Page 35 of Her Alien Cyborgs
Kalan growled. “Yes.”
“Details?” she prompted.
“The files revealed the identity of the one in charge of Orio Station,” Fyr’enth answered while Kalan continued to snarl under his breath. “Her name is Detta Ani, and she is Vardarian.”
Holyfraxx. “Vardarian? One of your own did this to you?” She held up a hand in apology. “Sorry, I know you don’t think of yourselves as Vardarian. After this, who can blame you? I don’t understand how someone can turn against their own this way.” She raised her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. “No, I can understand it. Greed. Someone found this bitch’s price and then paid it.”
Another thought popped into her head, and she looked up at them. “Wait. You didn’t know about this? Didn’t you see her or sense her somehow?”
“We had no idea.” Kalan looked more dangerous than she’d ever seen him. “None of us did. If any of us had known, we’d have shared that information no matter what it might cost us.”
“I bet,” she said, still trying to wrap her head around this revelation.
Fyr’enth looked at her intently. “Do you think the Vardarians will react strongly to this news? When the cyborg project was first revealed, the humans’ response seemed weak.”
“You’ll need to dig deeper to learn about the real outrage and pushback once the project was made public. The corporations hold too much power, and that means their version of the story is the easiest to find. There was so much of an outcry that the government had to take a stand and force the corporations to free the remaining cyborgs. Not to mention handing over unimaginable amounts of money as restitution.
“As for the Vardarians? I know the prince will be incensed. I don’t know much about his sister, though. She wasn’t happy her brother triggered a diaspora, and I know she doesn’t really approve of Tyran being mated to a human. Nor is she thrilled that he and hisanrikare in love with each other as well as withtheirmahaya.” She shrugged. “But when she learns about this? I imagine she will shed her scales.”
They both gave her startled looks. “That can happen?” Fyr’enth asked.
“What? Oh. Not really. It’s an expression I learned back on Haven. At least, I don’t think it actually happens.”
“That’s good.” Fyr’enth lightly tapped his forearm. “It wouldn’t be much use as armor if it could potentially fall off.”
“There’s too much we still don’t know about our bodies,” Kalan agreed and then fixed her with a hot-eyed look. “But we did find out why we’ve been feeling the urge to bite you,zana.”
“I told you about that. It’s part of thesharhal.”
“You didn’t tell us everything,” Fyr’enth said. “We understand it better now. It’s about more than simply giving each other mating marks. It’s how we exchange our nanotech. Since you don’t have any, that would mean you would carry ours.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The second the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back. The sentiment was right, but her delivery sucked harder than a black hole.
They both glared at her. “Why not? Having nanotech would give you so many advantages,” Fyr’enth said.
“And it would help protect you from harm,” Kalan added. His jaw was tight, and even his wings seemed to quiver with disapproval.
“One. I thought we just agreed that I don’t need your protection. Two, if we do this, there’s no going back.” She scrambled to try and find a way to explain her concerns without making things worse.
“It’s only been a few days. We don’t know if this is a forever thing.”
“You’ve said that before, but we’ve read all we could. So far every match between our species has resulted in a permanent bond,” Fyr’enth said.
“That’s the thing, though. You’ve already pointed out that you are not Vardarian. Not completely. What if something happens that changes things? We could end up like some of the other species that are compatible. You’ve read about those?”
“We have,” Kalan said.
She relaxed a little. If they’d already learned about this, they’d know it was a real concern. “Then you know that matings between your species and others happen, complete with thesharhal, but it doesn’t always stick. Sometimes the bond fades away.”
Fyr’enth spoke next. “What we have will not fade away, Alyssa. You’ll see it when you review the files yourself. They tried to change us, to block that response so we’d never experience the sharhal. It didn’t work. That’s one of the reasons they deemed us to be failures. Killing machines are supposed to obey orders without question, and they cannot be allowed to have feelings… or find their mates.”
“That’s not who you are!” she protested.
“It’s not,” Fyr’enth agreed and moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with his clone.
“We are yourmahoyen. You are ours,zana. And we are yours. Always. Why don’t you believe this?”
Kalan’s question pierced her heart and left her bleeding inside. Her first instinct was to argue, but she waited for one heartbeat and then another. She exhaled a breath she’d held too long and felt some of the tension leave with it.
