“You don’t have to decide now,” Lainey said. “You’re staying on Luxiria because of the baby and I’m selfishly pretty happy about that.”
She was trying to make Erin laugh and it worked.
“You have time,” Crystal assured her.
“Do I, though?” Erin asked, nibbling her lip. Her back hurt from being laid up in bed all day, but at least the wound on her chest had started to ache less. Sometimes she forgot that she’d been stabbed at all, but then she’d have nightmares of Po’grak on top of her, and—
She shook her head, inhaling a deep breath through her nostrils. No stress, she reminded herself. For the baby’s sake.
Which was easier said than done. Jaxor’s trial was looming. Crystal had learned that it would take place sometime next week. And her stress levels shot through the roof when she thought about that. So she tried to avoid thinking about it…which was almost impossible.
“Privanax said you’ll be released from the labs tomorrow,” Lainey said, changing the subject because she knew it was a touchy one. “You’ll come stay with us on the terrace and you’ll get some much-needed sunshine and food and you’ll feel better. It will clear your mind, I promise.”
Erin nodded, understanding what went unspoken. Maybe then she’d be able to think more clearly about the situation with Jaxor. Maybe then she would be able to make a decision…before it was too late.
Chapter Forty-Five
“I was hoping to speak with you,” Erin said in a breathless rush after she approached Vaxa’an on the terrace in his hovercraft. He was helping Kate off the back. He dropped her off in the mornings so she could be with the other human females while he went to the command center. The baby was in her arms.
He was cooing and babbling, waving his arms, which reflected golden in the sunlight. Ollie was his name. Technically, it was Kollix’an, but that was a mouthful, so the human women simply called him Ollie. And he was the sweetest thing.
Vaxa’an looked down at Erin. She marveled that she hadn’t recognized the similarities between him and Jaxor. They had identical eyes, for one. And while Erin had thought Jaxor looked familiar to her, she hadn’t known Vaxa’an very well, or studied him very long, to make the connection.
But now, it was undeniable. It was even difficult to meet his eyes.
Vaxa’an jerked his head in a nod, powering down the hovercraft and jumping down. Erin released the nervous breath she’d been holding.
Kate touched Vaxa’an’s arm, looking at Erin, and said, “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Vaxa’an watched as she disappeared into Lainey and Kirov’s home, where Erin had been staying. Most of the women gathered there during the day, to spend time with each other, to marvel at Ollie, and talk and laugh and eat. Erin had to admit…it felt good. To be with her friends, to not think of her time in the dungeon, or her heartbreak. It was a welcome distraction. She’d been out of Privanax’s labs for two days, but every moment that passed, Erin grew more and more restless, more and more anxious.
“We have not found the time to talk,” Vaxa’an said, returning his gaze to her. “I regret that.”
“You’ve been busy. You all have,” Erin said. She’d been waiting for Vaxa’an’s hovercraft most of the morning, sitting outside, though she felt a little sweaty from the heat. Even still, she vastly preferred the blinding sunlight and the warmth…to anything.
“You wish to speak about my brother,” Vaxa’an knew.
“There is a chance for a pardon during his trial, isn’t there?” she asked, not even embarrassed that she didn’t want to waste time with pleasantries. Vaxa’an was a difficult male to pin down, considering he was the Prime Leader. Given everything that had changed—the attack on the Mevirax and the Jetutians, the decisions that needed to be made afterwards, the stress of Jaxor’s trial, and the fact that Vaxa’an had a newborn baby—he was a busy, busy male.
His nostrils flared, which she didn’t take as a good sign. Even still, he said, “It is possible, tev. Likely? I am not so certain.”
“But you’re the Prime Leader,” she said. Because even after everything Jaxor had done, the thought that he could be sentenced to death or exile for his actions was…unfathomable. Even excruciating to think about. It kept her up at night. “Don’t you have some sort of veto power?”
“Veto power,” he repeated. Then he shook his head. “Matters of