“Stop shocking me!”
“You’re shocking yourself, princess.” Then he tilts his head a little and adds. “If you really are a princess.”
“You have some nerve,” I say, then regret it. Maybe if I wasn’t a princess I could get out if here? Gain my freedom and go save Nyleena?
I know for a fact that Harem Station only keeps Cygnian princesses as captive slaves. All the other harem rooms are filled with girls who get paid.
There is no paycheck in my future, and no saving my sister, if I continue to tell the truth about what I am.
“I was stolen,” I say, literally thinking on my feet. “Right from my bed. For no good reason.”
He lifts his eyebrow at me, tilting his chin down, so he’s looking at me with one of those condescending expressions that say, You’re full of shit. “You glowed downstairs, princess. Not well, I admit.”
Fuck him.
“But a glow is a glow. You’re a half-breed at the very least.”
Half-breed. As if there was such a thing.
There is no way to be a half-breed Cygnian princess. You either are one, or you’re not. And I am one. But maybe I don’t have to be?
I still have my disguise. And it’s still partially working. If I could just get another dose of palladium antagonist I could recharge it. I could make the glow disappear long enough to get the hell out of here.
Palladium can be found in lots of things. Circuits, mostly. It’s all over ships. In the wires and just a little scrape off the outer coating of a hull could get me enough to make another dose of antagonist.
In fact, what if… what if I could convince this moron that I’ve been pretending to be a Cygnian princess instead of the other way around?
Oh, Lyra. Sometimes you’re a genius.
So I say, “There’s no such thing as a half-breed princess.”
He squints his eyes at me, understanding that this declaration comes with a ‘but.’
“But one can… pretend to be a princess. If they have the right concoction. In fact,” I say, becoming braver as my lie fully forms in my head, “I bet half of those ‘Cygnian princesses’ up in that special harem room are fakes.” I do air quotes with my fingers as I say this. Even though my arms are spread wide so it’s kinda pointless.
His eyes dart to each of my hands in quick succession, noting my futile attempt at air quotes, then he laughs. Loud. And says, “You’re full of shit. We do DNA tests, princess. And you can’t fake a glow.”
He’s right. There is no way to fake a glow. You either have luminous flux or you don’t. DNA tests are easy. Everyone fakes those these days. Which is why they have that humiliating glow test in the first place.
But lies are cool like that. Once you have a good one it’s easy to build on. “You can fake a glow. I know, because I did it. You noticed it, right? How dull it was? How… lackluster it was? How no one in that room paid any attention to me.”
Except him, I don’t add.
“I was trying to get into the Cygnian System and I thought it would be the perfect disguise.”
He laughs again. Even louder. “Why the hell would you do that? Bunch of bloodthirsty, antisocial motherfuckers, they are.”
Like he has any room to talk. Akeelians are known for their murderous ways. Not to mention their desire for sexual dominance. Bunch of alpha-assholes is what they are. So he’s got no room for his high-and-mighty attitude.
“Because they stole my sister. That’s why.”
It’s… a little bit of truth. Kinda.
He huffs. And even though I don’t want to, I can’t help myself. I look down at his two cocks. Still very erect, still very ready. Because they are doing that tremble thing. That shaking thing they are known to do. Like they can sense a female and they are eager to be inside her.
This makes him laugh. “See something you like, princess?”
“I told you,” I say, forcing myself to look into his eyes. Deep, purple-violet eyes. I don’t understand why Akeelians have to be so damn attractive. Why do they get neon eyes in brilliant colors? Eyes that can transfix a girl in seconds and have her begging to be fucked by their two cocks?
My gaze redirects over his shoulder so I don’t give him the satisfaction of catching me in a moment of weakness, and I continue. “I’m not a princess. I made a concoction out of palladium and took it. It doesn’t work very well, as you saw upstairs. But it works well enough to trick dumbasses like you Akeelians. Obviously.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I? Then how do you explain my glow, or lack thereof? Hmmm?”
“What is it made of, this concoction? Exactly?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
He raises his eyebrows again. “You’re going to try to extort me?” He holds up the thick stack of papers. “When I’m holding your life in my hands?”