by Mikayla Lane
Dread chuffed out a breath of exasperation. “Who the fuck cares? She set you up! If you had set the surveillance and left like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t be bleeding on your shirt!”
Dread was furious with his brother, but more frightened for him than anything, even if he wouldn’t admit it. When they had first received Drago’s distressed call through the Shengari’, Dread had been terrified that they would find Drago ripped apart or clinging to life.
Drago, who was already on an emotional ledge, stood and faced his brother. “I care, you heartless bastard! She’s my mate! And you should care because of that! She is not what she seems! She is not the evil bitch everyone thinks her to be! You do not know her, you’ve never even met her and have no right to act this way!”
Drago clenched his fists in anger. Which was directed more at himself than at his brother, because he had no right to lecture Dread when he had his own doubts about Devon. But he felt compelled to protect his mate.
“If you guys can lower the male hormones choking the air out of the room, maybe I can help you out,” Dree said with a grin as she walked into the room carrying a large travel bag.
Lara grinned, while Viper sighed in relief that his brothers were momentarily distracted from their heated exchange. “What do you have there, Dree?” Lara asked, grateful for the interruption.
“What I have, is proof that something is not right in that house. I don’t expect these…,” Dree gestured to all the men in the room. “Male fools to understand. But you and I will,” Dree said to Lara with a bright smile.
Everyone formed a circle around Dree as she set the large bag on the floor and opened it. She pulled out what appeared to be a very expensive dress and threw it casually to Lara, who easily caught it and turned it over in her hands.
Dree looked up at Lara. “That is what I found in her closet, in the bedroom upstairs. But these,” Dree said as she pulled out a pair of leggings and a heavy sweater and gave them to Lara. “I found these in the downstairs bedroom where…,” Dree paused and blushed. “Drago was attacked.”
Lara turned the clothes over in her hands and inspected them. Drago looked at Dree questioningly, not understanding what it was about the clothes that he should notice and what it meant about Devon.
Dree grinned when she saw the understanding dawn on Lara. “Oh damn!” Lara looked up with a smile. “We need pictures of Devon. Now!”
Drago was not in the mood for more riddles and growled through gritted teeth. “What the hell is it about the clothes? And what the hell does it matter?”
Lara rolled her eyes at Drago’s attitude and threw the first dress to him, which he caught easily. “Look at it. Hold it up,” Lara said.
Drago felt like a fool, but he held the dress up by the shoulders. The Brazar and Trugh brothers stared at the garment with puzzled expressions, not one of them understanding what it was the women were talking about. Dree shook her head and grinned while Lara sighed and walked up to Drago.
She held the sweater up to the dress and said, “That dress is from Devon’s closet, this sweater is what she was wearing when she was with you. Do you not see the difference in the sizes?”
Dree snorted with laughter when the men still stared at the clothes in complete confusion. Lara turned to Dree and had to stifle her own laughter. Calming herself, she cleared her throat and shook the sweater, still in front of the dress.
“Either Devon lost about sixty pounds, or your Devon is not the real Devon,” Lara said.
Drago stared at the much smaller sweater and the dress in his hands. The meaning of the difference in the sizes finally dawning on him, he felt like a weight had been lifted. His mate was much closer to exoneration than he thought! But if she wasn’t Devon, then who the hell was she?
Viper cleared his throat and flicked the picture from his comm to the large wall in the living room. “Is that your Devon?” He asked, hoping like hell that it wasn’t. Viper wanted so much for his brother to find the same happiness with his mate, that he had found with Lara.
Drago and Dree both walked closer to the wall and stared at the picture projected there. Dree shook her head sadly. “That is her. But, if she’s got a Med kit and knows how to use it, she has to be hybrid. Which means she is smart. Couldn’t she have changed the files the same way Grai’s people did to give us valid identification?” Dree asked, hoping like hell there was an excuse for Devon. She couldn’t believe the woman had lost that much weight and that dress did not fit the woman she had met through Drago’s eyes. Picture or not, Drago’s mate was not Devon Sinclair, Dree was convinced of it.
Viper started flipping different pictures of Devon from the internet onto the wall. Each one similar to the first, all showing different variations of the same unsmiling woman that Drago knew as his mate.
He still didn’t believe it. Grabbing the leggings and sweater out of Lara’s hands, he crushed them in his fists and brought them to his nose as he dropped the dress to the floor. Breathing deeply of his mate’s innocent scent, he knew. He didn’t know the how, or more importantly, the why. But he knew. And he’d move the damn planet if he had to, to find his mate.
“She’s not Devon Sinclair. I don’t know who the hell she is, but she’s not Devon,” he said as he pointed at the picture on the wall.
Dree turned to the others, her face set in stone. “I agree. I don’t care what the pictures say. We all know that the human information can be tampered with. Grai’s people do it all the time. The woman I saw is not Devon Sinclair.”
Trick and Mir both sighed and threw their hands up in the air. Trick shook his head. “I don’t know how you’re getting all that from a few clothes, but you’re never wrong. If she isn’t Devon, who is she? Where did she go? How does she fit with a Windwalker? And if Satalis is Devon’s boss, does he know she’s not Devon?”
