The Chameleon Soul Mate

by Evelyn Lederman

  The eight intelligence officers had already taken their prisoners to The Palace. They were just awaiting their arrival to start the interrogations. Tarsea would not be surprised if a decision would be made tonight regarding the fate of both Chartail and Stephano.

  Unknown to most Aster Province residents, there were also holding cells in the basement of The Palace. Suspects were held there until guilt or innocence was determined. Convicted individuals were held until their sentence could be commenced. Either way, Chartail was going to sleep this evening in The Palace’s basement.

  Solfa was still beside him when they exited the walking path. “We can head over to The Palace together. I have a feeling it will be a long evening.” This type of communication was safe through the communal channel. The more they could communicate in the public channels, the better. People would start to wonder why they were not more actively engaged in communal discussions. Generally, when he communicated in the warrior channel, he was sharing some inane piece of news in a communal pathway for appearances.

  As they walked to the Aster Province Palace, Tarsea listened to the chatter within the different communal pathways. They were saturated with conversations about the arrests and what happened at the restaurant. He did not bother giving Alexandra an update. She was probably listening to all the activity in the communal channels, while drinking her herbal mixture. He also knew that Tolfer was there helping her manage the unusually high volume of activity within the pathways. If her brain still had not picked up the communal pathways, he was sure his parents and Tolfer were informing her of everything being communicated.

  It took little time before they came upon The Palace and headed in. The interviews would be conducted in two of the conference rooms on the third floor. His interview yesterday was on the same floor.

  “The interviews will be done orally, unless one or both of the suspects goes into a communal pathway. I will conduct the interview, Tarah will leverage mind control, and you will see if you can read their minds. If you get anything, communicate through the warrior pathway. We will start with Chartail. Any questions?” Solfa was efficient, Tarsea could say that for her.

  “I am ready,” was all Tarsea had to say. He was going to be a party to sending a lovely woman to hell. She had started the chain of events, but he could not help but feel some guilt there. If their relationship had more substance, maybe she would have confided in him about her feelings related to mind control. He would have gotten her involved in his organization in some capacity.

  Tarah Mardroft walked toward them, and Solfa opened the door to the conference room where Chartail was held.

  Chartail was alone, with three chairs set up directly in front of her. Her eye makeup was smeared from crying. The tunic she wore had a small rip on the shoulder. Seeing Chartail this way, he could not help but think about how messed up his little pixie looked after her ordeal with Narmouth this evening. After everything she had been through, Alexandra had been fierce in her determination to have him accompany her home and rest.

  The prisoner looked up as they entered. “What happened to you?” she asked Tarsea. Although the med-tech healed his knife wound, his face was still bruised from the fight with the bastard.

  “Narmouth attacked Alexia again,” Tarsea answered her.

  He could not help but see the look of concern for his soul mate cross Chartail’s face. “Is she all right?”

  “She was pretty messed up, but she will be fine.”

  “Did you kill him?” Chartail asked.

  “No, he was arrested.” Tarsea replied. He wondered if he will ultimately have to kill him. Narmouth seemed to be insanely infatuated with Alexandra.

  “You should have killed him.” Chartail turned her attention to Solfa and said, “Let us get on with this. It is late and I want to go home.”

  Solfa got the interrogation going. “Chartail Anholm, you are accused of being part of the conspiracy to assassinate our Prime Ruler. I will be conducting your interrogation. Tarah Mardroft will be present as the interview’s mind control telepath. She will be able to tell if you are lying to us. Tarsea Childers is present as one of my intelligence officers.”

  “You son of a bitch!” Chartail yelled, glaring at Tarsea. “You were spying on me the whole time you were sharing my bed.”

  Tarsea was thankful she was restrained. Otherwise, she would have been all over him trying to scratch out his eyes. He had never seen this side of her.

  Solfa tried to calm Chartail. “Chartail, control yourself. You are not doing yourself any favors. We are talking about possibly taking your life if you are found guilty of these charges.”

  Chartail paled at those words and quieted. Solfa continued the interview. “We will speak orally for your own protection, but you are free to be interrogated within one of the communal channels. The choice is yours.”

  “Orally is fine. I did not do anything related to the attempt on Jarlyn’s life. He is one of my father’s best friends and a colleague. I have known him my whole life.” Chartail started crying and looked up at her accusers with tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “Two of the three statements she made are true. Her father is a friend of Jarlyn’s and she has known him her whole life. Miss Adholm, I am a mind control telepath. I can tell when someone is lying. You lied when you said you did not do anything related to the attempt on Jarlyn’s life.”

  Tarsea could see Chartail’s face change before his eyes. Gone was the shattered innocent woman. In her place was an angry and bitter one. “All you mind control telepathic shit heads are the same. You are so above everyone else, like my father and our Prime Ruler. I see the disappointment in my father’s eyes every day. I am defective because I cannot manipulate the mind of others in his opinion. What they do is wrong and deplorable. People should be able to make their own decisions about what government they want to live under. Jeryl Jarlyn deserved to die, as well as any other mind control telepathic freaks who use their gift in a sorted way.”

