* * * *
Kindrist pulled the red hair brush through her black hair and tried to remember when the last time her hair color matched the brush’s. She turned away from her New York City penthouse’s dressing-table mirror.
Jake leaned over the side of the bed pulling on his combat boots.
Some things never change. “So you’re really going to a Halloween party at eight?” Like he fantasized about dressing up in celebration of an earth legend.
“Yes.” He rose and shifted his blue jean’s waistband. “When else can a guy beat the streets with a glowing alien?”
“You can take the mercenary out of the woman, but you can’t take the earthling out of the earthling.” At least he had Strako for male companionship.
Jake’s straight-lipped smile turned down. “That was so bad, Kindrist.” He squinted like a man experiencing pain. “It’ll be safe. You’ll see. They’re all dressing like Strako this year. I’m just accompanying him to ensure nothing comes of the fun.”
What a feeble attempt to convince her he was going along with the Illusian for the Illusian’s sake. “Since I’ve spent years caged on a starship, I’m not really surprised you’re the one climbing the walls of isolation. You know he can knock off a mob with his otherworldly strength.” She blinked and turned back to her reflection.
“Don’t flutter those eyelashes at me.” He shot her a glare.
“I blinked once.” The man would do anything to squirm out of a tight squeeze.
“I’ve lived a long life of hiding alone. The career of an assassin doesn’t require much of a social life. That’s only what you see in movies about espionage and guys with numbers for names. I’m kind of into seclusion. Especially with a sex machine and The Cause’s top-secret weapon for universal peace. You know, they could pay me a little more.”
Oh the man and his money. He’d buy a European castle if he could do so without stirring up the curiosity of the locals in the process. They couldn’t afford causing any more interest after Strako’s ridiculous attempt to walk the streets as a rock singer Plutonium.
The baby kicked at her ribs.
“He’s restless.” She pressed a palm against her mounding belly.
Thumps patted against the heel of her hand.
Jake shoved over and slid his warm fingers under hers. “He’s definitely more earthling if he’s ticked because he can’t go trick-or-treating.” He chuckled and met her gaze.
Like taking jabs at a mother’s womb was the baby’s way of declaring its favoritism for a planet. Since the child would never visit Nulvitia, arguing with Jake wouldn’t make a difference.
“And you are certain it’s a boy?” he insisted.
Not really. But Jovull had mentioned the baby’s sex. And everyone knew Jovull’s dreams came true. Soothsaying or not. “As far as I can tell. But with two months to go, the baby certainly kicks like a female assassin. Don’t discount logic when dreams are the source of the information we’re operating upon. Especially when neither of us had the dream. Anything could happen.” A good ration of reason never hurt anyone. She smiled.
He inhaled and watched her.
Studying her with an assessing gaze.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go out tonight? You never get to go anywhere. You’re not an invalid. And those yellow eyes will just look like part of your costume. You can be Plutonium’s little sister.”
Why does anything could happen keep echoing in my head? “I’ll just stay here and read about earth babies. Or shop for baby clothes.”
He rose a few inches, planted a kiss on her forehead like he never touched her otherwise, even though they’d had sex twice during daylight hours, and stood. “Just don’t spend the money we traded for the gold and platinum. I have no idea how long we’ll be here. The Big Apple isn’t a cheap city to live in indefinitely. Although, I wouldn’t chalk our visit up to a vacation. We’ve got to worry about complications with childbirth.”
Blessed Devros. “Stop. I can no longer bear the weight of these unsupported worries, husband. Go to your party.” Her mate’s concerns were getting annoying. Nulvitians rarely had complications with childbirth. But Goro hadn’t mentioned anything about their length of stay on earth. And Strako was tired of sneaking around during the early hours of the morning. Maybe it was time to plan their departure once the child was up for space travel.
Jake stared out the penthouse window. The gray curtain hung, shoved aside by his shoulder, cloaking him.
My mate, the phantom. Of course, they lived like social deviants locked away from society except for the normal Jake and Rosa venturing out for supplies. And Strako's comical attempts to feign the identity of a rock star that always stopped the masses on the streets. The Illusian finally got too many offers to sing at clubs and had to give up the cover. Advertising posters posted everywhere wouldn’t help them stay hidden in a world littered with The Cause as well as Voldon’s operatives.
A presence pushed into her mind.
Probably Strako. She opened the communication channel from her end. “How goes pregnancy, Red Trekaar?” Forty Three asked in mindspeak.
Why is my operator contacting me? “All goes well. Why are you contacting me?”
“The Seeker has been destroyed.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
“I really have no desire to return to space. Why can’t we stay here until the child comes?” Kindrist asked where she sat on the black leather sofa in the penthouse’s living room.
Stay or leave? Jake couldn’t pinpoint the safest option. At least she hadn’t begged about jumping aboard her pod fighter and launching a counter attack. Sometimes, the darkest situations proved a person’s real priorities. At last, Kindrist finally looked happy with marriage, her impending motherhood, and hanging out on earth. But the way Strako and Rosa shot disturbed glances between themselves meant the rest of the psychic assassins had issues with remaining on the blue planet. So much for hanging out in the real world tonight. “Well, it looks like the Halloween party is going down here tonight. What do you both think?”
Rosa sighed. “If Voldon managed to destroy a guardian starship, he can find you here.” Her stern gaze slid to Kindrist. “The child is no longer safe.”
Eight months of sleeping in and Kindrist devouring every kind of earth delicacy she could define had concluded with a nightmare. So much for Destiny.
