“Let’s take things one step at a time. We might yet win this. When Justern is released, I’m going to offer my house as a place he can stay. They won’t allow the embassy because it’s not human property, and I think he needs to stay away from campus for a while. I’ll get a request for bail to be set first thing Monday morning. You handle the PR, and I’ll get the paperwork ready to file a case against the police. Tamara, did you want to go back to campus or home?”
“Campus. As much as I hate to remember, I do have homework. And the others are going to want to know what happened.” She took a breath. “Dad, what about Grandma?”
Peter turned on the car. “I think maybe it’s time for Grandma to go home for a while.”
Tamara hardly dared breathe. Her grandmother did not live with them normally—she had just never left after her mother got sick. Would her father stand up to her? He never had before, at least not overtly.
“Don’t worry about it, Tammy. I’ll take care of it tonight. I don’t think she’s going to want to be around when the house is full of Azellians.” Peter backed the car out of the parking stall.
“What about Mom?”
Peter glanced at Merran.
Merran studied him for a moment. “Maybe once Greg’s feeling better, he can have a look at her. If you’d like.”
Peter nodded once. “That would not be refused.”
The drive back to campus and the embassy was not far. Peter dropped Tamara off first. She got out of the car, wanting to say something to Merran, but in the presence of her father and not knowing what she might say that would be helpful, she remained silent. She watched them drive off, praying briefly that things would turn out all right.
She made her way to Alarin’s room first, figuring they would want to know.
Alarin answered the door on the first knock. “See, Mel, it is Tamara.” His greeting was actually a comment to Mellis, who was sitting behind him. “I bet she was visiting with Justern and her father.” He stood back to let her in.
Tamara stepped into the room. Mellis was sprawled on Alarin’s bed, her face and eyes red. She looked at Tamara and got to her knees. “Have you seen him?”
Tamara nodded. “He’s all right.”
Mellis fell back on the bed. “Oh the aarya help me, when Greg told us he was near death—” She shivered, sinking into sobs.
Alarin closed the door behind Tamara and walked over to Mellis. He slipped an arm around her shoulders, and Mellis turned into his chest, sobbing. He soothed her for a moment, then asked Tamara, “Was he awake?”
“I talked to him for a while. He’s fine and he does remember everything that happened.” She didn’t mention what Merran or her father had said about the consequences. “He didn’t do it.”
“Of course not!” Mellis flared, turning to Tamara. “He would never force someone against their will!”
“Hush, Mel, she just said that.” Alarin looked up at Tamara again. “How is his psi?”
“Merran said he was in a lot of pain, but he was clear. Justern confirmed to me that he was in quite a bit of pain, but I imagine that will go away soon.”
Mellis lifted her head and sniffed. “Where is he going to be? I want to see him. They wouldn’t tell us anything.”
“If he makes bail, he’ll be out on Monday and be free to see anyone.”
Mellis glared at her, the only human in the room for her to lash out at. She and Tamara were friends, but they’d only been friends for a few weeks. Justern and Mellis had been friends for most of her life. Mellis couldn’t fathom the ordeal Justern would have to face because of certain humans. “What’s bail?”
“He has to pay the court money and agree not to leave the area, but he’ll be free to move around within the city itself.”
Mellis’s face went very red. “But he’s innocent! Why don’t they just let him go?”
“Because humans can’t read memories or the truth, Mel. Don’t yell at Tamara here. She didn’t make human laws, and the day we arrived on this planet we agreed to abide by them,” Alarin interrupted. “Calm down.” There was a sharp note to his voice that Tamara had never heard before.
Mellis quivered on the bed for a brief moment before she relaxed and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” She directed the comment at Tamara. “I—Justy … I just can’t believe they’re treating him like this. I hate to see him in this situation.”
“It’s okay. If it’s any consolation, I hate it too. I really do wish we could read memories and dig out the truth, but we can’t.”
Alarin added a comment before Mellis could go on. “So Justern goes to trial in a human court?”
Tamara nodded. “My father is defending him. He’ll do what he can.”
