The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 55

he office. They practically knelt and pleaded, swearing that they did what we asked them to do. And the receptionists said one stack went with the Emperor and one with the Duke…the other Duke. I mean, if they didn't believe it, why bother splitting the documents between themselves?"

There was a pause before I asked, trying to sound normal and not soft, "And the Empress?"

"The Empress? The female with them? She just seemed like an accessory from what I gathered from my people. Just nodded and greeted and you know…followed them around."

"An accessory? Hmph. Oh, cosmos." I couldn't help but taunt her mercilessly. "I wonder whether your people are idiots or you're the idiot leading them."

Helena was stunned. From whatever she was told, the Empress was just some Kaelari following the two males around. She gave no orders or instructions. She didn't even make any requests. The only common detail everyone seemed to have mentioned was that the Empress was 'nice'. What did that even mean?! "My people did mention that she was nice."

I chuckled darkly into the communicator. "Yeah. Until you piss her off."

"So you know her."

"I've met her. Twice."

"And you think she may be a threat?"

"She could be if she wanted to. This one's smart. And very dauntless. Doesn't give a void-damn [doesn't care] about hierarchy. As beautiful as the creature is, she is definitely not an accessory." I smiled to myself in my dark home office while picturing Lyra in my head—that rainbow skin of hers, those multifaceted eyes.

"So…we have to eliminate her, is that what you're trying to say?" Helena was already in panic. If the real audits still existed, even if it was only from the past two lunar months, her career, life and reputation would be done for. Her match would never forgive her.

"I tried that. Didn't exactly go as planned. That was the first time my plan actually didn't work out." I furrowed my eyebrows at what happened to Lyra, what I did to her. An uncomfortable feeling twisted in my chest—guilt, maybe? My pathways dimmed at the thought.

I swallowed a lump in my throat before saying, "Like I said, this one's smart." I didn't trust myself to use the word 'different' without sounding smitten and soft.

It was Helena's turn to sound menacing through the link. "Your Grace, intelligence will never save one from being poisoned. All we need is…"

I growled, my pathways flashing black. "If you think poisoning is going to kill her and save us, you've been out of this game for too long, Tanner. That is, by far, the most stupid way to eliminate a person. In our world, with our heightened sensors and tracking abilities, poison is too traceable."

The truth was that I could never do that to Lyra. Not again. Even if it were risk-free for us. Some part of me was relieved that my operatives didn't manage to pierce her with the plasma blade. What I didn't know was that the blade had been plunged into her body. She just didn't die. I didn't know this because Orion didn't mention it in his speech.

"We can't just do nothing!" Helena cried out through the quantum link.

"Why not? You told me they believed the figures your people gave them, didn't you?" I questioned.

"Yes, but if the Empress is a threat, don't you think she'll find out what we've been doing? What we are still doing?" Helena said.

"Until we know her next move, we won't know ours. It's better to do nothing for now. Recklessness won't get us anywhere with her."

"So we're supposed to just live the rest of our lives in fear while she lives on fine?" Helena asked sarcastically.

"Watch your tone, Tanner." I warned, my pathways pulsing darker. "The more you provoke the Empress, the quicker she will catch on. She sees through ulterior motives and hidden intentions, and then uses them against you to kill your plan at its inception. Do nothing. That's our safest option. And if I were you, I would cut back on the spending spree for the next few lunar cycles." I disconnected the link before Helena could respond.

In my chair, I thought about what could have really happened in the audit department. It did seem like my cousins believed the audits for now, seeing that they bothered waiting for the hard copies and then taking them. But something still seemed off.

Lyra normally took a proactive role in anything she was involved in. There was no way she would just show up to look pretty next to my cousin. That wasn't her. 'Nice'. I chuckled to myself. She was definitely sweet and charming. Her presence in the department must have been for something. I just didn't know what it was yet.

There was a double knock and the door opened, letting in the light from the corridor into my dark room. A female Lyrokan dressed in some very revealing bio-fabric stood seductively by my doorframe. She threw me a coquettish smile and asked, "You coming, Your Grace?"

"Not tonight, Livia. Get out." I snapped, annoyed that Livia interrupted me when I was thinking about Lyra.

Livia faked a pout, her pathways glowing with artificial desire. "But I didn't see anyone else here to keep you company tonight. Won't you feel lonely?"

"That's my business. Now get out before I throw you out myself." I warned.

Unperturbed, Livia kept her smile on and sashayed to my desk before standing in front of me. Her arousal pheromones filled the air in my room—her neural chemistry in heat cycle, wanting me to be the vessel for her release. I was getting angrier by the second, my pathways going darker. "Last chance, Livia. Get. Out."

She sat on my desk and whispered, "Seven minutes. How about that? After seven minutes of…neural connection, I'll leave."

I chuckled darkly. "Like you were ever capable of that."

I was getting out of my seat and leaving Livia behind when her voice stopped me. "Sebastian Cummings was having the best seven minutes of his life with me before his match came to spoil the fun."

I stiffened. Turned to Livia, who had a smug look on her face before I asked in disbelief, "Seb gave up a lifetime with Lyra for seven minutes…with you?" I looked at her in disgust from head to toe before muttering, "He must've been chem-blind [drugged] that night."

She disregarded my insults and proudly declared, "I can give quite the experience."

I still looked disgusted when I declared, "No. That guy is just dumb, like his sister. Maybe worse, in fact. Get out now, Livia. Don't make me tell you again."

I turned to leave again. Just when I stepped out of the door, Livia pounced on my back and I would've lost my balance had it not been for the wall panel I held for support. My pathways went completely black. I flicked her off my back and she fell on the floor.

Disregarding her seductive gaze, I carried her over my shoulder and she laughed hysterically. But when Livia realized I wasn't heading for my sleeping quarters, it was too late. I opened the front portal and dumped Livia on my lawn in the cold night air. I then threw her carrier and coat that was left on the front panel right next to her on the lawn.

Before disappearing into my home, I uttered, "The night air ought to cool your heat cycle." Livia was so stunned at what just happened that she only came back to her senses after hearing me seal the portal behind me.

She was never rejected by any male before, not even by me the last two times. What happened?

From inside, I could hear her activate her holo-comm to call Sasha to come get her. Embarrassed. Unwanted. But most of all, FURIOUS! How dare she think she could manipulate me with her heat pheromones?!

Through the window, I watched her pace, her pathways flashing angry red. I heard Sasha's voice through the comm: "You've wasted your time going there to get him to scratch your itch. I think he is starting to have a soft spot for Seb's ex-match."

Livia was enraged and bewildered. "That's not possible! The Duke doesn't have a soft spot for anyone! And if he did, where is the Kaelari now?! Why isn't she with him?!"

Sasha's voice turned dark through the connection. "For some stupid reason, the cosmos decided to bond the Kaelari with the Emperor."

Livia exclaimed, "So the Emperor is accepting second-hand goods?"

Sasha's voice held a smirk. "Sixth-hand actually."

Even from inside, I could see Livia's shock. "But she isn't even that good-looking. From the back, she just looks like a youngling! She doesn't deserve to have males flock around her like that! We do!"

I turned away from the window, disgusted. If they thought they could harm Lyra, they had another thing coming. Whether I understood these protective feelings or not, one thing was certain—nobody would touch her while I still drew breath.

What the void is wrong with me?