“Forty Three had no orders over-riding Goro’s,” Kindrist replied. “We’re supposed to stay here. Wait for the child. What would you suggest otherwise?”
Strako crossed his arms over his chest. “Traveling to Metta would be risky. It’s a long flight. But once we arrive—”
“You can’t be serious,” Kindrist blurted and pointed at her mounded belly. “This abdomen will not fit inside a pod fighter.”
“Collect your things. We will travel down to the blind and learn if your fears are true.” Strako stood there, staring down Kindrist.
Nice standoff. But Kindrist usually won debates with enormous male extraterrestrials. “Why don’t we sleep on it? Give ourselves one night to let the news sink in?”
Rosa shot us all a bitter glance. “I don’t like this one bit. Every moment we delay is a chance for a Mawshwuc to find us.”
At least they weren’t suggesting Kindrist hide on vampire planet. “One night.” He met Strako’s blue gaze.
The Illusian nodded.
Strako ushered his doubting wife up the winding staircase, away from the living room. “We’ll discuss this again over breakfast.”
Kindrist’s disgusted gaze landed on Jake.
Didn’t she realize I bought her more time?
The couple closed their bedroom door.
Kindrist’s pucker twisted. “I don’t want to get caught in transit inside a pod fighter. Imagine what it would be like if you and I are separated in space? What of the baby? The notion is ludicrous, Jake. If they want to leave, tell them to go. But the child is far more important than our sense of safety.”
She glared at him. “If you think teasing me is going to make this issue vanish, you’re wrong.”
Leave it to Kindrist to fight back. He slid a hand around her warm stiff shoulders and pulled the stubborn woman against his chest. “We’ll stay if you want. You’ve won.”
Slumped, she met his gaze. “Mark my words. If you don’t follow through with that promise at sunrise, I’m naming our daughter Desiree.”
Only Kindrist could come up with threats that hit home. “Just so you know, Desiree was the woman my mother planned for me to marry.”
She rolled her eyes. “So much for the coercive power of my threat.” She leaned against his shoulder and sighed. “I don’t want to have this baby alone.”
She needed say nothing else. “We’ll stay. We may find a safer place to hide. Maybe a remote location where extraterrestrial mercenaries can’t sneak up on us under the cover of a crowd.”
* * * *
Sunrise’s yellow greeting across the vast expanse of Pacific Ocean off the rocky coast of the desolate Apocalypse Island always amazed Kindrist. Especially when Erniok nursed.
The giant bundle shoved a fist against her breast and closed his eyes.
Always falling asleep latched on as if he feared he didn’t know when his next meal would come. Just like a mercenary. She gulped down a chuckle. “Sleep well, Erniok the Young.”
Two months passed since the torture of birthing him into a lung-filling atmosphere. Those two months of extra-rich Nulvitian milk made her son grow exceptionally well. She ran a fingertip over the bulging warm fat of his small wrist.
Rather, somewhere in the folds of that superfluous hybrid skin there was supposed to be a wrist. But her grandfather Erniok only sired tall Nulvitian sons. Throw in her father’s height, and Erniok the Young would certainly exceed Erniok the Elder’s earth height of six-foot-three.
A rock rolled behind her.
Probably Jake or Rosa on the trail leading down from the tent encampment to the crashing surf and spray.
“Don’t tell me he’s eating again.” Jake chuckled.
Maybe the baby had too much food when in the womb.
“I’m getting jealous.” Jake squatted and winked.
Men. Playing along wouldn’t hurt. “Why?”
“That’s what I feel like doing. Penning you down and claiming what’s rightfully mine.”
All those baby books said earth men behaved this way. At least he joked about the envy. “You can have them at naptime. You must learn to be patient and share with your son.”
Jake stared off at the paling sunrise. “When do you think we’ll hear from The Cause again?”
The problem was that they hadn’t heard a thing since Forty Three hopped a transport to connect with them via mindspeak. The only crew member of The Seeker who they knew lived was the operator.
“What about Goro’s plan?”
The plan to meet the commander in 2013 was pointless now since he could in all likelihood be dead. If he were ashes and dust, traveling through Voldon’s defenses to reach Tranorl risked the baby’s life. “We just wait to see whether or not we catch word of him.”
Jake grew serious and faced her. “Let’s send Strako and Rosa to assess the off-world situation.”
Not a bad idea. “With our pod fighters, we’ll be able to relocate easily—”
Jake smirked. “We’d better take off as soon as possible by the looks of that boy’s latest growth spurt. Or we’ll never squeeze him inside the cab with you. But I’d really like to relocate. At least to the Costa Rican rainforest, or somewhere with a little more technology and accessible markets. All the fishing I have to do on this barren island with that creepy monolith watching my every move is starting to wear on my nerves.”
Her mate was such a bad liar. “That Mayan stelae is just a carved marker noting the Mayan king who first walked here.”
“It reminds me of Easter Island. I just want to return to the mainland. You know, boil a big pot of corn-on-the-cob, bite into some thick homemade tortillas, and chew on meat that had more to it than a few swims around the shore.”
Maybe there would be a Chinese restaurant nearby. “You forgot egg rolls.”
“Oh no. We better stick out the wait for new orders here on the island.”
“What?”
Jake wagged a finger at her. “You’ve eaten enough of those Chinese nibbles to last you a lifetime since you got pregnant. I don’t want you dying from a heart attack.” He smiled and leaned close. His warm breath buffeted her ear. “I kind of like having you around. You keep me honest and on my toes. What more could a man ask for?”
The End
Skhye Moncrief - [Feral 01] Page 25