Moonlight Mist: A Limited Edition Collection of Fantasy & Paranormal)

by Nicole Morgan

  “Anders Moss is the head of the Free Traders?” Zayda looked over to Elise who asked this question.

  “Correct,” Riodan answered.

  “Aren't Tiagerians known to be the muscle of the Free Traders?”

  “She’s right.” Piele agreed. “We have encountered Tiagerians working with Free Traders. They will do anything for a price.”

  “Such as?” All Zayda know about Free Traders were that the pirates were a pain in freighter ships captains’ asses. Their core belief was based loosely on the concept of finder’s keepers. Unfortunately, they applied that concept to things that were not lost and mostly with their current owners still attached to them.

  “Kidnapping, extortion, assault, murder, just about anything for a price.”

  “And you guys have dealt with them before?”

  Both brathas nodded.

  “Most people are not aware of it, but when kidnapped victims can’t make their ransom they end up in Free Traders brothels working off the cost of their kidnapping,” Piele answered.

  When he and Riodan were in the Intergalactic Militia, Piele was often on strike teams that went in to recover high-profile kidnapped victims. Free Traders were known to kill their victims even after the ransom was paid. The leaders of the IGM were single-minded in their pursuit to recover their prominent victims often forgetting that the main targets were rarely kidnapped alone.

  Sometimes kidnapped with the high-profile victim were members of their support staff. Plans for rescue included recovering the support staff only if it wasn’t at the risk of the primary target. If there was a risk of failure to recover the primary target, then the secondary targets were sacrificed. Cold but efficient.

  Most of the secondary target families didn’t have the astronomical amount of credits demanded the return of their love ones.

  “They charge them for their own kidnapping?” Zayda sounded astonished. Daring Captain that she seemed, he guessed that was beyond her idea of evil.

  “Yes,” Piele lowered his head as memories of the condition some of the secondary targets had been found in by his strike teams.

  Zayda didn’t fight the urge to comfort him. An unknown feeling, deep inside of her wouldn’t be soothed until the dark cloud that hung over Piele was lifted.

  She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. She gulped, ignoring the tiny spark that danced up her arm at the contact with his skin. It was nothing compared to the ones dancing in her heart. Love blooming. The more she learned about the brathas, the more those sparks seemed to multiply. The more her heart opened to them. The easier it was to accept the fact that she did indeed love Riodan and Piele.

  “Did you experience the same things in the IGM?” she turned her attention to Riodan giving Piele the chance to gather himself without everyone staring at him. She knew that when she was up in her feelings the last thing she needed or wanted was an audience. Despite the shift in focus, she kept her hand on Piele in silent support.

  “No, when I was in the IGM I was more in intelligence. When I did go out with the strike teams I was there for the up-to-date intel.” Riodan gave Zayda an appreciative smile before turning to distract the younglings.

  Zayda sucked in her breath at the sight of his gorgeous lips turning up with just a hint of fang. It lit up his face, enhancing his boyish charm.

  By the lights of Purple One, it just wasn’t fair that a single smile should have the power to turn her to mush while at the same time causing a slow burn inside of her. She was going to have to hurry up and finish this meeting before she did something stupid. Like throw one of them down on the table and ride them into the nearest supernova. She had to glance away to keep from following through on her thoughts.

  Zayda watched Piele and his bratha exchange a grin. She hoped this was a signal that the memories he experienced were back in his past where they belonged.

  “What has you so happy?” Zayda warily asked, eyes locked on that smile.

  “Do you know how long it has been since I have shot someone?”

  Laughter bubbled out of Zayda’s throat unbidden at the glee dancing in his eyes. “Cool your afterburners Piele. You aren’t going to shoot anyone any time soon.”

  “Is this how our mating going to be?” He asked innocently, “You’re going to kill all of my fun.”

  Zayda inhaled briskly eyes brightening. “Trust me. We are going to have plenty of fun.”

