3013: Targeted (7 page)

“I’m trying to thank you, you arrogant ass.”

Hawke grinned as she insulted him. This was familiar territory. “You will never have to thank me for watching over you. That will always be my privilege.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I was thanking you for your help protecting my patrons from an attack tonight, that’s all. Your blood was spilled defending the peace of the sanctuary. What you did…is no small thing.”

He reached up and covered her hand with his own. “I already told you I would offer you my blood if it would appease you. It was the right thing to do, so I did it.”

She hesitated a moment, then removed her hand from his grip. “Stubborn man. We’ll talk more, later. For now, I’d like to speak to the others who were attacked.”

“The D’Aire, Rael, is in here with me. The others are still sobering up.” Hawke stepped back from the door so she could step inside. The sooner she spoke to Rael, the sooner he and Brandt could sit her down and discuss what was going to happen next. Neither of them expected her to be very happy with what they were going to suggest, but there was no way they were going to let anyone else get hurt.

As of now, all three members of the Ryvern family were going to be under Alliance protection, whether they wanted to be or not.

***

CHAPTER SIX

T’karra was done arguing with her brother. “You have to go, Verak. Our fathers will want to know what has happened.”

“So, tell them. I still don’t see why I have to go in person. You need me here!” Verak was pacing the floor of her office, every word he uttered punctuated by an angry gesture. She was standing beside her desk, and the only reason she wasn’t pacing, too, was because there wasn’t room for both of them to do it at the same time.

Finally, she stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop moving and look at her. “A message isn’t enough. They need to hear it in person. Besides, what if communications are being monitored? You know they’ll be furious if they’re not told. And if they think it’s really necessary, they have enough influence to call a meeting of the pack leaders and actually have a few of them show up. You know what those meetings are like, no one ever comes unless someone sets a fire under their feet. You need to go, and if they decide to call a meeting, you need to stay and tell them what’s going on, make sure they understand what’s at stake.

“If it’s that important, then you should go, sister mine. You lead here.”

“And that is exactly the reason I can’t leave. This is more than just my home, this is my duty. I know it’s yours, too, but in the end, the protection of the sanctuary falls to me. You are the only one who can do this, ’Rak.”

He glared down at her, but she could see she was making progress. “If I go, who the fuck is going to look after you? Danor can’t even get out of bed for the next few days, never mind watch your back. He’s safe enough under guard in the Alliance medical bay, but unless you’re planning on taking up residence there, you’re left with no one to watch your back.”

“Are you kidding? Did you not notice the four large elites following me everywhere I go since Danor was attacked? I have four permanent fucking shadows. If I try and ditch them, Carver and Summers have informed me they’ll just double the number of guards. And they’ve made some other…suggestions about my personal security.”

Verak raised a brow, his black eyes glinting with curiosity now. “Four guards, huh? I only got two assigned to me. I think I’m insulted. So, tell me, sister mine, what else did they
suggest
?”

“They want me to consider changing quarters.”

He snorted. “I suppose they want you to move in with them? So they can watch over you while you sleep?” He was laughing when he said it, but when she simply nodded, his laughter faded and he shook his head. “Why?”

“With Danor in medical and you off the station, I’ll be the most obvious target. I’m fine with that, but I will not put the rest of the pack at risk. We have young ones and elders who cannot protect themselves, and whoever is doing this, they clearly don’t care about collateral damage. One of our own has gone rogue, and we have no idea who it is. Enough blood has been spilled in this sanctuary already. If they want to come after me, they will have to do it on my terms.”

Verak crossed his arms over his chest and growled. His eyes flashed red for a brief second before reverting to black again. “I don’t like the idea of leaving your protection to those two
humans
. They’re not Krytos, they can’t protect you the same way we can. And I don’t care how logical you sound, I know damned well there’s another reason they want you with them.”

“My feelings about them are not relevant to my decision. I can take care of myself. I don’t need their protection, or yours.”

He laughed and folded her in for a rib-crushing hug. “That’s true, sister mine. If they step out of line, I know you’ll beat some sense into them. I still don’t like the idea of you staying with them, but I do see the logic in protecting the pack.”

