Born of the Night (24 page)

A short laugh rumbled behind her, bringing a tiny thrill to her body despite the seriousness of her mood. "I can't imagine," Nykyrian said, kissing the lobe of her ear.

Kiara caught his hand in hers and brought it to her cheek. "Life," she said, stroking his strong fingers.

She felt him stiffen around her.

Kiara closed her eyes and held his warm hand closer to her. "I've been thinking about

how much I wanted to leave my father's house growing up, because he never respected

me or my privacy." She sighed, her thoughts tripping over each other. "I always thought he was cruel to check up on me and intimidate my friends. He would never let me out of

his sight without siccing one of his soldiers on me." She swallowed the clump of tears

that gathered in her throat. "I was so stupid. My mother used to tell me my life wasn't so horrible, now I fully understand what she meant. God, I've been so blind, so sheltered."

His hand tightened around hers and he raised it to his lips where he placed a gentle kiss

on her fingers. "I'm glad your father protected you. I wouldn't want to have to kill him, too."

Kiara gave a bitter-sweet laugh. "All I wanted growing up was to be free." She rolled over onto her back and faced him. "Is that what you wanted, to be free of your father?"

His eyes darkened. "Truthfully?"

She nodded.

"All I wanted was to die like a man, without tears or pleading."

Kiara's tears fell from the corners of her eyes, dripping down into her hairline. "And

now?" she whispered.

He wiped the tears from her hair and kissed her. His lips trailed over her body with an

insistence she couldn't deny. Kiara welcomed him to her as he pulled her gown from her

body. He made love to her slowly, with the stars twinkling all around them. Afterwards,

he held her tightly in his arms, soothing all the guilt from her in the way only he could

do.

It wasn't until later Kiara realized he had never answered her question.

To Kiara's amazement, Darling left his bed the next morning. His movements were slow

and studied, but he was able to get about by himself. After seeing him the night before,

Kiara had been certain Darling would be bedridden for days.

"I always wondered where you lived," Darling said to Nykyrian. Darling sat at the kitchen table eating muffins with Kiara. "Now that I know how nice it is, I'll be sure to pass the info on to the rest of the group. This will make a nice resting place for us."

Nykyrian looked up from his desk, a smile twitching the edges of his lips. "Finish your

food before I finish what Arturo started."

Rachol checked the lorinas' feeder in the kitchen. "Where are the mongrels?"

"They're confused by all the people. Last I saw of them, they were hiding out in the

bedroom," Nykyrian answered.

"They don't bite, do they?" Darling asked.

"I'm the only thing that bites in this house," Nykyrian said, scanning his documents.

Kiara had to stifle a laugh at his dry response. Her neck still tingled from the bite he had

given her last night after he joined her in bed.

Darling scratched at his plaster cast. "What are we doing today?"

Rachol crossed the room to join Nykyrian. "You are going to rest."

Nykyrian stood up and donned his long black coat. "And since you're here, you can keep

Kiara company while we go after a couple of Aksel's men."

Kiara's heart stopped beating. "I wish you wouldn't."

Nykyrian sighed. "I know, but we have to."

Rachol grabbed his bag off the floor and gave Kiara a nasty glare. His glare intensified as

Nykyrian pulled her into his arms to kiss her good-bye. With a heated curse, Rachol

entered the bay.

"We'll be back around dark," Nykyrian said, squeezing her arm reassuringly.

Kiara watched him leave, her heart heavy with fear and worry.

"Should I ask about what I just saw?"

Darling's voice distracted her from her thoughts. Kiara shrugged.

A tiny smile curved one corner of his mouth. "Now that I think about it, I slept on the

couch with Rachol. The only other bed is the one upstairs." Darling stared at her with an intensity she found a bit disturbing. "Just where did Nykyrian spend the night?" He raised his eyebrows several times.

Laughing at his expression, Kiara took a seat across from him. "Why are you so

interested?"

Darling mimicked her shrug. "I've had a crush on Nykyrian for years. If not for fear of

my life, I would have made a pass at him long ago."

