Alien Redemption [Clans of Kalquor 06] (21 page)

Rachel thought she might never move under her own power ever again. She didn’t care.

Loose-limbed satisfaction reigned, making her as weak as a newborn.

She became aware that Erybet’s erection against her hip was pulsing. Wet warmth spread through his clothing to dampen her skin. Both he and Conyod breathed with hurricane force.

The Dramok’s low voice sounded strained. “She is perfect, my Imdiko.”

“She absolutely is.”

Rachel heard the warmth and adoration in both voices. She smiled.

Erybet picked her up. With Conyod following, he took her to the clan’s sleeping room and laid her gently on the mat. Both men stripped their clothes off and cleaned themselves in the small attached facility before climbing in on either side of her. She snuggled between them, much as she had with Erybet and Sletran earlier that day.

She looked up into Erybet’s face, feeling how he and Conyod were both growing hard against her again. The Dramok smiled at her, and the care in his expression made her heart swell. He felt every bit as right to her as Conyod did.

Okay, there’s no way I’m already in love with this guy. Not so soon, right? Love at first
sight, or first couple of fucks, is only in fairytales. It’s gotta be infatuation.

It was something, however. There was no doubting the ache in her chest as she looked at both the Dramok and the Imdiko, the ache that said if either of them disappeared, she would be bereft. Yes, she was absolutely forming an attachment to Erybet, at the very least. And it had nothing to do with him being Conyod’s clanmate and the one person who could keep her from her adored Imdiko.

She could live with that. Two out of three were good odds, and she thought Sletran might just make it a unanimous decision if his trauma could be overcome.

* * * *

The night hours became early morning, and still Sletran didn’t return home. He wondered if he should go looking for his Nobek, but he didn’t have a clue where to start. At last he slipped out of the bed and padded down the hall. He sat in the greeting room to wait. One moment he enjoyed contentment in knowing his Imdiko and would-be Matara slept sound and safe in his bed. The next he fidgeted with the worry of where Sletran might be.

It was only two hours before daylight when the Nobek walked in the door. Grass and leaves and a few bright flower petals clung to his ankles and shoes. He walked right past Erybet, who had risen from his seat.

Erybet stormed on his heels. “Sletran, where have you been?”

Sletran stopped and turned. He stared right into Erybet’s face, but the terrible blankness in his eyes told the Dramok he didn’t see him.

“Sletran. Sletran,” Erybet called urgently. He had to restrain himself from shaking his clanmate. If he startled Sletran, the Nobek might react in a threatening manner. Erybet had to settle for snapping his fingers in front of the other man’s face.

Sletran blinked. Awareness flooded into his expression and his eyelids fluttered. He looked at his Dramok in confusion. “What … Erybet?”

“Where have you been?”

“I – I was –” he looked around himself, at the room. His gaze returned to Erybet. “Weren’t we just speaking with Commander Akrij?”

“That was hours ago. It’s the middle of the night.” The clan leader’s chest tightened.

“I left?” Sletran glanced down at his feet.

Erybet looked too. He recognized the tiny purple and white flowers clinging to his Nobek’s shoes and ankles. The same type of blooms had been planted near the entrance to the Earther Matara compound.

Sletran frowned. “Did I go see Rachel?”

Erybet gripped his chin and made him look him in the eye. “Sletran, you must think hard.

Where were you?”

The command from his clan and company leader brought the immediate obedience ingrained in the Nobek’s demeanor. “I … I was somewhere crowded. The market perhaps.

Yes, that’s where I went. I was watching people visiting the clubs and restaurants. Many Mataras. Before that, I went somewhere else. I went to the compound. I wanted to know…”

His eyes went distant again.

Now Erybet did shake him a little. The tightness climbed up from his chest to his throat, trying to choke him. “What? What were you looking for?”

Something dark flitted through Sletran’s eyes. “The guards. I wanted to know where the security was most lax. I wanted to know how easy it would be to get into the compound.”

Erybet shuddered. He thought of Global Security’s visit the day before. He thought of the dismembered Matara found in the market. He thought of Rachel. “Why would you want to know that?”

