by Cree Storm
“You’ll be there, Hron. I can’t think of a safer place for me to be, but by your side. Besides, if it will help us get what we are after, I’m all for it,” Petree said, then softened his voice even more as he laid his hand on the top of Hron’s, “It’ll be okay. We talked about doing this anyway.”
“Yes, but when things calmed down. If there’s talk about another uprising... I can’t allow for you to be in harm’s way.” Hron insisted.
Sighing, Petree said, “Love, listen to me. I am already in danger. We are all in danger. Until these people are stopped, no one is safe. We need those drives and I don’t know about you, but I’d kind of like a face to a name. Maybe get a feeling about the people we’re supposed to call allies.”
Turning to Spencer, “How sure are you that the flash drives are in these locations?”
Spencer shrugged, “I can’t be positive, but my gut is telling me they are. I can’t explain it, but my intuition has never failed me before. I learned the hard way to listen and listen close.”
Hron turned to Groth, “I want my Viata guarded at all times. Men you trust, Groth.”
“Yes, Caliph. I’ll have Mennen with Petree every moment and it will be his head if anything happens to him.”
“My brothers and I can go as well,” Turq offered.
Shaking his head, Hron said, “No. I want you and your brothers on high alert here. I don’t want to be gone and find my clutch is under attack because I’m not here.”
“Peth, you’ll need to come as well. I not only want a doctor I can trust there, but you’re also a part of my inner circle. Nug, I don’t like asking you to do this, but it does give us a good reason to join you.”
Jory gasped, “But, you can’t let him. He’ll get into trouble, Caliph. You know how he is. He won’t mean to, but it will happen and who’s going to be there to get him out of it?”
Hron shook his head, “There will be no trouble for Nug to get into. All he’s going to do is visit with his brother and talk to him about joining our clutch.”
“He will! He gets these harebrained ideas and can’t help but do them without thinking it through, or he just says whatever is in his head, and the next thing you know he’s getting his butt kicked. He can’t help himself,” Jory argued emphatically.
Groth placed a gentle hand on Jory’s. “I’ll keep him safe, Itty Bitty. I promise.
“Jory, it will not be Nug going after that flash drive.” Hron stated.
Jory sniffled and stood, “I need to go. They need me in the kitchen.”
Groth and Nug both called to Jory, but he rushed out of the room, clearly upset. Nug slumped down, and Throg didn’t miss the misty eyes the little Nakaka had.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Caden said, standing up and leaving the room.
When the door quietly closed behind Caden, Hron said, “I think the best bet would be for Throg to go for it. If I remember correctly, Tumm had a bit of a crush on you. I think it would be easier for you to get what we’re after than anyone,” Hron stated.
Throg watched as Spencer went ramrod straight in his chair. He didn’t say anything, but it was clear the man was not happy about Hron’s suggestion. However, there was no other way around it. Hron was right. Tumm always did have a crush on him, and that meant he was the best bet at getting what they needed.
“What about me? Shouldn’t I go, so I can verify the drive when you get it?” Spencer asked.
Shaking his head, Hron said, “No. Throg will get the drive and bring it to you.”
“But he’ll notice it’s missing. If that happens, then the others involved would be on alert, and if those drives are in the bookend, necklace, or other places Spencer showed us, they would surely move them,” Turq said.
“I can get you some blank drives, or better yet, falsify information on the one I already have. This way, Throg can just switch out one for the other. I highly doubt if these guys go around looking at the thing on a daily basis. If we move quick enough it should work out.” Spencer said.
Groth asked, “How will be know this is the flash drive, and not something that’s just private and they don’t want anyone seeing it?”
Elijah snickered, “You mean like porn?”
Khall shook his head, “Pipit, this is serious.”
“So is porn. I’ll show you later,” Elijah said, without missing a beat, and the others couldn’t help but laugh... well, all but Mason, who just looked disgusted.
“Okay, Nestling is in two hours. Nug, will that give you time to contact your brother about coming for a visit?” Hron asked.
