Veiled Vixen: Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Harem Station Book 6)

by JA Huss

  I’m talking evil as in she farms Akeelians for genetics and tortures people.

  And by people I mean me. She did that to me. And probably Jimmy too.

  All of that is enough for me as far as this hate goes. But she’s also a vicious, vindictive, and heartless woman. Always barking orders, and fucking shit up, and generally acting like she owns the sundamned universe.

  And she doesn’t. OK? She doesn’t. There’s no way I believe this harpy is at the top of the food chain.

  No. I refuse to believe that.

  “OK,” Crux says, pushing me back with two flat hands to my chest. “Just calm down for a minute.”

  “Calm down?” I scoff. “Do you have any idea what she did to me on her ship? Any fucking idea? I will not just calm down. And if you think I’m selling out Luck for this bitch, you can both go fuck yourselves. I know Luck. I know him better than anyone. And he’d rather die than sign on as some side act to this shit show.”

  “Listen to me,” Serpint growls in my face. “You have no idea what’s happening here, OK?”

  “Leave us,” Veila commands. “Now.”

  Both Crux and Serpint look at her, then at me. And I’m sure, like one hundred percent positive, their rage is directed at me, not Veila.

  “What the fuck, Serpint? Don’t look at me like that.”

  “She—” Serpint starts.

  “Leave. Now.” Veila cuts him off. “Or there will be consequences.”

  Both Crux and Serpint trade a quick glance, then both of them push past me and storm out of my quarters.

  I watch their backs disappear into the hallway, then train my rage on Veila. “You…” I seethe. “You have some nerve, lady. How the fuck did I get here?”

  She presses her lips together in a smile. “Well, that’s quite a story that I don’t have time to get into just yet. What I really need from you is—”

  “The answer is no,” I say. “There’s nothing to think about. There’s nothing to discuss. I’m not doing anything for you. And if you think asking Serpint and Crux to come in here and talk to me is enough to change my mind, you’re delusional.”

  “They’re not betraying you,” Veila says, sauntering forward. She passes me with a swish of her diamond-encrusted silver gown, grabbing my pink drink right out of my hand, and takes a seat in an auto-mold chair. She crosses her legs and leans to the side like we’re about to have an intimate fireside chat. “I have them by the balls, so to speak. I’m in control of the Baby and we’re about two spins away from removing the Succubus AI out of the station data core. And once that happens I will order the Baby to shut off life support on certain levels to speed things up.”

  “They’ll just fight their way up, you know. You can’t turn the whole station off.”

  “Oh.” She laughs. “No. You misunderstand me. How many people are on this station?”

  “I don’t know. Ask Crux. He’s in charge of the census.”

  “I have. It was a rhetorical question. There are three point seven five million people currently on Harem Station. Roughly half of those three point seven five million people are on levels ninety-six through four hundred. The other half are all crammed down in the bottom ninety-five.”

  Damn. I don’t say that, but I think it. Damn. That’s a lot—

  “That’s a lot of people down there, wouldn’t you agree?”

  I don’t answer this. Because I see where this is going.

  “I won’t be turning the life support off on the lower levels, Valor. That’s so amateur hour. I’ll be turning the life support off up here.”

  Which means almost two million people who are currently residing on the top three fourths of the station will have to relocate down to the bottom third when she cuts off their air.

  And that means… well. Riots. Fighting. Starvation. Water deprivation. Death.

  Forced survival.

  And humans in survival mode are not pretty creatures.

  This is the quickest way to kill millions of people and make Luck deal with the fallout at the same time so he is either forced to surrender or die fighting and take everyone out with him.

  “God, I fucking hate you.”

  She waves a hand in the air dismissively. “I have very little use for you as well, Valor. But I do need Nyleena and that means I must have Luck’s cooperation. You, it seems, are the one person he loves more than his new silver princess. Because I’ve already tortured Crux and Serpint to compel him to cooperate.”

  “Luck doesn’t work like that,” I say.