Staying with the commanders was logical. She would not put anyone else at risk, and that was the only reason she was going to agree to this plan. “I’m staying on the station, and that’s final. Now, are you going to talk to our fathers without me ordering you to do it?”

He sighed and let her go. “Yeah, I’ll go. Just as soon as you find me a ship headed toward that sector.”

“I already did. The
Talon
is fueling up and will be ready to depart in three hours.”

“You booked me a ship already? What if I’d refused to go?”

“Someone was going, if it wasn’t you, then I’d have had to send one of the others…though I don’t know who else I could have trusted.” The confession pained her, but it was the truth. Her brothers were the only ones she could trust right now.

“I hope this ship is fast. I don’t want to be gone longer than I have to be. And if the pilot is a surly bastard who can’t fly for shit, I’m not going to be happy.”

“Gina Falcone is a very talented captain, and more importantly, her ship is the fastest one in the area. She swears she can get you there in a matter of days.”

Verak frowned. “Gina Falcone? Do I know her? Is she cute? If I have to be cooped up for a few days with her, please tell me she’s cute.”

T’karra threw her hands in the air and started shooing him toward the door. “Your sense of priorities are baffling, little brother. To answer your question, I think she was quite attractive…for a human. You’ll have to judge for yourself when you meet her, though I’m sure you’ve seen her before, she’s in the bar often enough.”

“If she’s been in the Hole and I don’t remember her, she can’t be that cute.”

“Or maybe you’ve been looking at the wrong females…again. Your taste in females leaves much to be desired, little brother, but that’s a conversation for another time. I’ll send docking information to your wrist-unit soon. You better go pack.”

Her brother tossed his dark hair back over his shoulders and headed for the door. He glanced back once as it opened. “My taste in females is fine, thank you. You better be in one piece when I get back.”

“I’m very hard to kill. Take care of yourself, and don’t be gone long.”

“Will you miss me?” he asked.

“Of course I will. Who else is willing to manage the bar for so little pay? If I have to replace you for long, it’ll cost me a fortune.”

He laid a big hand over his heart. “Such love you have for me. Be safe, T’karra.”

“You, too, and say hello to our fathers for me.”

The door slid shut behind him, leaving her alone for the first time since she’d left her room and rushed to see Danor in medical. She went to the windows and stood, staring out into the dark void, feeling as small and cold as the stars gleaming in the blackness. She was alone, and for the first time in her life, she truly understood the meaning of the word. Her species lived in tight-knit packs, all of them supporting each other. At least that’s how it should have been, but with Danor injured and Verak having to leave, T’karra was left with no one she could trust. Someone had betrayed the pack and the sanctuary. Someone she knew.

The thought of being alone chilled her very soul, but there wasn’t any other choice. She was far from suicidal, but if their enemies needed a target, better they come after her than anyone else in her care. She stayed by the window for a few more minutes, letting herself enjoy a few final moments of peaceful silence. It was likely to be the last time she got to enjoy a moment to herself until this nightmare was over.

* * * *

Brandt caught himself staring blankly at a surveillance feed for the third time in a half hour and finally conceded defeat. He couldn’t focus any longer, and he wouldn’t be able to until he stopped working long enough to eat and re-caffeinate. In the ten hours since the assault, he and Hawke hadn’t left their office in Ops for more than a few minutes. T’karra and her security detail had gone back to the bar, but she had kept in touch with them by wrist-unit. They had spent the time retrieving and reviewing hours of footage and security logs, trying to find out what they could about the attackers and who might have hired them. Medical had messaged a little while ago and let them know the sole surviving suspect was groggy but awake. T’karra had come by Ops and offered to be a fresh pair of eyes while Hawke had gone to see what information he could pry out of their suspect. Not an easy task considering the man couldn’t speak and had a broken wrist.

A whisper of sound drew his attention, and Brandt looked over at T’karra. Her eyes were half-closed, and she was worrying at her lower lip with her teeth, the tips of her fangs denting the soft skin. She was going over personnel records for her staff for what must be the hundredth time, her arms folded on the desk in front of her, back bowed and head down. She made the soft sound again, this time lifting a hand to idly rub the back of her neck, beneath her braids.

