Peyton 313

by Donna McDonald

  Kyra nodded. “I agree that it’s a messy problem and one UCN greed created. I think you should direct Norton Industries to put all its energies and manpower into seeking a viable solution. Think of all the great publicity you’re going to get when that happens. For my part, I intend to oversee Dr. Smith’s restoration personally. I might even restore his humanity—in a few years—after he’s been redefined about twenty more times to get rid of his mad scientist complex. It would be a shame to waste a mind like his forever.”

  “When you tip over the evil science bitch ledge, who’s going to redefine you, Dr. Winters?” Chancellor Owens demanded.

  Kyra laughed and crossed her arms. “Insults again, Chancellor Owens? Well now that you mention my potential competition, I think I do want the lead scientist position you and Li offered me. And more than that—I want to sit on the cybernetic advisory board at the UCN. That way I can make sure you two keep your word. Hell—I’ll even work at Norton for my old salary. You can keep the twenty million you tried to bribe me with and use it to pay off a few soldiers. You can start with your abductors. Be grateful. They saved you from the evil plans of Dr. Smith—your favorite UCN-funded mad scientist.”

  Kyra stopped pacing and stopped trying to be brave. She looked at them genuinely, her gaze insisting that they understand.

  “I know this may surprise you, but none of this is really about money. One day the world will thank me for figuring this out in time to stop a worse world war than any we’ve had to date. It would be very bad for all those military cyborgs to free themselves without being put back in touch with their humanity. Am I being clear about the gravity of the situation? We need to treat them well so they won’t hate us and use the prosthetics we gave them to hurt us. Do you get the edge we’ve all been walking, Chancellors? You’re looking a little stunned by the news.”

  Their dazed nods made her happy, but she wasn’t able to show it. Instead, Kyra turned on her heel and marched to the door. She stopped and looked back one last time.

  “Even after our recording goes live, I’ll be watching what you do and so will these fully restored soldiers who can come get you anytime they want. I wouldn’t advise betraying them or me ever again.”

  She glanced at Eric and King. “Help the chancellors get dressed for their big hero scene, then take them to the conference room. I’ll be there shortly. I need to go change into my evil science bitch clothes and put my lab coat on. I wouldn’t want the world to get the wrong idea about me.”

  The last thing Kyra heard was Eric and King mock apologizing to the chancellors as they roughly pulled the complaining men to their feet.

  ***

  Outside in the hallway, Kyra leaned against the wall. Within a minute, Peyton followed her out. She stared up at his grin. “Too over the top?”

  Peyton rubbed his mouth. Kyra made him smile so often, he hoped his face never froze that way. It would play hell with dealing with his men.

  “Are you kidding? Hearing you give those two that ballsy lecture was hot. In fact, I’m having a very strong physical reaction to knowing you’re a real badass under that dorky lab coat you wear. Hell, you sounded so mean I even forgot for a moment that you weren’t really an evil cyber scientist. How about I have the guys stop at your house and pick up those red high heels to go with your apprehension gear? I think the combination of dumb woman shoes and badass scientist could inspire me to keep you awake all night.”

  Kyra sighed. “Sexual mockery? Really? After all the hell I just went through? I’m wishing now that I hadn’t taken off your wrist restraints. I’d be shocking the disrespect right out of you, Peyton Elliot. And by the way, your Cyber Husband rating just took its first serious nosedive.”

  Shoving at his chest, Kyra smiled as she heard Peyton belly laughing as she walked away. She wanted to put her real clothes back on, including her lab coat, before she went to confess her cyborg restoration work to the world.

  Chapter 21

  Five weeks after the recording aired, Kyra was hiding out and dressing in the master bathroom of her house. It was still a shock to her that she and Peyton had been able to move back in, much less into the master bedroom which he’d redone right down to painting the room trim.

  Every day now she surreally went to Norton and performed a new cyborg restoration. So far only one had been a total failure, but they hadn’t let the man commit suicide. Instead, they’d had to put him back the way he was before the restoration. While it had hurt to take that action, she was keeping a list of the failures. One day she’d find the answers for them as well.

  “How’s Marcus holding up?” she asked through the open bathroom door.

  “Marcus at least got to see his sons. They don’t remember him much after ten years, but their stepfather was pretty decent about it. He hung out to ease the way for Marcus and the kids to get to know each other again. Eric was keeping an eye on it from a distance in case it went badly. Eric said Marcus’s wife. . .or ex. . .or hell whatever she is to him now. . .was clearly still in shock. He said she seemed incredibly afraid of Marcus. He said you could see it in her eyes. It may take another decade before all the lies about cyborgs are proven to be false,” Peyton reported.

