True Traitor (First Wave Book 7) (13 page)

“I don’t want any revenge,” Gracus croaked. “Like Grai said, they’re doing what they think is right. Even if I don’t like it. I’d rather see us forget this stupid war and join together to make this world a better place for the humans and hybrids.”

“You just want the females for brood mares!” a small voice yelled out. Grai’s head jerked up to find the speaker, but the woman must have been smaller than the crowd.

True scoffed.

“No, that’s not correct. Of course, there have been births as a result of a few matings, but not everyone wants a child right away and that decision is left up to the mated couple. Hell, Jess and Amun have been mated almost 2 years now, and they haven’t had a child of their own. Instead, they adopted one of our rescued children,” she said, as much for Leif as for the others. When they did complete the inevitable mating, she didn’t want children for a long time.

Grai looked around at the surprised faces, True obviously clearing up another lie they were told.

“The Valendrans have been reuniting the rescued children with their Valendran families. They live above ground in a town with the children so that they can grow and learn their world. No one is kidnapped and forced to Valendra or to breed,” Grai said, hoping to alleviate the original female’s fear.

True grinned.

“Of course, if you want to go visit Valendra, you can. I was just there with my father recently. Incredible planet, but it’s not home. As crazy as this place is, I like it too much to leave it in shambles, but I was never forced to go or pressured to stay once I was there,” she said honestly. It had been a great experience and a wonderful place to visit. It was a trip she planned to make again.

True saw she had the hybrids attention and continued.

“Whatever Fiorn may remember of his home, the Valendran people have changed a lot in order to help and to accommodate our needs since we were discovered here on the planet with the humans,” True said, wanting to clear up a lot of their worries and fears. She knew it would be more believable from another hybrid rather than one of the others.

One of the larger male mountain hybrids stepped forward.

“So, what could we expect if we joined with you? Because of this little mutiny, our future is pretty well fucked,” he said without anger or resentment. Grai judged it to be more curiosity from his energy.

Leif looked at the man and shrugged before gesturing for Grai to answer.

“I’m curious too,” he said.

Grai glared at Leif before turning to address the question.

“Our people are tested on their strengths and weaknesses. Then they are assigned duties based on their skill and what they want to do. Everyone is put in mission rotation as long as you can pass the physical and weapon requirements if you want to. And everyone has a secondary duty in order to cover the things that need to get done,” he said honestly.

“What secondary duty?” a man yelled from the back.

Grai sighed, thinking he didn’t have time for this right now.

“During crop season, all off-duty personnel, including myself, are assigned an hour of work in the fields or town each week. There are various assignments, and we all pull our weight,” he said.

When more questions were being thrown at him, Grai held up his hands and waited until it was quiet.

“Right now, we need to get things under control here! We’re waiting on Traze and Tara. Do we know what tunnel they will come in at?” he asked.

“South,” Leif said.

Grai nodded. “Let’s get all of these vehicles moved into the other tunnels. It’ll only slow them down, but seconds can count. Gibly has his cats stationed farther down the tunnels and will warn us before Fiorn’s forces get to the vehicle barrier,” Grai said, looking up at the towering ceiling of the cavern and turned to Leif.

“Is there access up there? From another level or tunnel?” he asked.

Leif looked up and shook his head.

“Not that I know of. I’ve never been above the floor in this room, which is why we chose it,” he said, following Grai’s train of thought on their defenses.

“This place has never been used in my lifetime,” another hybrid added.

Grai nodded.

“This is your home, help me figure out our strengths and weaknesses in here so we can prevent anyone from getting hurt,” he said, looking at the expectant faces around him.

*****

Ivint and Reven stood there blinking at the strange hybrid for a moment before Ivint realized what had happened and saw every person in the room had their weapons trained on the stoic Blade.

“Put your weapons down! Now!” Ivint ordered. “He merely showed Reven and me how his gift works.”

Ivint turned to Blade.

“Is that truly what has set Fiorn on this course?” he asked, replaying the events and memories that Blade had placed in his mind.

Blade nodded.

