6
Destiny
There must have been something about midnight on this planet, because here I was again, sneaking around in the dead of night. Not alone this time, but with my sisters, at least thirty guards, and Captain Turaya hovering over Trinity like she was a piece of glass about to topple from a high shelf, and he needed to be ready to catch her.
My sister was tougher than that, and after our conversation earlier, when we’d all decided to teach our overprotective, bossy, alpha men a lesson, I knew she needed to be here. I’d left Nix shouting and swearing in our bed and had sent a comm to Faith and Trinity to have a secret girl meeting.
I got them up to speed. Fast. They’d been pissed as well, for their mates were just as bad as Nix. Although, they hadn’t had to tie up either Leo or Thor. They’d only had to lie and say we were doing girl stuff and talking about periods and other female things.
Worked like a charm every time.
While we were pissed, but we weren’t stupid. We’d gone directly to Leo’s dad, gave him a good tongue lashing, and Trinity had ordered him to be ready for us to go to the secret meeting, without our mates. Trinity and Faith had grabbed ion pistols, set them to stun and headed off to visit their stubborn males where they awaited Captain Turaya in the armory.
Captain Turaya had looked at me in silence as we waited, but I’d just raised my eyebrow and kept my mouth shut. He obviously knew I’d done something to Nix, since my mate was nowhere to be seen, but the captain didn’t ask.
Smart man.
Trinity and Faith had returned, both of their mates stunned and left to contemplate their sins frozen and immobile for about an hour, and we’d gone off with at least thirty queen’s guard for protection and the captain for his expertise.
The guard would offer substantial protection, but my sisters and I had our own agenda. Trinity’s citadel-given power was really quite handy. Turned out, she could see auras now.
Auras.
One look, and she knew if someone was good or evil, truthful or lying, sick or well.
Nice trick. And as she looked through the scope at the people entering the building where the meeting was to be held—per Elder Amandine’s letter—the captain right next to her listing off names of every one, Faith was keeping the list. A large monitor of some kind was set up next to them. Captain Turaya aimed his scope, a mark appeared on his target, and Trinity stood beside him, looking at them through a scope of her own, calling off the status of each. I watched the monitor closely, trying to commit each face to memory. They would all die. Every single one of them. They’d betrayed my family, killed Trinity’s father, tried to kill our mother and kidnapped Mom, dragging her from her own bed—screaming.
“Lord Vangar.” The captain’s voice was matter of fact. As was Trinity’s answer.
“Evil.”
Faith was scribbling names down as fast as she could. She sat closest to the door, saying that while I’d done years of martial arts, she was the new Kung Fu bad ass fighting princess and I just had to deal. The citadel had made her a skilled combatant in hand-to-hand fights. Which was pretty cool, considering she’d always hated my self-defense workouts.
I let her have her way, my blaster and knives loose in the holder I’d stolen from Nix. Faith had offered to make me a new one with the S-Gen machines when she made my black uniform, but I was feeling sentimental and stupid and I wanted a piece of Nix with me. Armed as I was, Faith wouldn’t need to fight. Anyone came through that door, they’d be dead before they took their second step.
“Cleric Fergia.”
“More evil.”
“Optimus Officer Morson.”
“Good. Don’t kill him,” Trinity ordered.
I looked up at that one. Good? “If this Morson is a good guy, what the hell is he doing here?” I asked, inspecting him on the screen. Long, blond hair. Gorgeous. But it seemed all of these damn Aleran males were too good-looking for their own good. Still, he would be easy to pick out in a crowd.
Faith shrugged and we both looked at the Captain. He didn’t turn away from his scope.
“Don’t know. Investigating a crime? Spying? Same as we are? That is the job of the Optimus Unit.”
Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that, seeing how I was convinced they were holding my mother prisoner within the unit’s walls, in the infamous Cell Level C. “They’re like the Aleran FBI and judicial system all in one.”
“Not sure that’s the best arrangement,” Trinity mused. I didn’t much care. Not until we had Mom back.
But talking to my sisters earlier did make me feel better about one thing. My bat-like hearing. Knowing that I wasn’t going crazy, that the citadel had made that change in my biology, set my mind at ease. It was a weapon. Without doubt. And a perk. It was my super-ears that allowed me to hear Nix’s plans to betray me at his very first opportunity.
Oh, I wasn’t really angry. Okay, I was, but it wasn’t like he cheated on me with another woman or went around telling everyone I was a homicidal bitch. No, he just tried to coddle and protect me, treat me like a delicate piece of china. And I was not having it. This was my planet. My mother. My sisters. My mate. My future.
My war.