Faultless

by Kate Rudolph

  Dru groaned over her, rutting into her hand with abandon as she tightened her grip a little more, giving him that sensation that he needed. With a final thrust he came over her, his eyes flashing red above her, their stares locked.

  If this was what one night felt with this man, Laurel couldn’t wait for the rest. She drifted off to sleep, satisfied in the safety of her mate’s arms.

  But when she slept, Brakley Varrow haunted her dreams.

  Chapter Thirteen

  SANDON DIDN’T TAKE the news of Laurel’s potential sighting of Brakley Varrow as seriously as Dru would have liked. Then again, he hadn’t expected a good response, which was why he’d dropped his denya off at home before continuing on to the makeshift headquarters of the Detyen Legion.

  Their numbers were so small that the city around them had been able to absorb them with barely a blip. Of all cities in the region, they’d been told that Washington DC was the place least likely to care about a sudden influx of thousands of alien refugee warriors. The American government and the main offices of the Sol Defense and Intelligence Agencies were headquartered there and the city saw plenty of strange visitors every year. The warriors were working the SDA to devise complementary defensive and offensive strategies in case of Oscavian attack while the Americans were working with the Unified Sol Authority to figure out what place Detyens could have in the solar system in the long term.

  Dru wasn’t concerned with that right now. He didn’t know if Laurel had actually seen Varrow or someone who looked like him, or if she’d just imagined the whole thing, but he was determined to take her sighting seriously. Varrow could somehow make it to Earth. It wasn’t like every centimeter of space could be defended at once. And if he did, Dru was certain that the scientist would come for his mate. He didn’t like the way Varrow had kept her, like she was some sort of pet that he owned. And given that she and Dru had ruined the man’s plans for decimating the Detyen Legion, there was no way he wouldn’t want revenge.

  Sandon seemed to believe that Varrow would take that revenge on the Legion as a whole. Dru wasn’t so certain.

  “Our contacts have assured us that none of the Oscavians on the planet could be Brakley Varrow,” Sandon said. “There are fewer than a hundred, scattered across twelve countries and three continents, and the last one to arrive came here more than a month ago. No one fitting Varrow’s description has been seen since they began monitoring the entrance logs. He’s not here.” Sandon looked down at the tablet he’d been using. He’d been given an office in a corner of an SDA building and it was barely big enough for the two of them to stand there without getting overly familiar with one another.

  Dru crossed his arms and leaned back against the door. The room wasn’t even big enough for a second chair, and the one Sandon was sitting on looked like it could collapse at any moment if he shifted wrong. Dru took another look around and wondered if the room was actually meant to be an office at all. It might have been considered adequate on one of the ships, but space came at a premium off-planet. “Did the last Oscavian who attacked our people on this planet show up on the entry logs?”

  Nyden Varrow, Brakley’s brother. He’d kidnapped Iris Mason and wounded Kayde while the Detyen advance team had investigated his connection to Yormas of Wreet.

  Sandon said nothing, which was answer enough to Dru’s question. However he’d arrived on planet, the other Varrow brother had done it in secret. “I don’t want my mate at risk because we trusted an unreliable log.”

  “The last I heard, Laurel Ormand declared that she wasn’t your denya.” Sandon looked at him in challenge.

  “That is between the two of us and it has nothing to do with Varrow.” Dru didn’t realize the trap until Sandon smirked.

  “Good, then this is none of your concern. If I’m not mistaken, you have training scheduled for the rest of the day. See that you aren’t late.”

  Dru wanted to argue more, wanted to convince Sandon that the threat to his mate was a real thing, that it was completely possible that Brakley Varrow had somehow found his way onto the planet and figured out where Laurel was. Maybe they had missed a tracking chip, or maybe he had more spies within the Legion and the SDA. But Sandon already looked annoyed and Dru decided that it would be better to press his luck later.

