Unchained (2 page)

“
I suppose you have some
proof besides your word.” She thrust her chin up. Even as she
spoke, dread welled up within her.
What
had that sweet old man done
?

Grey’s humor disappeared quite rapidly,
replaced by a foreboding coolness. He took a single, intimidating
step toward her.

“
My word is as good as it
gets.” He said it as if he lived by it.

She resisted the overwhelming urge to step
back. Enemies she knew how to handle.

Barrios cleared his throat, breaking the
escalating tension. “I think you can safely assume that Stone is
speaking the truth, Cidra. Syrus spoke highly of him. Said he was a
man of honor.”

Cidra glared at him. “I don’t care, Barrios.
How dare Syrus do this without asking me first? I won’t be forced
into something I know nothing about.”

Turning back to Grey, she
added, “
With
someone I know nothing about.”

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then
she watched in wary amazement as he crossed his arms over his chest
and relaxed.

“
I think Syrus was trying
to do what he felt was best for you,” Grey said softly. “You
clearly meant a great deal to him. Avion isn’t a safe place for a
trained Kin-sha.” Then he paused. “I have a feeling he realized he
was going to die very soon. He probably didn’t want to worry
you.”

Cidra glowered at him, unwilling to admit
that he was right on all counts. Even as she struggled to come up
with a reply, the word ‘freedom’ whispered in her ear. What started
as a flicker rumbled into a flood—an elusive, unattainable dream
until this moment.

She looked into his eyes. They didn’t waver,
didn’t give. A hard man with hard eyes. Lucky her.

What could Syrus possibly have on such a man
to ask this favor and have it granted so fast? Especially
considering who she was. Unless...

Oh no
. She almost gasped aloud. Syrus hadn’t told him.

If he had, Grey Stone would not be standing
here waiting for her response. He’d be running. Fast. In the other
direction. She should tell him and watch helplessly as all hope
vanished with him. ‘Freedom’ whispered, louder this time and sweet.
She would tell him later.

Her eyes narrowed.
Stone, by the time we are done, I may be your
next enemy
.

Barrios shuffled uncomfortably next to her,
looking around for an escape route.

“
Perhaps we should finish
laying Syrus to rest and continue this discussion after dinner.
It’s getting late,” she said calmly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cidra saw
Barrios’ head shoot up in surprise. Probably more for the mention
of dinner than anything else.

Grey gave her a quick, cool assessment with
those hunter’s eyes that could drill into her very soul.

“
Fine.” He moved closer,
masculine scent and body heat swept her senses. Then without
another word, he turned abruptly away.

Cidra realized she had been holding her
breath during the brief exchange. Determined not to give him the
satisfaction that he could shake her to the core with one look, she
exhaled a slow, silent breath. Only then did she notice that her
hands were empty and he was using her shovel to help Barrios. He
didn’t ask, he didn’t offer, he simply took it from her.

Deliberate or not, the point was made. Grey
Stone was in charge.

She grimaced. No doubt about it. He would
not be pleased when he found out who she was.

CHAPTER TWO

The succulent aroma of delicately roasted
game bird and fresh bounty from the gardens filled the cozy dining
room. Grey sat across from Barrios and Cidra, enjoying one of the
best meals of his life.

Grey conceded that excellent cuisine ranked
high as a personal passion of his. With technology came pre-made,
instant food but the taste reflected mass processing. Freshly
prepared fare was becoming a lost art.

He discreetly eyed Cidra while she stared at
her meal. She had been quiet since they returned from the
gravesite. He got the impression that he was experiencing a brief
reprieve. At least that’s what he hoped. He liked the fighter he’d
met this afternoon much better. Grey tried hard not to smile.
Feisty. Not for every man, but personally he liked feisty.

She had looked rather fierce standing there
with that shovel. Syrus mentioned she was a fully trained Kin-sha
and she certainly had the body to prove it: lean and graceful,
concealed power, hidden strength.

Grey gave her credit for not taking a swing
at him earlier when he threw out his bombshell. He had witnessed an
honest reaction. She’d held up well, no loss of control. Syrus had
not disappointed him.

