The Illegitimate Claim (34 page)

about that. And she still would, nothing had changed in her mind. She’d been yanked

out of there, but wouldn’t have gone of her own accord. Tory was in that camp

somewhere, being held prisoner. And he was all alone. Her motherly instincts

outweighed all others. She would fight and kill to protect her children.

Her thoughts shifted from Tory to Tia. She was also all alone…without her brother.

“My lady, I need to go check on Tia.” Meah immediately adjusted her course for

Gilroy and Ana’s house.

“We can discuss our next move at our house, sound good?” Ana’s voice came

through the comm.

“Agreed,” Andru’s voice said.

Several hours later, Meah paced back and forth in the living area while Tia clung

tightly to her neck. Her wiry legs were wrapped tightly around Meah’s waist. The

child’s shaking had stopped, and for that much Meah was grateful.

Darius and Tara were deep in consultation at Gilroy and Ana’s dining room table

when the four of them entered the house. Meah’s only concern had been her daughter,

and Tara willingly handed the hysterical child with her silent screams over to Meah

before returning to the dining room. It didn’t surprise Meah that Darius would be there,

after all, it was the scene of the crime, and all the servants were questioned as well as

Darien. Now Andru and Ana were behind closed doors with their parents and had been

for the past few hours.

“Meah.” Gilroy’s soft baritone voice came from behind her and she turned in her

pacing to face him. “I think she’s asleep.”

Meah strained her head to see her daughter’s face. “Her arms and legs are wrapped

around me like a vise grip.”

“She’s scared.” Gilroy looked from daughter to mama.

“She doesn’t do well without Tory.”

“Ana’s the same way. If things get bad, she needs her brother.”

“That must be hard for you,” Meah suggested, but he didn’t sense any emotion

from her.

Gilroy shrugged. He stared into moist blue-green eyes, although no tears fell. She

looked away from him after a moment. She was a proud warrior, and a beautiful

woman. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the combination mixed as well as it was in her.

“I don’t want Tia to be like that,” she whispered imploringly, and he understood

the depth of her statement. Andru and Ana were too close, and it was a habit neither of

them intended to change. “What do I do, Gilroy?”

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“Get her through this. She was with her brother and could tell us what the men

looked like who took him.”

His words affected her. Gilroy could tell by the change in her expression.

“She doesn’t talk,” Meah whispered.

“Doesn’t, or can’t?”

“No doctor has ever found anything wrong with her.”

“Tell her to talk. It could save her brother’s life.”

Meah’s eyes grew large as she stared at Gilroy. She licked her lips as she glanced

down at the child whose head was buried in her neck. Stroking the girl’s curls, she

chewed away at her lip as she tried to focus her thoughts.

Gilroy saw Meah’s turmoil and ran his hand down her back, feeling her warrior’s

body as well as her soft silky hair when it brushed against his skin. Gently, he wiped a

lone tear that escaped down her cheek, and then tangled his fingers through her black

locks, cupping the back of her head.

“Ana needs her first assistant. Get your act together, soldier.”

She looked up at him quickly. The look Meah gave him almost fogged his senses.

Years of training allowed him to stay focused and keep his expression blank. But the

woman showed more strength than any female he’d ever met. His insides hardened as

he stared into her soul. Compassion, power and incredible beauty dwelled inside her

anguished body. For a moment, he lost himself in her milky gaze.

Meah took a step backwards, breaking eye contact, and took a deep breath. A

different man than the hard warrior she’d known since returning home stood before

her. Too many emotions made it hard to keep her guard up. Her thoughts went to her

son, and her distraught daughter.

She wrapped her hands around her daughter’s arms, and pulled them gently from

her. Squatting, she placed Tia in front of her.

The child was calm, but not asleep. Gilroy kneeled on one knee next to the child

and saw the tortured look in the little girl’s eyes. Meah glanced at him for a moment but

then focused on her daughter. She didn’t say anything and so Gilroy thought he would

take the chance.

“Tia, your brother was taken by some bad guys. Do you know that?” Gilroy’s tone

was gentle. Tia looked at him and bit her lip just like her mama. She nodded.

“Good, sweetheart. That’s good.” Meah stroked her daughter’s hair. “Now I need

you to help us get him back. You can do that, can’t you, honey?”

Tia nodded again, although there was doubt in her small eyes.

“Tia, who took your brother?” Gilroy’s baritone voice was still gentle.

