“Easy, Madame Commander,” says Emery, toting Hophalix in her arms. “They’re just doing what they think is best.”
“Screw that. This isn’t them against the world. It’s us against the world. I don’t know who they think they are, but I’m not going to let them face this alone.”
I let their argument wash over me as I recite passages from my favorite books from memory. Behind us, the freed prisoners who had come with Hadrian and the others follow silently. Some wear expressions of fear and doubt, whereas others seem amused by the argument. Fourteen women we must protect in addition to our families. These are our people. To my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter where I fight the coming battle, as long as I’m a part of it. I’ll never be a victim again.
“I think this is it,” Lyric announces and pushes through the door.
There are gasps of surprise as we file in one by one. Even though I’d already seen it, I’m filled with wonder at the sight. I can only hope everything they’d saved won’t be destroyed by the coming battle. I won’t let it.
The room is cavernous. More than big enough for the mates, their children and the new arrivals from the prison. Aria and Sokko, Emery and Hophalix, Molly and her two new babies Quinlan and Vendar Thomas (she finally caved to Draven, which was no surprise), Grace and Sareth, Lyric, Willow, and the prisoners. I have to learn their names. Calling them prisoners seems so weird.
We all gather in the center of the room. Molly and Willow huddle together, Willow with Vendar in her arms and Molly with Quinlan. “I hate that we’re meeting again like this. I wanted it to be special.” She has tears in her eyes and little Quinlan must sense her discomfort because she starts to fuss. “Shhh,” Molly says to her.
Willow wraps an arm around her mom’s waist. Still crazy to think she’s Molly’s daughter when they’re nearly the same age. That cryosleep is no joke. “It doesn’t matter how we meet. The only thing that matters is that we’re together again. At least I came in time to meet my new brother and sister. They’re so tiny!”
“They look just like you did when you were born,” Molly says affectionately. “There’s so much we have to catch up on.”
“We’ll get through this. I promise. And we’ll have the rest of our lives to make new memories. All of us.”
Aria puts a hand on Molly’s shoulder. “That’s right. We’re going to make it through this and we’re all going to have the future we deserve.”
“But we can’t sit on our asses while our men die. I won’t,” Lyric interjects. “I didn’t come here to lose everything I care about.”
The two of them look and act so alike, it’s no surprise they’re sisters. “We won’t.”
That stops Lyric’s rant and she goggles at Aria. “We won’t?”
“No. Breccan and the other morts may think they’re protecting us, but we all owe it to them to do what we can to save our planet. Mortuus doesn’t belong to Earth II and neither do we.”
There are resounding cries from mates and prisoners alike. No one has to stand alone. We have each other.
“What do you have in mind, sugar?” Molly asks.
The caves underneath the facility seem never ending. Paths formed God-knows-when fork out in all directions. If we can’t survive the attack, maybe a last chance plan would be for everyone to hide in the caves until Earth II lost interest. Although if they find out Mortuus is inhabitable again after all this time…It’s a thought I can’t bear to explore. All they know is to take and take.
Not this time.
They can’t have our home.
“Do you think this will really work?” Aria asks.
“You’re asking me, Madam Commander?” My breath comes out in little puffs in between each word. We’ve been going uphill for a while now and while I’m not out of shape, it’s a vigorous pace we’ve set.
“Hey, it was your idea, not mine.”
“From what Oz told me, the beasts on this planet are plentiful and deadly. It can’t hurt.”
“Breccan is going to kill me when he finds out.”
“Let’s hope they’re all too busy to notice until it’s too late. Besides, it’s only a plan. If everything goes smoothly with the thermablaster, we may not even need this Plan B.”
“Right. Breccan will just have to deal. Like I am being stuck down here like some helpless woman while they’re going to be up there fighting. If we survive this, I may never forgive him.”
“Let’s survive this first before you punish them.”
We come into a cavernous room nearly the size of the facility itself.
“Whoa,” Aria says. “I didn’t even know something like this was down here. There’s still so much we don’t know about this planet.” Her voice echoes off walls glittering with crystals. I squint behind my glasses. No, not crystals. Eyes. Hundreds—no, thousands of eyes.