Ruptured: The Cantati Chronicles (7 page)

“Who?” He was curious and showed more interest in me than he had in a decade. Would wonders never cease to amaze me? It had taken him believing he had lost me to show that he cared.

“Luke.”

My father actually smiled. “Good girl.”

He went to his door. “Luke, could you come in here please?”

“Yes, sir.” Luke did the general’s bidding without question. He shut the door behind himself and approached my father’s desk, saluting.

“Sir, I apologize that the numbers I read were incorrect. Sector radar had not detected those numbers, either. If you want to remove me from duty, I understand.”

“Have a seat, Major. I don’t believe you intentionally gave us the wrong numbers. I think Alana is right. Drystan has found a way to block your abilities, or cloud them at the very least. That’s not why I brought you in here.”

Surprised, Luke glanced between me and my father. “Then …”

“With Cade’s entire division gone, along with part of the Green Squad, I need Alana back commanding Cantati Forces. The only way I can convince the Council is if she already has another mate in place.”

Luke appeared shell-shocked, “And you want me to be her chosen mate?”

“On paper, yes. Alana belongs in the field, leading my men, not as a Breeder. You won’t actually consummate your union, at least not initially. We need time to rebuild our ranks, while keeping this place safe. For all her rebelliousness, she’s the best leader I have, and if we are to survive, we need her skills.”

Warmth seeped through me, and I hid my smile.

Luke shot me a derisive look. “And you are okay with deceiving the Council like this?”

“Yes. Are you? With Cade’s death, I have to choose another mate, even if it is a fake mate.”

“I need to think about it.” Luke’s agitation burst out. He stood and left without being dismissed.

My father studied me. He would forgive Luke his lack of protocol. We had dropped a bomb on him and asked him to betray his oath. I’d caused one hell of a ruckus when I was assigned to Cade. Luke deserved the same consideration. Although, being on the receiving end of Luke’s consternation made me feel like I was a three-headed monster.

“We still have to face the Council. Do you think Luke will come around?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Wait, didn’t the Council leave for the Versailles Compound?”

“Yes.” He hit the controls on his computer, and the holograms bloomed.

“Come in, Coven Mother.”

The images of the Council appeared on the screens. The Coven Mother stared me down, boring holes into my soul before shifting her focus to my father.

“What about the rest of Cade’s men, General? The missive we received only spoke of his ill fate.” I had been removed from under the razor’s edge of scrutiny for the moment.

“Dead,” The general uttered.

The Council members cried out.

“And you, you were part of this?” the Coven Mother inquired, glowering at me. “Why did you defy the Council again, Alana? You have consistently challenged our orders. And now your chosen mate perished in the attack.”

“Hear her out, Amelia,” my father interjected.

“Silence, Commander. You will not interfere with these proceedings again or I will have you removed from command. Understood?” Amelia glared at my father and I noticed hatred in her eyes. In all my years, I had never heard anyone speak down to my father or belittle his station.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, and I heard him grind his teeth. So apparently theirs was not a match made in heaven. Maybe that was why he was willing to help me now.

“What actually happened out there? How is it you survived when no one else did?” Amelia asked. She wanted to use magic on me to uncover the truth. I could tell she desired it greatly, but the rest of the Council would find it appalling. She was a bleeding hypocrite.

“Council members, had I not defied the will of the Council by joining the battle, the Compound walls would have been breached. They attacked us with hundreds of their kind.”

“How do I know you are not lying to us?”

“You don’t. What I do know is that I made a difference today and stopped their forward progression. Punish me, if you like, but I was doing this for our people, to protect them. You might want to consider doing the same.”

Council members gasped. My father shook his head at my response. Screw that.

“I request that I be reinstated in the Cantati Forces.”

“We need you as a Breeder,” came Amelia’s scathing reply, like that was all I should expect from my life and should be thankful for it.

“Council members, I can be both. I am needed on the force, but will also concede after the good men we lost today that we do need to replenish our ranks and will serve until such time as I am with child. I will only leave the forces long enough to birth the child, then return to active duty.”

“I agree, Amelia,” my father said. “I need the lieutenant reinstated. I don’t have anyone else as qualified to lead the forces. Right now we are sitting ducks with our losses.”

The Coven Mother glanced between us. She was not happy about the direction these proceedings had taken. The other members whispered amongst themselves until the Coven Mother glared at them sharply. It struck me between the eyes. Power, I had it, and that threatened Amelia. She liked her position, the accolades and the authority it granted her, too much.

