Mastered By Love (44 page)

She guided the car in a long sweep
over the sleeping city. It would do her no good to put down at
random and demand a doctor. She needed a Galactic, not some random
Argelian primitive.

Out of the darkness, something
fluttered. Several somethings. Tariza lowered the car and slowed
down almost to a hover, peering through the darkness at the
objects.

Flags. There was a whole
row of flags waving in the night air – the blue and gold of
Concordia, red and black for Saturnios, maroon and green for
Margelia, and many others for the rest of the Argelian city-states.
But no Belleren.

Wait. There it was, a block over. A
white moon on a deep blue, almost black background that nearly
disappeared against the night sky. That must be the Bellerenic
embassy.

Tariza slowly descended, setting the
car down on the pavement in front of the embassy. Men in black and
white uniforms, horns on their heads, tails sweeping back and
forth, stormed from the front of the building to surround the car.
All of them carried formidable-looking Galactic weapons.

She lowered the window. One of the
Demon Kin approached the car, his expression stern.

“
Identify yourself,” he
said.

“
I’m Princess Tariza of
Concordia. I have Prince Dario of Saturnios with me, and he’s
gravely injured. We need medical help immediately.”

The soldier narrowed his
eyes skeptically. “You expect me to believe that wild
tale?”

“
Yes.”

“
Concordia and Saturnios
are at war. Why would the heirs of both cities be together at all?
And why would you come here?”

“
Hadn’t you heard? I’m
Prince Dario’s slave. He’s friends with your Prince Shadow. Please
help him before he dies.”

The guard stepped back,
gesturing with his weapon. “Get out of the car, Miss.”

“
Didn’t you hear me? He’s
dying. We don’t have time to argue.”

He waved at the car door.
“I said get out.”

“
Oh, for pity’s sake,” she
muttered, opening the door.

“
Keep your hands where I
can see them.”

Tariza climbed out, hands
held in front of her. “Aren’t your people psychic or something?
Can’t you read my mind and see I’m telling you the
truth?”

“
Mind-reading is forbidden
unless given explicit permission, Miss,” the guard said tonelessly.
His tail had stopped flicking and was strangely still.

“
I’m giving you permission.
Read my mind.”

“
I can’t do that,
Miss.”

She walked toward him,
ignoring the threatening postures of the other guards. “Read my
mind or I’ll pitch such a fit you’ll never be able to explain it
away,” she said, her voice rising to a near-shout. “I’ll embarrass
the Bellerenic ambassador so badly he’ll never be allowed back
here. I’ll –”

“
Fine.” The guard held up a
hand. “I’ll do it just to shut you up.”

She lifted her chin. “Good.
About time.”

Dario could die out here just because
this idiot was being officious.

The guard’s stare took on a
far-away quality, as if his mind had gone somewhere else. An
instant later, he barked orders to the rest of the men, using a
language she’d never heard before. Bellerenic? She didn’t care what
language it was as long as it got the help she needed.

The soldiers swarmed around the car,
opening the back door, carrying Dario out and hustling him toward
the building.

“
Wait. Where are you taking
him?” She started after them.

“
If you’ll come with me,
Miss,” the guard said, taking her elbow.

“
I want to be with
Dario.”

“
I’ll take you to a place
where you can wait for him.”

“
No.” She tried to shake
him off. He was too strong. “He needs me. I want to be with
him.”

“
Miss –”

“
Remember how I said I’d
pitch a fit?”

His jaw tightened. “You
don’t belong in the medical unit.”

“
Neither does he. Let me go
with him.”

He muttered something under
his breath. It sounded like “I’m going to regret this.”

***

The medical unit of the Bellerenic
embassy had stark white walls, floor and ceiling. The furniture was
emerald green. It stood out starkly against the snowy walls. A male
Demon Kin in a white uniform welcomed her in a small reception area
and led her back to a room with a window overlooking yet another
room where they were treating Dario.

They’d hooked him up to
various machines. Two more Demon Kin hovered over him, talking in
low voices as they worked on his wounds. By now his skin was so
pale it looked almost blue. She bit her lip, trying to ignore the
sting in her eyes.

“
There’s not much you can
do for him at the moment,” the male with her murmured. “He’s
getting the best care we have available.”

“
Can he hear
me?”

“
I doubt it.” The Demon Kin
glanced at her, his blue eyes kind. “He might, though. His mind may
be able to perceive you, even if his ears can’t.”

Tariza squinted up at him.
“What are you saying?”

“
Talk to him. It can’t
hurt.”

She nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
The Demon Kin placed a hand briefly on her shoulder before going to
the door, where he took up a silent watch.

Tariza closed her eyes.
“Dario, if you can hear me,” she murmured, “you should know ... I
love you. I think I loved you from the first moment we met. Even
though you made me so angry.”

She stopped, biting her lip
again. “You can’t go. I still need you. Please keep fighting. The
doctors here are going to save you.” Her voice broke and she
stopped.

For a long time, she stood
there silently begging him to live while the doctors struggled to
save him. She said everything she could think of, but there seemed
to be no change in the still, pale figure in the next room. He
couldn’t perceive her thoughts. He needed to hear her
voice.

“
I want to go in there.”
She pointed to the window.

“
They specifically
requested that you wait here,” the man said.

“
I don’t care. I want to be
with him.”

“
Your Highness, there’s
nothing you can do for him.”

She turned a teary gaze on
him. “You just said I should talk to him. Don’t you think that will
be more effective if I’m in the same room?”