“Well, I think we should all go have dinner. There isn’t much we can do about this right now.” Alarin slid off the bed. “I, for one, am hungry. Would you like to join us, Tamara?”
“Okay. I was going to do my homework, but I think I’m too distracted.” Tamara followed Alarin to the door.
The idea of dinner turned out not to be such a good one after all. Shortly after Mellis, Alarin, and Tamara got plates of food and settled down at a table, a group of young women took seats at the other end.
“God, how did you survive it, Joely?” one of them asked. “It must have been horrible!”
The young woman named Joely shuddered. “It was.” Tears filled her eyes, making her eyelashes spiky. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust anyone again.”
“I can’t believe it,” one of the others said. “When I slept with him, I never imagined he would hit someone or do those awful things. It makes me sick!”
“Do you think he’s going to come back on campus? Do you think he might try to come after us?” a third said. “Maybe get his Azellian friends to come after us, too?”
“After my father’s done with him, I don’t think he will dare show his face on campus again,” Joely tossed her long, blond hair over a shoulder. “And if he did, I’d just slap a restraining order on him. As for the others, they won’t dare do anything.”
“How did you get away to call the police?” one of the others asked her. Obviously loving to be the center of attention, Joely launched into her story again.
Mellis trembled beside Tamara as they all realized who the girls were talking about. Tamara’s stomach wrapped itself into one hard knot.
“Alarin,” Mellis hissed.
“I hear,” Alarin said coldly. He stood up, leaving his tray, and headed for the end of the table. “Good evening,” he said, interrupting the conversation between the girls. They looked up at him, their mouths gaping open. He stopped behind Joely, slightly off to the side, not quite looming over her but letting her feel his presence. “I hope you’re having a pleasant conversation, because what I can hear of it down the table I would prefer not to.”
Tamara and Mellis joined Alarin on the other side of Joely. Joely twisted to see who was standing near her and went pale.
“Among us Azellians, there is nothing worse than spreading rumors. Do you know how we know when someone is spreading untrue rumors?” Alarin leaned over, resting his hands on the table beside her. He did not touch Joely, or even come close enough to be in her space. All he did was meet her eyes directly. “Did you set up Justern, Joely?” There was that note in his voice again, that echoing whiplash, much stronger now, too strong to be denied.
Joely struggled not to answer. Fear slowly grew in her eyes. Fear of what? Tamara wondered. She knew Alarin knew why Joely was afraid. Beside her, so did Mellis. Tamara stared at Joely too, willing herself to hear whatever it was Alarin and Mellis did. And she did hear it, abruptly, in an overwhelming wash of emotions. Fear—no, terror—pulsed through every heartbeat, every breath. What is she afraid of? Those green eyes boring into hers? Tamara thought, in the middle of the deluge of emotions washing through her.
The voices held her, gripped her in coils that squeezed tighter and tighter. Confused images. A body, warm skin. Juster
n, eyes wide, laughing at her. Other students laughing. Embarrassment. Justern’s refusal, at first gentle, then increasingly acerbic. His humiliation of her in front of other students. Another rejection from someone else. Justern’s face tangled in with another’s. Eric, her ex, dark-haired, physically similar to Justern. Fury. Anger. Twisted hate. Images. Images of a strong, wiry young body wrapped around hers. Eric’s or Justern’s? Did it matter? Then, clearly Justern, snoring loudly in drunken stupor. Getting the evidence, forcing it. Pain, the hard length of the footboard as she slammed it into her own stomach to make it look as though he’d hit her. Finally, and the most damning, Justern asking blearily behind her what she was doing before passing out again. I will make him pay, Tamara heard with that part of her mind that had just come awake. Justern hurt me, and he will pay. He will pay for every humiliation I have suffered. Being deported in disgrace is about perfect. How dare this jerk standing in front of me question me? There is no way I am going to say yes.
But she would. There was an irresistible urge to say it. I can’t lie. Not with those eyes staring at me.
