Dad Panther (Alien Guardians of Earth Book 3)

by Donna McDonald

  Marta smiled. “What if there was a way for you to do so?”

  “Do not raise my hopes, Marta of Rodu.”

  Laughing, Marta administered a blood booster and a mild stimulant to return Lake to normal faster. “Are you familiar with the human practice of vaccinations? They inject their bodies with a bit of a disease to develop an immunity to the larger effects of it.”

  Gina chuckled at the reference. “Are you saying Lake Allen Wright, Savior of Rodu, is a human disease for me?”

  Trilling softly at her sister’s amusement, Marta continued her examination of Lake’s genetic adjustments. “You make your feelings for Lake sound very much like a human disease. You constantly complain they rule your life.”

  Gina sobered and tilted her head as she considered it. “I accept that analogy and see your logic.” She studied her sister’s expression, trying to determine how serious Marta was being. “Do the effects of immunization last long term for the humans?”

  “Their success rate of fighting off disease is remarkably high, considering the odds. I think their healers are wise to leverage human DNA reaction since eradicating infection is beyond them still.”

  Gina lifted an eyebrow. “Are you once again pointing out that it is my human DNA causing my problems? You may look Lyran, but we share a human father, sister.”

  Marta shrugged. “If I had a human problem, I would deal with it. So my answer is yes—I will continue to point your tendencies out until I’m sure you’re paying attention. You must learn to live with your human side. I think it is fond of Lake. Address it, confront it, and clear your brilliant Lyran mind.”

  “Genetics do not work that way. I don’t have a Lyran mind. I have a hybrid one. Why do you always make things sound so simple?” Gina grumbled.

  “Because most of life is simple,” Marta declared firmly. “If actions did not have consequences, there would be no problems at all. How boring would that be? No one wants a life like that.”

  “You’re speaking of risk?”

  Marta nodded. “Yes. Everything carries a risk. Look at Sugar. She wills herself every day to live as well as she can. She’s a good woman trying to do good for everyone. What does she get for all that internal striving? She gets human suffering. Her constant soul-searching delays her true healing. Axel paces and worries and parents alone for now. Father tried to tell her to stop giving in to her remorse, but she cannot hear him. Her humanity is a burden to her. Your meager humanity is becoming the same for you.”

  Gina didn’t enjoy hearing it, but she nodded. “Why does Sugar continue to be concerned? Lake is nearly healed. Axel searches for the identity of the woman who is also healing. Everyone is safe. The mission was successful.”

  Marta took a seat at the monitoring station. She made a few notes about Lake’s condition. “Sugar worries about what might have been. I pray you do not have that human failing as well as the ones we already know about.”

  Shaking her head, Gina met Marta’s gaze. “Release your concerns. I worry only for future decisions.”

  Marta made a sound in her throat. “Worry is always a waste. Will you fetch me a transport so we can move Lake to his room?”

  Gina bit her lip. It was not a healthy habit, but she’d been doing it a lot lately. “I will fetch the transport but…” She drew in a breath. “You can put Lake in my room. I’ll watch over him.”

  Marta bowed her head. “I honor your bravery, sister.”

  Gina shrugged. “We’ll see. At the very least, having Lake close will be more convenient than running back to his room to check on him, which I know I will be doing.”

  “Indeed,” Marta said with a chuckle. “It is very logical to save all those steps.”

  Ignoring her sibling’s teasing, Gina headed to retrieve the transport.

  14

  Lake woke with a start and realized he was back in control of his body, which was in a bed—only not the bed he was used to waking in.

  He stretched and scratched his chest above the metal band wrapped around his rib cage to the back of him. His fingers idly traced the gold running upward—the ‘trident’ as Sugar called it. A vibration shook him as he touched the tip of the center prong.

  Information suddenly rushed into his mind. It was as shocking as being doused with a giant bucket of cold water. And there was so much of it that his head throbbed.

  “Bloody hell. Couldn’t you have just told me what you wanted me to know?” Lake said, complaining aloud.

