“Um, yeah. It’s great as a base of operations, but the ruin rats aren’t going to want to give up their lifestyle. It’ll need to be easy for them to come and go, and they’ll need a place to store their speeders. The goal of this building shouldn’t be to keep the occupants inside, but instead offer a haven from the outside world. Besides, you’re going to need people to work the surface and hunt for resources. Why can’t the ruin rats do that and earn their keep?”
Alec paused. He hadn’t considered using them in that capacity in exchange for housing. It was similar to what they were doing now with trading for supplies, except on a larger scale. Her idea had merit.
“You’re right.” He turned to the male designer who’d remained silent through the conversation. Alec narrowed his eyes at the man whose gaze now seemed glued to Kayla’s chest. Alec barely resisted the urge to pummel him. “What are your thoughts, John?”
The man’s eyes flew up to meet his, suddenly aware he’d been caught ogling the High Council leader’s fiancée. It didn’t take a telepathic connection to know exactly what the man’s thoughts were. The designer cleared his throat and stammered, “I-I’m sure it’s an excellent idea. We should investigate it.”
“Why don’t you do that back in your office?” Alec bit out.
The man paled and quickly gathered up his belongings. Marline frowned, darting her gaze between the other designer and Alec. She was clearly worried her partner had jeopardized working on such an illustrious project.
Alec turned back to Marline and gestured to the designs scattered on the floor. He had to remind himself it wasn’t necessarily her fault if her partner was an idiot. Besides, Kayla had obviously taken a liking to the woman.
“You’ve done excellent work so far, Marline. Perhaps you and Mistress Rath’Varein can resume your discussions and plans tomorrow. Around this same time?”
Marline’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “Of course. It’ll be my pleasure.” She gave Kayla a warm smile and began collecting her things.
Alec caught Brant’s attention and gestured toward the other designer. In a low voice, he said, “I want him banned from this tower. Marline may return, but John’s services are no longer needed.”
Brant nodded and immediately followed the designer out of the room. Alec had no doubt his instructions would be carried out, and the man wouldn’t be permitted near Kayla in the future. He glanced down to find Kayla’s arms folded across her chest and her green eyes lit up with humor. She’d obviously overheard him.
“Do you disagree with my decision?” he asked her telepathically.
She cocked her head to study him. “Nope. Although I’m surprised Marline hasn’t ditched him before now. The guy’s an idiot.”
He didn’t answer right away and instead waited until Marline left the room. In truth, he needed some time to decide how to respond. Alec wasn’t sure Kayla would take too kindly to his initial reaction of wanting to tear the man apart for daring to look at the woman who belonged to him. Kayla hadn’t yet realized most of their kind were fiercely possessive. He’d noticed her instincts kick in several times, but she had the remarkable and infuriating ability to suppress and even reject them.
“I didn’t care for the way that insufferable man was watching you.”
Kayla blinked. “I thought you were annoyed with him because he wasn’t contributing. He just sat there and let Marline do all the work.”
Alec paused. Was she truly unaware of her allure? He opened their bond slightly and was taken aback by her genuine surprise. He chuckled and shook his head. This woman was going to drive him insane.
“He wasn’t working because he was too busy undressing you with his eyes.”
She frowned and shrugged. “Well, either way, he’s a dumbass. I think he’s been taking advantage of Marline for a while now. She didn’t say anything, but I got the impression he’s been using some of her ideas and passing them off as his own.”
Alec watched as she turned away and bent down under the table to locate her shoes. The hem of her dress slid upward as she stretched, revealing a creamy expanse of her thighs. He swallowed. No wonder the designer was practically drooling while she crawled around on the floor. Any warm-blooded male would do the same.
Kayla turned halfway and held up her shoes in victory. As she slipped them back on her feet, her dress hiked up even further to reveal a hint of black lace covering her most intimate parts.
“I like her though. She’s smart and knows how to cut through the bullshit. I had more fun today than I thought I would.”
“Kayla,” he croaked, “please. Stand up.”
