3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) (14 page)

That was a promise.

***

Chapter Ten

Love was a bitch.

It was true that love made people
do crazy things, but the level of crazy had to do with the sanity of the people
involved.

Henry Atwood’s love for Astrid
had turned into an obsession of epic proportions, and what he’d done to make
her love him in return was nothing short of a clusterfuck with monumental
ramifications that would haunt countless lives over the course of many years to
come.

After Skylar got the name of the
buyer, Officer Perez had taken him into custody so he could bring him back to
the
Stargazer
for further questioning by Dom, Jax and Archer. The D’Aire
ship arrived soon after Officer Perez and Henry left Avox, and they came down
to the surface to help Arik interview all of the Alliance personnel on the base
to see who else had been drugged.

The interviews took hours, and
when they were satisfied that they had found all the soldiers who had been
tainted with the
xili
, the real work began. In total, there were twelve
elites that had been victims of Henry’s machinations. It wasn’t a surprise that
all twelve individuals wanted to kill Henry for what he had done, and that was
part of the reason they had removed him from the planet as soon as they could.

The mass chaos that followed the
explanations of what had been done to them was expected, but it still took time
to sort out. Each of the individuals who had been drugged was scanned by the
D’Aire to ensure that all the shadows of the drug were eradicated from their
minds. Since they had been drugged with the
xili
straight from the
plant, it was harder for D’Aire to find the memories that had been altered in
each individual.

While the D’Aire were at their
task, Skylar followed up on a hunch and took Serra back with her to the females-only
section of the resort to find Deidre. The woman was sitting in a lounge area
that looked like some sort of strange, indoor zen-like garden. Deidre looked up
from the small tablet she was reading from and smiled as they approached.

“Skylar, Serra. It’s a pleasure
to see you again so soon.”

“I don’t know if you’ll still
think that in a minute. Deidre, we need your help.”

Deidre’s smile faltered as Skylar
and Serra sat down across from her. “I will do what I can to aid you. What is
this about?”

“Lord Lobo Khan.”

Skylar knew her intuition had
been right when Deidre flinched violently, the tablet tumbling from her lap.
Skylar caught it before it hit the ground, but she could see she had rattled
the woman by bringing his the name.

“I don’t wish to speak of him.”

“I’m sorry that this causes you
pain, but we wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t truly necessary.”

“He is a monster,” Deidre said in
a voice filled with anger. “The Alliance has never cared what he had done
before, why now?”

“The Alliance has a policy which
states we cannot interfere with other planets unless there is a direct threat
to Earth and its people. We couldn’t interfere with the civil war going on even
if we wanted to—” Serra said, but Skylar cut her off.

“Deidre, I know that Alliance
regulations suck sometimes. Believe me, I know better than most people, but we really
need your help.”

Resentment burned in Deidre’s
eyes. “Is this why you are here on Avox? What has he done now?”

“I can’t tell you that, but what
I can tell you is that we need your help to find him.”

“Why?”

Skylar considered what to tell
the woman. She couldn’t give Deidre the details of the mission, but she could
give her something. “Because I’m going to kill him.”

Deidre studied her for a long moment,
then nodded slowly. “Alright. I believe what you say is true. If I talk to you
about him, you must promise me that you will leave the other females here
alone. Many of them owe their nightmares to him, and they have finally found
peace.”

“Agreed,” Skylar said, hoping
that what Deidre told them would be enough. “What can you tell us about Lord
Khan? We don’t have much information on him in our records.”

Deidre blew out a slow breath,
using the time to gather her thoughts. “Lobo is a truly evil male...and he
inherited it from his father, Gar. He had one of the largest harems on
Tartarus, using his army to battle against many lords to take over their lands
and enslave their females. My family was one of the fallen he had trampled in
his quest for more power. I was taken as a young girl and added to Gar’s
household after he killed my parents. At first I was simply a palace slave, set
to cleaning and doing other odd jobs, but as I grew older I gained the
attention of Lobo.”