  Ember’s movement drew her attention, “So how did the Free Traders find us to attack?” Ember’s big brown eyes narrowed as she asked the question, “I mean my patra told me that once a ship is in space you can only track it if you know the signature and mark of the beacons it passes.”

  “Now that is an excellent question.” Zayda nodded. Undoubtedly one she would have eventually thought of herself. “Maud scan the ship for a tracker.”

  They all sat quietly while Maud complied. Riodan jumped in surprise when he got zapped by the buzzing blue light of the scanner field as it passed over him.

  “I was tagged?” Riodan disgruntled tone echoed throughout the room. “No. Impossible.” Riodan shook his head in denial. “I scanned myself, the younglings and Piele before we separated back on the Gateway to Redemption and prior to entering Sparks Fly. There was no way that I could have been tagged.” He was going to get whiplash if he kept shaking like that. “It’s just not possible.”

  Piele was nodding his head in agreement.

  “Does your equipment pick up dormant trackers?” No matter how good the equipment used, the only trackers detectable were active. Some of the trackers were so tiny that it was impossible to see them without the aid of computronics. All it took was a simple brush in passing, imperceptible to the tagged being, and the tracker is deployed. It could go up to a Redemption Standard Year in the dormant mode before being remotely activated.

  “No,” Riodan reluctantly admitted. “Damn it must have happened on the docks.”

  “It must have been when that Gastropian bumped into you,” Elise spoke from her slouched position in one of the seats. Zayda had sworn she had fallen asleep and wasn’t following the conversation. Apparently, the youngling was more observant than she thought. If she really did intend to join the Intergalactic Militia that would be a beneficial skill.

  “What are you talking about?”

  "You know when you were having your fainting spell when you first met Captain Sparks.” Elise deepened her voice to mimics Riodan's.

  The rest of the younglings giggled as a blush darkened Riodan’s gray skin. Piele tried to cover his snort of laughter with a cough, unsuccessfully. Zayda just looked at the ceiling of the room and prayed for guidance from the Purple One.

  “Hey, it’s not my fault that Riodan is a delicate little flower,” Elise defended.

  “Well, that confirms it. We are going to the Citadel. We will be taking a roundabout route.” She announced. “Maud, neutralize the tracker.”

  “On it!” her friend sounded far too excited.

  Octavia raised her hand. “What is the Citadel?” she asked when Zayda nodded.

  Zayda studied each of the younglings faces before she answered. She was aware of each of their stories and their greatest fears. Maud was very thorough. When she had been digging up information on her mates. She also included information on the younglings.

  The fear of abandonment. Each of the younglings had lost both parentals in some way, shape or form.

  For two of them, it was a mental loss instead of a physical one, as their remaining parent didn’t or wasn’t able to continue to care for them.

  She had to phrase her next bit of information carefully so that the younglings would not feel like they were being abandoned again.

  “The Citadel is a top-secret base. It houses beings that are being hunted until such time that the threat has been neutralized or the beings are old enough to protect themselves. The Citadel takes in orphans from all over the Redemption Galaxy. Free Traders and all manners of slavers would p
ay a large number of credits to discover its location.

  The Citadel is centuries old. It used to be run by the citizens of Pumeria before it was destroyed. Now different volunteers from all over the galaxy run it. Beings dedicated to protecting younglings while ensuring they grow up with a skill and the knowledge to protect themselves from all manners of riff-raff found in the galaxy.”

  “You are sending us to prison?” Destiny jumped from her seat pointing an accusatory finger at Zayda.

  Riodan shook his head at her, “You really are a drama queen.” He couldn’t hide the exasperation in his voice.

  “What can I say? It’s a gift.” Destiny shrugged.

  “The Citadel is not a prison. It is an orphanage.” Zayda calmly explained.

  “By the Purple One, I would rather go to prison than another orphanage,” Octavia yelled a mixture of anger and fear-tinged her tone. Tears welling up in her eyes.

