"We cannot have sex. We can stay in the same area, and just avoid physical contact."
"That's fine with me.” She threw herself back into the soft sheets. “I'm going to avoid you by going back to sleep. I was up all night and I'm exhausted. Why don't you call A'Kosu'an and find out if there's some kind of vaccine we can take to kill this retrovirus before things get really unbearable."
Kol stared at her for a moment as if she were some type of bug in a jar. Finally, he turned on his heel and strode away, tossing a final, biting comment over his shoulder. “Things already are unbearable."
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CHAPTER 10
Hot water cascaded over Kol's head, drowning his thoughts and calming his nerves. While his bond mate slept, he'd done as she suggested and searched the medical archives for alternatives to the separation ritual. He'd found nothing useful.
He'd walked around the garden beyond his bedroom, putting as much distance as he dared between them and still he'd ended up at the foot of the bed, contemplating the curve of her thigh that peeked out amid folds of the white sheets. His cock had stirred at the memory of his last vision of her. Or had that been a dream? He couldn't distinguish one from the other anymore. Before his desires got the best of him, he'd locked himself in the shower.
First cold water doused his rising heat, then hot soothed his tired body. When he finished here, he'd wake her and explain the ritual. Charity was strong and she was no stranger to hardship or pain. She might welcome any chance to break this unnatural bond, even if it meant more physical discomfort.
The next vision slammed into his senses, stronger and more feral than any that had come before. His knees buckled and he braced an arm against the wall to hold himself upright while ghostly images swam around him.
She clung to him, and sweat drenched their bodies. He'd just climaxed and still his seed pumped within her. Her wide, golden eyes held him transfixed while she whispered his name ... then the thunder of an explosion rocked them. They tumbled together, gripped by fear, and the startled cries of his tribe mates filled the air. Somewhere, a battle claxon sounded, rending the stillness of a pleasant afternoon, and then everything went dark.
He came back to himself with Charity standing over him. She looked soft and sleepy and her tawny eyes were full of concern.
"How did you get in here?” He waved away her offer of assistance and pulled himself up from the cold tiles. He didn't remember sinking to the floor, but the shock of the terrible vision must have brought him to his knees.
"There's an emergency override on the bathroom lock,” she said. “I heard a sound and I thought you'd slipped in the shower or something."
"I'm fine. You can go back to sleep.” He wanted her out of his sight before his raging desires took over. The vision had cured nothing. He'd seen destruction and terror, yet still he wanted her in his arms.
"I think we need to talk. Unless we find a way to cure this retrovirus, we're going to be stuck together, aren't we? We're going to become dependent on each other."
He nodded. He was already dependent on her. His next breath, his next heartbeat depended on her nearness. “It was a mistake. It was not supposed to happen."
"I get that.” She seemed displeased, almost hurt. She turned her face up, studied the ceiling and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don't want to feel this way and I'm sure you don't either. So what do we need to do about it?"
The knock on his door came quietly, but it startled him nevertheless. He pushed past Charity, grabbing a towel to cover himself as he headed for the door.
A'Kosu'an stood outside in the dappled moonlight. Her expression told him more than he wanted to know. “The Elders have spoken to the authorities on Valencia and on Celrax and they've made their decision. They would like to see you both now."
"If the news was good they would not be calling a meeting in the middle of the night."
His tribe mate lowered her eyes and studied the tiles beneath her feet. “I only know what they have asked me to tell you. They are waiting."
Kol nodded and shut the door. They would continue to wait until he was ready to see them.
* * * *
The night breeze stirred the fine hairs on the back of her neck and Charity shivered. Kol walked beside her, his pace slow and deliberate, as they made their way from his quarters to the multi-tiered building the A'Kosu called their Great House.
Much of Antarean architecture was inspired by the Asian cultures of Earth, and nowhere was this influence more apparent than in the sliding panels and highly polished floors of the Great House. Tall, slender pillar candles lit their way through the entry hall and dim electric lights took the place of open flames in the Council meeting room.
Never in her life had Charity felt more like a criminal than she did at this moment. When Kol ushered her inside the sparsely decorated, dark-paneled room, and she faced the disapproving stares of the seven A'Kosu elders, she felt naked and a little bit dirty, as if she'd stolen something from them, rather than from Gar Gremin.
An old man with long white hair, wearing dark blue robes stepped down from the curving podium. Kol and Charity took their places at the center of the room as he approached them. When he stepped forward to face her and sketched quick bow, she saw sympathy in his eyes.
"You may call me A'Kosu'ban, which means Second Elder. I have been chosen to say that we are grateful to have been able to treat your injury and that we trust you are well this evening."
Kol nudged her and Charity nodded. “I am. Thank you for helping me."
"I am told you call yourself by the name Charity-Foster and that you share this name with others. May we call you thus?"
"You may."
"We have reached a decision."
Kol stiffened beside her and his fingers sought hers.
"I don't recall asking you to make any decisions on my behalf,” she said, careful to keep both her gaze and her voice from wavering.
The Second Elder favored her with an indulgent smile. “No, you did not. The decision involves A'Kosu'ri's request that you remain here under our protection rather than be turned over to the Valencian government."
