by Colt, Shyla
“You don’t need to worry about that right now,” Tavel said. His came from a few feet away from where she lay.
A sinister smile spread across his lips as he leaned over her. His features grossly distorted by the light that hung above her head.
“Did you come back to finish the job?” she asked.
Fists clenched as she glared. Zara refused to give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.
“No, I’m here to explain. You’ve spent all these years thinking I’m some kind of villain when you couldn’t be further from the truth.” The feel of his cool fingers across her face made her flinch.
“Your mother and I had a history that goes back to before you were born. Why else would she welcome me into her home the way she did?” His words rang true about the woman who had raised her. But she didn’t want to believe the explanation.
“I knew Tatiana wasn’t my mate, but I loved her anyway,” he said. A heavy sigh expelled from his lungs. He seemed to shrink in that moment. Shoulders slumped as his face aged before her eyes, almost as if the loss of her mother crushed him.
“You have one fucked up way of showing it,” she said. Not about to have sympathy for the devil.
“I thought she would be able to share my power. I never imagined it would take her life.”
“Why the hell would you think that?”
“Because she married me and later carried my child,” he said.
His blue eyes locked with her own as she shook her head. No.
“My father died in a fire!”
“No, Zasha, he didn’t. I left to escape the hunters who had found me here on Earth. Led them away from her and kept my distance until I was sure they were off my trail. I thought I’d found the right elixir to alter her DNA. It took me years to gather the right ingredients, and many failed experiments…but I was wrong.”
“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies!” She barely recognized the snarl that left her lips as her head spun. How could she be born of this man?
“I knew you’d be my greatest creation, the first child of both worlds to flourish.”
“I am not your anything.”
“Deny all you want. It’s still my blood that runs through your veins.”
His face flushed blue, and his eyes almost glowed as his expression darkened.
“Imagine my disgust that you’ve become the King’s whore! My own spawn bonded to the family of traitors that caused me to flee to this planet in the first place.”
“You’re from Tagget?” she asked.
Eager to draw him into a conversation so she could buy herself more time. Her eyes had adjusted to the dimness, and she surveyed the areas visible. She was surrounded by concrete walls and next to her metal table was a silver medical tray. Lined with still packaged instruments and beakers that contained fluorescent liquid it filled her with a sense of dread. Her wrists strained as she pulled against the leather straps that refused to give.
“I was the best alchemist they had. A scientific genius revered by our people until the royals stuck their noses where they didn’t belong, and we had a…difference of opinion.”
The maniacal gleam that leapt into his cerulean gems left no doubt in her mind that he’d killed them.
He disappeared from her view once more, only to return a moment later with his hands encased in latex gloves and a blue mask over his face.
“I came back her with the hopes of passing on my knowledge to you. I thought once you understood what happened with your mother you’d want to be a family again. But now you’re tainted.”
“W-what ?” she asked. Not able to follow his crazed logic. Panic sunk in as she realized she was at this man’s mercy. Had Phelan showed up for dinner yet? Did anyone know she was missing?
“You don’t even know, do you?” he asked.
“Know what, Tavel?”
“That you’re pregnant.”
Stunned, her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came from her larynx. Could he be right? They never used protection, however, she was on the pill. Who says that works on Shar biology, Zasha? A million unanswered questions rose, making her dizzy. She wanted to believe it was a lie, yet deep down she knew.
“Don’t worry, Zasha. Daddy’s going to make it all better. ” He moved to the tray and mixed an electric blue potion with a vibrant red one. Her body trembled. No one would harm her child.
“This will keep you from any pain while I figure out why you thrived.”
A war cry spilled from her lips as the anger bottled up inside of her exploded in the form of blue sparks that shot from her fingertips. The spray hit Tavel in the chest. His body sent across the room like a crash test dummy, arms and legs flailing. Round eyes and an open mouth was the last thing Zasha saw as he was claimed by the darkness. The heavy thud of his body against the wall, then the floor seconds later before silence descended. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she used the momentum to rip her left arm free of the restraint.
Mindful of the fact that he was yards away, she undid the other wrist with nimble fingers and slid from the metal table. Her heart pounded against her chest as she stumbled through the room, hand against the wall as she sought a light switch or a door handle.
The sound of something shuffling across the room hastened her exploration. Her booted foot brushed against something soft and meaty, but she ignored it and continued forward. A flicker of blue light behind her revealed a metallic glimmer of what she thought was a door. She sprinted toward what she prayed was an exit, and her shin slammed into the bottom of a stairwell? When her fingers felt the smooth cylinders of handrails, her previous thoughts were confirmed. This was a way out! Zasha pounded up the creaky steps using the rails on either side for balance. Her shaky hands found the smooth wood of the door when she reached the last step and almost slammed face first into the door.
