Scaled Heart: A SciFi Alien Romance (Project: F5 Book 2) by Jade Waltz (ereader android .TXT) 📕

“What are you suggesting we do?”

“We have three options. Either we leave them in their current condition or we use two of the cryopods that the Sovereign has provided for us.”

“And the third option?”

Oeta sighed, turning her attention to the six males sitting in pairs on the lobby’s couches.

“It has been suggested that we could try using two of the orbs Kaede once used to heal Selena,” Z’fir replied. “Agent Qraniebi explained the miracle recovery he witnessed before Kaede was forced to send her away.”

“We are hoping that perhaps we could replicate that miracle with careful consideration,” V’dim added. “If we could heal their wounds, then maybe they will have a better chance of fighting the decay as we wait for Selena’s return.”

“And who’s in favor of this?” I hissed, surveying the room. “Which one of you came up with this asinine idea?”

Both of Odelm’s fathers squirmed under my heated glare, unable to look me directly in my eyes.

“So, tell me why the two of you, with no medical background, are willing to risk your son’s already precarious health?”

“Selena’s necklace created a stir among the rare collectors on the space station. We’ve heard rumors about their power, which were confirmed by the stories the princes told us about what the gems are used for throughout Destima. If it worked for Selena, then it has to work for them too.”

“We don’t know if it even worked!” I snapped. “For all we know, it was a temporary fix, and now that it has been about a week, she could be dying of complications. I am not willing to take risks on my watch.”

“And who said that it was up to you?” Yuwal snarled. “It should be up to us, their fathers.”

“Really?” I shrugged my nestmates’ appendages from my limbs and stomped over to the pair of fathers. “I believe they stopped being your responsibility once they left your planet and joined the princes’ journey. The princes should be the only ones to dictate what happens to them! They are their nestbrothers and will be directly affected by their recovery.”

“Kaica…” Chyox grabbed my hand, entwining it with his as a sense of serenity washed over me. “You need to calm down instead of attack those who care about them, too. They only wish the best for their sons."

Breathing in deeply, I closed my eyes as I tried to remind myself that he was not the enemy.

None of them were.

Always having to be on the defensive was starting to take a toll on me. I blamed my childhood and all of the dangerous missions I was given for my on-edge behavior. I had to constantly remind myself that they were not attacking me, that others were allowed to disagree with me.

A life of working with five siblings with dominant personalities, who never gave me the chance to voice my opinion on matters outside my medical field, had made me bold. But the members of my team were not my siblings, and they deserved a chance to speak their mind freely, just as I had wished.

"That may be true, but she makes valid points we can't ignore." Usthu hooked a tentacle around my waist, pulling me against his side. "We don't have the luxury of testing theories based on hearsay, though I can't fault the Master Healers for wanting to do anything for their sons.”

“There is a fine line that we can never cross.” When I glanced at Oeta, she held my gaze and nodded. “It’s not our place to play the Fates. I am not comfortable sacrificing others’ lives to test a theory—a rumor—when there are other options available to us. Instead of focusing on the unknowns, we should use methods proven to work. The cryopods will accelerate their healing and are safe to use; my siblings have used them many times under my supervision. I have faith that they will work for your sons, too, regardless of how far they may decay.”

Suvax shot a glance at his nestbrother-partner. "Voice your idea if you want her to approve.”

“What idea?”

Thirteen

USTHU

It was hard to focus on the present conversation with Kaica’s stray thoughts flooding my mind and the need to complete our new bond lingering.

When would she want to initiate the bond? Would she wait for me to ask her or approach me on the matter?

I prayed to the Stars above that this itch to permanently bond us would settle once I gave her my mating spores.

“How many of these cryopods are available?” Yuwal asked, glaring at Suvax. “Would it be possible for our princes to use them to delay their decay?”

“We have five in our mountain top base and one on each luxury ship we manage,” she replied, tilting her head to the side as she stared toward the location of their peak. “The cryopods should be able to reduce and maybe even prevent the princes’ decay. I just don’t know how Destima’s Circuli population would function while their princes are unconscious, if they reacted so poorly when their leaders were knocked out by Selena’s mental defenses back on the Destiny.”

“But the pods might work?”

“For your sons, yes.” She shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s worth the risk for the princes to use the pods unless they are clinging to their last thread of life. The princes know how a Circuli population will react when their mental web suddenly collapses, so it should be their decision whether, and when, they use them.”

The room turned its attention to the pair in question.

“We think the risk of distressing the population is not worth the luxury of preventing the decay.” Z’fir grabbed V’dim’s hand and turned to stare at his life-long partner. “We will wait out the decay as long as possible and hope for Selena’s swift return, but we both agree it would benefit everyone if we were placed in the cryopods when on the verge of dying. A collapsed mental web is far worse than a muted one.”

I