“Put away the weapons or get out!” she snapped. “Both of you.”
“You are in no danger,” the stranger assured. “My fight is with him.” He indicated Kotto with the point of his knife.
Kotto drew back his arm, but kept the end of his sword pointed at the intruder.
“I don’t care.” Indigo planted her hands on her hips, too angry to be afraid. These Rodytes needed to stop tossing her life into chaos. “This is my house.”
“Our house,” Laura corrected, her gaze still glued to the longhaired alien.
Indigo ignored the interruption. “I will not allow violence here.”
Slowly the intruder lowered his knife and turned toward her. Kotto took a step forward, but Indigo motioned him back. “You stay right where you are and put—whatever that thing is away.” Shockingly, he obeyed. With a subtle flex of his hand, the transformation reversed and he slipped the knife back into the sheath at his side. She returned her focus to her uninvited guest. “Who are you and why are you here?” Those questions were becoming repetitious.
He sheathed his weapon as well and held out his hand. “I apologize for my rudeness, but I’ve been repeatedly provoked.”
“And you are?” she prompted, not sure if the omission had been intentional or not.
“Vinton Tandori. I’m the spiritual anchor of this sacred bonding ground.”
Spiritual anchor? Indigo searched her memory. She’d heard, or more likely read, the title before, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it meant. As Raina said, Boulder was a sacred bonding ground. According to Mimi’s journals, when hybrids were ready to mate they felt a mystic pull toward places like this so they could find a person with whom they would spend the rest of their life. Indigo hadn’t realized what she was feeling, or hadn’t been willing to admit it. But then, she’d lived in Boulder all her life.
“It’s your power that draws them here.” Kotto’s tone made it hard to tell if he was asking a question or making a statement.
“The women you’ve targeted are members of Tandori Tribe,” Vinton stressed. “They’re drawn to the sacred bonding grounds to mate with other members of their tribe not to be snatched away by interlopers.”
“None of the women we’ve encountered have had any knowledge of this.” Kotto crossed his arms over his chest. On him the pose looked threatening rather than sexy. He looked at Raina. “Are you a member of Tandori Tribe?” Raina shook her head, so he looked at Indigo. “Are you?”
She shook her head as well, but Vinton was unimpressed.
“Each female is awakened before her mate is chosen.” Vinton’s voice grew louder with each exchange. “They’re taught our history and customs and they’re given plenty of time to accept their new life path.”
Indigo rolled her eyes. She could shut this guy down with a few simple questions. “When was my mother ‘awakened’? Why’d you choose my father? He was barely ordinary on his good days. On his bad days, it was best just to stay out of his way. What about Aunt Lynette? Raina’s father was even worse than mine. You want us to believe these men were chosen for your precious Tandori females? Apparently, you’re not very good at your job.”
“We must maintain a balance of human and Rodyte DNA,” Vinton told her without pause, “so only every other generation must mate with Rodyte partners. Mimi mated with a Rodyte, so your mother and aunt were allowed to mate with humans. The men they chose were screened for genetic abnormalities, but other than that, we saw no reason to interfere.”
“How kind of you,” she sneered. The more Vinton spoke, the less she liked him.
Apparently, Kotto agreed with her. “You kept to the shadows and manipulated Laura’s generation without their knowledge. And now you’re awakening their children because you have no other choice. They can’t mate with aliens if they don’t know aliens exist. If you were truly one united tribe, there would be no need for all the secrecy.”
Vinton’s glare was just as venomous as Kotto’s. “We blend with humanity for the same reason you’re hiding inside the moon.”
Indigo gasped. “Is that where your ship is?” She looked at Kotto. “How did you get a spaceship inside the moon?”
“That’s not the point,” Vinton snapped. “They have no right to you. I will select your mate, not this pretender!”
“Thanks so much, but I’ll be choosing my own mate—when and if I decide a mate is something I want.”
