Page 26 of Surrendering Her Heart

A chill snakes down my spine. I exchange a glance with Ziva, who frowns.

“Clarify,” Angota orders.

The Eye exhales as if disappointed. He looks directly at the camera, which I thought was hidden, but as the former leader of the Order it figures that he’d know where it is.

“You were blind to it, weren’t you? So busy surviving, you forgot to look up.”

My fingers dig into my arms. What the hell is he talking about?

“You think we don’t watch the stars?” Angota counters. “We have always watched. You have always watched. What changed?”

He leans forward as much as his restraints allow.

“The ones who left returned.”

Who? Who left? Who returned? Left where?

My stomach drops. My mind races, trying to put the pieces together, but I don’t have enough of them yet. Angota doesn’t move, doesn’t react. He lets the silence stretch until the Eye finally exhales sharply through his nose.

“The ships will return,” he says. “They will come because they know now. Tajss is no longer left in the wake of the Devastation, no longer forgotten. Now it is a beacon. They will come again, making us into slaves and raping the planet for epis. I cannot let them take what is ours.”

I barely breathe. My heart is in my throat as fear swells. An invasion? Seriously? But he’s not saying it’s a possibility. He believes this. That it’s coming. Zamis shifts beside me, his tail brushing against my ankle which brings some comfort that I desperately need.

“How long?” Angota asks.

The Eye’s smile returns, but it’s sharper now, cruel.

“Not long enough. Not anymore.”

The air in the room turns suffocating. The weight of what he’s saying settles on my chest.

Angota’s tail twitches, rasping on the metal floor. He slowly tilts his head to one side then leans closer.

“This was the plan? Kidnapping the humans, forcing them to…” he chokes on the words, unable to say them. My stomach clenches so tight it hurts. “Your idea… crossbreeds… that was the way to stop them?”

“They are the only thing that will let us survive,” he says, his expression hardening.

Nyanna inhales sharply. I clench my jaw so hard it aches. Angota crouches, bringing himself eye level with the Eye. His voice drops, almost gentle.

“Your plan… it is evil. You know this. We could not... it is… wrong,” Angota says, the speed of his twitching tail accenting his agitation.

The Eye leans forward. The intensity on his face makes my blood run cold because I see a true zealot. Someone who thinks their ideas are so important as to override anyone and anything in their way.

“You have a better one?” he hisses. “The Devastation killed all of us. You think I like being the only one? All the tests failed. I can’t do my duty to Tajss. We say Tajss provides, but not on its own. We have to sacrifice for it. This price you say you can’t pay, it’s a small one. Do your duty, Angota. Set me free.”

What did he mean by that?I look at Zamis but he’s frowning every bit as deeply as I am.

“The only one?” Angota asks, latching onto it the same as I did. “What does that mean? There are lots of us surviving.”

“Lots ofyou,” the Eye spits. “Not lots ofme.”

“You make no sense. You’re a Zmaj, what do you?—”

Angota stops mid-sentence and Zamis inhales sharply. Angota stumbles backwards until he is mostly out of view on the monitor, only the corner of his shoulder can be seen.

“It cannot be,” Angota says.

“What?” I ask, cold chills trailing down my spine.

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