It was pitch black, but Reid didn’t need light to know where he was going. He had the route memorized. He didn’t dare reach out to touch anything as he descended down the rickety staircase into the basement of the building. God only knew what was coated on the walls and railing. He’d catch an illness if he even brushed against them. 

The descent was long. Another door was at the bottom. He reached for the handle and pulled, momentarily blinded by the light that had not seeped through the cracks and into the stairwell. Closing the door quickly, he surveyed his surroundings. 

There was a light murmur around the room as several humans milled about at the wooden lunch tables settled in the center of the large space. A couple of men were making a sale in the back corners, while another bunch was hunched over a map, discussing in low voices. 

Everyone had stopped and glanced in Reid’s direction, taking note of who he was, then turning back to whatever they were doing. 

Eyes searching, Reid spotted a familiar head of red curls. 

He made his way over quickly to the short woman, finding her at one of the middle tables with a couple of other familiar faces. 

“Dania,” Reid greeted. 

Dania turned to him, her big green eyes exhausted with purplish bags underneath.

“About time you got here, I was going to start the meeting without you,” she snapped. 

“That Dragon bastard kept me later than I was assigned. Had me scrubbing toilets.”

Dania made a face before turning back to the table. Reid nodded at Frank and Lilo who were looking through a couple of documents laid out on the table. 

Iyda was speaking to Dania, gesturing to something on her hologlass. When she noticed Reid’s curiosity, she tilted the glass so he could see the projection too. 

It was a blueprint of one of the arsenals for the Naerian Army. 

“How’d you even get that?” Reid whispered in awe. That type of information was nearly impossible to come by. 

“Gabe. He managed to steal it from his bond mate’s office when he was out for a meeting,” Dania answered, eyes scanning over the image. 

“Where is he? Wasn’t he supposed to be here too?” Reid asked. 

Both Dania and Iyda paled. 

“His bond mate caught him. We’re assuming he’s in isolation. Or taken to the Belt,” Hyda informed softly. 

Reid cringed. 

He had only heard rumors about the Belt. A place where Naerians took their misbehaved bond mates and had them whipped into submission. Sometimes even forcefully bred and knotted. 

“Thankfully his bond mate didn’t figure out he took the blueprints. Otherwise, he would have been killed.” 

“So what’s the plan? Is that where they’re keeping the Gemma powder?” 

Dania nodded. “And they’ve got a couple of airships with the old manuals. If we can get in there, we’d be able to fly them. Use them to transport the Gemma powder.” 

“Wouldn’t that be too conspicuous?” Reid questioned, raising a brow.

Dania shook her head. “They may have the old manuals, but this last model has the invisibility function.”

“How many are there?” 

“About four, but we only have two trained pilots, so we’ll have to make do with just that. Jamila is trying to see if she can get access to the facility so we can send a team in to infiltrate the base.”

Reid nodded, already coming up with possible plans. While it was a huge success to gain this much information, he couldn’t help his frustration at not knowing where they were growing the Gemma Crystals. They powered everything, and without them, they had no chance of fighting the Dragons. 

Jamila and Gabe were the only ones of the rebels who had bond mates in high positions. They were the key players in this fight and if something were to happen to either of them, the battle was as good as lost before it even really began. Their force was small, but with the right supplies, they’d be formidable. 

“Send this to my vylink. I’ve got the line blocked,” Reid told Iyda, who nodded. 

The black band around his wrist vibrated and a small screen popped up with the blueprints. They began to discuss who they would send into the facility. 

Dania had to man the main base and Iyda was needed as an outside guide so they decided that with Lilo leading the group, Paul, Frank, and Kesha would make up the team. Reid would be on standby.

Reid wanted to protest and join the group going in, but he knew why they kept him out. If something happened to him, his mother was as good as dead. 

“You’re all she’s got,” Dania told him. 

He knew then that he couldn’t change her mind. 

After the meeting, he was about to head out until Dania grabbed his arm, stopping him.  

“Your rut’s coming soon right?” she murmured quietly. 

Dread twisted in Reid’s gut as he nodded solemnly. “Three days,” he whispered. And he still hadn’t come up with the money to buy more suppressants. He’d have to call out of work even though he really couldn’t afford to. One more slip-up and he’d lose the electricity in his house. 

