Chapter 29
Lila
My first conscious thought when the pain in my body registers with my still foggy brain is holy fuck, knock me back out again. I feel like Bubby hit me with the starship and then reversed over me.
I groan and try to turn my head away from the annoying light that shines brightly through my eyelids.
“Ah, there she is,” a voice so beautiful I want to weep at the sound of it says from somewhere above me. “Come on, Lila, open those pretty eyes so that your mates can see for themselves that you are okay.”
My eyelids flutter, but I keep trying. All I want to do is please that beautiful voice. The light is bright when I finally get them to cooperate, and I groan again, slamming them shut.
“Oh sorry, dear, try again,” the voice coaxes, and when I do, the light has dimmed considerably. That’s when I notice that the light is coming from the stunning woman with huge-ass white angel wings who is standing above me.
“Oh my god, I fucking died. That bitch killed me. Oh, I hope Maxsim’s mom eviscerates her. So how long until I get my own wings? I want to go back and see that match so I can cheer on Astrea.”
The being erupts into laughter, which sounds like an angel’s laugh, all perfectly in tune, unlike my own goose honk. Oh right, it is an angel’s laughter.
“No, Lila, you did not die. Your mates and family brought you to us as quickly as they could, and we were able to stabilize your body,” the gorgeous, blonde-haired beauty assures me.
“Stabilize me? The babies?” I ask, finally able to move my limbs as I wrap my hand around my tiny baby bump, ecstatic to feel that it is still there.
“Yes, the lightning strike activated the rest of your Skarrian abilities, as well as overloaded your body, causing you to blackout. For now, your babies are fine, but your body has been under a huge amount of stress, so I have recommended to your family that you initiate the birth as soon as you possibly can.”
Give birth soon? Holy fuck, I’m not ready for that. I can barely keep them safe inside me, so how am I going to manage once they leave my body?
“Hang on, how do you know the lightning strike activated my Skarrian powers?” I ask the beautiful woman who I now realize must be Celestian.
She steps aside, and my bed is surrounded by all of my mates as well as Eric and William.
I guess they haven’t fixed John yet. I feel a pang of disappointment and guilt.
They have been too busy seeing to me to get to him yet.
Caspian reaches for my hand, and Saxon takes the other.
Xavier brushes a hair out of my face as Link squeezes my foot. I beam at them.
“Lila, the reason we know about your abilities is because your body started to change. First, you took on the features of a lightning cat with pretty stormy blue fur, a tail, and fluffy ears, but then you became shrouded in mist just like Xavier when he reached you. When we got back to the ship, we decided to test you, and we detoured past Tynka, and you became a Vengi. We then brought Tully into the clinic, you became Tutva. Lila, you are a mimic. It’s a rare Skarrian ability that hasn’t been seen in a very long time.
It allows you to take on the characteristics of any race or being you come across, and once you do it the first time, you can always access it.
It’s incredible,” Eric gushes, but William is pale and has his normal frown on his face.
“But it will take a while to get a hold of this ability, and your body cannot handle the extra stress with the babies. It will become dangerous for them, so we will return to Skarr, and you will have the babies so that all of you are safe,” he tells me, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“Thank you, Corethea. I don’t know how we can ever repay you,” Cas says to the beautiful angel woman, but she shakes her head, smiling brightly.
“There is no need for repayment, for you have returned my boy to me. We will never be able to repay your family for bringing him to us. We have been despondent and without hope for so long, but now our family is reunited. Poor Jotan finally has some support, and we will find out who took Marcus and make them wish they had never been born. We are forever in your debt.” Whoa, I just caught a glimpse of Corethea’s wrath, and if I were the person who stole their baby, I would be on the other side of the galaxy by now.
I bet they are cocky, though, and they will trip up eventually.
“What about Grandpa J?” I ask, trying to sit up. Saxon puts a hand behind my back and helps me up. His eyes are glowing, and his fangs are out, so I can tell my being unconscious has triggered his bloodlust. I wonder if I can feed him.
I struggle to get up, and it’s only when I put my hands down to push off the bed when I realize why.
“Agghh! I have wings!” I scream, accidentally plucking a feather out as I pull my hands away. I scream again at the burst of pain.
“Slowly… Yes, your mimic abilities took on Corethea’s capabilities the minute she entered the room.” Xavier sounds amused, but when my eyes drift to him, I suddenly realize he’s not covered in mist, and the worry in his eyes is evident.
