The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (36 page)

“She is gone, Liam. But do not worry, others are waiting just outside your quarters to aid her,” Malachi said. “What can I do to help you?”

Liam clenched his fists and stared at his brother’s body lying lifeless on the floor. He wanted to blame the demon, wanted to blame Ania.

“I grieve for Conor as well,” Malachi said, “but Ania was right. He was beyond redemption in this incarnation. He would have killed you as surely as he did Bogdan, without any remorse. Today he was set on the path of redemption instead of dying for his evil. It is a gift.”

“What do you know of redemption?” Liam demanded.

“Only a little, but all I know of it is what your mate has taught me,” Malachi said sincerely. “Do you wish me to leave? I can see my presence is just upsetting you more.”

Liam shook his head. “No. Stay. I have a task for you.”

Malachi quivered as he saw what was in his master’s mind.

***

From her guard post nearby, Gwen came rushing up when she saw Ania emerge from the room.

“Is it over? The supply ship is ready to depart. They didn’t seem concerned that their passenger wasn’t returning. I don’t think they worked for Conor Synar. We were just planning to send them on their way when Synar headed to his quarters in a run.”

Ania took a couple steps and faltered. Gwen caught her the second time she almost fell. “Hey—where’s Synar? Why isn’t he with you? You can barely walk.”

“Don’t ask where my so-called
mate
is,” Ania said bitterly. “It will only upset me further. Just help me to my room. Malachi stayed to keep him company, and I am weak without the demon’s strength in me. The fight with Conor took all I had to endure it, not that anyone seems to care about my wellbeing.”

Dorian came rushing up to both of them, looking strangely at Gwen’s struggle to support Ania’s full weight.

“Where’s Liam?” Dorian demanded, frowning at Ania’s paleness and her sagging body.

“Synar is fine. Let him be for now. He is of no use to me in his current frame of mind anyway,” Ania said resentfully, falling against Gwen again. “Sorry. The fight took everything. You should be happy that someone was almost able to kick my ass, Gwen.”

“Not celebrating as much as I thought I might,” Gwen replied, hugging Ania to hold her up. She looked at Dorian and saw help. “Can you carry her? Ania weighs more than I can manage.”

Ania snorted as Dorian lifted her into his arms like she was a child.

She was a child, she thought wearily. Malachi called her his child. And that’s what she was, she was a demon child. Probably her parents thought that as well now. She needed to call them, tell them they were safe at last.

“Indeed. Gwen speaks the truth. Since your change, you are a little bigger than I remember,” Dorian teased softly. “Not as heavy as Gwen, but still a sizeable load of female to pack around.”

“For Ania’s sake, I’m letting that one go, Zade,” Gwen said firmly, walking along with them. “First you tell me my hips are big and now you’re talking about how much I weigh compared to other females.”

“No wonder Gwen stays upset at you all the time,” Ania joked back, her head rolling as she blipped in and out of consciousness.

Gwen punched the override commands on Ania’s room, letting Dorian carry the mostly unconscious, exhausted warrior inside.

Dorian laid Ania gently on the bed and straightened, noticing she was totally passed out before he’d finished the movement.

“If you’ll check on Sarinnea, I’ll check on Synar,” Dorian offered. “Unless you think we need to watch over Ania.”

Gwen shook her head and walked to the wall com to call the only other crew member she knew for sure would not be afraid of the demon when Malachi returned to Ania.

“Medical—this is Commander Jet. Is Boca Ador there?”

“This is Boca,” a distant voice answered from across the medical room.

“Ania is unconscious and in her room. Her demon is with Captain Synar and she’s in a weakened state. She’s fine, but probably needs to be watched. Will you come wait with her until she wakes up? Lieutenant Zade and I have other things to do.”

“Certainly—I’m on my way,” Boca answered.

Gwen looked at Ania sleeping and then at Zade.

“You better check on your mother yourself. I wouldn’t know what to say to her. I have to get Synar to clear the supply ship to leave and I need to know if he’s fit for command,” she said.

Dorian nodded. “Okay. I left Sarinnea in my room, and hopefully she’s still there. I shouldn’t be long. If Synar is grieving he may be acting strangely, just stay with him until I get back.”

Gwen nodded, accepting his request as it was meant. Now that she knew Zade better, she realized he only gave commands that he felt were necessary. She supposed that meant she was learning to trust him.

Dorian lifted a hand to her face, mesmerized by the epiphanies occurring in her eyes. “All is well, Commander. Ania has defeated our biggest threat. Can you not feel the change in the energy around the Liberator?”

“Yes, but I guess I don’t feel as good about it as you do,” Gwen said, making fun of his advice as usual.

Her gut was still churning. She had been an adrenaline mess while she waited for Ania to come out of the captain’s quarters to say it was over and done. Some of it had been alleviated, but some of it remained. For the first time, Gwen wished she was intuitively trained enough to figure it out.

Before they could discuss her misgivings further, Boca showed up, rushing to the bed to check on Ania.

Smiling at Zade one last time, and feeling more at ease with him than Gwen could ever remember feeling, she took off to her tasks.

Chapter 30

Gwen knocked on the door of the captain’s quarters and waited. It wasn’t long before Synar opened the door to her. He looked as bad as Ania. For two people who had accomplished the amazing feat they had today, neither of them looked very happy about the positive outcome.

“Captain. Request permission to enter your quarters,” Gwen stated, talking more formally than she usually did to her superior. He looked like he needed the deference.

Gwen stepped forward when Synar nodded and motioned her inside. She saw Issa asleep on the bed and a male sitting beside her, a male who looked like Synar’s twin.

Gwen pulled her weapon instinctively and pointed it at him.

