Vareen & Mica (The Alliance Book 2) (13 page)

Vareen looked at Mica’s beloved face and resisted tracing a finger along
his jaw. She didn’t want to wake him. Their time was almost up and she had to
sneak back out before being caught. Mica falling asleep was a testament to how
tired he was.

Forcing herself off the bed, she found her dress and cloak. She quickly
put the garments on and made her way to the open seam. Taking one last glance
at Mica, his perfect form sprawled in bed without a covering, Vareen slipped
outside.

Taking the fusing device from where she’d hidden it, Vareen made short
work of closing the hole she’d made. Replacing the fusing unit back in its
hiding place she made sure the cloak covered her and fled from behind Mica’s
tent.

Finding the path in the dark to the Jataci tents wasn’t easy. She got
lost and finally ended up asking a group of intoxicated male
partiers
which way to go. They’d been very
helpful and complimentary about what a good time could be had if she joined
them. Vareen had just ignored their offers and waited.
Eventually,
they’d pointed to the correct path and she’d ran hell
bent back to her tent.

Dani was busy networking with the people of Metari in order to further
her desire to work in their zone, so Vareen knew she wouldn’t be seeing her
sister-in-law tonight. Cali, Nellia, and Risenal were going to wait until
morning for a full report. That left her with the rest of the night to worry
about what the first trial would bring.

Rushing through a solar shower, Vareen went to rest in bed. Hopefully,
Mica was still asleep and would face
tomorrow's
trial fully energized. She’d done everything she could to assure Mica that she
was safe and to focus on the trials. She just hoped it was enough.

*****

“The first trial will force the combatants to face their worst fears.” A
large Jataci male was in the middle of the arena announcing. “The
participants
have drawn numbers and Metari is
first.”

Vareen strained to see Mica around the people standing in front of her.
She caught a faint glimpse of him standing tall next to Temloc before the crowd
shifted again and blocked her view.

“Vareen Nas, can you please come with me.”

When Vareen heard her name she turned instinctively toward the speaker.
She was surprised to see two large Metari guards gesturing to her.

“What do you want with Vareen?” Dani moved to stand in front of her.

Ignoring Dani and the guards for the moment, Vareen’s mind went into
overdrive. The announcer had said the men would face their worst fears. What
was Mica’s worst fear?

She rubbed her head. Think Vareen.
What
did Mica fear?

The answer was simple. Mica’s worst fear was losing someone he loved or
in his mind failing to protect someone he loved. That could mean his father,
sister, her or any of his friends.

“Vareen Nas, this way please,” the guards were waiting impatiently for
her.

Before Dani could protest Vareen stepped around her to go with them.

“It’s okay. I’ll go with them.”

Vareen followed the guards outside of the arena and toward a white tent. She
was gestured inside and waited. There was a small chair and a table set with
food, water and what smelled like wine. She ignored the offerings and
paced
instead. After what felt like hours she
realized her mouth was extremely dry.

Vareen took a goblet and filled it with water. Forcing herself to remain
calm she tried to think this out. They wouldn’t kill someone just for this trial,
so Mica wouldn’t have to face a loved one’s death. It would come down to
failing to protect someone he loved.

Cursing herself she took a sip of the water. She hadn’t heard the order
of the
challengers
so wasn’t sure when
Mica’s turn would come. What could she do? Vareen paced the tent, drinking the
water and worried the problem of Mica’s trial in her mind out.

When a strange tingling sensation went over her, she looked at the water.
Could it be dosed with something? With a horrified
gasp,
she put the goblet back on the table.

Without
warning,
there was a
resounding boom outside her tent. Were they under attack? Just as Vareen went
to open the flap one of the guards rushed back in.

“What’s going on?” Vareen paled at the look of panic on his face.

“We’re under attack from an unknown assailant.” The guard grabbed her arm
and pulled her deeper into the tent. “It’s not safe outside.”

“Is it the Others? Pirates? A spacecraft of some type?” Vareen tried to
pull her arm free. “You have to know something.”

