“Hear what?” Rachel asked as Kai moved closer to me.

  I rushed to my mate and melted against him as his arms closed around me in a protective cocoon. “That voice.”

  You are special. You see me. You feel me. You saw me when I arrived to reclaim Maxus, on earth. You recognized my presence when no others were aware. Your mind, your awareness, embedded my image in your photograph. No other has manipulated primal energy in such a way. You are unique, daughter. You will come to me.

  “No, I won’t.” I didn’t even know what I supposedly did. Was he saying I somehow sensed his presence and that my mind, somehow, magically made his eyes appear in the picture even though he wasn’t physically at the fight that night? Because that was crazy.

  Was I arguing with a figment of my imagination?

  Everyone around looked at me with confusion. The Prillon warriors, Thomar and Sebastion, the cousins, had their space blasters out and were looking around. The woman, Danika, Thomar’s mate, had her hands wrapped around her head as her second mate, Varin, crouched over her protectively. They, at least, appeared to be upset.

  “Am I going crazy?”

  “No.” Thomar’s tone sounded grave. “We hear him as well. Where the fuck is he?”

  I am everywhere and nowhere, daughter. Come. Let me teach you. The voice kept talking to me. I struggled to listen to multiple conversations at once—the real ones I could hear with my ears—and the disturbing, telepathic voice inside my head.

  “Who?” Helion nudged Willow toward Sebastion and looked around. “Perhaps we should take all the females to safety.”

  “Where would that be when he’s in our heads?” I asked.

  Helion cursed. “Fuck. Governor, lock down the base until we know what we’re dealing with. Send word to the other bases. We may be dealing with another infiltration.”

  Another? As in the Hive had infiltrated The Colony planet before? I thought this place was safe. Then again, the Hive weren’t supposed to be on Earth, either.

  Sebastion wrapped his arms around Willow. “It’s a Nexus unit. I don’t know how he’s communicating with Lady Larkspur, but the telepathic signal is strong.” He turned to stare at me over Willow’s head. “Have you spent time with the Hive? Do you have integrations, my lady?”

  “No.” I shook my head and clung to Kai. “No. I don’t have anything. I’d never seen one until they tried to kill me.”

  You saw me when no one else was aware of my presence. The image you captured linked our minds, our awareness of one another. You see me and I see you. We are linked, one mind, one awareness beyond space and time. Harming you was never our intention. They were to bring you to me. Come.

  Why? I thought the word then decided to speak aloud. Not playing this Nexus guy’s mental game, whatever that game happened to be. “Why? Why did you want them to bring me to you? What do you want?” He said he wanted to teach me, but teach me what? How to be blue and scary? How to control the minds of thousands of integrated captives and force them to fight and kill like he did? No way.

  Kai’s beast rumbled through him and my mate let him out. His shoulders grew. His face transformed, bigger jaw, wild, aggressive gaze. His size meant additional safety and I held onto my mate and didn’t let go. Not for a second. I could feel a strange pull inside my mind almost like the push-pull of opposing magnets except inside my skull. The sensation was making my stomach roll and my head ache. If the sensations kept up much longer, I was going to be sick.

  The screen closest to me flashed, was fuzzy and muddled for a few seconds and then? One of the strangest creatures I’d ever seen stared at me from inside some kind of detention cell. His skin was an unnatural dark blue. His eyes were big, black and dull, like a shark’s. He didn’t have hair, but a grouping of tubelike projections connected the back of his head to the top third of his spine like tentacles. They appeared to be firmly attached, more like computer wires than normal body parts.

  Was the blue alien in a prison of some kind? Was he the voice I was hearing in my head? He sat on the floor with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap, calm and collected as if he were meditating or something. There was a small bed in the room but no other furniture. He lifted his chin and stared directly at me through the screen, as if he could see me.

  His voice carried through the room on invisible speakers. “Larkspur. You and Catherine are mine. There are others, so many of you. I claim you all, my daughters.”

  What. The. Fuck? “I am not your daughter.”

