Page 62 of Barbarian Daddies

“What better campaign slogan?” Alicia chuckles softly. “I reckon we’ll win the other cities over, too. I hope so, anyway.”

“We will,” Amber says. “It’ll take time and work, but we will. Especially if Cynthia manages to synthesize a cure.”

I nod slowly, letting myself sink into the plush sofa seating. My nausea has returned with a vengeance now that I have the time and space and safety to carry out my hybrid pregnancy undisturbed. I’ve learned a lot from Amber, though, and I’m ready for most of the symptoms ahead. Naturally, I’m terrified. This is my first child, and I certainly never expected I would have one by two alien men. Inter-species relationships are still a multifaceted subject for me, though I have been gleefully enjoying my bond with Maur and Kai to the fullest.

“I’m getting closer,” I tell the girls. “Kingo is feeling better after the blow to the head, so he’s jumped right back in to help me navigate the research lab. Several techs from the Sky Tribe agreed to renounce their allegiance to those fuckers. They chose to stay by my side and help me. And there are more like them out there. We just need to send the right message to their cities, to let them know we’re doing something, that we’re putting in the work. Once they start seeing results, they won’t have such a hard time pulling away from their Sky Tribe overlords.”

Alicia gazes out the window, her brow slightly furrowed. “We should take Emerald City next. It was once the cradle of their civilization,” she says. “The oldest manuscripts and written tablets are still there, hidden somewhere in the catacombs below the city. Kharo and Helios have told me about them. Well, about the rumors about them.”

“Well, we’ve already surveyed parts of the city before our starship operation,” Jewel chimes in. “We know at least two ways of getting closer undetected. And I’m sure the Kreek brothers will be more than happy to give it a go. After our victory here, each of the clan leaders seemed to have developed an affinity for holding a city.”

“They all want to be mayors,” Amber laughs.

“Nobody wishes for this war to continue, except maybe the Sky Tribe brass,” I remind the girls. “Whoever released the plague, they’ve been planting seeds in these people’s heads for a long time.”

The girls and I shudder in unison. We’re still trying to process the revelations Selina left behind regarding the virus and its suspicious origins. There have been instances of biological weapons used on Earth before, so we do understand the nature of evil that dwells behind such deeds, yet even so, it’s still a hard pill to swallow. Still an awful thing to think about, let alone acknowledge as part of this reality.

“We’ll have to beat them at their own game,” I say. “I’ll forge ahead with a cure or at least a vaccine before I can synthesize a cure. I’m not sure at this point. Salem won’t like it, but I’ll need a bit more of his blood for this. My first samples were destroyed in the Sky Tribe’s raid.”

“It’s okay, we’ll help you,” Amber says, giving her son a warm look as he cuddles in his older brother Valen’s arms. “My lord, they look so cute together, and Valen is such a good big brother, you wouldn’t believe how protective he can get of Salem.”

“Oh, I can believe it. You should see how territorial Kai and Maur have become since my pregnancy became public,” I laugh lightly. “I’ve never felt safer or more cherished.”

“Remember when you first got here?” Amber questions with a cool grin.

“Can it, sister. We were all terrified at the time. We were abducted by aliens and tossed in the middle of a war zone,” I reply. “You just happened to be way more open to a bond with them than I was.”

“Over my dead body,” Alicia mockingly repeats something I do remember saying a long time ago when she first asked me if I had considered bonding with Kai and Maur.

Well, I guess I had this coming, so all I can do is laugh some more, my cheeks burning red as I’m forced to concede. “Alright, alright, yuck it up, ladies, enjoy it while it lasts, ‘cause it’ll be your turn soon enough,” I reply, nodding at Alicia. “Wait ‘til Kharo and Helios get in your panties, sister. You won’t even know what hit you.”