  “So it seems. He didn’t even blink when I sent him video of Crux and Serpint being tortured. Not even when I sent him images of Lyra being tortured.”

  Serpint. God. I don’t have a great relationship with the guy, but he’s a cool dude and I kinda think he and I might actually be genetically related. And I know he loved Lyra. And what must Nyleena be thinking about that? She is Lyra’s sister. What have they all been going through while I was asleep?

  “You’re going to go down there and make Luck surrender.”

  I laugh. Like it’s a full-on guffaw. “Am I?”

  “You are. Because if you don’t then I will have to resort to more drastic measures.”

  “You’ve tortured Crux, Serpint, and Lyra. You’re going to deprive three point seven million people of air, water, and food. What else is there?” I ask. “Who else could you dangle in front of him?”

  “Oh, not Luck. I might’ve hit a dead end with Luck. But Jimmy”—she chuckles—“I’m just getting started with Jimmy. You see, I know what Delphi is and I know how to activate her.”

  “What the fuck are you taking about?”

  “Bring him in,” Veila commands to the air with a flip of her hand.

  The door to my quarters opens and a flurry of cyborgs enter. At least six of them. But they’re not the main event. Because they’re dragging a boy, his feet sliding along the polished obsidian floors.

  Late teens. Blue eyes, not violet. So not one of our Akeelian boys. Just a boy.

  They thrust him forward and he falls to the floor in a heap, clearly drugged.

  “Meet Tycho,” Veila says.

  “Oh, shit,” I mumble. Because Tycho is Delphi’s twin brother.

  “‘Oh, shit’ doesn’t even begin to cover the epic destruction this boy is capable of. And trust me when I tell you this—I will write this whole station off if I can’t get what I came for. I will blow the whole thing up in the blink of an eye. He is quite possibly the most destructive force in the universe. And even though Delphi isn’t as valuable as he is, his powers can be boosted if she’s nearby.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.

  “I’m talking about annihilation, Valor. If you think Corla and I are powerful explosives, well, we are nothing compared to the power contained inside this boy’s body. And I’m the only one alive who knows how to unlock him. I will kill everyone, Valor—every single person, borg, bot, and ship on this station—to get what I want. I know your brother is hiding things down below. And I have a very good suspicion what those things are and what they do. The Baby has told me as much. If I can’t have them, then no one can.”

  “You’re insane,” I spit. “I don’t know how you got this way, and frankly, I do not care. But I’m not helping you, Veila. And if you think for one second I believe you’d kill yourself so no one else could have whatever it is you’re after, ha.” I laugh. “Nice try. But you’re far too selfish to go down in flames on principle.”

  She tilts her head up and laughs. It’s one of those mocking laughs that comes with self-assurance. “Kill myself? That’s fresh. And funny. No, Valor. You misunderstand. I’m not going down with this ship, so to speak. I’ll be leaving on the spin node located on level one hundred twenty-two.”

  I process that for a moment.

  “That’s right, sweetie. I know all about it. I might not be able to open that node, but Luck can. Luck will,” she corrects herself. “And then we can all go to Eart
h together.”

  “We?” I ask. “There is no you in the ‘we’ here on Harem Station, Veila.”

  She inhales deeply. Takes a long sip of my pink drink. Closes her eyes as the nutrients in that drink flood her body and then opens them to say, “Oh, but there is, my sweet.” Then she places a hand over her stomach in a protective manner and pats it. “Our little family is just getting started.”

  CHAPTER TWO - VALOR

  Tycho is taken out, and while that’s happening I think I lose time. I might even throw up in my mouth a little too. Surely she isn’t serious. She can’t be serious. Hasn’t everyone been saying all along that Cygnian princesses have fertility problems?

  How does one fake silver princess get pregnant?

  Oh, God. Was she fucking me in my sleep?

  I turn around and grab my stomach, that’s how sick this makes me.

  “I know. It’s a miracle,” she coos.

  I gather myself and turn around. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Veila smiles at me with a sigh. It’s a long sigh. One of those contented sighs. And are her cheeks just a little bit flushed?

