by Sadie Carter
Which would hopefully be soon.
“Oh.” Willa bit her lip. “I need to talk to Darac about leaving.”
“You’re not coming,” he told her bluntly.
“But—”
“You have a life now, little sister. A family of your own.”
“You’re still my family. So is Lochlan.” She stepped up to him and pressed her finger into his chest. “I decide what’s best for me.”
“Darac won’t agree to this. Besides, I need you to do something else for me. Something really important.”
“Watch over Elika?”
“Yes. She’s not doing as well as everyone thinks she is.”
“I kind of got that when she had a panic attack over what she said to twinkle-dumb, twinkle-dee and twinkle-look-at-me-I’m-so-great.”
Rye raised his eyebrows.
She shrugged. “Rye, what is going on?”
“She’s scared. Really scared. Think about it, she was held for twelve years. All she knew was pain and fear. Now she’s free, but she has no one. There is no one from her past life to support her back into the world. Everything is changed, and she is struggling to understand her new life.”
“I can understand that. But she doesn’t look like she’s struggling. That panic attack is the first sign I’ve seen of any problem.”
“And don’t you think that’s odd? Lucy could barely speak for the first few months.”
Willa was silent then her face brightened with understanding. “She’s hiding her fears? But why? We offered her help. She has to know that no one expects for her to just get over what happened to her.”
“Nobody came for her, Willa. No one tried to find her. Now she’s living with people she knows nothing about and has no idea whether what she says or do will rip all of this out from under her feet. She told me that before Husan took her, she thought she had friends but they were just hangers-on because of how powerful she was. She’s worried she's unlikable, so she’s been scared of saying the wrong thing. What if everything could all be taken away as easily as it was given to her?”
“But it won’t be. The Zerconians gave her sanctuary. It’s her home.”
“But she doesn’t feel it is.”
“Jesus, she’s going to tear herself apart.”
“I know. That’s why I need you to be there for her. Help her when it all becomes too much.”
Willa ran her hand over her face. “Why me? You know I’m no good at this sort of stuff. Mila or Lucy would be much better.”
“Because you’re my sister and I know you will help her as best you can. Lucy still has her own stuff to work through, and Mila has a lot on her plate at the moment.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”
“It took being trapped together for her to open up. I’m not proud of the way I treated her before. I thought she was hiding something.”
Willa tipped her head to one side. “You two seem to have gotten awfully close. Are you sure you want to leave?”
“I’m not the right man for her. She needs a place to belong, and I have itchy feet. She needs someone understanding, who is willing to take things slow. She needs stability, a home.”
“Home is where the heart is, Rye.”
“Dear Lord, Darac has turned your mind to mush.” He kissed her forehead. “Now go away, I have things to do.”
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” she told him.
“I’m not running or hiding.”
“Riight. If there’s something I have learned it’s that life is short. Too short not to grab every chance at happiness you can get.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take advice from someone whose nappies I used to change.”
“Eww, now you're just gross.” Willa walked out of his room.
Rye laid back on the bed. Had he made a mistake? There was no denying he was attracted to Elika. But it wouldn’t be fair to take her then leave, and he wasn’t ready to settle down and have 2.5 kids.
Even if the thought of a little girl with dark hair and blue eyes did fill him with longing.
***
Elika nervously took her place.
“You ready for this?” Rye asked.
“I am,” she replied with more certainty than she felt. She could do this; once she wouldn’t have had any hesitation. Now, she was more unsure of herself. “I can do this.”
“I know you can.”
His certainty boosted her self-esteem, and she took a steadying breath.
“Elika, go.” Darac’s voice spoke through the communicator she’d had fitted to her ear. She sneaked a little glance back at Rye, but he was staring over at the Coizil ship. They were hidden in an area close to where the Coizil’s ship was docked but tucked in behind some large packing crates.
She closed her eyes. This was it.
Rye could feel her nervousness even as she closed her eyes and started creating her spell. Her skin glowed, and he forced himself to keep his gaze roaming. It was a quiet time of day, and there were few people around. That would hopefully all change.
Just as he was starting to wonder if Elika was having problems with the spell, the earth rumbled and rocked. Even though he was expecting it, he barely managed to keep his balance as the earth opened, creating a deep chasm. Time paused, everything grew quiet, even the wildlife. Then people rushed from their ships. A dozen Coizil warriors raced down the ramp. Two dozen more had accompanied their leaders to the meeting with Pnir. And they knew about twenty were roaming the markets across the city.
That still left probably fifty warriors onboard the ship.
Suddenly someone let out a loud cheer, and he glanced over to where the earth gaped open to see a Coizil warrior standing there, a gold nugget the size of Rye’s fist in his hand. Elika had reassured him it was all an illusion. What he really held was a clump of dirt, the spell just made the dirt appear to be gold.
Damned if he could tell the difference, though. That was a good spell.
More Coizil warriors raced down the ramp as another fissure appeared in the earth. Rye glanced over at Elika in alarm. That hadn’t been in the plan.
