryn and Vikvez. Zirene was nursing an alcoholic beverage, keeping his focus on Selena’s sleeping form, the only movement from his agitated tail. Royak had been conversing with Mwe before he interrupted Xylo’s thoughts. The princes were silent, observing Selena as she relaxed between them, in a deep mental conversation with each other.
Now the room’s focus was on him.
“That is to be determined,” Mwe replied. “We do know that, for some reason, she is being targeted by an outside presence unlike anything I have ever felt before.” He studied Selena’s sleeping form. “Tell me. You both are bonded to her…” He tilted his head toward Zirene. “You three are permanently bonded with her, with both princes working toward that goal.” He pursed his lips and looked up, his lavender wings shuffling behind him. “Has anything similar to today happen before?”
“Oh, Stars…” Xylo murmured, his vines shivering as realization dawned on him. He looked down at Selena’s sleeping form curled up on Odelm’s lap.
“Xylo?” his nestbrother asked, concerned.
“Once,” he whispered. “It happened once—on the morning after Selena officially claimed me—the day Selena also established a court bond with you.” He glanced up at his nestbrother. “I felt a presence… something unfamiliar caressing my mental shields… and woke up with a great need to defend her from danger. There was nothing in our room, and she didn’t mention anything happening to her. I didn’t want to scare her and brushed it off as a bad dream or my body still adjusting to Selena’s claim. If I had known it wasn’t my imagination, I would have made a bigger deal about it.”
“How long ago was this?” Zirene growled.
Xylo paused and tried to calculate the days in his head.
“Twenty-three days… It was twenty-three days ago when Selena honored me with a second chance,” Odelm announced softly, looking down at Selena lovingly as he carefully brushed her hair with his agile fingers.
“If what you felt was someone reaching for her, we need to teach her how to send for help and defend herself from others. We don’t know what they want, who they are, or why they want her,” Mwe said grimly.
“Why not teach her before we leave?” Xylo asked. “We leave tomorrow night to arrive during daybreak on Destima. She said you invited us over for dinner, so why not do it then?”
Mwe closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, his magenta glow dimmed.
“Do you think it would work?” V’dim asked.
“It has to. She is connected to all of us. Who knows what will happen if they have their way?” Z’fir replied.
“But haven’t your mental shields improved since joining a court bond with her? Ours seem to be continuously growing,” Odelm said.
“Yes, they have.”
“We have noticed it has been easier to mute our crew’s chatter.”
“Then what is the problem?” Royak asked, confused.
“The problem is Selena’s natural ability is shielding. If someone was powerful enough to crack into her and Zirene’s chamber uninvited, then we need to help train her how to defend against any more attacks—and how to reach out to others.” Mwe opened his eyes and peered at Zirene. “And you need to start joining her in the dreamscape. Keeping yourself separate from her will only harm you both over time.”
“Selena and I have already discussed it,” Zirene growled, narrowing his amethyst eyes. “We will work on it once she is settled on Destima—where she belongs.”
“If Selena is being targeted on the space station, why haven’t you left already?” Mwe asked. “It would have reduced my time to try to get to know her better, but I would’ve understood the reason.”
“I can answer. These fools thought they could take her away from me through political means. Unbeknownst to them, she fully defended herself with no aid from those who stood with her on the floor.” He chuckled and swirled the Xowyn in his glass. “They drugged her and tried to have her create a scene, but it was Kaede’s quick thinking that solved that dilemma. If we changed our plans, it wouldn’t solve anything but would make us look like we are cowards.” Zirene raised his glass in the air and purred.
Xylo studied the part of the ceiling Zirene was focused on and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Was he slowly losing his sanity?
“No. We will let them try to target Selena once more. While they are scrambling to come up with their third attempt, my agents will find them.” Zirene toasted Mwe, took a sip, and sighed. “You see, you may be able to hear anyone on this space station, but my agents are hunting. They feel it’s an insult to their capabilities that Selena was drugged right in front of them on their watch, so now, they are out for revenge and—”
“To prove themselves,” Xylo murmured.
“Exactly. They don’t know what is coming for them.”
“And am I supposed to turn a blind eye—and a blank mind—to all of this?” Mwe demanded.
“They are not breaking any laws. We are within our rights to establish preventative measures to protect my citizens.”
“Our citizens,” Royak corrected as he held his hand up. “I know you meant nothing by it, brother. Selena is mine as much as yours by CEG laws.”
This news stunned Xylo. The Aldawi princes were taunting anyone remaining on the station to act and to do it quickly, for no one knew when Selena would be in neutral space again once she landed on Destima. It was both brilliant and dangerous. Who knew what extent they would go to to get their hands on her? Or worse—make sure she did something that would imprison her? Then all they would need to do was knock her unconscious for safety measures and do whatever they pleased with her.
Was the risk worth it?
Xylo hoped so. Selena had been controlled all her life and should be free from fear. It was already bad enough there was an invisible threat they didn’t know and could do nothing about. Yet if they didn’t try this trap, Selena would have to continue to look over her shoulder and wonder if others would be after her and the cubs.