  Normally Veila is pale. It’s a good look for her, don’t get me wrong. She is ice princess sexbot-hot all day long. But right now she’s got a pink glow to her. Her normally silver hair is more the color of a warm sun than a white supernova. It makes her diamond-encrusted gown look classy and regal instead of cutting-edge sharp.

  It softens her. Maybe. Just a little.

  The drink, I realize. It must be tushberries or some other such fruit that regenerates the flux inside the Cygnian princesses. She is recharging.

  Which is all I need. Sun-fucked gods, come save me now. Please.

  “Listen,” Veila says, leaning forward a little. “I get it. I do. You have your loyalties and they’ve got nothing to do with me. Fine. So be it. But this is bigger than you, Valor. This is bigger than any one person.”

  “Except for you,” I scoff. “You, for whatever reason, seem to think that you’re the center of the fucking universe.”

  She tips her head down but I catch a tight smile on her face before it’s obscured by some long, artfully-arranged tendrils of hair that fall forward. “This isn’t about me.”

  I close my eyes and shake my head. “Really? Because from where I’m standing every bad fucking thing that’s happened to us in the past year has been about you. You’re the one who was stealing Corla—”

  “Serpint stole Corla. She was with me.”

  “You’re the one who sent Delphi to kidnap Jimmy—”

  “I asked Delphi to bring him to me for a reason, Valor. And if Delphi had done her job none of this would be happening.”

  “You’re the one who sent Brigit to trap Tray—”

  “I sent Brigit to Tray because they are meant to be together. I did him a favor. And he got to shape her all these years. She is truly, one hundred percent his now.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now? Are you really trying to make yourself into the good guy?”

  It’s her turn to scoff. “There are no good guys. But I’m certainly not the worst villain out there, that’s for sure.”

  “Right.” I laugh. “Well, you’re the only one who shows up time, after time, after time to ruin our lives.”

  “I’m as much a victim of circumstances as you are.”

  “Oh, please!” Now I actually guffaw and shake my head. “Well, I might have two cocks but you, Veila? You’ve got two sets of giant Akeelian balls if you’ve talked yourself into believing that absurd twist of reality.”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “You are not,” I insist. Because it can’t be true. It cannot be true. If she’s pregnant… well, I don’t know what happens next, but from the way everyone is trying to stop her from getting pregnant, it just can’t be good.

  She shrugs and leans back into the cushions, pulling her legs up and arranging them to the side, then takes another long sip of the pink drink.

  She glows this time.

  And yup. That glow. That glow is mine all right. Because both of my cocks start to stiffen under my pants. God, I hate this. Why? Why me? Why do I have to be connected to this psycho bitch?

  “It’s not your baby,” she finally says.

  “What?”

  She pats her stomach. “I was going to lie and say that it was, but—” She closes her eyes for a long second, then opens them again. “You’d find out eventually. And I’m getting the feeling you wouldn’t be possessive about your offspring the way most men are. You just don’t have deep feelings like that, do you, Valor?”

  “Fuck you,” I say. “I have plenty of deep feelings for people who… you know, care about me.”

  “Luck,” she says.

  I shrug. “He’s one of them.”

  “And Tray. And maybe Brigit?”

  “Look, if you think I’m going to start spilling my guts because of this little vulnerable act you’re pulling, think again. You are a liar. And sure, there are worse vices out there. Murder, for one. Megalomaniacs are pretty up there as far as assholes go. Narcissists. Selfish, greedy cheaters. Villainous monsters, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But from where I stand, you’ve got them all covered.”

  “Is that so?”

  I shrug big with my hands. “If the tiara fits, as they say.”

  “No one says that.”

  “I’m pretty sure someone says that.”

  She waves her hand in the air dismissively, which seems to be her go-to gesture when she’s done with a topic. “At any rate, the baby is not yours.”

  “Whose is it?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “If it’s Jimmy’s? Then yeah, it matters.”

