Regali (A Walker Saga) (17 page)

“I
’m so sorry,” Brace said again as he fitted his hands under my arm-pits and helped me up to a sitting position. “I just wanted you to see my world so badly. I didn’t even take into consideration the differences which would affect you.”

His expression was crestfallen
. I could see how bad he felt.

“It’s okay.” The tightness in my throat eased
. My voice sounded huskier. “No wonder you’re so quick and fight like a ninja.”

Relief crossed his face as I spoke. He helped me stand.

“Yes, when I move to a world with lighter gravity it feels as if I can float.”

Trai
ning in this gravity would be beneficial, increasing my speed on First World by so much. I’d see if we could fit in a session before I had to leave. Who knew if I would get back again before the end of my journey?

Lucy was standing on my other side
. She was looking around and appeared to be in no discomfort. I could see energy surrounding her, like a full-body force-field.

“Well
, this was my vision,” she said, indicating toward the mountains. “I guess I was supposed to be warned about the gravity.”

I laughed. “Great warning.”

“Yeah, it’s a gift.”

I took a moment to observe our surroundings. We were on the edge of what looked like a field. And everything was a vibrant green
, the grass and mountains running into each other. The only thing to break the endless color was a few scattered trees and a stream running in the shadow of the closest mountain. It looked almost unreal; like a painting.

“This is as close as we can get to the main compound via doorway. Que warded it many years ago against unauthorized entry
,” Brace said. “And the entrance is hidden.”

He wasn’t kidding
. I could see nothing beyond the green sloping grass and large mountains. Brace started to move in the direction of the stream. Lucy followed without effort. I took a tentative step. My limbs and joints ached slightly, and I felt more tired and weighed down than usual, but managed to keep pace. But I definitely wasn’t going to be running any marathons. At this thought I found my feet swept out from under me. Brace swung me into his arm, cradling me close.

“Your body will continue to adjust
,” he said. “Walkers can live anywhere.”

When we reached the stream he barely broke pace
, reaching down, and I think my eyes almost fell out of my head when he lifted the edge of the water like a large piece of paper and peeled it back. On the other side was a whole other world.

“Welcome to the Abernath world
,” Brace said as he ducked his head and stepped through.

He set me back on my feet, and I realized most of the discomfort had eased
. It was almost like normal now for me to walk.

The noise hit me first
. It had been silent on the other side but here a plethora of sounds abounded. It was a city. Huge, with a mix of old-fashioned and very advanced-looking modern facilities.

“This is where the majority of Abernaths reside; about ten thousand
,” Brace started to explain as we walked along the large main path. “Que decided long ago we were stronger together and, even though Walkers don’t have a home planet, he searched until he found something suitable.”

Faces turned as we ventured further into the bustling city. Men, women and for the first time Walker children. They had bright, curious faces, less innocent than
Earth babies’ but nowhere near as jaded as the adults that surrounded them protectively.

“Bwacie. Bwacie.”

We stopped at the sound of a tiny voice screaming for Brace. A little girl burst into view, sprinting around a large group of women
standing in front of a clothing store. I wasn’t great at determining the age of children, but she looked about two. Her hair was raven black, hanging in silken waves down her back. Her skin was fair and her eyes were the same blue shade as –

“Colton.” Lucy breathed out in a huff. “She looks just like Colt.”

“Yes.” Brace nodded as the little girl reached our side and he scooped her up. “This is Petal, Colt’s niece.”

“Magenta has a child?” I couldn’t keep the shock from my face. She wasn’t exactly the maternal type.

“No, not Magenta.” Brace grinned at me
; he’d read my thoughts.

“My
mommy is missing, but she come back one day.” Petal’s voice was sweet as she snuggled into Brace’s chest.

I was getting a strange range of emotions watching Brace cradle Petal so gently. It was clear that he loved her. Those damn tears pricked at my eyes again. It wasn’t as if I wanted children any time soon, but one day I could picture Brace cradling our child just as lovingly. But who knew if that could ever happen now
? I doubted my ability to destroy the Seventine. And I wasn’t sure I believed that a melding bond could ever be restored after being broken.

Brace, who hadn’t noticed my pain yet, continued to talk. “I never even knew she’d been born
. I was on First World, but we’ve become friends, haven’t we?” He tickled her little belly.

She giggled
. The sound was infectious. “Love Bwacie.”

Colton suddenly sprint
ed into view. The relief that crossed his face was apparent as he noticed Petal in Brace’s arms.

“Dammit
, kid, you’re going to give me a heart attack,” he said as he reached our side.

“You’d think they’d have learned by now not to leave you with any living thing to take care of.” Brace laughed
, handing the little girl across to her uncle.

She was so cute
, refusing to let him go until he had given her three kisses.

“Five minutes. I was only watching her for five minutes and she was gone.” Colton jiggled the little girl closer to him
.

S
he snuggled into his shoulder, her eyes closing.

“I’ll be right back
,” he said, before disappearing into the crowd.

We continued to walk along the path
. Still no one had approached us, although most of the curious onlookers did give Brace a nod of respect as he passed them by.

“This is a small planet, about a thousand miles
in circumference, but we only have the one city. Everyone lives here.” He pointed out different landmarks.

The city looked pretty big
. I could tell that we were only getting a brief glimpse. The houses and shops were similar to those I’d seen on Earth but made from strange materials.

