“Easy,” Risa replied. “Like this.” And at that moment, both she and Jax took oversized bites out of their sandwiches.
Now Nalea shuttered. “This planet has barbaric practices.”
“Barbaric but tasty,” Sienna replied.
“Let me make you one.” Risa jumped up, licking butter from her fingers. “I’m really getting into this cooking thing.”
“And she’s pretty good at it,” Jax added, leaning back contented on the couch.
“Yeah, I’ll take one. Thanks.” Then Sienna handed over the letter and envelope to Nalea.
All emotion fell from her face. Exactly like it had done to Legian minutes earlier. “Where did you get this?”
“Someone slid it under my bedroom door. Legian is going to check out the videos.”
Jax popped to his feet and walked over, grabbing the letter.
Sienna pointed to the enveloped. “It’s from the Draeken.”
“They want to meet with you?” he asked.
“Looks like it.”
“You can’t seriously be considering it. It’s a trap,” he replied.
“That’s the same thing I told her,” Legian added in agreement as he walked into the room. “But you know Sienna.”
“If you know me, you also know I can’t hide behind you guys every time they predict rain. How can I ask others to do what I’m not willing to do myself?”
“I’m coming, too,” Nalea replied, matter-of-factly.
“You all are. Whatever’s going on, I want my best people with me. I know this puts us all at risk, but — ”
“We stand at your side. Always,” Legian interrupted and he pulled her into his arms. “You’re right,” he whispered, the words a soft caress to her.
Relief washed over Sienna when Nalea and Jax nodded, and she returned a smile. “Thanks, guys.”
She turned and pulled Legian down for a kiss. “Thank you,” she whispered into his mouth.
“What’d I miss?”
Sienna glanced up to see Risa walking into the room, carrying a plate with a steaming egg sandwich on it. Then, the med-tec gasped and dropped the plate, and glass shattered across the stone floor. She pointed to the envelope as she knelt and began to pick up glass shards. “What’s that?”
“It seems Sienna has received an invitation to a party,” Nalea replied.
Jax knelt and helped Risa collect pieces on the floor.
Nalea ran a hand through her hair. “But it doesn’t make sense. How did the letter get into this cabin in the first place? We have a full perimeter line set up.”
“My guess?” Sienna replied. “It came from the inside.”
“You mean the traitor’s here? With us? I thought we were safe here.” Risa started to shake uncontrollably. Jax rubbed her back while whispering soothing words in her ear.
Sienna paid no attention to Risa and instead focused on calming her own nerves. The one thing she didn’t need today was more stress. Jax could deal with his woman. “It’s a half-hour ride on ATVs out to the cave. We have a lot to do and only five hours to do it. Let’s get busy.” She turned around and headed down the hall. She had plenty to do, starting with a long, hot shower.
• • •
Several hours later, Sienna strapped on a helmet and climbed onto her old ATV. Legian saddled on behind her while Nalea rode with Jax on one of the new ATVs they brought when they set up security around the cabin. Even though it was a cloudy day, both Sephians wore dark sunglasses to protect their eyes.
Nalea wore an earpiece and spoke with the Sephians posted around the perimeter. The entire makeshift base was on full alert and on guard throughout the woods around the cave. The air buzzed with energy. Unfortunately, they were going in none the wiser than they were when she’d found the letter this morning. The cameras conspicuously cut out for an entire hour before sunrise this morning. Leaving them with a big fat zilch for leads. They weren’t one step closer to knowing who — or what — delivered that letter.
With a swift movement of her foot, the ATV jumped into gear, and they began the ride deeper into the woods.
They all wore black uniforms. Not for a fashion statement, but because they were durable and did a heck of a job at keeping off sharp tree branches and tiny critters, both of which infested these woods. The thin fabric also worked better than anything with her leg brace. Any of her other pants jammed up in the bands.
The weather was perfect, and it took under twenty minutes to get to the cave. Legian was off the quad before she stopped, and he began looking around. Jax and Nalea were right behind him, while she moved more gingerly, taking in anything that may have changed since the last time she was here. Sienna glanced toward the cave. The large blue and red God’s-eye still hung from the tree branch that had grown across the top of the cave entrance, as if it were holding the darkness within.
