“Great, I’ll come get you at eight if that’s alright?”
“Sounds awesome. Okay, Cas, let’s go find the grandpas, shall we?” Cas does a double take at the nickname, but he looks pleased, his eyes quickly changing to his beast’s before shifting back. I’m hoping that means he’s happy with the pet name too.
My mood has done a complete one-eighty, and I’m looking forward to seeing my grandpas even more now that I know the truth.We are family.Before we leave, I give Link a kiss on the cheek. He holds his hand against the spot I kissed with a look of wonder on his face as Caspian and I leave.
Link
Istare at the door long after Lila and Caspian leave, lost in my thoughts. I do hear Josa sneer something nasty to Lila, but she ignores the petty shit now that she knows the truth about my mother’s pathetic attempt to force me into an arranged marriage. Shaking my head, I take a seat at one of my consoles and skim through all the data I received from Lila’s scan. There’s still no sign of the ball of energy a Skarrian usually contains within themselves, nor are there any signs of it being contained within a spell or anything like that. I really am stumped. Maybe it has just been too long for her. The Skarrians who landed on Earth originally lost their powers, so maybe that’s what happened to Lila, but if that’s the case, she’s going to be in trouble. The thought alone sends tingles through my nervous system.
The Adams brothers are grooming her to take over the circus, which is a prestigious position to have, whether Lila knows it or not. Giving that role to a human is not going to go over well with the general Skar population, not to mention the rest of the galaxy. The galaxy tends to look down on Earthlings. They find the humans’ treatment of their lands abhorrent, and their lack of power makes them inferior in every way. The Adams brothers regularly deal with leaders of each planet, but they have power to back them up to maintain their dominance.
Lila is not going to have this.
The medical doctor in me acknowledges she does havesomeshifting abilities, even if she can’t go full kraken, but for now, that’s enough to cling onto. I think about the other marks on her shoulders. To be honest, it probably wouldn’t hurt for her to have a few powerful mates to back her up. Both my and the warlock’s marks have shown up, and between us, we both wield a fairly substantial amount of political power as well as physical power. Xavier is the crown prince, so there’s basically no one more powerful than him apart from his parents. I’m not completely sure about the warlock’s psychic feeding needs, however, and I’m not sure if Lila will be happy if Xavier needs to keep his harem. I should probably do research on what will sustain him so I can advise her of these things if need be.
Although I don’t have any magical abilities, I am the heir of one of the largest companies in the galaxy. Political power is practically at my fingertips. If I have to leave the circus and take up the mantle of Pleasure Bot Industries to help Lila, I would do it in a flash.
I push back from my console, a little surprised at where my thoughts just went. I never had any interest in being involved in the family business before, but I would choose that path for her. I guess it’s a testament to how attracted I am to Lila.
I hear murmurs out in the waiting room, so I must have a patient.
Standing, I pick up the subsonic cleaner and run the probe over the table Lila had been sitting on. It’s Josa’s responsibility between clients to come in and sanitize, but I suppose he’s still throwing a tantrum. His outburst the other day did nothing but clue me into my mother’s plans, and he is a fool for thinking he had me trapped. Talk about prematurely playing your hand.
I spoke to my father about my source code to see if it’s even possible for my mother to gain access, and he was horrified at the thought. He believes she was bluffing or that Josa made up the threat on his own. Although my parents are legally married, they are separated, but because Pleasure Bot Industries is my father’s family’s company, and my mother is the CEO, it’s a tangled web, so they stay legally married for the sake of the business.
He assured me he would investigate her claims and told me to speak to the Adams brothers about having Josa removed as my nurse. Relieving him of his duties would also mean he’d get booted from the ship. It’s not like he does anything except sneer at everyone who comes in, so there would be zero hardships.
I hear shouting and growling in the waiting room and hurry out to see who he has pissed off now. Standing in the middle of the waiting room are some of the lightning cats. Their fur stands on end, their pupils are constricted, and their annoyance with my nurse fills the space with palpable tension. As I look around, I realize all of the cats from their streak, bar the female, are here.
