3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) (16 page)

It was a smart move by the Tarin
male. By having the outpost located on his land, Lord Rego was able to control
who was allowed off the base and it also gave him access to knowledge of what the
Alliance was doing.

Dom, Skylar, Arik, Reva and Jax
had made the trip down to the planet surface along with a small contingent of
Commander Malloy’s strike force team. Archer had stayed behind with Serra since
Tartarus held so many nightmares for her from her past. They had asked to speak
to Lord Rego immediately after landing, but were told he was away on business
and that they should wait.

Fuck that. Dom was getting damn
tired of waiting.

He stopped pacing to glance out
the window at the landscape and thought it suited his mood perfectly. The sky
was pitch-black now that the sun had set, but an electrical storm had rolled
in. Thunder boomed out and lightning sizzled through the sky, turning it a hot
red that reminded him of hell. Off in the distance, he could see the outline of
Rego Palace, but that wasn’t where they wanted to go. No, they wanted to go to
Lord Jaden Tor’s palace to the north.

To see Skylar’s father.

Just thinking about all Skylar
had been through had Dom’s fists clenching again. She had been robbed of her
childhood, and had to do the unthinkable to survive. It had scarred her in ways
she thought had left her broken, but she didn’t see the truth. What she
was...who she was now was a miracle.

Finding out about her past had
done nothing but make him love her more. She was strength personified, a true survivor
with a warrior’s soul. Dom was tired of her having to be so strong. Facing the
betrayals of those closest to her had cost her. First her father—even if
unknowingly done—then Nula, her mother’s closest friend, and even the Council
of Regents. Dom would personally gut the next person to do so, no matter the
consequences.

All that she had been through
hadn’t hardened her like it could have. Okay, she was a little jaded, but she
was also kind, sweet, and fiercely loyal to those she loved. Dom counted himself
lucky to be one of those people. Her love was like the sun, vibrant and filling
him with a warmth he didn’t even know he needed until he thought about losing
it.

Fuck that, he thought. No one
would ever take her away from him.

He simple wouldn’t allow it.

Not that it was going to be easy.
Lord Tor was one of the most powerful lords on Tartarus and was a vital part of
why the more volatile inhabitants of the planet hadn’t won their civil war.
Despite his animosity towards the Alliance, Lord Tor wanted what was best for
his planet, and that was ending slavery. Dom knew that facing Lord Tor as a
member of the Alliance was going to be rough, but meeting him as one of his
daughter’s bonded was going to be...hazardous to his health.

Skylar and Reva had gotten tired
of being stuck in the same room with all the men so they’d left about an hour
ago. Everyone was on edge and ready for action. Having so many alpha
personalities in one room was like putting too many animals in one cage.

Dom knew he was part of the problem.
The night after she’d woken he had stayed with her, giving and taking comfort
as they had made love into the early morning hours. But last night he’d taken a
step back and let Arik have his turn sleeping with her. It wasn’t the ideal
situation, but he and Arik were still learning how to deal with sharing.

The three of them had a lot of
issues to work out, but they had more important matters to handle first.

“We need to do something,” Jax
bitched from where he was sprawled out in an oversized chair. “The Tarins are
stalling. This is bullshit.”

Dom turned to stare at his
friend. “What the hell do you suggest?”

“I don’t know. Something. We’re
just wasting time.”

“There are protocols we have to
follow,” Arik reminded them. “We must gain Lord Rego’s permission to cross his
lands.”

“I know that, but it doesn’t mean
I have to like it. The longer we’re on this godforsaken planet, the longer I’m
away from Serra, and that irritates me.”

“You didn’t have to come,” Dom
pointed out.

“And let you have all the fun
without me? I don’t think so.”

Commander Matt Malloy let out an
exaggerated sigh. “Life was so much easier before we took over your detail. Why
can’t you just fucking stay put on the
Stargazer
like Roman Newgate did
when he was High Commander?”

“I have to make sure you’re
working for your credits, don’t I?”

“Shit.”

Jax laughed, easing some of the
tension in the room, but it was only temporary. The door to the room slid open
and Skylar and Reva walked in wearing skin-tight black suits made of a shiny
material that looked like it was painted on. Both women had on utility belts
with blasters strapped to their thighs.