She didn’t have to wait long. The God’s-eye moved when the tip of a dragon-like wing bumped it. Tattooed wings spread out as a Draeken she recognized stepped into view. She stood firm. Her trinity swiftly came to her, setting up a living, breathing wall of protection.
“Hello, Roden,” Sienna said as politely as possible while a phantom pain in her leg was busy reminding her of why she disliked the Draeken so much.
“Sienna Wolfe.” He continued toward her, a Draeken woman and a Draeken man flanking his sides. He hadn’t changed a bit. His silver hair was still long, and he looked like he could knock out Wolverine in a single punch. His wing even looked like it healed completely. Not even the tattoos were marred. She wished she’d been so lucky. He wore human clothes. Black leathers, black tee, and shit kickers. And he was still annoyingly gorgeous in a rugged, alpha male kind of way. What was it with aliens being so damn good looking?
Sienna looked his bodyguards up and down. Both were dressed similar to Roden, and she could imagine how freaked out the store clerk must have been to see real demons step through the front door. On second thought, it was more likely they used the internet like the Sephians.
Easily six feet tall, the woman reminded her of a Valkyrie, with long silver hair. The wings fit her. The man to Roden’s other side looked feral, his cold eyes vacant of all emotion, of all humanity.
He’s already dead. Except his body’s still going.
Roden glanced over Sienna’s trinity until his eyes stopped on the woman standing to her left. “Ah.
Nalea
. Did you come here to continue what we started?” He drawled out her name with sugary seduction. It gave Sienna a sick feeling. The bastard knew exactly how to push the buttons of her trinity. He was a dangerous foe.
Nalea’s cheeks flared, and she pulled out a gun.
Sienna placed her hand on her friend’s forearm, and Nalea slowly lowered her gun a couple inches. “Ignore him,” Sienna muttered under her breath.
“Easier said than done,” the Draeken crooned in a deep, masculine voice.
She pointed a finger at Roden. “You. Behave. Or I’ll let her shoot you. Now, are you going to tell us why we’re here, or did you schedule this little soiree simply to make jabs at my trinity?”
The side of his mouth curled upward. “Tempting. But I’ve come for you, dear Sienna.”
Legian sidestepped and became a wall in front of her. He spoke with his fists clenched. “That is my
tahren
you speak to, Draeken. Take care in your words.”
Roden snarled back. “Your
tahren
is the reason I’m here, Sephian scum.”
She put a hand on Legian’s shoulder and stepped forward. “You have quite the way with folks, Roden. Now are we going to dance, or are we going to dance?”
He took a casual step closer to her, as if she didn’t have three armed bodyguards at her side. “It’s simple. Death starts wars. Life ends wars. I have a proposal to end the genocide of my people.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Surely your
tahren
told you how my people have been driven to near extinction? We survived only by fleeing our home.”
Nalea nearly spat the words. “Sephia was never your home.”
“I disagree, female.”
“The name’s Nalea,” Sienna said. “And you digress.”
“No, Sienna. It’s important that you understand our history if we are to reach peace,” he replied. The woman next to him lifted her chin slightly, never taking her eyes off Sienna.
Jax and Legian remained at her sides, but she could feel Legian’s tension wash over her in waves. He was doing the best he could to not to rip the literal heads off the Draeken army right then and there. At first thought, she considered letting him do it. Maybe it would end the war. Then again, is could cause an all-out war on Earth.
“I’m sure you have heard of the Noble War?” Roden asked.
“I have. It was where the Sephians reclaimed their world from their enslavers.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Hmm. But have you been told of how we came to Sephia in the first place?”
“No one knows the truth, Draeken,” Legian spat out through clenched teeth.
Roden scowled. “No one knows because the Sephians destroyed the records shortly after the Great War. But answer this, Sephian. Why would they destroy their own historical records unless those files showed something they didn’t want their successors to remember?”
The Draeken then turned from Legian to Sienna. “You see, the star that illuminated our home world had grown old. Our people were given a choice. Flee our dying planet and possibly die in the frozen expansion of space, or stay and die at home in a guaranteed fiery death. Millions fled in large ships. Some went off on their own, but most ships stayed together and traveled through the light years.”
