Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) (26 page)

That firmly in mind, she went to the comm board and searched out the purple button that would open a general channel to ask questions of. Sakkra had promised it would answer her questions...and locate Amy and Sakkra for her.

“Where is Amy? Princess Amy?” she corrected herself.

“Sakku Amy is in dining area two.” To her surprise, the voice seemed to be live and not computer-generated.

“How do I get there?”
It couldn’t be somewhere I knew. Of course.

“A guard has been dispatched to—”

“What? Why can’t you just give me directions? Or post a map here on the screen for me?”

His tone remained cool and calm. “A guard has been dispatched to escort you, Ms. Williams. Can I be of any additional assistance to you?”

“I suppose not.”
Calm down. He’s probably following orders.

“Good day, ma’am.”

“Thanks.”

No sooner had the word left her lips than a polite knock came from the door. Jo crossed the room and opened it to find an armored warrior on the other side.

He stepped back and motioned to her right. “Dining area two, Ms. Williams.”

“Thank you.”

Jo stepped into the corridor and reached to slide the door shut. His hand was there first, and she cleared the way, allowing him to shut the door for her.

One thing you can count on with Sakk men: lack of women has bred impeccable manners into them.

He walked at her side, silent, nearly brooding. All in all, it made her distinctly nervous.

When the other warriors started appearing from side doorways and corridors, Jo understood why they’d assigned a guard to escort her. There was something wild in the air, nearly feral. If her guard hadn’t been so nerve wracking, she might have moved closer to him.

The wing extending around her shoulders startled her, and Jo elbowed a lower joint in surprise. That seemed to be the breaking point for the rising tension.

Two of the other males stepped in front of them, clearly ready to fight. One addressed her guard. “Move your wing. You can see she doesn’t accept your
familiarity
.”

Her guard didn’t back down. “What she doesn’t accept,
boy
, is the attention she’s forced to endure from the likes of you.”

Ruffling wings and sharp sounds in the Sakk language, coming from all sides, sent her into a panic. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Just let me pass.”

The one who’d challenged her guard reached for her. Something in his expression told Jo not to allow him to make contact. She dodged him, and her guard dragged the interloper away and shoved him against the wall.

The other male between her and the direction they’d been traveling grabbed her guard by the shoulder and laid a punch across his cheek. That gave Jo the opening she needed, and she bolted through it and down the corridor, ducking attempts at other men grabbing for her, ignoring calls for her attention.

The fistfight turned into what she was sure was a full-blown riot behind her. Males started rushing around her and into the fray instead of trying to engage her. Alarms blared.

I don’t know where I’m going.
The realization brought her up short.

At the next corridor, a young warrior waved for her attention. “The dining area. Come.”

She had no reason to trust him, but it was a concrete direction, so Jo went that way. He didn’t wait for her to reach the corner. He didn’t try to touch her. By the time she made the turn, he was halfway down the corridor and shouting something in Sakk at the comm board.

He yanked the door open and waved her in. Jo took a moment to register the trays of food on the tables before she complied. It was a dining area. The door closed behind her, and the lock clicked.

The men in the room came to standing in a rush, and she shied from them. Something hit the door, and Jo focused on Amy, sitting at the far end of the room. With the warriors standing, there was no direct path to her cousin.

At a loss for something better to do, Jo used the closest chair, thankfully empty, and launched up onto the table. She ran down the length, wincing the few times she caught the edge of a tray and flipped it.

Sakkra reached up and scooped her to Amy’s side when she reached the end, and Jo sank to the floor, exhausted by the last few minutes. Amy joined her, their backs pressed to the wall behind them.

“Are you okay?” Amy asked.

Jo nodded. “Just...tired.”

Warriors snuck glances their way, then focused elsewhere.

At last, Sakkra started giving orders. “Eat while you can, and clear the mess. Once they’ve broken the fight, you will likely have to take up quarters.”

