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

by JA Huss

  His daughter.

  “You need to ask Veila. You need to get this information. Whatever it is she’s doing, I’m gonna tell you right now, it’s not as simple as you think. I know what you saw. I know what she did to you and Jimmy. I know what Luck thinks she’s up to. I’ve heard it all. But that’s not what’s happening here. And you are her only weakness. You, Valor. You’re the only one who can figure it out. Please,” he says, getting to his feet again. “I’m fucking begging you. Use that soulmate bond, if that’s what it is. Make her tell you her secrets.”

  He takes a step towards me and I dunno why, but I take three steps back.

  The hurt in his eyes is almost too much. But the fear inside me, the fear of what he is—and that maybe we’re all the same, we’re all just like him—it drives me back.

  He stops. His shoulders drop because he knows.

  He knows I’m afraid of him.

  “Can you please try?” he asks.

  “OK,” I whisper back. “I will.” And then his eyes go back to normal. The dark corpse-pits disappear and the crackle of violet is there once more.

  And suddenly I’m ashamed of how I’m acting. I’m ashamed of my fear.

  “You’re my brother,” I say. “No matter what happens. You’ll always be my brother, Crux.”

  He nods. But the light in his eyes is already fading when I back out of his quarters and go looking for Veila.

  CHAPTER FIVE - VALOR

  “Baby,” I say, once I’m in the empty harem room again.

  “Yes, Valor.” And I don’t know how, but the Baby sounds a lot less like Baby since I woke up and a lot more like Real ALCOR.

  “Were you listening?”

  “No. I left. But I already know. I was there when he… came back.”

  “Did Corla send messages?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Are you on our side?”

  “I do not know that either. I’m not sure who I am, Valor.”

  “Yeah. That makes two of us.”

  “No one trusts me.”

  “Can you blame them?”

  “I am different now. I was younger then.”

  “It was six weeks ago, Baby.”

  “I know. But a lot has happened in that six weeks. Was there something you needed?”

  “Yeah. Where’s Veila?”

  “She’s sitting in the airlock to her ship. Up on the executive level docking bay.”

  “What is she doing in there?”

  He pauses here. “I think she is… sad.”

  “Sad?” I’m disgusted. “That bitch has no right to be sad. She’s the whole reason this is happening.”

  “I could be interpreting her wrong,” Baby admits. “But she’s locked her cyborgs out of the airlock and she’s not entering her ship. She’s currently holding up several dozen borgs on shift change.”

  “Well”—I sigh, tugging on my shirt a little to straighten it out—“I guess I’ll go see what that’s all about.”

  “It won’t work,” he says, as I walk towards the upper level docking bay elevator.

  “What won’t work?”

  “Tricking her with the soulmate bond. She understands it better than you do.”

  “I thought you said you weren’t listening?”

  “I wasn’t. But I am not stupid, Valor. So be careful when you lie to her. You could just be lying to yourself.”

  “Thanks for the tip,” I say, pressing the button to open the lift, then walking in when the doors open.

  “I like you,” Baby says. “I like all of you, actually. And I’m sorry that Luck is so angry with me.”

  “He’s angry with you?” I ask as the lift doors close. “Why do you think this is about you?”

  “Because I was helping Veila before you left. I didn’t understand what was happening back then. And Luck thinks I’m trying to steal his flowers.”

  “Fucking flowers. What is all this about the flowers?”

  “They carry hormones for—”

  “Oh, right. Baby-making. That’s all these girls think about.”

  “It is,” the Baby admits. “So be careful what you tell them.”

  “Who? Which ones? Veila?”

  “All of them,” Baby says. And then the elevator doors open onto the top docking level.

  I shake my head, trying to clear it so I can focus on Veila and put the Baby out of my mind. He’s right. She’s way better at this trickery stuff than I am. So whatever Baby is talking about with the other princesses will have to wait.

  Two dozen cyborgs snap to attention when I enter the hallway and all of them raise their rifles and point them at me.

  “Easy,” I say. “It’s probably not a good idea to kill the Loathsome One’s prince, eh?”

  They shuffle their feet, eyes flashing red and racing across the upper third of their faces with agitation.

  “I’m just gonna talk to her. You guys are on shift change? Wanna get home to your sexbots and whatnot? Well, I’ll get her out of there.”

  For a few moments they don’t move. Just stand there like a bunch of empty metal-heads. But I know they have internal comms so I wait it out patiently as they communicate. And it pays off, because after a minute or two of this, they step aside.

  I walk up to the airlock door, peek through the long window, and have a flash of memory of the day we all arrived here on ALCOR Station. It wasn’t called Harem back then. We didn’t have a harem. And we didn’t belong to ALCOR when we arrived, either.

  Corla sent us here with her messages. Spin node coordinates. A star map, basically.

  The wanderer in me is suddenly restless. It’s been a long time since Luck and I have been out in the galaxy doing our job. I miss him, that’s a given. But I miss the job too. I miss the traveling, and the danger, and that feeling when you land on some ancient space station and realize you’re the first person to walk those dark, desolate halls in hundreds or thousands of years.

