Rois yanked Bekion to a halt while the guards rushed forward. Each man pulled their batons before spilling into the room.
One guard yelled, “Clear.”
After entering the room, Bekion found another guard cradling Furielle. “What happened?”
Furielle’s eyes fluttered open. She opened her mouth several times before she managed to whisper, “Aurelan.” She sank into a faint once more.
“What about Aurelan?” Bekion yelled. “Where’s Starling?” He looked around the room. “Starling,” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
She didn’t answer.
What had happened in his absence? Where were Webber and Nausic? How was Aurelan involved?
He turned to Rois. “Secure Aurelan. She’s done something to Starling, Webber and Nausic. Or she is working with the ones who did.”
Rois signaled two guards out of the room.
Vieve pushed past the men to enter the room as they exited. She took in the scene and asked in a frantic voice, “What happened?”
Bekion snapped, “You tell me.”
She jerked back and then nodded quickly. After whipping out her tablet, she tapped in something with her stylus. “There.”
Life-size projections appeared of Furielle and Aurelan. Furielle dropped as Aurelan stabbed a tranquilizer into the maid’s stomach. Aurelan then threw a dart that hit a spot near the inner chamber door and disappeared.
Bekion shook his head. “What is happening?”
Vieve said, “The surveillance filters out you and Starling. I programmed it that way after…” She trailed off. “I programmed it that way.”
“Where is Star—” he choked on the words as Kuruk and Cavell entered the scene.
Bekion didn’t stay long enough to see what the two boys had done in his room. He had to get to Starling. Kuruk would take her back to his room. The boy felt most comfortable there. Kuruk wouldn’t think to hide since he thought, like everyone else, Bekion had left the palace for a prolonged absence.
Bekion pushed himself to run faster. He hoped he wasn’t too late.
Rois tried to pull him back when they neared Kuruk’s room. Bekion threw the man off and crashed into the room heedless of his own safety. The sight that greeted him turned his whole world red with rage the likes of which he’d never felt before.
Starling was naked and bound, with Kuruk standing before her with several instruments of torture on a table beside him.
Bekion lashed out, hitting the closest thing at hand. Cavell. Bekion planted his fist in the boy’s face. It mildly upset him that the force of his blow didn’t send his fist through the youth’s head but the amount of teeth he knocked out satisfied him. He turned to Kuruk.
The boy backed away, looking around, possibly for an exit.
Bekion advanced on his brother, ready to strangle the life from his body. He reached out a clawed hand.
“Bekion, no!” Tinette raced into the room with Schel and Lukacht behind her.
All three took in the scene then averted their gazes.
Vieve, Nausic and Webber entered next.
Vieve said in a weak voice, “They were locked in the vault.” She sobbed at the sight before her.
Nausic dropped to his knees with his head hanging. “I’ve failed you, Sire. I have no excuse. I’m sorry.”
Tinette said, “Lukacht alerted your guards, who freed Nausic as soon as I heard where he was, Bekion. You arrived in time to stop Kuruk from harming her. There is no need to—”
“Shut up, Tinette!” Bekion bellowed. He glared at Kuruk but ultimately moved to Starling and placed his hand on her forehead. She turned into his hand with a begging moan. He knew that sound well and could guess its cause. He pulled back as his anger increased.
He was witnessing the price of his cowardice. He’d gone back on his word, making Starling suffer. It never occurred to him she would be in any danger. He would have never left her…
He stopped his thoughts. They didn’t change anything. He undid Starling’s bonds. Every time his skin contacted hers, she whimpered and moaned. Each sound made his anger worse.
When he lifted Starling into his arms, she clutched at him and screamed, her body moving against his. She gripped his shoulders.
Bekion closed his eyes and whispered, “Hold on, Starling. I’ll help you soon. Wait a little longer.” He grabbed a nearby sheet and covered her.
She gave a jerky nod in response, her breathing erratic.
