Chapter 32
ARDRUC
Bejo and Karff’s client had instructed them to bring me to Fortusia and leave me, preferably unconscious, in a rented storage facility at a small cargo port just outside the city of Bar’uto, about fifteen kilometers from the compound.
Instead, the mercenaries expressed concern about the security systems in place at the facility and told their client to claim his prize in a disused shipping office on the other side of the port, where security was much more lax. The client agreed readily.
Bejo and Karff had long since collected their final payment from us and departed when the door of the office opened and Olme Fornuth walked in.
He stopped on the threshold and stared at me. I folded my hands behind my back and returned his gaze without blinking.
In the message I had received nearly five months ago, Olme’s feathers had appeared patchy and his skin sallow.
But the man who stood before me in a long caftan and trousers designed to accommodate his tail and wings appeared healthy and in fine physical condition.
So either he had manipulated his image or he had regained his health in the interim. I suspected the former.
“What is this?” he demanded as the door slid closed behind him.
“There has been a change of plans,” I said, my tone dry. “The problem with hiring mercenaries to kidnap someone is their loyalty is up for bid, and their target may be in a position to make them a better offer.”
Olme’s sharp gaze went to Elena at my side. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. “This human smells of…you.”
“This human’s name is Dr. Elena Regis,” Elena said, with a smile so cold I felt a distinct chill. “And I smell like Ardruc because I’m his true mate.”
Olme’s expression darkened. His fists clenched with rage. “Impossible.”
“I assure you it’s true.” She studied him, utterly unfazed by either his growing fury or how much he towered over her. “Well, you went to a lot of trouble and expense to have a word with Ardruc. Go on, then.”
Everyone present knew Olme had not wanted a word, but to imprison me in the compound. She wanted him to say that aloud, to admit to what he had done and explain why.
Instead, very predictably, Olme went on the offensive. “No son of mine will have a human female as a mate,” he spat.
I laughed.
If I had struck him, Olme would not have been staggered half as much. Elena arched a brow and chuckled, clearly savoring Olme’s gobsmacked expression.
“You have no say in the matter,” I said.
“And I am not your son. You may have sired me, but you were no father. You and Earra were cruel jailers and tormentors, nothing more. I suffered every hour of my life with you, and you either did not see it or knew and did not care. I am not sure which is worse.”
“Everything your mother and I did was for your benefit and your brother’s,” Olme argued. “If you had not been so stubborn and willing to be led astray by the outside world, you would have seen that. You cannot possibly be this remorseless about deserting your family.”
There was less point arguing with him or prevailing upon him to listen to my perspective than trying to empty an ocean with a bucket. He would never be willing to acknowledge any viewpoint but his own. I had not come here for that purpose anyway.
“I made my choice to leave fifteen years ago and I have not had a single moment of regret since,” I said. “My only lament is that Nors did not also leave.”
“Your brother understood he had duties as a son, spouse, and father,” Olme said, his voice harsh. “Once he wed Aora, he saw our ways were better than those outside. He chose to stay with his family until his death.”
My gut roiled. Elena slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. Olme hissed at the sight.
While I was outwardly calm, Elena nearly vibrated with rage. I could well imagine what she longed to do in retaliation for Olme’s many crimes, but she remained quietly supportive as I said what I needed to say.
“Why seek me out now?” I asked. “Nors has been gone for nearly half a standard year. Because Pyru died?”
After discussing Pyru openly with Elena, I no longer felt hesitant to say his name. In fact, I had all but forgotten the edict against it until Olme stiffened.
“You will call him our beloved leader,” he told me icily. “You could not be less worthy to speak his name.”
“He was never my leader, and he was certainly never beloved to me,” I countered, my voice even. “Answer my question. Why come after me now?”
He folded his hands behind his back and assumed a posture of very obvious false modesty.
“In recognition of my tireless work to benefit our community and my longstanding adherence to the teachings of its beloved founder, the inner circle selected me to ascend to the position of leadership after the untimely loss of our beloved leader. After lengthy contemplation, I have humbly accepted.”
