by Regine Abel
* * *
I accompanied Khel back to his office. It was a quiet, somber walk. Ghan’s question shook my cousin to the core. None of us actually believed Amalia was sent to infiltrate our military. However, it would be irresponsible to dismiss the possibility. I overheard her conversation with Khel during the Selection and her surprise at discovering he was a general felt genuine. Plus, why reveal an ability none of us would have suspected to begin with? She must know he would delete any critical information she could tap into. Then again, maybe that was exactly why. If she already tapped into our systems, she could have booby-trapped them to inform her of any file changes.
When we walked into his office, I couldn’t help but laugh at the stunned look on his face.
“What in Gharah’s name is all this?” he exclaimed at the various packages littering his office.
“Your mating gifts.” I sprawled in my usual spot on his couch.
He groaned, closing his eyes as if in pain. After a beat, he walked up to the desk and sifted through them.
“Some pretty impressive stuff,” I said.
“Overly so, in some cases,” he retorted with disgust. “Most of these people haven’t given me the time of day since Vahl was named the heir. Half of them didn’t send condolences at my family’s passing. And the rest concluded their sympathetic words with an offer to buy our lands.”
“Yes, but your circumstances have radically changed. Yesterday, you were a soon to be disinherited-dead-male-walking. As a destitute, your voice on the Council would fade and you would eventually be asked to cede your seat, assuming you didn’t die from the Taint first.”
“Or they would send me to fight some random war to expedite the process if I lingered too long,” Khel said with a grim voice.
“But by mating with a Pearl, you’ve become the most powerful male on Xelix Prime.”
Khel frowned. “Most powerful male? Whatever makes you say that?”
“Think about it,” I said sitting up. I leaned forward, folding my hands on my lap. “Like me, most nobles only have their title left. Some are also part of the Council. A rare few have premium lands and only a handful could be considered truly wealthy. You not only have all of the above, you also have the entire military at your beck and call. And thanks to your mating, no one can usurp what’s yours and you get to live a long time to establish your dominance, if you so choose. Anyone with a minimum of survival instinct will want to be on your friends list.”
Khel snorted. “They won’t win me over with trinkets.”
“They better not,” I smirked. “But that won’t stop them from trying. You’ve received a large number of audio and video coms. I advise neither you nor Amalia respond to them personally except to the few that were always loyal to you.”
“Agreed,” he nodded. “I’ve been bombarded with invitations to social events and private dinners. Some have requested to come over to the estate to pay their respect. But I don’t want Amalia exposed until we have a better idea of who’s after her.”
“Wise decision,” I said.
* * *
Khel had gone back to the compound. I spent a couple of hours gathering information on the various exclusive contracts at the spaceport, but I needed more information from Amalia. I found her and Jhola shopping on the portable in the garden. Not wanting to interrupt, I decided to wait since it was only an hour until lunch.
I went to the training room for one of my multiple daily sessions. Like all unmated Tainted males, intense physical exertion was the only way to force our bodies to produce trace amounts of dopamine. Most other males performed hard labor, which was often the only job a Tainted could gain. But not me. Ten years ago, with his parents’ blessing, Khel built this state of the art training room as my eighteenth birthday gift. I used it four times a day. This was my second today.
After the usual warm up and stretches, I launched the Hunter Program. The military grade simulator scanned the room before displaying holographic projections of enemies within a leafy forest. The artificial intelligence of the program caused the enemies to make smart use of the natural covers provided by the room’s setup and coordinated their attacks. They fought me with both swords and blasters. Every time they hit me, I’d get zapped through one of the neural patches on my skin.
This civilian version of the program didn’t inflict serious pain. The zaps were merely unpleasant, though multiple at once was another story. The military version was painful and made to build endurance. This was one of the many reasons I hadn’t enrolled with Khel. He liked rough play and had a high pain threshold. With my ability to feel his emotions, his more intense training sessions left me crippled. Granted, I could block his emotions but only for a short time before the effort got too draining, especially because I blocked my own from him.
