by Anna Carven
Damn. That was a bit cold. Tasha had always been reserved, but now she was impossible to read.
Alexis began to tremble. It was definitely Tasha, all right, but this woman was different to the quiet, sincere girl she’d known as a child. They were like chalk and cheese; she the outgoing one, Tasha quiet and intense, more interested in her shell collection and her fantasy novels than going down to the field to play football with the boys.
But they’d been inseparable, practically joined at the hip.
Tasha had grown into a formidably beautiful woman, a stranger. There was a hardness to her that Alexis had never seen before. Her blue eyes were cold and calculating.
What happened to you, sister?
Alexis was surprised, relieved, and wary all at the same time. They had a lot to catch up on… if the circumstances would allow.
But first things first. “Where’s Maman?” she demanded. “Where are Kylian and Felix?”
“Safe,” Tasha said. “I can’t tell you much more than that right now. You need to trust me. May I get up? I won’t do anything. I’d be stupid to try and fight him.”
“Yeah, you would,” Alexis agreed. The power behind Tasha’s attack had surprised her, but no human was a match for a First Division warrior. She understood that now.
She shared a look with Nythian.
“She is dangerous,” he warned. “I didn’t detect her presence, and that is very rare. She’s stronger than an ordinary human, and she fights like she’s had extensive training.”
“You can tell all that just from a few seconds of—”
“Yes.” Nythian lifted his boot. “Get up,” he said coldly. “You know what will happen if you try and attack her again.”
“Why did you attack me?” Alexis was confused and a little hurt.
Tasha winced as she pulled herself up off the floor. She was about a head shorter than Alexis, petite but fit like an athlete. And something about her arms was definitely weird. The death-touch hadn’t worked on her.
Strange.
“I just wanted to talk,” Tasha said with a shrug.
“Some way you’ve got of starting a conversation.”
“I didn’t know if you were friend or foe. I wanted to make sure you’d stay quiet first. I didn’t expect you to fight like that. You’ve obviously had some training. You’re probably close to my level now.”
“You thought I could be your enemy?”
“Look who you’re with.” Tasha nodded in Nythian’s direction.
“He’s with me. He isn’t the kind of Kordolian we were taught to fear. He’s nothing like them.”
“Says the detective who was almost killed by Kordolians.”
Alexis froze. “How did you know that?”
“I’ve been keeping watch over you, Alexis. You think it was just coincidence that you survived all those assassination attempts on Earth?”
“You?” Alexis stared at Tasha, her head spinning. “What are you talking about? What could you do against my attackers?”
“A lot.”
“And you knew all this time? Why didn’t you come to me?” She had a sudden urge to slap Tasha… or fight her again. Maybe these Kordolians had rubbed off on her a little too much.
“I couldn’t,” Tasha said, her voice completely devoid of emotion. “I’ll have to explain it to you, but not now. Whatever training you received at the Academy, what I went through was a hundred times worse. I know things that could get me killed… that will get me killed if I’m not careful.”
“So what are you doing here? And where are Mama and the boys?”
“I neutralized two human males in the forest behind,” Nythian said quietly. “Are those the boys you were talking about? But no… they were fully grown.”
“Nythian…” Alexis went cold, her heart skipping a beat. “Please tell me you did not kill those two.”
“They are unconscious. I’ve learned not to kill indiscriminately. They are lucky, considering they were surprisingly well armed.”
Alexis let out a deep sigh of relief.
Even Tasha seemed relieved. “Well, there’s your answer. Felix and Kylian have been staying here with me. We sent Maman to a secure location, because I’m expecting someone. They were helping me lay a trap in the jungle.”
“Someone?”
“Someone who wants me dead. I have a lot of enemies. I thought you could have been a part of it, especially when you showed up with the Kordolian, but of course you’re not. You would never get involved in that sort of shit.”
