Page 29 of Victoria's Embrace

“You’re angry?”

Exhaling through his nose, he nodded slowly. “Yes, I am. But not at you. I’m not– I haven’t done…thisbefore.” He waved a hand between them. “I—” He shook his head. “I’ll do better, baby. I’m sorry.”

“Er… what?” Victoria felt like she’d missed part of the conversation.

He glanced at her; his expression full of regret. “This, with you, it’s– I haven’t had relationships before. I should’ve told you everything, but even after what you said in the lupka enclosure, I was still only thinking of protecting you, not that my keepin’ some shit hidden would make you doubt what I feel for you. That was wrong. I’m sorry, baby.”

Something tight in her chest relaxed even as a lump swelled in her throat. Reaching out, she laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, too. I let past experiences dredge up old insecurities, and that’s not fair to you. I don’t need you to share every detail about your life. But I do need to know you trust me. I need you to talk with me. Relationships are hard enough. Add in that we’re different species from different worlds with different cultures? I love you, Vi’kail, and I want this to work, badly, but it won’t if we don’t all talk to each other.”

Laying his hand over hers, he met her gaze. “On my honor, I’ll do better.”

“Good, because I’ve claimed you and there are no take-backs,” she quipped, feeling lighter now that they’d talked.

He barked a laugh and narrowed his eyes playfully. “And here I was thinkin’ I’d claimed you.”

She sat back in her seat with a mischievous grin. “All part of my plan.”

“Wily female,” he chuckled lowly.

Chapter 19

They stopped the convoy twenty feet away from the soaring retaining wall and exited the runners, gathering behind them to shield them from sight of the octoflies patrolling the perimeter.

“Am I right in thinking I’ve got the highest security clearance?” Victoria whispered, glancing between her guys.

Vi’kail frowned suspiciously. “To my knowledge, yes. Why?”

Squaring her shoulders, she braced herself for an argument. “Since she believes she sold us into slavery, there’s a chance Salesh didn’t bother removing my clearance. I’ve got authorization to disable the octoflies without it being relayed to the computer or security monitors which means I need to be the one to approach.”

Thorn’s brows snapped together and Thegan and Vi’kail both opened their mouths to argue, but she cut them off before they could speak.

“Before you freak out, I won’t be going alone. I’ll take Snitch with me in case my clearance has been revoked. He can go invisible and fly up next to the octofly. If it tries to report me, hopefully he can snatch it up before it has the chance. It going dark could be chalked up to anything. But if it sees y’all, it’ll definitely sound the alarm.”

All three of them looked like they were trying to come up with something to refute her plan. In the end, Thorn just growled, Vi’kail glared, and Thegan rubbed his horned brow roughly like she stressed him the hell out and muttered, “I do not like it.”

* * *

“You ready, little buddy?”Victoria whispered to Snitch perched on her shoulder.

He gave a lowbrrpand went invisible. She felt his claws dig in for a moment as he pushed off and then he was gone.

Trusting that he would do his part, Victoria stepped out from behind the cover of the runner, leaving her anxious mates behind. Zeroing in on the octofly patrolling the closest section of wall, she made a scissor movement with her first two fingers, the command for it to approach, even as she moved quickly in its direction, farther away from the line of runners and everyone hiding behind them.

The strange creature came to hover a couple of feet away at eye level, its delicate, frilled, butterfly-like wings fluttering rapidly as its shimmery tentacles swayed and twisted beneath it.

It scanned her face with its large eyes. Looking at them, you wouldn’t immediately guess they were cameras or that the oddly cute little thing was actually a living machine. Or an animal cyborg? She didn’t pretend to understand the technology behind it.

“Turn off recording and do not report my presence. Authorization Code: Victoria King L9UBO-IR589D. Confirmation Key: Vee the Kid.

It gave a soft, lilting coo and undulated its tentacles. Blowing out a slow, shuddering breath of relief, she thanked all her lucky stars Salesh hadn’t thought or cared to revoke her clearance.

“I authorize entry into the complex for myself and all the beings in my group. Once we’re inside the perimeter, you’ll task another vesp to take your place and assume reconnaissance duties for me.”

A slow blink of its eyes was followed by another soft coo, telling her it had executed her commands. Flying to hover at her shoulder, it followed her back to the line of runners.

“We’re good to go,” she announced.

* * *

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