I hoped he would take a mate, and I hoped she would be human. From Earth. Sassy and strong as both Rachel and Danika were proving to be.
“We believe the Nexus units serve as a central link to thousands of minds in the Hive collective. When a Nexus unit is eliminated, every individual linked to that Nexus mind drops dead instantly. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of their Soldiers eliminated.”
“Then why are you fighting the regular Hive? Why not just hunt down all these Nexus guys and kill them?” Danika asked.
“We cannot find them. They are protected by the collective. Secretive. Intelligent. They are the master strategists for their troops. The older they are, the more integrated warriors and fighters they have, the deeper they are in the maze of minds. They rarely show themselves. We only recently discovered their existence, within the last few years.”
“The war has been raging for hundreds of years.” Rachel sounded upset. “How is that possible?”
“They remain hidden. Unseen. Ghosts or phantoms that move from shadow to shadow, mind to mind.”
“Then how do you know the one I saw was one of these Nexus units?” Danika asked.
“They are distinct in appearance. Dark blue skin marked with silver and eyes that are black as deep space, but dull, without spark or spirit.”
“Like a shark.” Danika shuddered. “I hate sharks. They give me the creeps.”
“Don’t let Mikki hear you say that. She loves ‘em,” Rachel informed her.
I had no idea what this shark entity might be, but I intended to research the Earth creature as soon as we returned to The Colony.
Helion continued, “Their gaze is hypnotic. If you look them in the eye, they can place you in an instant trance, control your thoughts, make you do anything. Walk off a cliff. Torture your own child. Kill your mate. Anything.”
“What?” Danika’s shock vibrated through my system and made my heart pound. The collars were great in bed, when everything was hot and sweaty, desire and pleasure. But fear transmitted just as easily. And Danika, despite her stoic outer appearance, was suddenly freezing her emotions in ice. Retreating. Locking everything down tight.
“How do you know this to be true?” Thomar asked and I sensed his disbelief warring with resignation. We were going after this thing. I could feel his determination to do what he could to protect our mate, his people and defeat the Hive. As always, I would be at his side. Thomar would never fight alone, not while I lived.
“We have been working on pieces of a Nexus unit’s brain tissue and helmet for a couple of years, developed some brain implants to both mimic and deflect the Nexus unit’s influence. A human fighter, a female in fact, chased down a Nexus unit on Latiri 4’s moon and teamed up with an Atlan Warlord to bring us his head.”
“Whoa. What?” Rachel looked shocked. “A human woman? Why haven’t I met her?”
“She was Fleet. Not a bride, and she has since retired. I believe Megan and Warlord Nyko now reside on Atlan. This line of questioning is irrelevant to the current situation.” Doctor Helion looked down at a small tablet in the palm of his hand. “You two, Commander Arcas and Captain Varin, and now you as well, Danika, have integrations that are killing you.”
What the fuck did he just say?
“Surnen?”
The golden Prillon doctor looked like he’d been beaten. “I didn’t want to tell you all until after the mission. I haven’t given up hope we can figure something out. But yes. All three of you are linked in a way we don’t understand. And all three of you are dying.”
I couldn’t breathe. Dread moved like a heavy stone from my throat to my feet and I remained rooted in place, unable to respond. Danika was dying? I didn’t give a fuck about myself, but not Danika. No.
I expected fear from my little female. Despair. The same level of grief and anger I was feeling. Instead, her emotions were calm. Fatalistic. Resigned and accepting of her fate.
“No. I will not accept this. Kill me now, Doctor. Break the link between us. Free her.” I turned to Thomar and he nodded. I turned back to Surnen. “Thomar agrees.”
“No!” Danika protested, her tone that of a female more than comfortable scolding her mates. At least we had given her that measure of safety and confidence. It would serve her well when she found another pair of Prillon males.
Doctor Helion was already shaking his head. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t make any difference. The programming, contagion, whatever it is that made your collars behave so differently is already in her system. We cannot remove he collar without killing her. We cannot stop the integration from spreading. If you two sacrifice yourselves, her situation will be unaffected.”
Fuck. We’d be dead and she’d be alone. This was a nightmare. I’d sacrificed everything to fight in this war. My family had disowned me when I’d chosen to serve as second to a member of the Arcas family. They refused to meet Thomar and judge him for his own merits, the taint of his family name all they were willing to consider. Thomar and I survived countless battles, torture, years of agony and a closeness of mind that would drive most Prillons mad. I had endured out of hope. Hope that we would one day find a mate and become whole again.
Instead, we were killing her.
Years of rage rushed through me in the blink of an eye and I was at the wall, ripping a massive panel free and throwing it to the ground.
“Be calm, Varin. We’ll figure this out.” Danika was suddenly at my side, her gentle touch on my arm, her mind and emotions nothing but warmth. Contentment. Love. “I love you. We’ll figure it out. And if I die, I have no regrets. Do you?”
The vulnerability was there, in her gaze, in her thoughts. I wanted to lie and tell her I would have been better off without her. But I could not. She had saved my soul, made the sacrifices worth the pain. Validated every choice I had ever made simply be being real. Being mine. Ours.