Page 77 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
The bodyguard gets off us and places himself between the window and us. I get to my feet and help Umbra up. “Are you all right, my love?”
She straightens her dress. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
I look her up and down. She’s uninjured. “Did you control that?”
“I saw something coming,” she says. “Something nasty. And I didn’t want it to come closer. So I turned it around.”
“You turned it around,” I repeat her words. “Did you hear that, Caret’ax? She turned it around! Just like that. A missile bigger thanyou,travelling way faster than the speed of sound! Imagine the momentum it had! It shouldn’t be possible.”
“A powerful burst of Syntrix is the only thing that could do it, sir,” Caret’ax growls. “As I am slowly learning. I hope they don’t have more of those missiles.”
“Your Highness!” Calanian Guards come bursting in. “There was an attack!”
“We know that,” I tell them, straightening my belt. “A missile was fired at us from the bridge. It malfunctioned and turned around in the air before it hit the window.” I don’t want them to know that it was Umbra saving me again. It could be smart to keep her astonishing abilities secret. “Perhaps try to find who did it? You may not have to look far.”
30
- Umbra-
There’s not much of a view from the other apartment on this floor, which I think is more of a servant’s quarters. But that’s fine with me. I’m exhausted from the effort of turning that thing around. It happened mostly by itself. I knew there was danger, and I focused on it going away. Then the thing was moving the other way and exploded.
Mareliux embraces me firmly. “I’m sorry about all this. Two attempts on my life on the first day. But at least there will be no reception now. Nobody can expect us to go out after this.”
“What if we do?” I suggest, feeling brave. “What if we go to that reception, as a show of strength? We’re shrugging off attacks left and right, and then we go to a party. Won’t that demoralize whoever is doing this?”
He gives me a quick kiss on the ear. “Spoken like a princess and officer. But I wonder if it may make them more determined. So that the next attack becomes so powerful that even you can’t stop it.”
“Do you think it was the Empress?” I ask, because it is the obvious question, even if we’re being spied on and eavesdropped on. “She told us to watch the fireworks.”
Mareliux gives me a look that saysI absolutely think it was. “Chances are that we will never know who was behind it. It seems too crude for my mother. If it went wrong, we would immediately point the finger at her. She’s smarter than giving us an obvious clue like that.”
“Itdidgo wrong,” I point out, “and still it doesn’t sound as if you are going to point any fingers at her. Or any tendrils.”
“You don’t seem very worried,” my fake husband says. “You’re not even shaking.”
“It happened so fast,” I try to explain. “I didn’t have time to be afraid.”
It’s true. But there’s also something else. I’m starting to be confident about the Syntrix. Using it makes me feel powerful and strong in a way that I never have before. This is an actual superhero power. I can stop deadly attacks with my mind! And while the missile was heavy and hard to turn, I know I could have dealt with even bigger threats than that. It gave me a thrill like when the lackey tried to stab Mareliux and I pulled the weapon out of his hand. It’s starting to feel as if I’m invincible. And that feelsreallygood. This whole mission is looking much better now.
I put one hand on Mareliux’s chest. “You threw yourself on top of me. To protect me from the missile.”
“You’re my wife,” he says simply, before he bends down to kiss me.
“Lock the door,” I suggest, heat welling up in me. “Tell Caret’ax to admit nobody.”
His eyes light up as he gets it and does as I suggested. “Chances are they’re eavesdropping in here, too,” he says when he returns.
“Let them,” I state, sliding my hand down into his pants. “Let them hear this. Let them see it. Let them for once witness what realloveis like.”
- - -
I hide a yawn with my hand. “I was wondering, my love.”
Mareliux raises an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his gaze. “Yes?”
“That throne. The Tentacle Throne. Is it alive?”
He shifts, positioning me on top of him. “I think so. It’s a different kind of lifeform. It’s what the Emperor uses to send his Syntrix to our military forces, to keep them strong. When he is strong enough himself. I think we told you about that.”