Suddenly Vinton was looking at her mother for support. Indigo almost laughed. If he thought he’d find an ally there, he was deluded. Indigo had learned how to be a strong independent woman by watching her mother.
“I knew this one would be a challenge,” Vinton muttered, “but they’ve clearly confused her even further.”
“‘This one’ is not confused. I just resent the hell out of any man who thinks he has a ‘right’ to me. If you two haven’t noticed, arranged marriages went out of style several hundred years ago.” Any lingering fear she had because of an armed stranger magically appearing in her living room evaporated beneath the heat of her temper. Who did they think they were? Both Ashley and Raina were “mated”. Clearly there was a whole hell of a lot more to Zilor’s proposition than he’d bothered telling her.
“You were scheduled to be awakened the week Luna died,” Vinton told her in a much calmer voice. “It was obvious you were devastated. I wanted to give you plenty of time to grieve. Perhaps that was a mistake.”
He was a complete stranger. How dare he talk about her family’s tragedy as if he knew anything about it? The wounds inside her heart burned. It felt like a scab cracked open and started bleeding all over again. “I have no idea who you are and I want you out of my house. Right now!” She pointed toward the door.
“Indigo.”
The warning in her mother’s tone sent a wave of dread crashing over Indigo. Slowly, she turned her head and lowered her arm. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”
“You’ve been so restless lately. It’s obvious you’re feeling the pull. It’s time to get serious about finding you a mate.” The explanation would have been annoying coming from Vinton. Hearing her mother rattle off the information made Indigo want to scream. They were all in on it!
Her life had spun from elation to terror to fury all in a single day, but the flashfire emotions had burned themselves out. Now she felt hollow and alone. Everywhere she looked someone expected something she wasn’t ready to give. Raina wanted her to jaunt off to the stars for some undefined adventure that had resulted in her ending up with a mate. The longhaired alien wanted to play matchmaker. And her mother… If she thought about what her mother wanted, and all that had been kept from her, Indigo would shatter.
“I’ve lost interest in all of this bullshit.” She dismissed them all with an impatient wave of her hand. “I’m going to bed.”
* * * * *
Zilor fidgeted in his chair, frustrated and restless. When Kotto and Raina returned to the Crusader an hour ago, they hadn’t had Indigo with them. Not only had they failed to convince her to sign the contract, they’d uncovered a potentially devastating complication. Kotto had immediately sent word to Raylon, but it had taken Raylon a while to finish up what he was doing and return to the Crusader. It was Raylon’s job to coordinate operations between the four ships currently assigned to Earth. Well, five if he counted the Phantom. But a ship with a maximum capacity of six didn’t require much coordination.
While trying not to let his disappointment show, Zilor indulged his imagination. He’d really hoped to see Indigo again. He’d found her vibrant and refreshing, so different from anyone he’d ever met. She was playful one minute then deadly serious the next. Her mercurial personality perfectly matched her multi-color hair. And her scent, complex and absorbing. He’d wanted to touch her, kiss her, press his face against the softness of her throat and saturate his entire body with her intoxicating scent. He had to find out if she was as responsive as she’d seemed.
He’d never seen eyes so blue or expr
essive. He could almost feel what she was feeling just by looking into those thick-lashed eyes. She’d met his gaze directly with a candidness that made him desperate to learn more. And her tattoos were just as intriguing. What he could see of the colorful markings urged him to peel off her clothes and study the rest. From the graduated rings piercing her earlobes to the lush fullness of her lips, each of her features seemed to offer something extra, something beyond the ordinary.
Her outfit hadn’t been overtly sexual, but she emanated sensuality all the same. Her clingy black shirt tucked into snug blue jeans that tucked into lace-up boots. The flowing effect was sleek and perfect for her lean, leggy build. And, as if all that weren’t enough to capture the attention of any male, a tiny, shimmery stone nestled in the crease of her nose, on one side but not the other. It had been distracting, yet fascinating, like the woman herself.