Screams and yelling were coming from outside the tent.

“I don’t know,” the guard insisted. “We have to stay inside.”

“I’m not staying in here,” Vareen snapped. “We need to find the
leadership and help in fighting if we can.”

Another boom sounded and the guards grip tightened. “We’re staying in
this tent.”

Without another word Vareen spun in his arms, forcing him to release his
grip. Grabbing him by the arm, she twisted his upper body and he went flying
over. The only reason she was able to get him on the ground was due to the
element of surprise. Once he was down, Vareen used the heel of her hand at his
temple and hit him as hard as she could. Turning she grabbed a goblet off the
table and struck him over the head. With his increased ability it wouldn’t keep
him down, but it did stun him enough to give her time to run out of the tent.

Shielding her eyes
from
the sudden
light it dawned on her that she wasn’t outside of the arena anymore. She was
inside it. The crowd was still screaming and yelling, and Vareen spun around
looking for the danger. She couldn’t find any. What was going on?

There was another tent across from hers but before she could run to it there
was movement behind her and the guard came running out. Vareen dodged him and
ran around the tent with the guard following.

“Come back.”

“Go away,” Vareen yelled. Trying to keep the male at arm’s length. Another
guard joined in the attempt to corral her. She dodged into the tent and broke
out the other side.

The crowd, watching her antics with the guards, went slowly from yelling
and screaming to titters of laughter. Soon, the whole arena was shaking with
the force of the crowd’s humor.

Vareen kept dodging into the tent and the poor thing gave up and sort of
flopped to the side. Leaving the table and chairs standing open in the arena.
Vareen grabbed some of the food as she
ran past
and threw that at the advancing guards. Then the wine, water, and chair. She
even dove under the table and rolled to the other side.

She was able to stay away from the guards only because they weren’t using
their special abilities. When they decided to split up it was only a matter of
time before one of them caught her. She put all of her training to use then,
disarming the guard and pushing him into the other one.

Vareen backed away from the tent, using the staff weapon she’d taken to
keep them at a distance. When one of them jumped toward her, she used the staff
and hit him in the groin.

The crowd all went “O-o-h” at the same time. The guard hit the ground,
holding himself and groaning dramatically.

The crowd burst into laughter again. She had to admit it was laughable. They
were a sorry sight. She was dirty from rolling around on the ground. The one
guard was standing warily by his fallen friend looking just as disheveled, with
bits of food and wine all over his clothing.

“Stay back,” Vareen yelled the warning. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Vareen?!” Mica’s panicked cry came from the other tent.

“Mica?!” She turned to run to him and that was when the guards had her.

“Let me go,” Vareen struggled against the men holding her.

She was kicking and clawing at the beefy arm holding her when suddenly a
black streak spun her gently out of the way. Mica was engaged with fighting the
guards. His eyes flashing blue flames and his body swelling with rage.

“Cease,” the male who’d been announcing the challenger’s names was in the
ring with them and calling for Mica to stop. “Mica, enough.”

Vareen saw Mica was out of control. When a male was in the true valkie
haze any threat to his chosen mate had to be eliminated. He still saw these
males as a threat to her and wouldn’t stop.

“Mica,” she called out running to him. “Stop.” She jumped against his
side and held tight. He stilled instantly, his body trembling against hers. “Stop
Mica, it’s okay. They aren’t a danger to me.”

With a shuddering
breath,
he pulled
them both a few feet away. His chest was heaving and his eyes remained blue
around the edges.

Vareen tucked herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I don’t
think we have long before they separate us. Just hold on until tonight. I’ll
visit you again.”

Mica put his hand against her face and Vareen noticed the marks on his
wrists.

“What happened to you? You’re bleeding,” Vareen turned outraged eyes to
the male announcer and other leaders in the arena.

“Var,” Mica kissed the top of her head. Whispering hurriedly, his lips
brushed her ear, “It’s not important.
I want you
to stay away from my tent. It’s too much of a risk.”

“I know it’s selfish, but I have to try to see you tonight,” Vareen’s
breath was rapid with the fear that Mica would be taken away at any moment.