  “I am not needed here anymore,” Tarsea communicated to Solfa. Chartail had incriminated herself beyond repair. She could have shared half-truths and been absolved. His ability to read thoughts could not be shared with Prime Ruler Jarlyn.

  “I am sorry, Chartail. If I had been a better boyfriend, maybe this could have been prevented.” Tarsea got up to leave.

  Naturally, Chartail had to have the last word. “Are you serious? You were great in bed, but you are a coward. I saw how you cozied up to them. How you became rich by their manipulation of the masses.”

  He turned and walked out of the room. Everything she said was true. His cover had been so convincing that the woman he had a relationship with for seven months, did not have a clue who he really was. As he continued on his way, he transmitted to Solfa through the warrior’s link. “Please do not have Darden take Chartail to the portal after her sentencing.”

  He heard someone running behind him and stopped. Turning, he saw Tarah Mardroft coming toward him. “Tarsea, I heard you say that you were not needed here anymore. It felt weird. The words came through a channel I had never used before. Can you explain that?”

  Tarsea did not have the mental fortitude to explain the warrior link to Tarah tonight. He put his hand on her shoulder as a confirming welcome. “Ask your brother when you are alone with him.” He spoke the words out loud, he had enough of telepathic communication tonight.

  He turned and left The Palace. All he wanted to do was go home and see Alexandra. Chartail’s fate would be all over the communal channels when a decision was made. Tonight he just wanted to be buried in Alex, body and soul.

  Chapter 25

  Tarsea had never been happier to be home in his life. All he wanted to do was hold his soul mate in his arms. There was an intimacy which he needed more than taking his next breath.

  Alexandra was in the common room with his paren
ts. She was wearing a cushy robe that engulfed her whole body. He could not help but smile. His little pixie looked that much smaller in the enormous robe. She was adorable. More important, she cleansed his soul. Just seeing her revived him to some extent.

  She got up when he walked into the room. Concern was written on her face, as she came into his arms. “How are you? Has a verdict regarding Chartail’s fate been handed down?” He thought it odd that she had just met his former girlfriend, but her thoughts immediately went to the ill-fated woman.

  He kissed her head and held her tight before he addressed her questions. “I am fine. Tarah caught her in a lie immediately. I did not have to scan her mind for her thoughts. As soon as it was clear that I was not needed, I left. She gave up herself and Stephano. The communal pathways will let us know as soon as Jarlyn has made a decision about their fates.”

  Tarsea hugged both his parents. He knew that Alex had shared everything that had happened this evening with them. It was important his parents could see he was fine. “I love you both. There is no more that can be done tonight. I am taking Alex to our room.”

  His parents wished them a good night and he walked with his soul mate to their bedroom. They had a unique understanding how much Alex and he needed each other after the events of the day.

  When they reached their room, Alex sat on the bed as he took off his tunic, leggings, and shoes. Although the med-tech healed his wound, he knew he was black and blue. Surface wounds were never deemed critical enough to heal.

  “Baby, I just want to hold you and talk if that is all right.” He walked to his side of the bed and laid down. Tarsea could not remember the last time he was so weary. He needed the girl with the bright green eyes to restore him.

  Alex joined him, snuggling next to him. For some reason, she did not remove what she had been wearing. “Why are you still wearing the robe? Would you not be more comfortable without it?” Although he had not planned to make love tonight because of her ordeal, he did want to hold her nude body.

  “Later, I will take it off, later.” She took her hands and started to massage his temples. It felt great. “Tell me what happened at The Palace.”

  Tarsea closed his eyes and just held her for a moment longer before he began. “She held our beliefs and I did not even know it. I had never seen that side of Chartail before. There was so much hatred seething from her.”

  Alex appeared to be taking in what he told her and mulling it over in her mind. “How well do we know anyone, unless they really let us in? Most people just know the person we present to the world. Chartail did not have a positive outlet to let her anger go. She must not have had a true friend.”

  “Baby, I question if our ability to read minds is as offensive as mind control. We would be able to see what people do not want to present to anyone.” He had to confess these doubts to his soul mate.

  Alex shoved his shoulder. “We don’t influence what people are thinking or what actions they are going to take. Yes, it is an invasion of privacy, but it is not in the same league with the manipulation mind control telepathic individuals practice.

  “We are fighting a war and we have to leverage every weapon we have at our disposal. Besides, there is also a lot of bad in our world. If I had read Raine’s mind and saw what he was really like, I certainly would not have gone out with him!”

  She whacked him again, obviously Alex was not done yet challenging what Tarsea confided in her. “There is no question what we do can be abused, so we will have to have these discussions on a regular basis to make sure we are not going too far. Chartail’s actions ended up with two innocent men dying. If the people responsible for the plot were not found soon, Darden said they were going to put guards around the portal. That would adversely impact you rescuing others. Not to mention getting Shirl here. I like Chartail, I will admit that. She stood up to Narmouth and for that I am grateful. However, I am not going to sacrifice Shirl for someone who was responsible for the death of two men.”