They looked like the epitome of
dangerous, walking, talking, wet dreams.

Arik choked, lust clouding his
senses. “What in the worlds are you wearing?”

“Riding uniforms. Here,” Skylar
said as she tossed a bunch of black uniforms on the couch beside him on the
couch. “These are made of special material with ions that repel electricity and
blah blah. I don’t know exactly how it does it, and I really don’t care. The
officer that gave them to me assured me they will protect us from getting
struck by lightning. Now put them on, I’m done waiting.”

“We can’t. Lord Rego’s men won’t—”

Skylar seared Jax with a look.
“I’d like to see them try to tell Lord Tor’s daughter that she can’t go home.”

Jax froze, then slowly stood up.
“What the fuck did you just say?”

Her eyes widened as she looked
over at Dom, then at Arik. “I thought you told them.”

“It wasn’t our information to
share, Sky,” Arik explained quietly.

She put her hands on her hip and
huffed out a breath. “Well, shit. I thought they already knew. Everyone’s been
tip-toeing around me like I’m a bomb waiting to go off.”

“Christ, blame a guy for caring.
You were unconscious when Arik brought you back onboard the
Stargazer
.
We didn’t want to pry,” Jax groused.

“Well, I’m Jaden Tor’s daughter.
Surprise. Now, get dressed if you want to come along. We leave in five.” Skylar
turned and strode from the room with purpose, Reva on her heels.

“Way to drop that bomb, girl,”
Reva commented as they made their way to the garage. “So, you got your memories
back?”

“I did. I have some business with
Lord Tor, both personal and mission related.”

“I bet,” Reva murmured as they
entered the garage.

Skylar went straight to where the
hover-cycles were located and got on one of them, programming the location of
Lord Tor’s palace into the system she’d gotten from the officer who had given
her the protective clothing.

It was still strange thinking
about him as her father, but she’d have to deal with the reality of that soon
enough. She was just picking up the helmet from the back of the bike when some
of the men hurried into the garage.

“Damn it, wait. Let’s talk about
this first,” Dom said as he gripped her arm.

“I’m done waiting, Dom.” She
looked straight into his eyes so he could see the truth. On a soft curse, he
gripped her neck and slammed his mouth down on hers. She kissed him back,
meeting his passion with her own.

“Let’s go then,” Arik said from
behind them. “We have to leave before Jax gets here and starts questioning you.
He wasn’t very happy when we left him.”

Skylar pulled away from Dom and
looked over at Arik. It shouldn’t surprise her that the men’s outfits were less
formfitting and had a little more coverage to the material, but still, her men
were totally hot in their protective suits.

“Come here,” she ordered, then
gripped Arik by the collar and jerked him forward so she could kiss him, too.
When she was done, she grinned at them both. “Try to keep up.”

She put on her helmet and started
up the hover-cycle, speeding out of the garage just as the heavy steel doors
opened. The helmet had a night vision screen that allowed her to see as if it
were daylight. In the left corner of the screen she could see the map with the
route laid out for her. Following the directions, she flew the hover-cycle
around a large outcropping of rocks that acted as natural shielding for the
base. Once she was in open terrain, she sped up, pushing the vehicle as fast as
it would go through the pouring rain.

Skylar loved the rush of speeding
over the barren land. Flying felt like freedom, and it was something she needed
to settle her nerves before she had to deal with reality. She let out a shout
of joy and heard Reva’s answering whoop of laughter through the built-in
headset in the helmet.

“Damn it, Skylar!”

Dom’s voice filled her head and she
chuckled. “You keep saying that and I’m going to have those words tattooed on
your ass.”

“This comm link is open,” Jax
growled.

“Please, do go on about Dom’s
ass,” Commander Matt Malloy added dryly. “I’m sure I can use that against him
for the next fifty years or so if you do give him that tat.”

“I fucking hate you, Malloy,” Dom
snarled, making them all laugh.

Jax cut in on the comm line
again. “Speaking of asses. Skylar, you and I are going to have words later. You
should have filled us in before you took off. ”

“No, you won’t,” Arik commanded
in an imposing voice so unlike his usual tone. “Skylar’s recollection of her
memories was private and she is entitled to share it when she is ready, not
when you demand.”

