“Of a sort. Come.” He takes a seat on the newly rebuilt dais, and holds out a hand. I roll my eyes but practically skip over to him. He’s still bossy as ever. That’s okay. I kind of like it.
“I have just come from a meeting with Khan,” he announces. “We have made a decision about the Omega program.”
Oh. I bite my lip. “Okay.” I brace myself.
“We’re pausing the program until we can find a way to screen the humans we take.”
“What? Really?” I had hardly dared to hope that Khan and Aurus would listen to us when Emma and I listed our concerns.
“Yes.” He runs a hand over my head, almost like he’s petting me. But I don’t hate it. I push my head against his shoulder and nuzzle, letting him stroke me. “The other kings will not like it, but it is the best way.”
I climb into his lap and cup his face. “Thank you. And thank Khan, too.” I can’t wait to discuss this with Emma. “This means a lot to us.” And to the human women who won’t be abducted. Emma and I are happy here, but we want women to have a choice.
I brush my lips against his, ready to show how happy I am. He kisses me but leans back, his face somber.
“I have more news, however. About the Chitin attack. The engineers have catalogued the rubble, and in doing so, they found some plans detailing information that should not have been in their possession. It seems the enemy had coordinates to help them locate our palace and the capital city of Aurum. What’s more, there was evidence of a comms transmission from our planet to their ships.”
I blink, my mind reeling, trying to sort out what Aurus is saying. “What does that mean?”
“Someone was in communication with the Chitin. Someone here, on Ulfaria. The same someone—Khan and I believe—who tampered with our defenses to allow the Chitin to enter our atmosphere.”
“Holy crap,” I breathe. “The attack was an inside job? But why?” Who on Ulfaria would want the Chitin to attack their own planet?
“Our best guess is that the Chitin’s attack was not an attack on Aurum. It was a diversion.”
This is some next level conspiracy shit. “To distract from what?”
“During the attack, there was a disruption in the magicians’ towers. One of the magicians appears to have stolen secret information. He killed several of his brethren, and fled. Now he’s nowhere to be found.”
“What did he steal?”
“Amongst other things, the Omega serum.” Aurus strokes his hand over my head again. “Kim, it gets worse. We believe he’s already opened a portal and brought over more Hoo-mans and injected them with the serum. They might be here on Ulfaria as we speak.”
My blood freezes and burns at the same time. “Oh, fuck.” Horrified, I clap a hand over my mouth. “We have to find them…”
“Yes, of course.” Aurus looks grim. “We will be on the lookout. But we have to be careful to search without alerting all the kings.”
“Wait, why?”
“Because they will stop at nothing to find the Omegas first. And when they find them…”
Shit. The answer is as obvious as it is terrifying. “They’ll claim them.”
He nods, gravely. “And there will be nothing we can do.”
