by Rachel Clark
But, of course, at the same time, she was thrilled that there may be something she could help with, and terrified that she’d fail, and sick to her stomach that Del may get caught up in more unpleasantness.
She spent the next few minutes bouncing between being irritated, grateful, frightened, and determined, so when the door chime sounded, she almost jumped out of her skin.
Del was already stationed at the entry as if to stop her from opening it herself. He checked the external view screen before letting Devlin in. Devlin nodded to Del, some sort of wordless communication going on that she couldn’t possibly decipher, and then turned his attention to her.
“G’baena, honey, we captured one of the attacking ships. It’s full of G’trobian males, and Ben believes that at least one of them is familiar. We were hoping that you could help us figure out what they’re thinking and maybe resolve this situation without bloodshed.”
She was nodding even before he finished the sentence, but his next one made her smile.
“You don’t have to do this. I promise you Del and I will keep you safe, and we’ll get you out of there at the first hint of danger, but really, you don’t have to do this. You just have to say no, and we’ll find another plan.”
“I want to help,” she said, relieved to hear that her voice sounded more confident than she actually felt.
Devlin watched her for a moment as if searching for something, then nodded and turned to Del. He pulled a stun pistol from the harness under his jacket and handed it to the younger man as a million fears ran through G’baena’s mind. She knew Devlin had been training Del in weapon use, but was he ready for such responsibility? She could feel Devlin’s confidence and could only conclude that Devlin believed Del was.
“G’baena, is there anything that these men can do from a distance to hurt you? Any type of mind control or, I don’t know, any telepathic or telekinetic or tele-whoosi-what’s-it attack that could hurt you?”
She smiled at Devlin's complete dedication to protect her. She really had no idea what other empaths were capable of, but she had no intention of letting Devlin know that. The man seemed on the verge of locking her away in an effort to keep her safe and maybe even a little angry at himself for not following his instincts to do just that.
“I don’t believe so, no. Male G’trobians do not seem to possess the same level of skill as G’ntriel.”
“Okay,” he said, curling his warm fingers around her cold hand. “Let’s get this done. The first sign of anything, any danger—seen or unseen—we will pull you out of there. Got it?”
She smiled again. It was obvious that he would be happier if she stayed in the room, but he was willing to let her make her own choices. She reached up to touch his face, trying to convey her respect for this man who was becoming more important each moment.
“Yes. I trust you and Del to keep me safe.”
* * * *
G’nkamalik, known as Kam by his shipmates, sat at his console, fuming. He’d warned the others that this was a very bad idea. Just because a vessel looked like a merchant ship from the outside it didn’t necessarily make it an easy target.
Even with his empathic senses shielded, he could feel the fear and worry and anger from his shipmates. The best scenario they could hope for here would be to be handed over to the nearest planet’s authorities for punishment. The worst? Well, the worst he’d almost welcome. Since losing his twin brother, his once-privileged life had vanished. Not only did he have to deal with the death of the person he was closest to, but he’d also had to deal with his own sudden invisibility.
He’d almost wished the invisible part was real. At least if no one could see him, the rejection of who he was and all that he’d been would have been easier to cope with. He glanced around the small ship and its ragtag crew. He’d given little thought to what happened to G’trobian males after they lost their brother. Now, he got to experience it firsthand, and it wasn’t pretty.
“Can you sense anything?” The young man beside him sounded beyond terrified. He couldn’t be more than a teenager, but G’trobian law saw no need for age distinctions. Dead was dead, whether you were actually dead or not.
Kam was about to answer with a curt negative reply but changed his mind at the last moment. What would it hurt to let the emotions in? It’s not like he could hurt any more than he already did. Slowly, he lowered the barrier in his mind.
The first emotion to slip through was amusement, the second was concern, and the third was fear. It was the fear that puzzled him. They weren’t exactly a major threat sitting in a much larger ship’s cargo bay with their weapons disabled and a massive grappling hook wedged in their outer hull. In fact, it was safe to say that his ship and its hapless crew were pretty much fucked.
Still puzzling over the emotions he could feel, Kam opened his senses further, widening and stretching them to people outside the cargo bay. He almost slammed them closed again when he sensed the woman heading towards them. Her energy felt familiar.
“Kam, are you all right?” Kam glanced at the concern on his young shipmate’s face, but then closed his eyes and concentrated harder. How could the energy signature from another woman be so close to that of G’baena’s? He knew she was dead, had even attended her abshei ceremony, so how could he be sensing her energy and emotions now?
“Something is wrong,” he said as he tried to decipher what his mind told him was impossible. “I can sense a G’trobian woman and… and…What the fuck is going on? I think I can sense twin males, as well. Either my senses are scrambled or…or…Is it possible that we are already dead?”
“Is this how you pictured the garden of the goddess?” The pilot on this doomed misadventure seemed almost relaxed, his voice sounding amused.
Kam laughed softly. “Guess not.”
“If it helps, I can feel her, too. She seems different from other females. Stronger somehow.”
Kam nodded. “I sense that, too. What about the twins? Any ideas on who would leave the planet with his twin?”
