The Unveiling

by Shyla Colt

  “I know. I wish we'd done this sooner."

  "Well, Shar Connection is fairly new," Drusi said. "I actually saw an ad for it when I was surfing the net, and I couldn’t resist digging a little deeper."

  "It's brilliant, whoever thought of it." Riv booted up the computer and opened up the Internet. "What's the web address?"

  "It's www.Sharconnect.com."

  The two of them moved closer together as the site came up. Fast tempo music played, and an image of Earth and Tagett appeared.

  Whether you're looking for the love of your life or some fun companionship, this site will help you find a romance that's out of this world. The tag line made them both giggle. A screen popped up on the side and a woman with olive skin, amber eyes and dark teal hair spoke.

  "Here at Shar Connect we use tests, questions, and graphs to find you a match that will place you with your ideal date. We take the business of dating seriously, and so should you. No more blind dates with people you have nothing in common with, or settling. Give us a try. The first month is free."

  "Perfect, Rivka, let's get you started," Drusi said.

  As they set up her profile they talked about the type of Bonding Ceremony Drusi had always dreamed of, and Rivka was content. She might not have her happily ever after, but she had taken control of a situation that had long plagued her. She needed to get rid of the bitterness souring her soul, or she wouldn’t be much good to anyone. As it stood she wasn't sure if she'd want to bond with her mate or kill him. A real man never kept a lady waiting, and she'd been on hold for a mighty long time. Mating response or not, he had a lot to answer for.

  Chapter Five

  Buzz. The vibration of his phone on the counter made him scowl. He set the reconnaissance file on his desk, glanced at the screen, and rolled his eyes. Since he'd gone with Mars to Among the Stars, his baby brother had been relentless in his pursuit to get him out again. He'd had a good time with Beckey, but he didn't feel the urge to repeat the experience. There was no spark. Not like the one he'd felt when he saw Rivka. He placed a hand over his head and growled. "Fuck." What he'd hoped would make him feel better had driven home the point he set out to disprove. Rivka had the potential to be the most important person in his life. Denying The Wanting never ended well. You'd go insane, become bitter, or never be truly fulfilled. It was a grim future. One he wanted no part of, henceforth, The Purge. His cock came to life as he pictured her wicked curves hinted at under the black material of the traditional garb. Her amethyst eyes popped against her brown skin and color changing hair. I wonder what color it turns when she comes. His mind filled with vivid images of the priestess sprawled across his bed, head tossed back, full lips parted, ample breasts heaving.

  It felt wrong to want someone who was such an important figure on such a visceral level. He adjusted his length and moaned aloud as sensation shot through his body. He hadn't felt like this since he was a teenager. Bastien massaged the prominent bulge. His eyes drifted closed. His breathing grew ragged. He unzipped his jeans in search of more contact. Freed from his cloth boxers, he wrapped his large hand around his quivering shaft and stroked up. He pumped faster, squeezed tighter. Sparks of pleasure fired, setting his body aflame. His legs shook, and his balls drew up as he released a stream of blue-tinged liquid. The warm cream ran down his hand, onto his wrist and pants. Still he continued to come. Drenched in his own juices he pushed away from the desk and walked into his bathroom.

  He stripped down and studied his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were dilated, and his tan skin was splotchy and flushed. I’m out of control. It wasn't an emotion he was used to. Bastien stuffed the splattered clothing into his hamper and turned on the shower with his powers. He'd never been one to remain in denial. Rivka was his mate. What did he do about it? Bastien climbed into the shower, placing his head against the tile as the hot water rained down on his skin. Did he want this? His first instinct was to keep his distance, but that was impossible with her planning the ceremony. He closed his eyes and ducked his head under the showerhead.

