Morningstar (4 page)

He rubbed his hands over his face. “That’s fine. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Jace nodded and absently tugged at the collar of his armor as sweat beaded on his brow. It was too warm—his armor didn’t breathe well, and the environmental controls must have been damaged in the battle. He made a mental note to tell Sam of it after he notified the captain of the new development. In fact, news of this importance should be delivered to Captain Hawke in person, despite her orders to stay out of the medical bay. He folded his hands behind him as he headed in that direction, and dismissed the slight tremor running through his fingers as merely a side effect of the earlier battle, because the Second Son of House Morningstar could never be affected this greatly by a few phase pheromones.

There was something soothing about Dr. Morgan, though Bryn was far too anxious to be calmed at the moment. She held Sabine’s hand and stood at her bedside—her mate had been sedated again while the doctor worked. At first Bryn had snarled and hissed at Dr. Morgan like an ill-tempered felinoid from Cyprena’s surface ruins—all teeth, claws and bad attitude—but the doctor seemed unaffected. Bryn respected that.

“Her temperature has returned to normal, for now. Are you both up to date on your inoculations?”

“Yes.” It was the only good thing their master had done for them, though there wasn’t any kindness in his intentions. He needed his girls healthy to work, and he didn’t want to risk infecting paying customers with any embarrassing diseases.

“I found uppers in her blood work. Does she use recreational drugs?”

Bryn blinked in surprise. “No, never. That’s not possible…” She trailed off, and then she squeezed Sabine’s hand as the realization settled over her in an icy wave. “That son of a bitch. He dosed her. I knew he was sedating her, but not that.”

“Your master?” Dr. Morgan asked, and Bryn nodded. “That’s not uncommon. It explains her extreme symptoms. She’ll experience withdrawal over the next few days as the drugs leave her system, but after that she should be fine. How long has she been in phase?”

“A little over a year. Can you help her? The master didn’t want to cure her. Sabine…” Bryn’s throat tightened, and she paused to take a deep breath. “She earned more, like this.”

“There is only one cure that I’m aware of. I can research if there are chemical alternatives, but it may be crueler to keep her like this than to allow her to mate.”

“She has a mate,” Bryn replied sourly. To her mind, it seemed crueler to give Sabine to a new master simply because he had a cock and Bryn didn’t. Sabine had lived her entire life as a slave. She deserved to know freedom. If Sabine could last until they reached Cyprena, Bryn knew a few male shadow swords of her house would be willing to help without insisting on a permanent mate arrangement. Provided they were still alive. Five years was a long time in the life of a shadow sword.

“May I treat your wound?” Dr. Morgan asked.

The request was put so politely that Bryn was startled—polite humans were few and far between in her line of business. The pain hadn’t let her forget about the graze, but she was more concerned with Sabine’s health than her own. She’d had more than one shot burn through her armor during her time with the resistance.

“It’s fine.”

“It will only take a few moments to treat.” Dr. Morgan patted the empty diagnostic table next to Sabine.

Bryn eyed it warily. Fear of being separated from Sabine flooded her with a rush of battle-readiness, giving her tired muscles new strength.
It could be a trap
, the fear whispered. The doctor wanted to get her away from Sabine to give her mate to one of the ship’s males. A low growl bubbled from her throat, but the doctor smiled gently.

“You’re safe here,” she assured Bryn. “If I don’t treat your wound, it could become infected.”

She couldn’t protect Sabine if she suffered from an infection, and laser burns could be nasty. Bryn reluctantly stalked around to the other bed, unstrapped her weapon belt and stripped her stolen jacket off. The doctor appeared as unaffected by Bryn’s nudity as Bryn was.

The jacket’s owner was probably dead, and she didn’t even know the man’s name. Guilt twisted her stomach. The man didn’t deserve that end. In general, Bryn didn’t hate her customers. Sex was a natural need, like hunger or thirst, and she understood the importance of satisfying it, particularly for spacers who spent their lives crammed inside the confines of a ship. But there was no forgiving that Bryn and the other females were forced into their roles in the brothel, so she saved her venom for her master. He deserved the fiery death he’d gotten, unlike the many innocents who had died on the station. Bryn still didn’t know the reason behind the attack, and Dr. Morgan was tight-lipped with information.