Bekion looked at Cavell sprawled on the floor and then at Kuruk. His brother actually had the nerve to smile at him.
Kuruk said, “She’s mine, brother. You took her from me first.”
Bekion couldn’t fathom the evilness before him. He didn’t understand how it shared parentage with him. He didn’t want it near him any longer. “You and Cavell are no longer welcome in my palace or my kingdom.”
Tinette said, “Bekion, they are children. You cannot exile them.”
“Keep talking, Tinette. I’ll send you with them,” Bekion snapped.
She gasped with a look of shock.
“You’re as guilty as they are. Your constant gifts and emotional negligence led to this. I’ve tolerated their antics for long enough. They are old enough to live away from the luxuries of the palace.” To Kuruk, he added, “Kuruk, if you are caught on Panagiota after tomorrow, I’ll throw you in prison for the rest of your days. Cavell, I’ll put to death.”
Tinette said, “Cavell is my maid’s son.”
“Thank you for reminding me. She can leave with him.”
Tinette gaped at him.
Bekion couldn’t care less. He left the room at a near run. He needed to get Starling to the infirmary. Everyone followed after him.
Starling’s tongue grazed his neck, followed by her teeth. She shifted in his arms so she could hug him, pressing her breasts against him.
He whispered, “Hold on, Starling.”
They reached the infirmary, where the doctor awaited them. Bekion placed Starling on the observation table.
He yelled, “Fix her!”
Five torturous minutes passed of listening to Starling moan and watching her writhe around on the examine table before the doctor shook her head. “I thought it was a nanite suppressor but it’s not. The nanites have been reprogrammed. They are producing the drug in her system instead of negating it as they should be. I don’t know how to undo that.”
“Then what good are you?” Bekion shoved the woman away. “There must be a way to stop this.”
Vieve ran forward, taking the doctor’s place at the console. “Doctor, you scanned Starling when she first arrived, didn’t you?”
The doctor nodded. “Yes, when she was immersed in the nano-bath. Why?”
“Where is that scan?”
The doctor went to her computer and accessed the file. She loaded it to the main data screen over Starling’s bed. “What good will this do? You cannot reprogram the nanites with this information. It takes a skilled technician to do that.”
“Which is what I happen to be.” Vieve grabbed the nearest nanite programmer.
Bekion hoped Vieve could help. The woman had the capability to solve any technical problem. She usually used the talent to enter his locked room without access to an override code.
He understood none of what Vieve did but he did recognize the gibberish running up the screen as nanite code. The situation had to be dire if Vieve needed to access the machine language to fix it.
“Kuruk did this?” the doctor asked. She made an appreciative noise. “Not even my expertise extends to coding the nanites. If the programming remote cannot accomplish it then I’m at a loss. I knew your brother was smart, King Bekion, but I underestimated his intelligence greatly. It’s amazing.”
Bekion said, “You’d do well not to praise him in my presence, doctor.” He stilled as a thought occurred to him. He looked at the doctor. “Who on your staff gave it to Kuruk? This is the only place he could have gotten it. No vendor would have sold it to a
minor.”
The woman glanced around Bekion at the man standing there. Bekion turned his gaze to the man, who stumbled back a few steps.
The man said, “I…I thought it was harmless.”
Bekion asked through his teeth, “You thought what was harmless?”
“It was only a small amount. It couldn’t affect a tiny bug, let alone a person. It’s no different than the other things Kuruk has ever asked for. He is a curious child. I—” The man stopped speaking when Bekion slammed him into the nearby wall.
He roared, “You gave Kuruk a controlled substance!”
Whatever the man’s response would have been got cut off when Vieve yelled, “I’ve done it.”
Bekion released the man and raced back to Starling’s side. She still seemed under the effects of the aphrodisiac. “What have you done?”
“I’ve started the reprogramming.”
“Started?”
