Authors: Evangeline Anderson
“Sorry.” Grav’s broad chest was heaving, his eyes filled with rage. “Couldn’t help myself. He was
hurting
her—you know I can’t stand to see a female hurt.”
Sarden gave a jerky nod, still looking pissed. “Yes, I know. I just wish you’d keep the fucking Braxian side of yourself in check.” He looked back at me. “Are you all right? What did he do to you?”
“Nothing.” I took a deep, shivering breath. “Just scared the crap out of me, mainly. Though it might…might have been a different story if you’d been even a second later.” I took another deep breath. I could feel my eyes stinging but I refused to cry, even if they were tears of relief. I wanted to stay strong for once, damn it!
“It’s so damn good to see you and know you’re safe.” He cupped my face and just looked into my eyes, as though he wanted to drink me in. “All the color went out of my life when I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured. “Gods, your eyes are so
blue
.”
“How…how did you find me?” I asked, feeling a little breathless. The look he was giving me was
intense.
“That damned mud-clone Tazaxx made of you disintegrated halfway back to Earth,” Sarden told me. “I realized what was going on and headed back to Giedi Prime as fast as I could. Grav met me—he had the location of the auction but you were already gone. Sold to
that
bastard.” He nudged Doloroso’s body with the toe of his boot, making me shudder.
“Then how—?” I started.
“The
nib-nibs,”
Grav said, his deep, gravely voice sounding a little calmer. “Remember I told you they have a kind of telepathic homing sense for each other? We just hooked ‘em up to a thought-transference amplifier and followed the signal.”
“A
what?”
I shook my head. “Never mind—whatever it is, I’m glad it worked.”
“They were beaming straight for your little guy,” Grav said, nodding to the three
nib-nibs
who were huddled together in a small, furry purple and green knot on the floor. They were chattering to each other in a way I swore sounded like talking—like old friends catching up after a long absence. Did they have their own language?
“Luckily Doloroso was too eager to get his hands on you to bother moving his ship very far from the auction site so we didn’t have too far to go.” Sarden frowned down at the corpse. “If that
is
Doloroso.”
“It is,” I assured him with a shudder. “It’s…a long story.” Then I remembered something else he needed to know. “Sarden, Sellah is alive! I saw her—we were prisoners together and she got auctioned off first.”
“What?” He took me by the shoulders, holding me out at arm’s length and staring at me eagerly. “What did you say? Say it again!”
“I said, Sellah is alive! Tazaxx faked her death the same way he made a fake me to send with you.”
“Goddess…” He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed. “The thought occurred to me but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I was so afraid…I didn’t want to hope…”
“It gets better,” I assured him. “Not only is she alive, she got bought by a friend—an older Eloim she called Uncle, uh…Uncle…” For some reason the name wasn’t coming.
“Uncle Tellum!” Sarden finished for me. “He was a friend of her father!”
“Yes, she said so,” I told him. “He tried to bid on me too but when the price went up past a million, I guess he ran out of resources.”
“A million? Whew!” Grav gave a long, low whistle. “How much did you end up going for?”
“Grav!” Sarden growled but I shook my head.
“No, it’s okay. Fifty million.” I shrugged modestly. “That was what Doloroso paid—he really was crazy, huh?”
“To pay that much? No.” Sarden pulled me to him again and gazed into my eyes. He had that intense look on his face again. “You’re worth more than that, Zoe. Worth more than anything in the whole Goddess-damned universe.”
I felt my heart start drumming against my ribs as his big, hard body connected with mine.
“Sarden…”
And then he bent me over his arm and kissed me.
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back, savoring the stinging, sweet-cinnamon taste of his mouth and the feel of his muscular arms around me. God, he felt so good against me—so big and strong and hard and masculine! My body reacted to his in ways I couldn’t control—I was melting, my nipples tight and my sex wet and tingling with desire. I never wanted it to end…
And then my three
nib-nibs
came scampering up my leg and onto my shoulder, chattering in my ear.
“Hey, you guys,” I said, breaking the kiss at last. “Bad timing.”
“No.” Sarden smiled grimly. “Perfect timing. They’re right—we have no time for this now. We have to find Sellah before she goes back to Eloim.”
