Page 91 of Victoria's Discovery

“Let us set terms. I assume your mission is to acquire the three of us as permanent mates? Conditional to our individual compatibility, of course.”

She just nodded wordlessly, having the distinct feeling she’d lost the upper hand here, but when exactly that happened, she couldn’t pinpoint.

His smirk grew into a wicked grin, his eyes holding a challenge. “Very good. Now for my terms. Whenyoufall madly in love withme, as the initiator of this deal, I shall expect a formal invitation to permanency from you. Agreed?”

“I– uh, yes?”

“Excellent,” he purred. Holding out a hand, palm up, he declared, “You’ve got a deal. We shall be temporary mates.”

Blinking, not entirely sure what the hell had just happened, Victoria set her hand on his. He moved his hand side to side under hers then flipped it so his was on top, slid it up her arm, briefly gripped her elbow, then let go with a flourish.

“The deal is struck.”

* * *

She was alreadyin her room by the time her bewilderment cleared enough to wonder what the hell had changed in him that he’d agreed to… whatever the hell he’d agreed to. Being her temporary mate? Er, boyfriend? It couldn’t be that she’d only had to ask, could it? Okay, she’d demanded more than asked.

“Huh.”

Maybe that made sense? For Vi’kailandthe giants. He was a soldier. They were space Vikings. It seemed logical, when she thought of it that way, that they’d respond well to boldness. Just because, in her experience, human guys didn’t do well being ordered about didn’t mean alien guys would feel the same way.

Slowly, a grin began to spread across her face. Crawling into bed, she tucked Snitch into his nest, then lay down.

A quote popped into her head just before sleep claimed her.

“Be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you have always imagined.”

-Unknown

Chapter 44

The next day they held a meeting with the entire complex to explain the need for clones. That went over better than Victoria thought it would. Aria’s straightforward, honest explanation as to why they were needed, the benefits as well as the pitfalls, meant the majority were on board. There were only half a dozen or so that were staunchly against it.

Victoria nodded at Aria’s pointed glance, knowing she was giving her the task of talking with those people. She’d been planning to do so anyway. If she could understand their concerns, maybe she could help alleviate them. If not, she would still leave those conversations with a better understanding of the people she was trying to help take care of.

Next was the vote as to how long the clones’ lifespans should be. Being as they were a group of at least thirty different species, they had different natural lifespans. While the clones were only meant to be temporary for those who wanted to return to their planets, there was no reason to give them the short-lived versions. It was easier and more efficient to program all of them at the same time.

Unfortunately, as easy as it was to convince the masses to get a clone, it proved significantly more difficult to settle on how long they should live.

In the end, it was Rellik who stepped forward. Raising his hands until everyone quieted down, he gazed speculatively at the crowd.

“Trovian, your people are the longest lived, I believe?”

The leader of the majestic, wingedLusarianpeople stepped forward. “That is so.”

Rellik nodded and thanked him before addressing the room. “I believe the wisest course here is to program the clones to the longest lived among us. Anything else and we would be robbing some.” A few people called out, arguing. Instead of speaking over them or quieting them down again, he waited until they finished. “I hear your concerns. Should any prefer a shorter time, the option to euthanize would, of course, be available to you. Does that suit all?”

There were still some with reservations, but even those people agreed that made the most sense.

Victoria peeked at Aria and hid a smile when she saw her gazing at Rellik with approval, pride, and no small amount of desire.

Five bucks says they’ll be official in a week or less, she thought smugly.

* * *

They were just aboutto start sending people down to the labs in groups when the alarms sounded.

Victoria froze, caught completely off guard when the almost-cheerful voice of the computer announced that the octoflies, orvespsas they were actually called—the flying camera animals, that looked like an octopus with the wings of a butterfly, the previous owner of the arena used to record the gladiator tournaments, since repurposed to act as security cameras—reported a perimeter breach and that an unauthorized being was approaching the entrance.

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