Bryn glanced down at the wound on her hip and frowned. Bryn had forgotten how ugly a laser burn could be, even just a graze. Luckily it looked far worse than it felt. Blackened flesh gouged a straight line across her hip—a few inches higher and to the left and she would’ve died from a gut shot.

The doors to the med bay opened as the doctor treated her, and Bryn tensed as a human woman entered.

“I’m Captain Hawke. Don’t worry, I ordered the males to stay away.” Like Bryn she was tall for a female, but she had a human’s bland skin tone—a sort of bronzed beige. The captain’s face was marred by an old burn scar, but Bryn was most interested in the Cy’ren markings inked in black on the side of her throat. No slave marks, and she bore odd heritage runes, but she had two mate marks from House Sunsinger.

“I won’t let them take her,” Bryn blurted.

“Agreed. My mate, Talena, was in phase recently. I understand how difficult that can be. I won’t let anything be forced on your friend,” Captain Hawke said.

“Sabine is my mate,” Bryn corrected. “I’ve never heard of a human with Cy’ren mates.”

“Well, now you have. And you are?”

“Brynnaren Viera, shadow sword of House Wintersend. I served as a lieutenant aboard the
Sabre
.”

“I’m not familiar with that ship.”

“The
Sabre
was destroyed almost six years ago. Five of us made it to an escape pod. We were captured. I don’t know what happened to the others after—” Bryn stopped, the words vanishing as her throat squeezed shut.
After I was sold.
She rather hoped her crewmates were dead. Death would have been an honorable end, and easier to bear than the hell she’d been through.

Bryn squared her shoulders. “I don’t want the males near Sabine.”

“I understand. But you’ll have to let her mate with a male if you want to end her phase.”

“And when we get to Cyprena, we will find one for her.”

“Lieutenant Viera, your mate is in very poor health. I’ve never seen a Cy’ren affected so strongly by the phase,” Dr. Morgan said. “The strain of the phase combined with withdrawal symptoms could cause a complete collapse.”

“I know. It’s because of…our work,” Bryn explained. “It brought Sabine’s phase on early. Her urges are stronger because we’re constantly surrounded by sex. In most females the phase is like a bonfire. In Sabine it’s like a wildfire.”

“Then let her end it before it consumes her,” Captain Hawke said. “Help her.”

“Handing her over to the first male who catches her scent isn’t
helping
,” Bryn snarled. “Letting some stranger impregnate her just ties her to a new master. She’s never been free. She deserves a chance to live her own life.”

The captain sighed, but before she could reply the doors opened again and a male Cy’ren entered—the male from the station, Harrow. He was still armed and armored, and Bryn automatically began looking for weak spots to exploit as her hands clenched into fists.

“I gave you an order, Lieutenant Commander.”

He paused just inside the door, his hands behind his back. Though he spoke to the captain, he looked past her, his gaze locked on Sabine. “Indeed. I came to inform you that the indexer has information regarding the bioweapon developed on Nepheros. He believes he can find the location of the current research facility if he has stronger network access.”

“And the comm. system is down, so you decided to inform me of this in person?” Captain Hawke replied.

He ignored her, fixated on Sabine. Bryn shrugged off Dr. Morgan’s attentions to her wound and slipped from the bed, putting herself between Sabine and Harrow. “She’s my mate. You can’t have her.”

“A female cannot take another female as a mate,” Harrow said.

Bryn glared at him. “House Wintersend grants shadow swords the rights of a male, therefore I can.”

“House Wintersend is a minor house without a seat on the ruling council. Their laws hardly matter,” he countered.

“You gave us your word that we would all go free. Does House Morningstar’s honor hardly matter?”

Harrow snarled. “How dare you!”

“That’s enough,” the captain barked.

With a warning growl Bryn snatched up her sword. “I will end you if you try to take her from me.”

Harrow’s expression darkened, but before he could attack the sting of a hypo bit Bryn’s neck and the world went black.

Chapter Three

The female slumped to the floor, and Dr. Morgan winced. “Apologies, Captain Hawke. I thought it best if I sedated her.”