She pulled out a tiny black box and handed it to him. Her gaze was solemn.

Reid’s dark brown eyes widened. 

“Take it. I’ve got another box at home.”

Reid took the tiny box and slipped it into his satchel. 

“I swear I’ll pay you back once I get the funds,” Reid promised, but she waved him off. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just get home safe and take care of your mom.” 

Reid nodded and slipped out of the room. 

He walked quickly and with purpose. When he reached his block, lights lining the street, he sighed in relief. The houses weren’t great in his neighborhood, but it was nothing like the slums he just came from. And the only reason why was because he was considered “fertile and able.” 

A Naerian could come any day now and steal him away. It was inevitable, but he still hoped that that day would never come. 

His house was at the end of the block on the corner. A simple white house, tiny. Inside, almost everything was broken but he tried his best to make it liveable. He slipped through the front door and locked it thoroughly, then slid the deadbolt in place. Like that would stop a Dragon. 

“Mom?” he called out, slipped off his boots, and shoved his sock-covered feet into his beat-up slippers that were tearing at the seams.

He dropped his satchel off in his room before continuing his search for his mother. All the lights were off in the house, but there was a faint glow coming from the living room. He followed the source and found his mother sitting up in her bed which took up most of the room. He didn’t even know why he referred to it as the living room when it was really his mother’s bedroom. 

She was wearing her white nightgown made of soft cotton, worn from years of use. She had grown so thin that it draped off her bony shoulders. Her messy black hair was pulled into a haphazard bun with hundreds of flyaways escaping the confinement. Her skin sagged against her bones with barely any meat to fill it out. She was once round and full of life, now she was barely hanging on. 

Her sickness had aged her and some sick part of Reid was glad of it. Because had her body accepted The Change, they’d have taken her and bred her. He would never wish that for her. Even if she did for him.

She was leaning forward watching the hologram, the only source of light. Her eyes were wide with wonder, and thin, chapped lips pulled back in an open-mouthed smile. 

Reid knew what she was looking at without even having to glance at the projection, but he did so anyway. 

It was a Naerian Councilor making a speech. He appeared young, but Reid knew better than to assume he was. He had long silver hair and bright blue eyes. His skin had a peachy tone that was just a couple of shades too saturated to be natural. Blue lines swirled across his jaw and down his neck, disappearing into the fancy white tunic he wore. When he spoke, his fangs flashed. It made Reid shudder. 

It was just like that day, seventeen years ago, when he first understood his mother’s illness. 

“Isn’t he beautiful, Reid?” She said in her soft voice. A voice that used to sing him lullabies and chime like bells. “You’re going to have a mate just like that. Beautiful. Then you’ll carry his eggs and hatch beautiful little Naerians.” 

Reid felt his stomach turn.

The woman turned to him, and the glee on her face was absolutely terrifying.

“Aren’t you excited? Don’t worry. Any day now they’ll come knocking on the door and you’ll finally be chosen.”

Then his mother began to hum, “Beautiful little Naerians.” Over and over again. 

Reid felt dizzy, and quickly left the room. He made a quick batch of chicken noodle soup, dropping one bowl off by his mother’s side, ignoring her humming, and taking another to his room. 

He gobbled up the meal quickly, hating the way the canned food tasted. He’d have to run to the store tomorrow to pick up some more food. 

Taking his bowl back to the kitchen, he washed his dish then hurried back to the confines of his room so he wouldn’t hear anything else from his mother. 

His room was small, only big enough to fit a twin-sized bed and a dresser, but he was content with just having his own space. It was his own freedom, though confined to this small room. He didn’t have to watch his every move, he didn’t have to bow down to the alien race. In here, it was just him. And in here, he could pretend that The Change had never happened. 

He hated them for stealing away his future. For taking his father away from him and damaging his mother beyond repair. He hated them for making him afraid and feel so goddamn helpless that the urge to just give in weighed down on him every moment of every day. He was so sick of fighting. 

But he wouldn’t. 

He couldn’t stop. 

Because if he did, his father would have died for nothing. He would have dealt with this pain all these years for nothing. And Reid was just too damn stubborn to give up. He wanted his life back. 

And he was going to take it back, even if it killed him.