Page 145 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“What was that?” I ask him, waving back toward the Iceen den.

He huffs with annoyance before replying, “My damn kraken is hell-bent on collecting suitable mates for Lila. He insisted the alpha and omega would be a good fit and refused to leave until I issued an invitation for them to join us for a meal.”

My eyes widen in surprise at his confession. “Your kraken wants Lila to have even more mates?”

“Yeah, he insists she needs to be surrounded by as many as possible to keep her protected. He won’t say why but insists she’s special.” He sounds a little bewildered, and I’m not surprised, because shifters usually mate in pairs, and for his kraken to feel so strongly about this is incredibly unusual.

I mull over his words as we make our way toward the elevator to take us down to the cells. I doubt the cyborg will still be alive by the time we are finished with him, but at least it will be an easy clean-up for any mess that results from our interrogation.

“Warlocks are not jealous creatures. We can’t be when we feed from other people’s emotions and keep a harem to facilitate that, but an intimate bond, which is rare, is cherished and sacred, and the two warlocks involved never step out on their chosen one. For me and Lila to be intimates is abnormal. Her being Skarrian and polyamorous should cause me to feel incensed with jealousy, but instead, all I feel is relief that there are others in our bond to protect her,” I admit slowly. “The thought of adding even more doesn’t concern me in the least, though I am surprised that it is the lightning cats. They are renowned for being exclusive to their own species.”

“My beast could smell the omega’s interest on the first night, and the alpha’s, but I think he’s going to take a little convincing even though he reluctantly accepted my proposal. I don’t think it had anything to do with wanting to dine with us, but more about keeping the peace with the boss’s granddaughter.” Caspian shrugs, and our attention is drawn back to the cyborg as he struggles within my spell.

Shockingly, it seems like he might be managing to wriggle out of my restraints. His body starts to change shape, elongating and morphing into a puddle of liquid metal before sliding onto the floor. Both of us are speechless as the elevator comes to astop on the right floor. Before the doors can even open fully, the puddle slithers through the gap and disappears.

“What the actual fuck?” Caspian stammers, both of us frozen from the sight.

“Did you know cyborgs could do that?” I ask him as we come to our senses and step out of the elevator after him.

“Fuck no. I knew they could change their appearance, but I didn’t know it was to that extreme.” Caspian lifts his nose into the air, scenting for the escapee, and I send out my magic in search of his direction. There is nothing down on this level except the cells and a room for the guards, but there are none in there now since we haven’t had any prisoners until now.

It seems we both find him at the same time as we hurry toward one of the cells in the back. There is nowhere for him to go, and unless he can change form enough to slide into a drain or the air vents, he’s out of luck. Then again, after what we just saw, maybe he can.

We find him huddled in the corner of the last cell, his body shaking with terror as he pants with either exhaustion or fright. Maybe that little move took more power than he has, and now he’s stuck. I’ll happily pry the information from his mind just so we are not caught unawares again. Maybe the sexy doctor can shine some light on this as well.

“You’ve been a very naughty cyborg, Josa,” Caspian growls, “and trying to escape is not helping the situation.”

“Please, I don’t want to die,” he stammers, wringing his hands and cowering in the corner.

“Well, you should have thought about that before you participated in the plot against my mate,” Caspian growls.

“Yes, Josa, you should have gotten on the transport and left the circus far behind if you were so concerned for your safety,” I point out casually, his fear delicious as I absorb it. He committed a crime, so I don’t need his consent to indulge.

He scowls and shakes his head vehemently. “I couldn’t. I am under contract. If I returned to Cybertronia without completing my task, then my employer would have either had me reprogrammed or completely wiped. She has access to my source code. I’m stuck.” He sounds despondent and desperate, but his words pique my interest

“Your employer?” I ask, not using my powers yet. He’s giving up this information freely, so why waste my energy?

He blanches. “Deianira Digicon.”

“Link’s mother?” Caspian doesn’t sound surprised. “Yes, he said something about her trying to marry him off to someone of her choosing.”

I frown, scowling at the sniveling weasel of a cyborg. “Why you? What’s so special about you that she thinks you would make a good match for her son?”

He straightens his shoulders and sneers at me, finally showing a bit of backbone. “My family owns the mines that provide Pleasure Bot Industries with droesten and tertian. The two metals are the main components for the robots they produce.”

My eyebrows jump in surprise. “You’re a member of the Azerty dynasty?” Josa’s family is renowned throughout the galaxy, but I have only met his father and his oldest sibling. I knew there were more of them, but I’ve never heard his name mentioned.

“Yes, and my father promised that if I can secure this marriage alliance with Deianira, that he will name me as his heir instead of my brother, Gere,” he confesses.

“But why? Surely you already have an alliance. She must buy all her materials from you, which would make your family fairly wealthy. What do you need a marriage of convenience for?”

He scowls. “Although we have a business contract, it was formed many years ago when Pleasure Bot Industries wasjust beginning. My grandfather was shortsighted, thinking it wouldn’t amount to anything, so what they pay for the raw materials is a pittance to what it’s really worth, and they have exclusivity rights to the materials. Since its inception, she has branched out to produce military, mining, and domestic robots as well, and we have other manufacturers knocking down our doors to access the materials to compete with her. We could be making even more money than they are, but we are locked into a contract with them, and that bitch charges a fortune for her robots. We have converted our workforce to robots only because there is no downtime, but she won’t even give us a discount.”

“Ah, she has you by the short and curlies, so to speak.” I chuckle at their dilemma. No being likes to be taken for a ride, and they are certainly seeing the short end of the contract.

“Yes. She said that if I married Link, she would break our exclusivity contract.”

“But why you? What does marrying Link give her? She isn’t doing it out of the goodness of her heart or because she loves her son. She must be benefiting from this somehow,” Caspian asks, voicing the very question that had been rolling around in my mind.