by Regine Abel
“You have twenty-four hours to gather your remaining belongings here, after which your access to the house will be revoked. Your city apartments are paid for until the end of the month. That gives you ten days to find new arrangements or to report to Family Welfare. They will gladly provide you with temporary accommodations and a small spending allocation until the next Fastening Selection.”
My mother’s hand flew to her chest as she stared at my father in complete dismay. He watched her, the same pity I felt for her etched on his face.
“Nhed…” she whispered, her voice broken. “A twenty-nine year bond—”
“No, Ruthy. An eight-year bond followed by twenty-one years of you taking advantage of us. The free ride is over. I wish you the best of luck in your new life. Farewell.”
My father walked towards us, his eyes on Lelah. He stopped in front of her and caressed her head.
“I need to speak with your brother, sweetie. Would you mind going to your room? I’ll come see you right after.”
“Yes, Father,” Lelah whispered.
He smiled and kissed her forehead. She returned his smile. After a quick glance at me, she walked out and raced up the stairs to her room. My father gestured for me to walk ahead. I assumed he wanted us to speak in his office, so I headed there with him on my heels. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the mostly empty hallway. Despite that, it didn’t cover my mother’s weeping in the living area.
Completely dazed, I didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, I was happy my father had finally carved out the cancer that had been eating him and our family alive. On the other, I didn’t understand this sudden change in him. What prompted it? Would it last? And, whether I wanted to admit it or not, Ruthy was still my mother. Though I felt no love for her, I didn’t want to see her destitute. And, despite her selfishness, seeing – hearing – a female’s distress troubled me.
My father closed the door behind us and gestured for me to take a seat.
I sagged in the chair, relieved to get off my shaky legs. My father walked to the mini-bar and poured two glasses of water. He strolled over and handed me one before taking a seat on the couch next to my chair. I gulped the whole thing down. Right now, I could have used something stiffer but my father hadn’t been able to afford alcohol in a while – which in a way was a good thing.
“What happened to you?” I asked breathily.
“It took me far too long, but I finally realized last night that I hated the male I’d become. And above all, that I couldn’t lose my remaining children. This wasn’t who I wanted to be. You are my true family and I’ve all but destroyed you. Can you ever forgive me?”
I still didn’t understand this complete change, but I fully embraced it.
“Of course, Father. I’ll be there for you.”
He smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder, giving it a ‘thank you’ squeeze.
“That young Veredian is a delightful female.”
My eyes snapped to his. Was Valena the cause of this sudden turn around? Was he attracted to her?
“Yes, she is,” I said cautiously.
“She’s quite fond of you. I think Lelah wouldn’t mind having her as a big sister.”
My face flushed while relief flooded through me.
“I also care greatly for her,” I confessed, giving him a shy look. “She proposed last night and I accepted.”
His eyes misted and I felt myself choke.
“I am happy for you, son. You deserve happiness. I feared…”
He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew what he feared and it had almost come true. Before Valena, I had sworn never to mate.
My father inhaled deeply then steeled himself. This boded ill.
“I have also made another decision but needed to inform you first so that you were prepared. I was going to wait until next week for Lelah’s school year to be over. But in light of your revelation, I need to move things up.”
“What are you talking about?
“I’m going to turn myself in to the authorities.”
“Father!”
“Listen to me, Zhul.” His tone brooked no argument.
I was blown away by the complete change in him. It was like we had travelled twenty years back in time.
“You cannot make your bond official until your female is free. And you cannot free her without incriminating me or being wrongfully accused.”
“You’ll go to jail.”
“Probably. But that will happen sooner or later. Hopefully, if I turn myself in, they will be more lenient especially since I didn’t know how V was using my help.”
I ran my hand through my hair, feeling overwhelmed.
“Look,” I said, “don’t do anything just yet. I’ve got a couple of things going on right now to try and help free Valena and the other females. If all goes according to plan, it will be over within the next forty-eight hours. Ok? Can you do that for me?”
“Sure, I can—”
My com went off. I fished it out, hoping it was Bhek or another Councilor telling me to check the news, but it was a new set of coordinates to pick up Valena.
Something’s happening.
“I’m sorry, Father, I must go,” I said, rising to my feet.
“Of course,” he said, getting up as well.
“Don’t do anything, all right? Wait until I tell you before you speak to the police.”
“Ok, son.”
I’m not sure what came over me, but I pulled him into my arms and hugged him. Stunned at first, he hesitated for a second before returning my embrace.
Thank you, Goddess, for giving me my father back. Please let it last.
I released him, feeling slightly awkward, then walked out of the house to go pick up my mate.
CHAPTER 13
Lhor
Amalia and I sat in the elegant waiting room of the hotel across the street from the Convention Center. As per our request, it was closed off to all other patrons until the raid was over. The two-story windows gave a perfect view of the building where the raid would take place. We had spent the night here so we could track the moment Valena’s tracker showed on our radar.
It hadn’t happened yet.
