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I hesitate then turn, looking over my shoulder and pulling up my dress. My ass is still red, but the color has dulled. I can see his handprints. I’m still marked by the brute Aurelian. I shiver, my nipples hardening as I’m hit with a wave of lust, remembering how helpless I was over his lap.

I smooth the dress down against my legs and turn the water to the coldest, splashing myself awake, and come back out of the bathroom more presentable.

“Kat?”

“Over here!” she yells from down a hallway. I follow her voice, finding her in the master bedroom. She’s opening drawers and closets. They’re bare.

Kat grimaces. “They had all the time in the world to get to safety. And instead of telling everyone, they let them die.”

I walk to the window, looking out at the hazy airfield that protects the holo-dome. Reavers cut through the sky. They never follow the same pattern as they circle, moving seemingly at random. They’re in some kind of attack formation as they guard us, their movements erratic.

Probably to avoid missile fire, if it comes.

I shudder. What comes next? A planet, conquered, and the three men who will determine the fate of billions are a triad of powerful aliens who have spent centuries at war.

“Hey,” I say, and Kat pauses, closing a drawer. “Why’d you come with me?” I’d been wanting to ask since she accepted, and finally I blurt it out.

She considers. “More access to what I need,” she says finally. It’s a cryptic answer, but it’s the best I can hope for right now. I’m just glad she didn’t lie. It would be easy for her to tell me some comforting half-truth, and I’ll take the evasive answer over that.

Kat walks to the window next to me, staring out. “There should be shields around the Spire. I’d wager missiles and las-cannons would glance right off, and we’ve got four Reavers patrolling.” She purses her lips. “We’re in the most heavily defended place on the planet…but we’re also an obvious target for anyone who knows this place exists above the clouds.”

“What do you think? Is it safe to stay here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe safer than anywhere else.” She surprises me, walking away and jumping up on the heavy wooden desk, perching like a cat. Did the King work at that desk just a week ago?

Kat squats on the desk, both at ease yet ready, and I bet she could squat like that for hours without getting tired. I’d be sore in about twenty seconds.

She cocks her head. “So. You and those three. Something you’re not telling me? How’d you know they’d think you were their Mate?”

I sigh and move away from the window, sitting at the end of the huge bed. I don’t want to get it dirty, and my formerly pure white dress is stained with sweat and grime. I wince as I sit, trying to get comfortable. Even the soft, gentle bed is rough on my tender bottom.

How long will I feel Orr’s discipline for? He makes me wear it everywhere I go.

“I saw the triad before they even came here. I had a…I don’t know what to call it. A vision maybe? I was just bringing a plate of fruit up to Princess Bitch when they…appeared in front of me. Or maybe I was brought to them. It was like real life was a dream and the vision was the true reality.”

Kat nods. “The Orb Thrum. You should have told me. Well. Not like it would have changed anything.”

“The Orb Thrum?”

“It’s what caused the Aurelian Empire to shatter, with a third of the species going insane and becoming Fanatics. The Priests of their species did a blood ritual. No one knows what it was…but it made every single Aurelian feel the presence of their Mate, and their Mate the presence of the triad. Unless you were in a coma or blind drunk, you’d feel them. That’s what drove them so crazy. The Priests promised anyone who joined their legions they would have the right to conquer their Mates.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Asking the wrong questions.”

She blinks, a few times, clearly thinking through something. “But it’s strange. Those three were full on in the Mating Rage. I saw those swords of theirs activated, if you catch my drift. Why didn’t they just mate you then and there?”

“I don’t know. He…he whispered something to me. When he was…”

“When he was tanning your ass?” She grins. “No use being shy about it. I saw it all.”

“Thanks for reminding me. Orr told me…that I was going togive myselfto him.” I shiver and refrain from telling her the other part about him telling me I’d crawl towards him and present myself.

“Hmm. Either they’ve got some warped sense of honor, or…you know, I heard Aurelians can only successfully breed a willing Mate. Or else you get fucked up monsters like the War-God. That’s the theory, anyways. So much we don’t know about those fuckers. But what we do know is they stopped billions from dying on this planet.” She purses her lips. “And if you’re really their Mate, you’ve got a duty.”

“What do you mean?”

She cocks her head sideways again. “Those three are the new kings of this planet. Not by birthright. But because they took it. Aurelian rule can be oppressive. You’ve got to speak for the people of this planet.”