Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Xavier
“Lila Adams.” The loud, robotic voice comes across the speaker of the flight deck. “You are hereby charged with crimes against the Aquilian royal family. Surrender now, or we will be forced to board and take you by any means necessary.”
My body practically vibrates with anger as I stare at the Aquilian attack birds through the control deck viewing screen.
Their announcement causes a pause of shocked silence before Lila curses.
The two cats, Silac, and Tirrian arrive, breathing heavily.
Maxsim is naked, so I absently wave my hand to clothe him with his usual attire so that no one is distracted by his magnificent form.
“What’s happening?” Silac asks, his eyes widening with surprise as he catches sight of the Aquilian army.
“Ah, it seems that the Aquilians have taken exception to something I’ve done,” Lila says flatly, and I feel her anxiety and annoyance as she crosses to Caspian and takes one of our children off his hands.
She snuggles into a dripping Jack, so I wave my hand again, making towels appear for all of them.
She wraps Jack in a towel, and Saxon takes Cally from Cas and does the same thing while he wraps a towel around himself and Cordy, drying everyone off.
It’s all I can do not to lash out and destroy the ships in front of me.
It’s yet another fucking obstacle in the way of my intimate getting her memories back. When am I going to get a fucking break?
My power crackles around my body, and everyone turns to look at me, worry and concern filling their faces at my agitation.
“What are we going to do?” Captain Broderick looks to Lila’s grandpas for guidance.
We could attack the blasted cans of tuna, as Lila likes to call them, but that doesn’t bode well for Galaxy relations.
We would probably get reprimanded by the Galactic Council and then my parents would have to take our side and, well, things would get messy.
William huffs out an impatient sigh. All three of the brothers are radiating annoyance and impatience.
They, too, have goals that do not involve a side trip to Aquilia, but I guess there is nothing we can do to avoid this for now.
“Hail the Aquilian ship please,” he instructs the captain, who presses a few buttons.
“Okay, it’s good to go.” He nods at William.
“Aquilian ship, what crimes are you insinuating Lila has committed against the royal family?” he demands.
There’s a moment while we wait for the ship to respond. “We are not at liberty to discuss this, but if she does not surrender, we will have no option but to take her by force.”
“Can they do that?” she asks, biting her lip with worry, and I hurry over to her and wrap my arms around her, trying to feed her comfort and assurance, but without our intimate bond, the feelings are muted. Instead, I hope that my embrace does the same kind of thing.
She sags against me, and Jack wraps a tentacle around one of my arms, and I feel his little suckers give me kisses.
“The Aquilian battle birds are well-equipped to launch an assault on us,” Saxon muses as he pulls one of Cally’s tentacles off his face.
“The circus ship, while equipped with weaponry, needs people to operate them, and we are short-staffed. We could appeal to my aunt for help, but it would take a few days for the Vilaxian fleet to get here, and I’m not sure if they will be patient.
If we stall, they will think we are calling in reinforcements and take aggressive action. ”
“I think we should see what they want.” Eric is glaring at the ships like he can pierce a hole in their hulls. “How dare they demand something from us? We have been nothing but generous in putting up with their arrogant son for as long as we have.”
John runs a frustrated hand through his hair and paces back and forth.
He’s still a little pale, but all in all, he’s doing so much better, the flamegem having done exactly what the Celestians promised us it would.
Link says there is no trace of the virus left in John’s system, but he continues to monitor him.
“King Marlin is just as arrogant if not worse than Nikos. Where do you think he learned it? The only reason he sent his son and daughter to us was because he wanted them to learn more diplomacy skills to benefit him. He was hoping Nixie would make a lucrative marriage, and, well, Nikos is the crown prince. He hoped he would learn not to insult others and cause war. I’m not sure that worked out as planned. ”
“You think?” I say dryly. “You’re not wrong about King Marlin.
My parents abhor having to socialize with him.
He’s a man-whore despite being married and continually flirts with my mom to the point where I’m surprised my father hasn’t blown him up on the spot.
He also thinks his planet and species are so much better than everyone else’s, despite having no power other than shifting abilities. ”
Tirrian snorts. “Yes, my father feels much the same way. Not to mention they choose to limit themselves to one environment and stick to the ocean. They would go further if they established more land-based cities, but they only have the one. They don’t trade, they don’t have any kind of commodities, heck, even tourism would be beneficial, but they are too arrogant to do that either.
