“What is a konia?” I questioned.
“A medical agent we use to induce instant unconsciousness.”
I stared at Surkah, trying to make sense of her words.
“And you used this konia on … me?”
Surkah couldn’t look me in the eye as she said, “My brother gave the order through his comm. We could not run the risk of you attempting to flee us because we feared you would be hurt in the process.”
What?
“I don’t understand any of this,” I said. “Why would I flee? You’re going to rebuild the Earth and fix everything. Why would I fight against that? Why would I fight my salvation?”
Surkah still couldn’t look me in the eye. Hell, she couldn’t even look in my direction. Dread swirled in my abdomen, and worry prickled my skin. I had a feeling something bad was about to happen.
“Are you my friend, Surkah?”
She jerked her head up and locked gazes with mine.
“Of course,” she breathed. “You’re my only true friend. I have bonded with you very quickly, Nova. I care very much about you.”
“Then tell me what I’m missing,” I pleaded. “I can’t remember anything after talking to your brother in the hallway.”
That freaky Maji had picked me up off the ground like I weighed nothing when I ran from him.
“Everything will be okay,” Surkah promised. “Nothing will happen to—”
Surkah was cut off when the door to the room opened, revealing Kol. I blinked as he entered the room. His stunning violet eyes were on mine, his thick dark brows were drawn together, and his lips were thinned to a line. He didn’t look very happy, and after a few seconds, I knew why. My recollection of the blank spots in my memory suddenly hit me and caused me to draw in a deep, unsteady breath. My conversation with Kol, Mikoh, Surkah, and Sera flooded my mind and caused my already pounding headache to amplify.
They kidnapped me.
“Stay the hell away from me!” I bellowed as I scrambled off the bed and away from Surkah. “Don’t come any fucking closer!”
She took a step forward, and I screamed, so she took five steps back. She began to cry, and Mikoh was there to comfort her. I had never seen them touch one another affectionately, but when he put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her body to his, she didn’t fight him.
“Please,” Surkah blubbered, her tear-filled eyes on mine. “Don’t fear me. I am your friend.”
“No!” I shouted, my body trembling. “You pretended to be my friend so you could kidnap me! You’re just like humans, Surkah. You lie, steal, and hurt people. You’ve hurt me!”
Her whine was filled with pain and so were her whimpers that followed. Mikoh was glaring at me, no doubt furious that I had upset his intended, but I didn’t care. I was hurting, too. I thought she was a good Maji, and even though I knew she was hiding something, I felt protected when I was with her, but she was like everyone else. She used me.
“Nova.”
I narrowed my eyes to slits when Kol called my name, but I refused to look at him.
“Where’s the aug?”
“Sera is in her quarters, we agreed that it would be best for her to remain confined and away from the rest of the humans. We don’t want other human females to react the same way you did upon seeing her, so we’ve housed all the augmented females together for their own safety.”
“For their own safety?” I barked a laugh. “Do you understand that the original women aboard this craft likely watched on as augs ripped their loved ones apart? Like I had to watch my family be slaughtered by them?”
“Nova,” Kol’s gaze hardened. “Do you understand that those females, and other augmented humans, were unaware and controlled during your war? How do you think they feel knowing that they ended lives and ruined families? They are victims too, the humans who deserve your anger are the evil ones who uploaded a weaponised virus to their collective chips.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“So, just like that we’re supposed to accept them and let bygones be bygones? You don’t understand the devastation they brought to the Earth. I know they were controlled but that doesn’t make me less terrified of them. You can’t understand that kind of fear because you’re a fucking prince, you’ll never know what it’s like to struggle on a war ridden planet. Never!”
Kol didn’t reply, and in the silence, I realised I was breathing heavily.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and make us accept them, make us forget what they did. Too much has happened … too much death has come from them.”
“Maji don’t want to make any human females feel trapped and scared. We’re going to try and help your augmented human females that are aboard because no matter what you say, they are victims of your war too. We have scientists who have been working with Sera for a long time, they have more work to do, but they will try to remove, or shut down, the collective chips the females have … the chip in the augmented is what you fear, Nova. Not the females themselves.”
He spoke like what he was asking of me was simple, like I should be empathic towards the augmented. I was too fucking scared of them for that to happen. Logically, I knew they were pawns in the war … but they could be controlled again if the alpha code for the collective chips was rewritten. The killings, the death, the endless pools of blood … it could all happen again.
“I hope you’re right,” I said to him. “I truly hope to Almighty that you are and that the augs aboard can be helped, but I can’t be near them. I just can’t. Let me go.”
“We cannot.”
“Why?” I demanded. “Why have you taken me? Us?”
Were all of the women aboard the craft here under false pretences like I was? Or were they aware of what had happened to them?
“It is complicated,” Kol replied to me.
His voice was so damn alluring. I felt like if I got my ear close enough to his mouth while he was speaking, my body would erupt with pleasure. I gritted my teeth, hating myself and my body for acting so foolishly over an alien who stole me.
“Uncomplicate it then,” I said through gritted teeth. “Make me understand.”
I looked at Surkah because she was still crying. Mikoh was still glaring at me, so I stuck my middle finger up at him, and he growled, “Sera told us what that action means.”
I stuck my other middle finger up at him. “Good.”
“Enough,” Kol snapped, causing me to flinch with fright and drop my hands. “Do not fear us. We’re helping you.”
“You’re helping your-fucking-selves by taking me.” I snapped. “I see no benefit in it for me.”
“No benefit?” Kol repeated. “We’re saving your life.”
I made eye contact with him, and my anger was the only thing helping me keep that contact.
“How are you saving my life?”
“Your planet is—”
“Dying,” I interrupted. “Yes, I know. Climate change and never-ending war is killing the planet, but what do you want us to do? Those who have credits live off the planet, and the rest of us are stuck here.”
“That’s where we come in,” Kol said, stepping forward. “We aren’t here to rebuild the Earth as Surkah told you. We’re here to rescue as many human females as possible before your planet becomes uninhabitable. Being here right now is an incredible risk for us.”