Torkel's Chosen (16 page)

Chapter 24

Torkel waited with
the members of Team One as a cuffed Faye was lead from the medic center. Maku
walked at her side, a guiding hand on her elbow. Torkel steeled his heart
against the sight of his Chosen in the tan, one-piece jumper worn by criminals.
The top bagged on her slight frame and the rolled legs tripped her slippered feet
every few steps.

The group walked
in silence to the shuttle that took them to Enotia’s surface. Somber gazes
followed as the crew from the cruiser eyed Faye and the Jutaks. When they
landed, a vehicle waited for them to use on the drive.

Torkel forced
himself to remain standing at the door of the hover craft until she slid in the
back seat. He sat across from her with Gregir and Geile climbing in on each
side of Faye. Arak drove with Jaron in the front. Kyele and Rydak had already
left to return and update the teams on their status and estimated arrival.

Torkel violated
protocol by taking Faye home first. He needed to report her presence on the
planet and confess the discovery of her actions in plotting with the Marenians
against Jutak justice. He should have reported it the moment Jaron shared his
discovery but he hadn’t.

He glanced her way,
his gaze once more drawn to her. She chewed her bottom lip nervously and kept
her head turned to face the window and the blurred scenery as they sped through
the streets.

Torkel wanted to
break through the shell she’d erected around herself since their fight. Instead,
he kept his eyes on her and wondered why it was so hard to stop loving her
after what she’d done.

They pulled up in
front of their building and the team exited quickly. Torkel grasped Faye’s
elbow to help her out but she flinched and pulled away from his touch. The move
angered him. She’d done it several times during the transport and he’d
initially ignored it.

“You can’t guilt
me, Faye.”

She turned empty
eyes in his direction. “I know, Torkel.”

He hated the
defeat she aimed at him.

Geile reached for
her arm gently. “I have her, Torkel. I’ll get her settled.”

Settled. A polite
euphemism. Geile would take her to a detainment cell. Better than the cell the
Marenians kept her but a cell nonetheless.

Faye didn’t speak.
She lowered her head and went with Geile.

***

He hated seeing
her there. Torkel watched the cameras with Jaron. Faye sat cross legged on the bed,
staring at the walls, neglecting the tray Kyele had delivered. It surprised
Torkel that of all his men, Kyele was the one to take the food to her. Anger
and resentment ran like a deep current through all of them but as always,
Kyele’s actions were the opposite of what everyone expected.

“Will she eat?” He
asked Jaron.

His friend
shrugged. “She hasn’t yet.”

Annoyance flared.
She couldn’t afford not to eat. She’d already lost more weight than she could spare.
He missed her round cheeks, her sweet smile. “Has Maku been to see her?”

“Yes. He’s given
her a clean bill of health. Removed the geli cast also.” Jaron looked up from
the screen. “Are you going to turn her over now?”

Denial was his
instant response. Torkel took his time. If he turned her over, he could kiss
seeing her again goodbye. She’d end up on a prison colony. Maybe not one as
harsh as Dorlo for hardened criminals but one in which his Chosen would never
survive. Earthlings weren’t meant for the rough conditions on those colonies.
They came from a softer society.

“Not yet.”

Jaron frowned.
“You’ve said that the last three days. First, because she wasn’t fully healed.
Now you have no excuse.”

“I don’t need an
excuse,” he growled and folded his arms over his chest.

Faye rolled over
onto her side, body curling into a tight ball. The position pulled at Torkel’s
emotions.

“You’re letting
your heart get in the way of doing what’s right.”

“She’s my Chosen,
Jaron.” He wished he could turn off his feelings. If he could get his heart to
let go of the dark-haired woman sleeping in the other room he could move on.

“Have you
forgotten what she did?”

Remorse curdled.
He whispered painfully, “How could I?”

“No word on Axan’s
whereabouts.” Jaron wisely changed the subject.

“Did you contact
Naine?”

Axan had conveniently
disappeared when they went to arrest him for questioning in his involvement with
the Marenian slave ring.

“He’s obviously
shocked by the role his son has played but he doesn’t know his whereabouts.”
Jaron stared at Faye. “
She
might know.”

