Depths Of Desire
Page 24
“They’re shifters, Brianna,” he explained, interrupting her. “They’re Jaeda’s people and are on our side. We have a lot to talk about.” Grady and Kirk walked up to them. Torque saw the question in Grady’s eyes before he even asked. “Any word on the Xylon Warriors assigned to the substations down here?”
Kirk and Jaeda headed off toward the other side of the room, talking too low for Torque to hear them while Brianna’s voice filtered through the comm unit.
“The ones captured early on have been lost to us. The ones who relocated before their substations were raided have mostly survived and checked in with only a few exceptions. They helped the various militaries lead the ground attacks. Without their help and knowledge, many more humans would have died.”
Grady visibly relaxed and hand signaled that he was leaving to reconnect with his warriors. Torque knew that his group had evacuated their substation before the Egesa had found their location and he was happy for their survival.
“What about the humans who were taken prisoner?”
“Those still on-planet are being released. At the moment, we’re unsure of the status of those aboard transports. Shall we materialize you and Halah aboard?”
He hesitated before answering. “Get Halah and head back home.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be along on one of the orbiting ships.”
“Frost is lingering around here somewhere, Torque. Be careful.”
“Frost?” Those must have been her ships that he’d seen. He glanced toward Halah and wondered if she’d known. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“We’re not quite sure. She wanted to help us, Braden said, but she never does anything without an agenda so keep an eye out for her.”
“All right.” Frost had never helped anyone in her entire life but herself. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll report in when I can.”
“Acknowledged.”
Chapter Eleven
Torque felt a huge sense of accomplishment as he watched Jaeda stroll toward him.
“General Adair is back in the facility,” she related, but a strained look filled her eyes. “A helicopter was finally able to get through. Kirk’s gone to report and coordinate. I’ll be rejoining my crew now. There’s been a large upheaval on our planet and new leadership is emerging. I need to be a part of that. We did good down here, Torque. We saved a growing planet.” She rose on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Then she turned and headed for the artillery entrance.
Torque stood staring at her in disbelief. Had that just been a goodbye? He couldn’t believe she was walking away from him. “Nobody move!” he roared.
Everything came to a stop and all eyes turned toward him. Some had curious looks on their faces. Others looked wary. He didn’t give a damn what they thought. He only cared about Jaeda. She had also stopped but hadn’t turned around.
“You’d better face me.” He didn’t bother addressing her by name. She knew he was speaking to her. She had to know.
Slowly she turned and even raised her chin slightly higher than level as if purposely showing him that obeying his command hadn’t been a submissive move. He again noticed the troubled look in her eyes and now tears eased down her cheeks.
Everyone began to murmur and return to work. Torque paid them little attention. His interest was Jaeda. He stepped forward and saw her stiffen. Her tears ceased and she locked her gaze with his as if in a battle of wills. He stopped directly in front of her. “You’re materializing up to the splitter ship?”
“Yes.”
“You’re leaving me? Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Like hell.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her as if his life depended on tasting her mouth, her lips, her soul. And maybe it did. He felt her sigh and relax and then she kissed him back with equal passion. When they separated, he felt a sense of loss but also renewed hope as he gazed into her eyes.
“I need to return home. You’ll need to stay here to help Earth rebuild and to further their partnership with Xylon.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a diplomat. And you’re not going anywhere without me.” He lifted the comm unit from her belt and adjusted the frequency. “Brianna? This is Torque. Are you still in range?”
“Yes. We’re in orbit.”
“What would you think about you and Sam temporarily staying on Earth to act as the go-between until the planet can re-establish itself? A command representative from Xylon is needed and that’s not me. I have other business to tend to. You and Sam are the logical choices anyhow.” They’d never discussed leaving anyone behind, beyond the warriors already stationed here. But it was obvious that until Earth could stand on its own, someone with authority should remain.
After a drawn-out silence, the channel crackled with her response. “We’ll materialize down and stay until we’re not needed anymore.”
Torque had worried that Sam would convince Brianna to stay on Earth with him. And now, he was the one suggesting it. But there was no way that he was going to let Jaeda just walk out of his life. If he had to follow her to her own planet to guarantee they would be together, then he’d do that. For now. In time though, he fully intended to return to Xylon with Jaeda as his mate.
* * * * *
Earth’s Orbit
Braden hugged Brianna tightly. As long as she was with Sam, she’d be happy. The two of them were perfect representatives for Xylon and Earth and the new partnership that needed to be built between their societies.
Brianna pulled back. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Sure.” When they’d made contact, she’d needed him to materialize her and Sam aboard. A convoy of Egesa had surrounded their vehicle. They’d held their own at first, but had been too outnumbered to survive. Luckily Braden had gotten them in time. Fate once more had made certain that he lived—that all of them lived.
