Twist of Fate (Veredian Chronicles Book 4)

by Regine Abel

  It will react with something in her blood.

  “Silly female,” Varrek whispered.

  This time, a hint of affection tinged his voice. He kissed Fhara’s forehead, then her cheek before opening his mouth. His fangs descended, and he leaned toward his mother’s neck.

  Khel finally let go of my wrist and I commed Sehn, ordering him to intervene at once even though it was already too late. Fhara gasped as her son’s fangs sank into her flesh. She held onto him while the approaching sound of Sehn’s boot racing down the hallway echoed through the vidscreen.

  He reached the cell just as Varrek licked the puncture wound shut.

  “Release her at once!” Sehn shouted.

  Fhara’s knees buckled and Varrek tightened his hold around her. Wavering, he sat down on his bed and pulled her across his lap.

  “Rest, Mother. I’ve got you,” he whispered, leaning his mother’s head into the crook of his neck.

  Sehn barged into the room, his blaster drawn on Varrek who looked up at him. He appeared groggy as he smiled at the warrior.

  “Give the General my regards,” he slurred, his eyelids growing heavy.

  As the light faded from his eyes, he rested his head on top of his mother’s, then his body went slack.

  Khel shut the vidscreen and walked to the window overlooking a smaller training ground, and beyond it, his estate.

  I hailed Sehn on my com.

  “Get Dr. Murkhin to perform the autopsies, and inform Detective Gravhin of the incident.”

  “Yes, First Officer,” Sehn replied.

  Turning off the com, I came to stand next to Khel. In the almost twenty years I’d known him, it was my first time to be at a complete loss to understand his behavior.

  “You knew something like this was going to happen,” I said, matter-of-fact.

  “I suspected.” He sounded almost tired.

  “Why? Why let them off easy after all the pain they’ve caused?”

  He turned to me and the same troubled expression sat on his features.

  “Two years ago, I died. The Goddess and all of you gave me a second chance. It makes you rethink a lot of things. I thought killing Kuuruk would give me the peace and closure I had wanted. It didn’t.”

  Khel ran a hand through his black hair, his purple eyes darkening with a wave of sorrow.

  “I thought it would take away the pain of my family’s death, but it didn’t. Revenge doesn’t bring back your loved ones and doesn’t mend broken hearts. I wouldn’t care about Fhara and her son facing the harshest punishment Xelix Prime has to offer. But her execution would have been a devastating blow to Bhek who has already suffered enough.”

  I nodded slowly. Despite everything, the former Ambassador couldn’t simply turn off decades of having loved his mate with every fiber of his being.

  “As a father, you try to raise your children the best you can so that they can become a welcomed addition to the community. But ultimately, whatever your children do or become is up to them. You can only hope that whatever path they choose, society won’t be too harsh. Even Gruuk pleaded for leniency for Varrek, despite knowing all of what his son had done.”

  And then I knew.

  “Your children will never be the monsters Varrek was.”

  The fear and pain lurking in his eyes knocked the wind out of me. Nothing fazed the mighty General Praghan. Although inappropriate to touch others in our culture, I placed both my hands on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes.

  “Your children have good souls, Khel. What happened in the brig doesn’t make them evil, quite the opposite. They didn’t go there out of malice but out of love for their parents. Your children are fiercely protective, like you. They will do anything to keep those they love safe, even kill.”

  “I want to believe that, but the Korletheans…”

  “Fuck the Korletheans,” I growled. “They couldn’t be bothered to help so they have no say in this. Don’t let their paranoia taint your relationship with your offspring. Do not let that incident blind you to how fundamentally good your children are. Yes, Zhara intended to kill Varrek, but she understands empathy and the value of life better than any of us ever did at her young age. Remember how brutally she chastised Vahl for killing that butterfly that annoyed him? Back at the orphanage, boys twice her age were having fun burning ants and plucking the wings off insects.”

  Khel gaped at me. From his expression, I realized he’d never thought of it from this angle. But then, it was always easier to be objective when not directly impacted by a situation.

