Page 17 of Veiled Vixen

“Press that button on the control there.”

I look at the panel in front of me, trying to figure out which button she’s talking about.

“The black one with the speaker icon.”

I press it. A soft whooshing sound fills the room. And then the twins inside her diverge and it doubles into two rhythmic, soothing heartbeats.

I press it again and the room goes silent.

“There,” Veila says. “Are you happy now?”

“Happy? I wasn’t specifically unhappy about this, so no. I’m not suddenly happy. I’m… confused.” I turn to face her. “Who?” I ask, and for some reason my voice is low and filled with anger. “Who got you pregnant?”

She lies there on the table just staring up at the ceiling. No expression on her face. Not some smug smile or some cunning grin. Just… nothing as she looks up at the lights above her. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been pregnant many times before.”

“What? I thought—”

“Oh, it’s not hard to get pregnant. But it is extremely difficult to stay pregnant. Bringing a true Cygnian princess to term in the womb is… impossible.”

She glows a little when she says this. And something inside me responds. Not my cocks getting hard, but something else. Something new that I don’t recognize.

“Then how did Delphi get here?”

Veila purses her lips. “Do you mind?” She points to the wall panel controls. “Can you press the return button so I can get out of this machine and put my clothes back on?”

I blink at her, then turn and press the button. I stay facing the panel until I know she’s up and out of the machine and slipping her panties back on.

“I’ll need your help with this.”

And when I turn back she’s facing me, holding the bustier to her chest. She turns away and bows her head.

Reluctantly I walk over to her and begin buttoning her up. And again, each time my fingertips touch her bare skin something inside me… swells.

A want. A need to touch her all over. To fuck her.

But then I think about the babies and some of that feeling ebbs back.

“How did Delphi and Tycho get here, Veila? What you’re saying doesn’t make sense.”

“Corla went somewhere special to ensure her babies lived. They need… they have… issues, Valor. Immune issues. They don’t belong here, and while we were able to genetically change the embryos—that’s how the Cygnians have been breeding all these years—when we engineer them they are just not the same as when they are born naturally. They are a different species altogether. I am not the same species as those babies inside me. They are true Angels.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “And that is why it’s so hard.”

Angels.

Angel Station.

The other galaxy Tray and I went to.

Earth.

“You know I’m not a real silver. They changed me into this. Leveled me up, I guess they call it. So I have all the right parts, I even have the right hormones. But they don’t work right.” She sighs. Like she’s tired. Of this topic, or this struggle, or maybe even this life. “I can carry them for a while, but then they die.” She pauses, then adds, “They always die.”

I look back at the monitor as I continue to button her up. It’s not a live feed anymore. Just a still shot. “I don’t understand. Is that boy in there—inside you—is he Akeelian? Or Cygnian?”

“He’s both. They are both. Because that’s what Angels are. The original Akeelian and Cygnian races were once merged. Surely you know what ALCOR did to ruin us?”

I don’t answer her, just finish the last button and take a few steps back, wanting to create distance between us.

She keeps her back towards me as she fastens her underskirts, then outskirts, and finally slips her arms through her jacket. Then she turns to face me, her jacket open so I can see her perfectly round breasts cradled in her bustier, her whole body flushed rose gold once more. And when she takes a deep breath I can tell it’s strained. Like her bustier is too tight and she can’t fully inhale.