“Don’t act so cocky.”
He waggles his brows. “I thought that’s one of the reasons you liked me.”
The sexual innuendo isn’t lost on me. I want to laugh, but I’m afraid I’ll end up with brain damage. “You’re not being fair. I could end up with a lobotomy or something.”
Everyone in the room bursts out laughing. Then Shaday says, “Serena, the worst that could happen is the probe would turn off. There is no risk involved in this.”
“How can that be?”
“It’s the way it’s programmed,” he answers.
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to,” Sabin says. “Know your precious brain is safe with us.” He takes my hand and sits next to me.
“We’re almost done and ready for the implant. This will only take a few,” Shaday says. A little while later, he announces they’re finished. “I’ll analyze what we’ve retrieved and let you know.”
Then Edge and Verus tell us that they’re going to accompany him. The SIMD claims I’m perfectly healthy, so it also departs, leaving Sabin and me alone. At last.
“I thought this would never happen,” he says. Then we hear a bark.
We both laugh, saying, “Walter.” Sabin calls for one of the guards, and Hrennuan comes to take care of the puppy.
Sabin sits beside me on the bed. His gaze roams my body, warming me in a way that makes me feel like I mean something. It may sound silly, but I’ve never had that, so this is that special thing I’ve always heard about but never thought would happen. Yes, I knew he loved me, but this transcends even that.
“We need to talk,” he says.
“Yeah. We do.”
He grins. “Back to your own language.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Then his face turns serious again. “You must know, Serena, that you’re my everything—my hopes, my wants, my dreams, my life. I didn’t say these things to you before, and I should have. I treated you as if you were ordinary and I shouldn’t have. You are anything but that. It was my gravest error and I won’t make that mistake again. You are extraordinary and should be honored, and treated with the greatest respect. I want you with me, permanently, as my partner in life. When you were taken, I knew I had to get you back or die trying. You say you want to stay here, but please tell me your emotions run as deep as mine.” He picks up my hand and places it over his heart. “I don’t ever want to feel the emptiness I felt without you again.”
“Sabin, you’re my heart. But I don’t want to live my life worrying about you.”
“You won’t. You’re my first priority. I will shield you and our child before all others, protect you from all harm.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I don’t want you to go after the Mastermind.”
He stills. His eyes meet mine and what passes between us is the pain he experienced when he thought I might be dead. My gut seizes as it’s sliced to pieces. I groan and beg it to stop.
“That’s why I must do it. He’s taken too many lives, Serena.”
Still panting from the idea of losing him, I ask, “But what if he takes yours, too?”
“He won’t. My men and I will cut him down like the bloody bastard he is.”
I throw myself at him, telling him how frightened it makes me. “Just tell me you’re here forever. That’s all I need to hear.”
“I am.” I can only hope what he says is true.
Verus and Edge analyze the data extracted from Serena’s brain and we discover The Mastermind has a name. He is Kor. Other than that, we only find what we already know. Her mind was a blank slate after she arrived at his realm. The League is unwilling to grant permission for us to take him out. I am livid. Zatere stands before me, calm as usual.
“Why? This is our chance to stop him permanently.” The Seven, minus Andros, are present. “We all want to exact our revenge. Not only that, we’re pretty damn sure he has Judgment Day.”
Zatere shakes his head. “The Council doesn’t think it’s wise.”
“The Council doesn’t think anything is wise that’s for the good of our people. Have you not noticed this?” My tone is icy.
“The League knows how you and your men feel, Sabin. It’s the Council’s decision, however.”
“What do you feel, Zatere?” I need to know. “And this stays in this room between us.”
“He is much more than a threat. He is a menace to the universe that endangers the very existence of life as we know it. He needs to be destroyed.” There is no hesitation in Zatere’s response.
“I need to ask you this. Do you think the Council has a connection to him?”
He hesitates. This tells me much more than his answer. “Yes.”
“We have the same suspicions. So, how about this? We remove him without their knowledge?”
Zatere spreads his hands wide. “How can it be so, if they have an insider? And I suspect there’s more than one.”
“Don’t ask me how, but we control his security. We can get in and out without the insider knowing. You tell the Council we were very unhappy with their decision so everyone believes that’s that. We go in without anyone’s knowledge. We’re used to dealing with this. We’re covert ops.”
“I have no knowledge of this,” Zatere says.
“Of course not. You left as I started breaking furniture. When we get Judgment Day back, it comes here, Zatere, where it will remain locked up with Paradox.”
Zatere nods, “Don’t call me when you return. I’ll call you.”
“On another note, when we do return, I need to finalize the seventh position and we need to decide how to bring down whoever it is that’s been the spy.”
“It may be someone who has been cast under his mind bending. Keep that in mind.”
“I will, but I won’t like it.”
“You never do, Sabin.”
Zatere leaves and I say, “We need to vote on Andros’ replacement. Are we prepared to do that?”
Drey steps forth and says, “I would like to recommend Drustus. He has been the most reliable, strongest, fastest learner, best on our tech, and I believe he is the best fighter among the group.”
