Page 11

“Linguistic translation only,” I state, fixing my gaze on the prince.

Kairen nods once. His fingers brush against my skin, and a cold, metallic shiver travels up my arm, racing toward my skull. I suppress a shudder, keeping my spine rigid.

“Do you know what the situation is like in Europe, then?” Tara asks, perhaps trying to distract me.

I give her a long, evaluating look. She’s civilian, yet she sits at a war table.

“I’m occasionally forced to talk with the old farts who are pretending to be in control of the continent,” I say in the end.

“What about the southeast?” Tara asks, chewing her lower lip.

I recognize the fear in her eyes. And her accent is also familiar from childhood visits to Zadar.

“Croatia, is it?” I ask, my voice softening.

Tara straightens her shoulders, bracing herself. “Slovenia, actually. I’m wondering about the capital and the Alpine border with Austria.”

“Can’t tell you much more than your handsome alien friends have, I’m afraid.” I reach over and place my hand on Tara’s shoulder. “I understand you, though. My parents retired to the Croatian coast before the invasion, and I haven’t been able to locate them yet.”

A white lie. I have located them. Then I gave away the boat I secured for their extraction.

Kairen breaks the silence that follows, one full of shared grief. He studies my guards, calculating our strength. “How many able-bodied humans are under your command, Margaret Elmsleigh?”

I wave a hand. “Maggie, please.” I lean back, and the chair squeaks again. “There are two thousand men and women ready to fight here, in London. Twice as many on the island, and three times as many if you count the surrounding islands. It proved impossible to house and feed more than a couple of hundred at a time, so they rotate in and out of various strategic locations,” I finish.

I blink, startled out of my composure for a fraction of a second. “Bloody hell, I understood you!” Kairen’s mouth twitches into a smirk. I clear my throat before speaking with a calmer voice. “That is out of this world. Pun very much not intended.”

A guard by the door presses two fingers to his earpiece, his face draining of color.

“What is it?” I snap.

“Another alien ship has landed, ma’am,” the guard reports. “It looks to be identical to the one they arrived in.”

I turn a hard glare on Kairen.

“That will be one of my officers, Orien,” Kairen says, entirely unbothered. “I summoned him. He will coordinate Avaren efforts against the Ghorvek in this area.”

I purse my lips, dissecting the phrasing and filing away the term Ghorvek. “So, he will work for me.”

Kairen’s chest hitches with what looks like a suppressed snort. “He will work... with you.”

Suddenly, the ground violently shudders. Dust rains from the concrete ceiling, and the fluorescent lights flicker. My guards raise their weapons, varying degrees of panic flashing across their faces.

Tara grips the edge of the table. “What’s going on?”

Kairen’s eyes go completely vacant, staring at data only he can see. “Fuck.”

“Fuck, what, Prince?” I demand, already pushing back from the table.

“We’re being besieged.”

Dark armor with glowing purple veins materializes over the prince’s body, encasing him from chin to toe. Kairen unclips a sleek white weapon from his thigh and shoves it into Tara’s hands.

“We’re equipping you with ports and defensive nanites as soon as we return to the Talon,” he tells her, making me wonder about the equipment they can share with humans. “Aim and press this button. Avoid friendly fire.”

Tara swallows hard, aiming the weapon at the floor.

I pull out my own pistol, clicking off the safety. “Seal the upper perimeter! Fall back to choke point Charlie. Nobody moves above ground level!”