“She did.” The empress’s gaze turned on Shavri. “You did this?”
“You would believe a human over me? A deserter?”
The empress stood tall and proud. Relaxed. Veryn wished she had the same composure.
Maat’s smile turned cool and vicious. “Why would I not? Jin-Bennu is here by order of Exarch Tal-Amun, who received his directives from me,” Maat said. “I wished to know who threatened our way of life with antiquated ideals and a lust for blood. Of all our people, you, I would expect this from the least. You and I were once sisters.”
Shavri’s neutral mask broke, revealing the anger simmering in her gaze. She slapped Bennu’s blade away and squared her shoulders. “It is for the good of our people.”
“No, Shavri. Such a path will only make monsters of us. We are better than our forebears.”
Veryn sensed a sudden surge of white-hot fury, but it was the cold, hard resolve beneath that anger that chilled her to the bone. The zealous obsession to reach her goal no matter the cost, even that of her life.
Veryn’s gaze snapped to Shavri’s hand, finally seeing a familiar ring.
“Bennu!” She has another detonator!
In the same instant the words formed in her mind, Bennu was already moving. His blade sliced clean through Shavri’s hand, but it was the empress who slid a dagger into the exarch’s heart. Maat caught Shavri in her arms and gently lowered the dying woman to the floor, her face a mask of pain.
Bennu stepped back, bloodied khopesh held down at his side.
“I go to our gods with honor knowing I tried to save our people,” Shavri said, gasping for breath.
“No, my friend, you would have doomed us. The gods will not honor you, but I pray they will show you mercy in the end.”
It was over.
Veryn met Bennu’s gaze across the room, the full realization of what they’d done finally slamming down on her. The stunned silence only lasted a moment, far too brief, and then the room erupted into chaos as the UNE and Lexar forces finally arrived to take over.
Epilogue
A windy day whipped purple blossoms in the fragrant breeze of the palace gardens where Veryn spent several hours since sun-up reading Ibi-Ludim’s dry report, lab results, and his mixed opinions on implementing genetic mutagens with their chemical warfare.
He approved. He also hated it. According to Dusty, the Lexarian scholar had spent many long conversations with him debating the morality of genetically neutering an entire race and what it would mean for the Zaecady in the long run should they choose to accept a ceasefire.
Could Veryn reverse the process if necessary? She did not know.
But it touched her just the same that the lab-coat-wearing barbarian was concerned with the long-term effects and potential genocide of a whole race.
The rest of her day passed in a blur of meetings with both military and science experts over teleconference. The humans were ready to take her research and apply it to all future manufacture of the toxin. The Lexar, while less than enthused, accepted Ibi-Ludim’s endorsement. It should have been draining. Instead, she found it almost exhilarating. Dealing with their parliament hadn’t been the nightmare she expected.
Once free from her duties for the day, she took to wandering the palace halls. The place felt empty, too big for a single woman to live alone, and she wondered how Catherine withstood it. Veryn could remember running through the same halls as a child. Back then, there had been laughter, and she’d never seen anything amiss with the place. Each new day had been an opportunity to explore.
Perhaps one day a child would run through the halls again.
Her musings led her to a favored balcony, one that overlooked the twisting river and green fields to the west. The slow descent of the sun painted the sky in brilliant shades of tangerine and fuchsia, almost as pretty as the sunsets on Aaru.
The wedding may as well have been a lifetime ago so much had happened since. Sometimes, she woke up at night, fearing it had all been a dream. Then she’d raise a hand to her short hair and remember every minute spent in Bennu’s arms with perfect detail.
“It looks good on you,” Thalia said, joining her. “You look more like yourself now as well, without the continued use of gene therapy.”
“I suppose I do.” Veryn smiled faintly. She’d come close to permanent DNA changes, her first two days after the events at the embassy spent in a medical suite reversing the changes to her cellular structure.
Still, some of the cat remained, and she wasn’t unhappy with that.
“You have that haunted look in your eyes again. Thinking about what happened?” Thalia asked.
“Yes. The attack caused some rifts to deepen—on both sides, I wager.”
“Perhaps so, but our alliance is strong. Empress Tal-Jin Maat is thankful to you, Veryn.”
“I know, but it’s not over. Khepri was never found, nor was Vashta’s ship.” Veryn managed a faint smile. “Exarch Tal-Amun assured me they have every ship available looking for them, and since Massui turned himself in and is being cooperative, he has high hopes for running the Maa Kheru down within the next moon cycle.”
“You don’t share that hope?”
“I think Khepri is cunning. He won’t stay on a ship so easily identifiable. He’ll take what he needs and find another.”
“Perhaps, but that is not a worry for you at the moment. You need to focus on the upcoming meeting with the local magistrates.”
“I will, but not tonight.”
“But—”
Veryn held up a hand, voice soft. “Not tonight, Thalia. Please.”
“As you wish. I’ll leave you now.”