“Get on with it. I grow tired of your stories,” Legian muttered.
“I would if I wouldn’t keep getting interrupted,” the Draeken replied drily. “Now where was I? Oh, yes. Eventually, our ships ran low on provisions. After all, they were massively over capacity and couldn’t support the numbers living on them long-term. Fortunately, our systems showed our people to a planet with no suns. It was a bleak world, far different from our bright, warm world, but it sustained life. That was what mattered. The Draeken leaders offered alms in the form of technology and knowledge to the Sephians in return for approval to form a settlement on-world. The Sephians callously rejected our offer. Then our people begged. Again they were rejected. My people were running out of food and had months to live. Again, they were forced to make a hard choice. They chose to fight for survival. It is the Draeken way.”
Nalea moved but didn’t leave Sienna’s side. “That is just a legend. We have our own, and it doesn’t paint the Draeken nearly as pretty.”
He shrugged. “So you say. But, what matters is that we won the Great War, and therefore won the right to live on Sephia.”
“And we won the Noble War,” Legian replied. “And we reclaimed our home. And we vowed you would never turn another people into your slaves again.”
Roden shrugged. “Slavery gets things done. Besides, your world had slavery before we ever got there. We just continued that Sephian tradition. And who says that’s what we’re doing on this world?” he snapped.
“You’re Draeken. That’s what you do.” Nalea’s words sizzled with scorn. The tension was so heavy in the woods. Sienna felt herself breathing faster because of it.
“We’re Draeken. We survive. That is what we do, Nalea.” He murmured her name softly, and Sienna watched her friend prickle in response.
Time to get down to business.
“Thanks for the history lesson, Roden,” Sienna said. “So why did you really come here today?”
Roden cracked his knuckles, and she noticed Jax put his hand on his holster at the movement. The Draeken noticed it, too, because the woman next to Roden matched Jax’s stance.
“I offer a quid pro quo, Sienna. You know the position I carry, and the power I wield. With a snap of my fingers, I could have you killed. Or, I could use that power to end the war.”
“Likewise,” I snarled.
“The war is over,” Legian said. “You lost. Now we’re just doing cleanup.”
Roden glared at Sienna’s
tahren
. “The war will never be over. Not until the two races align.”
“And how do you plan to accomplish that?” Sienna asked.
“As I declared before, life ends wars.”
Sienna’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re going to have to elaborate. Spell it out for me.”
“Simple. We unite the people by uniting the leaders. You will become my mate — ”
Sienna couldn’t hear anything else because Legian lurched forward and grabbed Roden by the neck. Roden punched him, only to have Legian tackle him. The other two Draeken remained on the sideline, not getting involved but each keeping their hands on their holsters.
“Stop it.” They ignored her, which was what she expected. There was only one thing she could do that would get Legian to stop fighting. Sienna jumped into the fight.
Legian immediately pulled them both back from the Draeken. “Dammit. You could’ve gotten hurt.”
She wiped dirt off her pant legs. “There. Now we can talk again.”
Roden pulled himself back up. He was sporting a bloody nose, and Legian looked like he was going to have a heck of a shiner.
Sienna looked straight at Roden. “You were saying?”
He grinned, and then he frowned and spit blood. “Your spirit is strong. That is why I chose you. I know you have a
tahren
. On this world, you could have chosen none higher in status. Except for Apolo that is, but now you are Apolo’s equal, so that no longer matters. By taking me as your consort, you — the human — unite both the Sephians and the Draeken.”
She squinted. “Uh, what part of
tahren
don’t you understand?”
“I take it your
tahren
failed to mention that in both our races, women in authority can have more than one cohort. It has been done in the past to unite people. I have no doubt it would work here.”
Sienna’s knees grew wobbly, and Legian held her against him. Out of everything she had prepared for today, a marriage proposal wasn’t one of them. Especially from a man who had tried to kill her a couple months earlier.
“That is not something I’m willing to agree to. Give me other options.” She could feel Legian’s tense muscles loosen at her words. He was worried?