“Yes, it is. Although he has cause to mistrust the humans and his own people, he has taken things too far by endangering us all. I apologize for taking the liberty of reaping it into your mind, but under the time constraints we are facing, it seemed the most expedient course of action,” Blade said. 
 

Reven squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to clear his mind.

“So we have no choice but to wait for his mate to arrive to resolve this?” he asked.

Blade nodded.

“Unfortunately, yes. She is the only one who can get through to him. Especially now that he’s gone this far,” he confessed.

Ivint sighed and opened the comm to Koda’s ships.

“Cloak now!” he ordered and watched as only one line of ships now appeared over the mountain—Fiorn’s.

Ivint growled in frustration as Reven stared at Blade.

“How do we know that what you put in our heads is the truth? You admitted that you can put in the good and the bad. What’s to prevent you from putting in made up lies?” Reven asked, unsure if he’d be able to tell if the unusual hybrid was lying or not.

Blade smiled, his arms crossed casually across his chest as he turned from the screen to look at Reven with a dead stare.

“You don’t know. You are correct that I could have put nothing but lies in your head. I could be lulling you and your commander into trusting me so that it will be easier to overtake and destroy you. It’s called trust. I trusted you by coming in here alone and without aggression. You can choose to trust me, or not,” he said.

Ivint looked at both men with wide eyes while Reven considered the man’s words, unsure what to think as he filtered through the memories and emotions Blade placed in his mind. He began a systematic search, looking for anything that would lead him to believe Blade was deceiving them, but he couldn’t come up with anything that stood out to him.

“What do you think?” Reven asked Ivint through the Shengari’.

Ivint stared at Blade while he answered.

“I don’t know, but we are limited on our choices. Contact our people in the field and make sure they remain on guard around the mountain hybrids.”

“What about Grai?” Reven asked.

Ivint turned back to the screen and sighed.

“I don’t think he ever lets his defenses down. They are probably monitoring the comm, so telling him to be careful is pointless when we have no specifics to give him,” Ivint replied, wondering if they’d made a mistake.

Blade cleared his throat and interrupted their thoughts.

“I’m sure that if you reviewed the comm I gave you, you would find everything you need to help you come to a decision about whether or not to trust me and my people,” Blade said cryptically as he nodded towards the pocket Ivint had put it in.

Ivint and Reven looked at one another for a moment before Ivint pulled it out and looked at it. It was almost identical to the one that they currently used. Obviously, Fiorn had based theirs on the ones he remembered from Valendra.

Reven moved to look at the screen over Ivint’s shoulder.

“The entire plans to the facility are there,” Blade said. “All the codes to get in and disable certain systems, team members and their abilities, and the same for all of our facilities active around the world. Our history, access to our genealogies, anything I have access to as a commander of my unit. Everything you need to cripple us or help us is in your hands.”

Reven looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Help you? How?”

Blade turned to look at Reven, his carefully trained expression never changing.

“We wish to stay on the planet and work with your teams to protect the humans and fight the Relians,” Blade said.

“Why can’t you do that now?” Ivint asked.

Blade looked at the Valendran Commander.

“Everything we have and do revolves only around crash retrieval and basically cleaning up after everyone who comes here—including all of you. We’ve gone behind you after many missions and picked through the wreckage and removed things that the human military could find later and use,” he said.

He continued when he saw Reven and Ivint’s confused expressions.

“You have a few people trying to do what a thousand of us have been doing for hundreds of years: hide from the humans. And you’re not really good at it. You’re so sloppy that the military has been right behind you every step of the way. It takes more than a cloaked ship and some fake credentials to avoid being discovered,” Blade said with a flat expression before realizing they still weren’t getting it.

Blade ran a hand through his hair and put his hands loosely on his hips.

“We’re geared to keep us hidden; you’re geared for missions. We want to share personnel and resources. Let your tech people work with ours, the ones who want to keep doing it, and let our other people who want to fight, fight. Train us on your weapons and tactics. Let us help, and we’ll help you keep all of us from being discovered by the humans,” Blade explained.

Ivint and the others looked at him in open-mouthed surprise.

“You just want to join forces? Become part of the Earth Alliance?” he asked in surprise. Of everything he thought the man would say, this wasn’t it.

Blade nodded.