  When the being inside him didn’t respond, Lake pushed upright until he was seated. His head felt fuzzy still, but it was slowly coming around.

  On the table beside the bed was a container of water. He lifted it and drank a healthy swallow or two. He knew from previous medical care he’d received that Lyran water contained vitamins, minerals, and a stimulant that would help him think more clearly.

  Swinging his legs to the side of the bed, he put his feet on the floor and once again wondered where he was.

  The last thing he humanly recalled was having an internal discussion with his blade before they left to go on their rescue mission. After that were only vague flashes of sensation. The being inside him had required the use of Lake’s entire mind and body. After he’d given it over, he’d found his awareness of it receding—well, it was like being suspended in blankness. He didn’t know how much time he’d passed in that blank state.

  The details of what his body had done had been just now offloaded into his memory like someone making him speed-read a story. Since it was a story no one knew but him, Lake needed to get to Sugar and Rodu to let them know what his blade wanted them to know.

  If he could only find his pants…

  “Are you sure you are healed enough to sit up?”

  Lake smiled at the woman coming through the door. He remembered waking up to her. He didn’t remember when, but Gina had been there when his eyes opened. He could get used to her being the first thing he saw every time he woke. “How long was I under this time?”

  “One week, but your injuries were far more severe this time. I feared for your life.”

  Lake could tell Gina meant every word. Her concern was clear. He smiled as much as he could and patted the space beside him on the bed. It surprised him when she walked over and sat without one word of argument. The thought that he genuinely might have died suddenly humbled him. “One week is better than I hoped. I’m sorry it worried you.”

  Gina shrugged. “I tried not to worry, but I failed.”

  Lake laughed and had to grab her wrist when she tried to flee. “Please—don’t run away. I can’t chase you. I'm just a dumb guy. It makes me happy to know you care what happens to me.”

  “Do you perceive me to be an uncaring person?”

  “No,” Lake said, linking their fingers. He squeezed her hand with his. “No, I just like to think you might not worry about every male the same way you worry about me.”

  Gina grunted. “Rest assured then, Lake Allen Wright, I do not worry about other males this way.”

  Lake laughed again. “Good to hear it. Now help me find my pants. I need to talk to Sugar and Rodu. My blade’s not talking to me, but it did a mind dump with all kinds of information just a few moments ago. It’s what woke me.”

  “Their blades are silent too. They don’t know why.”

  Lake frowned as he considered why all of their blades had stopped talking. “I think they’re waiting to see what happens. Did Sugar really initiate the merging between the Creator and a host?”

  Gina nodded. “She stabbed the mostly dead woman they saved with a golden knife. Does that answer your question?”

  Closing his eyes, Lake nodded and sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. That was not what was supposed to happen.”

  “Not that I think I understand the blades at all, but Sugar did the only thing possible she could to save the woman’s life. One of the men who abducted the woman shot her in the back when she attempted to escape.”

  “But she lives still?” L
ake asked.

  Gina nodded again.

  “Houston, we have a big problem,” Lake muttered as he shifted in bed.

  “Who is Houston?” Gina asked.

  Grinning, Lake leaned over and kissed her cheek. As she pulled away in surprise, he squeezed her fingers a final time and turned loose. “I need my pants unless you want me to go running around the palace naked.”

  Gina rose, walked to a clothes storage drawer, and withdrew a pair of Lake’s pants she had retrieved for him and a tunic she’d had made for him. She brought all the clothes back with her.

  “What you wore on the rescue mission was destroyed when you were hurt. I had to collect another pair of leg coverings for you from your room. The shirt is new. I had it made.”

  Lake stared at the shirt. “You had this shirt made for me? It’s great. I don’t think I’ve ever owned anything this soft.”

  Shrugging, Gina fetched shoes she’d had made as well. They would slip onto his feet quickly. “These are more casual, but I thought you might like something less cumbersome than your normal footwear to wear when you were walking around the palace. Since you do your fight training with no foot coverings…” She stopped when Lake laughed. “What’s so funny?”