She paused and leaned forward to look up at him, a question in her eyes. He made the mistake of glancing down again and the soft curves of her cleavage beckoned him. More black lace. What the hell had Seara been thinking to buy her this dress? He couldn’t take it anymore. Alec reached down and pulled her to her feet. Without saying another word, he drew her into his arms and held her tightly. He knew he shouldn’t, but he just needed to hold her for a moment until he managed to get himself under control.
Kayla stiffened against him and reached out across their bond. Some of his emotions filtered through, and whatever she sensed caused her to relax in his arms. Inch by inch, her body began to mold against his. Sliding his hand around to rest against the small of her back, he pressed his face against her hair. He’d needed to touch her like this for days, ever since Lars had hurt her and she’d collapsed in his arms. His fingers tightened reflexively, remembering the fear of almost losing her.
“Just one more minute,” he whispered and inhaled deeply, wanting to breathe her in forever. She smelled like wild abandon and every promise he’d ever beheld. Alec closed his eyes and wished he could stay in this moment forever. Even without the energy, this woman captivated him completely.
He forced himself to pull back and clamp down on their bond. Keeping it open and letting her invade all his senses was too dangerous. His self-control around her was tenuous at best. The confused expression in her eyes wounded him, but the alternative would be far worse. Alec couldn’t risk alienating the trader. Not now. “I shouldn’t have done that. I… I need to get you back to Carl.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m here.”
Chapter Three
Kayla pulled away to see Carl standing in the doorway with his jaw clenched and his fingers curled tightly into fists.
Crap. He does not look happy.
Both men stared at each other for a handful of heartbeats. Kayla’s body tensed, as they seemed to engage in a primitive and wordless communication. A moment later, Alec gave Carl a curt nod and took a step away from her.
Without taking his eyes off Alec, Carl moved to stand beside her and slipped his arm around her waist. Kayla raised an eyebrow, wondering if they were going to start beating on their chests next, or if she was going to need to air out the room from the testosterone overload. Before she could comment, she noticed the three other men who had accompanied Carl into the room wearing similar grim expressions.
Brant was back, along with Commander Thomas, the head of OmniLab security, and Director Borshin, who oversaw the traders and their sectors on the surface. Something was definitely going on for them all to be on edge.
She glanced up at Alec who had noticed the newcomers as well, but his face was carefully blank. He’d shifted into High Council mode. Whatever thoughts had been plaguing him a few moments ago were now buried too deeply for her to reach through their bond.
“I apologize for the interruption,” Thomas addressed Alec. “We need to speak with you about some new developments. Perhaps in your office?”
Alec inclined his head and led them out of the conference room. As they headed into the office, Kayla leaned into Carl and whispered, “What’s going on?”
Carl shook his head and murmured, “Trouble.”
At her frown, he bent down and brushed a kiss against her temple. If the gesture was meant to reassure her, it didn’t work. The tens
ion in the men’s body language was screaming that disaster was imminent.
Alec walked over to stand beside his desk and turned around to assess the group in front of him. “What’s happened?”
Commander Thomas, a short, stocky man with sharp eyes and a commanding presence, clasped his hands behind his back and began to report. “We’ve intercepted communications that were meant for some of the High Council. The contents of the transmissions may have been a warning of some sort or possibly a test to see if the councilors’ interests aligned with their own. The transmissions suggested a regime change within the towers might be imminent. To what end, we aren’t sure. We’re in the process of attempting to trace these messages back to the source but have not yet had any luck.”
Alec’s eyes narrowed. “I want to see copies of these messages. Which councilors are being targeted?”
“The two we’ve been able to confirm are Lenora Ballentor and William Gavron, but there may be others,” Commander Thomas informed him. “We’ve wired both their quarters and have surveillance teams tracking them. It’s too soon to determine whether they are targets or possible conspirators. With your permission, we can arrange to allow these transmissions to be delivered and then monitor their reactions. They may lead us back to the targets or, at the very least, let us know where their allegiance lies. As a precautionary measure, and since no specifics were mentioned in the transmissions, we’d also like to increase security for Mistress Seara Rath’Varein.”
