The Stubborn Lord (22 page)

“Kendall?” Alek touched her shoulder. She turned to bury her face in his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist, holding him tight.

“I’m going to find out everything I can about Margot from Vanni. She doesn’t like men but will talk freely if I’m alone. Please, take the crew back to the ship. I’ll be there soon.” When it looked like he would protest, she put her hand on his mouth. “I’ll be fine. The biggest threat is Beatrice, and I can handle her.”

“As you wish, my lady,” Alek agreed. He barked an order to the men in his gruff Qurilixen tongue. The men instantly stood and left the diner.

Vanni watched after them before turning expectantly to Kendall. She tilted her head toward an empty table. Kendall nodded, joining the waitress.

Chapter Fifteen

Kendall learned nothing from Vanni other than what she could pretty well guess on her own. Margot had been angry when Kendall left, confused as to why her sister had abandoned her. She’d cried for days, had been ignored by their father, fought with strangers, was accused of stealing and finally was repossessed. Rumors of a spa planet were just that—rumors. Just as they hadn’t known where Kendall was, they didn’t know where Margot had been taken. None were surprised. Margot was a burden on her father who didn’t know the first thing about raising an angry, hormonal teenage girl. After Margot was taken and with no one around to keep him in check, Haven spiraled out of control. He drank too much, ate too much, gambled even more and flew himself headfirst into his own grave when he succumbed to heart failure.

Gone,
thought Kendall.
My sister is gone.

“Kendall?” Alek whispered, reaching for her on their bed. They had watched the fueling dock disappear as the captain flew the ship back to Qurilixen.

“I didn’t say anything,” she answered. Her mind raced and she was unable to rest.

“Your thoughts are loud.” Alek pulled her body against his, holding her. “I promise I will help you find out what happened to your sister.” He paused. “You read the documents twenty times. There is nothing there.”

“You’re worried about me, and the Tyoe, and Margot and your family,” Kendall said. “You can’t hide your thoughts from me either.”

Kendall felt her husband’s desire for her. He wanted her, always wanted her, but tonight he was content to simply hold her close. There was no lack of passion in their marriage, but the true blessing was to have someone who cared for her so deeply and completely.

“My father is dead,” she said. There was no point in keeping silent as they were both awake. “I can believe it, but at the same time I wasn’t prepared for it. It’s strange. I thought I’d be riddled with grief, and I am sad, but at the same time…”

“There is no shame if you feel a sense of relief. Your father was a troubled man. I can’t imagine he would lose both his daughters gambling and remain unaffected.” Alek pulled her closer. He settled his hand over hers. The small stone of her mother’s ring pressed into his palm. It is what she’d taken from the pouch—the only thing that had been left on the fueling dock that could be called hers. “There was nothing you could do for him.”

“I was asleep when they took Margot. I guess it doesn’t matter how fast I got there. I wouldn’t have been able to save her.” Kendall sniffed as a tear rolled over her cheek. “I have to find her, Alek. I have to do something, but I don’t know where to look.”

“Let me think about it and I will come up with a plan.” He kissed her head. “We will not stop until we find out what happened to your sister.”

* * *

Alek didn’t sleep as he watched over his wife. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Her pain was his and he wished nothing more than to take all of it from her and into himself. That is how he spent his nights. His days were by her side making sure she ate, doing his best to distract her mind and listening when he could not.

Conditions made flying hard and their return trip was delayed by over a week. Solar flares emitting a high-energy radiation from several directs forced the ship to pause. Apparently, these occurrences were rare, but to fly through them proved to be dangerous to human DNA. With Kendall onboard, they weren’t taking chances. By the time Qurilixen showed itself on the viewing screen, he had yet to sleep for longer than an hour at a time.

“Home,” Kendall whispered as the ship touched down. The loud hiss of the ship’s engines echoing off the stone walls was only outdone by the scrap of the overhead camouflage sliding back into place to hide the ship within the mountain. They stayed strapped into their seats until the vibrations stopped, indicating the engines were off.