  “Don’t fret so much. The three of you are great parents. You have good kids. Shed your fears and continue on your current course. The children may look tall and act more mature than their age, but the twins are not quite three years old, not to mention the young one will soon turn two. They’re babies. Don’t expect them to reason like adults.”

  Khel snorted and shook his head.

  “The way you word it, it’s so obvious. I feel stupid for not seeing it.”

  “I was always the smart one in our partnership while you were the pretty one.”

  Khel chuckled, tension finally bleeding out of him.

  “I’ll leave pretty to Lhor and the fun of handling that mess in the brig with the Council. They’re going to lose their shit over it.”

  “You let it happen.”

  “I followed protocol,” Khel said, lifting his chin in defiance.

  “And stomped all over that fine line,” I countered, giving him a stern look. “As your First Officer, I should probably cite you for negligence.”

  Khel’s expression lost its taunting edge and a strange glimmer sparked in his eyes.

  “Are you still my First Officer?”

  I flinched. We’d been dancing about my official end date for weeks now. Sohr would do a fine job though he could have used a couple more years of experience. With the Veredian shorter pregnancy, we had a little over four months left before our son was born, at which time Aleina would want to move to Haven. My stomach knotted once more at the thought.

  “For the time being, yes,” I said, trying to sound casual about it. “But once the baby is born, Aleina will want to move to Haven.”

  “And what about you? What do you want?”

  My eyes bore into his. I knew how Khel’s mind worked and where he was headed with this line of questioning.

  “It is my duty to keep my mate happy.”

  He raised an eyebrow and I cringed inwardly. My answer revealed far more than I intended.

  “Just like it is hers to do the same for you. Aleina is a wonderful female and a one of a kind catch,” Khel said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “But don’t forget, so are you.”

  He gave my shoulder a squeeze then turned around, heading for the door.

  “Come on, Grumpy,” he said over his shoulder. “We’ve got more administrative stuff to sort out.”

  I rolled my eyes at the wretched nickname and followed after him.

  CHAPTER 25

  Aleina

  In the weeks that followed Varrek’s death, Lhor and Zhul had to push their charisma to the fullest to appease the angry mobs that had been eagerly awaiting the trial and public torture he would have been subjected to. For all that, most seemed relieved that Fhara Zirthen had escaped their justice. Putting a female through such torment, especially one of their own and who had been well-loved before her treachery had been revealed, deeply troubled their males. Zhul told us the Council had actually celebrated her death at her own hand. No executioner would have accepted to carry out her sentence.

  The Council nevertheless expressed their discontent at Khel allowing two prisoners in his care to take their own lives. He took the tongue lashing stoically and reassured them that measures had been taken to prevent a similar situation from happening again. Going forward, prisoners would also be checked for blood toxicity.

  Eryon had immediately recognized the type of poison used. Twenty-five years ago, a Korlethean royal-assassin
named Xevius had allowed himself to be captured by the Guldans. His goal had been to assassinate my sister, Sevina, using a similar method so that she’d never give birth to Amalia and that she, in turn, wouldn’t give birth to her Titan children. According to the autopsy on Varrek and his mother, his venom had activated the dormant toxin in her system, killing her swiftly and painlessly. Varrek, drinking the activated poison from Fhara’s blood, ensured his own quick demise.

  Mercy had taken the news better than I’d expected. Although grateful that he’d been spared the Xelixian execution, I believed a part of her wished his death could have been avoided. With Gruuk’s only male heir dead, she’d left for Guldar to claim her father’s inheritance. Both Khel and I had offered to send a small fleet with her to keep her safe but she’d declined. A Xelixian and Tuurean escort would draw too much attention to her. With her markings constituting the only visible signs of her Veredian heritage, she would easily blend in, using a water and temperature resistant biosynthetic graft to cover them during her short stay on the planet. Although it took a while to apply, it would come off easily using the right tools.