This was the first time Amalia and I’d spent an entire night away from the children. I never expected it to be this hard, despite talking to them through a vid call. I understood better Khel’s ravenous urge to hug the twins the minute he returned from his occasional off-world missions. After an uneventful night, we ate a light breakfast and now stood vigil, itching for the action to begin.
Amalia kept fidgeting, her leg bouncing on the floor. When she reached a finger to turn on her datapad for the thousandth time, I grabbed her wrist to stop her. Startled, she frowned at me, her expression hardening.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
I smiled at her aggressive demeanor. She was truly adorable during her season.
“There’s no need to turn it on. It will notify you the minute it detects Valena. Turning it on, yet again, will only show you a blank screen like the million other times you’ve done it this morning.”
Her frown deepened. I knew that look too well.
“Please don’t claw me. The hotel staff wouldn’t like me making a bloody mess.”
She snorted, her aggression bleeding away. “Silly male,” she said, giving me a playful slap on the hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t mess you up here. I still owe you for yesterday. Expect something memorable once we get home.”
I chuckled at the threat. She’d definitely find a way to one-up me. Our competitive streak of mischief still hadn’t waned, to Khel’s great despair.
The tracker’s notification went off. Amalia squeaked with excitement and turned it on. At last, a dot displayed on the map. It moved at standard traffic speed coming from the east. My com went off. It was Khel. I put him on speaker.
“We see it,” I said, in the com.
“Good. Can Amalia confirm?” Khel asked.
I turned to ask her b
ut the faraway look on her face told me she was already attempting to lock onto Valena using her foresight ability.
“She’s trying to make contact,” I said.
“Okay, keep me posted. I’m leaving the com open.”
Moments later, Amalia beamed.
“It’s her.”
I relayed the information to Khel.
“Let me speak to Khel,” Amalia said.
I handed her the com as the dot reached the building. The shuttles parking entrance was on the other side of the Convention Center so we couldn’t actually see it from this viewpoint.
“Sweetie,” Amalia said into the com, “they will use the private elevator AC-twenty-five-T on basement level twenty-five. They have cameras in the corridor leading to it. The external door only opens with a combination of fingerprint and retinal scan.”
“Can you disable them?” Khel asked.
“Yes,” Amalia said, “but you will need to give me some backdoor access to their network.”
“No problem, we’ll arrange that with the Center’s management,” Khel said. “The shuttle has landed. Time for us to get into position. I’ll contact you again soon.”
“Okay, love.”
I stared at my mate in awe. Even now, her abilities still blew me away. That she’d been able to gather this much information by merely peering into Valena’s near future was invaluable. Once again, it saddened me to realize what a tremendous asset she would be to the military or law enforcement.
About ten minutes later, employees and guests at the Convention Center began trickling out of the building. They were escorted by the Capital District police and fire departments under the guise of a fire drill to avoid raising V’s suspicions.
While shuttles were still allowed to enter the underground parking, all the exits from levels twenty-three to twenty-five were blocked. Anyone attempting to leave those levels would be detained for interrogation. Valena’s tracker disappeared. Amalia locked onto her using her foresight and confirmed Valena was still onsite and preparing the females for the customers. We couldn’t risk tampering with the tracker’s settings for fear of setting it off and harming Valena.
Another twenty minutes went by before the last stragglers left the building. The media was gathering outside but were under strict orders not to broadcast anything. We switched the datapad over to the schematics of the Convention Center through which Khel would communicate which systems he needed Amalia to disable. The military moved into the building
Within minutes, Khel got her access to the network and Amalia made quick work of setting the cameras in a loop and disabling the locks on all the doors leading to the Blood House. With our part – well, her part – done, we were able to relax and let Khel and his soldiers end the nightmare that had plagued us for a year, and these poor females for at least a decade.
Restless as always, Amalia sat on my lap and peered into someone’s future – I assumed Khel’s to get a glimpse of how the raid would go down. I was gently stroking her lustrous curly hair when her wistful smile suddenly disappeared. Back stiff, she frowned and seemed to concentrate heavily. She blinked, coming out of her trance and looked at me. The confusion on her face and tension in her body worried me.
“What’s wrong, Lia?” I asked, trying to silence the sense of unease creeping over me.
She shook her head, as if unable to comprehend what she had seen. Amalia concentrated again, and her frown deepened.
“What’s happening?” she muttered, giving me a troubled look.
Staring at me, her eyes lost focus for a moment then she emerged even more distraught. She got to her feet and ran a shaky hand through her hair.
“Talk to me, Amalia,” I said more forcefully. “What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“I… I don’t…”
She looked around the empty waiting room and her eyes stumbled on the receptionist at the other end of the room. Her eyes lost focus again. She almost immediately snapped out of it.
“I can see her,” she whispered, “but I can’t see Khel. I can’t see you. Why can’t I…”
All blood drained out of her face, while I felt my own turn to ice.
“You’ve got no future. You’re both going to die. Oh Goddess, you’re both going to die!”
She ran out of the hotel while hailing Khel on the com.