Well, so much for the red-hot reunion. I was a little disappointed but I could see his point. We did need to catch up with Sellah and make sure she was all right. Plus, what was I doing getting all hot and heavy with Sarden? We hadn’t made any promises to each other. In fact, as far as I knew, I was still headed back to Earth when this was all over.
Nodding at Sarden, I stepped away from him and turned my attention to my chattering
nib-nibs.
“Hey guys,” I murmured. “Good job! You saved me
again
. I’m so glad I didn’t let you get eaten.”
From the corner of my eye I saw Sarden and Grav talking about the fastest way to contact Sellah. I was glad I was going to see my new friend again but I couldn’t help wondering what, if anything, was between me and her brother.
Sarden
I kept watching Zoe from the corner of my eye as I talked to Grav. I was still a little pissed off at him for killing Doloroso. But I understood—a little, anyway. In addition to being half Vorn, like me, Grav was also half Braxian. They’re extremely protective when it comes to females.
But even his Braxian instincts couldn’t account for such a violent reaction—he’d just completely
lost
it. I felt the same way, of course—Doloroso deserved to die for the pain and trauma he’d put Zoe through. But I had wanted to question him first and Grav’s actions had made that impossible.
I sighed—well, maybe my old friend couldn’t help himself. I at least had some Eloim to temper my Vorn blood. But a combination of Vorn and Braxian was a volatile mix. Of the Twelve Peoples, the Brax were probably the only ones more feared than the Vorn. They were hot tempered and prone to impulsive violence—which was probably the reason Grav had ended up in Triple Max Security when we were younger. Obviously he had taken a protective view of Zoe, much the same way he had been protective of his ward, Teeny.
Speaking of Teeny, I asked him if he wanted to go back to ward her now that we had found Zoe and knew that Sellah was all right, but he shook his head.
“Her grandfather went a little crazy when I brought her back to his ship—says he’s taking her straight to an all-female convent planet. No males allowed—not even a Protector.” He didn’t look very happy about it.
“You worried?” I asked. “You think she’ll be safe?”
“Safe enough. It’s in a hidden system.”
“And the pirates that took her?” I raised an eyebrow. Grav knew what I meant.
“They didn’t…violate her,” he said in a low voice. “Scared her fuckin’ plenty but didn’t lay a finger on her that way. She told me before I brought her back to her grandfather’s ship.”
“Good.” I felt a surge of relief. I had been too wrapped up in my own troubles and worries about Zoe and Sellah to consider his young ward much, but I well remembered the tears in her eyes when we first saw her at Tazaxx’s compound. I was glad her innocence hadn’t been stripped from her.
“I’m still gonna kill them,” Grav said conversationally but his eyes—those Braxian eyes which I knew could see spectrums of light others of the Twelve Peoples could only dream of—were still filled with banked rage. “Them and Tazaxx both.”
“He’s on my list too—along with Hurxx,” I reminded him. “Will you come back with me to Eloim and help me settle that debt first?”
“Sure.” He shrugged, his big shoulders rolling. “There’s no time-limit on a blood debt. I can hunt those other fuckers after your business is seen to. Speaking of seeing to something…or someone…” He cut his eyes to Zoe, who was staying well away from Doloroso’s body and talking quietly to her
nib-nibs.
“What?” I asked, frowning.
“She’s the one for you, Sarden,” he said simply. “Goddess knows I wish I could find a female that wanted to wake up to this ugly mug every morning.” He gestured at his face. “Not many want to pledge their lives to a half-breed who’s a convicted murderer. But you did it—you found your fated mate.”
“What’s your point?” I shifted uncomfortably. I could still feel Zoe’s soft, small form pressed against mine. I still wanted her with an urgent intensity which made it hard to think. She was so close—and her mouth was so sweet. Her body so warm and willing. But what if she’d only been kissing me back out of gratitude? What if she still wanted to go back to Earth?
“You found her,” Grav repeated softly. “And I know you still have a lot of shit to deal with but just…don’t lose her again. Okay?”
“I’ll try not to.” I sighed. It had seemed so simple when we first walked in the door, when Grav had pulled Doloroso away and Zoe had run to my arms. Why did things have to get complicated again?
“Talk to her,” Grav insisted. “Once we get back to your ship and find Sellah,
talk
to her.”
“I will,” I promised.
