Tapping his fingers lightly over the hologram his imager automatically projected to hover over his desk, Farid set to work. Pictures and words flashed before him, too fast for him to decipher where one left off and the next began, but they stored in his mind to be processed by his psychic power. He opened a connection to this portal of the Vishra, sinking in to the information. News reports from all over Earth, information on their Internet, hundreds of languages, thousands of documents, millions of words. They streamed into the open conduit of his mind.
“Lord Arjun.”
He jolted free of the connection with the ship, the abruptness of the loss a painful wrenching in his mind. He swayed in his seat, pressing his palms flat against the desktop to keep himself upright. He blinked hard, focusing on the man before him.
Johar Sajan stood in the doorway dressed in his Imperial Guardian uniform. He inclined his head slightly, his braids falling around his shoulders. “I apologize for disturbing you.”
“Come in, please.” Wariness slid through Farid, but he motioned for Johar to sit in a chair opposite his desk. “What may I help you with?”
“Nothing, my lord.” The Guardian sat, his fingers gripping the arms of the chair. “I’ve instructed the Vishra to have your human meet us here when the medics are done attending to her minor injuries from your forest escapades.”
“Why do you need to speak to both of us?”
“I don’t, my lord.” The man’s gaze roved about the room, a hum of energy around him that he couldn’t contain. “The emperor demands your presence, and my captain has tasked me with escorting you down to the planet.”
“I see. We’ll…wait here for Bren then.” To give himself something to do, Farid pushed away from his desk and stood, walking over to a reproducer unit in his wall and calling for two canisters of paayal. The fiery drink should mellow them, since this was likely to be an awkward experience for both men.
“It shouldn’t be long.” Johar accepted the canister and crossed his long legs at the ankles.
Farid resumed his seat and took a deep drink, wincing as the acidic bite of flavor hit his taste buds. His belly cramped as he tried not to stare at the man who looked so much like Cilji’s One. A man who, despite his youth, had changed Farid’s view of the world forever. He swallowed and groped for the first topic he could think of. “How is everything with Tylara?”
The Guardian’s expression flattened. “It’s…complicated.”
“Ah.” Farid shifted in his seat, at a loss for words for one of the few moments in his life. A reluctant smile tugged at his lips as he recalled Bren’s assertion that small talk was his profession. He wasn’t doing well today.
Johar took a deep swallow of his payaal. “I’ve heard Preston is here to ask the emperor to have Arthur removed from power.”
“Word gets around fast.” Farid saluted the other man with his canister, though his nerves jangled even more at moving the conversation from Johar’s One to Farid’s.
“I hope she succeeds in convincing him.”
He blinked, startled by the sudden vehemence in the man’s voice. “Oh?”
“My father was the first officer on the Anshar—it’s why I volunteered for this expedition rather than remain with the Imperial Guardians tasked with protecting the Empress Dowager.” Johar’s smile was a chilling thing to see. “I would like nothing more than to repay the Earthan general in kind for his barbarism. And they call my family animals.”
Farid ran his finger around the rim of his canister. “I am sorry for your loss, Sajan.”
The words should have been mere reflex, but he found that they were true. Johar, like Farid, was now the last of his line. He could sympathize with what that would do to a man. For the first time, he looked at Johar and saw…a person. Like Bren and her change from seeing the Sueni as her enemies to seeing them as people like her, Farid now looked at Johar the same way. They were nothing alike, he and this man, and yet they had everything in common. It was unsettling.
“And I for yours, all those years ago.” Johar’s gaze was open, his words frank. “I was…angry for a long time over the loss of my brothers. The twins were too young to have died.”
“As was my sister. She was wrong to do what she did.” He could understand holding on to such anger. He had done the same. He drained the last of his payaal. “I’m sorry for that, too.”
Johar shook his head, the intensity of his feelings making his fangs emerge. “And I’m sorry for what happened to your mother. She was a good woman, and she was only trying to help.”
