Unfinished. That’s what the name meant. She would always be the faded copy of her older sister. Yet, the name had special meaning to her. She squared her shoulders and prepared for what Sierra had to show her.
Sierra released Shasta’s hand and sat on the couch across from her. Terek pressed buttons on a console beside the couch, and a vid screen rose from the table in middle of the room.
It was a medical presentation with Dormrelian scientists speaking the narrative. Terek pressed another button, and the words began to make sense.
“Subject is the daughter of a full-blooded female human being and a full-blooded Dormrelian warrior. One arm is deformed beyond our capabilities to repair. We’ve studied her for over a year, and her pain has increased exponentially. We have isolated the problem to one DNA marker that causes her cell development to be mutated. As we’ve seen with previous subjects, the dominance of the Dormrelian DNA markers causes these massive deformities.” It went on and on, depicting some of the most horrific details in a deadpan voice. Shasta shuddered.
The vid moved in for a close-up on the child. A little girl, her sweet brown eyes were clouded, probably with intense pain. Her right upper arm was a stub. The fingers on her other hands were twisted and gnarled. The scales were more sporadic than on the other Dormrelians. The vid panned, and Shasta stared.
It was Andev. She recognized the child he’d been. That moment, the memory she’d shared with him of his mother’s death, had shown this boy. His brown eyes were identical to his sister’s, and they, too, were clouded. His sister’s pain was his own. By stars, having to watch the slow death of his sister must have wrecked him.
The narrator went on. “The subject’s brother has no ill effects. His human DNA has asserted itself, creating the healthy specimen you see. We have attempted to inject his healthy DNA into his sister, but all attempts to save her have failed.”
Andev was human.
The rest of the vid were statistics that made little sense to Shasta. The only thing in her mind was the numb pain on Andev’s small face. Also captured on video were two older Dormrelian males, both stoic and expressionless, the narrator revealing they were related to the suffering little girl and the devastated boy. The boy’s grandfather, Yerglan Juno, was clearly some high-up official in Dormrelian society. Kidak Juno was also pointed out as a relative, someone invested in the outcome for the poor twisted little girl. Their demeanor showed nothing, no sympathy or grief. Neither of them comforted the devastated boy who watched his sister’s suffering.
Terek switched the vid, and Shasta thought the worst was over. She was dead wrong.
A violent scene filled the screen. One of the older Dormrelian men from the previous vid stood over a rape. It was brutal and disgusting. He directed other Dormrelians to fuck a mostly human form over and over. There was no dialogue, only the animalistic growls and heaving breathing from the participants. The woman fought like a wild cat, trying to make her tormentors pay for the invasion.
When the man she recognized as Kidak Juno from the previous vid began beating the woman, Shasta wanted to hurl.
Something in Shasta broke into little pieces. “Why?”
“Racial purity. National security. None of the reasons matter. This vid is used to recruit members into the Sidharta.” Terek’s voice was filled with outrage.
“To what end?” Shasta’s mother sounded completely stunned.
“Their aim is to rid Dormrela of any alien influence, Ang or human. Their methods are brutal, violent. Even the Ang didn’t do this,” Terek said through gritted teeth. “The council refuses to release this vid or arrest the offenders because it will require them to do what they will not. Acknowledge Dormrelian-human hybrids.”
Shasta rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath. She had a million questions. Where should she start? “Okay. So, what the hell is the Hadaji?”
Terek cleared his throat. “When the Ang subjugated us, they forbade random coupling. Only approved pairs could mate, pairs approved by them.” His tone was bitter. “When we broke free, our people were determined to remember. The Hadaji is a celebration of our freedom to choose.”
“How ironic,” Shasta said bitingly, and her sister winced.
“I know it feels that way,” Sierra said. “But these men—” She waved toward the screen. “—they want you to leave. They don’t want a solution for the human hybrids here. You are the only hope these people have.”
“They have you. Why do they need me?” Shasta said desperately.