  The joy that was supposed to follow the reveal of his mate didn't come. Whether it was due to The Purge or the fact that he was used to being along he couldn't say. The thought of holding someone else's happiness in his hands terrified him. Emotions weren’t something he'd understand. He'd set them aside since he was eleven and shipped off for training. “I know it’s not easy. The life of a warrior is a hard one. You’ll have to make many sacrifices, but it will be for the good of many. It’s time for you to become a man. The time of childhood has passed.” The last words his Father spoke to him in person danced in his brain. His heart gave a twinge as regret flooded in. He'd never forgiven his father for the brush off he'd given him that day and then his parents were gone. I'm not wired for this shit. I'm acting like Zasha, and she's three months pregnant. I never wanted any of this! That's why I did The Purge in the first place.

  He scrubbed himself down, rinsed off, and stepped onto the rug, snatching a black towel off the rack. The bottom had dropped out of his world, and he was scrambling for purchase. Millions of questions he couldn’t answer bombarded him like enemy fire. His head felt too small. The walls around him seemed to close in. He rushed through dressing in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a pull over. Bastien slipped on a pair of gym shoes and called Mars back. He needed to get out, take his minds off things.

  "Hey Bro, I thought you were going to blow me off like you usually do," Mars said.

  "I was thinking about it."

  "Ha ha. You up for some pizza and beer, just the brothers."

  "I'm down for a boy's night," Bastien said.

  "Wow, my Earth speak is clearly wearing off on you," Mars said.

  "I know how to adapt to my surroundings."

  "Yes, you do." There was sadness in Mars’ voice that made him frown.

  "You okay?" Bastien asked.

  "I'm fine. It just sucks how we grew up apart from the others. Phelan and Kade had one another, but I was on Earth and you were on Cinth training. It's marked us in a way, set us apart the others. I'm more human than Shar most days and up until very recently you've been like the Tin Man, unable to really feel or at least express those emotions to others."

  "Tin man?" Bastien asked.

  "Wizard of Oz?"

  "What are you on about, Mars?"

  "Ugh, you really need to get in touch with some pop culture. It's one of the best things about Earth."

  "If you say so."

  "Okay, I'm taking this personal here, Bastien."

  He chuckled. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Same as you give me." A silence fell between them.

  "Mars?"

  "I'm still here."

  "You got so quiet I thought the call dropped."

  "Who is she?" Mars asked.

  "Who is who?"

  "Your mate. I noticed a change in you for a while, but I chalked it up to the lack of war and new environment. Now I know there's more."

  "Because I made a joke?"

  "Yes."

  Jesus, what kind of robot have I been all these years?

  "Listen, it's not what you think," Bastien said.

  "Then what is it like? I don't like secrets, Bast. They never amount to any good, especially one that's causing such a drastic change."

  "I took The Purge when I was seventeen." The words were out of his mouth before he could think to stop them.

  "I knew it! I've known plenty of soldiers in my time, and they party even harder than me. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things, but you have no vices. Not drinking, gambling, video games, nothing. It was unnatural even by Shar standards."

  He could picture his brother's blue eyes blazing with excitement at the puzzle piece that had snapped into place.

  "Did everyone suspect?"

  "If they do they've never said anything," Mars said. It felt right having his baby brother know for some reason. They'd gotten close in the past year as Phelan, who he'd been closest to, drifted away as he courted
and married Zasha.

  "Good. I want to keep this between us for as longs as I can manage."

  "Sure—but why? I mean, isn't this a good thing?" Mars asked.

  "It's complicated."

  "Meaning I still don't know the whole story." Amusement peppered Mar's voice, and Bastien rolled his eyes.

  "Yeap." A heartbeat passed.

  "You're not going to enlighten me?" Mars asked.

  "Not yet—soon I may be forced to." The thought of trying to court anyone without guidance sent him into a blind panic. Fate knew what it was doing when it appointed him the role of warrior, because he was shit with emotion.

  "How about this? Relax for tonight. Come out with us, have a few beers, and learn what life is really like with no filter."

  "How'd you get so smart, Marsden?"

  "I had three older brothers who left a pretty big impression on me."

  Bastien couldn’t help but smile at the kind words.

  "Before this becomes a Lifetime movie, I'm going to hang up and get dressed. See you soon, bro."