Jo looked down at her jeans, groaning at the food staining them. She’d
caused
much of the mess.

“We have clothes you can use while they wash,” Amy assured her.

Jo nodded, swallowed a lump in her throat, and started crying. Maybe staying here at the consulate wasn’t a good idea after all.

****

The sound of the general alarm brought Rietin out of his chair and to the comm board. There were few things that required such an alarm. The reports streaming across the screen made his blood run cold.

“Jolene.”
Jo and our daughter are at the center of this?
He punched the button to connect him with the command center. “Where is Jolene?” he demanded of the warrior on comms.

“Tracking, Rietin.”

Seconds passed, and he ground his teeth in frustration. It would do no good to head off in the wrong direction, so he was stuck waiting for directions to her. “Command!”

“Dining area two,” he replied. “She is locked inside with Sakkraas.”

“On my way.” Rietin grasped his sword and headed that direction without his armor. Chances were, his opponents would be no more armored than he was. Even if they were, lack of armor would allow him agility they would lack.

There was no mistaking the sound of hand-to-hand battle.

Rietin screwed up a vicious smile.
I’ve brought a sword to a fistfight. Good.

The warring males didn’t see him coming. Rietin raised his sword and called a halt.

Several of the closest males stopped to gape at him. Others followed.

“You dare brawl with a woman and child in the midst of it?” he challenged them.

For a moment, no one answered him. Rietin was starting to believe it would end that simply, with them shamed into ending this insanity.

Then a large male pushed his way through the crowd toward Rietin. “After how shamefully you treated her, you dare offer counsel to others?” he countered.

“I am going through you to find my daughter and her mother. If you stand in my way, I will cut you down where you stand. If I find they have been injured in any way, I will see all involved lose their heads.”

His laughter was dark in the promise of a hard fight. “Come try me, bare back.”

If he was hoping to goad Rietin into attacking in anger, he was doomed to be disappointed. Instead, Rietin walked toward him, daring the other male to stand his ground.

The fool made a swing for Rietin’s head, and he ducked it. It was a mistake many Sakk warriors made. They thought their “superior genetics” made them better fighters. From what Rietin had learned in life, the only things that made better fighters were skill and drive to win. He had both in abundance.

His punch rocked the larger male back several paces, and he followed it up with a boot to the wing. The snap of bone was somewhat satisfying.

“That is your last warning,” Rietin informed him. “I
will
win this fight, if you persist.”

Proving he had more bloodlust than brains, the fool rushed him.

I did say it was his last warning.
Rietin brought his sword up in a slice to the chest, and the other male’s forward motion, drove it deeper.

He went down with a howl, pressing his hands to the blood flowing down his abdomen and staining his
cuzta
a deep red.

“Call the healers for him,” Rietin ordered. He would probably live.
A pity for him. After this pathetic display, it is likely Sakkra will remove his right to choose a mate. For most males, death would be preferable.

In the distance, a young male turned to the comm panel.

Rietin readied his sword again. “Anyone else intend to stand in my way?”

The other males parted to make a hole for him.

He nodded solemnly. “Report to the audience hall. All of you. Sakkra will deal with you at his leisure.”

They turned away, leaving only the injured man, squirming on the floor. There was little question that the men would do as he’d ordered. Failing to do so meant Sakkra finding them unworthy of taking a mate.

He rounded the downed man without comment. Anything he had to say he’d already said with his weapon.

At the dining area, he called for the command center.

“Rietin at dining area two. Release the locks.”

“But the men...”

“I have sent them to the audience hall. Release the locks.”

“We have orders.”

“Unless you want to be the next to taste my weapon, release the locks so I can check on my daughter and her mother.” That stung more every time he said it.
My daughter and her mother. I have no right to call Jo anything but that.
Oh, but he wanted one.

“As you wish, Rietin.”

****

The speakers came to life, and Sakk language filled the air around them.

“What is it?” Jo asked.

