Page 34 of Victoria's Embrace

Huffing a short laugh, Victoria nodded in agreement. “Have you overheard anything else?”

Bree shrugged. “I heard one of her zombies mention that she was impatient to get someone delivered to her, but that’s it.”

“Rellik, probably.” At Bree’s confused look, she explained, “Salesh is Rellik’s old Queen’s firstborn. She’s the one who sold him into slavery after he refused to join her harem. He thought he killed her. I imagine she wants him back, both to deactivate everyone’s anti-Veil chip and for revenge.”

Before Bree could respond, Victoria spotted a familiar face heading toward them.

“Cloud!” Rushing forward she met the Gaelli halfway and hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad you're okay!”

Cloud hugged her back and spoke in her mind.“I am glad to see you, my friend. I worried she had killed you and your mates.”

Pulling back, Victoria craned her head back to give her a wry expression. “No, just tried to sell us into slavery.”

A flood of people approached then, exclaiming over Victoria’s return. While she was overjoyed to see so many people she knew and cared about safe, being greeted like she was their savior was uncomfortable, to say the least. She did her best to hide it, knowing they needed to see confidence and surety, even if she didn’t feel it.

After a few minutes, a small body pushed through the crowd of people surrounding her, barking orders in a high-pitched voice. “Move back! Give room! Assertively said!”

Her brows rose to nearly her hairline when the owner of the voice emerged and positioned himself in front of her, waving people back like a tiny, bossy security guard. He couldn’t be more than four feet tall. He had mint green skin and a head full of bright blue tentacles that were currently standing upright and waving in a decidedly aggressive manner.

“Mistress Victoria has business to attend. Thank you! Politely said!”

There was some grumbling as people moved away to greet the newcomers and pet the lupka, but for the most part, they seemed both accustomed to the small male’s manner and indulgent. Probably because he was adorable. Honestly, he looked like a cartoon character.

Leaning to the side so she could see him better, she almost squealed at his cute little face. It was dominated by large, iridescent blue eyes and a lipless mouth that naturally curled at the corners, so it looked like he was constantly smiling. The lack of a nose was odd and, yet, only added to his cuteness. That he was dressed in something that vaguely resembled a business suit made him look like a child pretending to be a grownup.

Nodding, satisfied with his work, he turned and beamed a grin up at her. She felt her eyes widen at the shark teeth that smile revealed, thrown completely off balance at such a cute being having the teeth of a predator.

Holy shit. He’s a Blue Demon from “Galaxy Quest.”

“I am Erlain. It is good to greet you again, Mistress Victoria. Happily said.”

Hiding her shock, she cleared her throat and returned his smile. “Hello, Erlain. It’s good to see you, too. You could just call me Victoria, you know.”

He gave her a look like that was a ridiculous suggestion. “No. Thank you! I will be your assistant. You will tell me what you need. You are welcome. Graciously said.”

Deciding that arguing with the insistent little man wouldn’t get her anywhere, she just bit her lips until she had the urge to laugh under control and murmured, “That’s such a generous offer. Thank you.”

His head tentacles did a little flutter, and he preened for a second before spinning on his heel and waving at her to follow him. Absolutely charmed, despite the shark teeth, she trailed Erlain to a nearby outcropping of rocks where he bade her sit while he gathered ‘her council members.’

“Didn’t know I had council members,” she muttered under her breath, wondering exactly who he was going to get.

Her council members ended up consisting of her guys, Cloud, Bree, Skaa, and the leader of the Gaelli, Lilac.

After passing out food and water pouches to everyone, Erlain took up position standing between Cloud and Lilac and held each of their hands, she assumed to act as translators for them since they were only able to communicate telepathically through touch.

Impressed at his thoughtfulness, Victoria sent him a quick smile then met everyone’s gazes.

“Alright, tell me everything.”

Chapter 22

The meeting lasted for hours. They went over everything they could think of: speculation over enemy numbers, where the majority of their people were being held, guard movements, and particularly interesting, how Salesh was hypnotizing people.

Apparently, that was one of the reasons Bree wanted to bring Vaiz’ak with them to the hideout. Lilac was running experiments to see how long it took for the hypnosis to wear off.

“So, you don’t think it’s permanent?” Victoria asked, feeling hopeful.

Erlain cocked his head like he was listening, then relayed. “She believes the hypnosis is chemically induced. An evolutionary trait among Gaiseshi females to ensure they have sufficient mates for breeding. As such, it is possible that the chemical’s effectiveness will lessen over time without new exposure or dosing.”

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