Page 102 of Veiled Vixen

“It wasn’t us,” I say again. “We didn’t leave you behind. We didn’t know what we were doing. We were scared shitless when we left. I remember Crux was yelling at everyone. He was so stressed out. And Jimmy was angry. And Luck was sick. Fucking sick with worry. And I was so sure we were going to die, Jimmy almost threw me out the airlock inside the gate because that’s all I said that whole trip. ‘We’re gonna die. We’re all gonna die.’ Over and over again for hours. That’s the only thing I really remember of our escape. We were scared, Veila. Nothing that happened that day was our choice. And if you think I haven’t thought about it… that I haven’t been in this same place you are now—so pissed off that my life was ruined by stupid fucking Corla and her great escape plan—well, you’re wrong. I know now that the life I thought I had was a lie. But I just figured that out when Tray and I went into that spin node together. So I have spent the last twenty-one years regretting that day. Wanting to go back and hating Corla for ruining my life.”

“Oh.” She swipes at her tears again. “Poor you. You were free. With Luck and your special ship and your special bot off doing special things. You were protected by this… this… evil AI that everyone was afraid of! No one dared to touch you!”

“Fuck you! Just fuck you. Plenty of people tried to kill me. And Luck too. And they almost succeeded more times than I can count. But we never ran home to tell ALCOR about it or ask for revenge. Luck and I helped each other. We fixed each other. And we did our job. That’s all it was. A fucking job.”

“You never felt fear the way I have felt fear!”

“Maybe not. And maybe I did have a pretty good life, all things considered. But I didn’t choose it. I didn’t ask for this any more than you did. And right now I’m making you the same offer ALCOR made us that day. Stay with me. Help me. And if you do, I will protect you.”

“How?” And now she is really crying. “How can you help me? All your brothers want to kill me! Will you choose me over them?”

I open my mouth to respond, but I don’t have an answer.

“That’s what I thought,” she says, wiping her nose and pulling herself together. “That’s what I thought.”

“Look. I could lie to you, Veila. I could say everything you want to hear. But you already know I’m not that kind of guy. So I’m gonna give it to you straight. You are the most hated person in this sector right now. And that’s saying something because there are millions of people on Harem. And all of them want to kill you.”

“Thanks. I feel so much better now.”

“But…” I continue. “But I will stand between them and you. And if necessary, we’ll go down together.”

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Why?” She opens her eyes again. “Why would you do that?”

I close the distance between us and take her hand, look into her glassy, pink eyes and say, “Because you only get one soulmate, Veila. And you’re mine.”

“That’s not even true.”

“What do you mean?”

She waves her hand in the air. “You don’t know that you only get one. Look at Jimmy.”

“What about Jimmy?”

“He’s got two. A real one and a fake one.”

“He loves Delphi. She’s not fake.”

“No. She’s not!” Veila says. “She’s the real one. We’re the fake ones, Valor. Me and you. Corla and Crux. Serpint and Lyra. Luck and Nyleena. We’re the fake ones. The Akeelians gave me a DNA scrambler and I got Jimmy to believe he was my soulmate! And if he hadn’t bonded with Delphi before he saw me, he’d probably still think he was my soulmate! None of this is real. Not one bit of it is real. And one day you’re gonna figure that out. You’re gonna wake up and realize everything you ever felt about me was a lie. And then what?” She turns her body towards me. Looks up into my eyes. “What happens to me then?”

I let out a long breath. I’m frustrated. And scared. And desperate. I could lie to her and say I’ll be with her forever. That’s what I should do. It’s for the greater good, right? Subdue Veila and use her to solve our problems. And she would probably believe me. Mostly because that’s what she wants to hear, but also because I’m just an honest guy and that comes in handy when you suddenly need to lie.

“No one gets a guarantee, Veila. Not one fucking thing in this life is guaranteed. That’s the dumbest thing about fated mates. Love cannot be dictated. It cannot be organized, or beaten into submission. But that’s just… life. You know? That’s just life. The whole thing from beginning to end is a risk. And maybe I don’t know you at all. That’s probably fair. But you’re a helluva fighter. You’re a huge risk-taker. You’re strong, and you’re courageous, and you’re smart. And like I said, I’m not trying to brush past the significance of what you went through last night or erase the pain of losing your babies. But right now, maybe for the first time ever, you’re also free, Veila. All the decisions from this day onward are yours and yours alone. No one is controlling you. No one is blackmailing you. So if you want me to be able to love you for real one day, and if you want my brothers and friends to see past your evil deeds and have your back the way they have mine, then you need to show us who you really are.”

She pulls her hand free of mine and turns away again. “Let me guess. I should give Luck and his army access to level one twenty-two so they can all escape to Earth.”

“I don’t know.”

“Please. That’s why you’re here, Valor. That’s the only reason why you’re here.”

“That’s the reason I came here. Yes. But I don’t have to waste my time making you feel better. I have a plasma pistol strapped to my fucking leg. I could just shoot you.”

She side-eyes me over her shoulder. “How do you know it works?”

“I guess I don’t. Does it, though? Because if we have to fight our way down to level one twenty-two, I should know that.”

“It works.”

“So there you go. Like I said yesterday. I might not be the smartest Harem brother, but I’m not the dumbest one either. You want to trust me. That’s why you gave me a weapon in the first place.”