In the Beginning... (27 page)

Because you cannot hear?

Or talk all that well. And sign can only
express so much. They are all fluent, of course. My father and
their parents ensured all my cousins learned.

How old were you?
He opened the door to their suite as they
conversed, and she stepped inside in front of him. He put the
textbooks on the small coffee table.
When
you lost your hearing? Was it something you were born
with?

No. A fever, infection that
was left untreated too long. My parents divorced because of it. I
was six, Jade was less than a month old. My mother simply didn’t
want to be bothered with a sick kid and a crying baby. She locked
herself in her room. The nanny didn’t realize I was sick until it
was too late. Had my dad not been out of town, I would have been
fine.
She shrugged.
I guess it wasn’t meant to be that way. My fever got so high
that there was permanent damage to my hearing. And the infection
spread to my throat. It was several weeks before I was able to talk
again. Eventually I just stopped talking as much; we’d all learned
sign language, and I can read lips.

And now you can talk with me directly. The
only creature of any Kind who has ever been able to do that. In six
hundred years. That has to mean something. You have time if you
want to take a shower and change before dinner. Your cousins will
be waiting at 6:30 for us. Dhan Emily said she had business to
discuss with us all.

Josey signed rapidly, looking in Emily’s
direction. Emily’s idea wouldn’t work. Not without some serious
revision, and she told her cousin that.

First, how would they keep the human element
away from the Dardaptoan? And what if the research got crossed, and
someone saw something they shouldn’t?

Emily nodded. Josey watched
her cousin’s lips as the other woman spoke. “We’ve thought of that,
Josey. We are going to have to
separate
areas of study. Keep a
skeleton staff of humans on hand—those with long terms of service,
or excellent personnel jackets. Those we know are loyal to Taniss
and who can adhere to strict confidentiality clauses. The rest of
the staff will be composed of Dardaptoans.”

Josey nodded. Then signed
her concerns.
“It will be risky. And time
consuming.”

Mal tapped the table in
front of her, and Josey turned to her redheaded cousin when she
felt the vibration. “We’ve thought of that. And we were closing
Grandfather’s lab, anyway. Mickey suggested we move the
new
lab here. And the four
of us oversee it.”

Josey paused, then signed
another question.
“And what of the rest of
our family? How are we going to explain it to them?”

Em knocked on the table and Josey turned
toward her. “It is believable that I— and Mickey, for that
matter—would want to stay with our new husbands. And they are
established here. Rand could take over the main branch. He’s got
the capability to do it. If he would.”

Josey still had her
reservations, but it was obvious the other three women were
resolute.
“I am in. But you are going to
have a difficult time convincing my dad and the rest of the family.
You know how they can be.”

Mal signaled and Josey turned to her, then
read her cousin’s lips. “We know. But what other choices do we
have? There are several issues we still need to work out. But we
want you to head the medical research. Keep a very close eye on all
of it. Just in case.”

Could she do it?

It was basically similar to what she had
already planned; only now the rest of the family would be involved.
It would be permanent. It wouldn’t just be her doing research and
tiny experiments with Dardaptoan or human blood. It would be an
entire facility devoted to medical research, designed solely for
benefiting the Dardaptoan people.

She pushed the partially empty plate of fish
and fruits away. She wasn’t hungry any longer. She had a lot of
thinking to do.

Cormac’s hand wrapped around hers, a move she
definitely hadn’t expected.

She’s almost forgotten that he and his pals
were present, so focused on her cousins as she had been. They had
stayed silent—as far as she could tell—letting Mal and Em dominate
the signed conversation. How could they be happy with this
development?

They hated
Taniss Industries. Cormac had made that abundantly
clear to her. They hated her grandfather, and her father, and her
aunts and uncles, and the rest of her cousins.

So why would they accept an entire building
of Tanisses in their world?

Cormac watched her talk with her cousins,
fascinated by the dichotomy of their relationship. The smallest
woman, her cousin Emily, was clearly in charge. The strawberry
blonde—who looked remarkably like his Jocelyn except for the hair
color and cheekbones—was the quiet little peacemaker. A good fit
for the calm, placid Theo.

The other woman was a fiery redhead in every
sense of the word. A quick brush of her mind revealed nothing but
an intense desire to protect her family. Especially Jocelyn and the
strawberry blonde, the younger of the group.

Would this idea of theirs work? And more
importantly, did he want his woman involved in something so
complicated? It could potentially prove dangerous if humans learned
more than they should. But how could he not let her do what she had
to do?

Was he ready to deal with more of her family?
Could he look at her father and not want to tear him apart for the
harm his family had done to Kindara?

He didn’t know.

He did know that her grandfather would never
escape Dardaptoan justice. Even if ten more Rajnis for his people
were related to the old bastard in some way, Leo Taniss would pay
for what he had done.

His woman’s place in this small group of
females was harder to define. The other women seemed protective,
but they listened to her. She kept pointing out the ways in which
their ideas wouldn’t work. Was that her position, always? Was she
the one who pointed out the flaws so that they could overcome them?
Not quite a peacemaker and not a naysayer. But very logical in her
arguments.

Interesting. Was it like this with the rest
of the family? Was that why she argued with him on everything?

Would he want her any other way?

His thoughts were interrupted by running feet
and the sudden entrance of a servant from his own House.

“Excuse me,
Dahr
Rydere! I have an
urgent message from Phalon.” Amaia bowed respectfully to the
Dahr
and
Dhan
before turning to
Cormac. “Equan Jareth, two of Phalon’s guards have reportedly found
the car Lady Kindara took, abandoned thirty miles from
here.”

