Chapter 15 #2
I didn’t want to talk about the creepy, dark shape with its tentacles and a face like Davidson’s.
It had no bearing on anything, anyway. He was either dead or stuck on that world, left behind, and that was exactly what he deserved.
It could not harm any of us here, and it did not change how they would treat me, either.
“That’s… terrible. I’m so sorry, Freddie,” Elyssa said.
She reached out to curl a hand around mine and give it a gentle squeeze.
A delicate chain ran from her earlobe to a ring through her nose; small, glittering medallions with symbols dangled from it.
It was pretty, and it was exotic. I was instantly intrigued, but I held those questions for now.
“You must have lost your friends, your crew.” Her large eyes were full of empathy and understanding.
She knew that, for me, that loss was as fresh as if it were yesterday, even if they’d died hundreds of years ago.
It was yesterday that I’d learned I’d lost them.
Val had been roaming around the greenery so far, but she suddenly popped up beside me and crawled into my lap.
Purring, she rubbed her cute, furry head against my chest, and all the sadness that had filled me eased and faded.
By now, I was pretty certain that she absorbed emotions somehow, fed on them.
I was grateful; it made dealing with this, recovering from all of it, so much easier to bear.
Was it healthy? No idea, but it was working for me.
“What of Earth?” I asked, feeling much steadier with Val in my arms. I held her, scratching at her ears and ignoring the surprised looks on the faces of my company.
It was as if they’d never seen Val act this way before, but that seemed unlikely.
Val had been cute and cuddly from the moment I’d met her, and she was absolutely crazy about ear scratches, no matter what form she was in.
Mandy briefly outlined the state of affairs as far as they knew, and it painted the kind of future I’d wanted to avert: dystopian cities and harsh punishments, everything controlled by the UAR.
Not only had they fully folded Earth into their ranks, but they’d also conquered over eighty percent of the Alpha Quadrant by this point.
“There are still free species,” Harper told me helpfully.
“On the edges of the Quadrant, in what they call lawless space. The Terafin are holding out too, and the Talacan, but they’ve always been far away.
They were the only planets with societies advanced enough to offer resistance…
” There was a sad look on her face as she explained this, but the mention of Talac made me think of Sin.
Had he been part of any of this? He was a Son of Ragnar, did he join the UAR too?
“What of the Sons of Ragnar?” I asked, surprised to discover that none of them knew what that was.
“That’s what Sin is,” I said, pointing at Val.
“Val is his symbiont, a mutually beneficial relationship that gives Sin immense power and long life. The Sons of Ragnar were neutral peacekeepers in my time: mysterious, rarely seen. Sometimes they’d appear just to rescue hapless voyagers or mediate in wars…
” I trailed off when it still clearly did not ring any bells for them.
It was as if the Sons of Ragnar had completely vanished, disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Had they all gone to the Zeta Quadrant like Sin?
That made no sense either; they would know about them then, wouldn’t they?
Mandy shook her head. “Sorry. Never heard of these guys. You sure that’s what Sin is?
” Her eyes went to Val in my lap, and to my surprise, Val opened her mouth to display sharp fangs and growl in warning.
Mandy immediately shifted away, turning her body so she was between Val and her baby boy.
It was as if Val didn’t like them, but that made no sense.
Why would she not like these empathic, sweet people?
“Oh, that’s odd… I…” I didn’t know what to say, that was the truth.
If the Sons of Ragnar had vanished, then that couldn’t mean anything good for the Alpha Quadrant at all.
It also meant there was more going on with Sin than I knew, and my first instinct was to go search him out so I could ask.
Any questions would probably be met with hostility, but I had to try.
Someone had to break down his walls, right?
“Listen, about the Sineater. Are you sure you’re comfortable staying in his quarters?
After all, he did lock you in…” Mandy was obviously concerned.
I let that settle in as I took a moment to think this through.
It would be easy to say yes or tell her it was none of her business, but that was hardly tactful.
My eyes flicked to Evie, the pretty redhead had been a double for a princess.
If anyone had training in diplomacy, it was her.
From the way she’d cocked her head and was looking at me, she knew I was calculating the best answer rather than a truthful one.
She spoke before I could: “It’s up to her, Mandy.
A mate bond is powerful, after all. I’m sure you’re feeling the draw, and who wouldn’t?
He’s a powerful, handsome guy. So don’t say anything, just know that we’re here if you want to talk.
” I sighed, and I would have settled down, possibly even explained the complicated situation, if not for the sudden commotion.
A slamming door—and that was saying something, as you couldn’t easily slam an automated sliding door—was followed by thudding footsteps and a deep rumbling noise that made the fine hairs on the back of my neck rise.
It sounded like the growl of a beast, the kind of deep, low noise a crocodile might make, or an angry tiger.
He came around the trees that shielded the exit from view a second later, a dark blur of silver and black.
“Frederique!” he roared the moment he spotted me.
In response, Val rippled in my lap, then slid over my skin to form sleek, silver armor.
Oh boy, if his own symbiont thought I needed that kind of protection…
He was furious, so mad that his silver eyes glowed with white light.
That should terrify me, but it made excitement pulse between my thighs.
This guy was twisted into knots about me, that much was clear.
I had never had a man respond to me that way, and it was utterly exhilarating.
I felt precious, loved, and weirdly safe—like I could always count on this kind of response from him.
Perhaps I could; perhaps a mate bond was more than a biological drive.
The ladies at the table scattered at his approach, leaping left and right to get out of his way.
He did not go around the table like a sane person, no, he flipped the whole metal piece, teacups and all, out of the way.
I must be equally insane, because I remained in my seat and waited for him.
Calm as could be, certain he would not hurt me.
He hauled me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes, my stomach colliding roughly with his silver shoulder.
With an “oomph,” all the air left my lungs, and briefly, I struggled to breathe.
My head spun when he turned and charged back the way he’d come.
I could hear Mandy calling someone on her comm, the other ladies talking loudly together, and one baby crying.
Like earlier, when we’d left the crowd at the med bay in the dust, Sin turned a corner, and the sound cut off.
Then I was alone with him again.