“Conor flatly told his mate that her death would mean nothing to him. If a male does not value the female closest to his spirit, what could he ever feel for creatures he does not know? Conor has let the power madness become his guide in everything,” Ania said. “For those reasons and more, I have not changed my mind, Liam.”
“I don’t want to do this to him, but I can’t willingly let Conor kill anyone else either,” Synar said sadly. “And I can’t let him get control of Malachi.”
“No, you can’t. If it comforts you, Malachi has said that what we plan could change Conor if he allows his spirit to be redeemed,” Ania said gently, reaching for the positive side of what they intended to do.
“The predictions of a demon lack the ability to comfort me. Debating this with you will not help me accept it more either. I am resigned to go forward with your plan only because I see no other alternative,” Synar said.
“Perhaps if you tried to see it as saving other creatures from Conor’s evil?” Ania suggested.
“Stop trying to console me. It is wasted effort,” Synar said frowning. “Come. Let’s see if you can handle the amulet without pain. Normally, it hurts Malachi to have contact with it. He says it calls to him too strongly for him to resist.”
When Synar placed his hands over the palm prints and chanted, the chest opened and Ania saw a small metal container on a chain lying in the box. Its compete lack of adornment was interesting in itself. No one looking at it would have known about its purpose.
Synar lifted it from the box by the chain and held it out to her.
Malachi fluttered in alarm, but Ania reached out her hand anyway. The chain fell heavily across her palm as she closed her fingers over it. There was a definite pull, and even some pain, but she could ignore both.
Relax. The amulet is not for you. I just wanted to see if I could hold it safely, she sent.
If you put me in that metal box, you will be only what you were without me, Malachi warned, panicked at Ania’s eerily calm reaction and her ability to withstand the amulet’s call to her. No being can know true death until they have spent time in the void without light or thought or action of any sort. It is the worst punishment of the creators.
Stop worrying. Have I given you a reason to doubt my intentions towards you? she demanded, switching the chain to the other palm and picking up the amulet to study it more closely.
Malachi was silent as Ania walked around the room, holding the amulet out in front of her. Without the chest, it had no feeling of power surrounding it, but she could feel the sacredness.
Then testing her endurance further, she put the amulet’s chain over her head and around her neck. Suddenly the power in the amulet came alive.
Enough! You are torturing me. I know it hurts you as well, Malachi complained. Why do you test us?
Those who serve the good, who serve the will of the creators of all, need not fear anything, not even pain or death, Ania sent. Be at peace Malachi, Demon of Synar. Despite Liam’s confession of his intentions, you have my word the amulet is not intended for you today or any other. You have my word.
Malachi fluttered again within her, but finally settled down at her words and her continued calm. They suffered together as the amulet called to them both, and Ania let him see her pain.
You are the only host I have ever trusted enough to not fight their will, Malachi said finally. You don’t know how difficult it is for me to believe your words and intent.
I am Khalsa and Pleiadian. I speak the truth whether people wish to hear it or not. I will honor all I have said to you, Ania sent. Honoring you is the will of the creators who made us both.
Ania slipped the chain back over her head and off, walking back to return the amulet to Synar. He took it from her and laid it in the box again, chanting without attempting to shield the words from her.
“There is great power in the amulet,” Ania said, interrupting him.
“Yes,” Synar answered, holding it in both hands as he replaced it carefully inside the chest. “Since you finished all the books of training, you know its power better than I do.”
“Why do you trust me, Liam?” Ania asked. “You have shared all your family’s secrets with me. I could be harboring a secret intention to do you harm as I have told Conor I do.”
Synar stored the chest back in the wall compartment before he answered.
“I continue to have reservations about sharing so much with you,” he admitted. “Yet I also know that you could take a knife and stab me as Conor did my father, and I wouldn’t lift a hand to stop you. My trust of you exceeds my logic, even my will to live. Perhaps I serve you as much as I do Malachi or as much as Malachi serves me. I just know I will not step aside from my relationship to you even if it means my death.”
“Your death would likely become my death as well, Liam Synar,” Ania said, matching his sincerity. “We would return to the creators of all together because I would kill your brother and sever my sacred contract with Malachi. The Demon of Synar would just have to pass to some other person brave enough to rule him.”
“No. You must never do that,” Synar pleaded. “There are no more members of my family to inherit. If Conor and I both die, Malachi will become the property of whoever holds the chest and the amulet. Then my mother’s attackers will have the situation they were trying to force on my father. You have to live and keep partial control if Conor succeeds in killing me. As a Pleiadian, you would outlive Conor’s natural life and be able to train Malachi’s next master.”
“You ask a lot from me, but very well. So long as I have breath, Conor Synar will never be Malachi’s only master,” Ania said softly.
“Will you swear that promise to me as Khalsa?” Synar asked.
“No,” Ania whispered, meeting his gaze. “I swear by the creators of all. I swear I will do what I must to keep your brother from controlling Malachi’s power. Conor’s destiny is not to be that demon’s master.”
“No, it’s not—no matter how much I wish it could be different,” Synar said sincerely. “I even pray your idea succeeds so his full death will not be necessary, though I cannot imagine it doing so.”
