Absolution (Delroi Prophecy Book 4) (2 page)

There was a very subtle influence on
your
and Xan understood that Galinn had
been careful about who he’d let in. He could have told him that all the Bana
warriors on Earth were his. He’d handpicked most. The others were men his
cousin was stupid enough to throw away. He sat his hand on Anna Leigh’s lower
back and steered her towards the door.

“Let me know as soon as we can
depart,” Xan said. Galinn was the Saber Clan representative on Earth. He had a
more direct access to Barak Trace, the chief who led all the Southern clans,
than Xan did so he would get the orders first.

“Of course, General.”

Anna Leigh dug her heels in before
they could leave, however. “My weapons?”

Galinn looked to him for permission
and he nodded. “Follow me.”

The woman at his side fumed. He felt
her anger, smoldering and volatile just under the surface. In the lobby, Galinn
stopped at the guard station to retrieve her weapons. He watched as she
secreted away two pistols and three blades. Damn, she hadn’t been kidding when
she’d said she could slit his throat. He might have to ban all weapons from
their bedroom until he was sure he was safe. Judging by her expression that
wouldn’t be anytime soon.

“Is there anything else?” he asked.

“I’m ready to be on my way,” Anna
Leigh interjected, turning to Galinn. “Have the arrangements been made for me
to leave?”

“They’re in progress,” the other man
lied smoothly. He knew even if those plans had been made, Xan would change
them. “Xan will escort you to a place you can wait. He has the next ship
leaving for Delroi.”

She was very good at hiding it, but
her suspicions had been aroused. She expected to be imprisoned, or worse. There
was no way to convince her other than showing her, however, so he didn’t try to
allay her fears. Instead, he led her outside, indicating his warriors should
follow.

“Where are we going?” she asked when
they reached the sidewalk.

He pointed across the parade field.
“The building on the far corner. Did you bring anything with you?”

“A laptop and some clothes.”

“I’ll send someone for them.”

At his nod, one of his younger
warriors set off for the task while the rest of them crossed the field. No one
spoke until they were safely inside.

“My lord,” Kaal greeted him inside.
Xan looked up sharply, realizing what had happened. He’d known when he was
brought in for questioning, but this made it real. Mikail was either in custody
already and stripped of his rank or dead. There was nothing standing in the way
of Xan taking over the clan.

“When?” he asked.

“We just received word. Lord Trace
wants you to contact him as soon as possible.”

“I’ll do it now.” He looked around at
the gathered warriors. “Make sure my shuttle is here and the ship is ready to
depart. Kaal, Nero, and Deal stay close. We have a lot of work to do to save
the clan.”

The idea made his blood rush. It had
been a long time since he’d felt like he had real purpose. Anna Leigh made a
subtle shifting motion as if to step away. He looked down to meet her gaze,
suddenly struck by how small she was. And remembered the clan wasn’t his only
purpose now. If it was anyone but Barak Trace waiting for him to call, he would
put it off and try to seduce his
der’lan.
Her eyes widened and this time she did take a cautious step back.

“Where can I wait? I know you have
things to do.”

She seemed suddenly aware that they
were alone. Her wariness amazed him. Such a strong, independent woman nervous? Surely
that improved his odds. Of course, it wasn’t an attack she was leery of. She
could handle herself in that situation. Interesting.

“Come to my office. You’re going to
Delroi so this concerns you too.”

A few minutes later Barak and a woman
Xan had only heard rumors about faced him from the large comm screen in his
office. Barak’s gaze settled on Anna Leigh.

“Ms. Gray, I assume?”

He leveled a calculating and
suspicious look on her, but other than an acknowledging nod she didn’t react.
Since he was certain Galinn had reported that she was his
der’lan
, Xan didn’t bring it up. He should probably explain the
situation to her first. Instead he focused on the backdrop behind them.

“You’re at the Bana stronghold.”

“Yes,” Barak replied. “Mikail and
dozens of his warriors are in custody. We have a group we’re uncertain of, and
another group he apparently intended to use as shields.”

“They’d never cooperate.” He knew the
warriors of his clan. Those who’d stayed true to their oaths at least. They
were from the deep desert, were fierce and brutal.

“Under normal circumstances,” Barak
agreed. “But he had their families brought here too.”

“Keep him alive until I get there.” He
was clan chief now and he intended to bathe in Mikail’s blood. There were no
words to describe the depth of his fury. He struggled to contain it and only
managed to do so because Anna Leigh squeezed his hand. He wondered if she was
even aware of the unspoken support.

“Did you find the Tel agents?” she
asked.

Barak looked at Britt. Some might have
thought he was looking to her for permission, but Xan suspected they were
speaking telepathically.

“Parker and Zola killed two of them a
few days ago. There were none at the stronghold when we arrived and I haven’t found
a useable memory yet. They’re being very careful.”

He felt Anna Leigh first relax then
tense as Britt spoke.

“Zola and her friends are okay,
though?”

Britt took a full minute to reply. “I
really don’t think you need to worry about their safety. When you get on the
ship access the latest media feeds from the Green Zone.”

He could feel Anna Leigh’s eagerness
to do just that. He had no idea how long it had been since she’d seen her
daughter but realized it must have been quite some time.

“Is she someplace safe?”

“Trust me, there are few places
safer,” Barak said and continued at Xan’s questioning look. “The Keep.”

He knew the Keep well. The former
Steward had been a good friend of his.
 

“The Keep’s warriors are excellent,”
he told Anna Leigh. “They’ll keep her safe.”

Britt snorted. “You guys are all
alike. You didn’t listen to a word I said. She doesn’t need protecting. You’ll
understand when you see the vids.”

