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  “I agree.” The orange-skinned Doloroso nodded. “My new bride must be interested only in me.” He looked up at the Widow. “But how do you intend to achieve it? Will you torture them? I don’t want Leah harmed in any way.”

  “I find that in most cases a little dose of truth is more effective than any torture,” the Widow purred, giving me a look. “Now, Gravex—how do you feel about Leah? Do you love her?”

  I felt a muscle in my jaw clench. I was afraid to say how I really felt—afraid that it would make the Widow or Doloroso retaliate against Leah. But something inside me—probably the venom the damn spider had injected me with—was forcing me to talk. Forcing me to say…something.

  “I…I have sworn my oath to Leah,” I said, struggling not to say too much. “I am her Protector—the same way I’m Teeny’s Protector.”

  “Hmm…another dose, I think.” The Widow gestured to the huge, metallic spider still perched on my head and I saw its long, thin stinger on the other side of my face. The same piercing, numbing pain came as it stabbed me and then the rest of my face went numb. So numb it felt like I was wearing a mask—only my tongue was unaffected.

  “Very good. Now let’s start again.” The Widow nodded at me. “Now I’ll ask again—do you love her? And please don’t bother trying to lie this time, my dear Gravex.” She sounded vaguely bored. “The truth venom forces your mouth to say what your brain is thinking. Now that you’ve had a full dose, there is no way for you to dissemble.”

  “Yes,” I heard my voice say, hoarse but genuine. “Yes, I love Leah. I have from the first minute I saw her on the light screen of the Alien Mate Index. But we can never be together.”

  “And why not?” The Widow looked genuinely interested.

  “Because I’m a half-breed,” I said. “I could never bond her to me. And…and because…”

  I tried not to continue—I swear I did. But I couldn’t seem to stop talking.

  “Because…?” the Widow prompted and I found I had to continue.

  “Because she’s too good for me. She’s a Pure One and a La-ti-zal and I’m just a fuckin’ escaped con.”

  “Oh, Grav…” Leah looked at me with tears in her eyes. “None of that matters to me.”

  “But it will, my dear—it will…just give us time to get the whole story,” the Widow said sharply. She turned back to me. “Now then—how many sentient creatures have you killed?”

  I opened my mouth again. “Over a hundred. But most of that was while I was protecting females in my care.”

  “Mmm-hmm. Let’s try this then—how did you kill them?”

  “Knife mostly,” I grunted. “A few I used a blaster.” I didn’t like Leah knowing this stuff but I didn’t think it would change the way she felt about me.

  Then the Widow’s next words blew my certainty to smithereens.

  “A knife and blaster, you say? What about your bare hands? And sometimes your teeth? Can you deny that you ripped some of your victims to shreds like a wild animal?”

  I felt sick but the truth-venom wouldn’t let me lie.

  “It’s true,” I said, not looking at Leah. “But that’s because Braxians are berserkers so we—”

  “No explanations or excuses please,” the Widow said, cutting me off. “I think the plain, unvarnished truth will serve us best.”

  My mouth snapped shut and I found I couldn’t say anything else. I cast a sidelong look at Leah—since the only thing I could move was my head—but she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were down, contemplating the webbing wrapped around her body.

  “And of those you so bloodily killed,” the Widow continued, eyeing me intently. “Who was your first victim? The first one you ripped to bloody, quivering chunks like the true predator you so obviously are?”

  Here it was—the truth about my shameful past. The big secret I didn’t want Leah to know—the thing that would change her opinion of me forever.

  No! I thought desperately. No, I can’t tell her—I can’t!

  And yet my mouth was moving, wanting to betray me and give the answer the fucking Widow commanded.

  “Who was it?” she thundered, glaring at me with those ruby red eyes. “Who did you kill? Why were you branded a murderer and sent away for three consecutive life sentences—until, of course, you managed to escape by killing even more people. Who was your first kill, Gravex?”

  “My father!” I bellowed, unable to keep it in any more. “It was my father—I killed my own father!”

  “Grav?” Leah’s eyes were wide and shocked, just as I had known they would be. “You…you mean your stepfather or…?” She trailed off.

  “No,” I said harshly. “He was my blood father. And before you ask or the Widow makes me say, no—it was no accident. I killed him on purpose. And yes, it was messy—fucking bloody and messy and horrible. All right, Leah?”

  “I…I…” She shook her head, apparently unable to think of anything to say.

  I didn’t blame her. I’d seen that look of shocked incomprehension more times than I could count. What I had done was considered the worst crime you could commit on Vorn Five. Patricide was an unthinkable, unforgivable offense. And since my father had been a pure blooded Vorn and I was only a half-breed and definitely looked more Braxian than Vorn, the Council of Judgment had given me the stiffest penalty they could. They didn’t want to hear any excuses or reasons—they just slapped me in a triple-max slam and left me there to rot.

  Only I wasn’t content to rot—I wanted my freedom. And I was angry enough and young and stupid and careless enough not to care who I hurt on my way out.

  I couldn’t tell any of that to Leah, though. My mouth had frozen again after my horrible confession. I couldn’t explain myself or beg for her understanding. I couldn’t do anything but look away from the numb horror on her lovely face.

  Yeah, I’m a murderer—I’ve never tried to deny it. But just this once, I wished I could.

  It was Teeny who spoke up, not Leah.

  “Grav,” she whispered. “Whatever you did—I’m sure you had a good reason for it. Right?”

  I wanted to tell her yes—that I’d had a damn good reason. But my mouth was still frozen. All I could do was nod once.

  “Well—I think that’s a big enough dose of truth for today.” The Widow sounded extremely self-satisfied. She turned to Count Doloroso. “I’ll un-web the Pure One female for you if you wish to take her. She should be much more amenable to your plans for her now that she knows the Braxian is a cold-blooded killer and not the honorable male she thought he was.”

  “Indeed.” He smiled his evil smile. “I believe you’re right.”

  Leah still said nothing. She had her head down so I couldn’t read her expression. It was killing me, wondering what was going through her mind. Killing me that I couldn’t get loose to protect her as I had sworn I would.

  “Do you want the other female as well? The Thonolin?” the Widow asked casually. “I have no use for her so if you don’t, I will probably just give her to my minions as a treat.”

  “No!” This made Leah speak up at last. I wanted to add my voice to hers but again, I found my face and mouth paralyzed, unable to speak.

  It was so damn frustrating.

  “No,” she said again. “If I go, Teeny has to come with me. I…I won’t do a thing you say otherwise.” She stared defiantly at Doloroso.

  Inwardly, I groaned. She’d just given him all the leverage he needed to control her and from the look on his orange-skinned face, he knew it.

  “Very well, then,” he purred. “I’ll take the little one as well. If nothing else, I can put her in a stasis booth for later use if I need a spare host body.”

  “As you wish. I just want the Braxian all to myself.” The Widow eyed me greedily, making me wonder what the fuck she had planned for me and why. But it didn’t matter—whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than what I was living through now.

  Watching as several more of