“What is going on?” I demand over the noise. The bickering abruptly stops as Josa whirls to face me, waving his arms to get my attention first. “Thesepussiesdo not have an appointment. Are we just forgetting about protocol now?” The permanent scowl on his face only deepens before he continues. “Need I remind you, Link, that they need appointments first or else they will not be seen? Ever since thatsluthuman came aboard, everything we’ve done in the past now goes out the window.”
A low rumbling menacing growl starts after Josa calls Lila a slut, but I can’t pinpoint which one the noise is coming from. Who knows? It could have been from all of them.
“For fuck’s sake, Josa, get your head out of your ass. There’s no one else here, and I know for a fact there’s no one on the schedule today. I think you should take the rest of the day off and get yourself together.” I step closer to him, making sure my next line is delivered with direct eye contact. “You seem to be coming unhinged, Josa. Maybe I need to run a diagnostic onyou,” I threaten, and his arms drop as he shakes his head, releasing a scoff.
“This human is going to be the end of you, Link. Mark. My. Words.” He accentuates the last three words. “Your mother will not stand for you messing with a human. She may be the heir to the Galaxy Circus, but there’s no way the Adams are going to hand it to her with no powers, and if they do, there will be hell to pay. People will stop supporting the circus and its mission,” he warns, but again, he overplays his hand. He’s been snooping in confidential patient files and has given me the perfect opportunity to have him dismissed, which makes me smile.
“Run along now, Josa. I have patients to see,” I tell him, and he growls almost as impressively as the cats and storms out. I’m sure if he could slam the office door, he would, but it’s just not possible with the sliding doors on the ship, so his attempt at a dramatic exit is anticlimactic.
Turning to the waiting streak, I put a smile on my face. “I’m so sorry for the poor service and wait time. Would you like to come through? Are you all here together, or am I seeing you one at a time?” I look at the five men before stopping on Maxsim. He’s usually the spokesperson when Natalia isn’t around.
“All of us, if you wouldn’t mind.” His accent is thick, and his voice is a growly gruff sound that makes your toes curl. Even though my interest lies in Lila, I can’t deny how sexy this man is.
“Alright, come on in. I can’t say I’m not surprised to see you. You’ve been with the circus for a couple of rotations now and this is the first time.” I don’t hide the curiosity in my voice.
This streak of lightning cats has been very distant. None of them have gone out of their way to socialize with the crew, and Natalia becomes a rabid beast if anyone tries to approach them.
I lead them into my exam room. “Please get comfortable. There are chairs, or if you want, you can hop up on the exam table,” I offer, and they take a moment to get situated. Maxsim and Echo, the pure white cat, both sit close together on the exam table I just wiped down. Their nostrils flare, so I guess the probe cleaned it but didn’t remove her scent as well.
Trace, Fuse, and Sim all take chairs around the room, but they are silent, and they also won’t look me in the eye. Something is up with this streak, I just need to wait them out. Trust is not easily earned, and since this is the first time I’ve seen them as patients, I have to show them I’m trustworthy.
“We would like you to check our birth control, please,” Maxsim asks, his voice a quieter pitch than usual. He’s looking at the door to the reception like he’s worried Josa is going to violate my direct order and come back.
I hold up a finger and go over to the door, pressing the soundproofing button, and the soundproof barrier flips into place.
“Why would you think that there’s something wrong with your birth control?” I inquire, looking around the group. Lightning cats are required to be on birth control until they officially mate or form an official streak. It stops any unwanted pregnancies, which is a huge shame in their society. Some lines within the lightning cat society are puritanical, and breeding outside of mating, or breeding with a different species, would be cause for banishment.
Again, the three sitting on chairs won’t look at me, and Echo and Maxsim exchange a glance. Echo sighs. “Natalia wants to force a mating with the five of us, but none of us are interested. She’s been especially territorial this week after the boss men’s granddaughter arrived.” Echo’s voice is less growly than Maxsim’s and much gentler.