“This is a disaster.” Raylon’s deep voice dragged Zilor back to the present.
They’d gathered in the Starlight lounge, which was really just the top level of the multi-purpose atrium that spiraled through the center of the Crusader. It was Raylon’s favorite place for last-minute meetings. Kotto and Raina sat next to each other, leaving the other two chairs at the small, square table for Zilor and Raylon. It was almost midnight, so they had the room to themselves.
It was obvious everyone at the table agreed with Raylon. The question was, what could they do about it?
“Mimi’s entries barely mention the spiritual anchors,” Raina said as she fiddled with her datapad, frantically scrolling through page after page of information. “And she makes them sound like groundskeepers.”
“Did you submit an inquiry to the Wisdom of the Ages?” Raylon asked.
“I did, but I’m still wading through the information they sent back.” Raina rubbed the back of her neck. “Talk about thorough. Not only is there an overview of their responsibilities, there are biographies and DNA profiles on every anchor since the bonding grounds were established. How does the Symposium do it? Anyway, there haven’t been as many anchors as I thought there would be and they’re all listed as So-and-so Tandori. I wonder if that’s their actual family name or just a tribe affiliation.”
“Before we get into specifics, fill us in on the basics,” Kotto suggested. “We’ve all heard of the Tandori Tribe, but Rodyte history teaches that they’re a scattered group of troublemakers that are all but extinct.”
“I knew better,” Raylon told him.
“Really?” Kotto dragged out the word, making it needlessly provoking. “Oh mighty wise one, please enlighten us.”
Raina reached over and placed her hand on his forearm, the simple gesture an unmistakable warning. Kotto and Raylon had called a truce, but it was unlikely they’d ever be friends again. Unless Raylon found his mate, of course. Then losing Raina to Kotto wouldn’t chafe quite so badly.
“History of the Tandori Tribe goes all the way back to Bilarri,” Raylon began. “They lived on an isolated island near, but not part of, the Fire Islands. Their society was closed to outsiders, so no one knew whether or not they could manipulate magic. When the original exile began, the Tandori refused to submit to testing, so they were rounded up and shipped off to Rodymia like everyone else who flunked the test.”
“Flunked what test?” Raina looked up from her datapad. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s how the Bilarrian high council decided who could stay on their precious planet and who wasn’t worth keeping around.” Raylon’s tone grew brittle as his explanation continued. “The test verified the ability to manipulate magic. Anyone without such abilities was tossed out with the trash.”
“But the Tandori Tribe can manipulate magic,” Raina said. “Quite well, in fact.”
“Yes, they can,” Raylon reinforced. “But they no longer wished to be part of a society that would discard their own people so easily.”
“Why do you know all of this?” Kotto asked Raylon, but his tone was less hostile now.
“My morautu was Tandori.” He stared off into the distance as he spoke the words.
Kotto looked at Zilor and mouthed the word, morautu. Zilor shrugged. This was the first he’d heard about Raylon having a chosen mate, but then it had only been in the past few years that they all served on the same ship. Rather than stumbling deeper into a doubtlessly painful subject, Zilor asked, “Why isn’t any of this in the history books?”
“Because history is written by whoever wins the war,” Raina told them. “The Tandori were archrivals of a family named Keire. You might have heard of them.”
The Keire family had ruled Rodymia for the past three hundred and fifty years. Generation after generation had been brutal and ruthless, ruling through fear and intimidation. The current crown stirate, however, was an anomaly. Quinton was weak and easily influenced. Rumors of a military or political coup had been circulating ever since his coronation.
When no one commented on what she’d said so far, Raina went on, “According to the Wisdom of the Ages, the Tandori family actually had more supporters than the Keire family did. The Keire family was just much more ruthless about dealing with their detractors.”
“The Keire family basically started a civil war over whether or not they would fight in the ongoing civil war?” Zilor shook his head in disgust. “No wonder our planet is so screwed up. Rodyte history is obviously unreliable. What does your information say about how the Tandori ended up on Earth?”