"Valencia is governed by a lying, cheating son of a—"
A'Kosu'ban held up a hand. “Well, while that may be true, Valencia is governed, nevertheless. And the A'Kosu tribe contracted with the Magistrate of Valencia for the services of a bounty hunter, whose mission was to capture a thief. To fulfill that contract, the thief must be remanded into the custody of Valencian authorities. While we sympathize with the plight of those on Celrax and other colonies on the Galactic Rim, we have received no formal confirmation that you acted in the interest of those colonies and not strictly for personal gain when you appropriated one half kilogram of selenite crystals from Magistrate Gremin's storehouse."
"Of course they won't confirm I was working for them. I wasn't. I'm working for the colonists. If the government on Celrax cared about the people there, they'd be fighting Gremin themselves."
A'Kosu'ban held up one wrinkled hand and Kol dug his fingernails into her palm at the same moment, silencing her. Obviously this was no time for a rant against the illustriously inept Celraxian government.
Reluctantly, Charity held her tongue.
"I personally do not doubt you, Charity-Foster. But my vote is only one of seven, and I have been overruled. It is our decision that you must be turned over to the Valencian government when their representatives arrive on the day after tomorrow. It would behoove you both to break your mating bond before that time."
"Break it?” Charity whirled around and glared at Kol. “You didn't tell me it could be broken! Not that it matters because what the Valencians might not have mentioned is that they're going to execute me. Probably over the course of several excruciating months."
One of the seated elders interrupted Charity's rant by tapping a silver bell. The sharp clang silenced everyone and all attention turned to the single female who sat at one end of th
e podium wrapped in golden yellow robes.
* * * *
"A'Kosu'ban, what did you just say?"
Kol stared at Barok who looked typically pleased with himself. The old man had never been above making inflammatory statements in Council sessions.
"I suggested that A'Kosu'ri and Charity-Foster seek to break their mating bond through the separation ritual before the Valencians take her into custody."
Yannick turned her pale gaze to the other Elders, all of whom shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. Demnar spoke next and annoyance pinched his doughy features. “Barok, you assured us A'Kosu'ri suffered from a stomach ailment."
"That is what I believed at first."
"Well, the woman is not Antarean. There can be no mating bond."
"According to A'Kosu'an there can be,” Barok countered. He moved to the central position in the room and everything about his demeanor challenged the authority of the rest of the Council. “Apparently an environmental toxin present on Lebron—the planet where A'Kosu'ri and Charity-Foster were stranded—caused a mutation in the bonding retrovirus allowing it to affect the female's human physiology. I don't claim to understand botanics or biology in depth, but A'Kosu'an's findings are very interesting and I encourage each of you to read the report she uploaded to the medical database earlier today. The mating bond was not initiated by A'Kosu'ri, nor was it intentional. To separate them now during the most potent phase of the virus's life cycle would amount to executing them both."
Yannick sat. She leaned back in her chair with a weary sigh. “I wish I had reason to doubt this fantastic tale, A'Kosu'ban, but I hold A'Kosu'an's word in the highest regard. This changes my vote on the matter."
Kol tensed. Beside him Charity seemed to coil, as if she were preparing for another outburst. He silenced her with a stern, sidelong glance.
"That makes the new vote two to five, I believe,” said Borak.
Demnar pounded a soft fist on the podium table. “Which means nothing. My vote remains the same. I will not see the A'Kosu harbor a criminal."
Faran spoke next. The least forceful of the Elders, his voice floated on the still, warm air. “Three to four. We cannot force a bonded couple to break their bond."
"Yes, we can,” Demnar countered.
Modric, Fourth Elder, cut Demnar off. “No. We cannot. There is no precedent. The choice remains with them. If A'Kosu'ri remains bonded, the woman becomes A'Kosu as well and therefore deserving of our physical and legal protection regardless of her guilt or innocence. It becomes our duty to hold her harmless until a trial has been conducted in full."
Ceres, the youngest of the elders raised his hand in agreement.
"Then make the vote six to one in favor,” Emin, the final elder, said. “We would not turn A'Kosu'ri over to a foreign government without a full trial, and we cannot do so for his bond mate."
For a moment the burden Kol carried seemed to lift. If Charity were to remain on Antares until a full hearing could be completed, they would have time to work on breaking the bond without the painful separation ritual, and she would be afforded all of the legal resources of his tribe. Surely they would find her innocent once they understood her plight.
His victory was short-lived, though. A new weight descended on Kol's chest when Demnar rose from his seat. His green robes rustled in the quiet air. “Everyone seems to have changed their minds as easily as a flaredragon changes its spots. I, however, put forth this question: If the bond was not entered into willingly due to this toxin, then it is not a legal bond, but an accident of nature that should be corrected with utmost haste. Be aware the female is not Antarean, and bonded or no, she jeopardizes A'Kosu'ri's claim to his lineage."
The other elders shuffled in their seats again, and Kol's shoulders sagged. Demnar was right. Kol's lineage was at stake because he had not chosen an Antarean mate.
"If the bond remains in place much longer, it will become permanent,” Demnar added. “And A'Kosu'ri will forfeit his lineage. As such, neither he nor his mate would qualify for the protection of the tribe."
