Page 66 of Badass Alien Boss

Shit, the whole family must be involved.The family who spies together stays together.She’d never met Murta’s husband, but he’d have to be Prellim, too.Unless he’s a Luturnan traitor.

Like Korsan.Her stomach churned with disgust. He betrayed his planet! He’d committed treason.

“Are you all right?” Ruyn frowned.

Oh, my god. I’m so sorry.“I had a…disturbing conversation with Korsan, but we’ll get to that.” She took a seat. “What did the tests show?”

Dr. Kurur cleared his throat, and her stomach tightened.More bad news.

“Let me preface by saying Ruyn’s life is not in danger.” A positive that sounded like a negative if she ever heard one.

“I’ll explain in more detail in a moment, but what it boils down to is, you, Ruyn, are producing the antigen, that you, Michaela, are allergic to. You are being exposed during sexual intercourse.”

Her jaw dropped. “I’m allergic to Ruyn?”

“Basically, yes.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Michaela looked as shell-shocked as Ruyn felt. He was infecting her? How could this happen? How could they have a future together if physical intimacy would kill her? Wracking his brain, he realized they had had sex before every allergy attack, but that had to be a coincidence. It had to be! “Are you sure?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I’m sure.”

“Is it only me she’s allergic to, or is it all Luturnans?” Could their respective species be incompatible?

“You. You were infected with an alien bioengineered nanocyte that produces the sexually transmitted antigen.”

“But you can cure him, right?” She twisted her hands in her lap.

The doctor didn’t speak.

“You can, can’t you?”

“I contacted my colleagues on Oberia as well as Dr. Stratos, who invented the analyzer we use. I transmitted the test results and sent them the blood samples, in hopes they can neutralize what Ruyn now carries. The organic part of the nanocyte produces the antigen, but the robotic coating protects the organics.”

“So, you’re saying there’s no cure,” Ruyn deadpanned.

“I’m saying we don’t have one yet. We haven’t encountered anything like this, but I’m cautiously hopeful my colleagues in conjunction with Dr. Stratos can come up with a solution. Stratos is brilliant, and we’ve had some success developing antivirals.”

“It’s a virus, then? I thought it was a nanocyte,” she said.

“The nanocyte functions like a virus, invading the host’s cells and forcing them to do its bidding. The nanocyte in Ruyn hasturned the interstitial cells of his testes into a factory for the antigen, which then hitches a ride when he ejaculates.”

“How did I get infected? Was it sexually transmitted to me? I haven’t slept with anyone other than Michaela since my last leave more than two years ago,” he said. He hadn’t been celibate prior to meeting her, but he hadn’t been promiscuous either.

“It got passed to you through something you ingested. The authorities are taking over tracing to locate the guilty party,” the doctor said.

“It was Murta,” Michaela said grimly.

“What?” Ruyn snapped his gaze to hers.

“Murta infected you.”

“Mama Murta? No. I can’t believe it.” He shook his head.

“She’s Prellim.”

“What? No. She couldn’t be.”