Page 57 of Keran's Dawn

I smiled, my chest warming with deep affection. “I care deeply about you, too, Keran. You’re stuck with me for a while.”

He drew me into his embrace and gave me an almost desperate kiss. The sound of his chaser’s engine starting broke the magic. With much reluctance, we broke the kiss. He pressed his forehead to mine for one more second before releasing me.

Keran remained next to my shuttle until I got in and settled in the pilot’s seat. Eyes still locked with mine through the windshield, he slowly backed away. Goddess, I hated how much this felt like a farewell. We had taken every possible precaution.

“Everything will be fine,” I whispered to myself.

As soon as I took off, Keran hurried to his chaser. They took flight in seconds, their much larger vessel vanishing moments later as they went into stealth mode. Even knowing that they were trailing me, not being able to see them anymore made me feel vulnerable.

Halfway to our destination, our joint communication channel came to life with Thanor, one of the scouts, giving us an update.

“The hybrids have started arriving. Jardan is going to lose it when he finds out who is greeting them,” Thanor said. “It’s one of his Guldan trainers, Nirkon Harag.”

The curses emitted by the others through the com echoed my sentiment. Nirkon had been working with Jardan for nearly two decades and was his right hand. Never in a million years would I have suspected foul play from him.

“That explains a few things,” I said with sudden understanding. “Jardan has been receiving tons of large equipment for his training camp. Nirkon signed off on most of those deliveries. He probably smuggled that deployable building among their other shipments.”

“Knowing he would get away with it as Jardan blindly trusts him,” Keran said with disgust. “Good job, Thanor. Anything else?”

“Nothing for now. There are over one hundred hybrids present now. Still no threat detected on my radar.”

“Keep us posted,” Keran said.

“Acknowledged. Thanor out.”

Finding a new resolve in this revelation, I completed the flight to the rendezvous, righteous anger burning in my gut. That son of a bitch had been training these men for weeks, picking and choosing his unsuspecting targets. We’d all wondered where and how those abductions were taking place without leaving any trace, not even a message where they’d agreed to meet with someone somewhere.

There had been no traceable communication because that vermin had likely asked them in person to meet for more intensive one-on-one training, or to meet with a ‘client’ outside of training hours. They would have had no reason to doubt Nirkon or to suspect foul play.

As soon as I landed my shuttle in a free spot in the clearing, I powered down the engine and walked to the door. Even though we’d tested my wire a million times, I gave it a last test.

“Going in,” I whispered. “Are you receiving this?”

“Loud and clear. Good luck,” Keran replied, his voice coming through my earpiece covered by my long hair.

After a deep, fortifying breath, I exited the shuttle and made my way to the building. It was insanely tall for Haven. Most of the constructions here were either single or two-story buildings. This one not only had three, but each also seemed incredibly high, at approximately four meters.

A few more shuttles landed as I headed for the entrance. Unlike Nirkon—who frowned upon noticing my approach—most of the hybrids smiled, pleasantly surprised to see me. The rays of the setting sun gave Nirkon’s heavy black horns a dreamy glow. But his dark brown eyes took on a guarded glint. He was undoubtedly trying to come up with a way to bribe me into keeping his involvement secret from Jardan.

I gave him a sickly-sweet smile and plastered the most innocent look on my face. “Sen Harag, what a surprise to see you here.”

“I can say the same about you, Sana Merrick,” he replied with forced enthusiasm. “The invitation was forhybridsonly.”

“I’m well-aware,” I said in a sing-song voice. “Some of us don’t wear our genetics on our faces.”

Nirkon froze, his eyes ever-so-slightly widening with sudden understanding. His gaze roamed over my face before lingering on my broad shoulders as he was finally seeing what had been right before him this whole time. His face took on a speculating expression that made me extremely uneasy.

Although Keran wasn’t speaking through my earpiece, I suspected he was raging about me revealing my secret to Nirkon. But I couldn’t risk him turning me away. Whatever he wanted with hybrids, I needed him to include me in the process so that we could get to the bottom of it all. And with all my friends here, he couldn’t pull any stunt on me. Anyway, I’d be heading to Braxia with Keran soon. It was beyond time to put this secret to rest.

“Right,” Nirkon said with a calculating look. “Then do come in and enjoy the refreshments. You should find this meeting quite… revealing.”

With these enigmatic words, he turned his attention to the other hybrids still arriving.

As I entered the room, I absentmindedly adjusted the choker adorning my neck. The gem concealed a camera which allowed Keran and his men to see all that was happening.

To my surprise, the floor was covered in the type of metal plates one usually found in a cargo hold or transport ship. Deployable dwellings usually had engineered wooden floors. It struck me then that the thick, sliding front doors had also resembled those of a vessel rather than those of a house or building.

Is this entire place a ship?

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