Tracking Trisha (4 page)

“Hey, what are sisters for?” Trisha said with a grin. “Now, enough of all the sober, depressing stuff, I am sick of feeling bah humbug. Let’s concentrate on all the fun we are going to have messing with the greenhorns. I think the Navy is still sending their Seals to my dad for training. I can’t wait to see their faces when I tag them.”

Ariel giggled at the thought. “You are so bad! You know they are going to need therapy after you mess with their heads, don’t you?”

Trisha was just about to reply when she heard a popping sound. She and Ariel had been around enough gun fire to recognize it immediately. Both of them dropped their bags and took off at a fast run towards the parking lot where they had heard it. Trisha squeezed through the fencing first, followed closely by Ariel. Trisha breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw Cara and Carmen together. Her gaze searched frantically for Abby. She heard the sound of tires squealing and turned in time to see the tail lights of a pickup truck leaving the parking around at a high speed.

“Shi
t, what happened?” Trisha asked.

Carmen spoke up before Cara could. Her expression was dark and deadly. Trisha could tell she was pissed.
“Some asshole waylaid Abby. From the little I was able to gather he isn’t too happy she didn’t choose him instead of this Zoran guy. He stuck her with something and has her cuffed. I’m going to follow him. Keep your line open, I might need some backup.” Carmen
took off
running towards a motorcycle hidden in the dark between two hangers
before anyone could say anything
.

“We need wheels.” Ariel muttered
darkly as she watched her sister take off after the pickup truck.

“On it.” Cara said shakily
before she ran across the dimly lit parking lot to Abby’s truck. Trisha watched as Cara deftly unlocked the truck and had it running in a matter of seconds.

Cara face lit up with a big grin when she saw Trisha’s raised eyebrow.
“I used to have a problem with taking vehicles for a spin.”

Trisha just shook her head as Ariel jumped into the truck, scooting over to the middle so she could get in. In a hand-to-hand confrontation, Trisha was still better than Ariel. Her dad taught her how to fight, sometimes not exactly fairly. He knew if she was out in the woods alone, sometimes for days or weeks, with some of their clients, she would need to be able to defend herself in any circumstance. Some of their clients did not like to lose to a woman. Paul Grove said it didn’t matter if you were a male or a female when it came down to fighting for your life. You either knew how to fight to live or you died. He made sure his little girl knew how to fight to live.

Trisha listened intently to the conversation between Ariel and Carmen. When Cara threw in one of her off the wall comments, Trisha couldn’t help but respond. Only Cara would be able to think of working on something mechanical while in a high-speed chase.

Trisha rolled her eyes
when Cara commented on Abby’s truck acceleration.
“Only you would be thinking about something like that while chasing down bad guys in the middle of nowhere.”

“Hey, I can work on more than one thing at a time.” Cara said
right before she took a turn on two wheels instead of four.

Trisha
wasn’t the only one letting out a long string of
expletives
she
learned while in the Air Force
. Ariel was keeping up with her pretty good while
Cara just laughed
. Trisha wasn’t sure she wanted to know where Cara had learned to drive like this.

Kelan Reykill sat in the commander’s conference room aboard the
V’ager
, the
Valdier
warship he commanded. It was the largest and most sophisticated one in their fleet thanks to his brother Trelon’s constant upgrades. He was studying the reports that were brought to him with a frown. He wasn’t concerned about the reports pertaining to the planet below them. Zoran already warned them about the primitive planet he had taken refuge on. Zoran told them to come in using extreme caution as the inhabitants of the planet were unaware of other life forms that existed outside their galaxy. Trelon already made sure they would remain undetected. Kelan wasn’t even worried about when he, Trelon, and a few others transported down as they would be more than capable of defending themselves based on the information the reports contained about the planet’s military. They could simply transport out and be out of the solar system before the military even knew they were there.

No, what worried him was what happened to his older brother, Zoran. Kelan seethed as he read over the report on his brother’s capture and torture. He was in constant contact with his other two brothers back on Valdier. Mandra and Creon knew Zoran was captured by a group of Curizan warriors but something just wasn’t adding up. They had been at peace with their former enemies for well over a century. It didn’t make sense. He knew the members of the royal house of Curizan. Ha’ven, Leader of the Curizans, was his brother, Creon’s, closest friend. Well, as close of a friend as Creon would admit to having. He knew Creon saved Ha’ven’s life during the wars and that was one of the factors that brought it to an end.

Why would they have taken him to a remote military base that had been abandoned eons ago? Why did they want to know the secrets of the symbiotic relationship between a Valdier warrior, his dragon, and his symbiosis? Others tried in the past to gain such knowledge by trying to capture a warrior’s symbiosis. Every time it ended with the captor being killed by the symbiosis. It was this knowledge that gave the leaders of Valdier the power they needed to open their planet to trade almost three hundred years ago. By then, the end of the Three Wars between the Sarafin, the Curizan, and the Valdier was coming to a close. Trade agreements and peace treaties were signed. In exchange for possible mates, the Valdier would trade some of their powerful crystals to the Curizan. The Sarafin were promised the first born daughter of the King of Valdier would be mated to the first born son of the King of the Sarafin. Unfortunately, Kelan’s father, who wrote and negotiated that particular treaty, did not inform the Sarafin that females were few and far between for the Valdier, especially those of the royal house. The treaty was signed over a century before and so far, the Valdier had no problems with the Sarafin. In fact, his brother Trelon was a frequent visitor to their spaceports and did a significant amount of trading with them.