“We could keep apologizing all day.”
The Guardian gave a bark of laughter and a wide smile, his emotions far closer to the surface than Farid’s—but that was the way of the Sajans—it didn’t make this Sajan the monster Farid had painted in his mind. Perhaps it was knowing Bren, having her transition to a friend and a lover, that made Farid see so clearly. If he could not blame Bren for being one of Arthur’s people, he could not blame Johar for being one of the Sajans. Neither of them was guilty by association, just as Farid was not to blame for what Cilji had done. He could see on Johar’s face that he didn’t hold Farid responsible, and for that he was far more grateful than he would ever have guessed. Something inside him loosened, crumbled. Somehow, when he wasn’t looking, the burn of anger had finally guttered out of Farid’s soul. He knew he had Bren to thank for the change within him. His One.
Anun, but he loved the woman. She deserved far better than the half-lies he’d told her so far. He owed her the truth, even if he wasn’t certain he could let go of control enough to bond with her. It still terrified him, the thought of losing those he had the deepest bonds with again. He wasn’t sure he could ever overcome that.
The Guardian leaned forward to set his empty canister on Farid’s desk, then braced his forearms on his knees. “My One likes you, respects you. She is your friend. I have no desire to make that friendship difficult for her.”
“Nor would I wish to come between a friend and her One.” Farid nodded to the other man. He doubted the two of them would ever be friends—their personalities were too divergent—but he saw no reason for them to hold on to hostilities over events that neither of them had had any say in. It was a relief to be able to set something so painful where it finally belonged. In the past.
“If you were the only thing coming between my One and me, we’d be doing much better. She thinks I’ll leave her for someone easier to deal with, thinks I can’t handle her power because Sajans are half-feral.” An annoyed hiss issued from the Guardian. “Maybe she’s right—my people have always been wild—but that’s a problem for another time.”
Bren’s scent called to Farid from down the hall, and he could hear her voice as she spoke to…Tylara. He arched an eyebrow at Johar. “It looks like your troubles are coming to visit you.”
“Yes, I can smell them.” The enormous Guardian climbed to his feet with Farid when the two women entered the room.
“Admiral Belraj.” Johar bowed to Tylara. The two were both in their uniforms, wore high boots and black pants with a single gray stripe down the side, razers strapped to their hips, and tunics wrapped around their chests diagonally to button at the right shoulder, and still the contrast between them was marked. Tylara was a study in self-discipline, with short black hair, her eyes barely sparking despite her great power, her blue tunic perfectly creased with rows of silver embroidered symbols up the sleeves. Johar’s braids swung riotously, his eyes flashing, his tunic a brilliant scarlet with a single gold star over his heart. Completely opposite, yet Farid could see how they would complement each other. If they wanted to. He hoped they worked things out.
Tylara’s gaze narrowed as she looked at him, and Farid felt a pulse of the anger and frustration that wedged between the two. “Guardian Sajan.”
Bren’s eyebrows arched so high Farid would have been unsurprised if they reached her hairline. He sent her a private thought. Yes, of the same Sajan family as my sister’s One. An older
brother. Johar Sajan.
“I’ll leave you all to your work. I just came to deliver Bren. I’ve informed her that the emperor requested her presence.” Tylara inclined her head, her cool gaze never leaving her One. She turned smartly and marched out the door.
Johar snarled and stomped after her, nodding to Bren as he passed. “I will meet you both in the shuttle hangar bay.”
Brows contracting, Bren looked to Farid. “What was that all about?”
“She’s his One. They haven’t bonded yet, and apparently their courtship isn’t going well.” As if Farid’s courtship—if that’s what he called what he’d been doing—was going any better. At least Tylara and Johar had the openness of honesty between them. When things were settled with the emperor, Farid needed to have a private conversation with his One that was long past due. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
Bren winced. “That sucks.”
“Yes, it really does.”
8
Bren stood before a full-sized hologram of the emperor and his One. The floor of the shuttle shook under her feet as they sped through the atmosphere on Earth, rocketing toward the surface.
