Page 143 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“You were supposed to have left the circus on the transport that dropped our new performers off nights ago. Imagine our surprise when we saw you on the security footage.”

The cyborg blanches at this and mutters, “The Skarrian twins said we wouldn’t appear on the footage.”

I see Caspian and Xavier exchange glances. “Well, that’s one thing solved. We will need to deal with that at another time,” Caspian comments to the still silent warlock. He turns back to the cyborg without waiting for a reply. “They lied. They distorted your voices—it didn’t even do that once you separated—but the camera still picked up your images. We know you released Saxon from his sedated state, and boy, did you fuck up.” The kraken takes a dramatic pause, letting each of his words sink into the cyborg’s mind, and each word that’s spoken causes fear to transform his features. “What you didn’t know is that Lila is Xavier’s intimate.”

My gaze shifts over to the warlock, trying to gauge his reaction to Caspian being so forthcoming about his relationship with Lila, but all I see ismist. Nothing is visible to differentiate any features of his body.

A strangled cough has me looking back at Josa.

The cyborg’s shimmery skin tone loses his glimmer and turns almost muddy, like it’s tarnished, and he starts shaking his head.“No, oh no. Nobody said anything about that. Those fucking warlock girls set me up. Fucking bitches.”

“Well, actually, they didn’t know either, but you were still hoping that Saxon would kill Lila—Lila Adams, the Adams brothers’ granddaughter, and my mate—so it doesn’t matter if you didn’t know about the warlock, you knew aboutme.” Caspian has lost all pretense of humor and is now vibrating with fury. His eyes flash to his beast’s before returning to normal. “So before I kill you, Xavier is just going to root around in your brain and see what other shitty things you’ve done without anyone knowing.”

“No, please no, please don’t.” He starts to scream and holds his hands against his head like they can protect his mind from the warlock. The cyborg actually seems more scared of Xavier than the threat of death from the kraken, and I find that very interesting. What else does this cyborg not want anyone knowing?

I hear Echo whimper slightly above us and step forward. His distress is sour to me and makes me very unhappy, and there’s nothing I won’t do to keep my mate happy.

“While I appreciate that you are protecting your mate, I must also protect mine, and Echo is a sensitive soul. Would it be possible for you to remove this yalani dung from our den and continue your interrogation elsewhere?”

“Of course. I apologize for the intrusion, Maxsim, and please give your mate my apologies for upsetting him.” The warlock waves a hand, and the cyborg is instantly secured with light ropes. Caspian peels back his tentacles, and the cyborg lifts into the air. The warlock waves his hand again, and he starts moving toward the door, followed by Caspian and the wrapped up cyborg. Caspian turns and waves at me.

“Thank you for helping us find this useless creature, and again, we apologize for trespassing in your space.” He stopssuddenly, and I can see him fighting internally with his beast. He finally grits his teeth and shouts, “Fine!” then he sighs and runs a frustrated hand through his blue hair before continuing. “We would love it if you and your mate could join me and mine for dinner one night. It is a shame we haven’t gotten to know you better, and we would like to rectify the situation.”

He doesn’t seem a hundred percent sure, but he is being polite. The last thing I should do is outwardly reject his offer. “I will talk to my mate and let you know. Thank you for the invite.”

He smiles and nods, seemingly okay with my noncommittal response, and hurries after the warlock and their prisoner who have already left our den.

The door hasn’t even slid closed before Natalia is screaming and launching bolts of lightning at me, but they are easy to absorb. Her power is no match for mine. “How could you do that? I am thematriarch. I am in charge of this streak, and you will not get in my way. Wait until I tell my mother what has occurred. You will be lucky if she lets you live.”

I stand with my arms crossed, waiting for her to physically attack me. If she raises a hand to me, I won’t take it. I chuckle at the thought of her running to her mother. A strong female lightning cat wouldn’t need someone else to put me in my place, she would be able to do it herself, but I haven’t found many who could best me. My own mother, sure, but I’ve never given her any reason to. My chuckles seem to make her even madder.

Trace, Sim, and Fuse retreat into their cave, smart enough to get out of the line of fire. Although they are alphas, Natalia’s viciousness knows no end, and they have learned it’s easier to avoid than engage. They plan on keeping their heads down and staying out of her way until she finally leaves the ship. Nothing good comes from drawing her attention. It’s taken all of my cunning to stop her from attacking Echo. The alpha command works temporarily, but it soon wears off. I’m not sure howshe manages to circumvent it, but as soon as she does, she’s attacking him again. He basically confines himself to our den with the forcefield on so she can’t enter—a prisoner in his own home. The physical attacks were exhausting, and being on high alert twenty-four seven is no way to live. I couldn’t believe she had the audacity to do it during a performance. I’m just surprised the Adams brothers haven’t demanded to see us about it yet. I thought for sure we would all be kicked off the show. The Adams brothers don’t tolerate any infighting or bad behavior from their employees.

