Laura Jo Phillips (5 page)

Maxim reached out and tried the doorknob, but it was locked.  He sent a tendril of air magic into the lock, building the pressure inside of it enough to break the mechanism.  A moment later he tried the knob again.  It now turned freely and he pushed the door open slowly. 

At first glance the room appeared empty, so he stepped inside, his brothers fanning out on either side of him.  The office was quite large and sparsely furnished.  There was an expansive executive desk to the right, a couple of chairs and a table to the left, and a screened off area in the far corner, leaving a large expanse of white marble flooring in the center of the room. 

That must be where the woman is, he thought as he took a step forward.

“Stop.”

Maxim stopped, astonished by the sight of the woman who stepped out from behind the screen, a baton held expertly in her hands as she walked toward them.  The woman moved with a willowy grace that all of the Katre brothers found extremely attractive, and they all swallowed hard at the brief glimpse they got of her long, straight, glossy black hair before she swept it back behind her. 

She stopped several yards away from them in the center of a wide expanse of empty floor, giving herself plenty of room to move around in if she was forced to fight.  Maxim instantly felt admiration and respect for the woman as she raised the baton into a classic defense/attack position and set her feet, turning her body at a slight angle to them.  She was obviously ready to take on all three Katres if necessary, and he sensed she would fight to the death.  His heart swelled with pride.  This was their Arima, and she was stunning.

She was tall for a woman, which suited them as they were very tall themselves.  She was very slender, with long arms and legs that were delicately sculpted with lean muscle.  She had chocolate brown eyes that tilted up at the corners, giving her an exotic appearance.  Her nose was straight with a small bump in the middle of it, her lips full and pink, her neck long and graceful.  She wore a shapeless shift made of some thick, rough fabric which hid much of her figure, but that did not detract from their overall impression.  To them, she was unbelievably beautiful in her courage and grace, as well as her features. 

“Are you Summer Whitney?” Maxim asked.

“That depends on who is asking,” the woman replied.  Maxim could not hear the slightest trace of fear in the woman’s voice, but he could smell it in her scent.  His admiration grew, outpacing his initial reluctance.  

“I am Maxim Katre,” he replied.  “These are my brothers, Lonim and Ranim.”

Summer relaxed her stance only a little.  These were the men she had been told were coming to rescue her, but there was something about them that bothered her.  She had the oddest feeling about them, as though she knew them somehow, even though she had never laid eyes on them in her life. 

These men were tall, lean, muscular and strikingly beautiful with their golden cat’s eyes and wild golden hair that reminded her of a lion’s mane.  They were almost identical triplets, but Summer was not surprised by that. 

She had done a lot of research on Clan Jasani before deciding to become a Candidate Bride, usually called a Candy Bride for short.  Lots of women just signed a bridal contract, sight unseen, since the Candy Bride route was more expensive and time consuming.  Summer had spent nearly a year waiting for an opening at Bride House.  But, expense aside, it seemed wiser to her to travel to Jasan and stay at Bride House for the allotted six months and meet several Clan Jasani before selecting a male-set to marry.  While waiting, she had dug up every bit of information she could find on the Clan Jasani, what little there was of it.  She knew that they were a race of males, that they were always born in sets of three, and that one woman was always married to one set of three brothers, called a male-set.

That all seemed so long ago now.  Her one big adventure, to go to Jasan, select a male-set and marry them.  She had been so excited about it, so sure it was the answer to her loneliness, and her need for family.  But it hadn’t quite worked out the way she had planned.

Summer sighed and yanked herself back to the moment, and the subject at hand.  Which was, why did she feel an instant connection to these three males?  She studied them carefully, noting that they had one distinguishing characteristic.  Each of them had a long lock of hair pulled forward over their right shoulders which hung nearly to their waists, and each lock was a different color.

Maxim’s was black, Lonim’s a dark, deep red, and Ranim’s was white.  She wondered briefly if they dyed the hair that color so that people could more easily distinguish them from one another.  She shook her head.  What difference did it make and why would she care?  Why would she even wonder about it?  There were, after all, a few more important issues to deal with at the moment.

“Yes, I am Summer Whitney,” she said, finally answering Maxim’s question. 

“We have searched for you, and the other women who have been abducted, for many months, Miss Whitney.  Have you been held here for all of this time?” Maxim asked.

“No,” she replied.  “I only just arrived here today.  About an hour ago I think.”

Maxim’s eyes narrowed.  “Were you brought here in a white ground-truck?”

Summer shrugged and relaxed her hold on the pain baton.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “I was put into a wooden crate for the trip and I never saw anything until the woman who brought me here opened it up in a closet a few floors below.  I think it was a janitor closet.  She took the crate with her and locked the door, leaving me there.  A little while later, the man whose office this is, Lio Perry, brought me up here.”

“The woman who brought you here, did she have short brown hair and a round face?” Maxim asked.

Summer nodded.  “Yes, she did.  She was wearing a white jacket and a blue shirt.  Did you see her?”

“Yes,” Maxim replied.  “I saw her drive out of the parking garage as she left this building about an hour ago.  I was standing across the street when I saw her.”

Summer sighed.  “Too bad,” she said.  “I was kind of hoping she was still here.”

“Why?” Ranim asked curiously.

“Because the compound where I’ve been held for the past year is also holding about twenty-five other women,” Summer explained.  “I have no idea where it is, but one way or another, I will find it, and I will release those women.”

Maxim bowed low to her, as did Loni and Ran.  “Your goal is worthy, Summer Whitney,” he said solemnly.  “We will be pleased to aid you in your quest to free your fellow captives.  However, for now, we must complete our rescue of you.”

Summer smiled, an expression which lit up her entire face and caused the Katres to all but gasp at her beauty.  Summer was completely unaware of the effect she was having on them.  She was just happy to be rescued, and to know she would have help rescuing the other women.

