Kierra's Thread (Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 2)

by Adrianna Dane

  * * *

  Jarek gasped as he returned to his physical form. He groaned at the knowledge he was in his ship. And Kierra wasn’t with him. His body now ached and he shook from the physical need for her.

  He could not let her know how painful it was not to merge with her completely in both the physical as well as the spiritual planes. It’s why he only allowed her to know sanctuary. In that place, on that plane, they were one. One day they would have the complete oneness of physical unity as well as that of the mind.

  He felt Kierra’s echoes in his thoughts. He’d urged her back to her conscious mind before returning to his physical self. For a time she would be well. He sensed the void in her mind receding. When he returned to the planet and met with Devon Andromeda, they would determine how to proceed and minimize Kierra’s fear of his demeanor as an Enforcer.

  Odon had practically destroyed her. The only reason he’d kept her alive was to control Jarek, but he’d allowed the trainees at the compound to do as they wanted as long as they didn’t kill her. They had tread a very fine line and there’d been little Jarek could do to protect her physical self. The knowledge of his failures always haunted him.

  Serdion had been a planet of peace. This solar system thrived on the colors of life, the conscious, and the unconscious. Each race lived differently within the colors. Argadians’ emotions were reflected through the changing colors of their eyes, and the radiance of their females. Serdionese were reflected in the colors of emotions, reaching out at the spirit level as mindwanderers. There’d been a time when they had co-existed peacefully. Until the Tribunal. The Tribunal sought to control and to destroy.

  It was his fervent hope that the Freelion forces would be successful. But in any event, he had made a sworn oath to himself that Odon and the whole compound would be destroyed and turned to ashes. Not only for what Odon and his “trainees” had forced on Kierra, but for the many others who had died beneath their masochistic acts in the name of “training sessions” in order to maintain the Tribunal’s stranglehold on Argadia.

  Jarek’s planet was gone forever, destroyed by the Tribunal. There was no going back, only forward. Hate and vengeance fueled him. He fought with the Freelions because the Argadian culture would be part of his Beyond. It was a part of Kierra and she was part of him. To protect Kierra he would do whatever it took. And Odon would die.

  “Captain Bakari?” a voice interrupted his thoughts.

  He turned to the communication terminal and pressed a button. “Yes, what is it?”

  “We’re nearing Ednos. I thought you would want to be informed.”

  “Yes. I’ll be there directly.” He rose from his chair. The aching desire he felt had lessened. It never totally went away. One day Kierra would be his completely. He only needed patience until that day. For now, the spiritual oneness must be enough.

  * * *

  “Bakari.” Devon held out his hand and after a moment’s hesitation, Jarek accepted it.

  “Andromeda.”

  “Stop bristling—both of you. And sit down.” Eluria commanded as she took a seat next to Devon at the polished table in the meeting room. “I thought we should get together before Kierra and Devon meet again. Gavrielle has arranged dinner for tomorrow evening. What do you think, Jarek?”

  Jarek studied Devon. When he’d first entered the room, his first thought was to draw his weapon upon seeing the ex-Enforcer. He was pure Enforcer, except for the eyes. He understood what had terrorized Kierra, and raged at the knowledge she’d confronted her nightmare alone.

  Eluria twined her fingers with Devon’s and Jarek found himself envying their physical connection. He turned his gaze back to clash with Devon’s turquoise stare.

  “My first instinct when I saw you was to pull my disrupter and send your molecules scattering to the winds. I can only imagine what Kierra felt.”

  Devon glanced at Eluria. A fleeting look of pain crossed his face.

  “It’s all right, Devon. It’s natural to feel pain for what’s happened to Kierra.” Eluria reached up and brushed a lock of his hair back. “We’ll find a way to get through to her without hurting her further.”

  “The emotion is still difficult to control. So many years without it.”

  “What if you change the color of your hair artificially?” Jarek asked.

  “We tried. Whatever process they used, the follicles have been stripped in some way. It won’t hold artificial color. It’s the one thing we’ve been unable to return to normal.”

