“The females.” He groaned, clearly suffering. “Protect. The females.”
“Oh my god. We can’t leave them here either.” Danika’s compassion for my cousin and the others made my heart hurt. Varin pulled her to his side as I kept my weapon trained on my cousin. He was an Arcas. He was strong. But I knew he could lose control at any moment. I had been the same.
“You must,” Bastion insisted. “I must sleep or he will—control.” Bastion crawled back to his hibernation chamber and used the side walls to pull himself up to his full height. He leaned back, locking his head and neck into place. “Level two. You underestimate him.”
“Who.”
“Nexus Five.” With those two words his eyes closed and his body became limp with sleep.
Danika took a step closer, her gaze lingering on the tormented male. “Thomar?”
“Yes, love?”
“Look at his neck.”
I moved closer and cursed. He wore a mating collar, but the item looked similar to Danika’s, partially embedded in his flesh, merging with his mind and his body as hers was. As mine and Varin’s had done. Varin stepped forward and inspected Bastion as well.
“Fuck.” Varin looked at me. “Nothing we can do about it until we finish this. Level two first? Or three?”
Danika grabbed my wrist and tugged. I turned to face the only female I had ever loved. “The babies. He’s with the babies. I can feel him.”
As could I. I looked at Varin. He nodded.
“We will go to three, Helion. Take your team to two and free the females.”
Governor Maxim cleared his throat from behind me. “We will go to level four and seal off the Hive Soldiers hiding in the prisoners’ cells. Should buy us enough time to free the females and escape this ship.”
“Agreed,” I said.
Helion glared at me but I just raised a brow. He did not outrank me, as much as he wished it were so. I did not follow his orders, nor did I care what he desired. My mate needed to go to level three and face the Nexus unit. She would not rest until she saw the children freed with her own eyes. Her brother had suffered, and she had killed to protect him. She had not changed and would not go alone.
Maxim, Ryston, Doctor Surnen and Rachel moved away from us, back the way we had come. They would seal off level four. I was confident in their skills. They were mated now, but they had been warriors first.
I looked at Helion. “Well?”
“I’m coming with you.” He turned to his team. “Go. Level three. Get the females. Meet us back at the shuttle. You have ten minutes.”
The group moved out, all except Helion and one Atlan Warlord, the same one who seemed permanently attached to Helion’s side. “Lead the way,” Helion said to me.
I moved with some speed, careful that Danika could keep up. She did so, easily, her small ion blaster in her hand and ready to fire. I had the thought that she looked like a tiny, adorable thing with her tiny blaster. She lifted her gaze to mine.
“Don’t you dare. I am not cute. I am scary and mean.”
“Of course,” I agreed. I was not a foolish male.
We reached the entrance to the integration lab on level three. With one glance at the others to ensure they were prepared, I opened the door.
We rushed into the room, fanned out, cleared the space.
Babies were crying. The sound heartbreaking and so very wrong in this space.
This empty, space.
“Where the fuck are they?” Varin asked.
Danika gasped and tilted her neck to look up. Way up. I felt them then. The enemy. Watching us. Hovering. Waiting to strike.
I lifted my gaze but it was too late, the Nexus unit was already on top of me.