Page 51 of Claimed By Brothers

“Maybe I could make a life here,” I say to the girls. “Would that be so crazy?”

Alicia smiles. “You know my answer.”

“Mental,” Cynthia cuts in. “Yeah. Definitely mental. But we’ve done crazier things before for way less. I, for one, admit that the Sunnaites’ biology is downright fascinating. Imagine if I had the medical equipment needed to study this plague properly and actually develop a cure for it. I’d make it my life’s mission. Imagine if I could save an entire species. I wouldn’t be able to do that on Earth, would I?”

“Look at you, springing for the silver lining,” Alicia giggles.

“Well, what about you?” Cynthia shoots back. “You have the unique opportunity to study and understand an alien civilization. As a historian and anthropologist, you should be fucking elated, Alicia, not constantly looking for a way home.”

“I guess,” Alicia says, finally giving in. She’s the most pig-headed among us, clearly. “But who would care? They know who they are and what they’re about. Nobody on Earth even knows we made it all the way out here to another galaxy. Studying their civilization would mean nothing if I have no one to read my books about it.”

“It wouldn’t mean nothing to you, Alicia,” I say. “You’re so ambitious and patient, studious and devoted to your line of work. Do you really need an audience for this kind of research?”

“I guess not.”

Jewel stops for a drink of water, her gaze darkening as she gazes into the distance across the river. We can see the Cloud Mountains lazily rising against the red sky, their peaks blackened by the volcanic heat bubbling beneath them.

“Alicia, I think we’re all starting to change our minds about this place,” she says. “Whether we like it or not, I think it’s starting to sink in, this realization, this acceptance that we may never go home in the end.”

“I don’t want to think about it,” she says.

“You don’t have to. But it’s still a growing possibility,” Jewel replies. “And if we do somehow manage to leave Sunna on a Sky Tribe starship, we can’t let them follow us. We have to destroy their entire fleet before we go. Otherwise, they’ll come looking for us. They’ll come looking for more human women. They won’t stop. One way or another, this madness has to stop with us, regardless of our final objective.”

It will take a while for it to sink in; I know that. I’ve been thinking about it for so long that I may have already internalized the possibility. Maybe that’s why I’m so calm and at peace with whatever fate hurls at us from now on.

Cynthia gives me a pointed look, measuring me from head to toe. “On another note, Amber, when will you gather the courage to tell us the real reason behind your decision to stay here?”

I look at her in mild confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not exactly an alien biology expert,” Cynthia replies, “but I can tell you’re carrying a rapidly growing bundle of oversized joy in your womb, honey.”

The four of us freeze just as we’re about to descend a series of uneven steps leading back down to the river. Three of us are shocked by the idea of me being pregnant with a Sunnaite’s baby. The fourth is stunned by the fact that Cynthia actually figured it out.

“Holy crap,” I mutter, trying to catch my breath. “How can you tell?”

“Oh. My. God,” Alicia manages.

“No way,” Jewel gasps.

Cynthia snaps her fingers, genuinely delighted. “I nailed it. I can’t believe I nailed it.”

“How did you nail it?” I ask.

“Where do I start?” she laughs. “First of all, we’ve been here for more than a month, and you haven’t complained about your period cramps like you usually do. The last time you had your period, we were still in Seattle, planning our Vancouver trip. Remember? I brought you the heating pad and the peanut butter ice cream, your usual go-to.”

“Wow,” I mumble, my face burning red. “You’re an efficient period tracker, I’ll give you that.”

“Well, it’s also the fact that you’ve been with Izzo and Binzen countless times by now, and they don’t have condoms here,” Cynthia adds. “And last but certainly not least, you’ve been moodier than usual, your appetite has been up and down, and you’re starting to show.” She points at my belly.

“How could I be showing anything? I barely figured it out myself!” I croak, then follow her gaze, and I damn near feel the life leaving my body as I realize she’s right. “Shit. You’re right. Why am I showing already?”

My pulse is racing. Heatwaves wash over me as a sudden bout of dizziness tests my balance. Jewel and Alicia are quick to react, flanking and holding me so I don’t fall over. I take deep breaths as Cynthia checks my temperature with the back of her hand.

“We all saw how big Valen is,” she says. “And he’s only two years old. It wouldn’t surprise me if a Sunnaite pregnancy in a human body would manifest differently than a regular human pregnancy.”

“I’m gonna give birth to a torpedo.”

“Let’s hope you don’t get torn wide open in the process,” Jewel chuckles.

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