by Maia Starr
“I am of the opinion that Yul Volaire is suffering acute symptoms of the mystery disease,” Karan said. “Have you been noticing more weakness in your limbs as of late, Yul?”
I glared at Karan but managed to nod through the pain. Karan’s eyes lit up.
“It’s just as I thought,” he said to the Doyan. To me, “Would you say that you have been under an excessive amount of stress lately?”
Well, I would say so, I thought bitterly. Ever since Regan had come into my life, every day had been a new test in stress.
I nodded simply, thoughts of Regan causing my entire body to tense up in another painful spasm.
“Ah, see! Even the mention of stress exacerbates the symptoms!”
The Doyan nodded. “Intriguing. How long does it usually last? We need him back on the grounds. The females are getting ready for breeding.”
“Well, it doesn’t happen often on Helna. Usually just to troops on the grounds. The more stress they are under, the worse the symptoms get. But they go back to the typicals – weakness, dizziness, shortness of breath – once their bodies have been rid of the source of stress. That, or…”
“Or?” Doyan Vera asked impatiently.
“Well, they would have to have spawned a child to regain their strength. The connection with the child is a unique bond, as you well know. He would be in much better shape than he had been before the illness struck the planet.”
“But Zaine hasn’t bred,” the Doyan said Or they simply don’t,” Karan said, his gleeful eyes glittering upon me as if my disease was somehow a gift to the scientific community. It made me want to sit up and strangle him. And I would have, if I’d had the strength.
“What do you mean, they don’t?” Vera asked, narrowing her eyes at Karan. “We need Zaine to keep the breeding grounds safe. You know how important it is for the females to be under constant guard by a capable man. We are running low! All the hybrids are still infants at this point!”
“Yes,” Karan said, delight dripping from his voice. “Very strong infants too, I might add. You’d be amazed at how-”
“I’m sure,” Vera said, cutting him off coldly. “But Zaine is the only man capable of running the prison. If we lose him, then…”
“No fear, Doyan. There was a breakthrough recently. We can treat Yul Volaire for the stressful symptoms he has been dealing with, of course, but the breakthrough really involves a more in-depth observation of his life. Personal details and such. By eradicating the source of stress for good, we can be sure to help him recover much more quickly.”
A grunt of rage escaped my lips as my body experienced another excruciating contraction, and the Doyan exchanged worried looks with Karan, who seemed more bothered by the fact that he had been interrupted. I knew what he wanted. He wanted to get his hands on Regan. To find out where she had been stashed and take her in as one of his off-the-books human test subjects. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed my strength to return to me.
But the only way that would happen was if, as Regan had suspected, she truly was pregnant with my child. And it would be far too long before I found out whether that was the case or not.
Doyan Vera and Karan stayed in the room a little longer before they were ushered out by an elderly Verian nurse. I was relieved to be rid of their voices, and did my best to move to greet the woman who had been sent to care for me.
“Peace to you, Yul Volaire. You will only injure yourself further by being rash. Please, don’t think it a crime to take the time you need to heal. We all need it sometimes.”
I wished I could answer her, but my voice was caught in my throat. Every muscle in my body was tense. This was beyond nightmarish. I wanted out. I needed to see Regan.
But the harder I tried to move, the worse the pain became, until I finally had no choice but to surrender to the healer’s words and lay back against the bed. For now, I was useless. Motionless. Alone. And I had no idea how much longer this would last.
***
The days passed by slowly until I was nearly ready to scream in boredom. The nurses did their best to keep me comfortable, and injected sedatives and muscle relaxers to ease the pain of my body.
But no matter what they did, it didn’t ease the burden of my mind. Regan had asked me for help. She had bared her soul to me, made me vulnerable, and shared her body with mine. And yet, I had refused her. I wouldn’t even try.
What kind of a horrible person was I to use her like that and then deny her the basic protections any real mate would want to offer the person they’d bonded with? Had I bonded with Regan? I knew that I wanted her safety above all else. I knew I wanted nothing to happen to her, and the idea of her beautiful body being defiled and her incredible spirit broken made me want to retch. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I had caused her harm and done nothing to fix it, but I was stuck. Wasn’t I?
With another week at least left to lie in my bed, I began to consider the details of Regan’s plan of escape. She had wanted me to whisk her away by the dead of night and simply live with her on Earth, outside the Zones where I surely would be crucified at once upon sight. It seemed very risky.
However, there were many troops who came back from Earth with rumors of camps that were full of pacifists; they were people who wanted nothing more than peace to be settled between the races. Humans and Verians lived life side by side, and advocated an end to the violence.
It seemed unlikely that there was any substance to these rumors, but if they were true then it was, I had to admit, possible that I would be able to find one of these settlements and live there, peacefully, with Regan and our child for the rest of my days.
But wouldn’t that mean becoming a traitor against my own people? If I wasn’t actively working to fight the humans and make the planet our own, wasn’t I destroying our cause with my inactivity? Would the Verian race be doomed to die out because of the horrific war tactics of the humans, and would I be condoning that by standing side by side with them on their planet?
