Getting Engel to confess was all that was needed to save him and it was my job to do so.
“I am really excited. You’re not going to believe the news.”
“What is it?” she asked. “Is it about Deek?”
I nodded and a tear slipped down my cheek. That wasn’t fake and I was overcome knowing he really was my mate.
“Let me get my father. He’ll want to hear the good news. Let me just get him.”
I watched as she rose from the chair. She no longer wore the dress from the party but the usual dress worn by Atlan women, hers in a pale pink.
“Father!” she called from a distance, as if she were calling to the far reaches of their house.
Deek had said he lived in a mansion. As a councilor, he was wealthy. I stared at the walls of an empty room, and the posh furnishings, the artwork on the walls, confirmed it.
Tia returned and settled into the chair. Engel came to stand behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“All right, you’ve kept me in suspense long enough,” Tia said, her eyes wide and eager. “What is it?”
“It’s Deek. He doesn’t have the fever. He was drugged.”
Tia frowned while I thought I saw a tightening of Engel’s knuckles on her shoulder.
“Drugged?”
I nodded. “Yes, can you imagine? One of the guards at the jail recognized the symptoms and tested him. I guess it was something called Rush.” I waved my hand in the air. “God, I’m just a waitress from Earth so I don’t know about these things, but I guess he touched something that was laced with it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Tia asked, clearly appalled. She looked up at her father.
“I know, I can’t believe it!” I smiled brightly and looked at Engel. He didn’t even blink.
“That’s… incredible,” he said. “But he had the fever more than once. How is it possible?”
I shook my head, played dumb. “I have no idea. Like I said, I’d never heard of Rush before now. I know he had a bout of fever that had Dax putting him through the matching process for the Bride Program. Tia, you remember how it had saved Dax, don’t you?”
She nodded emphatically. “Oh, yes, everyone knows that story. They are the perfect match.”
“And Dax wanted to see if he could save his friend in the same way. That’s how I ended up here.”
Tia was listening avidly and Engel remained stoic, but I had no doubt he was absorbing it all, thinking.
“From what Dax said, I guess it was too long ago to be able to trace the drug to anyone on the Brekk, or any time after that. But I guess there are guards at Dax’s house, testing everything for the drug.”
I ran my hand over my face as if to seem like I was wiping away any weariness, then moved my hand down to my neck, placed it over the necklace. Engel’s eyes dropped to it.
“They feel confident they will find the source of the contamination and will be able to trace it back to the culprit.” I shivered. “God, can you imagine who would want to do this to Deek?”
Tia shook her head in sympathy. “You’re right. This is horrible.”
“Deek is still in jail?”
I nodded. “He’s out of a cell, but in a containment room. They’ve used one of those ReGen wand things on him—God, those are so cool!—but want to ensure he’s fully recovered before coming home to me.” I looked over my shoulder. “You can see I’m back in Deek’s house, alone but safe. As for Deek, he’s well guarded, so no one can harm him. That eases my mind. I should be able to get some sleep, finally.”
I wondered if I sounded like a flaky Earth girl blathering away, because I had to hope Engel saw the necklace, knew it was the evidence that could put him away.
“I’ve seen vids of people on Rush. Scary,” Tia said.
“I know. I guess those from Earth aren’t bothered by it.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Who knows? All I know is I’m exhausted from worry, not hyped up on drugs. I’m going to crash as soon as I get off this vid thing. I just wanted to tell you both since you’re family now.”
I patted the necklace again, for effect.
Tia smiled. “I’m so glad to hear this. Get a good night’s rest and we will come by tomorrow to visit with both of you and share in the celebration.”
“Another celebration!” I exclaimed. “But maybe you can wait until the following day? I want to do a little celebrating with Deek… alone.”
I winked at her. She blushed, but winked back.
“The following day then.”
I waved at the screen as Tia reached toward the display and pressed a button that ended the call. The screen went black and I dropped my hand, and my smile.
I exhaled, then spun my chair about. “Think that worked?” I asked.