Natalia continues to rant as I walk away. “Don’t you turn your back on me, Maxsim. I will have your respect,” she demands, so I whirl on her.

“You didn’t seem too surprised to see that cyborg. In fact, you seemed downright suspicious when you said no one could search your quarters. If I go in there, am I going to smell someone else’s scent?” Natalia shuts her mouth the instant I bring up searching her cave again. She knows I know she is hiding something, but I won’t let her off the hook. “Let me make this clear. There is no way he could have hidden in here without someone helping him, and I think that someone isyou.”

She sneers at the accusation. “Bullshit. You are too busy with that abomination omega to even know what is going on in this den. I could have a parade of men through here, and you wouldn’t notice or care.”

“No, you’re right. I really wouldn’t. You could fuck the whole ship, and it would make me happy because it would mean you’re leaving all of us alone.” I can’t hide the venom in my tone as I knock her down a few pegs. She flinches, my words obviously hitting a nerve.

Up until now, I’ve played peacekeeper, not encouraging her but also not telling her it isn’t going to happen. I thought our actions were clear enough, but I underestimated how stubbornand delusional she is. No more. This female has been pandered and catered to for far too long, and she needs a reality check—one I will be more than happy to deliver.

“I will never mate with you. Even if you had considered Echo as a possible mate as well, I never would have considered it. He is mine, and all you have done is try to kill him. You’re lucky I haven’t killed you out of respect for your mother,” I bellow, my anger finally getting the better of me, and lightning crackles around my body. “I suggest you do yourself a favor and stay in your den, away from everyone else, because I promise you this, Natalia—I will no longer hold back. If it comes out that you had a part in trying to kill the Adams brothers’ granddaughter, I will see you disgraced and shunned. You will never find a streak, and you will be an outcast. Keep your head down, and maybe, just maybe, you will find someone who will make you happy one day.” I turn my back to her, knowing that even if she strikes at me with her lightning, I can withstand her attack, since I am stronger than she is.

I leap carefully from rock to rock until I reach the entrance of our den where Echo is waiting for me in cat form. He stands as I approach and swipes an affectionate and reassuring tongue over my hand. The hundreds of little spikes are flattened so he doesn’t tear the skin from my bones, but it’s still a rough texture and it tickles slightly. I run my hand through his snow-white fur, wiping the slobber off the back of it and chuckling before gripping his mane and tugging him with me. He follows, walking next to me as we traverse the rocky corridor into our den. All of the dens on our level are shaped the same as dens back on Iceen, both the caves and family dwellings. The long, narrow entrances make it harder for enemies to attack before it opens into a large, communal structure with a curtained off bedroom area and a separate bathroom. The Adams family was adamantwhen bringing different species to the circus that they would be comfortable when they were not performing.

Echo and I have lots of furs and soft furnishings strewn around the area with a small kitchen off to the side. Most of the time we don’t use it and only use the replicator, since neither of us are cooks. We mostly prefer to catch our food in animal form when we are home, but that’s just not possible here.

I release him, and he pads over and jumps down into the sunken hole he has made into his nest, curling up and purring with contentedness. He’s happy now that we are away from the hell beast and safe in our own space. I lean against the cave wall, thinking about what happened. I can’t believe that cyborg managed to hide in here without any of us knowing. Natalia had to be involved. There is no way he would have survived in the cold temperatures without assistance. Sure, he was bundled up in furs, but they wouldn’t have been enough. I’m tempted to shift and go sniff around in the den he was found in. If I pick up her scent, there’s no way she can deny her involvement, and it’s one more black mark against her.

I push off the wall and head back the way we came, but Echo growls from the bed and calls to me with a high-pitched whine that makes me turn back. I don’t like to hear my omega in distress. I return to his nest and climb into it with him. He rolls onto his back and exposes his tummy for me to rub, and I chuckle.

“What’s wrong, my omega? I just want to examine the den. I should be able to sniff out whether or not Natalia has been in there. I want to know if she is responsible for the cyborg being in our living space. I’m not sure what it is about the human girl that makes all the aliens on this ship so fucking crazy, but I won’t be complacent if someone is trying to hurt her.” He bats at my hand with his paws before shifting back into his humanoid form so we can converse. He curls up in my lap with his head resting on mythigh, his lithe body stretched out for me to admire. I know Echo is approaching his heat. I was hoping that Natalia would be gone by the time it came around, since it is too dangerous for him to go through it with her here. I will be lost to my desires and unable to protect us to my full ability, so it would be the perfect opportunity for her to attack. I continue to rub my hand through his hair, and he purrs with happiness.

“I like the little Earth girl,” he whispers quietly, his voice soft and melodic, and my hand stills.

“Really? I didn’t know you’d spoken to her.”