Broken Skies

by Kay, Theresa

  Turning back the way I came, my steps are much slower now. I’m not looking forward to discussing this with Lir. I round the corner and have to retreat. Lir is standing in the middle of the yard and four men have guns pointed at him. His hands are up, but it doesn’t look like the men are backing off. I haven’t been gone that long. How did they find us?

  The bushes shield me from their view, but there’s not really anything I can do to help Lir. I can’t outrun a bullet and I’d be no good in a fight against all those guys. One man motions downward with his gun barrel and gives a command I can’t hear. Lir kneels. It’s beginning to look an awful lot like an execution.

  SEVENTEEN

  I’m really too far away to make out their faces, but none of the men look like Stu. That’s a start. Lir’s kitu is covered and his hair is mostly disguised. They might not know what he is.

  Or maybe they do. A blond man kicks Lir in the stomach. His shout is loud enough to reach my ears. “Erk bastard.”

  Lir doubles over, clutching his stomach and the man who kicked him raises his gun. The kicker’s voice is lower now and I can’t make out the words. Lir shakes his head rapidly, interjecting with more words too low for me to hear.

  Peter runs out of the house, throwing himself between the gun and Lir and frantically waving his arms. One of the other men, this one brown haired, steps forward and grabs Peter’s arm. He pulls Peter out of the way and points his gun at the priest.

  There’s no way I can sit here and watch them be shot. I have to do something to stop this. The moment I start toward the yard, Lir’s head springs up and he searches the tree line until he’s looking right at my location.

  Stay back! I stumble backwards at the force of the words echoing in my head. What the hell? No time to worry about it now.

  Lir’s prone on the ground, the blond’s gun resting on his temple and Peter is frantically waving his arms and chattering away while being held back by the other.

  “Where is she? What did you do with her? Where is she?!” Each question from the blond rises in volume until I can almost see the angry spittle flying from his mouth.

  They want me? They can have me. At least I can buy some time.

  I pop out from behind a bush and yell from my position in the trees. “Hey! Stop that!” Not the most brilliant plan, but at least their attention is drawn away from Lir. Two men stay with their guns pointed at Lir’s crouched form and two move toward me, including the blond. I raise my hands and move slowly out of the trees. The gun barrels stay on me, but I’m more angry than scared. “The guns are uncalled for. I’m not going anywhere.”

  One gun barrel shifts away and the other drops completely as the men move closer.

  “Jax? Oh thank God.” The blond runs forward and gathers me into a hug. His— Flint’s— arms squeeze me until I can hardly breathe. “Dammit. I was so worried. Did it hurt you?”

  The vice around me loosens a little and I’m able to speak. “How did you even get here?”

  “We’ve been tracking you.” He runs one hand through his hair. “It’s bad enough that they’ve got Jace, I wasn’t going to let some erk take you hostage and not come after you.”

  I wince and wiggle out of his arms. Maybe we should have come up with a different story. “Let them go, Flint. I’m here willingly. It’s not what you think.” He glances over his shoulder and then back at me, a questioning look on his face. “Just do it,” I say.

  His brows furrows and he places one finger in the center of my chest, tapping it to punctuate his words. “You better have a really good explanation.”

  “I do. Just release my friends.” My gaze doesn’t waver from his until he turns around and tells the brown haired man— Daniel, shudder— to release Peter and the rest of the men to lower their guns.

  And my very first instinct is to run to Lir and crouch down on the ground beside him. No blood, a little pale and winded, but he’s okay.

  As I look him over, he’s got eyes only for me. “Do you ever listen to anyone?” He asks. His hand comes up to my cheek. “They could have killed you.”

  “Flint wouldn’t have shot me.”

  “You didn’t know it was your friend before you made your move. What if it had been Stu or one of his men?” He moves into a standing position. “I was getting through to him. If you’d let me talk to him a while longer, I could have gotten the message across with no danger to you at all.”