“Yes, Bekion, started. This is a delicate procedure that will take time, unfortunately.” She gestured to the scrolling machine code. “Kuruk programmed the chemical composition of the aphrodisiac into a single nanite and then introduced that nanite to Starling. Probably through the dart we saw Aurelan throw. That single nanite then reprogrammed every nanite it came into contact with as well as replicating itself.”
Bekion only heard a problem with no foreseeable solution.
Vieve said, “I’ve programmed the uninfected nanites to fight back. They cannot replicate though they can resist the change as well as force an infected nanite to return to normal. That will filter the drug from her system.” She gave the scrolling code a worried look. “It’ll take time though.”
“You can’t speed them up somehow?”
“This isn’t like growing hair. It’s a complex machine Kuruk rewrote the protocols for on the basic level. He tricked the nanites into thinking that aphrodisiac was a naturally occurring part of her physiology. The only other way is to flush the nanites completely from her system and start over with a new batch written to recognize the aphrodisiac as a poison.”
“Do it then. Help her.” Bekion wanted to hold Starling to him. With the drug running through her system, his touch wouldn’t be a comforting one.
Vieve shook her head. “I don’t want to do that. Though they replicated the drug, the current nanites are keeping it within acceptable levels for her body. If we flush them and she has an adverse reaction while waiting for the new nanites to assimilate her data…” She trailed off with a pleading look.
Bekion stared down at Starling. He would not let her die. But he didn’t want her to suffer either. “What else can we do?”
“Sexual release. The hormones her body releases will negate the drug, making the nanites producing it dormant. It will aid the uninfected nanites in repairing the infected ones much faster. In this way, jattikans and humans are alike. I’m thankful for that.”
Webber said from the doorway, “I guess that’s where I come in.”
He, Nausic, Rois, Lukacht and Tinette had arrived without Bekion noticing. He looked around. The doctor and her assistant had gone missing. He didn’t care. He would deal with them later.
Bekion made a decision then and there. “This is my fault. I’ll fix it.”
Webber said, “It’s no big deal. I can—”
“No. You. Won’t.”
Webber stepped back at the vehemence in Bekion’s voice. Bekion didn’t look at anyone as he announced, for everyone to hear, his plan to conduct a deviant affair with his pet. He didn’t care who heard. He caused this. Starling’s pain was his fault. He should be the one to fix it.
He gathered her into his arms. She clutched at him as she’d done earlier and he tightened his hold. Only he could help her.
Tinette blocked the doorway. “Bekion, don’t do this. She has a mate. Let him handle her. There is no need for you to sully yourself.”
Bekion said in a cold voice, “Get out of my way.”
She didn’t move.
Bekion looked at Nausic.
The man grabbed Tinette’s arm and yanked her to the side. She made a dismayed sound and demanded to be released. Not even Lukacht moved to help her. Nausic kept a firm hold on her and bowed as Bekion passed.
Rois and Vieve followed him. He said without looking at them, “I want no one to know about what has happened to Starling. Say she had an accident at Kuruk’s hands. He’s killed so many other pets, everyone will easily believe it. That will explain away his exile.”
“Yes, Bekion,” Vieve said.
“Find the doctor and her staff. Make sure they know my orders. And have the idiot who supplied Kuruk thrown in prison.”
They arrived at his chambers. He stopped with his hand on the knob. “I want no interruptions. Anyone who walks through this door will be put to death.” He turned and locked gazes with Rois. “Is that clear, Captain?”
“Very, Your Majesty.” Rois faced away. He straightened his back and stared at the far wall.
Vieve looked at Bekion one last time before she left.
Bekion entered the room and kicked the door shut. He stared at the bedroom door. Sex with Starling proved the only way to help her. That which he’d avoided and wanted all this time was finally his and yet he hesitated.
He didn’t want her like this.
“Bekion,” Starling whispered. She touched his cheek when he looked at her. “I’m sorry.”