“Do any of you object to him?” I ask. No one says a word. “Good. We’ll bring him in on a trial basis. If he fucks up, he’s out. Drey, call him in.”
Since this is a high priority mission, we don’t tell him what it will be, only that it is unclassified for now. We’ll see how he reacts when he finds out exactly what we’re doing. Drustus takes the oath about pledging his honor, and his life to his brothers, and how he will put this before everything except his family. The men congratulate him on becoming one of The Seven and bring him into the group by handing him a bottle of liquor.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he says.
Rafe’s brow arches. “You don’t know?”
Drustus grabs the bottle, uncorks it, and takes a hearty swig. Everyone slaps him on the back as he sputters. He may not be a big drinker, but he’s a good sport.
When we finish, I grab Edge. “How’s Melody?”
“Still critical, but making improvements. She’ll live.”
“I need to tell Serena.”
“She doesn’t know?”
“No. I wanted to wait until there was a sure chance of her recovering. I’m going to tell her now.”
Edge nods. “She’ll want to see her, yeah?”
I nod, dreading the entire thing.
“Do you want me there?” Edge asks.
“Possibly. I’m going to try to deter her, though. Let me tell her first and I’ll let you know if I need you.”
“Sure thing.”
Serena is out on the terrace, reading something. No doubt it’s either one of her romance novels she loves so much, or something on marine biology. The differences between the two make me chuckle.
“Hey,” she says when she sees me.
Taking a seat next to her, I rest my elbows on my thighs. “I don’t know where to begin on thi
s one, and you’re not going to like it, so I’m just going to throw it out here. Your friend Melody is here.”
“Melody? Melody Hampton?” Her tone is a mixed bag of confusion and surprise.
My head jerks up and down.
“What’s she doing here?”
Blowing my breath out, I explain what happened. Or at least how she ended up here and what we think happened. Serena is sick. Sick because Melody had been with Kor the whole time she had.
“Can I see her?”
“You should probably wait. She’ll survive this and when she wakes, she’ll need you.”
“But how will this work? Will you allow her to know she’s here?”
“We haven’t decided. It depends on how she fares.”
Serena doesn’t say anything, but I know her mind spins. “I can’t understand why he took her.”
“The truth is, none of us can. If it was meant to draw us there, it was useless, because he had you. You were a much bigger player. If he wanted her for his own intents, that’s another issue altogether, but why?”
“I’m glad she’s out of there.”
“I know and we are, too. On another note, we’ll be leaving soon. Once we get our final strategy established, we make our move against him. We cannot delay any longer.”
“I still stand on what I said. Don’t go. Will this ever end, Sabin? If you bring back Judgment Day, will your job end, or will it be something else?”
I push back a tendril of hair that’s escaped from her elastic, and tuck it behind her ear. The comforting response she seeks isn’t anywhere to be found, because we don’t know what will happen next.
“The Seven are protectors. Like we protected you, we will do the same for others. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but since Paradox and Judgment Day are our responsibility, it’s what we will do for now and the future.” I raise her hand to my lips. “I can tell you this. I have never felt the need to protect anyone more than I have you.”
“When do you leave?”
“As soon as we get our new member up and running.”
“Don’t hedge, Sabin. Is that a day, a week, a month?”
“Probably tomorrow.”
She pinches her lips together.
“You’ll be safe here, with your guards,” I tell her.
She looks at me, her eyes targeting mine. “I’m not worried about me, dumbass,” she snaps. “Our baby needs a father and I want you to come back to help me raise him.”
A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. Serena and her descriptors. I think back to Rafe for a second. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him since Serena gave him a piece of her mind.
“What?” she asks.
I can’t tell her what I’m thinking because it will piss her off. One thing—this woman is proud and touchy. And for being such a slightly built thing, she’s not afraid and doesn’t back down. At all.
“I’m only thinking about how fortunate I am to have landed such a brave woman for my mate. And I’ll be back because I want to see our son. I would never leave you to raise him alone.”
The look she gives lets me know I’ve scored some points with her. But what I’ve told her is the truth. I am lucky and plan to show her how much I love her every day of my life.
~~~~~
We are prepared to leave; all plans are in place. The Seven are united, with Drustus filling Andros’ shoes. Though he will always be missed, we have a job to do, and Drustus has assured us he is up to the task. Once we return, The League will officially swear him in as one of The Seven.
Our weapons are on ready, and Verus is waiting for my command to transcend. Serena stands with her three guards, and I have to give her credit. She’s not a weepy woman, but a stoic, courageous one, even though I know she’s scared shitless right now. Not caring about what the men will say, she steps into my arms and kisses me. It’s a kiss full of passion and love, and if she doesn’t break it off soon, I’m going to head off on this mission with the biggest hard on ever.
“Any time now, Sabin,” Edge says.
