Chapter 9
Day three and still stuck in the cell with no sign of any of my Vepar. The Council had said we had two weeks to complete this and while I didn’t want to rush into some survival test on an alien planet, I also didn’t want to belong to the Council.
I had been passing my days by sleeping as much as possible, my dreams filled with images of Corran, Derrial, and Thane. I wondered what they were thinking, why they had done this?
Did they really want me as a mate? It didn’t seem possible. Was this some kind of misguided attempt to make amends with me after everything they had done?
I somehow felt angrier at their efforts than before when I thought I was going to become a Vepar surrogate. First I was being forced to be a mother, and now I was being forced to be a wife.
My anger was mostly directed at the fact that over the past few years, when the loneliness felt like it was going to overwhelm me, I had dreamed about meeting the love of my life. Someone who would sweep me off my feet and save me. My dreams had been dashed into a million pieces and my dream guys had ended up being the villains in my story.
I guess I should have dreamed about saving myself.
I was dozing off again when suddenly I was startled awake by the Vepar who ran the food cart. It made me uneasy about how silent the Vepar all were. I never noticed they were coming until they were practically standing on top of me. Who knows who else was going to come into my cell.
“Let’s go,” the Vepar said without any explanation.
My stomach erupted in butterflies. Was this finally it? Were we starting the mating trials today?
I was tempted to ask, but I knew it would be a fruitless endeavor. This guy hated my guts. Over the past three days he had given me lukewarm water and something that resembled stale bread.
At least I was hoping it was something related to bread.
To be honest, I wasn’t feeling ready for any kind of trial. I wasn’t even feeling ready to get out of bed. I could also sense that a withdrawal was coming on.
I thought it cruel that Derrial, Thane, and Corran had left me to fend for myself and get progressively weaker when I was supposed to be getting ready for tests that were supposed to help me to save my life.
Or maybe that was their plan all along, make sure that I didn’t have a chance so they didn’t have to follow through with something they didn’t want to do.
“Why would you come here?” asked the Vepar walking beside me in a gruff voice. I looked at him, surprised that he was even deigning to speak with me. He was beyond good looking as all the Vepar were, with ashy blonde hair and grey eyes flecked with gold, but there was a sort of melancholy air around him, like he had been beat down by his life.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I said, too tired to not tell the truth.
“What do you mean?” he asked, sounding confused about my answer.
“You’ve heard of the Khonsu right?”
He nodded, his grey eyes darkening at my mention of them.
“The Khonsu were after me. Apparently the only way that I could come here was to be saved.”
“And they saved you from the Khonsu?” he asked incredulously.
“They as in Derrial, Corran, and Thane?” I clarified.
“It’s very strange,” he said, instead of answering me.
“What’s strange?”
“How casually you can say their name. Their practically celebrities on Veon. Each of them celebrated in their fields almost above all others. No one can figure out how they got tied up with you.” He scanned his eyes over me, like he was trying to figure out what they could possibly see in me.
It was the same question that had been plaguing me since I met them.
“They’re threatening everything about Veon by whatever game their playing with you pretending to do the mating ritual. There’s rumors that their using the games as a front before they stage a coup and take over the Counsel.” He laughed, as if that was the craziest thing he had ever heard. “We’ve long known that the Vepar on Earth had dalliances with the human females. But bringing them back here...It’s the craziest thing that I’ve ever heard of.”
I didn’t feel the need to answer him. It seemed like he was more talking to himself than me. His observations were very interesting though. I wondered about the coup idea. With how displeased Derrial, Thane, and Corran had been lately with how the Council was handling my situation, I could see them trying to take over. I didn’t think I should probably say that to this Vepar though.
We walked down a hallway that seemed dimmer than the rest. The Vepar furtively looked around, and I started to get a bad feeling. What was he doing? Where were we going?