by Laurie Roma
“You have been to my home world?”
He smiled. “Several centuries ago. You and I both seem to have curious natures.”
She raised a brow. “So, you visited my home world when yours was cloaked and no one else was leaving the planet?”
“It’s a long story.”
That made her laugh. “I bet.”
Roman interrupted their conversation as he surged to his feet, knocking his chair over in his haste. “Oh, hell no!”
He lifted Amari’s chair with her still sitting on it, his muscles barely even flexing from the strain. He studied the room, then carried her chair over to where Malik sat watching, fascinated by the entire business. Using his foot, Roman shoved the Tarin’s chair over a little, then gently set Amari down in the space he had created.
Grabbing an empty chair from against the wall, Roman dragged it over to the table. He sat down next to his mate, huffing out a pleased breath before he kissed her hard. He turned to glare at Tavius, who was laughing his ass of in the seat next seat to him.
“Don’t make me hit you,” Roman growled in warning.
“Mating makes fools of us all, my friend.” Tavius laughed again. “Damn, your eyes are weird. That’s going to take some time to get used to.”
Ignoring that comment, Roman shot a heated look at Amari. “If that colorful fucker breathes on you again, I’m going to tear him apart.”
“He was just being friendly and making conversation.”
“Murder him with my bare hands...” Roman growled.
“You do realize the Xenon have soulmates chosen for them by the gods.”
“And stomp on his pretty face...”
“What happened to no hitting in the peace summit?” she asked innocently.
“Better yet, he should suffer slowly. If he even looks at you again, I’ll—”
Her lips twitched. “Will you blind him, too?”
“I didn’t blind him!”
It took a moment to realize that Ian Spartan had been in the process of welcoming everyone when Roman had interrupted him by shouting out what should have been kept private to avoid sounding like a psycho. Talking to someone in his mind was turning out to be harder than it seemed.
“Shall we begin?” Amari asked with a wicked sparkle in her glowing eyes.
“Introductions!” Ian Spartan shouted, then lowered his voice back to normal. “Most of us know one another, but we should probably formally introduce ourselves as the chancellors for our respective planets.”
Ian announced that he was a member of the Council of Regents, the governing body of the United Federation Command Alliance. The Alliance controlled Earth and most of the space stations within the area, giving humans a lot of power even if they were heavily dependent on technology.
Next to him sat Naomi Tala, the Helios chancellor, who smiled at everyone, but she didn’t make eye contact with Amari. A born politician, the cat shifter had been a tribe leader before becoming an ambassador to the Alliance. Adric M’Dor, chancellor for the D’Aire, was another ambassador. The male had recently made the decision to leave the travel of being an ambassador to return to his home world with his keeper and their children, but he wouldn’t be happy being idle for long.
Sitting beside Adric was Sarros Ve, a Reema whose family owned one of the largest mining companies on their home world. The Alliance was their largest customer, but they also did business with other worlds, so he had been a wise choice to participate in the meeting.
After everyone introduced themselves, Sarros spoke up again. “If I could have your attention. Most of you probably won’t care what I have to say, but it’s important that I officially state my protest before we move on.”
“What exactly are you protesting?” Ian asked.
“I hate to say it, but I don’t believe this particular group of chancellors is going to get anything accomplished. There are too many personal connections in the room that will get in the way of the business. Coming from a large family myself, I should know that gets complicated very quickly,” Sarros stated.
“I agree with what Sarros is saying,” Naomi said. “Now that Tavius is mated to Ian’s daughter that makes them family, but it also makes the connection between the Alliance and Krytos stronger.”
“Amari and Malik are also related, so that aligns the Dragon Warriors with the Tarins,” Adric added. “And now that she is mated to Roman, our moderator isn’t going to be able to be impartial about anything discussed here. We also can’t ignore the fact that Malik’s sister caused a lot of pain and suffering for all of our people. I’m not sure he is the best choice as chancellor. No offense intended.”
“Plenty taken,” Malik said, his voice remaining light, almost cheerful. “I’m nothing like my devious, homicidal, bitch of a sister. If you choose to blame me for her deeds, that would be your problem.”
“Would you want to be blamed for everything your family members have ever done? By that logic, we’d all be fucked,” Roman asserted, his irritation clear.
Amari sat back and watched as everyone in the room began to argue at once. Everyone except for her and Elder Torren Blue. The Xenon looked amused by the chaos, but even across the table, she began to sense that he was beginning to get bored. He sat with his elbows braced on the armrests of his chair, his slimmer frame easily fitting on the wide chair when some of the other heavier males were crammed into theirs.
Poor planning, she thought as she allowed her mind to drift. The last few days had passed in a blur, but she remembered every moment she had spent with her mate. Since everyone had started the senseless arguing, Amari had been getting bombarded with emotions, thoughts, and feelings. At first, the room seemed welcoming, but it was quickly becoming a cage. If the rest of the meeting was like this, they would be wasting days with nothing to show for it except a headache or two.
