by Regine Abel
Despite the monumental endeavor this represented, I hadn’t felt this excited and invigorated by a project since the time we’d built the military compound on Khel’s estate. In between animated discussion and poring over military laws and protocols, my best friend and I worked on various drafts to address those issues. I had forgotten how much I loved working alongside him, whether in battle or through this administrative stuff.
An urgent call on Khel’s com cut him off mid-sentence.
“Khel,” he answered.
He listened for a second then blood drained from his face, setting me on high alert.
“WHAT?”
He jumped to his feet, listening some more.
“Set everyone on high alert. I want her thoroughly scanned and searched. Check for implants. Send out patrols to secure the perimeter of the estate, and perform long-range scans on all frequencies for any ground or air attacks. If she’s got backup out there, I want them found and apprehended.”
What in Gharah’s name is going on?
He listened for a couple more seconds.
“Fine. Then bring her to the interrogation room. Khel out.”
He met my inquisitive gaze, his burning with fury.
“Fhara fucking Zirthen just surrendered at the gate.”
WHAT?!
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, flabbergasted.
He didn’t answer, knowing it wasn’t a real question. Khel wouldn’t joke about something like that. Fhara’s betrayal had cut him deep. Bhek Zirthen had been his father’s childhood friend and a father figure. Aside from the pain her infidelity had caused him, Fhara’s involvement in the Blood Houses had pushed Bhek to resign both his Ambassador and Counselor role.
For almost two years, she’d fallen off the radar, eluding any effort to capture her. Why surrender when we had no lead whatsoever as to her whereabouts? Above all, why surrender on the eve of her son’s trial? Khel was right to send out patrols. This sounded like a last minute rescue attempt.
I followed Khel out of the house and into the compound. Although Khel had an office in the compound, he preferred working in the warmer, more welcoming one in his house. And frankly, so did I. With Amalia’s pregnancy and him being the sire of the twins she carried, he made extra efforts to be near his mate and unborn children to feed the paternal bond.
We reached the interrogation room just as Sehn finished shackling Fhara to her chair. The waves of aggression rolling off of Khel reminded me of Vahl’s the first time he’d met Eryon. Bhek’s mate hadn’t changed much since last I saw her. She’d kept her black hair short, barely below her cheeks; an uncommon style among Xelixians female. Her green eyes no longer shone with the adventurous and defiant spark they’d once held, giving her noble face a grimmer edge. While still very fit, the muscles of her arms exposed by her sleeveless white dress, were no longer as defined as they’d once been. The life of a fugitive no doubt kept her from indulging in the extreme sports that she loved so much.
“She requested we give this to Bhek Zirthen,” Sehn said, extending a holocard to Khel. “We’ve checked it. There’s only a video recording on it.”
Khel nodded and tossed the card on the table while Sehn exited the room.
“Hello Khel, Ghan,” she said, in a conversational tone.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” Khel grounded through his teeth, his face strained with anger.
Even though her chair was located a couple of meters away from the table, Khel stood on its other side as if he wanted a protective barrier between them. As per usual, I leaned against the left wall and observed, unsure about my own feelings regarding the female.
Fhara had the decency to lower her eyes.
“Why are you here? Why did you surrender?” he asked.
“I was tired of running,” she admitted with a shrug. “I’ve had no life since the day we left. All the fortresses are gone. And now, you’ve got my only son.”
“Your son,” Khel spat out with disgust. “Your son should have been Bhek’s. But instead, you made yourself barren by cheating on him with a Guldan slaver. His bloodline will die with him because he remained faithful to you while you were betraying him and your people.”
Her face contorted with pain at the mention of her mate’s name. Whatever wrongdoings could be laid at her feet, Fhara loved Bhek in her own way. I didn’t doubt the holocard contained an apology to him and maybe even an explanation of her actions over the years.
“He deserved better,” she whispered. “I never meant for him to be dragged into all of this. Things just started falling apart and then… it got out of control.”
“Things? What things? You mean, your son murdering my entire family, which included your mate’s best friend, to set Dervhen up for blackmail?” Khel shouted, slamming his fist on the table.
Fhara flinched and her eyes filled with sorrow.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. Nhera and Vahl weren’t supposed to die. Even Dhak shouldn’t have died. I instructed Kuuruk to scare him, not kill them all.”
My jaw dropped.
“You? You sent the assassin after them?” I asked.
Her eyes flicked toward me before returning to Khel, pleading.
“Dhak had discovered my affair with Gruuk after I carelessly had a conversation with Varrek from Bhek’s office. Since my mate wasn’t due back for an hour, I’d thought it’d be safe. I didn’t hear Dhak come in, probably to drop some documents. I never even saw him.”
She took in a shaky breath, her eyes taking on a faraway expression as she reminisced.
“He didn’t confront me at first because he wanted to investigate some of the things he’d overheard. By the time he did, he’d only found out that I’d been using Bhek’s diplomatic immunity to smuggle illegal things to Xelix Prime. He knew nothing of the Blood Houses. Bhek had been away on yet another one of his diplomatic missions. Dhak told me to confess everything to Bhek when he returned or he would.”