Cormac’s blood chilled over
at the girl’s words. “And my sister?
Her
guards?” “Your sister is missing.
As is her daughter. No mention was made of any guards. From what
the front desk says, Kindara left only with Jierra. No guards were
remarked upon.”

Cormac stood, as did the rest of the men.
“Aodhan? Confirm with the front desk, and check on Barlaam and
Bronwen. The rest of the healers.” Healers were prized targets in
any of the Kinds. Especially those of Kindara's rank.

Aodhan nodded. “We will find
them, Cormac. Not too much time has passed. I will have
my
men searching the hills
immediately.”

Rydere sent Amaia running for the rest of his
own personal security detail. “I will set out Matthuin, as well.
Plus other outliers that we have positioned. And will prepare for
ransom demands. And I will question Phalon’s guards personally. You
know I will not rest until we have them back here where they
belong.”

Cormac wrapped his hand
around his
Rajni
’s
and pulled her to her feet.
Go back to our
suite or to your cousin’s sitting room. You do not leave those two
places; do you understand me?

He was gone before she had a chance to
respond. She turned to her cousins and signed her question. “What
has happened?”

Emily is the one who answered. “Someone has
kidnapped Jierra and Kindara. They are going to go look for them
now.”

Josey sat back down at the
table. No wonder he’d been afraid. It was easy for her to see how
much he loved and protected his sister. And now
she
had been taken less than two weeks
after he had kidnapped Josey and her cousins. Bad
karma
or something
else?

She saw very little of him over the next two
days, and what she did see had her concerned, despite her wanting
to feel nothing for the vampire. He was pale, and almost gaunt. He
wasn’t eating, either. And she knew he barely slept. He’d come into
the suite the evening of the third day, his eyes red from
exhaustion.

She was spread out over the huge mattress,
medical books opened before her. Normally the vampire would make
some wisecrack about just climbing in bed with her. He’d usually
end up sleeping on the couch in the sitting area. He hadn’t made
those jokes in two days.

Anything?
Josey had tried not to worry about the two missing
women, but she liked both of them. And she could see how their
disappearance had affected the people in this place.

They were both well loved. Kindara as a
healer who’d dedicated her life to her people. And Jierra as an
elementary science teacher was absolutely beloved by all. Everyone
walked around the hotel with worried expressions, and their
disappearance was on everyone’s lips. Josey had read several
comments just walking down the Healers’ Hall.

The Dardaptoans still
eyed
her
like she
was the devil, so she spent little time in the medical hall,
preferring to do her research in the safety of Cormac’s
suite.

Nothing. We found the car.
And two sets of footprints too large to be either Kindara’s or
Ji’s. That’s it.
He sank down on the bed
beside her. He pushed the open book out of his way.
Are you finding what
you
are looking for?

Basic information,
yes.
Josey didn’t want to talk about her
research. She wanted to talk about him. About his search. About the
two women everyone was worried about.

What if they never found
them?
Why do you think they were
kidnapped?

Because of who they are. Kindara, as Chief
Healer, is a very valuable hostage. Any Kind would want her. She’s
worth her weight in gold ten times over, just for her position. Add
in that she is sister to the head of the Jareth House—and mother of
the Dardano heir. She’s invaluable, especially as a political tool.
Ji is Rydere’s heir, until he reproduces with his Dhan. That’s a
pretty important political target right there.

And you have no idea who took them? Those
Lupoiux, maybe? Or any of the million other Kinds that I never knew
existed?

Nothing. Just the footprints. But I will
find them. I will not stop until I have my family back safely.

She let him sleep in the bed, this time. He’d
sat beside her while she finished up the chapter, not saying
anything. When she’d looked up half an hour later, he was sound
asleep, head thrown back against the pile of pillows. His shoes
were on the silk comforter.

She didn’t have the heart to kick him to the
couch, where he’d slept every night since he’d brought her here.
What if it had been her sister Jade kidnapped, disappearing into
thin air?

She tugged the shoes from his feet and sat
them beside the bed. Removed the books from where she’d stacked
them on the mattress before slipping into the bathroom to change
into one of the tunics he’d provided for her to sleep in. What
would it hurt for him to sleep beside her for one night?

Cormac woke at the knock on the suite door.
It took him a moment to realize where he was. His female lay curled
in his arm, her knee thrown over his, and her soft hair spread out
over his chest. His arms tightened around her and he brushed a kiss
on her hair. How he’d longed to hold her just like this. The knock
sounded again, and he rolled her to her side. He smoothed the
blankets over her shoulders.

Aodhan stood on the other side of the door.
Though he was in Cormac’s family hall, as chief of security for the
resort, Aodhan had access to every room. “Aod, what is it? Have you
found them?”

“This was delivered a few minutes ago. I
thought you might want to see it immediately.” Aodhan passed him a
note and a small object.

Cormac took the items, then froze when he
realized he was looking at the necklace he’d given his niece on her
tenth birthday. It was a tiny piece of amber naturally shaped like
a butterfly. He’d found it as a young man, long before this country
was even founded. His fist tightened around the gold chain he’d had
specially fashioned for the little girl she had been. The chain was
broken, and strawberry blonde hair was tangled in the links. Like
it had been ripped off of her neck.

If the bastards who had taken her had hurt
her, Cormac would rip them apart starting with the fingers. He
wouldn’t stop until he got to the bastards’ balls. He sat the
necklace on the coffee table carefully. He’d have it repaired and
would return to his niece once she was safe.

“I found the note particularly enlightening.”
Aodhan nudged the paper that