Chasing Dare (17 page)

“I do not know. I am trying to learn through the Shengari’, from my brothers, but my ability is still weak and those I can speak to have never known of this to happen.”
Ibix told him, feeling just as helpless as his host.

“I can’t tell Dare. What the hell, am I supposed to say? You’re carrying our son but also the byproduct of the animals who captured you and tortured your friends and family? Can we kill it without harming ours?”
Balduen ran through the motions of showering without even realizing what he was doing, his thoughts on the fragile life of his son and his new bonding with his mate.

“The Tezarian comes. He will help.”

“Dreadhawk?”
Balduen asked hopefully. There had been something about the man, which had made him feel as if they had been long friends when they had first met. He hoped it was Dreadhawk that would come.

“Yes, it is Dreadhawk. He is an old one and will be able to help.”
Ibix tried to sound much more confident than he felt. Although he was new to the bonding and the Shengari’, the rippling of fear and shock that he felt from his brothers had him frightened not only for their sons but for their mate. He was glad that this Dreadhawk coming helped to comfort his host and new friend.

“I am glad he is coming. And yes, he is considered very powerful among his people. He and his siblings descend from the original line of all clans. If anyone would know what to do, it will be him.”
Balduen felt only slightly better knowing that Dreadhawk was coming. The sound of Dare’s happy humming in the bedroom only made him more determined not to tell her anything about their child. Until he had a solution to the problem or no other choice.

Finishing in the bathroom he went back out to see Dare, waiting with an armful of clean clothes. She leaned up to give him a quick kiss before she scooted past him to go take her own shower.

*****

“What can I do for you, doctor?” Grai asked impatiently when the man picked up the phone on the third ring. He had more problems than he knew what to do with at the moment, and the multiple messages, from the man was beginning to get on his nerves.

“Sir, I just wanted to let you know that the conditions were perfect yesterday, and we completed the procedure. I do believe that our chances of success are very high.” Jose couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice. He’d been hoping to speak to Grai last night after the incident with Lucretia, but he’d been unable to get hold of his employer.

“That is excellent news, doctor. How long until we know for sure if it was successful?” Grai asked, getting his hopes up for the first time since this nightmare began.

“With the equipment you gave us, I should be able to determine that by Monday morning.” Grai could hear the arrogance in the man’s voice and was irritated with him already. He couldn’t stand petty little creatures like this. The human world was far too full of people like this for his taste. It reminded him too much of his father.

“If that is all, then I will expect to hear from you first thing Monday regarding the results.” Grai waited a moment expecting the doctor to have nothing more to say and prepared to hang up the phone.

“Wait! They have successfully bonded as you said. They woke up this morning with the Ater… Alter… the tattoo that you said they would get.” Grai wasn’t the least bit surprised that the Ator-Ma manifested. It had been obvious from the live video of them that they were mates. He gave a rare smile to his empty office that they had found one another. It would make things much easier.

“You have allowed them proper areas of privacy correct?” Grai asked sternly, hoping that the fools didn’t ruin the chance for them to bond properly. And in relative peace.

“Of course! I have also given her until Monday without tests to give them more private time together.” The smug attitude of the man, made Grai want to reach through the phone and rearrange his face.

The idiot was completely oblivious to the fact that his subjects were much more advanced and developed than he was.

“Yes, see that you give them a good reason to remain calm and complacent. Is that all?” Grai was already sick of dealing with the ignorant fool. The man had no clue about how rare and extraordinary such a bond between mates could be and his flippant attitude was irritating. 

“There is one other problem…” The man’s hesitation made Grai clench his fist in anger. He was tempted to smash the phone on the desk until the idiot found his tongue again. Damn if the human penchant for speaking around issues didn’t piss him off! Direct honesty was so much more time effective and less irritating.

“What is it?” Grai ground out through tightly clenched teeth.

“We have a problem with Lucretia. It seems she’s having a slight mental breakdown and has become a distraction with her ranting and raving over the closeness between the captives.” The hesitation and sudden nervousness of the man told Grai that this was much more than just a distraction.

“What kind of distraction? Is she dangerous? How well was she checked out before you brought her out there and put her with the women? She was supposed to be a comforting, motherly presence for the girls, and you brought in a disturbed monster?” Grai’s anger and fear were rising quickly as he thought of the damage that one crazy human woman could do to his plans.

“We’ve kept her away from the girl since the first day when it was obvious that there was going to be a problem with Lucretia. Brak had said that she was not using her real name, but that she would be easy to control and wouldn’t be dangerous.” Jose rushed on, hoping to calm the angry alien.

“I needed the help, so I took him at his word. At this point, since I have no assistance, I have been doing all the work myself, and it’s taking a little longer.”

Grai sighed in frustration. If the man wasn’t being arrogant or ignorant, he was whining. There was nothing appealing about this particular human, other than the fact that he might be able to do the one thing Grai could not. So against his nature, he kept the rest of his anger to himself.

“If she continues to be disruptive, you have an empty cell downstairs that she can stay in, so she doesn’t disturb my guests. I will email Brak about a more permanent solution if it becomes necessary.”

“Until then, use one of the other men to assist you, as long as they are kept out of the lab when Dare is present. And do not use Brak. Now if that is all?” Grai rubbed his temples hoping to remove some of the pain building up behind his eyes from the headache that had started making a daily appearance. Really, how many more problems could the doctor have with so few people around to deal with?

“Yes, yes that should work fine. I will email you on Monday with the results of the tests.” Grai couldn’t believe the man’s depth of idiocy and smacked his palm to his forehead at the doctor’s words.