“Can you sedate Jace too?” Captain Hawke asked. She glared at Jace, but he kept his expression impassive.

Though he did feel guilty for provoking the female, he was correct. None of the houses of the high council would recognize her claim. There simply weren’t enough females on Cyprena to allow a fertile female to go to waste. Slavers preferred female Cy’ren because they were easier to manage—smaller and usually fast but not strong—and years of selling their kin off-world had led to a decrease in the female population. Enough so that for a time their scientists had worried about declining birth rates, throwing the words
possible extinction
about. Matters had improved somewhat since their independence, but not enough to be certain. Females had always been fought over, but now more so than ever. Having one mate was fortunate; having multiple mates was a sign of wealth and influence—Jace’s father was currently looking for a fourth.

The captain helped Dr. Morgan lift the fallen female onto the diagnostic bed, and the doctor drew a sheet over her. It was a pity, for despite her hostility toward him, Jace had been enjoying the view. Or perhaps it was because of the hostility—he did enjoy a female with spirit, and her skin was an intriguing shade of blue, like the waters of an ocean world.

“May I approach?” Jace asked the captain.

“No. I think you’ve caused enough trouble.”

“With all due respect, Captain, shadow sword or no, she can’t end another female’s phase.” He laced his fingers together tighter to hide the increasing tremble shivering through them. The pheromones here were almost overwhelming, like a thick, cloying perfume that sucked the rest of the air from the room. Only his rigid self-control learned from years of surviving cutthroat Cy’ren politics kept him from descending into a lust-filled daze.

“That doesn’t mean you should be the one to end it.”

“Would you prefer that I kidnap her at gunpoint and mate with her in a shuttle, as Mordackai did with Talena?”

Captain Hawke’s fists clenched as though she was about to strike him, and the doctor cleared her throat to interrupt.

“I am inclined to agree with Lieutenant Commander Harrow,” Dr. Morgan said. “Keeping a female in phase after this much time is tantamount to torture.”

“Can you keep her sedated until we return to Cyprena?” Captain Hawke asked.

Dr. Morgan frowned, the lines in her face deepening. Like Rizzoli, she was retired Alliance military, though she referred to it as “early retirement”. Whatever her reason for leaving, Jace was grateful for it, for she was a fine officer with an excellent knowledge of Cy’ren biology.

“Do we know when we will be arriving at Cyprena? As I understand it, the VFF drive is down. I can’t recommend keeping her sedated indefinitely. The longer she is kept under, the higher the chance for complications. The medication could cause a stroke, or an arrest.”

Captain Hawke folded her arms as she eyed Jace warily. “I take it you’re interested in our guest, considering you disregarded a direct order.”

“I merely want to look at her,” Jace assured her.

“You shouldn’t be breathing this air,” the doctor warned. “I strongly advise against continued exposure to her pheromones.”

“I feel fine, Dr. Morgan.” It was a lie, but he was certain that he could manage the effects. Jace prided himself on his self-control. He met the captain’s gaze. “Please. Just a few moments, and then I will leave.”

“You get two minutes. Look. Don’t touch. That’s an order,” Captain Hawke said. “Try to obey this one.”

Nodding, he approached, giving the captain a wide berth as she continued to glare at him. Jace supposed he deserved it. Captain Hawke had never forgiven him for attempting to seduce Talena away from Dack when she first arrived on the
Talon
. As a human, Captain Hawke couldn’t understand that regardless of his disdain for Dack, Jace couldn’t resist the pull to claim a female in phase. Well, perhaps he could have ignored the effects if he hadn’t caught the heady scent of Talena’s stronger-than-average pheromones, or if he had two mates and a brood of children at home, like Sam.

Jace paused at the bedside of the female in phase.
Sabine.
The other freed female had called her Sabine. Sabine was lovely, even in her restless sleep. Her skin was a cool shade of violet, and thanks to the effects of the phase it gleamed like a jewel. She had no marks denoting her house or parentage, but she had several slave marks. He frowned as he recognized the top rune, and he couldn’t resist the temptation to reach out and touch the inked symbol. Jace removed his armored gauntlet. His skin tingled at the contact and his heart raced as though he’d just sprinted the length of the ship. Jace was both instantly grateful that his armor concealed his erection and frustrated by the confinement of the restrictive plating.