Dax and Sarah stepped into the room. One of the head guards joined them.
“He’ll come for the necklace. Soon, before Deek returns,” the guard said. He had no emotional connection to this, but he was no less angry with it. “Once Deek is here, he won’t let you out of his sight and any attempt to retrieve the necklace will fail. Engel knows that.”
“Now you go to bed and wait,” Dax said, his mouth grim. He’d fought the Hive for years but was bothered by evil happening on Atlan. By Atlans.
“As bait,” I added.
***
Deek
I awoke to one of the military physicians waving a ReGen wand over me. Gods, I kept falling asleep. Why did I keep waking up to crazy shit? First it was Tiffani seducing me—which looking back, I didn’t mind at all—then Seranda, and now this.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I growled.
“I’m sorry, Commander,” he replied. “We need to assess you.”
“Before execution?” I asked, swiping the wand away.
“For Rush.”
My hand stilled. “Rush?”
Why the fuck did he have to test me for Rush? I lay there and let the Atlan do his work.
“As expected. You have enough Rush in your bloodstream to take out a Zoran.”
“The three-legged predator from Sector 3?”
He nodded as he continued to pass the wand over me. “The readings show seven times the amount an addict pumps into his veins. Give me thirty seconds to neutralize it.”
The wand’s color changed from orange to blue. I’d been injured enough times to know to lie still and let the wand do its job.
The doctor put the wand away and moved away from the bed. I stood, shook my head and assessed how I felt. “Holy fuck, Doc. What is going on?” I asked.
“You were drugged.”
I gave him one of my commanding looks that had the newbies quaking in their boots. The doctor didn’t even blink. “From our intel, it appears someone has been drugging you with Rush to make it seem as if your mating fever has overridden your mental faculties.”
I took a deep breath, then another, enjoying the feel of… nothing. For the first time in a fucking long time I felt normal. “You mean someone wanted it to make it appear as if my mating fever was uncontrollable.”
He nodded. “Yes, and to have you executed.”
“You mean premeditated murder. Who?”
The doctor held up his hands. “I am part of the medical unit, not the guards. It was recommended I test you for Rush. You can thank your mate for that. She is a very clever woman. You are a lucky man.”
“What do you mean? My mate asked you to test me for Rush? She’s from Earth. How would she even know of its existence?” Rush had been outlawed more than twenty years ago. Its use was so rare, no one bothered to test for it any longer. Use of the drug on a fellow Atlan was the lowest of low, so without honor that most warriors never even considered the possibility. “Who gave it to me?”
“I do not know, Commander. You will need to ask your mate, or Warlord Dax. But you are now free of the drug and no longer in my care.”
Yes, he healed people. He didn’t arrest them.
“If you proceed down the corridor, the head guard will be waitin
g for you. I am told that two of Warlord Dax’s personal guards are waiting to escort you home.”
The grav-wall was down, so I stepped into the corridor. “Doc?”
He followed, paused when I did. “Yes?”
“What if it wasn’t Rush? What if it really had been the fever?”
The Atlan pursed his lips. “Then I would have signed your execution order.”
I nodded once, then took off down the hall. Whoever did this to me was going to pay. Now I just had to find out what the fuck was going on.
“Guard!” I called, ready to hunt my enemy.
When I reached the end of the corridor, I saw two warriors wearing the colors of Dax’s house and felt my body relax, but not much. As I approached, the older of the two men stepped forward, saluted. He looked about my age, and carried himself, and his weapon, as if he knew how to fight.
“Commander. My name is Rygor.” He angled his head toward the other man. “This is Westar. Warlord Dax sent us to accompany you from your cell.”
I assessed the warriors with my experienced eye. They were both my size, and fully dressed in battle armor, but Rygor’s intense gaze reeked of impatience, rage even.
“Why isn’t Dax here? And where is my mate?”
The guards looked at each other, then at me, but could barely hold my gaze. It was as if they expected an outburst from me. Well, if they didn’t start fucking answering my questions, that was what they would get. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at them in the way that had new recruits pissing themselves.
