03 Solar Flare - Spark Series (27 page)

“I should say,” Ryven said, brows raised. Not
that he didn’t have a fortune himself, but it wasn’t every day one
saw a box full of such rare, perfect gems.

Satisfied, Brandy leaned back and laced her
fingers over her stomach. She was happy to have passed on the
responsibility for safeguarding such valuable cargo. Someone else
could sweat over it now. “The family felt that you shouldn’t feel
unequal in your alliance.”

Xera was speechless. She reached over and
hugged Brandy. She finally found her tongue. “That was unnecessary,
but thank you. But what about you? The trip was expensive. Do you
have anything left for yourself?”

Brandy smiled. “I probably have enough left
to buy something to read and a drink while I wait in the
unemployment line.”

Outraged, Xera immediately tried to hand the
box back. “No sister of mine is going to be called a beggar!”

Brandy laughed and pushed her hand aside.
“Give over, sis—that’s yours. I’m no beggar, and I planned to work,
anyway.”

“She is also teasing,” Azor said to calm Xera
down. “She has enough in reserve to pay the way back to Polaris if
she chooses…then she’ll be broke.”

“I haven’t cashed out all my shares in the
business, either,” Brandy relented. “I could probably laze around a
bit, if I were the type.”

Xera still didn’t look happy, but she stopped
trying to give back the box.

“Well, I’m eager to see what my new weapon
can do. Azor? Care to spar?” Ryven suggested, breaking the awkward
silence.

“Of course. I’ll stop by Brandy’s room on the
way out and get hers. Ladies.” He followed Ryven out.

Xera waited until they’d left, then said,
“The kids are occupied with their nanny for the moment. I don’t get
much use out of her normally, but I thought it might be nice to
have some private time.” She paused delicately. “I heard Azor spent
the night in your room.”

Though uncomfortable with the observation,
Brandy decided to act as if it didn’t matter. “And?”

“I was wondering if you’d set a date yet. For
the wedding,” she said meaningfully.

“Were you?”

Annoyed, Xera said, “Oh, come off it! We all
know he’s asked you. Ryven talked with him. Gem talked with us. I
think we’ve all had a nice round table chat about it. You’re the
only one who hasn’t weighed in. What’s the hesitation? Don’t you
like him?”

“I like him.”

“He seems rather cold.”

Brandy laughed. “You don’t know him that
well. If anyone’s cold, it’s your husband. Frankly, he seems
very…impersonal.”

Xera frowned. “Scorpio men don’t display
their emotions. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t any.”

Brandy studied her. “My side trip…the one
that caused the delay? I met up with an old friend of yours; a
crewmate from the GE. Ensign Trevor says ‘hi’.”

Xera’s spine straightened. Her chin came down
as her expression grew stern. “What did he say?”

“Distilled? He mentioned Ryven killed one of
your friends the day you first met. He said you drug his body back
to your crew.”

“That is true,” Xera said deliberately. “You
do remember we were at war? He acted according to Scorpio
custom.”

“Hm. I realize that some things are touchy to
convey via pinbeam, but there does seem to be a lot you left out.
The brawl with your captain, the exact conditions on the planet,
that sort of thing.

“I do wonder, in light of everything, if you
“forgot” to mention your true feelings about being trapped with
Ryven. Not that I can’t guess.” Brandy looked at her steadily,
seeking the truth. It would take a lot to convince her that Xera
was truly happy.

Xera sighed. “Did Trevor tell you he helped
me escape the GE? That I went back to Ryven? I risked my life to do
that, you know.”

“You were carrying his child.”

Xera’s brows drew together. “Yes. It wasn’t
the only reason. I love him.”

“And what does he feel for you?”

“Don’t you watch any of the home videos I
send you? Can’t you tell he loves me?”

“I’m here in person and not convinced of it
yet. Hear me out!” she raised her hand to cut off Xera’s protest.
“You used to want to be a fighter pilot. Do you fly now? How many
other dreams did he make you give up?”

“That was a dream! He gave me reality
instead. In the real world, he values and cherishes both our
children and me. He’s a good father. He’s provided well for me and
he’s done what he can to ensure my happiness.”

“But you can’t go home. You can’t be with
your family.”