Sierra’s gaze was filled with understanding. “It’s going to take all three of us. Just one of us would help, but they need the subtle variations each of us has. They have to have our specific DNA. It’s complicated, but it has something to do with the way all three of us are coded, the way Dad’s DNA mixed with Mom’s.”
A knock on the door startled them all. Terek quickly donned his disguise before he approached the door, and two large Dormrela filled the living room. The Mechanical Interpreters gave them an eerie sound. “We have been sent to demand Shasta Pasquel’s participation in the Hadaji.”
Shasta shot to her feet. “No. I refuse.” It all had spun out of her control. Would she have no choice in her future?
Terek was studying the document the two Dormrela had brought. “The council has declared that Shasta is an alien visitor and subject to the law of Dormrela.”
Goosebumps rose on Shasta’s skin. “And?”
The two warriors exchanged a glance. “The council has declared you will be mated to Andev Juno.”
So, she’d be mated to her mysterious Dormrelian warrior. Oh, the irony. There’d been some attraction between them, but she didn’t trust it, didn’t want it. Even though she knew it was unreasonable, she felt like Andev had planned to trap her, encouraged her to come find him.
A sense of hopelessness swamped her. She’d come here to discover the secrets hidden within her DNA and to find an alien who fascinated her. An alien who wasn’t an alien at all. Now, she was going to be auctioned off to some stranger for some genetic roll of the dice. “I don’t have a say in this, do I?”
By the stoic expression on Terek Majii’s face, she got her answer. The two Dormrelian messengers waited for her answer. She glared at them. “What are you waiting for? It’s not like what I say matters anyway,” she snapped, ignoring the distressed sound her mother made.
They still seemed to be waiting for an answer. So be it. They’d get an answer alright. “So, I sell myself to the Dormrela.” She gritted her teeth. “How much?”
The second warrior narrowed his four eyes to slits. “To be mated to Andev Juno is a privilege.”
The prophecy would come to pass, and her genes would be added to the Dormrelian culture, thus saving the universe. What a load of shit. “What’s in it for me?” Desperation fueled her harsh words. All her life, she’d run from her fate, run from any predictions about what she’d become. In an effort to escape the responsibility of her birthright, she’d denied it. It looked like she was never going to get away from it.
But the shocked expression on her mother’s face and the disgusted look on the two warriors’ faces made her realize how the words must sound. Well, too bad. They’d sprung this shit on her and then expect her to give up her whole life, her future, for a bunch of aliens she didn’t understand.
Only Sierra seemed to understand. “Little bud, I know this isn’t easy for you. They don’t understand that you’ve never had much choice in your life.” She glared at Terek. “You’ll find most people don’t get it because they’ve never been Adonis Pasquel’s genetic miracles.” She held Shasta’s gaze. “But I promise you that it’s worth it. These people are worth saving, worth caring about.”
Shasta looked away from her sister’s sympathetic gaze and glanced at the two warriors standing there absorbing it all. “If I’m going to be sold, I should have a price, don’t you think?” she said, her voice brittle. “I want a million leders,” she said bluntly.
Stunned
silence followed her pronouncement. Her mother stared at her like she didn’t know her. The two warriors stood at attention and looked blank.
“You have your answer. Leave me alone.”
One of them clenched his jaw, and the other one bowed. They turned and left the house, leaving Shasta’s whole life in tatters.
“Money, Shasta?” her mother asked.
“Oh, Mom. Don’t you see?” Sierra said quietly. “Who is it for, Shasta?”
How did her sister know? “There’s a warriors’ fund. For the men who were wounded.”
Before Shasta could stop them, helpless tears spilled down her cheeks. “I had hoped—I had wished…” She couldn’t go on. Those silly hopes and dreams of love, of something special, something that had nothing to do with her father’s “gift” and the stupid prophecy seemed to vanish into thin air. The money was supposed to be a salve, a little Band-Aid to cover the gaping wound. Instead, it felt like salt. And she had no one but herself to blame.