She shivered as she thought back
to a time she wished she could forget. “I was Lobo’s harem slave for three
years before he lost interest in me, and I thanked the Gods he did. He is cruel
and enjoys inflicting as much pain as possible on those around him. During that
time, Lobo became even more unstable when his best friend was killed. He had
claimed that his friend had been murdered by an Alliance spy, and that lead to
both him and his father becoming obsessed with making the Alliance leave
Tartarus.”

“They attacked the Hades
outpost?”

“They tried, but the Alliance
outpost is located in Lord Malik Rego’s domain, who is one of the strongest
lords on Tartarus. Gar Khan made the mistake of challenging Lord Rego’s most
powerful ally, hoping to clear the path to taking down Rego and destroying the
truce that was created with the Alliance, but he was defeated and the Khan
kingdom was burned to ashes.”

“What happened to Lobo after his
father died?”

“He ran like the coward he is and
sought refuge in the mountains. Desperate to retain the power he was accustomed
to, he started selling off the slaves he had. I was given to a male who beat me
and left me for dead. Luckily, I was able to recover enough to make my way to
Lord Rego’s lands. I had to crawl there, but when I was discovered by his
warriors who were out on patrol they took me in and cared for me until I was
well enough to leave the planet.”

“You are a survivor,” Serra said
softly, reaching out to grip the woman’s hand in hers. “It is a testament to
your strength to know where you have come from and to see you now.”

“I got away, but many others
aren’t as lucky. He is a slave trader now, operating in a secret location deep
in the mountains. Hearing from others who have escaped I know that he has
regained power and wealth over the years I have been away from Tartarus.”
Deidre voice was strong and true, despite the tears streaming down her face.
“He must be stopped. Vow it to me that you will end his reign of terror on the
females of my world.”

Hearing Deidre’s story lit a fire
inside of Skylar. There was something about what she’d said that had icy
fingers of dread clenching around Skylar’s heart, but the pain in Diedre’s
voice made her want to seek vengeance for the woman. No, not want.

Need.

There was a need to see this
through and make sure that Khan never hurt anyone ever again.

She leaned forward, placing her
elbows on her knees as she looked into Deidre’s tear drenched eyes. “I am going
to kill him,” she swore again. “And when I do, I will think of you and all the
other people he and his father have hurt over the years.”

****

Unsettled after her conversation
with Deidre, Skylar sought Arik out and was glad to find that he’d just
finished his interview with one of the drugged security officers. As he walked
out of the office he had confiscated for his private use, those iridescent eyes
of his went sharp with concern when he saw her.

“What is wrong, Skylar?”

“I have the location of Khan.
Well, not the actual location, but I basically know where he is.”

“That news shouldn’t make you so
sad,” Arik said, rubbing his thumb gently over the space between her eyes as if
to sooth away the wrinkles there. “Tell me what is wrong.”

“I don’t know!” she burst out.

Arik pulled her into an alcove so
they were out of sight of prying eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see his keeper
so distraught because he knew she wouldn’t like it. Pulling her into his arms,
he held on to her, giving the comfort she didn’t ask for, but knew she needed.
He understood his woman well, and he decided to wait her out until she was
ready to tell him what had upset her.

He felt her relax against him,
and barely held back his joy when she wrapped her arms around his waist. She so
rarely reached out for anyone, but he silently vowed that he would always be
there when she did.

Arik’s desire for her was like a
gnawing hunger he needed to sate, and it grew in strength every minute. To know
that she was ready to solidify their relationship had made it difficult for him
to concentrate on work, but he was done waiting.

When she remained silent, Arik
spoke softly. “Will you come somewhere with me?”

“Anywhere.”

His heart sang at that simple
answer.

They left the lower levels of the
base hand-in-hand, ignoring the calls for their attention. Taking the elevator
to the main floor, he lead her out into the open air to the landing deck they
had arrived on. “Will you go flying with me?”