“Thank you.”
Once the woman was gone, Veryn’s shoulders fell, and she turned back to the vista she’d been half admiring, wanting nothing more than to forget about responsibilities for one evening. She closed her eyes, but Bennu was there, always on her mind.
Days had lapsed since their last brief conversation, weeks longer since she last saw him in the flesh. No time had been given to them for goodbyes after the events on Paradiso. As the most senior Alpha there, he had taken over while she had been rushed away under heavy security.
A soft chime indicated an incoming communication. She sighed, tempted to ignore it, but the caller persisted. She jammed a finger against the bracelet in acceptance.
“Yes? Who is it?”
“You are a difficult woman to get a hold of, kitten.”
Her eyes snapped open, and she hurriedly brought up the visual display. Bennu’s face hovered above her wrist.
“Bennu.”
“Not Master?” He smiled.
“I believe I officially outrank you again. Maybe you should be calling me Mistress.”
His soft, warm chuckle raised gooseflesh over her arms, and her heart lurched. God, she missed him. The pain twisted at her, leaving a hollow ache that nothing could fill but him.
“I miss you,” she blurted.
“And I you.”
“Amun said he offered you Shavri’s ship. That must be enough to keep you busy a long time. Congratulations, Exarch.”
“It is. The entire crew must be vetted again, to weed out any of her sympathizers, but I am up to the task.”
“I know you are. I just wish…”
“Wish what?”
“I wish you were here. Or I was there. I wish so much distance didn’t separate us.”
“Then perhaps you should turn around.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Exactly as I say, Veryn. Turn around. I want to see the sunset framing you from behind.”
She twisted around so sharply she nearly tripped, pulse racing and breath caught in her chest. There, only a few meters away, Bennu stood still as a statue in the corridor. Veryn didn’t even realize she was running until he caught her in his arms.
“You’re here. How? When?” she asked between desperate kisses.
“I am. By ship. And now.”
She
punched him in the shoulder, receiving a wide, smug grin. She missed that look. “Smartass. But how’d you get in without anyone informing me?”
“I have my ways. Trust that no one was harmed, and no one neglected their duties.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you’re here.”
“As am I.”
He kissed her again, long and deep and slow. The kind of kiss that made her toes curl and her knees weak. Without speaking a word, Bennu strode the halls as if he knew them, carrying her directly to her private suite of chambers. Veryn leaned out of his hold just long enough to slap her palm against the bioscanner, and then she claimed his mouth again, starving for the taste of him.
“Patience, kitten. We have days ahead of us. For now, I yearn to speak with you.”
Veryn’s heart fought to leap from her chest, hammering her ribs with enough bass she imagined Bennu could hear it.
Had he come to end it between them, or had….
We have days ahead of us.
Confidence swept the anxiety away. She tilted her face up to him and smiled. “All right. Let’s talk.”
Once he set her on her feet, she guided him from the corridor and into the adjacent parlor. The interior had been designed to entertain guests of his vast height and intimidating weight, the decor ranging from human to Lexar size.
A light push of her hands to his muscled abdomen had the desired effect of knocking Bennu into an oversized armchair. Shamelessly, she crawled into his lap and sank into the hard planes of his chest. He smelled like spice and earthy wood. She breathed in his scent, filled with fleeting amusement that her acute feline sense of smell lingered.
How didn’t I smell him in the corridor?
Too distracted. Too glad to speak with him again.
Too worried about Catherine.
“How are things really going on the Valiant?”
“Strained. Shavri had a loyal crew, and while not all were aware of her schemes, they all admired and honored her. Many do not believe she was involved.”
“Even when it was all over the galactic news?”
There had been no stopping it, not when so many cameras captured the whole thing as it happened. She’d been relieved and pleased when parliament supported her talks with Empress Tal-Jin Maat, allowing them to come to an agreement to continue working together in the pursuit of Khepri.
“Even so. Do not worry. Soon, my ship will be free of any lingering influence.”
“Your ship. How does it finally feel?”
“It feels... good. Even knowing Amun wanted me to take this step, I never quite felt worthy of the honor. He has been a prime example of everything an exarch should be.”
“You do him proud. You make me proud.”
He raised her wrist to his lips and kissed the pulse point. “You honor me.”
“Is that all?”
He cocked one brow and stared down at her. “You wish to know if my feelings have changed now that we have spent time apart?”
She resisted the urge to fidget and met his gaze head-on. “Yes. Was what we shared a product of circumstance?”
“I claimed you.”
“You did, but... I don’t sense it from you right now. So I ask again, was that all for show or is there more? Where do we go from here?”
“I did not feel the Mating Frenzy for you until that day I returned to our stateroom on the Maa Kheru,” he admitted. “For a time, I feared perhaps it was... the gene manipulation.”
His words stole control of her lungs. “Was it?”
