Page 15 of Alien Prince

“Gem—” he pauses, then looks at her, at me as I take the driver's seat and stand, pushing him with more force than necessary.

He's a friend. Please don't harm him...

Gemma pleads in my head, the fear fully fledged now as her memories flash like solar flares. Images of this man and her take front stage in my mind. She cares for the person who shot her, for the man responsible for the metal in her, for the title she will forever bear as a cyborg and no longer fully human.

“I'm sorry,” the man says, putting his hands up and backing away. “I thought you were someone else.” He walks away, slowly, his eyes full of pain and sadness. The sight causes our heart to lurch, our stomach to twist into knots, and I put as much distance between him and us as I can.

I get up from the bar, watching as he backs away, feeling the sharp claws of Gemini’s mental fight for control slicing away at my consciousness.

You said you’d let me go, she screams inside our head trying with every ounce of herself to not show her emotions outwardly but shaking and shattering the glass in her hand.

“You lied! You leave me, and then you jump back into me like you can’t make up your damn mind!” she cries, garnering looks from some of the men around us as the man who shot her disappears into the crowd.

“I told you that you wouldn’t let me go,” she whispers with hatred, barely containing her rage.

“I’ve changed my mind,” I say loudly, overtaking her vocals, not giving two shits if anyone hears us, and head for the door.

“Then so have I,” Gemini says and slams her consciousness into control, grabbing the man nearest to us and crushing her mouth to his.

My anger burns as I fight to regain control, but it’s no use.

You said I could leave, and you chose to leave me. Let. Me. Go.She screams into my head while still plastered to the drunk who can’t even keep up with her, sloppily kissing her face more than mouth. Her own disgust punches through the walls and I stop fighting. She seems to torture herself enough with the saliva covering her lips and chin. Finally she relents. I push away from the man and we storm out the door, leaving the slurring lowlife swaying on his feet behind us.

Chapter Nine

Gemma

Somewhere between Ky’s possession and the battle of my own will, it hits me that I am out of my league.

I’ve prepared for this mission, spent my entire life training for it, even. I’ve fallen under a false sense of security that my mind is stronger than most, that it is simple to put up a wall against the royal parasites, but as I kissed that drunk asshole toprovemy point that I was in control, Ky showed me who was really driving my meat suit.

I tried to resist his control, but in the moment, I was compromised. Emotional. I was weak, and his force was too strong. I felt like a puppet on a string, my movements dictated by some nebulous asshole. And when we finally arrive at one of the secluded sin pods, I know I am in trouble. The pods are reserved for the elite, those with deep pockets who can afford the exorbitant fees and the payoff to keep their activities hidden.

I’m not a stranger to the seedy alleys of Astronomica. Recruiting for the rebellion isn’t done in pretty little cafes and dining establishments, and half the place is practically crawling with criminals while the other half is composed of rebels like myself.

Like Raif…

No, you need to stop. Don’t go there, Gemini.

I try my hardest to maintain the invisible wall, but my body is hot, my mind a mess.

But all Ky does—or rather, allI do— is blink at the retinal scanner, and it opens immediately.

As I step inside the pod, a sense of dread washes over me. The rumors about these sin pods being where the darkest desires of the elite are carried out suddenly seems like a grim reality. I've never used a private sin pod before, being as I’m not rich or elite, and I certainly haven’t been propositioned to come back here.

Even if I would have, I’d likely deck a man bold enough to try and do so.

The fact that Ky has access to one is a gross yet intriguing revelation. The reality that he has been able to override my irises with his own for the retinal scanner to work is even more harrowing.

I am seriously out of my league, and I fucking hate him and everyone else for making me believe this mission would be simple.

Get in, get the intel, take down the pillars. One by one.

All I have to do is keep my head straight. But I am wrong. Dead wrong.

The door shuts with a resounding thud as the locks click into place and he speaks through our collective mouth, my voice laced with anger and a darkness that is foreign to me.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he growls.

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