Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Zirene
“Has the threat been terminated?” Zirene growled.
The Fab Five were kneeling in front of him, Kaede and Bryeca in front of the other four, all six unable to meet his eyes.
Good.
They had failed and should be ashamed of themselves. It was an embarrassment that someone could easily get something past them. They were at the brink of war, and his special agents had decided to take a night off, and Selena had paid the price for their failure.
“Yes, Sire,” Kaede whispered. “For now.”
“For now?” Royak asked, his voice hard.
“The one responsible offered his secrets for us to spare his life,” Bryeca explained.
“And did you accept the prisoners deal?” Zirene snarled.
“No, Sire.” Kaede failed to mute his chuckle. “Prey doesn’t get the right to pick their punishment.” He smirked. “He told us what we wanted to know, and I had the pleasure to give him a dose of his own torture… before I injected him with my Vusyte and killed him.”
“It should have been my killing blow,” Bryeca muttered.
Kaede glanced at the leader of the Fab Five.
“I had to clean up your mess. Something that shouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t dismissed—”
“Selena doesn’t have the power to dismiss you.
Ever,” Zirene injected angrily. “You are my agent, first and foremost. Selena has no rights when it comes to you guarding her. I am not wasting your capabilities on the battlefield for you to have a night off. There are no nights off—not when her life is linked to mine,” he hissed and slammed his fist on his desk.
“This is your only mission, Agent Kaede. Don’t let others tell you any differently. ”
“Not even me, brother?” Royak chuckled.
Zirene’s eyes hardened as he turned toward the Aldawi Heir.
“Try me.”
Royak’s tail flipped in the guest chair as he gave Zirene a gentle smile.
“You know I wouldn’t override you—I never have—and I won’t start with Selena’s safety.” His smile dropped as he faced Kaede. “One would be a fool to mess around with your Nova.”
“Indeed,” Zirene agreed, relaxing. “Now… tell me what important information you gathered from your interrogation.”
Kaede stood swiftly and fell to attention. He dared to try to raise his head to meet Zirene’s gaze, but Zirene’s anger continued to fuel the weight of his dominance. Kaede may have a strong mind, but he couldn’t win against the thickness of Zirene’s aura in the room.
Only Royak could move freely as if nothing was amiss. Zirene knew his brother could feel the effects but was strong enough to ignore them until Zirene used his full force, which he rarely did. Not even their father could resist him then.
“The Quaww hired him to keep tabs on your dealings, especially Selena. He didn’t know that Selena was who she is until my sisters defended her against his…
tasteless actions,” he growled. “When they called Selena by name and told him she was their new sister, he knew he needed to find a way to create havoc. If he could make her attack someone, the Quaww could use it against her and try to overturn the vote. He came up with a better plan to drug her with a new aphrodisiac on the market and get her alone. He would use his connections to kidnap her undetected and escape the space station.”
“Her connections with her nestmates would allow us to find her,” Royak murmured easily.
“Exactly,” Zirene purred. “Once again, I am glad she is bonded to her nestmates. Taking in the banished Circuli princes works to our advantage since they are the most powerful males aboard the Destiny. Xylo’s mental strength was enough for me to tolerate, but having him paired up with the princes will only aid in protecting Selena. ”
“I wouldn’t disregard Odelm even though his mental strength is average for his species,” Kaede stated.
“I have witnessed him with Selena. He is very attuned to her wants and needs. He may not be able to constantly read her thoughts, but he has almost mastered gauging her emotions to know something is wrong before Xylo does.”
Zirene pondered it for a moment as the others waited in silence.
“Do we know where he would take her? And have his connections been dealt with?”
“Yes, Sire.” Bryeca stood to attention beside Kaede. “She was to be given to a Quaww merchant known for trading illegal goods. We can’t bring him to justice since we have no evidence of such dealings, but Aunya was able to place trackers on his ship.”
Zirene glanced at Aunya. “Is this true?”
“Yes, Sire,” she nodded, her face down. “We will be able to collect any evidence of future illegal dealings and deal with him accordingly.”
“Excellent,” Zirene purred. “And his connections?” Zirene asked, addressing both leaders.
The two of them looked at each other as if neither one wanted to answer him.
Kaede sighed and faced the Aldawi princes.
“Escaped,” he hissed. “They left the space station shortly after I left the club with Selena.”