Her sister’s arms wrapped around her. “Oh honey. You can still have all of those things.”
But Shasta didn’t believe her. All her dreams of finding the one man who could make her feel safe were over. She was going to be sold, used for the DNA key she carried.
Nothing new, really.
Chapter Four
There had to be something else besides these vids Andev had found on Shasta Pasquel. Word of her response to being forced into the Dormrela Hadaji had reached him, and he wondered at her bitterness, her anger.
The request for money seemed more like a slap in the face than an actual desire for gain. She had placed a value on her life and apparently, it was a million leders.
The vids he could find only showed a woman desperately seeking pleasure, any pleasure. And the things he saw were nothing like the person he knew in his dreams. The Shasta Pasquel portrayed by the vid streamers was a partying, selfish bitch. But the beautiful lover in his dreams had been fragile, warm and giving.
Which was the real woman?
He shoved the vid screen away and stared at his cysuit sitting in the closet. Was he any different? The Dormrelian warrior he showed the world wasn’t really who he was. Tylan knew because he’d been privy to Andev’s closely held secret when they were children. His friend never wavered, never cared that Andev was different.
Sleep eluded him when he tried to lie down. The night sky showed a myriad of stars, the dim sparkle reaching him through his windows. The Hadaji was tomorrow, and the council had manipulated everything so that he was Shasta’s choice. But even they couldn’t arrange every contingent. There was the chance that Elise Pasquel’s pleas for exception might be heard.
Finally, his eyes drooped, and he sighed. God, he was tired.
She was crying.
In all their times together, he’d only seen her cry once when she was very young. Now, as she had then, she tried to contain the tears and the feelings that inspired them. Her back was bent, and she sat in the middle of a barren wasteland. Shasta pressed the heel of her hand against her eyes, and she pursed her lips together.
“Bilana.” He approached her cautiously. “What is it?”
She lifted her head, and her face crumpled into a twisted mask of pain. “I can’t get away from any of it. I’m so screwed,” she whispered and took a shaky breath. “It’s nothing. I wish—” She stopped.
“What do you wish?”
Her tear-filled gaze met his. “I wish I could see your face. Just once. Before—before—”
His heart jerked within his chest. “Is it that bad?”
“I always knew I’d never have a choice,” she said numbly. “I just hoped I’d have some control, some say in who I was mated to.”
He stared at her. “Mated?” Had she known this would happen? Was her resistance just an act?
Her smile was bitter. “Me and my sisters all have a prophecy about us. I’ve been running from it all my life.”
Shit. The prophecy. “What prophecy?” he asked even though he knew.
“I’m supposed to save the universe,” she said and laughed harshly. “I can see the vid streams now. ‘Naked dancing party girl saves two races.’ What a joke.” She shook her head. “My genetic material. That’s all that’s valuable about me.” She glanced around at the disappearing wasteland, replaced by the lush, green vegetation that always seemed to appear when they were together in their dreams. “Except for here. You always made me feel special. Here I could be myself.”
He should tell her, warn her, comfort her. Instead, he was frozen. He was afraid to tell her the truth, and he wouldn’t lie to her here.
She rose to her feet. “I have to go.”
“No,” he said sharply and grabbed her arm. “Stay with me. Let me… Let me…”
She ran her hand over his arm. “You can’t help me. I shouldn’t stay here.” She stared into his face. “I can’t have you. Ever. That kills me.”
He crushed her to him. How could she not know he was the Dormrelian warrior she feared? How could she not see his face? Was that her reluctance? Or his? He took possession of her mouth to drive away the tears, chase the misery from her face, if only for a moment.
When she sagged against him, her fingers dug into his arms as if she was desperate to hold onto him. He delved deeper, his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her as close as he could. He gentled his kiss, their connection changing to light brushes of his lips over hers.
Lightly, tenderly, her fingers stroked his cheek, and she was gone.