A long moment of silence passed
before Jax muttered, “Is that an order from the Ambassador or her bonded?”

“Both.”

“Shove it, Jax,” Dom growled.
“You won’t push her on this, or you’ll be dealing with all three of us.”

“You guys are taking all the fun
out of a good ass-chewing.”

Dom snorted. “You need a damn
hobby, man.”

“So Serra and Archer keep telling
me,” Jax said with a sigh as they raced toward their destination.

***

Chapter Twelve

It took about an hour and a half for
them to reach the imposing black stone castle that was Tor Palace. When they
pulled to a stop up in front of the main gates, several warriors looked down at
them from their high perch on the black stone wall.

“Who are you?”

Jax pulled his helmet off. “High
Commander Jax Spartan of the Alliance here to speak to Lord Tor about an urgent
matter.”

The guards hesitated, not
understanding. Dom pulled off his own helmet and repeated Jax’s words using the
Tarin language. “We can understand them because of the language converters, but
they won’t be able to understand you if you speak to them,” he explained to the
others in his group. “Most Tarins don’t have the converters.”

“Wait there and hand over your
weapons to the guard at the gate,” one guard called down.

The gate opened and the party
reluctantly parted with their weapons. They were shown inside the main
courtyard where they parked their hover-cycles and took off their helmets while
several warriors watched their every move. As they made their way to the front
step leading to the main hall, flashbacks filtered in of a time long past when
Skylar used to race down those same steps to welcome her father home when he
had been away from the palace.

She shook off the memories as they
were led inside, but grief overwhelmed her as she entered the hall. It looked
exactly as she remembered it. There were four large stone fireplaces set into
the walls on each side of the hall, and large wooden tables set out for the
warriors to eat their meals. At the far end of the room was a raised dais where
the lord’s table sat. Large streams of red fabric hung from the high rafters
and on the far wall were two large red tapestries that both held the Tor crest
of a black dragon breathing fire in the center.

When they reached the center of
the room several more warriors dressed in flexible black armor came in to
surround their group. They all stood at a little over seven feet tall and their
eyes were completely black, making them look like deep pits of darkness set in
their stoic faces. A lone female came out of a hallway to the left. She wore an
emerald green gown with gold trim and her long black hair was pulled back from
her face in an intricate chignon.

Skylar froze when she saw her.

The female Tarin approached
slowly, accentuating the sway of her hips when she noticed all the men in the
group. “I was told you wish to speak to Lord Tor. He is in a private meeting
and cannot be disturbed. You should not have come here without permission.”

“
It’s her
,” Skylar
whispered to Arik through their bond. “
That’s Nula.
”

“
Tell me what you need.
”

The fist around Skylar’s heart
ease a bit knowing she had his complete support. “
I need to end the bitch.
”

“
Then see it done. We will
back you. Remember, I love you above all else.
”

“
And I you.
”

She took a step away from the
group, but stopped when Dom placed a warning hand on her arm. Glancing up at
him, she saw that he understood. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before he
released her, his pride in her clear in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Skylar
walked forward to confront the woman who had betrayed her.

“We don’t need permission to
speak with Lord Tor,” she said, using the Tarin words that seemed to come to
her so easily now that she remembered her past life.

“You certainly do. Humans are not
welcomed here. Guards, remove them from the palace.”

Two guards stepped toward Skylar
and she heard others moving toward the rest of her group, but she didn’t look
back. When one of the guards reached for her, Skylar softly spoke. “I promise
you, you’ll regret it if you touch me.”

The menace in her voice must have
gotten through, because the guard paused. “Using a blaster against a Tarin is
an act of war.”

“I don’t need a blaster,” Skylar
informed him. Holding out her hands slightly from her body, she turned her
palms up and summoned forth two small balls of energy. The sounds of the guards
gasps told her she had gotten everyone’s attention. Since she had bonded with
Dom and Arik, her control over her abilities had gotten easier to command. She
wasn’t opposed to showing off a little if it the situation called for it. It
might have been small of her, but she got a little thrill at how quickly the
guards backed away at her show of power. “And as you can see, I’m not fully
human. But you know that, don’t you, Nula?”

