“He implied that Ky needed to talk to him,” Brianne rushed on. “He said Ky would be in danger if he didn’t.”
“What kind of danger?” Calder rumbled from the corner.
Brianne started, clearly not having seen him there. “He didn’t say. He sounded worried, and he’s made me worried. I’ll feel better when we talk to Ky.”
So would Aiden. If Baine had called that meant Dr. Laas was concerned about something and Dr. Laas didn’t grow concerned lightly.
Aiden scraped back his chair. “Let’s go then.”
Calder rose with him. “I’ll come with you. Start at your place?”
Aiden nodded. He didn’t really want Calder in his house right now, which he’d left looking like they’d tried to have three days’ worth of sex in five minutes. But Calder was good to have along in a pinch. The huge Shareem with his face swathed to his eyeballs was a menacing sight.
He and Calder started heading down the street for Aiden’s apartment, but Brianne called to them.
“I have transport.” She motioned to a hover car with sun-blocking windows, the kind of vehicle only the very rich had. The car was on, a driver waiting inside.
“We’re Shareem,” Calder said.
“I know that, but you can’t walk faster than a hover car. Get in.”
Aiden lifted his brows. “You’d be seen getting into your transport with two Shareem?”
“This is important. Hurry.”
Calder and Aiden exchanged a glance, shrugged and went with her to the vehicle.
There was just enough room for the two large Shareem to squeeze into the passenger seat with Brianne in the middle. Cooled air wafted over them, a perfect temperature. Compartments in the barrier separating her from the driver contained drink, food, a screen for digitals and reading material.
Must be nice to be rich.
The driver, a woman in a business suit, looked askance at the two Shareem but said nothing. Aiden gave Brianne the address and Brianne keyed it into a console that would display directions to the driver.
The transport pulled swiftly and smoothly into the busy Pas City traffic without a bump. Aiden marveled at the quiet way they reached his apartment in a fraction of the time they’d have creaked along on public transport. Calder sat there like he didn’t notice, but nothing much fazed him.
The car pulled up in front of the sandstorm-stained building that housed Aiden and Ky’s residence. Brianne keyed her driver another message, then the canopy opened with efficient smoothness and the three of them piled out.
The apartment was silent, the front room empty. Calder glanced at the pile of cushions at the end of the sofa, the open tube of lube, the bottle of oil and Ky’s clothes on the floor, but made no comment.
Aiden knocked on the door of the bedroom. “Ky.”
No answer.
“Where else would he have gone?” Brianne asked, worry in her voice.
“The baths,” Calder suggested. “Or out to meet a lady.”
Aiden avoided his gaze. The feeling of being inside Ky had been wonderful. He’d finally been able to show the man he loved what he felt. He’d convinced himself that Ky felt the same, just before Ky turned around in horror and shouted at Aiden to get away from him. The hurt of that cut deep.
Ky might easily have flung himself out of the apartment to go relieve himself on a woman. But that didn’t explain the fact that Ky’s bedroom door was still locked.
Aiden knocked again. “Ky, come on. Brianne’s here.”
Aiden’s anger began to surge, and then he heard a groan from the other side of the door. Not a groan of pleasure, a groan of pain. “Ky?”
The door remained closed, and silence reigned.
“Ky.” Aiden beat on the door but got no response.
“Do you want me to call a locksmith?” Brianne pulled out a communicator.
Calder shook his head. “I can open a door.” He jerked a faceplate out of the wall near the door and gave the wires inside a few quick twists. The door slid open.
They found Ky on the floor. His eyes were closed, his naked body slick and red with blood that seeped from every pore.
* * * * *
Brianne gasped, her hands going to her face. Calder said, “What the hell…”
Aiden felt like his own blood had drained from him. He dropped to his knees beside Ky’s body. “Gods, Ky.”
Ky didn’t appear to hear them. A soft groan escaped his lips along with a trickle of blood. Aiden put his hands on Ky’s chest, feeling his heart beating way too fast, his skin roasting hot and soaked with blood.