That renders her hilariously silent since we all know she has, in fact, been catching some feelings for the tall and mighty Tallas chieftains. When we first met Helios, he was still alone in leading his clan. He hadn’t found a soul brother at the time. Kharo came later, but they’ve been inseparable ever since, and even I can tell Alicia is anything but indifferent to their attention.

“Not me,” Jewel feels the need to say, though I’m not sure she’s aware of how much sexual tension is already festering between her and the Kreek brothers. “Yossul and Fadai and I agreed to keep things friendly and professional. As long as there’s a war going on here, we can’t afford any kind of emotional connection. Not me, anyway. I’ve got a job to do.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still dreaming of going back to Earth,” Amber says.

Jewel shakes her head slowly. “I haven’t given up on the idea, but it’s not my core objective anymore, either. We’ll see what the future brings. I just know I have to bring my A game to this war, and any emotional connection will render me vulnerable. The Sky Tribe are vicious fuckers. I can’t afford any weaknesses while they’re gunning for us.”

“Speaking of, I think we could accomplish a lot for the Sunnaite people if we retake Emerald City,” I cut in, having thought about this over the past couple of days. “Like Alicia said, it’s a cradle of Sunna’s civilization. A respected place with plenty of history. We could broker a ceasefire from there. If we manage to take Emerald City. I’m sure the Sky Tribe brass would have no choice but to consider it.”

“Yeah, how many cities will they lose before they understand their methods have failed?” Alicia replies with a slight shrug.

“Kai and Maur are still arguing about it.” I exhale sharply and head over to the window, admiring the view under the twin suns’ golden light, the red sky stretching over the city’s white and blue towers like a canvas waiting for the future to paint on it. “Maur thinks we should keep conquering cities, by force, by covert ops, by any means necessary. The more cities we take, the more military-grade resources at our disposal. But Kai is fiercely advocating for diplomacy. He thinks we should reach out to the Sky Tribe as early as next week to discuss a ceasefire.”

“Right, I heard him say something about that a couple of days ago,” Amber mutters. “He and Binzen and Izzo were meeting downstairs in one of the council chambers.”

“Once the Sky Tribe come to our gates and realize they can’t take Sapphire City back, they may be willing to at least hear us out. That’s what Kai is banking on,” I say. “Whereas Maur reckons we should keep striking them while they’re still baffled about what happened here and with their Emerald City starship. The more confused and frantic they get, the more mistakes they’ll make and the easier it will be for us to actually take another city.”

Jewel nods in agreement. “Yossul and Fadai are thinking the same thing, and frankly, I’m on board with that, too. We need Emerald City not just for its cultural value—which, granted, will definitely help us in swaying the public opinion back into the Fire Tribe’s favor, but also for its military resources. There are explosives and laser batteries there, ammunition and all-terrain vehicles, as well. The more gear we command, the stronger we’ll be.”

“In the meantime, I suggest we all focus on Sapphire City,” I reply. “There’s much work to be done here, and the trust of people for us to retain. We may have gained it, but we have to keep it, too.”

“We just need to be truthful,” Amber says. “Well, except for the whole the-plague-was-made-by-a-Sunnaite part. How long are we going to keep that to ourselves, then?”

I don’t have an answer for that. Only more questions. I still haven’t figured out a reason as to why anyone would do this. Of course, some kind of psychosis is a possibility. Doomsday advocates on Earth are few, but they would totally unleash a deadly virus upon humanity if they could—yet even they would have an endgame. Repopulating Earth, for example. Or saving Mother Nature in their own cruel way. I’ve thought of both as possibilities for what happened here on Sunna, as well.

What if someone was trying to repopulate Sunna? What if Selina’s idea about bringing human women into the mix wasn’t originally hers to begin with? What if someone planted that seed in her head and let her think it was hers? If so, then whoever released the plague is still out there. Scheming. Plotting. Watching this entire shit show unravel and likely pulling a few more strings along the way. They’re the ones we need to discover. They’re the ones we need to kill without hesitation—they’re not people, they’re worse than the monsters we used to read about growing up.

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