Nug nodded, and Hron said, “Okay, Groth, Throg, you have two hours to put together the go team. I’ll contact Caliph Redmen and let him know of our pending visit in two days’ time, if possible. I’ll explain that Nug is so excited about visiting his brother after so long, and apologize for the late notice.”
When Hron stood up with Petree by his side, everyone stood up as well. Spencer cleared his throat. “Hron, are you sure you don’t want me going as well? If they know I’m expecting, it will bring them hope for that as well. You know... knowing that the Nakaka will go on?”
“No!” Throg snapped unintentionally, but the fear he felt at the moment, for both his mate as well as their unborn chickpea, had him unnerved. He was already in danger here, where he more or less knew the people around him. “We don’t know shit about any of the people in that other clutch. Nug said his brother feels as if there might be another clutch attack. I don’t want you anywhere near that.”
Throg could see the stubbornness building in his mate, his typical sharp tongue ready to slice into him as it usually did. However, it was Petree’s calm voice that stopped Spencer, “Spenc, Throg’s right. We don’t know these Nakaka, or what danger they may present. I know you don’t like to be treated differently right now, but you have to think of that baby and its safety. Hron and the others are going to be stretched as it is trying to keep an eye on Nug as well as me. If they stretch themselves any more, someone could get hurt or killed.”
Spencer’s lips tightened and Throg thought for sure the man was going to continue to argue, however, he gave a sharp nod instead, and turned to leave. Hron calling his name, “Spencer.”
Spencer stopped, but didn’t turn around as Hron continued. “I need you here, Spencer. I need as much information as you can get me on that clutch house and that Caliph, and maybe, if there’s any way you can get anything at all on Tumm, I would appreciate that as well.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Spencer softly replied, then continued out the door.
“Throg, I can have Sern arrange for the guards for our travels. You should go to your Viata and... talk.” Hron suggested.
Shaking his head, “I’ll do it. It won’t take long, and then yes, I plan on talking to my Viata.”
“Just remember that there can be no claiming until after our journey. I hate to ask that of you, but if we’re going to get Tumm’s attention...”
“Hron! You can’t ask that of Throg or Spencer. If they wish to claim each other, then so be it. We can just figure out another way,” Petree hissed out, his eyes tight with anger. “I can’t believe you would even say such a thing.”
“Little one...”
“Don’t you talk in that patronizing tone with me, Hron. I won’t have it. Throg and Spencer were brought together by the Fates. They are expecting a child together. You cannot... You will not order Throg not to claim what is rightfully gifted to him by the gods. It isn’t your place,” Petree snapped, then turned to leave. “I’m going to check on Jory.”
“Petree!” Hron called out, but the tiny Nakaka ignored him and continued walking out of the room.
“Oh boy, you did it now.” Elijah said with a smile. “Pea doesn’t get pissed often, but when he does it can last for quite some time.”
Sighing heavily, Hron rubbed his face with his hands. “I know.” He looked up at Throg, saying, “But, he’s right, Throg. If you wish to claim your Viata, it isn’t f
or me to tell you not to. Your Viata is a true gift from the gods, and I have no right to ask you to hold off on opening it.”
Elijah snorted, “You did not just compare Spencer to a Christmas or birthday present.”
“Pipit,” Khall warned.
Elijah laughed even harder, and left with his Viata without saying anything.
Nug walked up to Hron with Groth by his side. “You wanted to see Jory and me after the meeting. I know Jory isn’t here, but...”
Hron held up his hand, “Whatever it is can wait. I need to go and try and mend fences with my Viata.”
Shaking his head, Nug said, “No sire, it can’t. Petree was right that we need to tell you about a potential security issue.” His eyes widened, as he rushed to say, “Not that Jory or I ever thought the dumbwaiters were an issue, but after hoisting Mason and Spencer in it, I see that Petree is right. Anyone could find them or know about them and use the things to their advantage to get to you.”
“Dumbwaiters? Security issue? Nug, I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Hron stated, a bit more gruffly than necessary.