My stomach, already churning in renewed grief over my brother, lurched again at the thought of Olme as leader of the sect. He would now not only be in a position to inflict suffering on so many, but his eyes gleamed as if he relished the idea.
I had never wanted to be farther away from him than I did now. He was a sadistic, power-hungry monster, like Pyru before him, and the thought we were in any way related made me feel ill.
“This new role does not explain why you sent mercenaries to kidnap me and bring me here against my will,” I said, my voice strained.
He glared at me. “It is very unbecoming for a man in my position to not have his entire family at his side as he takes on the mantle of leadership. My elder son’s lack of respect and betrayal is still a subject of gossip in our community.
I invited you back after your brother’s passing as a gesture of goodwill.
But since you have no compassion for his widow and children in their time of need, I had to use more assertive measures to bring you back to your family where you belong, so I am not forced to hear whispers about it anymore. ”
I already knew he did not want me back because he cared for me, but to be told outright that his primary concerns were his need for control and to save face…my stomach threatened to rebel.
Only now did I notice that while he persisted in referring to me as his son, Olme avoided using Nors’s name, referring to him only as “your brother.” Was that a conscious choice? It must be.
Nors deserved better than to be erased from both speech and memory.
Meanwhile, Elena had apparently reached the limit of her temper.
“More assertive measures? Those mercenaries nearly killed both of us trying to capture Ardruc,” she snapped. “Did you not realize hiring people like that might lead to him getting killed?”
Olme barely spared her a glance. “Better dead than lost to the false gods of science and technology.” His mouth compressed into a tight line. “Your place is with your family.”
“I agree,” I said. “Elena is my family. I have a good life and I have found my true mate. Elena and I plan to marry in the Fylorian tradition and live together on the planet formerly known as Hyderia. And you should know the planet is sentient and protects us, so any further attempts to kidnap me will be met with failure.”
“And more to the point,” Elena cut in, “Ardruc doesn’t belong to you.
He’s not your possession. He had no choice but to live with you when he was a child, but as an adult, he has both the moral and legal right to choose his own path.
You have no right whatsoever to interfere with that, for him or anyone else.
If people opt to live within your community, that is their choice.
But you have no right to keep anyone against their will. ”
“Some people do not understand what is right and best for them,” Olme snarled. “My own son does not know. Some others are similarly misguided and I am forced to choose for them. Is it not the role of a parent and leader to save people from danger, even if it means I must save them from themselves?”
He appeared smug as if he believed he had made an important and indisputable point. And he had, though it was not the one he thought he had made.
“I am not returning to the compound with you,” I said, and his self-satisfied smile vanished.
“Not today, and not ever. I came here to get answers and to say what I needed to say to make a clean break. I plan to spend the rest of my days with Elena living in the present and looking ahead to our future, and never looking back at my life with you.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Goodbye.”
With that, even the stale air in this disused office located in a busy cargo port tasted as sweet and free as the day I got through the compound’s forcefield and flew away into the night.
Elena tugged me by my hand toward the door. “Move aside,” she said to Olme.
Instead, his hand emerged from where it was hidden at his side. He aimed a small plasma gun directly at Elena’s chest.
I threw myself between my mate and the weapon just as Olme pulled the trigger.
Searing pain sliced across my side. Elena’s scream filled my ears. Oh, gods…Elena. Had the bolt of plasma hit her as well? The odor of burned flesh and feathers stung my nose.
I staggered against the wall, my hand pressed to my bloody side, and turned.
As Olme raised the gun to aim at my chest, Elena snatched up a long metal rod from a stack of abandoned cargo crates.
With a J’noran battle cry, she spun with the rod over her head, bringing it down in a perfect arc onto Olme’s forearm. The shot went into the metal floor at my feet. Olme bellowed in rage and pain but did not drop the gun.
Elena changed her grip on the rod and swung its end up, catching Olme under the chin with a solid sound of metal on bone. Dazed, he slumped to the floor. She kicked the gun out of his hand and it skidded across the room into a corner.
The exterior office door slid open, revealing three uniformed provincial law enforcement officers with weapons drawn.