Chapter 16

I'm mute. Horror struck.

"You impregnated me so that, twenty years from now, you can take over a new body? Just so you look more like a Kral than you do now?" I suck in a breath and screech, "Are you insane?"

Aezok slaps me lightly on my right cheek. My head hits the table, and the sting of pain knocks me out of my shock. My stomach clenches as a tight kernel of fear takes root. He's gone full psychopath; I need to be more careful. I need to think. I need to learn the new rules immediately. You need to definitely remember not to call him "insane" again, Mara.

In a singsong tone, he says, "Don't start, Mother. We've talked about this before. I'm not insane. I'm gifted. I'm incredibly smart. And I deserve respect."

My mind reels before I whisper, "Respect?"

"All of my life, people looked down on me for not being a full-blooded Kral. Teachers ignored me in school. No one wanted to be my friend. I had to work twice as hard as everyone else. You cursed me when you cheated on my father and got pregnant. But my heart is Kral, and with a body that can generate Wrath, I'll be strong enough to be respected. Loved." His expression turns crafty, the corners of his lips quivering. "And my Wrath will be the most powerful ever seen. I will surpass Lyfia himself!"

"Because of the Kryllians?" I guess.

He beams at me, his earlier anger forgotten. "Yes! The sperm I used to impregnate you was carefully modified. That baby, me," he pauses to shake his head, his gaze turning vague. I wait, holding my breath, before he clears his throat to continue, "I will be brutally strong. Strong enough to crush anyone who fails to respect me."

I had no idea the Kral people were so speciesist, and a part of me feels sorry for Aezok as a child, forced to endure that kind of treatment. But that's no excuse. He's going to murder this child. My child. His child? My thoughts stutter, looping between dread and disbelief.

"Did you use Viz'en's sperm? Or yours?"

His lip curls before he slaps me again, harder this time. The burn in my cheek brings tears to my eyes.

"You know I'm sterile. And yes, I used the Kral male's sperm. Don't say that name again, I'm warning you. I know he was your favorite. I'll be taking care of him soon enough, and then you'll see I was always better than him."

I blink rapidly, clearing the tears so I can keep my eyes on Aezok's movements. He shuffles a few more things around on his tray before he moves to the foot of the table. Panic twists inside of me, cold and slithery.

When he picks up the speculum, I whimper.

He needs this baby, I try to remind myself sternly. He won't hurt me. Still, when he loosens the straps to widen my legs, I blurt, "Don't! I could hemorrhage. I could lose the baby. Lose, um, you."

He cocks his head to meet my eyes, skepticism ripe on his face. "Your birthing channel is so fragile? I need to scan the fetus."

"Way too fragile. On Earth, they scan human pregnancies from the outside of the abdomen."

Frowning, he moves back to his tray and pokes at the equipment on top of it.

"I had a scan yesterday, at a clinic. The medical unit said the baby is fine."

"I want to take measurements. I want to ensure the Kryllian DNA isn't causing unnecessary complications."

I remember the wing buds and crush the flash of fear I feel crossing my face. What will he do when he finds out the baby will have wings? He'll kill it. He'll kill me. Kral don't have wings.

I have to get out of here. Now.

Testing the slightly loosened restraints at my legs, I realize I can move the lower half of my body.

But it's not enough. My arms and chest are still tied down. I need Aezok to let me up. I need to convince him I'm on his side. Get him to trust me. I know what the rules are now, the triggers to his psychosis. I know what I have to say and do. But can I force myself to actually do it?

It's absurd to think I'll succeed. I've spent the past year actively trying to escape him. He's not going to believe a change of heart at this moment.

I recall the wild look in his eyes when he talked about his mom and swallow hard. That dysfunctional relationship is my key. My skin crawls. I'm not a good liar, but I need to be one at this moment. Two lives depend on it.

Digging my fingernails into my palms and firming my trembling chin, I ask in a small voice, "Will we raise the baby together, you and I?"

Aezok, fiddling with the screen of his tablet, mutters, "Yes. We will be a family. A proper one. With a proper Kral baby."

"Will you promise not to hurt me? If I'm good this time? If I love you the way a mother should?"

"As long as you behave."

I stretch the fingertips of my right hand toward him. "I promise. I want to be a good mother. I'm going to care for this baby. I'm going to love him. You. I swear it."

As the words leave my numb lips, I realize I'm not lying. It's probably just hormones, but I do want to try to be a good mother. I don't want to get rid of my son. He's saving my life right now. It would be beyond callous to use him like this, and then abort him.

A tight band of pain encircles my chest and squeezes. I have to get us out of here.

"Please, can I sit up? I want to give you a hug. I want us to be a family. The best family. I've always wanted a family. Thank you for helping me."

Aezok looks up from his screen, his pink eyes darkening with suspicion.

Forcing a smile, I stretch my fingers toward him again. "On Earth, mothers always take care of their babies. They always love them," I lie. As an ER nurse, I know that's one hundred percent not true. "I'm going to be such a good mom to you."

"What's a hug? My translator doesn't have a Kral equivalent."

