by Elise Jae
Richter is awake when I get back.
“Did you mom call this late?” He asks, confusion and sleep wrinkling his brow as he turns on the light.
“No.” Tucking a leg under me, I sit beside him. “But there’s something we need to talk about.”
He reaches up, cupping my jaw and brushing his thumb across my cheek. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been lying to you.” Closing my eyes, I turn into his palm. “And I don’t want to lie anymore. But I’m scared of how you’ll react.”
He pulls me forward, holding me against him. “Whatever it is… just tell me. We’ll figure it out.”
Taking a deep breath, I feel how deeply he cares.
“They sent me here to spy on you.”
He tenses, arms still caged around me.
Eyes closed, I drop my head to his shoulder and tell him everything.
RICHTER
I’d always known there was something special about laurel, but I definitely hadn’t guessed she was a spy.
She’s asleep beside me. Peaceful now. She spent the first hours after her confession tossing with disturbed dreams.
I’ve no doubt my disquiet contributed.
Some might think I should be mad.
That I should turn her out… or turn her in.
But I don’t want to.
She didn’t have to tell me--even if her CO had threatened her.
And I’ve kept my own secrets
Her skin is soft and warm as I skim over her hip, pressing her shirt up as I follow the dip of her waist and slide under her arm to cup her breast. She snuggles back, pressing her gorgeous ass against the part of my anatomy that hasn’t felt a moment's rest in the time she’s been here.
It’s the work of a moment to slip the thin wisp of lace from where it covers her and slide into the familiar, delectable warmth.
With a contented hum, she wakes and moves on me. The gentle rocking of her hips threatened to drive me demented.
But the violence of my feelings shouldn’t be released. Not this time. She fell asleep vulnerable. It’s her turn to set the pace.
Still moving on me, she twists, offering me her lips, better access to her breasts.
“You still want me?” Her question is soft, every other word punctuated by a shift in her hips.
“Always.”
“Thank God.” She leans further into me, slinging her leg over top of mine, opening herself further and leaving herself at the mercy of my hands.
Her back to my front, I rock into her. Letting myself love her with my body and soul.
FOURTEEN
LAUREL
It’s time to face the music.
Richter knows I’m nervous. Of course he does. But it doesn’t help that he’s on my side of the sofa, that he’s trying to comfort me with a hand on my shoulder.
Several members of the Brotherhood are here--I don’t know how many there are, in all--and they’re sizing me up.
I’m not certain what they see.
But when Drift asks me to tell them, in my own words, what I’ve done, I don’t balk.
“My records were falsified.” I swallow and continue on before they can make assumptions or ask questions. “Nothing more than they had to to remove any hint of involvement in my life. But My previous profession section has a glaring omission.”
“It doesn’t matter what it is.” Richter’s glaring at the other two men, telling them, not me.
“It might.” I swallow, trying to clear the dryness in my throat. “I’ve been employed by the military for the last three years. They think my coming here was their idea… that it was some sort of kismet that I happened to have the prerequisites for coming here.”
“And they want you to do… what, exactly?”
“Report back my findings. They’re scared of you. I’m sure that can’t be a surprise. Physically, you’re stronger than they are, and more so, your technology is advanced beyond their wildest dreams. You are a very real threat to humanity.”
“We need you more than you need us.”
“Human nature has us all inclined to assume the worst.”
Richter squeezes my hand, and I meet his gaze.
I have no doubt they’ve sent others to perform this same task, and I tell them as much.
“How did they expect you to be able to do any of this?” The one called Trench asked.
“I can read and understand your language. I can’t speak it--largely because I’ve never had anyone to practice with.”
He glared at me and, in his language, said, “How are we supposed to trust anything you say?”
“Because I have no reason to tell you any of this.
“This is the only thing I’ve sent them. It’s a report on the caldera and a brief description of you. There’s nothing in there but my observations and what you’ve told me. I haven’t gotten into your systems and I haven’t sent anything that I thought might actually be able to harm you.”
“And what else are you going to tell them?” Trench hadn’t switched back to English yet.
“I resigned this morning.” I look Drift in the eyes. “I honestly only accepted the commission because I was worried they would work against my coming here if I refused, and I didn’t want to spoil my chances. I’ve always known this is where I need to be. Fate put them in my path to make it easier.”
Core chuckled from the back of the group. “Cindy puts a lot of faith in fate as well.”
Drift studies me while the others murmur behind him. “Would you be willing to un-resign?”
“Why would I do that?”
“If you approve, I’d like you to continue to send reports.”
“What do you want me to tell them?”
“That as long as they don’t do something stupid, they have nothing to fear from you. But if they decide to take some step--to show any form of unprovoked aggression--it’s a fight they won’t win.” Drift paused. “Do you think that will be an opinion shared by the others they’ve sent?”