  I watched her depart with a heavy heart, hating the thought she’d be alone among so many hostile forces. But if… no, when she succeeded with her mission, she’d get her hands on Gruuk’s clients list. It would enable us to track down and free all the Sisters that had been sold over the years including, I hoped, my older sisters, the twins Galicia and Gerana.

  Back here on the estate, things had returned to normal. For the most part, the children had settled back into their old routine, although they remained somewhat clingy toward Amalia. Three days ago, their screams reaching us through the window nearly gave me a heart attack as they shouted my daughter’s name and for their mother to come quickly. I almost broke my neck flying down the stairs from Amalia’s office in the three room suite Khel had granted her. She and I had been discussing housing arrangements for the four months of my remaining stay on Xelix Prime.

  When we reached them on the back porch by the pool where they’d been playing, I didn’t find the bloody, tragic scene I had almost expected. Instead, I found Lenora standing proudly next to what looked like a stone statue of a Tuurean. Although rough, it clearly represented Admiral Lee. The depressed stone floor beneath the children, indicated where the material for the sculpture had come from.

  My jaw dropped.

  “Mama, I’m like you!” Lenora shouted, waving her hands in front of her.

  “You’ve got your ability!” I whispered, in awe.

  She nodded with frantic enthusiasm.

  “Yes! Look! Look what I made!” she said, putting a hand on the sculpture.

  It lacked details and the proportions were off as you’d expect in a child’s drawing, but it was nevertheless an impressive first use of her power.

  “That’s amazing, Leni! I said. “You’re a kinetic like me!”

  Carefully navigating the damaged floor, I approached my beaming daughter and hugged her. Amalia cast a horrified look at her wrecked patio. Despite feeling guilty by proxy, I couldn’t help laughing at her expression.

  “Congratulations, Lenora,” Amalia said with a genuine smile, while her children clustered around her. “But next time you want to practice, let’s not use the patio’s stones.”

  Noticing at last the mess she’d created, Lenora looked crestfallen.

  “It’s okay, Leni,” I said. “I will help you fix it.”

  Our ability didn’t allow us to create new material. We could only use and modify what already existed. Lenora had drawn from the stones tiling the patio. The grout left behind still outlined the shape of the stones that had filled it. Under my guidance, I showed her how to unravel the sculpture to fill the holes until she began to tire. I finished the task and used my more advanced skills to refine the shapes close to what they had once been.

  But that incident only reinforced my belief that we needed a place of our own. We’d already planned on that anyway. With a lot of coaxing and sweet talking, Lhor managed to convince the owner of a large neighboring piece of land to sell it to us. It was still slightly Tainted, but we had no intention of growing our own orchard. The upside? It sat a mere eight minute shuttle flight to the Praghan estate, or a twenty-five minute cavas ride, and a thirty minute flight from the beach.

  After riding a cavas at the Dervhen estate during my visit with Valena, I’d fallen in love with the creatures. However, you couldn’t just get a cavas like you would a neption. The mount had to choose you, not the other way around. Once they accepted you, you became part of their pack, and they would defend you to their dying breath. Haven’s four season weather also wouldn’t suit the creatures. Xelix Prime had no winter thanks to its two suns. The cold weather of Haven’s winters would likely prove fatal to the majestic creatures.

  Still, as I probably wouldn’t be showing for another two months then swell up overnight like Amalia had with both her pregnancies, I was eager to get our new place move-in ready as soon as possible before the baby forced me to slow down.

  Ghan helped me every chance he could, but like me, his own responsibilities with the massive reforms they were instating within the military swallowed up a lot of his time. I was busy planning and approving the defenses around Tuur, the latest military research that would keep Tuureans the most powerful army in the galaxy despite our limited numbers, and dealing with recent diplomatic overtures from planet members of the Galactic Council.

  There was also the matter of our Fastening. I continued to run all official business as Admiral Lee. Aleina Fein didn’t exist as far as the rest of the world was concerned. But Aleina Delphin would need to show herself sooner rather than later. Closing the deal on the house had been easy since Xelixian females didn’t own property. Only Ghan’s name had therefore been required. However, Ghan wanted both our children registered in the Hall of Records and while he would never ask me, he wanted to be claimed during a Fastening Ceremony.