“New Bethlehem. I have to stop another New Bethlehem from happening. Erybet, why am I doing this?”

Fear was foreign to Sletran, but Erybet saw the naked emotion on his clanmate’s face, a terror that mirrored what was in the Dramok’s heart.

He squeezed Sletran’s shoulder. “I don’t know, my friend. But I’m going to find a way to make it better. I promise. Go get yourself cleaned up and get some sleep.”

When Sletran didn’t move right away, Erybet squeezed the Nobek’s shoulder again. Sletran still looked frightened and confused but he obeyed Erybet as readily as ever. He walked out of the greeting room, silently moving down the hall to the sleeping room where Rachel and Conyod slumbered.

Erybet dropped onto the lounger, his legs suddenly too weak to support him. It didn’t matter how much of a security issue the New Bethlehem matter was; he had to make Akrij listen.

Sletran had to have help immediately.

Erybet was a company commander and a good soldier. But he was a Dramok first, and he had to save his Nobek from the madness that threatened to claim him.

Chapter 8

At work the next morning, Conyod found himself reading the latest test results on a catatonic Matara for the fifth time. He’d reached the end of the document yet again without making a single note on the case. He sighed. His mind was definitely not on his work.

Erybet had fallen in love with Rachel. Conyod knew the signs from his Dramok all too well, and it made part of his spirit soar. He’d been sure his clan leader would see how wonderful she was, but it was still a relief to see that belief borne out. One more obstacle had been overcome.

At the same time, Sletran’s behavior was not improving enough. This morning, the Nobek had been withdrawn for the most part. True, he did respond to Rachel when expected, but he was maintaining a distance, almost as if he was afraid to be too close to her.

Conyod loved Rachel. The thought of not being with her made him hurt inside. But the old worries nagged at him as well. Erybet was putting too much hope into her presence curing Sletran. And what would happen if the Nobek lost control again, perhaps hurting himself?

I’m in over my head. I can’t see anything clearly anymore. I have to talk to someone.

Of course, that someone was always Dr. Hupsan. Just as Conyod had gently pulled a number of tattered patients away from the brink of self-destruction, so Hupsan had done for him when he was still very young.

That’s not quite right, is it? It was Sletran who pulled me back from the edge. Hupsan kept
me from going back for another look into the chasm.

Conyod kept no secrets from his former psychologist and longtime mentor. Hupsan was well aware of the problems he had faced since his clanmates had returned home from the war. It was because of Hupsan that Erybet and Sletran still had an Imdiko that came home to them.

“You learned long ago you can’t run away from your problems, Conyod,”
his old friend had told him only five months earlier.
“You must stay with them and see this thing through to the
end. Sooner or later, the secrecy will end.”

But would it end in time to safely clan Rachel?

With Rachel no longer in residence at the hospital and no new patient assigned to Conyod in her place, he had a stretch of time to himself. Though his Nobek father Vel was in the capital again to conduct business, Conyod had begged off meeting with his parent. He didn’t want the overprotective Nobek in his private matters. He needed an objective opinion, and he needed it now. Erybet could ask Rachel to clan at any moment.

Hupsan picked up Conyod’s vid call almost immediately. Pure white strands had worked their way in to his braided black hair. The smile lines in his kind face were etched deep.

“Conyod! It is so good to hear from you. I’ve been wondering how you and your clan are doing.”

Conyod couldn’t help but smile at the warmth. “It’s been too long, and I apologize for not keeping in better touch.”

“Not at all. Life has a habit of superseding good intentions. So how are you?”

“Wonderful in some aspects, terrible in others.” He took a deep breath. “I need to talk to you at length.”

“Go right ahead if it’s convenient for you.” The way the vid transmitted Hupsan’s image, it looked as if he folded his arms on Conyod’s desk instead of his own. It was almost as if his trusted friend sat right there across from him.

Conyod had hoped Hupsan had time, but he didn’t want to impose. “I’m not interrupting? I can com later when you have time.”

“You’ve caught me between clients on a slow day.” The other Imdiko’s smile never wavered, but his gaze sharpened. “What’s wrong?”

