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Brigs nodded. Urgan was off speaking with Solos, leaving the females to plan his future.

“As a Guardian, his healing talents would be nurtured and he would receive that sort of protection. The decision is for you and Urgan to make.”

“I am agreeing. Send what documents you need to and he will be available to you whenever the base is ready. I want my grandson safe, Recruiter Brigeet. That is the prime requirement to his being part of the project. Am I understood?”

Brigs cocked her head. “What would make him safe?”

“A strong woman. Do you have a bond mate, Recruiter?”

Brigs shook her head. “No, but I do not know how long I will be here, so I could not find him a suitable female.”

The matriarch cackled. “I meant you. You seem like a good woman; you have our first Guardian following your every move. You obviously have sexual skills sufficient enough to keep him interested. I want you to offer for my grandson.”

“May I think on this?”

“You may. Jadara is not right for my grandson.”

A cold voice sounded from the doorway. “That is not kind, Tweliak. I have made fair and equitable offer for Urgan. He is mine.”

Tweliak pounded her cane on the floor. “He goes where I tell him to go. He is not for you, Jadara Xim.”

Brigs looked over at Jadara and saw a lithe, elegant woman with rippling navy blue hair and eyes that screamed insane. The woman was clutching a small vial of something, and she ran forward.

Brigeet got to her feet and put herself between the crazy lady and the matriarch. The liquid felt cold before it began to sizzle her skin. The right half of her face burned, but she tackled Jadara while Tweliak screamed for help. She had quite the set of lungs on her.

Brigs was busy punching the woman and pinning her to the floor while her face blistered and peeled, dripping on her attacker.

Finally, Brigs got a grip on her throat and strangled Jadara until she ceased fighting. She held on until there was no fight left.

“Recruiter. Don’t move.” Urgan carefully gripped her and lifted her from Jadara. Solos was yelling, but Urgan was easing her to the couch and slowly tracing the burn on her skin.

With every line of damage, his skin reddened and blistered before it healed.

He murmured to her, trying to keep her calm as the touches hurt her.

Solos was muttering in the background.

No one asked her to speak, which was probably a good thing seeing as the acid had reached her nose and mouth.

Urgan worked on her slowly, repairing the damage inch by inch, one finger width at a time.

When her mouth was whole, she whispered. “Contact healer.”

He smiled at her. “Yes, but don’t talk. I graft my own tissue in place so you are going to be half Jaluum until your system can take over. You suffered a lot of damage to your face, shoulder and a few burns on your arm, but I can heal you. You just have to keep still.”

The local law enforcement arrived and noted the damage that had been done. They hauled Jadara out for assessment and detention.

Solos was pacing the moment that they left with the woman. Brigs reached up with her left hand, and he came by to hold it. She felt him press a kiss to her skin, and he held her hand against his cheek.

When Urgan had placed enough underlying tissue on her cheek, he pressed his palm flat to her face and the pain receded.

After half an hour, he finished with her face and began to work on her shoulder.

“I almost hate to heal your skin; it is such an unusual tone.”

She laughed, testing out her healed skin. “It is very common on my world. Several peoples moved to areas with limited light and colder weather and got paler over generations.”

“Your hair is very striking.”

“So I have been told. Your matriarch seems inclined to offer you to the Guardian project.”

He smiled again, looking charming and ruffled with his dark blue hair all askew. “I am guessing that she offered you more than that.”

Solos’s hand tightened, and she turned her gaze to his. He gave her a nod and a smile.

Holy crap, he is on board with my taking on another guy.

“I would not take it amiss if you took another bond mate, providing that I was first.”

She blushed as Urgan looked at her with intense focus.

“I am not staying. I have no right to stay here.” Brigs was panicking as they both stared intently at her.

Urgan continued the healing, and when she was finally whole, he helped her sit up.

The matriarch broke protocol and brought her a cup of tea, holding it for her while she flexed her hand.

“I am so sorry that you came to harm under my roof, Recruiter. Whatever you ask of me, I will do.”