  He ended up behind Commander Kendryk and Karta, another officer who he had occasionally served under. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but there wasn’t much space in between them and their conversation was easy to overhear.

  “Rumor has it that Earth is attempting to contact Wreet. And they’re trying to establish diplomatic ties with the Oscavian Empire,” said Kendryk, a note of disbelief in his voice.

  Karta scoffed and shook her head. “Earth has nothing to offer the Oscavians.”

  “Then tell me why this Yormas guy is so interested in it.”

  Karta just shrugged and the two officers turned down the hallway, their conversation drifting away as Dru continued on his path. In the training room he saw Kayde and Dryce, but there was no sign of Raze or Toran, and Dru hoped they were back at the Detyen suite, watching over Laurel.

  He trained for hours until his clothing was covered in sweat and his muscles burned with every movement. When it was finally time to take a break, Dryce and Kayde joined him, towels wrapped around each of their necks.

  “It’s just the two of you today?” he asked.

  “Raze and Toran had a meeting with the general,” said Kayde.

  So those men were not at the suite. “Is someone watching Laurel?” Concern for his mate grew at the thought of her sitting alone in that giant suite.

  “She isn’t under any current threat,” Kayde replied, giving the negative answer in a roundabout way.

  “After everything she’s been through, she needs to be protected.” Wasn’t it obvious to anyone else that she was the target? Dru wanted to storm out of the room and go find her, but he was almost certain that Dryce and Kayde would pull him back, prevent him from leaving, and prevent him from getting in trouble with the leadership.

  And then Dryce had to go ruin it. “I don’t see you standing guard at the door.”

  Dru growled and his claws itched under his skin, ready to lash out at the younger man. “I’m under orders to be here.” And that seemed less and less important by the minute.

  Kayde raised a hand in entreaty, hoping to calm him down. “Nothing is going to happen to her. Varrow isn’t here and she’s in a secure building.”

  That was all true, but... “I can’t help but feel that there’s something we’re missing.”

  “Talk to Sandon before you go, see if he can spare a guard.” Dryce suggested.

  Dru groaned. “I’ve already tested Sandon’s patience today.”

  “Yeah?” Dryce leaned in a little closer, eyes bright as he asked about the drama.

  “Laurel thought she saw Varrow when we were out last night. I reported it to him and he reiterated that she said she wasn’t my mate.” Dru no longer held that rejection against her; the stress of that moment and all of the moments prior to it had been riding both of them hard, and Laurel was new to this world.

  But Dryce’s mouth was hanging open and he had to blink several times while he processed what Dru had said. “Wait, what? Isn’t she your denya?”

  “She is,” Dru confirmed. He really didn’t want to go into this, but Dryce didn’t look likely to relent. “We had a slight misunderstanding.”

  Kayde said nothing, but his silence was so loud that both Dru and Dryce looked at him expectantly.

  “You saw this?” Dryce asked.

  Kayde’s expression would have been subtle on anyone else, but on a former soulless warrior he was practically grinning from ear to ear. “It was the first thing, the only thing, she said at HQ. Before she collapsed. I think everyone in the Legion knows about it.”

  Dryce sucked in a breath. “Ouch.”

  “As I said,” Dru bit out, “things are improving.”

  Dryce gave him a playboy gri
n. “Are they now?”

  “And they shall remain private.” No one but he and Laurel was entitled to details of what they did together, and especially not Dryce, who seemed to have the emotional maturity of a protein bar.

  “You’re no fun,” Dryce complained. “Anyway, put a guard on her, it’ll make you feel better.”

  What would make Dru feel better was standing at his mate’s side, guarding her, protecting her, until this whole thing was resolved. But he had his duties to the Legion, and he could not shirk them. “I think I should confer with her first. She hasn’t said that she wants a guard and she might not like to have decisions made for her.” No matter how much better he would feel to know she was protected, Dru could not take away her choice.

  At that, Kayde actually smiled. “You’re learning. We might just make a mated man out of you yet.”

