Midnight Star

by Ophelia Bell

  She would have to wait for the right moment though, and it wasn’t now. She settled into a comfortable chair, accepting a glass of amber liquid from the older Carver male.

  “So tell me where you’re from, Astra. You’re quite unique compared to who my son normally dates.”

  That had sounded like a subtle dig. Astra lifted her eyebrows and shot a look at Val, whose stare at his father had gone dark.

  “I’m not from the city, if that’s what you mean,” Astra said, returning her attention to the elder Mr. Carver. “I admit I’m a bit of a fish out of water here, but the place is growing on me. Gerri certainly knows her business.” She shot Val a genuine smile and was pleased to see his expression soften as he smiled back.

  “She’s the first woman I’ve met who was even remotely interested in my work,” Val said. “Which of course makes her perfect.”

  His gaze brightened as he looked at her, taking a sip of his drink. Her chest warmed and she couldn’t help but smile wider.

  “That is quite a special trait,” Mr. Carver said. “Gerri has never failed at finding the perfect mate. Did you know she introduced me to my late wife? I knew Naomi was the one the moment I set eyes on her,” he said wistfully. But as Astra watched, that almost manic glint returned. It was like the hungry glaze she’d seen in her opponent’s eyes in that split second before the last match ended, when the claws had dug into her leg.

  Her sense of unease remained for the rest of their pre-dinner conversation, and she wished she could have a private moment with Val to voice her suspicions. But the older man was a master host, refilling her drink and continuing the conversation adeptly, never leaving their sight until they were called to dinner.

  “I understand dragons have quite hearty appetites, so I had my chef prepare a special meal for us tonight,” he said.

  “I can’t wait,” she said, genuinely eager. She’d been too nervous to eat much earlier that day and was ravenous as a result.

  She wasn’t disappointed, either. Val’s father knew how to treat his guests, as evidenced by the six-course meal, nearly all of which included some type of meat. She barely spoke during the meal, answering in monosyllabic responses between bites.

  At one point she felt a prickle of awareness and glanced up to see Val staring at her in awe. She’d just finished eating a rack of ribs from some Earth beast that had been slathered in the most delicious sweet, tangy sauce. Her hands were covered in the tasty stuff and she’d been engrossed in sucking her fingers clean.

  Val cleared his throat and nudged a covered china bowl toward her. “There are moist towels inside for cleaning up if you want,” he said, a hint of a laugh in his voice.

  Astra’s cheeks heated and she narrowed her eyes, reaching for one of the steaming towels when he lifted the lid. As she began to wipe up, she felt a nudge against her foot.

  Meeting Val’s gaze across the table, she lifted a brow and he responded with a slow blink.

  “Actually, I think I’d like to take a few minutes to freshen up before dessert. If you’ll excuse me,” she said, casting an apologetic look at the two men.

  They both stood as she rose, Val’s father pointing her toward the powder room off the entry. Once she was out of sight of the dining room, she slipped off her shoes and, carrying them, broke into a jog. She had no intention of visiting the powder room yet.

  The north wing of the house was dark. She was grateful for the shadows but called on her dragon anyway, begging for it to lend its senses to her endeavor. The creature barely roused, so she decided to dangle a carrot. Wake the fuck up and help me and we can have a taste of Val later tonight, she mentally whispered. The dragon perked up with a low rumble and Astra’s eyesight sharpened, her limbs warming with added strength and agility.

  She slinked around the corner toward Mr. Carver’s office, pausing at the door and listening before trying the knob. It opened, swinging inward on silent hinges. Within, a large desk squatted near a wide expanse of windows overlooking a beautifully lit garden. On the far side beneath the windows, a monitor illuminated the room in an eerie silver glow.

  Following Val’s earlier instructions, she headed toward the dark corner where he’d said a bookshelf concealed a hidden room. Within the room were the security backups for the lab. All she had to do was key in a code, get in, and transfer the files from the date in question.

  Her keen hearing picked up the sounds of the cooling fans within and she probed the bookshelf for the switch, finally finding it in the back underneath one of the shelves. The catch released and the shelf inched outward as if on a spring. She opened it to reveal a smooth, steel door with a recessed handle, but there was no keypad in sight. Only the slightest seam where a small panel fit just above the handle with a small red light in the center.

  She grabbed the handle and tugged, but the door didn’t budge.

  Cursing softly, she stopped to think. Had he changed the locking mechanism? Val had said he was always improving security. Then she remembered the day before at Val’s lab when he’d unlocked the specimen cooler from his desk by simply keying in a code to a program on his computer.

  She darted back to the desk and leaned over, activating the screen with the mouse. Earth computers were far less advanced than the ones most residents of Nova Aurora used, so it took her only a few minutes of clicking before she’d drilled down to the security for the entire estate. Everything was appropriately labeled, so once she identified the room marked Security Backup, she clicked and a password prompt popped up.

  She hastily typed the numerical code Val had given her and clicked the button, darting her gaze to the door across the room.

  Nothing happened.

  Frowning, she tried again, to no avail.

  “Fuck,” she whispered, chewing on her lip. He must have changed it, but what in the world would it be now? She wasn’t willing to give up yet. She typed in Valentino with no luck. Then Naomi but that didn’t work either.