  "Lifetime?" Half the time Bastien felt like Mars was speaking another language.

  "Look it up."

  The dial tone sounded, and Bastien scowled. "I need a dictionary to understand what the hell he's talking about." The corners of his mouth curved upward into a smile, despite his grumbling. This was why Marsden was such a ladies man. His charisma was off the charts.

  Thirty minutes later he was in a booth at the local wing spot with Kade and Mars, waiting on Phelan to arrive.

  Mars glanced at the black Rolex on his wrist. "Where is he?"

  Kade took a drink of the house lager and answered. "With the wedding coming up in a month we're lucky we got him to come out at all."

  "In his defense, after what happened to Zasha you can't blame the man for being overprotective," Bastien said.

  "Spoken like a true General," Mars said, saluting him with his beer.

  Bastien rolled his eyes and glanced up. "Speak of the Sharian." Phelan was headed toward them, long legs eating up the wooden floor to join them at the table in the back of the bar.

  "Sorry I'm so late. I was at the cake tasting."

  "At least it was something fun this time because the color china pattern thing—" Mars dropped his head and pretended to snore.

  "I can't wait until The Wanting knocks you on your ass." Phelan shook his head as they all burst into laughter.

  "I promise you when it does it won't be a grand affair. Three words, simple, personal, and meaningful." Kade grinned.

  "You have no clue what kind of women your mate will be," Phelan said.

  "It doesn't matter. Mars can convince anyone to do anything," Bastien said.

  "Not with this one," Phelan said as he shook his head. "That'd make things too easy. Mars would get bored."

  "Can we stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Mars asked.

  "Not fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?" Bastien asked.

  "Mhmm," Mars said. His response was lost behind the mug he was drinking from. Kade and Phelan snickered. The waitress returned with a fresh pitcher.

  "What can I get you?" she asked, flashing Phelan a friendly smile.

  "Just a cold mug," Phelan said.

  "You got it." She set the fresh pitcher on the table, removed the empty and sashayed her way back to the front counter.

  "How's Zasha doing? I feel like I don’t see much of her even though we live in the same house," Kade said.

  "Working more than I'd like, she's obsessed with finding Tavel. I think it helps her cope with what happened. No one wants to get the son of a bitch more than me, but not at the expense of her health. She puts in full days on top of the wedding planning. I have to say I'll be happy when all of this is over."

  The waitress returned with a mug. Bastien poured while Phelan thanked her. The man needed to relax.

  "I know asking you to relax is out of the question. But we're all doing everything possible to find him," Kade said. "I'm working on tracking down the chemical compounds and their origins."

  "I'm keeping my ear out for any news on his whereabouts, and I have others being my ears and eyes. It’s a matter of time until we hit pay dirt," Mars said.

  "I can assure you our men are ready to go and dedicated to you and the Queen," Bastien said. He could see some of the tension drain from his older brother.

  "Thanks for the support. I'm new to this whole husband thing and when you add the Daddy to be title on top of King—it gets a little crazy."

  "We're always here for you, bro. You just gotta say the word," Mars said as they all made sounds of agreement.

  Bastien clapped Phelan on the back. Normally he'd be oblivious, but now he could see the strain around his eyes and the thinner frame he was sporting. How long had it been this way? Phe had a lot on his plate. They took his strength and resilience for granted. At least he had. His quest to be the best had backfired. It was his job as Phelan's right-hand man to notice these things. He'd been blinded before by his inability to see what wasn't black or white. It'd been a dangerous blind spot. His stomach churned. He'd stopped believing in coincidence a long time ago. With Tavel on the loose, the first heir on the way, and the beginning of the integration of the P.I.U. with the Shar fighting force, The Purge was fading now for a reason. The winds of change were blowing in, and they needed to be ready.