Rygor cleared his throat. Instead of replying, he handed me a warrior’s tote. I opened it to see a full set of armor and a weapon.
“What the hell is going on, Rygor? Start talking. Now.” I wasn’t wearing much; I’d stripped the dress shirt off at the doctor’s request, and the pants and soft slippers on my feet were party attire. What Rygor gave me made me feel as if we were heading into battle. Familiar territory.
“Your mate had a reaction to the drug as well. Warlord Dax and Sarah were with her. When she was tested, they discovered the presence of Rush in her system.”
I paused in the middle of pulling on the armor, eyed the senior guard. “Is my mate safe? Was she harmed?” The beast threatened to break through as I waited for his answer.
“Be calm, Commander. She is well.” He cleared his throat again and his gaze met Westar’s, briefly, before darting back to me. “At least, she was when we left your home.”
I pulled the armor on over my chest, quickly settling everything in place. I felt at home in the warrior gear. It was bulky, but familiar. Comfortable even, and it helped me get into the proper mindset for what lay ahead. If Dax was delivering my armor to me, I was headed into a mission. I had to assume it involved my mate, so I was primed to kill. This time, it wasn’t the Hive that was the enemy.
“What the fuck does that mean, ’she was’? And why is she not under Warlord Dax’s protection?”
Westar finally broke his silence as he handed me a small ion blaster. “She wouldn’t allow it, Commander.”
A growl erupted and I felt my face tighten, my eyes begin to change as the beast rushed forward. I would protect Tiffani from all danger, even if it came from herself. I held him back, barely, but my voice had changed as well. My words were a deep rumble. “Explain. Now.”
Rygor handed me a pair of boots. “Put these on. We’ll tell you everything on the way. The longer this takes, the longer it’ll be before you can ask her yourself.”
I had to agree with the man.
Westar snorted. “It will all be over by then.”
I slammed first one foot, then the other into the boots. “What will be over?”
Rygor bowed slightly. “Your mate is confronting your enemy, Commander. She is under guard, but she insisted on meeting him alone.”
“My mate is confronting the enemy alone?” My question echoed off the corridor walls.
I was going to spank her ass until she couldn’t sit for a week. “Who the fuck is she confronting? Who drugged me?”
Rygor took off at a brisk pace, Westar and I falling in behind him with ease. By his steady rhythm and pacing, the way he stood up to my angry beast, I knew he’d been on the front lines, seen the enemy and survived. A warrior in the Coalition Fleet. I wondered why he did not have a mate of his own, why he would continue to serve Warlord Dax when he could have his own home, a mate to tame him.
“I’m afraid to tell you, sir, but it was your cousin.”
My steps slowed, but didn’t stop. “I don’t believe you. Tia would never fucking betray me.”
Westar shook his head, our booted feet making a steady, pounding beat as we hurried down the corridors. “Not Tia, her father. Engel Steen.”
Rygor looked back over his shoulder, worry in his eyes. “Councilor Steen.”
Those two words made my blood run cold. With a body free of Rush, with my mind finally clear, it made complete sense. And that made me run even faster.
My mate was out there, taking on one of the most powerful people on my planet, a man so well connected, so formidable, that two full crates of illegal weapons hadn’t been enough to earn him the most basic punishment. Not even a hearing.
Engel Steen was untouchable, and my stubborn, courageous little mate was trying to take him down.
Alone.
Chapter Fourteen
Tiffani
Engel Steen was an ass. A pompous, self-righteous, misogynistic, narcissistic—the list went on and on—ass. He would fit in perfectly on Earth. Hadn’t males like him been the reason why I’d left Earth in the first place?
“Tiffani, my dear, I am so very pleased to hear of your good fortune. I am sure you are eager for the commander to return home to you.” He lifted the delicate cup to his lips and beamed at me like I was his favorite fucking daughter, the brightest star on the planet, the luckiest, happiest girl around.