Grey studied her classic
features, enhanced and caressed by soft candlelight. Auburn hair
spilled over her shoulders
en
masse
. A thin crease etched between her
brows, her mind deep in concentration. Full lips lent a sensual
pout to her distant expression. Something in those clear blue eyes
spoke of an indomitable spirit and maturity beyond her years.
Clear, calm, centered.

He shook his head and almost laughed aloud
at how Syrus had described her with comments like ‘a hard worker’
and ‘learns quickly.’ The old man must have been going blind. Those
weren’t exactly the phrases Grey would have used. In fact, he was
conjuring up a few new ones right now.

Pulling his gaze away from her, he glanced
around. The dining room had not changed since he had been a Kin-sha
student here fifteen years ago. The large oval table and chairs sat
twelve generously. Wood paneled walls and coffered ceiling
completed the cozy room.

His eyes finally settled on the vacant chair
at the head of the table—Syrus’ chair. He felt the loss deeply. The
man had been more than a teacher and had made Grey feel like more
than a student. It seemed a lifetime ago. The turning point in his
life. Everyone had them. Some you chose. Some chose you.

His gaze flickered back to Cidra as she
shoved her food around her plate. He wondered if she had such a
turning point in her life.

Cidra sighed softly. As usual, Barrios had
outdone himself. Too bad she left her appetite down by the lake.
Syrus was gone. The fabric of her life was starting to wear thin.
This was grief, plain and simple. She had lived through it before.
It would pass as it always did and she would move forward as Syrus
had taught her, stronger but without Syrus.

She’d never thought about what she would do
after he was gone. He had. By all rights, she should be grateful.
Instead, she felt trapped. Grey Stone had obviously come a long way
for her, just for her. Although he did unnerve and irritate her,
she knew that Syrus would have never put her in any danger. If
anything, he would have found the best way to keep her safe. She
knew without a doubt that she could trust Grey Stone
completely.

Stone had one particular point she could not
deny. Since the Avion government had banned Kin-sha ten years ago,
any use of it would be disastrous or worse. All those years of
training would be wasted if she stayed.

She drew in a deep breath. Her choices were
depressingly limited. There was nothing left here and nothing to
lose. After acceptance gained a foothold, excitement followed. Her
future. Could it be possible? Until now, she had no future but the
endless isolation of the sanctuary.

The possibilities flooded over her. A
treasure hunter. Sounded exotic and exciting despite what he had
said. As she gazed up at him, she suspected working for the man
would be anything but tedious.

More physically overwhelming than any man
she’d ever met, he dominated space. He looked even bigger now than
he had outside. More civilized perhaps, but no less
intimidating.

Unruly curls of his dark hair glinted in the
candlelight. Those penetrating eyes, she was sure, could see in the
dark. So sharp and intense, they complimented the hard lines of his
face. Even his mouth had a chiseled edge, perfectly shaped and more
tempered than the rest of him. She found it strangely bewitching,
tantalizing. Suddenly she looked down. How long had she been
staring at him?

Beside her, Barrios ate ravenously, talking
between bites. “With the main Kin-sha facility dismantled, we’ve
been secretly training a few students in private residences, but
it’s pretty risky. So far, the locals have left us alone but no one
can say how long that will last. I’m afraid if we don’t take the
chance, the art will be lost forever.”

He shook his head. “Avion has changed a lot
in the fifteen years since you left, Stone. I doubt it will ever
recover from the Dakru incident. That cursed Ximenes Plague. We
don’t get much news anymore. Is it still out there?”

Grey nodded. “It’s taken a few billion lives
on hundreds of planets and shows no signs of slowing down. Last I
heard, it was spreading through the Sankaran sector.”

He grinned at Barrios. “As far as I know,
Avion is still the only supplier of an effective vaccine. You can
be grateful for that.”

