Ria huffed and crossed her arms, but they knew she was fighting not to laugh as hard as they were. “Anyway, this vid from Mom and the Dads is like…alternate reality stuff.”
“Ria,” Tee said, setting his cup down and going to kneel in front of her. “We’re really glad that your parents sent you such a wonderful vid. And we’re glad that they understood and agreed with what Vari told them because, obviously, it’s the truth.”
“But?”
“But, we’ve known your Dads a very long time and we know them fairly well. Unless there’re other things we don’t know about, we always believed them to be good, honorable men who love their family above all things. We’ve only met your mother a few times, and briefly at that, but we’ve never heard a bad word about her. Did you really think they wouldn’t, at the very least, retract their assumptions about what happened on the Leaper?”
“No, I didn’t think that. And yes, you’re right, they’re good people and really great parents. I guess I just didn’t believe that they’d believe I wasn’t who they thought. Or that they’re not mad at me for hiding and lying for most of my life.”
“I have to say, I feel a little sorry for them,” Talon said. “It’s gotta be hard for them now to look back and see the mistakes they made.”
“I know,” Ria agreed. “I feel badly about that, too.”
“Well, don’t,” Talon said. “It’s not your job to parent them, Kitelle, and if you try, they’ll just feel worse about it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She ran her fingers through a lock of hair, patiently working through a tangle. They could almost feel her thinking, but they remained quiet, and waited.
“What did you think about their decision regarding that surveillance vid that Smythe made?” she asked softly.
“That’s a tough one,” Talon said, trying not to think about the first three minutes of the vid that the Dracon-Bats had described to him. Just hearing it had sent him into a blood rage. He definitely didn’t blame them for going into a blood rage after seeing that little bit, or refusing to view more. “I still feel badly for asking Declan, Jay, and Kai to view it.”
“You had no way of knowing specifically what was on there,” Thorn said. “None of us did.”
“I think Prince Garen made a good decision,” Tee said, gently squeezing Ria’s fingers. “We know enough to know that what they saw was brutal. Your Ata said not even our Princes could watch all of it. Destroying it was the right thing to do.”
“Yes, I agree with that,” Ria said. “I saw the results of what was done to Ferina. How she came to be in that condition is something no parent needs to know, let alone see. But what of their decision to not tell them what really happened? Do you think that’s right?”
“I’m not sure there is a right or wrong for something like this,” Talon said. “For some people it would be right, and others not. For myself, I think they did the right thing.”
“I agree,” Thorn said. “They sent people to check on the families, to see how they were coping. It’s not easy for any of them of course, but they all believe their daughters, along with another two dozen people, walked unknowingly into an energy barrier that instantly vaporized them. Painlessly and without fear.”
Ria nodded. Then she blew out a long sigh. “It’s over.”
“Yes, Kitelle, it’s over.”
“Good.” She smiled at them, then bounced off the bed and headed for the coffee carafe on the table. “Oh, did I tell you no more brain scans?”
“No, you didn't,” Talon said, frowning. “Why not?”
“The nano-bots are finished, and the brain tissue bridges are done.”
“What about the nano-bots?”
“They couldn't find a single trace of them, so who knows?” Ria turned to lift the carafe and began filling a cup, waiting for the inevitable questions to come.
She froze suddenly as feelings of shock, anger, and pain slammed into her. She dropped the cup and the carafe and raced for the doorway connecting the rooms before any of her men knew what was happening. The moment she entered the next room she let out one long scream of pain and fury as she raced straight at the man kneeling over Star’s prone body with a bloody knife in one hand. He froze in surprise, then smiled as Ria ran straight at him. When he felt his own hate and anger torn from him, he had one brief moment to recognize what he’d done, and how wrong he was.
Just as Ria threw herself at him, still screaming at the top of her lungs, just as a tiny speck of remorse touched his eyes, his own emotions were hammered back into his head, multiplied to a degree that his brain couldn’t hope to handle. Every vessel in his brain ruptured, causing pain unlike anything he’d ever imagined possible. Blood poured from his eyes and ears in a rush, his mouth open in a scream that would remain forever silent.
Talon raced into the room in time to see Ria launch herself at the man holding a bloody knife over Star. He roared in fear, already knowing it was too late to stop Ria. He caught an instant of surprise on the man’s face, and then Ria was on him and they were toppling to the floor.
