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“None,” I answer, trying to piece together the puzzle.

“She must know. She knows we are coming, and she knows we have Planet-Killers. That is the only possible reason she would leave the safety of her territory, and why she would come without guards,” says Titus. “She knows even a single of her customary attack ship protection would be seen as a threat to our cargo.”

“We better plug that leak,” says Gallien. “Before Obsidian shifts in an ambush.”

That thought chills me. We’re currently traveling outside of range of the disruptors. At any moment, the War-God could guide attack ships in, destroying our precious cargo. We survive on secrecy alone.

“Her territories are protected completely from shifting. Her planet, Etherion, has massive drives. Going through her territory won’t just shave four months off the trip, it will keep the PKs safe… if we can trust her to make a deal.”

Gallien’s aura is taut with focus. “She came alone to speak. She will be open to something.”

I run my tongue over my teeth. “But if she knows we have Planet-Killers, she could never let us through. I had planned to hide them, to negotiate once we arrived for safe passage.”

Gallien turns off the water from his shower and grabs a huge towel, preferring it to the automated systems of the ship. He wraps it around his lean, muscular frame. “Let’s not ignore this any longer. Adriana felt the vision, as did we. She is fiercely anti-Aurelian, just like the nationalist factions of Pentaris. You saw the hate in her eyes when we witnessed her. She would never risk coming into our territories… except to protect her people.”

That memory makes my cock stir. One moment, I was sparring with my battle-brothers. The next, the vision came over me so deeply it was like I was there, watching her as she showered, water running down her feminine curves. Her bodywas a river, the lines of her flowing into my mind, imprinting herself on me. And her scent. Oh Gods, but her scent, tasting too right with every breath, driving me wild.

Her mind flowed into mine just for an instant, a glimpse of what could be if I Bonded her, a mind that sees every thread of a problem, a mind that could twist me into knots if I let her get the upper hand.

In an instant, I’m fully, painfully erect, my cock throbbing with a mind of its own. The dull ache makes me growl. A single thought of her is torment, and I will not be freed until I’ve rammed every inch of myself into her, hearing her gasp my name as she writhes in pleasure so intense her mind melts. Even with the blue-black ring around my finger, blunting my desires, it’s all-consuming.

Titus barks out the command for the waters to stop and for warm air to blow over him. “She fears we’ll use the Planet-Killers against her people.”

I scowl. “She must think we are monsters. We would never.”

Gallien’s eyes gleam, cold and intelligent. “She doesn’t know that. It’s four months extra travel if she doesn’t give us safe passage. Four months of traveling with precious, fragile weapons. She may hate us, but she will respect us. We have the leverage to demand passage.”

Titus steps out of the shower. “We can’t waste four months.”

I inhale sharply. For a strategic advantage, we will make the one woman who can complete us hate us even more. For full leverage, I need to make her fear me. She has to believe that I’m capable of turning her people into dust if she doesn’t let me in willingly.

I think of her, and I marvel at her courage. She’s coming alone, with a small delegation and no protection, into the territories of the alien species she fears and hates most.

“Our Fated Mate is a very, very brave woman,” I say, shaking my head at the complications of fate.

3

ADRIANA

The border of the Aurelian empire. Marked on every starmap as a glittering, distinct line that shifts minutely as planets rotate, accounting for the dance of the cosmos. On the maps, you can see it clearly, but as I stare out through the viewing pane of the bridge, there is nothing separating the blackness of one space to another.

Nothing but the three pure white Reavers that glide at the verge, our sensors showing that their pilots are keeping their ships within two centimeters of our space, showing their utter mastery of their attack ships, their complete control. They do not penetrate the invisible barrier that separates us from them, less than an inch away from an interplanetary incident that could lead to war if one of their pilots slipped at the controls.

They form up in a backwards triangle, nose pointed away from us and leaving an empty space in the center for my ship to slide into.

We’re naked, without the ring of sharp pilots from Frosthold that would accompany me any other time. With the deadly, fragile cargo of the Aurelians, even standard defenses would be a threat. Our nakedness exposes our knowledge. I’m sending aclear message to Prince Doman: I won’t endanger his precious cargo, but Iknowwhat he’s trying to bring into my territories. The weights and balances of international diplomacy press in my mind, and I feel like I’m walking a tightrope over an abyss.

I chose this. I chose this, because no one else would. I chose this because my system has one hundred billion souls spread out over five planets and hundreds of space stations throughout the reaches. Every day I wish that someone else would rise up, someone more competent, someone more intelligent, someone who could see things more clearly.

The captain of my ship is wearing the same gray of Pentaris administration that we all take when joining the neutral governing body. There’s a gleam of nervous sweat on the back of his neck as he pilots us forward. “Approaching border, Prime Minister. They’ve hailed us as affirmative to cross into their space.”

“Proceed.” I utter the last word he wanted to hear, the one word he knew was coming. I watch through the cockpit with Aeris by my side. She is wearing a sea-green dress with a filament veil layer that gleams with tendrils of bright green light like algae, damp to the touch, which keeps her moistened in the dry ship, the recycled air harsh to her temperament. The gems of her circlet sparkle, a splash of color in the bland grayness of the government ship.

For everyone else, the threat is being taken captive by the species.

For me, it’s something deeper, something more terrifying.

When I am face to face with the royal triad, I don’t know if they’ll be able to control themselves.