He lifted his lips in a sad smile. “You’re sorry. Why are you sorry? This is my fault. If I had kept my word, this wouldn’t have happened.” He hugged her close. “It is I who should apologize.”
“Then do it with words. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”
Her words were all he needed to move his feet. He walked into his bedroom, slamming that door as well, and went to the bed. “My only regret is that it took something this drastic for me to push aside my pride and tend to you as a man and not a master.”
Chapter Eighteen
Starling pushed at Bekion’s chest. “Put me down. I won’t let you do this.”
He lowered her so she could stand on her own. She grabbed his arms for support and took several deep breaths in hopes of gaining some control over her racing hormones and oversensitive…everything.
Bekion said, “Starling—”
“No! You don’t want this, not really. If you did, nothing would have stopped you all those other times. You said so before. No one would speak against you since they…they…” She shook her head. “They something. Damn it! You know what you said.” Thinking was so hard.
Vieve had said she fixed the problem but Starling felt no different. Her legs quaked beneath her but she managed to release Bekion and stand on her own.
“Starling—”
“Just leave me alone. I can handle this.”
A wave of heat brought her to her knees, clutching her arms. A moan escaped past her lips before she could stop it. She slapped her hand over her mouth and concentrated on holding it together until Bekion left.
“I’m not leaving,” Bekion said in a quiet voice.
He reached for her. She fell back with her hand out to ward him away. Instead, he clasped her hand in his and brushed his lips across the inside of her wrist.
Shock waves of pleasure cascaded over her body from that one point of contact. “Don’t,” she rasped.
He placed another kiss on the inside of her elbow as he pulled her toward him. “I won’t leave you.” The breath from his words feathered across her skin. His next kiss landed on her shoulder. “Never again.”
As much as she wanted to push him away, she turned into him so her lips met his. He gathered her close. She hugged his neck. Her body moved against him, begging for his touch. “Please.”
Bekion lifted her to the bed then slid his hands down her body. “I will get you through this. I promise.”
Starling’s back arched off the bed and she called Bekion’s name when he slipped two fingers deep inside her. The feeling surpassed anything she’d felt
before. She blamed the drug in her system.
At that moment, she didn’t care about the cause of the delicious sensations. She only wanted it to continue. Bekion moved but not enough. She sat up, grabbed his wrist and held his hand steady as she rode his fingers. Her small cries of satisfaction filled the air.
She tensed and sucked in a painful breath when her release came.
A sense of clarity settled over her. The heat became bearable and coherence asserted itself over her jumbled thoughts. She let herself fall back against the bed so she could catch her breath.
The bed shifted beneath her. Bekion’s fingers left her and slick, velvet heat caressed her nub—Bekion’s tongue. Flames engulfed her body once more. She clutched at Bekion’s hair. He grunted but continued lapping at her, licking her with long, slow strokes.
She climaxed a second time, squeezing his head between her thighs. His tongue continued moving until she relaxed and freed him from her grip.
He straightened and stared down at her. She stared back. What she saw halved all her euphoric feelings.
Bekion looked determined. Tense. Most of all, he looked detached. He reached for her.
She dodged away.
“Starling?”
“Don’t touch me,” she whispered. Talking came easier after two climaxes. Vieve had given the correct prognosis after all.
Bekion nodded with a small smile. “It’s over then.”
His voice sounded relieved. It couldn’t be anything else. She shook her head at him.
He moved toward her. “The drug is still affecting you?”
“Stay away from me!” She didn’t mean to yell her words. But her overreaction had the desired effect.
Bekion stilled and watched her with confusion. “Starling?”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. “This is no different. Nothing has changed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“All we need is for someone to interrupt with an emergency to make it exactly the same.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“You don’t want to be here. You don’t want me.” She hugged her arms. “Why did I think you did? I’m just some dumb animal to you.” She inched toward the edge of the bed. “I don’t want your guilt. Get out. Leave.”
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