“You know you belong with him,” the stupid voice says.

“Well, so do you, so shut up,” I say tartly.

“Um.” Billie’s eyes are huge in her face. “Should I tell the Suevans to send out a ship to meet you? Juls and her, er, warlord-husband-special-friend aren’t far from you. We just sent them away. But if you’re having a psychotic break, then—”

“No,” I say. “I don’t think I’m having a psychotic break. I think I’m being haunted. Or possessed. Alien possession. Or, and hear me out, it’s the goddess who gave me this,” I point to the gold symbols on my cheek, “because she’s trying to make me do her bidding.”

“You finally got it.” The voice laughs. I growl a little, but the noise reminds me of Nydo and I nearly choke on the overwhelming surge of sadness that grips me.

“I just… I thought it was real,” I say, suddenly on the verge of tears. A little ice cream dribbles out of my mouth, and I sniffle. “I thought he really did love me. But you don’t treat someone you love like that, you know?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Billie says, nodding in agreement, her eyes locked on mine. “No, he lied to you big time.”

She narrows her eyes, and I can feel the but coming.

“Even if he did do it to save everyone on Earth.”

Argh!

“He didn’t even ask!” I argue. “You can’t just mark someone! I was a pawn in his mission to the crown, and that’s the only truth of it. How would you feel if Ayro did that to you?”

I’m openly weeping now, and she stares out of the comms tablet at me with both frustration and sympathy clear in her eyes.

“Ayro doesn’t have the weight of trying to stop an interstellar massacre on his shoulders,” she says primly.

“So you’re siding with Nydo?”

“No, I’m not. Absolutely not. If you never want to see that fiery fuckface again, then good for you. The thing is, Leigh, you seem pretty upset about never seeing that fiery fuckface again, so what I’m doing here is playing the fire devil’s advocate.”

“No one likes a devil’s advocate,” I sniff.

“Okay, so, I can’t believe I’m going to say this.” She pinches her nose, and it does, in fact, seem like she’s just stepped in dog shit. “But the aliens, the Suevans, the Roth, the Arco, and all the other weirdo species, they don’t think like us. Like humans. You have to… you know, lead them to it. To understanding what the hell is wrong. You know, communication?”

“What, you think I should’ve just stayed and played at queen? I don’t want to be queen,” I shout at her, brandishing my ice-cream-laden spoon like a knife.

Billie rolls her eyes. “Did you tell him what was wrong?”

“Yeah, and he didn’t say shit, he wouldn’t even look at me.” My nose is running and I dab it with my collar, receiving a disgusted look from Billie in response.

“A king wouldn’t apologize,” a male voice says, and my eyes widen.

“Ayro is listening?”

Billie’s scowling at someone not on the comms tablet camera, and then Ayro pushes her gently out of frame.

“Hello, Leigh,” Ayro says gravely. He looks enough like Nydo that it makes my heart hurt. I shove more ice cream into my mouth to keep from saying something stupid. A temporary measure at best.

“What?” I ask.

“Rude,” Billie says, only a sliver of her face still on the screen.

“I see why he likes you so much,” he says evasively.

Billie frowns. At least, I assume she does, because I can only see the barest corner of her mouth.

“It sounds like one of our gods has attached herself to you. That’s what that mark is on your cheek. That is a high honor.”

“I didn’t want it,” I say.

The voice laughs.

“I’m glad you’re getting such a kick out of this,” I mutter.

Billie makes a strangled noise.

“My brother… surely he told you a little of himself? Of what he did for us?”

I don’t say anything. I don’t want to talk about him.

“He sacrificed himself for Lyko and I,” Ayro continues quietly. “He joined the Overlord’s forces as a way to control what the Overlord knew about us, so we could grow up without being hunted by him. Forged our paperwork, dedicated himself to blending in with the rest of the Overlord’s troops. He didn’t want to. He hates him. But he would do anything for the two of us.”

I didn’t know that. Guilt squirms through my stomach.

“He is not like most of the Roth in that way. He would sacrifice anything for the ones he loves. He loves deeply, and he may not always go about things in the right way, or even in the way that I would choose, but he does so because he has always only had himself to rely on. He saw our mother dragged out by her hair by the Overlord, our uncle, and was forced to keep us quiet, to cover our eyes, as she was tortured and murdered, made an example of.”

My hand goes to my mouth, my ice cream clattering to the floor. “He never said what happened to her,” I say. “That’s horrible.” Oh god. Poor Nydo.

“If the Overlord knew you were his true mate, Nydo would do anything to keep you safe,” Ayro continues, relentless. “Not to mention, you being his true mate has likely saved all of the human females.” For a half second, his gaze flicks to Billie beside him, a rueful twist to his lips. “So long as we can muster enough support to stop the Overlord from outright attacking Earth.”

“There is that, yes,” Billie agrees acidly.

“Roth are raised not to apologize, especially Roth males in power. But I think you may yet hear from him.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Billie asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“He let her leave. He let her leave Roth airspace, unaccosted. Why would he do that if he only wanted to control her? He could have stopped that ship at any time or hunted her down and brought her back. I don’t think he was lying when he said he loved you,” Ayro says slowly. “I think he doesn’t know what to do with you.”

A proximity siren goes off. I leap to my feet, accidentally stepping on the ice cream pouch and sending it squirting across the floor.

“What’s that?” Billie asks, her face on the comms tablet again.

“Incoming ship,” I say, heading for the bridge.

A small Roth scout ship appears in the view screen.

“It’s a Roth scout,” I say woodenly, arching my eyebrow at the comms tablet still in my hand. “You were saying?”

“If I’m wrong, I’m wrong,” Ayro says breezily. “But if that is Nydo… hear him out, will you?”

The comm dies, the sound of Billie’s enraged voice the last thing I hear.

“Shit fuck,” I mutter, watching the ship grow bigger as it approaches steadily. Finally, I flick off the proximity siren.

Anxiety and excitement and adrenaline all course through me at once. Maybe it’s just a scout. Maybe I’m in trouble.

Maybe it’s Nydo.

What if it’s the Overlord?

My heart beats faster and faster as the ship hails me. I steel myself for the worst, preparing the meager weapons systems in case it is an Overlord ship and not Nydo.

But when a familiar, brutally handsome face fills the screen, I burst into fresh tears. I need my ice cream.

“Leigh,” Nydo says, and I force myself to look up at him. He’s not wearing the finery I’d grown accustomed to seeing him in, but wears a plain tank and pants, a regular soldier’s gear. Tears track down his face, and that’s what stops my building anger more than anything.

He’s crying.

I didn’t know the Roth could.

“May I board your ship? I would like to talk to you face to face.”

His voice is so quiet, so gentle, so unlike him.

All I can do is nod.

We should, at the very least, talk like adults.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

OceanofPDF.com

NYDO

My heart keeps trying to leave my chest. It beats harder than ever, and the constant, nagging pain that’s dogged me since Leigh left Roth finally subsides completely as I step onto the small ship we shared.