The Healer's Kiss: Book Four of the Forced To Serve Series (29 page)

“Feeling better?” Synar asked.

“Yes. Much better. Thank you,” Ji answered, nodding his head respectfully.

Synar watched his new Siren crew member warily. It was not often that a ship as small as the Liberator contained two such dangerous males within its walls. Warro had reluctantly made Dorian and him aware of his interest in their lieutenant. Unfortunately, that interest was even more dire than the lovesick Siren knew, but Synar hadn’t had the opportunity yet to share that with him.

Given Seta Trax’s demonic possession, it wasn’t likely any mating would occur. But oddly, that was also the reason Synar had let himself be talked into Warro going along on the mission as shuttle pilot. He well knew what the man was suffering, as did Dorian. When the female you feel compelled to protect was at risk, there was only one acceptable action, and that was to be near her.

Synar watched Warro bow his head as he sipped his drink, keeping his gaze on Seta Trax as indirect as possible. He was choosing to believe Warro’s presence among them was as much meant to be as anything else they had done. If the Liberator could house three demons, it should be able to handle two Sirens without too much strain.

He admitted to himself that he was following his instincts on this one, even though it might be foolish of him to do so. Only time would tell.

“Take a seat, everyone. We need to get this briefing over, so we can be on our way. Captain Ji Warro has joined the second rescue team as shuttle pilot. Hopefully, the ground team won’t need more than normal transport off-planet, but we are grateful to have his expertise, just in case.”

Synar paused as all eyes in the room swung to Warro, who pretended not to care he was suddenly the center of attention.

“To keep the ruse, we will be taking the Liberator’s second shuttle instead of one of the larger Paladin ones. We still haven’t heard from Chiang and Boca. There has been no check-in for the last twelve Earth hours, so we have to assume they are unable to communicate. The last incoming message from Chiang mentioned that Orem Sel was requesting Conor’s presence. So we have decided to concede to the request. Now I want to hear readiness reports from Malachi, Lieutenant Trax, and Ambassador Onin—when she arrives,” Synar said dryly.

The door slid open, and Issa Onin glided inside the conference room, smiling as she saw the worried gazes of pretty much everyone. How delightfully concerned they all were for their crewmates, she thought. Her smile grew broader as she surveyed the occupants, especially the new Siren among them. If she had known about
him
, she would have answered Synar’s summons sooner.

Synar glanced to the ambassador and nodded. He was as bad as everyone else in wanting to eject the female his brother had mated from his ship. There was certainly no familial connection in him for her. But now the time had come for Ambassador Onin to serve a higher purpose and pay the consequences for betraying his ship and crew to his brother. In short, the wicked female ambassador was bait.

“Greetings, Ambassador,” Synar said dryly. “You’re just in time. I was bringing Captain Warro up to date. Are you ready to deploy?”

“I assure you I cannot wait to leave this flying food container,” Issa said snidely, sliding gracefully into a chair. “Welcome aboard, Captain Warro. If I can be of service to you during your stay, do let me know. It is wonderful to have another Siren on board.”

Seta felt her eyes flash, and moments after felt Rena’s soothing touch on her arm. Turning her gaze to see how Ji Warro was reacting, she was surprised to see him staring at her instead of the sleekly beautiful ambassador.

When Warro looked away from holding her stare, it was to bring his attention back to Captain Synar. Seta felt something leap joyfully inside her that the Siren seemed impervious to the other female’s attempts to gain his attention. She couldn’t help glaring in triumph at Ambassador Onin, but the female refused to meet her gaze.

“Malachi, let’s hear from you first,” Synar said, fighting not to be frustrated over the two females vying for the Siren’s attention. His respect for Dorian’s discreet conduct on his ship rose to a higher level than he’d ever felt.

“I suppose some disclosure is necessary for Captain Warro’s understanding. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with my background, I used to be called ‘Conor Synar.’ I have not always been the helpful medic you know me to be on the Liberator. There was a time not so long ago that I led a very different life. I was in exile and basically paid for my escape by selling slaves to Fener Sel. Unknown to me until she escaped, Fener Sel had arranged for my mate at the time to be traded to Orem Sel, a transaction that did not get to happen as planned. While rarely does my wicked past lend itself to being a positive in my life, we can use it to our advantage now. We will pretend an intention to complete the earlier transaction in hopes of trading for the high ambassador’s daughter,” Malachi explained, keeping his expression as free of amusement as possible as he talked about Conor’s life.