“And so you murdered my family,” Khel growled, murder in his eyes.
I straightened, ready to intervene. While Khel would not normally attack a defenseless enemy, least of all a female, Fhara had effectively had his entire family killed. I couldn’t blame him if he lost it.
“He wasn’t supposed to kill anyone, only issue a warning to back off. Everything fell apart from that point on.”
“Everything? As in you losing the ability to exploit and torture those poor females?” He looked at her with utter contempt and revulsion. “How could you do this to other females? For credits!”
She shook her head and shrugged in defeat.
“I didn’t know about it at first. Varrek had finally decided to move here after living most of his life on Guldar. I was just happy to see my son. By the time I realized what kind of business he ran, I had three choices: try to stop him and lose him forever, try to ignore it and never see him, or get in on it and spend time with him. I chose to spend time with him. He was all I had left from his father.”
“Gruuk didn’t even love you. He’d already given his heart to another.”
Khel’s gratuitous cruelty made me cringe inwardly. But I could understand his need to lash out. He’d been extremely close to his mother and still felt her loss as acutely today as he had on the day she passed.
“You think I don’t know that? You think it didn’t eat me up inside every time we came to visit and I saw her at your table?” Her eyes burned with anger. “She doesn’t even remember me. She’s the one that fixed me after my baby’s horns tore me to shreds. They’d made sure to keep my face hidden. And your perfect little Maheva made sure to leave me barren. Females can be spiteful over the males they love,” she concluded, bitterly.
Khel rested his fists on top of the table and leaned forward, a cruel glimmer in his eyes.
“Gruuk gave us the location of all the remaining fortresses. He chose to protect his daughter with Maheva rather than his son with you.”
“Daughter?”
Fhara asked, disbelieving.
“Yes,” Khel said with a feral grin as he rubbed salt in the wound. “His firstborn child. A beautiful daughter, perfect mix of them both with his skin color, his hair, eyes and horns, and her mother’s face and markings. She’s also his true heir because he married Maheva.”
In spite of all my contempt for Fhara, I hated seeing females cry. The silent tears running down her cheeks twisted my stomach in the most unpleasant fashion. Not wanting Khel to carry on lashing out at her the only way he would allow himself to, I switched the topic.
“So why did you come here?” I asked.
She sniffled. “I told you, I’m tired of running. There’s nothing left for me out there, and I want to see my son one last time before his sentence is passed.”
“You know you will be tried, judged, and receive the same sentence he will?” I asked.
She snorted sadly. “Like I said, I have nothing left to lose.”
“No,” Khel said. “Her sentence will be worse. On top of the sexual slavery, she murdered dozens of innocent females to protect her own ass. You would have succeeded in killing me, too, if not for our perfect Maheva.”
She closed her eyes as if in deep pain and shook her head.
“You may not believe it, but I didn’t mean for you to be hurt. I didn’t realize you led the charge during raids, not with a Geminate whose life depended on your welfare. I thought you’d be safe.”
Khel flinched. While I doubted Fhara had intended to hurt Khel, she’d score a direct hit. He’d been neglectful of his Anchor responsibilities towards his Core. His near death almost killing Lhor had been the eye opener he’d needed all these years.
“Intended or not, you killed a lot of innocents including some of my most valued warriors. Say hello to Gharah for me when you get there.”
Khel grabbed the holocard on the table and turned to leave.
“KHEL! Wait!” she shouted, a glimmer of panic in her eyes.
He faced her.
“I… I realize you don’t owe me anything, but could I see my son one last time? Even if only for a few minutes. Please!”
What? No!
My head snapped toward Khel, expecting him to tell her to keep dreaming. Instead, a slew of emotions ran over his face while he stared at her intently. With all my warning bells going off, I couldn’t understand why Khel would even consider it.
“You have ten minutes.”
“Khel!” I exclaimed, shocked.
I had never questioned one of Khel’s orders in front of a third party. That it escaped me like this revealed the extent of my confusion. He glared at me and my ears heated.
“Ten minutes,” he repeated through his teeth, daring me to challenge him.
I lowered my eyes and nodded. Reaching for my com, I called Sehn over to escort her to the brig.
“Thank you,” Fhara said, eyes misting.
The extent of her gratitude increased my unease further, as did the troubled look that crossed Khel’s face. He didn’t respond but turned on his heels and left the room.
As soon as Sehn arrived, I chased after Khel, finding him in his office inside the compound. Its white walls and furniture, the absence of any decoration to give it warmth made me realize how much my stay aboard the Tempest and in Aleina’s colorful quarters had taught me to want more than the cold, clinical Xelixian décor.
Khel stood with his back to me, facing the large vidscreen in front of his conference table. It streamed the camera feed from Varrek’s cell.
“What are you doing, Khel,” I asked, utterly baffled. “You know she’s up to something. She wouldn’t have come here of all places at this point in time without some kind of nefarious plan.”
“She’s been searched,” he said impassively.
I gaped at him, left speechless by his apparent nonchalant and uncaring behavior. This wasn’t like him. His instincts were usually as acute as mine, and currently, they were yelling danger at me with a vengeance.