“One way or the other, we will succeed,” Ania said firmly, pulling away. “When this is over, you and I will talk of happier things. Perhaps we might even discuss our future living arrangements without fighting.”
Synar smiled even though he didn’t feel like it. Ania being in his life permanently was the one thing he had no doubts about happening at all. It still felt meant to be and always had for him.
“We could discuss living arrangements I suppose. Or as captain, I could just lock you out of your old room and force you into mine,” Synar joked.
Ania looked at him in disbelief and shook her head. She walked to his door, manually setting it to lock behind her as she went out of it. From outside, Synar heard her chant just before the lock clicked and she walked back inside.
“Lock a Khalsa out of a room on this ship of metal so easily cursed? Not possible,” she explained, not even feeling the slightest urge to gloat. She’d been cursing metal and bypassing locked doors since she was fifty Earth years old.
“Okay. I guess I will just have to find a way to talk you into staying with me by choice then,” Synar said finally, his eyes glinting with amusement at the pride in hers. “I will be pondering what to offer you for your favors until we can discuss it.”
“Perhaps there is hope for us after all,” Ania said, bowing her head respectfully to the only male she was ever going to want as a mate.
Chapter 27
On the engineering deck railing, Gwen stood by Chiang and covertly watched the hooded male debark from the supply ship. He was wearing a cloak covering most of his face, but what she saw of him sent a chill racing along her spine. It was like looking at Synar’s evil twin.
Unaware of the full situation, Chiang put a hand to his gut. “Who’s that?”
“Ambassador’s Onin’s mate—or so I’ve heard,” Gwen said. �
��Why?”
Gwen watched the ambassador smile and clasp the cloaked male in her arms only to be pushed aside firmly as if her welcome and embrace did not matter. If Zade ever did that to her, he’d lose a kneecap-or whatever the Siren equivalent of one was.
“That male has a dark spirit,” Chiang said softly. “Do not trust him.”
“Oh, I don’t,” Gwen said firmly, no longer surprised at Chiang’s intuition or the fact that he was more open with sharing what he saw these days. Pursuing Boca Ador seemed to bringing out a whole new side of him. “The captain doesn’t trust the ambassador’s mate either. That’s why I’m acting as his shadow. Fortunately, I have inside info that he isn’t a natural intuitive. He has to be looking at you to read your energy.”
Chiang put a hand on Gwen’s arm as she started to walk away. “Take care, Commander. You would be wise to use your own intuition concerning him.”
Gwen smiled. “Worried about me, handsome?”
Chiang pulled his hand away and rolled his eyes. “Yes. Who will keep me humble if anything happens to you?”
“Boca might be willing to give that a go,” Gwen said.
“Doubtful,” Chiang said tightly. “Thanks to you, the Sumerian female detests me.”
“No, Boca likes you,” Gwen said, walking to the other side of the railing as the couple below her made their way slowly and casually to the transport lift. “She just doesn’t want to like you, Chiang. She doesn’t want to like any male after what she just survived. That’s not the same as not liking you personally.”
“Well, it feels the same,” Chiang said. “She ignores my every attempt to engage her in conversation. I have not even asked her to bond with me.”
“Maybe not, but I’d still bet several credits that you’ll have her panting in your bed before she leaves the Liberator,” Gwen said.
“Boca’s leaving the Liberator? When?” Chiang demanded, the thought of the Sumerian female leaving sending him into a panic. Then thoughts of her panting in his bed sent him into a panic of another kind.
“Oh, she’s not leaving for a while—or at least I don’t think she is. Boca just talks about it now and again,” Gwen said, turning in the direction the couple below was walking. “Can’t talk anymore about your new girlfriend right now, Chiang. Got to follow the bad guys.”
Chiang sighed as he walked after Gwen, following the upper railing until she climbed into the service lift that would bring her out on the main floor just moments before the dock transport lift arrived.
His stomach clenched and a shiver of dread passed over him as he watched the transport lift cage close around the ambassador and her visitor below.
Chiang walked back to his task and started putting his tools away. The intuitive dread he felt was getting to him. His impulse to check on Boca and see to her safety was suddenly more than his Greggor instincts could ignore. Sighing, he stood and headed to medical.
He hoped Zade was keeping an eye on Gwen.
***
“Sarinnea, you can’t leave on this particular supply ship,” Dorian argued. “I can’t explain why right now, but you’ll just have to wait for the next one. You’ve stayed this long. What’s one more week?”
Sarinnea reached up and patted his cheek. “Eli’oh, I’m going to miss you too. It won’t matter which ship takes me away. You know I’m not one of those creatures who can go for very long without a planet under my feet.”
Dorian ignored the flashing control panel until he couldn’t anymore. He walked to it and smacked it.
“Zade,” he said. “I’m hurrying.”
“They’re on their way to the captain’s quarters right now,” Gwen said.
“I’ll be right there,” Dorian answered, swinging his gaze back to the female smiling at him with affection. “Don’t do anything until we settle this, Sarinnea. Wait until I get back. We’ll arrange for you to leave on another ship soon. I need you to stay—I want you to stay.”