“You may not choose to return, either. If
you’ll remember, you left a mess on Polaris.” Xera looked like she
regretted saying that, but she didn’t take it back.

Brandy’s lips curled. “Are you saying I’m to
blame for Topek’s crime? Would it be better if I’d let him rape me?
Had a bastard by him? Is that what you’d prefer?”

“No! But you must know you can’t go back. You
know Gem never meant you to return.”

Brandy stood up, gripping the table to keep
her balance. “I weathered one scandal—I can do it again. I left
because the stress endangered Gem’s pregnancy. Look at me! I’ve
been hacked to pieces protecting this family. What’s one more
sacrifice? Of course I left. It won’t stop me from going back.”

Xera shook her head, zeroing in on the
earlier statement. “What do you mean, you’ve ‘been hacked to pieces
protecting this family’? You think what happened to you came from
protecting us?”

“Not ‘us’. You. I let Jean Luc blackmail me
to protect your secrets.”

Xera stood up swiftly. “I never needed you to
do that! You should have let me take the consequences! As it was,
we all suffered. I was leaving anyway—”

“And conveniently missed the fallout.”

“That’s not fair! I was there at the trial.
It was my good name that got shredded. Leaving protected you and
Gem. I’m sorry you suffered—”

“Suffered!” She could hardly tolerate the
understatement. She’d paid with years of agony. ‘Suffered’ just
didn’t cover it. “You know what? Forget it. I was wrong to let Gem
talk me into this. Obviously you’re happy with your cold
nakinknaw—I’ll leave you to him.”

Xera hissed at the derogatory word for alien.
“Do not call my husband that. Hah! You want nakinknaw—what are you
marrying? But that’s right, you like ‘em. You’ve had two!”

Brandy cursed and threw a plate at her. Xera
dodged and shouted obscenities. Brandy grabbed a half-full cup to
toss at her next—only to have it suddenly yanked from her hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ryven asked
coldly. He placed the cup well out of her reach and stared at her,
his eyes like glowing brimstone. Seen like that, he was the essence
of intimidating.

“What’s it to you, nakinknaw? You going to
steal my sister twice?” Brandy asked belligerently.

He looked at her fiercely and inspected his
wife. “The security team reported raised voices.”

Xera smoothed her clothes. “My sister and I
were just having a chat. We got a little loud.”

“And enthusiastic,” Azor said from the
doorway. He strolled up to Brandy and put a supporting arm around
her waist. “I’d promised Gem I’d help you behave, too.”

She tried to move away, found she couldn’t
budge him. She settled for a dirty look. “You’re not my
keeper.”

“Yet.” His eyes gleamed. “Once our wedding is
official, however—“

“I haven’t agreed to have one.” She couldn’t
help the snarl. She was still in a simmering mood.

Ryven smiled for the first time. It wasn’t
pleasant. “In light of the circumstances, I have to agree with his
argument that marriage would be a stabilizing influence over you.
For that matter, we have the blessing of the elder in your family,
Gem, to help you along that road. She insists, in fact, that the
long journey alone has compromised you. She demands satisfaction
from him.” He looked at Azor.

Who seemed completely undisturbed. “Happy to
oblige.”

“Wait!” Her gaze went from face to face, but
saw only determination, coupled with a certain smugness from Xera.
“Oh, no! You have no authority to do that. I never slept with him,
and I’ll be happy to shout out it out in a court of law. You’ve got
no grounds!”

Xera made a show of dusting off her sleeve.
“You’ve not on Polaris, you know. New rules apply.”

Brandy lunged for her, but Azor’s arm held
her back. He picked her up in one arm as gently as possible,
considering she was thrashing. “If you don’t stop, your new legs
might fall off,” he said mildly.

She froze, momentarily horrified, and then
glared. “You’ll pay for that!”

Azor smiled. He canted his head to the
others. “If you’ll excuse us, we have some things to work out.” He
hauled her out the door. She went, swearing all the way.

Ryven stared after them incredulously. “I’ve
never seen anything like it. She’s like a young animal.”

Xera grinned. “Maybe there’s something to
that calming influence thing. I had my career, then you. You’ve
helped to temper me at bit. Not so long ago, I would have jumped on
her, legs or no legs.” She raised one shoulder in a shrug. “You’ve
got to remember, we grew up in a bar.”