Alexis closed her eyes and took a deep breath, seeking her center of calm the way Ashrael and Nythian had taught her. Nythian came to her side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. It always felt so good when he did that. When she opened her eyes again, she was in control. “Clearly, we’ve stumbled across something that I can’t even begin to understand right now. You have enemies. I have enemies. I haven’t seen you for twenty-odd years, and you’re carrying a whole lot of baggage, as am I. We’re different people. We barely know each other… but I don’t care about any of that right now. I knew you. I know you. Whatever this shit is, we can handle it… you have no idea. You have to trust me on this.” She stepped forward, arms spread wide.
Tasha’s expression softened a fraction.
They hugged. At first, Tasha was stiff, but then she softened a little.
“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to see you again,” Alexis whispered. “I’m here now, Tasha. I’m sorry I wasn’t looking out for you back then.”
She remembered the day like it was yesterday.
They’d been walking along the beach, looking for shells for Tasha’s meticulously organized collection, which she arranged by scientific name in plexiclear boxes. But they’d been arguing about something, and they were both sulking.
She couldn’t remember what it was about—probably a boy.
They always argued over boys.
Tasha had wandered off to a spit, where a series of rock pools were caressed by the glassy ocean. She was probably looking for cone snails again, much to Alexis’s horror—the damn things were highly venomous and could kill just one sting, but Tasha apparently had a way of handling them.
Alexis had decided to go for a swim in the crystal-clear water, enjoying the refreshing coolness. She submerged completely, touching the sandy bottom.
And when she came up…
Tasha was gone.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Tasha whispered, and for the first time, Alexis detected a hint of emotion in her voice. “The people who took me… there was no way you could have protected me from them. Maybe it was better that way.”
Alexis let out a shuddering sigh of relief. “I’m so glad I found you here. There’s a lot we can do to—”
She became aware of another presence at the periphery of her vision. Alarmed, Alexis glanced to her left.
Lodan.
He was supposed to be waiting on the ship. Unlike Nythian, he was wearing his full armor, and he looked both elegant and threatening… if such a thing were possible.
Tasha gently disentangled herself from Alexis’s arms and turned to the pilot. If she was at all surprised by his appearance, she didn’t show it.
As Lodan studied Tasha, his golden eyes narrowed. “What were you thinking, coming to your home if you knew someone was after you?”
“I was desperate.” Tasha started to tap her left foot impatiently, a sign that she was getting annoyed.
Well, some things hadn’t changed.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. You’re coming with us. You and those unconscious two in the forest.”
“Why?”
“You’re obviously important to my mate,” Nythian growled. “Whatever you’re involved in will be settled by us.”
“I’m not asking for your help.”
“You think you have a choice?”
Tasha stared at Nythian, then at Lodan. “Obviously not.” Her pale blue eyes settled on Alexis, narrowing sligh
tly. “Mate?”
“Yeah.” Alexis moved to Nythian’s side. He put a possessive hand on her waist. “He’s mine.”
“Huh. I wouldn’t have picked him for your type.”
“He is most definitely my type.”
Unexpectedly, Nythian chuckled. At the deep, rich sound of his laughter, a flush spread up Alexis’s neck and into her cheeks.
Tasha’s cool mask cracked a little, her eyes widening a fraction.
“Sorry, Tasha. Nythian and Lodan are right. You have to come with us now. We’re taking Kylian and Felix too. And you have to tell us where you’ve sent Mama. I don’t know what you’ve been through all these years or what you’ve gotten mixed up in, but whatever it is, we can fix it.”
“Or destroy it, if necessary,” Lodan added.
Tasha didn’t say anything for a long time. She stood there like a statue… or a porcelain doll, watching them, her brilliant blue eyes dissecting everything.
Alexis got the sense Tasha could be dangerous if she wanted. She might love her adopted sister, but she didn’t trust her.
The gulf between them was too wide; there were too many unknowns.
