Nia held up both hands and walked backward. “Please rethink this. The babe has done you no wrong. Resig has done you no wrong. Whatever Artic told you was false.”
As they neared Berg’s room, a low growl reverberated in the walls.
“What is that?”
“The child’s pet—a gift from Goddess Icela. I beg you to reconsider your actions.”
He motioned for her to enter Berg’s room. She was about to obey when she turned and saw that there was no room. A much larger Eeela obscured Berg and his bed. Nia could hear him babbling behind the enormous kreela, but couldn’t see him.
The warrior saw the kreela, swore, and fired his weapon.
“No!” Nia screamed and pulled her own weapon from her clothes. She put it against the back of the warrior’s head. “Throw down your weapon.”
Instead of doing so, he swung to face her.
Nia fired the weapon and watched the male disintegrate in front of her eyes. She’d meant to back the setting down because using the disintegration level rendered the weapon useless for other threats that might be encountered.
Her hand vibrated from the discharge, so she put it on the floor in the pile of ashes left behind. Stepping over them, she went into the room. The large kreela was bleeding from the hole in its chest, but it was still alive. Glancing over its massive shoulder, it looked toward a babbling Berg. Suddenly, it shrank until it was once more the size it had adopted at Stark’s command.
Nia rushed to the bed and lifted the babe in her arms.
“Abba dabba,” he said, then looked at the creature who’d saved him. “Eee-a,” he said, leaning down.
Worried, Nia wanted to run, but the kreela whined in pain. If it died…? No, she couldn’t believe that would happen. She held Berg out and stooped until he could hug the kreela. He slipped from Nia’s grip and crawled—the babe now crawled?—to where the creature had been shot. Berg touched the wound, and ice entered it. He held his hand in place for several seconds, then finally pulled away. The kreela laid its head down and closed its eyes.
“Eeewww…” Berg said, holding up his bloody little hand to her.
Shocked, Nia lifted the child. She glanced at the sleeping creature who seemed to breathing okay. “Let’s go wash your hands,” she whispered.
“Abba dabba,” Berg declared in agreement, bobbing his head.
With Berg in her arms, Nia rushed to the kitchen. She washed Berg’s hands in the sink. Not knowing if there were more of Artic’s warriors lurking about, she snuck out the door. Across the field, she saw Stark and Jessica returning in a run.
“Resig?” she called.
“Unca?” Berg called. “Unca!” he called louder.
Another time Nia might have laughed at the child who’d finally decided Resig was acceptable. Right now her mind kept telling her that Resig would never have let that twisted warrior get so far unless he’d had no choice.
When Stark and Jessica reached the house, she shoved Berg into his sister’s arms. “Stay out here,” Nia ordered, staring hard at the startled girl. “Do not enter the house alone, Jessica. Please do as I ask.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jessica answered between pants from running, clutching her brother tight in her arms.
Kevin slid down Stark’s tense body and looked at Jessica. “You stay. I’ll go investigate what’s inside. Guard your brother.” Before anyone could protest, Kevin wrestled the house door open with a couple talons.
Nia looked to Stark before she took off in a run around the side of the house. “An attacker from Glacier was here. We have to find Resig. He was checking the grounds when I last saw him.” She quickly moved ahead in her need to know. “Resig? Resig?” She called again and again, but got no reply.
She soon felt Stark beside her as both of them searched. Finally, she saw Resig’s motionless body lying near the side of the house. The sight of him on the ground nearly stopped her Glacieran heart.
Stark ran over and knelt beside him. Nia held her breath.
“He lives but is wounded in his chest,” Stark said with relief. He removed Resig’s shirt and the layers beneath it. “If he had not worn the armor I recommended, the laser blast at such short range would have been fatal. Thank the Goddess, he wasn’t stubborn when I suggested it.”
“Oh, Resig,” Nia whispered, falling to her knees beside his still form. She watched as Stark created a blue energy that froze the wound and immediately stopped the bleeding that had obviously been going on for quite a while.