“Var. I love you. You must be careful,” Mica warned, his voice deep with
worry.

“I love you too,” Vareen turned her head up to kiss his lips but was
stopped when they were surrounded by guards wearing every color.

The announcer called for them to separate and Vareen stepped back slowly.
Her eyes locked with Mica’s until he was taken out of sight.

“You should’ve seen your face.” Dani was laughing again. “It was so
f-funny.”

“I don’t find it that amusing,” Vareen denied. She might see the humor in
the trial when the whole Challenge of Succession was over. If she even made it
to the end. Four more trials might be the death of her at this rate.

“Mica was doing so good too,” Dani sighed. Her humor fled. “He remained
calm through the whole fake attack. I think they were almost ready to stop the trial.”

“Then I burst out of my tent and ruined everything,” Vareen still
couldn’t believe it had all been an act. The crowd participating by yelling and
screaming in panic. The transporter taking her from outside the arena, to the
middle. In
hindsight,
it was easy to pick
apart the trial and see it was fake, but at the
time,
it felt real.

“You didn’t ruin everything,” Dani denied but Vareen knew it wasn’t true.

“Mica lost points because of me,” she whispered. “I caused him to lose
control and attack the guard.”

“There are still the other four trials to go. Then we have the two days
of drinking, dancing, and partying,” Dani tried to liven her spirits but Vareen
just wanted to see Mica.

“I’m going to bed,” Vareen went to leave her living room. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dani didn’t take offense she just hugged
her quickly and left the tent.

Vareen felt bad about lying to get Dani to leave, but it was dark outside
and she was supposed to meet Risenal and Nellia.

Taking her cloak off of the bed she went to check if the coast was clear.
Not seeing anyone around her tent, she hurried along the path to the agreed
upon meeting place. It was at the back of the gathering, closer to the Metari
clan’s section.

She spotted Risenal right away. It was hard not to see her. She really
needed to learn about going undercover. The dress she wore tonight wasn’t as
bright, but was glowing enough to draw attention.

“Vareen, over here.”

“Cali,” Vareen hugged her friend, surprised to see her. “Isn’t Drake
going to miss you?”

“No. He’s at some meeting. I’m sure I’ll be back to our tent before him.
I wanted to see how you are doing.”

“Yes, Vareen,” Risenal moved forward and kissed both of her cheeks in
greeting. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Vareen stiffened. “If you don’t count the fact that I’m a
laughing stock. That I ruined Mica’s score for this trial. That I’m the worst
chosen mate in the history of mates.”

“That’s not true,” Nellia protested in her defense. “After the laughter
died down, everyone was very impressed by your abilities.”

“Talk it over with Mica,” Cali advised her calmly. “You’ll feel better
after seeing him.”

“The plan is for me to offer the guards a drink from my special brew.
Nellia has already dosed it so she won’t need to be there tonight.” Risenal
held up a bottle of some type. “I didn’t want the guards to be suspicious if
the same group of us kept going up to Mica’s tent. If they feel it is a special
honor having me visit, they won’t be able to deny me.”

“That sounds like a solid plan. I want to thank you for doing this for
me.”

“Nonsense. I’m having a great time.” Risenal took her arm and they turned
to head toward the center of the gathering.

“Cali, Nellia. I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Vareen called out before they
were out of sight.

“I want to thank you for letting me help,” Risenal spoke with sincerity
as they walked.

“No, I can’t thank you enough. Without
you,
I wouldn’t be able to see Mica.” Vareen squeezed Risenal’s hand.

“Without the friendship of Cali, Nellia and you, I wouldn’t have any adventures.
Nobody lets me get my hands dirty, so to speak. It’s nice to have friends who
let me be myself and have fun.”

“When we have time, I’ll have to tell you all about the Academy if you
like adventures.” Vareen laughed at the memories.