His jaw clenched. “It’s
against my orders.”

“
Please. At least let me
say good-bye.”

The fellow closed his eyes
and took a deep breath. “All right. But don’t get in the doctor’s
way.”

“
I won’t.”

The treatment room was hot and so
brightly lit she had to squint against the glare. The doctor and
his assistants all turned to stare at her as she entered. Their
faces looked so grim, so hopeless, that she went cold all over
despite the oven-like temperature.

Her escort spread his hands
to the sides. “She wants to say good-bye.”

The doctor nodded. “Go
ahead.”

Tariza approached the
table. Dario lay so motionless, his skin so pale he almost seemed
made of wax. “Is he –”

“
Still alive,” the doctor
said. “He’s had a fair amount of damage to his internal organs, but
we’ve stopped the bleeding. With proper care he can
recover.”

“
He’ll live?” Hope leaped
painfully in her chest.

“
That’s up to him now, but
...” The doctor sighed, shaking his head. “He seems to be letting
go.”

Her throat closed up. “What
do you mean?” She had to force the words out.

“
His vital signs are
weakening. I don’t know why. There’s no medical reason for
it.”

No. She stared down at
Dario’s bare, sleeping body. He was giving up on her, on life. On
their child, the child he wasn’t even aware of.

Impulsively, Tariza reached
out and clasped his limp and unresponsive hand. “May I be alone
with him, please?”

The doctor hesitated, then
briefly bowed his head. “Certainly.”

“
Thank you.” Her words came
out in a barely audible rasp.

She waited, clutching
Dario’s hand, while the medical personnel filed out of the room.
The soft-soled shoes they wore allowed them to move so silently she
had to glance over her shoulder to be sure they were all gone and
the door had closed behind them. Of course, as Demon Kin they could
use their psychic abilities and super-keen hearing to spy on her if
they wanted to, but at least she now had the illusion of
privacy.

They were gone. She lifted
Dario’s hand to her lips and kissed his chilly skin. “I talked to
you from the other room, but I guess you couldn’t hear me. I hope
you can hear me now.”

He showed no sign of awareness. His
chest was so still she could hardly believe he still
breathed.

“
I begged you not to leave
me,” she whispered. “I said I love you. I love you, Dario. I can’t
help myself. Even when I thought I hated you, I loved
you.”

His eyelids flickered, so
briefly she wasn’t sure she’d really seen it.

“
There’s something I didn’t
tell you, though. I wanted to be sure before I said anything.” Her
breath caught and she squeezed his hand. “I’m pregnant. I’m going
to have our child. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but either
way I want our baby to have a father.”

His eyes flickered again, more
strongly this time, the lashes fluttering.

“
Please come back to us. We
need you. We love you.” She paused, watching his face for more
signs of the will to live. “Besides, if you die I’ll go back to
Saturnios and turn myself in. Is that what you want? Your uncle
won’t be pleased with me.”

His lips parted, moved. A rough,
inarticulate whisper emerged.

Tariza leaned close, her
heart drumming in hope and relief. “What was that?”

“
Don’t ... you ...
dare.”

She laughed and swiped at
her tears. “How are you going to stop me?”

The big hand clasped in
hers tightened, long fingers curling around her smaller ones.
“Kidnap ... again.”

“
Are you going to stay with
me, then?”

He turned his head slowly
and smiled at her, his expression dreamy with the painkillers they
must have given him. “Is it true? The child?”

She nodded tremulously.
“Yes.”

“
Mine?”

“
Yes. I’m too far along for
it to be from the – the others.”

“
Love you. Love ... him.”
He closed his eyes, the drugs pulling him down into
unconsciousness. But a little healthy color had returned to his
skin and his chest rose and fell regularly.

She kissed his hand again.
“Everything’s going to be all right.”

Behind her, the door opened again.
Tariza turned, her eyes blurred with tears. A tall, dark-haired
Demon Kin male stood just inside the room. Prince Shadow. She wiped
the tears from her eyes.

“
I hear you brought him to
us,” Shadow said.

“
Yes,” she
whispered.

“
You love him.” It wasn’t a
question.

“
Yes.”

“
The doctors tell me he’s
going to live.”

Her breath caught, her
knees buckled. “He’s going to live?”

“
He’ll be very weak for a
while. There was a great deal of internal bleeding. But he’ll
live.”

“
Thank the
Goddess.”

“
Indeed.” Shadow smiled.
“We talked once, he and I, about bringing you to live on Belleren.
Did he ever mention it?”

“
Yes, he did. That’s where
we were planning to go, before one of my mother’s guards shot
him.”

“
The invitation is still
open.”

She smiled back at him. “Thank you. We’ll be
there.”

Tariza sat
in the shade of an arbor thickly covered in the
trailing leaves and fragrant white flowers of an exuberant
Bellerenic vine. The heat of Belleren’s summer enveloped her and
she sweated under the light cotton tunic she wore. Someday perhaps
she’d become accustomed to the heat here. At least the ranch Shadow
had bestowed on them had plenty of shade in the gardens surrounding
the simple, comfortable house.

In the hard sunlight of the
stable yard beyond, Dario led their three year old son, Marcos –
named for his paternal grandfather – on the pony he’d just bought
for the child. Little Marcos’s enormous brown eyes were wide with
delight as he bounced in the saddle. Luckily the pony had an
exceptionally placid disposition; she tolerated his antics without
protest.

“
Look at me, Mama!” Marcos
called.

“
I see you. You’re going to
be a masterful horseman someday.”