  “Well then, I guess that’s that. Too bad. It means those who served as Enforcers will be readily identifiable when the fighting is over. It will be difficult for them to return to their former lives.”

  Eluria pinned him with a steely look. “Thank you for that enlightening observation, Jarek. Your assumption was that we didn’t realize the difficulties when this is over?”

  Jarek turned back to Devon. “Tell me, Andromeda, how many people did you personally torture during your training sessions?”

  Devon sprung up from his chair. Jarek was on his feet and prepared to meet him, with his diffuser out and aimed squarely at his chest.

  “Stop it!” Eluria shouted as she forced Devon back and protectively stood in front of him. “Put that away, Jarek. Now!”

  Hate surged through Jarek and he’d almost lost control. Had fully meant to send Devon Andromeda into little molecules. If Eluria had been one second slower—

  “Step aside, Eluria.” Devon put his hands on Eluria’s shoulders and eased her away. “This is between Bakari and me. I won’t have you hurt.”

  “Devon,” she lifted a hand to his heart. “We are bound. I cannot stand by and watch you killed. You know that.”

  Devon’s steel-blue gaze met Jarek’s and silent understanding passed between them. Neither one wanted Eluria or Kierra hurt. Jarek slowly reholstered his diffuser and sat back down.

  Devon again eased Eluria aside and into her chair. “I think we understand each other now.” He turned back to Jarek. “I tortured no one. Odon’s is the only compound where bound servants are used, the rest are trained with simulators. There were many stories spread throughout the ranks about his tactics. Enforcers trained by Odon were very easy to spot. I may not have had all my emotions available, but causing unnecessary pain was never my way.”

  “Then I guess you better make sure Kierra knows that. Because the thought of her brother causing the same torture she was subjected to is part of what’s destroying her.”

  Devon’s head dipped low and Eluria leaned toward him. He turned to her. “She’s always going to think that, isn’t she?” He turned to Jarek. “It’s what you see. You can’t see the male—only the Enforcer. What is it going to take for you to forgive the Before?”

  Jarek locked stares with him for long moments before answering. “I don’t know, Andromeda. Turning Enforcers is going to be the only way to breach the security of Argadia. We’re going to have to find a way to get along. The Beyond depends on it.” He brushed a hand through his hair. He was tired of the fighting, tired of the hate and the rage. “We’ll have to take it one step at a time. When Kierra sees you and Eluria together she might come to understand. And it may aid in her healing.”

  “Try to talk with her, Jarek. You have a way of reaching her when none of the rest of us can.” Eluria said.

  He nodded. “We are bound in ways you cannot understand.”

  Eluria looked at Devon. Jerek saw her devotion reflected in her eyes. “I believe we understand.”

  It came to him in that moment that Eluria was different. She no longer held the look of a woman ravaged by her past. There was a glow of peace about her. Jarek’s gaze dropped to her wrist and he noticed the mark of Guardian.

  “I heard of your Union. You have healed, Eluria.”

  Eluria turned to looked at him. “We have been blessed with another chance at what was lost. Do not give up hope, Jarek. Kierra will one day be healed.”

  “I would never do that, Eluria. Yo
u know that. Kierra’s welfare is everything to me.”

  “Go to her. We have kept you long enough. Try to prepare her for the meeting tomorrow.”

  He rose from the table. “I’ll do what I can to ease the way. She needs her family. I’ll try to help her to see through the facade of the Enforcer to the brother she lost.”

  “Thank you, Jarek. Devon needs his sister as well. Now, if we can just find Alekos.”

  “I believe Alekos may be beyond redemption. There are many stories of his exploits.”

  “There is always hope, Jarek. Remember that.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Jarek stood in the doorway to the laboratory and watched Kierra as she sat, staring in fixed concentration at the screen of the microreader. He saw the numbers flash by in rapid succession and studied Kierra as she scanned the screen as they flew past. Periodically she would make notes on the small electronic notekeeper setting on the counter before her.

