“You need to sleep, Sire,” B begged. “Not just for her, but your people. If you tire yourself out, someone could challenge you while you’re not in top form. Or you could pass out from exhaustion, leaving Prince Royak to clean up the mess you and your sire left behind. The future will be difficult, but you need to become the leader everyone knows you can be before you get replaced.”
“You are right,” he muttered, the echo in his voice faded to almost nothing. “I’ll try to meditate in hopes of calming my mind enough to get some sleep. Report to me once you receive word from your sisters. Z out.”
B slammed her wristband shut and rounded on me.
“What in the Stars was that?” she demanded, putting her wristband in my face. “I was in a meeting with Z—who, I would like to remind you, is the ishing Sovereign—and you rudely interrupt, acting as if the call were yours.”
“If your meeting were so confidential, then you would’ve taken the call somewhere else,” I replied calmly. “In the beginning, Z addressed me, so he was well aware I was listening in; therefore, I was in my right to address him. You’re upset I like to cross the thin line between friendship and work, and I understand, but sometimes Zirene needs to hear some tough love when he’s wrong. I am only glad that I wasn’t around him in person while his voice held that creepy echo. I have a feeling Selena’s disappearance is making him lose himself.”
“Tough love, huh?” she purred, lowering her arm. “So tell me, when will I get some of that?”
“Once we disembark, of course,” I smirked. “Right now, we have orders.”
Ten
Bryeca
After rearranging some cargo, I decided to take my ship Furious on this mission. She was one of the fastest and most reliable ships in the fleet, equipped with advanced cloaking and extra weaponry.
The only downside was that it didn’t have a large infirmary like most of the other ships within the fleet, so if we were the ones who found Selena, I might not have the equipment needed to take care of her.
However, my gut instinct told me to take the Furious, and I was willing to gamble on it.
“I think that’s all,” Qran said, descending the ramp. “Is there anything else you think we’ll need?”
“I want to visit the villa’s infirmary and get an update from Kaica about Xylo and Odelm’s conditions before we go,” I muttered, sadness creeping in as I glanced at the sunset over the ocean.
Only the Stars knew when I would see a sunset on Destima again.
“Then let’s stop by before it gets too late,” he said, stepping beside me. “We have an early takeoff tomorrow, and I don’t want to be late on my first mission back on duty.”
I rolled my eyes. “You act as if you’ve never been on a mission before.”
‘“Not paired up with you, I haven't.” He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “I have to impress both my boss and my boss’s boss.”
“You forget that you’re now mated to your boss,” I said pointedly, crossing my arms.
“Did you say you forgive me?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
I felt awkward entering a villa that was usually full of life but now felt cold and empty.
Most of its occupants were either gone or lay injured in the infirmary, adding to the melancholy aura.
Holding Qran’s hand tightly, I entered the infirmary’s spacious, welcoming lobby.
Against a corner, two couches were pushed together, forming a makeshift nestbed. Both Circuli princes slept curled together, their appendages reaching toward the infirmary beds.
LUO’s tracking system told me Kaica was further inside.
I sighed, steeling myself for the worst.
I may not fear death, but I hated experiencing loss or seeing others in pain. Every time I glanced at Qran, I mourned the horrible things his crew had done to him—and how I had misjudged him at first.
Now I had to see the destruction the former Sovereign had done to two gentle, kind males whose only crime had been standing beside their nestqueen.
Stretched out on two infirmary tables pushed together lay Xylo and Odelm, face-down with their bare backs exposed.
I covered my mouth and let out a sob at the scene.
Gone were all of their appendages. Their backs were each marred by two deep claw marks, skin stitched together with absorbent thread. Xylo’s petal wings were torn to shreds, only the topmost panel still intact.
“I will have to cut the remainder of his wings off and hope they regrow,” Kaica whispered, surprising me. “I did the best I could closing their wounds, but the absence of their nestqueen has slowed their natural healing. I’m just glad their bodies didn’t reject the stitches I sewed in. They’ve been resisting almost everything other than the sedatives, though I have a feeling Oeta has been helping me keep them under.”
Qran’s arm hugged me tighter as I laid my head against his soft, downy chest. Kaica narrowed her ice-blue eyes at our display.
“When did this happen?” she asked, confused. “Don’t tell me—while I’ve been working endless nights to keep these two alive and stable, you’ve been fraternizing with him?”
Lifting my head, I narrowed my eyes at my normally-shy sister.
“If you had read the report I sent through our network, you would know that I was responsible for interrogating Qran and finding proof that he was an innocent victim, just like Selena. He allowed Oeta to scry him, and she declared he was telling the truth.”
“That doesn’t explain this hand-holding . . . thing,” she commented, studying him. “Or why he’s lost his feathers.”
I looked to the ceiling and groaned, sending a prayer to the Stars above.
“I know you’re busy right now, but next time you have downtime, you should go over all reports you’ve missed. I went over this multiple times in mine,” I sighed. “Unfortunately, just like Odelm and Xylo, Qran