Kiara watched the way Darling cut up his food with one hand. "May I ask a personal

question?"

He looked up at her. "Why am I homosexual?"

She smiled. "No, that's none of my business."

He saluted her with his fork. "At least you have more manners than the average being. So

what's your question?"

"How did you get the scar on your face?" He went so still, Kiara wished she could take the question back. Self-consciously, Darling put his fork down and rubbed the cheek

covered by his hair. "It's disgusting, isn't it?"

"No," she answered honestly. "But it is deep."

Darling sighed. "Yeah, you should have seen it sixteen operations ago."

Kiara's eyes widened in shock. "What happened?"

He shrugged as if the matter didn't really bother him. "My eldest brother. We got into a

fight a few years ago and this," he tucked his hair behind his ear to display the scar, "is what happened."

"Your brother?" Kiara was aghast. Didn't any of them have a happy childhood? Darling nodded. "Kylar was always a bastard."

Compassion welled up inside her as she surveyed the scar. "You know, you're still very

handsome."

He gave her a look that told her he thought she had lost her mind.

"You're very generous," he said quietly. "Most people curl their lips and run."

"Most people are idiots."

He laughed. "True enough." Darling turned serious. He sat back in his chair and studied her face for several minutes. "I want you to promise me something."

Kiara glanced sideways, her mind thinking of several things he might want from her.

"What?"

"I want you to take care of Nykyrian. I can't explain it, but he's different now that you're here. Happier, I guess. He doesn't seem so serious and emotionless anymore." Darling's

eyes narrowed into an intense stare that probed her soul. "I want you to promise me you

won't hurt him."

Kiara smiled. "I would never hurt him."

Darling nodded. "Good, now let's go digging around and see what kind of trouble we can

find."

Kiara laughed, happy to find Darling such an easy person to befriend. Leading him to the

book closet, she tried to keep her mind from worrying over Nykyrian and the trouble
he

might find.

* * *

Hours later, Nykyrian and Rachol sat in the back room of the Bended Maiden sipping

drinks. Nykyrian's head pounded from a huge headache.

They continued to review their findings for the afternoon, to little avail. Nykyrian sighed.

All he wanted was an end to this whole stupid, dangerous affair with Kiara safe by his

side. Agitated at the apparent futility of his wish, he sifted through the sheets of print-outs that lined the tabletop.

The bare, tan walls kept out the noise of the clientele in the bar area. Antilles brought

them another round of drinks. Nykyrian watched the elder man fight his way around all

the boxes and barrels that stored his supplies.

Antilles smiled, as he was setting their drinks on the table. "It's good to have the two of you back. It's been too long."

Nykyrian nodded his head in appreciation and handed him payment for the drinks.

"Has Ryn arrived?" Rachol asked.

Nykyrian could tell by the way Rachol shuffled papers that he was bored with their wait.

Antilles offered Rachol an apologetic smile. "He hasn't yet, but I promise to send him

back here as soon as he does."

When they were alone again, Rachol let out his own heavy sigh. "Shahara is my main

worry. Aksel comes in full force, blasters blazing. She slips up from behind and drives a

blade into your lung. Lethal
harita."

Nykyrian nodded, knowing all too well the female assassin's reputation. "I'll go to

Tondara tonight and try to find Driana. She'll gladly give me Aksel's plans."

Rachol shook his head. "From my reports, I'm surprised Aksel hasn't killed her.

Everything I have says they hate each other." Rachol yawned.

Nykyrian sipped his drink, thinking about Driana. "Aksel won't kill her because of her

trust fund. If they divorce or she dies under mysterious circumstances, all her money

reverts to her family. Aksel's too greedy to let something like hatred interfere with his

wealth."

"Why are you talking about that scum?"

Nykyrian looked up to see Ryn approaching them. Ryn's red hair was a shade darker than

Darling's, but his eyes were an identical shade of blue.

"We were discussing ways to kill him," Rachol muttered before guzzling his glass of

water.

Ryn shook his head at him. "So how's my renegade brother?" he asked Nykyrian, taking a seat.