  HE CAN’T HAVE YOU, you’re mine.

  Varrow’s words from her dream kept echoing in Laurel’s head. She had thought that a night spent in Dru’s arms would vanquish the nightmares that had chased her since she woke up on Varrow’s ship, but instead they had transformed into something darker, something more possessive, something she couldn’t escape. While a part of her had been reveling in the new direction she and Dru were taking their relationship, the part of her mind that Varrow had gotten his hooks into insisted on ruining it. She didn’t know if she had actually seen him the night before. The more hours that passed, the harder it was to believe that a man they’d left so many light years away could possibly be on the planet stalking her.

  How would he even find her? He himself had removed the control chip from her head, and the Detyens had removed the little bits and pieces of it that he had missed. It wasn’t like he could use that to track her. And while the news had reported the influx of aliens to Washington DC, there was no way to extrapolate her exact location from that.

  Dru had taken it seriously, and even though she wanted to brush it off at the time, now she appreciated that, even if she was growing more certain by the moment that she hadn’t actually seen Varrow. Maybe there had been an Oscavian outside the window, or another alien, or maybe just a human with a purple hoodie. But it couldn’t have been Varrow. She couldn’t deal with it if it was.

  Dru had dropped her off at the Detyen suite early in the morning before he had to go and do his training. She had told him that she would try to catch a few more hours of sleep, but as soon as the door closed behind her she’d been unable to do anything but pace and think. All of the Detyens and their mates were gone, some of them off to training, some of them off to parts unknown. Laurel didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse. They at least couldn’t see her going mad step by step within the apartment.

  She was safe here. She had to be. This was a secure building owned by the freaking SDA. There was no way they would let a known threat like Brakley Varrow inside. So as long as she didn’t leave, no one could touch her.

  “Ugh,” Laurel threaded her fingers through what was left of her hair and threw herself down on the couch. Her mind rebelled at the thought of willingly locking herself up in the suite. She didn’t want to be a prisoner of her own fears, of her past and the things that had been done to her. If she let herself stay here because it was safe, would she ever be able to go outside and do the things she done before, even just going to the grocery store, or shopping for clothes? She’d never thought she would miss those things, but the walls were closing in around her even while she imagined slavers and nefarious Oscavians waiting on every corner outside.

  Would she let her life become some cloistered existence? Her only excitement coming from when Dru visited? And would Dru even want to visit if she locked herself in a room and refused to leave?

  He can’t have you.

  Varrow had never said something like that to her while they were on the ship. He’d been the height of politeness even while holding her prisoner, even while torturing Dru. But she could easily imagine those words coming out of his mouth. Now that she thought back on it, there was something avaricious about his care for her. She hadn’t just been a person in need or an interesting experiment. She had become a part of his collection, the human that he’d saved and kept as a pet, or wanted to.

  You’re mine.

  You’re my mate.

  The two concepts blended and warred in her head. Were Varrow’s and Dru’s claims any different from one another? Did they both want to own her in the same way? A week ago she would have said yes, but now she’d had time to get to know Dru, and while he handled the explanation of the whole denya thing terribly, attempting to claim her when she didn’t want to be claimed, she understood now that he wanted his life with her, beside her. He didn’t want own her. Not like Varrow.

  Laurel couldn’t stay here. The walls were practically screaming and she’d already begun to wear a hole in the carpeting. Maybe she could just walk outside for a few minutes. The SDA kept the building under surveillance, they would know if anything happened to her. But even that felt like a copout. A walk around the block? Really? Was that all she could handle? She had survived a year in captivity, and another few months as the pet of a mad scientist. And now all she could do was walk one city block. And she hadn’t even done that yet, she was just thinking about it.

  No, she needed to do more. Millions of people walked around the city every day and nothing bad happened to them. She couldn’t let her paranoia grow anymore. She had to get out there. It was mostly safe.

