Avenging Enjel (3 page)

Lexi smiled and leaned back. “I have jacked into histories of races I haven’t even dreamed of. Wars, romances, life, death, the history of the imperium has run through my mind, and I don’t want to cut myself off from it.”

“Addicted to the data stream?”

“Something like that.”

“I will file it in your orders. Any strength enhancements?”

“No. I like being all girly. I wouldn’t mind some tweaking of my reflexes though. A fast smack is better than no smack at all.”

Hydra laughed. “True. Winger, do you have any concerns?”

Lexi scowled. “Why are you asking him?”

Snickering evilly, the Imperial Consort grinned, “Because he is your keeper. Winger has agreed to monitor your progress and report to the Guardian offices at regular intervals. If plan B ever needs to be enacted, he will be the first to know.”

“Imperial Consort, I accept the responsibility for the health and wellbeing of Alexia Under. She will be given an administrative post at the Whiccin Guardian base, and her progress will be monitored closely after any alterations that she selects.”

Hydra stood and pulled Lexi with her. The next moment, Lexi was engulfed in a hug, and she had to fight the panic that the contact caused.

Hydra quickly released her. “Sorry. I forget that you are just out of the suit. You just look so confused.”

“That doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

Lexi was a little shaken, but Winger was at her side in an instant. He wrapped his wings around her and held her back against his body. She calmed immediately.

Hydra looked at them and smiled slightly. “I can see you are in good hands. I will leave the orders with the front desk that you are entitled to any changes you request.”

Lexi breathed in the scent of Winger’s feathers and relaxed against him. “Thank you for your assistance. Another interrogator might have caused me an emotional episode.”

Hydra nodded and inclined her head formally. “I understand completely. I will be in touch, Lexi.”

The Nyal Imperial Consort swirled her skirts, waved a cheery goodbye and left the room.

Lexi slumped back against Winger and looked up at him. “Well, that was fun.”

“I believe that she has what she needed. She will get the security footage and use a Reader to fill in the blanks.” He smiled. “Can I let you go now?”

Blinking rapidly, she stepped away from him, brushing past his surprisingly soft feathers as she moved toward the table again.

Minya entered with a medical team, and they stood there waiting.

She looked at the amused Winger and stepped into the custody of the staff. It was time to see what her mind was made of.

When she had first entered the armour, her body had rebelled and agony had been her companion for weeks. The alterations that the Whiccin physicians had made to her body doubled that pain and made it last longer than she dreamed she could stand. It was only hours of accelerated transformation, but it was more than she could cope with.

“Easy, Lexi. Breathe through it. You are almost finished.” Winger was at her side; he was always at her side.

She shuddered and flailed out with her hand. He gripped it and held on while her body twisted.

Finally, it stopped. The pain ceased, the agony receded and all she could feel was the damp of sweat drying on her skin and his warm grip around her fingers. She blinked rapidly and inhaled deeply. “Well, that sucked.”

He laughed low and deep. “I am relieved to hear you say that.”

She smiled at him and then turned her head to see the nervous medical staff. “Are you folks all right?”

They nodded and quickly ran scans.

Dr. Huurala cleared his throat. “The implant has been accepted. Your body is adjusting to it. The increase of your psychic frequency has worked, but the nature of your talent is unknown. You will have to find out what you are capable of by using your new skills. The Guardians are best suited to help you with that.”

Winger didn’t wait. He scooped her up and carried her out of the medical centre wrapped in the sheet from her bed.

He bent his knees and launched them into the air; the heavy beats of his wings were a rhythm that she could feel in her soul.

The wind stung her eyes, so she turned her face against his chest. He was wearing a battle suit; the heavy armour was buried inside a smooth fabric with a white and black pattern that complimented his hair and wings.

She inhaled his scent and smiled at the warmth and comfort that ran through her as her brain responded to the signals he was putting out. Lexi had to face it, she associated Winger with safety, and to date, she had seen nothing to wreck her little connection.

