Page 102 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
The shudder from the Gladiux’s main guns goes through the ship, but there’s no sound. A ray of white briefly connects my ship to the small Vyrpy ship, and then there’s only a debris field left of it.
“Good hit from the first shot,” the weapons officer reports. “Target destroyed.Completelydestroyed, in fact.”
“Good aiming,” I praise her. “Now let’s slow down and let some of the other ships of our fleet get some gunnery practice, too.”
“Yes, sir,” the navigation officer says. “We have time.”
Umbra.Shadow.But what she brought into my life wasn’t darkness. It waslight. A light I haven’t seen for a long time,and had no hope of seeing again. With Terieli, a got a short glimpse of it. But that was a young love, raw and wide-eyed and uncritical. With Umbra, things are different. It’s an adult, calm and certain love that burns with a constant, white-hot passion.
And to my astonishment, I eventrusther! We’ve fought together so many times now. If she was going to betray me, she already had every chance to do that. And the Soulbound thing is obviously real, despite the Syntrix being so quiet now.
A coldness settles in the pit of my stomach. I left her. Shes alone in a slike’s nest. Stuck in one place, locked up. Byme.
“Sir, thePilumreports target destroyed,” the tactical officer says. The other, bigger ships in our task force pass us, their gun turrets rotating to track the enemy.
I tap my lips. This all seems too easy. And that doesn’t look like the full Vyrpy fleet.
An unpleasant suspicion goes through my mind. No, it’s too far-fetched. But if it isn’t…
“Let’s fall back to the rear,” I order, starting to worry for real. “We have to see where this could be going.”
41
- Umbra-
“No kidding,” I snarl and aim the awkwardly shaped gun-slash-knife at Nerox, blade and muzzle first. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m getting you out of the danger,” he says, hands still held up.
I take a moment to collect myself. He’s not holding a weapon, and there’s nobody else here. But he does have a sword in his belt, and the other rooms in the fake apartment could be full of goons.
“How did you get in here?” I demand, my voice flat from the deep sleep I was just ripped out of.
He shrugs, not looking too concerned by having my gun pointed at him. “I know the palace better than anyone. This is not the building I would have picked to keep you in, but Mareliux was in a hurry. Don’t judge him too harshly. He means well.”
“Uh-huh. That’s not really an answer. Where are the Calanians?”
One of his tendrils points behind him, towards the living room. “They’re outside, where they’re supposed to be. And I highly recommend you don’t alert them. The Calanian Guards are no longer your friends. Or mine. Or Mareliux’s. And that isextremelybad news.”
“For all I know, this could all be a lie,” I tell him. “If anything happens to me, only you stand to gain anything from it.”
“Then why aren’t you dead already?” he asks. “You were fast asleep when I entered this room. Even your AI noticing me wouldn’t have stopped me from tossing a grenade on you or cutting your head off. Or I could have filled the room with deadly gas. Notice that I did none of those things. Umbra, this is urgent enough as it is. I understand your reluctance, but I am really trying to save your life.”
I try to wake my sluggish mind up properly. “What is the danger? Who’s behind it?”
“The danger is that you’re locked up in a place where you’re guarded by your worst enemies. All they need is an order, and they’ll kill you. It could happen at any time.”
“Why do you care?”
He drops his hands. “Because I’m in the same situation. And I have been for many years. This whole palace is not what it seems. Change into the darkest attire you have. Bring that larger gun that I know you have, with its holster. Make sure your AI shuts up.”
My mind is racing. The grogginess is completely gone.
He seems sincere. And it is true that he could have killed me before now. But he may just want to take me to a place where hecan keep me prisoner and blackmail Mareliux. Everyone has told me how devious this guy is. With Mareliux gone, he’ll be the next emperor. And that Tentacle Throne is clearly worth killing for.
I point the gun to the side of him instead of at his chest. “Where is it that you want to take me?”
He points to the ceiling. “Off Khav completely. Back to your home planet. Nothing here is safe for you.”
