Page 76 of Bonded Queen: to the Alien Warlord Triad

The ice-cold tension of the three men melted as the fires of battle overcame them. This is what they were meant to be. Four days straight, of intense stress, stabs of fear and rage, cutting pain that flowed through the Bond as Orb-Blades sliced their bodies. Duty and loss as they ended the lives of those in front of them.

Three…four days? They have not slept. Neither have I, except for fitful bursts of sleep, dreamless, so that I do not even have the refuge of sleep, my eyes closing and opening as if I simply blinked. I lost track of time. The first day, I asked the AI to update me on the hour. Ra’al told me if the surprise attack succeeded, it would be over in hours, days at most. As the hours turned into days, I could ask the AI no longer.

I stopped eating. Sleeping. I left the pleasure room only for water, not realizing how thirsty I was, drinking deep from the taps then returning to the darkness. Raneeda and Nash plied me with food and drinks, offering massages, games to distract my mind, but I could not even form words to answer their requests, the endless weight of war weighing down on me.

I thought it was bad when they left the bunker to rule. This is a thousand times worse. Each time their auras flare in sudden pain, I cringe, closing my eyes tight and holding my head, waiting to see if one of the three vital auras in my mind blinks out forever.

I run out of tears. I gasp for air, deep, wracking breaths, and settle into the numbness of darkness.

“It is done.”

Ra’al’s deep voice resonates in my mind. I lost control of the room for a moment, the black material returning to liquid and crashing to the floor along with me. I land hard, in the middle of the room, my eyes wide.

I don’t know what I’m feeling. Relief, yes, but terror too, unable to believe it’s really over.

“Are you coming back now?”

“Yes. We return tomorrow when Obsidian has restored his strength.”

I get up weakly, smoothing the white servant’s dress against my body, and will the room to light up. I close my eyes, but it’s painfully bright and red against my lids as I slowly open them, standing in the center of the room alone.

“Okay,” I say to myself. I’m surprised at how flat my voice is. I walk out of the pleasure room and into the bunker.

“I’m waiting for you,”I telepath back and smile weakly. When they’re home, everything will be okay. I hope. I stumble to the mess hall, weak. The tables are laden with loaves of bread, vegetables, fruits and curries. I sit heavily in front of them, and Nash darts into the kitchen, bringing a cup of thin broth.

“Start with this. It’s not good to gorge on an empty stomach,” she says, and I drink gratefully, slowly restoring myself back to a semblance of a person.

28

Ra’al

Our Reaver flicks back into existence above Trebulous, along with seven others who returned to the planet. The city is bustling and alive, smoke bellowing from the factories working around the clock with four six-hour shifts, the spire of the Royal Palace still unrepaired. It is useless now.

The battle lasted four days before we took every position and the remaining Aurelians were captured or surrendered. We captured the anti-air batteries first, and they performed well, repelling the Aurelian Reavers that came from the orbital defenses. Once we took the control room, we disabled the orbital defenses remotely. Many of them did not surrender. Many triads died for nothing.

The bloodshed disappears from my mind as I exult in her aura, feeling her being as we touch down in the grounds and rush to the palace.

The hallway opens up in front of us, and we stride into the bunker. She is waiting for us in the entrance room.

We have not slept in a week. The allure of bed is gone when I cast my eyes on her. She is my restoration. She makes me anew. She makes me whole.

Rachel is wearing nothing but her silver collar. She looks up at us, her eyes wide, needing our strength. We rip off our black robes like they are on fire and take her, then and there, losing ourselves to the Mating Rage.

When it is done, we walk with her to the bedroom, and sleep.

We sleep two full days. I’ve got a thousand reports on my smartwatch. Many are marked urgent. I get up, so as not to disturb my sleeping Mate, and go into the hallway, barking out commands, allocating troops and checking in on the conquered planet. We’ve repelled all counter-attacks and taken the orbital defense systems as ours.

Elsinor has fallen.

It belongs to Obsidian now. The sector had only one planet orbiting twin stars, and now it is ours.

“Is Lola back safe?” Her voice startles me from behind. I check my smartwatch for reports and blink in confusion.

“You were right.”

“About what?”

“Krazak. I thought he was innocent. He came with us to fight the battle. But when he returned, he did not report to duty. He’s been missing forty-eight hours. I’ll send out more drones. We can spare them now.”

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