Primal Heat (31 page)

Her parents glanced at each other, their uncertainty obvious. Her father cleared his throat. “We…I don't know what to say.”

“There's nothing to say.” She reached out a hand to end the imager call. “I love you both, and we'll see you tomorrow.”

Some emotion flickered in her father's face, but was gone before she could discern what it meant. “I love you, pumpkin.”

Her mom swallowed and looked like she was going to tear up again. “I love you, baby. Be safe.”

“I am.” She ran her finger over the imager. “Good-bye.”

Kyber's hand tightened around hers. “Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

“Arthur wants to use the Sueni presence to start a war so he can stay in power.” She scooted around in his lap to face him. “It's why he kidnapped you and hurt us both, right?”

“Right.” His expression was closed, his gaze shadowed. The connection between them had narrowed to the point that nothing came through, and she couldn't tell what he was feeling or thinking. He didn't want her to know.

She swallowed and pushed on. “We've always known Arthur kept my parents under constant surveillance since you were kidnapped, and I'm sure that's increased since you escaped. He has to have bugged their house. He would have been listening. We've given Arthur an exact place and date when we'll both be on Earth, in a place that he thinks is secured.”

“You're using us as bait to draw him out in the open.” Kyber's eyebrows arched, a bitter smile kicking up one side of his mouth. “Knowing how he likes to handle this sort of thing himself once his victims are helpless.”

“Right. He'll have plenty of men there already, so we'll be easy targets.” She bit her lip, waiting to see what he would say.

His face remained that calm mask, telling her nothing as he stared at her. “This puts your parents at risk.”

“They were at risk from the moment Arthur knew about them.” And she'd been so wrapped up in her own shit, so busy pretending nothing was wrong, she hadn't done anything about that until now. She stomped down on the remorse, the self-doubt, the recrimination. She couldn't change the past, not with her brother, with Kyber, with Arthur, or with her parents. She could only move forward from here and make the best decisions she knew how to make. That was one of her more recent breakthroughs. “I don't know for sure that Arthur will show up, but we have to get my parents out of there anyway, so why not see if we can kill two birds with one stone?”

Kyber snorted. “Arthur will be there. I have no doubts. He enjoys toying with his prey too much to miss the opportunity.”

She squeezed his hand, trepidation and determination twisting tight within her. “Then let's end this, once and for all.”

 

Kyber tested his connection with Jana for the hundredth time. She still slept, dreaming in their bed, so he turned his attention to the gathering in front of him. He stood just inside the entrance to a wide hangar bay watching a dozen Guardians load explosives and other weapons into two shuttles. Bren and Farid consulted with each other over a small imager in Farid's hand. There'd been cloud cover over most of the Midwestern United States all day, obscuring views of the Townsend home from even the
Vishra
's powerful imagers. They had no way of knowing what Arthur had prepared for them down there, but a delay in mission would only give him more time to plot and put the Townsends in more danger.

Six pilots slipped past Kyber to ready their fighter wings for takeoff. He'd wanted this mission to be small, but well armed. Too large an expedition, and he worried that Arthur would simply kill Jana's parents and call the whole thing a loss. Their involvement complicated things, but they'd had no better opportunity to get close to Arthur since Kyber had escaped. He was too well guarded, constantly on the move lest Kyber come after him. A grin quirked Kyber's lips. The man was evil, but he wasn't stupid. The feline within Kyber purred in anticipation of the challenge, the hunt for a difficult quarry.

It would all be over soon, one way or another. Kyber would be dead, or Arthur would.

Or both.

He turned at the sound of Tylara's voice in the corridor outside the hangar. She and Johar stood toe-to-toe, and she folded her arms over her breasts. Her expression was calm, remote even, but her eyes gave her away. The midnight irises glowed almost white with the speed of the sparks boiling to the surface. “Of course, you have to do your duty. I didn't say I didn't understand, I said I didn't like it.”