“I don’t think anyone would come to a different conclusion.”
“I’m not happy about why you’re here, but I won’t lie to you and say it’s enough to make me wish you’d never come.” Drift turned to Richter. “It makes her a security risk.”
“And what, precisely do you want to do about it?”
“Nothing. I expect you to continue to keep an eye on her. I know you can’t object to that.” The big, scary man actually smiled. “But we aren’t the only ones she could pose a danger to.
RICHTER
Drift sends the others home and thanks Laurel for coming clean. But before he goes, he leans his head toward the door, and I follow, leaving Laurel on the couch, staring out at the snow.
He stops by the shadow boxes, staring at the remnants of our enemy. “You trust her, right?”
“With every ounce of my being.”
“Good. You’re both going to need that.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Because despite Core’s belief that you can get away without telling her what we are… she has to know. It’s not information any of us want to share, but if we plan to share our lives with someone, we have to share it all.”
“Her confession proves she understands that.”
With a quick dip of his head, Drift turned.
“You’re calmer than I expected about this.” I say. “Hell, I’m calmer than I thought I’d be.
He paused with his hand on the door, but he didn’t look back as he said “You’re in love. I understand that better than you might guess.”
“Thank you.”
This time, he did look back. “I’m letting you handle this because I believe she loves you. And it would take some severe circumstances to make us betray the one we love.”
“That sounds like a story you’re going to have to tell me sometime.”
“No. It isn’t.”
The door shut behind him with a hard snap and we were alone again.
“
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“I am too, but I understand.”
She looked at me with an expression I’d worn too often to not recognize.
“Mostly.”
FIFTEEN
RICHTER
It’s been hours since either of us has spoken. She’s curled in my lap, staring out at the snow, and I’ve been staring at the polished glass fire in the middle of the room.
I don’t know what she thinks is going on in my head, but I have no doubt she can feel the hundred arguments I’ve had and lost with myself in that time.
I need to tell her. Drift is right, Core is wrong. There’s no way I can live with this secret if I love her…. And I do.
“I need to tell you something too.”
She doesn’t move to sit up, and I don’t try to shift her. But her body has tensed.
“It’s a day for confessions, isn’t it?”
Dropping my lips to her hair, I nod, and kiss her. “You asked me if all Sian men heal as quickly as I do, and the answer is no.”
“Well, I’m not upset about that.” Her fingers go to my chest, where that first slash gave her some inkling.
“I told you the brotherhood was raised in the system… but it wasn’t an orphanage. We were handed over to a man who had plans for us.”
She doesn’t say anything, but I know she doesn’t like the sound of that.
“I’m an experiment.” I had hoped those words would be like a lifted weight. I just feel more leaden. “We all are. Genetic freaks pulled from an orphanage and…. Turned into what they needed us to be.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been so afraid I’ll hurt you, because what they did to me didn’t just make me heal faster, it made me stronger than the others. I can tear a monster in half if I get the right hold on one.”
Now she does look up at me, I can see as well as feel the confusion.
A sharp trill from the front pulls my gaze away from her eyes, and I hate the relief I feel at the opportunity to leave.
“Drift needs me. It’s an emergency.”
When I move to the door, she asks, “Don’t you need to suit up?”
“It’s not that kind of emergency.”
She’s still processing, I can tell from the hundred flickering emotions coming across our bond. And I can’t leave her with only that confession.
“I love you. And I need you to know everything. Even if it makes you fear me.”
She’s staring at me. Blankness covering her face, fear gripping her heart.
I can’t stay and see it any longer.
I pull her in, kiss her once more, and leave.
LAUREL
I honestly can’t believe I didn’t say it back.
I meant it so hard, a part of me feels like I might have shattered if I had.
The house is a little colder now that he’s gone, and I pull my robe from the back of the couch, bundling it more tightly around me.
A sharp trill of an incoming call jerks me away from the door, and I answer it. Just happy for the distraction.
“Hi mom.”
She’s sitting in her own living room, so at least she’s given up on harassing my sisters.
“So,” she says, arms crossed. “When is the wedding, and am I at least invited? Heaven knows I won’t be able to go, but we could at least video in.”
“They don’t really have weddings here.”
“So what? You just sign a contract and it’s over.”
“Don’t even sign a contract.”
“I don’t expect her to understand. I’m not sure I would if I hadn’t gone through it. But I honestly believe the only thing that will part us is death.
The idea forces a little bile to my throat, and I grimace as I swallow it back down.
“Well,” she sniffs. “You look horrible.”
“Thank you.”
She gives me that look only mothers can master. “I hope you have a doctor there.”
“I do.” Or something like it anyway.
