The Vulpirans' Honor: The Soul-Linked Saga (41 page)

He pulled his head back, thought for a moment, then peeked again, this time looking
for Michael and Shari.

***

“Hello Shari,” Michael said, pasting what he hoped was a happy smile on his face as
he took in her appearance.  Her once long, shining blonde hair was short and uneven,
as though she’d hacked it off with a knife without benefit of a mirror.  Her big green
eyes were bloodshot and restless, going back and forth between Michael, the door,
Nica, and back again.  She wore torn, dirty jeans, a blouse with the sleeves ripped
off, and grungy tennis shoes that didn’t match.  She was too thin, her bones sticking
out in her shoulders and arms, but at the same time, the muscles in those thin arms
looked rock solid as they held some kind of beam weapon pointed unwaveringly at Nica.

“Hello, Michael,” she said with a smile that seemed happy and relaxed, as though this
were a casual meeting and she wasn’t holding a gun on a child.  “You’re late, dear.”

“Late?” Michael asked, not quite daring to look at Nica.

“Yes, you should have been home hours ago,” Shari said.  “Dinner’s getting cold. 
Aren’t you going to say hello to your daughter?”

Her tone changed from friendly to cold on the last sentence, warning Michael.  “I
don’t have a daughter,” he said without looking at Nica.  “That little girl is my
adopted sister.”

Shari frowned.  “Sister?”

“Yes, Shari,” he said.  “Adopted sister.”

“No, Michael,” Shari said, still frowning.  “She’s your daughter.  Yours and that
woman you married.”

“That’s not true,” Michael said.  “Who told you this?”

“Baron Rubai,” Shari said.  “He told me you got married and had a child and you didn’t
want me any more.”

“He lied,” Michael said calmly.  “He told me the same thing of you.  Was that true? 
Did you get married and have a child?”

“No, I never did that,” Shari said, suddenly angry.  “How could you think that?”

“I didn’t,” Michael said.  “That’s what Baron Rubai told me, but I didn’t believe
him.  I hoped, one day, I would find you, but I couldn’t.  I looked for years, Shari. 
Where did you go?”

Shari shook her head, suddenly feeling confused.  She glanced at the child, then at
Michael.  No, they didn’t look at all alike.  Could it be true?

She was tired.  So tired.  And confused.  She’d spent months hiding out on cargo transports,
slowly making her way to Earth, only to learn that Michael had just left for Jasan
with his family.  So she’d stowed away on another ship, following him more by instinct
and luck than anything else.  She’d stolen what she needed, when she needed it, killed
indiscriminately whenever necessary.  All she wanted was Michael.  She didn’t care
what she had to do, how far she had to go.  Now, here he was, but he was telling her
everything she thought was true, was wrong.  Was he lying to her?  Or had Baron Rubai
lied to her?  Baron Rubai was a bad man.  She knew that much. 

She started to turn back to Michael when she saw a flash of movement out of the corner
of her eye.  Without thinking, she squeezed the trigger hard, and held it down.

Michael saw Lance step from the dining room doorway, saw Shari pull the trigger, saw
the beam from the gun shoot straight at Nica, hitting Lance as he leapt directly into
its path.  He watched it all as though in slow motion even as he stepped toward Shari,
grabbed the gun and yanked it down and away from Lance and Nica.  Shari’s finger was
pressed against the trigger, so the weapon continued to discharge into the floor. 
Shari began struggling against him and she was, to Michael’s surprise, far stronger
than he’d imagined.  He realized that the gun was slowly moving toward him, and he
automatically pushed back as hard as he could, in total survival mode.

Suddenly, Shari went still.  He froze and looked into her eyes, which had lost their
fixed, manic look.  Instead, they were the soft, gentle eyes of the woman he had once
loved.

“I’m sorry, Michael,” she whispered.  “Please, forgive me.”

“Always,” he whispered back, realizing he was talking to the real Shari for this one,
lost moment in time. 

“I love you,” she said, but there wasn’t enough air for her to whisper this time. 
He had no trouble reading her lips, and leaned forward to kiss them gently. 

“I love you, Shari,” he said.  Her eyes seemed to flash with some inner light, then
the light dimmed, and she went limp in his arms.  He stood there, holding her, even
when the sound of the Jasani entering the house through the doorway behind him filled
his ears.

***

Honey saw the shimmering bubble flicker, then begin to fade before blinking out. 
She was running toward the front door before Vikter realized what had happened, and
he had to hurry to get in front of her.  He pushed the door open, blocking the doorway
with his body to protect Honey just in case it was a trap.  The limp female form in
Michael’s arms satisfied him.  He stepped forward, his eyes going to Nica first where
she sat limply tied to a chair, then Lance who lay on the floor in a growing puddle
of blood, one hand still stretched out toward Nica.

Vikter went to his knees beside his brother, Hunt right beside him.  “Get Nica,” he
said to her.  Honey went to Nica and began tearing at the ropes, tears pouring down
her cheeks as she struggled with the heavy knots.

“Honey, let me,” Merrick said, his low, gentle voice breaking through her panic. 
She nodded and pulled her hands out of the way so that he could slip a knife under
the ropes and cut them.  Two more cuts and the ropes fell to the floor.  Honey pulled
an unresisting and unresponsive Nica into her arms and held her tightly.

She knew Nica was in shock, but having her warm, breathing body in her arms helped
somehow.  She turned around and hurried toward Lance, going to her knees on the floor
beside him.

“How is she?” Lance asked, his voice rough but clear.

“I think she’ll be okay,” Honey replied.  “She’s going to need all of us though.”

Lance coughed, his entire body jerking from the pain, a thin stream of blood leaking
from the corner of his mouth.  “Do me a favor?” he asked.

“Of course,” Honey said, wondering when the horror of this night would end.

“Make sure Nica knows I love her, okay?”

Honey shook her head.  “Lance, you have to tell her that yourself,” she said. 

“Please, Honey,” he said, and the pleading in his eyes made her heart hurt.

“I’ll tell her, Lance,” she said.  “She loves you too, you know that, right?”

“She’s a beautiful child,” Lance said.  “Like her sister.”

“Lance,” Honey said, reaching out with one hand and placing her palm on his cheek. 
“I love you,” she said.  “I need you to stay with me.  Please.”

Lance looked at her for a long moment.  “You love me?” he asked in a whisper.

“Of course I do, lunk
head,” she said.  “I love all three of you.  And I just found you.  You can’t leave
now.  We haven’t even linked yet.”

Lance turned his head just enough so that he could see Vikter and Hunt.  “She loves
us,” he said.  “Did you hear that?”

“I did,” Vikter said.  “She needs you, Lance.  Remember, her happiness comes before
all things.  You don’t have any choice.”

“Give us a bit of room there,” Doc said from behind them.  Honey looked up, relieved
to see Jareth pop into the room with Trey Dracon. 

Something inside of her eased a little as she struggled to her feet with Nica in her
arms.  She stepped back to give Jareth room, her knees weak with relief.  Jareth would
heal Lance, of that she had no doubt.

“How is she?” Vikter asked, bending down to look into Nica’s blank, staring eyes.

“She’s in shock,” Honey said.  “I don’t think she’s injured.”

“We should get her somewhere quiet,” Vikter said.  Honey nodded, her eyes going to
Michael who sat on the floor near the door, the body of a young woman lying beside
him.  He looked up, his eyes meeting hers for a long moment.  “Is she okay?” he mouthed. 
Honey nodded, and he smiled tiredly before turning his attention back to Shari.

“Take us home, Vikter,” she said.  “Please?”

“Of course,
zetia
,” Vikter replied.  “Right away.”