“All right, follow me,” she said as she turned and walked back to the screened alcove in the corner of the office.  Maxim and Loni followed while Ran stayed behind to guard the door. 

Whatever Maxim expected to see when he stepped into the alcove, it was not the sight that greeted him.  On the floor sat a middle aged human male wearing an expression of outraged anger on his face.  In the corner stood a female concealed in a long black cape, her face hidden deep beneath the cape’s hood.  But he did not need to see the woman to recognize her scent. 

He hissed angrily as he stared at the hooded figure.  “Step forward and reveal yourself, Darleen Flowers, betrayer and false friend,” he said with contempt.  “There is no use in hiding yourself.  You will evade justice no longer.”

Summer spun around, her eyes flashing angrily.  “Do not speak to her in such a manner,” she snapped.  “She has told me that there are those who do not like her, and she said it was for a good reason.  But whatever the reason, whatever she did, this woman has suffered more than you can imagine and you will not lay a finger on her, nor will you threaten her.”

Maxim was surprised, distressed, and more than a little offended by Summer’s defense of the woman responsible for so many crimes against people he cared about.  Nor was he particularly pleased that she would take sides with a woman such as Darleen Flowers against him.  She was their Arima.  Arimas should not take sides against their own Rami.

He took a slow deep breath and reminded himself that she did not yet know she was their Arima.  Besides, he told himself, after all she had been through, it was normal for her to be a little irrational.

“I will neither harm, nor threaten Darleen Flowers,” he said at last, then tried to change the subject.  “Who is this man?”

“Lio Perry, the man I told you about,” Summer replied, perfectly willing to set aside the discussion concerning Darleen until later.  She did not know what the woman had done, but whatever it was, it appeared to have been serious judging by Maxim Katre’s response.

“We will have the security officers take him into custody then,” Maxim said.  He turned his head slightly.  “I believe I hear them coming now.”

Summer bristled.  “You will not,” she said flatly.  “He stays with me.”

Maxim frowned.  Would this woman contradict everything he said?  It was one thing to be strong and capable.  Another to be argumentative and unreasonable.  “Why would you want this man to remain with you?” he asked.

Summer opened her mouth to explain, then decided it might not be a good idea.  What if these men decided that injecting Lio with the Controller was wrong, and took him away from her?  She needed the knowledge in his head too much to allow that to happen.  She considered the problem for a moment, trying to dredge up some reason that would convince them to let her retain custody of Lio without actually telling them the truth. 

Her Mother was a Sentient Species Specialist and had written many books on the subject, all of which Summer had read.  She took a moment to flip rapidly through several of those books in her mind until she hit on something she thought might work.

“I claim this man as my captive,” she said boldly.  “I defeated him in honorable combat, and he is mine to do with as I wish.”  Summer almost winced at that stretching of the truth.  They hadn’t actually engaged in battle, conking him over the head from behind with a statuette probably couldn’t be considered honorable, and she hadn’t even been the one to do it.  But, at this point, she didn’t really care about splitting a few hairs. 

“You claim Right of Capture?” Loni asked with no trace of emotion to indicate what he thought about it.

“Yes,” Summer replied, wondering how she knew that Loni was surprised by her claim when his expression had not changed by so much as the flicker of an eyelash. 

“You must claim Warrior Rights before you can claim Right of Capture,” Maxim said.

“Then I claim Warrior Rights,” Summer said, though she cringed inwardly.  The idea of herself as a warrior was laughable.  All she knew of war and combat was what she had read in Father’s library.  There had been a lot of books, but reading did not make a warrior.

Maxim was aware of several races whose women were warriors, and he was also aware that many Earth women chose to be warriors.  Summer had certainly handled the pain baton with easy familiarity, and her ready stance when she had greeted them had spoken of one who knew how to handle herself in a fight.  He had never heard of a Clan Jasani female warrior, aside from Saige Lobo.  But even though Saige was warrior-like, she was always kind and agreeable with her male-set, the Lobos.  She did not argue with them at every turn.  But Summer was not Jasani, he reminded himself.  At least, not yet.  And to deny her Warrior Rights out of pique would be petty. 

“I recognize your claim of Warrior Rights, and honor your Right of Capture,” he said finally.

Summer nearly sighed with relief, but bit it back in time.  She could not show these men any sign of weakness or they would walk all over her.  She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she knew it.

A thought occurred to her and she spoke before taking time to think it over further.  “I also claim this woman, Darleen Flowers, as mine to protect.”

 “On what grounds do you claim her?” Maxim asked, fighting to hold back an angry growl.  Already he regretted giving into her on the issue of Warrior Rights.  It was apparent that this was a female who would always want more than was offered.  He was beginning to understand his initial dismay at finding their Arima.  He had always worried that he and his brothers would end up in an unhappy relationship as their fathers had.  Now it seemed he’d had good reason for his concerns.

Summer had not been ready for the question but as soon as he asked it the answer came to her.  “On two grounds,” she replied.  “First, I saved her life.  Therefore it is mine to protect, if I wish, from this day forward.  Second, she joined me in battle as a fellow warrior.  She guarded my back, and I hers.”

Maxim grimaced.  Her first reason could be argued, but the grounds of Battle Bond could not be ignored or denied.  Such bonds were inviolate.

Maxim glanced at his brother who did no more than blink his eyes, but Maxim understood his brother was thinking as he was.  There was no honorable way to deny her in this.  After a long moment, Maxim and Loni raised their left fists to their right shoulders in the traditional warrior salute, and bowed.  “We honor your Battle Bond with Darleen Flowers,” Maxim said reluctantly. 

“Thank you,” Summer replied, feeling a little uncomfortable with all of the bowing as she had no idea how she was supposed to respond to it.