The women relayed their stories in turn, leaving Maria stunned at all they’d been through. It almost made her own ordeal feel less horrible by comparison.
“Wait, so you’re saying you are both bonded to alien guys?”
“Yep,” Darla said with a broad grin.
“Guilty as charged,” Shalia added, equally chipper.
“And it was this Infala thing that did it?”
Darla nodded. “Oh, yeah. And let me tell you, if you think you’ve had good sex before, the intensity of an Infala bond is just off the charts.”
Shalia nodded emphatically. “Amen, sister. I mean, I know we’re already on another planet, but damn, it really is otherworldly good.”
“And the way you can feel each other’s reactions?”
“I know. It’s just… Mmm! I can’t get enough of him.”
“Me either,” Darla agreed. She noticed Maria’s mood had shifted, souring for no reason. At least no reason she could think of. “Hey, you okay? Was it something we said?”
“No, it’s fine. It’s just you make it sound so amazing, and here I am with a busted Infala. And intentionally at that.”
Darla’s cheer shifted to protective rage. “What? That’s ahugeno-no. What happened? Who did this to you?”
Maria explained her situation as well as how Zepharos had noticed the subtle trick the chancellor’s Skrizzit had played on her.
“It’s okay though. Rohanna said she was going to have her Skrizzit fix it.”
Darla shook her head emphatically. “Nonsense. Heydar will do it.”
“Wait, I know that name. Is he the prince?”
Darla blushed. “Yeah. And before you ask, yes, he is all that and a bag of chips. A hundred bags. A thousand, and you already met him on the ship. He’s the one who put the translation runes behind all our ears.”
“That big golden-tan guy? He’s your mate?”
“Yep. And when he hears what they did to you, he’ll want to make it right. He’s talented with the pigments, and he’ll have you right as rain in no time.”
“But Rohanna?—”
“Will understand. After what the Raxxians did to us, he takes it kind of personally and I know he’ll want to fix what was done to you with his own hands. He gets protective like that. And speak of the Devil, there he is, along with Valin.”
Two men stood at the far edge of the area, watching and talking among themselves but leaving the women to their meeting. Darla waved them over.
“Babe, this is Maria. They fucked up her Infala! On purpose! You’ve gotta help her out,” Darla called to him as he drew near.
“They didwhat?” he asked, his eyes flaring with indignation. “Show me.”
Darla kept talking while Maria lifted her top, utterly unselfconscious. Not with these people. “Someone gave her runes but left her Infala improperly connected. I told her you’d fix it.”
Heydar leaned in close, examining the runes. “Quality work. This was clearly not an accident.”
Valin, Shalia’s mate, was standing at his side and he seemed equally incensed. “Who did this to her?”
Shalia moved close to him, almost as if magnetically drawn to her mate. “It was some asshole at the, what are they called again? Hurkin Games?”
“Husken Games,” Maria corrected.
“Ah, the elites,” Valin said, shaking his head. “No surprise there.” He turned to Heydar. “Can you fix it?”
