Demon Untamed (22 page)

The ship shuddered under an onslaught of what sounded like exterior explosions. She threw the covers off her and scrambled from the bed.
Marada
was nearing the archaic planet called Earth, but Sonya had been under the impression that the space around it was virtually a dead zone—vacant of both travelers and ports—and therefore safe to cross. Who would be attacking them in this deserted section of the universe?

Anxiety spiked as she recalled Ethan suggesting the Kayadon were close to discovering Kyra’s location. Were those fiends already on Earth? Had they gotten to her before Cale?

She quickly dressed in an easy wrap-around skirt and a loose-fitting top. In the hall, two crew members rushed by.

“What’s happening?” she called after them.

“We’re under attack,” one yelled back.

“No kidding. By whom?” she asked, but the crew members had already disappeared around a corner.

She raced for the bridge. The moment the doors swooshed open for her, she heard Sebastian barking out orders as another blast made contact with the ship. He acknowledged her with a tight nod.

“Ah,” Aidan said, staring at his console. He sounded pleased. “That’s got it. Bay doors are locked down, Captain.”

“Good. Prepare the ship for warp.” Sebastian turned to Sonya. “Cale’s arrived with two females and may be in need of medical attention. Escort Oshwald to the docking bay and assist him if he needs. And for gods’ sake don’t attack anyone.”

Sonya offered an unamused look before hurrying to retrieve Doctor Oshwald. As they headed to the docking bay, the lights flickered and Sonya felt
Marada’s
warp drive engage.

Anya and Marik were already waiting at the bay door. Sonya gave them a quizzical look.

“I sensed them coming,” Anya explained with a grin, then she pointed through the window pane. “Look, there they are.”

Sonya spotted Cale’s familiar spiky blond head as he emerged from the craft along with two females. It was instantly clear which one was Anya’s sister. Kyra’s features boasted a striking family resemblance with rich light copper-colored hair. The other girl boasted dark hair and looked sickly pale, ready to lose the contents of her stomach.

The access hatch slid open, and the doctor stepped in first. Cale directed him to the pale one.

Sonya was still angry that Cale had left without her, but having him safely back on board greatly reduced her ire. She pulled him in for a tight hug. “Bastian’s pissed at you for leaving without me.”

Cale gave her an arrogant grin. “I didn’t need my little sister tagging along.”

She rolled her eyes.

Anya threw her arms around Cale’s neck in greeting before turning to Kyra. They had not seen each other for nearly four hundred years. Sonya could practically feel Anya’s blast of emotion as they moved to embrace each other.

Nadua rushed into the room, tears brimming and screeching with excitement as she joined her family.

Cale did a double take and then scowled at the redhead. His scowl turned to disbelief, and he shot Marik an incredulous look. Marik exploded with laughter. Sonya smiled at Cale’s dumfounded expression over Marik’s mated status—something all demons could innately sense.

Humor took a rapid plummet into pity as Cale glanced towards Kyra, his gaze filled with such longing that Sonya’s stomach tightened to the point of pain. That look alone, fleeting as it was, held an endless chasm of wishes that could never be.

She averted her gaze so that Cale wouldn’t catch the pity in her eyes.

Sebastian arrived then, with Rex following behind.

Cale diverted his attention to the new demon. “Who’s this?”

“This is Rex,” Sebastian replied. “A new trainee. You’ve missed a lot.”

“I gathered.” Cale proceeded to introduce the two females: Kyra, and the Earth native, Zoey. “We didn’t intend for Zoey to tag along, but the Kayadon were all over us, and we couldn’t leave her.”

Kyra appeared to be translating the conversation to the Earthling. When Cale spoke of the possibility of somehow getting her back on her planet, Zoey offered a sound of protest. She and Kyra then proceeded to argue in what was probably the Earthling’s native language.

“We can’t go back anyway,” Sebastian informed them. “It’s too dangerous with the Kayadon behind us. If they have warp capabilities of their own, they could be following us even now.”

Cale stretched his arms. “I don’t know about any of you, but after a landing like that, I think a drink is in order.” He canted his head at Sonya. “Is the pub closed?”

She hesitated. “It’s open. Ethan and Jade are working tonight.”