He ran a hand gently down her arm. His eyes
searched her person carefully. “You’re all right?”

She smiled, mellowed. “I’m fine. Didn’t I
warn you there’d be fireworks? Don’t fuss over it. We’ll feel
better now that we’ve gotten it out of our system.”

He drew her close. “It’s my job to
worry.”

“And she thinks you’re cold,” she murmured,
right before he kissed her.

“Put me down! I can walk,” Brandy snapped,
embarrassed to be carted out in the hall. Looking back, she was
embarrassed by several things. She knew better than to lose her
temper like that.

Azor obliged, supporting her the few steps to
her door. Once they were inside, he saw her settled on the bed,
then stepped back. He had her batons hanging from his belt. He took
the opportunity to take them off and set them aside. “You
interrupted a good sparring match. I hope it was worth it.”

“She’s besotted!” Brandy said angrily. “She’s
got that disease where a person falls in love with her captor.”

“It’s a physiological condition, not a
disease,” he said calmly. “Why are you angry if she’s happy? He
cares for her.”

Her temper spiked because she has no good
argument. “You think that’s all she needs? Marry her off and give
her kids and she’ll be happy? Never mind that she’s stuck here, a
trillion miles from her family!”

He leaned against the wall and regarded her.
“I don’t know. Let’s try it with you and see if it works. Then
you’ll be in a position to judge.” He smiled devilishly.

She shook a finger at him. “You know you’re
not funny.” She exhaled sharply. “I suppose I’ll have to go and
apologize. Maybe that’ll chase the maggot from their brain.”

He just looked at her.

She grew uneasy. That calm stare of his had
never boded well for her.

“I think you should talk with Gem,” he
suggested. “I have a feeling we could rouse her on the pin beam
pretty quickly. Xera probably has it warmed up for you.”

She gave him a sour look, but took his
suggestion. If anyone could be sensible, it was Gem.

Gem looked sleepy and very, very pregnant.
“Morning,” she murmured.

“Yikes, sis! Are you feeling well? It looks
like you swallowed an entire keg.” Brandy had seen her sister
carrying twins before, but she’d forgotten how big they truly made
her. It looked horribly awkward.

Gem looked un-amused. “I’m so looking forward
to your turn,” she said dryly. “In the meanwhile, what’s up?”

There was no reason not to get down to
business. “Did you really give my heathen sister and her ice pop
husband permission to marry me off? Because if you did, that was
really low. You’re supposed to be too far away to manage my life,”
she added wryly.

Gem smiled unrepentantly. “Did you really
think I was going to let you travel all that way with him and not
expect a wedding? You would have done the same thing.”

“How very efficient of you.” Brandy studied
her sister without rancor. There was a lot that should be said, but
pin beam wasn’t one hundred percent reliable. If someone were
determined, they could listen in.

Not that they could affect the outcome. When
it came down to it, it was her choice. It had been all along.

Giving an irritable sigh for the inevitable,
she decided to ignore whatever listening ears there might be. After
all, her life had never been low profile. “I’m not good enough for
him, sis.”

Gem didn’t hurry to speak. After a moment,
she smiled softly. “By now the man knows everything about you. He
knows you’re obsessed with your job, a casual dresser, stubborn,
and not necessarily law abiding. He’s probably got a dossier on you
somewhere. Marry him anyway.” She grinned, but slowly it faded,
became serious. “Sis, there’s something you should know. I’ve been
meaning to tell you, but you were under so much stress before, and
then you were gone….” She sighed. “I’ve got all kinds of excuses. I
guess there’s never a good time for talking about things like
this.”

Brandy grew impatient with the long pause.
“Just spit it out, Gem. I’ve got other things going on here, you
know?”

Gem grimaced. “You’re really my
half-sister.”

That didn’t make any sense, so she just
stared, waiting for Gem to clear up the misunderstanding. Of course
they were sisters.

Gem sighed and shifted on the couch. “Look,
Mom and Dad fought a lot after I was born. I guess there were money
troubles, but I was just a kid. I don’t remember. I had to ask
around about this stuff. It was tough, you know? Embarrassing.” She
looked to the side again. At Blue? Probably. He would want to
support her.

Brandy suddenly wished she had someone to do
that. She was lightheaded with shock. Was Gem implying…