“I can see you.” I point at him, momentarily forgetting about my extra appendages.
“Yes. We owe these people everything. Although my spell protected the babies, it didn’t occur to me that the lightning cats would be dishonorable. I wasn’t prepared for an attack while you weren’t alert.” I hear the guilt in his voice, and I shake my head.
“I didn’t either, but I guess we should have. What happened once I was hit?”
“Astrea didn’t wait, she ripped out Mazlan’s throat. Matriarch challenges are to the death,” Eric says quietly. “But if she hadn’t, I don’t doubt one of these guys would have.”
“And Natalia?” I ask, my heart racing, worried that they killed her before we could discover the location of all the male omegas.
“Alive but in the dungeon for now,” Saxon growls, and I know he needs to be fed, but I just can’t do it. I grab hold of Xavier’s shirt and pull him closer to whisper in his ear.
“Take Saxon and feed him please.” I register how pale he is too. “And yourself,” I encourage him, pushing my acceptance and love toward him.
“You would be okay with that?” he asks carefully.
I kiss him on the cheek. “Of course, but next time, I want to be the meat in the sandwich, okay?”
“It’s a deal.” He kisses me swiftly and peels Saxon’s hand out of mine.
“Go,” I tell him. “Neither of you are any good to me if you’re undernourished, and I can’t provide for you at the moment.” I feel slightly guilty but just as horny as well. My body and mind are a mess.
They leave, and I look at William. “What happened to Echo, Maxsim, and the others? Did they come back on the ship?”
He shakes his head, and my stomach sinks. “No, but they will join us again once the show restarts.”
I heave out a frustrated sigh. “There’s something I need to tell you.” I explain what Natalia told me. The colorful words that fill the room would make me laugh in surprise if the situation wasn’t so serious.
“I will go call Astrea and let her know. They will search for them.” Eric moves toward the door.
“If they have issues, ask Xavier to help them. He was the one who freed Maxsim’s and Echo’s parents, so I’m sure his little balls of light will be able to find them,” I tell him before he can leave.
Once he does, I look at my angel savior. “So how do I turn off the feathers?”
She giggles musically. “All you have to do is picture yourself as you normally look in your mind, and they should shift away.”
“So I need to know what I look like in each form to be able to take it again?” I ask as I concentrate on doing what she said. Sure enough, I feel the wings disappear. I have no idea where they go, but suddenly, they aren’t there.
“Yes, that is correct, but please don’t practice this until after you have your babies. Only Xavier’s protection prevented you from losing them during so many changes.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and quickly nod my head. “Okay, so no shifting. Got it.”
“She will have to shift into half form as part of the birthing process. Will that be okay?” Cas sounds worried, but I can’t get past his comment.
Fuck me, there is so much I don’t know about this process.
I really need to talk about it with him again.
The last conversation was post orgasm and I felt too good to really take any of it in.
“That will be fine,” Corethea says. “I will take my leave now. I want to join my family.”
“Of course, and thank you again.” William presses his hands together and bows reverently to her. She smiles and takes her leave, and I watch in awe as those big, beautiful, white fluffy wings go through the door.
I remember the question I asked before I discovered my wings. “Grandpa J?” I ask again, and William sighs, taking a seat as Link moves around to take the hand Saxon is no longer holding.
Link sighs. “Queen Tabbris looked at him while Corethea worked on you. She confirmed what Link told us. The toxin is nothing like anything she has seen before, and her magic was not able to remove it.”
My heart sinks, and I feel tears well up in my eyes. “So what now?”
“Well, it’s not all bad news. She was able to tell us about a plant that is found at the bottom of the deepest mine on Rilu.
It only blooms once a year on the spring equinox.
That flower has the capability to heal any wound or illness.
It is also rumored to be able to resurrect the dead if they have been dead less than twelve hours. ”
“Holy fuck, why has nobody ever heard of it before?”
“Because there are only a handful of plants, and if everyone was to know, it would soon become extinct. The Celestians are guardians of this knowledge, but because they have the ability to fix most ailments, they don’t have need of the plant,” Link explains, and William sits forward, propping his hands on his knees.
“Because of you, Lila, and the fact that we were able to reunite them with their long-lost son, they were willing to tell us.”