He drops that bombshell casually, and although I’m still in shock and I can see that Tirrian and Silac are too, Saxon doesn’t look as surprised. I’m guessing he probably already knew about the orb. He has been mated to Lila almost from the beginning, so I’m sure it’s already come up in conversation.
“That has to be why my father was so insistent that someone from our family needed to be in the circus and why so many royal families have offspring performing in the circus.”
“Yes, Liliana was insistent many years ago that we needed to foster good relations with some of the bigger races. She claims she didn’t know why at the time, just that she had a vision that insisted it happen. We think it was so Lila would have all the protection she needs against the Syndicate. Let’s face it, no matter who the members are, none are going to be more powerful than the ones she has in her harem,” John says, confirming what Link suspected.
“Okay, we will come up with a plan, discuss it with the rest of our family, and let you know. We have that one stop at Vilax that we can’t avoid. Lila insists we go forward without anything hanging over our heads, and that is the last problem we need to deal with,” Tirrian informs the three men.
“Yes, and then we’ll head directly to Earth. I think Magenta would be the right person to put in charge of organizing the circus in Asia while we make our stealth attack on Area 51.”
“No alien gets left behind, and you need to make it crystal clear to the authorities that they can’t let this happen again. Wewill install one of our own at their base to coordinate with them. No more human liaisons,” William says firmly, and we nod.
“Agreed. I actually have a friend who might be interested in the position—obviously not the one who sold me out. He will be dealt with while we’re there, I’m almost certain he didn’t get what he bargained for and ended up in captivity with a collar around his neck like I had. Another one of my teammates would be the perfect fit. He’s as tough as nails but has the right kind of compassion and isn’t judgmental, so he would judge a person by their actions, not their species.”
“I think you need to coordinate with Aura once you get underway. They will want to take back the Pleasure Inn from the aliens Smith installed in there. Stay out of that, it’s none of our business, and they can take care of that mess themselves. We have too much on our plate to get involved,” Eric instructs.
“And with their combined powers, they should have no trouble overthrowing their enemies. They wouldn’t have been able to even get that far if Mark and Susie hadn’t been involved last time. Xane should have just fogged their minds and sent them on their way,” William grumbles, and I cough uncomfortably.
“That was my fault. I had that collar on and had to do what Smith demanded. He threatened to unleash my berserker side if they didn’t cooperate. They did what they had to in order to protect their clients and staff.”
“Smith will go down, I promise. Let’s see how brave he is when he’s faced with a wrathful mate posing as a Madovian. I bet she eats him right up.” Tirrian snickers, and Silac blanches.
“Let’s hope that’s all she does to him.” The rest of the men wince at the thought of what Madovians like to do to men, but to be honest, that would be the perfect karma for a man hellbent on breeding his own army.
CHAPTER SIX
Lila
My grandmother’s last words leave me shaken and distressed, and I feel tears well in my eyes as I shake my head. “But why me? Why can’t you give it to Phillip or Fiona?”
“Oh, honey…” My grandmother tries to get out of bed, but she’s still weak, and Zeydan jumps up to stop her. “Well then, you go and hug her,” she snaps at him, almost making me smile as he rolls his eyes and resettles her before scooping me up. He returns to his chair and settles me in his lap, stroking my hair and whispering words of reassurance to me.
“But I’m only a quarter divine as well,” I argue. “I’m no more divine than them.” I feel Zeydan stiffen underneath me, and not in the fun way.
“Well, actually, you’re a little more divine because you’re mates with Zeydan and now hold a small sliver of his divinity within you.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers and presses a kiss to my hair as I mull over the bomb they just dropped on me.
“But between the two of them, they are like half divine. Can’t you split the power between them?” I know my words are selfish. Phillip and Fiona would like to start over on Earth far away from the trauma that has been inflicted on them over the years, but I still voice it because hell, I don’t want it either.
“Are you really sure they are in the right head space to be divine? After everything they experienced at the hands of their grandmother, maybe they might be a little twisted inside,” my mate remarks as he continues to try and soothe my distress.
“I think about how Viggy always flinched from their attention. I know they said it was because they had to push their will to get him to respond, but I don’t think it’s just that. I think the cattle prods probably didn’t help either. I guess it would take strong personalities to withstand the kind of treatment they have without letting it change them, and I really don’t think Phillip and Fiona are all that strong. No, it would probably be better for them to be on Earth far away from any kind of divine power.” I slump even further into Zeydan’s arms, feeling completely defeated. “What will I have to do?”
My grandma shrugs. “You get the power to cause or stop death and all the creation power involved with being a divine being, although I’m almost certain you have some of that power. Zeydan told me you can use the powers of different forms without changing into that form. I think that comes from your divine power. It shouldn’t be possible.”
“Does that make me responsible for all the beings she created?” I ask, thinking about the Aaz’axians. I should be able to correct their curse. That makes me sit up, and I feel a little spike of excitement at the thought.
“I mean in theory, yes, but they survived these last seven hundred years without any interference from the divine creator.”
“How come you didn’t reincarnate immediately?” I ask, voicing the question that has been floating around in my mind.
My grandma smirks at me. “How old do you think your grandpas are?” she asks, and I shrug. I haven’t really thought about it, but then I gasp.
“Don’t tell me they are seven hundred years old?”
Zeydan chuckles, and his body shakes beneath me. “Stop teasing the girl,” he scolds, and my grandma giggles like a schoolgirl.
“No, you’re right, we aren’t quite that old. I guess it took five hundred years for us to recover from the blast that killed us, and even then, our memories and past lives were forgotten. We were reborn on Skarr a little over two hundred years ago.”