“Dammit, Jace, what did I just say?” Captain Hawke snapped.

“She has a Nepheros slave mark.”

“What?”

“See for yourself.” He turned Sabine’s head to the side, and his breath hitched as she sighed at his touch, her eyes fluttering open for a brief moment. Golden eyes. He did have a weakness for females with golden eyes, and that only increased his desire. This wasn’t an ideal time to take a mate—Wylarric had produced only daughters, and until he had a son, Jace was his heir. His brother was territorial, and reacted violently to threats to his rule. Unfortunately the potent need weaving its way through Jace’s veins cared only that there was a female in phase within arm’s reach.

Captain Hawke shouldered him less-than-politely out of the way and examined Sabine’s marks. She cursed under her breath and then looked up at the doctor. “Have you tested her blood?”

“There hasn’t been time for a heritage analysis,” Dr. Morgan replied. “Our shipboard database is limited. I’ll take a sample and send her information with the rest of our new guests’ profiles to the heritage databank on Cyprena.”

“Can you run her profile against Tali’s?” she asked.

Jace frowned. “The odds of Sabine being related to Talena are slim.”

“The odds of Tali showing up on my ship were slim. Funny how things work out,” the captain replied. “We know Tali and Galen have a half sibling out there. She looks like Tali, and she’s about the right age.”

“I don’t have Talena’s data. Only current crew members,” Dr. Morgan said.

“With all due respect, Captain, white is the most common Cy’ren hair color,” Jace reminded, “and purple is among the most common skin tone as well. Half the females on Cyprena resemble Talena.”

Captain Hawke sighed. “Right. It was just a thought.”

The Nepheros databanks had been wiped, but the techs had painstakingly worked to restore the fragmented files. Talena’s mother had been sold into slavery, and the file reported that she had died in childbirth. There was no information on Talena’s mystery half sibling other than it had been born alive. Captain Hawke had been searching for further records at her mate’s request, but hundreds, possibly even thousands, of slaves had come and gone from Nepheros. The search was not high on the list of priorities for the
Talon II
at the moment. Jace hoped that they found answers for Talena—despite his dislike for Dack, he admired Talena’s strength and spirit. Jace had delivered the news of the file’s discovery himself, and he had been moved by Talena’s hopeful expression.

Captain Hawke turned to Jace. “Sabine has a mate, and she might not want you. I’ll speak with her when she wakes.”

“The law doesn’t grant her a choice.”

“Well I do.” She poked him in the chest. “Take a cold shower and then do a full weapons diagnostic. Now.”

“Now?” he repeated incredulously. Jace cast a hungry glance at Sabine. How could Captain Hawke expect him to walk away? Every instinct within him demanded that he claim Sabine, take her back to his quarters and make her his.

“Now, Harrow. Walk away. And if the doctor catches you in here again, I’ll have you thrown into the brig. I mean it. If this was an Alliance ship I’d have you hauled off for disobeying a direct order, but we can’t spare the manpower.”

“You have no right—”

“I have every right. This is
my
ship.”

“This isn’t a resistance matter,” he argued.

“If you want to make it a house matter, then fine. If she’s a Sunsinger then I have a duty to protect her.”

“And if she is a Morningstar, you have no right to interfere.”

“Well I’ll ask her if she knows her house when she wakes, and we’ll see what she wants to do. For now, you have your orders.”

A frustrated growl escaped him, but he managed to reply. “Aye, sir. Oh, and Captain?”

“What?”

“We don’t have a brig.”

With a tight grin, Jace turned sharply on his heel and stalked away. Perhaps the distance would help clear his head, but there was no denying as he left the medical bay that his mind was working overtime composing arguments to convince the captain to allow him to possess Sabine, and the many sound reasons why Soth shouldn’t have her. Though admittedly, despite his reputation to the contrary, Jace had no actual experience with bedding females, but he would deal with that detail after he won Sabine. One step at a time…

Bryn hadn’t been hung over in ages, but this sensation came close. Her eyelids were heavy and her mouth was filled with a gritty, metallic aftertaste as she swam toward consciousness, and she blinked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The steady background hum of the engines reminded her that she was on a ship. The station had always been too quiet, with only the hiss of the ventilation system as constant noise. Except for when it broke down.

