3013: PRIMAL

by Laurie Roma

  “That was a good move. After all they have suffered, they don’t need to be around males again until they are ready.”

  “I just worry that some of them will never be ready,” Jaden confided. “They seem fine around me, though. I think it’s because of my eerie eyes.”

  That made Malik laugh. “They are different, but I believe their faith in you comes from you saving them.”

  “Perhaps. But I worry. If we keep building the way we have, my lands will soon resemble an Earth city. The palace has already been enlarged, and with the addition of the Volis-Tesera castle and the females’ dwelling, it is strange sight to see.”

  “Your lands are the safest place on our planet for the females. With you and your mate taking care of things at home, I am free to hunt Quilla. I will see this through.”

  “Do you still plan to bring her back here? I would like to see her end, and I know many of our people would. If she went through the mortivordor, maybe some of the females would feel vindicated and not so afraid.”

  Mortivordor was an old punishment on Tartarus, used to execute betrayers. It consisted of staking someone out in the flatlands, so people could witness their shame. But that wasn’t all. There were multiple ways for death to come. Some died of dehydration, while others were struck with electrical lightning from the sky. Then there were the animals that roamed the wild who would come to feed.

  If a person wasn’t dead within a week, they were buried alive.

  It was a horrible, painful process, and the shame that came with it was severe. Malik had thought about it for a while, and he’d decided that it was a fitting death for Quilla after all that she’d done. It was a fair punishment on behalf of all of her victims.

  “I will try to bring her back for the mortivordor. It is the worst thing I can think of to do,” Malik explained. “She doesn’t deserve a quick death, but first, we have to find her.”

  “You will,” Jaden assured. When Malik started back to the group, Jaden stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Is there something you want to tell me about the little wild cat?”

  Malik shot him a look. “No.”

  “The way your energy merges with her every time you are near her says it all. I’ve only seen that happen when two people are truly bonded.”

  “Drop it, Tor.”

  “Why are you—?”

  Malik just walked away from him, forcing Jaden to stop with his queries. Amari’s attention shifted, and those glowing eyes fixed on him.

  “You are Lord Malik Rego.”

  “I am.”

  Amari’s eyes brightened in amusement. “Then that would make you family.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  She blinked. “Why must I pardon you? What have you done?”

  “Never mind,” Reva said. “He was just asking how you are family.”

  “Because my mother was Kalani Rego before she met my fathers, Zorak, Odan, and Drago Nazira. You are of my blood, Malik Rego.”

  Reva met his gaze and said, “Weird, right?”

  “That’s a word for it.”

  “Which means, we are all related to her,” Lazio chimed in, beaming. “And being related to a Dragon Warrior is a very, very good thing.”

  “Or she could end up killing you herself,” Darius offered.

  Lazio’s shoulders slumped. “Way to stomp on my dream, brother.”

  As they bantered, Malik stood there in silence. He was shocked, and didn’t quite know what to say. This wasn’t something he’d expected to hear…ever. Her glowing eyes swirled gold and black with warmth, but that didn’t make him feel at ease. In fact, it just made him realize that his family tree was utterly and completely fucked.

  “Welcome to the family,” was all Malik could manage.

  She smiled. “Wait until you meet my sister, my two brothers, my mother, and my three fathers. It has been years since they have been to Tartarus. Since Eden is there now, you will meet her soon, and my brothers will come eventually, though, they are a little less civilized than the rest of us, so let us hope they wait a little longer before they visit.”

  Malik couldn’t even imagine that. “You are all welcome at Rego Palace.”

  Hellfire, couldn’t he at least fake a little enthusiasm?

  “May I ask you a question?”

  Amari glanced at Lazio as he spoke. “You just did, but you may ask another.”

  “How…ah…how long ago did your mother leave Tartarus?”

  She thought about it for a moment. “My mother and fathers have been together for four hundred and fifty-two years since I will be four hundred and fifty-one years of age around your new year.”