Almost all of them. He didn’t want to burden anyone by sharing his feelings about Alexa. Talking about it wouldn’t change things anyway. Erik had no doubt told Leila about everything that had happened by now. He hadn’t seen any reason to tell Torque and distract him from going his own way, which had always made his brother the happiest. He shook Sam’s hand. “Take good care of her.”
“Always.”
After they materialized out, he walked over to Halah, who was also preparing to materialize out and take over one of the smaller, long-range fighter ships. She’d been told about Kam leaving and was determined to find him. Even though the grid had been restored, they’d still been unable to contact the man or locate his orbiter via their tracking programs.
Braden had offered Halah a couple of escort ships, but she’d declined, saying this was something she needed to do alone. “Where are you going to look?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“Do you have any clue about why he would just take off without telling anyone?”
“I have a few ideas.”
When that was all she seemed willing to offer, he dropped the subject. They said their goodbyes and then she, too, was gone.
He’d spoken to Leila on the comm channel earlier and learned that she’d obtained, with permission, some human spinal fluid from a man named Kirk while on Earth, which meant that Laszlo had a good chance of recovering. And now that the war was over, they should be able to reach an agreement with Earth to obtain more fluid as needed.
Braden had also forwarded to Leila the report that Torque submitted about some strange side effects from the serum. She’d study the specifics once back on the Ice Moon and after she was assured that Erik was recovering, which was her top priority at the moment.
Once Erik was well, he and Laszlo would make the perfect team to rebuild Xylon and lead the remaining warriors into a bright future.
He sat down in the control seat and gazed out at Earth’s moon—a sight that Alexa had no doubt viewed herself on too many nights to counts. A deep loneliness enveloped him. In fact, he’d never felt so alone.
The shifter ships were still in orbit, as well as quite a few Xylon fighters assigned to stop any more Egesa slaving ships from leaving the planet. The battle was over for the most part. Earth would once more know peace. As would Xylon.
As for him? He would no longer fight fate but the warriors didn’t need him anymore. He programmed in a set of coordinates, took one last look at the small, blue planet and the remaining warrior orbiters that he’d led here, then he headed off into the galaxy. “Peace to you all.”
* * * * *
Splitter Ship RS-18
Jaeda watched Torque as he looked around the splitter ship. She had to stop herself from smiling. She’d been heartbroken when she’d turned away from him on Earth. But she hadn’t wanted him to feel any obligation to her.
Now she knew that he loved her. He hadn’t yet said the words. But she could see the emotion in his eyes. She loved him too. Even though they hadn’t spent that much time together physically, she’d known him for a long time in her visions. And in those visions, they’d done more than have sex. They’d talked. They’d shared. They’d grown emotionally close.
Even so, she couldn’t abandon her people at their most vulnerable, when their society was in the process of evolving and finally connecting with others. She had to return. Torque would be a great asset and would bring an alternate view to the people of her planet. She was more pleased than she could say about his decision to accompany her.
The movement she’d started years ago, along with Laszlo’s help—and now Torque’s—would finally bring about the open society she and others like her had longed to see. “We’re heading back to Bogadh.”
“Yes, Liusaidh Cuini,” her lieutenant commander responded.
Torque turned toward her with a questioning gaze. “What does Liusaidh Cuini mean? It didn’t translate. Your shifter name?”
She shook her head. “It’s just what they call me. Jaeda Spargo is my real name. Liusaidh Cuini has two meanings, depending on the region of Bogadh one is from. In the North, it means Queen of Light. In the South, it means Warrior Queen.”
He smiled slightly. “Queen? As in royalty?”
She shrugged.
“I like both interpretations. Which does it mean to your crew?”
“Both. I have followers from the North and the South. They accept both meanings with ease.”
“And you?”
“I claim the name that gives me the most leverage. In diplomatic situations, Queen of Light serves better. In times of conflict, Warrior Queen rattles the enemy more.”
“Conflict and enemies?” He shook his head. “That sounds completely foreign to what we’ve believed over the years. The shifters have always been a peaceful people from everything we’ve known.”
“Bogadh’s been so cut off from other societies that there’s been a lot of misinformation. The government position has been to remain peaceful with outsiders and not get involved in external conflicts. But the price of that is total control over the people, which resulted in on-planet skirmishes more often than one would think. We need—crave—freedom. With freedom though, we know that we can’t survive without other planetary allies. Xylon has always understood that.”
“Yet Xylon fell.”
“A temporary setback only. Ultimately your warriors defeated the Egesa with Earth’s help. And ours. Now you will rebuild and be better than before.” She took his hand. “Come. I will get you settled.”
She led Torque toward her quarters. She hoped that he wouldn’t regret his decision to follow her instead of returning to the Ice Moon with his people. They would all be reunited in time, she was certain. Though Bogodh was located a good distance from Xylon, they were in the same system of planets with common suns. It would take much less time to travel between their worlds than it had for them to get to Earth.
