“I need your help,
Dola
,” he responded solemnly.
“Of course,” she said placing a comforting hand on his arm. “It is about Carmen?”
He nodded not sure where to begin. He moved to sit down on one of the plush chairs near the window. He decided to tell her everything that had happened so far. Maybe she could see what he could not.
“She is hurting and refuses to allow me to help her,” he said as he finished retelling her everything, including about the image on his mate’s back and her desire to return to her world to kill someone.
Morian stared at her son’s drawn face. It was obvious the young girl’s pain was radiating outward until it was affecting Creon and his dragon. Perhaps it was time she visited the young girl herself.
“Perhaps she needs another female to talk to,” Morian suggested. “I will go see her. There is a dinner planned for this evening. I had the seamstress make a few outfits for each of the women based on the information Zoran sent me. It will be a good excuse to spend time with her.”
Creon let out a relieved sigh. “I would appreciate it. She is not talking to me again. Once I refused her request to see her sister and friends and take her home, she turned her back on me and refused to say another word. That worries me more than anything else,” he said with a pained expression.
Morian opened her mouth to respond when a rapid knock on her outer doors stopped her. She was not expecting anyone else. Rising, she was startled when the knock sounded again, this time even harder.
Morian hurried to the door and pulled it open. A guard stood outside looking very grim. He bowed respectfully to Morian but his eyes were searching behind her.
“My lord, we need you,” the guard said urgently.
Creon stood up, frowning. “What is it?”
“It is the human female,” the guard said grimly. “She escaped your chambers by knocking her guard out. We have recaptured her but she is fighting us. I am afraid she might get hurt.”
“Oh dear,” Morian said, her hand going to her throat. She turned to Creon who was striding forward. “I will go with you.”
Creon nodded, a tight expression on his face. “Take me to her.”
*.*.*
Carmen ignored the throbbing in her ankle. She had hurt it when she kicked that last guy. These guys were harder to take by surprise. She was beginning to suspect the warriors on board the
V’ager
had been playing with her. She wouldn’t be surprised if they had been coming to pick a fight with her just to relieve the boredom of being cooped up on a warship for long periods of time or she was a novelty to them because these guys were totally serious.
She had escaped by slamming a vase upside her guard’s head. It had taken a fair bit of acting on her part just to get the guy to open the door to check on her. The loud scream and crash had finally done it. She had sent Harvey out for flowers for her. She had made up a story about how she would love to have some flowers to decorate the apartment with. After a few sniffles and a few flutters of her eyelashes, Harvey had
reluctantly
given in. She figured she had one chance to escape with Harvey and tall, dark, and confusing out of the way. Hell, she didn’t even know his name!
Now, she was surrounded by seven… no eight… very tall, very grim looking men. She was hurt too. Her ankle was throbbing bad enough that she knew it was at least sprained pretty badly. Hot, sharp pains were radiating up through her leg the moment she put pressure on it. Her left arm was throbbing as well. One of the men had slammed down on it when she had swung around to nail him as he grabbed at her. Despair swept through her. She hadn’t been able to find her sister, Trisha, or Cara. She had no way off this planet. She had nothing left to live for. The one thing that kept her going the past three years was a single-minded need for revenge. Now, even that seemed like an impossible goal.
Depression hit her hard. As hard, if not harder than the first year after Scott’s death and her losing their child. She felt totally useless. She swung around in a circle, favoring her injured foot. Her right hand went instinctively to the knife she carried.
She felt as trapped now as she did that night on the tarmac. Her mind was beginning to spli
n
ter as she fought the panic of being trapped and helpless again.
Carmen pulled the knife out of its protective sheath and swung it in a wide arch forcing the men to jump back. A wild look came into her eyes as she realized there would be no escaping
, at least not alive
. A low sob escaped her as the depression she had been fighting overwhelmed her with a feeling of total hopelessness. She tried to focus on the mediation techniques that Connie showed her but she was beyond that. She tried to believe she could make it back home but even that seemed beyond her reach.
“Get back,” she growled out in a low voice. “Get away from me.”
Harvey appeared outside the small circle. It pushed through two of the guards
,
ignoring their commands to stay back. The symbiot
slowly
moved closer to Carmen, as if it recognized that she was hanging onto her sanity be a thread.
“Go Harvey,” Carmen commanded in the same low voice. “Go on. I don’t want you here. Go back to your master.”
The symbiot shimmered in distress as it sank down to lie on the ground just a few feet from her. It watched her carefully, as if sensing she was frightened and fighting for control. A low humming sound escaped it as it
flickered
in varying shades of
different colors.
“Not this time,” Carmen whispered as her eyes
flashed
from one guard to another. “All I wanted was to find my sister and friends and go home,” she said huskily to the golden figure watching her so intently.
“Carmen,” a deep voice called out to her.
Carmen’s eyes flew to the new figure moving toward her. It was her dark haired warrior. Anger burst through her. It was his fault she was in this mess. He should have just sent her back home. It would have saved them all a lot of heartache.
“I want to find my sister and go home,” Carmen hissed out keeping the knife in front of her. “Just send me home.”
Creon stared intently into the wild eyes of his mate. “I told you I cannot do that,” he replied calmly as he motioned for the guards to leave them.
Carmen jerked sideways when she saw the guards behind her moving away. She stumbled a little as pain shot through her foot. She bit back a cry as
the hot needles
of pain shot up her leg.
