Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (32 page)

There were a number of nods around the
table.

“Now it’s your turn. Pam will give you the
other internet addresses for the various dating websites and you
probably will need to go through all of your messages. This might
take you a few hours. Respond to the women you like and then we’ll
do this again tomorrow to work through the next steps. Is everyone
okay with that?”

As the men moved away, Leah and Pam exchanged a
fist bump and huge smiles.

One meeting down, only six or eight more to
go.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Leah plugged in another set of dates into the
spreadsheet for Gyard’s dating stats. All the numbers seemed to run
together and she rubbed her tired, burning eyes to try and ease
them. She was spending too much time on her computer although she
couldn’t figure out another way to log in the men’s activities
except manually. Especially since she and Pam weren’t gifted with
perfect memories like their group of fellas.

Maybe she needed to ask the large Arbrynt to
perform his magic to streamline or automate the whole process.
However, before initiating any type of discussion with others on
changing things, she needed to talk it over with Pam.

Leah had to admit that because of her and her
best friend, every one of the guys were learning how to be the
perfect date—the nuances of flirting, of how certain gestures and
phrases made them unforgettable as a partner either while on a
simple coffee date or a full-on dinner situation.

The men were taking more pride either in their
appearances, no longer needing coaching when it came to what to
wear in order to display their physiques or for the occasion. Each
of the large guys had gravitated toward a certain style of clothing
that fit their personalities. Like Gyard in his western shirts and
jeans versus Arbrynt’s more formal attire of button-down and
pressed trousers. Even Leah had noticed the differences in their
choices of dress and had approved wholeheartedly. Mainly because
the changes were all down to her and Pam.

The fact their group of Picari men were less
homogenous and more individualistic not only their clothes but in
their personalities as well, was huge. It was as if the guys were
finally allowing their own individuality to emerge. While a girl
shouldn’t define a man by his appearance alone, the men’s choices
provided a view to what each man was like.

These changes and the men’s whole-hearted
acceptance of them, gave Leah confidence Stege’s challenge would be
met.

Sighing, she sat back and stretched out her
arms, wiggling her fingers that held a heat from all the keystrokes
she’d done over the last four and half hours.

She had been at it since lunchtime, a shared
meal that had become a bit of a ritual over the last week she’d
worked for them. Breakfast and dinner were unknowns with regard to
who was going to attend, but lunch? It was a shared meal none of
them wanted to miss.

In Leah’s opinion, it was a time they all
looked forward to, one that included a lot of back and forth
conversations, tons of laughter and light teasing. She thought it
was something the Picari warriors not only enjoyed but also seemed
to hold sacred.

That alone made it special in Leah’s
eyes.

Rykhan had gone back to his room, to the maps
he was uploading to their system on the Phoenix area immediately
after the time he’d called ‘second meal’. So much of her warrior’s
free time was devoted to accumulating information that would save
the groups that followed from making some of the same mistakes the
first mission had stumbled through when they’d arrived.

Rubbing the small of her back, Leah decided she
needed a bathroom break and walked to the rear of the house to use
the small half-bath.

As she passed by the kitchen after
completing her business, she noticed one of the warriors had left
their communication device behind. Without thinking, she picked it
up off the countertop and turned towards the front room with a
thought of returning it. Per Rykhan, the early part of their
training in their first days of the academy included admonitions to
keep their
tresls
on their person every moment except during their sleep
cycles.

When her fingers connected to the case, the
device began to scream on an ear-splitting squeal as an electrical
charge sparked and then began to course and pulsate through her.
Her fingers tensed as the current held them in a grip so strong,
she couldn’t break its hold.

Her mind told her she was being shocked but the
voltage was much, much more than she’d ever experienced. It wasn’t
so much a jolt that shot through her but a horrific coating that
covered her before sinking into her skin, seizing her muscles with
a tension so strong she was terrified the underlying bones would
break.

The current started on her hand but soon spread
to her arm and she opened her mouth to scream but by that time, the
current was already up into her jaw. It shot both out and down,
only allowing her to take one tiny step before her feet shot out
from underneath her. As she hit the tiled floor, her body began to
involuntary writhe as she tried to escape the agony of both
pressure and heat coming in waves from the device still clenched in
her grip.

Leah was unable to see, unable to do little
more than pant at the torture that took control of her
body.

The moment the current moved over
her
wahrom
, coming
into contact with the metal, a shower of sparks erupted before
Leah’s entire world went black.

*.*.*.*.*

Rykhan was the first to respond to the
tumultuous blare then the resounding thud that came from the eating
area. As he rounded the edge of the wall, his eyes took in a scene
that he knew he would never be able to get out of his
memory.

There, in the middle of the floor lay his
beautiful Leah, her back bowed as her heels beat against the tile.
Her lips grimaced into a rictus of a smile even as white foam
bubbled up from her lips.

With his heart in overdrive, Rykhan skidded and
dropped to his knees next to her, his eyes following the shadowy
blue trails that pulsed on every viewable surface of her flesh. He
detected the faint aroma of burning hair and had to fight the
frenzied panic that flashed through him as he saw what she held her
right fist.

It was a Picari Protectorate’s communication
device!

A
fracking
tresl
!