If I hadn’t known the truth, I would have believed every fucking word. The guy deserved an Academy Award. Keeping revulsion from my face would earn me one of my own.
“Thank you, Councilor.”
“Please, dear, we’re family. Call me cousin, or Engel.” He reached for my hand, placing his giant, gnarled one over my wrist as I was about to pour him more wine. He wore gloves, which made me want to scream at him to take them off so I could rub the tainted necklace all over him.
Little did he know, the one he kept eyeing about my neck wasn’t the same one, but a replica. The real one was in a box in Warlord Dax’s private safe. The remnants of Rush still on it. The evidence of his scheme out of his reach.
He squeezed me gently, as if offering comfort. The whole Atlan no touching rule, apparently, didn’t apply to him. Knowing all the other rules he’d broken, I doubted he respected anyone or anything.
I smiled, and hoped he simply didn’t know Earth girls well enough to read the disgust and hatred boiling just beneath the surface. “You honor me, cousin.” I changed the smile from what I hoped was welcoming to wistful and lifted my hand to the treasure he was truly after. “As you did with this generous gift. Thank you again. I know Deek will be pleased to hear about your concern. I am very flattered that you stopped by to check on me, but I assure you, I am fine.”
“Yes, dear. But you are family, and I couldn’t bear the thought of you all alone in this giant fortress waiting for him to return.” He lifted his palm from my wrist and reached for the necklace. Scumbag. “May I look at it? Would you mind? I’d like to hold it. With the commander coming home soon, I find I am feeling sentimental.”
Jackpot.
“Of course.” Lifting my hands to my neck, I quickly found the clasp and handed it to him, coiling the length in his open, gloved palm.
“Thank you, dear.” He leaned over the gold and graphite links, inspecting them and stroking each link in turn with his fingertips, as if rubbing something onto each and every piece.
And then it dawned on me, he didn’t have to steal the necklace to get
rid of the evidence; he simply had to neutralize the drug. Once it was gone, there would have been no way for us to prove anything.
He took his sweet time pretending to study it and I smiled all the while, sipping my wine and watching him until he paused with a frown and looked up at me.
“This is not the necklace I gave you, dearest cousin. Where is the other one?”
“It’s not?” I made my eyes as wide as humanly possible and leaned forward to look at the necklace. “I haven’t taken it off since you gave it to me. I haven’t even changed my clothes.”
I looked down at my party dress, now rumpled and ruined. As soon as Engel was behind bars, I was burning the thing. It had been so pretty when I first put it on, but now, now it reminded me of how much evil there was in the world. No, in the universe.
“How can you tell?”
“No, it is not the same.” He tried to smile at me, but I could finally see the strain around his eyes, the malice breaking through his façade. “The clasp is different. My grandmother’s necklace had her initials carved into the clasp.”
“Oh, no!” I put my hand to my chest in mock surprise and smirked at him as I took a sip of my wine. “What magical chemical cocktail is in your gloves? Whatever will you do if you can’t destroy the evidence? Now everyone will know that you drugged your own cousin with Rush, that you are manufacturing the most hated drug on Atlan and selling it like candy.”
I set my wine down on the table and pulled a blaster Dax had let me borrow—and shown me how to fire, just in case—from the side of my chair, pointing it at his chest. “Poor big, bad councilor man, outwitted by a stupid, fat Earth girl. How humiliating.”
His eyes narrowed as he took me in, his gaze going from the blaster resting in my hand to the open hatred in my eyes.
“What do you think you’re going to do with that, Tiffani?”
“I’m just the stupid Earth girl, right? What am I going to do? Shoot you.”
I waved the blaster at him to emphasize my words and let a few tears slide down my cheeks, part for show and partly because I was so furious with this man that my rage needed an outlet. I actually wanted to kill him, and that made me even angrier. Back home, I felt guilty killing a spider. I’d catch the damn things in a cup and take them outside.
Tamed By The Beast (Interstellar Brides Book 7) Page 13