Sakkra stood, offering his hands to help Amy and Jo up. “The riot has ended. It is safe to leave. Command has ordered everyone to lockdown, for the moment. It would be safest if you joined Amy in our quarters.”

Jo pulled herself to her feet with Sakkra’s help. “I came here to speak to Amy anyway, so staying in your quarters is a good idea.” She looked down at her stained jeans. “As long as there’s something for me to change into there.”

Amy laughed, shimmying her way to her feet with Sakkra’s help. “Most of my pre-pregnancy clothes will fit you. You’re welcome to them, since I can’t wear them for a while.”

The doors opened, and the warriors filed toward them. The lines of men parted, and Rietin stalked between them. His blond hair was loose and fell in curls to his collarbones. His expression was hard in challenge.

And there’s blood on his sword.
Her stomach roiled at the sight. “He killed someone?”

Sakkra shook his head. “No. There have been no deaths. I imagine someone refused to give up the fight.”

Rietin didn’t hesitate. He made his way to Jo, and all of the other warriors gave him a wide berth.

As if he realized it bothered her, he set his sword on the edge of the table. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Jo nodded, at a loss for words. He was beautiful, powerful... Raw sensuality poured off Rietin in waves that made her dizzy, and his potent scent wasn’t helping matters.

She weaved on her feet, and he scooped her up in his arms. His proximity and strength made him all the more appealing.

“I knew it,” he grumbled. “You need a healer.”

Sakkra’s voice made it through the haze of her muddled thoughts. “Bring her to my quarters. The healers can check both women at once.”

They were in motion that quickly. Jo held to Rietin’s jacket, her senses in a spin.

****

“All is well,” the healer announced. He shot a look of exasperation at Rietin.

Jo bit back a laugh. Clearly, the healer found Rietin as overbearing as she did personally.

But cute,
she admitted ruefully. His overprotective nature wasn’t as possessive as it had come off earlier. The way he badgered the healer, the way he paced and worried came with true concern.

For me or for our daughter?

My daughter.
She couldn’t allow herself to let down her guard yet. Rietin had made himself clear earlier. He wanted to marry—
mate
with me
—because she was pregnant.

No other reason.
Jo wanted to cry.

“It would be best if we did continuous monitoring for a few days.” Rietin’s tone said he was insisting on it.

The healer sighed. “I would have to concur with that. Such high levels of stress are not healthy for a bearing woman and her child.”

Jo gaped at them. “I promise not to burp. Okay?”

Both men stared at her, and Amy started laughing. She waved the two men off.

Apparently, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to continue with the farce. The healer strung a plain metal disc around her neck and worked at the comm board.

“You really should relax, Ms. Williams,” he offered in what Jo could only assume was his most patronizing voice.

She adopted a sugary sweet tone for him. “If you and Rietin weren’t so overbearing, it would be easier.”

“That’s okay,” Amy settled on the mattress beside her and patted Jo’s hand. “As soon as the
bio tracker
is coded, they will be leaving.”

“But the lockdown—” Rietin started to protest.

“Will continue if you are in your quarters, in the corridor, or anywhere else in the consulate. A dozen of Sakkra’s best are stationed outside that door.” Amy motioned to it.

A tone sounded, and the healer picked up his tools and bowed to Amy. He turned smartly and headed for the door.

Rietin stood there, red-faced, seemingly deciding whether or not to argue the order.

Amy crossed her arms under her breasts, a move that accentuated her pregnant form. Something told Jo that was her intent.

“Females with decisions to make talk to other females.
Smart
males allow them privacy to do so.”

He tipped his head to Amy, shot a look of longing at Jo, and stomped out.

Jo collapsed to the pillows, biting back a groan.
If he hears that, he’ll be back at the bedside in a flash.

Amy stretched out beside Jo, running her hands over her womb. She was a little over four months along, but the baby was big enough to make it look more like six months and moved in ways that made Jo wince in sympathetic discomfort.