Page 10 of Veiled Vixen

I don’t answer this. Because I see where this is going.

“I won’t be turning the life support off on the lower levels, Valor. That’s so amateur hour. I’ll be turning the life support off up here.”

Which means almost two million people who are currently residing on the top three fourths of the station will have to relocate down to the bottom third when she cuts off their air.

And that means… well. Riots. Fighting. Starvation. Water deprivation. Death.

Forced survival.

And humans in survival mode are not pretty creatures.

This is the quickest way to kill millions of people and make Luck deal with the fallout at the same time so he is either forced to surrender or die fighting and take everyone out with him.

“God, I fucking hate you.”

She waves a hand in the air dismissively. “I have very little use for you as well, Valor. But I do need Nyleena and that means I must have Luck’s cooperation. You, it seems, are the one person he loves more than his new silver princess. Because I’ve already tortured Crux and Serpint to compel him to cooperate.”

“Luck doesn’t work like that,” I say.

“So it seems. He didn’t even blink when I sent him video of Crux and Serpint being tortured. Not even when I sent him images of Lyra being tortured.”

Serpint. God. I don’t have a great relationship with the guy, but he’s a cool dude and I kinda think he and I might actually be genetically related. And I know he loved Lyra. And what must Nyleena be thinking about that? She is Lyra’s sister. What have they all been going through while I was asleep?

“You’re going to go down there and make Luck surrender.”

I laugh. Like it’s a full-on guffaw. “Am I?”

“You are. Because if you don’t then I will have to resort to more drastic measures.”

“You’ve tortured Crux, Serpint, and Lyra. You’re going to deprive three point seven million people of air, water, and food. What else is there?” I ask. “Who else could you dangle in front of him?”

“Oh, not Luck. I might’ve hit a dead end with Luck. But Jimmy”—she chuckles—“I’m just getting started with Jimmy. You see, I know what Delphi is and I know how to activate her.”

“What the fuck are you taking about?”

“Bring him in,” Veila commands to the air with a flip of her hand.

The door to my quarters opens and a flurry of cyborgs enter. At least six of them. But they’re not the main event. Because they’re dragging a boy, his feet sliding along the polished obsidian floors.

Late teens. Blue eyes, not violet. So not one of our Akeelian boys. Just a boy.

They thrust him forward and he falls to the floor in a heap, clearly drugged.

“Meet Tycho,” Veila says.

“Oh, shit,” I mumble. Because Tycho is Delphi’s twin brother.

“‘Oh, shit’ doesn’t even begin to cover the epic destruction this boy is capable of. And trust me when I tell you this—I will write this whole station off if I can’t get what I came for. I will blow the whole thing up in the blink of an eye. He is quite possibly the most destructive force in the universe. And even though Delphi isn’t as valuable as he is, his powers can be boosted if she’s nearby.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.

“I’m talking about annihilation, Valor. If you think Corla and I are powerful explosives, well, we are nothing compared to the power contained inside this boy’s body. And I’m the only one alive who knows how to unlock him. I will kill everyone, Valor—every single person, borg, bot, and ship on this station—to get what I want. I know your brother is hiding things down below. And I have a very good suspicion what those things are and what they do. The Baby has told me as much. If I can’t have them, then no one can.”

“You’re insane,” I spit. “I don’t know how you got this way, and frankly, I do not care. But I’m not helping you, Veila. And if you think for one second I believe you’d kill yourself so no one else could have whatever it is you’re after, ha.” I laugh. “Nice try. But you’re far too selfish to go down in flames on principle.”

She tilts her head up and laughs. It’s one of those mocking laughs that comes with self-assurance. “Kill myself? That’s fresh. And funny. No, Valor. You misunderstand. I’m not going down with this ship, so to speak. I’ll be leaving on the spin node located on level one hundred twenty-two.”

I process that for a moment.

“That’s right, sweetie. I know all about it. I might not be able to open that node, but Luck can. Luck will,” she corrects herself. “And then we can all go to Earth together.”

“We?” I ask. “There is no you in the ‘we’ here on Harem Station, Veila.”

She inhales deeply. Takes a long sip of my pink drink. Closes her eyes as the nutrients in that drink flood her body and then opens them to say, “Oh, but there is, my sweet.” Then she places a hand over her stomach in a protective manner and pats it. “Our little family is just getting started.”