  Kai shoved me behind him, blocking my view of the dark blue Nexus unit. Or should I say, blocking his view of me.

  Helion walked toward the screen, facing off with the creature. “This is impossible.”

  “Zarren. Did you believe this cage effective?” The other screens in the room transformed into flashing, moving images of data, information and images from all over the fleet. “I remained at your Core Command structure to access your data and complete my search.” The images on the screens changed to a rotating selection of human women. I didn’t recognize any of them except myself, of course, and one woman I’d seen on so many Interstellar Brides’ Program advertisements I would know her anywhere—Warden Catherine Egara. She was almost as famous as the Atlans on the Bachelor Beast TV show.

  I peeked around Kai’s arm to see Helion and the thing staring at each other as the Prillon activated a communication device and rattled off a bunch of code words and numbers I didn’t understand. When he was done, an officer I assumed was stationed wherever this blue prisoner was being held was on the line.

  “Commander Helion?”

  “Yes. This is Helion. Who am I speaking to?”

  “Elite Hunter Kayn, sir.”

  “Kayn, good. Nexus 5 has infiltrated our systems. Eliminate him now.”

  “Yes, Commander.” The communication seemed to go dead.

  “Who’s Kayn?” I asked.

  Willow’s soft voice was easy to hear in the silent tension escalating in the room. “He’s an Elite Hunter. From Everis. He’s worked with Zarren for years. He’s good. One of the best.”

  Elite Hunters. Yes, I’d read something about them, too. For about a week, Lavender and I had contemplated volunteering to be brides. The fact that we’d probably be separated had been the deciding factor against. Didn’t mean we hadn’t scoured all the literature, and all the possible mates we might end up with. Now that I had Kai, I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

  We watched on screen as the blue prisoner’s cell door slid open to reveal a striking male I assumed was Kayn. I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight. I didn’t want to watch.

  Open your eyes. This one cannot harm me.

  “He says—” I stopped mid-warning, eyes open just as Kayn lifted some type of blaster and fired at the blue Nexus unit. The blast went through the blue male and singed the wall behind him like he wasn’t even there.

  Did he just make himself translucent, like a ghost? What?

  Translocation is the human term. I can be, and have been, in multiple places during my time as Zarren’s prisoner.

  I turned to Thomar and the others who said they could hear him. “Are you guys hearing all this?”

  “Yes.” Thomar scowled. “The Nexus units are much more dangerous than we realized.” He looked at Helion. “By holding him at Core Command, I believe we gave him access to everything in the I.C.’s database. Everything.”

  “Fuck.” Helion ran a hand through his hair. Willow glared at the blue alien on the screen with a hatred so intense it had to be personal.

  “Who’s Zarren?” I asked. Too many names in this room already.

  “I am.” Helion lifted his blaster and took a step away from the screen before firing his weapon. The screen shattered. It made no difference as the Nexus unit relocated his image to another screen. Helion blasted it. The Nexus unit moved again..

  “Fuck. Take cover.” Helion destroyed every screen in the room.

  I waited for the weird tugging, magnetic feeling in my head to go away. Nothing changed. I could still feel him. “He’s still here.”

  “Of course I am.” Nexus 5 shimmered into existence in the center of the room and held out his hand to me. “Come, Larkspur.”

  Fuck that. I took two steps backward, away from that blue hand. “No.”

  Kai’s beast roared and charged at the threat.

  Nexus 5 lifted a black eyebrow—he looked oddly human—and Kai dropped to the ground, hands over his ears. His bellow of pain joined the cries of the other integrated males as they all crumbled to the floor in obvious agony. Willow and Danika stumbled and dropped to their hands and knees as well until only Rachel and I remained standing, staring at each other.

  “What do we do?” I yelled the question as alarmed voices rose from outside the room. Was this Nexus unit attacking everyone on the base? Everyone on the planet? Was he really here in the flesh or was he some kind of projection?

  “I don’t know!” Rachel knelt next to her mates. “Maxim? Can you hear me?”

  “Why aren’t you in pain like the others?” I asked her.