  There was no window in the airlock when we landed on ALCOR so we had no idea what was waiting for us on the other side. We didn’t come through this docking bay. We came in on the lower level. The one Luck is in control of now.

  And then when the door opened we saw Xyla.

  Crux was trying to be brave and handle shit like he always does. Jimmy was in lust with her. That was before he got put in the friend zone, of course. Luck and I didn’t know what to think. We just stood there like the dumbass kids we were. Tray was in some kind of nerdy awe of everything. And Serpint and Draden had to be carried in because they were too small to walk in the too-big environmental suits they were wearing.

  I smile as I remember all this.

  But then I see her through the window. Veila. Sitting on the floor of the airlock. Legs drawn up, head pressed down to her knees.

  I knock on the airlock. And it’s a loud knock that reverberates through the solid metal of the doors.

  Her head pops up, she sees me, then she does one of those sighs. Like I am the last person she wants to see right now.

  Ironic. Since she’s the one who trapped me here with her. But also, it kinda stings.

  Something in my heart shrivels. Which is stupid and also… unexpected.

  I don’t need permission to open this airlock like her cyborgs do, so I just palm it and the doors hiss and slide open.

  “What?” she snaps.

  “Is that any way to greet your soulmate?” I ask lightly, then palm the door controls again to seal us up and give us privacy from the borgs.

  “Don’t start with me, Valor. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Well, I don’t really care. I just came from Crux’s quarters and he told me he died a few weeks back.”

  “Shit.”

  “Shit? That’s all you have to say? In case you haven’t noticed, he’s not dead, Veila. So what the fuck is he talking about?”

  “Ask your.…” She squints at me. “He’s not your brother. Is he?”

  “Crux?”

  “Not Crux. Luck
.” She snarls his name. Like she hates Luck.

  “No, actually. Luck is not my brother. Not my real one, anyway. We tested our DNA a long time ago to be sure.”

  “Because he’s your soulmate, isn’t he?”

  I shrug. “Sure. Whatever. I’ll agree to that.”

  She huffs out her disgust. “So that’s why.”

  “That’s why what?”

  “That’s why our bond isn’t what the others have. You were already in love long before you knew about me.”

  “Um… well, not that it’s any of your business, but yeah. I’m sure that’s part of it. There’s this little snag though, right? One called Nyleena? So. I’m pretty sure Luck and I don’t have a future together.”

  Veila sighs and studies me for a moment. “If she were not here. You would…?”

  “Choose him? Yup. I would.”

  “And Tray? How does he fit in? And Brigit? How is it that you have so many choices? It doesn’t seem fair.”

  I actually laugh at that. “First of all, I am just one of those guys everyone likes. I can’t help it. That’s just who I am. Second of all, I have no choices, Veila. Luck and Tray both have their soulmates. I’m the unwanted third wheel. I love Luck, not Nyleena. And he loves me, but he loves her more. So that’s going nowhere. I love both Tray and Brigit. But do I see myself with them forever? How could that work? They’re not physical. They’re AIs. As you well know. What am I gonna do? Just live in a virtual for the rest of my life?”

  She considers this for a moment. But when she replies, she’s moved on to another subject. “Did you tell your brothers about the ships?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I was in cryosleep for six weeks. Thanks to you. And it doesn’t seem to be a high priority right now, considering Crux is convinced he’s a ghost, Luck is at war with us, and you’re fucking pregnant.”

  She sighs again. Then drops her forehead back to her knees and stays that way without saying anything else.

  Conflicting emotions swirl around inside me. Should I walk over to her? Stay here? Comfort her?

  Sunfucking stars, man. Why the hell would I comfort her?

  It takes me a few minutes to accept why. But I do. Don’t have much choice.

  She and I are connected. Like it or not. Real or not. There is something between us. Something that draws me to her. And if we had met under different circumstances—like out in the galaxy somewhere—and I didn’t already know about this soulmate bullshit, I’d have chalked it up to plain old attraction.

  Because let’s face it. Veila is beautiful.

  Maybe I’m not into the silver, but like before, there’s that little hint of rose gold underneath her harsh white. And there’s a part of me that craves that side of her.

  Not this side, though.

  “Well, are you gonna say something? Or are you just gonna stand there like an oaf? Why are you here?”

  “Oh,” I say, then decide Crux was right. I have to use this bond to get what I want. It’s what she would do, if she was in her normal state of mind. So I walk over to her and slide down the wall so we’re sitting so close our knees bump against each other.

  An electric shock shoots through my body at this simple touch. And when she pulls her legs away from mine in a defensive gesture, the heat we created in that single moment disappears and my whole body becomes chilled, then cold.

  “Don’t touch me,” she says. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “What’s your problem, then?”

  “My problem?” She lifts her head up and stares at me. “My problem is that this pregnancy is doomed. In a few weeks, at most, I’m going to miscarry again. That’s my problem. I’ve been through this so many times, you’d think I’d be used to it. But I’m not.” She shakes her head. Opens her mouth to say more. Decides against it, and then drops her face back down into her knees.

