Page 55 of Barbarian Daddies

“We only told the truth,” Kai replies. “You see, Selina, lies only take you so far. With a little bit of help from our friends in the Tallas clan and Alicia, our human scholar, we were able to better understand what the people truly want. The people of today, that is. Not those of yesterday and certainly not those of tomorrow. The people of today want peace. They want the few women in their families back and safe. They want an end to the mindless violence.”

“Many of them don’t want you sending your starships to Earth and spending precious resources on that endeavor when said resources could be directed toward developing a cure for the plague,” Maur adds. “It was one of the messages that resonated the most with Sapphire City. Selina, what’s happening now is merely a consequence of your actions. Or lack thereof, I guess. You should’ve paid more attention to your constituents.”

“How many of you are there?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper.

“Not as many as we would have hoped, but enough of us to make a difference,” Kai answers. “Your biggest mistake was taking the women away and forcing them into that breeding farm. The few women of Sapphire City came from the southern slums, so we had no trouble talking to their families and getting their support. We figured they would stay out of the way once we blew our way through your city gates. We certainly didn’t expect them to come marching with us like this.”

“It’s time for a change, Selina,” Maur adds. “Whatever you were planning, it isn’t happening. So, you might as well bow out. Surrender honorably and you’ll face a trial. Worst-case scenario, you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail. Personally, I would love to tear your head off myself, but I promised my brother I’d try to be civil. But if you don’t stop pointing that gun at our woman’s head, I will revert to my initial desire in the blink of an eye.”

Kai nods slowly. “And I won’t stop him. Because, frankly, the sight of you threatening to kill our woman and unborn child brings out the beast in me.”

“Selina, please,” I try to reason with her. “It’s over. Do the smart thing and surrender. No one else needs to die here.”

“Why not? I might as well go out with a bang,” Selina chuckles dryly. But her eyes are filled with tears she keeps trying to blink back as her new reality sets in. Her heart was broken the moment she was told she’d never bear children of her own, and now, her mind has broken too. She will never be the goddess she’d hoped she’d be. “You will never get to keep Sapphire City,” she says to Kai and Maur. “The other generals will bring their forces to the gates and retake the city before the week’s end.”

Kai can’t help but smile. “The other generals are too busy assessing the damage delivered to the Emerald City hangar. You know, the place where you’ve been hiding one of your starships.”

“No,” Selina mumbles, her lower lip quivering softly. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, not yet, but in a few hours, it’ll be over,” Kai says. “There may not be enough of us in the Fire Tribe to win this war in a single battle, but there are enough of us and more among the civilians to make a difference in the long term. You’re not flying that ship to Earth, Selina. And you’re not keeping this city, either.”

“Well, then,” Selina mumbles, gazing out the window once more.

Outside, I hear Salim’s voice as he barks orders at his fellow fighters.

My heart is filled with fear and hope—a dangerous combination in this particular circumstance. I don’t know how it will end, but I wish to live. I wish to live a long and beautiful life with Kai and Maur. I want us to raise our family in times of peace and prosperity.

“Selina, it’s over. Your men are dead. The city is falling,” Kai adds. “From what I’ve seen, your mercenaries have been dealing with a mixed morale for quite a while. Some of them fled as soon as our explosive devices were set off. As soon as the gates blew wide open, they ran out, dropping their weapons and choosing to vanish into the night. The others tried to fight us, but the people came to our aid. We had it easy coming up here.”

“We’ll have it even easier when we march to your palace to claim it,” Maur says. “The research lab is already ours.”

“I should add that we’ve been covertly killing your emissaries for the past few days and replacing them with our own,” Kai informs her. “That’s how we were able to get the word out to the civilians within the city walls that we planned on taking it. The southern slums were more than happy to assist. Granted, we didn’t know Dahlen was a traitor in our midst. Well played there, Selina, I’ll give you that.” He pauses to watch the shadow of a smile flutter across her face. “But much like with your other strategies, that avenue failed too. We managed to beat you at your own game.”

“You have no support in this city,” Maur smiles coldly. “Your troops are either dead or dying. When they’re not busy fleeing, that is. Your ambassadors and administrators were the first to come out with their hands up when we started marching through the city. The civilians have either kept their distance to let us through or they straight up joined us.”

“This is it, Selina,” Kai says. “This is where it ends for you. You almost broke us. You were close, and you’ll always have the merit there. But at the end of the day, common sense and kindness will forever prevail. You cannot manipulate an entire planet out of spite. It doesn’t work like that. You’re just a blip in the fabric of the universe, much like the rest of us.”

Selina gives me a long, hard look. Her lips curl with dismay and despair glimmers in her eyes as she focuses on my belly. Instinctively, I cradle it with one hand, while the other still frantically grips the knife. The muzzle of one of her laser guns shifts its focus to my womb.

“Then let’s see how much damage a blip can do before you kill it.”

“Selina, don’t be stupid,” Kai warns her. “You will not live to fire that shot.”

“You wanna bet?” she whispers.

27

Maur

Astrange kind of fire burns through me as Selina’s finger begins to squeeze the trigger. I’m faster than I ever imagined I could be. Whether it’s the adrenaline or the urgency of saving my woman, I’m not sure, but it’s the most efficient fuel to flow through my veins as I take out one of my short knives and throw it at her.

I hear Cynthia gasp and Selina cry out in pain when the blade pierces her wrist. Blood shoots out, a crimson spray that doesn’t stop.

She drops the gun and howls ferociously as she turns around to point her other laser gun at me. But I’ve already darted across the room. I’m inches away from gutting Selina like a fish, but she swings her leg at me. The boot hits me in the side. I feel the sharp pain stabbing my hip, a slim blade slicing through the muscle.

“Argh!” I snarl, realizing she has retractable knives mounted on the tips of her boots.

The gun is pointed at my forehead, the muzzle pressed coldly against my skin. I freeze, heat spreading through my body as I struggle to recalibrate my options. Cynthia has moved farther away, but I can smell her fear, I can hear her frantic heartbeats. She’s terrified and for good reason. I may fucking die in this place.

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