Barok looked angry now. His clever coup to save Charity from extradition to Valencia had failed. “Then I propose we afford the bond mates time to choose their own destiny. Separate or remain bonded—and if they choose to remain bonded, we no longer have jurisdiction over A'Kosu'ri's actions or choices. In that event, he should likewise be free to leave Antares with his mate and seek protection for her elsewhere."
Yannick pounded the table. “I agree."
Faran, Modric, Emin, and Ceres agreed also, which left only Demnar who seemed pleased with the outcome of his decree. He nodded and gave an unctuous smile. “I agree as well. It is unanimous. A'Kosu'ri will make his choice within two days, renounce his bond mate or renounce his lineage. I will gladly abide either choice."
Barok hung his head and his narrow chest heaved with a weary sigh. “I am sorry, Kol'A'Kosu. I tried to help,” he whispered as he shuffled past them out of the darkening chamber.
Kol held still and silent while the Elders filed out. Then he turned to Charity. She looked as if she'd already performed the separation ritual. Her face seemed gaunt, and her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
"What are you going to do, Kol?"
He held her gaze for as long as he could, wishing the answers were simple. Finally he tugged on her hand and pulled into an embrace. “Whatever I must,” he said as full darkness descended around them in the empty chamber.
* * * *
The A'Kosu compound covered hundreds of square kilometers of temperate lowlands, descending to a long, narrow crescent of white sand beach only a short walk from the Great House.
Charity felt like she'd covered every inch of the place that night. She and Kol had walked for hours after they left the Council chamber, hand in hand, though she'd come to worry that any physical contact now would only prolong their agony later on.
They stood now on a rock promontory overlooking the Antarean ocean. The first warm rays of daylight had broken over the white-capped waves and all around the rocks a school of brilliant red fish danced and spun, jumping out of the water to catch the small insects that were attempting to settle on the surface of the gentle waves to lay their eggs.
The blue veil of the nearby nebula had faded to a haze just visible along the horizon and the moon hung low and fat above the water, ready to trade with the sun for a place in the lavender sky.
"You can't give up your lineage for me,” she said after a deep breath of the salty air.
"Nor can I allow Gremin to torture you."
"I'll leave. I've escaped worse places. We can do this ritual bond-breaking and I'll—"
"The Council has determined you will be turned over to Gremin as part of the contract they made with the Valencian government. They will not allow you to escape."
"So what do we do?"
"The only thing we can do is convince the elders to change their decision. Is there anyone else on Gossamer or Celrax you can contact to speak on your behalf?"
Charity stared at the sky. Her home seemed so far away, and all the people she might have turned to for help had their own problems and worries, any of which would be magnified by their association with a known criminal. “No. Let's do the bond-breaking and let me worry about finding myself an ally.” She couldn't bear to admit that the odds were no one would be willing to help her. Since her mother's death, she'd relied on no one but herself, and that wasn't about to change.
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CHAPTER 11
"There must be a way to reverse the effects of the pollen,” Kol insisted. He paced in Gia's lab the next afternoon, frustrated and angry with the Elders.
Charity sat in the next room, giving yet another blood sample to one of Gia's technicians. So far none of her tests had turned up any chemical alternative to the separation ritual.
"The pollen seems to have limited effect,” Gia replied. She looked up from the microscope that held a sample of Kol's blood. “My tests sh
ow the pollen spores cause a short-lived surge in hormones. There's nothing there to reverse. The ... sexual activity caused by inhaling the pollen triggered the right chemical response in your body to activate the bonding retrovirus and you know the only way to reverse that."
"What about ways to suppress the virus, even for a short time?"
"No.” Gia shrugged. “It wasn't designed to be suppressed. It can only be killed by the right combination of electro-chemical stimulation and an overdose of adrenaline that occurs during the ritual."
"And you can't recreate that combination without physical pain?"
"I'm sorry."
Kol took up his pacing again. “What about complete decontamination?"
Gia shook her head. “That would not destroy the virus, only any bacteria you may have picked up on Lebron."
"There must be—"
"Kol.” Gia laid a hand on his arm. “This separation ritual works. It's painful, but temporary. It's the only thing you can do to spare your lineage and relieve Charity of the agony of separation once she's taken from Antares. You must do it or you must leave with her."
"She deserves our protection."
Gia gave him a stern look. “Are you so sure? The bond has clouded your judgment about her. She's wanted in connection to a number of thefts. Perhaps she—"
Kol whirled around and glared at this tribe mate. What bothered him more than her lack of faith in Charity was the fact she was right. He had never doubted the guilt of any of his targets before. He'd never questioned their motives or considered their side of the story. He'd merely done what he'd been assigned to do and never looked back.
He'd never been to Celrax or Gossamer and he'd never known anyone who was starving on the Rim colonies or anyone hoarding selenite for their own greedy purposes. Could it be he believed Charity's story because his body had become conditioned to love her, thus his mind followed suit?
Gia held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I mean no offense, Kol. I like Charity-Foster and I think, regardless of the bond, she cares for you. I've seen it in her eyes. I'm only stating the arguments the Elders have used."
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