Page 23 of Victoria's Embrace

As soon as the giant stopped actively blocking her, Vee made a beeline to the nearest cage. Seeing that she couldn’t get it open, Vi’kail called for Snitch, sent him to guard her, then scanned the bodies. When he found the one with a red tag on the band of his pants, he crouched by him and searched his pockets. Finding the device he wanted, Vi’kail pressed the yellow button on the bottom. The sound of hundreds of cages clicking open was followed by confused murmurs, running footsteps as people darted free of their prisons, and cries as others reunited with their brethren.

Knowing Vee would gentle them if he gave her the option, Vi’kail made a twirling motion with his hand. The lupka immediately moved down the aisles. Noises of alarm and protest sounded moments later, followed shortly by a mass of newly freed slaves crowding into the open area where he stood, having been herded by the lupka.

Spotting Vee when she pushed through the mob, followed by Thegan and Thorn, he took note of the appalled expression on her face, hid a grimace, and spoke before she could reach him.

Keeping his voice just loud enough for everyone to hear him, but not so loud as to alert anyone outside the door to their presence, he announced, “We’re takin’ over the market. Who wants to fight?”

He caught the look of surprise on Vee’s face as she and the giants came to stand at his side, but kept his attention on the slaves, reading their expressions.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then a four-armed female stepped forward, followed by three males, one of which caught and held his attention. He looked like a mix of his own kind and Human, like Vee.

While he was staring at the male, the female spoke. “You know Aria? You are of her tribe, yes?”

That was enough to center all his attention on her. His hand tightened on the blaster, but he waited to see if this woman was a threat before he shot her in the head. Vee made a noise of surprise next to him and took a half step forward.

“I– yes, but how do you know Aria?”

“I was in the fighting lands with her. These males, as well. Where is she? Is she alive?”

Vi’kail opened his mouth to warn Vee not to give too much away, but his mate had it handled. “She’s fine. You’ll understand if I don’t say more.”

The female nodded approvingly. “Wise. Punier even than Aria—” she added, scanning Vee with a look halfway between pitying and confused. “—but wise. What are you called?”

Vee gave a short huff of a laugh but answered, “I’m Victoria, or Vee. These are my mates, Vi’kail, Thorn, and Thegan. My friends, Snitch and Tesha,” she introduced, pointing to each of them in turn.

“I am Skaa. This is Sauran, Braxton, and A’nu. We will fight with you. You will trust me then and take me to Aria.”

“Er, okay? It’s nice to meet you, very blunt, maybe-friend of Aria’s.”

The female, Skaa, nodded once, as if that was that, then moved to the bodies and took one of the tranq guns they wore, followed by two of the males, but the third, the one who looked both Dha’hean and Human, approached them.

His deep purple eyes, darker than Vi’kail’s own, shimmered in the low light. The look on his face was sharp and searching as he stopped a stride away and stared. “You’re like him. Kinda. I haven’t seen anyone else of his kind.”

Vi’kail narrowed his eyes. “Like who?”

“Ti’vek.” He blinked and seemed to realize he wasn’t making a crik of sense. Shaking his head, he offered a grimace. “They spliced his DNA into mine, but somethin’ went wrong. His consciousness is… alive. In me.”

Understanding had Vi’kail’s lip curling in a snarl. Scanning the male again, he took in the orange patterning on his shoulders, arms, and chest, noting it was more extensive than his own, the darker color of his eyes, and the slit vertically bisecting his throat, marking him, or Ti’vek rather, asSia’le—pure-blood Dha’hean, or damn close to it—unlike Vi’kail who’d been fathered by… who knew what.

“That crikking halfwit,” he growled, cursing Zhrovni, the Overlord Aria had killed when she took over the complex. Vi’kail let out a slow breath as anger burned through him but nodded. He understood what Braxton was trying to say now. “There’s a reason you don’ see many Dha’heans as slaves. The Federation usually snatches us up first, but aside from that, our DNA doesn’t mix well with others. That’s why his consciousness survived the merge. Was he a soldier?”

“Yeah. We both were.”

Probably why Zhrovni thought the splice would work.

“I make no promises, but we might be able to split you two back at the complex if the Gaelli can figure out how to separate your DNA.”

“Yeah, Aria mentioned trying somethin’ like that. I– it… ”

“What?”

The male shook his head, jaw clenching. “I got the feelin’ the merge is gonna be permanent before too much longer.”

Vi’kail’s stomach clenched. Reaching out, he gripped the male’s shoulder. “We’ll do everything we can for you.” Leaving it at that, he laid out only enough of the plan to catch the male up, falling back into the role of soldier with surprising ease. “Right now, we’re seizing this market, settin’ it up as a front to capture more slavers. The complex is compromised, so this is a sprint. Get ready to move.”

“Yes, sir.” With that, Braxton offered Vee a nod that oddly struck Vi’kail as almost a bow and murmured, “Ma’am.” Then made his way to the bodies to get himself a tranq gun.

He’d been inclined to like the male right up until that moment. Thegan and Thorn, obviously agreeing with him, growled low in their throats. Vee, catching the sudden hostility in him and the giants, rolled her eyes and patted first his arm then each of theirs. “He doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s just… a way to show respect to women among our people.”

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