The imperial couple sat on a larger, plusher version of the little ship that held her, Farid, Johar, and a pilot in the scarlet uniform of an Imperial Guardian. She sized them up for a moment as Farid made formal introductions. Jana Townsend was the new empress’s name. The girl couldn’t have been more than twenty-one or twenty-two, but then, Kyber looked young himself. Much younger than Farid. Then again, she’d seen hardened soldiers at that age, killing machines. Age didn’t mean much, experience did.
Though Jana wore a serious expression, her eyes reflected a deep happiness, a contentment that was enviable. Her hand rested securely in Kyber’s grip, and they leaned toward each other, their shoulders brushing, even as they sat and faced her.
Bren wondered what that kind of bond would be like. She couldn’t imagine anything more intense than the brief connections she’d had with Farid. Twin emotions ripped through her at the thought. First, a throb of utter longing, a craving for something deeper, something stronger and more lasting with the man she loved. Second was the knowledge that nothing she had with him would be as deep or as strong as the bond with his One would be. The mere thought of anyone having more of him than she did made her insides twist with dark, ugly jealousy.
She could see why Farid might fear that kind of connection, considering what had happened to his parents and his sister. He’d seen exactly how bad such a bond could be, all the worst possible outcomes, as it destroyed his family one by one. Sympathy went through her, but she didn’t allow herself to look at him. He’d probably take it for pity, and that was the last thing she could feel for someone strong enough to live through all of this and still hold on and keep going.
Kyber flicked his fingers and a woman’s face filled the panel. She looked like Jana, older and softer, but definitely a relative. The view expanded and beside the woman stood a man about the same age. A husband? A relative?
Bren’s stomach jolted as Arthur appeared on the other side of the woman. Her eyes, gray like Jana’s, filled with tears. “We just want our daughter back. Whatever the emperor wants, we’ll do it. She’s…she’s our baby, our little girl.”
Arthur’s hand closed over the woman’s shoulder. “The United States and our global coalition is going to do everything in its power to get Ms. Townsend back. We have reason to believe that she’s been kidnapped and brainwashed by the Kith emperor’s unnatural psychic power. She thinks she wants to be there. I’m afraid rescuing her will take a show of force we haven’t demonstrated before, but we will. We will not stand for this travesty; we will not stand by and see our people stolen and made into slaves again.” His brown eyes met the camera and seemed to look straight at Bren. “We want the woman back.”
Her. He wanted her. He didn’t give a damn about Jana. Other people had gone to the Kith ships and Arthur hadn’t cared. He’d washed his hands of those who left the planet willingly, called them traitors to their country and their species. People like Bren.
The panel wavered as Kyber and his One came back into focus. Kyber’s ebony brow rose. “You see why I sent for you.”
Her stomach flipped, horrible realization rippling through her. “Whether they realize it or not, the Townsends are now General Arthur’s prisoners. Bargaining chips. He knows they matter to your One.” She swallowed, lifting her chin. “You want to trade me for them.”
“I can’t say I didn’t consider it. For my One, there is very little I wouldn’t give.” A besotted smile curved his lips when he looked at Jana. He shook his head and sighed. “However, I can’t do that.”
“Oh? Why not?” Numbness spread through Bren’s limbs, a sense of unreality enveloping her. There was no way to fight her way out of this one, nowhere to run or hide. This ship bore her wherever the emperor had decided she would go. For all she knew, they were dropping her off on Arthur’s doorstep.
Johar spoke up from the front of the shuttle, his voice matter-of-fact. “Because you’re his cousin’s One. When Lord Farid bonds with you, you will be a Sueni citizen, and as much the emperor’s responsibility as anyone born on Suen.”
She swayed on her feet, one too many blows to her composure to absorb what the Guardian was saying. She looked over at the blond nobleman, her lover. “Farid?”
