Page 83 of The Pregnancy Pact

Dear stars, what had Sirena done?

“Sir?”

The picture on my watch snapped away. A message on a white screen flared up in its place. The words were red, almost shocking against the white background, like the streaks of blood on my wife’s skin.

Vote as you should, Ellax, or you will never see her again. Tell anyone of this, and you will never see her again. Betray me, and you will never see her again. Do as I want, or she dies. And I will find a way to eradicate you, as well. You are not the only male Council member with whom I could unite my power.

No sooner had I read the threat, the threat to both Lorelai and myself, than it vanished. Winking out.

My heart stopped.

What do I do?

Clearly, Sirena had taken her lust for power to the highest level. She’d kidnapped my wife. Tortured her. Was holding her ransom, and the price of the ransom was my vote. Not to mention, she’d threatened my life as well, although that mattered little by comparison.

If I voted the way Sirena wanted, cast my authority that direction, my son and his wife might be endangered. Hundreds or thousands of wild humans would die.

If I didn’t?

My wife would die. Theoretically, I could be next. If Sirena had managed to pull this off, what else was she capable of doing?

“Sir?”

Slowly, I turned towards the Admiral.

“Forgive me, Admiral,” I said slowly. “I must reconsider my position.”

“Sir?”

His helmet shielded his facial expression. His surprise wasn’t visible. I heard it in his voice.

Dear stars, what else could I do?

Chapter 48

Lorelai

“Wake up.”

Was I asleep? How long had I been out?

I battled myself to lift my eyelids. Was I in a nightmare? I’d been dreaming I was in tremendous pain, in a cold and dark place…

No. Those things were real. In my foggy mental state, reality and nightmare were blending until I couldn’t tell one from the other. I wasn’t even sure if the voice I’d heard, urging me to rouse, was real or part of my dream.

“Wake up.”

Stress on the last word. Insistence. My eyelashes fluttered, my mind seizing the fervor of the word. Abruptly, I was awake.

I groaned as consciousness returned. At least in my dreams, my brain had partitioned away reality. Pain in the dream was a nightmare, not truth. Now, my brain couldn’t hide behind horrific visions, and I was forced to face the agony of my brutalized body.

“We don’t have much time.”

A familiar face moved into view. Concern brightened the eyes. Tentacles wrapped around me. An unfamiliar sensation, but I didn’t fight it. I didn’t have the strength to fight anything. The tentacles were far stronger than their sinuous appearance might’ve suggested. Doctor Natusha lifted me off the floor with three of them. Using the fourth, she pressed a syringe to my lips.

“Listen to me, Lorelai,” she whispered, her words hasty with urgency.

“Sirena stepped out to call her partner, to make sure Ellax received the photos of you and knew what to do. Her guards are also outside. She left me with you to ensure you didn’t die on her. We have mere moments.”

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