Tamara had had enough, especially realizing that the images were of her brother. She gagged and almost went to her knees. Once turned on, however, her damned abilities could not be stopped, threatening to overwhelm her. The other girls around Joely, all of them in various stages of fear, near belief, and titillated sensibilities, radiated enough emotion to drive her to her knees. Alarin’s cold anger, Mellis’s indignation and fury, her own disgust and anger, other students discussing this, the big event on campus, the rumors flying despite anyone’s best attempt to stop them, the sudden sharp curiosity as it appeared that they were going to witness a fainting spell. Tamara fought it all, trying not to collapse.
Alarin released Joely from his will just in time to see Tamara go grey and sway on her feet, radiating freely. Mellis, she’s going to be sick. We’ve got to get her out of here! He ignored Joely and came around to Tamara, completely dismissing the girls. He threw a shield up around Tamara as Mellis helped her walk out, supporting her with telekinesis so it appeared that Tamara was walking on her own.
They managed to get Tamara back to Alarin’s room. Although it seemed she was close to it, she did not get sick. She did develop the migraine, though. Her head pounded, her eyes watered, and she thought her brain was going to swell out the top of her head.
Alarin’s touch soothed. It chased back some of the pain. Not as much as Greg’s Healing, but enough that she could function. She lay on his bed with a wet cloth on her forehead and eyes, two painkillers in her stomach.
“Tamara, can you hear me?”
Tamara opened her eyes and squinted at him from under the cloth. He crouched by her head, his hand still lightly touching her forehead. Mellis was nowhere to be seen. “What are you doing?” Tamara asked.
“Shunting your migraine a bit. I can’t heal it, but I can take some of it so you’re not feeling the whole thing.”
“So you’re feeling my migraine right now?” Tamara closed her eyes again. It hurt too much to open them.
“Yes.” Alarin stroked her hair.
Tamara moved her head. “Stop that. You don’t need to suffer an episode with me.”
“Hush,” Alarin ordered and somehow that order could not be disobeyed. His hand returned to her hair. “I need to know what you saw, Tamara. As unpleasant as it was.”
“Don’t you know?” Tamara coughed a little, then froze as her head pounded. “Ow.”
“I knew she was lying and that she would have said yes if I had pushed her a little harder, but she was fighting pretty hard. It took most of my concentration to keep her docile.”
Tamara turned her head restlessly, then stilled as the movement sent shards of pain flying through her brain. “Didn’t Mellis see it? Please, don’t let me be the only one who saw into the cesspool that’s her brain. Ow!”
“That girl has some formidable defenses. Mellis only caught the whiff of lying, not any of the details. You’ve got a migraine, which means you had another episode, didn’t you? Did you see anything?”
“Ow. Yes. Not a damned bit of it is going to be admissible in court, Alarin. From what I saw, Justy’s telling the truth. He was too drunk to rape anyone.” She coughed, fighting back her nausea. “Ow. God, don’t make me relive it. He’s my brother, Alarin. I didn’t want to see what I saw. Could Greg get rid of my memories of it?”
“It may not be admissible in human court, Tamara, but the Council will need to see it. Justern is not only going to be on trial here but at home too.” Alarin continued to stroke her hair and her nausea abated. He rested his chin on the bed. “And if he doesn’t win the court case here, he’s going to need the truth on his side when he gets home, or he might as well move to Ather. And yes, Greg can blur what you remember once he reads your memories of it for the Council.”
Although her stupid abilities were once more locked safely behind walls, she suddenly knew Alarin was well aware of what this court case might lead to, including the larger possible political repercussions. “Why did you force Joely tonight? You know how touchy this situation is. What if she calls rape on you? Or tries to say you assaulted her?”
Alarin’s hand stilled. “I lost my temper. I do that sometimes. To hear her telling everyone that Justern hit her … I wanted her to know some of us know the truth and could force it out of her if we wanted.”
Tamara shrugged and winced. “Ow. God damned headache. I guess we have more than we started with, as much as I hate the fact that it’s lodged in my brain.”