The room became silent as everyone pondered the questions, none of them having a clue at the true depth of the deceptions and illusions unfolding around them.
*****
Satalis looked around the lower floors of his home, making sure that everything was ready for the party the next night. He wanted everything to be perfect. His plans required nothing less than a flawless precision that only someone of his intelligence could accomplish.
He knew that he had finally been discovered. He had expected it to occur since the moment of his awakening. At first, he had been terrified. Living every moment in fear that his Prime brethren would discover his survival and bind him again. Or even destroy him.
He had hidden in the shadows, like an Earth rat. Living on scraps, he consumed as much knowledge and power as he could. Until the fool, Grai, had given him an escape. He laughed at how easily it had been to escape with the others that Grai had been shuttling to the planet, to protect them from his father. The boy had given up such power! In order to protect those that weren’t worthy of the effort. Grai’s compassion would be his downfall.
Satalis shook his head. He was not that weak. He was created for the power that others were not strong enough to wield. And soon, he would rule them all. The Relians, humans and hybrids would be his to control and command. The others would be forced to leave his domain. Or die. He didn’t care which.
He knew he was meant for greatness. He was meant to be a God. Hadn’t the One God ensured that his pod ended up on a planet that the Relian’s had conquered? There was a reason his pod ended up consumed by a Relian hybrid with a strong and sturdy body. One that would last him through his immortality. Yes, he was finally a God and he would be a harsh and demanding one.
“Get me coffee,” he barked out at the hybrid women walking ten steps behind their master. The red headed woman hid her brief flash of temper before she scurried off to do his bidding.
Satalis turned to the dark haired hybrid that remained behind him. “How does she do?” He asked of the red head who had left to get his coffee.
The woman lowered her dark head, keeping her eyes downcast so that she didn’t offend
her master. In a soft voice she said, “She still shows anger. Too much pride and stubbornness. She is not ready to serve you as you need to be served.”
She kept her head lowered, hoping that her honest answer would save her from the brutal beating she knew her master would mete out to her if he thought she was being untruthful. At one time, she had been that willful. That determined to escape. But that had been beaten from her until her own body and mind had turned against her.
She ignored the beast that was screaming in her mind that she shouldn’t betray her own. Her mind brutally trained to only think of saving herself the torture she had sentenced the other girl to with her truthful words. A part of her soul cried for the girl and for her own part in what would happen to her.
But when her master stroked her hair gently and said, “Good girl. Go rest, I have no further use for you right now.”
She felt a shudder of relief course through her as she hurried away from him and couldn’t help but feel grateful that she had escaped the pain her master was eager to inflict.
The moment she knew she was out of sight of her master, she broke into a run, taking the stairs two at a time. Her bare feet flew silently across the upstairs hallway before she slowed and quietly entered her assigned room.
“What happened?” Angel asked quietly as she sat on one of the two beds in the room.
She caught the girl as she collapsed to the floor in tears, her words barely audible. “I told him. I told him the truth about what she felt and now he’s going to hurt her!”
Angel hid her fury as she held the sobbing girl. The damn deprogramming it would take to save these hybrid brethren was going to be unreal and she was glad she wouldn’t have to be a part of it. She just had to get as many as she could out of there. And this broken girl was her only way to accomplish it.
The broken girl so programmed through terror that she turned on her own almost daily. Yeah, she knew how to pick them, Angel thought. There was no part of Angel that could understand how a hybrid could turn on their own. She knew they were being brutalized, she’d seen the damage herself. But she would die before she betrayed her own. No matter the pain or torture.
Angel knew she had no right to judge the strength or weakness of others and she blocked her anger at the girl. She’d walked in many shoes, but not this one, having been so sheltered by her father and brothers. Refusing to be cruel she stroked the girl’s hair until the sobbing subsided.
When she knew the girl was calmer, she asked, “Is the party still on for tomorrow?”
When the girl nodded, still clutching tightly to Angel, Angel sighed in relief. She’d been damn worried that the presence of the Prime and the Tezarian’s would have scared off Mr. John Rothfeller. Obviously, the man’s arrogance would play in her favor and she was glad of it. She was looking forward to taking this bastard down.
Angel pulled back from the now calm girl. “Can you still sense his emotions and some of his thoughts?”
When she nodded, Angel asked the empathic and psychic girl, “What have you sensed?”
The girl shuddered and kept her eyes down. “He knows that something is going on. He believes the Prime and Tezarian’s are responsible. He still does not know of you. I swear I haven’t told him about you!” The girl broke down as she said the last, again clutching at Angel for support.
Angel held her tightly, pity and fear for all of the girls being held by Rothfeller running through her. “Shhh, calm yourself before he senses it.” The words acted like a bucket of ice water and the girl immediately began to stifle her emotions and tears.
Angel had to get the hell out of there before she was caught, but she had to make sure the girl would be all right before she left.
“Will you be ok? Can you still help me tomorrow night?” Angel asked, looking deep into the girl’s frightened eyes for any sign that she would fail in her task.
