He sat in a dark corner of the bar, sipping his drink, trying to ignore the blathering drunk at the far end of the room until he caught the name Dracon. Suddenly he was very interested in the annoying human.
Slater studied the man carefully as he listened to him ramble on about the Dracons and their woman. He had obviously spent several days drinking, his reek so strong that Slater entertained second thoughts about using him. When he overheard the bartender telling another patron that the drunken human had been banished by the Dracons, Slater decided that the man’s smell was not the important issue. Everything was falling into place for him, but if he turned away from this chance, he might not be blessed with another.
His decision made, Slater considered the best way to approach the man. When he overheard the bartender tell the patron that if the man was not on an outbound ship by midnight, that the guards planned to put him on one of their choosing, Slater realized how lucky he had gotten.
He finished his drink then rose slowly, approaching the fat, drunken human with an expression of studied concern on his face. He mumbled softly to the drunk for the sake of appearance. After a few minutes, when the curious stares he had earned when approaching the man wandered away, he urged the man to his feet and guided him out of the bar. The man continued his rambling story without pause, but Slater had heard enough to know all he needed to know. The man hated the Dracons and wanted to hurt their female.
An hour later, a mildly drugged and lightly tranced Frith, accompanied by a short, elderly man, boarded a liner back to Rondo. It would take time to complete the spell, perhaps as long as a couple of weeks. But Slater wasn’t worried. Everything was going his way so far. He knew that it would continue to do so. It was, after all, his destiny.
Chapter 14
Val helped Lariah into the passenger seat of the ground-car, his brows drawn down in concern as she yawned widely. Her first day working with Doc at the clinic had been filled with emotional highs and lows. It had been difficult for her to touch the minds of so many ill and injured animals, their pain and confusion nearly overwhelming her at times. But she had also proved herself to be an enormous help to Doc. In one case, she was able to reveal symptoms that he otherwise could not have known about, allowing him to save the life of a little dog.
Val had watched her throughout the day and had been both proud of her and touched by her compassion. She was as endlessly patient and gentle with the pet owners as she was with their pets, and she had unknowingly earned the admiration of everyone she had met. Now, however, she was completely exhausted, and he was concerned about that.
He climbed into the ground-car and engaged the power, turning to study Lariah’s face. She had dark circles below her eyes and her skin was quite pale.
“Lariah, I am not sure that working at the clinic is good for you,” he said.
“Why do you say that?” she asked in surprise.
“You are over-tired,” Val said as he put the car in gear and turned toward home. “I think that using your psychic abilities so intensively is responsible, and that to do such on a regular basis will put your health at risk.”
“Yes, I know,” she said softly, surprising Val. He had expected an argument from her. That she was agreeing with him told him even more clearly how difficult the day had been for her.
“I loved what I was able to do today Val,” she said tiredly. “I want to continue doing it. I actually helped those animals, and it was a feeling like no other. But, at the same time, I realize I need to be more careful. Touch only the minds of those that require extra help, not every one that comes through the door.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Val agreed. “I am very proud of you sharali,” he added. “It was a joy to watch you today.”
Lariah smiled. “I cannot describe how amazing it is to do something so useful, so helpful,” she said softly. She yawned widely. “Excuse me,” she said politely, leaning her head back against the seat.
“Close your eyes and rest,” Val said. “We will be home soon.”
Lariah obeyed, closing her eyes with a sleepy sigh. “If I fall asleep, please wake me up before putting me in bed,” she asked. “I want to take a shower first.”
“I will see to it that you are cleansed before putting you to bed sharali,” Val said. Lariah smiled inwardly. She knew that Val would probably use his magic to push her deeper into sleep so that she would not awaken while he washed her himself. She was mildly surprised that the thought did not bother her in the least. Then she drifted off.