Others piled into the room and one of his
warrior brothers yelled a combination of letters and numbers in the
old language that immediately disconnected the security system
within the tiny unit. He could not distinguish the voice in order
to identify it, because he could not focus on anything but
Leah.

Pushing his panic and dread aside,
he made another visual inspection of his female, taking in the
burns of not only her hand, but of the skin around her
wahrom
. The very symbol
of
Tsiran’s
intention they were to spend their lives together.

Rykhan bent over her still form, trying to
detect her breathing before dropping his ear to her chest to listen
for her heartbeat.

“This will be more thorough,” Bronsyn growled
and shoved the tech-med machine into Rykhan’s hands.

“What is wrong with her?” Arbrynt
roared.

A warrior cleared his throat as
another murmured, “She touched a
tresl
while it was in full
lock-down.”

“And that means?” Even as Rykhan studied the
tech-med’s screen, he could hear the fearful emotion in Pam’s
question. It was too much for his overloaded brain to handle and he
directed his full concentration to the information on the medical
apparatus in his hands.

There was a commotion from behind
him as Bronsyn communicated with the
Searcher
, describing the situation,
and arranging for med-transport to meet them in the TIPS room
onboard the star-cruiser.

Finally, three warriors came to
where Leah lay still as death although the med unit said she was
still on the living side of
Tsiran’s
ether. The men set the three
key components of TIPS surface apparatus in a triangulated pattern
around Leah’s body, just wide enough to include him as
well.

As Arbrynt activated all three pads and the
familiar green mist appeared, Rykhan raised stricken eyes to
Bronsyn’s face.

“We will entreat
Tsiran
for her, my friend,” his
leader said before the white noise of the teleportation device
engaged.

*.*.*.*.*

There was a flurry of activity when
Rykhan and his
wahrom
mate rematerialized in the teleportation room of the
star-cruiser. He tried to intercede, tried to involve himself in
getting her still unconscious form onto the med-bed but the staff
brushed him aside, regulating him as nothing more than a vigilant
observer. However, he kept pace as the team raced Leah to the
med-bay but they blocked his access when her gurney finally slid
through the doors.

“There isn’t enough room for you,
Rykhan,” Med-leader Jyrl explained using a muscled arm to prevent
Rykhan from following. “I will get her stabilized and then give you
a report of her condition. But you must remain outside so I can do
my best for your
blay
.”

Rykhan’s mind told him that the physician, one
of the best in their galaxy and hand-chosen for the mission, was
right but Rykhan’s heart demanded he stay with her. Especially when
she was injured, completely unaware of where she was and what had
happened. Nevertheless, he had no choice and made himself take a
step back away from the doors.

As a warrior, there had been many times he had
had to wait before he could act. Even then the waiting chafed, as
patience was not one of his virtues. But it had never seemed so
hard before. To simply standby while others handled Leah’s injuries
was excruciating, and gave him entirely too much time to
think.

Which male had left their
tresl
out?

Since the time the males had joined
the academy, each warrior was given a warning to engage the
internal security system to prevent access to it. Especially
because the
tresl
was more than just a communication tool, the internal
processors in a
tresl
made it a combination of a cellphone, computer, GPS, e-reader
and so much more.

Up to and including a weapon should the
occasion warrant.

Frack
! Why
had the
tresl’s
security system been set so high? Moreover, by
whom?

Rykhan began to pace as he tried to fit a face
to the voice that had disengaged the security system but he could
not narrow it down.

Tsiran’s
beard! If he ever got his hands on the warrior whose
tresl
had hurt
her…

He shook his head, trying to throw off grim
thoughts of what he would do to the male who injured his female. It
went against all of his training and the Protectorate laws to
consider fighting with another warrior but Leah was his to keep
safe! Because another of his kind caused her injury, everything
within him demanded Rykhan avenge her.

Maybe Rykhan had failed her as well.
Slumping against a wall, the large male realized he had been remiss
in cautioning her about the small device each Picari used. Ever
since the group had been planet-side, even he had grown lax in
keeping his own
tresl
on him at all times. Although he had never set his device’s
security system to high. At most, if someone touched Rykhan’s it
would only emit a mild shock. What kind of information could
possibly be on a warrior’s
tresl
that needed such security?

Running a hand over his face, Rykhan felt his
heartbeat speed up at the memory of Leah as the electricity moved
throughout her body.

Please
Tsiran
, his very soul pleaded
soundlessly. Please do not take her.

It seemed like days had passed before he felt
Jyrl’s hand on his shoulder and Rykhan looked up from his seated
position on the floor. “It went well, my friend. I have her sedated
so the healing tubes can work to repair the burns on her hands and
around her warrior’s symbol.”

Dropping his head in relief, Rykhan
offered up a prayer of thankfulness to
Tsiran
for his mercy before he stood
on shaking legs. “My Leah will be all right then? No residual
effects?”

Jyrl smiled. “More than all right and
especially surprising in light of what I discovered in my
examination. Did you know humans only have one heart? Or that their
bones are much lighter and more fragile than ours are?
Fascinating!”

Rykhan could not help frowning at the
med-leader’s response that seemed out of place in the miasma of
fear which was just beginning to dissipate in Rykhan’s
body.