  Then an idea struck her, and she darted a look around the room. Just past a large leather sofa, a shrine-like set of shelves held family photos. Beneath them were rows of thick books. She scurried around the sofa and bent down, pulling one book free and opening it, pleased that her hunch had proven correct.

  More photographs covered the thick leaves of the book, depicting dozens of smiling faces of Carver family and friends. In one large photo, Valentino stood looking decades younger and every bit as handsome as his son. On his arm was a striking woman with jet-black hair and dark eyes that matched Val’s. The woman wore an elaborate white dress and had flowers in her hair.

  Astra’s breath caught at the resemblance. Val certainly looked like his father in most ways, but his smile and his eyes were nearly identical to his mother’s. And how his father had loved her. The look in his eyes as he stared down at her in the photo made Astra’s heart ache. To feel that for someone else . . . to have that depth of love. What had gone wrong? Had the man gone mad after her death to do what he did?

  She shook herself out of the reverie and shifted her gaze to the plate beneath the photo, which read, Valentino Carver Weds Naomi Beatrice Russo, followed by a date.

  She carefully reshelved the book and went back to the desk, keying in the words Naomi Beatrice. An audible click sounded from across the room and a blue light came on.

  “Hell yeah,” she whispered, hurriedly closing the programs she’d opened on Mr. Carver’s computer. But she paused at the desktop when a file caught her eye. Evo-Genesis-Alpha Production.

  Recognizing the name Val had given the drug earlier, she clicked the file. Within was nothing but a brief letter addressed to Mr. Carver assuring him of production continuing as planned with shipments scheduled to leave their facility on a certain date. If Astra’s calculations were correct, that date was a week from today. Part of the letterhead was what looked like an address, though she couldn’t be entirely sure since her knowledge of Earth geography was nonexistent. To be on the safe side, she took the thumb drive out of he
r clutch, stuck it into the slot on the side of the computer, and copied the file over.

  She didn’t waste time getting in and out of the backup room after that. The files on the server were organized by date and time, so she quickly identified the ones they needed and copied them all. Just as she was copying the last file, a light in the hallway outside came on and footsteps approached.

  Near panic, she yanked the thumb drive out and deposited it back in her clutch, scurried out of the small room, and pulled the door closed behind her.

  She had her hands against the bookshelf, pushing until the latch caught, when a loud whisper came from behind her. “What the fuck is taking you so long? Dad’s getting worried.”

  Her heart in her throat, she spun to see Val standing in the office doorway, a deep frown on his handsome face.

  “I’m done, I got it,” she whispered back, tiptoeing toward him. He glanced down at her bare feet.

  “Where the hell are your shoes?”

  “Shit.” She glanced around. “I’m quicker and quieter without them.” She spied them on the floor near the photos and rounded the large sofa to reach them.

  As she returned to Val, her shoes dangling from one finger, a new set of footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the office. Astra froze, staring up at Val.

  “Son?” Mr. Carver called. “What’s keeping you and your future mate?”

  Astra’s brows twitched and she narrowed her eyes at Val. He gave her a sheepish shrug as he reached for her hand.

  “We shouldn’t let him catch us here,” he said.

  “Let me put my shoes on,” she said, but he had too tight a grip on her hand for her to maneuver. The footsteps came closer and the older man muttered, “What the fuck are you up to, boy?”

  “No time,” Val said, yanking Astra into his arms. Her shoes clattered to the floor as his mouth crashed down onto hers, taking her breath away with a searing kiss.

  Her dragon roused almost the instant their lips touched, and her limbs heated with its power, its need to take whatever Val offered. So she was beyond any hope of controlling the beast inside her when Val pushed her back toward the sofa, laying her down and covering her with his lean, muscular body.

  “This is crazy,” she managed to whisper when he brushed his lips across her jaw and to her neck.

  “This is a distraction,” he whispered in her ear. “One he’ll believe.”

  All she could do was let out a gasp when his groin pressed against hers, the hardness in his trousers obvious between them. He dropped a hand to her hip, sliding his palm down, then pushing it high again beneath the hem of her dress.

  “Hell, I believe it,” she said, tilting her hips up against him.

  “Astra,” he groaned. “Fuck, I wanted you the second I laid eyes on you.” He slipped his hand beneath her ass, cupping one cheek and squeezing, pulling her tighter against his arousal.

  Silently, Astra cursed the presence of Val’s father, who she could sense had arrived and stopped in the doorway. She’d have urged Val to take her right here otherwise.

  The older man cleared his throat, and they both froze as if on cue. Despite knowing full well this was all for his benefit, it was still jarring to be called out.

  “If you two are finished, Chef is ready to serve dessert,” Mr. Carver said, a hint of wry humor in his voice.

  Astra’s face heated even more as Val eased himself off her, his dark eyes molten pools of desire. He tugged her dress back down, then stood, pulling her up with him and keeping his back to the door, his big body shielding her from his dad.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “We’ll be right there.”

  Valentino Sr. gave a slight nod but didn’t move. When Val turned back to Astra, his expression was irritated.