She hated wasting time almost as much as she hated the ominous feeling that suddenly plagued her. The energy was insistent, pushing at her senses. It was warning her to be vigilant, but of what, she had no idea. Something dark flickered through her mind, but as she sought out the source, there was nothing there.
Roman’s head snapped to the side, his glowing green eyes meeting hers. “What is it, sweetheart? What’s wrong?”
“I do not know. Whatever the energy is telling me is unclear.”
“We can only have order through equality,” Adric insisted.
“The Dragon Warriors and Xenon are dangerous! We can’t possibly defend ourselves against their magic,” Sarros complained.
“Nothing can be handled fairly for those of us not related,” Naomi hissed.
“Everyone, please calm down!” Ian shouted to be heard over the others.
Tension spiked in the room. Amari wasn’t sure if they were all shouting in their heads or if there was too much energy swirling around, but she suddenly felt bombarded with information.
“We should just go,” Roman said urgently. “You aren’t feeling well.”
“It will pass.” It always did. Her patience at an end, Amari’s voice was as sharp as a blade’s edge as she cut through the rest of the noise. “You are supposed to be leaders of your worlds. I suggest you try to act like you actually deserve it.”
Those simple words accomplished what all of the shouting hadn’t been able to do. Everyone went silent and turned to look at her.
“If you do not want me to attend this meeting, so be it, but you should not ban my mate because of his connection to me. You know that he is honorable and trustworthy as most of you have known him for years.”
“Amari, I don’t need—”
“This meeting is important to you, and you prepared to make sure it was successful,” she said, cutting her mate off.
“We do,” Adric agreed. “And we don’t dispute how much we respect Roman, but he is a Dragon Warrior now.”
That sparked Roman’s temper. “What the fuck, Adric? You seem more concerned about who is allowed to sit in this room than what could act
ually be decided here. I was a regent when I was asked to do this job in the first place. If you believed I could be impartial when I was human, then it should be no different now.”
“There is a big difference between having another human or another Dragon Warrior present,” Naomi said.
“It does not matter if there is one or a legion of us in the room. If I wanted you dead, you would already be but a memory,” Amari stated so casually, the Helios gaped at her.
“That is probably not the best way to make friends,” Malik murmured.
“That one will never be a friend, nephew. And I already have more friends than I need.”
“I hate it when you talk to me in my mind,” Malik bitched.
“These are going to be long days,” Tavius said with a groan. “This is worse than herding drunk people out of a bar. Speaking of, I could use a damn drink.” A glass of dark liquid appeared in Tavius hand, making him grin. “Thanks!”
That wasn’t the only thing that had appeared. The circular table was suddenly covered with trays and platters of food and crystal glasses were filled with dark, rich liquid. The surprise feast stopped the arguing, and everyone turned to stare at Amari.
“This was not my doing,” she denied with a shrug. She would have been content to let them starve. Well, just a few of them.
“Well, I didn’t do it.” Roman frowned at her. “Did I?” Seeing Amari’s imperceptible nod, he sighed. “How did I not know it was me, damn it?”
“We might as well eat if we are stuck here.” Switching to their private bond, she said, “Although, I changed a few things, such as the drink you placed in front of the D’Aire. I did not think you planned on feeding him that much chocolate since it would have made him sick.”
“I did what? Stars, I could have killed him.”
Roman wanted to bang his head against the table. He needed to stop using magic until he figured out what he was doing.
“Nay, it would have just made him high. I adjusted a few other items, but overall, you prepared us a fine meal, mate. Well done. I am hungry.”
When no one made a move toward the food, Amari reached over and lifted a thin, triangle-shaped piece of bread with cheese, tomato sauce, and small pieces of a variety of meats and vegetables on top. “I have developed a taste for the pazza.”
“Pizza,” Roman corrected automatically.
As soon as Amari took a bite, the others slowly began to pick at the food. Their enthusiasm grew, and they ate while continuing to argue at a more reasonable volume.
“We need to trust everyone in this room if we are going to ask our own people to trust us to make decisions for them,” Adric claimed.
Naomi nodded. “It might sound callous, but it is our duty to ensure we do what is best not just for this collective, but for our individual races. That could mean challenging each other and pushing our own agendas or requests.”
To Amari mind, it was not only callous, but myopic and dangerous as well. She leaned back in her chair with a wine glass in her hand and continued listening to the chancellors. “They bicker like younglings.”
“People who obtain power usually want more, or they use that power to get what they want,” Roman reminded. “It’s not like what you are used to. Magic changes things.”
“It does makes life easier,” she conceded. “Still, magic requires more responsibility.”
“I just hope I don’t kill someone while we are here. At least the food calmed everyone down. I don’t want them to come to blows before we know what they have to say.”
“I already know what they are going to say. Your fellow regent is simple. He desires expansion for the Alliance, and technological advancements that will most likely lead Earth and the elites to their doom.”
“That is fucking depressing.”
“It is only a potential outcome. I do not sense the future, just what each of the chancellors are here for. Both of you are interested in forming an agreement with the Xenon for a cure.”
“For the infertility? Yes, that is a priority.”
She shot him a look. “You would do better to ask rather than attempting to barter.”