I hated hiding my ability from him, but Khel was overprotective of me. Once he realized the downsides of my ability, he would deprive himself of much he loved to avoid the negative impact on me. I was already such a leech in his life, I refused to make myself an even greater burden.
A little over thirty minutes into the simulation, I blinked away the sweat trickling into my eyes while trying to control my heavy breathing. This was one of the few moments I didn’t feel the painful throb of the Taint. Dodging blaster fire, rolling away from slashing blades, I shot, skewered and beheaded countless virtual enemies. You couldn’t beat the program, though. The difficulty rose incrementally, ensuring one way or another, you would eventually be overwhelmed.
I turned to face an incoming swarm of enemies when I noticed Amalia standing in the open doorway, eyes rounded. A wave of pleasure slammed into me at the blatant admiration. It was quickly replaced by intense pain when over twenty zaps simultaneous coursed through me. I cried out in pain and crumpled to my knees. The safety measures automatically kicked in and the simulation ended.
“Lhor!” Amalia rushed to my side.
I knelt, hunched over, palms flat on the ground, panting. Amalia knelt beside me. She put a hand on my shoulder and caressed the hair at the back of my head.
Gharah’s teeth!
I almost moaned at the contact. Yes, it sent a surge of lust straight to my cock, but that was the least of my emotions. Aside from my mother, my aunt, and occasionally Jhola, no female had ever touched me. None would even consider it; the Taint made me too repulsive.
“Are you okay?” Amalia said.
Her hand caressed a path down to my lower back. She rubbed my back a couple of times before resting her hand between my shoulder blades. I almost fainted from the pleasure of her touch.
“Yes,” I said with a croaked voice. “I’m alright, thank you. I…”
A wave of anger, jealousy and worry hit me, knocking me out of the sinful haze Amalia’s touch put me under. Khel. I lifted my head to see him standing a few feet into the room, staring at Amalia and me. She followed my gaze and gestured for him to come.
“Khel,” she called in a voice laced with concern, “Lhor just got slaughtered by a bunch of virtual warriors. He says he’s fine but it looked like it hurt a lot.”
“I didn’t get slaughtered. Someone broke my concentration,” I said, frowning at her.
“Oops! Sorry.”
She cast her eyes down, but not before I caught the glimmer of amusement in them. So… Amalia had a streak of mischief? I would test this theory at the first opportunity.
Khel offered me his hand and hauled me up. Spasms coursed through my shaky legs but I didn’t waver. Amalia walked to his side. That pleased him, his earlier emotions fading.
“I tried to raise you on the com, but you didn’t answer,” Khel said to me.
“I did too!” Amalia said. “Jhola wanted to know if you were joining us for lunch.”
“My apologies,” I said, mopping sweat from my brow. “I’m afraid I left it in my office.”
“No matter, I was coming to tell you both I’m heading off to the Council Hall,” Khel said, wrapping his arm around Amalia. “I won’
t be attending lunch, but I should return in three hours.”
“Okay,” Amalia said.
She seemed genuinely disappointed and I crushed the pang of envy resurfacing. I could feel that Khel wanted to kiss her goodbye but held himself back. Instead, he smiled at her, nodded to me then walked out. I wondered how far their intimacy went last night. I knew Khel had experience. How much was anyone’s guess.
“Please tell Jhola that yes, I’ll join you for lunch after I shower.”
“Awesome!” Amalia said with a sweet smile. “See you soon.”
As she walked away, I ran a hand over my head where she had touched me, trying to recapture a sliver of that moment.
CHAPTER 9
Amalia
By the time I returned, Jhola was carrying plates to the dinette. Feeling guilty, I rushed to assist her. She patted my hand, then drew me to one of the chairs so I could sit. I stood my ground. I didn’t want to be waited on so she caved in.
“I’m afraid I won’t be joining you after all,” Jhola apologized once we finished laying out the feast. “A few minutes ago, my mate invited me to lunch in town.”