Val stood by the bed watching Lariah sleep, her damp hair spread out on the pillows beside her. It had required very little magic to keep her deeply asleep while he carried her into the shower and bathed her. Trey had joined him, helping to shampoo her long hair and rinse it thoroughly. They dried her satiny skin and combed her hair before slipping her into the bed, drawing the sheet up over her body. As soon as she was in the bed she had turned over and curled up in the position she usually preferred to sleep in. Val smiled. She had never so much as twitched during the entire process.
A whisper of sound from the doorway caught his attention and he turned to see Garen gesturing to him. He nodded, glanced once more at Lariah, and left the room. He stopped for a moment just before reaching the door to pat Tiny on the head. “Keep an eye on her for us,” he told the dog softly. Tiny’s tail thumped on the floor as though in agreement. He stepped outside the room and pulled the door partially closed before following Garen down the hall and across the living room to the study.
“How did it go today?” Garen asked as he took his chair behind the desk.
“Quite well,” Val replied taking a seat in the vacant chair next to Trey. He related the events of the day, the pride he felt shining in Garen’s and Trey’s eyes as he told them all Lariah had done.
“She’s exhausted because she over used her ability today,” he said finally. “We discussed it on the way home and she said that she would be more selective with it in future.”
“Good,” Garen replied. “I am pleased that she did so well, and that it makes her happy to help at Doc’s clinic. But we cannot allow her health to be threatened by it. If it continues to take such a toll on her, we will have to deny her in this.”
“It does more than make her happy,” Val said. “It fills a deep need within her to be useful and helpful in such a meaningful way. I agree that we must keep a close eye on her health, but if we attempt to take this from her, we will hurt her.”
“Very well,” Garen agreed. “We will not attempt to take this from her, but if she continues to exhaust herself, we will need to curtail it.”
Val nodded in agreement at the same time that a low beep sounded from the vid screen on Garen’s desk. Garen reached out and pressed a button.
“It is Jung Del,” he said, pressing another button to accept the call as Trey and Val hurried to stand behind Garen so that they could see the screen.
After a short delay the image of Jung Del appeared on the vid screen, his smooth grey skin and pointed teeth giving him a distinctly uncivilized look. He bowed. “Royal Princes of Jasan,” he said formally, his voice smooth and deep. “I greet you, and thank you for agreeing to treat with me.”
Garen nodded deeply, not quite a bow but a clear gesture of respect. Jung Del was known for being both unfailingly polite and more ruthless than any other being in the Thousand Worlds. He was also a member of the Marrazon royal family, and therefore due a certain level of deference.
“The Director has informed us of your plan to lure Loggia to us,” Garen said bluntly, once the formalities were concluded.
Jung Del smiled, a baring of several rows of his razor sharp teeth. “And do you agree with this plan?” he asked.
“Perhaps,” Garen replied. “Are you aware of what he did to our Arima?”
“If you are referring to the sister of Ellicia, then yes, I am aware of what was done to her,” Jung Del replied.
“For the crimes he and his men committed against her, our laws would have
him tried before a jury, and, if found guilty, punished accordingly,” Garen said carefully. “We are not sure this procedure is...appropriate...in this case.”
Jung Del’s black eyes widened in surprise. Garen simply stared into the vid screen, his face stony. Jung Del’s eyes narrowed in speculation.
“Highness, I do not wish to offend, nor do I wish to minimize the atrocities committed against your lady,” Jung Del said, speaking slowly as he selected his words with care. “However, Loggia murdered my Sister-Queen. I must claim Blood Debt against Loggia, and ask for the right to dispose of him and his men in my own way.”
Garen smiled, a cold, satisfied expression without humor. “As High Prince of Jasan, I recognize your greater claim,” he said, bowing formally toward the vid screen.
Jung Del grinned, a frightening expression on his shark-like face. “I assure you that Loggia will spend a very long time in my care before he is released to whatever hell created him,” he said. “I also promise that his crimes against your lady will be addressed with particular attention.”