  “Yeah, your way looked like it was going so well.” I roll my eyes. “Was it the gasping on the ground or Peter’s ramblings that were supposed to convince them of anything?”

  He laughs and plants a kiss on the top of my head. What? Lir looks even more amused when heat gathers in my face. The laughter settles and the amusement slowly leaves his face as he looks around us. I should probably be paying more attention.

  A variety of facial expressions surrounds us: wary shock from Flint, disgust from Daniel, glee from Peter, and confusion from the rest of Flint’s men. I imagine I look the most like the latter.

  Lir’s hand tightens where it has fallen on my shoulder and he pulls me into his side and slightly behind him.

  Daniel’s gun inches back up and Flint steps forward, narrowing his eyes. At his next step, I end up even farther behind an increasingly tense Lir.

  “I told you she was fine.” Lir smiles with clenched teeth.

  “So she is, physically at least.” Flint’s eyes sweep over Lir’s hand on my shoulder. “Mentally? I think I’ll need to talk with her myself for a while before I can decide that.”

  “What exactly are you implying?”

  “I’m not implying anything, erk. I’ll come out and say it, I don’t know what scheme you’re running, but I know you’ve injured two of our soldiers, killed another, tied up a helpless girl and taken my Promised as a hostage and somehow…” He studies my face and his brow furrows. “…somehow you’ve gotten her to trust you.”

  Of all the things for Flint to bring up, like I’m his possession or something. Stupid male posturing. I’m about to lay into him when Lir’s head tilts to the side and his arm drops.

  “Your…promised?”

  Flint takes another step forward. “Yeah, as of the day you murdering scum stole my best friend. Someone has to look out for her.”

  Lir faces falls. He sends a glance my way, hurt flashing across his features for a moment before a mask of indifference slips into place and he steps to the side— away from me. “I apologize for the injured soldiers, Emily volunteered to be tied up to aid in my escape and I did not kill anyone. Jax came with me of her own free will, the hostage thing was just a story, a lie… seems like not the only one… I was not aware of the circumstances of your bond and, therefore, I also apologize for any familiarity with your mate.”

  Flint steps to my side, but keeps his eyes on Lir. “Let’s talk, Jax. I think you have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “But what about—”

  “Keep an eye on these two, Daniel.” Flint grabs my arm and pulls me toward the house.

  “Now, young man, this is just uncalled for. Just put those guns away. I’ve minded my own business out here, but I have to protest at the treatment of my guests.” The shortest statement I’ve ever heard from Peter.

  “Shut up, old man,” says Daniel.

  I wait for Lir to look up, to protest, do something, anything, but he just keeps his eyes averted. Any fight has gone out of him and he won’t even meet my eyes, won’t even look my way.

  My only choice is to lead Flint into the house and hope I can convince him to let us complete the rescue mission.

  * * * * * * *

  Flint and I sit at the kitchen table and I tell him everything, well almost everything. I don’t tell him about the kiss, or the cuddling…or the aching need I have to go to Lir who came inside about fifteen minutes into our conversation, walked to a bedroom, slammed the door closed and hasn’t made a sound since. I definitely don’t tell him about that, but the whole rescue mission idea, the hiking,
the bear, Stu and his boys… I leave out Zach’s fate… and I tell him about the snake bite, leaving out the whole naked swimming part. So maybe, I leave out a little more than I tell, but he gets the pertinent parts, right?

  Flint’s happy enough with my explanation. At least, he seems so, doesn’t question it anyway. When I unwrap the gauze and show him the large bundle of scar tissue— What the hell? How did that heal so quickly?— on my lower leg, he curses.

  “You’ve had a rough couple weeks.” He runs his hand through his hair and rests his elbows on the table.

  “No kidding.”

  “I just don’t get it….” Blue eyes bore into my hazel ones. “Why didn’t you trust me? Why didn’t you wait? I had it under control.”

  A small snort escapes me. “Under control? That’s what you call getting Promised? I’d hate to see what would have happened if you hadn’t had it under control.”