“And did you make your choice?”

“Yes.” Luke would forgive me, eventually. Once the dust settled a bit, we could even discuss the potential future in which we could make it a real union. But for now, the sake of our people must come first.

“Who?” Amelia asked, her hard face showing a bare shimmer of curiosity.

Forgive me, Quinten. I promise not to forget your sacrifice.

“Luke Holland,” I declared.

“So be it. You are reinstated as lieutenant until such time as you are carrying the offspring of Major Holland.” Amelia ruled in my favor, for once. I think the rest of the Council would have rebuked her had she tried to keep me from the front lines. The Council was afraid, as they should be, that Drystan was winning with his new combat strategies.

“Thank you.” It was more than I’d hoped could happen. For whatever reasons, my fate had become intertwined with Luke. I prayed he would keep our secret.

“Fine. You are dismissed.” Amelia shifted her attention from me to my father. He nodded that I could leave his office.

As I walked toward the door, I knew Quinten’s death had changed everything. Once again my fate had been tossed upon another path and I did not know whether to rejoice or cry.

May the gods protect me.

If they were even listening …

How had it come to this?

Chapter Ten

Outside, Luke and
Ben were stationed near the general’s office door. They stood at attention as I closed the door behind me. Luke avoided eye contact with me. But they both saluted.

“Lieutenant, your orders?” Ben asked, his normal jovial grin replaced by grim determination. I wanted to comfort him. He and Quinten had been real tight. They had gone through training together and had even been roommates. A lot of soldiers were forced to share rooms. With the overcrowding from citizens, there was nowhere else for us to put them.

I saluted them back.

“Ben, I want you to go to the armory and do a complete weapons inventory. Take Nick and if you need to, get Declan and Jared to assist. We need to know what our supplies look like.”

“Yes, sir.” He replied, heading off to the armory.

“Luke, walk with me.” I glanced at him, searching for the man I knew hidden by the current gruff exterior. He mourned Quinten. We all did. It was more though. He acted like I had betrayed him somehow. By the gods, men were more emotional creatures than women.

We needed to discuss the Council’s ruling. Although, his demeanor made me think that, unlike Quinten, or hell even Cade, he would not be pleased by the news.

“After you, Lieutenant.” Luke gestured for me to proceed. The moment we were out of hearing range of the Command Center, he let loose. “What the hell happened out there? I knew Quinten, and even he wouldn’t have disobeyed a direct order unless he had been coerced.”

Luke was right, Quinten never would have disobeyed a direct order, not without provocation. With my back to Luke, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and gave him as much of the truth as I was willing to share. He couldn’t ever know the full extent I had played in Quinten’s demise. Cade wasn’t the only one with a cell waiting for him in hell. I had a nice one of my very own reserved.

“He went because I ordered him to,” I confessed. A tear slipped down my cheek. I had thought I had used up all my tears. I swiped it from my cheek before he noticed it.

“Why would he do that?” I felt Luke hovering behind me. If I were given to fanciful musings, I’d say he wanted to shake the answers out of me.

What could I say? That he had wanted me for years and I used him to get out of a bad situation? That I persuaded him to follow me into hell, and he went willingly to his doom? I would carry that guilt with me all the days of my life, regardless of how short or long it may be.

“When the sirens went off a second time, Quinten and I knew it was bad. We made a difference out there. He made a difference. But he was out-maneuvered, and I couldn’t get to him fast enough.” I swallowed, attempting to moisten my dry throat. That much was true at least. Cade had out-gunned him.

“Do you really believe that?” He dragged me into my room and crossed his arms over his chest. The muscles in his arms flexed. I focused on those muscles instead of the condemnation glaring in his face. Then it hit me. My gaze shot up and I glanced in Luke’s eyes. He wasn’t really angry with me, it was just a mask that covered the guilt that was eating him alive. He believed this attack, and all the losses were his fault.

“We needed every soldier in that fight. I have made some bad choices in my time, I won’t deny that. But this wasn’t one of them. If we hadn’t gone, then the Compound would have been breached. I’m sorry that your powers have been compromised by Drystan. Quinten’s death was not your fault. None of them were, do you hear me? You didn’t know. None of us did.”

Luke turned away and punched the wall. He pounded his fist repeatedly in the same spot and blood bloomed on the white wall. I grabbed his arm before he could smash his fist against the wall again. He shot me a ferocious look as I restrained his arm, his blue eyes cloudy with his turbulent emotions. I slid my arms around him and embraced him.

