Page 9 of Dark Witch Resurrection

"I like the sound of that." Gabi rubbed her tummy. "I'll take care of the delivery." She rose to her feet and took the rest of the cups to the sink.

They parted in front of the clinic, and as her friends continued to the elevators, Jasmine pushed the door open and entered the waiting room, where five imposing people were standing outside the prince's room.

She had no trouble guessing who they were.

The imposing female was, without a doubt, Jade, the Kra-ell leader Jasmine had heard so much about. The four males with her were probably her guards. They did not look purely Kra-ell like their leader, though, and could be mistaken for tall and slim Eurasian men.

Still, even though Jade was a pureblooded Kra-ell, and her eyes were indeed larger than normal and her waist was unnaturally slim, she was not weird looking. She was quite beautiful in an otherworldly and intimidating kind of way.

The female radiated dominance like the most alpha of males, and it was curiously attractive even though Jasmine had never been on the fence about her sexuality. She had always been a hetero through and through, but there was something about Jade that made her pulse quicken a little.

Feeling her gaze, Jade turned and looked at her. "You must be Jasmine." She crossed the few feet between them and offered Jasmine her hand. "I'm Jade."

She didn't smile, but Jasmine did as she took her hand. "I know. I've heard a lot about you."

As she'd expected, the female's handshake was firm and brief. "Same here." Jade lifted her hand and pushed Jasmine's hair aside to expose her ear. "You should put in your earpieces."

"I'll do that when they start." Jasmine glanced at the door to the prince's room. "Are they about to?"

"Not yet, but soon. Did Kian tell you about the latest upgrade to the earpieces?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"They can translate Kra-ell to English and the other way around. If he speaks, you'll be able to understand him. Regrettably, we can't put earpieces on him yet until he has ears, so I'll have to translate things for him."

As bile rose in her throat again, Jasmine swallowed. The prince had no ears?

Shaking off the disturbing visual, she changed the subject. "Everyone refers to the prince and princess as the royal twins. Do they have names?"

"I don't know what they are," Jade admitted. "Priestesses were always referred to as holy mothers, and there were no male priests before the prince. When we left on the settler ship, the twins were still acolytes, and therefore, they were called holy sister and brother in training."

Jasmine nodded, a pang of sympathy welling up in her chest. To have one's identity reduced to a title, to be known only by the role one was meant to play, seemed like a lonely and isolated existence.

Her heart ached for the twins and all they must have endured.

As the door to Bridget's office opened, Kian, Aru, and the doctor stepped out. Kian nodded at Jade and then shifted his gaze to Jasmine.

"Are you sure that you want to witness the resurrection?"

Swallowing again, she nodded. "I am."

8

ARU

Aru approved of Kian's decision and Jasmine's gumption. She had more than earned the right to be there for her prince's revival.

Bridget grimaced. "There is very little room around the stasis chamber."

"I can stay outside," Aru said. "If you leave the door open, that is. I still want to witness this."

Behind him, Negal and Dagor also said they were happy to stay out of the room provided the door was open.

They and Jade's crew had finished transporting the stasis chambers carrying the dead Kra-ell to the catacombs, and even though they had wiped the chambers clean as much as possible before loading them onto the planes, some dust had remained and found its way onto the males' clothing.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea for them to be so close to the corpse-like fragile prince while he was being revived. With almost no blood in his veins and organs that were a hair away from failing, he might not be able to fight off pathogens in the same way a healthy god or immortal could.

Curiously, Kalugal had opted out of witnessing the momentous event and had gone home, so there was one less person to crowd the packed waiting room.

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