by Abella Ward
He wanted her.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yeah. Let's go."
A human with golden eyes stood at the bottom of the gangplank, along with a T'shav with a goatee – strange to see facial hair on one of their species. Another three T'shav stood behind the couple. The human, whose skin was an odd, almost blue color, smiled at them.
"Welcome to the Sanctuary. I am Sara, and this is my mate Tom, Zon's son. From your message, it seems you have been in a bit of trouble."
"Yes," Dievca said. "We—"
"We'll be talking to each of you separately," Tom interrupted. "Please surrender your weapons and go with these men."
Chapec reluctantly handed over his sword. He glanced at his sister to see her even more reluctant, but she surrendered her sword as well. Veronica gave his hand a squeeze before they were separated. He was led to a little room and quizzed about the events that had brought him to this point. He and Dievca had never decided on a script for this, knowing that sounding too perfect would make the Sanctuary suspicious, and told them the truth as far as it did not incriminate them. After he told them about Veronica's pregnancy, he received smiles and congratulations, and that was it. The interview was over.
"You'll know in a few days about your status here. Welcome to the Sanctuary."
Chapec nodded numbly. Was it really going to be that easy? He was led to a room where Dievca was already waiting. She smiled at him, but he couldn’t smile back.
"Where is Veronica?"
Dievca's smile faded. "There was some sort of human meeting thing that I encouraged her to go to. I thought it would give us time to do what we came here to do. Don't back out on me now, Chippy."
"And… what? Join you in a suicide mission? Dievca, we won't survive this."
"Well, I won't survive alone. Are you going to let me die?"
Chapec ground his teeth together. As much as his sister irritated him, he couldn’t let her get hurt. He'd never forgive himself. But he also knew he couldn’t turn his back on Veronica. "I think I love her."
"Of course you love her." His twin tossed her short hair angrily, putting her hands on her hips. "I thought you'd be able to handle it, that you could stop yourself from falling for her. But that didn't happen. But think about it. What can you offer her? Hell, either of us? We're nothing but criminals. Nothing but empty shells full of revenge."
"No."
"I already hacked their system and found where Gylden is living. He's only two floors up." Dievca rose a brow. "Apparently he's some sort of ambassador."
Chapec closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "We don't kill him. Not yet, at least. We can go to see how easy it will be to get to his rooms, but we don't even have weapons. We do not try to kill. Understood? I want to give Veronica time to adjust here at least before we act. Got it?"
Dievca scowled but nodded. They headed out, not speaking. Chapec followed his sister silently, heart in his throat. What would he do once he looked into the eyes of his father's killer?
They reached the rooms quickly. His gut twisted as Dievca knocked. Her hand trembled. When the door opened, both tensed. Chapec's eyes widened. It wasn't a T'shav that answered. It wasn't even a man. A human woman, cradling a small, devil-red infant, stood in the doorway. Dark circles were under her eyes.
Chapec stepped back. He'd heard rumors that Gylden had taken a mate, but he and Dievca had been out of touch with the gladiator games for a long time. But here she was. Gylden's mate. Gylden's child.
If they killed him, they'd be leaving another child without their father.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked.
"We're looking for Gylden," Dievca said. Her eyes were riveted on the small baby. Were the same thoughts going through her mind?
"Well, he's right there." The woman gestured.
Chapec whirled on his heel. A lean T'shav was walking down the corridor. He glanced at the twins with a puzzled expression. His face was exactly as Chapec remembered. Bile rose in his throat and his hands clenched. The man was weaponless. He and Dievca could easily take him down. He trembled with the desire to try…
"Gylden, these two are here to see you," the woman behind them said.
"Are they?" the T'shav warrior stopped and glanced between the two of them. "Do I know you?"
Chapec started to shake his head, but Dievca responded before he could. "You will soon enough!"
Her hands were clenched. Her eyes blazed. Her whole body trembled. Chapec reached to grab her arm, but she shook him off. She stalked towards Gylden. The other T'shav's expression changed from puzzled to utterly blank. The same expression he had worn when killing their father. More bile rose in Chapec's throat. Every inch of him screamed to attack. But he couldn't. He had Veronica to think about. Their baby.
"Who are you?" Gylden's voice was rough.
"I am Dievca, and this is my brother. We're here to avenge our father. The man you killed."
Gylden stepped back. A flash of pain crossed his face.
"Do you remember him? Do you remember how he refused to even pick up a weapon but you ran him through anyway? Do you remember—"
"I've killed too many men to remember them all, Dievca."
It was the worst thing for him to say. A feral scream ripped from Dievca's throat. She lunged forward, aiming a fist for his face. Gylden easily blocked the blow and threw a punch of his own, two knuckles bruising her esophagus.
Rage burned through Chapec. He roared as he charged the killer, only wishing he had his sword to lob off his head. Nobody hurt his family and got away with it.
Nobody.
Chapter Seven – Veronica
It felt odd to be around humans again. It made the pain of losing her family and friends fresh and cutting all over again. Veronica hadn't been able to sit through the whole 'human support' meeting, leaving about halfway through. She needed to find Chapec. She needed to talk to him. He hadn't told her what he was going to do. Was he going to stay and be a part of their child's life? Was he going to leave?