Nula’s face paled as shocked
recognition hit her. She took an involuntary step backwards, but Skylar paced
her, moving forward slowly.

“Recognize me now, you bitch? I
look a little different than the last time you saw me, don’t I? I’ve changed
since you left me to die, but I look enough like my mother for you to know who
I am.”

“No, it can’t be!” Nula gasped.

“I should kill you right now for
what you did. Just like I killed your cousin,” Skylar said quietly. “But not yet.
You deserve to suffer first for what you’ve done.”

An older guard stepped forward so
he was almost between Nula and Skylar. Not wanting to hurt him, Skylar pulled
the energy in her palms backs so the balls of light disappeared. Her heart
broke a little as she remembered the guard from the past. He used to look out
for her and slip her sweets whenever he watched over her as a child.

“Alyssa?”

Skylar smiled at him. “Hello,
Calum.”

“By the Gods, it can’t be! Lady
Alyssa!” He went to his knee in front of her, bowing his head as he raised her
hand to his forehead in tribute, confusing the rest of the guards.

“She is an imposter! Guards, she
has threatened me. Kill her!” Nula screamed as she scurried backwards.

Calum rose to his feet, ready to
defend Skylar when a loud, commanding bellow from the doorway drew the
attention of everyone in the room.

“Enough!”

Skylar felt the world shift around
her as she saw Lord Jaden Tor standing at the far side of the room. He was a
handsome man, tall and strong, with the black eyes of the Tarin. His hair was
jet-black and fell to his shoulders. There was an air of authority to him that
could be felt even from a distance. As he stood there with his feet braced
apart, his hand resting casually on the hilt of the sword he wore strapped to
his waist, she was struck with a grief so strong it almost brought her to her
knees.

He was exactly how she remembered
him...but so much more.

“What is the meaning of this? Why
are you humans here?” Jaden growled out.

He had focused on the group of
men still standing in the center of the room surrounded by guards, but as he took
a step he halted as if he had slammed into an invisible wall. His head turned slowly
and he locked eyes with Skylar’s.

His eyes widened for a fraction
of a second, then they narrowed as he stalked forward. A few of the Strike
Force Team members rushed forward to try and protect Skylar, foolishly getting
in Jaden’s path. Without breaking eye contact with her, he lifted them effortlessly
and tossed them out of his way. She felt Arik and Dom at her sides, and each of
them placed a reassuring hand on her arms to tell her they were there with her.

She wanted to grab hold of them,
wanted them to take her away somewhere safe. Another part of her wanted to rush
forward so she could throw herself at her father. But she did neither. Skylar
felt frozen in place. Like if she moved she would shatter into a million tiny
pieces.

She held her breath as Jaden came
to a stop in front of her.

“What madness is this?” he
whispered.

Skylar wanted to speak, but
suddenly her throat felt dry as a desert. Sensing her fractured emotions, Dom
took over. “Do you know who she is?”

Jaden’s demon-like eyes speared
Dom with a furious glare. “Of course I do! Do you think I cannot sense my own
child?”

“You can sense me?”

Jaden’s expression softened as
his gaze swung back to her. “I could sense your energy anywhere. You are my
Alyssa, my beloved daughter. I thought you were dead. How is such a miracle
possible?”

“My name is Skylar now,” she
said, cursing herself for her lack of emotional response. She felt as if she
were breaking apart inside, but couldn’t show it. If she did, she would never
get through this. Words burst from her even though she tried to stop them. “I was
told you sent me away...that you didn’t love me anymore.”

“Never!” Jaden hissed, his dark
eyes glittering with emotion. “I have always loved you, even when I thought you
were lost to me. I sent you for treatment so you would get well. You were my
life. I went mad with grief when I lost you. Who told you such evil lies?”

“Nula. She told me you didn’t
want me anymore because I was sick. That you wanted to be rid of me.”

Jaden’s roar of rage shook the
rafters. Warriors poured into the hall at his war cry and Skylar turned to see
that another dangerous looking man had caught Nula trying to slip from the room
and he now held her by her hair.

