Authors: April Zyon
“I
have to decline any further assignments as that will take me from my husband
and as I’m sure you will realize
,
that’s just not
possible. While I appreciate the gesture, I have to admit that I would rather
remain with my husband. Thank you.”
The
marshal looked back at her again, this time with confusion on her face.
“Your husband?”
She looked to Bracken, then back at Sadie.
“We haven’t received notification of any marriage between the two of you.”
“Looks
like the sub-marshal
was
up to more than we thought,”
Bracken said softly. “I’ll forward you the original file immediately, Marshal.”
“I
don’t understand why she would do this,” Sadie added as she leaned against
Bracken, her hand held tightly in his. “As far as I know I never did anything
to the woman to make her hate me that much, or is it Bracken?” She couldn’t see
anyone hating her husband that much, either.
“I
couldn’t even begin to make a guess at anything. But you can be assured we will
be asking her. I would like to have both of you in my offices before you depart
again, Colonel. I think a face-to-face is called for so there are no more
misunderstandings, and so that information is no longer being routed around me.
It’s time for my offices to be cleaned, and I need to know just where to begin.
Send through the file, Colonel. Congratulations on your marriage. We’ll
celebrate when I see you. Contact me directly when you are available and I’ll
make time.”
Once
the screen went blank again Sadie looked up at Bracken and smiled. “Hey. You
okay? You have a look on your face like you’re thinking something very bad.
Honey?”
She worried for her husband, as was her right.
“I
don’t know yet,” he said softly. “It may be nothing. It might be something.
I’ll let you know once I’ve worked it around a little more. You did an amazing
job today, Sadie. I’m very proud of you, little one.”
She
blushed but leaned into him for a hug. “Thank you. I’m happy I was able to do
something to help instead of just sitting here.” It had been important to her
that she was able to assist and help ensure they all lived another day. “Why
don’t you take my chair? We shouldn’t have any more trouble but I’d rather
remain on alert. Keep an eye on everything for me, if you would, please. Let me
know if anything else happens that we need to be aware of.”
“I
will.” She moved from him and toward the seat that was his. She strapped
herself in once more and watched him as he moved around. It was clear how much
his crew respected him, how happy they were to work under him. Sadie looked
from person to person on the deck and felt satisfaction that she was part of
this, that she was considered a part of this crew’s family.
Chapter Nine
They’d
been standing at the end of the road leading up to the
Kauller
house for a while. She knew that Bracken was trying to ready himself for the
reception they were sure to receive. “The sooner we do this, the sooner we can
get back to the suite we rented,” he said under his breath. Then he muttered a
string of
Craegin
curses and pulled a face. “You
ready?”
“I’m
ready, honey.” She squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “And you’re right.
The sooner we do this and get it over with, the better.”
He
nodded and squeezed her hand tight. Taking a deep breath, he started up the
path for the front door. As they got closer Bracken slipped his arm around her
waist, pulling Sadie in close to his side. “You watch my back, I watch yours,
that’s the deal and maybe we get out of here in one piece.”
“I
won’t let anyone harm you, I promise. You are mine to protect.” Just as he
protected her, she would protect him. That was all that there was to it. She
loved this man, and if he needed to lean on her she would let him.
“Just
remember, they don’t fight fair and they never have.” Lifting a hand, he
hesitated a moment before knocking on the door. “Maybe if we run right now they
won’t even realize we were here.”
“Don’t
worry. When it comes to you I don’t fight fair, either. I won’t allow those
women the chance to hurt you. We got this. We will go in and say and do what we
need to do and then after that we are going to go home. If I recall, you have
promised me another larger butt plug today?”
The
door flew open before he could answer her. “What the hell did you do?” his mother
screamed at him. “And you.” The woman narrowed her eyes on Sadie as she pointed
a finger at her.
“You harlot!”
Bracken
got between the two of them. “What is the meaning of this, Mother?”
“She’s
the one who made you do this, didn’t she? Not bad enough that she swooped in on
you at a weak moment and talked you into marrying her, but you actually
listened to her about cutting your family, your kin, off.”
“She
didn’t do any of that. Get in the damn house,” he said, giving his mother a
push when she didn’t budge. Reaching back, he grabbed Sadie’s hand to pull her
with him like he was afraid she’d run the other direction. “For your
information I was the one to decide to cut you off. You’ve been living way
outside your means for too damn long and I’m tired of it. You look down on
others, but you’re in the same class as they are so it’s time you lived it.
Sadie tried to talk me out of it. She actually has a misguided sense of
compassion for you and those bitches you claim are my sisters after all the
crap you did to keep us apart.”