Brandt was on his feet in an instant, covering the short distance between them in three long strides. He dropped a hand to her shoulder, and she looked up at him, black eyes wide with surprise. “What are you doing?”

“I can help with that if you’ll let me,” he offered, stroking his thumb along the bare skin just above the collar of her sleeveless shirt.

“Help with what, exactly?” she asked, dropping her gaze to the hand on her shoulder.

“The stiff neck you were rubbing not ten seconds ago. I need to take a break, and I’m betting you do, too. It’s been a long night, and none of us have stopped to rest or eat.”

“It’s only been…shit! Where did the time go?”

“Exactly.”

He swept his thumb across the silken heat of her bare skin a second time, pleased when she didn’t pull away. Time stretched out while he waited for her to make her decision, his thumb resting above a pulse point at the base of her neck.

“If you can do something to ease this nagging ache, then you may continue,” she finally said, and Brandt felt like he’d won a major victory.

“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t think I could help,” he replied, moving so he was standing directly behind her. He gently drew her braided hair back over her shoulders and was surprised by the weight of it. Resisting the temptation to caress her soft skin, he began slowly working the muscles at the base of her neck. They were taut with tension, barely giving way at all to the steady pressure of his fingers. In the week they’d been working together, Brandt had enjoyed getting to know T’karra, but he’d never let himself give in to the temptation to touch her until now.

“That feels really good,” she murmured, and he smiled at the undertone of surprise in her voice.

“I told you I could help.”

“Forgive me for not taking your word on that,” she retorted. T’karra hadn’t meant to say that out loud. For the past week, Carver had been nothing but forthcoming and helpful. He was a good man, as determined and dutiful as anyone she’d ever met. He had met with her every day, even if there hadn’t been anything new to report, and she’d started looking forward to their meetings. Carver had a dry wit she enjoyed, and her interest in him had grown with every hour she had spent in his company.

For that matter, Hawke had been working diligently to redeem himself, though she had only seen him at a distance or caught a murmur of his voice in the background of her calls to Carver. Hawke had shed blood protecting her sanctuary, and her brother, from attack, and that was a debt she still needed to address. Since the moment of the attack, they had seen to it that everyone she cared about was safeguarded, especially her.

She’d never tell Verak, but when Gina had been reluctant to abandon her next cargo run to transport a single passenger, it had been Hawke who had stepped in to help. He’d convinced the pilot to take the run, and sweetened the deal by offering her an Alliance contract that would keep her in credits for months after this. Hawke hadn’t told T’karra about that part of the deal, but Gina had let it slip after it was all agreed upon. T’karra was finding it difficult to hold fast to her anger when both Hawke and Brandt were being so considerate and protective of her and her family.

It made it even harder to ignore her growing attraction to them both.

Carver’s strong fingers kept working on her neck, and she felt a stab of regret for having said anything. They had come a long way in the last week, and she no longer felt the need to remind them of their initial betrayal of her trust. They’d earned that much.

“One day, I hope you’ll take me at my word without questioning it first.”

“Soon. For what it’s worth, if I didn’t trust you at all, there would be no way in hell I’d be in your office, and I certainly wouldn’t be considering moving into yours and Hawke’s quarters for the next while.”

His fingers slowed in their ministrations, the pressure easing until his touch was more of a caress. “You already told us you wouldn’t do that.”

“I’ve been reconsidering,” she admitted.

“I’m glad to hear it. Your safety is important to us—to me.” His hands stilled, fingers resting on either side of her throat just below her ears. Only his fingertips were still moving, tracing tiny circles over her skin.

“Why?” She knew the answer already, but if they were going to continue down this path, if the three of them had any chance of moving beyond their bumpy start, then they needed to be honest with each other about everything.

Brandt moved in close behind her, near enough she could feel his body heat warming her skin. “Because since the day you marched into this office and started snarling at Hawke, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind. You are fascinating, beautiful, and intelligent, and as an added bonus, you have no problem telling Hawke off when he needs it. I’ve never met anyone like you, T’karra, and I’d like to get to know you better.
Much
better.”