Stark removed a knife from his pocket and made quick work of the fasteners holding the armor in place. “Looks like he’s lost a significant amount of blood, but the extra protection kept the wound small. With some healing help, I’m sure he will recover.”
Resig groaned in anguish when Stark firmly slapped his face on both sides.
“See?” Stark said, lifting his relieved gaze to meet Nia’s still worried one. “Your mate lives. He will hurt for a good while, but in a few days he should be fine. The witches know quite a bit about building blood back.”
Nia put a hand on Resig’s chest, shook her head at how overwhelming it all was, and closed her eyes. She was ill from killing yet another warrior, and more ill thinking about what might have happened to the male she loved.
Maybe Resig was right. Maybe she wasn’t tough enough.
Maybe he needed a female in his life that wouldn’t weep every time he got an injury.
Thank the Goddess that Stark had his amazing abilities. Which reminded her…
“Stark… your son…” Nia began as she opened her eyes. Stark’s curious gaze met hers. “The kreela got shot protecting Berg. Your son iced the creature’s wound to help heal her. I left her in the nursery.”
“Berg controls ice?” Stark asked in surprise. He looked off. “Wow. That’s both of them. I never dreamed that would happen. Even on Glacier, few can control the elements.”
Nia nodded. “I know. Your children are extraordinary. I think I would prefer more normal ones. However, I am seeing how hard it is when they grow so fast. Topper suffers for it even though she doesn’t let it stop from her duties to the town.”
Stark smiled. “If you don’t want extraordinary children, then perhaps you should reconsider your choice of mate. Resig has talents he hides from the world. His parents feared what others on the planet would say, so he never used them once he left the Star Rangers.”
Nia decided it was impossible not to return the General’s smile. “Do I want to know about them before I bear his children?”
“You must ask Topper that question. We males have it easier. I adore my children and all that they are,” Stark said.
When Nia looked down at an unconscious Resig and shook her head, Stark laughed, lifted his shoulders, and shrugged.
Chapter Twenty
With her still healing arm in a sling, Topper glared at the Glacieran deities smiling serenely on the other side of her communication mirror.
Stark knelt reverently on the floor at her side, saying nothing. He wanted to just accept that Icela and her warrior consort had valid reasons for their actions. He was here with her because she flatly refused to do so. Why her alien mate felt the need to be respectful after his Glacier gods had instigated so much chaos and death was beyond her understanding.
Despite Stark’s disapproval, she’d allowed Jessica to be the room and out of sight so her daughter could hear the explanation of their actions which she called ‘bullshit reasons’ that they had to even have this discussion.
In solving the Glacieran military’s problems, the Glacieran deities had endangered her town, her family, her guests, and her. They were lucky only Artic’s brainwashed warriors had died. Any of them could have died. Resig almost did die.
Thank Gaia, the men in black hadn’t shown up either, or she’d really be pissed at them.
So… no. Hell, no. She absolutely was not letting Icela and her consort off the hook this time.
Icela’s warrior faced her now like he wa
s about to be court-martialed. His fear made her happy. Topper wished her power could zip through the mirror’s spatial and magical conduit and turn the ancient male into the ass she considered him. What had he been thinking?
“Let’s say you’re right, Consort. Let’s say the best thing was to send the rest of Artic’s brainwashed warriors here. You at least could have insisted they not take their weapons through the portal. They shot me, Resig, and the kreela. If it hadn’t been for Nia, my son and the kreela would both be dead.”
“The pain you and your family suffered is regrettable. I did not intend to put you in harm’s way. I assumed—wrongly, now I see—that even Artic’s training forbade the harm of innocents. I wrongly assumed Resig and Stark would be their sole targets. I knew your mate and General Resig could easily defeat them.”
“How? They didn’t know they were coming… and you being wrong doesn’t really fix things. Two of us are wounded and healing. Resig hasn’t returned to full consciousness yet,” Topper declared.
“We are sorry for everyone’s pain, Topper—both of us are very sorry,” Icela promised. She held out one beautiful hand. “How can we make amends for what we caused?”