“Lieutenant Viera, if you don’t cooperate I’ll order the doctor to sedate you again. Is that clear?”

Bryn turned her head toward the woman’s voice and spotted the captain scowling at her. “Yes sir,” Bryn replied. In her opinion, the doctor should have sedated Harrow. Bryn was in the right in this situation, and he was the one trying to poach her mate. “How long have I been under?”

“Six hours,” Dr. Morgan replied. “You seemed to need the rest. Sabine is still unconscious.”

“And Jace isn’t here. It’s just us girls this time. We have some things to discuss,” the captain said.

“I won’t let him take her,” Bryn replied automatically.

Captain Hawke stepped back and nodded to a pile of clothing atop a nearby table. “We collected some things for you if you’d like to get dressed.”

“Thank you.” Clothes. Dear gods, it felt as though it had been forever since she last owned clothing, or owned anything for that matter. Bryn eased herself out of the bed and began dressing. Captain Hawke appeared unaffected by her lack of modesty, but if the woman truly had two Cy’ren mates she had to be used to it.

“I read your file. You were listed killed in action when the
Sabre
was destroyed. I can’t reinstate you as a shadow sword, but I can restore your commission with the resistance and temporarily assign you to this ship. If you’re up to it, and Dr. Morgan clears you for duty.”

Bryn zipped up a plain gray coverall and then pulled on a pair of black boots. She closed her eyes for a moment and indulged in the simple pleasure of shoes, and then met the captain’s gaze. “I’m out of practice. I kept in shape as best I could with muscle toning and strength exercises during my off-hours, but…” She trailed off. She’d done well on the station with her stolen sword, but Bryn wasn’t sure how much of that success was due to adrenaline and the advantage of surprise.

“You’re welcome to do some weapons training in the armory. We’ll have some downtime while we undergo repairs and take the indexer to Cyprena.”

“The indexer?” Bryn asked.

“Malcolm de la Cruz. He operated out of the dance club on the station.”

“Malcolm? Skinny human, dark hair, wears eyeglasses?” she said, and the captain nodded. “Huh. Didn’t know he was an indexer.” It explained why he was with the group of soldiers on the station. They must have been evacuating him.

“You’ve met?”

“In a manner of speaking. I’ve met every male on the station at least once, and a few of the females. Malcolm’s very shy. Probably wouldn’t have shown up at our place at all if not for Alexi.” Bryn began braiding her hair. It’d be simpler to cut it all off—the master insisted on long hair for sex appeal, but it was too easy for an enemy to grab and pull. That bastard had dragged her by her hair more than once.

“I see. Does Sabine know anything about her family?” Captain Hawke asked, changing the subject.

“I’m her family.”

“Her biological family,” the captain corrected.

Bryn frowned. “Not a thing. Why?”

“To settle an argument between me and my first officer. He’s a Morningstar, as you might have noticed. My mates are from House Sunsinger. These are their marks.” Captain Hawke tapped the runes inked at her throat. It was odd—most females only bore the mark of their male mate, but she had one for each. Then again, a human with Cy’ren markings was strange to begin with. “Dack is head of their shadow swords, and Talena is the lord’s sister.”

“Sister?” Bryn asked. “I thought the Sunsingers were massacred.”

Every Cy’ren knew the story. It was the sort of tale that mothers used to frighten their children—a warning that no one, not even the lord of a ruling house, was safe from the slavers. Lord Renden’s entire family had been slaughtered, save for one child. Their deaths had formed the resistance and cemented the peace accords between the houses.

“Not all of them. Lord Renden’s youngest mate, Sharaiya, was sold into slavery by agents of House Nightfall. When Talena’s heritage was discovered a few months ago her existence brought the truth out to the public, and now there’s an unofficial war going on between House Nightfall and House Sunsinger. The ruling council is divided by people taking sides. It’s only a matter of time before war is declared openly.”

Civil war. Bryn shuddered and cursed under her breath. Things on Cyprena had been unstable before her capture thanks to centuries-old grudges between the houses, and apparently matters hadn’t improved in her absence.