  She squints at me. “Jimmy’s?”

  “You were into him, right?”

  “Maybe. For like half a spin. He’s a nice-looking man. But no. He’s not my soulmate.”

  “No, that’s me.”

  “Valor,” she says, shaking her head and setting the pink drink on the coffee table. “We have no connection. We both know that. It’s just… not in the stars for us. So I have moved on. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Whose baby?”

  “It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I’m pregnant and I will do anything to bring this pregnancy to term. Anything.”

  “So what the fuck do you want from me?”

  “I want you to go talk some sense into Luck. Make him surrender and…”

  “And take you through the spin node to Earth?” I finish for her. “It’s never going to happen.” I laugh. “He’s never going to do that. Hell, he kept that node secret from me all these years. It means something important. And if you think Luck can be manipulated like that, you’ve pegged him wrong. Luck is… Luck is…” There’s so many ways to finish that sentence, I get a little lost in all the things Luck is. “Strong,” I finally finish. “He’s loyal, and he’s strong, and he…” I shake my head. “He’s fearless.”

  She stares at me for a long moment, face impassive, possibly contemplative. Finally she says, “I know he took you through it. I know you and Tray didn’t leave here on Booty Hunter. Your brothers are not subtle. Someone should tell them they’re terrible liars.”

  “You know what? I think that’s a trait more people should cultivate. Terrible liar is actually one of the top ten things I look for in a friend.”

  “Perhaps.” She sighs, then looks away, out the window of my quarters. Which doesn’t have much of a view since I’m so high up in the station, but there’s a hummingbird on the other side of the glass, flitting and flapping its tiny wings against the window like it thinks Veila is a glowing flower with sweet nectar inside.

  Move along, little bird. She is not the bloom you’re looking for.

  It does. And Veila turns back to me. “Did Lyra, or Nyleena, or any of them tell you what it’s like back in the Cygnian System?”

  “What?” I frown at her. “No. Not that I
ever asked. Not that I ever cared. But I imagine it’s terrible.”

  “It is,” she says, then turns her head away to stare out the window. “It was… horrific.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to work,” I say. “I don’t give two fucks how awful your childhood was, OK? I’m not going to talk to Luck. I’m not going to do any favors for you no matter what sob story you tell. So just save your breath.”

  “I’d heard about you guys. You’re all pretty famous in the home system.” She turns to look at me. Smiles. Glows pink. Her true color, I remind myself. “But we only had mock-up representations of you on the magazine covers.”

  “What?” I ask, confused.

  “You Harem boys. I’m sure they had pictures.” She waves her hand through the air again, like she wants to dismiss that thought. But then she continues anyway. “And video. I mean, how could they not?”

  I’m not sure if that’s a real question. So I say nothing.

  “You boys were all over the galaxy having all your adventures. They knew who you were. Well, hell, of course they did. They knew you boys long before you came here to Harem. Did Crux ever tell you about his initial meeting with Corla?”

  “I heard parts.”

  “Doesn’t matter. My point is… you boys didn’t realize it, but you were famous in the home system. But now that I think about it, the pictures on the covers of the magazines might’ve just represented all of the Akeelian boys. Not you Harem boys specifically. They made you look like monsters. Sexy monsters, for sure. But still.”

  I scoff. “God, you people are sick. I don’t think ‘sexy’ and ‘monsters’ go together. Not even a little bit.”

  “No?” She looks puzzled. “Well, the princesses. Not me specifically, but all of us. We’re all sexy. And we’re all monsters. So I think you’re wrong there.”

  Can’t really argue with that.

  “So… were the stories true?”

  “What?” I ask. “What stories?”

  “Every month they put out a magazine called Akeelian Adventures. It was more of a graphic novel. Like I said, they portrayed you Akeelians as… kind of the ideal monster. But they did use your real names. So, for instance, one month would be about you and Luck. And the next month would be about Jimmy and Xyla. Tray and ALCOR. I never understood why ALCOR was in the comics. Maybe just as your supreme leader?”