  His face hardens. “Actually you would have. I wasn’t kidding when I told you what my father had planned for you. Remember? Fourth wife? Old guy?” He runs his hand down his face. “There’s no time for this. My father’s probably already— ”

  “Your father? What does he have to do with this?”

  “Did you really think he’d let you escape, let you embarrass him like that?” Flint scoffs. “I had a plan, and now…”

  I lean across the table. “And your plan nearly screwed up my plan, the one that was working!”

  “Oh yes, your plan that worked out so well for you!” His voice starts to rise. “Piss poor planning, Jax. You wandered into the woods with an unknown alien, nearly died how many times exactly?! Almost got yourself sold to breeders… and dammit!” His fist hits the table with a bang. “You were my responsibility.”

  “I am not your responsibility!” My voice edges up into a yell and the heat of anger starts flowing into my body.

  “You are when I promised Jace I’d take care of you! He knew…” Flint trails off, shaking his head, his voice going softer. “The stupid bastard knew something like this was going to happen. He made me promise…dammit!” He turns away, rubs the back of his hand across his face and then faces me again. “It’s the only thing I can do for him now.”

  I clench my hands into fists. “No it’s not! I can go get him!”

  Standing, leaning inches from my face, he screams with nothing but naked anguish. “Jace is dead!” His voice catches on the last word and he slams back down into the chair.

  “He. Is. Not!”

  Our eyes meet and we just stare at each other, chests slowly rising and falling with our anger.

  “She is correct. Jace is not dead.” Oh now, Lir decides to join in on this lovely conversation.

  “Don’t you even say his name!” Flint’s on his feet, across the room and pushing Lir against the wall with his arm over his windpipe almost before I can blink. “How would you know? This is all your fault!”

  To his credit, Lir maintains the stoic calm he adopted outside. “Release me and I can explain.”

  Two loud inhales and exhales and Flint drops his arm and steps backwards. “Explain.”

  “Perhaps we can do this civilly?” Lir’s eyebrow goes up, it’s the mocking one though, not the amused one. “Sitting around the table like… civilized members of our species?”

  Flint jerks his head in a nod and comes back to the table, taking the seat next to me and gesturing for Lir to take the seat across the table. “Okay, we’re sitting. Now explain.”

  Lir’s eyes are even more like emeralds when he turns them on me, hard with pointed facets. “Jax, tell him about your dreams.”

  “My dreams?” Now he wants to have this discussion? He didn’t believe me when I told him…does he believe me now? And if he does, why?

  “Yes, your dreams. The ones about… your brother.” Lir’s composure cracks for just a second. He tenses his jaw and studies the wood grain on the table.

  “The ones you told me weren’t real, are those the dreams you mean?”

  “I believe I was mistaken.”

  “You believe…” Arg! I hadn’t really paid attention to Lir’s prim and proper formality when we met, but after spending time with him relaxed and laughing, the return of his prissiness is grating on my last nerve. It reminds me of our last argument. “What is wrong with you?”

  He still won’t even look at me. “There is nothing wrong with me.”

  If I could do the eyebrow thing, I’d be doing it. “I’m sorry that Flint assaulted you…twice.” I glare at Flint. “But that’s done with now. And he will apologize. I can’t deal with the two of you fighting right now. Can you please drop the prose and just speak?”

  His eyes finally come up to mine, his gaze icy and intense. “I have no argument with your mate, that is, as long as he has none with me. I do, however, have an argument with you and I will talk any way I damn well please.”

  “With me?” My voice is a squeak. “What did I do?”

  His eyes flick to Flint and then back to me. “This is not the proper venue for this discussion.”

  “Not the…what?” Confusion wars with anger and I’m left with a strange mixture of the two.

  Lir sighs and shakes his head. “Maybe it is different for you, but where I come from, we do not conveniently forget to mention that we are mated.” The last few words leave his mouth through his teeth. His nostrils flare as he waits for my response.

  “Mated?” His eyes go to Flint, who is watching our conversation with interest. “You mean Promised?”