Aiden’s hands became slick and wet with it. He stroked Ky’s shoulders, trying to use his Shareem touch to soothe his friend and ease his pain.
“He needs to go to the hospital,” Brianne said. “My driver can take him.”
Ky peeled his eyes open. They were filled with blood and it was obvious he couldn’t see them. “No. No hospital.”
“You have to.” Brianne went down on her knees, reaching for him, his blood smearing her robes. “Oh, Ky, what happened?”
Ky rolled his gaze to Aiden. Aiden felt like someone had stabbed him then kicked him in the stomach and then stomped all over him to make sure he felt it. He continued to caress, pouring out endorphins in attempt to slow Ky’s heartbeat.
“No,” Ky rasped. “You make it worse.”
He stilled. “I’m doing this?”
“We did it.” Ky’s voice weakened, and his eyes closed. “We did.”
Aiden smoothed his hand through Ky’s hair, which was soaked with blood. The ends of his own blond hair stained red where they brushed Ky’s chest.
Brianne gave them an anguished look. “How can you say no hospital? He’s dying. We have to help him.”
“I know what he means,” Calder rumbled. The big man lowered himself to one knee, black leather stretching over his massive thighs. “He needs a doctor, but not that kind.”
“What?” Brianne said blankly, but Aiden understood.
Calder touched Ky’s face, blood smearing his leather-clad fingertips. “So, my poor friend, what kind of experiments did they perform on you?”
* * * * *
Brianne didn’t understand what Aiden and Calder were talking about. Aiden was for calling this doctor they both knew, but Calder stared at Brianne in suspicion.
“She’s a d’Aroth,” Calder snarled. “The d’Aroths were all for terminating the Shareem after DNAmo shut down. We can’t trust her with this.”
“I am not those d’Aroths,” Brianne argued. “I was a child when all that happened, and I’m Ky’s friend.”
“You got him arrested.”
“How many times do I have to explain I knew nothing about it? If this doctor can help Ky, I say we call her.”
“I say you go back to your safe fortress and leave us to deal with this.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m not leaving while Ky is in danger. If you won’t let me take him where he can get help—we have a private hospital with the best doctors on Bor Narga—then I’m staying.”
Calder’s half hidden face was fearsome. “He doesn’t need a human doctor. He needs a Shareem specialist, and you outlawed them and drove them away.”
Aiden broke in. “Calder, shut the hell up and call Baine. I’ll vouch for her.”
Calder looked at Brianne as though he’d like to lift her in one giant fist and fling her out into the street. He was a frightening man, covered in black leather, blue eyes blazing over his cloths that hid his mouth and nose.
At the same time he exuded a predatory sexuality that must have women throwing themselves at his feet. She had no idea why he didn’t removed his face covering even inside, but it added to his air of mystery.
Right now, he was angry at Brianne for even existing. He slammed out of the room, and Brianne didn’t dare follow him.
Aiden had moved Ky’s head into his lap. Blood still seeped from Ky as though every vessel inside him had burst.
&nbs
p; Tears slid silently down Brianne’s face. “I don’t want to lose him.”
Aiden raised his head, his eyes dry and fierce. “I can’t lose him. He’s everything to me.”
Brianne wiped away her tears, knowing she stained her cheeks with traces of Ky’s blood. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Aiden’s voice was hollow. “If Dr. Laas can’t… I don’t know.”
Brianne reached for his hand. Aiden held it hard, his Shareem strength almost crushing her.
Calder strode back into the room. “She’s coming.”
Aiden lifted his head. “She’s coming here? She never leaves her compound.”
“We can’t exactly drag Ky there without attracting attention. Besides, she said not to move him.”
“Who said?” Brianne asked him.
Calder glared down at her. “You have to go.”
“Let her stay,” Aiden growled.
“We can’t risk her knowing. She leaves, she doesn’t know, she can’t do anything.”
“I trust her.”
“Good for you.”
Brianne rose to her feet. “I don’t think you understand. I will do everything in my power to help Ky. If I’m not supposed to know who this doctor is, then I won’t ask. I swear that to you. I only want Ky to be all right.”