  ****

  Tavel flicked on the light in the small home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was time to start collecting all of those seeds he'd planted over the years. He hadn't wanted to do it this soon, but Phelan and that traitorous daughter of his forced his hand. They were seeking him with a vengeance. He'd been playing this game a long time, and knew how to stay hidden. Here was where he'd cultivated one of his strongest specimens, Charlie. Younger than Zasha, he'd shown great promise from the time he was a small boy. Tavel could sense the power in him each time he visited, posing as the brother of the boy's deceased father, who wanted to make sure Charlie was doing okay. He'd made the mother forget their relationship. It would only cause friction between them when he traveled and disappeared off the grid when he went underground. Not to mention, pretending to care was a waste of energy and time. These two things were very precious to him since he couldn’t get either back, and what he was living on was borrowed. He'd been trying to create a super Shar, a being that was smarter, faster, and possessed a longer life span. What he'd ended up doing was turning himself into some sort of a genetic anomaly. That was when he'd had to expand the testing to other people. He'd been too compromised to continue using himself. Then he'd noticed the aging and desperation set in.

  Most thought he'd killed the royals for revenge, but the truth was, he'd killed them for their blood. The D'Shar were the oldest family on Tagget. Introducing their genetic make-up into his system hadn't reversed what he'd done. But it'd halted the progression of aging and complete breakdown of his cells. Instead of making himself impenetrable he’d accelerated a flaw he hadn’t even known existed. He'd drained them dry like a vampire and used what he'd kept with him sparingly, knowing his time was limited. That's why he'd chosen Earth. They had the most compatible physiology. All signs pointed to Zasha being the key. Of course, now, she'd been tarnished. His lips curled up into a sneer at the memory. Another thirty minutes and he'd have terminated the abomination inside of her, turning her back into his miracle cure. He dropped his duffle back onto the wooden floor inside of the door way, locked the door with his powers, and headed into the bathroom, turning on the light.

  The face that greeted him in the mirror was already altered. Lines had appeared around his eyes and mouth. His hair looked less blond and more white. His back ached, and he knew if he ran tests he'd discover his body mass had decreased. He'd diluted the royal blood as much as he'd dared. Only a few more doses remained. He'd use one of them tonight. Tomorrow he'd go see Charlie.

  Chapter Six

  Rivka checked her appearance in the mirror. She was dressy casual, in a
pair of black slacks, three inch, black heels, and an off the shoulder red sweater, paired with a silver, crescent moon pendant and earring set. Given to her by her family when she was young, the set always brought her good luck. I could use that going into my first blind date. She'd been talking to Scott, an open minded human, with a sweet tooth, love for live music, classic literature, and trying new things. He worked as an English teacher in a high school, had shoulder-length, chocolate brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a slender build. He was taller than her at six-two, and had what she referred to as good vibrations.

  She couldn't see auras over the computer, but she had a feeling Scott's would be yellow. He was a perfect starting point. Rivka felt a real connection with him. Whether it was romantic or not remained to be seen. They were headed to Sweet Treat, a new shop that specialized in drink and dessert combinations, from gourmet coffee and cheesecake to crème brûlée and champagne. Knock Knock. She turned toward her door, eyebrows raised. Visions of an emergency situation danced in her head. She opened the door. Her jaw dropped. "Drusi! What are you doing here?" Her friend giggled.

  "You didn't think I'd actually let you go off to your first blind date without a best friend once over and a pep talk, did you?"

  "Yes, you should be in seclusion right now–"

  Drusi held up a hand. "I don't care what I have going on in my life. You are my best friend, and I will always be there for you. The same way I know you would be for me. I love you, Rivka, he might as well get used to sharing my time with you now."

  She reached out, bent down, and embraced her, inhaling the familiar scent of flowers and Drusi.

  "I love you too, Dru. Thank you for being here." They pulled apart, and Drusi took her hands, stepping back to examine her outfit.

  "You look fantastic. How do you feel?"

  "Nervous, excited."

  "I'm so glad you agreed to do this, Riv. You’re going to have a blast."

  Rivka smiled. I sure hope so. Her watch beeped.

  "Oh, it's getting late. I need to head out."