Luke and I had never really touched in anything more than a plutonic way. He stood stiffly, as though he held himself together like a tightly wound watch. I stood fast, holding him close. A breath shuddered from deep within him, and his arms enveloped me, pulling me tightly against him as the dam of his emotions burst free.

I held him as the storm of his emotions battered him. Smoothing my hands across his back, I soothed him as best I could. Standing inside the circle of his arms, I allowed some of my own grief to subside. In our world, life was short and brutal. It was rarer still, to find solace in the starkness of our lives. And in this moment, I accepted the comfort he returned. I waited for Luke to withdraw before moving away.

“Better?” I asked, rubbing his arms.

“Yes. Thanks.” He replied, the sorrow remained but was no longer drowning him.

I spied blood welling and seeping from his swollen knuckles. I hoped like hell he hadn’t broken them in his fury. “Let me clean you up. Come on.”

I went into my bathroom, expecting him to follow. He did. I grabbed my medicine kit from under the stainless steel sink. Setting it on the small steel shelf, I turned to him. The restricted confines of my tiny bathroom were more pronounced with his six-two frame standing within it.

“Did the Council reinstate you?” he asked.

“Yes, they did.” I clasped his injured hand, rinsing the blood from his knuckles. Unsure of his reaction, I continued hesitantly, “The Council has also made you my mate.”

“They did, huh? And you and the general had nothing to do with that?” He replied sardonically.

“Look, Luke, we’re friends. I’m sorry that I put you in this position, that the general asked this of you. The Council asked me, and I chose you. I’d rather it be someone I actually like. I’m sorry if this is not what you want. It only has to be a farce to keep me in command.”

Luke studied me, a light in his eyes different from anything I had ever seen. Did he desire a union between us?

“Say something,” I pleaded with him as I wrapped his hand.

“Yes, I’ll do it. On one condition,” he stepped forward, closing the gap between us. My breath caught. I put my hands up to keep some distance between us, and my hands met his solidly muscled chest.

“What?” He almost seemed like the Luke I knew, but more confident in his footing with me.

“That our union not be a farce. That we are mated to each other in fact as well as deed.” He sounded pretty pleased with himself.

Great mother goddess!

“Luke, I …” I wasn’t ready. My emotions had been through a whirlpool in the last few days, and I hardly knew what direction was up.

“That’s the condition or I walk and inform the Council. I will be here after patrol and we can begin,” he bluntly stated. Son of a bitch was blackmailing me, and he knew it. He had me over a barrel and whether I wanted it or not, he was stealing my choice. I deserved it, I guessed, since I had done the same to him with the Council.

I was out of options. In order to help our people, I needed to be in the field. If the way to do so was to be mated to Luke in truth, then so be it. I could imagine worse fates. “We can begin after our patrol.”

“Really? You’re sure?” He studied me for any hint of discord.

“Yes.” I assured him. For better or worse, we were mates. I slid my body closer and watched his pupils dilate, darkening to midnight. I noticed the tick in his jaw, and the pulse in his neck thumped. He wanted me that much was certain. My emotions were too much of a jumbled mess to feel anything more than relief. I was back where I belonged, in command of my squad.

“Good.” He pulled me close, with the hint of a smile on his face.

The ground rumbled and shook.

Sirens blared.

Sweet merciful goddess!

Luke and I stared at each other. Our interchange momentarily suspended. A noxious mix of smoke, gunpowder, and sulfur began to fill the room. I heard screams.

Another attack? So close to the last one? What the hell?

“We need to go.” I maneuvered out of Luke’s arms, pushing past him out of the bathroom. From the sounds of it, the Cantati needed every soldier out fighting Drystan’s forces.

“Stay, until we know more. For me, please,” he asked. I was his superior officer, regardless of the fact that we were mates in the eyes of the Council. The thought of hiding in my room while the rest of humanity battled for survival riled my blood. My squad needed me more than I needed to assuage his ownership of me.

“Not gonna happen, major. I need you with me on this. Let’s go.” I would not stay locked in my room like a Breeder. Another ground shattering rumble boomed, rattling even my teeth. There would be time to argue the finer points of this relationship later. Right now, we had to join the fight.

I grabbed my gun. Luke begrudgingly nodded his agreement and we raced into storm.

-The End-