Chapter Fourteen
Skiden:
“Everything went smoothly with Isabel?” Tiran asks, pouring me a sleinke. We always drink the expensive stuff when it’s Bronan’s. Especially when he’s not home.
“Yes. She was already set on coming home. She said River and Maman will pick her up in the morning and she’ll be here for breakfast. So when I told Bronan, he went right out to beg her to come home tonight.”
“He missed you.”
“So did you.”
Tiran scowls at me. “How can you tell, know-it-all?”
I grin. “Your feelers have been slithering up me like I’m River.”
His appendages jerk from my skin like I gave him an electrical shock.
“I should tell you about the night I left,” I say, leaning forward. “I was so angry with Patron for revealing it that way that I chased him. Tied his appendages together and tossed him over the Towering Falls. Since I haven’t heard of his tragic death, I’m assuming he made it out.”
Tiran nods. “He never mentioned that, but he did sport two black eyes. I assumed the strike he received that night spread to the other side.”
“Nope. The second one I gave him later.”
“I should have known something was different.”
“This is either retaliation for me interfering when you first brought River home and he tried to intimidate her, or he’s determined to break up Bronan and Isabel.”
“We’re going to have to discuss this with Brone,” he says.
The front door blasts open, sending a shock of rain blowing in on the wind. Bronan is posturing, his body much larger than normal, his face thunderous. In his arms he cradles Bel—and she’s half naked and sobbing.
Tiran and I jump from our seats.
“What happened?” I ask.
“She was attacked by patron,” Bronan snarls.
“I thought it was y-you,” Isabel gasps, her teeth chattering. “I flung open the door and it was him. H-he said I’m a breeder and he’s eligible for one.”
“Where is he?” I ask. This is the last chance he’d been given. To harm a female—especially innocent Bel—
“The hunters are disposing of his body,” Bronan says, no inflection in his voice as he looks straight into my eyes and lets me know he killed him. I nod, just once, a gesture conveying agreement and approval. It’s what needed to be done and I would have done it for him.
“Go home,” Tiran says quietly, his head gesturing to Bel. “We’ll let River and Maman know what’s happened and that you’re both safe.”
“Thank you,” Bronan says as he darts the back way toward the living quarters.
“We’re going to be busy tomorrow when everyone hears what happened,” Tiran says.
I nod. “We’ll be here for him.” Then I sigh. “I wish I’d have done it for him. This should be a happy time for them, reuniting and enjoying life preparing for their kish.”
“It’ll work out. I better get to River and let her know what’s going on.”
“I guess that leaves me with Maman.” May as well stay at her place and enjoy breakfast in the morning, too. I’ve been doing way too much visiting this evening. Besides, nothing beats Maman’s cooking.
By the time we enter the main cavern the next morning, there’s a crowd of people heading in and out, offering condolences. Mikhail and his medic, Calbin, arrived early to give Bel a checkup. After things calm down, my brother turns to me.
“Do you think I can leave you in charge?” Bronan asks.
I tap the side of my cheek. “Depends on why you need me.”
He sighs and points across the room at Mikhail. “Mikhail is requesting Isabelae and River head to Earth to break up a political movement. It has to do with Isabelae’s patron. He’s running the campaign to resist Lilaina’s rule as leader.”
“Some say we don’t need a first lady to rule, that it should be a president in charge and therefore an election should be held. As you know, females aren’t eligible to run for president. The leader of the movement is someone you know, Isabel. And someone River should meet,” Mikhail says.
“My father… and his friend. Duke,” Isabel says.
He nods.
“What does this have to do with Lucy?” I ask, barely following them as I worry about her alone on Earth. Is this over the meeting that Mejak and Kalrian should have brought up to him? Was our plan in place?
“It seems she’s had a series of accidents. She’s safe… but one would think someone doesn’t want Isabel around. You see, many people think Lucy is Isabel. The masquerade works all too well.”
“They don’t want it known that I had a child,” Isabel says, looking at River. “They want to shut me up before an election?”
Mikhail nods. “There were rumors, despite you being hidden while pregnant and later, when they sent you to your aunt’s. In fact, I think that might have drawn more attention, which is why your father demanded you return home and then declared you shunned.”
“Does he know Lucy is pretending to be me?”
Mikhail shrugs. “He’s funding his friend for president. Tomorrow there is a huge event in an exclusive place called the Gentlemen’s Club. I have it on good authority that both will be present to announce the new candidate… Duke.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Show up. Announce your presence loud enough so everyone is aware that you live here on Pimeon with your daughter, River. I think her looks will be enough, along with an introduction as his granddaughter to cause the other backers to remove him as candidate. If not, you can always announce that her DNA be entered into a world-wide database for a parental match.”
“What does this do for Lucy?” I snarl. They don’t seem to be concerned enough that a sweet female lives alone and is terrified.
“We hope it’ll be enough for them to leave her alone once they realize it wasn’t Isabel living in the house and working within the walls of the commune. To stop the ‘accidents’ from happening. If not, we’ll have to keep her safe another way.”
“I won’t let my mate go alone,” Bronan says. “I want to go.”
“Me too,” Tiran says.
“I should come too. It’s been a while since I’ve seen little Lucy,” Maman says. “Such a dear child.”
“Good thing we brought a larger pod this time,” Mikhail says. “Though we won’t be able to visit Lucy. We can’t have her compromised in any way.”
Maman frowns, then slowly nods.
“So, you’ll rule while I’m gone?” Bronan says.
I nod. “Then I’d like to take a trip back. Stay with Lucy and make sure she’s okay after the drama.”