  “Hellfire, you’re old.” Lazio’s face went pale. “Did I say old? I meant wise. Yes, you’re wise. Very…”

  “Wise?” Isak asked dryly.

  “Stop talking,” Iolas whispered.

  Jax let out a shrill whistle, then called out, “Can we please start the meeting?”

  They all moved back toward the table, while Kahla and Isak went to get food. Three plates of food just appeared in front of the Dragon Warriors, thanks to their magic. On one side of the table were Tavius, Daimon, Mya, Maddox, Sullivan, Serra, and Jax. Isak, Katra, Jaden, Amari, Kahla, Reva, and Matt were sitting on the next section, and on the last side of the triangle table were Caporele, Malik, Darius, Lazio, Iolas, and Pharon.

  There were two empty chairs, but Argos walked over to Maddox, Daimon, Tavius, and Mya. He bowed his head. “Alphas, if you don’t need me, I’d rather…not stay.”

  Maddox nodded. “That’s fine. You can go.”

  Mya laughed softly. “I don’t blame you, Argos.”

  As Argos walked by Amari, she said, “I have one of you as a pet.”

  He stopped in his tracks, looking a little bewildered. “I have no idea what that means.”

  Katra took pity on him. “The argos are animals from our home world. They are like human lions, only bigger and more intelligent.”

  “I…” Argos just shook his head, then he left the room.

  “You have a lion as a pet?” Iolas asked. “But…you’re traveling on a space vessel.”

  “Rhys enjoys the travel, but he does like running on land. That is why I took him for a run on Xenthian when we stopped there.”

  Matt choked. “You…what?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” Reva said softly.

  “My sister took him with her to Tartarus,” Amari explained. “I will tell Eden that I will be delayed meeting her there until after I finish my expedition with Kahla and Reva.”

  Malik’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

  Amari’s glowing eyes went sharp. “We are going to hunt for the female of our blood to make her pay for her crimes.” She actually smiled when she added, “And they have promised me that I will get to blow something up. That is always fun.”

  That statement was met with silence.

  “No one is blowing anything up until we figure out what the hell is going on,” Jax ordered after a long moment.

  Serra sighed beside Jax. “What my bonded means to say is, that we are glad to have everyone here.”

  Jax leaned over and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “And now that Serra has reminded me of manners I don’t possess, can we please get down to the business of eradicating Quilla and her evil network of traitors?” He looked over at Malik, then said, “No offense.”

  “None taken. That is why we are here, after all.”

  “Yes we are. And after all that has happened, we are hoping to collectively come up with a plan.” Sullivan looked around the room. “I think the best way to do this is to introduce ourselves, then bring everyone here up to speed about what we all know.”

  When the introductions had been made, Malik said, “I believe I should start this off. For years, we have searched for the leader behind the slave trade on Tartarus. It was one of the main, if not the only, reason for the civil war raging on our planet. Acting under the alias Korsek, my sister had
enslaved females from all races, trading them to evil males who prized collecting females in harems as a sign of their power. We are unsure how she started, but over time, Quilla has amassed a fortune, and now has a criminal empire that reaches far beyond Tartarus.”

  When he paused, Darius added, “Quilla must have learned it from our father. He had tried something similar before he died, but he didn’t trust outsiders, so his trade never left our planet.”

  “You just said your father,” Daimon stated.

  It was Malik who answered. “We are brothers. In fact, most of the males with the Rego name are related to me and Quilla.” He glanced at Amari. “But my warriors aren’t the only ones in the room I share blood with.”

  To the surprise of those who weren’t around for the first round of explanations, Amari said, “My mother was a Rego, many years ago.”

  Jax rubbed at his temple with two fingers. “So, that makes you…?”

  Amari thought about it for a moment. “I would say they are my great-nephews, several times removed. Which is why I will be hunting Quilla with them.” Her glowing eyes were curious as she studied him. “There is something…interesting about you.” Her gaze shifted to Mya, then back to Jax. “About both of you…but more him.”