  Lir’s eyes narrow. “If that is what you humans call it.”

  And then I get it. Laughter bubbles up from my chest and out of my mouth. “You think…no. It was just a stupid ceremony. I had no choice… his idiotic father and his asinine Promising. It’s not what you think… Why do you even care?” That’s actually a wonderful question. Is it about the kiss? He can’t possibly be jealous, can he?

  Any semblance of control on Lir’s features vanishes. His face cycles from disbelief to anger to confusion and even a tiny flash of something that looks like hope. He blinks slowly. “You really don’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” A hint of a smile. “That is a discussion we should have in private. But first you should explain to your friend about your dreams.”

  * * * * * * *

  After I explain the dreams I’ve been having about Jace, Flint leans back in his chair and lets out a long sigh. He doesn’t question. He doesn’t look confused. He just looks relieved. Flint is taking this whole dream connection thing better than I did. Strange.

  I’m the one that did the explaining, why am I the one that is left confused? “So, you believe me? That I’m really dreaming about Jace?” I ask.

  “Yes.” He nods and clasps his hands together behind his head, tilting the chair backward onto two legs.

  “Just like that? No surprise? No argument? No telling me I’m crazy?” Flint’s taking it better than Lir and the alien actually has experience with something like it. Unless… “Has this happened to Jace before?”

  Flint sits up again and swallows loudly. “There’s something you should probably know.”

  The words send ice into my body. Whatever he has to tell me is bound to be something I don’t want to know. “And what is that?”

  He exhales and looks at his hands. “You should know about your mother.” His eyes slide over to Lir and he swallows again. “About what she was.”

  All I can do is stare at him blankly. Things are clicking into place in my head as I put it together for myself, but…no. That can’t be right. I shake my head softly.

  When I don’t say anything, he continues. “She was one of them, an erk. Here on some sort of early arrival program.” He purses his lips and stares into my eyes. “My father thinks you’re some sort of weapon. Quicker, able to blend in and not dependent on the cuffs. ”

  A rock settles on my chest and I close my eyes. Breathe. If my mother was E’rikon then… I open my eyes and search out Lir. “Did you know? Is that wh
y…” I clench my jaw and breathe slowly, fighting the burn in the back of my eyes. “Is that why they took him? They knew what he was. They were looking… They were looking for us?” I try to ask the question as calmly as possible, but my voice almost breaks at the end. The pain of betrayal is ten times worse than the snake’s venom. “You lied to me.”

  Lir steps forward. “No. There are rumors. I had suspicions…” He places his hands on my cheeks, peering into my eyes. Searching. Waiting. I look away.

  “So you knew?” Hope dies in my chest leaving a hollow feeling.

  Lir pulls my chin up until I’m looking at him again. “About the rumors, yes. About you? No, not for sure.” He runs the back of his hand down my cheek and I fight the urge to lean into it. “If I’d known I would have told you. This changes everything. We have to get to the city right away.”

  I pull away from him. Confusion rolls through me. He wants to get me to the city. He wants me to be their weapon. “I’m not doing it. I won’t. I’m not a weapon.”

  Understanding washes over his face. “No, that’s not what I meant,” he says. “You weren’t meant to be a weapon. You were meant to unite us.”

  Flint breaks in. “How do you know all this, alien?”

  Sliding his eyes to Flint, Lir tenses. “Considering it has more to do with my race than yours, you seem to know quite a bit about it as well, human. How do you know all this?” I’m interested in Flint’s answer to his question as well.

  Flint shuffles his feet against the floor and his eyes dart between me and Lir. “Jace told me.” I don’t know if I’m more surprised that Jace told Flint or that Jace knew at all. “After…. What happened…Jace didn’t know what to do. He was taking care of you by himself and you needed him almost constantly. You couldn’t even sleep without him, wouldn’t let anyone else near you. He had no time to hunt, no time to do anything really but care for you. I helped as much as I could…”

  “I don’t remember any of this,” I say. Lir gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze from his position behind me.