“We can pick you up afterward and bring you back with us. But it’s very important to stay out of sight.”
It feels like forever before they return, though it’s the same day. I can’t wait until I can get there and make sure for myself.
In the meantime, I distract myself with the Tiiblets and the plan for Isabel’s nursery. I coordinate a party of males to head to the Adroki village to pick up volunteers. I show them the book I borrowed from Lucy’s house—the one that Isabel had kept for so many years, always thinking that she would be able to read the book to the baby she never found.
This should be a huge surprise, though I won’t be around to see the amazement on Bel’s sweet face. I’ll be well on my way back to Earth, with a detour to drop off the Adroki Tiiblets.
Finally, I head out to the yard to see the Britonian shuttle fly in. One by one, my family emerges, smiles on their faces.
“Did it go well?”
“Marvelous!” Maman says. “We watched the whole thing from the video-cam that Mikhail has set up in the pod. Isabel and River were superb. Isabel’s patron was there and River introduced herself as his granddaughter.
“When Uncle Duke saw us together, he turned white as a sheet,” Bel says.
And suddenly there’s a ringing in my ears.
Uncle Duke.
I’ve heard that before. Fuck, it was Samantha who referred to her Uncle Duke.
“Bel,” I snap. “How did you meet Lucy?”
Everyone stops talking at once, but I’m barely aware of the heads that turn toward me because I talk to Bel but I’m so focused on River. My darling sister-in-mate who suddenly looks familiar.
“Wh-when my father threw me out of his house, he was throwing a party for Uncle Duke. Uncle Duke ordered his limo to take me home. Samantha was the driver and she listened to me crying. We got to talking, I told her I was shunned and she said her cousin Lucy needed someplace to stay too. That she had her own secrets.”
It dawns on me what those secrets are.
“Skiden? What’s going on?” Mikhail asks.
I’m still stuck staring at River. Her forehead. The way she smiles with the left side of her mouth that turns up higher than the other side. I’d always assumed it was the scarring but there’s one other person who smiles like that.
Someone with her eyes. Her nose. They have the exact same shade of inky darkness to their hair—much darker than Isabel’s.
“They know that Isabel has been here on Pimeon now?” I ask.
“Yes. We wanted Lucy to be safe instead of a target for the accidents happening around the commune.”
“But Lucy’s not safe. She’s in hiding too. From Uncle Duke. I thought it was odd that Isabel called him that because I’d heard the phrase before. When Samantha referred to her own Uncle Duke.”
And Isabel has figured it out. Her eyes fly to River.
“Oh, my God.”
I nod. “He’s been trying to flush out Lucy because she’s River’s sister.”
River gasps.
“Are you sure?” Maman asks.
Mikhail taps his communicator.
“Look at the similarities. I thought Lucy looked familiar but it didn’t dawn on me until I heard that same phrase.”
“I knew Duke was Samantha’s uncle but when she said her cousin needed a place, it never dawned on me—” Isabel babbles.
“Verified,” Mikhail says. “The DNA sequencing for all three is a match. And Lucy’s birth certificate…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence and I know why.
“Her name isn’t Lucy. She says she was renamed Lucifer’s Daughter as a way of tracking her as an adult. She’ll never be able to apply for a job with a name like that, which was why it worked out to remain hiding and use Isabel’s identity.”
“But now we’ve called attention to her,” Mikhail says. “Attention that Isabel isn’t on Earth so now they wonder who’s in her house.”
“Can we enroll Lucy in the Match Program?” Maman asks. “She can mate Skiden and bring her cousin Samantha with her, the way River brought Isabel.”
Mikhail shakes his head. “Not now. We’ve compromised the Match program. Now Steve and Duke will claim it’s a setup. That the chosen aren’t matched naturally but handpicked according to our convenience. Especially if Lucy is in hiding. That means she’s never enrolled to be drafted.”
“She’s my sister,” River says. “I can bring a family member over with the new rules Lilaina set forth… after all, since Isabel mated Bronan she no longer falls under my family member to bring over. It’s only fair that I get another to come over with me.”
“You get two automatically,” Mikhail says. “And since Isabel doesn’t need it, I would suggest Lucy… but not unless it’s announced by Duke that Lucy’s your sister. If we make the announcement, they’ll deny it and there’s no proof. So right now, we’re stuck. All we can do is keep her safe. Skiden can remain there. If we need to keep her from working, we’ll do that. Once we get the go ahead to resume the program, she’s next.”
“Now, how will we make sure Samantha is safe?” Isabel asks.
“I just sent Calbin to the commune to speak to the prophet. We’re requesting permission to land on his open field so we can seek the last match for the program. It will be Samantha. We’ve assured him it’s no one in the commune but a human female in a nearby city. Of course, we’re offering coin for his hospitality.”
Then the smile drops from his face when the bracelet on his wrist lights up with a flashing red light. He flips his palm out and a hologram of his bodyguard, Brashear, pulls up.
“Brash? What is it?” Mikhail asks.
“We need to speed things up. Samantha called. She hasn’t heard from Lucy and the phone’s not working. She doesn’t dare swing by her house in case it’s a trap and someone’s watching.”
“We’ll stop by and get Lilaina. See if you can swing by the commune and park early just to keep things quiet.”
“I’m coming.” I stand.
“Us too,” Tiran says, standing along with River.
“We’ll need Kalrian and Mejak.”
“We’ll get them,” Morky and Villi yell out, then run out the front door.
The trip to the Adroki beach feels like it takes twice as long as it does to get to Earth. Thankfully, Mikhail calls Lilaina’s mate, Juris, and he sets up the perimeters for the portal.