  Lake smiled at the woman who cared while pretending not to know her motivations. “Thank you, Gina of Rodu. You always take good care of me, and I sincerely appreciate the gifts.”

  “They aren’t gifts. They are…” Gina paused in her denial. She was realizing Marta was right about her avoidance. Letting loose a long sigh, she bowed her head. “You are welcome, Lake Allen Wright, Savior of Rodu.”

  Lake slipped on the pants and then the shoes. Testing his legs, he found himself strong enough to walk. “I can tell I’m mostly well, but I feel very strange,” Lake said as he checked out his limbs and found them all healthy.

  “It is a side effect of your intensive healing. The regeneration cylinder causes disorientation for a few days after you exit it. I believe it has to do with your body learning to get by with a much smaller amount of oxygen than what you get inside the cylinder,” Gina reported.

  “Bloody hell, woman. You put me in Rodu’s death machine?” Lake practically shouted as he glared.

  “Would you have preferred to die?” Gina huffed. “It is not a death machine. It is a life machine. Father would have been dead many times if it hadn’t been for the machine. I would not be here if he hadn’t lived. I think my mother was wise to keep insisting on its use with him.”

  Lake patted his chest. “Luckily, all my parts seem functional still.” He lifted the incredibly soft shirt and let it fall over his head.

  “When did the blade return to your chest?”

  Lake stopped straightening his shirt to stare. “What do you mean?”

  Gina lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “While you were being regenerated, the blade disappeared from your body. Marta said that the same thing happens to Father. Marta said it somehow retracts and hides inside you until the regeneration process is complete.”

  “I had no awareness,” Lake said.

  Gina frowned. “Does not knowing bother you?”

  Lake thought about it before he answered. “I guess it does. I certainly don’t like people knowing things about me I don’t know myself. I also don’t like my body being used in ways I can’t recall later. Sugar told me that happened to her in the beginning. She said she had to work out a deal with her blade to keep her awareness. I thought I’d already done that with mine.”

  “Yet you don’t recall what happened during this mission… or getting hurt so severely you almost died?”

  Lake shook his head.

  Gina frowned harder. “Though that metaphysically bothers me, your lack of awareness was probably for the best this time. You would have been in agony if you’d been conscious. Your spine was severely damaged. You lost a great deal of blood which we had to replace with some of Axel’s.”

  Lake’s eyes went wide. He had Axel’s blood in him? “Damn. How close to death was I?”

  Gina shook her head and refused to answer. “Let’s go find the others.”

  “Gina… tell me.”

  Gina glared. “Closer than I want to think about it again. Can we please just—go?”

  Lake walked to Gina and pulled her into his arms. “After we hug long enough for me to stop worrying that I almost left your life without you knowing how much I care about you.”

  Gina grunted. “I know you care, but your feelings and motivations elude my logic. I do not know why.”

  Laughing, Lake kissed her temple. “I don’t know why either. See? We’re a perfect match. Our feelings confuse both of us. You are not alone.” When Gina laughed at his teasing, Lake couldn’t have been more pleased. “Your laughter is a better gift than the shoes and shirt—and honey, this shirt is fantastic.”

  Gina sighed and withdrew from his embrace. “It is a shirt, not a betrothal gift. You overreact to every situation. I will never understand you.”

  Lake laughed and tugged her to her door. “Keep trying. You’re doing fine,” he ordered.

  Gina began mumbling to herself in Lyran as they left. Lake decided he would have to learn their language. Now he had something productive to do instead of being bored. Sugar would be pleased.

  15

  Sugar rubbed her forehead. “So you’re saying that the blades are in mourning over me forcing one of them to merge with an unwilling host?”

  “I wouldn’t call it mourning. More like they’re in brooding mode over the situation,” Lake offered. “Honestly, I think they’re going to stay that way until the Creator Blade wakes up and they hear what she has to say about what’s happened.”

