3013: SYNERGY: A 3013 Novella (3013: The Series) (8 page)

She scrambled back just in time to get
out of the way as Orion flew right at Lorn, shoving him into the wall so hard
that plaster crumbled down around them. Orion slammed his fist into Lorn’s
face, dropping him to the ground unconscious with one hard punch.

Orion turned, and wrapped one arm
around her waist as he cupped her cheek with the other. “Are you well, keeper?
I can feel your shoulder aching. Did he hurt you anywhere else?”

“I’m fine, my love,” Morgan said,
trying to soothe him. She pulled his head down to kiss him, then said, “You
sure know how to make an entrance.”

“All is well here, then?” Rhen asked.

She turned to smile at the two Helios
males. “Yes, thank you for coming to my aid.”

Both Rhen and Sabar nodded to her,
before walking away with their Tarin female between them. It was then that
Morgan realized that the female with them was Laesa Fen, an artist that had
recently come to X21.

Orion watched as the Helios left.
“Those are the two males you were with the day I met you.”

“You saw me talking to them in the
docking bay?”

“Yes, but I was too overwhelmed by your
beauty to pay much attention to them.”

Blaiz and Daven rushed down the stairs
as Ivan and a couple of security officers hurried across the lobby to join them.
Blaiz looked down at Lorn laid out on the floor and grinned. “I bet that felt
good.”

“It did,” Orion agreed.

“What happened here?” Ivan asked.

Orion stared him down as he said, “Lorn
put hands on my keeper.”

Ivan sighed. “I knew he was upset when
Adric told us that we were not going to be chosen to replace you, but I never
thought he would do something like this.”

One of the security officers glanced
over to Orion and Morgan. “What do you want us to do with this?”

“Toss him out of the airlock,” Orion
ordered.

Morgan chuckled. “As much as I would
like that, I don’t think we can do it.”

“Fine,” Orion growled. “Take him to
Adric M’Dor. He can take him home, since there is no way I’m letting him on our
vessel after what he did to my keeper.”

“I will do that, but first, I think
we’ll stop at medical,” Ivan said. He gave them a small bow of his head. “I
will also ask Adric to take me home so you can have time alone with your keeper.”

They watched as Ivan helped the
security guards carry Lorn to the elevator. When they were gone, Morgan said, “Let’s
go home.”

Orion nodded. “Yes, I want to examine
every inch of you as soon as we are back in our suite. I have to make sure he
didn’t hurt you.”

“No.” Morgan wrapped her arms around
his neck and smiled. “I meant, I want to leave here in the morning. I don’t
want to wait a few more days. Let’s go home so we really start our life
together.”

Blaiz grinned. “If we get the ship
ready tonight, we’ll be ready to go by morning.”

Daven let out a whoop of joy. “Let’s
take care of it right now.”

As they hurried off, Morgan laughed.
“Well, I guess they’re okay with the idea.”

Orion brushed his lips against hers. “I’m
happy to leave tomorrow. But I still want to examine you for injuries right
now, Morgan.”

“And I’m going to enjoy every minute of
it.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The D’Aire home world was a magical
place.

Morgan was in awe as she stared out of
the shuttle at the planet in front of her. When she was in the Academy, she had
learned about the D’Aire home world, but she hadn’t expected to fall in love
with it the moment she actually saw it.

Because the air density was different
then other planets, the world was made up of floating isles that were grouped
into clusters. Some of the isles were big enough to house hundreds of D’Aire,
while others were only big enough for one or two dwellings. The planet was larger
than Earth, yet there were many miles between the island clusters, so it made
the world seem infinitely bigger.

Anticipation made Morgan’s heart beat
faster as their vessel flew toward the planet. Blaiz and Daven were currently
in the control room, leaving Morgan and Orion in the lounge alone. She was
sitting on his lap, curled into him with her head resting on his shoulder as
she stared out of the window.

“We are almost home, keeper. It should
only be an hour until we land.”

“Home…that sounds wonderful.”
She hadn’t felt like she’d had a real
home since she’d lost her parents and the crew of their ship when she was
young. But now she had Orion, and wherever he was would be the place she called
home.

“Any regrets?”

She lifted her head so she could kiss
him.
“Not a single one. I’m a little nervous about meeting your brother,
though. But besides that, I’m just really excited.”

“Don’t worry, my love. Raiden and our
entire clan will love you.”

Morgan sure hoped so. Raiden wasn’t
just Orion’s brother, he was the leader of their clan, and the person the
entire isle came to for guidance. Even if he didn’t like her, nothing would
keep her from being with Orion. He’d just have to deal with her.

He chuckled softly as he hugged her
closer.
“You do not need to form a battle plan to get along with my
brother.”

She sighed.
“I know…I’m just being
bitchy. It’s the nerves. I’m sure he and I are going to get along just fine.
And if we don’t, I can just avoid him.”