“Please do not harm this body,” the male requested. “It was all I could do to repair the decay that had already occurred. It takes a lot of energy to heal organic matter.”

Leaving her weapon drawn, Gwen’s gaze shifted between the irreverent male and Synar.

“I thought your brother was . . .
gone
,” she said finally, not knowing what an appropriate term was for what Ania did to Conor Synar.

“He is gone. This is not my brother and only Ania Looren would call him a member of my family despite our physical likeness,” Synar said dryly.

Synar lifted his chin as he recalled his argument with Ania who had called Malachi “family.” He would never think of the demon as anything but a burden and curse, but his decision was made now.

Who was left to judge if it turned out to be his worst mistake to date?

His mother was the only Synar that survived, but the demon passed through the male lineage anyway.

Regardless—the deed was done, and it was useless to think of what might have worked out differently. Perhaps Ania was right about looking at the bigger picture. Conor was exiled more completely now than he’d ever been. He just hoped his father’s spirit would understand.

“If that’s not your brother talking to me, who is it?” Gwen demanded, motioning to Synar’s twin with her weapon.

Malachi stood and walked towards her, the movement of his strong male limbs thrilling him in a way nothing else had in longer than he could remember. He was almost willing to say a gratitude prayer to the creators for it, but was too afraid they might change their minds about letting him use the body. He was under no illusions about who had influenced Synar’s mind to act.

“Come now, Commander Jet. There is no need to threaten me. You and I are old friends. I helped Ania bear the Siren’s call with you. I’m at least as intimate with you as your former bonding partner Chiang,” Malachi said.

“
Demon
,” Gwen whispered, shocked as her gaze raked him. “You are in Conor Synar’s form. No wonder Ania is ill.”

“Ania will be fine. I would prefer you address me as Malachi,” he said politely. “Though with a little more affection in your voice, I could get used to hearing a whispered ‘
demon’
trip off your agile tongue now and again.”

Gwen lowered her weapon to stare at Synar. “You put the demon in your brother’s body?”

“Yes. Conor’s spirit was gone from it completely. His empty body would have had to be destroyed. This,” Synar said snidely, lifting a hand towards Malachi, “is what Ania asked me to do. That doesn’t mean it’s permanent. I can just as easily undo it.”

Gwen shook her head trying to wrap her mind around what was happening. She blinked, but Synar’s demon still walked around in his brother’s body as if it were his.

“Uh—speaking of Ania. She’s unconscious. Zade and I put her in her room to sleep it off. She said the fight exhausted her. Boca is with her,” Gwen said.

Malachi turned to Liam. “Ania is merely adjusting to my absence. Her body is realigning its energies. She will be fine soon. I’m going to miss being in her.”

Synar nodded and turned, only to have Malachi put a hand on his arm. He looked at the hand, unable to remember the last time his brother Conor had touched him. His body felt Malachi’s hand as if he were a stranger.

“There is a benefit to Ania with my absence,” Malachi said softly. “Without my constant presence, Ania can better choose to be who she wants without having to fight my spirit. There are many other benefits, but I would prefer to talk with her about them first. I do not wish to refuse you. It is merely out of respect for her sacrifice, Liam.”

“I detest hearing you call me by my given name while you walk in my brother’s form. Address me as Synar. I will tell the crew you are my brother who has repented of his evil ways. You will continue to do as I command,” Synar said harshly.

Malachi chafed at his abrupt tone, but bowed his head. Ania Looren was the only being who had ever talked to him respectfully since his change. His appreciation for her climbed higher.

“My commitment to your family remains, as does our sacred contract. I will also protect your mate with my life even if it means the end of this body,” Malachi said. “May I go to aid her now?”

Synar nodded. “You may move freely around the Liberator as you must, but you are to do no harm without me or Ania commanding it. I will see to putting you into quarters where you can care for Conor’s body in appropriate ways. We will discuss this more later.”

Malachi bowed his head again. Obedience for now was a small price to pay for his new freedom. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

In the hallway, he looked around in a wonder he had not felt in a long time. Seeing no one, he paused to study Conor’s body with amazement again. There was no spirit within it competing with him, no need to battle another entity for control of limbs or mind or emotions or anything.

Ania Looren had given him a great gift in freeing his spirit from her body. Malachi was suddenly very glad that he’d followed his instincts and had been good to his reluctant female host.

With that more positive thought in mind after the depressing conversation with Liam, he headed in the direction of where he could feel her.

His reluctant demon master might never consider him family, but Malachi was starting to feel very connected to the demon master’s wife.

***

Back in the captain’s quarters, Gwen and Synar stood silent for long moments. When Gwen couldn’t stand the uncomfortable quietness anymore, she broke it with business.

“The supply ship has been emptied of our cargo. They have requested permission to leave and the crew is waiting onboard. As far I can determine, they just gave your brot—I mean, Conor Synar a ride here. The crew wasn’t working directly for him,” Gwen said.

“If you are convinced they are without malice, let them leave,” Synar said, not looking at her.

Gwen started to say more, but instead walked to the wall com.

“Dispatch—this is Commander Jet. Clear the supply ship to leave,” she ordered.

Gwen listened until she heard a confirmation. In the background, she heard the supply ship’s engines engage. Did that mean they were back to business as usual now, she wondered?

“So what’s next, Captain?” Gwen asked, letting go of the com and addressing Synar again.

“Now you leave me alone so I can grieve my brother,” Synar said firmly.

“Sorry, but I can’t do that. Zade—I mean, Dorian asked me to wait with you until he arrives. As spiritual counselor, he has authority over this situation,” Gwen said, defending her right to act on what she could tell now had been good advice. Synar didn’t need to be left alone until he was less angry and thinking more clearly.