“Dorian, you’re too distracted to have this level of conversation right now. Go do what you must and come back quickly,” Sarinnea said.
“Okay—wait for me,” he ordered. “We’ll discuss your departure when I return.”
Dorian grabbed his uniform coat that he almost never wore on the Liberator, but his weapon was in it. He didn’t want to retrieve his weapon from the pocket and set off the parent alarm in Sarinnea. So far, they had kept the events of today only to a select handful of crew members who could block their energy from being read.
Gwen had picked up the blocking skill much easier than Dorian would have liked. Fortunately, he’d learned to block his thoughts from his parent long ago. Sarinnea was hard to deceive, even in minor things.
“You have my sincere affection. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Dorian said as he left.
Sarinnea nodded as her child rushed off to do who knew what. There was something important brewing around Captain Synar today. Dorian had been in a mood and had put up his energy shields, which he always did when it came to his work.
She looked around and saw Dorian’s desk com unit still open.
That’s it, Sarinnea thought, smiling at her own cleverness. She’d leave him a note explaining she just had to leave. And then she’d get out of Dorian’s way and let him get on with his life. She was certainly ready to get on with hers. He would understand her urgency once he reflected on it.
Visiting was nice, Sarinnea thought with a sigh as she sat down at Dorian’s desk, but now she wanted to go home.
***
Deciding her uniform was a better option than a meditation robe if she ended up fighting, Ania pulled the sides of the shirt out as far as they would go, but they still wouldn’t reach across her breasts with ease. The fasteners strained to hold her.
Malachi hovered, shifting himself and wavering into various shapes in the chair at Liam’s desk.
“Is that your misty way of laughing at me?” Ania asked finally. She was rapidly discovering that the demon had a wicked sense of humor, worse than Gwen’s.
Malachi pulled himself into more of a normal shape and solidified himself as much as he could.
“Are you trying to impress Conor with your chest glands? I actually had the other brother in mind when I made them bigger,” he said.
“You made them so large nothing fits. The larger shirts I borrowed are now too soiled to wear. If you’d just left my size alone, all my clothes would still be fine,” Ania said tersely.
“Do you want to hear why I find your complaining so amusing?” Malachi asked.
“No, but I’m sure you’re determined to tell me anyway,” Ania replied.
“Here we are waiting for a sadistic, fully trained demon master to appear any second, and you—a Khalsa—are only worried about how you look in your clothes,” Malachi chastised. “Some warrior you’re turning out to be. I had such high hopes after the hand-cutting-off episode.”
Huffing, Ania dropped her hands from her clothes. “I don’t know which is worse, hearing you nagging me in my head or having you out in mist where your annoying words hang in the air between us. You’re equally tiresome in both forms.”
The mist wavered and vibrated. “You are highly entertaining. Please do not get yourself harmed today. Aren’t you going to warn me about your plans now?”
“No. Just remember I’m your first concern if Conor Synar whips out a knife to stab someone,” Ania said harshly.
“Ah—there they are now. All these years apart and that male still thrills me when he’s near,” Malachi said, disappearing into Ania.
Remember—you can’t kill him.
No, I can’t, Ania agreed. But make no mistake, demon, I am going to stop him. I expect your loyalty to be to me no matter how thrilling you find Conor Synar.
I guess that depends on what you have in mind, Malachi sent.
Retribution—that’s what I have in mind, Ania sent back.
We’ll see then, Malachi returned.
Ania closed her eyes and walked throu
gh her mind, crossing the bridge to look at the memories of her spiritual life that Malachi had made for her. She admired the struggles and trials she had endured, yet there was no precedent among them for the actions she intended to take today.
Sighing heavily at the burdens she now carried, and for the one she was getting ready to take on, Ania prayed for guidance. She regularly visited the memories of her enlightenment here in the place Malachi had created for her, but it was much like Synar watching Earth entertainment vids. Those eight hundred years didn’t seem real to her now, instead they were more like seeing stories that had happened to someone else. The true experience of the memories was as elusive to her as the mist that was the demon’s true form.
She walked resolutely back across the mind bridge and into who she had become. Malachi’s possession had given her a second chance with Synar that would probably never have happened otherwise, but just as Dorian predicted, her new life was never going to be easy.
When Ania opened her eyes to the insistent knock at the door, she let the warrior that she had become again take over.
She called up Malachi’s power and felt him swell within her to do as she bid. She gladly embraced the power that Liam despised, happy to have it to help her, even as she also hoped that over time the power wouldn’t come to own her like it had before.
Chapter 28
When Ania jerked open the door, she saw Issa lifting her hand to knock a third time.
“Shades of Kellnor, do you not possess any patience? I was occupied trying to dress. Malachi and I felt Conor’s presence. Come inside quickly. You’ve made enough racket knocking to alarm anyone who saw you.”
They stepped across the threshold of the captain’s quarters, and Ania felt Malachi quiver inside her again as she closed the door behind them
“There are no surveillance devices in this room. Remove the hood and let me see your face,” Ania demanded.
Conor lifted his hand and pushed back the hood. Glancing at him, Ania grabbed Issa’s arm and pushed her to the bed. “You—sit. Stay there until I tell you to get up again.”
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