“Don’t worry and enjoy yourself,” I smiled back at her. “That just means more for me.”
“Hey!” Lhor said in mock outrage, walking into the room. “For me too.”
“You fiends better behave while I’m away.” Jhola chuckled, leaving.
I smiled before meeting Lhor’s gaze. This was our first time alone together since the Selection. I had feared this moment. Lhor had been nothing but gracious since we walked out of the Hall, but he knew I almost chose him.
“Hi,” I said timidly.
“Hi,” he said softly.
He had this gentle way of looking at me that did really funky things to me. I averted my eyes. Lhor gestured for me to take a seat. We ate quietly. It wasn’t uncomfortable but it also didn’t feel right.
“What you did back there was all kinds of amazing,” I said, once the silence stretched too long.
Actually, amazing didn’t begin to cut it. It was more like ‘oh my flipping Goddess on a cracker’ kind of badass. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. His face heated and it dawned on me he may not be used to compliments.
“You flatter me, Amalia. But I only deserve a fraction of the credit for this,” Lhor said.
I scrunched my face. “I didn’t see anyone else kicking ass in there.”
He laughed and I don’t think he realized he puffed out his chest. That made me smile. I didn’t like the look of defeat that lurked in his eyes from time to time when he thought no one paid attention.
“Right. I meant that I’ve had a phenomenal teacher who kicks even more ass than me,” he said with a wink.
I liked that too. Lhor was so easy to talk to. Khel was too, but he was more intimidating, not that he genuinely scared me. But Khel was my mate, and his expectations weren’t the same.
“I’ll take a completely wild and uneducated guess that this teacher was Khel?”
He flashed his breathtaking dimpled smile at me, which made my stomach flip-flop.
“Correct! Khel’s score on the Hunter Program is off the chart. Two lifetimes would never suffice for me to catch up.”
“You and Khel are really close, aren’t you?”
He didn’t need to answer. The way his face softened, the affectionate smile that stretched his lips told me everything I needed to know.
“Khel is my Gem.” At my look of confusion, Lhor specified, “He’s my Geminate. Well, technically, we are Geminates, but officially, we’re not recorded as such. Gems are rare on Xelix Prime, but frequent enough to have an official classification. By definition, a Geminate is a person whose soul is split into two separate bodies. They each have their own lives but only feel whole when together.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to feel about that. Your mate should make you feel whole, not a third party, even a gem...
“Why aren’t you official Gems? And what makes you think you are?”
“Gems are always identical twins, which Khel and I aren’t. We don’t even share the same mother – though our mothers were identical twins. Hence, we’re denied classification.” He paused to take a sip of wine. “Khel was born first. I was born exactly one year after him, on the same day at the same time. I was a sickly child. Only Khel’s presence made me better. It’s a common trait among Gems. If you separate them, the health of the second born falters. The firstborn is the anchor.”
I rested my elbows on the table and folded my hands under my chin, fascinated. “But Khel is away now. Does that hurt you?”
“No. The need for proximity fades with age. But other bonds connect us. Khel can sense my presence and point to my precise location without having to see me. It made playing hide and seek with him totally pointless,” Lhor smiled. “I can project my more extreme emotions to him, like intense pain or fear independent of range. That saved my life when I was eight. While trying to catch a rainbow butterfly for my school science project, I tripped on the edge of the pond and cracked my head on the side before falling into the water.”
Lhor turned to look at the pond through the dinette’s ceiling high windows. He pointed at one of the edges. “It happened right there.”
My gaze followed his pointed finger, trying to imagine the child version of Lhor lost in the pleasure of the hunt.
“Khel was teaching Vahl how to play Bakhol. He started choking and screamed my name. They tried to immobilize him, thinking he was having a seizure. But he fought them off and raced to the pool, turning blue from lack of air. Uncle Dhak noticed me at the bottom of the pond and pulled me out. Only then was Khel able to breathe again. That event, more than any other before or after, convinced me we were indeed the two halves of the same person.”