"You've never had a hug from your mother?" I try to lift my arms to show him, even as revulsion moves through me at the idea of touching him voluntarily. "I put my arms around you for a long moment. It's, ah, comforting. Warm and safe."

His face lights up.

I feel like a monster, using his trauma against him, but God, I need every weapon.

I try once more to lift my hands toward him, holding my breath and working to keep a pleased, happy expression on my face. With quick movements, he frees my chest and arms so I can sit up. He leaves my legs locked in place, probably forgetting he's already loosened those restraints.

Holding my breath, I open my arms. As he moves into my embrace, I lean forward, my gaze rapidly scanning the tray of medical supplies over his shoulder. There.

He's stiff against my body for a long moment, his breaths heavy puffs of air across my ear, and I stroke a hand down his back. He's only a little bit larger than me.

I rack my brain, my thoughts too chaotic to think of a lullaby, and then mentally shrug and start humming the ABCs. My singing voice isn't great, but everyone can hum the ABCs.

Aezok freezes, then tucks his face into my neck, his arms tightening around me, and my lungs stutter before I pick up my humming again.

When I introduce a gentle swaying motion, he goes with it. And I rock this psychopath back and forth like the best baby mama in the universe, humming and rubbing his back. I feel like a monster. But at this moment, I have to be. I have to survive.

My right hand slips to the tray.

As I croon, I pick up the speculum, opening the blades in a slow, quiet movement.

Then I lurch backward.

Aezok rears from my hold, shock and betrayal turning his skin red, and I jam the speculum as hard as I can into his right eye.

He screams, a guttural roar of pain that curls my toes, and drops to his knees, clawing at the metal handle protruding from his face. Blood spurts, coating my hands before I can let go.

He screams again, his body spasming when he hits the ground. He reaches for the speculum but doesn't pull it out. Open globe injury. Nonfatal.

My fingers shake as I reach down and pull my legs free of their restraints. I jump from the table and, as I run from the room, his shrieks like hounds at my heels, I work on forgetting the crunching, squishy noise his eyeball made when it popped.

THE facility is dark outside of the room I just escaped, the halls and labs empty. It looks like a scientific compound, larger than my old prison. I hurry up and down halls, searching for an exit.

I don't know what I'll do when I find it. I'm a forbidden species without an ID. Anyone I ask for help will report me to the police. And something tells me they won't bother with the work of sending me happily back to Earth.

Maybe I can find Heza and Zuko again.

But when I finally push open a door that leads to the outside, my heart sinks. I'm not in their sleepy seaside village. Massively tall buildings surround me. Huge skyscrapers with terraced connections crisscross the night sky above. There's a steady roar in the air as hundreds of small flying vehicles follow lighted paths.

Overwhelmed, my shoulders hunch toward my ears. How am I going to navigate this?

I need to find a hospital. One with a surgeon who can remove the kill-switch tracker in my neck before Aezok recovers enough to come for me again.

Biting my lip, I hope his mania over the body snatching plan will drown out his urge to straight-out murder me for taking his eye.

The street I'm standing on is empty. Because of the lab, I assume I'm in some kind of industrial area that shuts down at night. Picking a random direction, I start to walk.

I'm still dressed in the clothes Heza gave me to sleep in, a long shirt that hits at my knees, and the air is cold on my skin. I tuck my bloody hands against the dark cloth, trying to wipe them off.

When they're clean, my hands drop to my abdomen, pressing slightly into my body as I walk. I need to find a place where I and this baby can live safely. Not on a Kral planet, where apparently everyone is really racist about mixed species children. My baby will have wings. I need a planet where lots of different species mingle.

Sure, no problem, Mara, I tell myself. This is absolutely something you can research on your own. And travel to on your own. And find a job and a home on your own.

The hollow space inside of my chest gapes wider. I'm so alone. And I don't know what to do. I rub a fist against my sternum, searching for the will to keep going.

The implant in my ear buzzes, and a familiar voice says in a tinny tone, "Mara. This is Zuko. Can you hear me?"

I swallow the startled shriek building in my throat. I forgot Zuko called my implant a comm. I've never comm'd anyone before. Is it like a phone? I touch the shell of the implant and whisper, "Zuko?"

"Mara! Where are you?"

"Your mother! Zuko! Go home right away. Heza's hurt. I don't know what he did to her—"

"She's fine. She was drugged, but she's fine. Please tell us where you are."

I glance upward again at the immense cityscape. "Um, I have no idea. A big city."

A different voice chirps in my ear, the tone robotic, yet feminine. I almost shriek again. "Permission to give location coordinates to Zuko Amirin."

"Um, granted."

My ear chimes.

After a few moments, Zuko speaks up, "I have the location. You're in Flex. There's a shuttle port two blocks to the east. You can wait in the lobby. It's enclosed. I'll be there as soon as I can."

My relief a tsunami of unshed tears, I choke, "Okay. Thank you, Zuko. Thank you."

Hurrying to the right, my bare feet slapping against the cold ground, I will Aezok to remain oblivious a little while longer. Just long enough for Zuko to get me to a surgeon. A surgeon who doesn't mind working off the books.

Piece of cake.