The Price of Discovery (16 page)

She shook her head. “But your family is not worried about this the way you are. We believe in the mission. We feel it is an honor.”

“You are only worried about not finding your
Mharai
,” Brundor said from across the room. “If your birth anniversary were not so close, you would not be so concerned.”

Ankra's raised eyebrow showed she agreed. Let them think he only worried for his own peace and happiness. He knew better, he knew he worried for their safety. They didn't have to like him. They didn't have to agree with him. They only had to follow him.

Drakor went over to Mother and took her hands. He helped her to stand. Her watery eyes asked for his compassion. He wanted to give it, he wanted to understand. But would he ever feel that way? Would he ever find his true
Mharai
and know the intimate bond?

He kissed both of her wet cheeks. “Join him on the far side of the Sun.”

A small smile curved her lips. “You will look after Sitora?”

“Of course.”

She clenched his fingers. “Do not let our deaths be in vain. Complete the mission, bring us back to Elliac with honor.”

He kissed her forehead and took a step back from her, a sigh swallowed in his throat. “I will do my best,” was the only truthful thing he could say.

Drakor glared at his sister, who returned the stare and then headed for the dresser. Brundor challenged him for only a moment and then shifted his gaze away. Had he divided them? Had his refusal to give Mother her
Mharai-death
driven his family from him?

They were all that he had left now. Ankra, Brundor, and Sitora. In two more Earth days his birth anniversary would come, making him thirty Elliac sun-cycles. Making him past the age of finding his mate.
 

Why should either of these two care? Ankra still had many cycles to go and Brundor had not even had his Crossing yet.

He growled, disgusted at their willingness to end another person's life. Maybe he really didn't belong with any of them.

“Brundor!”

His brother turned to face him. The small gleam of trepidation pleased Drakor. At least he still held power over one of his siblings.
 

He tossed his crystal pad over. “Activate the shuttlecraft.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. How else will we keep them until we can return home?” He waved a hand over to the bed, indicating his parents. Mother still lived and his heart tore at referring to her as dead. But he could not change her mind.

“What is the code?”
 

Drakor rattled off the code and the craft appeared outside the window. He knew it was risky. Erin or Greg could stop over at any time. Especially since this day was at week's end, when many humans did not have to work.

But what else could he do? He had to preserve his parents' bodies until they could return home and give them a proper burial. Earth's atmosphere would not permit proper preservation. His only choice was to bring them onto the shuttle. As soon as possible.

His throat tight and dry, Drakor tried to swallow but couldn't. He took a last look at Father's still form, lying lifeless on the four-poster bed. Then, at Mother, whose tearful eyes yearned for her peace. She would rather be dead than be without him.

That must be the true test of finding one's
Mharai
. No matter how Erin made him feel with desire or contentment, he could easily live without her. Couldn't he?

An unknown weight lifted from him. He had been right all along. She was not his lifemate.

He pulled his gaze away from Mother, his eyes blurring, and spoke to the other two. “Come find me when you need my help to move them to the shuttle.”

Then, he turned from the room and went to look for Sitora.

 

 

Erin threw her keys on her kitchen counter and dropped the grocery bags to the floor. Okay, so she couldn't stop thinking about Drakor. Who could forget such mysterious, steamy eyes? Just about any woman would have heart palpitations watching his thick, muscled body move. Like a lion on the prowl.
 

She opened up the fridge and put away the milk, eggs, and yogurt. Man, her fridge was bare. It's a wonder she had anything to eat all week. Okay, so he distracted her. But really she needed this story. No doubt Rita was nearly done with hers. She just couldn't go back to being a nobody again. Not after what she went through before. She'd worked too long and hard at this po-dunk paper to make something of herself again. After this spread, she'd be able to get out of here and have a life in the big city again.

Erin shoved the Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the freezer. The blast of cold air woke her from her daze.

She had to do more research on that Victorian and on the death of John Doe. The two just had to be connected. Mysteries and secrets like that were not mere coincidences. Not in her book anyway.

Erin grabbed her keys again.
 

 

The floor at her office building seemed deserted when Erin got off the elevator. She went past the rows of metal desks until she reached her own. Her usual pile of papers and folders stood next to her computer monitor. Some new junk mail lay on her chair and she tossed it in the trash.

She bent under the desk to flip on the power strip. Bam! Erin jumped at the door slam, banging her head on the desk. Who just came in? Please, don't let it be Rita. Anyone, but Rita.

The sound of footsteps brought the person close and Erin gradually backed out of the desk and sat up. Bronze, silk capris and a matching white and bronze shirt greeted her eyes. Oh, shit.

“Well, I must say that this is a first. Erin Price in here on a weekend?”

“Don't you have a hole you can climb into?”

Rita tapped her red manicured nails on the desk. “Touchy, touchy. I happen to be working on my story. And you?”

Erin nibbled her lip. “None of your business.”

Rita raised her tweezed eyebrows. “Everything is my business.”

The nerve of this woman. It would take someone like her to dampen her good mood. Erin felt the corner of her eye tick, that damn annoying reaction to Rita's presence. “Shouldn't you be doing something other than bothering me?”

Rita smiled. “I can find something to do. Give me your friend's phone number and I'll get busy.”

“My friend?”

“You know, the one from Mickey's. Mr. Tall, Dark and Extra Hot. The one that was way out of your league, remember?”

Out of her league, huh? It didn't seem that way last night when tongue was inside her mouth or his hot hands were—

“Dear Lord, are you blushing?”

Erin blinked. “Uh…no.”

“Yes, you were. You have the hots for him, don't you? I think Ed in printing is a little more your type.”

Ed. Sloppy, middle-aged, with a comb-over. That was her type? Rita thought she knew everything. Thought she was so smart. Well, this time, Erin had something on her.