“Only twins I know of are the Kings’ sons. What are the chances that we attacked a ship run by G’trobian royalty?”
Kam laughed even harder, the ridiculousness of the situation seeming to rob him of control. “Oh, yeah, that would be just our luck—attack a military ship run by the sons of the Kings. How fucking great is that? We can all celebrate by being beheaded.”
“Kam?” The soft voice came through the ship’s communications system, and for a brief moment, Kam really believed he was dead. Could this be a trick? There were species with far more powerful mind skills than his meager empathic ability. It was quite possible someone had delved into his memories and picked the one voice guaranteed to bring him to his knees. G’baena was literally the woman he couldn’t have, even though he and his brother, Ky, would’ve given the world to make it possible. She’d died soon after the G’trobian princes had left the planet, so even the small kernel of hope that they’d both harbored had been brutally dashed. Losing his brother less than a quarter cycle later had sealed Kam’s fate.
“Kam?” the voice asked again. “Kam, it’s G’baena. Please talk to me. We need to sort out this situation so no one gets hurt.”
Kam knew this was not G'baena. G'trobians, especially G'trobian royalty, didn't use word contractions in their speech, and Kam knew G'baena's pronunciation had always been perfect. He'd trained her himself. He took the two steps toward the communication console and slammed his hand on the panel to open two-way conversation. “G’baena is dead. She died a half cycle ago. Now stop messing with me and get this over with. You want to kill us? Fine, we are dead men anyway. Just get this the fuck over with without the silly fucking games.”
“Kam, I didn’t die. My fathers sold me into slavery. Please, please just open the hatch, and we’ll sort this out.”
He looked at his crewmates and realized that they were all resigned to their fate. It didn’t matter to any of them anymore. Without their twins, they were only half of a who
le anyway. Even if this was a scam, the worst thing that could happen was probably more of a relief than a punishment anyway.
“Fine,” he said into the communication channel. “I am opening the doors.”
* * * *
G’baena winced at the despair she could feel coming from the five occupants of the little ship. Kam and Ky had been very important people in her life for too short a time, and she’d used her recollections of their friendship as a way to cope with some of the most difficult days of her life. She shuddered at the memories of her enslavement and vowed to herself that she would never again feel so trapped. Death would be preferable.
The airlocks disengaged with a loud hissing sound, and then the door swung open slowly. Del stepped in front of her, determination to protect her pouring off him in waves. Devlin and several others stepped toward the opening, their weapons raised, ready for anything.
G’baena couldn’t see past Del’s slight frame, but she heard some scuffling sounds and felt the surprise of the occupants as they stepped from their small craft into the presence of G’trobian royalty. Several moments passed, but finally Devlin returned to stand beside her. Del kept an aggressive stance, but she could sense his relief that the situation was looking less likely to be dangerous.
“Thanks for your help, G’baena,” Devlin said as he reached for her hand. “Del will escort you back to your quarters.”
“Can I talk to Kam first?”
Devlin looked a little surprised but glanced at Jordan and then back at her. “Sure.”
That first glimpse of Kam made her heart race like crazy. This was the man who’d taught her about love and devotion and friendship. Kam and Ky had literally taught her everything she knew about the more pleasurable side of life.
“Kam,” she said awkwardly, trying to form words with her suddenly dry mouth.
“G’baena? Is it really you? They said you died.”
She shook her head as tears misted her eyes. She could feel his emotions as clearly as if they were her own. He wanted to believe, but he’d suffered so many tragedies in recent times that he wouldn’t let himself hope.
Words failed her, and she found herself running to his embrace. His arms wrapped tight around her, the muscles quivering as he said her name quietly over and over.
“It’s okay, Kam. We’ll work this out. The captain is a good man. We can work this out.”
He crushed her to him for a moment longer before he seemed to gather his wits and grab control of his emotions. He straightened and then stepped back and smiled at her.
“Did you forget your lessons so quickly, little one?”
G’baena smiled, a feeling of coming home pervading her senses.
“No, sir,” she said as she dropped to her knees and lowered her gaze.
Chapter Six
Even without empathic skills, Devlin could feel Del’s fury. A part of him wanted to stop the young man from acting rashly, but a bigger part of him wanted to do much, much more than let an inexperienced kid pound on a guy who deserved it.
G’baena knelt at the man’s feet, her gaze lowered to the floor in a position of complete submission. Devlin saw red. If Del hadn’t chosen that exact moment to roar in anger and punch the asshole G’baena had called Kam, Devlin would’ve been hard pressed not to kill the man. Who the fuck did he think he was? The displaced assholes were prisoners, not fucking authority figures requiring subservience.
Devlin stepped forward and helped G’baena to her feet but didn’t stop Del’s attack on the startled man. Whatever damage Del inflicted, it wouldn’t be enough for Devlin’s liking, and if he didn’t get G’baena out of here right now, he just might be tempted to hold the man down to make Del’s job easier.
The surprise came when G’baena threw a right hook at him. Devlin managed to dodge her furious reaction but let her go as he tried to figure out what the fuck was happening. G’baena stepped into the mêlée, and both combatants ceased immediately.