A door slid open and she led Torque inside. She watched his face as he took it all in and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Wow.” He turned in a slow circle.
“It’s a holo-room. All our quarters are such. It makes long space flights endurable. And we can change the setups at will.” Right now, her quarters looked like a lush garden, complete with a small pond. Her bed was located inside a gazebo where she could feel a breeze as she slept. Small avians flew here and there, and the explosion of color fed the senses. “It’s very relaxing. When I need to work, I can change everything in an instant to a technical environment. The space can even be subdivided to accommodate multiple setups.”
“I’m impressed.”
“This is only available on the larger ships. The energy consumption is quite large and we can’t carry as many people or as much weaponry, which is problematic at times. But we’re working on improvements.”
“I think I’d opt for the weaponry and save this for on-planet use.”
She nodded. “It’s a constant argument. Since historically, we’ve stayed out of external conflicts and used splitters for research and development or equipment and medical transport, the construction engineers opted for comfort over protection. Now things are changing. We should enjoy this while we can.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Well, I’m all for personal enjoyment. Especially with you.”
She laughed. “Yes. I’m aware.” She sobered and gazed into his eyes. “What’s in our future, Torque?” She felt him stiffen slightly and worried at his thoughts.
“What do you want for our future?”
“We have divergent responsibilities.” She frowned and pulled out of his arms. “Neither of us would be happy turning our backs on that.”
“Why would we have to? Why can’t we have it all?”
Hope leapt in her heart. “Do you really think that’s possible?”
“If Bogadh now wants additional alliances in order to enjoy more freedom and if Xylon now wants additional alliances in order to effectively rebuild its society, then perhaps both our worlds can work together to secure the area of space around and between our planets.”
“A new exchange of sorts?”
“Exactly. With you and I being the connection to help merge our societies, like Brianna and Sam will be helping Earth and Xylon maintain an alliance.”
She smiled. “I like it. But still, that’s our diplomatic future. Not our personal future.”
He slowly stepped toward her. “It’s our personal future. I’m not losing you, Jaeda.” He extended his hand. “Join with me.”
Join with him. As a partner, as a lover? Or join with him in the Xylon way of mates? She wasn’t sure of his meaning and his words caused her thoughts to spin out of control. As she hesitated, she saw a look of worry enter his eyes. Even at their most vulnerable on Earth, she hadn’t seen that look from him. “Be clear.” She raised her chin slightly. “Do you love me?”
“Yes,” he answered with a strong voice and without hesitation.
“Do you wish us to be officially joined—mated?”
“Yes.” He visibly swallowed hard.
She grabbed his hand before he lowered it and changed his mind. Their relationship had developed like a whirlwind—fast, wild. And totally wonderful in her opinion.
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “I love you, Jaeda,” he whispered in her ear. “I have from the very first vision.”
“I love you, Torque. And I need you by my side.” Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks for she’d never felt happier than she did right now. She and Torque were together. And she never wanted that to change.
* * * * *
Underground, Planet Xylon
Tara looked at Belkor from beneath her lowered lashes. The man she’d grown close to had gone. She’d heard him and Belkor talkin
g in hushed whispers. They’d decided that Genok needed to be neutralized before he led the clan to them.
She didn’t approve of hunting down and killing the man. But at the same time, she felt grateful that they’d go to such lengths to save her. Why though? If she was an asset to the clan, was she also an asset to them? Was this nothing more than a political move?
Either way, she would live to see another day. She hoped the others would be as lucky. She knew of no certain way to ensure their safety. If she could absolutely trust these two men, then she would tell them about Alexa and the babies, about Pitch and Josella. But she couldn’t take the chance.
“Your mind races, Tara.”
Her head snapped up. The man was too perceptive. “What’s next? We can’t hide out forever.”
“We will attempt to keep you safe until your people arrive. Then we will take you to them. We know that some have already come looking for you but have now disappeared. Is this not true?”
She continued to pretend ignorance. “Not that I know of.”
He chuckled. “We have heard and seen the signs.” His face sobered. “They will not be safe.”
“If you knew of the whereabouts of such people? Could you keep them safe?” She tried to ask the questions as lightly as possible to imply interest in a what-if scenario only.
He studied her before answering. “I do not know. The more intruders that come down here, the more dangerous the situation.”
She nodded. “Then it’s a good thing that no one else has shown up.”
A slight smile tugged at his lips. “Yes.”
Tara heard someone coming and pushed to her feet as Genok and three other Def’mal rounded the corner. Belkor jumped to his feet and stood in front of her in a protective manner.
“There!” Genok pointed at her.
She and Belkor were immediately blocked from escaping. Neither of them even had a chance of fighting back for two of the Def’mal were armed. She looked for the other man but he wasn’t with them. Had he double-crossed her and Belkor? She didn’t want to believe it.