Alek slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulders as they disembarked. She returned his embrace, giving him a small smile as she curled her fingers over his waist. The sadness was there within her, but so was her love. He longed for the day he’d be able to feel the sadness fade.

“This is how you obey orders?” Bron said, his tone even.

Alek grimaced. Bron waited by the closed door with Mirek.

“Are we in trouble?” Kendall whispered.

“I will handle it,” Alek assured her.

“You should have not pulled rank like a pouting child,” Mirek said in their shared tongue. “Be happy Alek brings home his bride. You ordered the marriage settled. It’s settled. I sent guards to the forest to watch for the Tyoe and your wife is dealing with the communication system.”

Kendall glanced up at Alek, not understanding Mirek’s words.

“Well-kept secret, brother,” Alek grumbled to Mirek, slipping easily into the Qurilixian language.

“He sent someone to the cabin to check on you,” Mirek answered. “I had no choice.”

“I thought the Tyoe kidnapped you.” Bron frowned. “You should have told me you had urgent business off world.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Mirek interrupted. “It did not get that far. I told you before you had time to send out search parties.”

“You would have forbidden me from taking her back.” Alek hadn’t known when he left if Kendall would be returning with him. Bron would have ordered all the ships grounded in an effort to save Alek’s marriage.

“Yes,” Bron agreed. “I am glad you are home safe. Is all taken care of?”

“Later,” Alek said, not wanting to talk about it in front of his wife. Even if Kendall couldn’t understand what they were saying, he didn’t want to keep excluding her from the conversation. He switched to the star language. “Asking me to fix the communication devices was like asking me to fly this ship. I couldn’t find the control panel.”

“You are lucky my wife knows more about communications than anyone on this planet. She’s agreed to oversee repairs.” Bron gave a slight smile. “So you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Any word on the Tyoe?” Kendall asked. “Are we safe?”

“Don’t worry, little sister, we will protect you.” Bron reached his hand out and touched her shoulder briefly.

Mirek opened the door and led the way into the corridor. “We can find no immediate threat. As soon as the pilot is rested, I will check out things from space. I will ensure the planet is safe and I will send inquiries to friends. I sent a few runners to try to bring some of the other pilots back, but they’re hunting and can’t be found. I don’t expect them back for some time. We will learn everything there is to discover about the Tyoe. If there is to be a battle, we will be ready.”

“Has Lady Riona awakened?” Alek asked.

Mirek inhaled a deep breath and held it.

“No,” Bron answered for him. He stepped behind his brother as they made their way single file down a long flight of stairs. The halls were narrower in this part of the home. “But we take care of our own.”

Kendall pulled on Alek’s arm, stopping him. When the brothers had made their way several steps ahead, she asked softly, “Should I tell him how long I was in stasis? It might help to know that after five or so years I am relatively healthy. Riona should be all right as far as the stasis goes if I am any example.”

“Yes, sister, it helps,” Mirek answered.

Kendall stiffened. “I have to get used to the hearing thing,” she said under her breath.

Alek kissed her softly. She was so precious to him, and so adorable in her embarrassment. “Let me take you to our home so you can settle after the flight. I have a few things to discuss with my brothers before I join you.”

“Yes, but don’t take too long. Hopefully you can sleep now that we are on land. I don’t like you sitting up for days at a time. It can’t be good for your mind.”

“You question my sanity?” He arched a brow.

“Never.” She kissed him back, slid her tongue into his mouth and moaned softly into him.

When she pulled away, he announced to his brothers, “Don’t expect me until tomorrow. Bron, you can yell at me then.”

His brothers chuckled, not stopping their progress down the stairs.

* * *

“I thought you were going to be unavailable until tomorrow.” Mirek looked up from the viewing table and scratched his head as he arched his back in a long stretch.

Alek recognized the star charts as their sky. “What are those red markings?”

“Radiation signatures.” Mirek suppressed a yawn. “I’ll get better readings from the sky. If anyone was in our space, they should have left a trail. Honestly though, all these signatures are old. I’m not sure we’ll find many answers here.”

“When you’re up there, I need you to try to reach Lochlann,” Alek said. Long-distance communications worked better from space than on land. The messages were routed through stations until they were picked up by the right vessel.

