Taken By Storm (12 page)

A hand touched her shoulder and she jerked away.

“What… Why are they burning down my cabin?” Her voice sounded harsh and raspy.

“It had to be done,” Tal said, stepping up beside her. “It was the only way.”

She couldn’t look at him.

She couldn’t look at any of them.

She couldn’t drag her gaze away from the destruction. The antique lace curtains framing the front windows disintegrated. Long, jagged flames consumed the walls and spread across the roof, encouraged by the brisk night wind. The interior glowed, an obscene bonfire, mocking the precious moments of peace she had found within those walls.

Charlotte sank to her knees, covering her mouth with her hand. A picture hung on the bedroom wall—

a portrait of Victor and Stephen, dressed in identical suits. She could almost see heat bubbling the image, flames singeing and curling the edges, devouring the last of her dreams.

A low, mournful wail filled the air. She didn’t realize she’d made the sound until Tal tried to pull her to her feet. She twisted and shoved him away.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare touch me!” She crawled trancelike toward the inferno. “It’s all I have.

Everything I have left is…”

Tal caught her around her waist.

“It’s all gone,” she cried, her fingers clawing at his arm.

He pulled her up against him and held her tightly, ignoring her continual tugging and twisting. She didn’t realize what she was doing. Grief and rage radiated off her with staggering intensity. He shielded himself against her anguish and focused on the task at hand.

He hadn’t meant for her to see this. That had never been his intention, but she’d come shooting out of the chamber like a sonic shuttle.

She lunged forward. He pulled her back. She spun and swung at him. He caught her fist.

“Quickly, people!” he called.

It would be tricky to maintain control of Charlotte as well as a transport conduit powerful enough to accommodate all of them. An extremely annoying sound, accompanied by rhythmically flashing lights, reinforced their need for haste.

“Let me take her,” Trey said. “You’ve got to manage the vortex.”

“Watch her hands,” Tal warned. “And her feet,” he added for good measure.

Trey handed a supply pack to Al as they prepared to depart and Charlotte turned on Trey.

“You bastard!” she screamed, throwing herself toward him. Tal captured her arms before she slashed his brother’s face with her nails.

“How could you do this?” she shouted. “How could you—”

“Trey only acted on my order,” Tal lied. There would be time to make her understand, but right now, they had to get out of here.

“I hate you,” she wailed. “I hate all of you.” She finally dissolved into tears and Tal took full advantage of the lull. He opened the vortex and motioned the others inside. Sweeping her into his arms, he followed behind them and emerged in the lounge on Trey’s ship.

“Let me get her settled and I’ll come to you,” Tal told his brother. His voice sounded as weary as he felt.

Trey nodded. He started for the bridge but glanced over his shoulder at Tal. “Can we even get back without Vee? I didn’t think you could stabilize the portal without him.”

Tal took a deep breath and shifted Charlotte against his chest. “One calamity at a time”
Chapter Seven

Tal sat beside Vee’s sleeping station and felt his hair twist painfully. The angular arrangement of Vee’s features looked gaunt, his pallor deathly. Vee’s snow-white hair spread all around him, disorderly and unbound, a sure sign of his weakness.

“I shall be no aide to thee, Tal Aune,” he said softly without opening his eyes. “I fear we may all pay for my recklessness with our lives.”

Tal respected this man more than any other. He was glad Vee couldn’t see how badly his hands shook as he gathered Vee’s ankle-length hair and worked it into a simple braid. “The woman is on board. Our mission was successful.” He tried to sound optimistic.

“I do not sense her. Is she already in stasis?”

“Yes.” When Vee was stronger, he would explain the details.

“The mission will not be completed until we return and discover the reason Joon pursued her in the first place,” Vee reminded him.

Tal tucked the braid under Vee’s blanket, hating his helplessness. “You’ve taught me to be resourceful.

You’ll see Ontariese again.”

Vee opened his eyes, one corner of his mouth curving in a weak smile. “Ye have a plan?”

“There are only three people in this dimension capable of Summoning the Storm. You are too weak at the moment so that leaves two.”

