The doctor inclined his chin, turned on his heel and walked away. When I stood with Rachel tucked into my side, Ryston beside her and the Prime, Ander and Queen Deston in a small circle, the Prime’s frown made my skin crawl.
“You know what this means, Governor. I’m sorry.”
Fuck. I was afraid this would happen. “Let’s not make the announcement right away. I don’t want the men to lose hope, not when the taste is so fresh on their tongues.”
Rachel’s hand slid down my arm and her small fingers wrapped around my wrist. “What is he talking about? What announcement?”
Prime Deston looked down at my mate, his eyes clouded with regret. “No more brides.”
“What? Why?” Rachel’s hand tightened like a vice.
“It’s too dangerous,” I answered.
She shook her head as I continued.
“We can’t bring brides here, Rachel, not until we know exactly what’s happening to us.”
“It’s one man. Just one.”
“No, love. I’m afraid it’s not.” I looked at Ryston, who nodded his head and I shook my arm free of Rachel’s hold and rolled the sleeve of my dress tunic up far enough to expose the Hive implants. The Queen’s soft cry assured me I’d made my point even before Rachel’s fingertips traced the silver lines of the implants, and the black maze that spread like a web from shoulder to wrist just below the surface of my skin.
“What? When did this happen?” She lifted her gaze to mine, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “You didn’t have this last night when you were…”
Naked and buried balls deep? Making her whimper and shiver and beg for release? No. A few hours ago, I’d had nothing to worry about. And now, I had the precursor of death spreading in my flesh.
***
Rachel
My mates escorted me down the color-coordinated hallways to our suite. They remained silent. I could sense their anger and hostility, but I was deep in thought. Sadness. Captain Brooks had not died from an overdose. While he had been upset at what the Hive had done to his body, he was a fighter. I refused to believe he would submit to the brides program’s testing, and then drown himself in drugs. And right before a formal dinner?
No way. I knew pain. I’d witnessed countless people fighting for every last ounce of breath as cancer ate them away from the inside. I knew what defeat looked like. And Captain Brooks had not looked defeated. He’d looked mad as hell, bitter but proud, ready to give this life a chance.
Submitting to the brides program testing was the first step, and he’d taken it. All of the warriors on the Colony had the same anguish at being changed by the enemy, but they were not alone. Everyone had the same horrible things happen to them. But they survived and were building new lives, a new planet.
Perhaps the captain had taken Quell. Perhaps he was using it to ease his mind. No doubt he had PTSD along with everyone else. That didn’t mean he died because of it. The black streaks, the duration it took for them to develop, it didn’t lead me to think it was an overdose. There was something else at play here. I wasn’t a clueless, eyes-on-the-microscope scientist any longer.
Been there, done that. The naïve fool who’d trusted the company CEO to do what was right instead of what was profitable was long gone. I’d spent lengthy hours in my prison cell growing very familiar with how the bad guys worked, how they deceived.
The door slid silently closed behind us. Ryston grabbed a weird-looking black thing, something like a TV remote from a table by the door and hurled it across the room.
I jumped when it smashed into pieces, scattering on the floor in a shower of jagged shards. His rage was not quiet or controlled. It crushed him like he was a grape beneath a giant’s boot. His fear and anger were leaking from him as if he’d been torn in two.
The image of Maxim’s arm haunted me even as I walked to the S-Gen unit and stepped onto the grid. “Medical uniform.”
I gave the unit the order and stood quietly as the machine did its job, scanning and removing the dress I had been wearing and replacing it with something I felt much more comfortable in. The dark green clothing felt thick and warm, comfortable and flexible, like scrubs back home. Soft, warm boots covered my feet, like forest-green suede with cotton lining. Comfortable. I could work in them for hours. Hours. Days. As long as it took to find answers.
I smoothed my hand down over the fabric and took a deep breath. This was my armor. This was a battle I knew well, one I would win. Captain Brooks deserved justice, but that was not what drove me now. I was going to the medical station and I was going to figure this out. I would not lose my mate. I refused.
“Maxim.” His name was barely more than a whisper, but he heard me. He closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms as Ryston paced like a wild man at my back.
Maxim was just as upset as Ryston, but he kept his feelings in check. Had I not known him well, I would assume it was because he was governor and that required some…diplomacy. But after spending three days with him, I knew calm, cool deliberation was simply his nature. But, that did not mean he was less affected. Ryston’s rage burst from him in a storm of destruction. Maxim’s rage was still bottled up inside, contained, an abyss of ice-cold fury eating him alive from the inside out. But his breathing and heart beat were steady. His hands did not shake. If not for the collar, I would not even know he was upset.
“That doctor is an asshole,” Ryston bit out.
He spun around and came over to me, his feelings hitting me like waves pounding the beach. I wanted to step back, but I didn’t. Instead, I turned to face him as he closed the distance between us. The aggression I felt through his collar wasn’t directed at me, but he sought something that only I could give him.
Remarkably, it was a hug. His arms came around me and pulled me into him. My feet came off the floor and he lowered his face into the crook of my neck, just breathing me in.