Topper lifted her chin. “Promise me you will never open a portal to Earth again without notifying us. I also want to know why it’s being opened and who—or what—is being sent through it. The portals were not the actual problem. Those passing through it were. Knowing ahead of time that a threat was coming would have prepared us to properly deal with the situation.”
Icela and her consort turned to face each other. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a few moments, which had Topper wanting to roll hers. Eventually both turned and looked at her again. “Agreed,” they said together.
Topper felt herself deflate. To gain even an inch with a single omnipotent being was a feat. She’d had a lot of practice with that over the years. To gain the concession of two might never happen again in her lifetime.
“Thank you,” she said and tried hard to put some genuine sincerity into her gratitude.
“Good. Are we forgiven now?” Icela asked softly.
Wincing at the pain in her arm, Topper shrugged her good shoulder and worked to maintain her haughty glare. She could have lost her son. They deserved her haughtiness.
Glancing down, she watched Stark turn a pleading gaze in her direction. Her crazy alien romance continued to cause her problems, but what could she do? She loved Stark in a way she’d never dreamed of loving any male.
She looked at the couple in the mirror and sighed. “Maybe I’ll feel better about things when my arm heals and I can forget that a Glacieran warrior shot me. I’m sure I’ll have nightmares about it for a while.”
“I understand,” Icela said. She blew out a breath as she studied Topper. “Before we disconnect, may I ask if you are keeping Eeela?”
Topper nodded. “Honestly, I would have kept her because she saved Berg’s life, but the truth is my son would be heartbroken if we sent her back to Glacier. Magic’s witches expanded my house into a mansion so there’s plenty of room for her Earth form.”
“Her Earth form?” Icela asked.
Stark stood and bowed his head. “Rime asked Eeela to shrink herself so as not to frighten the smaller creatures of Earth. To assist in her choosing a form, I sent her an image of a very large canine. The people of Earth keep canines as pets. I was hoping it would make her appear friendly and non-threatening.”
“Ah… that’s good then,” Icela said, nodding. “No one will know what she truly is.”
“Not unless she feels threatened,” Stark said in agreement.
Icela placed a hand over her snowy lace-covered chest. “Your son has your talents, Stark, and Topper’s bravery. I felt with that combination that he needed a constant protector.”
Topper sighed and blew out a breath. She didn’t have an argument about that. Berg was a lot like her. “I’m just glad Stark and I decided to stop having children.” Something fluttered inside her gut when Icela lifted her gaze to the ceiling of the massive castle-worthy room where she stood. “What?” Topper demanded.
Icela lifted both hands, palms out. “I would not interfere with such a decision, especially knowing that it is your genuine wish, but perhaps you should discuss this with your Earth goddess. The Fates told me…” The goddess shook her head and sent her sparkling hair swinging. “I guess it doesn’t matter what they said. Maybe I misunderstood their statements.”
Topper watched as Icela reigned in her thoughts and smile. Her consort snorted and walked off. “It was a pleasure to speak with you, Topper. May you recover quickly. We’ll talk again soon.”
“Icela…” Topper called out, but the mirror went dark. She looked up at her mate. “We did agree that Berg was our last child.”
“Yes, and I am still in agreement,” Stark promised.
Topper put a hand over her stomach. “Stupid goddesses and their damn secrecy,” she grumbled as she stomped out of the room.
Stark turned to his daughter who was staring at the far wall. “I can tell you’re trying not to blurt something. What do you know, Jessica?”
Jessica brought her gaze to her father’s and lifted a shoulder. “Not much, except Mom’s right about the secrecy.” She lifted two fingers. “But next time you’re having twins… or triplets.” She changed her two fingers to three. “They will be witches for sure, or at least that’s what I think. The Fates said there was a lot to figure out before that happens.”
When his legs threatened to fold on him, Stark dropped back down on the floor and made himself breathe while he sat.
“Was that TMI? I’m sorry, Dad. I figured you somehow already knew.”
Stark shook his head. “No. How would I know?”
“You said you dreamed of your family a long, long time ago.”
