Page 40 of Veiled Vixen

“For whom, you mean. For Luck. He’s… angry. You understand that, right?”

“Not really,” I say. “I don’t know what I did, but it’s not what you guys think. I just woke up a few hours ago, Nyleena. I wasn’t upstairs with Veila this whole time.”

Nyleena sighs and walks over to the booth, sliding in opposite of me. She reaches out to grab a piece of cheese bread off my plate like we’re old friends, or lovers, or hell, like we know each other at all. Which we don’t.

She takes a big bite and talks as she chews. “Luck is pissed. No word,” she says, swallowing, then taking another bite like she hasn’t eaten in weeks. “No updates. No nothing. Things…” She swallows again and this time pauses with the bread in front of her pink pouty lips like she’s thinking. “Things got a little serious here,” she finishes, tipping up her chin a little like she’s being defiant. “I mean… what started as a ruse to cover for you guys leaving turned into out-and-out war. My little princess army? It’s not so little and these girls are fuckin’ serious.”

“What do you mean, not so little? How many princesses did we have on the station when I left? Maybe three dozen total including the free ones?”

“Well, yeah. But word got out and they came in droves, Valor.”

“Define droves,” I say, pushing my plate of food away.

“Two hundred and twenty-seven to be exact.”

“What the fuck? Where the hell did they all come from?”

“Everyone Serpint ever caught or Crux ever bought—be they free, living here, or elsewhere—showed up for the war.”

“OK,” I say, trying to parse all that. “So they’re on our side, though, right?”

“Define ‘our side.’”

“Me, Luck, Tray, Crux, Serpint, Jimmy, Booty, Lady, Asshole? Ringing any bells here, Nyleena?”

“Hmm. That’s interesting.”

“What is?”

“Well, you left out me. And Lyra. And Corla. And Delphi.”

“You guys too,” I say. “You’re with us.”

“Are we?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Well, I’m with Luck. And Delphi is with Jimmy. I’m pretty sure that Lyra is still with Serpint and no one really knows where Corla stands, do we? Since she’s been frozen in that cryopod for over a year now. And…” She shrugs. “Well, let’s just lay it all out on the table, shall we? You’re with Veila.”

I pause for a minute. Not about the Veila part. But about the Corla part. So they don’t know. They don’t know about Crux or the messages, or that Corla is awake. According to Crux, at least.

“I am not with Veila,” I say with emphasis.

“You literally have physically been with Veila for almost six weeks.”

“I was a prisoner in a cryopod, Nyleena.”

“So you say.”

“Ask Lady. She accessed my health data.”

“It’s true,” Lady says. “He did just wake up a few hours ago.”

“You’re sure?” Nyleena asks, side-eyeing me with suspicion.

“Hold on a second,” I say, putting up a hand. “Why the fuck are you here and not Luck?”

“What’s that mean?”