“Those Prillons are going to want to keep you.” Leah said, going back to her original statement.
The others nodded. Jessica, God help me, gave me a death glare. The queen of Prillon Prime was glaring at me like I’d done something wrong. “Prillon warriors, especially those two, don’t fuck around, Lucy. They don’t. If they took you to bed, I’d say there is a ninety-nine percent chance one or both of them had already decided to keep you before you left the party last night.”
“What?” No. No way. “I tripped and fell during the line dance.”
“Let me guess, one of them caught you before you even hit the floor.” Rachel’s smile seemed to be contagious, because everyone at the table was smiling but me.
“Yes.”
“Which one caught you?” Jessica asked, as she oh-so-innocently popped a piece of fruit into her mouth.
“Nik.”
“Oh, so it’s Nik already, is it? Not Lord Niklas? Or Ambassador Niklas? Or even his full name? It’s Nik?”
&n
bsp; “I…” I had no answer. It did seem a bit informal.
Jessica kept at me. “Let me guess—you call Captain Sambor, one of the most decorated warriors on Prillon Prime and one of the most skilled assassins Nial has, just plain old Sam?”
“Sam’s an assassin? I thought he was Nik’s bodyguard?”
Queen Jessica raised a brow like I was a five-year-old who hadn’t done her homework. “Lord Niklas Lorvar has been serving as an ambassador for more than a decade. His cousin is a battlegroup commander. His family is ancient and highly respected. He does not mess around with every female that crosses his path. And Captain Sambor Treval? He’s adored by every Prillon warrior in the fleet. He’s practically a legend. He’s feared by our enemies. He’s taken down Rogue 5 leaders, smugglers, illegal weapons dealers and more Hive than I can count. The list of awards and military skills certifications after his name in the files is so long I stopped reading. He’s not just Ambassador Niklas’s bodyguard. He’s Niklas’s weapon. They’ve got the good cop–bad cop thing down to an art form. They’re not playthings, Lucy.”
Great. Now I’d pissed off the queen of the planet. And this was not Las Vegas. Seemed what happened here might not stay here after all. And somehow I was the player? The jerk? The heartless asshole? Me? Back home I wouldn’t even squish a spider. I’d catch them and set them loose outside.
Shit. I was in deep trouble. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I don't even know why they’d be interested in me then. A fling, sure. But forever? I do hair for a living.”
“You do more than that,” Jessica said. “Rachel told me you wanted to open a spa.”
“On Earth,” I clarified. “The Colony is not really the place. I can’t see any of those guys going in for a facial. There’s not enough women there.”
“There are on Prillon Prime,” Jessica said, those eyebrows going up and down again.
“Viken, too,” Leah added, then looked at Jessica. “I haven’t had a spa day since Earth. You know, I’d come to Prillon Prime for a girls’ spa day. And if two queens showed up…”
“It would be the hottest place on the planet!” Rachel added.
I was quiet, bit my lip and thought. “The idea is a good one, and I can read between the lines. You’re saying all this because you think Nik and Sam want to claim me. I say it’s just a fling.”
After everything I’d learned about them, I was even more certain the match was uneven.
For once everyone at the table seemed out of words. Everyone but Jessica. “Just be careful, okay? They aren’t human, Lucy. They don’t think like humans. Not when it comes to claiming a mate.”
A guard dressed in black camo from head to toe, toting a nasty looking weapon, appeared at the door and cleared his throat. He was golden, like Sambor, and serious as hell. “My queen, Prime Nial has requested your presence at once. There has been word from Styx Legion. And Commander Zeus is on the comms.”
Jessica stood like her chair was on fire. She took a step, then looked back over her shoulder at me. “They’re good guys, Lucy. Really good guys. Don’t break their hearts, okay?”
I nodded as she left. Around me, the others speculated what the message from Styx Legion on Rogue 5 might be about. Apparently, the leader—named Styx—had taken a human woman for his mate as well. And this Commander Zeus? He was the only half-human, half-Prillon commander in the Coalition Fleet. Mikki told us he’d been in contact with her mate, Dr. Surnen, multiple times because somehow he’d taken a human woman captive. A human woman who was contaminated and still connected to the Hive. And Dr. Surnen was one of the foremost experts on removal and destruction of Hive integrations.
A human woman turned into a Hive, then captured by a Coalition battlegroup. Alive?
Fuck me. And I thought I had problems. I felt like I was pretty darn petty.
By the numbers, there weren’t very many of us Earth girls out here in space, but we sure did seem to be everywhere, right in the thick of this war.
Under the table, Lindsey took my hand and squeezed. “It’ll work itself out, Lucy. Don’t worry.”