I tilted my head. “If you had died, would Khel have died too?”
“No. Khel is the anchor. The firstborn always survives the death of the second born. But if the anchor dies, the second born also does shortly afterward, especially if they’re still young.”
I thought the whole Gem thing was pretty amazing and told him so. Deep down though, it bothered me to find out my mate already had a soulmate, even though it was of a different nature. I also couldn’t help but wonder how Lhor felt about having me in Khel’s life. Did he think I could come between them? Would he try to come between us?
We had finished eating over an hour ago but couldn’t stop chatting. I was in the middle of describing the strangest alien pet I had ever seen, waving my arms about in my enthusiasm, when I banged my forearm against the table. Lhor’s mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a mocking smile.
“You just got defeated by a table,” he teased.
“Hey!” I gave his upper arm a playful slap.
He moaned in fake agony. “Ow! I’m still recovering from the onslaught of a swarm of bloodthirsty warriors.”
“Don’t be such a delicate little flower. They were holographic.”
“Me? A flower?” he said with mocked outrage. “Why my dear Amalia, you must have me confused with your mate, Kel.”
He didn’t just go there!
I gasped, my eyes bulging in shock. I was getting better with the pronunciation of Khel’s name, but I still slipped from time to time. Jhola explained the difference when I omitted that wretched h. Khel’s pained look every time I did in front of Lhor or his warriors made so much sense. Lhor’s lips stretched into a slow, fiendish grin as his eyes sparkled.
I launched myself at him. “Why, you little…”
He howled with laughter, dodging my attack. I reeled at how quickly he moved to the other side of the table. I wanted to kick his ass so bad but I would never catch the taunting brat. He chuckled. The burning urge to laugh threatened to wipe away the pretend offended look on my face.
“Now, now, Seha. There is no need for all this violence,” he said, his tone conciliatory. “Jhola certainly wouldn’t approve.”
“Nor does she.” Jhola called out from dinette�
��s entrance. “What’s going on here? Did I not tell you to behave?”
I crossed my arms over my chest with a pout. “He started it.”
“I did,” he confessed, puffing his chest with a grin.
“Lhor, you reprobate!” Jhola said, extending the bags in her hands toward him. “Go make yourself useful and help my mate bring the packages to Amalia’s room.”
“Yes, Seha. Your wish is my command.” Lhor did a flourishing bow, grabbed the bags then sauntered off.
Jhola faced me with a smile. “The restaurant was near two of the boutiques you ordered from. Sivh and I made a little detour to pick up your things.”
I squealed with delight, clapping my hands. Then, without thinking, I grabbed her in a tight hug and smacked a kiss on her cheek. I chanted a string of thank-yous. Suddenly realizing she may not be comfortable with such familiarity, I was about to pull back when her arms wrapped around me in a motherly embrace.
“No child,” she whispered in my ear, “I’m the one who thanks you.” She pulled back and cradled my face in her hands. “It’s been years since I’ve heard Lhor laugh with such abandon. In the short time you’ve been here, you have brought such joy to my boys. I can never thank you enough for it. Sivh and I only had one son. He died of the Taint a few years ago. Khel and Lhor aren’t our blood, but they might as well be. They’re all we have left. So, thank you.”
She squeezed me tightly one last time, placed a soft kiss on my brow then shooed me off to go unpack my things.
Lhor was placing the last package on my bed when I reached the bedroom. He turned at the sound of my footsteps. He held my gaze for a few seconds with the same indefinable expression on his face as earlier. In my eagerness to see my goodies, I hadn’t thought of how awkward and inappropriate it would be for Lhor and me to be alone in my bedroom. Even with the door wide open, it was… weird. However, turning back now would be even more awkward.
“Looks like you’re going to be busy.” He gestured at the bags and boxes covering the breakfast table, chairs, and half of the gigantic bed.