He wanted to ask more but Barak
changed the subject. “You have a real mess here, Xan. How many warriors do you
have with you that you can trust?”

“All the Bana warriors on Earth are
mine. That’s why they’re here.”

“How many?”

“About five hundred.” It was a very
small percentage of the Delroi on planet, but his clan was smaller than most
and Mikail had refused to give up more. Barak nodded.

“Make arrangements to rotate them home
then. We’ll augment the loss from other places. You have two starships in
orbit?”

“Yes. The second ship will be several
days behind us.”

“Report to me here. I’ll have the Bana
house in Saber City opened and cleaned too.”

“Thank you. Anything else, my lord?”

“Not on the comm,” he said and signed
off.

That was curious and disturbing. Had
the Trace’s security been compromised?

“They sure went from suspicious to
trusting quick,” Anna Leigh said.

“You think it’s a trap?”

Lure him home, pretend they accepted
him at his word, and follow him to the rebels. It would be a good plan, if he
were a rebel.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head. “No. Kaje, who is
Steward of the Keep, and Falkor, Barak’s brother and second in command,
probably vouched for me before they even sent you in.”

She didn’t say anything.

“They don’t trust you though.” He
couldn’t explain how he knew, but he was certain of it.

“I know,” she said softly. “It doesn’t
matter as long as I get there.”

He wanted to know why. Wanted to peel
away all her secrets. It would have to be on the way home when he could focus
solely on her, however. He pressed a series of buttons on his desktop and a
moment later Kaal, Nero, and Deal joined them in the office. Anna Leigh moved
to a small couch under the window while his warriors took the armchairs. He
expected at least one of them to protest Anna Leigh’s presence. Warrior
der’lan’s
rarely participated in
strategy meetings. He didn’t want that kind of relationship with his mate
though. He wanted a partner. None of his advisors said anything, however, and
perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised. Kaal was one of his oldest friends. They’d
fought countless battles together. His
der’lan
was a priestess of the goddess cult. A strong woman who could hold her own
against her warrior mate, refused to be protected and cosseted. She was on
their starship and Xan knew Kaal would be relieved to back to her.

“We’re going home,” he said without
preamble. “How many can leave immediately and how long will it take for the
rest?”

“I can have one hundred warriors ready
to travel in an hour, my Lord. The ship is prepared,” Nero said. “It will take
ten to fourteen days to pack up the rest of the men and the equipment.”

“You have a week,” he said. “Kaal, you
have the advance party. My
der’lan
and I will be on that shuttle in ten minutes.”

Kaal nodded sharply, his expression
never changing though his eyes gleamed, and left the room, the others following
him. Xan heard orders being barked out in the main room and the sounds of
several people moving at once. Anna Leigh rose and walked to his desk in a
smooth sensual stride that made him want to take her then and there.

“
Der’lan
?”

“Why haven’t you tried to find it in
my mind?”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t what
Britt asked me to look for and I’m trying to stay out of people’s minds if I
don’t have permission.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Used to just
taking what you want?”

“As a measure of last resort, yes.”

Her answer was honest and forthright. Maybe
a little morally ambiguous. He didn’t sense any regret, any hesitation in her
resolve to do what many telepaths balked at.

“Are you going to answer me?”

He stood, walked around the desk, and
took her hand. “Yes, but it will have to wait. We need to get to the shuttle.”

Chapter Three

Transportation to the starship proved
to be anticlimactic. Her first trip into space and there wasn’t even a window
to look out. She’d spent the time listening to Xan and Kaal, who used two
computer tablets and reviewed all the current information they had on the Bana
clan. He was serious, focused, almost brusque. Intriguing. He scowled as they
reviewed the clan’s inventory and she had to fight the urge to reach up and
smooth his brow. It was completely and totally out of character, but instead of
being afraid of her reaction to him she was fascinated.

The shuttle slowed, turned, and came
to a stop. Xan motioned her down the exit ramp first. She didn’t get a chance
to look around the huge hanger bay before he put his palm on her back and
steered her to a doorway that slid silently open. Kaal followed them.

“Let me know when we’re ready to
depart,” he ordered, turning as the warrior gave him a crisp nod.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Our quarters.”

She stopped. Taking a hell of a lot
for granted, wasn’t he? “Excuse me?
Ours
?”

“I’ll explain,” he said, holding his
hand out to her. “But not in the corridor where anyone can eavesdrop.”

Okay, he had a point there. She didn’t
take his hand, however, just continued down the hall. He stayed at her side but
he didn’t touch her. Finally they stopped at a door and he put his palm on the
plate. It slid open and he stepped aside so she could enter first. She caught
her breath. There was the view she’d been missing. They were in a living room
type of area and the opposite wall was all glass. On the other side, Earth
seemed almost close enough to touch.

“From here, it’s very pretty,” Xan
said, his voice a soft rumble that almost made her ignore the insult.

“Some of it is very pretty up close.”

The corner of one lip twitched up and
she got the impression he was repressing a smile. Teasing her. “Some of it is,”
he agreed mildly.

“Let’s make a deal, here and now. I
won’t bullshit you and you don’t bullshit me.”

“Agreed.”

“Wonderful. So can you tell me now
what the hell a
der’lan
is? And what
does it have to do with me?”

Instinct screamed she wasn’t going to
like his explanation. He walked to the bar that ran along one side of the room,
picked up a bottle, and poured two glasses of a blue liquid. He gestured to the
chairs near the window, taking a seat only after she did. She accepted a glass
and took a careful sip. It was sweet and light.