“Yes, Admiral, I understand. You're not upset or scared, you just
don't like it
.” Johar snarled in her face, hackles rising even in his human form.

Though he was more than certain Tylara could handle whatever situation might arise, Kyber folded his arms over his chest and propped his shoulder against the doorjamb nonetheless. “Is something amiss?”

“Yes, sire.” Johar spoke first, cutting off Tylara's negative headshake. “Tylara is begging to be spanked for her lack of faith in her One.”

A delicate flush raced up the woman's cheek, her anger rippled out in waves, but so did her self-doubt…and her desire. She was not worried or frightened by the man's threat to spank her. In fact, she seemed titillated by the prospect. Kyber hiked up an eyebrow. It was things like this that usually kept him from delving too deeply into his people's thoughts. Just because he could didn't mean he should, or even that he wanted to know what went on in the minds of the people around him.

A flush raced up her cheeks. “You almost died down there once.”

“I'm not dead, but I have lost enough people that I loved to know that pushing away the things that mean the most to me is no way to live.” He caught her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him and only him. “Just as you have, I've witnessed firsthand how badly things can go in a One bond, but I have also seen how it can make you better, stronger. I want that, Tylara. I want that with you.
My One.
”

Her voice was softer than Kyber had ever heard it. “I love you, too. You know I do.”

“Perhaps. You also think I will walk away from you because it isn't easy being bonded to a woman with more psychic power than I have. And you don't trust me to keep control of the animal within me. You expect me to dissolve into madness like my younger brother did. You expect me to turn on you the way his twin turned on
his
One.” Johar ran his thumb over her lip, and she swayed toward him. “But I'm not my family. I am
Johar
Sajan and no other. And you, Tylara Belraj, are my One. I will have no other but you.”

Her eyes closed, and her uncertainty rolled over Kyber in a wave. “What if I lose you? What if you don't come back?”

“Horrible things happen, my One, but they are no excuse not to live.” He pulled her flush against him, slid his fingers into her dark hair, and kissed her hard. Kyber turned away to give them some privacy. “When I come back, whole and in one piece, we're going to bond, Tylara. No excuses, no more running.”

Her laugh was almost a sob. “Come back to me whole and in one piece and I'll do whatever you want. Just…come back to me.”

“I always have, I always will.” Johar's voice reached Kyber's ears as he walked away.

He entered the hangar with his head down, double-checking the razer strapped to his hip. It was a Class Nine weapon, designed to kill. He glanced up to meet his cousin's gaze. Farid nodded, understanding of what was at stake this night in the older man's eyes.

Bren looked beyond Kyber toward the entrance. “Jana's not with you?”

The gathered Guardians paused, pinned their collective gazes on him, the same question in their eyes, and he tasted their relief that someone had asked. He fought a wince. “She won't be joining us. She's asleep.”

The truth was she'd laid down for a nap and he'd sent her spiraling into deep slumber. He wasn't willing to bring her on this mission. He couldn't gamble with her life. Ever. She was too important to him. Her safety was too vital.

Johar walked in to join the Guardians, grunted, and jerked his chin at them. Tylara was nowhere in sight, and Kyber sensed that she had gone back to the command deck of the
Vishra
.

The Guardians hurried to finish belting their weapons on. They were a mix of Kith and Kin. Kyber had to assume Arthur would be deploying the same white noise machines that cancelled out Kith psychic ability.

Johar had been working with Sueni scientists to find a way to counteract the static. Simple earplugs had only minimal effect, the sensitivity of Kith hearing meant their ears needed to be completely blocked to remain unaffected. Machines that emitted wavelengths to nullify the white noise had the opposite effect on Kith—they became raving beasts. Johar had decided half-bestial soldiers were less of a liability than deafened soldiers or rabid animals. They would have to take their chances with the static, but Kyber found it bitterly ironic that all their advanced technology was being thwarted by a simple Earthan noisemaker.

“Kyber?”

He moved to stand beside his cousin. “Farid?”

