Page 19 of Veiled Vixen

“Collecting hormones!”

“Same fucking thing! Don’t you get that? Those aren’t your hormones to take, Veila! You’re stealing bodily fluids from kids!”

“Fine.” She throws up her hands. “Since you refuse to listen to me, then fine. That’s what I’m doing.”

“That is what you’re doing! I saw those kids we rescued from Lair Station. They are damaged because of you. And now you bring me in here, show me live feed of your embryonic twins and fill the room with the sound of heartbeats and what? You think I’ll take your side? Why the fuck would you think that? Like seriously. How have I given you this impression? What about me says, ‘He’s on board with kid-breeding, sperm-milking, and hormone-collecting?’ What? Tell me, please. I’d really like to know how you got this impression of me that I’m a sick fuck like yourself.”

She stares at me, eyes locked in a glare. “You know how I know you’re like me?”

“I’m dying to hear.”

“Because when they made us, they made us the same, Valor. They made you second best. Like me. Always taking a back seat to Luck, right? Oh!” She puts up a hand when I open my mouth to respond. “Oh, yes. I know all about your beginnings. I have your medical records, Valor. And your brother’s records too. I know where you come from. I know who your real parents are. I know what genetic markers have been embedded into your DNA to make you this man who stands before me right now. They made us for each other. You can try to deny that all you want. I know I certainly did. If I had my choice, well”—she huffs—“I wouldn’t choose you, that’s for sure. Tray might’ve been the traitor, but he wasn’t the weakest link. You are. You’re weak, Valor. You’re so weak you’re willing to share that pathetic Brigit mind with Tray. They’re not even people!” She laughs. “So no.” She shakes her head. “No. I would never choose you. Ever. And let me be clear. I’m not choosing you now, either. I’m just stuck with you.”

“You’re stuck with me?” I guffaw again. “Bitch, you picked my ass up. You could’ve left me floating out in space. I’m sure eventually Tray would’ve been back to get me. But no. You brought me here.”

“I brought you home!”

“This?” I say, whirling around in a circle with arms open. “This isn’t my home! You fucked my home up!”

“ALCOR did that when he left the Baby in charge, not me! Tray did that when he told Luck and Nyleena to start this stupid princess rebellion! Crux did that when he shut down the security beacons to save his precious Corla when all that really did is back me into a corner and make things worse! I didn’t do any of those things.”

I force myself to hear all that. Force myself to run it back in my mind. Then I pick out the one piece that matters. “You want Corla, don’t you. No. You need Corla. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it.”

“I’m here for the spin node that leads to Earth and I will get it, no matter what it takes!”

“Yeah,” I say, calm now. “Maybe. But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

And then the pieces start falling into place.

I’m not the smartest Harem Station brother. I’ve never pretended to be that. But I’ve been all over this fucking galaxy on salvaging missions. I’ve met and talked to women of hundreds—hell, maybe even thousands—of races. I’ve seen shit. I’ve done shit. And I’m not dumb. You don’t have to be a doctor or a fucking astrobiologist to see how all these threads she’s been weaving suddenly become a web.

“Corla has what you need, doesn’t she?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lies,” I whisper. “So many fucking lies inside you. Corla gave birth. Somehow, some way, she gave birth. And maybe Delphi and Tycho are these monsters you say they are—”

“Maybe?” She huffs.

“—but they lived. And that means Corla’s body has something inside it. Something you can… milk, maybe? Steal for yourself and make these babies come to term. You sick fuck.”

She sighs. Doesn’t deny it.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t really need to go to Earth. That’s just your only option now because Crux shut down the security beacons and now you can’t contact them to spin your web of lies. And you can’t storm them, they’d blow you up if you tried. And if you can’t take what you need from Corla you have to go to Earth and… what? Expose yourself to the air there? So your body will make whatever it is you’re missing?”

She turns her back to me.

“Yeah. I got you, bitch. I got you now. I know what you need. But you know what I don’t understand?”

She’s breathing hard, which can’t be easy in that tight-ass bustier. Her shoulders are rising and falling as she stares at the wall.

“Why do you want more monster babies, Veila? If Tycho is as dangerous as you say he is, then why do you want more?”

“He’s damaged. So is Delphi. Corla was missing a crucial step in the process. She was the first, after all. She didn’t know any better. It took them years to figure out what went wrong.” Veila turns to face me. “But they did figure it out. They helped Delphi. A little. Gave her that dragonbee bot that could punish her if she stepped out of line. It worked for a while. But the bee bot took a liking to Delphi and…” She shakes her head.

“And what?” I snap.

“And then her… education was interrupted. She was past the most critical part of the process, so she’s… mostly civil. But she has an evil streak inside her, Valor. She has a monster inside her.”