“Wave this over my back.”
I did as he said and watched as his body healed somewhat, thankful it didn’t go someplace private. While Roark was sweating and he breathed raggedly, I could see the tenseness leave his shoulders. The pain was lessening. As Miranda and I watched over the next few minutes, the wounds had closed up mostly, the blood stopping.
“Good. Enough,” he said, reaching to grab the wand. “If it gets worse, we’ll use it again and again to stave off the worst. We must get back to the brides processing center. Someone on Earth wants to do us harm.”
I shook my head. “But that’s in Miami!”
“Your parents keep their plane at the municipal airport,” Miranda reminded me. “I’ll call and have it readied to take us to Miami.”
The thought had never occurred to me to use my parents’ private plane. Since they were overseas and the plane didn’t have that reach, they went first class on commercial flights. Their jet was just waiting to be used.
“Thank you,” I said to Miranda. “Tell them we’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Chapter Thirteen
Roark
I couldn’t wait to get off this primitive fucking planet. The ReGen wand was the only thing keeping me well enough to protect my family and see us to the transport center. Money spoke here on Earth, just as it did on Trion. Natalie had not mentioned that she came from wealth. Of course, we’d had one night together and we hadn’t done much talking.
The size of her home, the fact that she had servants to assist her, the extravagance of the furnishings and art in her home all led me to believe she was wealthy. But the airplane was something else entirely.
Natalie’s jet was small and slow, nothing like the ships used in the Coalition Fleet, but it was the best they had on Earth. I assumed their military had better, faster ships, but had no way to know for sure. Nor did I care. My highest priority was to get my mate and my son home to Xalia where I could surround her with guards, keep her safe and sleep beside her every night. The jet was slow, but I was thankful for it now, knowing I could get Natalie and Noah—and the woman, Miranda, who seemed to be my mate’s second—to the brides program’s transport center faster than by any other means.
An efficient woman, Miranda had arranged for our transportation within moments. She had driven a large vehicle while Natalie and I sat in the back next to a large seat Noah was buckled into like a warrior’s battle harness. Natalie said it was a car seat, but since we, too, sat in seats inside the vehicle, I did not understand the significance. Miranda drove us the short distance to the airstrip while Natalie ran the ReGen wand over my wounds, one after another. As soon as the bleeding stopped in one wound, she would move on to the next. But each time I moved, the wounds would tear open and the blood would flow.
I needed a ReGen pod. I doubted Warden Egara had such technology available to her in the processing center. And I would not allow the primitive human doctors to touch me. They still used steel and primitive stitches to heal major wounds since they were new to the Coalition and did not have access to the more advanced tools of the trade . I did not need to be cut open further. Nor did I wish for a human blood transfusion, as Natalie suggested. I had no doubt my body would reject any such efforts by the human doctors.
No. I needed to get my family off this planet. And quickly. If I didn’t get to a ReGen pod, I’d most likely die within a few hours.
I must have blacked out for most of our flight to Miami. When I woke, Warden Egara stood over me. She had two military brutes with her, humans, ready to haul me off the airplane.
They lugged me to my feet, cursed at how big I was, but threw their arms around me and assisted me to the waiting vehicle. Warden Egara was already in the driver’s seat. The vehicle was larger than Natalie’s and all of us piled into the long black vehicle. Inside were four rows of additional seats. Natalie sat on one and the human men lay me down next to her, my head in her lap. She ran her fingers through my hair as the men applied pressure to my wounds.
“Are you guys EMTs?” Natalie asked the dark-skinned man leaning over my chest. His hair was darker even than mine, a pure black like the deep shadows of space. His skin was a deep brown, his eyes dark pools I could not read. He was pushing down on my shoulder and chest, hard, the pain like a knife blade shoved deep.
“Paramedic,” he answered, nodding his head at his friend who leaned over the back of the seat. The second man applied pressure to the wounds in my back. “He’s a field medic.”
Natalie nodded. “Marines?”
The man behind me had skin a pale, pasty white, with bright auburn hair. They were obviously a different type of human and I wondered at the difference between all of them in awe. Natalie, with her pale hair and fair skin, the warden with her dark hair and darker skin. And these two men, on opposite extremes of color from one another. Once, long ago, Trion had been more colorful, our people more varied. But over the ages we had blended into a single race. Our uniqueness now came from breeding with aliens, like Natalie. People from other planets.
The pale man shook his head and twisted his hand, making me groan in pain. “No. Army. Used to be.” He grunted at me. “Sorry, man. But you’re bleeding like a stuck pig.”
I had no idea what that meant, but it couldn’t be good.
“Used to be?” Natalie asked.
Pale man nodded. “Yeah. Used to be. Now we belong to the Interstellar Coalition.”
The dark-skinned man smiled. “Sort of. Usually, we handle supply and personnel transport between Earth and the Colony. Today is a bit more exciting.”
“What colony?” Miranda piped up from the back as Noah made bubbling, blowing noises. I imagined him with his chubby little hand in his mouth, drooling all over her.
