The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,40

if they captured us.” I leaned down and placed my palms on her knees. “We won’t fail.”

She clasped my wrists and lifted her chin up, her lips in a slight pucker. With a smile, I kissed her. I touched our foreheads. “I wish I had time to kiss you longer.”

“Nero, about last night—or earlier in the day or whatever—” she bit her lip as her big brown eyes caught mine and held. “That meant … more than I can put into words.”

“Then you don’t have to use words now. We have a lifetime for those words.” I rubbed our noses together, a gesture I was finding I enjoyed greatly. She scrunched up her face when I did it, and her eyes would sparkle. “You’re my mate Justine. My other half. Did you feel that?”

Her fingers brushed my cheek. “I felt it.”

“So now we finish this mission with no regrets.”

“None,” she whispered.

“What we did in these furs, what we are to each other, no one and nothing, can take from us.”

Her chin lifted, and a cool determination passed across her face. With a definitive nod, she said, “Damn straight.”

I squeezed her thighs and straightened. “Let’s go talk to Gram and find out where the fleck the Uldani are hiding this hub.”

She cracked her knuckles and climbed to her feet. “Yeah, I’m ready to shut some shit down.”

With a laugh, I grabbed her hand and led her out the door.

In the common room, Gram sat near a small fire ladling a steaming liquid into a few mugs. There weren’t as many Uldani around now, and I wondered if they were in their rooms with their families. I couldn’t be sure, but I guessed we’d slept all day and were approaching sundown.

With a smile, he gestured to a table with two benches on either side. Justine and I shared one, while Gram sat across from us. He gestured to the mugs. “There’s some steeped taber root with a few spices the females have concocted.”

Justine leaned over her mug and sniffed. She tapped her chin before saying, “Smells like a breakfast tea.” She blew on the surface as she eyed Gram over the rim. “Thanks for the room and the rest.”

“Of course.”

I didn’t really care about this drink or the sleeping accommodations. My brothers were outside, waiting for my word to invade, and I was ready to move this mission along. As much as I appreciated what Gram was doing for us, it wasn’t acing selflessly. This benefited him too. “So, where’s the hub?” I asked. “It used to be under the main building. We broke in and found the room, but it was empty, which made no sense. I could find the signal. It was coming from there.”

“Sure, it was coming from that location, but just not underground.”

I frowned at him as his hand slowly lifted until he pointed one finger straight up. “It’s there.”

I frowned “We looked on the ground—”

“No, not on the ground,” Gram corrected me. “Higher.”

Justine’s mug plunked on the ground as she let out a short gasp. “It’s in a pod.”

Gram grinned at her. “You’re right, human.”

“A pod?” I asked. “When did they move it?”

“About the same time you stole your cruiser back.”

I only just kept myself from reacting. I was getting tired of surprises. “How did you know about that?”

“I know most of what happens, including as soon as you opened those gates. I have eyes and ears everywhere. The current of discontent runs deep in this city. We don’t have a lot now, but I envision a day where we live aboveground without walls. I want to be able to protect ourselves without requiring someone like you or the Kulks to provide our defense. Or, if we do, it’ll be a contract, not servitude.”

“We were supposedly under contract too.” I growled.

Gram swallowed and his gaze shifted to the side and down. “Yes, but you were forced into it.”

For a moment, anger clouded my vision. Justine must have sensed the change in my mood because she leaned against me and slipped her fingers in mine. Aided by her calming presence, I found the strength to ask carefully, “What do you know about the virus?”

For the first time since we met, fear leeched into Gram’s features. “I have my suspicions, as I suspect you do. I know where to find answers, and I’ll get them for you after we are victorious.”

I wasn’t sure I believed he didn’t know, but I needed him as much as he needed me right