“Del,” she said, the first hint of her anger catching the young man’s attention. “I do not want or need you to defend me against Kam.”
“You are no longer a slave. You don’t have to kneel at anyone’s feet.” He spat the words angrily, his contempt for the other man obvious. G’baena stepped forward, her hand reaching toward the young man as if realizing for the first time that Del was truly confused by her reaction.
“I’m sorry, Del. I should explain. Kam is someone very special to me. I am sorry if I upset you by greeting him in the proper G’trobian fashion.”
“Proper?” Del yelled.
Devlin could see the young man getting more agitated, not less. He was about to step in when Jordan’s loud voice boomed around the cargo bay.
“Del, enough! Ben, Trey, escort our guests to the holding cells. Devlin, please accompany G’baena and Del back to their quarters. The rest of you, get back to your duty stations. Stand down the red alert.”
Jordan turned and left the cargo bay, and everyone moved to follow his orders, Del included.
* * * *
“Del,” G’baena said, hoping that the young man would look at her this time. She’d wanted to take him to the medical bay to have his injuries checked out, but he’d refused angrily.
She glanced at Devlin, hoping that he could help, but he’d been suspiciously quiet on the way back to the cabin. If G’baena was interpreting his emotions correctly, the man was actually feeling quite happy. Neither facial expression nor body language gave him away, but she was certain that he’d been content to see Del attack Kam.
But what she didn’t understand was why either of them would feel the action was warranted. Kam hadn’t threatened her in any way, and she’d happily knelt at his feet as he’d trained her to do so many cycles ago. She hadn’t minded falling back into G’trobian tradition for a man who’d once meant so much to her, so she was having trouble understanding why Del and Devlin had taken such offense.
“What happens now?” she asked them both. Devlin raised an eyebrow but didn’t open his mouth to speak. “I mean with the prisoners,” G’baena clarified. “What will the captain do with them?”
“Knowing Jordan, he’ll keep them in the cells until Judge and G’ntriel return. If he can determine that they aren’t a danger to the crew, I suspect he’ll ask them to join us. We’ve been short-handed for a while now.”
“Devlin,” Del said, the anger he was feeling still very clear in his tone. “Will you be staying with G’baena for a while?”
Devlin didn’t look at all surprised. Whatever Del was feeling, Devlin was feeling it, too. He nodded to the younger man without consulting with her whether she wanted him to hang around or not. Her own anger started to simmer. They were so busy beating their manly chests like some sort of ancient G’trobian subspecies, neither had noticed how much their attitude upset her.
“I’m going to head over to the gym. I’ll speak to you later.”
G’baena tried not to open her mouth in shock at Del’s rudeness as the young man who’d hovered over her protectively for weeks left her quarters without even glancing in her direction. As the door closed, Devlin reached over and pulled her into his embrace. His warm arms settled around her, holding her close, warming the sudden cold she felt.
“He’ll be okay. He just needs to work through everything that happened. The gym is a good place for him to do that.”
“I don’t understand,” she said quietly. “I don’t understand why he’s so upset, or why he’s so angry with me. I can feel his emotions, and yours, but I don’t understand how I managed to upset either of you.”
For the first time since being rescued from slavery, G’baena thought about everything she’d lost from her life on G’trobia. Even though she hadn’t had the freedom she enjoyed now, she did have a place and a function and reason for being. Since joining the ship’s crew, she spent most of her time trying to learn—the language, the customs, how to interpret human and Pendarian emotions—but hadn’t seemed to have achieved ver
y much at all. Other than her very small part in the cargo bay, she hadn’t really contributed in any way. And she felt fairly certain that if G’ntriel had been on board, her meager empathic skills would not have been required at all.
Devlin must have sensed her darkening mood because he cradled her closer and whispered quietly, “It will work out, honey. I promise things will get easier with time.”
“I’m not so sure,” she said as she tried to hold back the tears. Weird as it seemed, she hadn’t cried at all as a slave, but since meeting Devlin, it seemed she couldn’t stop. “Time hasn’t made things clearer so far. If anything, I’m more confused than ever.”
Devlin lifted her into his arms and turned toward the bed, carefully lowering her onto the mattress. He lay down beside her and rested his head on his arm.
“Tell me about Kam. Who is he?”
She took a deep breath, trying to collect her scattered thoughts. “Kam and Ky were my trainers. They taught me how to please Ben and Trey, how to act, how to be not only the perfect G’trobian mate, but also the perfect hostess and partner. My training as the intended royal consort was thorough and demanding, but I enjoyed every moment.” A sad sigh escaped her lips even though she tried to stop it. “It was probably the first time I ever felt really valued. My fathers are very strict and, I have since learned, not too different from the slave traders who bought me. Kam and Ky were the opposite.”
* * * *
About a million questions were running through Devlin’s head, and quite frankly, he didn’t really want to know the answer to any of them. Unfortunately, he’d never been slow on the uptake, and the pieces of her story were starting to click in his head. G’baena had said she was a trained concubine, and, well, considering that she seemed to have an emotional connection to Kam, it was more than likely that he not only trained her in royal etiquette but also in the more intimate duties of being mated to G’trobian princes.
