The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (21 page)

“I carry a demon and survive,” Ania said firmly. “Broken is just a perspective.”

“Will your demon return in time to help defeat the guards in the holding area?” Boca asked.

Ania smiled, narrowing her eyes. “I won’t need his help for that.”

Boca nodded, believing Ania’s flashing eyes that glowed softly red now. She remembered the female subduing the armed guards with ease. “The holding area is this way then. Unfortunately, it is next to the main building that we left. Are the males still restrained there?”

“Unless they know the ancient tongue of the Pleiadians, they are still bound where we left them,” Ania said, secure that it was so.

As they walked into the building Boca indicated, they heard screams from next door.

Boca looked at Ania fearfully. “The demon?”

“Yes, but do not fear Malachi. He will do you no harm,” Ania said, noticing there were no guards.

Hearing more screams as well as males running into and out of the building, Ania knew they were quickly running out of time. She walked to a holding cell where a beautifully dressed female sat on a bunk smaller than the one in Synar’s room.

“Ambassador Onin?” she asked.

The female pulled herself upright and lifted her chin. “Yes. You might as well kill me now because I will never stop fighting. When the Peace Alliance hears of your deceit, your actions will be punished. Your behavior constitutes an act of war.”

Ania spoke some words over the lock, but it didn’t open. “Shade of Kellnor. . .must be metal from Ceruse. It resists curses. Stand back.”

“What are you doing?” Ambassador Onin asked, moving against the wall of her cell when she saw the dark female draw a weapon from her belt.

“Rescuing you,” Ania said calmly, blasting the lock until it clicked.

Need an escort to the shuttle
?
Your ambassador seems to be having some trouble walking. By the way, that last command was highly enjoyable. I never knew being honorable and helping could be so fulfilling. Even Bogdan wasn’t quite as clever as you.

Cover us as you did Dorian and Gwen,
Ania sent, unwilling to think of what had occurred next door. It might start the males on this planet on a different path, but it was also extreme.

“Will your legs support you well enough to walk?” Ania asked, kicking open the door, and holding out a hand to the frightened female.

“I’ll crawl if it gets me off this planet,” Ambassador Onin said firmly.

Ania nodded but held onto the female’s hand as they left, just in case. Boca let them lead, easily keeping up as they made their way to the shuttle.

Once there, Ania sent Boca and Ambassador Onin to board ahead of her. She stood outside the ship until Malachi was completely inside her again to avoid alarming the traumatized females any further. Then she climbed the boarding ramp herself.

“Gwen has gone into shock. Two are caring for her, but we need to return immediately,” Dorian said, looking grim.

“Let’s go. We are done anyway. Malachi killed the doctor and Fener Sel,” she said.

“Then I agree we are done here,” Dorian concurred, lifting off and heading back to the Liberator as fast as he could.

Chapter 17

“Dorian, stop sulking. You remind me of your Greggor father when you act this way. It wasn’t like your Commander Jet had a choice in the matter. She was tortured and they removed your energy from her against her will,” Sarinnea said, feeling great compassion for her only child.

“What they did was an abomination, akin to rape on Earth. But how can I speak against it to her and offer comfort? I acted no better than the males that captured her. This is my punishment for forcing my claim on Gwen in the first place. I should have wooed her first like everyone said, won her over to being my mate,” Dorian said, continuing to clean every part of his weapon until each piece gleamed.

“Well, now you can do it better. Just start over. You’re a Siren. You’re irresistible,” Sarinnea said easily. “Commander Jet obviously cares for you. You don’t need to share energy for anyone with eyes to see she favors you.”

“Then I’m blind, Sarinnea. I’m half Siren and half blind fool,” Dorian said harshly. “All vibrations for Gwen have stopped. It’s—it’s as if we are strangers when we are together. They took it all—even what I did not know I had. From the first moment we met, she must have given me something of herself, something that flickered like a flame even through those two wasted years I spent denying her. She came to me first. She was following her intuition. Raging fires of Helios, it was probably the one and only time I’ve ever seen her use it. Yet I sent her away even when I knew, Sarinnea.
I sent her away.
”

Sarinnea reached out and wrenched the weapon parts that could not possibly be made any cleaner from her child’s hands.

“Vile things these are, Dorian,” Sarinnea said, slapping the parts down on a nearby counter. “Now hear me—you are six hundred twenty-three years old. Do not talk of great love for a female while holding weapons of great destruction in your hands, not even if she is a warrior. It is unnatural. You took vows and you honored them. Commander Jet had her needs met well while you waited for the right time for you. You did not fail her. You merely refused her. This is not the terrible wrong you are making it out to be.”

“How do you know how she met her needs? Sarinnea—
you didn’t
,” Dorian said, appalled.

“Dorian, he was delightful and fun. And it was the Greggor who asked me, not the other way around. I was very careful. Plus Chiang strikes me as being very discreet,” Sarinnea said, unashamed of seeking to have her needs met or of meeting anyone else’s. She had never apologized for it before and had no intentions of doing so now.

“I didn’t get terribly physical. I knew you wouldn’t approve of me serving your fellow crew members, though I hardly see what my private actions have to do with your reputation. Besides, I like Greggors. I always have—you know this,” Sarinnea reminded him.

Dorian sighed and paced away. He picked up a fighting stick and twirled it in his hands. He wasn’t offended that Chiang had now had bonding experiences with both Gwen
and
his parent. No. He just wanted to kill the Greggor and rid the Liberator of him so he could never bond with another female that Dorian cared about.

He swung the stick fiercely and returned it abruptly to its storage hanger. Wanting to kill someone was not appropriate behavior for the Liberator’s spiritual counselor, even though it made perfect sense to Dorian at the moment. Cutting off Fener Sel’s hands hadn’t made him feel better either. He should have gone for his bonding parts.