He kissed her on the forehead, and
stroked a hand up and down her arm.
“Morgan, you are worrying for nothing.
Trust me.”

Morgan knew she was being irrational,
but she couldn’t help it. She did trust Orion…implicitly. Her trust in him was
what made it easy to walk away from her old life. It had been difficult to say
goodbye to her friends on X21, but it was a small price to pay to be with the
love of her life.

Orion leaned down to kiss Morgan, but
he was interrupted when his wrist unit beeped. He looked at the display and
smiled. “It’s Mya…finally. Let me transfer the call to the wall screen.”

Morgan shifted off Orion’s lap so she
was sitting next to him as Mya Spartan’s face appeared on the screen. She was a
beautiful woman with gray eyes and long, black hair. Morgan had been out of the
Academy by the time Mya had gone there, but she had met the younger woman several
times over the years through mutual friends and since Mya’s brother had been
Morgan’s commander back on Earth.

“Hi, Uncle Orion—” Her jaw dropped
open. “Morgan, is that you?”

Morgan grinned. “Hi, Mya. I’m Orion’s
keeper. Do I get to call you my niece now?”

One of Mya’s eyebrows lifted. “Do you
really want me calling you my aunt?”

Morgan winced. “Ah…no. Let’s forget
about that.”

Laughing, Mya said, “Deal. This is
incredible.” She paused to sniffle, and her eyes filled with tears. “Uncle
Orion, you found your keeper. I’m so happy for you both.”

Orion had always felt affection for Mya,
but since Morgan had unlocked his emotions, he could feel love for the young
woman who had helped change his life. As he looked the screen, he noticed that
Mya had a new mark next to her left eye that was different than the scroll mark
on the right side of her face. It looked like an incomplete triangle inside a
partial circle, and he knew that it was the symbol for the Adaro pack.

“I see you have some news to share with
us as well.”

Mya reached up to touch the mark near
her eye as she smiled. “I mated with Maddox, Daimon and Tavius Adaro. That’s
part of the reason I called. We—”

“Mya, we need you downstairs. Maddox is
about to kill your brother.”

Mya’s eyes widened as she turned toward
someone off screen. “Jax is already here? I thought he wasn’t arriving until
tomorrow.”

“It seems like he couldn’t wait to see
you,” Tavius said dryly as he came into view. “He just arrived, and he isn’t
happy that we converted you. Hello, Orion…and friend.”

“Morgan is my keeper.” Orion corrected,
then his eyes narrowed at the Krytos male before moving his gaze back to Mya. “You’re
a Krytos now?”

The youngest of the Adaro brothers,
Tavius, sat down next to Mya. Tavius was a male Krytos in his prime, with intense
black eyes and a honed, muscular frame. Orion had known the three brothers for
years, and he trusted them. He had felt the bond between Mya and Tavius when
he’d stopped at New Vega before heading to X21, but he hadn’t been prepared to
hear that they had converted her into a Krytos when the process was so
dangerous.

 “Calm, my friend,” Tavius said
softly. “Trust me, the conversion was necessary to save her life, or we wouldn’t
have risked our mate.”

“What in damnation happened to Mya?”
Orion demanded.

“It’s a long story that we’re going to have
to tell you later, because I wasn’t kidding when I said that we have to go
before blood is shed.” Tavius expression hardened. “However, you should know
that Quilla Rego came to New Vega after you left. She released a drug onboard
that made everyone try to kill one another. Tell your people to be on the
lookout for that Tarin bitch since she got away before we could rip her heart
out. She needs to die for all the lives that were lost.”

Orion frowned. “We’re about to land on
my home world, but I don’t think she would be stupid enough to try to hide on a
planet where half of the population could sense her evil. Do you need us to
come to New Vega to help?”

Mya shook her head. “Things are still
crazy here. We should be closer to your planet next month. Why don’t you come
visit after we get everything fixed?”

“My mate is right,” Tavius agreed. “It
was a total shit show here a few days ago, and we’re still working on repairing
everything. We have a couple Dragon Warriors arriving soon, so we’ll put them
to work and have them help fix our vessel.”

Morgan winced. “Speaking of, you’ll
have a couple of new Dragon Warriors visiting New Vega soon. We met them on
X21, and they’re a little…untamed.”

“What does that mean?” Mya asked as her
eyes went wide and Tavius cursed.

“Just…they mean well, but they’ve never
been around any of our races before, so…umm…you might have to warn them about
the rules…before something happens.”

“They killed a Reema in a sanctuary,”
Orion told them.

“Son of a bitch!” Tavius growled.

