to have it.” Gwarnon’s fair brows lowered as he glared at her. “Without the implant, you have no hope of surviving the Baladium.”
She stood and yelled, “No implants!” a little taken aback by how tall the men were as they towered over her.
The thought of having another one of those devices in her head, invading her innermost thoughts, torturing her with pain, was too much.
“I don’t want anyone invading my mind. Can’t you understand that?”
“I will not let you die out of ignorance!” Gwarnon shouted back.
“I’ll cut your throat before I let you put anything in my head!”
“Malla malla malla, easy, my bride, my blood brother,” Chel crooned in his velvety soft voice. “Lacey—do I have permission to call you familiar?”
She was too busy glaring at Gwarnon, who looked about ready to choke her, to look at Chel, but she responded, “Sure, yeah, whatever.”
“Lacey, we truly do not mean you any harm. I know this is hard for you to understand, but we have nothing but your best interest in mind. You are our Matriach, the future mother of our children—we would never bring you harm, but you must have a crystal implant if you are going to survive the Baladium. Without it, you are as good as dead. I do not say this to frighten you, but to give you the truth of the matter.”
Gwarnon, his face strangely blank of emotion, said in a controlled, low voice, “There are over a billion species and races in the Bel’Tan Galaxy. And you will, without a doubt, be facing the deadliest of them all. You must have the knowledge you will need to fight them. We are begging you, please accept the implant.”
The reality of the situation came crashing down and her, and her throat grew tight as she had to face a bitter choice. Either she accepted the implant and the knowledge it would give her, or both she and Roxy were as good as dead. She searched Chel’s face, his desperation easy to read in his stance and gaze, then Gwarnon’s cold visage. He was almost as still as a statue, not an eyelash flicker or tense muscle betraying his feelings. It was almost creepy how cold he could become, but as she searched his flat gaze, she could see his fear, hidden deep-deep down inside his soul.
“Okay,” she whispered, hating that her voice broke with the tears she was barely managing to keep at bay. “Do what you need to do.”
“Alyah,” Chel said, drawing her attention from Gwarnon’s captivating gaze, “will you permit me to kiss you?”
His question totally threw her for a loop, and she stared dumbly at him for a moment. “Did you just say you want to kiss me?”
Chel’s gentle smile held a hint of laughter as he said, “Yes. Your transformation starts when we share a kiss. I bite my tongue, and a small amount of my blood is shared in our kiss. This starts a reaction within your body that transforms you from a human into a Matriarch and binds you to us forever. You will come to Kadothia, our home planet, with us and be our beloved wife, where we will rule our Territory together in honor and peace.”
Taking a couple steps back, she gaped at them. Her heart pounded as bits and pieces of history the faulty implant had tried to teach her rose up from her memory. The Kadothian males took their brides from other planets because their DNA was screwed up somehow from an ancient war. As she strained to remember, she recalled that once the brides left their home worlds, there were never allowed to return. Something about Matriarchs only being safe on Kadothia, and needing to be protected because of the bonds they held with their Warriors. None of it made any sense to her, but if Chel and Gwarnon thought she was their bride, they’d take her to Kadothia and never allow her to return to Earth for her daughter.
“What is wrong?” Chel asked. The smile fell from his face, the joy leaving him like a light diming from within. “You are terrified.”
“I won’t bond with you!” she growled, the hair on her arms standing up as adrenaline flooded her system. “Never! After this fucking bullshit is over, I’m going home to Earth and forgetting I ever even heard of the Bel’Tan Galaxy.”
Gwarnon’s jaw flexed as he said, “I am afraid that is impossible. You know too much to be allowed to return to your people.