“Stop screaming at me with your emotions, Dorian. Chiang no longer sees your mate as an option for bonding, but he will always care for her and be her friend. Do not be jealous. That is neither in your Siren blood nor your Greggor blood. You must have gotten that nasty trait from those other two full humans you mated. Your Commander Jet is not like them—and thank the creators of all for
that,
” Sarinnea said fiercely. “Don’t get me wrong—I liked the others. But they were not like this one. Gwen is special.”

“No, Gwen is not like the others,” Dorian replied, anger in his voice and his stance, but he couldn’t seem to change it. “I never felt this way about my other mates, never feared that I could be replaced in their affections, never worried that I might never know what it is to belong to . . .
Shades of Kellnor
. I no longer even
feel
her within me, and yet she still owns most of my thoughts.”

“My dear one,” Sarinnea said, walking up to him and putting gentle hands on his arms. “As much as you might not want to know it, I believe disrupting your peace is Gwen Jet’s exact purpose in your life. You have known peace for too long. Now you will have a couple centuries with a creature who will make you grow as a person. It is a blessing for you even if it does not currently feel like one.
Chel’sa locum an’le desa
.”

Dorian made himself focus on her words. ‘Accept and show great compassion,’ Sarinnea had advised. Even without the energy of the Siren’s call owning him, serving the needs of Gwen Jet ruled his actions. Dorian didn’t think he really had any other choice.

He put his arms around the female who had given him life and consistent love throughout all the centuries of his existence. “You are still my role model for all things female, but it would be nice to hear advice from another male about mating things. I wish my father had lived longer.”

“That makes two of us, Eli’oh. I wish that all the time and never cease to miss that Greggor,” Sarinnea said wistfully. “But what he gave me for our three centuries together has kept me joyful for the many centuries I have lived without him.”

“I look so much like a male Siren that I forget sometimes that I am Greggor too,” Dorian said, “until I open my mouth and see my tongue. Though I confess I keep that as hidden as possible.”

Sarinnea smiled at her memories of the only mate she’d ever taken that still lived in her spirit as if he had never died. She still felt the energy of Dorian’s Greggor sire inside her, a fact that made her even more compassionate about her child’s situation. Loss of that energy would change her in ways she didn’t want to contemplate. Her entire spirit grieved for Gwen.

“I don’t know why you would hide such a thing as your tongue. It is the gift of your father’s heritage. Who would care?” Sarinnea demanded.

“There are all kinds of biases about such things,” Dorian said, not wanting to think about Gwen’s aversion to it.

“Your Greggor father was a powerful male, but his greatest power was his compassion which still lives in you, Eli’oh. Use that to win back your mate. Be her most loyal friend. As a Thelorian, that kind of fidelity will win her first. Seducing the human part of her will be easy, but not nearly enough for a true mating. That was the mistake you made before—the only one. She is a female who needs more than just to be desired.”

“Thank you for your wise counsel, Sarinnea. I apologize for my reaction about you and Chiang. His happy past with Gwen has made me sensitive and insecure. You counseled me to be a better Siren than that. Chiang is a good male, worthy of my mother’s—compassion and gifts,” Dorian said finally, struggling not to choke on the admission.

Sarinnea pulled back and laughed at Dorian’s disgusted expression. Oh how she never tired of seeing males choke on their arrogance and pride.

“Do you want me to bind the young Greggor so he never thinks of any other female than me for half a century? I would do that for you, my child. I care more for you than the charming Greggor,” Sarinnea said with shrug.

Dorian laughed too, the sound rusty inside him. The last time he laughed spontaneously was when Gwen swore at him in her sleep the first time he relieved her needs.

“No, I do not loathe Chiang that much,” Dorian said, smiling. “You are already a hard Siren for men to get over even without them being energetically bound to you.”

“Indeed. You speak the truth,” Sarinnea said, smiling wickedly and making Dorian laugh again. “Now go to medical and check on Commander Jet. Chiang said they complain that she is a bad patient. I can only imagine what happened when they had to incapacitate her further to fix her legs. She can now only move about in a transport chair.”

“What do you mean? Gwen is still unable to walk?” Dorian said, eyes clouding with concern at the thought.

“She insisted the Lotharian wiring all be removed regardless of the risks or the recovery time. I distinctly remember her saying something about—wait, I struggle with her words—oh yes.
I’m not going to be anyone’s damn puppet
—that’s what she said,” Sarinnea repeated, on a laugh. “I find her Earth mannerisms and speech most entertaining when she is in a temper. I hope they have that effect on you because she talks that way all the time.”

Dorian smiled, thinking he did enjoy Gwen spitting at him. He just wished she would let him soothe her.

“I could work on her energy. Do you think she might let me help heal her?” Dorian asked, thinking out loud more than addressing the question to his mother.

He would vow not to do anything more than urge her body to heal. Truly it was all he wished at the moment. The rest could wait until she was well and spitting at him again.

Sarinnea just looked hard at Dorian and held his gaze. “To gain her mobility back faster? You know the commander better than I do, Dorian. We’re not on a first name basis yet. What do you think?”

“I think Gwen would walk through fire or even tolerate the kind of thing that she does not believe in if it has a chance of helping,” Dorian said, hugging his parent again before turning to stride away, his long legs eating up the distance between him and the door.

“Dorian?” Sarinnea called. “Chiang is an empath and a powerful healer even though he is avoiding those gifts. If the two of you were to channel your energies together, Gwen could probably be walking again tomorrow. Of course, you’d have to talk the Greggor into it. He blocked me from seeing the reasons why he pretends to be what he is not. That’s how strong he is.”

Dorian nodded. When he reached the hallway, instead of heading to medical, he turned the other direction and went in search of the one male he least wanted to see.