She turned the knob and the door swung open to a dilapidated interior of a home that had seen better days. Moonlight seeped in through cracks and holes in the dingy walls. A glance to her left revealed the exit to freedom. A faded red door stood less than twenty yards away.
Four long strides carried her out of the house and into the white flakes that melted on her skin.
The neighborhood wasn’t one she recognized, but the row of condemned buildings that surrounded her offered up no safety. So she trudged farther into the night. Each determined step taking her away from the mad scientist who claimed to be her father.
****
Phelan knocked on the door and frowned when is swung open beneath his fist. Zasha would never be so careless. His stomach clenched as he entered the house and saw signs of a struggle. The ozone in the air made his hair stand on end. She had fired her weapon earlier or an alien had issued a blast, possibly both. Both scenarios made him clench his teeth. Who would be crazy enough to come after a P.I.U. agent in their home? He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and placed a call to Zasha. When the call went to voicemail after three rings, he swore. He could call the chief, but he knew the rules. It took forty-eight hours to be declared a missing person. Even for one of their own. Besides, this was personal. Out of options, he placed a call to his brother.
“Aren’t you on a date?” Bastian asked.
“I just got here and the door was open, and Zasha is nowhere to be found. Her car was in her parking space, and she hasn’t answered her phone.”
“Let me get Kade,” he said as he placed the phone down on the desk and yelled for the computer whiz.
“Did her phone actually ring or just go to voicemail?” Kade asked a few moments later.
“It rang.”
“I have my system booted up now, give me her number, and we’ll see what we can find.”
The clicks of Kade’s fingers on the keyboard were too loud in the silence that followed. If there was a trail to be found, Kade would locate it. Seconds ticked by like minutes, and what felt like an eternity later Kade spoke.
“I have a location.”
“Af
ter you read me the coordinates, I want you to gather our security team and meet me a few blocks down.”
“Bastian is gathering our best as we speak.”
“Good, be sure to let the men know it’s their Queen we’re fighting for.”
His demeanor change as he disconnected and spun on his heel to head to the car. If you her nerve to put your hands on his mate you’d better be prepared for war. Cause the D’Shar family was about to bring the pain.
****
He ignored the speed limit as he steered his black steed through the streets painted white. The address was a rundown neighborhood full of abandoned buildings and crack houses. Phelan tried not to think the worst, but his mind dreamed up one scenario after another; each darker than the one previous. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel and eased on the brake to make a sharp turn. The yellow headlights caught a familiar silhouette off to the side, and the wheel jerked to the right as he hit the brake and moved the gear shift into park. He exited the car in time to catch the sodden bundle of his mate.
“Zasha, are you okay?” he asked. His arms wrapped around her as she trembled. Her teeth clacked together as she nodded.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said. Phelan placed her inside the car and cranked the heat full blast before he called Bastian.
“I have Zasha, hold on my signal to go inside. Our ETA is five mikes out.”
“Roger.”
“I have my men outside the area they traced your cell phone to, what happened?” he asked after he disconnected and shifted the car into drive as he pulled back onto the road.
The blue tinge of her lips had faded, and her shivers ceased, but the arms that hugged her waist made him think she might have bruised ribs.
“Tavel happened,” she said. The words spat from her mouth like something spoiled. Her face twisted into a sneer that told him there was history. The name soured his stomach, and he had to force the next question out around bile.
“Tavel from Tagget?”
“That’s what he claimed. I always knew him as the slimy motherfucker that murdered my mother.”
“Fuck!”
His hands slammed the steering wheel as they approached the black Escalades lined up along the curb.
“So what he said was true,” she said.
“I don’t know what he told you Zasha, but—”
“I know now isn’t the time for this conversation, but later we have many things to discuss.”
“Understood,” he said as he parked the car behind the row of black SUVs.
“Do you have your weapon?”
“No, the bastard took it after he knocked me out.”
“Then let’s get you armed and suited with a vest.”
Parked, they both stepped from the vehicle and meet Bastian at the back of the truck.
“She needs a vest and a gun,” Phelan said. Once she walked away, he turned to face his brother.
“It’s Tavel.”
“What! We haven’t seen any signs of him for the past couple years. Why now? Why her?”
“When Zasha was still a child, her mother became one of Tavel’s victims.” “Shit, Phe,” Bastian said. His brown eyes wide as Phelan nodded.
“I know,” Phelan said as he accepted a vest handed to him.
At one time Tavel had been a trusted member of the royal family. A brilliant scientist and advisor, Tavel’s opinions had been invaluable. Until his scientific studies had gone too far, and he’d begun to practice unethical alchemy on living creatures. The banishment placed on the scientist had driven him mad, and he’d murdered the King and Queen before fleeing.