“She stays.” The words grated from Ky. “I want her.”
“Don’t try to talk,” Aiden said. He wiped the blood from Ky’s lips with the corner of his tunic then flinched when Ky began to cough.
Calder transferred his glare to Brianne. “Then you go out there and tell your driver to go home. Send your guards away and take off every body monitor you’re wearing, or I’ll do it for you.”
She imagined his huge gloved hands probing her body, ripping the monitors from her pulse points. She had the feeling the sensation would make Ky’s spankings seem like being stroked with a feather.
“Fine,” Brianne said, backing away a step. “I’ll do this your way.”
She removed her bloodstained outer robe and put her hands under her dress to peel off the monitor probes under his scrutinizing gaze. She crumpled the wires and marched out of the apartment to thrust them into the hands of her startled driver.
The driver did not want to leave Brianne in what she termed a disreputable part of town, but Brianne overrode her. She punched up Harbourgh on the car’s console and told him what she wanted. Harbourgh was a hardcore bodyguard, but he had worked for Brianne long enough to trust her.
“Yes, my lady,” he said.
The driver was less enthusiastic, but obeyed orders. The hover car slid gently away as Brianne watched, its wake stirring her hair.
Only a few moments after her driver disappeared, another transport slid to a halt in front of the building. A person emerged so swathed in cloths that it was hard to tell if it was male or female. The second person out of the hover car was Rees.
Brianne hurried across the street to dive into the building just behind them. Rees looked down at her with the same suspicion as Calder, but with one difference. Rees’ expression told her that if Brianne tried to betray them, he’d take care of it. No need for threats, he’d just do it.
They entered the apartment and Rees locked the door behind them. The doctor removed her face cloths and outer robes, revealing a trim woman of about forty or so in a body-hugging pantsuit. She glanced at Brianne without interest, her gaze swiveling to Calder, who waited for them.
“Hello, Calder,” she said in some surprise.
Calder gave her a curt nod.
“He’s in here,” Aiden called.
The woman stepped calmly over the mess in the living room and entered the bedroom. “Oh dear.”
“Can you help him?” Brianne asked.
“That all depends.” She knelt by Ky and touched his face. “It’s Dr. Laas, Ky. They put nano-implants in you, didn’t they?”
Ky dragged his eyes open but didn’t focus on anything. “Yes.”
“With a specific trigger. Yes, I remember those experiments. I thought they’d shut them down.”
“Specific trigger?” Aiden asked. “What are you talking about?”
“He never told you? Experiments were run to discover whether unacceptable behavior could be eradicated by embedding nano-computers inside Shareem. Brain chemicals produced during the unacceptable behavior would trigger the implants to cause—oh, pain, nausea, shock—whatever the scientists wanted. They were questionable experiments, and I opposed them. Not that anyone listened to me.”
“So he did something ‘unacceptable’?” Calder asked.
Dr. Laas nodded. “I would guess when Aiden and he began to make love the nano-computers decided it was a step too far.”
Aiden’s face drained of color. “I did this to him?”
“I’m afraid so.” Dr. Laas put a kind hand on his shoulder. “You weren’t to know.”
Calder’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing. Rees remained stoic.
“It doesn’t matter how it happened,” Brianne broke in. “What matters is whether you can help him.”
Dr. Laas slanted her a grateful glance. “I will have to go in surgically. The question is whether I can remove the implants at all—they might have tied them to vital functions.”
A muscle in Aiden’s throat moved. “In other words, removing them could kill him.”
“Yes.” Dr. Laas’ eyes were somber.
“They’re killing him now,” Brianne pointed out.
“So I’ll have to take the risk.” Dr. Laas got briskly to her feet. She pulled Aiden against her in a fond hug, kissing the top of his head. “I’ll do my best, Aiden, don’t you worry.”
Brianne’s concern ran to more practical matters. “Where will you do the surgery? You’ll need to take him somewhere, and I gather you’re not exactly free to come and go as you please.”