“Then we are in agreement,” Garen replied. He hesitated a moment, then clenched his jaw with determination. “Are you aware that Loggia also has a female who shares his tastes?” he asked.
“Ah yes, the infamous, and unfortunate, Sadisa,” Jung Del replied.
Garen’s brows rose. “Unfortunate?”
“Unfortunate for her,” he clarified. “When we conducted the raid on Loggia’s base on Earth, she was there. Her scent matched one of those on my Sister-Queen’s remains, and I’m afraid that, combined with my disappointment in Loggia’s absence at the time of our raid, resulted in an incident which Sadisa did not survive.”
Garen cocked his head. Jung Del’s smile grew even wider. “She ran into something sharp,” he said, snapping his teeth together.
Garen nodded, satisfied that the female who had helped to torture Lariah was dead. Though he, like all of his people, treated females as the treasures they were, he was not naïve about it. He recognized that a female who chose to engage in battle was as dangerous as any male, and to think differently was a deadly and foolish error. By her own actions, Sadisa had invited her violent ending.
“Do not worry,” Jung Del continued. “I promise that such an incident will not occur with Loggia. His good luck has run out.”
“Excellent,” Garen replied shortly. “We are agreed. Let us plan.”
“With great pleasure, Highness,” he said with a short bow.
As they began working out the details for Loggia’s capture, Garen wondered briefly what Jung Del had in mind for Loggia and his men. He had heard some fairly gruesome rumors concerning Jung Del’s treatment of traitors and spies during the war on Pilorat, though, by all accounts, he treated honorable enemies with the respect due them. He had no doubt that Jung Del would tell him, in great detail, what he had in mind if Garen asked. In the end, he decided not to. As much as he despised Loggia and wanted the man to suffer for his crimes, he did not enjoy torture. It was enough to know that the man would pay, and pay dearly, for what he had done to Lariah.
Chapter 15
The next few weeks passed happily for Lariah. She loved riding Nahia. The riding lessons, her own natural talent and her ability to communicate with the mare had her racing across the hills in no time, the three large stallions and their three large riders holding back, letting the smaller females have their fun. When she wasn’t riding Nahia or playing with Tiny, Lariah spent time working in the clinic with Doc, continuing to help him with the ranch animals and the constant trickle of pets that surrounding neighbors brought to him for treatment. She kept her promise to Val and used her special ability only when it was necessary, though the more she used it, the easier it became to use.
The old, gruff, bad tempered Doc and the young, sweet natured Lariah seemed an odd partnership. But they had understood each other from the moment they met, and they worked well together. Lariah took a lot of the guess work out of diagnosing animals, and Doc never questioned anything she told him, though they were careful to keep her ability between them.
One of Lariah’s favorite things to do was work with the gardener, Pater. Like everyone else who met Lariah, Pater fell for her at once. Her love of all things living radiated from her heart and soul and those around her seemed to bask in her warmth. He was endlessly patient with her, answering all of her questions about anything that grew in the soil. When she displayed not only a willingness to get her hands dirty, but an eagerness for it, any reservations Pater might have had vanished. Lariah truly loved to get down on her knees in the rich soil and help out, planting, pruning, weeding, anything that Pater was doing she was both happy and willing to help.
On days when there was no work in the garden or she felt like staying in, she would often find her way into the kitchen. Lariah had been nervous of Suly at first, worried that the older women would think badly of her for living so openly with three men. Lariah knew that it was the norm on Jasan, but Suly was a human woman, raised on Earth, with different views on such things. But Suly soon proved that her worries were unfounded. She had been housekeeping for the Dracons for her entire adult life, and adored them as she would her own children had she ever had any. She was fiercely loyal to them, and anything they did was fine by her. She not only approved of Lariah, like everyone else, she adored her. When Lariah had shyly expressed an interest in learning to cook, Suly had at once taken her under her wing and into her heart. Suly enjoyed teaching Lariah, though there were some interesting surprises when Lariah got the unfamiliar ingredients mixed up.