Andev started awake, the night air cold and bitter. He tossed the blankets away and sat on the side of his bed. Emptiness filled his chest, and he took a deep, painful breath. The pain he sensed in Shasta was almost more than he could stand. Yet, he was required to fool her, to deceive her in a way that would surely make her hate him.
All to bring his murdering grandfather out into the open.
Apparently, the council had believed Sierra would be the catalyst, but Terek Majii was a powerful Dormrelian ambassador, and the Sidharta stayed at careful distance from the couple. Then, Shasta Pasquel not only arrived on Dormrela willingly, but she danced on the eve of the Hadaji and gave the council their excuse to corner her into their plans.
The order was implacable. Shasta Pasquel would be mated to him in a Hadaji ceremony where he was to make it very clear that he cared nothing for his new human mate. Certain members of the council wanted to expose her, bring the rebels into the light. The only way to do that was to make the bastards believe Shasta was isolated.
And she would believe it. Why not? As long as he prevented her from really touching him, she’d never know.
He groaned. Once this was all over, he wondered if she’d forgive him for the pain he was going to cause her.
Well, there was one thing he could do. He could send his representative. Heedless of the time, he clicked his vidphone on and pressed a familiar button.
“Stars, Andev! Do you know what time it is?” Tylan’s hair was ruffled, and his eyes were half closed. Andev remembered the many times he’d seen Tylan like that after making love all night.
Andev hesitated for a moment. Could he ask this man who had been his lover and his friend to watch over his woman? It wasn’t like he was an expert in the right etiquette for moments like this.
For years, Tylan had been an attaché to the council, a military genius who apparently planned covert operations regularly. And he’d been Andev’s best friend since they were children. Few people knew about Andev’s dream lover. The council had been told in a closed session. He’d been young, so Andev hadn’t questioned why the council had to be informed, but Tylan, only thirteen himself, already had a wisdom beyond his years. Maybe it was because the Ryar family had always been on the council at one time or another.
As an adult, he realized the importance of informing the council of a strange psychic connection with an alien, but then, all he knew was he was different from everyone else. Only Tylan made him feel normal, accepted.
“I have a favor to ask, and it couldn’t wait.” Andev rubbed a hand over his face. Shit, he was tired. “I dreamed of her, you know. Shasta.”
Tylan was quiet, just as he’d been when Andev had told him Shasta was the woman he’d dreamed of since he was a teenager. They’d always known the woman in Andev’s dreams might be real. It had seemed, when Tylan recovered and Andev was back on Dormrela, that nothing had changed. At least, Andev had hoped nothing had changed.
Neither of them had mentioned it, but the Hadaji was close and usually the two men discussed whether they would hook up for the celebration. At Andev’s first Hadaji, the council had given him a “list” of genetically acceptable partners and controlled his exposure to other Dormrelians. Tylan had defied the council and claimed Andev for his own. It shouldn’t have happened, but somehow, it had. Since then, the council had presented Andev with women, and Tylan had sought other partners as well, but the two men had been more than just a casual fuck.
But the council was adamant. Andev had to mate with a genetically compatible female, not his male lover.
As long as Andev’s dream woman remained an inexplicable mystery, he could hope for little more than the stolen moments he had with this man he cared about. But part of Andev knew he’d taken advantage of his friend.
Finally, Tylan spoke. “And?”
“And she’s devastated, thinking she’s marrying a stranger.” Over the vidphone, Andev held his friend’s sleepy gaze. “She needs…a friend.”
A muscle in Tylan’s jaw jumped. “Sure. Like I’m your friend?” Bitterness tinged his tone.
“You mean friends with benefits?” Andev held Tylan’s gaze. The thought slammed into Andev hard. Would Shasta be attracted to Tylan? Shouldn’t that piss him off, make him jealous? Instead, he was aroused, painfully so. “Does that bother you?”
“She’s the woman of your dreams.” Tylan tightened his lips. “I’d just be a replacement for the real thing.”
Again. Tylan didn’t say the word, but he didn’t have to.
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