“This is our home. The humans are our people as much as the Valendrans, and we want to help them. Our abilities are being wasted, and most of us have no desire to be taken to another world where we live by ourselves and create Fiorn’s idea of a super world. We don’t believe it’s why we were put here,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

Reven shook his head, startled by the man’s admission, but more so by the real man that he was allowing them to see as he leaned back against the table with his hands relaxed on his hips. And he was allowing his emotions to bleed through his energy.

Reven was a little surprised to feel the longing in Blade when he spoke about his people going on missions and he couldn’t help but think what an asset the guy would be in the field with his abilities. Blade was the perfect interrogator.

“How many of your people feel that way?” Ivint asked, wondering just how many of Fiorn’s people were part of this mini mutiny.

Blade surprised them all with his deep chuckle. “About 97 percent of us. I think even the DF wants that too,” he said with a half grin.

Reven was taken aback.

“Wait . . . so when you said that your people were helping, you meant all but 3 percent?” he asked, needing to verify it.

Blade snorted.

“Since the second Fiorn declared this little war, our personnel at all locations have been arriving here at the Folly to help, or have been assisting your few techs in keeping the pics and vids off the news networks. You guys really suck at working with the human technology,” he said with a chuckle.

Chapter Eleven

Countdown Clock to Human Discovery

14:00 Hours

This is WFWZ radio news. The evacuation of the area around Burnt Tree Ridge continues.

While there have been no reported injuries, a few residents claim to have seen UFOs.

Watch out for those clouds and the dust, ladies and gentlemen! Get caught in one of those dust devils and you may feel like you’ve been anal probed! Now back to the music!

Grai looked down at Tricia and smiled as she put on a brave face for him. “You are the most amazing woman on this, or any other world,” he said softly, trying not to wake his sleeping son.

Tricia chuckled then squeezed his hand as another contraction gripped her. Lauren smiled at the obviously happy and loving couple.

“I’m going to give you a blocker now, it’s perfectly safe for the baby, but it will block your pain and help you to push,” she said, excited to have the baby arrive safely.

Ten minutes later, Grai was trying to see his baby daughter through the tears in his eyes as Lauren cut her umbilical cord. The applause around the cavern was deafening as Lauren placed the infant in her mother’s waiting arms.

Grai looked up at the doctor and asked through the Shengari’, “Are they ok?”

Lauren grinned at the worried new father. “They are perfect. Your daughter is perfectly healthy despite her early arrival,” Lauren said aloud, to the relief of both parents.

Grai smiled and leaned down to look at his new daughter and was surprised to see a pair of dark eyes looking at him from under thick, dark lashes. Her tiny head was capped with a small shock of dark, curly hair and Grai was stunned at how beautiful she was.

Tricia looked up at him with a watery smile and said, “She’s so beautiful, honey.”

Grai’s heart skipped a beat at his two beautiful children laying with their equally beautiful mother and he vowed that he would get them all out of here safe. He wanted his daughter to see the beauty of the world she was born into.

“The three of you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Grai said as he leaned down to kiss the foreheads of his family. The soft skin of his baby daughter was last and he lingered for a moment as he drew her scent into his lungs, to ensure he could find her anywhere, before standing.

Tricia held her daughter gently as she smiled at Grai. “I know, you have things to take care of to keep us safe. Go . . . we’re more than ok. And think of what we’re going to name our daughter. We never did settle on a name,” she said, trying to make it easier for him to leave them, knowing it was tearing him up.

Grai smiled sadly. “You’re too good for me,” he said as he brushed back a lock of her hair from her face and kissed her cheek.

When he stood, Lauren spoke to him through their connection through the Shengari’. “Grai, I will guard them with my life,” she said honestly. There was something about this family that she was so drawn to and she didn’t really know why, but Lauren would protect them as if they were her own.

Grai looked at Lauren for a moment before pulling her close into a quick hug. “Thank you, so much . . .,” Grai said, tears misting his eyes before Lauren smiled and nodded.

“Go, they’ll be fine,” Lauren said, helping him to leave his new family.

