Passionate Desire (18 page)

“Right questions?” She looked at her mate. “What sort of questions?”

“That one I can’t answer. Think of it as a security code. Without the right question I can’t unlock the rest of the system to you.”

“There’s more?”

“Much.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are ancient.”

“Which I don’t understand. How did I end up with so much ancient blood in me?”

Chapter 9

Storm set up for Kuarto to leave the planet and be sent to the first space dock available. Al said he would know when he was looking for him and he hoped it would be quick. He needed to make sure Toki was okay. It was his fault she was taken. The one thing he had worked hard to avoid was haunting him now.

He spotted a young man sitting on the other side of the bar. He had been watching him for a while. When he walked outside the young man followed. Was he the one Al had waiting for him? He wasn’t much of a contact. After the kid had been sitting there for an hour or so Kuarto had the bartender send him whatever he was drinking.

The young man came over once he got the drink. “Why did you send this?”

“Because I got tired of you staring at me.” Kuarto looked at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the bottles lining the bar in front of him.

“Sorry. You Kuarto, right?”

“Yeah, what is it to you?” He took a sip of his coffee. The kid was a bit stupid too.

“My boss wishes to speak to you.” He sat down next to him.

“There are a lot of people’s bosses who which to speak to me.” Kuarto looked at him. Why hadn’t the kid approached him? Why did he wait for Kuarto to make the first move? “What makes yours so special?”

“His name is Al and he has something that might interest you.” He place a small holographic chip on the counter, pressed a button and an image of Toki loaded.

“Anyone could have made this.” At least he knew she was safe when the video was made. He kept his relief to himself and acted bored instead. “She ran away from me a few days ago.”

“She didn’t run away.” The young man pressed a button on the chip so he could hear her voice. “Al wanted you to hear this.”

“Al told me you had taken his job offer and said I should go with him and wait until you could get away. He feared the Vespians would try to use me as leverage to keep you on the planet. I wanted you to know I’m safe and waiting for you.” Then her voice ended.

“So you saying Al took my bride?” he glared at the young man. “Not what I would consider conducive to get me to work for him.”

“He was hoping she would be an incentive to get you to say yes.” He picked up the device and slipped it into a pocket.

He looked at the kid through the mirror behind the bar. Kuarto was already suspicious of the way his contact was being handled and he was going to get to the bottom of things in his usual style. “He has made it hard to say no.”

****

He stood in front of Toki and hoped he hid his relief at seeing her okay. He had to continue with his act and hoped she would pick it up quickly. Al walked into the room before he had a chance to speak to her.

“Good to see you, Doctor.” Al took his time walking around the room, looking and touching different things randomly. “Glad you decided to join us.”

“You made it sort of difficult to say no.” Kuarto watched him, wondering why he was acting a bit strangely. Another thing that made him suspicious. “I thought she got her memory back and ran away by the way she just disappeared.”

“Sorry about that, but I needed your expertise and she was the one thing I thought would sway you.” He looked at Kuarto then, making him wonder what he suspected. Was he on to them this quickly? He did seem to know Toki. Did he know she was Storm’s sister?

“You’re lucky I ran into your man.” He was going to continue to play along since he had a job to do. “I was going to go home and tell the people who sent her she ran away and see if they would let me get another wife.”

She looked at him, confusion etched on her face. “But I didn’t run away. He told me you wanted me to go with him.”

“He lied.” He offered her his hand which she took. “I don’t work for liars.” He walked toward the door, but stopped when her hand pulled from his. Turning, he found her rooted to the spot. The fear in her eyes warned him something was up.

“Show him your neck, my dear.”

She turned around and showed the device on the back of her spine.

“That is my insurance that you will help me. She might be your wife but I have control of her body, if you try to leave before I’m ready.”

“And how do I know you’ll let us go once you get what you want?” That piece of metal answered his questions. Al did know and probably had figured out her amnesia was a ruse.

“You don’t, so don’t anger me. I can be quite giving when you do as I ask. Not so much if you push me the wrong way.”

“Threat taken.” He stared the man down. He wasn’t about to change his ways and act like Al frightened him when he didn’t. Kuarto wasn’t thrilled with the turn of events but still believed he could get them out if he had to. “Understand, I do this under duress, and as a hostage I’m not obligated to help you in any way. Too bad you didn’t wait until we left the planet on our own. I don’t like Vespians. Find them too bossy and demanding. But you’re the same way.” He reached for Toki’s hand once more. “So where are we staying, or do you plan on not letting us sleep until you get what you want?”

“Show them to their room.” Al walked from the lab he had ready for Kuarto. He wondered if he pushed just a little too hard.

The man who he had met at the space dock took them to a darkened room. Kuarto turned on lights and closed the door on him before he could say a word. He knew they couldn’t really talk but he wanted her to know he was there for her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” She stepped deeper into the room and looked around. “I am sorry for the confusion. I wasn’t aware you didn’t know what had happened to me.” She discreetly pointed to several listening devices.

“I blame him, not you. I should have known you wouldn’t have left me the way I thought you did.” He also spotted the camera recording them. “Has he tried to do anything to you? Hurt you in anyway other than that device?”

“No. Frightened me a bit and this thing hurts.” She gestured to her neck.

“Let me see what I can do.”

She gave him a confused look. “You sure you want to upset him?”

“Really don’t care right now. He can see and hear everything we say and do so we have no privacy. The least he can do is let me make my wife more comfortable.” He stepped up to her and brushed his fingers across her neck. Little goose bumps jumped up on her skin. That skin was red and angry around the device. He gave her a topical treatment. Drugs didn’t work on her so he wasn’t sure if anything he did would help. The redness faded a bit. “Better?”

“Much.” She turned and gave him a smile. Did she say that because of the cameras?

