Fallen Star (31 page)

“What do Sevrin’s grand ambitions have to do
with me?”

“Are you really that naive?
Everyone
with Pern’s blood flowing through their veins is a potential rival.
Why do you think she tried to kill me?”

“Sevrin did this to you?” Then the
inconsistency in his story slammed home. “Wait a minute. You said
she didn’t know. You said this would become a problem
if
she
figured out who you are.”

“Who
we
are.” He paused as if to
ensure that she absorbed the implication. “You are just as much a
danger to Sevrin as am I.”

“Could there be another reason she tried to
kill you? For that matter, why are you so sure it was Sevrin?”

“I’m not sure if she pieced it together or
if she just thought I knew too many of her secrets. All I know for
certain is one of her pet mercenaries wielded the blade while
Sevrin locked the collar around my throat.”

“How did you get away?”

“It all happened in an instant. I had
already started to teleport when they attacked. The collar cut
short my jump and I ended up in that alley.”

“Then she likely knows you’re still
alive.”

He nodded his eyelids starting to droop.
“It’s more than likely.” Fatigue and pain meds finished closing his
eyes.

“Wait.” She moved closer to the bed and he
forced his eyes open. “Nazerel went to warn Roxie. He said you told
him that she was in danger, that Sevrin had some horrible use for
her. What was he talking about? What does Sevrin want with
Roxie?”

He laughed, the sound distorted by his
injuries. “Not a chance. Roxie’s my ticket out of here.”

“What do you mean? What do you know?”

“When I’m safe on some obscure planet where
Sevrin can never find me, then and only then will I explain.” His
eyes began to droop again.

She reached out and grasped his hand, giving
it a light squeeze. His lashes fluttered, but his eyes remained
open. “Many of the entries on your thumb drive are coded. You will
decode them before we agree to any further provisions.”

“Fine.” He coughed, turning his head sharply
to one side.

“And we have a notebook full of information
on human females. Many of those pages are secured by the same or a
similar code. Can you decode those as well?”

“I’ll need to see them to know for sure, but
it’s probable.”

“Then the value of the information you
provide us will determine how far we’re willing to go on your
behalf.”

“Agreed. But nothing about Roxie until after
I’m relocated.” He closed his eyes again and slipped into sleep
with a peaceful sigh.

“Shit.” Jillian fought back the urge to
stomp her foot like a child. As far as she knew, Roxie was still
here, somewhere, so she was relatively safe. Even so, the question
had nagged away in the back of her mind ever since she ran in to
Nazerel. Why was a coldblooded killer risking capture to warn a
human that she was in danger? It didn’t make sense.

The disquieting question set Jillian in
motion. She needed to talk to Odintar. Finding out she had royal
blood had been much more fun with Indric. Having any connection to
Sevrin Keire held no appeal at all.

She found Elias working out with a punching
bag, but Odintar was nowhere in sight. Elias spotted her and
paused. “He’s in the locker room.”

“Is he alone?”

“Doubtful. I’ll go get him.”

“In a minute. Is Roxie still here?”

Elias laughed. “Why do you think I’m
pummeling this bag?”

“She’s still being stubborn?”

“Roxie Latimer might well be the most
stubborn female on planet Earth and Morgan won’t ‘trust’ her
wellbeing to anyone but me.”

“Lucky you.” She chuckled. “Can I see
her?”

“I’ll have to ask Morgan. So far she hasn’t
been allowed visitors.”

“Why? Roxie’s a victim, not a criminal.”

He shrugged. “She’s refused to cooperate
with our investigation. That’s called obstruction of justice, so
technically she is a criminal.”

“Oh my God, no wonder she shut down. Tell
Morgan I need to see her ASAP.”

A slow, humorless smile bowed his lips. He
obviously didn’t appreciate being ordered around. “Before or after
I go get Odintar?”

“After.” She refused to soften her
expression. Roxie had been terrified the last time Jillian saw her
and it sounded like their treatment of her had only compounded that
fear. There was no way she was going to stand by and let these
idiots abuse her friend. Even if Roxie no longer considered her a
friend.

When Odintar emerged from the locker room,
he had Blayne with him. They both looked freshly showered and
invigorated. “Where’s Elias?”

“Said he needed to talk to Morgan,” Blayne
told her. “Something about you being all fired up.”

Fired up didn’t begin to describe it, but
her fight was with Morgan and Elias, so she tried to relax her
frown. “Who won?” She motioned toward the mats.

“Depends who you ask,” Odintar replied.

Too wound up for small talk, she dove right
to the heart of the matter. “I just had a fascinating conversation
with Gerrod. It was much more interesting than anything on that
thumb drive.”

“Do tell, my lovely.” Blayne wiggled his
eyebrows with playful drama.

“She’s not
your
anything.” Odintar’s
reminder lacked any real hostility.

Ignoring their never-ending banter, she
tried to be succinct. “According to our unwelcome guest, Pern Keire
had a fondness for war brides.”

“Lots of Rodytes took war brides. It would
have been more of a shock if he hadn’t.” Blayne clearly didn’t
understand the inference, but Odintar did.

“Gerrod claims Pern Keire captured Lierra?”
He’d drawn the correct conclusion, but he didn’t sound completely
convinced.