The whole race is the same, and I loathe having to interact with them. ”
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me based on my interaction with Nikos, but Nixie isn’t like that at all.” Lila sounds surprised.
“She is most definitely the exception,” Link says, smiling at her.
Their relationship is much better now that they have bonded.
All that uncertainty is gone, and Lila’s mood swings seem to have evened out slightly as well, though from what I understand, that may not last. Who knows how many she’s going to need in her harem to keep her stable?
“Okay, so let’s do this. We will allow them to escort us to Aquilia,” William suggests.
“That’s a week in the wrong direction,” I grumble. Everyone looks at me with sympathy, and I feel an itch between my shoulders.
“I’m sorry.” Lila snuggles even closer, like she wants to join us together, and I feel waves of love and support and a small amount of shame.
“It’s not your fault.” I press a kiss to her now sparkling locks, and my hand drifts down to cup her ass. “Uh, Lila, why is there a hole in your pants?” I ask, poking a finger through the offending gap.
Maxsim chuckles, his hand in Echo’s fur, who also chuffs with what sounds like amusement.
“Someone is having trouble handling the lightning whip. Luckily, she’s immune to the actual charge,” Tirrian says dryly, and I narrow my eyes at the dragon.
He is really pushing this aggression thing too far.
Alright, we get it, he doesn’t want to mate with Lila, but it’s time he stopped being aggressive, and if he doesn’t do it soon, I may be forced to make him.
I’m the one who feels her hurt every time he speaks like that to her.
Before, all I used to feel was annoyance or even humor from her every time he opened his mouth, but now that she knows she’s his mate and he doesn’t want it, all I feel is sadness, hurt, and resignation, and that pisses me off.
“Shit, I forgot about that,” she says.
Now I can feel her embarrassment, and I quickly wave a hand, fixing the hole in her pants before patting her on the bottom again. I do like my intimate’s ass.
She smiles up at me and winks. I guess she knows me well. “Fine, let’s see what the king of canned tuna wants, and then we can be on our way again. I won’t let them derail us longer than it takes to sort out whatever they have decided I have done to them. I can’t imagine what it would be.”
Over the top of Lila’s head, I see Link wince. Do you think this is about that bite on her breast? I ask him telepathically, not wanting Lila to hear.
He nods his head slightly. Yes, I can’t imagine what else it would be. Lila doesn’t even know she is half mated to Nikos. Shit, for all we know, they are fully mated. She might have bitten him during their swim as well, but if we ask her about it now, she’s going to be suspicious.
I don’t like keeping things from her, I warn him.
Neither do I. I’m just not sure how she’s going to react to the news. Her mood has been a lot better this week. I’m afraid if we tell her, it will make things worse. The self-loathing and guilt she felt after it happened took a toll on her.
I don’t want her to be blindsided by it either, I tell him, and I can feel his resignation and know he’s going to do the right thing. We will just have to keep her distracted until we get to Aquilia, and then we will tell her before we go down to the surface.
I pull out of his mind as I hear William respond to the Aquilians. “We will allow you to escort us to Aquilia, but you will not be taking Lila into custody, and we will meet with them in Aquila.”
There is silence as we wait for the mer people to respond. “Do you think they are going to go for it, or do I need to prepare to create an international incident?” I feel my powers itching to get out and wreak havoc. It’s been a long time since I needed to use them for defense.
“It could go either way. Their arrogance knows no bounds, but I’m hoping they are still trying for galactic harmony.
By now, they must know that Lila is both Xavier’s intimate and Saxon’s blood rose—not to mention that she is also mated to Maxsim.
That’s three separate planets that would have our back if the Aquilians started anything with us. ”
“Don’t rule out the Celestians either,” Cas reminds Eric. “They will forever be in Lila’s debt for returning Mark to them.”
“And my father would throw the dragon support behind you too,” Tirrian growls.
“That is all well and good, but if they get Lila and take her to their underwater cities, then there isn’t much any of us can do to help her,” Link argues.
“I could,” Cas argues, “and my family would.”