It was not a statement that Brigs had ever thought she would have to deal with. “I thank you for your offer; however, there is nothing owed to me. This is part of the risk of doing recruitments.”

Tweliak pounded her cane again. “No, it is part of the risk with dealing with us. You stood between me and that hideous wretch, and I thank you for it. My family owes you a debt.”

Solos sat next to her. “If you are feeling better, we can return to my family’s home.”

Tweliak smiled and lifted the small data chip. “I will be in touch.”

Solos steadied her, and Brigs made her way back to the skimmer.

They flew in silence for the first ten minutes until he couldn’t take it anymore. “You attacked an armed woman?”

“The woman was attacking the matriarch. I was not going to let an elderly woman take a hit when I could just step in between them.”

He seethed quietly for a moment.

“I did not know she was carrying acid, Solos.”

“Her family are chemists. Urgan let me know while we were discussing the likelihood of him being a Guardian.”

“How did he feel about being traded by his matriarch?”

Solos grinned. “If it was being traded to you, he was all for it.”

Brigs rubbed her forehead and winced at the tenderness of the new skin. “I am still getting used to the idea that men are bargained into a bonding.”

He grinned, “I know. A Jaluum woman would not let me get on top nearly as much as you do.”

She snorted. “I am just lazy. After a day of sorting information, I welcome being able to simply let you make the first move. It takes the stress out of sex.”

“Glad I can be of assistance. I believe that tonight will just be cuddling. You look exhausted and a little blue.”

She scowled and looked at her hand. The acid marks were indeed Jaluum blue. She touched her face. “You are kidding.”

He grinned. “No. I am not. He took your wounds but transferred his skin to you. I have heard of such a thing out in the imperium, but I had no idea that there was a healer of that nature at home.”

“You would be surprised what you can find if you look for it. I am unhappy to have to leave the final recruitment today, by the way.”

“You were attacked by an acid-wielding maniac. I believe an evening off is due you.”

“I will have to file a report.”

“Of course. I had to file our arrival before I joined my father with dinner prep yesterday. I will speak to the project manager on behalf of Urgan’s family and send their requests for his conditional membership.”

She was going to argue the point, but she was too tired. “Fine. Update them on my status as well. You have all the details.”

She settled in her seat and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we arrive.”

“Yes, my lady. I will also have to repair your suit and cloak. The acid burned right through.”

“Whatever.”

She dozed and felt a hand stroke her left cheek before warm blackness eased her into sleep.

Apparently, being acid washed meant she would get her food delivered to the bedroom while Solos sat next to her repairing her clothing. He had to use other materials to patch her clothing, and then, he pressed his talent into action and matched the fabric.

Ideera herself brought a tray in, and Solos moved quickly to catch it when she saw Brigeet. “Oh, my seedlings.”

Brigs had already had the same shock moment looking in a mirror. Half her face was the lavender blue of one of the locals with a blush. “I apologize.”

Solos put the tray down on Brigs’s lap. “Her own colouring should return at some point.”

Ideera blinked and came over to touch her cheek. “It is real?”

“Oh, it’s real all right. A little sore as well.”

Ideera snatched her fingers back. “Apologies.”

Solos chuckled. “It is fine, Mother. She simply is enjoying being served without having to deal with the daily trivia.”

“Tweliak has been complaining about the woman trying to gain her son, but she never thought that the maniac would attack. She just knew that Jadara was not a good match.”

Solos laughed. “Tweliak found a good match. She as much as offered Urgan to Brigeet.”

Brigs blushed but Ideera scowled. “Not until you bond with Solos. After that, take as many as are offered you, but Solos will be first mate.”

Solos grinned as his mother laid it out for Brigs.

Ideera crossed her arms. “I don’t care what you look like; we have run it through the council and you are staying on Jaluum. You are the new base coordinator for the Jaluum Guardian base.”