Usually it would be Rafe calling out the crap, but ever since his tango with Serena, he says nothing when it involves her. And I can’t blame the man. Apparently she had his balls in quite a vise. I wasn’t aware of how bad it was until later when he told me about it. She actually bruised the poor guy—not that he didn’t have it coming.
“If you don’t make it back here in one piece, I’m going to kick your ass so hard, you won’t be sitting down for days,” she says.
“Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“You. You put these crazy ideas in my head. I used to be a normal girl until I met you. Now go get ‘em, cowboy.” Then she gives my cheek a soft slap, but worse, when I turn around, she pinches my ass, too. The men all chuckle. I glance at her over my shoulder, and she mouths the words, I love you. I wink at her.
Then I say to Verus, “Take us out of here.”
And we find ourselves headed to pay Kor a visit. My brain spins with the scenarios I hope await us. If everything goes as planned, we’ll be in and out with Judgment Day and Kor won’t be bothering anyone anymore.
“Edge, you have the strategy aligned.”
“All of it.”
“Their security is still ours to control?”
“Yes, sir,” he says.
“Then we follow all established plans.”
The trip over is fast and seamless. Once we reach their atmosphere, we go quiet and transparent to avoid detection. It’s my pleasure when I find myself standing in front of Kor again. I should be disturbed that he doesn’t flinch when he sees me, but my boldness overrides everything.
“Ahh, I see you have missed me to return so soon.” His voice sends ice pricks over my skin.
“You’re mistaken. It’s not that I’ve missed you. I’m excited because I’m here to kill you.”
“You have come to kill me?”
“Why else would I be here?”
He twists his head around and asks, “And you brought so few men?”
“I have enough men. There is only one I want to kill.”
“But many stand in your way. And are you sure I’m the one you need to kill?”
What’s he playing at here?
“You’ve taken something from us that doesn’t belong to you. We want it back and we’re here to take it. Then I’m going to kill you for all the havoc you’ve wreaked in this universe.”
“But you didn’t give me what I asked for. It was not a fair exchange as you said. And I do not have what you seek.”
It’s the way he says it that sends pricks of fear across my skin. His voice doesn’t carry any of the menace it usually does. He should be enraged over the fake Paradox we left him, but he’s not. He sounds softer, more conversational almost. And for whatever crazy reason, I believe him. But if he doesn’t have Judgment Day, who does? What game is he playing?
Shrugging, I say, “Nonetheless, you harmed my mate. For that alone, you will die.”
“Then it is revenge you seek. But I didn’t harm her. She harmed herself. She refused the food and drink I offered her.”
I am done with him and his silly speech. “You took her prisoner and for that alone you must die.”
We move to take him and Serena was right. He surrounds himself with an impenetrable shield. But this won’t stop me. I’ll die before I walk away from this place, leaving him alive.
Verus knows what to do. He releases MSI and they swarm the place. Their job is to find out how he uses this shield and what to do to break it. He stands before us, unblinking, as we move around the room. Two Shaurok move into position. I kill them. Two more take their place. I kill them. It’s a repeating cycle.
“Rafe, shut the fucking door, so those idiots can’t get in here. I’m tired of this stupid shit.”
The doors close off the entry point for the Shaurok. I send a mental message to Edge, letting him know there will be trouble in the ranks.
Kor becomes agitated. Hi
s wall will crumble soon. Without his little army to protect him, he knows it’s over.
Verus says, “It’s about done, Sabin.”
“I know.”
“Kor, do you have anything to tell us?”
His mouth curves. “You should go home.”
“I plan on it. Are you prepared to die?”
His head twists around and I am done with his silly games. I reach for him again but hit the barrier I can’t penetrate.
“Verus?”
“Working on it.”
Kor’s voice ratchets up a notch and pierces my ears. “I do not have what you seek.”
Edge? Anything yet?
No, nothing. Need more time.
Stepping closer to Kor, I ask, “What game do you play?”
“There is no game anymore, Sabin, commander of The Seven. The game is over.”
Verus moves behind me and says, “Now, Sabin.”
I reach my hand toward Kor and the barrier is gone. But when I touch him, his body shatters into a million particles of dust.
“What the fuck just happened?” I scream.
“I don’t know.”
Edge? Anything?
“No, can’t find it!”
“Well, he made that easy for us,” Rafe says.
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” I say.
“So do I.” Verus chimes in.
“It was the way he told us to go home. Something’s not right. Edge hasn’t found Judgment Day either. Let’s get out of here.”
I tell Edge to head for home. “Something isn’t right back there. Rendezvous outside at our designated point.”
“On the way.”
Not much later, we’re heading back to Nyan’trua.
I’d give anything for nerves of steel right now. Instead, I’m nothing but a lumpy pile of mush. The three guards try to help, telling me that the men will be fine, but I won’t believe it until I see them back here, safe and in one piece.
The four of us are eating one of Kernell’s spectacular lunches in the dining room, when Graylyn knocks and enters.
“I’m so sorry to disturb you, miss, but we have a problem.”
Leaping to my feet, I cry, “What?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that,” she says.
Sabin, A Seven Novel Page 30
