Page 79 of Alien Prince Fake Fiancé

Ashlyn kept herself from reacting by sheer dint of will and the belief that if she showed the slightest weakness, a hint of fear, or disgust, she would be next. She yawned with feigned boredom and turned toward the area where she’d heard the male’s voice.

Seated casually in a chair, a man with silvery gray hair, and eyes colder than any living creature’s had a right to be, watched her with a single minded focus that was unnerving. His skin was a pale gray, his lips slightly blue, as if he lacked oxygen, and his smile was marred only by four overly large, pointy, upper canines––two on each side.

His charcoal gray suit was obviously tailored, expensive, and looked like it came straight out of Gentlemen’s Quarterly.Weird.Kinda looks like really good vampire makeup, too. Don’t the undead have dark circles under their eyes, though? Oh. Fuck. No. He. Isn’t. Think, Ashlyn, think––preferably before he eats you. Is he one of the undead, for real? The A’Nua Na-KI? No. That’s crazy. Zade said they rarely showed themselves. This asshole might be one of their servants. Yeah, I’d buy that.

She looked back at the three dead Councilors. She had so many questions and didn’t dare ask any of them. She had no idea what C’Nar knew and didn’t know, including how familiar she should be with the man in front of her. Go for snarky. That was C’Nar’s default, wasn’t it? “If you intended to kill me, I would already be in one of those chairs, so what do you want?”

“There are a few artifacts you will procure for me.”

Ashlyn’s brow rose in surprise. Wisely, she stayed silent.

The male’s lip curled in derision. “These artifacts are rare.”

She nodded in understanding. Rare meant they wouldn’t be easy to acquire. Make that damn near impossible. “Which artifacts?”

“First, you will find and retrieve a Lumerian orb.”

“And the next?”

“An ancient device. It’s called the Black Star.”

“Where will I find these treasures?”

The man’s smile failed to reach his dead eyes. “Earth.”

“That might be difficult. The Caldorians are protecting Earth.”

“Don’t worry about them,” he smirked. “They are too busy scouring the galaxies for their missing commander and preparing for war against the Dark Ones to worry about what’s happening on one obscure little planet.”

How could she have forgotten about Commander Bashall? She’d been so busy with her own mess, she hadn’t been focused on the missing Caldorian at all.No wonder Bone Crusher had revealed they were holding him prisoner. They wanted everyone to see he was being tortured and already half dead. They’d literally been dangling him like the proverbially carrot. Bait.A cold chill ran down her spine. She used all of her acting skills not to react, nodded like they were discussing the weather and asked casually, “What about the humans?”

“We will continue to pay premium prices for the females, provided they are of breeding age. So far, your stock has been excellent.”

“Time frame?”

“You have until the winter solstice. If you don’t have the Black Star by then and we are forced to delay our plans, you will suffer the same fate as your partners. We will not tolerate failure.”

“Anything else?”

The gray man tapped one nail, dried with blood, on the table. “You are certain you have control over Councilor Faro?”

Ashlyn took a moment to answer. Who was this man? What did he know about the challenge she and Zade went through? Had he been there, watching? Was he one of the many Councilors? She’d only met a few. He seemed well informed,whether he was actually there or not.Assume he knows everything that happened.“She ran straight for the Dark One like a bitch in heat, didn’t she?”

The man’s cold eyes took on a calculating look. “If you were responsible for that, perhaps she can be more useful than we thought.”

Ashlyn smirked. “As I said, I’ve lost nothing.”

Smiling dangerously, the asshole said, “We’ll see. Command her to negotiate a new trade agreement between Cappra and Earth.”

“Why would I want to do that? They’re primitive.”

“No particular reason. A simple test of your control over her.”

“What do you want her to trade?”

He shrugged. “Offer that fungus your people are so proud of.”

“In exchange for?”

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