  “You okay?” he whispered.

  Astra smirked and nodded, then bent down to retrieve her shoes. She stooped to slide the first one on, her gaze falling even with the enormous bulge in Val’s pants. She lifted one eyebrow and raised her gaze to his.

  “You’re killing me, Astra.”

  She grinned and slipped on her other shoe, then stood. As she scooted around him she let her hand graze the front of his pants, giving his erection a light squeeze before striding across the room toward the door.

  Val uttered a soft curse and let out a shaky breath. She paused at the door, looking back. “You coming?” She shot a sidelong look at his father, who had taken a step back into the hallway, regarding her.

  Finally Val pulled himself together and, after raking his hands through his hair, turned around, a little harried but otherwise no worse for wear.

  “It’s amazing what a good woman can do for a man, isn’t it?” his father said, chuckling softly. “Come, my dear, I think you will enjoy the dessert course almost as much as my son seems to have enjoyed you tonight.”

  He offered his arm to her and Astra took it, still buzzed from the sensation of Val’s strong frame pressed against hers. Walking at his side, she was awash in the pleasant, spicy scent of the older man’s aftershave. Yet beneath the scent was something more acrid, more pungent, and all too familiar. It was all she could do not to recoil from the scent of the toxin he exuded.

  By the time they made it back to the dining room, her appetite had fled and she had to force herself to finish what was probably an utterly decadent dessert.

  Under the table, Val nudged her foot with his and she glanced up after pushing her food around on her plate for several seconds. His brows were furled in concern but she just shook her head, forcing herself to take a bite and smile.

  “This is delicious. The entire meal has been wonderful,” she said, offering a gracious look to Mr. Carver.

  He smiled back and reached out, patting her hand. Her skin prickled with revulsion and she took a quick sip of the sweet, sparkling wine that had been served with the dessert to try to calm her stomach.

  “You look tired, my sweet,” Val said. “Do you want me to take you home?”

  Relief bloomed within her at his offer. “Yes. I think all this rich Earth food may have been overdoing it. I’m used to Auroran fare.”

  “Aurora,” Val’s dad said. “You’re not from Earth? I knew dragons were rare here, but they do exist.”

  A cold spike of dread shot down Astra’s spine and she cast a horrified glance at Val.

  “She’s a recent transplant. Still getting used to the differences,” Val offered. “Gerri really went out of her way for me, didn’t she?” He gave Astra a warm smile but his dad’s suspicion hadn’t subsided.

  “Gerri really did go overboard to introduce us,” Astra offered, hoping a bit of the truth would satisfy the older man.

  Mr. Carver’s tense expression eased a little and he nodded. “Yes, the woman is quite talented. I can have some tea brought in if you would like. Something to settle your stomach, perhaps? I stock a few imports from Nova Aurora.” With a secretive smile he added, “They were not acquired through normal channels, so this is just between us.”

  Astra forced a light laugh. “You don’t need to go to any trouble. I’m sure those imports are too valuable to waste on me. But if you don’t mind, I would like Val to take me home. It’s been lovely.”

  She started to stand and the two men rose from their chairs, Val rushing around to pull hers out for her. Rounding the table, he placed a palm to her back, his touch warm and comforting and doing more to ease her agitation than any tea could have.

  They said their farewells, but Astra had become hyperaware of the nearly manic glint in Mr. Carver’s eyes. Now she knew what it meant, and it wasn’t good.

  21

  Val

  The shift from such acute arousal to worry for Astra’s well-being left Val feeling empty inside despite the huge meal they’d shared with his dad. As they exited the estate in his car, he reached across the console and took Astra’s hand, squeezing. “What happened back there? Something spooked you.”

  She shot him a haunted look and squeezed back, her touch ban
ishing most of the chilly feeling inside. “He’s been taking the drug. I could smell it on him.”

  Val turned back to the road, shaking his head. “It has no scent. Although . . .” He trailed off, frowning. “You’ve scented it before tonight, haven’t you?”

  “Twice,” she said, taking a shaky breath. “The first time was after my brother was attacked. And then again when I was. I would never forget that smell, Val. He’s using.”

  “But you didn’t smell it on Simon?”

  “He hasn’t taken a dose in over a week. He’s pretty desperate to quit.” She sighed and let out a soft laugh. “He says being around me helps take the edge off.”

  His gaze softened when he looked at her. “I understand that feeling. Being near you is like a balm.”

  She grew quiet and stared out the window, her hands tangled together in her lap, worrying her fingernails. He was about to reach for her again when she blurted, “I’m not going to be your mate. I hope you realize that.”

  Val blinked at her before focusing on the road again, forcing the cold disappointment in his gut aside. “Tonight was just a ruse. We both knew that going in.”

  “So you were lying when you said you wanted me?”

  “Ah.” He chuckled, shifting in his seat to ease the growing tightness in his pants. “No, that was the truth. Meeting the three of you was eye-opening for me in a lot of ways. It was honestly a surprise when I realized Gerri hadn’t introduced us for a date, because when I saw you all, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”

  Astra turned to face him, curling her legs underneath her. “Wait, you really are into both Simon and Javin? I thought you were just fucking with them.”