He flew them over a city and then a body of water. He settled on an outcropping and carried her into a skimmer. “I apologize for the exposed flight. We are about to go stealthy for the final leg of the journey.”

She swallowed a few times. “It is fine. I am guessing that the Guardians need a bit of privacy.”

“It is hard to come by, but the Whiccins are fairly sedentary. It is only when they do enhancements on someone who is on the criminal-element side that we are called in to interfere.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

Lexi watched as they lifted off and Winger’s hands moved swiftly over the controls. He had a graceful competence that she admired. “I have never been able to fly a skimmer. I keep getting distracted.”

He laughed. “It takes some getting used to. I was raised to use my own wings as soon as they could hold my weight. That didn’t last long.”

“What happened?”

“I did something that caused a friend a great deal of pain. One of my wings was broken, and I had to serve a prison term.”

Lexi was surprised, but she could sense his remorse. “How are you flying now?”

A wave of slow happiness went through him. “My friend forgave me, and she healed me.”

“Oh. It was a she.”

He sighed. “It is not a pleasant story.”

“May I hear it?”

He looked at her and made a decision. “When young male Enjels mature, their bodies undergo stresses that cause fluctuations in body temperature. We need sleep companions to keep us from going hypothermic.

“I had run away from home and ended up enslaved and sold to a large blob of gelatine, working with large animals known as Tovah. Miranda was another slave, and she was assigned as my sleep companion during my wing growth.”

“My guardian, Osias, came to retrieve me and bring me home. I refused to go without Miranda, so he bought her, too. They had an instant connection, and I was jealous.”

Lexi’s heart sank. “Oh.”

“Not the way you think. She was my companion, and I fixated on her. That is what made the next thing so horrifying.”

She felt queasy, and it wasn’t coming from her. She looked over at him and tried to guess what he was thinking, but all she was getting was nausea and remorse.

“My growth period ended without warning, and my mating cycle kicked in. I forced myself on her and damaged her severely. Osias found us and broke my wing. I welcomed the pain and spent the rest of the time in the brig. I was sentenced on Jela and spent five years in prison and twelve in the temple learning to control myself and teach others how to do the same.”

“You said she healed you.”

“She is an empathic healer. She has five children now. I get letters from her and her family every few months.”

She got a wave of pleased relaxation from him.

“I think I am developing empathy.”

He blinked. “So soon?”

“Well, they didn’t give me a timeline.” She wrinkled her nose.

“So, how disgusted are you?”

She cocked her head. “For something you did two decades ago? For something that the victim forgave you for? I know about Enjel physiology. I understand about the developmental rut. You aren’t the first to have savaged your companion, you won’t be the last.”

He blinked again. “That is eminently practical.”

“I am a jerk that way. Sorry.”

He was surprised into laughing.

She smiled at the lightness she could feel coming from him. It was as if a cloud had shifted away from the sun.

They flew along with that bubble of happiness between them until they dropped altitude and parked on a small island with a large structure on the centre surrounded by a wide variety of gardens.

“It’s pretty.”

“I am glad you think so. It will be your home from now on.”

She wrinkled her nose at that but acknowledged the joy that was coursing through his mind. He was very happy about her being confined with him.

“If you don’t mind, Lexi, I will carry you. You aren’t dressed or wearing footwear.”

“Fine, but no funny business. That costs extra.” She winked, and he lifted her up and out of her seat.

He held her tight against his chest and carried her into the structure via a tunnel.

She was treated to the sight of four other males of varying species. She recognized the ice blue of Patches right away.

“Lexi, you know Patches; that is Theory, our tactician; Pulse, our EMP generator; and Strike, our commander and weather controller.” Winger held her close. “Gentlemen, this is Alexia Under or Lexi. She is showing signs of being empathic, and she has had some physical enhancements installed. She will need time to get them under control.”

Strike nodded. “Show her to her room and get her into her suit. She has spent enough time on her back.”

