The Skypirate
Page 41
“I think the new prince of Trios wants to join us for this meal,” Shaylah said a little breathlessly.
Dare paled. “Oh, God.”
“No one to blame but yourself,” Dax said to him with a grin.
“Don’t get brassy, Defense Minister Silverbrake,” Califa said, setting down her own cup to help Shaylah rise. “You don’t want to give him any smart remarks to use on you later.”
“To use on me?” Dax echoed, puzzled. Then, as her meaning hit, his eyes widened and he gaped at her. “Oh, God.”
Dare laughed, his moment of panic apparently relived by Califa’s revelation that Dax would soon be in the same position. He got to his feet, to follow Shaylah back into their bedchamber.
“And I’ll be there, my friend,” Dare teased Dax, “rest assured.”
At the door, Dare turned back to look once more at Dax, who was sitting there looking as if he’d been hit by a disrupter on full stun.
“I hope you have a girl, skypirate. It would serve you right.”
“A girl?” Dax choked out.
“Yes,” Dare said, his voice suddenly quietly serious. “A girl with the courage and nerve and heart of an Arellian would be nice, don’t you think?”
“A girl,” Dax murmured, reverently now, as if a sudden vision had formed in his head.
“Who knows,” Dare said. “Maybe someday, when they’re grown up . . .”
LATER, LONG AFTER Califa had emerged from the chamber holding Prince Lyon of Trios in her arms, long after the pale but jubilant Dare had finished swearing he would never again touch his mate, long after Shaylah had teasingly told him he’d keep to that for about a week, and after the celebration that had threatened to keep the entire city up all night was finally over, Califa snuggled up to Dax contentedly.
“He’s a beautiful baby,” she said.
“Um-hmm,” Dax said absently; he’d been contemplating the slight gleam of the flashbow in the dark, back in its case after Dare had returned it to him. Then he pulled his attention back to his mate’s words. “Dare’s golden hair and Shaylah’s blue eyes.”
“Our baby’s eyes will be green,” she said decidedly. “Jade, just like yours.”
The words still sent a little shiver down his spine. “I don’t think that’s something you can promise, is it?”
“Why not?” she asked simply.
He smiled into the darkness. “Why not, indeed?”
“We’ve pulled off a miracle before, haven’t we?”
“Yes. I suppose we have.” He pulled her closer to him. “So, pull off another one, and make sure it’s a girl.”
She raised up on one elbow to look at him. “A girl?”
He grinned. “Dare’s looking for Lyon’s future mate.”
Califa giggled, a new and pleasant sound he was growing quite fond of. She hadn’t had much laughter of any kind in her life; it made him feel warm inside to hear it now. He leaned over to kiss her gently.
He’d meant it merely for good night, but her eager response changed his mind in a hurry. It had never faded, the spark that snapped to life so swiftly between them, and it took only moments before they were locked together, joyously chasing the rapture they’d found only with each other.
It was much later, holding her in his arms, that Dax sleepily thought of a straight, strong handsome young man with gleaming blond hair and bright blue eyes, smiling down at an equally straight and strong beautiful young woman, with Califa’s ebony hair and his own green eyes.
He fell asleep with the oddest feeling that he had just had a glimpse of the future.
The End
(Please continue reading for an excerpt of Rebel Prince and more information about the author)
Rebel Prince
Book 3: The Coalition Rebellion Novels
by
Justine Davis
(Excerpt)
Prologue
“I’M GOING AFTER her. I’ll take the next transport.” Dax Silverbrake was pacing the floor of the Triotian royal palace’s private quarters. Covering the same twenty feet of floor time and again, barely suppressed energy nearly crackling around him.
King Darian of Trios watched his best friend in obvious amusement. “Are you sure confrontation is wise just now?”
The pacing continued. “What I’m sure of is she has no business scarping off like that. Off world, without even a word of explanation.”
Dax half expected a reminder he himself had done much, much worse. But Dare looked as if he were considering his next words so carefully that Dax knew what was coming, and hastened to forestall it.
“I know, this is my doing. Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision, but I only wished her safe and free of pressure for as long as possible.”
“Lying to your child is rarely the best decision,” Dare said.
“I didn’t lie,” Dax said. “I just . . . omitted something.”
“Spoken like the skypirate you once were.”
Dax winced. And there it is, he thought, stopping in his tracks.
Dare pressed the point. “You omitted something indeed. The biggest thing of her life. Her destiny. And she is, in fact, an adult now,” Dare added.
Dax spun around then, glaring at his oldest, closest friend. “You are not being any help, Dare.”
“I am a father, too,” he said.
“But not of a daughter. They’re . . . different.”
“That I cannot argue with,” Dare agreed with a grin. “Women are thankfully different.”
“Califa’s too damned calm about it,” Dax muttered.
For the first time, Shaylah, Dare’s mate, spoke. “That’s because she’s not worried about Shaina’s welfare.”
“How can she not be?” Dax spun around to look at the queen he so admired, the woman he loved like a sister as he loved Dare like a brother. She was smiling so serenely that Dax felt a spark of irritation.
“Because she knows Shaina is safe.”
Dax blinked. “What? How can she know that?”
“Shaina was upset, furious really, and feeling betrayed.”
Again Dax winced, but this time the feeling went clear to the bone. He was beginning to realize the scope of the mistake he’d made.
“Califa knows because she knows her daughter. She knows where she would go. Where she always goes when something goes wrong in her life. Which is why she will be safe,” the queen said.
Dax frowned. “Are you saying . . . ?”
“Of course. She went to Lyon.”
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About the Author
Author of more than 60 books, Justine Dare Davis is a four-time winner of the RWA RITA Award, and has been inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame. Her books have appeared on national best seller lists, including USA Today. After years working in law enforcement, more years doing both, Justine now writes full time. She lives near Puget Sound in Washington State, peacefully coexisting with deer, bears, raccoons, a newly arrived covey of quail, a pair of bald eagles, and her beloved ’67 Corvette roadster. When she’s not writing, taking photographs, looking for music to blast in said roadster, or driving said roadster (and yes, it goes very fast), she tends to her knitting. Literally.
p; Justine Davis, The Skypirate