by Hope Hart
I let out a choked laugh. “Why? So you could hide the fact that you’re taking my brother with us? You promised me, Varian!”
“I promised no harm would come to him,” he says, a warning look in his eyes. “And no harm will.”
“Semantics!” I blink, and realize we have an audience. Jaret stares coldly at me, and two other Arcav men I haven’t yet met are looking at me curiously.
I move toward the stairs. “We’ll discuss this later,” I say.
“I’m looking forward to it, mate.” His voice is a dark promise, and I blush as I picture his idea of ‘discussion.’
I make my way upstairs, where Chloe and Beth are waiting in the living room area inside my quarters. A table of food has been set up, and I can smell coffee. Jennifer walks in behind me, a teenage girl behind her.
“Hi,” she says. “This is my daughter Meghan.”
I freeze. “You brought your daughter with you?”
Meghan bounces forward and holds out her hand for me to shake. “Hey, how’s it going? Massive fan. You really made that guy work for it.”
I can’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “Nice to meet you. What made you decide to come to Arcavia?”
“Mom gave me the option,” she looks at Jennifer fondly. “I’m what some people would call a genius,” she says, brushing off her shoulder with false modesty, and Chloe snorts in amusement. “I just graduated from Harvard and Arcav technology gives me a lady boner.”
Jennifer groans. “Meghan.”
“It’s the truth,” she grins. “I can think of nothing more awesome than ditching Earth for a planet that’s so much more advanced. When Mom turned out to be a mate, I jumped at the chance to come with her. Plus, my new stepdad is pretty cool for an alien.”
I close my mouth with a snap. “Wow.”
“She’s a whirlwind,” Jennifer grins at me.
We sit down, and I’m reaching for the coffee when the entire ship shudders. We all look at each other as the lights flicker for a moment.
“That can’t be good,” Beth whispers, trembling.
The doors slam open, and I jump to my feet as Methi rushes in. His face is a mask of fury.
“We’re under attack.”
I stumble as the ship sways again, and stare at the pale faces around me. My lips are numb.
“What do we do?”
“Stay here. I’ve got more guards coming to protect you.”
“Are you serious?” Meghan jumps to her feet. “We’ll be sitting ducks.”
She’s right. Whoever is attacking will want to get their hands on Varian and I. They’ll come here first.
“We need to get down to the other humans.”
Methi shakes his head, but I hold up a hand. “Think about it. I can blend in with them, and you won’t have to split up your resources.”
I move on autopilot, shoving open the door and striding into my bedroom. I open my closet and begin pulling out long-sleeved sweaters and t-shirts. I throw them to the woman and pull one on myself.
“Cover up and try to hide the mating bands.” Something tells me that we don’t want it known that we’re valuable in any way to the Arcavs.
Four more guards rush in, and I turn. “We need weapons.”
“We will protect you,” Methi says.
“Cool. I still want a weapon.”
He sighs and leans down, pulling a weapon from a holster around his ankle. I take it, and the other guards offer up their clutch pieces to the women. Meghan takes one, but everyone else refuses.
“I have no idea how to use that thing,” Chloe says, holding up her hands. “I’ll be a liability.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
We make our way downstairs, shuffling slowly. The humans are pale when we finally reach their room, and relief flashes across many faces at the sight of more Arcav guards.
I open my mouth to reassure them in whatever way I can, when a blinding pain brings me to my knees. I sway woozily, fighting not to puke, and gasp as fire burns up my wrists.
Methi reaches for me, and I flinch away, needing to not be touched.
“It’s Varian. Someone’s hurting him.”
To be continued…
Varian and Harlow’s story continues in The Arcav King’s Obsession.
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