Knowing Darling wouldn't want his brother, who couldn't help him anyway, informed

about his condition, Nykyrian lied. "He's fine."

"Good." Ryn took a seat and handed Nykyrian a copy of the Probekein's latest contract on Kiara's life. "That hasn't been posted yet," he said, adjusting the voluminous yards of his imperial robes. "All I could find out was Biardi told Emperor Abenbi to burn in a very

uncomfortable position for a long time. Abenbi refuses to call the contract off, even if

Biardi gives him the surata."

"I could've learned that through a terminal," Rachol smirked.

Ryn frowned at Nykyrian. "What did you do to put him in such a hostile mood?" he

asked, then continued before an answer could be given. "Abenbi also wants the weapon

to go after the Fremick territory. He feels since they're his neighbor, they should be part

of his territories. I really wish you guys would put a stop to him."

"Pay our fee." Rachol glared.

Ryn returned the gesture. "That's all I know," he said in an irritated voice. "I hope it helped."

At Rachol's scoff, Ryn faced Nykyrian. "You should keep him on a leash."

Nykyrian barely had time to grab Rachol's arm before his fist made contact with the ambassador's chin. "Calm down!" he snapped.

Grudgingly, Rachol retook his seat.

"Your information did help," Nykyrian said, shaking Ryn's hand before the ambassador took his leave.

"We waited all this time for that?" Rachol sneered.

Nykyrian jerked the papers off the table. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Rachol came to his feet. "You slept with her last night! I waited up half the night hoping you would come back downstairs. But you didn't."

Nykyrian sighed. "I know where I spent the night."

Rachol's eyes narrowed. "When she betrays us, just remember I warned you."

Nykyrian clenched his teeth, tempted to send Rachol flying. "How could I forget, since

you'll no doubt remind me every day of my life."

Rachol stared at him and from the clenched fists he kept at his side, Nykyrian knew he

wanted to knock his head from his shoulders.

"It's your funeral," Rachol said before gathering up his papers and leaving the room.

With Rachol's dire warnings echoing in his head, Nykyrian made his way slowly to his

ship. Maybe Rachol was right. Things had been going too good. His life never went

smoothly. Just when things seemed to improve, something always happened to mess it

up.

Nykyrian climbed aboard his ship. He sat in the leather seat, thinking. His thumb played

across the shifter. A bad feeling crept along his spine.

Checking his power and fuel levels, Nykyrian didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Still the feeling of trouble to come persisted. If he had learned anything in his life, it was to always trust his instincts and now those instincts were buzzing loudly in alarm.

Something awful was definitely going to happen.

Eleven

Nykyrian, Darling and Hauk stood in the main room of Nykyrian's house. Nykyrian

continued to doubt his sanity in allowing Kiara to go to Tondara with them. If only she

hadn't pleaded with those big amber eyes, he might have been able to stand fast and make her stay behind. But dammit, he couldn't.

"Your advice didn't help," Hauk said darkly, eyeing the stairs.

Nykyrian turned around to see Kiara descending. As he had requested, she pulled her hair

severely back from her face and left it in a thick ponytail to trail down her back in soft

ringlets. The old, ragged battlesuit that added inches to her waist, didn't deter from her

beauty in the least.

"What else can we do?" Darling asked, looking at Nykyrian as if he knew the answer.

"Put something over her head," Hauk suggested.

Kiara's face flushed bright pink. "Why don't you wear something over your head, you

big— "

"That's it," Nykyrian said, interrupting her before she said something to enrage Hauk.

"Keep her mad!"

Kiara stared in confusion as Nykyrian dashed past her, up the stairs and returned with a

thick, padded leather jacket. "I already look like a shuttle-craft," she said with a pout. "If I wear this, I'll look like I weigh three times my size."

Nykyrian winked. "That's the idea."

Kiara pursed her lips, no longer sure if she should go with them. When Darling had told

her what type of club it was, her curiosity had gotten the best of her.

While Nykyrian helped her into the jacket, her gaze drifted over his body. Kiara burned