Katieran Prime 4 - Kiljorn Prime (24 page)

Once again, each of them went down on one knee and held out their arms, signifying their desire to serve her.

Tamiel allowed the Medical to prepare her for stasis. Her losses had piled up one upon the other. She knew this final loss, the inability to watch her sons grow to manhood, had finally broken her will to carry on. After kissing each of her babies, she welcomed the nearly endless sleep she would have to endure.

Excerpt from Gateway to HeVan

The Nephilim Book Four – Coming Soon

By Lucy Kelly

Chapter One

“Space, the final frontier, to seek out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no woman…”

“Grace!” Addie giggled. “Enough with the Star Trek monologue. You’re not even getting it right. Poor Gene Roddenberry must be spinning in his grave.”

Grace turned away from the viewport and walked over to sit on a chair next to her sister. Addie was ensconced in a special foam and gel medical chair. It gave her maximum comfort while monitoring her and the babies’ life signs at all times. Addie was determined to take the babies to full term so she put up with spending all her time in this chair. She knew the advanced technology of the Nephilim gave her an opportunity she wouldn’t have received on Earth.

“So, are you ready to take over a world?” asked Grace.

Addie made a face. “You talk as if I’m making a military coup. They’re the ones who made me queen. I had very little to say about it. I intend to do a lot of delegating. People need to remember my husbands and my babies are going to be taking up a large chunk of my time.”

Addie picked up her protein shake and took a sip. “These are the most delicious things. Don’t you just love them?”

Grace ran her hand over her own baby bump, “Yes, I like the lime citrus flavor the best.”

She tried to look down at her ankles to see if they were swollen but couldn’t see them. So she sighed and leaned back in her chair and tried to swing her feet up, still no luck.

“What are you doing?” asked Addie, giving her sister a strange look.

“I’m trying to see if my ankles are swollen,” said Grace, as she tried to twist around in a different direction and nearly fell off her chair. Just as her center of gravity shifted and she started to slip, the door opened and one of her mates, Justyn, who stood in the doorway, leapt forward to keep her from falling. The two of them wound up on the floor. Both Addie and Grace burst into laughter.

Justyn lifted Grace gently off him, then stood up and helped her back into the chair. As soon as he saw her settled, he stood in front of her with his hands on his hips. Grace looked up into his face. It was a long way up, as she was sitting down and he was a couple of inches over seven feet tall. He also had the largest build of her three husbands. Generally, he had a calm and quiet personality but when he was angry — look out!

“Grace, why were you falling out of the chair? Am I going to be able to leave you alone? Why are you always trying to do things you cannot do?” he asked.

“Calm down. I was just trying to look at my feet. The belly got in the way and messed up my center of balance, that’s all. We’re just fine; you have nothing to worry about,” she said.

“Just like I had nothing to worry about when you tried to lead the warrior training exercises? Or when you tried to teach self-defense classes to the emigrating women?” he asked.

At this point, Grace stood up, “Look, I’m just trying to do my job. The safety of every male and female on our ship is my responsibility.”

When she tried to get up into his face, her belly preceded her and poked into him. Addie couldn’t hold back any more and she started laughing again. Her sister, the former Chicago detective, was used to being in control of everything, including her body. She wasn’t used to limitations and carrying triplets. Her body was growing faster than she could adjust. All her life, she’d lived up to her name — Grace; she had never been a gawky teen.

Addie stopped laughing and really looked at her sister. She finally noticed what she hadn’t seen previously. She gave a little boost to the power she’d inherited from her many times great-grandmother, the former Nam-Nin, or High Queen of HeVan. Little golden sparks flickered in the air around her.

“Justyn, I need you to leave me alone with my sister,” she said without looking in his direction. “Can you come back in twenty minutes with your brothers?”

He glanced over at her. Seeing the golden glow, his eyes opened wide. Grace had gone quiet; she’d turned away and walked over to the cold unit to get a protein shake for herself and another for Addie. Justyn nodded and left the room, stopping to give Grace a thorough kiss first.

“See, Addie, I’ve still got it. He backed right down. Maybe later I’ll do some defense drills with the space defense team,” said Grace, taking a sip of her drink. “Hey, how come you’ve gone all glowy?”

“I want to tell you how sorry I am, Grace. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own situation I haven’t been much of a sister to you. Why didn’t you tell me how scared you are about this pregnancy?” she asked.

Grace said nothing for a moment, fiddling with her beverage container. Finally she looked up at her sister.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“Because you’re my sister and I know you better than anyone else. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you before now,” said Addie.

“It’s just — how can I complain about my worries when you’ve been put on bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy?” asked Grace.

“Grace, you’re carrying triplets. It’s normal to have concerns. You have me and you have your mates. Instead of talking about it, you’re acting like you’re not pregnant. Honey, that’s not a beach ball under your shirt,” Addie said, pointing her finger.

“Hey, if I’ve got a beach ball, you’re a beached whale. I mean — Addie, you are huge! But seriously, I’m not carrying six babies like you. It’s not fair for me to complain.”

Addie kept prodding at Grace until she broke down and confided all her worries. Then Addie shared some of the things she’d actually been keeping to herself, too. They cried a little and laughed a little and talked about how their lives had changed in such a short time.

Grace was just promising to start acting like a pregnant woman when the door opened. Grace’s three mates, Jalen, Jett and Justyn, entered the room. Right behind them were Addie’s three mates, Arjun, Rune and Kylan.

While Justyn went over to Grace to kiss away the tears, Addie gestured to Jalen to come to her.

“Your mate is feeling like you no longer find her beautiful. The medicals have cleared her for sex. So I suggest you take her to your stateroom and show her how beautiful she is,” Addie commanded in a low voice, along with a few other suggestions.

“My queen, it will be a pleasure,” he said and quickly stepped away to whisper in his brother’s ear. Moments later, a blushing Grace was waving goodbye to her sister.

“I see Grace has not been the only one crying this day,” said Arjun. “It is amazing to me how you can look more and more beautiful every day. I also have had a word with the medicals and a soothing bath followed by a sensual massage has been prescribed.”

“Never let it be said I didn’t follow doctor’s orders,” said Addie, giving her mates a smile.

After several hours and many orgasms later, the ship’s alarms sounded battle stations.