Roark yelled, knelt, grabbed the knife, and threw it so quickly I couldn’t track his actions. The dagger imbedded in Loris’s right eye socket with a disgusting, thunking sound I never wanted to hear again. Turning my head, I looked away. Bile filled my mouth and I swallowed it down.
The commander toppled and I crawled away from his body, awkwardly and quickly, toward Roark, toward my mate. “Why aren’t you in the pod? I don’t understand.”
My heart was beating so hard I worried it would come out of my chest. My breathing was as ragged as if I had just run a marathon, not taken down a space-gun-wielding crazy man.
Roark pulled me into his arms, inspecting me for injury. His hands and gaze raking over me. “Fark, your wrist.”
I shook my head, but held it carefully to my chest. “It hurts like a bitch, but I just need the ReGen wand. But, you. You! Explain to me what is going on. You’re supposed to be in that damn pod!”
Roark tucked me to his side and picked up the gun he’d dropped moments ago. “I knew the traitor would make his move before I woke from the pod. The doctor, Seton and I agreed prior to my transport to Earth that, upon my return, we would use the pod to lure the traitor out into the open. The wounds I received on Earth weren’t part of the plan, but I was healed in a couple of hours. The doctor released me, as agreed, and we set the trap.”
I was shaking. Adrenaline was great and all, but the aftereffects were a bitch.
“Noah. He said they were going after Noah.” I struggled to break free of his arms, but he hushed me, holding me tighter.
I fought him, but he spoke. “Noah is safe, my love. I swear it.” He stroked my back, tried to soothe me. “My parents did not take him, or Miranda, to their home. They used a decoy to lure the commander’s friends to invade. But my father had a dozen men waiting to capture them. They are all in detention cells deep beneath the city awaiting interrogation. Noah is safe.”
I looked over at the commander, dead, the gold dagger protruding from his face, blood dripping onto the sterile floor of the medical facility. I cringed, turned my face into Roark’s chest. I could hear his heart beating, steady and even. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry, love. I needed your reactions to be real, sincere.”
“But he got in. He could have killed us both.”
“I underestimated him, mate, and for that I’m sorry. I did not wish to put you in harm’s way, only me.”
“What?” I said, trying to move off his lap, angry. How dare he put himself in danger?
“We needed to find the traitor so we didn’t have to worry, to fear for our safety. I had to eliminate the threat so I could focus on being with you and Noah. I did not count on him lacing the meal with a sedative. It was very clever.” He lifted a hand to my cheek, cupping my face. “But not clever enough, for it did not work on you.”
No, it hadn’t. I ate like a stupid pig and it had barely knocked me out.
“Strange Earth physiology.” I quoted a dead man, and grinned as I did it. I must be losing my mind. All humor faded as I stared into my mate’s eyes. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I can still taste his blood.” I’d bitten the commander, torn the flesh from his hand, and the taste of him lingered like ashes in my mouth.
“No. No. No. That won’t do at all.” Roark’s eyes blazed and he pulled me to him, claiming my mouth in a kiss meant to wipe away the taste of danger and fear. I wrapped my uninjured arm around him, ignoring the flood of soldiers that stormed the room.
Roark lifted his head, checked with the guards about the safety of the rest of our family. When one communicated with the guards watching over Noah and Roark’s parents, and we learned that everyone was indeed safe, I slumped in Roark’s arms and he took that moment of weakness to kiss me again. I gave over to the kiss, needing the love and reassurance I felt in it. I didn’t care about the guards in the room. My son was safe. I was safe. And Roark was kissing me, loving me, reminding me what home felt like.
Behind us, someone cleared his throat. I turned to find Seton sitting on the floor as one of the soldiers ran a ReGen wand over him. “You two all right?”
He looked like he’d just woken up from a wild night of partying and drinking, all ruffled and messy, like he’d just gotten out of bed. He was handsome. Perhaps I could set him up with Miranda…
“Give me that damn wand,” Roark snarled, grabbing it hastily from the man's fingers and waving it over my wrist. Amazingly, I could feel the bones knitting, healing. His head was lowered to tend to the task, but then his gaze lifted and met mine, watching me until it was completely healed.
“Better?” he asked and I nodded. God, I loved space technology.
Once satisfied I was whole again, Roark tucked me under his chin. “The traitor is dead.”
“I can see that.” Seton shoved at the medical officer who’d come in with a number of others now that the traitor had been uncovered. She was waving a wand of her own over him. He forced her to stop her ministrations, frustrated probably more by the fact that he’d been drugged than by her attentions, and I hid a grin. These Trion guys all thought they were super-human. Not unlike a lot of alpha cavemen on Earth.
But once again, my smile faded. “He’s dead, but what about the man who attacked us on Earth?”
Roark’s arms came around me and he nuzzled the top of my head. “We don’t know, mate. But Warden Egara is on her guard. She knows to watch for any more encrypted messages, to remain vigilant. We’ve done all we can do from here. We will interrogate the men we captured tonight and hope we discover his identity, although I doubt they will know anything. Earth is very far away, another planet.”
“But someone must know,” I countered.
“Yes. Warden Egara is an intelligent and formidable opponent. She will discover the truth.”
I nodded and tore my gaze from the commander’s corpse. Looking at the soldier nearest him, I cleared my throat. “That gold dagger is mine. I want it back.”