Then again, wasn’t living life on the planet Earth our end goal anyway? Why not just skip ahead a few steps? It would be nice to live on a planet where I could put my knowledge of botany to use and protect the woman I…
I couldn’t bring myself to finish the thought. If it was truly feasible for us to live together on Earth, even if we couldn’t live on Helna. That was the easy part. The hardest part would be finding a way to abandon my post, regain the strength in my body, sneak Regan out of the prison, and commandeer a ship heading to Earth for my mate and child.
The whole thought of it was giving me a headache.
“Meal time, Yul!” my main nurse said lovingly. I couldn’t help but smile at her, at least on the inside, as my muscles were still giving me trouble. I was being fed as part of my physical therapy, and every bite was a laborious process. Every time my body felt a new pain, I couldn’t help but curse all humans for the state they’d allowed myself, and countless other Verian men, to come to. I was sure it was their fault, whether science proved the same or not, I had a feeling that it would come to light eventually. Perhaps when it did, a cure would be found, and full-bred Verian people would finally be able to populate the Earth.
Still, it was the human-Verian hybrids that were the most impressive species of all. Part of me secretly wondered if this was a part of evolution’s plan: creating a perfect species. The hybrids were said to be highly intelligent, level-headed, and stronger than human and Verian combined. We only had knowledge of the hybrids up to toddler-age; however, but they were growing fast. My prison was solely responsible for the creation of the hybrid army getting ready to take over the planet Earth.
And as proud as that made me, I still couldn’t reconcile the idea of banishing Regan to the breeding program. If it was true, and she was carrying my child, I would just have to rescue her. We would make a life together on Earth, for better or for worse. I would claim her as mine, and say goodbye to my planet once and for all.
***
I had bee
n in my miserable state for about seven long days, and still no sign of improvement. I sighed, furious with myself for believing that it would all be okay in a week, that Regan truly had become impregnated with my child and that the bond I shared with the child would empower me enough to break through the disease.
Nobody could tell why I had become so glum that I refused meals, and soon there were specialists at my side, doctors for all kinds of purposes, both mental and physical. But still, I could not speak. Even if I could, I wouldn’t feel prone to tell them of my disappointments. If I was going to be stuck on Helna and suffer the thought of Regan being forced into the breeding program, then at the very least I would stay on my planet with my dignity intact. As much of it as I could muster in the current state, at any rate.
I fell asleep in a dark funk once all of the poking and prodding had been finished, and woke up late in the night, thirstier than I had felt for months.
I got up from the bed and walked through the hallways in a half-sleeping daze before I realized that I was walking. I could move.
I rush of joy electrified me, and I ran from the hospital, still in my gown, all the way to the prison. It was sleeping time, and I ignored all of the Pelin guards who wanted to stop me for the latest gossip about my condition. I didn’t stop running until I reached the solitary units where I had last seen Regan.
“I’m back! I’ll do it!” I exclaimed, just as I reached her cell. But when I looked inside, I had the distinct sensation of my lungs being crushed and all of the breath rushing out from within me. Regan was gone.
My mind raced in fear as I considered all of the possibilities. She could have been taken back to Ward B. Without hesitating, I ran down the long corridors until I reached the quiet ward, and peered deep inside of Cell 3, where Regan had been placed originally. Nobody was inside. They had apparently all been assigned to their breeding partners.
I grunted in dismay, doing my best to maintain my composure. If I let my emotions get carried away, then I would be able to do nothing to help Regan.
“Yul! Should you be out of bed?”
Narei approached me cautiously, and I stared at him wildly, searching my brain for the proper response. All I could think about was Regan.
“I’m fine, Narei, I’m fine. Thank you.”
Narei narrowed his eyes at me. It was rare that I called anybody by their first name without the proper suffix.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “The Pelin came into my quarters and woke me up. Said you were in the prison running around like a crazy person. I thought the disease was going to take you…”
“Well, it didn’t. You should know me better than that by now,” I said, trying my best to smile at the young man. He nodded, relief on his face. “Do you know what happened to the females? Where have they gone?”
“Well, most of them have been assigned. Today is…well, it’s mating day. The females down the hall are in the nursing ward. They’re all with child now. The rest are attempting to be fertilized as we speak.”
“Most of them?” I asked. I knew Regan was the exception to the rule, but I wasn’t sure if I should let it be known that she was my primary concern. It might be better to simply allow the information to come to me naturally without inquiring as to her specific whereabouts. At least not until I was desperate.
“Well, the girl in solitary has been gone for a few days already. There was interest in her from the lab. You know Karan…”
That krocha! I knew that he would go after her the second he had the chance. Who knew what kind of horrific things he was doing to her?
“Of course,” I said with a good-natured laugh, though on the inside I was seething.
“It’s good to see you up and walking around, Yul Volaire,” Narei said smiling at me. “I’m going to go back to bed now. Those Pelin just can’t seem to mind their own business.”