  Jax exchanged looks with Serra, Sullivan, Mya, and her mate before he focused on Amari again. “Interesting how?”

  Shrugging, she said, “I am not sure…yet.”

  There was a long beat of silence, then Tavius said, “Okay, then. Moving on.”

  “Quilla has individuals working for her all over the universe,” Jaden added. “When we discovered that she was Korsek, we stormed the palace she had retreated to, but she had a space vessel waiting there, and she used it to escape Tartarus. We searched her quarters, and found the wrist unit she’d hidden under the floor boards.”

  “And we acted on the intel you sent us,” Jax confirmed. “I’d like to know how you managed to have over a dozen elite taken into custody in under an hour on several different space stations.”

  “Do you know who my contact within the Alliance is?”

  “I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”

  Malik studied him before saying, “It’s your father, Regent Ian Spartan. Though, he was just an officer when we first met.”

  Serra and Mya laughed as Jax growled in frustration.

  “Damn it, he never told me!”

  Sullivan grinned. “That totally makes sense. Regent Spartan, Jack Rollins and Donna Spartan-Rollins are on their way here, but it will be a few more days until they arrive.”

  “We will be gone by then,” Malik announced. “There was no sign of Quilla until we got your message that she’d been on New Vega. And I for one, would like to hear exactly what happened here.”

  “We knew she was on the run, and I saw her on the monitors down in the sanctuary. Quilla was wearing a holo-mask,” Mya said, mentioning the holo-tech that would allow someone to change their appearance at will. The technology had been banned, except for toy versions, but what Quilla had been using had allowed her to look like a different human female.

  Mya told them how she’d seen a flash of light on the screen. It had been a glitch in the holo-tech, allowing New Vega’s security cameras to show Quilla’s real face beneath the disguise projected from the necklace she’d been wearing. It was damn lucky that Mya had been looking at the monitors. After that, she’d hurried to find her mates, and it had been a race to capture Quilla. They’d almost had her, but she had released the drug, and she’d escaped during the pandemonium.

  And Mya relived what had happened in the lobby in nightmares.

  During her explanation, Tavius had gotten up to walk over to an area by the windows. “Adaro-alpha-three, open safe.”

  A small section of the stone floor rose up to reveal a metal vault with a bio-lock. Tavius pressed his hand to the lock and the door clicked open. He took out a small, black case, then closed the door.

  As Tavius walked back to the table, Malik admired the technology as the vault slid back down into the floor so there was no hint that it had ever been there. He made note of it, and figured he would have to put something similar in his own palace. Floorboards or holes in the wall wouldn’t do for him now that he’d seen it.

  “This is the case we took from Quilla. She broke the bio-lock on the case before we got it from her.” Tavius opened the case, turning it around so everyone in the room could see it. “There were five canisters of the Genesis Project drug inside it. One was used in the lobby area, there are two here, but that means Quilla got away with two of the canisters.”

  “What is this Genesis Project drug?” Amari asked. “I admit that I do not know much about humans or the other races beside the information stored in our database.”

  “That’s understandable,” Serra said kindly. “When the Alliance was established on Earth, protocol designated that all children be tested when they turn ten years old. From those tested, the strongest and brightest males and females are given biological enhancements to become elite soldiers. These modifications make us stronger and faster, and also boost any natural abilities we might have.”

  “Serra was very smart before she received the enhancements, but after she turned into a super-geek,” Jax added proudly.

  “And this is a good thing?” Amari asked skeptically.

  Serra laughed. “It is for me.”

  “I know about the enhancements, and the fertility mark you wear near your eye, but I do not know of the Genesis Project drug.”

  “It is a new drug designed by the head scientist on Avox,” Serra explained. “Dr. Whitmer-Fields was trying to modify the enhancement drugs given to elite by adding xili, a plant on Helix that has influential properties.”

  “Why the hell would anyone willing take that shit?” Kahla asked, a brow raised.