  Kyra nodded as she pulled the short black dress on over her head. Then she laughed at herself because Peyton couldn’t see her. She cleared her throat so she could yell again. “The rest of your team appears to be adjusting, but I can never tell how much turmoil they’re trying to hide. How do you think they’re doing?”

  She sat on the toilet seat lid to strap the tall black high heels on. When she stood, she wobbled and had to catch herself on the sink. It took a few steps to get the hang of balancing her weight on them. It had been many years since she’d worn the sexy, but stupid shoes.

  “Each man is identifying some quirks in his programming, but the average functional efficiency range stays in the ninetieth percentile for the ones I’m equipped to track. Their UCN pensions have made their adjustment as good as it can be considering normal people still tend to freak out when they discover they’re interacting with a cyborg. No one is getting a hero’s welcome home. In fact, most seem to have forgotten about the war, and that includes their families. Cyborgs will never be able to forget.”

  “Maybe the world the cyborgs are waking up into will improve in time,” Kyra said, walking out of the bathroom. Peyton’s genuine surprise over her appearance proved worth every painful moment she was experiencing trying to maintain her balance.

  “I know my world sure just got a hell of lot better,” Peyton declared, rising from his prone position on their bed. It had been his first purchase with his pension. The next had been the set of gold rings in his pocket. He walked slowly to where she stood.

  “Damn, Doc. I can’t take you out in public looking like that. I’ll get arrested before the night is over just trying to keep the men off you. That includes my men—and especially King.”

  Kyra smacked a hand to his chest. “We’re not staying home. King is expecting us to come to his restaurant’s opening and we are going.”

  “Okay, but ditch the tall heels. There’s no reason to be uncomfortable for anyone but your husband.” Peyton stepped into Kyra and dipped to her mouth. His body went rock hard when he felt hers lined up so well with his. “My circuits are scrambling. You need an outfit like this in every color. You don’t ever have to walk around in the shoes, just wear them to bed. Start with our honeymoon.”

  Kyra snorted. “Honeymoon? Is that suggestion your idea of a marriage proposal, Captain?”

  “Yes. It is,” Peyton said. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the box. “Wearing rings is old fashioned, but I want the world to know we’re a couple. I figured if you enjoyed boiling water in a teakettle, you might like to wear matching wedding rings. These were artifacts that I had resized to fit us.”

  Kyra flipped open the jewelry box, instantly tearing up at the matching gold bands nestled inside it. “Peyton—what were you thinking? These are real gold.
That metal is worth a fortune these days. We’ll have to have body guards to keep from getting mugged for them.”

  Peyton nodded. “Well of course they’re real gold. And they’re worth a lot for other reasons than just the metal they’re made of, but we’ll talk about that later—much later.”

  Kyra lifted both rings from the box before tossing the empty container on their bed. She lifted Peyton’s real hand and slipped the gold ring sized for him on his finger. After it slid home, Peyton took the other one, lifted her hand, and slid a matching circle of gold onto hers.

  “How can I be so happy when there’s so much left to do?” Kyra asked.

  Peyton sighed before answering. “Even the good guys get a night off now and again, Doc. We’ll go back to saving the world tomorrow. I promise. How about we enjoy a little reprieve this evening?”

  Kyra wrapped her arms around him and hugged. “I say my husband and I are probably going to be a little bit late for dinner at their friend’s new restaurant. I’m thinking maybe I need to try out my sexy new shoes in bed before I change back into my flats. What do you say?”

  Peyton lifted a laughing Kyra into his arms. “I say—there’s no maybe about what I intend to do to my incredibly beautiful wife in next ten minutes and fifteen seconds—give or take an hour—if it turns out she’s in the mood for some serious lovemaking.”

  # # #

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  ~ Donna McDonald

  KEEP READING in this ebook to read an excerpt

  from “The Tracker’s Quest”, Book 6

  in the Forced To Serve series

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  Excerpt from The Tracker’s Quest (Book 6 of the Forced to Serve Series)

  Chapter 1

  If Rena had still been alive, she would have called her naïve for having hoped for a better welcome. Seta hadn’t expected her father to greet her warmly. It would have been foolish to let her mind indulge in such a fantasy. But the two giant males dragging her by her wrists were reprehensible treatment from the wealth-obsessed tyrant who had sired her. The phony escorts had met her Peace Alliance courtesy shuttle only to make her a prisoner the moment they’d driven away from the landing station.

  Seta stumbled in her regulation boots as her father’s two chief guards literally tossed her into a small holding room just inside the walls of her father’s canton. Luckily she was still completely in uniform, so no Ethosian female drapery impeded her progress as she whirled around to face the traitors. Angry heat flooded her face over her disrespectful treatment. The power she hosted clawed inside her to be recognized. . .and used. But she feared doing so would mean her death as much as that of the males she faced.