“What is she doing?” Darac asked in his ear.
“I guess she’s trying to pull more Coizils out.” But he hoped she wasn’t using too much power to do so.
But sure enough, more Coizils raced down the ramp.
“Koran, now,” Darac said in his ear. Rye tensed, hoping like hell that Kyle managed to pull this off. If the cloaking device didn’t work, they were all screwed.
He glanced over at Elika as her hair rose around her. He couldn’t believe that his feelings for her had developed so quickly. But then, he couldn’t deny that he had always been attracted to her, he had tried to fight his feelings. Without any success.
Now, she was quickly becoming very important to him.
“Well, well, this is interesting.” The voice coming from behind Rye made him jump. He whirled around, wondering how the hell someone had managed to sneak up on him. He cursed himself for being too involved in his own thoughts when he should have been paying attention to his surroundings.
“Pnir, what are you doing here?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be with the Coizils?”
“Don’t worry, I am fulfilling my debt to you. My assistant is handling the meeting with the Coizils, but I knew I had to come here. That this would be my best chance.”
“Your best chance for what?” Rye didn’t like the way Pnir stared at Elika.
“To get her.”
What the fuck? “She is none of your business. None of this is.”
“I disagree. She is mine. I can see you have some attachment to her, so I promise I will take good care of her.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You can’t have her.”
“But I can. This is regrettable, but I’m going to have to kill you now.” He moved his arm from behind his back and before Rye could move, Pnir raised his blaster, shooting him in the chest. He stood frozen for a moment
before his knees weakened, excruciating pain spreading across his chest as he dropped to the ground.
Pnir crouched beside him. “Don’t worry, I’ll let her finish her little spell before I grab her. And I’ll treat her carefully. After all, I need her in one piece.”
Chapter Ten
Elika woke, blinking in confusion. As she turned to looked around, her head pounded in protest.
Ouch. She reached back to find a small lump at the back of her head. Had she been knocked out? Where was she? This wasn’t her room on Betsy. She sat up slowly. The bed was plump and soft beneath her, unlike the hard mattress in the room she’d been assigned to on Rye’s ship. The bedding was light and fluffy, like what she imagined a cloud would feel like.
She moved her legs over to the edge and her feet sank into a brightly-colored plush rug. The room was shadowy, lit only by a few lamps attached to the walls. She studied the walls closely, thinking there was something odd about their rough appearance. Standing, she swayed as her head throbbed. Once she felt steady, she moved towards the walls and ran her hand down them. They were cold and slightly damp. In fact, this whole place smelled damp and earthy. Were they underground? In a cave?
“Where am I? What happened?” The last thing she remembered was performing the spell to lure the Coizils from their ship.
Then nothing.
Where was Rye? Willa? Darac?
“Don’t panic,” she said aloud. Maybe she’d fainted and hit her head. That would explain things. Maybe they were in another room. She walked over to the door, glancing down at herself as she realized her legs were bare and she was dressed in just a tiny green negligee.
This was wrong. Very wrong.
“Oh, Goddess.” She studied the door. It was an old-fashioned manual door, with an actual handle and a lock that used a key. She placed her hand on the handle and then pulled it back with a hiss as an electric shock ran up her arm. There was a ward on the door.
“Asain.”
The ward showed itself and the protective energy barrier someone had put in place was strong. At one time she might have been able to break it, but not now. Whoever held her was powerful. Turning, she searched the room thoroughly, but there were no other possible exits. Defeated, she slumped to the floor. Sobs shuddered through her body. Where was she?
And where was Rye?
Where was she?
Rye paced back and forth across Betsy’s rec room. Impatience beat at him. He hated feeling so helpless, hated having so little control of the situation.
“We’ll find her,” Willa said. But he could hear the doubt in her voice.
“I should never have trusted that bastard.”
“You had no way of knowing he would come after Elika. What do you think he wants with her?”
He had no idea and just thinking about what was happening to her at that bastard’s hands ate at him. He should have been more alert. He should have protected her better. Instead, he had just laid there while that asshole took her.
“You had no way of knowing.”
“I should have protected her better.”
“You were shot. You nearly died. Thank God Darac insisted we have a regen chamber fitted on Betsy or we would have lost you and Deacon.” Pnir had shot Deacon, who had been on watch across the shipping port. The other man had barely been alive when he’d been found. If it hadn’t been for Darac’s obsession with checking in on them regularly, they’d both be dead.
“I should be out there searching for her.”
“Where? We don’t know where he took her. We can’t get close to his place because of those damn wards he has up.”
It was the first place they’d gone. But Pnir had wards set up so they couldn’t get any closer than five hundred feet.
The Zerconians and Kyle had successfully taken the Coizil spaceship, flying it away right under the Coizils’ noses. But right now he didn’t give a shit about that. All he cared about was finding Elika. And it killed him to sit here and wait.
“I’m going to look for her.”