He had been so worried about her he didn’t think, just reacted to seeing her so close. He closed the distance between them, softly pressing his lips to hers. She responded, opening her mouth, offering herself to him. He pulled her into his embrace, twining his tongue with hers. She tasted so good. He took his time savoring the moment between them. He finally broke the kiss.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in the middle of all of this.” He rested his forehead against hers.

“What could you have done different?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to think I could have protected you.” He tightened his hold on her. He felt her chuckle. “I see.”

“What?” She looked up at him.

“You think I spent more time with those Vespians than I should have, don’t you?” She probably thought he was acting a lot like her brother.

“The men were very manly and I do remember you posturing a couple of times against that Storm fellow.” She rested her head against his shoulder.

“It’s hard to ignore all that testosterone.” He wrapped an arm around her and walked her back to the door of their room. “I guess we should get to work so we can go home.”

****

“What does he mean testosterone?”

“Storm.” Heather couldn’t help but smile. “He has to maintain the illusion that we never told him she was your sister, and that her amnesia is real.”

“That kiss sure seemed real.” They sat in the ancient compound watching what was going on with Toki and Kuarto.

“I noticed that, too. But you know it was all for show, right?”

“Was it?”

She knew he wasn’t happy with the fact his sister could be in a relationship. He hadn’t come right out and said it yet and that was what she was waiting for. “What do you think?”

“Never mind.” He stepped away from the screen. “Have you figured out what the question is you need to ask the computer to unlock the whole system?”

“Not yet. I keep throwing out one here and there, but haven’t figured out what the computer is looking for.” She gave him a hug, knowing he changed the subject because he wasn’t ready to talk yet. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it.”

“I’m sure you will.” He grew quiet for a moment.

“You okay?”

“Of course.” He gave her one of his heart melting smiles. “Just wondering about how you are doing. I know Kuarto gave you the vitamins to help you but you still seem to tire easily.”

“I know.”

“Even now you have a faint hint of darkness under your eyes.”

“We’ll just tell them you wouldn’t let me get any sleep.”

“Are you kidding?” He shook his head. “My family would force me to stay away from you if they thought I caused you any trouble.”

“You know I wouldn’t allow that.” She leaned into him, feeling light headed. Her legs gave way but Storm’s strong arms kept her from hitting the floor.

****

“Heather.” He didn’t know what to do. “Computer, can you help her?”

“What she is going through is very normal.”

“What is normal when there is no one else to compare to?” He spoke to the computer. “We haven’t found any records on an ancient pregnancy.”

“I have all the information you need.” The computer paused as it prepared data for him. “Please put your hand in the receptacle.”

“And exactly what am I supposed to do with my mate?” he yelled at the system. “She’s still not quite on her feet yet.”

The computer created a soft chair for him to set her in. “Please put your hand in the receptacle.”

He placed Heather on the seat, then walked to the spot he thought the computer meant. The indentation in the panel had him wondering about it since the first time he realized it was there. He felt a jolt enter his palm, race up his arm and fill his head. The images were hard to keep up with. The data that followed he just let flow, hoping he would be able to make sense of it all later. He was going to have a massive headache afterward.

Heather stirred in the chair.

“My heart.” He crouched beside her. “It seems the vitamins aren’t helping that much.”

“Sorry.” She touched his face. “I know it frightens you but it’s like I’m being drained all at once.”

He felt the information fill his brain. “It’s the babies. They’re stretching their mental abilities by trying to contact you. They just don’t know how to not use all their power. That surge makes you shut down. Once you show them how to touch your mind without using every ounce of their being, it should stop.”

“And how did you become an expert on ancient pregnancies?”

“The computer.” He helped her to her feet. “It downloaded everything into me.”

“Downloaded?”

“I can do the same thing for you, Heather.”

Storm watched in amazement as the information entered her. She stopped moving while it happened, then blinked and smiled.

“That was amazing.” He touched her face. “You didn’t have to touch the receptacle. Do you know how to communicate what you need to so the twins won’t short circuit you?”

“I do.” She rubbed her stomach for a moment before resting her hands there. “It’s nice to know what to expect now. Do you think the children were the culprits of me passing out the first time when we thought it was the sentinel waking up?”

“I still feel Al had something to do with that, but the second time had to have been them. You shutting down might have frightened them and they wanted to let you know they were okay.” He wrapped his arms around her, placing his hand on hers. “I still can’t believe this. Computer, you mentioned that I have the catalyst that allowed us to have children. Can you explain that?”

“That information can’t be unlocked until Heather comes up with the right question.”

“You need to come up with that question.”

“I know.”

****

Toki hated the whole situation. Kuarto was being belligerent with Al. Something she wasn’t sure he should be doing. She sat near him as he went over some of the research he had already done. She wondered how they were going to get out of this.

“Can you get me my scanner?”

She hoped he was teasing. All of Heather’s data was on it. There was no way he would give that info to Al. Would he?

“Now?” She got up and walked to the table that held his gear. Pulling it out, she hesitated as she held it in her hand, trying to figure out why he would want to give all the data to Al. It didn’t make sense. Kuarto shouldn’t have brought the thing with him. She dropped it into his hand, but not before she gave him a dirty look.

He winked at her. The scanner information loaded onto the screen and she watched, waiting to see if he would stop Heather’s info from going into Al’s system but there was no file on Heather on his scanner. What was going on?

“That’s what I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“The information I had on the clone is gone.”

“Those Vespians erased all of Heather’s files from my scanner which included any info I had on that egg.”

Al walked in just as Kuarto spoke.

“That egg belongs to Heather.” Kuarto confronted him.

“Yes.” He was so nonchalant about it. “I believe I can unlock the information you need, if you let me have that for a few minutes.”