“The contaminated,” I answered. Everyone in the Coalition Fleet knew about the planet colonized by Prillon Prime. They sent their warriors there to live out their days if, during the course of battle, they were captured and contaminated by Hive technology. The settlement was originally designed just for Prillon warriors, but as more and more warriors had trouble assimilating into civilian populations with their new cyborg implants, the colony’s population swelled to include other races.
“Careful, bro.” The dark-eyed man stared down at me and I opened my eyes to discover the telltale silver ring around his iris. He might have been human once, but he was more than human now.
“I meant no offense.”
“You fight those bastards?”
“Yes. Four years in Sector 843. I have no love for the Hive.” I’d volunteered to serve in the coalition Fleet the morning of my twentieth birthing day. Four years on a battleship fighting the scourge of the universe was more than enough. I’d done my time, and summoned my bride, as was my due.
He stared down at me, sizing me up, until his counterpart broke the tension. “Mostly, we just do whatever Warden Egara tells us to do.”
Natalie looked confused but I didn’t have the strength to explain. I would answer all of her questions in time.
“They’re my guys. You can trust them.” Warden Egara tossed the words over her shoulder. I ignored all of them, focused on Natalie’s fingers running through my hair and the sound of Miranda cooing to my son in the backseat as thought of space and war and the Hive drifted from my mind. If not for my time in the war, I would not have my mate. With Natalie’s loving touch soothing me, I did not regret a single moment of that hell.
The Warden’s movements were calm and efficient as she pulled into the parking garage of the brides processing center and I wondered about her history. She was very calm, considering the chaos surrounding her. Still, Natalie trusted her and I could see love in her eyes every time she looked at Noah. That meant I trusted her, too.
The warden’s man helped me out of the vehicle and onto an elevator. Once we were all inside, the warden hit a button and the doors slid closed. She turned to me, addressing me for the first time.
“I would say, Councilor Roark, that i
t is good to see you again, but it seems you have run into some trouble here on Earth.”
“An assassin.”
She raised her brow but said nothing as the doors slid open and she led us to the transport room. The men settled me in a chair as the warden moved to the control panel. “I need transport codes. This might take a few minutes.”
I sat, slumping to my right and into a position I found most comfortable. Natalie moved behind me and waved the wand over my back again, the pain easing slightly. Miranda stood nearby and swayed, rocking Noah as he looked around with wide, curious eyes. He’d eaten and fussed on the airplane, then slept the entire flight. I had to hope he would sleep during transport. The bright light and sensations might scare him.
Warden Egara spoke to the red-haired man who had joined her at the controls. “Trion. Xalia’s transport center. Set the coordinates.”
“Yes, ma’am. They just sent new codes. Five minutes.”
“Tell them to prepare a healing pod. He’ll need it as soon as we return,” Natalie ordered.
“A ReGeneration pod?” The warden looked to me for confirmation of the extent of my injuries. I nodded.
“Tell Doctor Brax to implement my arrival plan, as previously discussed.”
She looked at me strangely, but transmitted exactly what I told her. That done, she looked at me and crossed her arms over her chest, the calm, efficient woman replaced by a furious female. “Tell me about the assassin.”
“I was followed to Natalie’s home,” I said. “Someone knew of my arrival, Natalie’s location here on Earth, and the reason for my visit.”
She spun about, pacing. “Followed? From here?”
“How else do I explain the attack on my family?”
“Why would someone wish to attack you on Earth?”
“The same reason I was taken and tortured on Trion.”
“You think this is somehow connected to the ambush on Trion?” The warden scowled, a thick line appearing between her delicately arched brows. She was actually quite beautiful. “But that’s impossible. That would mean there is a Trion spy here, in this facility.”
I shrugged, then winced as pain exploded through my chest and back at the simple movement. “Is there another transport center nearby?”
“No. The closest transport center is in Europe.”
Natalie gasped. “There’s no way he followed you from Europe. He would have been days behind you.”
“They came from Miami, Warden. That is the only explanation that makes sense. While it seems like a great amount of time has passed since Natalie returned to Earth, over a year, for me, it has been ten days. Someone wants me, or something from me. Why else would I have been kept alive when the rest of Outpost Two was murdered? Someone followed me.”
Warden Egara moved to work the controls besides the man arranging transport. Her hands flew over the flat screen. “Let me check the logs.”
Her eyes narrowed as she read. “I have your transport record and communications from yesterday, then a bride who was transported today to Atlan. There is nothing… wait.”
Her hand stilled, her eyes widened. Her fingers moved frantically. “An encrypted message was sent an hour after your transport. The center was closed when the message came through. The communication should have been rerouted to the processing center in Paris. They were on call last night.”
She turned to look at me, then at Natalie, who still waved the wand behind my back.
“There is one message here. One moment while I decipher it.”
I was impressed with her abilities. She was more like a Coalition fighter than an Earth female, then remembered through my sluggish brain our conversation from the day before. She’d been matched and mated to Prillon warriors who had died.
Her body stilled as she scanned the screen. “The message came from Xalia’s transport center and it reads: Councilor Roark’s medallion pinged on Earth. Roark is on Earth. Find Earth coordinates for human mate, Natalie Montgomery. Boston. Eliminate both. Bring medallion to me.”
