The Illegitimate Claim (18 page)

appease the man that would be her mate. He didn’t like the way I earned my money so

I could keep a roof over my head, yet he was willing to sell me himself, for his own

gain.”

Tears streamed down Paleah’s face, and she looked at the children self-consciously,

before slapping her face to make the tears go away. Her large black eyes met Meah’s

green-blue ones, and she sighed deeply when she saw compassion. She took another

step toward her but Beel grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back to him. He

still watched Meah cautiously.

“If I took advantage of you, it was that I saw an out to a situation I wanted no part

of. I knew you would offer protection on our way up here, but you have a life up here.

I’m just trying to find one for myself.” Paleah stopped, and let out a choked sigh as she

looked at the ground. “I saw Beel when we first arrived, and I knew a little about him.

He doesn’t have rank but he could protect me.”

“Good grief, you two were made for each other,” Meah groaned, and looked at her

children, who immediately were at her side.

Her face darted back to Beel when the familiar sound of a comm beeping came from

his pocket. He watched her as he slowly pulled it out of his pocket and wrapped it

around his ear. His hand went to stroke Paleah’s hair as he spoke quietly into the

mouthpiece.

“Beel, where are you?” Darius spoke into his ear.

“I’m in Taratown, Papa.” As he spoke he watched Meah, and her eyes grew large

with fear. Thunder clapped outside the window and she jumped.

“Torgo just interrupted a comm link. Meah is down there somewhere. We

intercepted a conversation she was having with a Neurian called Rog. They’re making

plans to attack Gothman. It seems the little wench has made her way past our men and

has turned traitor.” Beel showed no emotion, as he was aware that Meah watched him

closely. “I want you to use your methods and find her.”

“Yes, my lord, I’ll do what I can.” Beel pulled the comm away from his ear. He

narrowed his eyes at Meah. “Did you just have a conversation with Rog?”

“Yes, that’s why I came back here just now. Why?”

“Torgo intercepted your conversation with him. They say you’re preparing an

attack on Gothman.”

“Rog wants to attack Gothman. He wants Sharay, and will fight for her. I told him it

would be a suicide mission and to give me time to see what I could find. I came back

here to have Paleah help me find out more about what Rog has planned, and then I

planned to contact Andru.”

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“Did you say you would help Rog?” Beel needed to know where her loyalties were.

“Beel, I’m Andru’s claim. If he has another claim, I’ll kill her. I promise you that.”

Beel grinned. “He hasn’t claimed her, and I daresay he has no plans to. He agreed

to bring her here as a ruse to appease Papa while he searched for you.”

Meah’s hand went to her mouth. Oh Crator, she wanted to believe him. “He doesn’t

want her?”

“I feel safe to say he hasn’t touched her,” Beel said.

“But Lord Darius is going to charge me with treason.” Meah looked around the

room quickly and then focused on her children. “We’re not safe here.”

She grabbed Tia and lifted her into her arms then took Tory’s hand. “Paleah, we’ve

got to get out of here.”

“Don’t run, Meah. Let me contact Andru. We can protect you.” Beel didn’t want her

to run, and he sure wasn’t going to let Paleah go that easily.

Meah shook her head. “No, Beel. I won’t ask you to side against your papa. And I

have a hard time believing Andru would allow a woman into his life that he didn’t

want. Not even for his papa. Paleah, come on.”

Beel sensed Paleah’s hesitation, and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist,

pulling her back to his chest. “She’s not going with you.”

Meah didn’t give either of them a second look, but instead darted out the back door

just as the rain began plummeting to the ground.

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Chapter Ten

Beel released Paleah immediately then walked to the door and looked out into the

rain as he once again secured his comm around his ear.

“Andru.” He spoke into his mouthpiece.

“Yes,” came the response after a minute.

“This is Beel. I just talked to Papa.”

“So did I.”

“Andru, Meah was standing right in front of me when I talked to him.”

“What?” Andru said something to someone he was with.

“She’s no traitor. Rog wants Sharay—that’s it. Meah said she would help him get

her. That’s what their conversation was about.” Beel stared out at the sheets of the rain

that pierced the ground.

“Are you sure, brother?”