There wasn’t an ounce of blood left in his face. His hand lifted toward her but dropped when she flinched. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
A bitter little laugh ripped from her throat, tears welling in her eyes. She blinked them away, embarrassed they had formed at all. “No, why don’t you tell me the truth, Farid? You didn’t want me to find out at all.”
“Not at first, no.” His voice was a low rasp of pain. “I’m sorry.”
Well, that answered any lingering questions she might have about his feelings for her. Her throat closed, and no words came forth. There was nothing she could say to that. Agony unlike any she’d ever known before wrenched inside her. “I understand.”
“It’s not you…I do…” For once the diplomat seemed to be at a loss for words.
“This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation.” If there ever was a time or place. She turned back to the projection of the emperor, desperately trying to lock down the emotions that threatened to drag her into a dark, horrible abyss. “If you’re not going to trade me, then you want to use what I know about Arthur to get the Townsends back.”
His lavender eyes sparked appreciatively. “Yes, exactly. And in exchange, I’ll agree to help you remove General Arthur from power.”
Jana’s hand closed over his shoulder, and she leaned closer to the panel on her end of the transmission. Her long auburn hair fell forward and anxiety flooded her face. “You’ll get my parents back, right? And everything will be okay?”
“I’ll do everything I can, but we’ll have to move fast.” Bren straightened to attention, relieved that at least one part of her life was going according to plan. She only hoped they were able to find the girl’s family. “Arthur knows I defected, and the longer I’m away, the longer he has to mitigate the usefulness of whatever information I have.”
“Fast is good with me.” One corner of the empress’s mouth kicked up. “That’s why we called you before you even got here, just to hammer out the details.” Her eyes cut to Kyber, who gave her a disgruntled look. She petted his arm, her smile every bit as besotted as his had been, and he relaxed into her, grinning back. “I just can’t leave the planet until we have them back.”
Johar piped up again. “We’ll be touching down in fifteen minutes, Your Majesty.”
“Good. We’ll see you when you get here.” The emperor flicked his fingers again and the transmission ended.
“Khalaa…” Farid’s deep voice trailed away, his features still bloodless.
She just stared at him. “You know what amazes me? The emperor would cross the universe to claim his One,
and you won’t cross a room for yours.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You know I have good reason to doubt how wonderful the One bond can be.”
Glancing at the cockpit, she saw both of the Guardians studiously ignoring the conversation unfolding in the back of the shuttle. She pitched her voice low. “I know why you fear the One bond, why you fear love. I get that, I really do, but I also know what it’s like to face your worst fears. What do you think I’ve been doing for days? I left the army, the only place I’ve ever belonged, the only home I’ve ever known, to come to you. I gave up everything and I depended on you to help me, to keep me safe. I never wanted to depend on anyone ever, not totally, but I did. I believed in you, trusted you…loved you.”
Salty moisture stung her eyes again and she snapped around to stare out one of the small windows as the shuttle raced closer to land. A small choking noise rose from Farid, but she didn’t look back at him. She couldn’t.
Was there anything worse than to be in love alone? She’d never felt more helpless in her entire life.
And yet, pathetic fool that she was, she didn’t regret it. A single tear slipped down her cheek and she swiped it away. She had a job left to do, even if the rest of her life was in shambles. At least the first part of her mission was complete.
She wasn’t a total failure.
Farid drew a deep breath. “Bren, please. I lo—”
A huge boom rocked the shuttle, and she tumbled forward. She tried to brace herself with her hands, but she was moving too fast to stop. The last thing she saw out the window was red fire and black smoke streaking the blue sky. Her head slammed into the wall and the world went dark.
Bright sunshine warmed her cheek, blinding her as she opened her eyes. She moaned, grabbing her throbbing head as she sat up. Her ears rang, and when she looked at her hand, it was wet with her blood.
She blinked hard and swayed but forced herself to climb to her feet. Her movements were ginger, her hands braced against the wall of the shuttle as every muscle screamed in battered protest.
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