Dangerous Lovers (173 page)

“What do you mean?” he asked innocently.

“Ugh. You know exactly what I mean and don’t be such an ass,” she hissed.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Shandro asked.

“Why don’t you fill lover boy in,” Jurek hissed back to Liasare.

She cut him a withering look. “Stop it! This isn’t why we’re here! I need your support, not your annoying adolescent behavior.” Turning away from Jurek, she said, “Shandro, I think it’s best that you hear it from January. Her details are impeccable,” she said sarcastically.

“Before this turns into a battle of the wills,” Xarrid interrupted, “let’s all remain calm here and let January speak.”

When she finished telling the story, Shandro was livid...not only with her, but also with Tommy and himself, for not seeing what was happening. “So what are your next plans?” he asked Liasare.

Turning to Jurek, she asked, “What
are
we going to do?”

Jurek eyed Shandro before answering. “We are going back to Earth to continue with our plans, but we will no longer be looking for Thomas. We will try to shut down every warehouse the Xanthians have set up. My men will continue to intercept cargo vessels containing weapons and we will track all disappearances.” Then he turned to Xarrid and asked, “What are the Guardians’ plans?”

“We want to uncover where they are taking all the abductees. They must have some sort of training base they are sending them to for further assimilation. The warehouses aren’t the answer.”

Jurek rubbed his neck and said, “I agree. Right before we came here, Lare-Stell had been probed by a Xanthian bot and Ludo was analyzing the data. He came across some unusual things. I’ll find out what they were when I get back. There have been other disturbing things happening in the universe. There is a disruption of the normal flow of things. The Praestani feel it when we travel. We think it goes way beyond the Xanthians.”

“Explain,” Xarrid demanded.

Jurek raised his brow for he wasn’t used to being addressed in that manner. Xarrid snorted, “Sorry man, you know how it is when you’re used to giving the orders.”

“If it were anyone else Xarrid.”

Xarrid laughed.

“To your, er demand, we think they are amassing an army of sorts. And worse than that, we think it’s more than just the Xanthians.”

Xarrid, Rykerian, Shandro and January looked at Jurek in alarm. “Jurek, can you please explain that to us?” It was Rykerian asking this time.

Jurek began to pace and dragged his hands through his hair. “That’s the thing. That’s what’s so bloody irritating about all of this. We haven’t been able to figure it out. We know they’re taking people. We know they’re building an army. We also know there are creatures from the Dark reappearing.”

“Stop! Please repeat that last bit,” Xarrid requested, in a deadly calm tone.

“Listen, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out. Liasare can attest to this because I shared a memory with her. We’ve seen the creatures of the Dark. I’ve personally taken out dozens. I have a hunch that they’re back, and it’s one hunch I hope I’m wrong about.”

Rykerian pulled January into his arms. They looked at each other, communicating their fears. “Tell us about these creatures Jurek,” January asked.

Liasare sat down on the sofa and hugged her knees to her chest. The thought of those creatures made her skin turn to ice, like a million frosty needles were piercing her everywhere. She shivered when she remembered the vision of Jurek’s memory. Shandro noticing her distress, made his way toward her when Jurek cut him off.

“Don’t you dare touch her, Guardian,” he said, his voice laced with steel. “She’s off limits to you.”

Shandro stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Jurek and then at Liasare. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Shandro. All eyes were on them again. It was evident Jurek was staking a claim, boldly and in front of everyone she cared about.

Liasare looked at Jurek and he stared at her, daring her to say something. She wisely held her tongue, because she knew if she said anything, the silent battle between the three of them would erupt into something ugly and that was the last thing they needed.

January and Rykerian watched their mental exchange curiously.

“The Dark creatures are something you don’t ever wish to encounter. They are fast, faster than even you, and they feed on the flesh of living beings,” Jurek explained

“Great Deity! I have never heard of such!” Xarrid exclaimed.

“I have. But we thought they were a thing of the past and I had never seen them before. Supposedly their numbers had been diminished to the point of near extinction. I am beginning to think we were sorely mistaken. We’ve killed dozens already, and will continue to do so when we find them. They are only vulnerable to Praestani power or silver, when it has been forged with Praestani power. Your Vesturion Powers are useless against them.”

“Bloody hell!” Rykerian yelled.

“Exactly,” Jurek said. “They are the epitome of hell. Born and bred.”

Liasare was trembling with the vision she remembered as she said, “He’s right. They’re disgusting and they’re huge. They have giant fangs and wings, so I assume they can fly. And I’ve never seen anything move so fast. They tear the flesh right off the body as they eat it. They’re so horrific, you can’t even imagine.” Her body violently shook as she spoke. “Jurek, I...”

Before she could finish, he was next to her, passing on his energy again. She was freezing and couldn’t seem to get warm. The iciness invaded every cell as she shivered.

“January, do you have a blanket? She has an unusually strong reaction to these creatures when she remembers the vision.”

Minutes later, January returned with a blanket and he wrapped it around Liasare.

“What do you propose we do about them?” Rykerian asked.

“Monitor everywhere your Guardians patrol for sightings. We need to uncover where they are coming from. At first I thought Earth was the only place, but now I’m not so sure. What have you learned from Tommy?”

Xarrid was the first to offer information. “You’re right about how the Xanthians want to build an army. Our understanding is that they are working on it, but we were under the impression they weren’t even close. From what you’re saying, it’s possible they’ve accomplished more than what even Tommy has learned.”

“What else have you learned from Tommy?” Liasare asked.

“Not as much as we’ve liked. We know where he hangs out mostly. What he does on a daily basis and what the immediate future is for the minions he’s with, but nothing more. It’s been a big disappointment,” Xarrid admitted.