Once Tavel had escaped Tagget, he had taken to performing his strange experiments on humans. The path of corpses he’d left behind were his own brand of evidence disposal. No matter how fast they arrived to recover the evidence, the site was always too clean to figure out his next move. They suspected humans with abnormal abilities were somehow connected to Tavel, but there was no way to be sure without tests. Tests meant questions they weren’t ready to answer. A serial killer was something the human authorities could understand. A mad scientist who used humans as test subjects was a problem that could easily turn the population against the Shar. As it was, there were many people who thought they should be treated as a threat.
The Shar walked a fine line between being seen as foreign versus alien. Since humans tended to fear what they didn’t understand, it was a judgment call he’d been forced to make. He wondered if that choice had come back to bite him in the ass.
****
The Shar’s raid hadn’t been a complete bust. Tavel was long gone, but bits and pieces of evidence remained. Beakers of compounds native to Tagget and other planets in their former solar system showed them he had a supplier. Phelan figured he traded with the rogues. What he traded for, they had yet to figure out. Like all dirty laundry, their secrets would come out in the wash. The minute they found Tavel gone, Zasha placed a call to the chief, and got the P.I.U. dispatched. What had occurred next was a cluster fuck. The abandoned home held too much foreign matter for the P.I.U to handle. So they’d entered into an agreement. Phelan would make his staff of scientists and himself available for their expertise.
With all the evidence carefully stowed away, there was no time for questions. But he knew eventually when things calmed down they would want more information. Zasha’s job has been a hindrance to the progression of their relationship since he’d last visited her offices for business. They were unsure how the members of the P.I.U. would react to their relationship.
****
Two weeks earlier…
Phelan’s eyes narrowed as the blonde officer leaned in to whisper into Zasha’s ear. Her lips twisted into a scowl as she shoved him away from her body, and he threw his head back to laugh. The tiny smile his antics coaxed from Zasha was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Phelan blinked and his jaw ticked. The power he used to make the idiot stumble was an automatic response.
“Did you just use your powers?” his brother asked. Kade’s mouth was ajar when Phelan turned to face him with a serene façade.
“I didn’t think his body was an appropriate distance away from Agent Johnson.”
“Uh-huh…I think I’ll go speak with the other agents,”Kade said. His feet pointed in the direction opposite from the woman headed their way. Her hazel eyes ablaze.
“Can I talk to you in private, Phelan? There’s a case in my office I could use your expertise on,” Zasha asked.
“Of course,” Phelan said as she strode towards the office ahead of him.
The sight of her generous rear in the black slacks of her uniform was more erotic than it should be. When she closed the door behind him and shut the blinds, his mind filled with thoughts of taking her on her desk to reassert his claim.
“What was that?” Zasha asked. Hands on her hips as she stared him down, full lips pursed with displeasure.
“He was too close.”
“Roger is always too close–”
“So you liked him there?”
“What? No! But he’s harmless.”
“That’s not the way I see it.”
“Are you actually jealous?” she asked. Her arched eyebrows rose as she shook her head.
“I don’t share what’s mine, and we both know that is exactly what you are.”
“Phe—”
“No, I’ve grow tired of your constant excuses. You asked me to observe your customs, respect your culture, and I have, despite what it cost me. Did you ever plan to do the same?”
He issued a curt nod, his body ramrod straight as he side-stepped her, and reached around her to turn the doorknob.
Her soft hand placed on his made him stop.
“You’re right,” she said.
The whispered admission stopped him in his tracks. He let his arm fall back to his side as he stepped back to study her. Her dark head was bowed as she looked up him. The hazel jewels that had flashed at him only moments before now d
ulled by tears.
“I’ve been so lost in my own head I haven’t given any thought to how it must be for you; and that’s not fair.”
Her husky voice was chocked full of an emotion he had never experienced from her before, vulnerability. A part of him wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her it would be okay. But he got the distinct impression this moment was necessary.
“You know I was in foster care, but we never talked about why.”
His ears detected the inflection in her voice before she paused to clear her throat. Whatever it was she was about to say was big.
“When I was eleven my mother fell head over heels for this guy, moved him in the house within the first month, and started acting out of character.” Her body trembled as she pushed the words out. “Six months later, he killed her.”
His heart ached for what she had been through. “Zasha,” he whispered. Phelan knew from personal experience the pain the loss of a parent to a tragic end brought. But this was her time to talk.
“Now you see why this thing between us scared the shit out of me,” she said as she pushed away from the door. “It’s sudden. It’s illogical, and every time I’m around you I lose more of myself.”
“No, you don’t,” he said.
“Yes, I do, with every ounce of control I forfeit.”
“Why does it have to be all or nothing, Zash?”