  Except for the fact that she’d been snatched off the streets by slavers who she’d never seen coming. So even if Varrow wasn’t out there, there were still dangers unnumbered.

  And that had been an isolated incident, and it had happened in the middle of the night. It was broad daylight out, and surely kidnappers wouldn’t try to take her while the sun beat down on them, watching their every move.

  Laurel sprang off the sofa and reached for her communicator. She called up the taxicab and ordered it to pick her up in ten minutes. Jules was staying across town in a very nice hotel, and she would surely appreciate the visit. Laurel could handle that. And she could be back before the sun set. She changed her clothes and ran downstairs before she could change her mind.

  The automated taxicab was waiting outside and she climbed in and confirmed her destination before buckling her seatbelt and leaning back, curling her hands into fists to keep from backing out of this little step forward. Sweat broke out on the back of her neck and her teeth were chattering. She wanted to cancel the ride, to turn around and go home, but she wasn’t going to let herself do it. The first step was the hardest, that was what they always said. So all she had to do was get past this and prove to herself that her life could go on, and everything would be easy after that.

  It had to be.

  She tried looking out the window, but that somehow made it all worse, so instead of watching the scenery go by, Laurel fixed her gaze on the seat in front of her and concentrated on her breathing to keep a panic attack at bay. The car slowed to a stop, but when Laurel glanced out the window it wasn’t to see her sister’s hotel standing up tall in front of them. They were caught in a snarl of traffic, and when she glanced down the road she could see the blinking lights of police cars and just beyond them she read the sign that flashed the name of her sister’s hotel. Several minutes passed and they’d barely gained a meter. She was so close to her destination that her trepidation was overpowered by frustration. Laurel reached forward and punched in instructions on the control panel for the taxi to pull over and let her out. A warning flashed on the screen that told her pulling over would be impossible with traffic this dense.

  Instead, she ended the ride and paid with her credit account before opening the door and darting around three cars until she made it to the sidewalk. Her heartbeat kicked up as people surrounded her, walking quickly and paying no attention. She didn’t stand out, just another human among the many. They didn’t know what had happened to her, what she had been through, and they didn’t
care. That was freeing in its own way, and with each step that Laurel took she grew a little more confident.

  She had just crossed the first block when grinding metal in a crash loud enough to make the ground beneath her feet tremble exploded behind her. Laurel jerked back and saw a giant black vehicle crushed up against the taxi she had just gotten out of. That could have been her. She stood frozen in place, imagining what would have happened if she hadn’t canceled the ride and got out of the car at just that moment. Would she be trapped? Injured? Dead? All because she wanted to go and see her sister. All because she felt trapped in that admittedly large suite that was being provided for free by a government agency.

  Laurel would have headed home, would have given up on this ill thought out cry for freedom and independence, but she was so close to the hotel, and she didn’t know if she could manage to get into a vehicle after seeing the mangled remains of her taxi. But before she could turn around, she caught sight of three giant purple warriors climbing out of the black vehicle and surrounding her taxi.

  Oscavians. This time she was sure of it. But what were they doing here?

  She shrank back a few steps, as if she could hide herself against the exposed brick building behind her, as if she could blend in and watch them unnoticed. They approached the car and started yelling when they realized she wasn’t inside. That had to be it, they were after her. Laurel didn’t waste any more time thinking or hesitating. She took off running in the direction of her sister’s hotel. Dimly she remembered the flashing police lights up ahead, maybe the cops would help. At least they wouldn’t let the Oscavians take her. Right?

  She didn’t know, but she had to get away. She ran blindly, but people got out of her way, even as they yelled after her wondering what the hell she was doing. She didn’t see the Oscavian step in front of her, didn’t realize that a fourth one was waiting to intercept her in case she escaped. She struggled against him, but he was stronger than she could imagine and no matter how she moved, she couldn’t get out of his grip. “Varrow says you need to come back with us. He’s going to keep you safe.”