DarkRevenge (31 page)

“Who are you?”

The silver eyes met his. “Someone who doesn’t want the Old
Earth plague released on this planet. Ena thinks she can do it and control the
results.” He shook his head. “Most of the rebels haven’t seen the results.”

“You have?”

The man sighed impatiently as if Tory was stupid or
something. “I’ve been to Ardasia. I managed to convince a few of them, but Ena
still has a significant force behind her.” He crept forward and gazed up and
down the street. “Follow me.”

“Our plan is—”

“Your plan is obvious to everyone, including Ena. She knows
you’re using Pulzer.”

“Fuck!” His heartfelt curse earned a bitter smile from their
nameless companion.

“Yeah. I figured I’d waylay you before they did.”

“How the hell did she know?”

The man’s gaze pierced his. “You don’t think you’re the only
one with an Ardasian helping you, do you?”

Alex met Tory’s glance. “We…guessed,” she said.

“This is no native-born Ardasian. This is a full-blooded
Ardasian who lived all his life on Teran One. He hates humans. Especially Teran
One humans.” The man shook his head. “He’s been pushing Ena to release that
fucking plague since we got the shipment.” His eyes glittered with violence.
“He sent eight men to some distant drop point to get those vials. We were
stupid and didn’t ask questions. Seven of my men died to get that fucking
shipment,” he spat out. “That asshole didn’t tell us what was in it, did he? He
knew it would happen, too. I can tell when someone is surprised by a body
count. He wasn’t.”

“Is that when you decided to help us?”

One side of the man’s mouth rose. “No. Several of us were
always going to help you, Commander. There were those of us convinced of your
innocence.”

Tory stared at him. Funny. He had always attributed that
kind of loyalty to Alex, not himself. “Thank you.”

“Several of your men stayed to fight on, Commander.” The man
moved like a cat, a ghost, and he seemed familiar. Who was he?

“What’s your name, soldier?”

The man shot a glance back at him. “Once upon a time, I was
Corporal Johan Ovid.” He slipped ahead of them and kept his voice low. “Then,
Pontoon Gregor secretly detained me, as he did several of your men. He wanted
to know if we were all traitors.” Ovid held up his hand. “He cut off my pinky
and sliced my face. Fortunately, I couldn’t tell him anything because there was
nothing to tell.” He glanced at Alex, his face unreadable. “Then we discovered
that Samuel Zeerah had paid off some of the Teran One Tribunal Judges. Before
we could release the proof, Gregor murdered the men in his custody. Out of
twenty men, only three of us escaped.”

A small sound of distress escaped Alex’s throat. She closed
her eyes briefly, pain tightening her features.

Johan stared at her. “You didn’t know.”

She shook her head, her stomach rolling.

This seemed to satisfy Johan. “After that, we arranged to
trap your brother.”

“You made the vids of Samuel’s confession.”

Johan shook his head. “Not me, but several men in the
rebellion did and we lied to King Darius about how Samuel had died on Teran
Five.”

“I’m in your debt two-fold, then,” Tory told him.

They had reached a small house near the Great Hall. “Ena
told us she wanted to end the control Pontoon Gregor held over the court. We
had no idea she meant to destroy the rest of the planet in the process. We
thought she’d release the plague on Teran Four and end the war.” Johan’s tone
was bitter. “We helped her set up Commander Zeerah. With the help of the Ardasian,
we knew Darius would get his closest relative to deliver the plague vials. We
also timed it so you would confront her. Of course, our plan was for Commander
Zeerah to be killed.” The man’s gaze met his. “Some of us believed it was your
right to kill her, sir.” His chin jutted out. “We didn’t know—” He cleared his
throat and opened the door without finishing his thought.

No, his men wouldn’t have known about Tory’s obsession for
Alex. And it would have made sense to take revenge on the woman whose brother
exiled him. Of course, they didn’t know he’d been slated for death, not exile
and that Alex had saved his ass.

The little house wasn’t a house at all. It resembled a
command center with computer consoles and vid monitors everywhere. Johan waved
them into two chairs and began to click on a keyboard. Several points of the
city clicked on the screen, the mill of people scrutinized and studied by those
intense silver eyes.

“Does the Ardasian know Jezar is here too?” Alex asked.