“I protected you, you know. I never, ever forgot about you, Alexis.” When she finally spoke, Tasha’s voice held a trace of sadness. “The flight on the Malachi… I was the one who got it approved. When I heard it had been lost… I lost all hope.”
Now her eyes were empty in a way that chilled Alexis to the bone. “What happened to you, Tasha?”
Tasha held up her arm, wrist facing outwards. Just below the line where her hand joined her arm, there was a tiny upside-down number tattooed on her skin. “This happened.”
And for the first time, Alexis realized that there were tiny, symmetrical fissures running along Tasha’s arm—perfectly straight, as if created by a machine.
What the hell had they done to her?
“I don’t think I’m entirely human anymore,” Tasha whispered, “but maybe that doesn’t really matter, because I can see that you aren’t, either.”
“Life is strange and unexpected,” Alexis said gently, and perhaps there was a trace of Anuk in her voice. “You’re coming with us.”
“I guess I am.”
Lodan and Nythian shared a mysterious look.
“Interesting,” Lodan said.
“Let’s go,” Nythian growled.
And just like that, Alexis got her sister back, only things were a shade more complicated now.
THIRTY-TWO
THEY STOOD SIDE BY SIDE, staring out at the perfect round blue orb that was Earth. Alexis saw the familiar outlines of North and South America, green and tawny masses covered in whorls of white cloud.
Suddenly, Earth seemed so small, almost quaint.
Was this how the other races in the Nine Galaxies saw them? As some quaint little backwater?
It was Christmas on Earth, and they were up here in the cold, dark sanctuary of the warship Silence.
Waiting.
Nythian was calm, almost zen-like.
Since they’d left Tharos, he hadn’t had any more of those vicious outbursts of anger. Alexis didn’t want to give too much credit to herself, but she seemed to have a calming effect on the big guy.
These days, he was even civil around Zharek.
Several of the Kordolians had commented on it, even the boss himself.
“They’re here,” Nythian murmured, breaking the silence. “Let’s go down and meet them at the lower docks.”
They left the starlight-soaked chamber, making their way down dark, curving corridors. She let Nythian lead the way, content to watch his powerful body from behind, admiring the way his broad shoulders and toned ass moved beneath his deep blue silken kashkan.
She could stare at him all she liked.
He was her mate, after all.
As they walked across the lower deck, she felt nervous and excited.
Mama was coming to Silence.
How crazy was that?
After the old house on Réunion was attacked, Tasha had sent Virginie away… into space, to a place where she would apparently be perfectly safe.
Crazy woman.
Tasha still wouldn’t tell Alexis where—she’s with someone I’d trust with my own life—and now she had gone with Lodan and a small squadron of warriors to retrieve Mama… from somewhere in space.
Stars almighty.
Somehow, that was even more unbelievable than the whole Tharian business.
“You nervous?” Nythian crossed his arms as he planted himself in one spot.
Impossible man. He knew her too well.
“Yeah. It’s just weird that my whole family seems to have ended up in space, on a Kordolian warship.”
“Strange coincidence, no?”
“No, it’s not a coincidence. Tharians would say it’s just the strands of the Universe coming together.”
“Makes sense.” Nythian smiled enigmatically. He pulled her against him as the massive airlock unravelled.
A dark ship drifted inside, sleek and sinister in the dim light. She was used to this sight by now. The landing gear came out, and it came down to a perfect stop.
Moments later, a ramp extended from the ship. The doors opened. She saw a wall of dark armor—Kordolian warriors, bristling with all kinds of weapons.
They parted a fraction.
A small elderly woman with a cane squeezed through, and Alexis swore she actually elbowed one of the Kordolians as she passed.
“Why is it so dark in here?” she muttered, her grey-green eyes narrowing as she peered around. Mama had been slowly losing her sight for years. Alexis had offered to pay for an eye transplant, but Mama wasn’t having it. In her own words: “I don’t want to walk around with eyes from a laboratory. I am not a Frankenstein.”