So far neither of
them had talked about her connections. Torkel knew she’d shared something with
Kyele but for some reason he remained closed mouth.

“I’ll ask her.”
He’d avoided doing what needed to be done for fear of hearing her admit to his
face that their relationship was based on a lie.

***

When the door open,
Faye froze. She didn’t glance over. Didn’t have to. She knew who it was. Sensed
it the moment he crossed the threshold.

“Faye, we need to
talk.”

She flinched.
Funny he wanted to talk now. Faye bowed her head on her bent knees and ignored
him.

Heavy steps
signaled Torkel’s approach. He sat on the bottom end of her bed. Or the bed
they’d assigned her in the small cell. Her bed was a soft mattress with thick
covers that she shared with her Chosen. Faye’s throat locked. She wondered if
she was still allowed to call him that.

Of course she
shouldn’t complain. This was better than her lodgings with the Marenian
slavers. She had food, a bed and blankets and to her embarrassment there was a
small attached restroom with a ceiling camera to watch her every move.

“I have questions
we hope you can answer.”

Faye ignored him.
Just as he’d ignored her on the transport ship to Enotia, ignored her on the hover
car ride and ignored her since they’d imprisoned her.

“Faye, I’m trying
to work with you.”

“Do you believe I
love you?” She had to ask. Her desire to know where his heart was after
everything was all consuming.

Torkel’s weight
shifted on the bed. “No.”

She blinked back
tears.

“If you help us
find Axan and who he worked with, we can attempt to plead for leniency in your
sentence.”

Faye leaned to the
side to see his face as he continued. “We need to know Axan’s whereabouts,
Faye.”

She stiffened not
sure what the man from the presentation had to do with anything. “I don’t know.”

“The truth,” he
snapped, watching her closely. “At least give me that.”

Faye sat up. He
watched her closely. “I’ve always given you the truth.”

Torkel raked a
hand through his hair and leaned toward her, mouth twisted. “We both know you
haven’t.”

Faye closed her
eyes. His words cut deep. “I don’t know anything about Axan or where he is if
he’s missing.”

“We know Axan
worked with the Marenians. Might have even played a part in your enslavement.
Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Faye straightened,
eyes popping open. “What?”

Torkel studied her
with an intensity that unnerved. His gaze roamed from her bare feet curled
beneath her hip, up her chest where they paused at her breasts and despite it
all, Faye’s nipples tingled. When at last he looked her in the face, his eyes
blazed with banked desire.

“He played you,
Faye. If you worked together, Axan’s the reason you ended up in a sex slave
auction.”

She turned fully
in his direction and balled her fists in her lap. This she wouldn’t ignore. “I
didn’t work with that man. I admitted to taking money to choose you.”

His lips pressed
tight.

“I admitted to
telling when you and the teams left. But I didn’t work with Axan and I didn’t
know I was working with Marenians. You have to believe me, Torkel. I wouldn’t
do anything to hurt you.”

He rose to his
feet. “I hope you spend the night thinking on this and change your mind about
helping us, Faye.”

Her heart
crumbled. She eyed his impressive build in his uniform as he walked out, the
door sealing behind him. If only she could harden her heart against him.

***

The next night
Torkel found himself watching Faye again. He couldn’t stay away. She huddled
upright in the bed, head swaying back and forth as she tried to stay awake.
Night had long since fallen but she didn’t sleep. Neither did he. He couldn’t. His
bed reminded him of his Chosen. The scent on his sheets, the sight of his
discarded shirt that she slept in. All of it brought home the fact that he
missed Faye.

Her head fell
against the wall. Torkel rose from his seat and placed his palm on the computer
screen. Her eyes were closed. She’d lost her fight and drifted off. He should
leave. Nothing would come of watching her like a love-sick
ebo
. He
gathered the few reports he’d been working on when her body jerked on the bed.

Torkel stared and
she jerked again, crying out. He was through the door heading to her by the
second cry. The five seconds on the lock release were too long. When he reached
her side, she’d curled into a ball and moaned.

“Faye, Faye.” Torkel
shook her shoulder trying to break the grip the nightmare had on her.