Johan nodded. “I’ve sent a woman to intercept them.
Hopefully, Jezar will read her and she won’t have to risk being seen.”

“Johan, do you know Celeste? Have you seen her?”

The man squirmed in his seat. “Commander—”

“Please tell me.”

So, Alex hadn’t caught those thoughts from the bridge. The
thoughts were there, but she hadn’t gleaned everything yet.

Johan shot him a look. Tory nodded. “Tell her.”

“Celeste is part of Ena’s…entourage. She isn’t a prisoner.
She’s Ena’s…”

Alex waited. Johan didn’t go on. Tory told her. “What Jezar
got from Pulzer is that Celeste has been promised a mating with Ena and Pulzer
and that your sister has watched the couple fuck.” He said it baldly, knowing
it was going to hurt no matter how it was packaged.

Her face crumpled. He reached out with his mind to give her
comfort and got slapped back. Yes, she was pissed he hadn’t told her, but he
wasn’t going to let her keep him out. He pushed and she glared at him. He
pushed more and she finally surrendered and let him in. He winced at the pain
there. A whirl of emotion slammed into him. Anger that he hadn’t told her, had
hidden it from her. Hurt that her sister would betray her, allow her life to be
forfeit for a sexual connection with the enemy. And finally, fear that she’d
have to watch her only sister die, either by the hand of Ena Solly or, perhaps,
Celete’s own hand.

Mental touches weren’t enough. He stood and hauled her to
her feet to hold her in his arms. She clung to him, a wave of despair washing
through her and over him. He stood firm, reminding her that they were there to
save Celeste, even if she didn’t want to be saved.

“We tried to tell her, Commander Zeerah. We all knew Ena
wasn’t going to share Pulzer with her. Celeste has been…convinced.”

“The Ardasian?” Tory guessed and Johan nodded.

“He has a lot of power over her.”

Alex frowned at Johan. “Who is this man? How could a
full-blooded Ardasian blend in like that and not be spotted?”

Johan’s gaze widened. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?”

Slowly, the man shook his head. “We thought you knew.”

“Knew
what
?” Alex shouted at the soldier.

Johan’s silver gaze glittered. “Your mother was full-blooded
Ardasian. Before she mated with your father, she had a child with an Ardasian
male.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Kyler is your half brother.”

Tory barely caught her when she slumped. White-faced,
shaking and completely unnerved, Alex collapsed in a chair. “No. It can’t be.”

Johan stared at her. “I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

“Kyler can’t be that. He can’t be.”

“He is. And believe me, he hates your whole bloodline as
much as Ena hates the Gregor and Ingle bloodlines. Between the two of them,
they wanted to end the aristocracy.” Johan turned away. “Which, up until she
proposed releasing the Old Earth plague, was fine with me.”

“Understandable,” Alex said shortly.

“
Saria—”

“I’m fine. Kyler…visited us twice. My mother…I had no idea
she was an Ardasian. She said Kyler was a distant cousin.” The last two words
were spat out as if they were foul on Alex’s tongue. “He… Let’s just say he
didn’t act brotherly.”

Dangerous levels of adrenaline shot through Tory’s blood.
“Oh?”

“He never did anything, but…” She shuddered. “If he was
full-blooded Ardasian, he knew exactly who he was and what he was to me.” She
shook her head. “I thought he was my friend.”

“He never was,” Johan told her.

Alex’s smile was bitter. “I never was much good at family.”

“You are now,” Tory insisted and put his arm around her.
“We’re family.”

She shuddered. “What if Celeste doesn’t want to come with
us?”

He turned her to face him, his hands gripping her shoulders.
“I gave you no choice, remember? I wanted three months. We’ll demand the same
from her.”

A faint smile crossed Alex’s face. “I don’t think you can
tie her up though.”

“No. But we can keep her contained. She needs us more than
ever, Alex. We can’t turn our back on her.”

“Even if she ends up being responsible for the death of
millions?”

“Even then. Especially then,” he said earnestly.

One lone tear slid down Alex’s face. “What about Kyler?” A
frown wrinkled her brow. “Is he family too?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “He’s your half brother by
blood. He has no claim on you unless you want him to. If you do want to save
him, we will.” Simple as that. What she wanted, he wanted.