I felt Natalie’s hand still. The pain ceased completely in one spot, as the wand focused on healing one specific area.
“Someone wants the medallion?” she asked.
I looked over my shoulder at her. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes wide. I enjoyed seeing her face flushed with passion and need instead of this haggard concern and confusion. As soon as we were back on Trion, I was healed, and whomever was trying to gain access to my medallion was dead, I was going to fuck her for a week.
“Why do they want this medallion?” Warden Egara asked.
“It is a key to the subterranean vault on Trion for the southern continent. Each councilor holds a key for a vault in their part of the planet.”
“What’s in the vaults? You mentioned it, but not specifically,” Natalie said.
“Weapons. Technology. Wealth. We live a simple life, but that does not mean we aren’t prepared for a Hive attack.”
Warden Egara harrumphed. “Apparently, someone wants to use the weapons to conquer Trion instead.”
“That’s my problem. The spy in your program, is yours, Warden.”
“A mole,” Natalie said, using an Earth term I’d never heard before.
The warden looked grim. “You take care of your problem, Councilor, and I’ll take care of mine. He won’t live long. Not now that I know I need to hunt him.”
“The transport is ready, Warden.” The dark-skinned soldier interrupted our conversation. “Councilor, they said to tell you that a Doctor Brax is on standby with Seton and a medical team.”
“Excellent.” Time to go home. I moved to rise, Natalie helping me.
Miranda handed the baby over to my mate, tears in her eyes her only goodbye. We were going across the universe and never coming back.
“You must come with us,” Natalie told Miranda, grabbing her hand. She turned her head and looked to Warden Egara. “She’s coming with us.”
“What?” Miranda asked, her eyes wide, shaking her head. “I can’t. I’m not matched. I can’t go to Trion! It’s not like a quick trip to Florida.”
“We’re not coming back. Please come with us. I’m selfish and I need you.”
“She isn’t matched,” Warden Egara said. “As Councilor of Trion, Roark could grant permission. But you—” she pointed at me, “—can’t wait any longer for that pod.”
The ReGen wand’s effects were waning again. I did need the pod.
“Roark, please.”
“It’s not up to me. I will do whatever makes you happy, gara, but Miranda must choose for herself.”
“Come with us,” Natalie pleaded. “It’s lovely there. We will find you a mate. You have no one here. No family. Take a chance. I did, and look what I have.”
Miranda looked scared.
Warden Egara told the woman. “There is no time. You must choose now. I can’t allow a Trion Councilor to die on my transport pad.”
Miranda nodded fervently. “All right. I’ll go.”
Natalie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the transport pad. I ensured we were all together, that the baby was settled in my mate’s arms. Through gritted teeth, I thanked the warden.
She nodded once. “Good luck. May you find happiness in the universe. Your transport will begin in three… two… one.”
***
Natalie
The transport was a blue flash of light like the last time, but I didn’t have a murdering madman after me. This time, I wasn’t crying because my mate was dead. I wasn’t screaming for the doctor and the guards who’d protected me. I had my mate and my son with me. I had Miranda. And the little dagger Roark had given me in the oasis was tucked snuggly into my boot. I wasn’t getting near a transport center again without the weapon. Roark didn’t need to know my anxiety since he was injured, but I felt better knowing I could keep us all safe if something happened.
We were going back to Trion, to doctors and guards and Roark’s people. But we weren’t safe yet.
&nb
sp; It felt like I drifted in and out of consciousness for hours, holding tightly to Noah where he rested in my arms. I had no idea how much time had passed when the lights and pressure faded. I woke lying on a hard floor, Noah resting on my chest. Miranda appeared to be sleeping a few steps away, and Roark’s blood already soaked the pad beneath his back.
I opened my mouth to scream for help, but the med team surrounded Roark at once. I eyed them all, thinking one might be the mole. But they didn’t want him. No, not now that it was known I had the medallion. They wanted me.
“Councilor.” A man close in age to Roark came to him at once. He was tall, dark and handsome, of course. His pants were black, as was his tunic, but he had some sort of colored insignia on his chest, and the men surrounding him obeyed his commands. “Roark, my friend, you always show up bleeding and half dead. It’s not funny anymore.”
“Cease your whining, Seton, and see to my mate. There is a traitor among us.”
Noah chose that moment to stir in my arms and let out a blood-curdling scream.
Everyone froze in place and turned to look at me. At Noah.
As Roark was settled onto a Trion version of a stretcher, three people waving ReGen wands over him, he spoke. “Natalie and I have discovered that time on Earth passes differently than it does here. How long was I gone, Seton?”
“Thirty-five minutes,” Seton replied. “We notified your parents and they transported here to await your return.”
Thirty-five minutes? I was seeing now how Roark was so stunned that I’d had a baby when just a few days had passed for him.
“Take care of my mate, Seton. And my son. See to them first.”
“Son?” Seton asked, then, “What traitor? Roark, what the fark happened to you?”
Her Mate's Secret Baby (Interstellar Brides Book 9) Page 12
