No one answered.
Instead I heard V’dim ask, “Are you well, Selena?”
Turning my head to meet his worried gaze, I smiled. “Yes, as are my cubs. Your crew and my nestmates, however, aren’t.”
He leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes. “Yes. I can feel their wild emotions. Z’fir and I will have a lot of work to do to calm everyone.”
“They can wait until after we get done checking the three of you,” Chyox snapped.
Z’fir sat up. “Then hurry up and get it over with. We need to do damage control, to ease the crew’s restless thoughts.”
Chyox supervised routine tests on the three of us as he filled the princes in on what had occurred. Apparently, my nestmates had immediately sensed my absence along our bond threads—as though I no longer existed. The same thing had happened for the crew.
It was as if their princes had vanished.
The princes weren’t surprised by Kaede’s action in taking over the ship. In fact, they seemed relieved he’d been there to keep the crew on track and ease the worst of the panic.
When pressed, the princes explained they’d had me lower my mental shields and were probing my memories, implying that was what had triggered our unconsciousness. They didn’t tell anyone about my dreamscape. I was thankful for their discretion.
Chyox seemed to approve they’d delved into my memories. He clearly still felt I was a savage, perhaps even a spy. I hoped this would put that to rest once and for all, but I still didn’t like him.
Moans sounded from my nestmates’ bed, turning my attention from the discussion between the princes and the healers to them.
Both Odelm and Xylo shifted in bed, groaning as they struggled to wake.
“Selena?” Xylo murmured.
“I’m here.”
They jerked at the sound of my voice, jolting upright. Groggily, they stared at their twisted limbs before untangling themselves from one another. They looked around the infirmary. As their gazes found me, they stumbled from the bed to my side.
Xylo sank down on my left, pulling me up into a smothering hug. The other side of my bed dipped, Odelm pressed against my back, wrapping his arms loosely around my waist to cradle my stomach.
“Oh Stars, Selena,” Xylo choked out. “Do not ever do that to us again.”
“We thought we had lost you. We could not feel you at all,” Odelm murmured raggedly, his voice filled with sorrow.
“We could see our bond threads still connected to you, but your mind was a black hole. When we tried searching for any trace of your thoughts, all we got was pain.”
Odelm’s grip tightened. “It felt like you had left us. Like you had severed your bond threads even though we could see that they were still there.”
Xylo pulled himself away only far enough to lock his hardened teal eyes on mine. “Do not ever do that again.”
He turned toward the princes and growled, “I do not care she is human. You had no right to do what you did.”
I placed my hands on his cheeks and directed his face back to mine. “They didn’t do anything wrong.”
His eyes were filled with anger.
“They are not your nestmates. You are no criminal. They had no right to explore your memories, especially when you are pregnant, with no idea what the impact would be on a human.”
“Xylo. They asked. I accepted. They were trying to understand me—so they could help me,” I explained gently, trying to get him to understand.
“They should have had us there. They should have warned us. They should have used the infirmary knowing how fragile your pregnant state is and how important you are to the Aldawi. They did not take the right precautions—”
“It was a mistake, nestbrother. What is done is done. I am sure the princes realize their mistake. Now we should focuson Selena’s health, on getting her fed so she can rest in our nestbed,” Odelm calmly suggested, trying to defuse the heightened emotions in the room.
Xylo searched my face, his expression softening before looking over my shoulder at Odelm. “You are wise. Selena should be our focus at the moment.”
