Destiny's Shift (10 page)

chest.

“I do believe—”

“No, Liberty. You can’t. There’s a whole list of reasons why this is a bad idea,

with the top of the list being that you are Noah’s half-sister. I’m not going to be caught in

bed with you. Noah would beat me to a pulp.”

Liberty studied him. His wet hair hung in strands down to his shoulders, his green

eyes glowing. She wasn’t the Warrior Noah’s sister. She had been born into servitude of

his family, and she told Jovan this.

“It doesn’t work that way on Earth, Liberty. On Earth, you’re his half-sister, and

since you’re here, you might as well play by the rules.”

Liberty nodded, both surprised and excited that if what Jovan said was true and

Noah would accept it, she did indeed have family here. But that didn’t change the

circumstances of the current situation.

“Jovan, I can’t take my leave.”

“Liberty, you have to.”

She sighed and closed her eyes.

“Oh my God,” Jovan said, grabbing his head. “What the fuck?”

She watched him sink to his knees, saying words that she believed would be

described as curse words.

After a moment, she closed her eyes again. Jovan breathed heavily and slowly

came back up to sit on the bed.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked. “I felt like I was being crushed by

emotions again.”

Liberty nodded. “Jovan, I do need to stay here, because I am protecting you from

the onslaught.”

He simply stared at her while trying to catch his breath.

“We have a lot of work to do for you to learn to master your gift, Jovan. If you

wish, we can start now as I’m not very tired.”

Chapter 18

Jovan and Liberty spent two days holed up in the quarters while Jovan learned the

techniques needed to control his gift. Jovan had called Noah and explained what was

going on, and Noah agreed to leave them to their work.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell anyone your gift was steamrolling you?”

Jovan shrugged. “What was I supposed to say? Tell everyone to quit feeling

anything? Nothing could have been done about it, except me going into total solitude.”

There was silence on the other end, and then Noah said in a hard voice, “You

know, that’s my sister, Jovan.”

“I’m aware of that,” Jovan said as he watched Liberty flip through the channels

again.

“It’s getting downright incestuous in this place,” Noah grumbled, referring to

Abby being Hudson’s daughter, and now Liberty showing up.

Jovan grunted.

“Don’t touch my fucking sister, Jovan, or I will beat you into next Thursday. Do

you understand me?”

“Yep. Had no intention of touching anyone, Noah. Just need to get this thing

under control.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, and then Noah

said, “All right. Call when you want something to eat.”

Abby and Beverly had brought down food when requested, and Jovan and Liberty

had worked tirelessly. In between learning sessions, they had rested, watched TV, and

talked. Jovan had given her the rundown on respecting people’s space, especially when

there was a bathroom involved. He also told her about everyone in the house, and who

was mated to whom.

“Noah’s mated to Abby, Rayner to Faith, even though they never had a proper

ceremony. Hudson and Beverly are an item, and the kid’s name is Killian. From what I

understand, Hudson came damn close to losing her during the birth, and some weird shit

went down. When you see her and her eyes are glowing a little bit, remember she’s not an

SR44 female. She’s human. Well, she's part human. In fact, I'm not really sure what to

call her, but for the details, talk to them. And as you know, Cohen and Talin lost their

mates on SR44.”

“Do any of them have special gifts?” Liberty asked.

Jovan nodded. “Rayner can see spirits caught between life and death.”

“Oh my word!”

“Yeah, he’d probably say something a little different, but he feels the same way.”

“Does anyone else have a gift?”

“Cohen’s a healer, and a damn good one.”

“What about the others?”

“No, nothing like that. Hudson is a beast with a knife, a gun, or his hands. He’s

the assassin. I mean, we all will kill a Colonist without a second thought, but Hudson is a

magnificent killer, if there is such a thing. Talin is the computer guy.”

Liberty had told him a little more about her life on SR44. Noah’s father had been

a kind male to his servants, but was devastated at the loss of his son and the rest of the

Saviors.

“He felt responsible for your disappearance,” she said. “Although the Royal

Council had worked as a group to send you here, he took your not returning as a personal

blow.”

They also recalled the beauty of the planet with its rich forests, golden buildings,

and the time of twilight that never ended.

“Tell me about your trip here,” Jovan said.

Liberty looked around the room. “Mainly I kept to myself,” she said. “Especially

when The Platoon spoke of killing Noah. Everyone was told that I was simply another

female who was to be used to ensure our species sustained. My sire assigned me one

particular loyal trooper named Annis. She stayed with me at all times.”

“A female fighter?” Jovan was surprised. He had never heard such a thing. First

the servitude, and now this. Shit had changed quite a bit.

“Yes. As it turned out, we were able to help each other. The human body she was

given was defective, and she is blind until the sun goes down. Her SR44 form was a gold

color, and when her eyes change she is able to see.”

“Wow. What happened to her?”

Liberty’s eyes glistened with tears. “When we landed, she was injured. I tended to

her, but when the pandemonium broke loose, she told me to run. I hated leaving her,

Jovan, but she insisted, and I was afraid.”

He had held her hand, trying to comfort her. “We’ll find her, Liberty.”

“Thank you, Jovan. She was a good friend to me.”

And they discussed Liberty’s relationship to Noah.

“I’m afraid he will denounce me as his kin,” she confided in Jovan. “We never

would have been considered related on SR44.”

“I know, Liberty, but Noah’s not going to denounce you. He’s probably taking a

few days to wrap his mind around it, but I’m sure he’s going to be fine knowing he’s got

a sister.”

“I hope you’re right, Jovan. However, I wouldn’t blame him if he held on to the

old custom in this situation.”

At present, they were on the final test, and Liberty lifted her “shield” as Jovan had

begun to call it.