  “You would rather be in prison also known as a brothel? If the people who are looking for you get ahold of you that is exactly what would happen. Instead, you could go to an orphanage where you could learn botany?” she spoke to Octavia before turning to Ember.

  “Advance hacking techniques?”

  “How to pilot elite ships including ones like this XJT?” she looked at Elise. Eyes stern but not unkind.

  “Have access to the central archives and the history of Redemption?” Looking at Destiny.

  Yes, she knew their secrets and she wasn’t above using their desires to secure their safety.

  She turned to Riodan and Piele as the younglings huddle together in confusion whispering softly to each other as they discussed their possible lives at the Citadel. Ember pulled out her computronic, accessing information about the Citadel.

  While she had been soothing hurts, Piele and Riodan were caught up in their own private discussion. She quirked an eyebrow at them as she saw Piele shrug and Riodan frown.

  “What?” Exasperated, she dropped her hands to her hips giving them a stern look.

  Piele just shrugged again and looked away from her. His lips pressed together in a firm line. She turned and looked at Riodan.

  “What?” Annoyance tinged her voice she was about to start throwing punches. Males. Sometimes getting answers out of them was like pulling fangs.

  Riodan and Piele’s antics drew the attention of the younglings. Zayda was pretty sure that whatever needed to be discussed concerned them. The already had to deal with a lot. It was time for them to have an emotional break. She turned towards younglings, “We have six hours before we hit the exit of the IGSH. At that time, I want you all back in the main cabin and strapped in. Now go get some rest.” She dismissed the younglings.

  She stood there waiting impatiently until the last sounds of their conversation. drifted away. Comfortable they were out of hearing range, she turned towards Piele and Riodan.

  “Speak.” Her tone was firm eyes flashing, let them try and argue with that.

  “I know you want the younglings to go to the Citadel, but I’m not sure we have the right to make that decision.” Riodan ran his hands through his dark hair. “They are only under our guardianship temporarily. My matra’s friend Jusdisa is their true guardian.”

  “Does Jusdisa have adequate security in place to protect the younglings?”

  The younglings’ safety was of the utmost importance right now. Free Traders were ruthless and losing four pure young females that could be auctioned off to the highest bidder, fattening their pockets with credit, wasn’t something they were going to let happen quietly.

  “We don’t know what kind of security set up she has. We have never actually met her,” Piele explained, “She became friends with our matra after we joined the IGM. She has fostered several other female younglings over the years without any issues.”

  “We could always contact our matra and find out what type of security Jusdisa has?” Riodan threw out there.

  There was a rustling noise and all three of them turned to see Ember standing in the doorway of the Strategy Room.

  “I thought you were told to go get some rest,” Piele addressed her.

  “I have some information that may be important to you, Riodan.” Ember sidled into the room.

  “Piele.” He gently corrected.

  “Oh,” she said in surprise then turned towards Riodan. “My friend Baris came across this before you picked us up on Educolar. I don’t know if it is important or not.” She gestured so a folder appeared on the table.

  Riodan moved to the holotable and opened the folder reading the first document contained in the folder. It was a simple list of names. He moved onto the second document it was another list of names, but shorter than the first one. He turned towards Ember.

  “What are these?”

  “This document,” Ember pointed to the first one that he opened, “is a list of students that were enrolled at our school during the last educational quarter.” She turned and pointed at the second document. “This is the current list of students enrolled.” She moved to the table and opened the third document. “This is a list of students that were scheduled to visit Jusdisa Pyloto, but never actually made it to her home. There is no record what-so-ever for them. The only reason I know they were at the school to start with is because my friend Baris was able to recover this file before it was permanently deleted.”

  “Thank you, Ember,” Riodan dismissed the youngling, giving her a quick hug before she skipped out of the Strategy Room.

  Silent communication seemed to pass between the two as Zayda watched. Finally, after a few heavy seconds of silence, they seemed to have reached some sort of agreement.

  “Temporary,” they emphasized.