The green-eyed man silently handed him a tiny comm. device to slip into his ear. Farid was coming along to handle Jana's parents. The diplomat would talk them into getting on the shuttle with them even though Jana hadn't come herself. Convincing people was the man's specialty, and he was more than welcome to it.

“Kyber!” Jana strode into the hangar bay, hastily securing a holster and razer to her waist. She wore the same dark gray tunic, blank pants, and boots that he wore. Beneath the tunic would be a thin undershirt of mesh armor that would protect her from Earthan bullets. She carried herself with the bone-deep confidence of someone who knew what she was doing, knew her place and her purpose. He scrubbed a hand down his face, dread wrenching at his insides. It was good to see her this way, he simply wished she'd chosen another time to be willful.

“Jana, I understand that you're upset—”

“Upset?
Upset?
” Her mouth dropped open and she pounded a fist against his chest. “Yes, I'm upset. I'm fucking pissed, Kyber. You left me in bed alone to go throw yourself into a dangerous situation for me.”

“You did the same when you came to get me.” He searched her face, but all he saw was unyielding fury. “I have to take care of this, Jana. I'll bring your parents back to you.”

“No.” She hit him again, then balled her fists in his tunic and shook him. “You don't leave me, Kyber. You don't leave me alone. Not
ever
.”

The breath whooshed out of his lungs as her desperation reached him. The beast within him writhed in agony at its mate's fear. But the man couldn't surrender on this matter. She was too important.

“Your Majesties.” Johar stepped forward, his gaze flicking back and forth between them. “We should go.”

She dropped her hands from Kyber's shirt and poked a finger in the Guardians' direction. “Don't think any of you are off the hook for letting him try to leave without me. Every last one of you is on my shit list.”

A rumble of protestation came from the Guardians, each of the battle-hardened warriors scrambling to get back in her good graces. Kyber's lips twitched. Apparently, he wasn't the only one wrapped around her little finger.

She swung around to level a glare at him. “What are you smiling for? You're at the
very top
of my shit list.”

“You are not coming. You've already tried to sacrifice yourself for me once. I don't want someone else to die for me. My life isn't more important than anyone else's.”

Johar's voice reflected disbelief. “You're the
emperor
.”

Kyber turned to face him. “And what have I done to earn that title? It doesn't make me better than anyone else. A life is a life. Mine is no more valuable than yours. I have to end this with Arthur. If I could do this alone, I would.”

“But that's why it's
your
destiny.” Farid shoved a hand through his blond hair. “That is exactly the kind of man I want as my emperor. Someone who puts his people before himself, who would die to protect them. You were born to rule for a reason, cousin.”

A muscle in the Guardian captain's jaw ticked; he twitched his long braids over his shoulder. “You forget Arthur murdered my father and thousands of others who were on the
Anshar
. I want him dead as much as you do. I'm with you, Your Majesty. To the end.”

“And I,” said Farid. The words were echoed from every person there. Even Bren. Kyber closed his eyes, bowing to them to show his gratitude.

When he opened his eyes, it was to see both compassion and anger flashing across his One's face. “Jana—”

She sliced her hand through the air, cutting him off. Her gaze darted to the gathered people. “All of you get in the shuttles, please. We'll
both
join you in a moment.”

The tone was that of command, of an empress, and the Guardians moved to obey without question. He arched his eyebrows. “You can't come.”

Folding her arms across her breasts, she lifted her chin. “You're not leaving me here.”

He mirrored her pose, crossing his arms. “I'll have you thrown in a holding cell if I have to and barricaded in by a legion of Guardians.”

“If you want my parents to go anywhere with you willingly, you'll need me there. Farid's charm isn't going to cut it, no matter what you think.” She shrugged, her tone conveying nonchalance while the little emotion that trickled through their connection told an entirely different tale. “Sure, you could knock them out, but it'll go a lot better and easier if they're cooperating.”

“No.” He couldn't even consider it. The thought of her within a thousand miles of Arthur or his men was untenable.