“Tee, call the infirmary, get anyone and everyone here,” Talon shouted while running toward Ria. When he saw her crawl away from the man, relief washed through him. He stopped running and walked the last few steps to Star.
Ria turned around and crawled the short distance to Star. “Star, Star are you okay?”
“I’m okay, Ria,” Star said, lifting her head with a soft whine.
“Stay still, Star,” Talon said.
“The cubs?”
“They’re fine,” Thorn said, kneeling by the bed. He picked them up and held both of them against his chest to calm them.
“Thank you, Thorn.”
“Don’t worry, Star, we’ll never let them come to any harm,” Thorn said as he gently placed the cubs back on the bed.
“Talon, how badly is Star hurt,” Ria asked. She was still on her hands and knees before raising one hand from the floor to run it over Star, searching for wounds.
“She’ll be okay, Ria,” Talon said. “Looks like two wounds to her hip, one in the shoulder.”
“What happened Star?” Thorn asked.
“I came out of the bathroom and he was hiding in the room, somewhere. I don't know how because the door was locked. He came up behind me just as I was getting ready feed the cubs.”
“Who is he?” Ria asked.
“He’s a bit of a mess but I think he’s the idiot waiter from the cafeteria the night Star had the cubs,” Tee said crouching down near Star’s head. “Not that it matters, but why are his eyes bloody?”
“We should’ve left him to the jabberwockies,” Ria said, her head hanging down between her arms so that her face was hidden.
“What’s a jabberwocky?” Thorn asked coming from the bathroom with a stack of towels. He handed a couple to Tee, who pressed one gently against the wound on Star’s shoulder. Then he handed a few to Talon.
“Jaws that bite…claws that catch,” Ria murmured, lowering her other hand to the floor, still kneeling with her head down. “Snicker-snack.”
Talon frowned. She wasn’t making any sense, and her voice sounded…strange.
“Ria?” Star asked, raising her head to look behind her. “Ria, what’s the matter?” They all heard the near panic in Star’s voice but they couldn’t see a reason for it. Their eyes went to the waiter, but he was dead or so close to it that it didn’t matter.
Then Ria gasped softly and they all looked back to see her sitting back on her heels, holding something with both hands against her stomach. She had the strangest expression on her face. Surprised, confused, and sad, all at once.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Before Talon could ask what she meant, her eyes closed and she started to slump toward the floor. Thorn dropped the towels he was still holding and leapt over Star in time to catch Ria’s shoulders just before she hit the floor. Only then did they see the knife buried handle deep in her stomach. The big black t-s
hirt she wore had camouflaged the blood and the black handle of the knife buried in her abdomen. Now that they could see it, they couldn’t take their eyes off of it.
For one long breathless moment no one moved or made a sound. A rapid knocking at the door broke them out of their shock and into motion.
Thorn lowered Ria carefully to the floor on her back, fighting his katrenca who wanted to roar and rend something. The sight of the knife protruding from her abdomen was an abomination to his eyes that he forced himself not to look at. Talon knelt at her other side, his hands hovering uselessly above her while Tee answered the door in hopes that it would be Dr. Jula.
When Corin knelt beside Talon moments later, they all frowned. “Dr. Jula is in the middle of treating two men seriously injured in accident on the Bihotza,” Tee said, kneeling beside Thorn. They all watched as Corin passed a hand scanner over Ria’s abdomen. He looked at the screen and swore softly, then looked up at Talon.
“Admiral, this is very bad. Even if Dr. Jula were here right now I don't think she could save Ria.”
Talon stared at Corin for a long moment, then nodded. “See to Star, Corin. She has three stab wounds.” Corin returned his gaze, then nodded briefly.
“Good luck, Admiral, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure Star and the cubs are guarded and taken care of. You have my word.”
“Thank you, Corin.” Corin got up and moved around to the other side of Star.
“Get in place,” Talon said, already shifting so he was near Ria’s head. When he noticed his brothers weren’t moving he growled at them. “Ria doesn’t have time for a debate. Get in place now!”
Tee and Thorn looked at each other, then Tee got up and moved to Ria’s other side and picked up her left hand. Thorn raised her right, and Talon bent down to her neck.
“What are they doing, Corin?” Star asked.
“The only thing they can do to save Ria’s life,” Corin said in a low voice as he ran a scanner over her injuries. “They’re going to convert her.”
“How will that save her?”