“I feel the pressure of the emotions, but it’s tolerable.”

Liberty jumped up and down, clapping her hands, then ran across the room,

throwing herself at him. He caught her in a bear hug and spun her around, both of them

laughing.

“You did it!” she screeched in his ear.

He laughed and hugged her close. Over the past two days, his respect for Liberty

had grown tenfold, and he found her to be funny and kind. The best part was that he

didn’t feel her emotions or hear her thoughts. When they were silent, there was a true

silence, and he was alone with his own inner voices. He couldn’t imagine being trapped

in a room with another person for two days straight.

He held on to Liberty a minute longer, then gently set her down. She beamed up

at him, and something within him shifted. He realized he wasn’t looking at Liberty as

Noah’s half-sister or an SR44 female born into servitude. He was seeing her as she was—

sweet, pretty, little Liberty with the laugh of an angel, the one being on Earth who could

help him. And he was seeing her for who she was, not some twisted fantasy of her

swinging around on a stripper’s pole.

This was not good. He felt his SR44 male begin to grumble, wanting the female in

front of him.

Taking a step back, he cleared his throat. “Thank you, Liberty,” he said quietly.

“Thanks for helping me get a lasso on this thing.”

“Of course, Jovan,” she said softly. A slight blush crossed her cheeks and she

looked away.

The temperature in the room spiked, and Jovan felt a sexual tension between them

spark and crackle.

No, this was not good at all.

“I’d better get upstairs and meet with Noah and the others,” he said, stepping

around her. Yes, it was time to get the fuck out of here before he did something stupid.

As he waited for the elevator, he heard the door to the quarters shut, and Liberty

came to stand next to him.

“You can’t go with me to the meeting, Liberty,” he said, looking down at her.

She met his eyes. “I had no intention of going with you, Jovan. Am I not free to

move about this dwelling by myself?”

He heard the challenge and indignation in her voice, and he liked it. Over the past

two days, the subservient Liberty was starting to be replaced by this little female who was

looking at him like she dared him to tell her to stay, and she would rain down the

consequences of the wrong answer.

“Of course. My apologies.”

As they stepped into the elevator together, Jovan felt the small space getting

smaller. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her look up at the numbers lighting up

above. Dressed in a pair of jeans he had bought her and a pink t-shirt she had borrowed

from Faith, she looked troubled.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Jovan said. Not that he should care, but he did.

“I’m sorry?”

“Penny for your thoughts. It means I want to know what you’re thinking.”

A sly grin played on her lips. “Oh, Jovan, it will cost you much more than a

penny. Thoughts are precious and shouldn’t be sold so cheaply.”

Chapter 19

Liberty had just sat down at the small, wooden kitchen table with Beverly and her

adorable son, Killian, who sucked on a bottle while sitting in his little chair. The Warrior

Hudson bustled about the shiny silver appliances in the kitchen fixing dinner while

making small talk with Liberty, and going over to kiss Beverly or coo over his baby every

few minutes.

It was difficult for her to remember that he held the stature of Warrior, but still

insisted on cooking for those in this dwelling. He obviously did it because he loved it,

and he cared deeply for those he served.

“So what do you like to eat, Liberty?” he asked.

She thought of the ninety-nine-cent tacos and the macaroni and cheese, as well as

the other meals she had eaten over the past two days. She was pretty certain she could

never eat another taco, but the macaroni and cheese had been her favorite by far. Hudson

blanched as she told him.

Beverly laughed. “I think Hudson has just taken it upon himself to cleanse your

palate, Liberty.”

“I don’t understand, Beverly.”

“He’s going to make sure that you upgrade your taste in food.”

Liberty nodded and smiled. “Very well, Hudson. I have heard the saying ‘I will be

your guinea pig’ on the TV, and I believe in this case I am using it correctly, am I not?”

Hudson laughed. “You most certainly are, Liberty, and I’m damn glad to hear it.”

They chatted another minute, and Noah came into the kitchen, his focus on

Liberty. “Can I talk to you a second?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said, feeling nervous and unable to meet his eyes. Her stomach

bounced around as she followed Noah.

He led her to a room with a table that had the sticks and balls, just as the house

Jovan had taken her to on first night they met, and she wondered what exactly one did

with them.

Noah leaned up against the table and crossed his arms. She stood before him, her

head bowed.

“Liberty, please look at me.”

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his. It was difficult to hold it.

“So, according to Earth customs, you and I are brother and sister.”

She nodded and looked down at the floor again. “Yes, I have been made aware of

that. However, we are not from this place, and I was born into servitude so I understand

—”

“Don’t, honey. Let’s not even go there.” She looked up at him, but he held up a

hand. Rubbing his hands over his face, he turned his gaze back to her. “Look, I’ve been

here a really long fucking time. In fact, I now consider this my home. I pay my taxes, I

abide by their rules most of the time, and I’m doing my best to clean up this clusterfuck

of Colonists that we unleashed on these people. Therefore, I follow their customs and

social guidelines.”

He took a deep breath and continued to study her face, and Liberty fought to keep

the eye contact.

“I consider you my sister, Liberty, and I look forward to getting to know you. And

as your brother, it is my job to protect you and look out for you. I hope you will want to

stay with us and become part of our family.”

Liberty felt as though her heart might jump out the front of her chest. She had

family here, true family. “And I as well, Noah,” she said softly.

They eyed each other for a minute, then Noah stretched out his arms. “Come here,

Libs.”

She found the shortening of her name endearing and went to his embrace,

engulfed in his big arms. Laying her cheek against his chest, a feeling that everything was

going to be fine solidified itself within her. Her brother was the leader of the Six Saviors,

a group of highly moral and dignified Warriors.