“I request permission to hunt them with my sisters,” Bryeca blurted. “Allow us to clean up the mess we made.”
“Don’t fail me,” Zirene growled. “I don’t do well with those who do, especially when it comes to Selena.” He stared at Kaede, daring him to meet his eyes. When Kaede refused to accept the challenge, a smile broke on Zirene’s face.
The male knew his place.
“Agent Kaede, your place is to be Selena’s shadow.
You are to watch her at all times, monitoring her actions and those around her.
” Zirene gripped his chair as his tail flicked behind him.
“You are the primary defense she has from the universe. It is you who will make my life easier, knowing my Nova and our cubs will be safe from harm and the evils that want them.” His eyes hardened. “Don’t fail me again.”
Kaede met his gaze for the first time and nodded.
“On my honor.”
“Now that that is established, are all meetings as intense as this?” Royak asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Zirene held up his paw to silence his brother.
Something felt off.
He closed his eyes and focused his hearing, his ears twitching every which way trying it pick up anything amiss.
A small ringing sounded in his head… but it wasn’t his Nova’s… at least, it felt off. The once clear and even ring felt muted, yet the frequencies changed rapidly.
A burning sensation traveled up from the tip of his tail along his spine.
Zirene jumped on his feet, startled from the feeling.
“Something is wrong with Selena.”
Zirene ran to the Dreamdome in a panic, not caring who called his name as he passed. Royak and his agents would deal with them. Right now, it was up to him to get to her.
The burning was spreading, traveling down his arms and legs at a concerning speed. The ringing was getting louder each passing moment.
Kaede stated she was the only occupant—no other being entered the room or the lobby.
There was no explanation for why she would be in trouble.
He stopped before the entrance and slammed his paw on the scanner. The security scanned him, instantly overriding the locking mechanism and opened the door. Zirene turned and addressed the group.
“I am going in alone. Do not let anyone else come in,” he ordered. “If I don’t return in a few hours, come after us.”
“Will do, brother,” Royak said, his pale lavender eyes full of worry. “I will make sure you are both well taken care of if it comes down to it.”
Zirene nodded and rushed into the doorway.
“System. Emergency Shutdown. Prince Zirene Darcaw. Code 5312.”
“Confirmed,” the Dreamdome’s robotic voice reported. “Emergency Shutdown Complete. Welcome, Prince Zirene Darcaw.”
The lights rose at a gradual pace, revealing the Dreamdome’s chairs lined up in an arch along the wall. Selena was leaned back in the master chair, her body jerking uncontrollably as her head whipped back and forth.
Zirene ran up to her, concern flooding him.
She should be slowly regaining consciousness now that the Dreamdome was shutting down, but there was no explanation why she wasn’t.
The Dreamdome was completely safe—no one should be convulsing as she was.
Zirene inspected her. There wasn’t anything amiss—other than Kaede’s scent was all over her dark clothes.
He growled. Now wasn’t the time for him to be angry about last night’s events or jealous of the fact she was wearing something of Kaede’s.
Slowly, Zirene picked Selena up from the master chair, holding her close to his body as he prevented her from falling. Her thrashes fading as her draped body started to still.
Gasps and heavy breathing filled the silence.
“Selena. Come back,” he begged. “Wake up.”
The gasps became worse.
Even with the system shutdown, Zirene was afraid of leaving the Dreamdome with her in this state.
Never before had this happened to someone—not any of the engineers, his pilots, or to him.
If a pilot’s ship was destroyed, his consciousness was left intact—they had tested what happened if the Dreamdome lost power or was destroyed with an occupant many times before making a group-sized version.
But all the occupants to this Dreamdome had always been Aldawi—until the day he invited Selena’s clan to experience it.
Was there a glitch in the system? Or had someone tampered with it?
None of it mattered when Selena’s body stilled and went limp in his arms.
“Royak!” he yelled. “Royak! I am losing her!”
Not waiting for his brother’s reply, he needed to act.
The body couldn’t live without its life-essence.
Hers was slipping. Where, and why? He didn’t know, but the only way to find out and save her would be joining her in their void’s chamber, forcing his way into her dreamscape, and merging it with his own before pulling her back to the present.
Zirene leaped into the master chair and lowered Selena between his legs, holding her in his arms. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to calm as he breathed deeply, following the steps of Aldawi meditation ingrained in him as a cub.
Eyes closed. Even breaths. Steady heartbeat. Calm mind.