“You will CALL me on Monday the moment you have the results! Is that clear? You can EMAIL me any other minor problems that you encounter. Is that understood?” Grai waited, silently fuming, until he heard the man’s shaky, “Yes, sir.”

Slamming down the cell phone, he pulled back his strength barely in time to save it from being smashed on the top of his desk. He was wound too tight today, his emotions teetering on the brink of extremes. Although he could see his behavior was clearly not normal, it was taking everything he had to maintain a thin veil of civility around anyone right now, and he couldn’t seem to control it.

Concentrating on his laptop, he hit the replay button and watched the most important male in his life succumb to another violent seizure. His body jerking and twisting painfully… until he couldn’t watch helplessly any longer and slammed his finger on the stop button.

He didn’t need to watch the rest of it to know that the people he paid great amounts of money to, would be running to the male and desperately trying to help him. And they would calm him, stop the violent shuddering of his body… until the next tremor took him. Then they would do it again. And every time it happened, Grai lost another piece of himself as he watched the male’s life spark, diminish.

This had to work; it was the last chance to save him.

*****

“You have to know that I’m right. Just give me a chance to go to him, talk to him. You’ll see.”

Brak almost shuddered at the crazy look in Lucretia’s eyes as she begged him to give her the chance to go to the Valendran. Man, he’d hate to be the one on this sick bitch’s radar; she was really nuts; he thought.

She was also surprisingly quick and dangerous for such a short and overweight woman. He loved the human women who had more padding, than the too thin ones who looked like Dare, but this woman with her hate and delusions turned off even him. Brak almost felt sorry for the Valendran. Almost, he thought with another grin.

“We can discuss this outside of this house. There are far too many ears to hear. Meet me at the hummer after the doctor goes to bed, and I’m sure we can come up with something that would be satisfactory. For both of us.”

Brak’s grin rapidly turned into a grimace when Lucretia attempted a sexy smile, her cruel, thin lips twisting into a caricature of grin. Brak stepped back quickly, when she batted her stubby lashes at him and ran her finger down his chest.

“If you want my help you better keep your damn hands and your crazy thoughts to yourself. I told you once before I am not interested in you. Either control yourself or the only help I will give you is a bullet in your crazy brain. Do you understand?” To make sure he was able to be understood through the fog of her mental issues, Brak grabbed her arm and squeezed brutally until she yelped in pain.

“Yes, I understand! Why are you helping me then? What will you get out of it?” Lucretia demanded as she rubbed her abused arm, the sane part of her brain finally realizing how dangerous this alien was to her.

Brak shook his head as watched the bruise already forming on her arm. He should just take her to the back of the property and kill her like Grai suggested in his email.

“My reasons are none of your concern. If you want my help, keep your hands and your crazy to yourself. Otherwise, the next time I have to lay a hand on you, it will be the last time. The hummer, after the doc goes to sleep.” Brak gave her one last hard and dangerous look before walking out of the door.

Lucretia watched him leave as a shudder of fear shook her frame. For a moment, she considered giving up her attempts to get to the Valendran. Remembering the way he had tenderly held and touched that bitch Dare, she shook off her doubts. She deserved to be treated like that! Not that pathetic bitch! Her! She was special; she deserved the best!

She would definitely keep her hands off of that nasty Brak, hell she was only going to give him a freebie for helping her, not because she wanted to. She was trying to be nice, if he didn’t want nice, then she was fine with that. She could save all her luscious self for that big, beautiful alien upstairs who had probably been visualizing her the whole time he’d been forced to touch that nasty bitch; she thought.

Lucretia was definitely going to meet Brak at the hummer later. Once she ran away with the Valendran, she’d never have to deal with the likes of Brak again. Lucretia smiled to herself and went to her cubby to watch her beautiful alien.

*****

Something was very wrong. Dare could feel it. There was nothing normal about the violent changes in her emotions. One moment she would feel overwhelming peace and love and the next fear, terror and unbelievable sorrow. The bone deep kind of sorrow that made her soul scream from the pain.

Dare braced herself against the shower wall as, she had sunk to her knees and clutched her stomach; willing the pain to subside. Why would she feel this way? What was wrong with her?

“Momma?”

Dare grabbed her head in surprise and fear at the soft whisper of the voice in her head. What the hell, was that? Was she losing her mind? Had being here made her snap? Was it the drugs? Sliding down the shower wall until she sat under the warm spray, Dare wrapped her arms around herself.

There was a calming sensation again, a feeling of love that she couldn’t help but feel comfort from. The sensation made her smile and try to block the feelings of fear and loneliness that threatened to overwhelm her. Again, the sorrow of rejection warred with the feelings of love and peace, preventing her from enjoying the happiness she’d initially felt when she’d awakened to the Ator-Ma.

What the hell, was wrong with her? She wondered, running shaking hands through the wet mass of her hair. Fighting through the thick layer of fear, Dare cleared her mind. Using the meditation technique’s her father had taught her and her siblings when they were young, Dare focused her mind on inward reflection.

Sucking in deep calming breaths, Dare tried to refocus again. This time when she encountered the voices, she stepped back and ignored them until she could brace herself better mentally. Feeling much more stable, she opened her mind again and concentrated on only one of the voices.

Choosing the strongest and loudest voice, she easily forced back the weaker, more emotional of the three.

“Yes, ignore the young ones right now. You’re not crazy. It’s highly unusual for the female to bear the bond of a beast. In your case, it was determined to be necessary under the circumstances. I have been trying very hard to free us of the drug. I wasn’t doing well until the Tezarian assisted.”

The voice was clearly a male; it's soft, yet deep sound seemed to vibrate along a part of her brain that physically felt cooler than the rest of her head right now.