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KEON
Atlas and Penn have clearly fucked. He seems a lot happier for it, and I’m excited that he’s let someone touch him for what’s the first time in decades. It might be odd for outsiders to see, but I genuinely care about Atlas. He’s more than a ruler or a boss to me, he’s the closest friend I have. Even then, I still feel something that I think is jealousy when I see Penn sitting close to him, his shield off and her hand on his leg. She has staked her claim, she has won, and my plan worked.
But fuck, she looks so pretty with my cock in her mouth. If Atlas doesn’t want me to fuck her on his behalf again, will I ever get to touch that supple, perfect skin again?
I try not to think about that as I take a sip of incarnet and look at my king and queen. I have some influence, but ultimately, what we do depends on what the Crown wants.
“So,” Atlas says. “I could sense you had news.”
Penn stiffens at that. We haven’t really onboarded her to how Gifted Aelyds can communicate telepathically yet, but she’s a smart woman. She probably has more than an inkling of the inner workings at this point.
“Some news. I’m afraid things are more complex than I first anticipated,” I say.
Atlas waits while Penn watches me, her brown eyes wide and her platinum golden hair up in a tight bun. “Did you have fun, at least?” Atlas asks with a smirk when I say nothing else.
I want to be annoyed, but of course I can’t be. Seduction is part of my job. It’s not a secret that I found Corvus, when he was pretending to be Shayd, one of his most attractive guards. I’m not sure why it feels like he’s mocking me. Weirder still, I’m not sure why I’m being so sensitive about it. I’m weirdly protective of Corvus in a way I’m not when it comes to most other prisoners and it puts me on edge.
“I don’t think Corvus knows where Zaire is,” I say. “All he said of value was that the Diavolos want to take over the bride program, even the brides our family might bring.”
“That makes sense,” Atlas replies. “Of course they’d want to have as many Gifted children as they can.”
Penn’s gaze flits between the two of us. There’s a hint of recognition in her eyes. “Who is Zaire? I’ve heard that name before, but what does he have to do with Layla?” she asks.
“I think you need to start from the beginning,” Atlas says, his hand on hers. “I promise you, this is relevant.”
“Zaire is a high ranking member of the en’Diavolos,” I say. “He’s Gifted, like us, and a few months ago, he was sent to the research facility on Selene to meet for talks with a human emissary.”
Her eyes widen as she processes what I mean. “Layla.”
“Yes,” I say. “The research paid off and Zaire en’Diavolo and Layla Dara were artificially brought together to see if they would end up procreating.”
“Wait,” Penn says, shaking her head. She tucks a strand of light hair behind her ear. “Are you saying Layla is pregnant?”
“Yes,” I reply, looking into her eyes.
Penn pales. “That makes no sense,” she says under her breath. “She would’ve told me. Like, right around the same time she told her mom, she would’ve told me. Or, I don’t know, before…especially if it was an alien’s baby.”
I don’t think she’s telling us everything, but this isn’t the time to ask.
“I don’t think she didn’t want to tell you. I think she never got a chance,” Atlas says, his hand squeezing hers reassuringly. She flashes him a weak smile. “There’s a lot Keon hasn’t gotten to yet.”
“Zaire realized that his family had betrayed him and he needed help,” I tell her. “So he came to me and asked me to help. I decided to find a place to give him refuge with the Ganivets, a place for your friend to have a peaceful, quiet pregnancy.”
“Okay…but why would he come to you?”
I smile at that. “Because, believe it or not, we’ve always been friends,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “Occupational hazard.”
“You’re both rockstars?” she asks.
Atlas laughs under his breath. “Spymasters,” he says.
“Right,” I say. “Zaire’s other job was much less glamorous than mine. Human relations attaché. It’s an important job, obviously, considering that we thought your species would have the cure for Apollyon. I think the Diavolos had some research on fertility, and well, Zaire and your friend were the first ones to prove them right.”
She swallows hard. “Okay, I understand why he came to you. But what did you get out of helping him? Wouldn’t that be working against your own interests?” she asks. “If the Diavolos found out that you were helping a deserter, surely that would have interfered with peace.”
“There were many reasons to help them, Penn. I thought about not helping, of course, since you’re not wrong about your assessment, but I realized that this was much bigger than the families. This was our first child for years…”
“Wait,” she says. “This is the first baby an Aelyd has had in how long? Like, outside of a test tube.”