  Sugar rose to pace. “Unbelievable. It wasn’t like I meant to violate their prime directive.”

  Axel snapped his fingers. “Prime directive—that’s from that Sci-Fi show you like to quote—the rule about non-involvement. No human could follow such a rule. Surely, they know that.”

  Sugar snorted as she nodded at what Axel said. “Normally, your condescension would insult me, but today you’re right. I didn’t think about anything except saving the woman’s life. Rodu offered to do the stabbing, but instinct told me I should be the one. The activation words popped into my head and I even knew how to say them.”

  Rodu shrugged off her explanation. “But my first choice would have been to let her die. I remain neutral about the matter.”

  Sugar stared at her hands. “That woman nearly died for trying to save the Creator Blade. It seemed fair for the Creator Blade to repay the favor. If given the same situation, I would make the same decision, but I’m not arrogant enough to think my feelings made the action right. It never dawned on me the blades would react this way to saving the woman.”

  “Reva Hunter,” Lake interjected. “The woman you saved is Reva Hunter.”

  Sugar turned to stare at Lake. “You know her freaking name? Even Axel hasn’t been able to find out her name, and he’s been looking since our return.”

  “I was getting closer,” Axel said, crossing his arms. “They had to have wiped all her human records from existence the moment they abducted her.”

  Lake shrugged. “Her name was part of the information I got when I came around. Reva led an average human life except for having almost no family. She’s a recent widow, retired, and in her early 60s.”

  “Not anymore,” Rodu said, interjecting again. “Restored youth is the prize for surviving the death machine. She’s probably no more than forty now. Another two weeks and she might become twenty or thirty again. The process happens quickly the first time.”

  Lake snickered at Rodu’s comments. “Why am I still in my twenties then? Shouldn’t I be like a baby or something?”

  Rodu lifted a shoulder. “Gina insisted you not be regressed to a younger human. She insisted your time in the cylinder be for healing purposes only. It’s how Marta could wake you so quickly.”

  “Father…”

  Lake covered his m
outh to hide his smile when Gina’s glare went between him and her father. Luckily, she missed Rodu winking at him. Lake stored the Rodu approval moment away before turning to look at Sugar. “My blade’s not speaking to me but I know it would have saved her too. If you’re making an accountability list, add me to it.”

  “You cut the elevator cable to reach the surface quickly and the act almost killed you. Even with your near-fatal injuries, you tossed the Creator Blade to safety,” Sugar reported. Then she waved a hand. “Well, your blade did all that. It was like your self-defense mechanism was turned off. I still don’t understand why the blade didn’t take measures to protect itself, which would have protected you.”

  Lake studied the floor as he carefully chose his words to explain his instinct about what had happened. “From what I can tell, each sentient blade has a unique relationship to the Creator Blade. I don’t think logic ruled what happened.”

  “Then what ruled?”

  Lake opened his mouth to share his real thoughts, saw Sugar’s demanding glare, and promptly decided to keep his theory to himself. “No way am I saying it out loud. You’ll only think I’m crazy. You’re already glaring at me.”

  “Say what out loud? Spit it out, Junior. I’ve been agonizing over this issue since we survived. I need some illumination here.”

  “It was love. Okay? Love.”

  Sugar blinked and fisted a hand on one hip. “Love?”

  Lake sighed and nodded. “My blade and the Creator Blade—yeah, love and that’s what I’m saying. There’s a connection there. It’s a very old, very established, and very loving connection. It exceeds what humans typical feel for each other when they find that special someone. It’s—I’d call it spiritual and it’s as ancient as they are.”

  Sugar found a chair and fell into it. She lifted a hand. “My blade is a geeky, computer-like being. It knows only logic. I have to enforce my will on it for it to obey my emotional decisions. The artifact inside me is not capable of that level of emotional entanglement with another being of any sort. It took all I had to keep my Protector Blade from killing Axel initially.”