Jessica. “I haven’t had a spa day since Earth. You know, I’d come to Prillon Prime for a girls’ spa day. And if two queens showed up…”
“It would be the hottest place on the planet!” Rachel added.
I was quiet, bit my lip and thought. “The idea is a good one, and I can read between the lines. You’re saying all this because you think Nik and Sam want to claim me. I say it’s just a fling.”
After everything I’d learned about them, I was even more certain the match was uneven.
For once everyone at the table seemed out of words. Everyone but Jessica. “Just be careful, okay? They aren’t human, Lucy. They don’t think like humans. Not when it comes to claiming a mate.”
A guard dressed in black camo from head to toe, toting a nasty looking weapon, appeared at the door and cleared his throat. He was golden, like Sambor, and serious as hell. “My queen, Prime Nial has requested your presence at once. There has been word from Styx Legion. And Commander Zeus is on the comms.”
Jessica stood like her chair was on fire. She took a step, then looked back over her shoulder at me. “They’re good guys, Lucy. Really good guys. Don’t break their hearts, okay?”
I nodded as she left. Around me, the others speculated what the message from Styx Legion on Rogue 5 might be about. Apparently, the leader—named Styx—had taken a human woman for his mate as well. And this Commander Zeus? He was the only half-human, half-Prillon commander in the Coalition Fleet. Mikki told us he’d been in contact with her mate, Dr. Surnen, multiple times because somehow he’d taken a human woman captive. A human woman who was contaminated and still connected to the Hive. And Dr. Surnen was one of the foremost experts on removal and destruction of Hive integrations.
A human woman turned into a Hive, then captured by a Coalition battlegroup. Alive?
Fuck me. And I thought I had problems. I felt like I was pretty darn petty.
By the numbers, there weren’t very many of us Earth girls out here in space, but we sure did seem to be everywhere, right in the thick of this war.
Under the table, Lindsey took my hand and squeezed. “It’ll work itself out, Lucy. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried.” I lied like my life depended on it, because somehow this fling had turned serious on me, and the males I’d taken to my bed weren’t even here. How had this happened? And what the hell was I going to do now?
6
Niklas, Prillon Prime, The Palace
I worried Ander would notice or care that I hadn’t been the most… diplomatic with Helion, not that he never deserved such poor treatment. The Prillon was an asshole, and my job was to be nice to assholes. Dr. Helion, despite his well-earned reputation for being difficult to deal with, was invaluable to the entire Coalition. No one could do what he did and remain unaffected.
The male needed a mate more than anyone I knew. However, I had no idea if there existed a Prillon male insane enough to be his second. Gods help them if the day ever arrived when Helion took the Interstellar Brides Program matching test. Gods help all three of them.
That was assuming there was a female out there, somewhere in this universe, tough enough—or insane enough—to put up with that male. On more than one occasion, I had seriously doubted even the Brides Program could find a match for him.
Watching him argue with Vice Admiral Niobe had made me bite back a smile more than once.
That female was not to be fucked with. The Elite Hunter standing at her back—Quinn, her mate—didn’t bother holding his amusement in check. But watching the fire burning behind Helion’s gaze, I decided there was, indeed, a perfect female out there for him. I’d place odds that the female in question would be from Earth.
These human females were a force to be reckoned with. Including mine.
Lucy. I could not wait to return to her, place my collar around her neck and make my intentions known.
I’d enjoyed being taken by her, claimed by her last night. Although I doubted Lucy realized that’s what she’d been doing.
But I knew. So had Sambor. We’d accepted her claim with every touch. She was ours now.
Thank fuck Ander grew tired of the meeting as well. We weren’t getting anywhere. Helion had yet to have a breakthrough with the Nexus unit. It had been months with no progress.