by Dena Christy
“They aren’t dangerous. You know I would do nothing to compromise us, and I would not have let them in here if I thought they were a danger. Cynric and his friends just want to go home.” Evie froze for a second and could have kicked herself for mentioning his name. There was a note in her voice that hinted at more than just her helping out some friends when she said it. Serena’s eyes narrowed for a second, and Evie knew that she’d heard it.
“Is this Cynric in love with one of your friends?”
“No, he’s the leader of the three,” Evie said and left it at that. Hopefully Serena wouldn’t probe any further.
“Are you sure that’s all he is?” Serena looked hard at her and Evie resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. It would only make her look guilty.
“What else would there be?” Evie voiced her denial as quickly and as firmly as she could. It was the truth. He was the commander of the group, and Serena didn’t need to know that he stirred something inside her that she hadn’t felt before, even with Adam.
“Well I would hope so dear, I would hate to see you get hurt again.” Serena’s face smoothed out. “You were so devastated when Adam died that I was afraid that you would never recover. You’ve come so far since then, and I would hate to see that unravel for you if you were unwise enough to develop feelings for someone in danger here. This seems to be a rather fantastical tale Evangeline. You should have gotten in touch with me first. Our organization's resources shouldn’t be wasted on beings from other planets, especially not males.”
For a moment Evie could not think of anything to say. She’d devoted years of her life, and not an insignificant amount of money to helping Serena’s cause, and now she was being told that she could not use some of that money as she saw fit.
“I didn’t ask since I was using my facility, which I bought with my money. Any resources that have been used for them, of which there has been little, has come from my personal account. You know me well enough to know that I would not divert funds from our organization for a personal project.” Heat rose in Evie’s face, and she took a deep breath to calm down. Fighting with Serena would not get her anywhere.
“I see. Well please let me know when you will be able to take more women on. Hopefully your guests won’t linger. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
Evie swallowed down her anger and pasted a smile across her face. Perhaps if she told Serena about the deal she’d made with Synn, then she’d look a little more favorably on her allowing the aliens to stay here.
“This whole situation may work out in our favor. The aliens come from a planet that is lacking in females. I’ve made a proposal for them to put forward to their government. You always say that we don’t have enough places for the women we help to go. My proposal is that they speak to their government about taking an influx of female colonists onto their planet. We can help a lot more women, especially those in the lower classes. You’ve said yourself that it would be too difficult to find those women new opportunities. This would be a perfect solution.”
“And what makes you think that they would be treated any better on a foreign planet then they are here?” Serena’s voice was sharp and her eyes narrowed slightly. She wasn’t reacting the way Evie had hoped.
“I’ve interacted with Cynric and his men, and any women we send there will be treated well.”
“Don’t be so naïve Evangeline. They will tell you anything to get what they want. I’m sure they will put the most positive spin on it. How can you know this Cynric is not trying to seduce you into thinking whatever he wants?”
“He’s not seducing me.” It was the truth, but at the same time it wasn’t. She should not have mentioned him by name. She was attracted to him, but it in no way clouded her judgment like Serena was implying. “I trust them and believe them. This could be an opportunity for us to help more women than we are now. I think you should consider it.”
“And I think your judgment is clouded. I built this organization from the ground up, and I decide. We will not be sending any women to any other planet. You must tell them. I’m disappointed in you, Evangeline. You are letting your feelings for this alien cloud your judgment. Let me know when you can take more women, and I’ll hear no more about sending any of our women off the planet.”
Evie sat back in shock as Serena’s face winked out. Serena had never spoken to her like that, and she’d always made Evie think that she was an equal partner in all this. Perhaps Serena only let her think that when she was arranging for Rebecca to funnel Evie’s inheritance into a secret account to be used for her organization.
Had she made a mistake in telling Serena about the aliens? She shook her head. Serena wouldn’t say anything, how could she? Her entire organization would be compromised if she got in touch with the authorities.
She was frowning at the computer screen when Rebecca knocked on the threshold of the door.
“Did you talk to Serena about not taking in any more women for a while?” Rebecca came in and sat in the chair across from her. Evie had already filled Rebecca in on her intention of not taking in any more women.
“Yes, and it didn’t go over that well.” That was an understatement. She was still trying to figure out where things had gone wrong. It was obvious now that she didn’t enjoy the place in this organization that she thought she did.
“Why not? We’ve had to go off-line before and it’s never been a problem. Why would it be a problem now? Is there nowhere else for the women scheduled to come here to go?”
“I don’t think it was that. I told her about the agreement I have with Synn. I thought she'd be happy that at least there was an alternate escape for those women who want to leave the planet. She told me that she was in charge and that the women are not going off the planet. I don’t understand why she wouldn’t even consider it. She said that we couldn’t trust that the women would be treated better on the alien’s planet, but I wonder if that’s it.”
“That is strange. She’s always saying that we can’t help women in the lower classes because she doesn’t have places for them, this would solve that problem.”