Alarin surprised her by leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the cheek. “Even if we do all get sent home, Tamara, I’m very glad we’ve had the opportunity to know you. It will have been worth everything.” He stood up.
Tamara smiled, feeling the brush of his lips on her cheeks long after she should have. “Thank you, Alarin. That may even make the memory I’m holding bearable. Where’s Mel?”
“We can’t reach Merran, so she went to the embassy to find him.” Alarin moved to sit on his desk. “Why don’t you sleep? The pain will be gone in the morning.”
“Not in your bed,” Tamara protested faintly. She moved and her migraine threatened to explode again.
“I don’t have the energy tonight to carry you home, Tamara. You need to sleep or the migraine will be back. I’ll be fine. Sleep.”
Again, that whiplash of command. Tamara found herself drifting off, despite her intentions. Of all the talents she had seen the Azellians display, this one had to be the most terrifying, she thought, with a sudden surge of sympathy for Joely. What would it have it been like to resist that force of mind, that irresistible command? Not pleasant, she thought. But then she remembered the confused cesspool she’d been forced to watch and she was suddenly glad. Pleasant wasn’t something Joely deserved. Tamara fell asleep hoping the other girl had nightmares.
Chapter Nine
TAMARA WOKE THE NEXT morning almost as disoriented as the day before. Blinking up at the ceiling, her kinetic sense off balance, she told herself that waking up in strange beds would have to stop. As her memory slowly returned, she turned her head to look for Alarin. Other than a pile of blankets on the floor, she saw no sign of him. As she stretched and yawned, Tamara glanced over at the clock. It’s only seven. Where did he go? She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
The door opened then and Alarin walked in, wearing a pair of shorts. The smooth spread of his chest, with only a thin line of red-gold hair that ran down the middle of it and his belly to the line of his shorts, contrasted dramatically with the rippled muscles of his abdomen. His wide shoulders narrowed to a slender waist, much more obvious without his shirt. A light dusting of red-gold hair also covered his lower arms, standing out against his bronze skin. The tan spread over his entire upper body, and she had a moment of sudden curiosity as to how far down the color went. She curbed that thought hastily, tearing her eyes away and pushing the covers back. “Thanks for letting me sleep here, Alarin. But I
’d, uh, better get back to my room. Unless you want to start rumors of your own.”
He grinned. “I’m strong enough to handle it. Speaking of, Merran woke me up about ten minutes ago looking for you. He wants me to tell you that Greg’s awake and ready to read the memory you have.”
Tamara shuddered. “You told him? Good, I don’t have to. I’m just glad I didn’t dream about it last night.” She stood up. “Uh, Merran wasn’t bothered or anything, was he?”
Alarin raised an eyebrow. His nostrils flared, but he seemed to be very relaxed, unlike yesterday. “Why would he be?”
“Well … I uh … sort of spent the night at his place the night before last.” Tamara flushed and walked gingerly past the bed. “We … uh … I—I’m not exactly sure where we stand, but I don’t want to upset him.”
He laughed. “At his place, eh? My, my. Night before last in Merran’s bed, last night in mine. Even a night in Greg’s. You are taking the Azellian thing quite seriously, I see.”
“Oh stop it.” Tamara grabbed the towel hanging over the edge of his bedpost and threw it at him. “You’re just teasing me. You know as well as I do that I slept alone in the bed last night. You slept on the floor.” Unlike the night I spent with Merran, she thought but didn’t say it out loud.
Alarin’s grin widened as he caught the towel. “It’s a little awkward to sleep two to a twin bed. Especially when a certain person seems to like to talk and move around in her sleep.”
Tamara flushed, feeling the heat crawl up her cheeks. She had always been a restless sleeper. Merran’s kingsize bed had minimized that little difficulty. “I thought Justern was the only one who teased about that sort of thing,” she said, tossing her head and trying to change the subject.
Alarin laughed and stretched, reaching his long arms up and linking his hands above his head. The move drew attention immediately to his stomach, which undoubtedly was the point. “We all do at times. Don’t expect Justern to quit teasing you, either, just because he’s your brother.”
Alawahea Page 28