Grai looked at them one last time, memorizing his beautiful mate cradling his newborn daughter, while his incredible son slept peacefully nearby. Without another word, he left the alcove and strode towards the center of the room while the place erupted in applause and congratulations to the new father and the courageous mother.

Leif smiled broadly at Grai and shook his hand. “Congratulations. You have a beautiful family,” Leif said, having seen the picture that Lauren took while the family was bonding.

Without permission from Grai or Tricia, Lauren had taken the picture and added the caption, “This is the dangerous family of mutants. Be careful of the infant especially, that smile could stop your heart with its adorableness.” Then she had sent it to every mountain hybrid comm.

It had obviously been meant as a way to thumb her nose at Fiorn and his order for the child and mother to die, but within 20 minutes, it had turned into much more than that.

Four cats came barreling down all four tunnels, each sounding a warning that people were coming. A lot of people. The place became a cacophony of activity as warnings and alerts were shouted and the hybrids prepared to defend the family and his people.

Within minutes, shouts were heard around the room to hold fire, they were friendlies and Grai and the others watched in surprise as women and children began to file into the old chamber hall. Grai and the others quickly holstered their weapons and he looked at Leif.

“What the hell are they doing here? You have to get them out of here! It’s too dangerous! I thought you were getting them out of here?” he said in a low growl to Leif, as he watched the mothers and their children begin to set up little camps around the sheet covered alcove where his family was.

True agreed. “You idiot! Get those kids out of here!” she said, worried for the families.

Leif smiled and shook his head as one of the hybrids that had been with them in the chamber the whole time, walked up to Grai with a small girl in his arms and a pretty brunette by his side.

“Sir?” he said, holding his hand out to Grai.

Grai shook his hand and smiled at the pretty little girl in his arms. “Hi, little one,” he said to the girl who blushed and smiled before hiding her face against her daddy’s shoulder.

The man chuckled. “I wanted to introduce my family to you. I’m Austar Mekkino, this is my mate Sefia and our daughter Astrid,” Austar said, as his mate smiled at Grai.

Grai was a little surprised as he looked up to watch more women and children coming into the chamber. Looking back at Austar he said, “You have a very beautiful family and it is a pleasure to meet them. But, you really need to get them somewhere safe. Now.”

Austar and Sefia chuckled at the stunned man as Grai watched the women and children continue to come into the room. It was Sefia who explained what was happening.

“We are somewhere safe. The one thing the Legends would never do, no matter how angry, is hurt our children or their mothers,” she said with a smile.

Grai freaked out.

“You will not be shields! I will die before I allow a child or mother to shield me!” he said, his horror at the thought making him feel sick to his stomach.

“No!” Leif said, rushing to reassure Grai, who looked like he was going to have a stroke. “They have come to stand with your own mate and children,” Leif said.

Grai shook his head as he heard Tricia’s gasp in his mind before she also began to loudly protest from the sheet covered alcove. But, this was one decision that the mountain hybrids weren’t going to change their minds about.

Austar looked at Grai and shook his head slightly. “You have no say in this. It was the decision of our women to do this. Sefia is right that Fiorn won’t harm them,” he said, trying to ease Grai’s mind.

Sefia stepped forward and smiled shyly at Grai. “It was Fiorn who caused your family to be here. It is our honor to stand with them, to right his wrong until you can get them out of here safely. And don’t try to say your boy can take care of them. We know that. But, he’s exhausted and its time we stood for our own. They are hybrids, just like we are. They are, our own. As are you,” she said.

Grai was choking on his emotions until they all became silent at the roar heard coming from the south tunnel. Grai looked at Sefia and said, “Get to safety!” before running towards the tunnel to intercept an obviously furious Legend.

He wasn’t sure which one until Leif turned to him with a grimace as they ran and said, “That would be my father.”

Grai nodded, remembering the younger of the Legends he’d met, as he easily jumped over the vehicles clogging the tunnel, calling out, “Reinforce the other tunnels! It could be a trap to distract us!”

Grai could easily see the large explorer, pulling several of his hybrids behind him as he slowly made his way towards the chamber hall. Grai, Leif, Decano and True, were the first to reach him and Leif Sr. stopped when he saw them.

“What do you want, Dad?” Leif asked, wondering why his father was here. Alone. He was afraid it might be a trap.