Blayne scoffed. “Not a chance. Being battle
born isn’t shameful on Rodymia. If Pern Keire had a son with one of
Bilarri’s royal daughters, the entire galaxy would have known about
it.”

“Unless there was a reason they kept it
quiet.” Odintar rubbed his chin as he gazed into the distance. “The
only thing Rodytes like better than brutality is deception. Gerrod
could have been part of some grand scheme Pern didn’t quite pull
off.”

“Anything’s possible,” Blayne agreed. “But
this is all speculation.”

“It won’t be for long.” Odintar countered.
“Ontarian security has a sample of Pern’s DNA. It will be simple
enough to prove whether or not he fathered Gerrod. Let’s start
there.”

“How did Ontarian security get a sample of
Pern’s DNA?” Blayne wanted to know.

“Overlord Lyrik was there when Pern died. Of
course he wasn’t overlord at the time.” Odintar looked at her and
smiled. “I’ll request the test and we’ll take it from there.”

Blayne nodded. “I better go update Lor. Even
unsubstantiated, this is pretty important.”

Odintar waited until they were alone again
to ask, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Earth-shattering surprises are my
specialty.”

He smiled and pulled her into a loose
embrace. “If you’d like to see your mom, I can take you to Bilarri
tonight.”

“It’s not fair to bring my mother into
this.”

He chuckled. “I’ve always been a dirty
fighter.”

“I’m aware.”

He sighed, his gaze filled with compassion
and concern. “I think we both know what the test is going to show.
If you’re a direct descendant of Pern Keire, everyone from Lor, to
Morgan, to Indric will insist that you leave Earth.”

Her chin came up. “Then Roxie’s coming with
me.”

“What is your fixation with Roxie?”

“Did you know she’s still here, locked in a
room somewhere?” She put her hands on her hips. “They’re treating
her like a prisoner and she’s done nothing wrong.”

“It’s my understanding that she’s in
protective custody because of Nazerel’s cryptic warning. Did Gerrod
happen to explain what that’s all about?”

“No. He said Roxie is his ticket out of
here. That he has no intention of explaining until he’s safe on
some obscure planet.”

“Not a bad strategy.”

“So I told him he had to decode the rest of
the thumb drive and all of the notebook pages before we’d even
consider relocating him.”

A pleased smile warmed his expression. “I
think you’ve discovered your true vocation. That was one hell of a
negotiation.”

“We’ll see if any of it means anything.” She
sighed, blowing a stray strand of hair off her forehead. “I feel
like we’ve come so far and yet we haven’t really gotten
anywhere.”

“That’s not true.” His arm tightened around
her waist drawing their lower bodies into intimate alignment.
“You’ve provided us with possibilities. That’s a lot more than we
had a few days ago.”

“I won’t let Roxie become a bargaining
chip,” Jillian stressed. “She has nothing to do with any of
this.”

“Actually we don’t know that for sure.
Sevrin’s interest in her couldn’t have been coincidental.”

“Because you don’t believe in
coincidences?”

“Yes.” He cupped her chin and turned her
face up toward his. “I know you feel responsible for Roxie, but
they are protecting her.”

“By locking her in a cage?” She shoved
against his chest and tried to twist free of his embrace.

His arms tightened instead, drawing her
closer. “She’s going to be moved to the safe house as soon as she
calms down.”

“Then I’ll go help her calm down.”

He leaned down and kissed her, using his
amazing mouth to melt the indignation from her body. “That’s
cheating.”

He smiled against her lips. “Dirty fighter,
remember.”

“As soon as I’ve seen her, the rest of the
night is yours. I promise.”

He chuckled. “Stubborn to the end.”

“I won’t be able to relax until I know she’s
okay.”

“I get it, and you win. We’ll go check on
Roxie.” He shifted his arm to her shoulders and they headed off
across the gym.

Contentment spread through her in languid
waves. She wasn’t sure where the emotion originated, but it sure
felt good.

“After we’ve seen Roxie, do you want one
final night at home?”

She thought about it for a second then
looked into his eyes. “It doesn’t matter where we sleep, my love.
I’m already home.”

Don’t miss the last two

Coming in 2014

Featuring Elias and Roxie.

Series Finale!

Featuring Nazerel and Morgan.

Or find out how it all began:

Taken by Storm

Cyndi Friberg

FREE download at many retailers!

Beyond Ontariese, Book
One:
Tal dar Aune, a powerful shape-shifting mage, comes to
Earth on a desperate quest to find a mysterious woman before his
nemesis destroys her. Little does Tal know the “helpless” female
he’s come to save is the key to peace on his war-torn world…or that
he’ll long to touch her, take her, make her his.

Unaware of her royal roots or alien origins,
Charlotte spends her first thirty years on Earth. Then Tal bursts
into her life with all the subtlety of a thunder storm. He’s rude,
arrogant, and easily the most desirable man she’s ever encountered.
With a ruthless madman hot on their heels, they can’t afford to be
distracted by the attraction rapidly growing between them, but the
emotions are too powerful to ignore.

Taken by Storm
,
Second Edition

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED.

Copyright ©
2012 Cyndi Friberg.

Ontariese

Cycle 1 of the Great Conflict

E’Lanna dar Aune sank to her knees, a low
groan torn from her throat. Her lover’s hands moved to steady her,
but E’Lanna allowed nothing to distract her from her purpose. They
had so little time. If they were detected, all was lost.