Roman was fascinated by her abilities. “How about the Krytos?”
“He wants X4.”
“He wants what?” When everyone glanced at him, Roman waved his hand in the air, telling them wordlessly to continue their conversation. He glanced at the owner of New Vega, then back at Amari. “He wants a space station? Well, I guess it is a Krytos stronghold already, so it makes sense. I don’t know if the Alliance is just going to hand it over.”
“They should. That one has patience I would not usually attribute to a Krytos. He has planned this for years. It is why they requested improvements there so often over the years.”
Roman frowned. “You can tell that from sensing him?”
“Nay, I can see it in your memories.”
“I have visited X4 many times over the years. It’s an impressive sight and is one of the largest space stations the Alliance...ah. Now, I get it. What does the Helios want?”
“Besides you?” Amari was pleased with his answering scowl. “She wants her race to study at the Academy with the elites. I am surprised that you do not have intergalactic training.”
“We’ve discussed it before.”
“I hate to admit it is a decent idea. It is what the D’Aire want as well, only they also want control of areas on the space stations and Earth similar to the Krytos sanctuaries.”
“With dampening fields so their seekers have someplace to go where they aren’t bombarded by the thoughts and emotions of others. I have spoken to Adric about this before.” Roman frowned as he thought back. “It was a good idea, but it never went anywhere. I mean, none of the D’Aire seemed to want to work on it. Like they were waiting for the Alliance to build it for them.”
Amari nodded. “I call those idle ideas. My sister and brothers have had many over the years.” She turned her attention back to the main conversation at the table. Anger shimmered as Naomi spoke.
“Your sister lived in your palace. How could you not know that Quilla was running a slave network right under your nose?”
Malik stood up and put a hand on Amari’s shoulder, making her relax again. Whatever they’d said to him hadn’t upset him. In fact, she could tell he was enjoying it. He might be a fierce warrior, but he was also a born leader capable of manipulating others to try to guarantee the outcome he desired.
“The same way no one knew that she had Tarins, Helios, Reema, D’Aire, Krytos, and humans working for her. We also found information about her clients, and quite a few of those were from other races as well.”
No one at the table liked being reminded of that.
“Since Sarros only arrived a few hours ago, and we started the meeting late, I’ll leave you to your discussion. You can decide if you want me to attend tomorrow. Otherwise, the only business I had was to find somewhere safe to send the females who no longer wish to live on Tartarus. Elder Blue agreed to provide a secured area on Xenthian where the females can live in peace. We are grateful for your generosity, elder.”
Torren spoke for the first time since he’d introduced himself. “If we are going to open our world to visitors, providing shelter for those who need it is a good place to start. I spoke with the Regos about it a few days ago, and my Vasili and Vasera assure me that the work has already begun. We’ll let you know when accommodations are ready, then we can make arrangements for transport.”
“That was quick work,” Malik said, surprised. “Again, we thank you. Let us know if you require anything from the Tarin. If it is possible, we will—”
“We don’t want payment. Those females deserve to live in peace,” Torren stated, the conviction in his voice hard as steel.
Well, this was interesting, Amari thought.
She hadn’t doubted that the Xenon would open their home to the females in need, but the easy confirmation that they were already working on it was enough to warm her
heart. Good will aside, she was intrigued by Torren’s magic. He was powerful, as was evident by the way he’d blended into the background without changing his form in any way. She could do something similar when she wanted to observe a situation unnoticed, but she had to fade her form or make herself transparent to do so.
There was something so colorful and vibrant about Torren Blue besides his hair, and yet, since they’d sat down, it had been as though he had disappeared in plain sight. Whatever spell he’d used had even worked on her, which was no small feat, and she only felt the smallest ripple of energy coming from the elder.
That made him very dangerous.
When the Xenon caught her staring at him, he winked.
“I’m going to gouge that motherfucker’s eyes out with a spoon,” Roman swore bitterly.
“You are sweet when you are jealous,” Amari declared. “I was not admiring the surprisingly pleasant arrangement of colorful hair. The male uses magic with such ease and skill that it is barely noticeable...even to me.”
“Is he a threat to us?”
“If he wanted us dead, we would now be in a battle the likes of which no one has ever seen before.”
“Fuck.”
“Let me know what you decide. Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy the rest of my meal with Reva and my brothers.” Malik excused himself, then strode from the room.
“Shit,” Roman muttered. “That’s not good.”
“His exit was a little too dramatic,” Amari commented. When her mate just stared at her, she had to fight back a smile. “He successfully managed to obtain protection for the females, and he maneuvered his way out of the meeting. He was aggravating them deliberately.”
“Sneaky.” Roman could admire that about his new nephew.
“I can be sneaky as well, but what would be the point?” Amari set down her wine glass and stood. “We are leaving. Mainly because sex with my mate is far more appealing than staying here with all of you.”
Roman snorted on a laugh as he stood next to her. “Subtle. Real subtle, sugar.”
“While a conversation about mining rights or dampening fields would be riveting, I am sure that can wait until next rising when we are all present.”