The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (25 page)

Dorian sighed in understanding. “That’s how it starts for most of us.”

“How what starts?” Chiang asked.

“The journey to your destiny,” Dorian told him, listening to Ania laugh at his avoidance of speaking a truth that wasn’t ready to be heard yet.

Chiang headed out just as the communications chief on duty at the time came rushing into medical, skidding to a stop in front of Synar. “Captain, we just intercepted a message being sent out from the Liberator. It made no sense so I stopped it until I could show it to you. Here.”

He passed over the portable com unit where the words of the message flashed across the screen in English. ‘
I have confirmed your demon is inside Ania Looren.’

Synar looked at him, mouth hard and frowning. “Who sent this message?”

“Ambassador Onin,” he said. “The forwarding address was coded so I could not determine where it was going without questioning the source.”

“I think I know where it’s going,” Synar told him, and then looked at Dorian and Ania. “My guess is that the message is being sent to Conor, which means he’s already found us.”

He looked back at the younger male, wishing for the first time that he hadn’t staffed his ship with so many young, green crew members.

“You did the right thing letting me know, Ensign. Block Ambassador Onin’s ability to send messages and have her activities discreetly monitored for now. If she inquires, tell her our communications device is being repaired. See if she’s sent any successfully before.”

“Aye, sir,” the ensign said, heading back to his post.

“Care to join me for some book reading?” Synar asked, looking at Ania.

“It wouldn’t be my first choice of evening activities,” she replied.

“Mine either,” Synar said wistfully, and then he looked at Dorian who looked almost as bad as Gwen. “Want me to see if Boca can take care of Gwen?”

“No. My mate will be in my room tonight,” Dorian said firmly, letting everyone listening know how he felt, even if Gwen was unable at the moment to deny or confirm their status.

Dorian recognized that in working on Gwen, he had become traumatized himself. At the moment, he was beyond being able to think about what was right or fair. His sense of letting his mate down would have to heal in its own time, but he wasn’t going to get any rest at all during the next two sleep cycles if Gwen Jet wasn’t beside him. Holding her while she slept might help him set aside the memory of what the Lotharians did to her and how hard she had wept over losing her connection to him.

Synar nodded, not questioning Dorian’s decision. “Ania will be in my formal quarters. I’ll grab a stimulant to help me take the watch tonight. You can relieve me tomorrow.”

Dorian nodded on the outside, but inside he was shaking his head at Liam’s obstinacy about not letting his junior officers ever take the night watch on the ship.

“You need a spare Lieutenant,” he said, irritated with Liam’s stubbornness.

“Not a first mate?” Synar asked, hoping his teasing question lightened his friend’s spirit. It was rare to see a Siren depressed, and he didn’t like seeing both Dorian and Gwen hurting.

“No—you will have no need of a new first mate until the current one retires the post,” Dorian confirmed, carefully wrapping blankets around her before lifting a still blindly staring Gwen from the bed. “Now that I better understand my mate’s deep sense of loyalty to what she cares about, I could never ask her to give up her work. I will find a way to cope with sharing her interests.”

Dorian bowed his head to Synar, then walked out of medical with Gwen cradled safely in his arms.

Chapter 20

Ania watched Dorian go before turning to Synar with her own thoughts. The lines of worry on his face tugged at her natural compassion for him, making her search for any encouragement she could offer.

“If it’s any consolation, Malachi says he likes you more than your brother. He told me the story of your family when I saw the history ended with your father’s last entry.”

“Did he also tell you what kind of dark spirit Conor turned out to be?” Synar asked bitterly.

“Yes. I can certainly understand why your father passed control of Malachi to you,” Ania said, walking beside him as they headed to the captain’s quarters.

“Did he also tell you that Conor killed our father over it? My father locked the door to his chambers and did the ritual quickly, passing care of the demon to me. Almost to the moment the final words were uttered, Conor broke in. I called Malachi out who managed to save me, but I forgot that he was under no obligation anymore to automatically save my father. Conor stabbed him before I could order Malachi to stop it from happening,” Synar explained.

“Can Conor take Malachi from you?” Ania asked.

Synar nodded. “From what I have read—yes, but only if I am dead,” he said. “That’s not what Conor wants.”

“What does he want?” Ania asked.

“Conor wants me to transfer Malachi willingly which I have told him I will never do,” Synar said. “He wants the full inheritance he feels was taken from him.”

“Your brother’s desire to control the demon was one of the reasons I did what I did,” Ania said softly. “Malachi seems to understand him quite well. He warned me that Conor craved his power.”

Synar held open the door of his quarters, letting Ania go inside first. “What do you mean Conor was one of your reasons?”

“Because of my merger, Conor can never have total control anymore. Malachi’s first loyalty has been passed from any demon master he will ever have in my lifetime to me. Conor would have to kill both of us to achieve his true goals,” Ania said.

Synar blinked at her in surprise. “You permanently linked yourself to the demon because of my brother? That’s ironic—and even more humbling for me.”

He shook his head and walked through the sitting area to sit on the edge of a generous bed.

Ania looked around at the bedroom, but brought her attention back to Synar. “Why is that ironic? You don’t have complete control now either. Conor wasn’t my only motivation.”

“The only reason I left you two years ago was to keep Conor away from you and Malachi. I knew he would never imagine that I would put the demon into you. I took the body of the strongest dead male killed the day you were hurt and fled with it. I knew Conor would hear and assume that male was the new host,” Synar explained. “When word came that you and your parents had been attacked again, I knew Conor had gone back to the beginning to start his search over.”