Leif Sr. glared at Grai for a moment before looking at his son. “I would like to speak to you privately,” he said.

Leif stared at his father for a second before shaking his head. “No. Anything you want to say to me, you can say right now,” Leif said, unwilling to let his father get him alone.

Leif knew his father would try to talk him out of this, or even kidnap him away from the situation and he wasn’t going to give him a chance. He was his own man and he would stand like one. Which Leif had to admit, he felt a lot more confident doing, with the large and dangerous mutant by his side.

The legend roared in rage and everyone flinched but Grai, who just shook his head at the man. He turned to Leif and the others and said, “Go back and make sure the other tunnels are secure.”

When Leif looked between Grai and his father and was getting ready to argue, his father looked at him and shook his head. “Go son, your grandfather is capable of anything right now. Protect our people,” the legend said as he looked at Grai and held his stare.

Grai sat down on one of the vehicle hoods as he watched the others file back down the tunnel to the chamber hall, each one looking back periodically to make sure that they weren’t in an all-out battle.

When they went as far as the entryway to the chamber and turned back to face them, Grai sighed. “I think that’s the best we’re going to get out of them right now. Your son worries for you,” he said, looking at the now pacing legend in front of him.

Leif Sr. looked like he was going to roar and lash out at Grai, but then surprised him by plopping down on the back end of a vehicle right in front him.

“This has gone too far,” Leif said simply.

Grai nodded his head. “Yeah. It has. But, everything happens for a reason. The Gods allow for no coincidences. From what your son tells me, if we can actually resolve this, all of our people would be much safer. And we can all use the talents the Gods gave us to save us all, including the humans. You made a good man in that boy,” Grai said, keeping his tone even and calm. Anger and blame wasn’t what the man and the father in front of him needed right now.

Leif shook his head. “What are you?” he asked, dying to know which story was correct. That his father had failed the mutant’s mother or that the Valendrans had betrayed them.

Grai sighed. “Although, it is correct that my mother was taken from Valendra while your father led the planet’s security, I do not blame him for what happened. Nor do my brothers. To be honest with you, there is much more to concern us all that we need to be dealing with,” Grai said, watching the legend closely.

Leif shook his head. “I do not know what to believe anymore. But, I know that the man who beat that Valendran is not the man I am, or want to be,” he said, running a frustrated hand through his shoulder length, blonde hair.

Grai chuckled. “The hardest thing to do is take hundreds of years of what’s been pounded into your head and try to assimilate that into the truth you see before your eyes. The clashing of truth in your mind can cause you to lash out in fear of the unknown. I lived it daily while growing up on my father’s ship. I understand the position you are in and do not envy you the decision you must make,” he admitted honestly.

Leif snorted. “Even that is hard for me to comprehend,” Leif said, trying to reconcile in his mind the viciousness he’d seen from the Relians versus the caring, confident and strong leader standing in front of him.

Grai chuckled. “One thing I learned when I was very young, is that nothing is ever as it seems. By the time we think we got it all figured out, something else comes along that just flips our world upside down. Sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s incredibly wonderful, but it always makes our lives interesting,” Grai said with a kind smile.

Leif chuckled bitterly. “And sometimes you have to come to the realization that you have to betray those you love the most in order to do the right thing?” he asked, more to himself than to Grai.

Grai shrugged. “Sometimes, you have to betray them, in order to force them to see that they are the ones betraying themselves and their people,” he said simply.

Leif sighed. “It sounds so easy, doesn’t it?”

Grai shook his head. “It’s the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. And the one you will always question, even if it turns out as well as can be expected,” he said knowingly.

Leif turned to him. “You sound like you know from experience,” he said curiously.

Grai snorted. “I blew up my father’s ship. With him and most of his council on it. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t second guess whether or not I could have reached him or my brother Dagog, if I’d only tried harder. I saved two brothers, but gave up on another to do it. Some days, I wonder if I should have done more,” he said honestly.

Leif shook his head, wondering what kind of strength it had to take for the mutant to kill his own father. And the love he must have for his two brothers to have done it. This was not the evil that he expected the man to be. This was a man. A father like himself.