“But how will ye get him to…” Vee’s eyes drifted shut, too exhausted to go on.

Tal could sense Vee’s faint heartbeat but tension still gripped his soul. Vee was far more of a father to him than Roe Aune had ever been. Tal’s devotion to his mentor never wavered. He simply refused to lose Vee now.

“My spirit is yet in my body, Tal Aune.” Tal detected amusement in Vee’s tone and tried to relax.

“Ye must not let my condition distract thee. How do ye expect to get Joon to assist thee? Why would he not kill thee instead?”

“This isn’t as simple as wanting me dead. His ambitions are more complex. He wants me bested.

Until he’s proven that he is the better man, this depraved competition must continue. So I will convince him the next round of the competition
must
take place on Ontariese.”

Vee made a nondescript sound, assuring Tal he understood.

“With your permission, sir, I’d like to put you in stasis as well. You need to be strong enough to accept the Mystic transfusion once we return to the Conservatory.”

“And if your plan fails, ye wish me a peaceful death?”

Tal didn’t argue. Vee deserved that much at least.

“I will see thee once we reach Ontariese.” Stubborn authority rang through the directive and Tal smiled.

After casting Vee into stasis, Tal searched for his brother. Trey wasn’t on the bridge and he wasn’t in the lounge. Tal needed to know if the repairs to Trey’s ship had been completed. What he had in mind would need to be set in motion quickly.

Much to his annoyance, he found Trey in Charlotte’s room, standing beside her sleeping station.

“She is in stasis and will remain so until I release her,” Tal said. “How did you get in here?” Trey’s coppery brows drew together over his expressive amber eyes. “It’s my ship.”

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“How can she be a descendant?” Trey stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his interest apparently less licentious than Tal had first thought.

“She doesn’t even look Ontarian.”

“I have just as many questions as do you, but the answers await us on Ontariese.”

Trey turned from the sleeping station and followed Tal from the room. “How is Vee?”

“In stasis.”

Nodding in silent understanding, Trey asked, “So, little brother, without Vee, how do we get home?”

“Simple,” Tal said, and smiled. “I go pick a fight.”

* * * * *

Everything was ready. Tal had rehearsed what he would say a hundred times but still his heart pounded and his blood boiled. He had to calm down.

Even Dro Tar’s best “poker face” wouldn’t fool Dez dar Joon.

Emotion can work to thy advantage
, Vee was fond of saying,
but only if ye control it
.

“All coms are open, little brother.” Trey’s disembodied voice encouraged. “Just give the word.” Tal stood in the middle of the lounge, every viewport open, dreading what he must do. Drawing Mystic energy into the center of his being, Tal sent out a com pulse. Nothing happened. Digging deeper, he strengthened the pulse and tried again.

Joon’s image gradually came into focus. His surroundings remained obscured. His turquoise eyes revealed his anxiety.

What do you want?
Joon sneered.
I wouldn’t bother
responding to your call but I’m dumbfounded by your
stupidity
.

Tal emulated his brother’s nonchalance, suddenly thankful for a quality that had annoyed him for cycles. He leaned his hip against the edge of a table and crossed his arms over his chest.
That sounds far
more interesting than what I intended to say. Please
explain my dumbfounding stupidity.

Was the fire an accident?
Joon’s face rippled, his fury so acute it nearly caused him to shift.

Drawing strength from his enemy’s weakness, Tal smiled.
The simple answer is no. The fire was intentional,
but it was not what you think.

Joon’s turquoise eyes narrowed.
And the detailed
answer?

Charlotte Layton committed suicide.

Joon moved so suddenly his image blurred.
Why
would she do that? I don’t believe you.

Tal laughed. Time to change tactics. Coil the spring and let him go.
I don’t care what you believe. You
obviously didn’t know as much about your quarry as you
thought you did.

I know more about Charlotte Layton than you will ever
know, thanks to her suicide
, Joon sneered.
What drove her
to it,
seyati
? Did you try to comfort her after I joined her
in the bath?