  “I’m human. No integrations. I don’t think he has a way into my head.”

  That made sense. But he obviously had a way into my head. So why wasn’t I in pain as well? Was it because he chose not to hurt me? Did he truly think I would ever want to go with him? Because that was insane.

  I shook my head and stared into the creepiest pair of eyes I’d ever seen. “You’re not even here, are you?”

  “Of course I am.”

  I took off my boot and threw it at him. As I suspected, the boot passed through him like he was a hologram or a mirage. “You are not here. You’re not real.”

  “Come, Larkspur.” He held out a shockingly blue hand, the slightly lighter palm open as if he expected me to touch him. As if I could.

  Maybe I could? The feeling of opposing magnets had expanded from my head to my entire body. Something strange was going on. If I touched him, would he feel me? Would I feel him? Would my body translocate like his? These aliens had transporter technology that could basically beam one across the galaxy like a laser or something. I didn’t know how it worked, but if they could do that, why not take that information and send a person to more than one place at a time? If it was all just moving data, could this Nexus unit make copies of himself and send them multiple places at once? The possibility wasn’t as crazy as it sounded, not with what I already knew Coalition technology could do.

  No freaking way I wanted original me—or a copy—going anywhere with this guy. No. Fucking. Way.

  Kai’s beast growled as he crawled toward the Nexus unit. His muscles strained. His entire body shook with the effort. Veins bulged from the sides of his neck and his temples as if they were about to explode. I meet Rachel’s confused gaze and looked at the rest of the people in the room, still down, suffering.

  “Stop this.” I glared at the Nexus unit. “What do you want? Why are you doing this?”

  “Come with me now and we will leave them in peace.”

  No. No. No. Such a bad idea. I had to figure out a way to break his hold on them.

  Wait… what did Kai say helped him survive his integration? When he was a Hive prisoner? Music. Singing the ancient Atlan songs inside his head. ‘I would sing inside my mind until everything else faded away, until there was nothing but the music.’

  Maybe it would work again. Maybe it would help all of them.

  Shit. I didn’t know the whole song, and I wasn’t a great singer by any stretch of the imagination, but I could carry a simple tune.

  I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and hummed the old song Kai sang to me a few hours ago. When I had it as good as it was going to get, I sang. Loudly. The Atlan ballad was about life and death, war and redemption. About falling in love. I loved that part, especially the way Kai had looked at me when he sang, as if the words had been written just for us.

  When Kai sang, the chorus repeated, over and over, enough that I’d picked up most of it. The chorus was the only part I knew and I sang the shit out of it. I didn’t know what else to do. The Nexus had some kind of mental hold over all these people. I had to help them break the spell.

  I finished the chorus and looked around. Shit. Stupid idea. Nothing was happening. I glanced at the Nexus unit.

  “Be silent and come with me now.”

  I took a step back. For whatever reason, whatever weird, magical ‘translocation’ mojo the Nexus had going on, he didn’t appear to be able to move toward me. No fucking way I was going any closer to him. I opened my mouth and sang louder, with a slower tempo, more like a prayer than song.

  The words were in Atlan. I knew the meaning in English, but more important, I also knew the sound. I did the best I could and hoped the melody would be enough to reach Kai. If he would start singing in his beautiful, deep voice, he could help the others. Please let it be enough to help break the Nexus unit’s mental hold on everyone.

  I sang the verse again. The fourth time through, Kai’s voice joined mine. His tone was rich and vibrant, full of emotion. I sounded like a small child playing at singing in comparison, but I kept singing anyway, thrilled when Sebastion joined as well.

  Did the Prillons know the song?

  Thomar’s and Varin’s voices rose to join them. Maxim’s and Ryston’s.

  Yes, yes they did. Thank god. Outside, from the corridors, a chorus of male voices joined in until the air shook with the power of so many deep, rumbling voices.

  After a couple repeats of the chorus, Danika, Rachel and Willow added their high, sweet tones.