A quick call to the project headquarters proved Ideera’s claim. The Matriarch Council had asked for her to be permanently placed on Jaluum and so she was. The amount negotiated for her services made her a very wealthy woman and the matriarchs were going to be knocking on her door and offering up their sons.

She managed to squeeze the remaining four recruitments into the next afternoon. Two were definitely interested and the other two were involved in bonding contracts. She would have more than the minimum of required Guardians, but now, she had to get them trained.

Solos was busy picking out his trousseau for their bonding ceremony. Apparently, by taking advantage of Ideera’s son under her own roof, she had sealed her fate.

Brigs met with the tailor and got a gown for her first bonding ceremony. Gold and black were made more striking by the colour of her hair.

A magistrate was coming over, and they were being bound in the family temple later that day.

Brigs was sitting and fussing with the jewelry that Ideera had helped her find. A crown of jet spikes held her hair away from her face and a matching necklace of long crystals covered her collarbone.

Bracelets wrapped four inches of her arms and earrings completed the ensemble, covering her ears completely with a cascade of crystals that hung from the top with a small clip.

Nidalli arrived with a tea tray. “Wow, you clean up well.”

“Thank you. Is that for me or are you engaged in some performance art?”

Nidalli grinned. “It will be fun having you as a sister. You have a charming sense of the come-back.”

“Thank you. Time with Solos got me to loosen up my sense of propriety. I come from a fairly buttoned-down culture.”

“No multiple bonding?”

Brigs laughed, “Not in acceptable culture. Also, few, if any, matriarchal societies. This will be an adjustment for me, and I don’t just mean the multiple thing. I have not actually thought about becoming a family of any kind.”

Nidalli put the tray down on a table and surprisingly took her hand. “Brigs, you will have a family now. Sure, we all answer to mother, but we support each other. We always come when needed. Even my mated brothers would defy their matriarchs if it was necessary.”

“Well, I will let Solos come when Ideera needs him provided that he is not on Guardian business.”

Nidalli grinned. “Good. There is no one better than he is at building a house in under a day.”

“He can build a spaceship in the same amount of time. It is amazing to watch.”

“Since he was young, he would build tools and replace items that had broken if he couldn’t fix them. He had problems with blended items when he was young.”

Brigs snorted and paced a little. “He still does.”

“Are you nervous?”

“I am. I have never done this before.”

Nidalli grinned, “My other sisters claimed their men as their due. They went in front of the magistrate with all the confidence and right of their station.”

“I am very vague on what my station is.”

Nidalli squeezed her hand. “You will figure it out.”

“I hope so. I get the feeling that this world will chew me up and spit me out if I don’t.”

“Not quite but close enough. Now, have some tea. My mother put a mild sedative in it. It should keep you calm.”

Brigs poured a cup of tea and sipped it. “Whoa. I now see why your sisters didn’t get belligerent when it came to claiming their men. They were hammered.”

“Hammered?”

“There is an intoxicant in here. Well, for my species at least.” Brigs took a cautious sip and felt her head spin. She was a lot more relaxed after three more sips.

When she felt herself smiling, she put the tea down before things could get a little more blurry.

Nidalli kept her company until it was time. She acted as her second when they left the Landik home and crossed to the private temple.

A crowd was gathered, and a few members gasped when they saw her face. Urgan and his mother were inside, standing in the front row. He couldn’t take his eyes off Brigs, and she blushed a little at his intensity.

Solos stepped forward, and she gripped his hand with her left. Brigs’s fingers were on top of his and they signed the paperwork with their hands still connected. It was awkward, but it was the Jaluum way.

When blood samples were registered, they turned and posed for the vids and images to be taken for the family records.

Ideera hugged her new daughter and warned Solos to obey his new matriarch. She teared up when she said it, and she wiped those tears onto her thumb and pressed them to Solos’s lips.

The crowd applauded wildly for that small gesture.

When Brigs figured it out, her stomach flipped. It was the release from the matriarch. Solos could now father children.

He turned from her mother and kissed his new bond mate. Ideera’s tears were sweet rather than salty.