Turning, Tal leaned against the edge of the table and stared out the viewport indifferently.
Oh, I
comforted her, all right. She allowed me a full-body joining
and restored my energy levels. The problem was, she played
me for a fool. While I slept away the night, she snuck out
the window and returned to her cabin. Apparently, you
heard about the fire
.

Joon’s nostrils flared and his eyes spun.
Why would
she let you take her body? Why would she
—

Don’t I always get them first,
seyati
?
Tal mocked, sneering the title with obvious loathing.

She let you or you took her?
Joon demanded.

I’ve
never had to rape a woman, Dez
. Tal let the insult sink in for a moment.
This is all beside the point. All I
wanted to say is, I have a sample of her DNA. Once the
Symposium has analyzed it, I might be interested in
exchanging what I learn for what you know.

The Symposium! They are required to remain neutral in
all matters of politics
, Joon shouted.
They are required to
share the Wisdom of the Ages freely. You cannot…

Joon’s image blinked out and Tal cried, “Now!” Thunder violently shook the ship as Joon Summoned the Storm. Tal flew across the room, his body slamming into the wall. Pain forked down his arm and across his shoulders. He tuned it out.

Searching, frantically searching, he found the pattern of Joon’s energy. Six simultaneous lightning strikes showed him the way. He turned the ship as the interdimensional portal yawned. Trey engaged the thrusters, propelling the ship into the portal before Joon could guess their purpose.

Very clever, Aune!

Tal didn’t let Joon’s angry words distract him. He poured energy into the portal, maintaining its stability, keeping it intact. His muscles strained, his brain ached, but he had to continue. He had to find the strength. Unable to stand, he slid down along the wall, focusing entirely on the metaphysical exchange.

“There it is.” He heard Trey cry. “We’re almost out.”

Collapsing, Tal released his link with the portal and felt the world spin out of control. Colors swirled before his eyes. His body rolled across the floor. His head hit something especially hard and lights exploded within his vision then he saw nothing at all.

* * * * *

Charlotte awoke in darkness. A rush of adrenaline swallowed the comfortable silence of sleep. Her entire body came alive, humming with warnings and fear.

Something was wrong!

She held perfectly still, assessing her surroundings.

Not a shape or shadow interrupted the velvety blackness spread before her eyes. Blinking repeatedly, she raised a hand before her face. She could discern no movement, nothing.

Don’t panic. Not yet. Slowly she sat up and felt for the edge of the bed. Her hand sank wrist-deep into the mattress. She gasped as the surface conformed to the shape of her hand and then gently provided resistance.

She moved her leg and the mattress immediately accommodated her new position. As she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, light flooded the room.

Too stunned to move and not quite afraid enough to scream, Charlotte sat there, trying to accept the reality of her surroundings. She was on Trey Aune’s spaceship.

The room was small, the arrangement utilitarian.

The adjust-o-bed protruded from one wall and the light source was recessed within the ceiling. Smooth, perhaps metallic, the walls gleamed with an iridescent cast that subtly changed color as she moved.

With one final poke at the changeable surface of the bed, she stood and took a tentative step. The floor, though iridescent like the walls, had a distinct texture.

“You wouldn’t want to go slipping and sliding as you zoom through outer space,” she muttered.

Her mind was muddled, a jumbled mixture of memories and imagination. But one fact remained inescapable. She’d been kidnapped. The Ontarians had burned her cabin to the ground and Tal had carried her into the portal, indifferent to her pleas.

She moved to one of two doors. The portal slid open silently as she approached, revealing a tiny bathroom. She turned to the other door but it didn’t move. There was no button or lever to activate it. The other one had opened automatically, probably triggered by some sort of motion sensor. She waved her arms and moved forward and back but nothing happened.

“Hello,” she called out. “Is anyone out there?” The door slid open and Tal stood in the corridor, looking calm and—at home.

Charlotte stared at him, waiting for a surge of anger. This was the man who had destroyed her life.

Why wasn’t she contemplating violence? She leaned forward and glanced down the hallway. All she could see was iridescent walls.

“May I enter?” Tal asked.