“Let Steele and Zuma do their thing,” Willa told him, standing and moving to the door. “You know Zuma can charm information out of anyone. And if that doesn’t work, Steele will intimidate them. Having you go in and yell at everyone isn’t going to help.”
Maybe not, but it would sure make him feel better. “It’s been eight hours. He could have taken her anywhere. He’s rich, he could have half a dozen places where he could hide out.”
“Someone has to know something.”
They better. He clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. “She’ll be terrified.”
“I know. I know,” Willa whispered. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Neither could he.
But he would find her. He wouldn’t stop.
Even if you have to put off your search for Lochlan?
Yes. Elika came first. He paused, expecting to be flooded with guilt. But instead, all he felt was anxiety over Elika. He realized then that while he would always love and miss his brother, that she came first.
He would find her.
Then he would give her whatever she needed to be happy. Even if that meant settling down and giving up his search for his brother.
“You look like you’ve just had a revelation,” Willa said.
“Elika comes first. Before everyone else.”
“Of course,” Willa agreed, surprising him. “Don’t look so shocked. Anyone can see you love her. I never would have put the two of you together. But sparks fly between you. I like her. She won’t put up with any shit from you.”
“Thanks,” he said dryly.
“Lochlan has been gone from us a long time,” she said quietly. “I want to find him, too. But Elika has to come first. She’s been through so much, who knows what being kidnapped a second time will do to her. Lochlan would understand. And part of me can’t help but think that if Lochlan wanted to find his way home to us he would have.”
Yeah, he’d had that thought himself.
The door suddenly slid open, and Zuma rushed in. “I found her.”
***
She didn’t know how long she’d been locked in this room, but it felt like hours had drifted by. Her stomach grumbled. She shivered, even though it wasn’t cold.
The sound of a key in the lock put her on alert. The door opened, and she stood as quickly as she could manage. Her eyes widened as she saw who stepped into the room.
“You!”
Oscar Pnir smiled and moved into the room, setting a tray that held a teapot, two teacups, and a small plate of food on the small table in the seating area to the right of the bed.
“Hello, my dear.”
“Why am I here? Where are Rye and the others?”
He frowned. “I can see that being around those degenerates has done nothing for your manners. Have you forgotten everything Alain taught you? It is polite to greet someone before firing questions at them.”
Alain? How did he know her guardian? she thought frantically. What was she missing here?
He calmly poured out some steaming tea.
“Where is Rye?”
“I’m afraid he’s dead. Please, have a seat. Tea?” He held up a cup, as though he really expected her to sit and drink tea with him. Was he delusional?
“Dead? How?” A chill flooded her, cooling her blood. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t.
“I killed him. Please sit. The tea is getting cold.”
“I don’t care about the fucking tea! What do you mean you killed him?” She stepped forward, her hands curling into fists. “If you touched him, I’ll kill you.”
He chuckled. “You and whose army? You’re all alone here. Rye is dead. And there is no way his friends will ever find you here. I set up a little diversion that will have them chasing you halfway across the Universe if they even bother to look, that is.”
No. No, he couldn’t be dead. Nausea bubbled in her stomach, and she took quick, shallow breaths. He wasn’t dead. She wou
ld know if he was dead. But Pnir seemed so certain.
Would the others look for her?
“No one is coming to your rescue, my dear. This is your new home. Now sit and drink your tea.”
She couldn’t do this again. She moved forward and sat, but only because her legs could no longer support her. Her whole body shook. She wouldn’t survive being held a second time.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Why? Because of your powers. I was surprised when Alain took another ward on after me, but when I tasted your magic in that cave, I knew why he had.”
“Wait, what?” Her mind whirled. “You knew my guardian?” Suddenly, his words clicked. “You were his first ward? The one who turned to dark magic.” That’s why his skin didn’t glow. “It was your magic in the cave. You sold those humans that Karem ward. Why?”
He shrugged, but the lines around his eyes tightened. “It amused me at the time. So few things interest me nowadays. But I am glad I did because it brought me to you. Your magic tastes delicious, by the way. And once I am through corrupting your magic, we are going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
He had to be delusional.
“I am not going to let you corrupt my magic.” No way. Her guardian had often warned her against the dark ways, and she might have been young and arrogant, but she knew she had to guard herself against the darkness.
“Luckily, I don’t need your permission.”
He stood. “I am sorry about the accommodations, but you understand why I cannot have you in the house. Can’t have you trying to use your powers to free yourself. Now, drink your tea. It will help with a headache.”
“You knocked me out while I was in the middle of a spell.”
“I waited until the end,” he said, as though that made it all right.
“Alain would be ashamed of you,” she told him.
He leaned in and she jumped back in her seat. “Luckily, Alain is dead. Twelve years ago, he came here. He thought I had something to do with your disappearance. I didn’t even know you existed. But it gave me the prime opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to for a long time.”
“You killed him? You’re a monster.” Alain had searched for her? He’d cared enough to confront this evil man to find her? Even in the face of her fear, she felt a tendril of happiness.