“Shifters have a speedy healing ability. The first phase of the conversion will give Ria the ability to self-heal her wounds in moments.”
“Then she will be Katre?”
“I don’t know much about the rest of the process, but I know there are more phases to it. In the end yes, she will be Katre.”
“That’s good,” Star said, lowering her head to the floor tiredly.
“Your wounds aren’t too serious, Star,” Corin said. “The shoulder wound is shallow. Looks like the knife was deflected by the bone. Of the two hip wounds, one made a mess of Dr. Jula’s excellent work from the last injury. The other isn’t too deep. I’m sure they’re both painful though.”
“It’s not so bad.”
“Now you sound like Ria.”
“That’s a compliment I’m happy to accept, Corin.”
Corin smiled as he tore open several sterile gauze pads and placed them over her wounds. Then he removed a stretcher and control board from his med kit. “Let’s get you to the infirmary, Star, and don’t worry, we’ll take the cubs with us. The Katres will be busy for a while.”
Epilogue
Ria looked around the table at her Rami, Vari and her men, then down to where Star was laying on her mat, eating her dinner, and sighed happily. After a lifetime of feeling like an outsider always looking in, she now felt as though she truly belonged with her family. She’d even exchanged a few long, heartfelt vids with her parents over the last few months.
She looked toward the door connecting the master suite with Star’s room just in time to see a black and gray streak shoot through the doorway.
“Lonato! That’s not fair!” Belle whined as she ran behind her bother. At five months of age, both cubs stood a couple of inches higher than Ria’s knees, but that didn’t mean they resembled adults. They looked exactly like what they were; enormous cubs with fuzzy fur, paws far too big for their size, and ears that still flopped over at the tips.
“Lonato, did you steal your sister’s food again?” Star asked calmly while she ate her own dinner.
“No, Momma,” Lonato replied, running around to the far side of the table.
“He’s lying!” Belle cried, stopping in front of Star.
“Lonato?” Star asked with just a hint of a warning growl.
“She wasn’t eating it so that means it was leftovers.”
“Lonato,” Thorn said sternly.
“Yes Uncle Thorn?” Lonato asked, his head and tail drooping instantly. Thorn merely stared at the cub who, after a moment, sighed. He walked the rest of the way around the table and stood in front of his sister. “I’m sorry Belle. That was a mean thing to do.”
Belle put her nose and tail in the air and turned her head away. “Belle,” Ria said.
“Yes Auntie Ria?”
“Your brother apologized to you. Are you really going to ignore that?”
“He always says he’s sorry and he always does it again,” Belle complained.
“Oh,” Ria said thoughtfully. “You mean like when you pull his tail when he’s sleeping? And then you say you’re sorry but still do it again?”
Belle’s head and tail drooped just like Lonato’s. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess?” Ria asked.
Belle sighed. “I accept your ‘pology, Lonato.”
“Thanks Belle,” Lonato said, immediately perking up. “Hey, wanna go watch that vid from Tonka again?”
“Okay,” Belle said brightly. “I like him. And Jinjie, too.”
“I can’t wait until we get to see Dracon Ranch for real,” Lonato said. “I wonder if we’ll get to chase those coos.”
“Coos? What’s a coo, Lonato?”
“You know silly, those big black and white animals Tonka showed us on the vid.”
“Oh. Well, maybe we can ask him when Auntie Ria helps us record a message back.”
Ria shook her head at the cubs as they went back to their room. She loved the cubs with all of her heart, but they were a handful at times.
“Coos?” Star asked.
“Cows,” Ria replied.
“Ah,” Star said with laughter in her mind.
“They’re so cute it’s hard not to laugh at them even when they’re being naughty,” Vari said.
“Tell me about it,” Ria said, rolling her eyes with a grin. “You should have seen them yesterday, it was hilarious…,” Ria stopped talking when Vari suddenly turned her head to her left.
“Really?” she said with obvious excitement. Since no one could see who she was talking to, they all knew it was Nia. “All right, we’ll go now.”
Vari turned to look at her dinner companions, her eyes sparkling. “We’ve just found Kinah.”
To be continued….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Jo lives in the Arizona desert with her loving husband, their two children, one very large dog and two interesting cats. Laura Jo loves to hear from her readers.
Visit her facebook page facebook.com/laurajophillipsauthor to see when the next installment in the Hearts of ICARUS series is coming.
Ria's Visions (Hearts of ICARUS Book 6) Page 49