“Can we get him out?” Liasare questioned.

The Yarristers looked at each other and uncomfortable looks passed between them.

Jumping to her feet, Liasare yelled, “Oh my God! Don’t tell me you didn’t plan to get him out. You didn’t, did you?”

Liasare was met with dead silence.

“Somebody better say something before I go psycho here!”

“We thought we could pull him out but he doesn’t respond to any of our stimuli,” January admitted.

“Of course not because he’s basically brain dead! Are you a bunch of damn idiots? What were you thinking? Dammit!” Liasare kicked the edge of the couch and stormed out of the room.

Shandro started to follow her when Jurek cut him off saying, “Take one more step toward her and you’re one dead Guardian.”

“And I suppose you’re the one who’ll kill me? Because right now, I doubt you could if you wanted to.”

Jurek narrowed his eyes and snarled, “Care to test that theory Guardian?”

“Jurek, stop it.” It was Xarrid who spoke. “Shandro and Liasare have been friends for years. He’s only trying to protect her.”

“She needs no protection when I am around,” Jurek snarled.

“Whoa buddy, calm down there,” Xarrid said.

“Tell your Guardian he is to keep his grubby paws to himself and he is
never
to lay a hand upon her again. Is that clear? And Xarrid, explain to him the ramifications if he doesn’t follow my orders.”

“Shandro, you heard Jurek. And for the record, you can’t begin to compete with his power so don’t even try.”

Jurek stormed outside, in search of Liasare. He found her in front of the house, walking in a circle, flexing her fingers. Her eyes were all but shooting sparks and her mouth tightened as she sputtered, “I have to get out of here. I can’t take any more of this idiocy. Ugh! This is insane. What kind of people make these plans and don’t have a follow up or back-up strategy to get him out? He’s stuck in there, brain dead, and no use to anyone for fuck’s sake. And now isn’t the time to tell me to watch my language.” She turned to the side of the house and slammed her fist into it. The second she did it, she heard the crunching of her bone and she screamed, dropping to her knees.

Without saying a word, Jurek gently picked her up, and walked back in the house informing everyone they were going back to Lare-Stell.

Chapter Nineteen

Lare-Stell Base

Liasare walked into the training facility and all the men were already there. She flexed her hand, testing to see if there was any residual pain remaining. All was good. Jurek was right about one thing. She needed to learn control. She’d been so angry yesterday with all the Vesturions. Tommy’s life had pretty much been sacrificed, in her opinion. Even if they got him back, there was the matter of getting that nanochip out of his brain before the Xanthians descended on them. That was if they could get it out without killing him first.

Jurek had shared the story of Xarrid and his mate Saylan. She had been a Xanthian captive and had a chip planted in her brain. Liasare didn’t even want to think about the outcome of what Jurek had told her regarding that. It made Liasare’s skin crawl.

“Ready to play, Brownie?”

Liasare stuck out her tongue at Tak and both he and Jurek roared with laughter.

“Uh, guys, it wasn’t that funny.”

Jurek tossed Liasare her protective gear saying, “That’s not what we were laughing at. You looked just like January when you did that. She used to stick her tongue out at us all the time.”

“How nice. Do me a favor and keep her name out of the conversation for a while, okay?” she said sourly.

“Right then. Let’s go Brownie.”

They trained all day and Tak busted her ass more than once. He had her doing things she never thought she was capable of achieving. When the day was done, Jurek stood to the side and motioned her over.

“These are for you. You are
never ever
to go anywhere without them. Do I make myself clear?”

Liasare nodded, reaching for the cache of weapons Jurek had laid out beside him. She picked up the first one, which was the largest of them all.

“That one is your colichemarde...well it’s a slight variation of one anyway. The blade is diamond shaped and you’ll notice it tapers as you move further down, which makes it an excellent attack weapon. Remember, the interior of the blade is steel but its exterior is thickly layered in silver and it’s forged using Praestani power so you don’t want to injure yourself with it. You’ll wear this one strapped to your back. The next one is a dagger you’ll wear on your side. There is another shorter one here you’ll wear inside your boots. And yes, Liasare, I’ve had boots made for you. They’ll protect your legs. You’ll also wear leather pants for the same reason and don’t look at me like that. We go out to fight, not to a fashion show. Leather protects you from getting abrasions and lacerations, so you can keep fighting and I won’t have to stop to heal you every five minutes. And these,” he handed her several throwing stars, “you’re already familiar with, except now, your arm will be stronger and your aim will be more accurate. You’ll have a pocket on each pant leg, in which to store them, and the rest you’ll keep in your jacket, which stays on you at all times. Any questions?”

Liasare picked up each of her weapons, testing the weight. She held the sword, moving it around, measuring the response of it. She lunged, thrust and parried. She spun and then saluted Jurek with it.

His lips curved as he said, “I take it you approve?”

“Oh abso-fucking-lutely! This is amazing, Jurek! Thank you!” she said as she gave him a quick hug.

She continued to dance around moving with the sword, stabbing the air, fighting imaginary enemies and laughing the entire time.

Jurek leaned against the table and eyed her, a satisfied smile on his face.

“Hey Prancer, would you care to see your clothes?”

“Huh?”

“Your leathers...are you interested in seeing them?”

He tossed her a pair of pants and she snagged them out of the air.

Black and tight...hmm.

“Care to try them on?”

“Not now. I want to shower first.”

He gathered her gear, including weapons and clothing and they popped into her room. “We’re meeting in the dining room again in one hour for dinner. Liasare, remember our culture and the way in which we eat, okay?”