  “Elites wouldn’t have a choice if the Council of Regents had approved it,” Sullivan said. “But they didn’t. The new drug was supposed to make it easier to learn. Sort of like downloading information into our brains, but Dr. Whitmer-Fields called a halt to the Genesis Project on Avox after she discovered the side effects of the new, altered enhancement drug.”

  “The addition of the xili made people very susceptible to suggestions, to the point of making them mindless puppets,” Serra explained. “Some of the other scientists thought they could fix the new drug, but they just made it worse. The Regents ordered the samples be taken back to Earth, where they were scheduled to be destroyed, and the project was terminated.”

  “But they didn’t make it,” Maddox broke in. “Instead, the transport ship that was taking the samples back to Earth landed here. Quilla killed the commander to take the samples, then she released one of the vials in an aerosol canister in the fucking lobby downstairs.”

  He explained what had happened when the drug had been released, and Amari’s swirling eyes grew darker with her rage.

  “I will kill her,” Amari swore.

  “No,” Reva said softly, speaking for the first time since the explanations had started. “Quilla belongs to me as payment for the deaths of my mother and fathers.”

  Malik opened his mouth to speak, but Amari beat him to it. “I find that reasoning acceptable,” she said. “I am sure she will have others with her that will satisfy me.”

  “I’m looking forward to some payback, too,” Kahla muttered.

  Maddox glared at her. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

  “I stayed out of the fight for you when the drug was released here. I will not sit back now,” Kahla growled.

  When Daimon, Tavius, and Mya started to argue, Amari spoke over them. “I have given Kahla my word that we would go together, so that is what will happen.”

  The Adaro brothers looked at one another as if deciding if it was worth arguing, but they collectively sighed. “If you get hurt,” Maddox warned, “We are going to kill you.”

  Amari frowned. “That makes little sense.”

  “They usually don’t,” Kahla
said, then she turned back to her cousins. “I’ll be fine.”

  “We don’t know where to look for Quilla,” Serra admitted.

  Matt Malloy glanced at Malik and Reva, then declared, “I think we know of a couple places where we can start.”

  Jax’s jaw clenched, then he spoke sharply. “What have you heard?”

  “I received a report of an unknown ship docking at X13 a few days ago. It’s unconfirmed whether or not it was Quilla, but I’m curious as to who they were and why that ship wasn’t in the damn system.”

  “That doesn’t tell us much,” Daimon said. “That ship could have been floaters, mercenaries, or even some other fugitive on the run.”

  “I know where Quilla went after she left New Vega,” Reva admitted, and all eyes turned her way.

  Maddox glared at her. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us earlier?”

  Remaining calm, she leaned back in her chair. “For two reasons, actually. One, I wanted to make sure I got to go on the hunt for Quilla before I gave up my leverage. And two, I just found this out yesterday, so I didn’t have time to tell anyone.”

  “Explain,” Jax demanded.

  “One of my contacts told me that the Intrepid is docked at Beta Station 4.”

  “We would have gotten word about this,” Jax said skeptically. “Commander Cain would have reported it. Every elite is looking for that damn ship. They wouldn’t just ignore the fucking thing if it was there.”

  “What if it had been logged in as something else?”

  “The locator beacon and the ship’s log will—”

  “Do you really think Quilla is that stupid?” Reva demanded. “If she took the Intrepid from New Vega, the locator beacon would have been the first thing she disabled. The elites on Beta Station 4 don’t know it’s the Intrepid. If they did, you would have heard from them by now. But I know it’s there…logged in as a different ship.”

  “Who is your source? I want to talk to them,” Jax demanded. “How do you know you can trust—”

  “I will not let you bother this person. It’s on Beta Station 4, and right after it arrived, another ship that wasn’t logged into the system left the station. My source told me that an elite helped them switch ships. You don’t have to believe me, but that is where I will be going. Quilla has people there…people that we don’t know about.”