“I just want to stop Ena from releasing that damned plague.”
She jerked out of his embrace and paced.

“That will cost you,” Johan said brutally. “It always does.”

Alex stopped abruptly and then sighed. “I know it.”

“There she is.” Johan pointed and a small woman with red
hair strode past, approaching an oncoming threesome. The tall figure of Foche
towered above the crowd and Jezar followed behind. Tesia was hidden by their
bulk, protected by both men. The dark woman glanced up at the camera and then
met Jezar’s gaze.

Awareness flared in Jezar’s green eyes. He touched Tesia but
said nothing. The red-haired woman nodded and slipped across the street. Foche
pushed Pulzer foward and Jezar followed. The dark woman nodded to two men, who
grabbed Pulzer and hustled him away. Jezar stopped Foche from lunging after
them and whispered something to him. They disappeared down a side street.

“They’re on their way here.” Johan stared at them.

“Where are they taking Pulzer?” Alex asked.

“Somewhere he can’t do any harm to my plan.” His eyes
narrowed on them. “I have a plan, but it’s risky.”

Tory shrugged. “Any plan to stop Ena Solly will be risky.”

Johan gave Tory a steady glare. “You’re going to have to
leave your mate.”

“No!”

“She has to draw Kyler away from Ena. It’s the only way to
surprise Ena.”

“I said no,” Tory ground out.

Alex laid a hand on his shoulder. “Hear him out.”

Agony ripped through him. “Not again, Alex. Not again.” He
didn’t want to be without her.

She cupped his face. “We’re bridged, my
Sarat.
We
will never be apart again.”

I can’t live without you, Alexandra.

Me either, but if we have a chance to win, we should at
least hear the plan.

Alex—
He couldn’t even put it into thought. The pain,
the slicing pain, that tore through him just thinking about being away from
her. He couldn’t handle it, couldn’t block it.

She brushed his lips with hers. Emotion flowed from her to
him. Warmth, love, hope, need, desire, a flood of everything she felt about him
touched him everywhere. He lowered his forehead to meet hers in surrender. What
she wanted, he wanted.

And she wanted to win.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Though Alex convinced Tory to listen to the plan, she knew
he might still refuse to go through with anything that might take her away.

By the time Jezar, Foche and Tesia showed up, Tory was
resigned, but resentful.

His mental touch had been about receiving reassurance and
giving comfort. She made sure he didn’t catch some of the thoughts she had
about Kyler.

When she’d lost Tory, she threw herself into her work, the
military, the missions. Then, she lost her father, her mother and finally her
brother. Celeste was all she had left. Kyler had offered to “keep an eye” on
her little sister.

When Darius asked her to transport a “dangerous but
important” item to Teran Five’s General Costas, she had been aware that she
might not come back. She’d turned to Kyler.

As an Ardasian, he must have known her thoughts. He knew she
still loved Tory deep in her heart and that her last thoughts as she left on
her mission were of the chance she’d missed with him. The rebellion had
informed Tory about the shipment because Kyler knew something very important.

She’d never fire on Tory. Ever. Even for Teran One. Even
though he was a criminal. And she’d never surrender either. She would have
rather died than make the choice between the planet she loved or the man she
loved. It was all there for him to read.

Jezar met her gaze.
Your love for Tory was clear to
anyone who reads you. I’m sorry.

You knew, didn’t you?

I knew.
Jezar’s thoughts leaked out and a jolt of
surprise shot through her.

He’s your brother too! Holy shit!

His biological father is my father.

She stared at Jezar. That’s why he had signed up. This was
what the Ardasian council had meant by Jezar had a personal stake in what
happened. It was very personal. His brother broke the code, flaunted the gifts
Ardasians hold sacred, used his mental powers to influence human beings.

You knew he was in charge, pulling the strings, and
you’re here to stop him.

No!
Jezar’s denial was firm.
I knew Kyler was on
Teran One, but I swear I didn’t know he was behind all this. It wasn’t until we
realized there was an Ardasian involved that I considered my brother might be
the one. But I didn’t want to believe it.

And now?

Now I have no choice.

Jezar was going to stop Kyler the rogue Ardasian.