Page 59 of Star Protectors (My Alien Mates 3)

That was true.

"Right." I exhaled.

"What do we need to do?" J'avet directed the question to all of the Iri. Or—whatever they were now. "We need to get to whoever or whatever is behind the nanobots."

Whatever?I thought. Shit, Please don't let there be a giant computer at the centre of all of this. That might be difficult to destroy.

Maybe it was a crazy person who hid behind a curtain, giving orders, like in WizardofOz.

"There is a place," Slek said. "Down."

"Deeper underground?" J'avet asked. "Show us."

Slek stood still.

"Show us," Navor said uncomfortably.

Slek turned away, toward the doorway.

"He only follows the orders of the person who used the device on him," Hamit said.

"I don't care," J'avet said. "As long as he leads us there. The rest of you, tell your Iri to follow, blasters in hand. We should look like prisoners."

We quickly did as he said, but I hated turning my back on Danec, even for a moment. I wanted to drink in the sight of him. His hair was longer, and his skin silver, but he was still one of the guys I loved. Slek too, but I could watch his ass as I walked. Dammit, I missed that ass.

"Did you find a way off this rock?" J'avet asked.

"Yes, we did," Brinley replied. "Slek showed us a ship we can take. It seems to be in working order."

Seems to be?Well, she would know. And Slek. I certainly wouldn't.

J'avet ran a hand over his head. I thought he might suggest Brinley and I leave, get to safety. I was ready to argue, but while his lips moved, no words came out. He must be thinking hard.

"These disconnectors can be used more than once," he said. "Navor, you have more than one connected to yours?"

"Yes," Navor replied. "At least, Slek's bots haven't regained control again."

Slek grinned. "Nope. They're pissed off about it too."

"Good," J'avet said, looking satisfied. "We may need to disconnect more."

"A lot more," I said. Wasn't that the point here? Disconnect, then free the hosts.

That reminded me of a conversation I had with Slek some time ago. "Slek, do you like being a host?"

He must have remembered the conversation, because he grimaced. "I consent to them being deactivated when the time comes. They can fuck right off."

I smiled. That was him all right, sass and all. "We'll be happy to oblige." Over my shoulder I said, "Danec, how about you?"

"I-I want them gone." His speech was strained. "When…when."

"When it's time to get rid of them?" I asked.

"Yes, when," he agreed. "We need to…to end them."

"We will," I promised. We would end every nanobot and free all the Freytauri to live their own lives again.

"We need to go that way," Slek said. He headed down the corridor to the left of the stairs, toward another set of stairs. "Time to go down."

I grinned. Same old flirty Slek, bots or no bots.

I took a deep breath and followed him down.

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