  Tarsea imagined it would take some time before the guilt associated with Chartail was going to diminish. It felt good talking to Alexandra in this manner. She was right, they needed to have these talks on a regular basis. They had a powerful gift to read people’s minds. A gift that could be manipulated to support the wrong causes. Together, as soul mates, they needed to constantly gauge if they were doing the right things.

  “I do have a confession to make though,” Alex said. “This evening I was tempted for an instant to read Starc’s mind in order to discover what caused the bad blood between him and Narmouth. I rejected the idea almost as quickly as I considered it. It just represents how seductive this power is and how we have to manage our abilities.”

  He imagined it took a great deal of courage for her to confess what she had considered doing to Starc. Tarsea had been struggling with leveraging mind control to stop Narmouth, although he was not ready to tell her that. He did feel he needed to share the thoughts he had as of late regarding how frustrated he had been related to the lack of progress they were making.

  “Since we are making confessions,” Tarsea added, “I have one to make as well. In my desire for change to happen faster, I have questioned our decision to take the peaceful route. When we found out about Chartail, a part of me wondered what I would have done if she had approached me.”

  “You are a good man, Tarsea. It’s easy to second guess yourself. Violence is just not who you are. Taking that action would possibly get you there faster, but you would not be able to live with yourself afterwards. Thinking about something is very different than acting on it.”

  Her words warmed his soul, he loved this woman. He rolled over, lying on top of his little pixie in the ridiculous robe. His mouth covered hers in a kiss he had been wanting to give her all evening. She looked incredible tonight. He deepened the kiss as this erection grew harder.

  Alex started pounding on his chest. “Let me up!”

  Tarsea rolled off her, guilt consuming him. After what she had been through tonight, how could he have laid on top of her like that?

  She stood next to the bed. All of a sudden she got a mischievous look on her face. “Solfa went shopping this afternoon, even with everything else going on. She got me my first naughty lingerie. I had planned to surprise you tonight and wear it. There is no way I am going to let what happened with Raine Narmouth mess up our evening.” With those words she took off the robe she had been wearing.

  Tarsea basked his eyes on what Alexandra was wearing. It was a sheer black teddy that was slit at the bottom, showing off her perfect belly button. Through the thin material he could see her nipples grow harder as his eyes drank in the sight of her. She wore sheer black panties that appeared to have an open crotch. Her body was bruised, but her eyes sent out an invitation he was not about to decline.

  “Remind me to find out where Solfa bought that lingerie. I will make sure we have a drawer free in the dresser for more naughty items. We will get a pair in every color.” He maneuvered to where she stood and took her into his arms.

  Tarsea pulled Alex onto the bed and rolled on top of her. He decided he needed to further examine the outfit his soul mate had on. His mouth went over her left breast and started to suck on the nipple through the sheer material. It continued to grow harder under his care. He could hear little mews coming from her throat. With his fingers, he explored to verify the panties were indeed crotchless. To his utter delight, they were. He took one finger and entered through her feminine folds. Playing with her clit as he started working on the other breast.

  “Is this all right, baby?” Tarsea asked. He knew he was touching her intimately and wanted to make sure he had not gone too far.

  “Yes!” Alex said as she was moving under him. He took a second finger and entered her. His fingers increased their pace and she fractured as she came. Her juices covered his fingers as he removed them from her
body. She was ready for all of him.

  For the first time since they started making love, he entered her slowly. One excruciating inch at a time. She always took things slowly when she was in control, he wanted to show her he could show some self-discipline as well.

  He had gone as far as he could when Alex brought her legs around his waist, which drove him in deeper. Tarsea increased the rate of his thrusts and Alex met his pace. They climaxed at the same time. He captured her scream with his mouth, in a searing kiss.

  Spent, Tarsea collapsed on Alex, too exhausted to move. She muttered something, which he did not understand. The words finally ended up coming through the soul mate channel, “I think I may be falling in love with you, Tarsea. It’s only been six days and you are a man whore and all, but I’m pretty sure I’m a goner.”

  He came down beside her, and gathered her in his arms. “I am a reformed man-whore, which I plan to prove to you. I feel things for you I have never felt for another woman. I know what you said about the soul mate legends impacting my feelings, but I really do love you. My life changed when you came through that portal. I knew it the minute I saw you. It was reinforced when I opened my eyes this evening and you were there.”

  “It was dumb luck that I came through. There were so many things that could have transpired preventing me from ever coming over to you.”

  “We were worlds apart, baby. Destiny would have found a way to bring us together.” Tarsea could not imagine what life would have been like had his little pixie with her large boots had not come through the portal.

  He continued to hold Alexandra as she drifted to sleep. She knew so little of his world. They had sheltered her regarding what a death sentence really meant. The other worlds that were out there and the unholy alliances the Troyk had with many of those worlds. He only hoped she would look at him with the same light in her eyes when she started learning about these secrets.