Creon took a step toward her but stopped when she swung the knife at him. “Let me help you,” he said calmly. “You are hurt. Let me care for you.”
“No!” Carmen responded tersely. “I don’t want or need your help in anything but getting back home.”
“I told you I cannot take you back,” he said softly taking another step closer.
Carmen took a painful step backwards away from him. “Then there is nothing left for me,” she whispered looking at him with pain filled eyes.
“I have no reason to keep fighting.
No reason to continue….
”
Her voice faded as grief overwhelmed her.
A shiver of warning ran up Creon’s spine at the softly spoken words. There was a conviction in it, an acceptance. He needed more time to understand how he could help her. He could feel he was losing her.
“Scott would not want you to end your life,” Morian said quietly as she moved to stand next to Creon. “He would not want you to give up a chance to be happy.”
Carmen swayed dangerously at Scott’s name, her eyes reflecting her pain and
sorrow
. “You don’t know what the pain is like day in and day out. It is tearing me apart. I miss him so much,” she choked out in a voice thick with tears. “It’s my fault he is dead. If I had stayed back at the house he would still be alive. Our… our baby would have lived,” Carmen whispered as a single tear broke loose and rolled down her cheek.
“Will killing the man who took this away from you bring either of them back?” Morian asked as she took a step closer to Carmen. “Would Scott have wanted you to go after the man knowing how dangerous that would be
for
you? Do you think he would blame you the way you are blaming yourself?”
Carmen let her arm holding the knife drop back to her side. “No, it won’t bring t
hem back,” she choked out. “But
I made a promise to Scott, to our baby, and to myself that I would kill the man responsible,” she
forced out in
a
voice that was a
little stronger, a little louder.
Morian took another step closer until she was standing within arm’s reach of Carmen. “Even if it kills you?” She asked gently.
Carmen looked into the warm gold eyes of the woman in front of her and nodded. “Yes,” she answered in a barely audible whisper. “At least then the pain will be over.”
“For you, but not for me or the rest of Creon’s family. For if you die, so does my son. I am asking that you give this life a chance,” Morian responded quietly. “The pain can fade if you give it a chance. Life can begin again. Just as with your phoenix. You have risen from the ashes, Carmen. It is time to begin your new life.”
Carmen shook her head, her eyes searched out the man standing quietly behind the woman. “How can my dying harm your son… Creon?”
She
asked, hesitating as she said the name of the warrior who refused to let her go.
“He is your true mate,” Morian explained. “His life, the life of his dragon, and the life of his symbiot are in your hands. You have the power to decide if he lives or dies.”
“But…” Carmen frowned at the woman before looking back at the man standing rigidly behind her, waiting to see what she would decide. “I don’t understand,” she murmured confused.
Morian smiled gently and held out her hand. “Come with us, my daughter. Give us a chance to explain.”
Carmen looked down at the hand that was held out to her. Looking back up, she stared at the patient eyes waiting for her to make her choice. Her eyes moved past the woman to stare into the dark, gold eyes of the man. Some instinct told her to give them at least the chance to explain.
Creon,
she thought to herself. Now she knew his name.
Carmen slowly slid the knife back into its sheath and placed her trembling fingers in the woman’s out-stretched hand. Strong, slim fingers curled around hers and squeezed them in encouragement. A moment later a strong, muscular arm circled her waist supporting her weight.
“Would you allow me to carry you?” Creon asked huskily.
Carmen blushed and nodded. “I hurt my ankle,” she muttered.
Creon’s face tightened in anger. “I will discipline the men for hurting you.”
Carmen scowled as Creon picked her up. “They were following your orders so if anyone needs to be disciplined, it’s you!” She snapped back. “They were just doing what they were told.”
Morian’s chuckle
prevented Creon from responding. “I think you have met your match, my son. She is as protective of the warriors as you are.”
Creon groaned. “I was trying to impress her with my protectiveness!”
He
growled back.
Carmen looked at him skeptically. “I don’t think telling th
e men to keep me a prisoner, the
n disciplining them when they do, is being protective. If you would have just let me go in the first place none of this would have happened.”
“I thought we were beyond that. How many times do I have to tell you that I will never let you go?” He snapped back
,
tired of her not listening to him.
“Well for your information, listening goes both ways!” Carmen responded just as heatedly. “You aren’t listening to what I am saying so why should I listen to you?”
“You are the most confusing, aggravating, infuriating female I have ever met!” He bit out.
“Confusing? Me?” Carmen looked up at him in surprise. “You put me in your apartment, climb into the shower with me when I’m naked, and tell me I belong to you like it is some great privilege. I didn’t even know your name until two minutes ago! I’m not the one who is being confusing. I told you exactly what I wanted!”
A chuckle startled both of them back to the realization that they were not alone. “Creon, why don’t we get her healed, have some refreshments, explain to her where she is, why you are claiming her, and what that means to you both,” Morian said in exasperation. “I am beginning to understand why she is so confused.”
Creon grunted in response to his mother’s cheerful observation. He climbed the white stone steps leading back to his living quarters. Harvey trotted by his side waiting to get a chance to heal his mate. Creon half wondered if his symbiot could heal his little white-haired she-demon if he throttled her. He grunted when he felt a sharp tug on his hair.
“You said that out loud,” Carmen muttered under her breath as she released her hold on his hair. “You are not allowed to throttle me if you are protecting me.”
Creon’s eyes glittered wickedly for a moment before he leaned over enough to whisper in her ear. “What about spankings? Do they count?”