Strong fingers touched her chin and raised her face to his. “No, Veryn. It was not the genes. I did experience the Frenzy for you all along.”
“But you never said—”
“I lied to myself. I felt it for you in the training chamber. I felt it for you in the gymnasium. Once I ceased to repress my need for you, I knew I could never live without you.”
Bennu’s metal walls dropped, and in that moment, she experienced the full brunt of his need for her, the naked yearning burning with an intensity that scorched her to her soul. It shook her thoroughly, almost bringing tears to her eyes.
How did any Lexar withstand that?
How had Amun controlled himself with such restraint whenever Nia entered a room?
“All my life, I have been told humans are inferior to our kind. Time and time again, you proved to me what I already knew in my heart. Your people are more than worthy. Now, I ask you to honor me, Veryn, by agreeing to become mine in the eyes of our gods and people.”
Of all the things she expected from Bennu when she turned to find him in her balcony doorway, a proposal was the least of them.
“I—”
Her cuff bracelet chirped, a series of flashing green and orange lights blinking in the Morse-code pattern of a medical emergency alert.
“It’s a message from Catherine’s doctors.” She sat up, overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. Her trembling fingers hovered over the blinking indicator.
“Whatever the outcome, Veryn, we will find a way.”
Strengthened by his encouragement, she opened the holographic message and read. The iron band of anxiety binding her chest eased, allowing her to finally breathe.
Stabilized.
“She’s going to be okay. Her neurosurgeon says the procedure was an absolute success, and she’s already awake.”
“Then you will not need to take the throne.”
“Not today at least.” She leaned into him, feeling a hundred times lighter. “She’ll need some help I think for a few weeks, but then, hopefully with her blessing, I’d like to return to my work. Life as a researcher grew on me, and I can’t imagine a future as a politician only.”
Bennu nodded slowly. Hints of disappointment cracked through the stoic facade. “You wish to return to the Exemplar.”
“No.” At his surprised eyebrow raise, Veryn finally allowed a smile to curve her lips. “I wish to join the Valiant, if you’ll have me.”
“But Dusty and Nia—”
“Can work with me via holoprojector. We can sync lab equipment between two technologically advanced Lexar ships in a way I’d never be able to accomplish from a UNE vessel.”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
Shifting onto her knees on his lap, Veryn leaned up to cup his face between her hands. “Isn’t that what a future queen is meant to do for her king?”
Are you eager for more Nova Force? Hit us up with your thoughts in a review, and check out our newsletter where we plan to offer a free short story covering Dusty and Ibi-Ludim’s secret. The story doesn’t have to end here. Who would you like to see in a romance next?
Other Books by Vivienne
If you loved the hell out of this and want to read another romance with fantasy elements, check Domino’s series, Daughter of Fortune.
For fantasy romance with mermaids and the like, read Kingdom in the Sea.
Sci-Fi Romance
Super Sexy Aliens, Cyborgs, Psychics.
Reverse Harem Romance
Three Greek gods, one reincarnated modern goddess
Divine Ambrosia
Divine Rival
Paranormal University
College has never been this exciting. Or hot.
The Hidden Court
The Scary Godmother
Birds of a Feather
* * *
Dragons
Loved by the Dragon
Smitten: Dawn of the Dragons #2
Crush on a Dragon: Dawn of the Dragons #3
God of Mischief: Dawn of the Dragons #4
Military Shifters
Hot and Wild military alphas
The Right to Bear Arms (Book #1)
Let Us Prey (Book #2)
The Purr-fect Soldier (Book #3)
Old Dog New Tricks (Book #4)
Texas Pride (Book #5)
A Man of Many Talons
Impractical Magic
Impractical Magic
Better Than Hex (Impr
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Blood Heiress
Blood Kissed
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Werewolves of San Antonio
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Training the Alpha
Mythological Creatures
Making Waves
Epic Fantasy by Dominique Kristine
Shadows for a Princess
* * *
A princess who would rather die than wed. A warrior priest who would rather kill than see her harmed. A kingdom of shadows and treachery that threatens them both...
At the age of twenty-eight, Princess Ysolde Westbrook is a spinster duchess, the adopted daughter of Hindera's eccentric monarch. Commoners love their benevolent leader, but the kingdom's gentry take offense to the outsider among them. Amid noble plots and demands for her to marry a local aristocrat, an assassination attempt places her life in peril--if she will not have one of them for a husband, they would sooner see her dead.
Finding allies in strangers with powerful gifts and even darker secrets, Ysolde must learn what it means to lead and find her own inner strengths. Whether or not she survives the tangled web of treason will determine the fate of her duchy, the royal family, and the kingdom she loves.
About the Author
Vivienne Savage is the pen name of two best friends who write together. One works as a nurse in a rural healthcare home in Texas and the other is a U.S. Navy veteran. Both are mothers to two darling boys and two amazing girls.
All of their work varies in steam level, so pop by the VS website for details on which series is right for you!
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