Sehn walked up to Varrek’s cell with his mother still wearing the magnetic shackles on her wrists so that he could immobilize her with a simple command if she tried anything.
As per usual, Varrek had been sitting with this legs crossed beneath him, meditating. His eyes snapped open at the sound of his cell door opening. Upon seeing his mother, his lips parted in shock, and he unfolded his legs although he remained seated. Standing up would have been construed as a threatening gesture and Sehn would have been entitled to zap him.
“You have ten minutes,” Sehn reminded them while closing the door behind Fhara.
She nodded at him over her shoulder before turning back to her son. As soon as the security lock activated, Varrek jumped to his feet, disbelief and something akin to anger etched on his face.
“How?” he growled.
She closed the distance between them and stopped right in front of him.
“I surrendered,” she said, matter-of-fact.
Varrek recoiled and examined her face like she was some unknown lifeform.
“Why the fuck would you do that?” he asked. “You were safe! You had enough credits to live comfortably for the rest of your days!”
A soft expression descended on her features as if looking at a cute but clueless child.
“Live for what? Your father is gone, my mate has repudiated me, and now you…”
Varrek shook his head with disgust.
“Love is a weakness, Mother. Look at where it’s brought you.”
“Love is the most powerful thing in anyone’s life. I am exactly where I chose to be. Where I want to be. With my son.”
“Love was my father’s downfall. Love brought down his empire. The fruit of his love got me captured.”
Fhara’s shoulders drooped and sadness came over her features.
“You’ve met your sister, then?”
“You knew?” Varrek asked, outraged.
Fhara shook her head.
“I only found out minutes ago. The General was quite eager to rub it in my face. He made sure I knew that, unlike my own child, Maheva’s offspring had inherited the features of the male I loved.”
Varrek snorted.
“That she has. She’s the perfect Guldan, with his skin, his hair, his eyes, his ears… Even the patterns on her horns matches Father’s. Whereas I…”
“You are beautiful, Varrek Vrok!” she exclaimed, her voice tinged with anger.
She cupped his face with both hands. He tried to pull away from her touch, but she tightened her hold.
“Your Xelixian heritage may be dominant but that doesn’t make you any less Guldan. And why does it matter anyway? You are a stunning male, and you’re unique. So unique in fact that your father turned down offers from collectors who wanted you.”
The stunned look on his face echoed the one Khel and I both had. How ironic that his own sire should have sheltered him from the very horror he imposed upon others.
Varrek snorted and shook his head.
“Why did that even surprise me? Of course, collectors would have wanted to buy me.”
“I should have been less of a coward,” Fhara said, her face taking on a faraway look. “I should have confessed to Bhek and raised you myself instead of letting Gruuk send you to Guldar. Things would have turned out completely different then.”
Varrek stared at his mother with a neutral expression.
“There is no point wishing for what could have been but isn’t.”
She caressed her son’s cheek then his silver white hair before resting her palms on his broad shoulders. Although he seemed ill at ease with the physical contact, he didn’t pull away from her.
“Why have you come here, Mother? You know what awaits me, and now what also awaits you. Whatever our differences, I did not wish this on you.”
Valena had told us of the chill between Fhara and her son. However, watching this exchange, I realized their relationship was far more complex than it seemed. It suddenly dawned on me that as a child, Varrek would have f
elt abandoned by both his parents, with his mother sending him away to protect her union with Bhek, and his father dumping him on Guldar to spare the sensibilities of Maheva, the female he loved. With his exotic appearance, Varrek must have stood out on Guldar and been reminded daily that he didn’t belong. No wonder he resented his Xelixian features.
“You’re more Guldan than he ever was, or is that your way of compensating for not looking like one?”
Mercy’s harsh words to her brother popped back into my head. How accurate she’d been.
“I came here to give you a choice because I also do not wish upon you what they have in mind for us.”
My alarms went off again and a sense of impending doom settled in the pit of my stomach.
“Khel,” I said, urgently.
Eyes glued to the screen, his body tense but his face impassive, he shook his head, indicating for me to stand down.
What in Gharah’s name?
“She’s about to do something!”
“She’s been searched. We’ve followed all protocols.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Varrek’s words drew my attention.
“So then, it is you.”
“Me?” Fhara asked.
“The Oracle told me one of three outcomes awaited me. One, I’d be executed by the Xelixians. Two, the Praghan children would kill me, which came close to pass a few day ago. And three, my own mother would end me.” He chuckled. “I guess it’s only fair that the one who gave me life should take it away.”
“I’m giving you a choice, my son. Whatever you decide, I will follow. I love you, Varrek.”
I raised my hand to tap my com and tell Sehn to rush back in. Lightning fast, Khel grabbed my wrist with bruising strength.
“Hold,” he snapped, his eyes never straying from the scene unfolding on the screen.
Fhara brushed her short hair aside and tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. Varrek’s eyes, so similar to his mother’s, widened in understanding. Confused, I watched him embrace his mother.
How does him injecting her with his venom help him in any way?
The question had barely finished popping in my head when the answer came rushing in.