Cale raised a dubious brow. “What else has changed? Don’t tell me you’re mated as well.”

She barely stifled a nervous laugh. “Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous.” Her tail flicked with her irritation, drawing the awed expressions of Kyra and Zoey.

“Pity,” Cale replied. “I could have used a new target in the training room.”

Exactly why she was glad to be free of a matebond. Any male of hers would endure a never-ending diatribe by her brothers—not to mention continual assaults—and she would be forced to defend him. Moreover, if he were the wrong kind of male—a known reprobate, for instance—a permanent rift could form between her and her family.

She pushed the ridiculous notion from her mind, then dropped parallel to the floor and swiped Cale’s feed out from under him with her leg. He landed on his back with a grunt.

She grinned. “That’s what you have me for.”

Sebastian let out a begrudging sigh as Cale jumped up to retaliate. Sonya tried to slip past him, but Cale caught hold of her waist and heaved her upper half over his shoulder, trapping her legs against his torso with iron tight arms.

“Cale!” Her legs flailed uselessly.

“Now you’ll be buying me a drink, little sister.”

Sonya tensed as Cale hauled her in the direction of the pub. “No, Cale. I don’t want to go to The Demon’s Punchbowl.”

“Too bad.”

* * *

“Jade, less flirting, more working.”

Jade responded to Ethan’s chide with a withered stare, then turned away from her newest infatuation to engage the impatient crew member waiting at the other end of the bar.

A ruckus near the entrance drew Ethan’s attention. Cale lumbered in with Sonya thrashing over his shoulder. Her skirt hem rode up on her thighs as her legs kicked. Behind them, a large entourage chortled.

Cale set her on her feet, and she turned grudgingly toward the bar, her hips swishing seductively as though to torture Ethan alone.

Ethan tempered the lust in his gaze as she approached. Not that it would have mattered. He could have stood there drooling over the floor for all she cared. She didn’t even spare him a glance.

Fine with him if that was how she wanted to play it. Their last encounter had been nothing if not a warning. Somehow, even though she clearly detested him in every way, he was inspiring a matebond between them.

How it was even possible, he didn’t know.

What he did know, however, was that he would never entertain the idea of becoming a demon’s mate. The very notion was abhorrent. Insulting. At the very least ridiculous.

“Pirate!” Cale greeted, crossing to stand by the bar.

“Demon,” he responded with a smile, happy that Cale had made it back unharmed. “Just had to arrive with a bang, didn’t you.”

“I’ve never been one for subtlety. Brought you a present too.” He jerked his thumb behind him.

Ethan turned back to where the rest of the group converged around a large table and caught Kyra’s gaze. Relief flooded him.

Kyra’s expression turned bright as recognition lit her eyes.

“Princess Kyralyn!” He stepped around the bar and offered a low bow.

“Please don’t bow, Ethan. And you can call me Kyra now.”

“See,” Anya chided, reminding him of the countless times she’d scolded him for addressing her by her title. Nadua too shunned the distinction. He supposed after so long, they no longer related to the ancient ways.

“Apologies. An old habit, I guess,” Ethan replied.

“Very old, indeed.” Kyra laughed, yet the sound was melancholic.

He took her hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. Apparently another very old habit he would have to rid himself of because she blushed furiously.

His lips twisted with amusement. Now that everyone was assembled, Ethan was sure the book would reveal more of its secrets. Surely the king had envisioned a plan of attack. Ethan could practically taste victory.

Cale dropped a load of drinks on the table, and Kyra jumped. Sonya appeared next with two full pitchers and a set of glasses. By their deep frowns, it was clear the demon’s moods had taken a nosedive. What had he missed?

After settling in at the table, Kyra started, “So, Ethan, tell me what happened after I left Evlon.”

He blinked up at her. “Starting out a little thick.”

Her steady greenish-blue eyes revealed the tenacious young princess he once knew. “Starting at the beginning. I’ve been in the dark for a long, long time, and now I want some answers.”

Ethan let out a breath. “We were all taken by surprise by the attack. None of our seers, not even your father, anticipated it. It was suggested later that the Kayadon had some sort of cloaking magic, but we can’t be sure.” He let out a slow breath. “I sent you off in that little ship, expecting to see it blasted to a million pieces, but others had started evacuating the planet as well. The Kayadon were distracted enough, and you got through.”