  “The younglings stay at the Citadel will be temporary until we can get back to Pyloto and find out if the Free Traders are targeting students visiting Jusdisa. We can’t mention this to matra or she will feel obligated to warn Jusdisa. Then we take care of the Free Traders.” A feral grin crossed Piele’s face at Riodan’s statement. Committing violence for a cause made him happy. Protecting the younglings at the same time was just a bonus.

  “Now that we have the issue of the younglings settled, it is time to have some fun.” Riodan gave Piele a nod. The brathas scooped up Zayda. Riodan carrying her feet and Piele had her upper body as they moved towards her quarters. Determination and passion were mirrored on their faces.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Zayda wiggled and struggled in their arms. Riodan quickly realized she wasn’t putting up much of a fight, carrying her with a gentleness he rarely used.

  Their mate, so full of passion.

  Intelligent.

  Loving.

  He loved that about his mate. Her fierce protective outside hid a tender caring heart.

  It showed. She knew about the younglings’ past. Taken the time to get them in shape and teach them fighting. He knew about her sessions with the younglings. Elise had told him how Zayda was teaching them self-defense. Now that they found such a fierce mate the idea of having younglings wasn’t so daunting. She was going to be just as fierce and protective when it came to their younglings.

  Riodan released Zayda’s legs allowing Piele to take her full weight as he turned towards the control panel outside of the captain’s quarters. It automatically opened recognizing their biometrics as her mates.

  “Fucking Maud,” she snarled from Piele’s arms.

  “No fucking Maud,” Piele nuzzled the side of her neck, “You’re fucking us.” His tongue darted out sending shivers down her spine, as he slowly licked and nibbled up the side of her neck to the outer shell of her ear.

  “Let me go,” she protested with a moan even as she tilted her head to give him better access to the sensitive skin of her neck where Piele left his mating mark on her. He hid his grin against her neck, breathing her in. Her hair was tickling his nose, he wanted to bury his hands in it as she sucked his already heavy cock.

  Piele carried her into her room this time taking a go
od look around.

  Her quarters closely resembled the one the brathas shared on the Burning Duo which was docked at Station Nine for repairs. Everything was white, decorated with rose and purple accents.

  He headed to the huge bed covered with a dark purple duvet with brown and white accent pillows.

  Piele tossed Zayda on it with a laugh.

  One bounce and she was on the bed. The second bounce she was on her feet launching herself at Piele. She grabbed him by the shoulders, flipping him over her head. Piele landed on his back with a laughing grunt in the softness of the bed with Zayda straddling him her mouth planted on him.

  She took advantage of the surprise in his eyes and his slightly parted lips, leaning down and capturing his mouth with hers. There was no hesitation as she deepened the kiss.

  She could hear clothes, Riodan, disrobing. She moaned at the thought of his naked body, tongue dancing with Piele. When he jumped onto the bed, they all three bounded up. Zayda gasped softly, Piele chuckling as Zayda was peeled off him. Riodan rolled with her across the bed until she lay underneath him. Her hands wandered across the smooth planes of his body, perfect, it was a perfect fit. She moaned when he kissed her with a fierce possessiveness she couldn’t deny. She pressed hard against him, eyes searching for Piele, there he was, above them, eyes clouded with lust as he moaned.

  His eyes stayed locked with hers as Riordan’s tongue did dangerous things to her control. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down harder, deeper. Her clothes were too thick, she wanted to feel him against her, inside her. Slowly Piele slid out of his jumper licking his lips. She moaned at the sight of his desire, throbbing and huge, she could see the precum. She shuddered at Riodan’s wandering hands, separated by the jumper, too far, yet so strong.

  Piele climbed back onto the bed, her eyes happily looking him up and down.

  Riodan nibbled on the side of Zayda’s neck while her hands tangled in his hair. Her body arched up into his, pleading. She needed his hands on her, not through the jumper, she needed him to quell the heat burning inside her. He tugged at her, pulling her against him, molding her to his body. She could feel his hard body behind the jumper.