Nug backed up and Throg watched as Groth gently squeezed the Nakaka’s shoulder. The little man took in a deep breath as if Groth’s touch was giving him strength, then stepped to the bookcase and pressed something on the wall just behind the Nakaka shaped bookend.
Everyone’s eyes widened when a rather large hole opened up on the wall next to the bookcase. “Caliph Chantal had a few of these made around the clutch house, because he didn’t like waiting for his food and stuff.” Shrugging, Nug said, “The man wasn’t the most patient of Nakaka.”
Hron, Growth, and Throg went to the dumbwaiter and just shook their heads. Hron asking, “How the hell did we miss this?”
“It is well hidden.” Groth soft said.
“Did you say you hoisted my Viata... my pregnant Viata in one of these?” Throg practically snarled.
Nug quickly hid behind Groth, “He insisted. He... He didn’t want you to know he heard you with ancient Krerr and the head doctor. He... Oh, crap!”
Throg’s eyes widened even more. “He heard... what did he hear?”
If it was even possible the tiny Nakaka hid further into Groth, his voice muffled by the shirt the guy’s face was pressed into. “I don’t know... I mean he said something about you wanting him and stuff, but I don’t know how much he heard. Jory and I came in as you were leaving, and he wanted to make it to the command center before you, so you wouldn’t know he knew.”
Throg hissed out an expletive, then said, “I will get with Sern and let him know who will be joining us, and let him know he will be in charge until we return. If you need me after that, I will be speaking with my Viata.”
CHAPTER 12
Walking into his room, Spencer turned and fell backwards onto his bed. Gods be damned, he was tired. He had gone to Hron’s office to work on gathering information on the Brais clutch house, which was not as easy as it sounded. It wasn’t like the Nakaka were big on talking about their homes. However, they were surprisingly up to date on today’s technology, and as a result there were those that seemed to enjoy social media as much as the humans. It was there as well as in some hacked e-mails, that Spencer was able to gather a great deal of information, and it was all documented and waiting on Hron’s desk for him to review. However, it was Tumm’s e-mails that bothered him the most.
It wasn’t that the Nakaka didn’t have an e-mail, it was who he was messaging and the messages themselves. The man was seriously into cooking. His social media was the one that annoyed so many. Shared recipes with cutesy pictures and even the people he e-mailed, it was all about food and different ways to make the stuff. Was the man a chef, or a wannabe chef? It seemed odd that the first-born son to the ancients would be so into cooking, but Spencer couldn’t find anything to explain the man’s obsessive interest.
“I was the first ancient guard created. I remember it as if it were yesterday.”
Spencer gasped as he sat straight up, and realized his balcony door was open. The sun was due to rise, and the Nakaka would be getting ready for Nestling which was why Spencer had no clue why Throg would be here at this point and time. Yet there he was, standing and looking out to the sky. “Madame Pele was so beautiful. I felt as if it was wrong to look upon her as she and Aumakaua explained the Nakaka, and why they were created. They told me that troubled times were coming, and the ancients would need Nakaka like me to guard them and keep them safe. We all were as much their children as the humans. I had to give an oath to protect the ancients with my life for all time. I felt honored and I lived up to every word I spoke, until...”
Throg stopped talking for a moment, and then his voice softened even more. “We had been alive for centuries and nothing had ever happened. We became lax. Seeing the ancients with their Viatas we yearned for something like they had. None of us ever believed we could have a Viata, because our sole reason for creation was to protect the ancients... but we yearned... I yearned. I met Corbin one day while in town with Krerr and Stok. They had wanted to take their youngest son into town and introduce him to the people he would one day protect. Nas and I were the guards of the two, along with their dozen boys. I had scouted ahead to ensure there were no surprises awaiting any of them, when I met one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen in my long life.”
Spencer felt his animal hiss and scratch, not liking to hear about how beautiful his mate had found another man, but he pushed his animal back and didn’t say a word as Throg continued speaking.
