Ha'ven's Song (5 page)

She had learned how to avoid the dragon-men
who guarded the area. She became one with the shadows. She moved
safely under the cover of darkness with nothing but the stars to
light her way. She loved slipping down to the edge of the garden
where a low wall ran along the cliffs leading down to the ocean far
below. The stars caused the water to sparkled like diamonds on a
clear night and she could almost imagine dancing among them.

The flowers that Sara loved so much opened
at night and glowed with hundreds of different colors. If she
touched them, they would close up. They reminded her of herself,
opening when they thought they were alone and safe and closing when
others came close. She would sometimes sit among them and gently
touch them just so she could watch them open again. A part of her
hoped that she would one day be able to have the courage to open up
again.

Most of all, she loved the solitude and
silence of the darkness. She pulled it to her like a cloak, hugging
it tightly around her. She could look out on the world and no one
could look back.

“Sara,” Abby started to say as she rose and
scooped up Zohar who had crawled off to hide under the low table.
“Do you think…?”

Sara glanced at Abby. “It will be good for
her. She needs to get out more,” she responded quietly.

Abby looked at Emma’s calm, blank features.
She nodded in silent understanding. “I’ll send the seamstress to
you. She will make a special outfit for you both. We have several
guests from other worlds. It… it might be safer if you both
remained inside for the next several days. Zoran has asked me to
tell you that you won’t be allowed outside until a certain
situation has been resolved.”

Sara frowned in concern at Abby. “Are we in
danger?” She asked tersely.

Abby sighed and looked at Emma who remained
unchanged. “No, not directly but the men are very protective.”

Abby’s voice dropped as she fought with
whether to tell the two women what was happening. With a sigh, she
realized they deserved to know. Abby quickly explained the
situation with Raffvin and what had happened to date. She went on
to explain that a plan had been set into motion that would
eliminate the threat to all of them once and for all.

“Jaguin and Gunner will be remaining close
to protect you both,” Abby continued. “I have to go get Zohar down
for a nap,” she said before she grimaced as he began fussing and
pulling at her top. “And feed him.”

Sara nodded and walked with her to the door.
She brushed her fingers down Zohar’s cheek as he whimpered. Her
eyes softened for a moment before she turned and opened the
door.

“I know where the dining room is,” Sara
said. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for any of the men to
come here. Emma becomes more withdrawn when anyone else comes near
her.”

Abby glanced over to where Emma was sitting
and staring out the window. “I don’t think that is possible,” she
murmured softly. “I’m worried about her. It is like she is fading
away a little more each day. Should I send the healer to see her
again?”

“No,” Sara said heavily. “The last time he
came she locked herself in the bathroom. It took me two and a half
days to get her to open the door. This hasn’t been easy… for either
one of us but especially her. She was held longer and that man…,”
her voice broke as she remembered what she had been subjected
to.

“What about Audrey?” Abby said, looking at
Sara. “She is human. She is an OB-Gyn.”

Sara looked over her shoulder at Emma and
nodded. “That might be a good idea. Maybe she can come see her
tomorrow. The only time I really see Emma react is when Cara comes
to visit with the twins. She actually smiled the last time she
came.”

“How could anyone not smile when those two
are in the room?” Abby asked with a roll of her eyes. “They are so
much like Cara it’s scary. They get into everything. I swear Trelon
is going to lock Amber and Jade in a tower when they get older to
keep all the ‘dragons’ away,” she added just as Zohar let out a
loud cry cutting any further conversation short.

Abby gave a muttered apology before she
hurried out the door. Sara turned and looked at Emma and let out a
deep sigh. She was at a loss as how to help the young woman. She
hoped Audrey could do something before the girl with the soft voice
that had kept her sane during their captivity disappeared
forever.

“Do you have the equipment ready?” Adalard
asked as he met up with Ha’ven later that night.

