Lily

My mind is a battlefield.

Every single emotion that I have is battling for control. I feel anger, hate, sadness, remorse and guilt, all at the same time.

Siya’s words cut through me like a knife.

My memories… they weren’t wiped — they were never there.

I’m literally no one.

A blank slate.

Not even a person.

Created in a lab to deceive Marcas, and lead the Resistance into a trap.

Are any of the feelings I have genuine, or all they all part of her plan as well?

The love I feel for Marcas…

No, that must be real. It has to be real.

The moments we’ve shared — there’s nothing more real than that. When I looked into his eyes, when his lips touched mine, when his arms held me…

Those moments were real.

And nothing Siya or Basil or anyone can say will change that.

“What are you waiting for?” Siya bites. “Release the FERAL virus!”

I stare into Marcas’s teal eyes, and it gives me the strength and the courage to fight. He’s shown me nothing but kindness, he’s always trusted me, and even now, even now that he has every right to hate my guts, I can see that he still believes in me. He still loves me.

His powerful gaze give me a jolt of energy. I feel strength rising from deep inside of me, radiating from the center of my heart to every fiber of my being. I move towards the console and take a deep breath.

Here it goes.

My fingers fly across the touch screen rapidly as I enter my commands.

“Do it,” Siya says, sounding hungry. “Release it!”

I push the button.

“Yes!” she screams. Siya turns to Marcas with a victorious smile.

“See, you pink swine?! You meathead! See the proof of my genius?! Now watch your species die!” she cackles. “Watch!”

Siya is totally out of her mind, her tiny fists balled up. I can't wait to see her ego deflate.

Beep.

“Siya,” Basil says cautiously. “You might want to take a look at this.”

The woman turns around, her eyes filled with crazy.

“What, father?” she snaps. “Don't ruin this moment for me!”

The screen flickers with an incoming message.

Checkmate, bitch.

She looks at the screen, not realizing what I've done. “The Federation? Why would they call me now?”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep--

The messages come in one-by-one, until there's so many the computer just emits a constant hum. Next, both her and her father's private com-devices start ringing, until we're surrounded by a cacophony of sounds.

“What's going on?” Siya barks. “What... what did you do?”

I press the little button that says connect call. The screen is instantly filled with a close-up of the face of the President of the Human Federation.

“What's the meaning of this, Siya?” he snaps, his voice shaking with anger. “If this is your idea of a sick joke, I am not amused.”

“Wh-what?” The Onyx leader stammers. “I…”

“What's all this talk of a virus, of cloning, of genocide? Have you lost your damn mind?!”

Siya is frozen in place. Her victorious smile is still half-there on her face, unmoving, like her brain shorted out and her face doesn't know what expression it has to show next.

“You can consider every contract the Federation has with Onyx cancelled!”

One by one, more windows pop up on the screen. The scowling faces of presidents, kings and emperors of every race in the universe fill the entire dome. Siya and her father are surrounded on all sides by their anger, their company being ripped apart before their very eyes.

Their so-called empire crumbles before their very eyes.

“I broadcast a recording of every word you just said to every single com in the entire universe. That’s what you wanted me to do right, creator?” I say with as much venom as possible.

Her eyes narrow.

“You… you were a mistake,” she spits. “I gave you too much empathy. Not to worry — the next one will be better!”

I reach behind me and press a button. Instantly Marcas’s chains fall to the floor.

“There won’t be a next one!” I say.

Siya lets out a piercing scream and charges right at me, her sharp nails raised like claws. Before she can reach me Marcas grabs her from behind and throws her across the room — right into her father, who was trying to make a break for it.

“Leaving so soon?” Marcas growls. “I thought we were just getting started.”

The Zoran warrior pounces on top of Siya and drags her across the room by that stupid hair bun of hers. She kicks and screams, but she is no match for his strength.

He places her on the metal slab, and I press the same button again. The locks close around her wrists and ankles.

We’ve got her locked up tight.

“Now it’s your turn to watch as your world burns,” Marcas growls.

Strapped down tight she can’t do a single thing except watch as all her plans fall apart. Basil is in the corner, his ankle sprained, so he can’t escape us either. We’ve got them. We’ve really got them.

I fling my arms around Marcas’s neck and kiss him deeply, hot tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

“Do you still—”

“Of course,” he says, cutting me off. “I still love you, Lily. Forever and always, remember?”

“Forever and always.”

We watch Siya cry, plead and lie to the scowling faces on all the screens around her, until her face has turned white and she is simply numb. I cannot believe a woman as hateful as her could have created me…

A fist pounds on the metal door separating us from the rest of the ship.

“Open up,” a low voice growls.

“Onyx guards?” I ask my mate.

He shakes his head. “That voice… open the door, Lily.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain.”

I flip a switch, disengaging the lock on the door, and it slides open, revealing…

Three well-armed Zorans. One silver, one green, one turquoise.

“Egon!” Marcas says. “Torin! Kane!”

The Zoran in the front lowers his weapon.

“Marcas!”