“He was leaning over the fountain in the middle of town and slipped... falling forward. I immediately caught him, and he turned to me with those big blue eyes, and smiled. I felt a fluttering I had never felt before. I was so dumbstruck I didn’t let him go. Then, he laughed, and I knew I wanted to hear it again. He thanked me and introduced himself. Once I did the same, we began to talk, and I loved the sound of his voice. I could listen to him speak for hours and never get tired of it.” Throg dropped his gaze down towards the ground, whispering, “I was so stupid.”
Spencer slowly made his way to the balcony, wanting to ease his mate’s pain, but not knowing how. His animal didn’t like hearing how his mate had fallen in love with another man almost at first sight, but for some reason it was important for Throg to talk about this and Spencer had to listen. What was important to his mate was important to him.
“I would spend every moment with Corbin that I could. It wasn’t easy when I’m so limited to just the night, and more than once I almost waited too late to return. We would talk into the night and have late dinners together. I would steal a kiss whenever I could.” Throg snorted, “I never noticed he never did the same. I was so lost in the man I was blind. We never went far in our relationship when it came to sex, but I did give him a couple of blow jobs and we docked once, but that was it. I wanted more, but something would always happen... until that night.”
Throg turned, and Spencer could see the toll it was taking on Throg to talk to him about this, but he didn’t let it stop him, surprising Spencer with a question, but he could also tell the Nakaka didn’t want an answer. “Did you know this time of the morning is the hardest on the Nakaka? We are weakest at the brink of dawn. Throg pushed off the banister and walked to the opening of the door, but didn’t come through.
“I had been working nonstop on my assigned evenings, and even took extra nights when I knew Corbin couldn’t meet with me, just so I could save time to take extended leave. I had planned to ask Corbin to become my Viata.”
Spencer gasped. “How...?”
Before Spencer could complete his question, Throg continued as if Spencer hadn’t even tried to speak. “It is possible for the Nakaka. Unlike shifters that can only mark their mates, we can accept anyone as our Viata without the flicker. We have three glands in our tails. Once is for lubrication, one for pregnancy and one for bonding. I wanted Corbin. I... I loved Corbin. I thought he loved me.”
Spencer saw the raw pa
in in Throg’s tight, sad features and felt the need to hold him, but Spencer knew it wasn’t something Throg would want at this time, so he listened. “Corbin and I weren’t scheduled to meet that... that night and I was scheduled to work, but I got a message from Corbin that he needed to see me. Stern agreed to cover for me for a few hours so I could go to him. Corbin met me at the door and greeted me with a kiss. I was surprised at the passion behind that kiss, and then he started removing my clothing, and telling me how much he needed me. I should have known something was wrong. I should have known that I was being played, but all I knew was how long and how bad I had wanted this man. I didn’t question it I just went with it. We made love... no... we fucked for hours. Corbin fell asleep, and as much as I had wanted to be with him, I knew I had to go back, because I had to relieve Sern. When I got close to the clutch house, I knew something was wrong. I could smell the blood... the death... but it was the sight of at least twenty ancient guards coming into view that unsettled me the most. So many ancient guards not within the walls. So many ancient guards lured away, so that our clutch could be decimated. I rushed inside and found Sern lying over Hron. Sern was almost dead, but I got him to change to stone so he could heal. He didn’t want to, because he was concerned that the ones that attacked were still there, but they weren’t. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. There were so many dead... slaughtered. Men were missing, and I knew we had little time to find them and hope they were still alive.”
Throg looked up to the sky, “We only had a few hours before the sun would rise. Instead of staying and taking care of the wounded, I put a few of the older chickpeas in charge of caring for the injured.”
Spencer gasped, causing Throg to look in his direction and give a small smile. “Not the babies, my Viata. When I say chickpea, it’s because even at two hundred and fifty, they are still children to me. I gathered the ancient guards and split them into two... one group were to guard the clutch house, and the others were to take to the skies and find those that dared harm our family.” Shaking his head, Throg whispered, “I was so damn angry.”