Lexi blushed at the sudden suggestive turn of Winger’s mind. He didn’t say a word, merely carried her into a hall and toward an open door. She was more than ready to get dressed and have a new set of clothes. She was really beginning to miss clothing.

The suit that was waiting for her was blue and encased her snugly from neck to toes. She smiled. The compression and coverage was the comfort she had needed after the loss of her armour.

Lexi checked her reflection out in the mirror and snorted in surprise. Her hair and eyebrows had turned snow white, but the regenerator had done wonders and the mass now hung just below her shoulders. It was a solid start.

Her eyes looked tired, but their colour had changed in the transformation. They were now a strange blue-green. Her skin was pale pink, and her lips were still full. It was amazing how she had forgotten her own face. With idle curiosity, she exposed her ears, but they were still the same, the tiny divots proclaimed her ears still pierced. “Well, there is that at least.”

Lexi checked her reflection one more time and headed out into the main hall and joined the Guardians in the casual area. She was met with vague distrust and active lust. There wasn’t a lot in between.

Winger was seated on a backless couch and having a drink. He got to his feet the moment she came in. “You look lovely, Lexi. Blue suits you.”

He came up to her and lifted her right hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. She felt a tingle building in her system, and she thought it was a side effect of the arousal, but the next moment, Winger was flying across the room and the smell of ozone was in the air.

The other Guardians were on their feet, Patches was at Winger’s side applying first aide. Strike confronted her with his multiple eyelids blinking and his scales dark. “What did you do?”

Lexi curled her hands into fists. “I was worried about physical attacks, so I had them install a built-in Taser system. That was the first emanation. I am really sorry, Winger.”

He grimaced as he got to his feet. “That one works, too.”

She approached him slowly. The others were blocking her direct path.

He shoved them out of the way and took her into his arms. He whispered. “Apology colour is green, just for your reference.”

Lexi bit her lip and hugged him back. “My people do it with the word
sorry
.”

Her hands started tingling again, and she pushed away from him. He released her quickly, and she stumbled back.

She fell to her butt, and the men reached for her, but she kicked them away a moment before the arc of electricity snapped from her left palm to her right.

Strike whistled. “What is that?”

Lexi grimaced. “Back home, we would call it a contact Taser. I was caught and unable to defend myself once. I thought this would be a good option for me. I guess that it is going to take some time to get it under control.”

Pulse reached down and lifted her. “Don’t worry. I have immunity. I suck in the energy and excrete it as the shockwave that knocks out electronics.”

She grunted as she got back to her feet. “That sounds lovely.”

He laughed, his silvery skin flexed in a charming grin. “We all have our talents, and they come out in the most unexpected ways.”

Winger carefully moved forward and took her by the arms, turning her crackling hands to face the rest of the Guardians but keeping her firmly in his possession.

“She looks like she is going to be fun to train.” Theory laughed.

Lexi frowned at him. He had the physical appearance of a talking tree and the charm of an irritated bulldog.

She waited for a moment while the Guardians stared at her in silence. “Do you folks have a data jack?”

Theory frowned. “I don’t want you touching my systems without a grounding unit.”

She reached out and grabbed Pulse’s hands. The spark flew between them, and she smiled beatifically at Theory. “I am guessing you have about ten minutes to get me to that jack before I build up another charge.”

Theory protested, “Strike, you can’t expect me to—”

Strike lifted his hand. “Hook her up, Theory. She has Negotiator training; she lives with data coursing in her mind. Hook. Her. Up.”

Theory waved for her to follow him, and he stalked into the control centre. She stepped past him, stroked the panels that raised the connection jacks and slipped the jacks into her ports.

Lexi sat at the desk and downloaded all of the information on the Guardian projects. She grabbed personnel files, information on vehicles and a few tutorials on weapons and flying. This was her true natural skill; this was what had earned her the place in the Second Wave of Volunteers from Terra. She had an empty mind.