Veronica knew better than to kid herself that he might want to stay for her. Besides knowing each other only for a little while (it felt like a long time, but it had only been a few 'standard months' and apparently those were shorter than the ones she'd known on Earth), he had never expressed any sort of romantic attraction towards her.
Love and lust were two very different things. At least, Veronica had always thought so until she met Chapec. The fact was that she was pretty sure she was falling for him, and it wasn't just lust. She didn't know if the same could be said of him.
The sound of shouting broke Veronica from her thoughts. She paused. Was that Dievca's voice? She hurried forward only to stop dead at what she saw once she rounded the corner.
Chapec was trading blows with another T'shav. This one was leaner than Chapec, covered in tattoos, with a strangely blank expression. Dievca dove in from the left, jabbing a fist towards the T'shav's ribs, but he easily blocked her while at the same time twisting Chapec's arm sharply behind his back. Her T'shav stumbled while the stranger caught Dievca in a headlock.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I must," he said. "Right now, I could easily break your sister's neck. Stand down and I won't hurt her."
Dievca struggled in the stranger's grasp. Veronica's heart was in her throat as she stared at the scene before her. An uncomfortable, sick feeling slipped into her stomach. What was going on here? She stepped forward silently. Chapec himself stepped back from the stranger and rose his hands. An expression of hate twisted Dievca's face.
"I surrender. Let her go."
The stranger released Dievca. The woman stumbled away. She turned a black glare on her brother, and as she did so, she saw Veronica. Her gaze flicked to the human's belly, and a strange expression crossed her face. The T'shav female jumped forward, out of sight. There was a feminine scream and the stranger started forward only to stop suddenly. The thin cry of a baby rose in the air.
"Don't!" the strange T'shav
shouted, the red of his skin paling to almost pink. "Please, don't hurt her!"
Dievca stepped back into view holding a baby. Veronica was flooded with horror and she rushed forward. Chapec jumped when she grabbed his arm. He whirled on her, fist rose to strike, but froze. His eyes widened as he realized who it was.
"Veronica—"
"What are you doing?"
"Slide over that knife strapped to your thigh," Dievca hissed.
A woman stood behind the T'shav, her face white as a sheet, clinging to the doorway she stood in. "Don't hurt my baby. Please!"
Veronica dug her fingers into Chapec's arm. "What are you doing?"
"He killed our father," Chapec said, his voice quivering, uncertain. "That's the reason we came here. The reason we brought you here. We needed to get into the Sanctuary to kill him."
Dievca's whole body shook. "The knife!"
The strange T'shav pulled a knife from a sheath under his var'ki and dropped it, kicking it over to Chapec. He shook off Veronica and picked it up. Dievca's eyes were wide, staring at the other T'shav. The baby in her arms squirmed and cried, tiny fists flailing.
What sort of monster was she to threaten the life of a baby? This was the woman Veronica had come to think of as a friend!
"Kill me if you must," the strange T'shav said, dropping to his knees. "Please. Don't hurt my child."
The woman behind them cried out.
Veronica's eyes widened. The sick feeling in her stomach increased double fold. She reached for Chapec, but he shook her off and went to stand beside Dievca. His sister's chest heaved, eyes locked on her brother.
"Kill him," she rasped. "This is what we have been working for. Kill him and avenge our father!"
"Don't, please," the woman cried from behind them. "He never wanted to be in the gladiator games. He had no choice. If he did kill your father, he didn't want to!"
"Chapec, please." Veronica trembled, tears flowing freely down her face. "Don't do this. Please."
He glanced at her then closed his eyes. "It's too late to live here peacefully."
"Kill him," Dievca whispered.
He turned to her, shaking his head. "You know that Dad would be horrified if he could see us right now. You're threatening a baby, Dievca. If he saw us, he would not recognize his own children. This isn't who he wanted us to be. If we kill this T'shav, we're going to die. Do you think that Dad would have wanted that?"
"Don't do this to me, Chippy."
"We're going to leave the Sanctuary. We'll leave him alive and get out of this alive."
Dievca's eyes narrowed. "You mean take away his child to—"
"No. We leave the baby here unharmed – although we don't give it up until we're safe in our ship."
"They'll blow us up as soon as we leave the docks!"
Chapec looked torn for a moment. He turned toward Veronica. She opened her mouth, whether to beg him to change his mind or to try to convince him that he could receive mercy here, she didn't know. But even as she scrambled to find the words to say, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close against him.
"Zon won't destroy a ship that contains a pregnant human."
Veronica struggled against his grip. "I'm pregnant with your child! How can you do this?"
Chapec looked briefly torn, but his expression hardened quickly. And Veronica couldn't hold back a sob. Her heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. Everything she thought she had gained in this new life was gone. She had no friends. No safety. The man she had trusted was now using her as a hostage.
Just breathe. Just breathe.
"You'll escort us to our ship," Chapec said to the T'shav. "And once we're in orbit, we'll put you and your child into an escape pod and release you."
The T'shav nodded and stood. "I'll be back soon, Bianca."