Her entire mission hinged on this terrified girl doing what Angel asked. It was a risk. Hell, Angel thought, more like a death wish to trust this brainwashed girl, but she didn’t have any other choice.
Angel had seen the fire in Jennifer Mackey’s eyes and knew the girl was stronger than she believed, no matter what she’d had to do in order to survive the torture she’d been subjected to. Angel just needed to keep igniting that fire.
When Jennifer didn’t answer, Angel leaned down to force Jennifer to look at her. “Can you still do it?” Angel asked again.
Jennifer nodded her head slowly. “I’ll get as many of the girls into the basement as I can.”
Angel sighed in relief. She believed her. Angel squeezed Jennifer’s shoulder encouragingly. “It’s almost over. Just make sure you are there too. We’re going to get you all out and somewhere safe. I promise,” Angel said as she hugged the trembling girl.
When the girl nodded and managed a small smile, Angel stood and walked to the window. She turned back to look at Jennifer. “Do whatever you must to stay alive, but be in that basement tomorrow night,” she said before she fell out of the window and swung down the rope to the ground floor. Using her mic, she contacted Chris.
“She’s scared to death, but she’s in. We don’t have much time Chris, so get it all in motion now.”
Angel ran through the garden path to the tunnel they had dug under the outer fence. She heard the sigh in Chris’s voice before he spoke.
“Angel, are you sure you can trust her? I think we need an alternate plan in case she ends up ratting you out the same way she did all the other hybrids trapped in there,” Chris said, worry lacing his words.
Angel got pissed and lashed out. “Well what the fuck do you expect? You’ve seen what he does to them. They are just trying to survive,” Angel said as she ran through the gardens.
Chris felt like kicking something. He hated it when Angel misunderstood his words and made him sound like an asshole. Damn if he didn’t feel like ripping Rothfeller apart for what he’d been doing to the hybrids and he hoped to do just that tomorrow night. Until then, he needed to set his baby sister straight.
“I am more than sympathetic to what they are going through, but I refuse to sacrifice you and everyone else on the chance that this frightened and abused girl won’t turn on you next. We will come up with an alternate plan. Now get your stubborn ass to the van before I come and drag you out here,” Chris said, already formulating yet another plan to counteract his reckless sister.
It was times like this that Chris was very grateful that he had learned to think quickly from his father. Some days it was the only thing that kept Angel from doing something stupid that would cause his father and brothers to kill him. Days like this, being the oldest really sucked, he thought.
Angel grinned and moved the overgrown foliage out of the way of the hidden tunnel. “Almost there,” she said, to Chris’s relief.
Angel never saw the blazing eyes that followed her every movement, noting the window she had come from and the direction she ran through the elaborate estate gardens.
Chapter Fourteen
Wednesday Night
Devon Sinclair laid out her outfit for her boss’s party the next evening. She had been a little surprised when she received the email that morning, after she had left Drago, telling her that the boss had planned a party for the evening and that she was required to attend. She assumed they would have their private meeting at some point during the evening and planned accordingly.
Devon was just glad that the boss had given her some warning. She would have hated to show up to a black tie event in a business suit. Talk about embarrassing, she thought as she placed her stockings and other accessories in the chair beside her hanging dress.
She was nervous and feeling a little uneasy. A part of her was determined not to miss Drago and another part of her was screaming to feel his strong arms around her. Wrapping her own arms around herself, Devon looked out of the bedroom window and tried to force her thoughts away from the gorgeous alien who had somehow wormed his way into her hardened heart.
> She snorted at herself. Not so hardened if I’m here pining for him, she thought as she headed into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Although this place was very cozy and comfortable, unlike the cold mausoleum she had left Drago in, she still felt a little chilled.
Uneasy is more like it, she thought as she heated the water. Something seemed very wrong. Even though she couldn’t put her finger on what it was, it bothered her. Nagging at the back of her mind just enough to irritate the hell out of her.
She hadn’t heard anything from Mikey yet and was beginning to worry that something might have gone wrong. She was getting ready to dial his number when her phone rang. She quickly looked at the number and answered.
“Mikey! Are you ok? Did everything go ok?” She asked, desperate to know if Mikey was doing what she asked.
“You little… damn it! What the hell were you thinking? What? Tell me before I scream it for the world to hear!” He demanded, refusing to answer her questions until he had some answers of his own.
Devon sucked in a breath. Oh damn, he knew! Shit, shit, shit, she thought as she forgot about her tea and paced her kitchen. She couldn’t lie to him, he already knew. Tired of feeling like she had to hide everything from everyone around her and knowing that she needed a little less subterfuge in her life, Devon decided on the truth. A rare occurrence for her.
“I have feelings for him. Since I know that we can never be together, I gave us one night. After everything I’ve done, I think I deserved one damn night!” Devon said. But once the words were out she couldn’t seem to stop her mouth from continuing.
“You, of all people, know everything I have sacrificed! For fuck’s sake I was the oldest virgin on the damn planet and I wanted something for me for once! Just me! And that one night was it. I wanted to feel normal for once. To see what I’m missing and giving up…,” she said sadly, unaware of how much emotion she had put into her words. Emotion that was easily sensed by her very talented friend.