“You sold females to Fener Sel?” Seta demanded, staring at Malachi in shock. She searched his energy for remorse and found absolutely none. Doubts about her energy reading assailed her, almost making her ill with her failure.

“It is not your fault for not seeing that nuance in my aura,” Malachi said gently, actually sorry he had to destroy the young woman’s admiration for him in such a cruel way. “I didn’t do the actual slave sales myself. I paid someone else to do it. Nevertheless, I profited. Now…well let’s just say I’m on a redemptive path to rectify those things and right my past wrongs.”

Seta clamped down on the barrage of questions that threatened to spill forth. Part of her, a part she had trusted implicitly in her life, simply refused to believe him. Malachi was lying. It was “why” that raised all the questions she had. In his energy, she saw his blasé attitudes about war and killing. She saw his jaded view of pleasure and females. She saw many things, but she did not see evidence of slave trading.

Why would he go to such lengths to deceive? And maybe more importantly, why was Captain Synar backing the medic’s lies in front of Captain Warro? Should she warn the Siren male she had once served that he was being duped? Or was he part of the ruse?

Her gaze sought Ji Warro’s. This time he arched an eyebrow at her intense perusal, probably because she was radiating concern for him. Warro nodded slightly, his gaze flashing something Seta refused to acknowledge.

“Your concerns are reasonable, Lieutenant. The important thing about this mission is rescuing the high ambassador’s daughter, who is of great value to the Peace Alliance as well as to her family. Malachi’s past—or rather Conor Synar’s past—is going to prove very useful. You’ll just have to trust this for now,” Synar said, looking at his earnest lieutenant and wishing he had forced the emissary to tell her the truth. Keeping Seta Trax uninformed about her demon host condition was part of his commitment to the emissary, but he did not like keeping Ji Warro in the dark.

Seta pulled her gaze from Warro’s and nodded her acceptance at Synar, all the while promising herself to get to the bottom of the mystery as soon as she could.

“On planet, you will hear Malachi addressed as Conor Synar. This is the name we will all use when addressing him as well. It is important to maintain the ruse until the target has been rescued and we have our missing crew members back with us,” Synar said.

“What if Malachi gets compromised?” Seta demanded, watching the secretive medic smile and nod, even though he did not answer.

“That will not happen,” Synar said confidently. “We have reason to believe that Conor Synar will be treated very respectfully there. They want his services. They’ve been without them for quite some time. But I’m going along myself just in case.”

“Are you worried about me, Lieutenant Trax? I do appreciate the concern,” Malachi said, earning a hard glare from Rena, who had been silent throughout the exchange.

“If you must know what I think, I’m worried about Rena and me pretending to be your slave mates. I’ve been an actual slave mate before and have no intentions of being one again. What happened to the female you tried to give Orem Sel?” Seta demanded, hearing true irritation lifting her voice above the calm modulation she worked hard to maintain.

She thought she heard Warro hissing over what she had shared but feared to look at him and receive confirmation. Rena and she had made sure her Peace Alliance records never mentioned their previous mated relationship to the Ethosian who had bought and used them for his amusement. Wasn’t the true evil what their own sire had done in selling them in the first place? Besides, neither of them counted that relationship anyway.

“Why do you hesitate to answer my question?” Seta demanded, ignoring Rena’s encouragement to let it go.

“He hesitates out of politeness, but let’s just say Conor’s mate is anxious to complete the transaction,” Issa Onin declared, breaking in and smiling at the shock on the young Ethosian’s face. It was the most fun she had had in days. “Oh my, did my
mate
not tell you? Shame on you. . .
Conor
.”

Seta looked at Malachi. “
Ambassador Onin is your mate?
”

“No—or least not in any true sense. My bonding interests lie elsewhere, as do the Ambassador’s. She is teasing you for her own amusement,” Malachi said flatly, shrugging as he took in Issa Onin’s smile of pleasure to have caused him such problems.