Kayla frowned, worried that her mother might be at risk. They’d only recently begun getting to know each other after spending the past sixteen years thinking the other had perished, but Kayla was already extremely fond of her. The only thing that eased her mind was knowing Alec would make every effort to keep Seara safe. They’d developed a close relationship over the years, and her mother had admitted that she considered Alec like a son.
Alec crossed his arms and nodded. “Make sure it’s done immediately. What else?”
Commander Thomas gestured for Director Borshin to speak. The director stepped forward. “We’ve verified which records the Coalition extracted from Trader Carl’s camp during the attack. Their primary interest, as you suspected, was Mistress Kayla Rath’Varein. However, they also accessed the personnel files on all individuals working within the trader camps. It appears they were also able to extract some information on the newly discovered underground river. Although Mistress Kayla Rath’Varein attempted to destroy this information, we believe they may have been able to salvage some river data before they abandoned the location we raided.”
Kayla straightened at the mention of the water source she’d found. That was her river. If the Coalition knew they’d found a viable water source, they’d be all over it. There was no way she was going to let the Coalition have a chance to get to it before she did. Inwardly, she cursed at all the time she’d wasted in medical. That was time that should have been spent working on the excavations. She needed to get back to the surface immediately.
As though sensing the direction of her thoughts, Carl squeezed her hand before addressing Alec. “I’ve contacted my camp and left Cruncher temporarily in charge until I return to the surface. The stability scans of the ruins are complete, and they’re finalizing the cavern imaging from the data Kayla collected. There have been a few delays due to the attack, but they should have it completed within the next seventy-two hours. Once it’s finished, they’ll be ready to begin the exploration. If the cavern is a potential target for the Coalition, we may need an additional team or two to help secure the location.”
Kayla pulled away from Carl and scowled. “Seriously? You didn’t think to share this with me? I should have been involved in this process.”
Carl stiffened slightly and frowned. He glanced at Alec before focusing again on her. “I agree, but that wasn’t an option at the time. We couldn’t wait. Most of the prep work was done while you were still unconscious. Right now, we’re just trying to stay ahead of the Coalition as much as possible by working with the information we have. We don’t know what they’re planning or even how much they know, but we want to be prepared in case the river becomes a target. Rand sent over a new tech and scavenger to help expedite the process. Now that you’re feeling better, I told Cruncher to send over the mockups of the cavern imaging to you. As soon as that’s finalized and we get the go ahead, we can launch a full-scale excavation.”
Alec shook his head. “No. I understand our water consumption is reaching critical levels and this is a priority, but I won’t be clearing any exploration until we get more information about the Coalition. I have no intention of sending dozens of people underground and putting them in unnecessary danger.”
Kayla opened her mouth to argue but fell silent as a sharp pang of regret and sadness echoed along their shared bond. Although Alec was keeping a tighter clamp on their connection, a few thoughts and emotions filtered through. He was recalling what happened the last time there was political turmoil in the towers and they sent a team down into the ruins. The entire group, including Alec’s mother and her father, had been killed. She’d been the only survivor.
Dammit.
Her shoulders slumped in resignation and she lowered her head, barely resisting the urge to kick his desk. Alec might have a point, but she didn’t like it. She took a steadying breath and lifted her head, determined to stay involved. The minute they were ready to start exploring, she was going to be down there. In the meantime, her focus turned to the two unknowns working on her project.
“Fine. I’ll get started on the mockups and manually fill in any gaps between the images. Who did Rand send over to work on my maps? So help me… if he sent over some half-brained morons who screwed up my images, I’m going to dropkick him and dance on his innards.”
Carl chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry. Rand had a feeling you’d be furious if he sent over anyone but the best. I believe their names are Minko and Felix. Minko’s a longtime tech, and Felix is one of his newer scavengers, but I’ve been assured he’s also an extremely skilled tech.”