And I would too…I just wasn’t sure what she would say back.
Part Five: The Hero and the Crown
Zoe
“So what’s going on between you and my brother?” Sellah asked.
We were sitting on the silver hoverbed in my room, nibbling on some Eloim snacks Al had whipped up for us while Sarden and Grav and Uncle Tellum talked in the other room.
After connecting with Sellah and putting our ships in synchronous orbit, it had been decided the next order of business was to go back to Eloim and find a way to expose Hurxx and get Sellah back on the throne. How exactly, no one was sure. But the general feeling was that we needed to sleep on it and decide the next day. Everyone was bone tired—me included. Still, we weren’t quite ready to part yet, which was how Sellah had ended up with me, asking awkward questions.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I mean, I
thought
I knew—or had an idea when he and Grav first rescued me from Count Creepy. He grabbed me in his arms and started talking about how he’d thought he lost me and how my eyes were so blue—”
“Wait a minute—what?” Sellah looked at me as though I’d said something shocking.
“What do you mean what?” I asked her. “What did I say?”
“You said he talked about the color of your eyes. Can he
see
them?”
“What do you mean? Of course he can see them,” I said, frowning. “But it’s just because I’m a
La-ti-zal.”
I rubbed my neck, where the inhibitor collar had been. It had left some scratches which still stung. “It’s weird though—he was talking about the color of my eyes while I was still wearing that damn collar. Wouldn’t you think that would have inhibited my, uh, powers enough to keep him from seeing colors?”
“Sarden doesn’t see color when he touches you because of your powers, Zoe…” Sellah leaned forward and pressed my hand. “Don’t you know most males with Vorn DNA don’t see in color until they meet the female they’re supposed to be with? He sees colors when he’s with you because you two are meant to be.”
“Meant to be? Meant to be what?” I asked, feeling my stomach do a little flip.
“Meant to be mated—
bonded
although I don’t know how that’s possible. Most half-breeds aren’t enough of one DNA or the other to form a bond with a female. It’s one reason most of them never settle down. How can you be sure of the male you’re with if you can’t bond with him?” She shrugged and popped another Eloim snack—which looked like gray paste on a pink cracker—into her mouth.
“Um…sorry to sound ignorant about all this but what exactly does
bonded
mean?” I asked. “I mean, do you just feel really close to that person or—”
“No, no—it’s an actual, physical connection between a male and female,” Sellah assured me. “You’re able to feel each other’s emotions when you concentrate—some closely bonded couples are even able to send and receive thoughts.”
“Seriously?” I shook my head. “Sorry but that just sounds weird—we don’t have anything like it on Earth.”
“It’s not weird, it’s
wonderful.”
She sighed. “I’ve always dreamed of finding my fated mate—the one male in the galaxy I’m meant to bond with.
After
I finished my schooling, of course.” She made a face. “Instead I have to go back and rule Eloim—if we can find a way to get rid of Hurxx, that is.”
“You really don’t want to rule, huh?” I asked.
Sellah shook her head. “It’s a pain in the behind,
believe
me. I mean, it might not be so bad if you had someone you trusted and cared for beside you on the throne. But, well, I never felt any trust for Hurxx and I knew he didn’t care for me either, not even in a proper familial way. He just wanted me out of the way.”
“We’ll get you back,” I promised her. “And then maybe you can find someone you trust more.”
“I wish it could be Sarden,” she said sadly. “But I don’t think he’ll agree to even ask the Council’s approval. He always felt so hated by my father and grandfather because of his Vorn blood and appearance. When they sent him off to Vorn 6 as a young male to spend time with his second family, I know he was glad to go. At least there he fit in a little more. I always missed him though.”
“He must have come back to visit you sometimes,” I said. “Or you two wouldn’t have stayed so close.”
“Oh yes—he came back regularly to see me. He was very protective.” She pressed my hand again. “He’ll be protective of you too, Zoe—if you’ll let him.”
“I don’t know if…if he wants me like that,” I said awkwardly. I couldn’t help remembering the passionate kiss we’d shared when he first rescued me from Doloroso, but what if that was just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing?
“I think he does,” Sellah said quietly. “I’ve never seen him look at a female the way he looks at you. Please, Zoe…just give him a chance. I’d love to have you as my sister.”