“Of course,” Ha’ven remarked with a raised
eyebrow. “I finished setting up the shield late this afternoon. Now
the only thing that needs to be done is to tie Trelon’s mate up
before she dismantles the damn thing. She drove me nuts with her
questions and I swear if I catch her ‘tweaking’ it again I’m going
to be the one tying her up and delivering her with a bow on her
head to Trelon. How he can keep up with her I have no idea. I was
exhausted and needed a strong drink after just thirty minutes in
her company,” he finished dryly.

Adalard chuckled. “I was talking to Jarak,
Kelan’s head of security from his warship. Did you know that she
broadcasted Trelon’s PVC out over the
V’ager’s
communications system?” Adalard asked biting his lip to keep from
laughing.

“She did what?” Ha’ven asked in disbelief.
“Why would she do that? What did Trelon say? What happened? I mean,
I can’t believe she is still alive.”

Adalard tried to keep a straight face but it
was impossible. He was fighting the laughter so hard tears were
rolling down his cheeks. He breathed deeply and opened his mouth to
tell Ha’ven what happened but every time he did he burst into
laughter again.

“What’s so damn funny?” Trelon asked as he
and Cara came up to where Ha’ven and Adalard were standing in the
hallway outside the dining area.

“I was… I was… trying… to tell… Ha’ven
about… your…” Adalard struggled to say before he gasped in a deep
breath and burst out. “PVC!”

Trelon’s face turned dark with a scowl at
the reminder of what Cara had done to his Personal Virtual
Companion. Not that he needed it any longer but it still burned
that everyone in the known galaxies knew his every fantasy. If that
wasn’t bad enough, he still got requests for copies.

Cara rolled her eyes and put her hands on
her hips. “It wasn’t
that
funny! Besides, I didn’t know what
it was. I thought it was about plumbing pipe. That is what we call
it back on Earth.”

“Plumbing pipe?” Ha’ven asked confused. “How
could you mistake it for piping? Didn’t you see what was on
it?”

Cara rolled her eyes and looked at Ha’ven
like he was a first class idiot. “Duh! I didn’t look at the video
before I sent it because I thought it was an instruction on
plumbing. Besides, I was more interested in seeing if the
modifications to the communications system would increase the
distance of the distribution of the signal. If you ask me, there
really isn’t that much difference between the piping from home and
what was on the video.”

“Do you even know what a PVC is?” Ha’ven
asked in disbelief looking at Cara like she had lost her mind.

Trelon looked at his friend like he would
love to kill him right there while Adalard melted back against the
wall holding his sides. Ha’ven looked at Trelon who was glaring at
him and waving his hand back and forth across his throat behind
Cara’s back. Ha’ven shook his head and turned to look at Cara whose
lips were curved into a mischievous smile.

“Of course,” she replied cheerfully. “The
only differences between your PVC and the ones back home is you can
only watch yours. Personally, I like the real thing. Of course,
Trelon is built like you wouldn’t believe. His cock is the size of
…” A low curse broke Cara’s detailed description off.

Ha’ven’s mouth dropped open, Adalard crowed
in delight and Trelon groaned as he wrapped his arms around his
tiny mate and carried her into the dining room. Ha’ven’s eyes
followed his friend whose face had turned a decidedly darker shade
of red at his mate’s words. He decided that Trelon not only needed
to tie his mate up but he needed to gag her as well.

“Did she just describe Trelon’s….?” Ha’ven
asked looking at Adalard who was wiping the corner of his eye on
his shirt.

“Yes, she did,” Adalard said with a grin.
“I’m telling you, this species is very entertaining.”

Ha’ven shook his head as Adalard went into
the dining room. He drew in a deep breath and thanked the Goddess
that he had no desire to be entertained by one of them. He had
several females he enjoyed company with back on Ceran-Pax and that
was all he needed. Besides, until he could find a way to contain
the sudden waves of power that ebbed and flowed inside him, he
couldn’t even think of having a permanent mate. A slight shudder
went through him at the thought.

