Page 47 of Pursued By the Dragon Alien

“Show me,” Razion said, stepping toward Vedd’s station.

But Vedd held out his hands. His expression was serious. “Razion.” Vedd rarely called him that. “You’ve been through a lot. I need you to be prepared for what you’re about to see.”

Well,thatwas ominous. Razion sighed and ran a hand over his face. He needed sleep. He needed Lilas back by his side. He didnotneed something horrible and revelatory, but that seemed to be the theme lately. “Consider me prepared,” he said dryly.

Vedd slid his chair to the side and Razion peered down at the screen. His breath caught in his throat. There stood a Zaruxian with aqua-colored scales. Even with a hood, his silver-gray eyes were visible, and so much like his own.

“Well, isn’t that the mostfekkedup thing you’ve ever seen,” Razion breathed.

Cozax leaned in beside him, brows furrowed. “Are we sure this is an Axis leader?”

“Look at the attire. You can’t miss the Axis emblem on his chest.Thatis a member of the Axis command council,” Razion said, flicking a hand toward the screen. “And one of my brothers.”

“What do we do with this?” Cozax asked incredulously, throwing up her hands. “We can’t killhim.”

“Yes, we can,” Razion confirmed, his expression hardening. He closed his eyes as emotions scraped through him—confusion, anger, and an overwhelming need to understand how this was possible. “If he’s truly with the Axis, he’s an enemy.”

Vedd’s eyes widened. “Now, just wait a minute,” he said, clearly intrigued. “He must have been indoctrinated, like many others.”

“If he’s one of them, he knows what they’ve done,” Razion murmured, focusing on the face on the screen. “The raiders who adopted me told me this was how it would be.” He blinked and looked away, unable to stare into that face that was so much like his own, but whose path had been so different. “That could have been me.”

“It’s possible he’s working against them from the inside,” Vedd said slowly, glancing at Cozax. “This could be a big opportunity.”

Razion shook his head. “Don’t expect him to be on our side.”

“Do you want to continue on the current course?” Cozax asked. “Or shall we begin trying to track this male?”

Razion inhaled sharply, feeling raw and tired and wrung out. He’d lost his first officer and mate in one cycle. Now, he was seeing proof with his own eyes that the Axis had one of his brothers, too. This was far more excitement than anyone should have to endure.

“Stay on the current course,” Razion said, voice firm. “Lilas is the priority. We find her, we find the Zaruxians whoaren’twiththe Axis. I don’t know what their story is, but we have a better chance of reasoning with them. If they turn Lilas over, that is.”

Cozax nodded and checked their course on the navigation console. “We’re still tracking it.”

“You may not want to hear this,” Vedd began, and Razion closed his eyes again. “But Lilas is not their prisoner. She went with them. If—when—we find the Zaruxian ship, it’s Lilas you’re going to have to deal with, not the Zaruxians. Not the Terians.”

Vedd was right. He did not want to hear this. “If she doesn’t want me, so be it,” he ground out. “But I will hear it from her mouth.”

“Really makes me wonder if she heard part of that discussion you had with Krask,” Vedd murmured.

Razion said nothing, but he wondered that, too. It was either as Vedd said, and she overheard something and misinterpreted it, or she just chose her Terian friends over him. Both were possible. Both were devastating.

NINETEEN

Lilas

Lilas stepped up to the Zaruxian ship and came to an abrupt stop. Her breath stalled in her throat.

No. This wasn’t possible.

Sheknewthis ship. She had seen it every day of her life, looming over Settlement 112-1 like a silent predator, watching their every move. It had been the overseer’s fortress, perched high on the clifftop above the fields, shadowing their days with quiet authority.

This was the fortress.

Her stomach twisted. She turned sharply to Ellion, who stood beside Turi. His silver eyes watched her with unsettling calm, as if waiting for a reaction.

“This is your ship,” she said, her voice tight. “The overseer’s fortress.”

Ellion inclined his head. “It is, but I didn’t know it was a ship until very recently.”

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