Page 114 of Command

Alina steeled herself and took another step forward.

“Stop,” Threxin hissed.

“Can you… can you enable a link?” Alina looked back at Lesthin.

“No. But he can,” Lesthin jerked his chin at Threxin. When Alina’s attention fell back on him something triumphant flared in his eyes. Like he knew that’s where her eyes belonged.

“You may need to tell him how,” Lesthin suggested.

Alina frowned. How was she supposed to do that? “I… It just comes so naturally for us. We’ve had it since we were kids. I wouldn’t even know how to explain. You just reach for it, kind of. It’s there. Do you feel it?”

“I feel nothing,” Threxin said.

“Don’t… don’ttry. Just let it be.”

“I said I feel nothing, human,” he snarled, the viciousness in his voice making her seize up. His apertures flashed at the sight of that, she noticed. Did he like that now? Seeing her afraid?

“Is there no one on this ship who received the implant later in life?” Renza asked. “Had to learn to use it?”

“We get them as babies,” Alina began to shake her head, but abruptly stopped. “Kaia. Kaia only arrived onColossala few years ago. She got her implant just after we started our expedition to Apth—but not her,” Alina rushed out.

Threxin cocked his head at her. “Why not?”

Kaia had been actively working to stop Threxin this entire time! How could Alina possibly look at her after Kaia learned what she’d done? She would never forgive the betrayal, of that Alina was absolutely certain. Kaia wasn’t the forgiving type, unless it was her husband.

“She… she can’t know about us, of course,” Alina blinked. “Nobody can. And if she knew, she’d tell Orion, and he’s the last person who should?—”

“Orion Halen is aware.”

The blood drained from her face. “What?”

“Orion Halen has known since we witnessed him mating his female.”

He’s known for that long?!

“You watched Orion Halen… mating?” Renza’s brows lifted.

Threxin did not take his eyes off her as he nodded, making her squirm as a blush crept up her face. “He sensed me. Us.”

“So Kaia…”

“His female does not know.”

Alina nodded. “But he probably helped her… navigate this. He probably taught her how.”

Alina hated to bring him into this. But if he’d known about them and didn’t tell Kaia, maybe he was more amenable to the situation? They had to know if the procedure worked. If not, Threxin would start yammering about having Renza kill him again, which was just ridiculous.

Over my dead body.

“But he won’t know how it feels…” Alina sighed, chewing on her lip.

The realization that keeping this secret from Kaia was no longer an option slowly hit home. Everything Alina had done to try to gain Kaia’s trust over the years would be shot into the void. Alina would forever be a traitor to the one person whose confidence she’d been working on gaining most.

But trying to get close to Kaia never worked. Everyone knew it. Even Threxin knew it—he so much as said it several times. Alina deluded herself into thinking if she’d just tried hard enough, for long enough, Kaia would warm up to her. How long could it possibly take, when even Threxin, theinvading alien, grew more open to her in a matter of weeks than Kaia had in years?

“Fuck it,” Alina said, looking at Threxin. “There’s no point just getting Orion, he won’t help. Kaia can.”

“Do you want her to despise you, human?” Threxin warned.

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