“They all are,” Piper informs me, clearly perplexed I didn’t know.
“Of course they are.” My headache pounds behind my eyes. “I just… I have a bad feeling about this. It’s going to be dangerous, and if anything happens to you two… I feel like I made you come with me and—”
“This is just now occurring to you?” Billie snorts, one eyebrow raised. “You’ve been unconscious for nearly a day and a half. We saw what happened. We knew we would be targets too, that was the whole reason the Suevans wanted the three of them, the brothers, to act as a diversion—to divide the Roth Overlord’s forces. Why are you acting weird about this now?”
Because I fucked up and took things to the next level, I want to yell at her.
“Because we’ve already been through so much together and I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you two,” I say instead. It’s also true, but there’s a large part of me that knows I’ve crossed a line. I can’t unlick that particular stamp.
The door hisses open behind me, and I know, in every fiber of my being, that Nydo stands behind me.
“Nothing is going to happen to any of you. I’m the most powerful Roth in living history. My brothers are too. We will protect you. And you will play your parts, and then we will deliver you safely to wherever you want to go,” he says smoothly, walking inside.
The back of his hand brushes mine, and the barest contact makes me shiver. Yep, that stamp is definitely on the envelope.
“To Earth,” I make myself say. “That’s where we want to go. That was the deal.”
He turns back to me, arrogance lighting his eyes as he raises one cocky eyebrow. “I do know how you love deals,” he growls.
I glare at him, ignoring the way my whole body’s gone hot and cold at once. “To Earth,” I repeat.
Piper casts Billie an uneasy smile, setting her crate down on the small, bare desk attached to the wall.
“If that’s what you still want, my mate.” Nydo raises an eyebrow at me, ignoring everyone in the room.
Everyone but me.
His nostrils flare, and my cheeks heat, because I’m one hundred and one percent sure that he knows exactly how turned on I am, again.
“It turns out, I love your deals, too,” he says in a low voice, taking a step towards me.
“What happened to your mother?” I force myself to ask, my voice unnaturally high. It’s a low conversational blow, but I need to know. “We all deserve to know.”
I hold my chin high despite the guilt surging through me.
He stills, the orange flames in his eyes glowing hot before banking entirely. Billie and Piper freeze too, watching us with huge eyes.
“She was taken by the Overlord. Forced to serve him. She was already sick with the virus that took out most of the females of our species. She’d put us in hiding as soon as my father died, and if it weren’t for the fact the Overlord realized she was his brother’s wife, our mother would have at least been able to die of the virus, and not what he did to her.”
“His brother’s wi—”
He chuckles, and it’s a dark sound, devoid of any humor.
“That’s extremely fucked up,” Billie tells him, disgust written across her face.
“Our family history has always been bloody, and violent, and filled with pain,” Ayro’s massive body fills the door, and Lyko edges past him.
The room is way too full now, and Nydo steps closer to me. If I squint at him sideways, he seems… protective. No sooner has the thought crossed my mind than he drags his palm across my back, pulling me into his big, warm body.
I shiver against him, my eyes wide, my body sitting up and taking notice at his possessive contact. I like it… too much.
“We want to stop that history now,” Nydo says. “That is why you three are here. That is why we do what we must, to secure my throne and bring an end to the Overlord’s reign. No matter the cost, we will ensure he no longer hurts our species… or yours.”
Lyko nods in affirmation, his hands on his hips.
“You have agreed to help us. You knew it would be dangerous. Now you must appear every inch secure in the role of Roth royalty.”
“What if I do something wrong?” Piper asks, her voice high and reedy.
Lyko brushes his fingers across her wrist and she tilts her face up to him, worry creasing her forehead.
“You won’t,” Nydo assures her. “All you have to do is look the part and let the three of us handle everything.”
I snort. “Yeah, here’s the thing, sitting around and looking pretty have never been high on my list of attributes.”
Nydo tilts his head down, eyes devouring me, a small smile playing about his face.
“Oh, is it just lying around and looking pretty, then? That could be arranged.” Nydo smirks at me, his hand heating the small of my back.
I sidestep him, annoyed with him and even more annoyed with my body’s reaction to him.
“Yeah, here’s the thing,” Billie drawls. “Leigh and I have always been the mouthy ones. You’re likely to have really bad luck with this, considering the Federation barely reined us in.”
“How about this, then?” Nydo asks, scrutinizing her. “What if I give you permission to misbehave if anyone so much as appears to challenge your authority?”
“That’s the point, hoss,” I interrupt him. “We’ve never needed permission to misbehave.”
To my surprise though, Nydo’s smile turns even fiercer. “Good. Then you’ll be a nice surprise for our friends at the Roth settlement. They may not give us the warm welcome we deserve.”
Piper rubs the bridge of her nose, looking worried, and Lyko reaches out for her, only to drop his hand at the last second.
“I want a rifle,” I tell him. “I know last time I chickened out and only took the knife, but I want a gun this time.”
He nods once.
“Yeah, me too,” Billie says.
Piper’s face blanches, and she sits down heavily on the edge of the bed.
I mentally high-five myself for changing the sheets.
“Fine,” Nydo says. “You’ll be the perfect Roth royals then, prepared for bloodshed and armed to the teeth.” He pulls out a comms tablet, and I peer over at it as he triggers the hologram function. A woman, grey-skinned and gorgeous, appears above the screen, hovering in three dimensions.
“How the hell am I supposed to hide a rifle in that?” I finally ask.
“She’s nearly naked,” Piper objects.
“So Roth royalty dress their women up like… that?” Billie says, waving her hand at the skimpily clad woman. Her makeup is heavy too, her hair done in intricate braids and plaits that highlight how glossy and thick it is.
“How much time do we have?” I ask. “I don’t think we can do this fast enough.”
Piper’s already opening up the crate, pulling out a device I’ve never seen before in my life.
“What is that?” I ask.
“It will apply the face paint for you,” Ayro says. “It was hard to find, but I was able to secure delivery to the ship.” He grins boyishly at Billie, the expression at odds with his oversized frame and musculature.
“Huh,” Billie says. “Face paint?”
“Makeup,” Piper translates, and her expression has changed from troubled to pleased. “I’ll go first.” She even claps her hands, clearly excited about dressing up.
When was the last time I saw Piper excited about anything?
It’s nice. It’s nice to see my friend acting normal again. I can’t help smiling back at her, her sudden enthusiasm infectious. Even Billie’s grinning.