She screamed loud
and long. Torkel shivered. Not again. The sound reminded him of the nightmares
she’d had on the ship.

“You’re safe,
Faye,” he whispered urgently, using the same words. “You’re safe now.”

Another scream.
This one so painful it made the hair on his neck stand up. Torkel leaned over
the bed and gathered her close. “Please, Faye. Wake up.”

He couldn’t take
it. He’d barely controlled himself on the ship when her dreams haunted her. She
started to thrash and slap at her skin. Careful not to injure her, Torkel kept
his hold gentle but tight as he murmured in her ear, hoping she’d hear him.

Her eyes snapped
open. “Torkel!”

“I’m here, Faye.”

She choked off
another cry, her hands coming up to touch him. His face. His hair. Her teeth
chattered and she could barely speak. “I-I w-was back in the Marenian prison.”

She trembled.
Torkel pulled her into his lap despite the fact he knelt on the floor and
buried his face in her hair. “I’m here. I’m here.” He could only repeat the
phrase. Someone came up behind them. Faye screamed again and almost leaped from
his arms.

“Shhh,” Torkel
rubbed the hair from her eyes. “It’s Jaron.” Heart thumping, Torkel cradled her
closer as he got to his feet. “Just Jaron, Faye.”

He wasn’t leaving
her in here another second. Torkel ignored a shaken Jaron and walked out of the
cell and headed for his quarters. Let his team lead make something of it and
Torkel would plant him on the floor. The elevator was easiest. He used his shoulder
to hit the buttons.

Faye’s arms looped
around his neck, constricting his airways but Torkel didn’t complain. When he
reached his place, he went through the living room and straight to the bedroom
they’d shared.

He tried to lower
her to the bed and Faye went wild. She shrieked. Her hands grasped desperately
at his shirt to hold onto him. “Don’t leave me.”

His heart
stuttered. Fear darkened her eyes. He hated seeing it there. Torkel climbed into
the bed next to her. He managed to arrange them under the sheets without use of
his arms because she wouldn’t let go. “It’s alright, Faye.”

“It will never be
alright.” Tears glistened on her lashes. “I messed up.”

The truth arrowed
right through his heart. She had. He brushed her hair back from her face, tucking
a stubborn piece behind her ear and admitted.. “And I can’t get you out of my
head,”

She burrowed into
his chest with a broken cry. “Don’t leave me, Torkel.”

He stayed by her
side, holding her until exhaustion tugged her to sleep. He pulled the covers over
them and continued to stroke his hands through her hair, enjoying the silken
texture of the strands once more.

‘Don’t leave
me, Torkel.’

He’d tried.
Failed.

“Never,” Torkel
whispered and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It took a while but he waited
for her body to stop shaking before getting up.

Jaron paced in his
living room. He should have known the man wouldn’t let this go. Torkel closed
the door to his bedroom.

“I don’t get it.
Why would they do that if she worked with them?”

The question bothered
all of them but Jaron was more than angry. Like Torkel he was hurt by Faye’s
actions.

“Marenians have no
loyalty. For them only their wants matter and how much wealth they can
accumulate.” Torkel sat on his couch, pushing aside the excess pillows. Faye
wasn’t the only one exhausted.

“I saw her face.”

“What?” He didn’t
understand Jaron’s words.

Head bowed, Jaron
braced against the wall with one foot propped behind him. “When she woke from
that nightmare, I saw her face. I’ve never seen anyone that terrified.”

Torkel’s lips
flattened. “On the ship it was worse. Maku had to keep her sedated because we
couldn’t wake her when she first started having them.”

Jaron’s head
snapped up and he paled. “She’s been having nightmares like that since we
rescued her? Worse?”

Torkel could only
nod. His stomach clenched tight when he remembered how hard Faye held him when
she woke from those terrors that chased her in sleep.

“Were you able to
speak with her about Axan?”

“She claimed not
to know anything about him. Said they weren’t working together.” Torkel leaned
his head back, wondering what he was going to do next.

“Do you believe
her?”

And that was the
big question. When she looked at him and spoke, he believed every word from her
mouth which proved he wasn’t the great and mighty Jutak he’d always believed.
Torkel sighed. “Yes.”