“Do you know where the women go?” All she knew about Serena’s operation was women came to her to say for a while, and when they left, they had new identities. She didn’t know what happened to them once they left here, and Serena had always said it was safest for the women they helped if she didn’t know where they ended up. She’d accepted that at face value, but after this discussion with Serena, she wasn’t so sure she like being in the dark.
“Do you want me to do some digging?” Rebecca asked, and an eager look came over her face. Rebecca loved solving puzzles, and it would be something she could sink her teeth into.
“Only if you have time,” Evie said. “It’s not that important, I’m just curious about some things now.”
“I’ll get started on it as soon as I’m done playing with Synn’s tracker. I’m trying to figure out if it can be used for other things besides tracking,” Rebecca said as she stood and left.
Evie sighed as she sat back in her chair. Her conversation with Serena was troubling and not only because of how upset she'd gotten over any changes to their procedure. Evie hadn’t been prepared for her to bring up what a risk getting involved with Cynric was. It’s not like she planned to do anything with him, but he stirred her inside. She would just have to put a damper on those feelings because Serena was right about one thing. Adam’s death had devastated her and Cynric’s life wasn’t exactly stable at the moment. It would be best if she chalked her feelings up to a fleeting moment of attraction and left it at that.
Chapter Three
Cynric prowled down the hall like an animal in captivity. The feeling that he should do something more than rest wouldn’t let go. Synn, Ryce and the doctor insisted that what he needed most was rest after all he’d gone through during his imprisonment. All resting had done was give him time to think. Rest did nothing to help him block out the nightmares of his time in prison, his fai
lures of the past and what possible failures were in store for him. Laying in bed, dwelling on the torture he’d endured in prison, wouldn’t get him, his men and their women off this planet. He needed to come up with a plan to do it somehow, but inspiration could not push past the nightmares. That he felt the sole responsibility for getting this right wasn’t helping either. What if he screwed up, what if one or all of them were killed on his watch? How would he live with himself if that happened? He couldn’t do this alone, and the time he’d spent resting had shown him that. He needed all of them to pull together if they were going to get off this planet alive.
They’d entered a holding pattern until they’d known if Collette would pull through her ordeal. Now she was well and mated with Ryce. There was no reason not to plan something. The bigger reason that a restful sleep eluded him was that he felt time was marching on, and the longer they stayed in one place the more at risk they were. He was at a loss as to how they were going to do it. And unless Evie had a ship hidden here somewhere, he didn’t know how they were going to get away from here unless they stole one.
His steps slowed as he thought of Evie. He had seen little of her since she’d dragged him to the doctor, and he tried to believe it was a good thing. She was a distraction for him, and he needed all his focus on the mission to get them off the planet. There was a part of him that was disappointed that she hadn’t come to seen him, but it was arrogant of him to assume that because he felt an attraction to her that she must feel the same. Thoughts of her had contributed to some of the dreams he’d had while he was recuperating, but they were far from the nightmares that his time in prison inspired.
As if he’d used the power of his mind to conjure her, Evie walked out of a door and straight into his path. She looked up and let out a gasp as she narrowly missed colliding with him.
“Cynric.” She put her hand up to her heart. “You startled me. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I’m also finished with the doctor enforced bed rest.” He was finally putting his foot down. He knew why his friends wanted him to be well, but aside from assorted cuts, some deep bruising and a slight concussion, he was fine. He no longer wanted to be treated like a fragile invalid. “I need to get out of that room before I climb the walls.”
“I’ll let you get on with your explorations.” She made to step around him and he looked at her. She avoided eye contact with him as she made her way around to walk past him. He reached out and took her by the arm, halting her with a gentle touch. What had he done to make her act this way? It was as if she couldn’t wait to get away from him.
“Have I offended you?”
“No, of course not.” Her face was flushed, and she looked flustered suddenly. What could be the problem? Had she’d reconsidered helping them? He wouldn’t blame her since what happened to Collette was proof that none of the women were safe from the repercussions of helping them. Miranda and Collette were committed, since they were in love, but Evie had no obligations to them. Perhaps she’d decided that helping them was not worth the risk.
“Have you decided not to help us and don’t know how to tell me? If you’ve changed your mind about giving us aid, I understand. You are putting yourself at risk for doing this, and this situation fell to you through no choice of your own.” If anyone knew the pressure of being responsible for several lives, it was him. He wouldn’t burden her with it if he could help it.
Evie sighed and finally looked at him. “I’ve been spending too much time wrapped up in my head. I want to help you, but I don't think the agreement that I had with Synn will go through.”
That would be the agreement to offer the women who wanted to escape their lives here the opportunity to go to Latroth. While it would have been nice to have an influx of willing female colonist, it wasn’t exactly top of his agenda. They had to get home to be able to talk to his government.
“Don’t worry about that. The important thing is that I need to figure out a way to get off this planet.” How he was going to accomplish that, he didn’t know. It seemed like an impossible task, and the weight of it pressed down on him. The notion overwhelmed him physically for a moment, he swayed for a second until he had himself under control.
“Are you all right?” She looked up at him and took a step closer.