  If no one disturbed her, she would sit there all night. He knew she’d done it before. Her caramel colored hair was intricately wound in a braid draped down the center of her back. He had the urge to free it from confinement.

  The loose white coat she wore shielded her from him and he wanted to remove it as well, knowing what lush, soft curves lay beneath. His hands spasmed with the desire to touch her, yet knew if he did so it wouldn’t bring her the pleasure he wanted her to experience, but the pain of memory.

  Unbidden, Jarek’s thoughts reached for her and he saw her tense. He moved from the doorway and walked toward her, increasing the intensity of vibration of his thoughts.

  He felt Kierra connect with him and smiled at the sense of colors and numbers flooding the corridors of her mind. She sifted through data, throwing bits this way and that in an attempt to align the equation she sought.

  At the moment, her memories were at rest behind locked doors. He didn’t relish informing her about the dinner with Devon, but also knew she had to face her brother at some point. At least Jarek was physically here to help her through it.

  She swiveled around and her face lit up with a smile when she saw him approach.

  Mylonna, but she’s lovely. He shuttered his thoughts quickly.

  His gaze locked with hers and he felt her desire to touch and be touched. But he saw the shadow approach and swerved away before even the thought could cause her pain.

  He shifted his gaze to the microreader. “What are you working on, now that the antidote has been perfected?”

  Her hesitation whispered through him, her thoughts touching his, retreating back to the equation she worked on. He breathed a sigh of relief at a moment of pain averted.

  “Earlier I spoke with Eluria, and I’ve agreed to take on a little project for her.”

  “You spoke with Eluria? Did she mention dinner?”

  Kierra sighed. “Yes. She also told me that Devon wasn’t trained with bonded servants. You all met, didn’t you? To discuss me.”

  Jerek felt the swirl of unrest in her mind. A gathering storm. “It wasn’t to hurt you. We want to find a way to make this easier. He is your brother.”

  Switching the microreader off, she sat and stared at the blank screen. He knew the appearance of calm acceptance was a facade—he felt the turbulence roiling inside her.

  “You all treat me as a child. Someone unable to act and care for myself. The first sight of him took me unaware. All right, it shouldn’t have, but it did. I was handling it.”

  “Handling it? Not from what I felt.”

  Kierra turned and pinned him with a glittering splinter of anger. “I didn’t call for you to come rescue me. You took that upon yourself. I would have been fine.”

  “Your mother called me, concerned,” he bit back. “I could do no other than go to you. You know that.”

  A shudder of defeat glanced across her face. “Why, Jarek?” she whispered. “How are we bound? We’re from different cultures, different planets. I don’t want you tied to me like this. Yet you are always there to offer protection.”

  How he ached to touch her physically, to soothe the pain he felt racing through her. “It is not for us to question Guardian. I would want no other.”

  “I am damaged, Jarek. Possibly beyond help. How many years has it been? And still you can’t touch me. Even after all this time. No matter how hard I try to overcome it—no matter that I try to convince myself it is Before. I can’t alter my body’s responses.”

  Her dark emotions swirled around him. Jarek leaned toward her, as close as he dared, without touching her. “I am patient. I will wait. What we have is enough.” Her female scent filled his senses and his khout hardened with desire. The need to seal with her knifed through him, to know her completely, to be taken by her and to take her.

  He shifted his mind from the physical throb and reached with his thoughts instead. And in this way they touched and intertwined.

  The tenor of her breathing changed. He knew she sensed him. “Jarek.” He felt his name, rather than heard it.

  Na nivia, we are one in all ways that matter for now.” He spoke to her thoughts, felt her yield to him. “What I wouldn’t give to take you to sanctuary right now.” Jarek was in her mind and the dark shadow clouds began to dissipate, replaced by passion bursts curling around them. He felt the stroke of the wisps against his thoughts, seductive sensations.

  He pulled away before her sensual radiance shimmered for all to see, determined not to cause her embarrassment here in the laboratory. If they’d been alone, he most certainly would have taken her to his sanctuary.