More than anything else though, Lariah loved to cuddle up with her men. In the evenings, when they had the house to themselves, they would often gather in the living room, each of them doing various activities. Lariah loved curling up in Garen’s lap while he read, or lying with her head in Trey’s lap with a book while he and Val argued over the best bulls, the most maneuverable space fighters, the fastest ground-cars, or which of them could fly the fastest in dracon form.
The guys had been working with her to help her get over her fear of fire. At first they had told her there was no need. They were against doing anything that would distress her, and preferred to simply be sure that fire was kept away from her. But when she pointed out that they were fire-breathing dracons and that she didn’t want to be terrified if one of them coughed up a spark on accident, they laughed at her, then they agreed. She was pleased with her progress in that area. She had actually been able to eat a meal while a pair of candles burned in the center of the table. She wasn’t sure how she would react if she were surprised with a sudden flame, but she was doing better.
She had also gotten used to the giant beasts her men became. In fact, she found them beautiful with their cream, tan, brown and black fur that looked exactly like the markings on old Earth leopards. Val had once shifted just so she could feel the fur when she had expressed curiosity about it. She’d been delighted to find that it was silky soft, but so dense that she could not run her fingers through it, or even touch the skin beneath.
Lariah soon discovered that if the guys went too long without shifting into their dracons, they grew tense and irritable. They preferred to transform and go flying each night, and she loved sitting on the patio with Tiny at her feet, watching the three giant dracons soar through the starry skies.
The only sour note in Lariah’s life was the wait and the worry over the results from Riata. She tried not to let it intrude on her happiness, but there were times when she just couldn’t help it. She wanted to be their true mate and have children with them, and she didn’t care if it was only males. She also knew that Garen, Val and especially Trey greatly desired children. She remembered the expression on Val’s face when he had told her that they craved family. She didn’t know how she would survive if she was unable to fulfill that want for them, and for herself.
When her worry got too bad, she went and found her men and enticed them into the bedroom. It never took too much enticin
g on her part. Nor did it take much distracting on their part for her to forget her reasons for initiating things to start with.
As she sat on the sofa, book forgotten in her lap, she was remembering the hot little spanking she had received several nights before when she had deliberately refused to obey Trey when he’d politely asked her to hand him something. They had known the reason for her refusal at once, and had immediately given her exactly what she’d needed. Lariah shivered at the memory. Once her men had gotten it into their heads that they had not been fulfilling her more submissive needs, well, it had been quite an exciting experience.
She heard the study door open and looked up with a smile as Garen, Trey and Val all joined her in the living room. Her smile faded as she took in the expressions on their faces. They looked stern, determined. Her mouth went dry. Something was wrong. She knew it.
“Tell me,” she said at once.
Garen looked at her, and she could actually see him getting ready to tell her nothing was wrong before discarding the lie. “They have the results of the tests they ran,” he said shortly. No further explanation was needed. Lariah knew exactly what he meant.
“And?” she asked.
“They have learned that the potion altered serum would act as a poison to you. They have also learned that the serum in our mating fangs cannot be altered. So, basically, they learned nothing of any use to us as we could not inject you with potion altered serum anyway.”
Lariah absorbed that. “What else?” she asked.
“Nothing else,” Garen replied shortly. “They have no answers for us. They do not know what effect our serum would have on you. There is no way of knowing unless we actually do it.”
“Then I think we should,” Lariah said.
“No,” Garen replied. “It is too big of a risk.”
“You have told me that I am your Arima,” Lariah said, “that your mating fangs descending is proof of it. I think that something…fate or destiny, or whatever you want to call it, is at work here. I think your mating fangs prove that your bodies know something about my body, something that our minds do not know. I think we should trust in the signs we have been given, and do it. Take the chance and see what happens.”
The Dracons' Woman: Book 1 of the Soul-Linked Saga Page 23