The human woman trembled. They headed off, Veronica in tears, the baby wailing, both twins wearing uncertain expressions. None of them spoke as they headed for the docks. Several guards joined them as they walked, but the T'shav always told them to stay back. Veronica considered punching Chapec in the face and running, but she didn't know what he'd do in this situation.
What if he hurt her or the baby? She couldn't risk it. Not when she didn’t know the man she had fallen in love with.
***
Chapec kept his word and sent the strange T'shav and his child back to the Sanctuary after they were in orbit. Several ships followed them away, occasionally blocking their way. The T'shav twins kept Veronica in the cockpit with them, and eventually they slipped past the blockade and headed into the black of space.
As soon as they were away, Dievca started screaming at Chapec. Neither of them paid any attention to Veronica as she went to the room that she had called home for so long. There, she sat on her bed, too numb with shock to even cry.
Some time later, Chapec came into her room. He brought a fruit that resembled something like a banana mixed with a mango with him. It had become Veronica's favorite fruit out here, but when he held it out to her, she just glared at him. Did he really think he'd get off so easily?
"You need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
The T'shav ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Veronica, I know you must be furious with me."
"Furious doesn't begin to cover it."
"I don't blame you. But I've lived years blaming that man for the death of my father. I saw him die. Do you have any idea what that's like?"
"That's no excuse."
"I was left with my twin sister and my mother to care for, and both of them took my father's death so hard… Dievca didn't get out of bed for almost a month. I thought she was going to starve to death. And my mother… She was fragile. She might not have died right away, but her soul was killed when my father was."
Veronica stared coldly at him. "And so you used me. You made me think that you were my friend. You made me think… You got me pregnant so you could kill a man!"
"No." Chapec shook his head. "It was never the plan to get you pregnant. It wasn't the plan to develop feelings for you, but I have. I love you. I—"
"It doesn't matter." If everything up to this point was a lie, why should she believe him now?
"I changed my mind about killing him for you. Because I want to be with you."
"It doesn't matter," she repeated. "You used me. When this child is born, he or she will never know you’re the father. I am going to return to the Sanctuary and I will raise him without you."
Chapec's eyes widened. His skin paled. He reached for her, but she moved back, away from him. Her lip trembled, but she was determined.
He swallowed. "I'll find a way to get you back, then."
"Good."
He left without another word.
Chapter Eight – Chapec
Seven Earth Months Later
A thin wail came from inside the little house he had built for Veronica and their child. Chapec paused in his work, building an ancient-style wooden fence to keep the livestock he planned to keep inside. His heart ached at the sound of his daughter's cries. Veronica still refused to see him, and he hadn't even seen his child since her birth two days ago.
Not that he blamed Veronica for keeping them apart. After all, he had promised to send her back to the Sanctuary. And he had every intention of doing just that once it was safe. But it wasn't safe right now. There had been an increase of human kidnappings across the galaxy. The only way Chapec could know for certain that Veronica would be safe returning to the Sanctuary was if he took her himself.
That was out of the question. But the fact was he promised to send her back, and she was still here. As far as she was concerned, it was just another one of his lies.
Chapec tossed aside his sonic hammer, heading towards the house. The planet that they had settled down on – for now – was a new project from one of the corporations. Individuals were given land to farm with necessary supplies provided by the corporation. Money was non-existent, leaving residents to rely
on the barter system. Chapec might have been happy with the simple life if Veronica wasn't so clearly miserable.
He entered Veronica's house without knocking. He and Dievca shared another building, although his twin spent most of her time in town, trading or drinking. Veronica narrowed her eyes at him as she paced the floor, gently bouncing the baby.
"I don't want you here," she said shortly.
"She's my daughter. I deserve to see her at least."
Veronica stared at him stonily.
Chapec shook his head. He'd grown his hair since settling there, and it now hung in a braid down his back. "Veronica, please. I know that I hurt you, but—"
"But nothing. You can say sorry until your face turns blue, but the fact that I'm here and not back at the Sanctuary like you promised just tells me that you still care about yourself more."
"That's not true!"
Veronica turned on her heel and marched away. She went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind herself with a note of finality.
As he stood there, staring at the door that hid his child and mate from him, his frustrations mounted. Chapec wanted to go after her. He wanted to demand that she talk to him, that she at least try to see things from his perspective. How could he send her back when he wasn't sure she'd make it? She was his mate. He had to make sure she was safe…
But she had made it very clear that as far as she was concerned, there was nothing between them.
Chapec stormed from the house. He strode over the carefully-tended garden and went into the trees that surrounded their homestead until he couldn’t see the house anymore. There, he found the thickest tree he could and started slamming his fists into it again and again, until his knuckles split open and the bark stained red.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Stupid!"
"Who's stupid?"
Chapec whirled. Dievca stood a little way back, her arms wrapped around her midsection. There was a weariness to her eyes that made him take pause, but his anger rose quickly. He pointed an accusing finger at her.
"If you had just waited and not attacked Gylden the same damn day we ended up in the Sanctuary, then I would still have a chance at happiness. Veronica wouldn't hate me, and I could be happy with her and my daughter. But you had to have your own way, regardless of what I wanted or what was best for us."