  “Chief Arghane, I demand to see Suzerain Trax immediately. I have come at his explicit request. Why have you taken me prisoner? He expected me to present myself to him as soon as I arrived. Your mistreatment of me will not go unpunished this time.”

  “We know why you have returned, errant daughter of Trax. This is where you will wait until the Suzerain is ready to see you. Be patient for his will and show your sire some respect. Your manner of dress is enough offense to earn a beating with the lash,” Chief Arghane replied.

  “My father is not the only threat you need to heed, Arghane. I am a Peace Alliance officer now. This clothing is my uniform . . .hey.” The heavy metal door slamming loudly on her protests made Seta jump back a step or two. Curses flew from her mouth without regard for the fact that everything she said and did was most certainly being monitored.

  In the Peace Alliance, she had been respected as an officer. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be insulted and treated so poorly. All Ethosian females were secondary citizens on Ethos, really no more important than any other possession a male could own. Males, especially those in higher positions like Arghane, had socially sanctioned power over her.

  She thought of her dead sibling and how relieved they had both been to put Ethos and their lives there behind them. Anyone that had managed to obtain their off-planet freedom usually had the good sense never to return. It was doubly wise for females to heed that wisdom. So why had she felt so driven to come back when her father had asked?

  “Do not haunt my thoughts from wherever you have gone, Rena Trax. Making right my foolish mistake is going to be enough torture.”

  Seta laughed as her words bounced off the metal walls of her cage. If she was lucky, the guards would think she was crazy for talking aloud to her dead sibling. Mental insanity might be a profound truth about her before she escaped again.

  Her father’s request had seemed genuine enough via com link, but given her immediate incarceration, that obviously had been a ruse to gain her presence. In her desire to avenge Rena and gain some measure of freedom for her mother’s family, she had chosen to believe his words. If Rena’s spirit was watching from wherever it had gone, she was no doubt genuinely furious that Seta had let herself fall into their father’s trap so easily.

  She strode to the single small mirror in the room. After her Peace Alliance training, she knew the mirror was a security surface behind which guards watched her every movement. The female staring back at her looked intimidated by the whole situation. Unwilling to accept that was her only choice for reality, Seta placed a hand on the glass and closed her eyes. She thought of her conversation with Ania Looren and of the secrets the other alien demon host had shared. It was as good a time as any to try some of it out. Arghane had taken her weapon.

  “Zorinda. Show yourself to me in the mirror,” Seta said firmly. But when she opened her eyes, all she saw was the same frightened female. She tried to recall what it was that Ania has said about needing to be firm when commanding the creature within her.

  “Demon Zorinda—I require your help. I command you to show yourself to me in any form you can,” Seta said in a fierce whisper. Her hand slid from the glass as she felt the surface turn freezing cold beneath her palm. A misty swirl of black rippled over her own reflection until her face was no longer visible.

  You have been misled by your abductors.

  Seta frowned. The words appeared in her mind, but they were also given sound in her head by a strange female voice resonating within her. She now understood Ania’s cautions about believing every whisper from within. It was virtually impossible to tell what commentary was her own inner dialogue and
what was Zorinda speaking.

  Seta stepped back, studied the surface, and then stepped forward again. “Yes. I understand the danger. Please explain what you know.”

  The mist danced and moved. Seta waited and watched until it had settled again.

  Don’t trust their words, the black mist ordered.

  Seta snorted. “No worries there, but I need more than advice. How can I get out of here?”

  Patience. The way out will come soon. His choice is made.

  Seta felt Zorinda pull back her energy. It left her pondering the confusing statement as she watched the black swirl disappear rapidly from the glass. It hadn’t been the kind of conversation she had hoped for with the powerful being inside her, but then again, Zorinda hadn’t ignored her demands for communication either.

  As she settled down on a chair to wait, Seta congratulated herself that Ania’s introductory lessons about mastering the alien spirit within her were working. If Zorinda was right, the request from her father might have been no more than a ruse to get her to return so he could punish her for leaving. Maybe he intended to make her torture and death a public example of what would happen to those who tried to defect.

  Her father and his guards would receive a surprise if he did try to kill her. Zorinda had done nothing to help during the attack on the Guardian, but then it had been Ensign Vetin at risk—not her. Ania had felt that was the only reason Zorinda hadn’t intervened.

  “How much of a fool was I in agreeing to this farce?” Seta asked the walls.

  Disgusted at herself for feeling regretful, she marched to a cot and plopped down on it to wait. All her thoughts were focused on only one thing. She must find a means to escape the planet again. Having managed to do it once with Rena, she knew escape was possible. Doing it alone might prove more challenging, but she would still find a way.

  Her last conversation with Ji came back to mock her captivity. Perhaps she should have taken her bossy former captain up on his offer to accompany her after all. Her greedy sire would no doubt have enjoyed trying to extort a high union price from the wealthy Siren.