Dr. Laas focused on her. “My dear, I am outlawed. If anyone finds out I’m still alive and on Bor Narga, my termination will be immediate. The statute of limitations on me hasn’t run out yet.”
As Brianne absorbed this, Calder said, “She’s a d’Aroth.”
“Really?” Dr. Laas peered at Brianne like she was a unique specimen. “A d’Aroth who likes Shareem. How interesting.”
Brianne blushed, and Dr. Laas grinned suddenly. “Lucky you. I don’t have to take him anywhere, I can do the surgery right here. That’s what Baine and transport devices are for. That is, if I can find an uncluttered surface on which to lay him. The researchers never thought to breed tidiness into Shareem. Such an oversight.”
So saying, she hauled open the bag she’d brought with her and removed a small rectangular surface about two feet square. She set this the middle of the room and pulled out a handheld. “Orient on me, please, Baine. I’ll need…”
She trailed off into technical jargon and soon had a pile of accoutrements glittering on the transport pad. She sorted through these while Calder and Rees cleared off Ky’s bed and Aiden lifted him gently onto it.
Ky moaned as Aiden laid him down and the sheets quickly soaked with blood. Ky reached up and touched Aiden’s lips. “Not your fault.”
“You should have told me,” Aiden said softly.
“Thought it didn’t matter anymore. I guess my statute of limitations…didn’t run out.” He tried to grin then drifted into unconsciousness.
“Good,” Dr. Laas said briskly. “Easier if he’s already out. The rest of you clear off. I don’t need Shareem falling over when I start digging into him. The room is too small.”
* * * * *
For three hours, Brianne and Aiden waited in the living room while Dr. Laas worked behind Ky’s closed bedroom door. They heard no noise from the bedroom, no indication whether her surgery was working or if Ky lay dying even now.
Calder waited with them, a silent hulk of man sitting in a chair, long legs stretched out in front of him. He never removed his face covering. Rees paced for a time, then moved to the tiny window in the back,
leaning against the frame.
At first Brianne absently began to tidy the living room, putting away the lube and rearranging the pillows, but after the first half-hour, she gave up and came to sit beside Aiden on the couch. Aiden sat as one stunned, his Shareem blue eyes fixed, his mouth twisted in worry.
By the end of the second hour, Aiden had gathered Brianne into his lap and held her close. He buried his face in her neck, his hot tears dripping onto her skin. She rested against him, trying to comfort him, as grief-stricken as he was.
When the door finally slid back Brianne sprang nervously to her feet and Rees turned. Aiden stood up behind her, his hands moving to her waist. Calder rose more slowly, but his gaze fastened to Dr. Laas as avidly.
Dr. Laas sighed and scrubbed her hand through her hair. The skin around her eyes was tight and her mouth drooped in exhaustion.
“Well,” she said. “It was tough, but I got ‘em.”
Brianne let out the breath she was holding and heard Aiden’s loud exhale of relief. She turned and hugged him, Aiden’s strong arms going around her tight, tight.
Dr. Laas sank into the chair Calder had vacated and sighed again. “I forget I’m such a genius until a real challenge comes along. The little buggers were built with defenses and the ability to lay dormant for decades. But I found them all. Takes more than microscopic computers to get the better of me.”
She spoke brightly, but her eyelids drooped and Brianne sensed her tension. She’d been scared she wouldn’t succeed.
“Thank you,” Brianne said.
“You’re welcome, my dear.”
Aiden rose in silence and went into the bedroom, the door shutting behind him.
“Ky’s all right now?” Rees asked.
“He will be. Back to normal. Well, as normal as a Shareem can be.”
Calder shot another suspicious glance at Brianne and wouldn’t look at Dr. Laas at all. “If he’s all right, I’ll go. I have an appointment.”
Brianne rose. “Thank you for your help, Calder.” She stuck out her hand.
Calder gave it a bemused glance then clasped it in silence, his grip strong. He walked out of the apartment without a backward glance, hot air from the hall whooshing in before the door closed again.
Tales of the Shareem 04 - Aiden and Ty Page 15