“If
you hadn’t tried to force the two of us apart so often, we wouldn’t be having
this discussion,” Sadie added in there simply because she could. She didn’t
like having people giving her man a hard time, mother or no mother. It angered
her a great deal. “I strongly suggest you leave him alone.
Period.
He’s a good man and a good son and for you to act like this is not acceptable,
at all.”
“You
are not included in this conversation,” his mother said. “I do not recognize
you as family, and I plan on taking this to the marshal’s office to ensure this
sham is undone before you turn him even further from his family.”
“No,
you won’t,” Bracken said. His tone was ice cold. Taking a peek up at his face,
Sadie recognized the absolute rage he was quickly approaching. “The files have
already been logged, and the marriage more than consummated. Sadie is family,
but I’m really beginning to believe she’s the only one who is. Attack her in
any manner, whether through her work, through me, or directly and I’ll ensure
you see time in the pits, Mother. Not Father, but you personally. And do not
think I can’t do it. We’re leaving.” Turning, he headed for the door, opened
it, and ushered Sadie through it quickly.
Sadie
moved with Bracken out of the house but stopped dead in her tracks. “By the
stars,” she whispered and felt herself start to shake. She felt ill. When
Bracken had stepped to the side slightly she saw it. There was a flyer on his
family’s lands, a crest she knew all too well. Her ex-
fiance
was there.
But why?
“He’s here.” She could have thrown
up she felt so ill in that moment. “We have to leave. Please.” She felt panic
setting in just at the thought of seeing that man again.
“Who?”
Bracken asked. He
pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. “Sadie, you’re shaking like a
leaf. Talk to me.” He drew her further down the path, never letting her out of
his arms.
“The man that my mother had engaged me to.
That’s his flyer.” She gulped, literally. Sadie stepped in closer to Bracken
and allowed his heat and strength to wrap around her. “Stars, all that we would
need now would be my mother to make this day impossibly terrible.”
“We
are leaving, now. I don’t know what’s going on but we’re damn well going to
find out.” Keeping her close, he led her along the path and to the main street.
He flagged down a conveyance and urged her inside before joining her. Inputting
the address, he sat back and wrapped her up in his arms once more. “Slow your
breathing, Sadie. You’re going to black out if you keep sucking air like that.
Your body can’t handle it, little one.”
“Why
would your family house him? What is he doing there?” Sadie shifted so that she
could hold on to Bracken tighter, her breathing moving in and out slowly.
Finally she got hold of her racing heart and mind and nodded. “We have to
figure out why he’s there, and if my
mother
is part of that as well.”
“I
don’t know why anything is happening,” he said softly. Stroking her hair, he
rocked her in his arms. “We’ll find out what is going on even if we have to
tear apart everyone’s lives to figure it out. There has to be a trail, because
I’m starting to get the distinct impression all of this has been going on for a
very long time. It’s much too coincidental that our parents attempted to keep
us apart, that my sisters tried to keep us apart, that your mother basically
sold you into marriage, and that my ex decided to try and kill me.”
“Agreed.
This is tied
together. We just don’t know how or why.” She was stroking her hand up and down
his thigh now, soothing him as best she could. “We will come through this
together. We will figure this out and when we do so help those that have done
this to us. That have willingly harmed and kept us apart.”
“They
will pay,” he told her. Letting out a ragged breath, he drew away to look at
her. “I have no idea what is going on, but by the stars, Sadie, I am sorry you
were ever hurt. You have no idea the number of times I wished I could go back
and try to get to you harder. The number of times I feel I should have kicked
myself for not seeing the obvious in front of me.”
“Please,
Bracken, don’t be hard on yourself. You weren’t the only one. I should have
fought harder. I should have tried something more.
More than
letters.
I should have tried to visit you directly.” She had tried once
and been turned away by the woman that she now knew was his ex. “That was the
past. This is the now. We will unravel this and go on with our lives. We have
our forever together to look forward to.
Right?”
“I’m
not going anywhere,” he said. Pulling her back into his arms he went back to
stroking her hair slowly. “We need to find a way to figure out what’s going on.
Going in and asking straight out won’t work. We need to get around them, behind
them, and sneak up on them. We’re going to need help.”
“Agreed.
I have no idea who
to ask but I have a feeling that you have a small plan forming already, don’t
you?” she asked quietly and watched him tap his finger on his knee. “What can I
do to help you?”
