“How many people live on Earth, Lindsey?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Eight or nine billion. Something like that.”
I saw Rachel nod out of the corner of my eye.
“And they’d all be turned into Hive,” Rachel added. “Better to save them now than fight them later, after they’ve been integrated.”
Integrated. The word sent an ice-cold shiver up my spine.
My gaze followed Maxim as he brought up an image on the wall screen in front of him. I tensed, recognizing the stark white and gray walls, the polished floor, the Interstellar Brides Program insignia on the uniform of the woman who turned to face the screen. I hadn’t ever spoken to her, but I’d seen her when the others sneaked me inside the building to be hidden inside the cargo ship.
“Warden Egara. Greetings from the Colony.” Maxim bowed slightly and the Earth woman smiled. Her hair was dark brown and pulled back into a bun, like a ballerina might wear. The look made her appear to be much more severe and serious than her age would suggest. She was quite pretty, and not much older than me.
“Maxim. Rachel! How are you?”
Rachel was smiling and it was obvious the two women were friends, or at least liked each other. “I’m wonderful. Thank you.”
The warden nodded and turned her full attention to the governor, narrowing her eyes. “Not that I don’t enjoy hearing from you, Maxim, but it’s usually not good news. What can I do for you?”
“You are correct. Not good news.” Maxim turned to me and motioned with his hand for me to step forward. Reluctantly, I did. I had no choice. “This woman managed to make her way to the Colony on one of the large transport cruisers from Earth. I need to know who helped her and why.”
The warden’s eyes widened, then fell and that no-nonsense gaze turned to me. “Who are you, dear?”
I cleared my throat. “My name is Lindsey Walters. I’m a reporter.”
I heard her quick inhale. “A reporter? For who?”
“Freelance.”
“I see.” She tilted her head, staring at me, but talking to Maxim. “Does she have an NPU?”
Maxim reached for me, but Kiel stepped between us before Maxim’s hands made contact with the side of my face. “Don’t touch her.”
Warden Egara’s eyes widened. “Lift your hand, Lindsey. I need to see your palm.”
Oh, shit. I knew exactly what she wanted, so I raised my other hand, the one without the mark.
No fooling her. “The other one, too.”
Crap. I lifted my other hand, palm toward the screen and she leaned back as if shocked.
“You carry the mark of Everis.”
Okay. That was a new one. But I knew it was what made the chemistry between me and Kiel so insta-hot. Lowering my hand, I waited to see what would happen next. But the warden was efficient, and single-minded. She looked to Kiel.
“Hunter, does she have an NPU?”
Kiel lifted his gaze to her. “You know what I am?”
“Of course. I have sent a dozen marked mates to the Cornerstone in Everis. I’ve seen the mark before.”
Kiel nodded, accepting her explanation as my mind whirled with questions. Marked mates? The cornerstone? Everis? Was that Kiel’s planet before…?
“Does she have an NPU?” the warden asked again.
Kiel’s hand lifted to trace the odd bump under my skin where that ice-cold doctor had inserted a needle that looked at least three times bigger than it needed to be. “Yes. She does. But unless she is a Coalition linguistics expert, that was already obvious.”
The warden asked us all to wait for a minute and we watched her walk over to a set of smaller screens, like a computer workstation. When she returned, her gaze was nowhere close to friendly. “The only transport sent to the Colony left from the Miami processing station.” I would have sworn she snarled at me. “My station.”