“I was trying to avoid telling them that
part,”
Morgan
whispered to Orion through their bond. She spoke out loud and said, “They’re
really nice—well, Eden Nazira was. I’m not sure about her sister, Amari, since
I didn’t speak to her. They’re just curious and didn’t know what a sanctuary
is. And the Reema did actually shove one of them, so there was—”

She was cut off when a loud male voice
shouted out from somewhere behind him and Mya. “Where the hell is my sister!
Mya, get your ass out here!”

Mya’s face paled. “Umm…we have to go.
I’ll contact you again soon.”

The screen went black as the video
conference was disconnected.

Orion sighed. “I can’t believe New Vega
was attacked. I’m sure Mya and the Adaro brothers have everything under
control, especially if Jax Spartan is there and they have a couple of Dragon
Warriors coming to help them.”

“But it’s worrisome to know that the
Tarin war criminal is still out there somewhere.”

He reached out to stroke her cheek with
the back of his fingers. “They will catch her and make sure she pays for her
crimes.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

“Hey, kids,” Daven said over the intercom.
“We’re almost home, so you might want to buckle up.”

Orion took her hand as he led her over
to chairs that had harnesses that would hold them in place when they entered
the planet’s atmosphere. The pressure pushed them back against their seats as
they continued to discuss what had happened on New Vega.

He told her what he knew about the war
criminal, Quilla Rego. The Tarin female had actually been a slave trader that
had used the name Korsek to hide her activities. It was a horrendous crime, but
it was even worse to know that a female was making a profit selling other
females.

When they were through the bumpiest
part of the flight, Orion pointed a finger toward the view outside the window.
“We are home, keeper.”

Morgan looked out and saw the sheer
wonder that was Orion’s world. The colors of the planet were similar to those
of Earth, only much more vibrant. Like the D’Aire’s eyes, the brilliant, blue
ocean water was iridescent, changing colors with every wave. The floating isles
were mostly covered with a green moss that was so bright it almost looked like
it was glowing, but the base was a rich brown mixed with the cool gray of the
stone that spiked out of the bottom and the top.

She was surprised to see that they were
flying toward several different sized floating isles that were connected by
golden bridges. Some of the isles had sections that were higher or lower than
the rest, making it look like mountains sticking out of both ends. She could
see dwellings carved into the rock as well as on the surface of the isles, all
of which had open, airy balconies and elaborately carved railings.

“There…that is where I’m from. It is
the isle farthest to the right.” He sighed in pleasure. “Even though I visit at
least two times a year, this time feels different.”

She leaned over to kiss him. “Because
this time we’re here for good.”

Their shuttle landed on a flat-topped
isle that was used as a landing area. Before the doors opened, Orion said,
“Remember, the air is slightly different than you’re used to here. It might
take a few minutes to get acclimated to it, even though we have been altering
the oxygen levels on board during our flight.”

“I remember.” She smiled wryly. “If I
pass out, you can just carry me home.”

He frowned. “I don’t find that funny.”

Morgan was nervous so she held onto
Orion’s hand as the doors opened, and they disembarked. She almost stumbled
when she took in her first breath of the planet’s air, but held herself up by
sheer will when she saw the group of Orion’s clan waiting for them outside.

Damn, she wouldn’t make a good
impression if she fell on her face.

She knew Orion had contacted his
brother to let him know they were arriving, but she thought she’d have a little
more time before she met him. Not to mention that she’d forgotten that most of
the D’Aire males didn’t wear shirts on their home world to have more freedom to
release their wings. The females in the group wore halter-style dresses, and
the males wore the same type of soft pants that Orion was wearing.

Raiden D’Sil was easy to recognize. He
looked exactly like Orion, except for a scar that ran from the middle of his
forehead, down over his eye that ended on his cheek. Orion had warned her that
his brother’s face had been scarred during the attack on their family, and he’d
chosen to keep the mark in honor of what they had both lost that day.

“I didn’t think he would be here to
welcome us. Be brave, my love.”

Bracing herself, she allowed Orion to
pull her down the ramp toward the group of D’Aire. Raiden parted from the group
and walked forward to meet them. Orion squeezed her hand, then let her go to
step forward. Both males gripped each other on the shoulder.

“Welcome home, Orion.”

“It’s good to see you, brother.” They
let go of one another, then Orion stepped back to take hold of Morgan’s hand
again. “Raiden, I would like to introduce you to my keeper, Morgan.”

Raiden turned to look directly at her.
Despite his control over his emotions, she sensed that he was waiting to see
her reaction to his scar. It might have been her ability, or it could have
simply been intuition based on the way he held himself. The scar didn’t bother
Morgan in the least, and she hoped he would realize that as she smiled.

“Greetings to you, one of the light.”

He returned her smile. “There is no
need to be formal with me, little sister. Welcome to your new home.”

A male D’Aire stepped forward and bowed
his head. “Welcome home, Dir Orion. We will take care of your baggage and see
it safely to your rooms.”