We rounded a corner and suddenly this estate rose up before us. There were no gates or barriers that I’d noted so far, but it looked like this place should have huge security fences. It was spectacular, in that manicured, movie
-star home way. A long path that was bordered by greenery on both sides led up to a two-story, cream-colored and old-manor-looking home. The framing was dark, contrasting nicely with the cream walls, and there were flowering vines climbing their way up strategically placed trestles.

Brace paused at the beginning of the path. “This is our Abernath home
,” he said to me.

“It’s so lovely.” I faced him. “Please don’t tell me this was where Que lived.”

Brace laughed. “No, this was my mother’s family home. She gave it to me to raise my own family one day. Que lived over there.”

He pointed to our left side and I turned my head to find an ugly monstrosity sitting on the top of a sloping hill. It was all steel, glass and metal. Cold and rising at least four stories in
to the air. And it was exactly where I would have expected Que to live.

“I hate that place. I closed it down the moment I got back and haven’t stepped foot in it since.” He stared at it for a moment, his expression hard, before he shook his head and faced me again. “Let’s go inside so you can check the place out.”

I smiled up at him. I couldn’t wait to see if the inside was a beautiful as the outside.

“Colton’s on his way
,” Lucy said, halting us before we moved again.

And indeed he was
. He dashed up to where we stood at the start of Brace’s beautiful home.

“Hello
, Red, sorry I didn’t have time to greet you properly.” He swept me up in a hug, laying a solid kiss on my cheek. “You look stunning. Great to see you’re here adding some class to Abernath.”

I laughed. “You old charmer you.”

He set me down and turned to Lucy.

“Hey
, pretty girl.” His voice lowered.

He leaned down to kiss her as well, but unlike mine
, which was high on my cheek, hers landed close to the corner of her lips.

Lucy’s face flushed and for once no smart comment emerged.

“Come,” Brace interrupted. “Let’s take our stage show inside for now.”

I knew what he meant
. We were the main attraction on the street right then. I’d thought the Walker gathering was bad, but this was ridiculous.

Inside, the house was perfect. I could see the women’s touch, from the pastel colors to the delicate furnishings. But still Brace had added his own persona. There was a wicked weapons room downstairs, and his bedroom – well, our bedroom – was dominated by a massive bed. Definitely custom made, way beyond a king size. Princeps size maybe.

Colton and Lucy followed us around for the tour
. They were being surprisingly formal and polite with each other, but I knew that couldn’t last long.

Just as we settled into the kitchen, perched on high bench chairs, Magenta and another female walked into Brace’s house. I might have bristled a little internally at the way Magenta so casually entered. No knocking or anything, as if she owned the place.

Lucy, on the other hand, was doing none of her bristling internally. She literally hissed like an angry cat. Especially when the other woman, a strawberry blond – who Colton greeted as Chelsea – laid a full on kiss on the blond wolf shifter. No wonder Lucy was in her fighting stance.

Colton pushed the clingy Chelsea away.

“Play nice, Chels, or I’ll put you outside.” Colton’s tone was light but there was an edge to it.

He reached out and pulled Lucy to his side.

“This is Mag’s best friend Chelsea.” He introduced the pouty female.

She had golden eyes, almost the same shade as her hair
, and was tall and willowy. Like most Walkers.

“This is Abby, Brace’s mate
, and Lucy. They’re honored guests. Treat them with respect.”

Brace hadn’t said anything, but one look at his face had the two women lowering their heads
deferentially. We didn’t need any man to protect us, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still nice.

“They need you in the training hall.” Magenta addressed Brace. “There
’s been an incident.”

He nodded. “Let them know I
’ll be there in a minute. And that I’m bringing my mate.”

As he said the last statement I got the feeling the news was not going to go down well.

The two biatches (as Lucy called them) left us and we hurried to make a few sandwiches to take
with us. I was starving.

“We need to move it
,” Colton said as we left, food clutched in our hands. “Abernaths can destroy shit faster than you can blink.”

We hurried along a different path to the one we
had come in on. There looked to be one sun-type ball in the air here. It was warm, the sky the color of rich cheese; a strong yellow.

Heading
east from Brace’s home, the road curved around and out of the main residential area. In these outer areas there was more space and the buildings seemed a little older. I could see a large warehouse in the distance. It wasn’t actually until we came up to the side of it that its true size dawned on me. It was massive.

“This is the training facility for Abernath. Que demanded a minimum of three hour
s’ training each day from the men,” Brace said, leading us to the large double front door.

“What about the women?” I asked
, shoving the last of my sandwich in my mouth. I was too hungry to be elegant.

“Women were encouraged to train, but he was too old-school to demand it.” Brace laughed. “And despite this my mother was one of the best Abernath fighters.” He kissed me on the nose. “You would have liked her
. You’re alike in more ways than the ability to kick ass.”

I knew that Brace’s missing mother and sister played on his mind a lot. I wondered if we would ever find out what
had happened to them.

As the double doors opened silence descended over the large room. A thousand men faced us, and in unison they hit the deck, down on one knee, faces bowed to Brace. My mate shook his head as he stepped further into the room, right up to the front of the first line formation.

“Rise.” He projected his voice into a command. “I have told you repeatedly, I do not expect you to kneel every time I walk in the room.”