Mirek’s hand dropped from his head to the table. “That traitor? You think he has something to do with the Tyoe?”

“No. It’s for Kendall.” Alek explained what happened to the two sisters. Mirek frowned, not meeting his eyes.

“I only tell you because Kendall gave me permission. She is anxious to see her sister come home. I’ve tried to think of another way, but Lochlann is the only one I know who travels the more questionable circles of space.”

Lochlann was a childhood friend and one who was currently flying the high skies with a Var shifter, and not just any Var shifter, but Prince Jarek of the Var. To say his name often incited feelings of disappointment and anger between the brothers.

“Of course we must find Margot. She is family.” Mirek nodded. It didn’t matter that he’d never met the girl. “But Lochlann? He left us.”

“I know.” Alek nodded.

“With a Var prince,” Mirek insisted.

“I know.”

“A
pirate
Var prince.”

“I know!” Alek slashed his hand. “I don’t like what Lochlann did, flying off like that, but he’s the only one we can ask. There has to be some Draig loyalty left in the man. I promised Kendall we’d do everything we could to find her sister. It is either Lochlann or I take my wife to space to look for the girl.”

“You in space?” Mirek quirked a brow.

“For Kendall, yes, me in space.”

“I don’t like this idea, but I’ll do it. You wouldn’t know the first thing about dealing with aliens to get information. Not all of them succumb to torture.” Mirek glanced to where his wife lay in stasis. “If it was for my wife, I would say yes. I can’t deny helping yours.”

“Thank you.” Alek clenched his teeth. Lochlann was the last person he wanted to ask for a favor.

“He once asked if he could return to his position in the army,” Mirek said. “Bron refused. The war was over and Lochlann’s leaving too new. I’ll see if he’s still interested in coming home. If he finds the girl, I’ll let him know that it will go a long way into earning our forgiveness.”

“That is why you’re the diplomat. You can sell anything.” Alek went to Mirek’s liquor storage and took out a bottle. “You’re running low on stock. You’re drinking too much.”

“Coming from the man I confiscated nef from.” Mirek pressed a few buttons, clearing the viewing table. “What about the casino? Something should be done. They should not be able to treat people like cargo.”

“If we fight them, they will never tell us what we need to know. If there is a trace of Margot, they would destroy it before we had a chance to find it. As much as I hate it, there is nothing we can do to them at the moment. But, as soon as we have Margot, we will figure out something.” Alek poured a couple glasses and set one down in front of him.

“I am glad your marriage is settled. I see it in your wife’s face when she looks at you. I only hope to one day be so blessed.”

“You are blessed,” Alek said. “Your wife will awaken when it is time for her to do so. The gods have their reasons.”

“You say that now, but last time you were in this room you would not have been so confident.” Mirek drank the contents down in one gulp. “Go back to your wife and find sleep. You look like something that came out of the backend of a yorkin.”

* * *

Kendall stretched her arms over her head, feeling Alek approach before she saw him come up the stairs. Without getting out of bed, she reached out to him. “There you are. I wondered how long you were going to be gone.”

“I thought you would still be sleeping.” He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside.

“I couldn’t sleep without you.” She let her arms drop and settled for watching him disrobe. A soft light caressed his muscular body.

“I spoke to my brother.” Alek told her of the plan to find Margot. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. “After Mirek’s, I stopped to check with Cenek about the ceffyls.”

“Everything all right?”

“Yes. We confirmed another one is pregnant. It’s a good omen this late in the season, and the late season births statistically go well. The elders take it to mean this will be a fertile year for our people.” He gave her a meaningful look.

Kendall quirked a brow. “Fertile year? Should I be worried?”

“Do you want children?”

“Right now all I want is you.” She smiled at him. “If children come, they come.”

He pushed his pants from his hips and crossed the room to join her on the bed. Pulling her into his arms, he held her close. After a long kiss, he whispered, “Do you think you can be happy here on one planet? I know it’s not the fueling dock, or a constant parade of new alien creatures, but I promise to do everything I can to make you happy.”