“I’m fine.” Physically he felt better today than he had for the last few days. It was the idleness of those days that were getting to him, because the longer he did nothing, the longer it would take to get away from this planet.
“If you are worried about making it home, we’ll find a way.” She reached out and put her hand on his arm. His heart rate picked up, and the urge to step closer to her was so strong that he had to clamp down on it hard. He stayed where he was and cleared his throat.
As if she realized what she’d done, she looked at where her hand rested on his arm and slowly withdrew it. He felt the loss immediately and wanted to kick himself for making her self-conscious about touching him.
“Evie.” He took a step toward her, but it was as far as he got. What would he say to her? That he liked her and wanted to sleep with her? All she had done was put her hand on his arm, to offer comfort and now all he could think about was making love to her?
“Yes?” She tilted her head back and looked up at him. He looked into her warm brown eyes for a second until his gaze drifted down to rest on her lips. He stared at her mouth and leaned forward a little. She stayed where she was, and he swallowed. Dare he lean in a little more until his lips touched hers?
The sound of booted footfalls pounding down the hall made Cynric jump away from her as if burned.
“I wanted to say thank you again for all your help.” A funny look crossed her face, and they both knew that was not what was about to happen. There was no longer any time left for them to talk privately as Ryce and Synn walked up to them. He turned away from her. “I’ll see you later.”
“Can you stay for a minute Evie?” Synn said as he stood beside Cynric. Evie paused in the middle of turning away to face him. “We need to ask a favor, on top of all the other favors you’ve done for us so far.”
“What is it?”
“We need to borrow a vehicle.” Ryce said. “When my pod landed, I tripped the emergency homing signal. I hoped that if Synn and I could find it, we could remove the signaling device and bring it back here. Maybe Rebecca could boost it or something?”
“What good would that do?” Cynric didn’t know if getting the homing signal was worth it. The more they came and went from Evie’s compound, the more they risked discovery. He didn’t want to bring any more trouble to her.
“When I hit the emergency alarms when we were on Hylda, it triggered a powerful distress signal that would have been sent to any Latrothian ship that was out in space, and if a ship received it, perhaps they are coming here to look for us. If we had that homing device it would be easier for them to find us.”
There were several flaws in their theory, mainly because the probability that Ryce’s pod had been discovered was high, but at least they were thinking of ways to move forward.
“You can take Dr. Avery’s car, unless you think the device is too big to fit? I can take you where you need to go in the van if that’s the case.”
Fortunately what they needed to bring back was tiny, but even if it wasn’t Cynric would cram it into the car if need be. He didn't want her anywhere near the pod since none of them knew where it was or if it was in the hands of the military.
“I’ll come with you.” Cynric said. “I need to get out and get some fresh air.”
“You’re going?” Evie asked in surprise as she turned to him. Ryce and Synn looked at each other, than at Cynric.
“We’ll go wait for you in the car,” Ryce said as both he and Synn turned and walked down the hall toward the stairwell that would take them to the first floor and the exit.
“Yes. Is that a problem? Do you need me here for something?”
“No. Are you sure this is a good idea? You
only just got out of bed and it could be dangerous, depending on where his pod is.”
“I will not ask my men to put themselves in danger while I hide away here. I’m fine and I need to do something. We need to get off this planet, and while I’m not hoping that some ship is coming to our rescue, we can’t pretend that it is not a possibility.” His voice came out much harsher than he’d intended. He was not being fair to her. She had only expressed concern over his well-being. “I’m sorry, that didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”
“And I didn’t mean for it to sound like you were weak or incapable of helping them. I want you to be careful.” She reached up to rest her hand on his cheek, and an impulse took him before he could resist. He took her hand and pressed a kiss in the center of her palm. Her eyes widened as she gasped and pulled her hand away.
“Evie…”
“There is something I need to do." She spun around on her heel and hurried away from him.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. Why had he done that? He could kick himself for making that advance. Just because she hadn’t shoved him away when he’d leaned close to her earlier, didn’t mean that she was interested in pursuing anything with him. What did he have to offer her? The risk of possible imprisonment or worse if she was caught helping them? He needed to shift his focus away from her, and onto what he needed to do. He had to get himself, his men and their women off this planet.
He turned and walked in the direction that Ryce and Synn had gone a few minutes earlier. He hoped the trip to get the homing device out of the pod went a lot better than his clumsy attempt to get closer to Evie.
Evie’s heart pounded as she hurried down the hall. She was being silly. All he’d done was kiss her palm, and she’d taken off like a teenager, nervous after her first kiss. She was a grown woman, and she’d been kissed before, on more than just the hand. Why had one simple touch from him freaked her out?
She couldn’t dwell on it. After she’d talk to Serena, she’d decided that it would be best if she avoided Cynric. It wasn’t because she thought, as Serena did, that he would be a danger to her. At least not physically. There was a risk to her heart, that if she let what was blossoming inside her for him to grow, it would devastate her if something happened to him. She didn’t want him to get hurt, but she had to be realistic. He was an alien on a hostile planet, had only just escaped being tortured in prison. The risks to his well-being were too great for her to ignore.