“KHEL! GET OUT! GET OUT!” she yelled in the com.
I couldn’t hear his response while I ran after her. She dashed towards the Convention Center, heedless of the incoming traffic as she crossed the street.
“Baby, you’re going to die. You’re both going to die. Please, get out. Get out!”
“Abort.” I heard Khel shout through the com. “Fall back! Fall back!”
As we reached the other side, the police officers intercepted us, telling us to stand back. I couldn’t think straight, fear robbing me of coherent thought. Whatever had caused Amalia to see we had no future would happen any minute.
Maybe we shouldn’t be running towards the building.
What if it was the cause of our demise? Before I could react, Amalia went berserk on the officer trying to restrain her. She elbowed him in the ribs to loosen his grip then lifted her arms to break free of his hold. Her foot connected solidly with his chest, knocking him backwards then flat on his ass. She rushed towards the building with the members of the First Division closing in to intercept. I ripped my arm free of the officer’s hold and made to run after her.
A loud bang followed by the ground shaking violently nearly knocked us off our feet.
People stumbled and fell around me in a cacophony of frightened shouts.
Khel’s voice whispering my name echoed inside my head. Then the world blurred around me. Every bone in my body seemed to shatter at once. I heard myself scream as I collapsed, boneless. This was beyond pain, beyond agony. My skin was being torn off, ripped to shreds, and soaked in acid.
He’s burning alive.
My scream choked in my throat as my lungs seemed to collapse in on themselves. What tiny breath I could draw in felt like a tornado of glass shards swirling in my throat and chest. Pain exploded at the back of my head and an erratic thumping resonated in my ears.
“LHOR!” Amalia screamed.
“He’s having a seizure. Hold him down! Protect his head!” some male voice said.
All of their voices were muffled. I felt pressure on my body and the pain in the back of my head diminished.
“Lhor, please don’t leave me,” Amalia’s weeping voice said next to me.
I’m dying, my love.
There was a barely noticeable sting in my neck, drowned in the blistering pain of my burning flesh. Moments later, the excruciating torment dropped to a dull throbbing.
Neural inhibitor.
My vision cleared. Amalia’s beautiful face, drenched in tears, loomed over me.
“He’s burning alive, Lia,” I whispered. “Get him out. Get him out now.”
With a feral cry, Amalia surged to her feet and ran towards the Center.
Dancing lights sparked into existence all around me. They heaved and swirled, like fallen leaves in the wind. A great sense of peace descended over me.
“Lhor…”
Khel’s voice echoed in my head once again. It was filled with regret and sadness. The lights flickered then coalesced, taking the shape of his face. More lights appeared, molding his body.
“Go back, Khel,” I whispered. “This isn’t our time.”
“Who is he talking to?” a voice said next to me. Probably a medic.
“He must be hallucinating,” another voice said.
I tuned them out.
“Go back. They are coming for you.”
“I’m dying, brother. I’m so sorry.”
“They’re coming, Khel. Ghan is coming for you.”
“My body is damaged beyond repair. The pain is unbearable.”
“Then give me your pain.”
Khel’s ghostly form smiled sadly, then he s
hook his head.
“It’s too much. It’s too late.”
“Give me your pain. You must fight for our mate and our children. Who will protect them once we’re gone?”
His face contorted with sorrow.
“Go back, my brother. I will help you carry the burden.”
Khel nodded. His ethereal hand reached for my face. I didn’t feel a physical contact, but a warm tingle, filled with love. The lights giving him form slowly unraveled. As he faded out of existence, the look in his eyes told me farewell.
“I love you, brother.”
I never got a chance to respond. The floodgates opened. The atrocious pain, dulled by the neural inhibitors, slammed into me, the intensity increased a thousand fold.
He’s right. It’s too much.
My heart stuttered and images of my life flashed before me. My first memory was of Khel as a toddler, holding my hand to make me better. Then the two of us playing with Khel’s younger brother Vahl in the orchard and our treehouse. Uncle Dhak and Aunt Vhena adopting me after my parents’ funerals. My birthday when Khel built me a state-of-the-art training room to help slow down my Taint. My first depressing Fastening Ceremony. The death of Khel’s parents and brother. Losing Amalia at the Fastening. Rushing her to the hospital after her seizure. Amalia going berserk on me during her season. The Blood House raid. Amalia saving my life when the Taint almost claimed me. Her proposal. Making love to my mate for the first time. Our Confirmation Ceremony. The birth of our twins.
With each memory, time seemed to slow in sync with my heartbeat. Our family portrait in my office with Khel, Amalia, the children, and me burned bright in my mind’s eye.
I love you.
My heart stuttered one last time and then there was darkness.
CHAPTER 14
Zhul
Valena tried to hide how upset she felt but failed miserably. The stiffness of her movement, her clipped voice, and the hard line of her jaw broadcasted her barely repressed anger. I couldn’t blame her, either. Like her, I’d hoped this would be a day of celebration. Instead, someone yet again tipped off V to the impending raid.