Kelan rubbed his stomach in irritation. Ever since his brother Zoran introduced them to his true mate, Abby, Kelan’s dragon had been acting up. Kelan always prided himself on his ability to deal and negotiate with his more primal half but ever since it laid eyes on the dragon’s mark on Abby’s neck, it was a constant battle to get him to calm down. He wanted to get to the planet and find his mate.
If one true mate could be found on this primitive planet then so could another, his!
His dragon growled in annoyance.
Go, now. Find my mate.

Will you just back off?!
Kelan growled back in anger.
We have more important things to do. Plus, there is little likelihood of finding a mate on this planet. You know how our symbiosis is! It is so picky we have never even been able to have sex with a female if it is in the same room as we are.

Kelan’s symbiosis looked up at him with a low snarl and showed its teeth. It was in the shape of their huge Werecat, a creature known for gutting its prey and eating it while it was still alive. Kelan’s dragon snarled back for all the good it did either of them. The symbiosis could tell through the bands wrapped around his upper arms what his dragon was doing but it merely snorted before lowering its head. It knew that when it came to the final acceptance of a female as a true mate, if the symbiosis did not accept the female, then the dragon would not accept it. And, if the symbiosis didn’t accepted the female and the dragon refused to breathe the dragon’s fire into her, Kelan knew he was totally screwed. There was no way he would ever have his true mate without all three of them accepting her.

Kelan threw down the report on the table in front of him with a growl. He didn’t have time to waste on fantasies. If he hadn’t found a female yet out of all the females he bedded on Valdier –
and Curizan and Sarafin and a few others
–his symbiosis added through images with a yawn…Kelan snarled loudly at his symbiosis in response. His symbiosis stood up slowly and shook before turning its head and walking out of the room. Kelan ran his hands through his hair wishing he could get rid of his dragon as easily as that. It was tearing gouges inside him like a Werecat sharpening its claws. He needed to remain focused on the situation at hand. Closing his eyes, he sought the calm he was renowned for having before he opened his eyes again with a steely determination glittering from them. First things first, get Zoran and Abby. Next, return to Valdier and find out what Mandra and Creon have discovered. Last, kill the bad guys. A smile curved Kelan’s lips as he found his center again. His dragon could just go take a long cold shower until they were done.

It was dark by the time they transported down. They decided it would be better to use the cover of darkness. The darkness did not affect them. They simply let their dragon come to their aid as it could see in the dark as good as during the day. Kelan studied the meadow where Zoran landed initially. He had to practically tie his dragon down to keep him under control. The only thing that worked so far was the threat of not leaving the warship and sending another in his place. Only then did his dragon finally calm down and behave himself. His symbiosis walked around the meadow exploring in a slow, disinterested manner. Kelan noticed a change in his symbiosis lately and was concerned. He never heard of a symbiosis losing its will to live, for its very essence was attached to his own, but his was spend
ing more and more time simply l
ying around watching the other symbioses and their warriors. It no longer actively sought the company of the other symbioses on the warship like it did before. He made a mental note to ask Zoran to look in the Archives of Knowledge to see if there was any reference to the symptoms his symbiosis was displaying. Zoran, as ruler of the Valdier, was the only one to have access to them because they were said to explain the origins of the symbiosis.

Kelan
walked over to where Trelon and Zoran were. He was so deep in thought he didn’t notice the immediate change in Zoran until Trelon made a comment.
Glancing at his older brother, Kelan studied his face trying to see if there was any difference in him now that he had a true mate.

“Zor
an, all is well?” Trelon asked
.

From the dazed expression on his face followed by the fierce relief and joy, he would have to say yes; there was definitely a change. He had never known Zoran to be anything else but stern and reserved. Now, his whole face changed as he responded to Trelon’s question.

Zoran looked at Trelon as if coming out of a daze
, a huge smile on his face
. “She has returned.”

Kelan grinned at
Zoran
. Trelon must have also noticed the same change because he was wearing a huge grin as well. Kelan fought back a chuckle as he watched Zoran’s dragon fight to come out. He wanted his mate.
He isn’t the only one who would like to see his mate,
Kelan’s dragon said sarcastically. Kelan barely hid his jerk of surprise. Since when had his dragon learned how to be sarcastic? What in the hell was going on? First, his symbiosis is walking around looking like he had killed its best friend. Now, his dragon is giving him lip. Since when did he start losing so much control over the other parts of himself? He never lost control! He was known for his strict self-discipline. In fact, his
ability to remain in command in any situation
, no matter how difficult or dangerous, was still discussed in awe among the warriors.
A
nd
,
he was known for his
skill at handling any challenge
, no matter how impossible it seemed. He had proved himself time and time again before, during, and after
The Three Wars
.
Yes, but none of those skills have helped you find us a mate, have they
?
His dragon retorted angrily.
Shut up, will you?
Kelan said furiously.
Just keep your focus on getting
Zoran and his true
mate off this planet
,
or so help me
,
I won’t let you out for a month once we get back.
It wasn’t much as far as threats went; but, it was the only thing Kelan could think of to shut his dragon up for a few precious seconds of peace. Kelan’s symbiosis just walked over and laid down at his feet, ignoring the conflict going on between Kelan and his dragon.