Barrios snorted. “You would
think so. We thought it was such a blessing, being the first to
develop a vaccine for the worst plague of the millennium. Avion,
the pride of the galaxy. And the money.” He waved his hand in the
air. “It made Avion rich, but I’d gladly give it all back. The cost
was too great. That missing vaccine shipment to Dakru spelled the
end for all of us. Those idiots in the Avion government blamed the
whole mess on the Chief of Security and his Kin-sha unit. And you
know that Avion will
never
forgive the Kin-sha for tarnishing their pristine
image.”

Grey asked Barrios, “You
must have known Avion’s Chief of Security then. Jarid Faulkner,
right? He was in charge of vaccine deliveries. Any idea what
really
happened to that
first Dakru shipment?”

Barrios stopped mid-bite. “The vaccine
shipment vanished along with a full Kin-sha crew.”

Before Grey could respond, Barrios looked up
and pointed his fork at him. “It left as planned, I can assure you.
Jarid Faulkner was the finest Chief of Security Avion ever had. A
master strategist. He had a contingency plan for everything. That
vaccine shipment headed for Dakru with escort just as he ordered.
On schedule.” He punctuated each word with a fork jab. “Something
went very wrong.”

Grey glanced at Cidra and
frowned. She listened in rapt attention, her jaw clenched tightly.
Her fingers were white around her fork.
Strange
.

Building momentum, Barrios continued. “It
disappeared without a trace. No transmissions, no distress signal,
nothing. Jarid never found out what happened to it or the crew. The
worst part is that it took Dakru too long to notify Avion that the
shipment never arrived. By the time they did, the plague had
claimed another half a million Dakruians. Another half million died
before a second shipment could be dispatched.”

He stabbed a piece of meat viciously. “Then
that Dakru Commander, Tausek, began condemning Jarid and his
Kin-sha team. Some nonsense about the Kin-sha trying to destroy his
precious d’Hont fighting force.” Barrios snorted. “I’ll tell you,
the d’Hont are no more than cold-blooded killers. No morals, no
honor. They made it sound as if Jarid murdered all those people
with his own two hands. Tausek kills that many slaves in those
blasted Thoriate mines every year. He had the entire sector riled,
including our own people.”

Suddenly Barrios threw his fork down. “I
still can’t believe the Avion government let those filthy d’Hont
get their hands on Jarid.”

Grey stilled. “What do you
mean, they
let
them?”

Propping his elbows up on the table, Barrios
put his round face in his hands. “The d’Hont knew everything. How
to infiltrate the planetary defenses, where to find Jarid. They
even knew when Jarid would be home. They were in and out of here
before anyone noticed.”

He leaned back, his chair groaning under the
strain. “It was an inside job all the way. Personally, I think the
Avion government handed Jarid over to pacify Tausek so he wouldn’t
attack the entire planet.”

Grey shook his head. “And in typical
Dakruian tradition, they killed the entire family, too. A
shame.”

Barrios looked at Cidra and folded his arms
in front of him. “Well, not quite.”

Grey’s eyebrows arched up. “What?”

Barrios reached over and took Cidra’s hand
in his. “He doesn’t know, Cidra. You better tell him.”

Grey slowly turned to Cidra. For the first
time since he had met her, he noted real fear in her eyes. An
unpleasant sensation rumbled through his gut that his fantasy image
of her was about to be permanently altered.

Cidra looked back across the table at him in
defeat. She had hoped to leave her past behind her and start over
in a place where no one knew who she was or from where she came.
But there was no sense avoiding the inevitable. Eventually Stone
would find out. He deserved to know the truth, even if it meant the
end of all her hopes and dreams.

“
I’m Cidra Faulkner. Jarid
Faulkner’s daughter.”

He stared back at her, his face a strange
mix of incredulity and disbelief. A sickening wave of
disappointment rolled over her. She wondered how long it would take
him to bolt.

“
I heard everyone was
killed,” Grey declared coolly.

“
I escaped. I guess they
never bothered to count the bodies.” She squeezed Barrios’ hand so
hard, he flinched.

Barrios leaned forward. “Syrus rescued Cidra
right afterward.”