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“Korletheans are a scourge that must be eradicated. Purebloods must be controlled and submit to hybrids. Hybrids must reclaim their rightful place. Magnar Gavin Aldriss will lead the way.”
As soon as they finished speaking those words, I vaguely noticed Deimos leaving the stage. But my eyes were glued to the central screen where anti-pureblood and anti-Korlethean propaganda played in a loop. The narrator explained all the reasons we had to exterminate the Korletheans and subdue the purebloods. This was wrong, so why were their arguments sounding so logical? So right?
Every two minutes or so—I had lost track of time—the narrator would go quiet, and the two remaining Sarenians would repeat their message about the Korletheans, the purebloods, and Magnar Gavin with their vibrating voices.
In the distance, I perceived the sound of explosions. But I couldn’t worry about that or form any coherent thought that didn’t have to do with the fascinating video playing before me, and the mesmerizing voices of the Sarenians on stage.
Korletheans needed to die, and purebloods needed to be subdued.
Chapter 17
Keran
Amurderous rage erupted inside me upon hearing the foul words Vintor addressed to my woman. The same fury twisted my men’s faces into a snarl. Were we not still airborne, I might have rushed inside to give him a proper trouncing. How dare he disrespect her like that?
Tagar had to swiftly mute the mic to Dawn’s earpiece when I started cursing out loud. Even though the likelihood of anyone else hearing us through it was slim, we wanted to limit the risks of our transmission getting intercepted and would therefore keep her incoming communications to a minimum.
Despite having expected the hybrids’ reaction at realizing Dawn was mine, I hated that she should be subjected to their anger and sense of betrayal. Although the camera didn’t show me her face, I knew her well enough to know it was cutting her deeply. And yet, it pleased me that my claim on Dawn was no longer a secret. It had pissed me off to see them all drooling over my woman.
My respect for Jaek grew another notch when he came to her rescue. A sliver of guilt clawed at me. He genuinely loved Dawn. While I couldn’t claim the same, I could see myself eventually getting there.
Nirkon calling the start of the meeting swept away my wandering thoughts. At last, we were going to find out what this was all about. As much as I ached to yank Dawn right out of there, having so many of the hybrids surrounding her reassured me. Even as angry as they were with her for choosing me, they had all been ready to intervene when Vintor had gone off on her. Had Jaek not stepped in first, I didn’t doubt one of the others would have.
“She’s doing a great job at giving us a good view of what is happening,” Tagar said approvingly.
I nodded, my heart filling with pride. The rest of the crew also expressed their agreement. It pleased me tremendously how much my men had taken to Dawn. It boded well for the future I could foresee with her.
“What the fuck?!” I exclaimed.
The sight of three Sarenians entering the room from the side doors and stepping onto the stage shattered all warm musings about my woman. My crew’s shocked gasps echoed my dismay.
“Do we know who they are?” I asked angrily.
A million different thoughts fired off in my mind as I tried to make sense of their presence here.
Tagar cursed up a storm. “That’s Deimos Arrin, one of the highest-ranking officers of the Sarenian secret service.”
“There’s no way Zerien would have authorized whatever this mission is without informing me!” I exclaimed in disbelief.
Tagar shook his head. “Deimos belonged to Emperor Nemrox’s inner circle. Prince Zerien has been forming his own council in preparation for his coronation. I understand Faolen is gradually taking over some of Deimos’s responsibilities when the transition is complete.”
Faolen had proven to be an extremely effective agent when he had kidnapped Krygor, Hope, and their daughter Siona. Instead of starting an ugly war between our people, it had instead been the spark to our growing alliance and the romance between Siona and Zerien.
So what the fuck is this?
“Then Deimos must have gone rogue,” I said with conviction. “I may not know Emperor Nemrox as well as Zerien, but he would never undermine his son. They have very different views on what alliances they should form, but the Emperor defers to his son.”
All conversation ceased when the Sarenian began addressing the hybrids. However, nothing prepared me for him to use compulsion on them, and worse still, to see it actually work…
“That’s impossible!” I whispered, my shock reflected on the faces of my men.
“The experiment,” Orin breathed out, his voice filled with dread and sudden understanding. “That must be why they’d been draining the victims of endocrinal fluids. They were devising a method to neutralize our innate inhibitory neurotransmitters. We always suspected our serotonin protected us from psionic attacks. As chronic pain and stress causes the brain to release serotonin, torturing the victims produced tons of it. They used it to find a way to bypass the inhibitory neurotransmitters.”
As informative as Orin’s sudden realization was, I had more pressing matters demanding my attention. Unless he had countermeasures that we could immediately use to break the Sarenian’s thrall on the hybrids—and especially on my woman—I didn’t need to hear this dissertation on what Deimos was up to.
My blood drained from my face when Deimos ordered them to drink another glass of the beverage that had been offered on the catering table. I slapped my hand on the com button to activate the microphone.
“Don’t drink it, Dawn! Resist his compulsion!” I shouted, even knowing it was pointless.
