“No, I really don’t, but that’s not my fault.”
We fall into an awkward silence.
“Way to kill the mood.” Alina smacks her husband’s arm. “Ignore him. He must be getting space sickness, though he was grumpy before we got here, so it might just be him. Come on, Rick. Bastien is getting heavy, and my back could use a break.” Just like that, she breaks the tension. Rick hurries them off without a backward glance, leaving us alone.
“Well, I guess we should get the cribs. Lila and Tirrian won’t be back for a while. I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.” Xavier waves his hand, and the floating Ghosie starts to move. “We will drop him off, and then I bet Chloe would like to meet her brothers and sisters.” Xavier looks down at the little girl, but she’s ignoring him and staring at me with wide eyes.
“Kitty!” she shouts and lifts her arms like she wants me to pick her up. I look at Brannock to make sure he’s okay with this, and he gives me a smile.
“Please do, she won’t stop nagging until you do. She always wanted a cat, and now she has two very big cuddly ones.”
I pick the girl up in my arms. She is wearing her human form, and she pokes a finger at one of my ears before using both hands to lift my top lip and look at my mouth. “Big fangs. Can you go roar?” she asks, and I feel my heart melt.
I give a small roar, and she laughs and claps her hands before sticking her thumb in her mouth and resting her head against me. I start to purr as we walk toward the med bay to drop off the bear.
“And another one bites the dust,” Xavier comments behind me. “She’ll have us all wrapped around her little finger before Lila even returns.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Lila
When Tirrian and I return to the ship, the Celestians have arrived, and Smith’s alien breeding captives are in the process of being transferred to their ship. All of them thank us for saving them as they pass us. I’m so happy to see children reunited with at least one parent, if not both.
I stick my head into the med bay and find Sanshia there being monitored by Mark. Aarin, Hurricane, and Zeydan are all piled into chairs surrounding her bed. They look weary, but the three of them glow with their special power—green for Zeydan, blue for Hurricane, and white for Aarin—the radiance surrounding their sister. I’m sure it’s probably some kind of healing.
I scan the room and find Link farther down, standing over Ghosie. I tiptoe past the gods and sidle up next to my cyborg, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
He gives me a weary smile, and I see bags under his eyes. He really needs to rest. I can’t remember the last time he did. Maybe when we were on Vilax.
“How is he?” I whisper, looking at my bear who is still in his hulked out form.
“My scans show he’s fine. The sedative is starting to wear off, but it may be another hour or two. That was a Viggy size dose because we weren’t sure what would stop Brannock in berserker form.”
“Well, it stopped a bear in hulked out form too,” I tease. “I’m heading home. I’m exhausted. Make sure you get some rest. We’re going to need it. I want to put plan B into action once we’ve all had a little sleep.”
“I will once Ghosie wakes up. If it’s much longer, I’ll give him a reversal, but I’m reluctant to do that in case he stays hulked out with the adrenaline boost.”
I say goodbye to him and go on my way. I stick my head in the holo deck to make sure that none of the captives are left behind and find Susie, Magenta, Vanity, and Nixie as well as the four humans whose lives we decided to spare. None of them have a wicked bone in their bodies, and while Matthew is curious, he isn’t malicious. The women only care about the health and well-being of the children. I actually have an idea on what to do with them, but first, I need to figure out why the atmosphere is so tense.
I wonder if maybe they were having some kind of argument, but then I spot a young boy behind them. It’s the boy who stood up to us when we first found them.
“What’s going on?” I ask, entering the room, Tirrian trailing behind me. He waited while I went into the med bay, not wanting to disturb any of the patients.
“Oh, Lila, thank God.” Susie is wringing her hands. “Logan doesn’t have any parents to go with. His mother died giving birth to him.”
“What about his father?” I ask, looking to the humans for information.
“Logan’s mother was fertilized via IVF. Smith wasn’t happy with how slow his program was. I’m assuming his father is Vilaxian as well, because he hasn’t shown any hybrid qualities, only pure Vilaxian traits,” Matthew explains.
“But his bloodlust is extreme at times, and he has trouble controlling his temper,” Melissa says, brushing a hand through the boy’s hair. His eyes blaze with anger, and his lips are clamped together.
“Are you hungry now?” I ask him, and he nods.
“This is why we should be his guardians,” Vanity says, and Magenta nods while Nixie shakes her head.
“Hurricane and I will be happy to take care of him. It would be better for him to have some male company.”
Oh fuck, I know what’s going on here. I’m not sure that I want to get into the middle of a pissing contest. This isn’t about the boy at all, and I’m annoyed at all of the parties involved. Susie looks at me with pleading eyes, and I decide not to back away slowly, but thankfully Tirrian steps in before I can say anything.
