Callisto: Bound to the Alien Commander |18+

Chapter 28

Rinsing the disgusting taste of vomit from my mouth, I exit the bathroom to find that Olexa has joined Clarisse in my room. Wonderful.

"That is very unpleasant." Her lips tip down into a repulsed frown.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I'm just so nervous. Ronan is completely calm, he doesn't seem nervous at all. In less than an hour, he'll be fighting someone that hopes to kill him." I press my fingers into my temple. "Please, can one of you distract me? If I think about this for too long it makes my stomach twist in knots."

"Macsen and I had sex," Clarisse blurts out then claps her hand over her mouth.

I knew it. I could tell the moment I saw her this morning. She's been dying to tell me but I'm sure a sense of decency and decorum held her back.

"What?" Olexa looks completely stunned.

My brows quirk, arching up as I wait for her to gush about the details. "I thought that he didn't want me. We've started to talk about it a few times but he always looks so freaked out that I end up running away! So, he wrote me a letter, discussing his concerns. Nic, he had concerns about me. He was worried he was going to hurt me or that I would get pregnant." Her eyes look glassy. "Not in an- 'I don't want a baby with you way. In an- 'I'm afraid for your health and safety way.' He was so sweet and gentle." She looks smitten.

"I did not realize that you had become so close." Olexa smiles once the shock wears off.

"I did," I finally feel the nervous tremble in my chest calming. I just need to think about something else, anything else. Even if that something is gossiping about someone's sex life.

"He has been very pleasant recently," Olexa muses quietly. "This explains it."

"If it makes you feel better, Nic, Macsen isn't worried either. He is sure the Commander will win."

"He will win. I have watched him in training. You appear to make him stronger, he is not distracted in the way I assumed he would be." Olexa looks genuine but her words don't really help.

I've never watched anyone fight before, human or otherwise. "Can you tell me exactly what is going to happen? What should I do?"

"Of course," she crosses the room to sit beside me, taking my hand in hers.

Time always seems to move at lightning speed when you're desperate to avoid something. Before I'm ready, we're sitting in the arena.

My fingers tremble in my lap as I sit, watching everyone else come into the room and take their seats. I don't miss the way each of their faces morphs into shock as they notice me. So far there haven't been any surprises, everything is exactly as she said it would be.

I am grateful that they've pulled back the roof to allow open air to circulate, the cool breeze is the only thing keeping me from passing out. I know I need to get it together I can't react, I can't panic, I can't tremble or scream or cry. I can't do anything that will distract Ronan.

He needs composure, alien logic, and steadiness, not human emotion.

When the ten regional heads are seated across the large training room the room goes silent. A door off to the side opens and three An'eo walk in. One I recognize, the angry one from the meeting, and two that I don't.

This is her family. I can see it in their posture. I can see it in the emotion on their faces. They're furious. They're here for blood... for Ronan's blood.

Olexa sits up straighter, taller tipping her chin up slightly. Showing no fear, no emotion, no guilt. She knows that what happened isn't her fault and she's not going to cower.