“No, they really don’t,” I said, laughing despite my irritation. Still, it worked out for the best. If the Pelin hadn’t gotten involved, I would never have figured out where Regan had ended up.
I waited until Narei was out of sight before I ran to my office and pulled out my spare uniform. At least she was still on the grounds as opposed to being utilized by Verian men who cared nothing for her. The idea filled me with a deep rage, and I wanted to burst into the lab right that second, in my hospital gown and everything.
But that wouldn’t get me very far when it came to clearance at the lab. No, I was going to have to do this the smart way. If the Doyan knew that Karan had abducted a perfectly good female, suited to breeding, and utilized her for his own purposes, he could lose his position. It was treason in one of the highest forms. At least I would have leverage with him if worst came to worst.
Still, I remembered the colorful bruises left on the females put in his care for too long, and another bout of fury began to rise in me. But I quelled it quickly. Instead of getting upset about it, I was just going to have to go to the lab and get her myself.
Chapter 9
Regan Lawrence
“Now then, Yula, are you going to tell me how you got into this state?”
I stared at Karan in a mixture of defiance and fear. Apparently, he had just gotten my test results back. It wouldn’t do him much good to try to experiment on creating his own hybrid if my womb was already occupied. Thank the stars for that much.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I finally said when it was clear that he wasn’t going to continue speaking.
“You are with child. How did that happen?”
“I must have gotten pregnant on Earth.”
“What a waste!” Karan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. He was angry, for sure, and I became very afraid. Everything he had been doing to me for the past few days had left bruises on my flesh, and I was sure he got some kind of sick pleasure out of hurting me. I was no different than a little bug being ripped apart by cruel children. We weren’t any different.
“This is an outrage!” Karan said again, pushing his goggles back onto his face and glaring at me through them. I shuddered in revulsion. When I thought of the horrible Verian race on Earth, this man was more along the lines of what I pictured. Cruel, cold, and heartless, with steel eyes and an ego the size of his planet.
“My body has nothing to do with you,” I reminded him, regretting the words as soon as they were out of my mouth.
Karan growled out loud in frustration, lunging toward me with a scalpel.
“Stop!” I cried as he pushed the hospital gown up off of my stomach. It had swollen to a small bump since Zaine had disappeared from the ward. There had been rumors that he was on death’s door. If all I had left of him was my child, then I would do anything to protect it with my life.
“I can rid you of this menace,” Karan exclaimed, his face frighteningly sadistic. “I will destroy the life that isn’t meant to exist within you. That way the rest of my plan will go on unimpeded.”
I swallowed hard, squirming away from his touch. Everything that happened in this lab had been cold, sterile, and invasive. My whole body felt like it was black and blue from this man’s cruelty alone. I had no idea what he was trying to learn from me, but for the most part, all I really knew was that he had some bizarre drive to claim me as his own and destroy the life I had made with Zaine so that he could replace it with his own spawn. The man was a lunatic.
“Please,” I begged, my voice barely above a whisper. “It’s innocent.”
“But you’re not,” Karan said. “You have life within you that does not belong here, and I am going to do my duty to eradicate it.”
I cried out as the scalpel began to pierce my flesh.
“You best drop that right now, Karan.”
My heart leaped in a combination of joy and disbelief when the strong, masculine sound of Zaine’s voice filled the air. Karan and I exchanged disbelieving looks before Karan was shoved away from me. He landed hard with a clatter against the wheeled shelf of instruments he had beside us
, and Zaine stepped into view, his handsome face creased with concern.
“Yula…”
But before he had the chance to come toward me, Karan was already retaliating, showing an impressive amount of gusto for a man as small and sickly-seeming as he was.
But Zaine was beyond prepared for this, and stopped him with a quick shove backward. Karan flew into the shelves against the back wall, his face creased in pain.
“What are you doing here?” Karan gasped, struggling to get up from the floor and salvage the broken instruments surrounding him. “Get out of here at once! Security!”
“They aren’t going to do any good,” Zaine cautioned. But Karan didn’t care, and soon, two big burly Verians strode into the room and took one look at the situation before they advanced upon Zaine.
It was shocking how quickly he moved, and one of the security guards was already bleeding on the floor by the time the second had reached Karan and helped him to his feet. Zaine glared at the men, and the security guard stepped in front of Karan protectively.
Zaine growled in fury and charged at them, throwing a lightning fast punch that knocked the brawny man backward against Karan.
“Leave this female alone! I am reporting you to the Doyan for treason!”
“Nonsense,” Karan laughed, despite the blood dripping from his mouth. He struggled to get out from under the limp body of his security guard and failed. “This female is already with child. There is no harm in examining her for the good of the people.”
Zaine shook his head and came toward me, and I couldn’t help but swoon at the sight of him. It was almost too good to be true. I would have gotten up to greet him if I hadn’t been injected with more drugs than I could count. I could barely move.
Zaine seemed to anticipate this though, and lifted me with ease against his broad chest.
“Are you sure you should be doing this?” I asked. “You were just…”