Page 25 of Murgul
She will find out about me sooner or later, Murgul. Whether you like it or not, she is OUR mate, not just yours.
That does not mean I have to like or accept that. I do not want you inside me, but I have little choice in the matter.
Valid point, but enough of our petty squabbles. I have Korgons to incinerate. I mean, incite.
With you, those are the same thing.
Vrog’s insane laughter fills my mind as I type out a quick message to Bikar before hitting the button to release the door and exit the Zenith.
Chapter Twenty-One
GWENDOLYN
Glaringat the screen of my tablet, I huff in frustration. Flouncing back out of the door, with my tablet in hand, I stalk back to the helm room door. There is no way I am going to be able to sleep, not after the research I did on the nasty species residing on the ship Murgul is about to sneak onto, and my appetite has fled. I’m afraid that if I ate anything right now, it would just come right back up. Terror is in the back of my mind, but I can’t allow it to take over. If Murgul feels any overt distress from me, it will distract him while he is working.
And this is work.
Ruby and Rowan explained to me that their mates and their mates’ brothers are what they called Brigands. In regular English, that’s a pirate, and pirates on Earth steal things from others to resell for a profit. Morally, I don’t agree with what they’re doing, but I can’t deny the fact that what they do for a living has made me relatively comfortable during my time aboard the Zenith. To say anything less would make me a hypocrite, and I refuse to act like my parents.
Slipping down the hallway, I reach the helm room in no time and place my hand on the pad for the door. Less than asecond later, to my delighted surprise, the light flashes green, and the door opens to reveal Bikar. What does surprise me are the giant blue-green wings he has draped over the back of his chair. I knew Murgul was different than some of his brothers, but I didn’t realize that he wasn’t the only one with dramatically varying features.
Bikar must be wholly absorbed in what he’s doing, because he doesn’t acknowledge me until I’m literally standing next to him. He must catch movement out of his peripheral vision because he freezes in place before slowly turning his head to look at me, his eyes wide with apprehension. His wings shudder, almost imperceptibly, before slowly folding in on themselves and disappearing into his back. Peering closer in curiosity, I see subtle slits near the spines and vertebrae lining his broad shoulders where his wings stay hidden most of the time— his mating collar extending from his neck to twine around the two spots where they are now tucked away. It’s rather pretty, to be honest. Bambi is going to be a lucky woman once the two of them work their issues out.
“Gwen, what a surprise! What are you doing here?” Surreptitiously, he picks up a vest lying next to his chair and puts it on. Now that I think about it, he is the only one of the males who wears some sort of shirt on a regular basis, since the flexible spikes that stick out of their backs make wearing clothing difficult. This leads me to believe that his wings are not common knowledge.
I’m well aware of what it is like to hide in plain sight.
While I hid my true self behind my beauty, Bikar uses clothing to keep his secret. Ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room, I smile at him and reply in a saccharine voice, “When Murgul didn’t join me in our room for our evening routine, I started worrying, so I went to look for him. As I am sure you are well aware, I stopped by the helm room and was denied access,so I sent him a comm. He explained about what he’s doing, and I can’t stay in our room by myself.”
Bikar rubs the back of his neck somewhat ruefully. “Erhm, yes. My apologies for earlier. Murgul sent me a rather nasty message that I was not to deny you entry again, but I did not think you would arrive back so soon. Furthermore, it is my fault that you were not informed beforehand. I convinced him that it would be better if you did not know what we were planning.”
Rolling my eyes at the sheer level of male stupidity he’s exhibiting, I glance around the room, not entirely surprised to see that Bambi is not present. She hasn’t opened up to any of us about how or why she was in the shelter with us, but it’s certain to be a sad tale. “Where is Bambi? Shouldn’t she be here with you? According to Murgul, being away from one’s mate is extremely distressing. Especially when the bond is not sealed.”
The corners of his mouth pull down when I mention her, and he sighs heavily. “Murgul is correct in that it is a discomfort, but since the bond is only partially formed, my little doe will not feel any of the repercussions. My mate is asleep in Falon’s quarters. Our talk… did not go well after I carried her from the helm earlier. She… does not care for me the way you seem to care for Murgul. Nor does she seem willing to hear anything I have to say. She scents of fear, bordering on terror, now that my mating collar has appeared for her.”
Cutting my eyes at him, I feel my mouth pull into a firm line as my irritation swells—though I do feel a twinge of sympathy for him. “You have a lot to learn about females if you truly thought that carrying her out of here like that was the correct course of action. Did you really think that convincing Murgul to keep me in the dark about this little venture was the right thing to do? Well, allow me to educate you. We do not like being lied to, misled, or kept in the dark. Open and honest communication is key to keeping us happy. This is particularly important forhuman women and something you need to keep at the forefront of your mind from now on.”
I’m not sure if he actually listened to what I said, but he nods his understanding anyway. What is surprising is that he called her“little doe.”Maybe Bambi told him what her name means? Shaking my head at the situation, I decide to leave it alone. Whatever is or is not between them is their affair, and I want no part of it. Murgul vowed to me that Bikar would do her no harm, and that’s all I need to know.
Walking over to where Murgul usually sits, I pull the chair around to face Bikar so I can see what’s happening on his multitude of screens. “Bikar, tell me what the plan is and what is on all of these screens. Talk me through what is happening, please.”
I can tell that my request isn’t something he feels as though he should have to fulfill, but maybe saying “please” swayed him, because he starts talking, and I force myself to pay close attention to everything he says.
“This is a schematic of the Korgon ship, the next screen is Murgul’s vitals, and this is a virtual copy of the Korgon command center,” he begins, pointing to the screens in front of him.
“I am monitoring all of the comms coming in and out of the ship. And finally, this,” he continues, pointing again, “is both the long-range and short-range radar. I am making sure our target does not have any surprise guests, excluding us, of course, and that they remain unaware of our presence. We are currently cloaked, and it is unlikely they will discover us, but it is always good to err on the side of caution. Especially since Murgul’s grasp on sanity is tenuous at best. He has been better since meeting you, but make no mistake, his mind can snap given very little provocation.”
Murgul has yet to tell me why he is the way that he is, and that’s definitely something I need to hear from him, and him alone.
I see Bikar open his mouth, and I interject before he can divulge any of Murgul’s secrets. “Bikar, I’m sorry for cutting you off, but if, and when, Murgul wants me to know about why he is the way that he is, he will tell me. I do not need or want to hear any of it from you or anyone else on this ship. We have talked extensively about several topics, but this isn’t one of them.”
Bikar regards me steadily, and I see something shining out of his eyes, vertical pupils surrounded by antique-gold colored irises.
It’s respect. With one simple sentence, I’ve won over the last of Murgul’s brothers. Smiling gently back at Bikar, and holding his eyes with my own—eyes that are shaped just like Murgul’s and Einar’s—I relax into my seat to begin what I am sure will be the longest night of my life.
I do find it interesting that three of the brothers exhibit more genetic tampering than the others, something to discuss with Murgul later.
Then a flashing blue light in the corner of one of the screens catches my attention, and Bikar swivels back around to fully face all of his displays. “Murgul is about to enter the Korgon ship. If you would be so kind as to remain quiet, I must focus on the mission and ensuring my brother returns safely.”