  Kierra slid from the stool as he stepped away. “You give too much, Jarek. And yet, you hide as well. What lays behind those locked doors you won’t share with me?”

  She saw so much, yet he could never share what he kept locked away. To do so might destroy any feeling she had for him and he couldn’t take the chance. She tried to be so strong, but what lay hidden in his mind must stay that way.

  He turned away from her. “Come, your family awaits.”

  “One day, Jarek Bakari, you won’t be able to hide. I’ll find the right key. You can’t protect me forever, you know.”

  He stepped back to allow her to precede him from the laboratory. He prayed to Guardian that never happened. That he could protect her as he had always tried to do.

  * * *

  Smoothing a hand down the shimmering blue overskirt, Kierra attempted to remove wrinkles that didn’t exist. Nerves consumed her, and those she could not dislodge. She would not fail this time. Devon was her brother and she loved him. The white hair could not continue to act as a barricade to her showing him that. Devon had no control in becoming an Enforcer and the Tribunal had taken Devon’s memories from him. But the Enforcer was gone and her brother, Devon, was back.

  Eluria would not give her love to someone untrustworthy. From what Eluria had told her, Devon could have killed her and he hadn’t. He wasn’t like Odon’s Enforcers. If only Kierra could believe that. She wanted to believe it.

  When she didn’t insert her identity card into the slot, Jarek reached around and used his own. “They’re waiting, Kierra.”

  She licked her lips. “I know. I’m ready.”

  She waited as Jarek removed his card and the door to her mother’s apartments slid open. Inhaling deeply, she stepped inside.

  Her mother was the first to greet her. “Kierra, I’m glad you came.”

  Her mother glanced swiftly at Jarek, who stood behind her. Irritation rose up at that look.

  “I’m fine, Mother. Of course I would come. Why wouldn’t I?” Symion, why did they keep doing this?

  Feeling the heat of a gaze, Kierra turned toward the dining area, preparing herself for the confrontation she knew awaited. Irresistibly she was drawn first to his white hair and she forcibly strangled the memories it invoked. Her gaze dropped and connected with his turquoise eyes instead, and the years fell away, as the bittersweet memories materialized.

  It was her brother’s eyes staring back at her
, colors swirling with love and understanding, fringed with pain and regret. The Devon who had teased her as only a brother could. The one who’d stolen her sweetcakes when their mother wasn’t looking, tickled her until she called truce. The brother who’d protected her from the bullies who tried to steal her musicorder, the one who had a passion for old science fiction Earth movies. And the one she’d introduced Eluria to, knowing he’d never knowingly hurt her. Tears flooded her eyes at the knowledge of so much that had been lost.

  “Devon, I’m so sorry.” She wanted to hug him and assure him. She saw him start to move toward her and instinctively she stepped back.

  He halted and she saw pain darken his eyes. She wrapped her arms about her midriff and sank to the lounger.

  “Give her a moment.” She heard Jarek tell them as he sank to his knees in front of her, close, but not touching, shielding her from them.

  In seconds he was there in her thoughts.

  He touched her mind, sought to calm the deluge of memories. His soothing, warm colors wrapped around her, like a soft, warm blanket, insulating her thoughts.

  Offering his assurance. Kierra took a shuddering breath and stood again. “I’m sorry. For a moment the memories of our youth overwhelmed me.” Again, she looked at Devon—each time it was easier to see past the facade of the Enforcer to the man within—her brother. “I’m sure they’ve told you my problem.”

  Devon nodded. “Yes. I forgot for a moment. It’s been a long time, Kierra. It’s good to see you.” Eluria moved up beside him and linked her arm with his.

  Kierra’s gaze settled on her. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Eluria.”

  Devon looked down at Eluria and covered her hand with his own. “None of us would be.”

  Kierra saw a shadow of pain cross Eluria’s face. “None of you would have the pain if it weren’t for me. None of you would have suffered if it hadn’t been for me—for the power my father coveted. Taeryl wouldn’t be dead.”