I would rather go back to war with the
Sarafin and the Valdier before settling for just one female,
especially from a frustrating species like these humans,
he
thought with a grimace.

Unfortunately, it would appear the Goddess
was not listening to his offering of thanks. He knew he was in
trouble the moment he stepped into the dining room. A wave of power
unlike anything he had ever felt before swelled inside of him,
swirling and churning until invisible bands burst from him and shot
across the room.

His first thought was he had to find a safe
place to release it before he killed everyone in the palace. His
second thought was there was no way he would get far enough away to
be able to protect them. But, it was his third thought that almost
brought him to his knees in front of everyone in the room… he had
found his mate.

*.*.*

Emma sat quietly next to Sara looking down at
the empty plate in front of her. She hadn’t wanted to come. She
wanted to stay in the safety of their rooms until darkness fell.
Then, she would slip out and find her way to the edge of the
garden.

Sara had refused to let her stay behind.
Emma wished she could be as strong as Sara. Sara had been thrown
into the cell next to hers the night after Betsy had been murdered.
Emma had listened as she had cursed at the men who had brought her.
She had no idea of what was about to happen to her but Emma
did.

They had ignored Emma throughout the night
and the next several days. She heard one of them joke that it was
no fun killing when the victim was unaware of what was happening.
Emma had crawled over to the metal door and tried to warn Sara. It
had been hard to think as her head hurt so badly. Sara had finally
quieted down enough to hear Emma’s softly spoken words.

They had been left blissfully alone for the
next four days before they had both been dragged out of their cells
to the beautifully decorated office of Javier Cuello. The horrid
man was back and this time, Emma knew she would not be given the
reprieve of just a beating. Sara had cursed and fought until they
strung her up on the poles. Even then, she refused to give in. By
the fifth lash of the whip, her wretched screams echoed along with
the men’s laughter and taunts. By the fifteenth, she was barely
conscious and still they continued.

When Emma struggled to throw herself in
front of the man with the whip, another had struck her in the head
knocking her to the floor. Cuello had ordered the man who hit her
to force her to sit up and watch. Shortly after that, things had
become very strange when the door suddenly burst open and long,
golden tentacles stretched out through the room, imprisoning the
men. She didn’t remember much afterwards until she awoke in a
strange room and learned she was no longer on Earth.

She refused to look at the strange creatures
who had taken her. They had been kind so far but she didn’t trust
them any more than she trusted the men who had kidnapped her. She
saw what they changed into. She saw them fighting with each other
when she was on the warship. They had been savage in both
forms.

The golden creatures had been kind but they
had also changed into horrifying shapes with long, dagger-like
teeth and claws. None of them came near her. It was as if they knew
she was terrified of them.

She had finally just remained in the small
cabin they had given her. She had sat for hours looking out at the
black nothingness and wondering what would become of her.
Eventually, she had stopped caring. Sara came to visit her every
day but even that didn’t brighten Emma’s mood. She was worried
about what would happen to her mother if no one went to visit her.
Was this her punishment for leaving her mom alone to seek out a
life of her own? She had been wrong to think it was better to live
life to the fullest. Her life had been full before only she had
been too short-sighted to appreciate it.

Emma gasped as a sudden shock hit her
slender body, jerking her out of her private torment. Her head
jerked up and she looked around in confusion. Her body tingled with
a strange awareness that she had never felt before. She felt like
someone had just hit her with a Taser.

Her blue eyes searched the area, pausing at
the doorway where a tall muscular male stood staring back at her in
equal astonishment. His violet eyes stared at her with an intensity
that made her blush and she had to force her eyes to pull away from
him. Her face flamed as she looked down at her clenched hands.

Why is he staring at me?
She wondered
in confusion.
I don’t want him staring at me. What if he comes
near me?

Panic built at the thought of the huge male
approaching her. She knew there was no way she could escape him. He
looked like he could break her with one hand tied behind his back.
She doubted if she even came up to his chest!

“Are you alright?” Sara asked, leaning
toward her. “You look flushed.”