  My conversation with Kamala never left my mind. While Ghan and I had had a few more ‘learn to let go’ sessions, our relationship remained pretty one-sided in terms of who gave the most. To be fair, he had volunteered for the majority of the concessions he’d made, but I’d been far too eager to accept them because they suited me.

  But Ghan had changed.

  Subtle at first, I’d been noticing it more and more over the past few weeks. Actually no, more like since our first fight over my refusal to let go. But I’d been feeling it even more acutely since Varrek’s death. Where before he would systematically put my needs first, now he would pause and weight the merit of each of our positions first before picking a side and arguing in its defense. He had done that before, but only on serious matters, which always ended up scaling in my favor. But for casual things now, if I wanted us to watch another animation movie for the second time that week, he’d overrule me to go for a picnic in one of the forest’s clearings instead, or for a hoverbike ride through the Xelixian countryside.

  While that had annoyed me at first, and still did at times, it was only fair that he, too, had his say.

  The bedroom door clicked open and my mate walked in. I would never tire of that mountain of muscles clad in his form-fitting black uniform, or of that fearsome face that melted with tenderness whenever he gazed upon me.

  My mate.

  I rose to my feet from the work desk I’d been sitting at. Ghan all but glided with his impossibly graceful gait in spite of his massive size. Slipping my arms around his narrow waist, I pressed my chest against his and lifted my chin to receive his kiss. No other male had ever managed to make me feel both vulnerable yet invincible. His large hands slid down my back to settle on my bum before lifting me up. On instinct, I wrapped my legs around him and sank my fingers into his hair. I tilted my head to the side to deepen our kiss while the flame of arousal suffused my pelvic area.

  Ghan carried me to the fresher, and I thanked the Goddess Lenora was still sharing Zhara’s room on the third floor of the
house, while Ghan and I shared a private suite on the ground floor at the far end of the estate’s west wing. I’d already been planning on how to modify the layout of our new home to guarantee us some privacy, especially considering how loud we could get.

  My mate put me down near the shower, and we mutually undressed each other. I took a bit longer as his bulging veins and muscles kept distracting me. We took our sweet time washing each other. I loved the feel of my soapy hands moving over his hard body and the strange contrast of his calloused palms made slippery by lather as they roamed over me.

  We couldn’t keep our hands off each other, taunting, teasing, and pleasuring. While he washed my hair, I stroked his length. When I washed his, the rough pad of his fingers rubbed the sensitive nub between my legs. Ghan made me feel sexy and naughty. Even after I rinsed his hair, his hand pursued its delicious torment. Two thick fingers slipped inside me, and his mouth swallowed my moan. The fire building in my belly spread, and my skin tingled. Slipping a hand between us, I reached for his shaft again, but he caught my wrist and held it behind my back.

  I groaned in frustration but knew better than to try with the other hand. He’d just grab it, too, and hold both of them captive. He chuckled, knowing exactly which thoughts had crossed my mind. Aching to touch him, I let my hand roam over his chest. My thumb toyed with his erect nipple, then seizing it between two fingers, I gave it a bit of a stinging twist.

  Ghan growled that animalistic sound he always made when need overtook him. A bolt of lust exploded in the pit of my belly and my nipples hardened to the point of pain. Ghan pulled his fingers out of me. Before I could complain about the sudden hollow feeling, he crouched in front of me, slipped his arms between my legs and, hooking them behind my knees, he lifted me up like I weighed nothing. I squealed in surprise and wrapped my arms around his neck. My core throbbed with a burning need, and I cried out with bliss when he lowered me onto his erect shaft.

  I reveled in the incredible fullness, each stroke fanning the flame consuming me. He didn’t have to ask me to let go. I had no choice but to accept his sensual assault, hanging on to his neck while he thrust in and out of me. Legs shaking from my impending release, I threw my head back with a throaty moan. The raining water from the shower pummeled my burning skin and drowned the slapping sound of our joining.