Stark nodded. “Well, yes… I did.”
“And you told Icela about your dream.”
Stark sighed. “Yes. I did tell her.”
Jessica walked to her father and bent to meet his gaze. “Well… from what I can determine, Goddess Icela told the Fates who told Gaia who wants Mom to have like a dozen children so my grandmother’s enormous magic can return to the world. The Fates told me they had a hard time talking Gaia down to less than half that much progeny.”
“This is terrible. Your mother will never let me touch her again,” Stark said sadly.
Jessica giggled. “Or… you could just keep this information to yourself for now. It’s not happening until Berg grows up. You always said a person’s destiny changes over time. I’d go with that happy thought and hope for the best.”
Jessica straightened and offered her father a hand. Stark sighed and let his eldest child pull him to his feet.
“When did you get so wise?” Stark asked.
Jessica thought about it for a bit before she answered. “I think I started figuring things out when I got Kevin, so about a month ago.”
When her father started to walk away, she stopped him. “Dad, wait. There’s something else you need to know.”
Stark lifted an eyebrow and waited. He was all out of words. The only terms he couldn’t ignore were ‘twins’ and ‘triplets’, but until the shock faded, perhaps he could pretend he never heard Jessica’s prophecy.
Jessica stepped back and tilted up her head to meet her father’s serious gaze. “Dad… I really want to train to be a Star Ranger. Regardless of what Goddess Icela promised Mom, I think you and I both know Earth will need them in the future. I think my destiny is to be the first one.”
Stark nodded because he couldn’t answer. Just a few short years ago his daughter was as small as his son. Now she was setting life goals. Parenting truly was the hardest thing to do on any planet. He pulled his amazing daughter close and sighed into her hair.
The first thing he noticed when consciousness returned was that his chest felt like the kreela in its normal size had sat on it. Trying to ease the ache, Resig rolled to his side until he encounter
ed something blocking him. It was warm and silky hair brushed his arm. For a moment, he wondered if the kreela had laid down next to him after his injury.
It was a struggle to open his eyes, but when he did so, the first thing Resig noticed was that he was not in a room he recognized. Or in a bed that belonged to him.
But the woman beside him—the owner of the silky hair and warm body? She was definitely his. Good thing he hadn’t died before having time to claim her. Icela’s warrior would have met him on the other side of death and tormented him for eternity.
His low chuckle over his thoughts woke her—or at least the rough sound he made seemed like a chuckle to his ears. Nia’s head tilted until her gaze met his across the pillow. She was sleepy-eyed and concerned. “Resig… thank the Goddess you’re awake at last. You’ve slept for days.”
“Have I? I’m very sorry you were so worried about me.” Resig couldn’t yet recall what had happened to him, but he wanted to ease Nia’s concerns and erase the many lines of worry on her face.
She patted his shoulder gently as she rose. “You lost a lot of blood after you were shot. Give me a few minutes and I’ll help you sit up.”
Resig grunted when Nia left the bed and watched sadly as she slipped on pants that hid her amazing legs. Apparently, she had slept only in a shirt. “Stop dressing and come back to talk to me. I prefer you with fewer clothes anyway. You have an amazing body.”
Nia stopped dressing and stared. “Did you just say you prefer me without clothes?”
Resig laughed at her shock and put a hand to his aching chest. “He was right. I am an idiot. Have I never given you such a compliment?”
“Not that I can recall. Who was right?” Nia asked. Then she shook her head. “Never mind. You’re probably delusional from the loss of blood.”
Resig shook his head slowly so it wouldn’t fall off. “I am not delusional. I find you beautiful. I regret that I never told you. How close was I to dying?”
Nia turned her back. His compliments confused her… and thrilled her. But Resig was not in his best frame of mind. “Topper’s fellow witches were able to heal you. Priestess Rime sat at your side and prayed to our goddess for you. It was not the blast from the laser weapon that caused the most danger. It was your loss of blood before Stark and I finally found you.”
Nothing Remotely Familiar (My Crazy Alien Romance Book 5) Page 15