He’d been looking at Raina when he asked the question, but Raylon replied. “When Rodymia declared war on Bilarri everyone was expected to participate in the battles. The Tandori refused. All they wanted, all they’ve ever wanted, was to be left alone.”
“So they were exiled again?” Kotto guessed.
“Depends who you ask,” Raina told him. “According to Rodyte records the Tandori deserted their planet during a major crisis because they were cowards and are now scattered to the four winds. The Keire family insists that they had no choice but to declare them traitors and forbid any of them from returning to Rodymia.”
“Obviously, the Tandori tell a different story,” Raylon interjected.
“So this Vinton, or someone in his family, could have been crown stirate if his tribe had been willing to fight for what they believed?” Kotto mused.
Raylon shook his head. “That makes them sound cowardly and they’re not. They just saw no reason to attack Bilarri. They didn’t agree with the exile, but going to war wouldn’t change the past. They are willing to fight, if they feel the cause is just, and if violence serves an actual purpose.”
“After having a Tandori leader make that point with the sharp end of his knife, I’d have to agree with you.” Kotto sighed then spread his arms. “We’ll have to negotiate with them. We can’t keep stealing their women now that we know what the protein marker really means.”
“We don’t know that every female with the protein marker is part of Tandori Tribe,” Raylon argued. Was he just being contrary? He’d been defending the Tandori up until now. “The Tandori aren’t the only Rodytes who have settled on Earth.”
“If their psychic magnet is drawing anyone with Rodyte blood to their sacred bonding grounds, then it won’t matter. Anyone who wasn’t born into Tandori Tribe will soon be bonding into it.” Luckily, Raina brought the counterpoint rather than Kotto, so Raylon just nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s still an important distinction,” Zilor said. “Any female who isn’t directly descended from the original exiles should be allowed to choose between these two opportunities.”
“I’m not sure Vinton Tandori will see it that way, but it’s definitely worth a try.” Not surprisingly, Kotto agreed with his mate.
Even if this door closed, there had to be other options. Zilor wasn’t ready to give up. “On the bright side, if they’re managing the gene pool and scheduling awakenings, they must know the exact location of every Rodyte/human hybrid on Earth.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re not go
ing to give up their females without a fight,” Kotto reminded. “Vinton made that much absolutely clear tonight.”
“I’m not suggesting we steal them,” Zilor said. “All we need to do is find out what the Tandori need, or want, and provide it. People have been bartering since the beginning of time.”
“And if they don’t want anything we can provide?” Kotto persisted.
“Then we’ll have to be creative.” Raylon was starting to sound impatient again. “We’ll make this happen because we have no other choice. As of right now, bonding with hybrid females is our only option.”
“Is there any hope that will change?” Raina asked.
“There’s always hope,” Raylon stressed. “The research team is working on a formula for full-blooded humans. If they figure out where the previous teams went wrong, that will give us several billion new options.”
Raina smiled, clearly pleased by his optimism.
“So where does this leave Chandar?” Zilor knew Danvier would ask as soon as the meeting ended. Their cabins were across the hall from each other, so Danvier would likely hear him return or sense his energy approach.
“I’m not sure,” Raylon admitted. “Has Indigo’s DNA been tested? Were her potential mates notified?”
Zilor shook his head with a heavy sigh. “We were trying to do it by the book this time and have her sign the contract first.”
Raylon narrowed his gaze as he heard Zilor’s words. “If you’re willing to be creative, maybe we can still sneak her in under the wire.”
“What are you plotting?” Kotto scooted closer to the table, his gaze gleaming with anticipation. “I’ve seen that look too often not to know what it means.”
“I would never suggest you misbehave, but if Indigo had already been tested and if one of her potential mates happened to mark her—without our knowledge of course. We would have a semi-legitimate reason for putting up one last fight before we sit on our hands and start negotiating.”
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