“She lies!” Nula screeched out.

“Silence, traitor!” Jaden
bellowed. “Rego?”

“Got it. What would you like me
to do with this?” Lord Malik Rego asked casually as he yanked Nula’s head back,
making her cry out in pain.

“Hand her over to my guards. Take
her to the dungeon. I will deal with her later.”

Nula screamed out Jaden’s name as
she was dragged from the room. He ignored her cries and gently reached out a
large hand to touch Skylar’s face. Skylar saw that his hand was shaking. She
knew he was a warrior, a powerful lord, and seeing his reaction to seeing her
again soothed her turbulent emotions.

“Have you no greeting for your
papa, little one?”

Hearing the name she used to call
him and his pet name for her broke through her uncertainty and she threw
herself at him. His strong arms welcomed her, banding around her so he could
hold her tight to him. The moment he touched her she felt the love he had for
her. Burying her face into his neck, she burst into tears.

“Welcome home, little one,” he
said in a voice rough with emotion. “Welcome home.”

****

After their emotional reunion,
Jaden cleared the room of all people except for five of his most trusted
warriors, Skylar’s group and Lord Rego. He called for a meal to be provided and
everyone took their seats around the table on the raised dais. Skylar was
seated next to her father. He refused to let her leave his side since the
moment they had reconnected, but before they started eating, he demanded
answers.

“Where have you been? Why did you
not come back to me?”

Skylar paused in the process of
raising her goblet of wine to her lips. She took the time to take a sip while
she considered the best way to tell him.

“
Tell him the truth
,” Arik
encouraged from his seat across from her. “
Do not worry about the others.
”

Gaining courage from him, Skylar
decided to go with the brutal truth. She told her father exactly what had
happened back when she was a child, forcing herself to look at him while she
did so she could see his reaction. As she spoke, his body went rigid with rage
as did everyone else’s at the table, the food forgotten. When she got to the
part of her story where she had killed Lord Fen Varo, Jaden’s fists clenched
and he crushed the goblet he was holding in the process.

“Varo,” Jaden growled. “Nula is
his cousin?”

“Yes, we found a female who used
to know them and she confirmed it for us,” Dom added as he took Skylar’s hand
in his from his seat on her other side.

“Who are you?” Jaden demanded
furiously. “And why are you touching my daughter?”

Skylar blinked, then cursed
herself for her oversight. “I’m sorry, I should have introduced them earlier.
Father, this is Dominic Stryker and Arik V’Dir. They are my bonded. My name is
now Skylar Stryker-V’Dir.”

Jaden’s eyes narrowed. “Two
males? A human and a D’Aire?”

Skylar’s chin went up. He might
be her father, but she was a grown woman and wouldn’t let him intimidate her.
“Yes. I love them both and we are bonded.”

His expression like stone, Jaden
rose from his seat. He turned to Calum and barked out, “Prepare them.”

Skylar watched in bewilderment as
he stalked from the hall out the front doors. “What the hell is going on?”

Lord Malik Rego leaned back in
his chair with a smirk on his dangerously handsome face as Calum and the other
guards rose from the table. “The meal will have to wait. Your bonded will have
to prove themselves first.”

Malik had a casual, easy way
about him, but Skylar knew he wasn’t known as one of the most powerful lords on
the planet for nothing. She also didn’t miss that even though he was addressing
the males of the group, his attention seemed to be on Reva. He tried to hide
the fact that he was intrigued by the Helios shifter, but even more interesting
was the fact that Reva was doing her damndest to ignore the Tarin lord
completely.

Arik blinked. “Prove ourselves?”

“Here,” Calum said as he thrust a
sword at Arik while another guard handed one to Dom. “You will fight Lord Tor
out in the training arena to prove you are worthy protectors for our Lady
Skylar.”

“With swords? What the fuck?” Dom
grumbled as he stood.

Malik laughed. “Since your
outpost is on my land I thought it would be prudent to get the language
converter, so remember, I can understand everything you say.”

Skylar glared at him. “Good to
know.”

“Don’t worry. You’ve said you
love them so your father won’t kill them...hopefully,” Malik offered cheerfully
as he rose from his chair.