The little girl just looked at him with large gray eyes.

“Let me try,” Ana said from behind them.

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Gilroy and Meah both looked up as Ana approached them, and Gilroy stood

quickly.

Meah watched Ana take Gilroy’s spot. She stayed at Tia’s side, feeling her

daughter’s tiny hand tighten its grip on her hand. Meah looked up at Andru and Gilroy,

who stood behind Ana, and noticed Darius and Tara in the doorway. She hoped this

wasn’t too much for Tia.

“Tia, you and I are a lot alike, you know. Do you see how we’re the same?”

Tia nodded vigorously, much to Meah’s surprise.

“Your papa is my twin, and Tory is your twin. They’re the rest of us, and we can’t

live without them, right?”

Again Tia nodded.

“Wrong, Tia. We can live without them, we just don’t want to.” Ana put up her

hand, and Andru moved forward and placed his hand in hers.

Everyone in the room realized he just knew that was what she wanted him to do.

“When I touch my brother, his emotions swim around in my head. That same thing

happens when you and your brother touch each other. I’ve seen you do it.”

Tia and Meah both focused their eyes on the two hands holding each other, fingers

intertwined. But then Ana wiggled her fingers free of Andru, and brought her hand up

to Tia’s face.

“Sometimes, you and I need to leave their emotions alone and just hear our own

thoughts. That’s hard to do, isn’t it? It feels safer when we let their emotions swim

around with ours.” Tia’s gray eyes were glued to Ana.

She was making headway, Meah thought.

“Now Tia, I talk. I speak for myself, Andru doesn’t talk for me.” She paused and

smiled at Tia. “He tries sometimes, but then I get angry at him and tell him to let me

think for myself. I sure could use help working on that, and I think you’re just the

person to help me. In fact, we could help each other. Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Tia nodded, but she did it slowly, looking at her mama then up at the two men who

stood behind her aunt. She chewed her lower lip, and Ana took her hand.

“That’s it. You can do it. Tell us who took Tory so we can go get your brother and

bring him back to you.”

Tia wrapped her arms around Ana’s neck and she had to brace herself to keep from

falling backwards. The little girl buried her head in Ana’s hair. Ana quickly looked over

at Meah.

“What did you say, Tia? I couldn’t hear you.”

Meah’s hands went to her mouth.

“Rog…took…him. I tried…to go…too, but he ran away…with Tory,” the little girl

spoke slowly, and then broke into tears.

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“Oh, praise Crator,” Meah gasped, and wrapped her arms around Tia and Ana. She

would have knocked both of them over if Andru hadn’t grabbed her and pulled her to

her feet with their daughter in her arms. “You spoke, baby. And you told us exactly

what we needed to know.”

“You’ll go get Tory?” Tia spoke a little steadier.

“Outstanding work.” Tara patted her daughter on the back and smiled at Meah and

Tia who were both in Andru’s arms. “Our troops are surrounding their camp. Let’s get

to work.”

“I’m going to put you to bed, little lady,” Meah whispered to her daughter. “Mama

has a job to do.”

* * * * *

Tara walked through the Neurian camp toward Darius, who stood next to his

glider. Neither one of them noticed the beautiful sunrise, or felt the cool morning

breeze. They, along with everyone else, had been up all night searching for Tory—with

no luck. Their armies had surrounded the large campsite easily enough and when

Darius contacted Rog, the Neurian gave no objection to their campsite being searched.

No disciplinary actions were taken and if anything, every Neurian confronted seemed

very concerned that the child was missing.

Darius and Tara confronted Rog about taking the child, having decided it would be

too emotional of a scene to allow Andru or Meah to be present. Andru paced outside

the tent during the entire interrogation, but Meah was sent to the Bryon house to show

Torgo how to make adjustments on their landlink system that she’d learned from the

Neurians. By the time she’d finished sharing what she knew and returned to the

campsite, they were through talking to Rog.

Ana informed her that Rog denied taking the child, and offered to assist in the

search of their campsite. She quickly informed Meah, as she saw the temper in her

escalate, that Meah was her first assistant, and she needed to be clearheaded or she’d be

relieved of her duties. There was no way Meah could pace that small trailer or Ana’s

house while the servants stared at her, so she swallowed her emotions and performed

her duties.

Meah performed like a well-oiled machine, instructing scouts to search certain

areas, and receiving reports from other scouts when they didn’t find anything. Not only