He paused, letting his words sink in as the others sat quietly and sipped their drinks. That last day on Evlon was the only time he had ever contemplated disobeying the king’s orders. But in the end, he had sent Kyra alone through the atmosphere that had become a chaotic war zone, fearing for her life.

“We sent Nadua next, then Anya and your mother.”

Anya had been just a child, barely able to speak in clear sentences, yet she seemed to have grasped the situation as she clung to her mother.

“Your cousins followed, and those who were closest to the royal family. Most everyone else had to fend for themselves. And those who didn’t have access off the planet went into hiding or were captured…” Ethan took a drink before adding, “I stayed behind with your father. No one could persuade him to leave. He felt responsible. Felt that his visions had failed him.”

At the mention of her father, Kyra’s expression turned bleak.

Jade approached with a fresh tray of drinks that Sonya had signaled for and made her way around the table. When she slipped behind Cale, she lowered her mouth to whisper in his ear, and Ethan noticed a slight tick in Kyra’s jaw.

He continued, unfazed. “The King spent the following fifty years sifting through the future and composing the book that helped bring us all together. When he finished it, it was smuggled out and entrusted to the Serakians who enchanted it so that only you three could open it. However, the king charged me with decoding it.”

“Why?” Kyra asked.

“Because it holds secrets that can be used against you, against all of us, and he convinced me that I could survive to find you, even though I did not always believe it.”

Kyra gave him a grateful smile. “Father was right to have put his faith in you.” She kindly placed her hand over his. “It must have been difficult all these years.”

He turned his palm up to face her grip, surprised by how much that simple sentiment warmed his heart. “Thank you, Majesty.” He couldn’t help but smile when she pursed her lips at the title.

Kyra took in a long breath and then let it out slowly. “Well, what’s happening on Evlon now? Is Father alright? Are they hurting him?”

“A little after the book started its journey, the king sent me away, and I haven’t had contact since.” Well, not the kind of contact she was hoping for. “That was three hundred and fifty years ago.”

With Kyra’s hand still clasped in his, Ethan’s magic spiked with the warning that Cale was about to take a mental detour to the Edge and attack.

Interesting
.

Ethan released Kyra’s hand and filed that information away for later examination. Sonya sat with her arms crossed, eyes turned down and jaw locked. Out of curiosity, he let his magic drift over her. She was on the verge of fabricating an excuse to leave.

Nadua caught his gaze and gestured toward Kyra with her chin. “Tell her your theory.”

All eyes turned back to him.

“I believe the Kayadon want something from us. Something they don’t have and have been unable to get.”

Kyra sat back. “Our magic.”

“That’s the only thing I can come up with.”

Kyra engaged the Earthling in short conversation before turning back to the group. “Zoey agrees.”

They all glanced at human, who managed a shy smile in response.

“They’re keeping our people alive,” Ethan added. “They haven’t sold a soul into slavery, like they did...” Ethan stopped himself before he mentioned Marik’s name. When the Kayadon had overtaken the demon planet, Marik had found himself in the slave market. “From what I can remember, life went on as normally as possible. People tried to live as best they could. But they lived on the edge of a knife, trying not to be noticed by the Kayadon soldiers that patrolled every village. Any poor soul who drew their interest…disappeared.”

Cale’s grip tightened around his bottle. “We’ll rip every last one of their throats out.”

Sebastian leaned forward in his chair, addressing Kyra for the most part. “We intend to do everything we can to free your people, but I will not lie, our thoughts are on revenge. People will die. Theirs…and no doubt ours. I’ve made it clear to my crew that they are not under any obligation to join us, and many will end their association with us at the next stop.” He paused. “We need allies.”

Kyra nodded. “What has been done so far?”

“We’ve sent out encrypted messages on some underground channels. Anyone who’s interested will contact us.”

“What if no one responds to it?”

Sebastian shrugged. “There are other options. The Kayadon pose a threat to all the races. There’s nothing to say that when they’re done with Evlon, they won’t move on to the next planet. That should be a powerful motivator.”