When I mentioned it to Blor, he didn’t need to think about it at all and wasn’t concerned about his own safety.
Instead, he had only one question on his lips:
“But Lizzy will be safe, right?”
When I guaranteed that she would be, he said:
“Then there’s nothing we need to discuss.”
And that was the end of it.
We continued on to the center of the Hive empire that was referred to as the Center.
On the surface, every Hive colony looked like every other advanced planet with a living, thriving species.
But there were obvious differences if you cared to look:
There were never any arguments or fights or wars, never any disputes.
On the surface, it might appear like a utopia, but they had their own problems:
There was never any conversation or creativity, never any displays of emotion or forms of entertainment.
Everything the Hive knew, everything it had developed, had been built on the backs of the free-thinking species dotted throughout the universe.
It was for this reason that I sensed the Hive would never completely overthrow every species — it needed their ability to think creatively to continue expanding throughout the universe.
“You have been cleared to enter the Center,” the familiar Hive monotone voice of an air space controller said.
“Here we go,” I said to Blor, who looked even more uncomfortable in his lawyerly getup than me.
I set us down on a landing platform and touched up our disguises a little before lowering the hatch door.
“Just remember,” I said. “Stay calm. We’re here to rescue Lizzy. That’s ouronlypurpose. Stay quiet and don’t say anything. I’ll handle the conversation.”
He let out a breath and I realized he was more nervous now than I had ever seen him before.
I turned to descend down the ramp when Blor said:
“Wait. There’s something I want to say.”
He didn’t look at me as he said the words that spilled from his lips but I could tell it was something he’d had bottled up inside during the journey to the Center.
“If this doesn’t work out, if this doesn’t go the way we hope it will, and I get caught… I want you to take care of Lizzy. I know you’re not fated mates and I know she would be a hell of a lot happier with me than you… but as a second choice, Lizzy could do a lot worse.”
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.
They were words I never thought I would hear from him but they pleased me no end.
I squeezed his shoulder and he quickly shrugged it off.
“Not that I intend on dying at any point,” he added.
I chuckled and nodded my head. “In that, we’re both agreed. So let’s make sure you don’t die so you can carry out your fated mate duties.”
It still made me sad to think of someone other than me with Lizzy, but if that alien male had to be someone, then it might as well be Blor.
He had risked his life for Lizzy just as many times as I had.