I peeked around Kai’s arm to see Helion and the thing staring at each other as the Prillon activated a communication device and rattled off a bunch of code words and numbers I didn’t understand. When he was done, an officer I assumed was stationed wherever this blue prisoner was being held was on the line.
“Commander Helion?”
“Yes. This is Helion. Who am I speaking to?”
“Elite Hunter Kayn, sir.”
“Kayn, good. Nexus 5 has infiltrated our systems. Eliminate him now.”
“Yes, Commander.” The communication seemed to go dead.
“Who’s Kayn?” I asked.
Willow’s soft voice was easy to hear in the silent tension escalating in the room. “He’s an Elite Hunter. From Everis. He’s worked with Zarren for years. He’s good. One of the best.”
Elite Hunters. Yes, I’d read something about them, too. For about a week, Lavender and I had contemplated volunteering to be brides. The fact that we’d probably be separated had been the deciding factor against. Didn’t mean we hadn’t scoured all the literature, and all the possible mates we might end up with. Now that I had Kai, I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.
We watched on screen as the blue prisoner’s cell door slid open to reveal a striking male I assumed was Kayn. I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight. I didn’t want to watch.
Open your eyes. This one cannot harm me.
“He says—” I stopped mid-warning, eyes open just as Kayn lifted some type of blaster and fired at the blue Nexus unit. The blast went through the blue male and singed the wall behind him like he wasn’t even there.
Did he just make himself translucent, like a ghost? What?
Translocation is the human term. I can be, and have been, in multiple places during my time as Zarren’s prisoner.
I turned to Thomar and the others who said they could hear him. “Are you guys hearing all this?”
“Yes.” Thomar scowled. “The Nexus units are much more dangerous than we realized.” He looked at Helion. “By holding him at Core Command, I believe we gave him access to everything in the I.C.’s database. Everything.”
“Fuck.” Helion ran a hand through his hair. Willow glared at the blue alien on the screen with a hatred so intense it had to be personal.
“Who’s Zarren?” I asked. Too many names in this room already.
“I am.” Helion lifted his blaster and took a step away from the screen before firing his weapon. The screen shattered. It made no difference as the Nexus unit relocated his image to another screen. Helion blasted it. The Nexus unit moved again..
“Fuck. Take cover.” Helion destroyed every screen in the room.
I waited for the weird tugging, magnetic feeling in my head to go away. Nothing changed. I could still feel him. “He’s still here.”
“Of course I am.” Nexus 5 shimmered into existence in the center of the room and held out his hand to me. “Come, Larkspur.”
Fuck that. I took two steps backward, away from that blue hand. “No.”
Kai’s beast roared and charged at the threat.
Nexus 5 lifted a black eyebrow—he looked oddly human—and Kai dropped to the ground, hands over his ears. His bellow of pain joined the cries of the other integrated males as they all crumbled to the floor in obvious agony. Willow and Danika stumbled and dropped to their hands and knees as well until only Rachel and I remained standing, staring at each other.
“What do we do?” I yelled the question as alarmed voices rose from outside the room. Was this Nexus unit attacking everyone on the base? Everyone on the planet? Was he really here in the flesh or was he some kind of projection?
“I don’t know!” Rachel knelt next to her mates. “Maxim? Can you hear me?”
“Why aren’t you in pain like the others?” I asked her.
“I’m human. No integrations. I don’t think he has a way into my head.”
That made sense. But he obviously had a way into my head. So why wasn’t I in pain as well? Was it because he chose not to hurt me? Did he truly think I would ever want to go with him? Because that was insane.