  “Should I know what that feels like? Should I pretend that I understand? Should I pretend that I believe this act you’re putting on?”

  Her head snaps up. “Fuck you, Valor. You have no idea what’s going on here.”

  “Well, maybe you should fill me in?”

  She huffs. Says nothing.

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “Get out. Just leave me alone and get out.”

  “Well, I got in because I promised all those borgs of yours out there—who are officially off duty, by the way—that I’d get you out of this airlock so they can go back to their quarters and enjoy their time off.”

  She looks over at the airlock window, spies two peeping borgs, and then screams, “What the fuck are you looking at?”

  Both of those metal heads swing out of view real fast.

  I want to give up right now. Just go back to sleep. At least things would be simple and I wouldn’t have to be here, with her, dealing with this shit.

  But all the things Crux told me suddenly swirl into my mind. And then, almost like it’s out of my control, I say, “Hey. Have you ever seen a place that’s like… a golden nebula while you were traveling the galaxy?”

  “What?” she croaks, looking up from the safe view of her knees.

  “Crux said…” I stop, wondering if I’m supposed to be telling her this, then decide I want to tell her this, because for some reason I need to hear her answer, and continue. “He said he died. You knew about that, I take it?”

  She flips her hand in the air. That gesture again.

  “But he said when he died he went somewhere. Some golden space-dust nebula place filled with people or… I’m not quite sure what the fuck he was talking about. But he asked me to ask you. I was supposed to be all stealthy about it and shit. Like… well, I’m not really a stealthy guy. So I’m not sure how I’d do that. But anyway. Have you ever seen that?”

  “What did I tell you?”

  “What?”

  “Lie, Valor. Learn to fucking lie a little, for fuck’s sake!”

  “Why?”

  “You can’t just go around asking about the golden place. What’s wrong with you?”

  “So you’ve heard of it?”

  “Yes, I’ve heard of it. I’m a fucking Cygnian princess.”

  “What’s that mean? Do all you guys know about it? Why was Crux dreaming about it? And hey, did Corla send you messages? Because he says she sent him messages and she’s awake and… what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  She blinks at me. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “He told me to ask you.”

  “You know what? I have to go.” She gets to her feet and starts walking towards the airlock door. But I get up and grab her wrist and stop her.

  And when I do that… I mean, I knew this was coming, but still, when I touch her that feeling comes back. That urge inside me. The desire to press my body up against hers and keep her close to me forever.

  She yanks her wrist from my grip. “Don’t. I don’t want you to touch me again. Do you understand?”

  “Hard to get, huh?”

  “What?”

  “You’re playing hard to get. To make me want you.”

  “No.” It comes out as a sardonic laugh and she shakes her head. “No, I truly want nothing to do with you, Valor.”

  “Except get Luck to surrender so you can get your hands on that flower?”

  “What flower?” And I have to hand it to her. The look on her face almost passes for surprise.

  “Come off it,” I say. “I know you know about the flowers Luck is hiding.”

  “Why would I care about sun-fucked flowers?”

  “Because they’re the secret ingredient to getting pregnant.”

  “What?” This comes out as an incredulous whisper.

  And that’s my first clue that yeah, she really did not know about the flowers. “The Baby didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “OK. Well.” I laugh a little. “Turns out Luck not only controls the spin node that leads to Earth—or wherever, be
cause that’s not the only place it leads.” I chuckle, then wonder if I’m drunk or something. Because why am I telling her all this?

  “What does that mean?” Veila asks. “Leads to Earth or wherever? Where else does it go?”

  “You know… maybe I should shut up now?”

  She reaches for me, then just as abruptly pulls her hand back. Like she’s afraid to touch me. “Explain this flower.”

  “Nah. I’m gonna drop it now. You’re on your feet, you’re ready to leave—”

  “Valor,” she snarls. “I am cramping right now. I am on the verge of miscarrying. Again.” And maybe I’m imagining things, but her eyes are a bit shiny. And they crackle with pink light.

  I point at her eyes. “Did it ever occur to you that it’s the silver that’s holding up your baby-making? And not the pink?”

  “What?” And she lights up a little. A warm, gold-pink glow.

  “That. Right there. Your light is not silver right now. It’s like there’s war going on inside you.”

  She draws in a long breath and then lets it out. “It’s the other way around. The pink and gold is messing this up.” She pans a hand across her stomach as she says ‘this’.

  “Why do you even need babies? I mean, you’re not really going to mother them, are you?” That last part comes out with a laugh. Because the whole thought of Veila being a mother… I just can’t.

  She glares at me. And now her eyes are filled with silver-laced white and that rose gold is long gone. “You were saying? About the flowers.”

  I’m probably not supposed to tell her this. I mean, it’s the big secret, right? The whole point of Luck starting this little revolution. Which isn’t so little anymore. But it certainly has her attention.

  “I’m not really sure. Baby told me that someone told him that there’s a forest of flowers down below. And that’s the secret ingredient to getting princesses pregnant.”