Page 37 of Fever

I watch her and note the rising heartbeat, the trembling lip, the scent of fear that rubs all my instincts wrong. It pisses me off. “The reason I took you out to that place is because your mother is supposed to leave the theater at nine to have a quiet dinner with Andy at the restaurant. She never showed. I did not expect that. The entire time I waited and waited, and then I realized, for as long as you’ve been here, you’ve never asked about your mother, never asked Mike if you could call outside or check in on her in another way.”

Leah freezes as if I’ve poured a bucket of ice over her head. Even her dilated pupils shrink a little, telling me her heat span is at the tail end. It can’t be. She just went into heat not an hour ago. My muscles bulge, my armor itching to erect. I rein in my temper. “You’re so very afraid that I think you might waste on the floor. I find this odd. It is not me. You don’t fear me, but you fear something else. You can tell me what it is, or I can find out. Choose.” I get up and dress, hands on my hips.

“It’s nothing.” She sits up. “And…and I didn’t ask about my mom because I believe she’s safe where you put her and having a great time. I didn’t want to interrupt them. She doesn’t get to go out on dates or go to plays or other things single women can do.”

“Lies. I smell them. I’m gonna hit up some supplies. In the meantime, you think hard on how you’re gonna tell me about whatever it is that’s bugging you.” I exit the apartment and march toward the office, enjoying the crunching of my boots on the pavement. I’d like to crush my enemy’s skull this way right about now.

Inside the office building, I grab a bag and throw snacks and fruit inside, not giving a shit how it crushes or topples inside the bag. On my left, a bright light ignites, and I look out the window. At one in the morning, the Stronghold is lit like Dreikx’s ship’s thruster at takeoff. The massive gate expanded past the line I drew on the ground just this fucking morning. Good thing I’ve released all my Guardians from duty. There are no patrols close to the gate. I can’t risk my males. If it suddenly pulses, it’s gonna swallow them. But Dreikx is his own male. He sits on the bench, staring ahead. He’s probably thinking. I hope my Omega is thinking hard too, because she has a minute left before I demand answers.

Supplies in hand, I leave a note for Christy about daily meals and get back into my apartment, where I find Leah sleeping. And now I feel bad. After a good fucking and seeding, Omegas tend to fall asleep. The body demands rest so they can fuck some more sporadically throughout the night, though I’m unsure what’s going on with Leah’s heat cycle and why her pupils already started shrinking. By the door, I leave the supplies, then get her water from the kitchen and leave to see Dreikx. I’ve got a few hours before she wakes and needs me. Though I should rest with her, I can’t afford sleep time right now. The gate’s growth rate accelerated, and I can’t allow it to swallow the Stronghold.

I find Dreikx on the bench. He hasn’t stopped working on the mapping system. I don’t believe he’s slept. Neither have I. The question we can’t answer lingers. Why are the two controls out of sync? More accurately, his control is out of sync. He’s gonna take time to prove it’s his. Even if I don’t have time to spare, Dreikx won’t work on hearsay or the duty I have to my Omega. He needs proof.

My gate control is on my person at all times, whereas Dreikx stores his inside his pod. Although, even when inside the pod where heavy security safeguards the control, tech is tech and can be altered. Someone would have to kill me and pry the control out of my dead hands. If I left it unguarded, I would dishonor myself and my family. I am the Guardian Alpha, and my sole job is to guard the gate. Failure is not an option.

“Dreikx,” I say.

He looks up, silver pupils as dilated as if he’s in heat. I almost laugh. Almost.

“Why are you still here?” I ask.

“I would’ve gone home had I had the pod to leave with. But you stole my pod again, so here I am. Working.”

“Any progress?”

“Of course. I did not spent countless turns on this to fail now at the time when I need it most. You smell of an Omega, Hordesman. I hope you understand the gravity of our situation while you enjoy her heat. Off you go now.”

He dismissed me. I laugh. “I have an hour or so. Let’s work.”

“You surprise me.”

I shrug.

The crystal in his hand glows brighter than it should. “That thing is going to overheat.” I point and frown. Prolonged energy exposure is unhealthy for him, and he knows it. I’d be naïve to think Dreikx is desperate to get the Warlords on Earth, unless getting them here served his agenda, whatever it might be. Arkin briefed me on the breakfast meet with my aunt Sidone and said our king made a deal with Dreikx. Since nobody knows what kind of deal, and since Dreikx has proven his loyalty to the crown time and time again, we don’t question the Telean. Regardless, Dreikx isn’t a bad male. He’s simply different. And sometimes annoyingly intelligent.

“I’mthisclose, and I’m not gonna give up. Not now or tomorrow or the next cycle,” he says. “I will have this gate functioning perfectly.”

“We’ll transport another group of males in the morning.”

“We will bring them all.”

“The Great Serpent is with us,” I say.

Teleans don’t worship the Serpent. “The almighty Dreikx is with you. Pray for me a little, hm?”

I take out my crystal and spin it in my hand. “I need a favor. Need surveillance videos or images or anything you have on a specific location. A person, if possible.”

“As you can see, I’m busy. Ask Mike. He’ll be here in a few hours.”

“I’d like to get this resolved as soon as possible.”

“Why, oh why, did you join me here if you have nothing smart to add to the mystery equation that is our screwed-up map.”

Dreikx, a careful wordsmith, crafts what comes out of his mouth. I note the use ofourinstead ofmy. He’s not convinced his control is malfunctioning. “Give me your crystal.”

“Whatever for?”

“Let me look at it.”

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