Kayla jerked back as though struck. She’d heard of Minko, but it was the other name that caught her attention. She squeezed her eyes shut as painful memories washed over her. Carl rubbed her shoulder, and she opened her eyes to find his filled with concern.
“What’s wrong? Do you know them?”
“I didn’t know Felix was working in Rand’s camp. He’s a good guy. I just haven’t seen him since…” Kayla rubbed her arms to ward off the sudden chill. Between Alec alluding to the cave-in that had nearly killed her as a child, and now Felix’s name coming up in conversation, the room was becoming thick with ghosts from the past. “Felix is Pretz’s brother. I haven’t seen him since Pretz was killed.”
Carl frowned and searched her expression. “I didn’t realize they were related. Are you going to be okay with him working on this project? We can request a replacement.”
“No,” she said in a rush, pushing her emotions aside. “It’s fine. He’s good. Very good. I’ve worked with him before. It’s… just been a while. I didn’t expect to hear his name.”
Carl exchanged a concerned look with the High Council leader. Alec shook his head and turned back to Thomas. “Is there anything else?”
“Nothing solid at this point, just supposition. Call it an old man’s hunch, but I suspect much of our internal unrest may be tied to Lars Cerulis and the Coalition. Until we find out differently, I agree with your decision to hold off on the exploration of the ruins. If you begin launching an undertaking of that magnitude, there will be numerous people and departments involved. We won’t be able to keep the information contained. If I’m correct, and some of our residents are working with the Coalition, our people on the surface could be vulnerable.”
Kayla bit her lip. She didn’t know much about politics, but she was beginning to believe there were no such things as coincidences. “I think you’re right about a link between them. The first time I saw Lars, he recognized me. He kne
w exactly who I was but pretended like he didn’t.”
Alec raised an eyebrow. “You’re not easy to forget, my dear. Lars hasn’t seen you since we were children, but it’s possible he remembered you. Not only that, but the Coalition worked with Ramiro. He could have easily shown them your image or described you.”
She shook her head and frowned. It was more than that. “No. I thought I’d seen him too, but I wasn’t able to place him. At first, I wrote it off because he reminded me of you.”
Kayla rubbed the back of her neck and began to pace, trying to replay her first impressions of Lars. It was his eyes that had first reminded her of Alec. They were almost the exact striking shade of blue, except Lars’s eyes had been colder. She’d never seen eyes like that until she’d come to the towers.
The memory suddenly hit her, and she whirled around. “The shopping area. On my second trip to OmniLab.” At Alec’s questioning look, she explained, “When we went to that restaurant with the fish tanks, I saw him when I was sitting outside with Seara. It was the eyes. I remember because the color was so distinctive.”
Ignoring the stunned faces surrounding her, she continued with her train of thought. “It makes sense. I mean, the Coalition was working with Ramiro for a while. The asshole probably gave Lars the inside scoop on how to access the towers. Getting him into OmniLab was probably as simple as smuggling him in on one of the trading camp caravans. From there, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to either ride back out with the next shipment or bribe someone to look the other way.”
Everyone in the room froze at her words as the implication set in.
Carl broke the silence with a loud curse. Alec, however, was more cautious. He turned to the head of security. “Is this a possibility, Thomas? Could Lars or members of the Coalition have infiltrated the towers?”
Commander Thomas rubbed his forehead. “Anything’s possible. Commerce reported some discrepancies with shipment numbers. Equipment has also disappeared from the roster for several weeks. It’s not a substantial amount, but it’s enough that it flagged our system. I assigned two men to try to trace down the shipments, but they haven’t reported back yet.” He frowned and seemed to consider the possibilities. “If the Coalition has a contact working in distribution, items could have been smuggled out and diverted to their camps. People are another issue though. Our facial and bio-signature recognition system should flag anyone not part of OmniLab. I’ll run scans on our software immediately to check for tampering, but no one from the Coalition would be able to move throughout the towers without alerting security.”
Tremors of the Past Page 3