“My lord, I swore my loyalty to you when we were children. You know it’s still

intact. And I wouldn’t mislead you on something like this. I swear to it.”

“Where is she now?” Again Andru spoke to someone else who was with him.

“I’m at the Crator temple in Taratown. I just discovered she’s been staying here.

She’s been here for over a week.”

Andru cursed and again Beel heard voices in the background. He wanted to ask

who Andru was talking to but knew he would be out of line to do so. If the lord wanted

him to know, he would tell him.

“She’s running scared and took off when she realized Papa believed she was

committing treasonous acts. She took off on her glider over the vineyards.” Beel

couldn’t see any sign of her but knew the rain would make it difficult for her to travel.

“We’ll get her. Good man, Beel. I owe you one.” And Andru severed the

transmission.

Beel continued to watch the torrents of rain. It had grown dark as night in a matter

of minutes. Lightning flashed, illuminating the small backyard of the temple briefly. It

would be impossible to move quickly in this weather, and he knew she was in a panic.

His papa seemed to have that effect on people at times.

He turned around to face Paleah. She was watching him, but looked down at her

hands when he faced her. He walked up to her and took those small hands into his own

much larger ones.

“Why did you say I would stay with you?” she asked without looking up.

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“They’re going to take her down. It’ll get rather messy. Do you want to be part of

that?” He spoke gently, and took one of his hands from hers so that he could cup her

chin and raise her face up to his.

She shook her head in his hand but kept her eyes down.

“Look at me, Paleah.”

She raised her eyelids, and showed her large black eyes to him. He smiled and

leaned forward to kiss her. She submitted immediately, and his arms went around her,

but she quickly pulled away.

“Beel, you’re not going to claim me, are you?” She frowned and sucked her lower

lip between her teeth.

“Do you want me too?” He didn’t know why he just asked her that.

He had no desire to claim anyone, and there was certainly no pressure from anyone

for him to do so.

“No, I don’t.” She took a step backwards and he looked surprised. “I don’t think

I’m the claiming type. I mean, it felt real good when you said I was staying with you.

I’m glad, um, I’m glad you enjoy me.”

He chuckled then, a low gruff chuckle. “Most women try to trick me into claiming

them. This is a new one for me.”

“I’m serious, Beel.”

“I believe you are. I won’t claim you. But I want to be with you…at least until we’re

tired of each other. How does that sound?” He ran his fingers through her black silky

hair, and reveled in her beauty. When she simply nodded at him, then bit her lip, he

knew that it might be a very long time before he grew tired of her.

* * * * *

Meah cursed the intensity of the rain when she realized how limited her vision was.

Tia buried her face in her mama’s chest when they barely missed the top of a tree. This

was crazy. She knew beyond any doubt that Beel contacted Andru the second she left

the temple. It wouldn’t be long before someone was on her tail, and not much time after

that before they took her down. There had been worse crises in the past, she reminded

herself. She just needed to think clearly and come up with a plan. Somehow she had to

protect her children.

Once they passed the vineyard, tree limbs brushed over the dome on all sides of

them and she felt little hands tighten around her body.

“It’s all right, babies,” she whispered reassuringly. “It’s just raining too hard to see

where we’re going.”

“Why are we out here, Mama?” Tory was hard to hear in the plummeting rain.

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“There are some people who think we’re trying to hurt Gothman, my love. We

didn’t do anything wrong, but until we can prove that we need to stay out of sight.”

Meah swerved to avoid a tall tree she didn’t see until it was in front of her.

“Are we related to that man, um, Beel?”

“Yes, honey. He’s your uncle.”

The thickness of the trees made her landing far from simple. As soon as the dome

on their glider was up, she jumped off and looked around quickly at the trees.

“Here, children, this is a good one.” Meah pointed to a tree nearby. “I want you to

climb up into the branches. You’ve done this before. Don’t come down for anyone. You

come down when you hear me say your names. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama.” Tory smiled and hugged her after he’d jumped to the ground. “Don’t

worry, okay? You’ve done this before, too.”

Meah smiled, and felt an overwhelming sense of pride in her son. “You are going to

be a great warrior someday, my son. Now quickly, help your sister. Good. Stay up there

until I call your names.”

She stepped back from the tree once her children were secure in a branch above her