“You don't know what you're talking about.” Erin stuck her chin in the air.

“Oh?” Rita snapped the gum in her mouth.
 

“Mr. Tall, Dark, and Extra Hot has been spending quite a bit of time with me, thank you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I've been to his place, he's been to mine. Maybe he's not so out of my league.”

Rita stopped chewing. “You're bluffing. There's no way he'd go for a girl like you.”

Erin grit her teeth. “What's that supposed to mean?”

She waved her arm in the air with a flair. “Look at you. Short and pale, boring hair, bland face. What would he see in you?”

“He must see something because he spent the night with me last night.”

“That's a lie.”

“It isn't, you can ask my brother. Greg knows he was there.”

Erin could swear that she saw Rita blanch. Her mouth dropped open and her perfectly made-up face shifted a few colors. Somehow, offering Greg as a back up was enough to have Rita believe her.

“He slept on your couch, right?”

Erin grinned. “That was last week. Last night he slept in my bed. Well, you know, not really slept…”

Rita straightened her back and sucked in a deep breath. Erin could tell she was not pleased that Drakor actually had an interest in her.
 

“Don't get cocky. I have something on your brother that will bring him down. And then you'll fall right along with him.”

Erin's stomach pitched. “What do you mean you have something to bring him down? Is your story on him?” Oh God, was she the one who broke into his office?
 

Rita's lip curled into a snarl. “There's something illegal going on in that office and I'm going to expose it.”

Erin gulped. “Whatever it is, Greg can't possibly have anything to do with it or know about it. You can't just ruin him.”

“Oh, can't I? He should have a better rein on his employees.” She raised an eyebrow then turned to walk back to her desk.

“Wait a minute. What employee? What are they doing wrong?”

Rita smacked her gum, obviously satisfied that she had the upper hand again. “He's about to be in a legal dispute over a patent infringement. You know, he really should be more careful.”

Erin sank into her hard chair. Patent Infringement?
 

Oh shit, she had to go see Greg. She had to warn him. But why did she have the urge to see Drakor instead? Why was burying herself in his arms the first thing she wanted to do?
 

Either way she had to get out of here. She'd have to do her research later.

She grabbed her bag and keys and pushed away from her desk.

“Oh,” Rita called across the room. “I still mean what I said before about your guy not having an interest in you. Sleeping with you really doesn't mean anything, you know.” She winked and blew a quick bubble. “Like I said at
Mickey's
, a man like that is only using you. You can take my word on it.”

For once, Erin could actually laugh. She was using Drakor. What difference did his motives make?

But as she hurried to the elevator, Erin couldn't help but wonder if Rita wasn't right. What did Drakor see in her?

 

 

Despite her impulse to lose herself in Drakor's arms, Erin rushed over to see Greg instead. He opened the door wearing a pair of old shorts and no shirt.

“Just watching a baseball game.” He waved her in. “Want a beer?”

If she liked it, it might make her feel better. Or at least calmer. She shook her head. “We need to talk.”

He went down the hall and back to his couch. “Didn't we just do that this morning?”

“This is very important, Greg. You've got to listen and pay attention.”

“It's not about Drakor or Ankra again, is it?” He propped his bare feet on his coffee table.

“No. It's about Invasion Shield.”

“Huh?”

“Your company. Something illegal is going on and you need to do something about it.”

He still didn't look at her and watched the game instead. “What are you talking about? I'm not doing anything illegal.”

“Not intentionally.”

“Oh, that was a strike if I ever saw one. Come on, Ump!”

Erin kicked the table. “Are you listening to me?”

“Sit down, will you? You're making me nervous hovering about me like some mother hen.”

“You should be nervous.” She moved around to block him from seeing the TV screen.

“Get out of the way. You may be a pain, but you ain't made of glass.”

“Ha. Ha. Very not funny.”

Greg scooted down the couch to see past her. “Don't you have any other friends you can annoy? Can't you see I'm busy?”

Erin looked around for the remote but he held it on his lap. She stalked over to the set and pushed off the power button.

“Aw, Erin, come on. There was a man on third base and one out left.”

Men! She growled at him and went to stand before him, crossing her arms. “Now you listen to me. Rita is investigating you and Invasion Shield. She says someone in your company is doing something illegal.”

He gave her a helpless look. “That's impossible. She's just blowing smoke up your ass.”

“I think she's telling the truth.”

“Why do you believe her of all people?”

“Because she's so desperate to bring me down. I don't think she even meant to tell me. She was just pissed off.”

“Why?”

“Because she wanted to go out with Drakor and I told her that he was with me.”

Greg lifted his eyebrows and drank some of his beer.

“She didn't believe me at first and I said she could check with you that he was at my house last night. That got her all ruffled and then she went on about you and your illegal company.”

He shrugged. “She just had her pride stung and looked for a way to get you.”

Erin sat on the coffee table in front of him. “She was specific, Greg. She said something about patent infringement.”

“Patent infringement? I don't get it.”

“She said you should keep a better rein on your employees.”

His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. “But who would do something like that? Is someone selling me out? A junior engineer passing on our documentation?”

Finally he was listening to her. She sighed. “I just wanted to warn you. Rita is planning a huge article on it to expose you.”

“She must really hate you.”

“Me?”

“I can't imagine this story just popped into her head. She must have searched for something to get at you.” He reached for the remote. “If it's even true.”

“Are you saying you don't believe me?”
 

He pointed the remote around her and flipped the TV back on. The sounds of cheering echoed in the room. “It's her I don't believe. And you shouldn't either.”

Erin got up from the table and moved slowly toward his front door. She had told Rita she didn't believe her, but in all honesty, part of her did. Her comments about Greg's legal troubles seemed too confident to ignore.