“Then the trial made the truth public,” Ania said flatly.

Synar nodded. “It was entered into public records on your planet. So Conor knows exactly where Malachi is now.”

“What are we going to do?” Ania asked.

“Fight when Conor finds us. Perhaps I’ll kill my brother this time,” Synar said, his voice tired of the burden.

“I’m sorry, Liam. A greed for power can be very corruptive,” Ania said softly.

“He killed my father while I watched,” Synar said coldly. “Malachi could have stopped Conor, but he is forbidden from taking his life. I was the only one who could have prevented it, but I did not act fast enough. I was too late in believing Conor capable of what my father had proclaimed.”

“So did Conor just get away with what he did?” Ania asked, watching Liam lean backwards to lie on the bed and close his eyes.

She said nothing more, just slid into a seat at his desk while she waited for him to answer her.

Liam was in shock when he saw what Conor did to Bogdan
, Malachi sent.
He cared for them both and did not want to accept Conor’s evil nature. What Liam feels for his brother makes him weak.

What Liam feels for his brother makes him compassionate
, Ania corrected.
It makes him not Conor and proves his father was right to pass responsibility of you to Liam.

Which now you share,
Malachi reminded her.

Which now I share,
Ania agreed.
Unlike Liam, I would have no problem killing his brother if that’s what it takes.

You would kill him even if Liam would hold it against you? He would, you know. That’s how Liam is about those things,
Malachi warned.

The comment hovered in her mind while she studied Liam’s body at rest, then Malachi shared the bad news.

Unfortunately, now you won’t be able to kill Conor either. If you do, you will lose our bond and I would lose you as my host. You and I are one now to the creators of all. I cannot kill a member of the Synar family, and now neither can you. Details of our arrangement can be found in the sacred books of training.

If I can’t kill him, then I will find another way to defeat him,
Ania sent.
Now leave me alone while I talk to Liam.

One thing more—Conor has nothing preventing him from taking your life, other than me. I can restrain him, but I cannot end him.

I said I would find a way, and I will,
Ania sent, her eyes flashing. She willed herself to calm before speaking to Liam.

“Liam, tell me what happened to Conor after he killed your father,” Ania ordered softly.

“I had him arrested for our father’s murder. Instead of being killed, Conor was exiled as we all tried to honor my father’s dying requests to spare Conor’s life so he might have a chance to be redeemed. If I had killed Conor then, none of this would have happened, and you would never have gotten hurt in the first place. Everything that has occurred after that point has been because I could not bring myself to shed my brother’s blood by my own hand,” Synar said.

“Could you now?” Ania asked.

“I don’t know,” Synar said honestly. “I have taken the lives of many creatures I thought were unredeemable or who were doing what I considered true evil. Conor looks like me, almost like a twin. I look at him and see us playing as children. I see myself. I have trouble seeing the evil in him. ”

“We were not meant to kill our own kin. It is one of those innate laws written in our spirits. To kill your kin is to at worst end your own kind and at best to bear a great spiritual burden for the rest of your life. I have worked with many warriors who have done such things. It is always life changing,” Ania said.

“As are many other decisions,” Synar said. “You would kill Conor even at the risk of breaking the sacred contract and dying yourself. I see the decision in your eyes.”

“Malachi has warned me of the penalty, but yes—I would still kill him. That is a truth because of my specific nature,” Ania said. “I do not know what it is to love a sibling. I think I am grateful my parents decided to only have one child.”

Tired of a conversation that seemed even less redeemable than his brother’s spirit, Synar pulled himself upright and stood.

“The training books are on the desk. You should start at the beginning. I will do rounds and then I will return to check on your progress. If you tire . . .” Synar stopped, looked at the bed. “If you tire, sleep here.”

“Synar, why do
you
not sleep here? I see none of your energy in the bed,” Ania said.

“The bed is new and was to be ours after we mated. I planned to keep it sacred for you. After what happened, I couldn’t bring myself to use it alone. I store my effects here in these quarters, but I sleep where you joined me the other night. I can see now it was just a foolish sentiment,” he said.

“You haven’t slept here at all in two years?” Ania asked, looking at the bed.

“No,” Synar answered. “I sat on it occasionally and wished for you.”

Ania sighed in frustration. Was he going to expect her to become sentimental over such things as well? She was far too practical to do so over objects, despite the fact that she valued his physical fidelity to her as the greatest gift anyone had ever given her.

“I may never understand you,” Ania said finally. “You are stoic and practical about the Liberator, yet foolish and reckless about yourself. It is a merely a bed, Synar.”

“It is merely a bed until you are in it. Then it becomes my sanctuary and my place of true rest. Despite our differences, I hope you consider the offer to be my mate in every sense. I will think of it as already coming to pass until I convince you to move in here with me. I think the crew will be relieved once you do. They already think I’m odd enough for a captain as it is,” Synar said stiffly.

“What if I agree to share your bed now and again, but not as your mate?” Ania asked, not sure she was ready to try being a normal mate again.

Synar snorted. “You talk in riddles. If you are in my bed, Ania Looren, you
are
my mate.”

Ania grinned and looked away, turning her back to Synar as she pulled the first book in the sequence towards her. “Yes, look how well that controlling attitude has worked for Dorian. You can tell yourself I’m your mate all you want, but it won’t change how
I
view us. Time alone will prove you faithful or false in your loyalty to me again.”