“We have the opportunity to clan a Matara. Not that anything is wrong with that,” Conyod added quickly. “She’s wonderful, just absolutely perfect. I can’t begin to tell you how happy she makes me.”

“And Erybet and Sletran?”

“Erybet adores her too. Sletran shows great affection and has said he wants to take care of her.”

“It sounds like they’re doing better.”

Conyod sucked in his lower lip before answering. “Some issues have improved. Sletran occasionally laughs again. He even jokes. But overall, I’m not really seeing any substantial changes in either of them. Whatever the war did to them, they’re both still showing the same signs of trauma. Erybet’s lost his ability to make good decisions. Sletran disappears for hours at a time and doesn’t tell us where he’s been.”

“Have they told you anything of what happened during the war?”

“They’re still under orders of silence from their superiors. I’m convinced Sletran is a danger to himself, and I’m terrified of bringing Rachel into our clan when we have a Nobek who might be falling apart.”

Hupsan pursed his lips. “How is Sletran around her?”

“That’s the part that makes this so hard for me. When Sletran is interacting with her, he’s almost normal again. Erybet too. I’m lost, Hupsan. I want Ray-Ray with me so bad, and I can tell Erybet feels the same way. He’s pushing to bring her in, hoping she’ll fix Sletran.”

His mentor stroked his chin. “Having a Matara might alleviate some of Sletran’s crisis, but there’s a strong likelihood it will only be temporary.”

Conyod nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Ray-Ray’s been through her own trauma and she needs strong men, not this broken mess we’ve become. I know they’re under orders, but if I just had some clue as to what happened, maybe I could help them.”

“Well, I would never advise you to push your clanmates into revealing secrets that might set them up for a court martial.” Hupsan’s brow arched. “But you could assure them that anything they tell you would remain private; that it would remain between the three of you. Secrets within a clan are never a good idea. Meanwhile, you should impress on Erybet how imperative it is that you not bring in someone so vulnerable as your Rachel at this time. Is there any fear she will join another clan?”

That was something else to make some of the dark clouds over Conyod’s head a little less dense. “No. I am certain of her.”

Hupsan’s smile returned. “Then take your time. Let your clan get healthy.”

“Thank you. I guess I just needed someone to tell me what I already knew was right.”

“We all need that sometimes, Conyod.” The elder Imdiko hesitated. “I would like to make another recommendation, if I may?”

“Of course. I welcome any advice you can give me.”

“When you are certain Erybet and Sletran are as ready to clan Rachel as you are, make whole-clan therapy a condition of doing so.”

Conyod blinked. “All of us? Together?”

“Absolutely. If you clan, you’ll have three clanmates with trauma, along with your own.”

“Me? But my issues were cleared years ago.”

“The issue of your missing brother and the way your parents treated you has been dealt with.

But now you’re living with a very troubled clan. It’s affecting you adversely, Conyod. You’re showing an abnormal amount of stress. You need help before you fall back into the same situation you were in before. Or are you still having notions of hiding from your clanmates?”

Conyod sighed. He had admitted to Hupsan that he had thought of simply walking out on the pair a few months ago. Clanning was for life, and Conyod couldn’t break the ties legally, but he’d gone as far as researching how to disappear. Not that he had been quite ready to take that extreme step.

Or so he’d thought until Hupsan had questioned him about his motives. That conversation made Conyod examine closely how close he was to doing it. It turned out he was right on the brink.

The consequences of such actions would be extreme. If Conyod left Erybet and Sletran and got caught, the authorities would get involved. His Dramok and Nobek would be investigated for abuse. Conyod would be placed in a psychological trauma facility under guard until the situation was worked out to the court’s satisfaction. It would be a nightmare, just like when he’d escaped the conditions of his parents’ home as a youth.

The Imdiko did not want to shame his clanmates, especially when they already suffered.

Still, he’d had the stray thought that the resulting investigation would force Erybet’s hand, would make him finally admit to whatever had happened during the war.

The growing love Conyod had felt for Rachel had ended the drive to escape his clan. While still miserable at home, he simply couldn’t imagine not seeing her every day. He resumed trying to force Erybet to own up to the mess they’d become. Now things were a little better, and he was determined to fix the clan so Rachel could become a part of it.