“Do not speak for me,” Issa said. “You do not have the right to do so.”

He didn’t despise the wicked-minded female, Malachi decided, or at least not as much as Liam did. In fact, he rather admired her for seeking a situation to creatively satisfy her inner torment. While not the best creature, Issa Onin was not the worst female he had ever known either.

Admittedly, his lack of interest in the attractive, dark-natured female still surprised him because Issa Onin had eventually sought him out when it became obvious no other male on the ship was capable of physically satisfying her. His refusal was not because he did not have needs—because he
had
needs. In fact, he was becoming more and more aware of his needs with every moment he spent in the company of Rena Trax’s body.

He hadn’t been forbidden from bonding with the ambassador. Both Ania and Liam had cautioned him but would have let him make the call. No, he attributed his current sensibilities about females to Ania. Being hosted by her had definitely shifted his tastes. Now he sorely wanted to know what it was like to share an emotional connection with someone innately good.

And with that thought, his gaze went to Rena Trax, who moved her gaze away when he smiled knowingly at her.

“I speak only for myself, but I always speak true. Everything else is a waste of energy.

Seta looked at Ambassador Onin and then at her sibling, vowing to take Rena’s opinions of males more seriously from now on. Obviously, Rena has seen something in Malachi that she had never suspected existed. Oh, she had seen the darkness in him, Seta thought. She had just never attributed what she had sensed to a male who would ever willingly harm a female. Frowning when that fact still didn’t seem right to her, Seta narrowed her gaze at Malachi, who refused to look at her again.

“Lieutenant, you need to set your aversion to Malachi’s personal revelations aside so we can get back to discussing our plans,” Synar admonished, hoping his new lieutenant would go along as ship protocol dictated, even though most of his crew rarely adhered to following it. He saw Gwen and Dorian grinning as he looked at them.

“Commander Jet will take care of the Liberator in my absence. Lieutenant Zade and Peace Keeper Looren will be standing by to work with the Dread Nought when they arrive. The Paladin’s commander will begin the deployment of the larger ground force after we have located the high ambassador’s daughter.”

“Captain, why are you going along on the mission personally?” Seta asked.

Synar stared at his new lieutenant until she dropped her gaze from his. He would not tolerate blatant disrespect from her or the demon she carried. Perhaps in this case though, she had a right to be concerned.

“Like you and Rena, Malachi and I work best when we are together,” Synar said finally.

Seta heard Malachi laughing softly at Captain Synar’s grudging statement, which she hadn’t found funny at all. She didn’t like to think that they were lying or laughing at her, but her new captain’s attitude did not exactly inspire confidence.

Looking over at Warro, Seta saw he was glaring at Malachi’s way-too-flippant attitude as well. After serving with him on the Paladin so long, she knew exactly what that look meant. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who thought more was going on than was being told.

Chapter 19

“You both look quite charming. Are the matching clothes for my benefit?” Malachi asked, adjusting the sleeves on the formal jacket Dorian Zade had loaned him. The Siren was a bit taller and a bit broader through the shoulders, but Conor’s form did look rather sharp in nice clothing.

“The dresses were Seta’s idea. She thought the Lotharians would consider us more valuable as a matching set,” Rena said, frowning at Malachi’s smile.

“I see beyond the body adornment, but Lieutenant Trax’s reasoning is sound for most males,” Malachi agreed.

From her reluctant seat beside the demon, Issa Onin huffed in frustration. “The Lotharians will want the two of you because Ethosian females are rare, not because your clothes match. Being dual siblings will be a larger draw because all men want to bond with multiple women when given opportunity to do so.”

Rena turned to the female and stared hard. Her tongue overruled her sense of discretion. “Your future among this violent culture will hold all you wish for, Issa Onin. However, you will also come to see yourself in a very different way. I suggest you be prepared for great change.”

“Well, no one told me you were a destiny predictor, Rena Trax. Does that pay much on your planet?” Issa asked. “I’m afraid I have no credits to offer you for your reading of my future.”