An alarm went off in the background and my mom turns to it, sharply. “I’m making family dinner. For the family I still have left.”
I try not to let the words sting. “Alright mom. You enjoy your pot roast. I’ll talk to you later.”
With a huff, she disconnects.
I feel a little feverish and my stomach is acting traitorous. The last thing I need right now is the flu.
At the back of the house, there’s a room Richter never uses… and now I know why.
It’s full of all the medical necessities a monster hunting bachelor could need.
Except that he doesn’t.
The med scanner is dormant, and it takes a few moments to boot up, and I shiver as I hear the heater kick on.
Thank God.
A quick scan, get the machine to spit out some medication, take a nap and… I’ll be good as new.
Unless….
I glance down at my stomach. I’ve felt a little bloated lately.
Pulling up the calendar on the wall, I compare Sian dates with earth dates.
I’m late.
And that would explain so much.
The scanner chirps, and I blow out the long breath I’d been holding.
Their medical tech is ridiculously advanced.
I’ll have answers in less than five minutes.
Blue light fills the tube around me, and I close my eyes, trapping a yawn.
Warm air and burbling sounds swirl around me as the machine works.
Less than a minute has passed when a bird-like chirp sounds, and all movement ceases.
When I open my eyes again, I’m faced with a full body image, highlighting the cause of my discomfort.
And there it is.
That tiny little future child
I’m fully awake now.
I’m struck by an overwhelming hope. For a little boy with eyes just like his father.
But it’s too soon to tell if we’ll be having a boy or girl.
Too soon to tell much of anything at all.
Cindy said pregnancy was shorter, but I have no idea what to expect, even at this earliest stage. And that's why I lock the information when the machine offers me the opportunity.
I’m not going to tell Richter.
Not yet.
I want to know more before I do.
We’ll need a plan, and I can’t expect him to know what’s going to happen. I have to know where we go from here.
There’s only one person I can talk to about this.
I call Cindy almost on autopilot.
It’s easier knowing Core isn’t there, that he’s with Richter and won’t have the opportunity to blab.
“Hey good lookin’” Cindy says as she fuzzes to life on the screen in front of me.
She’s got on an off the shoulder sweater and is holding a carton of peppermint ice cream.
“Hey, can I come over? I think we need to talk.”
Her eyes go wide. “You’re pregnant!”
I nod, trying to hide my wince.
“Promise me you won’t say a word to Core.”
She hesitates, but her voice is sure when she says, “I promise.”
I throw on my warmest clothes and boots, and grab what little I think I’ll need before hopping into my car.
It takes a moment for the car to warm, and I’m at the perfect temperature when I pull out onto the road and head down the meandering highway that connects the Brotherhood’s compounds.
It’s a long, boring drive, and I have too much time to think.
But around the next corner, a man appears in the road.
It’s not a big deal. I tell the car to slow, to maneuver around him.
But it doesn’t.
Panic hits, the car swerves, and I’m tumbling.
I land upright, off the side of the road, and blink up at the dark shape of the man I managed not to hit. But he’s swimming.
And he’s all-too-familiar.
SIXTEEN
LAUREL
The man who came to my door twice, has just finished tying my hands, and shoved me into the side of his car.
“After all these times we’ve met, I still haven’t introduced myself.”
“Don’t think I want to know.”
“My name is Victor. And I’m the one who brought you here, not that experiment.” He sighs and sneers. “You left the docks with the wrong man.”
The neural link is on the seat beside me, broken just jagged enough….
I have no idea if it’ll work, but I start scraping at the cordage around my wrists.
He doesn’t drive far, and I try to get my bearings as he stops the car and drags me out into the cold.
His hands are fisted in the front of my jacket as he studies me. He inhales, long and deep. “Damn, I’d held out hope, but I can’t keep you if he’s claimed you.”
I’d almost worked through the restraints. “Just let me go.”
But Victor wasn’t listening to me.
“He won’t stop hunting for you until you’re dead.” The puff of breath he let out hung in frozen disappointment. “This would have been so much easier if they’d accidentally handed you to an accountant.”
“What?”
“If I could kill him, I could keep you.” There was something wistful and terrifying in his words.
The cord snaps, and I lunge, knocking him away, and bolt for his car.
But I’m not quick enough.
He tackles me, and the freshly fallen snow is the only thing that keeps me from breaking my nose.
“Clearly,” He said, dragging me back to my feet. “you would have been a poor candidate for my needs.”
A monster howls in the distance, and I’m not the only one who flinches at the sound.
“He didn’t tell you, did he.” Victor’s smile is almost maniacal. “That’s what they hunt. They don’t eat us… they eat you. Having you this close is drawing them out.”
He shoves me, herding me further from the road.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I bought you. I paid for you, and I am not going to let another man keep you as his bondmate.”