His
hand stilled and he growled softly. “I hate that you know that’s
my tell
, and love it at the same time. I’m working on
something but I’m weighing the pros and cons of asking her. She’s in the house,
and I trust her because she was too young to be involved in shoving you out of
the window or out the doors whenever I showed up. I just don’t want her getting
hurt. On the other hand they mostly ignore her because she’s always so quiet,
so I’m pretty sure she knows a hell of a lot more than they even realize.”
“Cecilia.”
Bracken
nodded. “Perhaps it’s time to take her out of the house and set her with
someone that we trust?”
“I
think it’s time I purchase an apartment in the city. It would be the best place
for her to stay. The only downside would be she’d be there alone when we’re not
on planet. I hate the idea of her being so isolated like that. Plus with our
laws she’d have to have a male guardian to watch over her until she marries.”
Because
Cece
wasn’t part of the Armada or over the
age of twenty-five she would have to have a guardian because of their race’s laws.
“Who
could we ask to be her guardian when we aren’t on planet? Or perhaps bring her
with us when we go into space?” There was a young man that she was taken with
and they both knew it, but Sadie wasn’t certain if the feelings were just the
first blush of love. “You should talk to her. Find out her wishes?”
“I’ll
contact her once we’re back at our rooms. I gave her a secure communications
link so we could talk without Mother knowing. We’ll have to arrange to slip her
out of the house in a way that doesn’t cause her any undue distress. We have to
go to the marshal’s offices anyway. We can put in to be her guardians until she
is wed. I know Cecilia would agree to that easily. It’s getting the marshal to
agree without my father’s approval that is the trick. Because he’s under
Mother’s thumb and will decline it fast.”
“Unless he’s proven to be unfit.”
Sadie whispered those words. “I’m sorry, but he’s been blacking out more and
more, forgetting things. I fully believe that you could have him deemed as
unfit to be the leader of your family. I just don’t think you want to go to
that extreme.”
“No,
because then I’m the one that ends up responsible for all their actions. No way
am I going to be stripped of my flesh for their crimes. No, there has to be
another way. One where they are held accountable for everything they’ve done
and whatever the hell they are planning. We need to talk to Cecilia. She’s been
living in that house, listening to everything, seeing everything that’s been
going on. She’s our only hope of finding what we need to get her out of there,
and yet ensuring Mother is the one put on trial for what’s happening.
Unfortunately I have a feeling your mother may also be pulled into this, Sadie.
I know you two don’t have the best relationship, and I get that, but she is
your mother.”
“She’s
a monster.” Sadie didn’t hold back her words. “She sold me off to that male,
and I truly believe she had a hand in killing my father. She’s a terrible,
horrible woman and I would be very happy if I never saw her again. I will,
however, face her and demand the answers that we need to obtain from her.”
“Not
today,” he said quietly. “We’ll go face her tomorrow. We need proof that
something is going on. Proof we can take to the marshal’s office so the right
people are incriminated and not those who actually had no part of anything.
Like Cecilia, you, or me. Which means we need to think about this carefully,
come up with a script of some sort to push her into telling us exactly what she
did and why. Who was all involved in this elaborate scheme, and what the payout
was for everyone.”
“Too
bad we aren’t pregnant. I have a feeling that would have your mother paying to
have me killed.” Nothing would ever come of it, of course, because her husband
wouldn’t allow anyone to harm her. But it would be enough to push his mother
into a complete meltdown.
“Don’t
even say those words. We don’t need any more of this apparent bad luck.”
Bracken squeezed her closer to him. “I can’t lose you, Sadie. Not now that I
actually think life is turning around and looking good finally.”
“I’m
here for forever, Bracken. I promise. I’m not going anywhere, ever,” she said,
hugging him back. She knew he needed the comfort and honestly, so did
she
.
He
nodded, the hairs on his jaw catching on her hair slightly. She felt him turn
his head, then the breath he took with his nose buried against her hair. “I
love you, Sadie,” he whispered. “I have no idea how we’re going to get out of
this mess, but we’ll find a way. Keeping everyone important safe along the
way.”
Sadie
simply held on to Bracken. She nodded after a moment and pulled back to look up
at him. “I love you, too. We are a good and strong team, the two of us. We’ll
get through this.
Promise.”
Leaning
in, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. He was nibbling on her lower lip when
the conveyance began to slow. With a groan he lifted his head. “We’re here. Now
I can nibble on more than your gorgeous lips and not have to worry about people
watching.”
“I
love the way you think.” She moved so that she could place her hand into his
and allowed him to tug her out of the conveyance. She gladly allowed him to
pull her into their rooms.