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Chapter Twenty-Nine
Adelina
Alpha’s Starship
The Hai Galaxy
She didn’t know how much time had passed as she held Alpha in her arms. His cold body heavy and the blood sticky by the time Varan, Kaiden, and Nash reached her. She wouldn’t let him go, screaming at them as they tried to remove him from her arms.
It wasn’t until Nash knelt before her in the blood that was everywhere, holding her face just rough enough to get her attention. “Adelina, where is he? Where is your captor? There’s no one else on this ship. We checked when we docked. Did he escape?”
His questions only made her cry harder. Adelina brushed Alpha’s hair back from his forehead and she tried to wipe a speck of blood from his cheek but she only smeared more across his face with her good hand. Her right was completely useless, but it didn’t matter.
Adelina was numb.
She didn’t feel the physical pain – only the chasm in her chest where her heart had broken. It seeped as she tried to explain to the three males who were desperate to help her, but there was nothing they could do. It was already over.
“Lina, please,” Varan begged, his voice cracking as he knelt beside her. “Please tell me what happened.”
It was all she could do to keep breathing as she stared into Nash’s aapoak eyes. “The Neprijat can upload their consciousness into someone else’s body.”
The sharp inhale of breath from all three males reminded her she wasn’t alone even though it felt that way.
Adelina pulled Nash’s hands from her face. They were alive because of the decision she’d made. She wouldn’t end up wed to the Neprijat king. The Draga Galaxy still had a future. Her people still had a chance because of the sacrifice she’d had to make.
Looking down at Alpha…she knew he would have told her to do the same. He would have told her one life was not worth trillions. Alpha would have given his life willingly if he’d been able to speak. She only wished it didn’t have to be him…that at the very least – she could have said good-bye.
Adelina kissed Alpha’s forehead and didn’t bother to wipe the tears from her face, not when her hand was still covered in his blood. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, knowing she would never be able to say it enough. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my family.”
It didn’t matter how bad the pain in her chest was or that she felt so broken and just…weary. Adelina was a queen now and she still had duties to perform.
“We are bringing him with us, and then I want you to tow this ship back to Hai Delta,” she ordered no one in particular. “We need answers.”
Varan took her hand and she hissed at the pain. He snarled when he saw how broken her wrist was. “We need to get you back on our ships and have a physician tend to you. Darling, did he hurt you?”
Adelina pulled out of her husband’s grasp. “No, he didn’t. Take me to the ship.”
She wasn’t ready to tell them more yet. Adelina still needed time to absorb all she’d learned – everything Drozer had told her, and then come to terms with the consequences of her actions.
Oh, how she wished she could hand over the crown to Asher, but it was too late now. It had already begun. She’d already made a choice that affected three galaxies. There was no point in handing over her power now.
Asher didn’t deserve the consequences of her decision.
The three males said nothing as they led her to their ship, Kaiden carrying Alpha’s body. They kept sharing looks, but she ignored them. She didn’t have the energy to appease delicate male sensibilities. It was a Kharan ship which meant Nash had helped. Adelina let them lead her into a chair while Kaiden gently set Alpha on the floor. Then they left her alone while they conversed with the Ravager on their way back to Hai Delta.
The trip back was a blur. Nash had a hushed conversation with Nadyah, but Adelina tuned it out as she felt her body sway with the motion of the starship. She couldn’t stop staring at Alpha’s body and wondering if he would mind having a pyre on Hai Delta or if he’d rather be shipped back to their home – the place they’d shared as children.
He probably wouldn’t mind a funeral on Hai Delta. Adelina could bring his ashes back home and bury them in the royal forest next to her father and sister. He would give new life to the trees they’d climbed as children. Alpha had declined the position of prince once, but couldn’t deny her treatment of him as one now.
If he had any family left she would honor them – but Adelina would have to find another way to keep his memory alive so that no one would forget his sacrifice.
“Adelina,” Nash whispered.
She blinked and her eyes refocused. He was kneeling before her again, but this time they were on his ship and it had stopped moving.
“What can I do?” he asked.
Varan and Kaiden stood behind him and Adelina looked up at her husband. The grief and guilt she saw there mirrored her own.