Still, she tapped the ramp with her cane and began to make her way down, brushing off the Kordolian who came to her side to offer assistance.
Alexis didn’t try and help her either. Mama would only get annoyed.
Tasha and Lodan appeared at the top of the ramp. Tasha stood off to one side, aloof and prickly. Lodan looked relaxed, almost indulgent.
For a moment, they all just stared at the small human woman as she made her way down the dark ramp. Mama didn’t try and hurry; she didn’t apologize. She did things in her own time, just like she always did, holding the entire Kordolian squadron hostage.
A smile tugged at Alexis’s lips. The woman was impossible. Her she was, a dab of bright color amongst the dire Kordolian blackness, an impressionist painting in human form. She wore a mauve cardigan over a frilly white blouse. A bright pleated floral skirt and a necklace made of hundreds of colorful blue and green beads completed her outfit.
She was ray of island sunshine on this dark Kordolian ship.
Bless her.
Tap, tap, tap, went her cane on the obsidian floor. She came to a stop in front of Alexis and Nythian. For a moment, Alexis couldn’t speak—she was too overcome with emotion.
Then Mama grasped her cool hands, holding them tightly, bringing Alexis toward her. She was small and frail looking, but her grip was as strong as Alexis remembered it, her hands gnarled and tough from years of working in the garden.
For a moment, she just held Alexis, tears welling in her eyes. “My daughter. Now all my prayers have been answered.”
If she noticed Alexis’s obsidian hand or the scales on her face, she didn’t show it. But her attention quickly turned to Nythian, who was had moved a small distance apart from them, giving them space.
“Virginie Descalles,” he said gently, and his tone was oddly respectful and formal; Alexis had never seen him act this way toward anyone. It was rather cute, the way he tried to pronounce her name correctly despite his typically Kordolian accent. “I am Nythian.” He tipped his head slightly, a sign of respect. “It is my honor.”
Really, she had never seen him like this before.
Mama gave him a long, steady look, her eyes traveling up and down
his big frame. Her understanding of Universal was limited, but she knew a few basic words, enough to understand the gist of things.
“He is good to you?” She asked Alexis, speaking in creole. “He doesn’t put you down or try and force you against your will or beat you?”
“He’s beyond honorable.” Alexis frowned, feeling defensive of Nythian all of a sudden. “Mama, you know I have enough sense not to tolerate a man who would do any of those things.”
As if sensing what was being said, Nythian moved to her side, possessively putting his arm around Alexis’s shoulders. “Understand this, human. Alexis is my mate. For me, she is above all other things. I would trade my soul to protect her.”
How easily he admitted these things, even in front of his fellow warriors. Nythian didn’t care. He was a blunt, brutal force of nature, and she loved him for it.
How easily he made Alexis go weak at the knees, made her heart race at a thousand light years per second, made her blush like crazy. It was as if he was saying it more for her benefit than for anyone else’s.
Mama wouldn’t understand his words, but the tone of his voice made the meaning obvious.
Suddenly, Mama smiled, a full, brilliant smile that transformed her weathered face. “Good. Very good. It is about time. I have been waiting for you to bring a good man home to me for too long.”
Something made Alexis glance up. In the shadows of the ship’s hatch, Tasha was watching them with a strange expression on her face.
Something about that sent a sliver of unease through her.
“We’ll handle her,” Nythian whispered in her ear. “Don’t forget where you are, my love. Nothing can touch you here… except me.”
Now he was just being naughty.
“Later,” she replied in a mock-warning tone, twining her fingers with his, sending a sliver of her power into him, just enough to show him that she could bring him to his knees if she wanted to.
But only because he let her. Oh, he loved it when she did that.
Mama raised her eyebrows.
Alexis blushed, suddenly feeling hot all over.
Nythian grinned.
Devious man.
These Kordolians were insane. Together, they were insane.