He was comatose in a ReGen pod, just as he had been for more than seventeen hours. Jessica had tried to help me deal. She’d taken me on a tour of Battleship Karter—which blew my mind in a way transporting to Alera hadn’t—fed me. I’d slept in a private room in Jessica and her mates’ ship quarters.
I was the personal guest of the queen of the entire Coalition of planets. They didn’t address her as queen, they just called her Lady Deston. But the fact remained, no one argued with her. She snapped her fingers and she got what she wanted on this ship.
Even Commander Karter, a big, gruff Prillon warrior I’d met briefly at dinner the night before, deferred to her. Even when she teased him about sending him a nice Earth girl to bring him to his knees.
I’ve never seen a Prillon blush, but Commander Karter practically ran from the table when Jessica brought up the subject.
I might have been a princess, but she was queen. With Nial and the scary looking teddy bear, Ander, scowling at anyone and everyone she spoke to, I began to understand the appeal of having a strong warrior at my back.
But I didn’t want a Prillon, or even one of the hulking Atlan beasts I’d seen come in from the fighting. I wanted the stubborn male unconscious beneath the glass. Or silicone. Or whatever fucking material this shit was.
I splayed my hands wide above the glass, as if I could reach through it and touch him. I wished the strange gift I could feel blossoming in my mind was stronger. Maybe it would allow me to reach his mind telepathically. Or heal him with a touch. I didn’t know. No one did. The citadel itself bestowed the gifts on those of royal blood. I’d placed my hand on the stone, felt the stab of crystal as it bored into my palm taking what it needed to confirm my identity, to judge me, to light the spire.
My sisters would have matching scars in the center of their palms and I wished they were here so I could talk to them. Discover if the lightness in my head was normal. If the strange buzzing energy I felt building inside me was normal. If they, too, saw the flashes of light and dark I was seeing around people since I’d come out of the citadel.
If I was normal.
I rubbed the bloodied mark in my palm, my thoughts making me aware of the ache. It was nothing compared to what Leo had endured. Nothing. I refused to ask for a ReGen wand to heal the small injury when Leo lay bloodied and broken before me.
The Prillon doctor circled the room, apparently unconcerned, his presence providing a release for my tension. “How long does this healing pod take? He’s been in there forever.”
The doctor lifted his head. He was checking an adjacent pod, one that had already healed—and released—two other warriors. “Some wounds require several days of regeneration. Leoron was fortunate there was not more damage to his internal organs or nervous system. Stim torture can cause permanent brain damage.”
“What?” The doctor had officially lost his mind. He’d already told me the worst of Leo’s injuries, when I threatened him with bodily harm if he refused to detail Leo’s condition to me. Fortunately, Prime Nial and Jessica had been with me at the time. I hadn’t missed the small nod of Nial’s head that passed between the two warriors before the doctor responded.
My brave warrior had cuts and bruises everywhere, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, bruised organs, his heart was in some kind of electrical shock and not beating correctly and his central nervous system had been nearing shutdown. That
had made Prime Nial curse and storm out of the room. Something about illegal weapons, but I ignored him and stayed next to Leo’s pod until my knees were wobbly and Jessica wrapped her arm around my waist and led me from the room.
I’d been too damn tired to argue. But now? Now I was ready to hurt people if Leo didn’t wake up. And soon.
And no one had mentioned the prospect of permanent brain damage.
“He was indeed, fortunate, Princess.” Prime Nial stood across from me, staring down at his friend with almost as much intensity as I. “I do not approve of the risk you took, but Leo was very fortunate that your plan was a success. He would not have survived much longer.”
Fury poured into me. Cold. Hot. Both at once. I could barely breathe, but my mind raced with all the ways I was going to make those clerics pay. “I’m going to hunt down the man who did this and make him pay.”
The leader of the Coalition and ruler of his own star system didn’t even change his expression. “Do you think that is wise? You must think like a queen now. Every action you take will have repercussions. Added meaning and weight.”
“I know.” And I did. My mother had sent me to law school for a reason. I’d been a state champion in debate, on every leadership council and in every class that had to do with civics, law, and military history. I knew, but there were some lines I would defend. Some people were untouchable. My sisters. My mother.
And him. My Leo. I didn’t know about this mate business yet, but I knew Leo had suffered for me. Because of me. And the helpless rage I’d felt when I realized where he’d been taken—and why— I never wanted to feel that again.
“He is mine to protect. I will destroy anyone who threatens him. Anyone who harms him or my sisters.” My body shook with rage, my hands trembling on top of the glass, so I removed them, hiding them at my sides.
Here I stood, spewing threats of death and destruction, and Prime Nial actually chuckled. “I suggest you be prepared, your majesty.”
“Prepared for what?” We’d been staring down at Leo inside the ReGen pod for the past ten minutes. Even though the countdown on the machine’s timer made it clear when the healing would be complete, I had insisted we return to the pod early, just in case.
Leo looked the same now as he had long hours ago when the doctor had sealed him inside. His usually pristine uniform was filthy and torn. Dried blood remained caked to his skin. He looked just as injured now as when this pod put him into some kind of hibernation and the healing mode began.
Prime Nial lifted his gaze to me at the irritated tone in my voice. I was still thinking about hunting. Bounties. Soldiers storming the clerics’ building. But then Nial smiled softly, giving me a look similar to the one I’d seen when he looked at Jessica. As if I were cute. A Chihuahua puppy barking like a grown Rottweiler. His hand came out to pat my shoulder, but he stopped just before, as if he’d remembered himself.
Oh right. Your majesty. I wasn’t just Trinity Jones, Earth girl anymore. I was Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity Herakles of Alera. It seemed there were rules. Protocols. Even for a Prime, who ruled multiple planets and colonies, as well as acted as commander for the entire Coalition Fleet.
“He will be completely healed, I assure you. That is why I want to prepare you.”
I frowned. He made no sense. “I don’t understand.”