Page 87 of Seeded By Two

“Because we had a war with them recently. We won and the negotiations were wrapped up right before the Prince came to the Seeding Facility. The terms weren’t good for them — better than they deserved, in fact — but I guess they decided they could improve them by kidnapping the Prince. They’re fools. They're going to kick off another war.”

I didn’t understand. “Why didn’t you recognize them before? Why did you only recognize them when you saw one of their dead bodies?”

“Because they’re Ukmat. They can take on the form of any creature of a similar size.”

And then it dawned on me. “Oh God…”

What have I done?

Feon looked up at me, eyes searching for my meaning.

“Earlier, when I ran away from you, I was approached by humans. Human males. I thought it was strange they would be here. Then they told me they were part of the ISA, that you and Aslas aren’t who you say you are. That you were spies carrying information that they needed to discover to save millions of people’s lives. They gave me tracking devices…”

I reached for the hem of my négligée and worked the two tiny balls loose.

He peered at them as if they were the devil.

“I didn’t do it!” I cried. “I didn’t plant them on you. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to leave instead. If something bad was going to happen to you, I didn’t want to be a part of it.”

I couldn’t help but cry, and hoped he wouldn’t hate me.

He took me in his arms. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault. This is my fault. This is all my fault.”

“What are we going to do?” I said. “They’ve got Aslas!”

He thought for a moment before shaking his head. “The Prince gave himself up to you — for us. We should not let his sacrifice be wasted.”

He fell back into the pilot chair and continued hacking the system. “We’ll get out of here and tell the Emperor about what happened. He’s wise and powerful. He’ll know what to do.”

Heavy footsteps thundered down the heavy grating floor as more of the huge lumbering beasts descended upon us.

Feon growled and accessed different controls and a moment later, the pod door slid shut.

“What are you doing?” I said. “If we’re trapped in here, it’s only going to make it easier for them to get us!”

“We’ve been trapped since we stepped on board this ship,” Feon said.

The speaker system emitted a high-pitched whine before an ugly snarl came over it. “We know you’re in there, Aslas. Hand yourself over and we will allow your female to go free.”

“What do they mean hand yourself over?” I said. “They already have the prince!”

“Yes, but they don’t know that. For all they know, the Prince could be me, a decoy. They will want us both. It’s the only way for them to be sure they have the Prince of the Krev.”

“Take it easy on yourself,” the voice snarled. “There’s no other way out of this. Hand yourself over. Remove the pod’s security and your fated female will be allowed to go free and unharmed.”

Feon shook his head.

I didn’t want him to hand himself over, didn’t want Aslas to do it either…

Not for me.

Feon dragged his eyes over my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Listen to me…”

He took a deep breath.

“Look, they’re going to take me—”

I whimpered pathetically.

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