“That sounds nice.” Risenal motioned for her guards to close in ranks.
“We should part here in case we’re seen. Good luck Vareen. I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

Risenal moved down the path and Vareen hurried to cover herself with the
cloak. There were lanterns placed along the path, so Vareen veered into the darkness.
When she arrived at Mica’s tent she waited to hear Risenal and it wasn’t long.

“Gentlemen. I brought you some of my own stock of wine in thanks for
helping me last night.” Risenal’s voice rose over the tent.

“Ambassador, thank you.”

“It’s nothing.” Risenal denied, and Cali heard the clink of their
containers.

“Won’t you join us?”

“Yes. Join us.”

Both guards were pressing Risenal to drink the dosed wine.

“No, I couldn’t.” Vareen could picture Risenal waving her hands in
denial.

“Please. It would mean so much,” one of the guards begged.

“If you insist,” Risenal sounded panicked.

“To the Ambassador of Atheon and The Alliance between our two worlds.” Vareen
heard the toast and flinched. How would Risenal avoid drinking?

“To The Alliance.”

“To Ambassador Tec’hia.”

There was a commotion and then Risenal yelled, “What did you do that for?
I’ve
spilled
my drink.”

Vareen heard, “There was a bug on your majesty. My apologies.”

One of Risenal’s guards had knocked the drink away? Vareen almost wished
she was on the path so she could see what was going on.

“I’ll pour you more.” One of the guards from Titus offered.

Vareen wanted to slap her head in frustration. If the guards had sipped
the wine, they would be out soon. They needed to sit down to avoid drawing
attention to the fact that they were like zombies. Not to mention Risenal
needed to get away before someone spotted her.

“No, thank you for the kind offer but I need to change my dress.
You two gentlemen,
sit
and enjoy your wine. Guards with me.”

“Ambassador.” Both of Mica’s guards called out.

“What an amazing woman.”

“Yes.
S-she’s
very f-fine.”

The guard’s words were slurring. The drink had worked. Using the same
process, Vareen cut a hole into the tent and hurried inside.

“Vareen,” Mica’s voice was a hoarse whisper. His arms engulfed her. “I’ve
been waiting.”

Vareen returned Mica’s embrace. “Today was such a nightmare. I’m sorry I
ruined your score.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.” Mica held her more tightly and drew her onto
the bed. “You’re perfect and I love you. How long do we have?”

“The same as last night. About two hours.” Vareen rolled so that she was
straddling Mica’s hips. “It’s been eating at me since I last saw you. Why were
your wrists bleeding?”

Vareen touched where the sore spots on his wrists should be but they were
healed.

“I was manacled to a pole. I was told the restraints were unbreakable. I
think that was meant to add to my fear of getting to you.” Mica shrugged. “It
turns out they weren’t unbreakable after all.”

During his
explanation,
Vareen got
busy with the buttons on his shirt. When they were done, she moved the material
out of the way. “I’m so relieved that you’re not hurt. Do you mind if I try
something?”

“No,
” Mica answered instantly.

Vareen ripped the shirt and left his side to tie a strip to the top of
the bedframe. Taking another strip of his shirt she did the same on the other
side.

Smiling wickedly, she asked, “Into the center of the bed, if you wouldn’t
mind.”

Mica rolled until he was in the middle of the bed and Vareen traced her
hand up the side of Mica’s ribs. The gooseflesh rose
on
his arm and chest at her touch. Taking his wrist in her hand,
she kissed his fingers then
gent
ly
tied
that arm to the bed. With her hand
trailing down his body, Vareen made her way around the bed. Taking the time to
tickle his feet until she was working her way along his thigh, hip and ribs on
the other side.

When both wrists were tied, Vareen climbed into the bed and stretched out
beside Mica. “I just want to taste you.” Vareen let her tongue play along the
skin at his neck and lower along his chest.

“I want to memorize every single inch of your skin.” Vareen played lower,
first against one nipple and then the other. “I won’t sneak back after tonight.
It’s not fair to risk my friends by asking them to help. I’ve—”

“I understand. It’s okay sweetheart. After the challenge is over, we’ll
be together.”

Mica groaned when she moved lower along his stomach.