Her eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“I don’t believe you share
Dom’s...aversion to heights.”

“I don’t,” she assured him, her
ice-blue eyes alight with glee. “Can we really go flying?”

“Of course we can. I think we can
both use a little time away from the anger here and the mission in general.”

“That sounds wonderful.” She
grinned at him. “Let’s do it.”

Arik let go of her hand and began
to take his shirt off, gaining the attention from the few females that were
outside on the deck. He felt a fierce sense of satisfaction when Skylar bared
her teeth at the females, allowing her displeasure of their perusal of him be
known. Most of the men of his race were tall and lean with muscle, but Skylar
looked at him as if he were special. It made him take pride in his appearance
when he never had before.

Once he was bare-chested, he
called forth his wings. He loved seeing the fascinated wonder on Skylar’s face
as she watched them slowly unfurl from his back. It was something he never even
thought about anymore, but watching her reaction reminded him of the joy he’d
once felt when he had taken his first flight.

“Come here, my keeper.” She let
out a gasp as he lifted her into his arms. “Hold tight to me.”

Skylar wrapped her arms around
his neck as he bent his knees and launched them into the air. She let out an
excited shout as he took them through the sky over the sparkling blue water.
Tightening her hold on him, she laughed with sheer pleasure as the wind whipped
at them both..

“This is amazing!”

Arik smiled at the joy in his
keeper’s voice. The flew away from the base, leaving all thoughts of work
behind. He felt the tension he’d been feeling melt away as he simply focused on
the feeling of Skylar in his arms. He loved sharing this with her, happy that
she enjoyed the rush of flying as much as he did. He very rarely had the
opportunity to go out flying much anymore. When they were traveling in space it
was impossible, but even on Earth they was a loneliness that overcame him
whenever he took to the skies. Sure, there were other D’Aire on Earth, but it
was different than being on his home world.

But now he had Skylar to share it
with.

He noticed the dark shadows under
the water and knew it was several Avox that followed their flight path. The
Avox were always fascinated with the D’Aire, appreciating the difference
between sky and sea. The shadows paced back and forth under the surface as if
beckoning them to follow. Veering to the right, he trailed after the shadows
and grinned when he saw where they were leading him. A huge shadow appeared,
rising slowly toward the surface.

Skylar tightened her grip on
Arik. “What is that?”

Hearing the apprehension in her
voice, Arik said, “It is nothing to worry about. In fact, we are in for a
treat. That is a creature called a
zundaya
. They are similar to the
whales back on your planet, but their bodies crystallize the water so when they
release it, they bend the light. The
zundaya
only surface around sunset,
so our timing was perfect.”

“I can’t believe the sun is only
setting now. I feel as if we’ve been here for weeks.”

“One day here on Avox is like two
back on Earth,” he explained with a smile.

He flew them a little higher into
the air when the shadow breached the surface and expelled a geyser through its
blowhole. Instead of water, they were surrounded by a cloud of glitter that
sparkled in a multihued shimmer of colors. Awe filled her and she reached out
one hand trying to catch some.

“Stars! This is incredible! It’s
like flying through a rainbow!”

Arik hugged her closer to him. “I
am glad I could share this with you.”

She turned her head so their eyes
met. “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.”

“As will I.”

Something shifted between them in
that moment and Arik increased his speed as he spied a small oasis in the
distance. He slowed as they reached the small patch of sand about the size of a
space shuttle and touched down. Releasing her legs, he let her body slide down
his until her feet were touching the soft sand.

Skylar looked down and saw the
white, sugary sand was actually a sponge-like material. She took a few steps
away just to watch her own footsteps disappear, then glanced back at Arik to
grin at him. “I didn’t think there was any land on this planet.”

“This is all there is, and it is
only temporary. These sand dunes shift with the tides, disappearing and
reappearing in different places. It’s one of the reasons why it is impossible
to try and colonize a large number of outsiders here on this planet.”