Page 45 of Tricked By the Alien Prince

Time seems to freeze as Volan slowly turns to face me, his luminous eyes flashing brilliantly. The floor beneath my feet feels unsteady, like the solid rock has suddenly turned to sand.

“Prince?” I repeat, my voice stronger this time, demanding an answer.

The guilt that crosses Volan’s face is unmistakable.

“You’re a prince,” I say flatly, backing away from him. It’s not a question anymore. The truth is written all over his face, in the guilty pulse of his luminae.

Not some random warrior who happened to cross my path in the marketplace. Not just any sulthari male looking for adventure. A prince. The betrayal cuts deep, reopening wounds I thought had begun to heal.

The trust I’d so carefully built with Volan—that I’d fought my own fears and past traumas to offer him—begins to crack. All this time, he’s kept this from me. Let me believe he was someone else. Someone I could trust as an equal.

I’d opened up to him, told him things I’d never told anyone. I’d shared my body with him, my fears, my quest. And he couldn’t even tell me who he really was?

I feel like such a fool. Again. How many times will I let myself be betrayed before I learn? My father. James. Walter. And now Volan. Always men hiding their true intentions, always using me for their own purposes.

No one ever cares about me!

I wrap my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold. I’d thought Volan was different. I’d started to believe that maybe, just maybe, I could trust someone again.

I should have known better.

ChapterTwenty-Six

MAYA

“Maya, I can explain…” Volan says, taking a step towards me. He’s staring down at me with wide eyes, panicked.

My gaze jumps between his eyes, searching. Zoran’s wrong. It can’t be true; Volan’s just another guy like me. He’s not anyone special. He certainly isn’t some prince. He would have told me if he was…

And he definitely wouldn’t keep a secret like this from me, not after everything we’ve been through.

But as I stare up at him, his expression all but confirms it.

“Just give me a moment to deal with them, and I’ll explain everything. Please, Maya.”

I back away until my back hits the wall. If I make a run for it now, will I get away, or will Volan chase me?

Of course, that thought sends an unexpected pulse through my body. Bad Maya!

The reality staring me in the face is far more bitter. It all makes sense now—his unexplained absence this morning when I briefly woke up, the way he was so eager to bring me to this lab, how he somehow knew exactly where we were going without consulting my map. His movements too confident, his knowledge too precise.

I press a hand against my chest, feeling the rapid beat of my heart. Everyone’s been lying to me, keeping me in the dark. The council at Eve’s Rest... and now Volan.

He lied to me.

“Right then,” Melvall claps his hands. “You’ve clearly got some talking to do. We’ll just be over here...”

Volan’s hand snags the male’s collar as he tries to step past towards the medical equipment. Still, Volan’s eyes don’t leave mine.

I tear my gaze away, unable to meet that stare.

Volan growls, a sound that I’m becoming all too familiar with, as he turns towards Melvall. “Look, you can’t just take the medicine whenever you want. It takes time to make it. We are doing our best to ensure that those who really need it get it first.”

“By making males fight to the death for your entertainment in the fight pits?” Melvall sneers.

My eyes widen. Despite the chaos of thoughts flying through my head, I don’t miss that little detail. Disbelief courses through me. Surely not... but Volan doesn’t deny it. The look he casts my way... it’s pure frustration.

He didn’t want me to know. It’s confirmed that he’s been keeping things from me.

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