  The Nexus unit watched all of us with a bored expression on his face. When everyone stood, calmly singing, facing him, he appeared to sigh. “Very well. Another day, Larkspur.” He turned to stare at Helion. “Thank you for your assistance, Commander. Tell your sister I am coming for her.”

  With the ominous threat hanging in the air, the Nexus unit vanished as quickly as he’d come.

  Unsure, we all sang another round of the chorus, but I knew he was gone. The magnetic energy feeling was gone. I grabbed my beast’s hand. “He’s gone. It’s okay now.”

  The beast finished the last line about being totally devoted to his mate, bent down and kissed me in front of everyone. When it was over, I smiled up at him. “I didn’t know beasts could sing.”

  “Best. Better than Kai.”

  I saw both versions of my mate in his eyes, both devoted, courageous males who would do anything to make me happy. I never imagined anyone like Kai. Now I couldn’t imagine life without him. “I love you.”

  The beast lifted me into his arms and nuzzled my neck. “Tell beast first. Good mate. Love. More than love. Mine.”

  The set of double doors slid open to reveal a small army of armed cyborgs on the other side. Warlord Tazo was at the front of the line. “What the fuck was that?”

  Governor Maxim walked to the door. “I’ll take care of my people.” He glanced at Helion. “I assume you have an explanation for what just happened?”

  Helion shook his head. “None. Not a fucking clue.”

  I had a question. “Who’s your sister? He said he was going to find her.”

  “Warden Catherine Egara is my sister by law. She was mated to my brother and his second before they were killed in battle.”

  “Oh.” Holy shit. Warden Egara, the famous spokesperson for the Interstellar Brides’ Program had Prillon mates? Two of them? And they were killed?

  Helion’s vivid green eyes held a sadness I’d rarely seen. I recognized the look of loss, of grief, from staring at my own reflection in the mirror after our mother died.

  “You’d better warn her.”

  “Believe me, I will. I have a few questions for her as well. Nexus 5 acted as if he knew her, had spoken to her before.”

  “Has he?” Willow asked.

  “I do not know, but I intend to find out.” Helion pressed the communication controls he’d used to contact the Elite Hunter. “Kayn? You still there?”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “The prisoner?”

  “Vanished, sir.”

  Helion cursed again. Seemed he did a lot of that. “Larkspur, we will need some additional medical exams. Genetic analysis. Have you ever been tested for telepathy?”

  “No.”

  “Any special skills or circumstances that would explain this? Any idea why Nexus 5 was fixated on you?”

  My beast’s low, rumbling growl of warning made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. And hot. And wet. My beast was irresistible. “No idea.”

  “I’ll work with Doctor Surnen.” He turned away, his dismissal obvious as he continued making plans. “I need Doctor Mersan. Seb, reach out to him and have him meet us tomorrow with a complete medical team. Tell him we need those brain chips to work. We’re out of time.”

  Willow, Helion and Sebastion walked away, Willow safely between her two mates as they convened with Thomar, Danika and Varin. Danika lifted her head and called out to me. “How did you know to start singing? How did you know that would work?”

  I smiled. “Kai told me. Singing inside his head blocked the Hive during his integrations. He said it was how he survived.”

  My beast—male of few words—agreed. “True. Block Hive.”

  “Interesting.” The six put their heads back together and continued talking about things I’d never heard of and making their plans.

  “Do we need to stay here?” I asked to no one in particular.

  “No. You’re free to go. Just don’t leave The Colony until the medical teams have a chance to examine you.” Helion’s absent minded response was an order. Whatever. I didn’t have anywhere I wanted to go.

  “What about Catherine?” I asked.

  Helion glanced up from what looked like a tablet—or communication device. He waved it in the air. “Already taking care of it. Don’t worry about us. Go. We’ll let you know when we need you.”

  Excellent. I was really tired of the crowd. I looked up into my beast’s eyes. “Kai, let’s get out of here.”

  “Mine.”

  Did he just say let’s go get naked and have wild sex? Yes. Yes, I think he did. I rubbed my thumb over his bottom lip and answered in the language my beast seemed to know best.

 

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