Chasing Constellations (The UGS Constellation Series) (16 page)

Chapter 26

              His brother was strolling into the house as though he owned the place, a smile lighting his face but his eyes were glazed. Chase knew there was no sanity left in those bright green orbs but he had to try to reason with him. Even though it looked as though Mestrock hadn’t bathed in months, the dirt crusting around the edges of his eyes and mouth were nothing compared to the shredded and disgusting body suit that barely covered his body.

He was emaciated and was obviously no longer healthy; his skin looked as though it was merely hanging over bones. Where once his brother rivaled him in fitness Chase could see he now looked like nothing more tha
n a walking corpse with bare feet. A straggler left marooned would have looked in better health than his brother currently did.

The only thing fit was the long razor sharp dagger that glistened in the flickering light and the blaster held tight to Mestrock’s chest.

“Brother, do not do this. Please. Come home with me, our Madare wishes to hold you once more.” Try as Chase might he was unable to keep his voice from cracking with raw emotions. He hated seeing his brother like this, but he would do whatever he had to, to protect his Anare.

Those wild eyes instantly zeroed in on the three people huddled on the floor, following Chase as he slowly stood with his arms wide and hands empty. Chase had to draw his brother’s attention away from David and Elisa. He flicked his hand toward the kitchen, hoping and praying that David would understand and drag Elisa out of the line of fire and into the safety of the kitchen.

Much to his relief David did understand what he was trying to do and Chase was able to turn his full attention to the threat pacing him step for step. Both men crouched low and balanced on the balls of their feet as they started moving around and around in the living room.

“Mestrock is here.
I repeat Mestrock is at my location. All officers scramble. There was an explosion, bring Yannick down to check for survivors. Do
not
come into the home until I give the all clear!”
Chase wanted to make sure there was back-up without crowding the room, he knew if he didn’t tell them to stay clear that someone would be hurt or killed.

As it
was, there were men that had been stationed around the perimeter of the house and neighborhood that should have stopped him from getting here. Since he was here Chase could only assume that one or more of those men had been incapacitated. Never mind how many were hurt when the explosion rocked the house.

“She does not want me, none of them want me.
I am nothing but an abomination to them!” Mestrock hissed at his brother as he circled him.

“That is not true brother and well you know it. We all love you and want you to come home. Please do not do this. Put the weapons aside and let us return. They sent me to get you, to make sure you were safe and returned because we all miss you.” Try as he might Chase couldn’t keep from pleading with his brother even if the words were true.

His brother scoffed at him, “You lie! They have never wanted me! They sent you to kill me because they cannot handle that we are twins! They abhor us! You have not seen it because you are the favored, the first born!”

“That is not true!”

“It is! You were always better, always perfect! You could do no wrong!”

Chase jumped backward as his brother swiped with the dagger, the blade barely missing his skin as it cut a long clean line through his shirt.

“When you die I will take your place. No one will know! Elisa will be mine! I will not share her as I have been forced to share everything with you!” Mestrock lifted the blaster and aimed it for Chase’s leg, smirking when the bright flash of light cut through his mirror image, slicing through the pants.

Chase was astounded at this revelation, he had no idea that his brother would have shared Elisa but in a flash of insight it made sense. While it wasn’t common for twins to be born, it was even more uncommon for those twins to not share the same Anare. “That is why you attacked her? Why you tried to kill her! You
were jealous for no reason bother! We could have been happy, all three of us!”

*~*~*

              After David had all but dragged Elisa from the living room, she struggled to break free of his tight grip until finally she was able to run to the threshold of the other room. While she knew they were twins, she couldn’t bring herself to stop staring. They were identical! Even their voices sounded the same although Chase’s was slightly deeper and less… deranged.

             
While they were distracted Elisa turned back to David and started pushing him toward the back door, located off to the side near where her dinner table was. “Go! You have to check to see where the rest of the men are!”
              “I’m not leaving you here alone!” David said even as he tugged on her arm and pulled her toward the same door. “Come on! He can take care of himself while we get you to safety!”

             
“No! I’m not leaving him! Go David! Circle around the house and come in from the other direction! Chase gave me a gun, if we pin Mestrock between the three of us he’s sure to give up! Go, hurry!” Elisa pushed David again to the door while yanking her arm out of his tight grip.

             
David paused and searched her face, it was obvious that he didn’t want to leave, but she did have a point. If they circled the madman than they could force him to give himself up. He nodded and spun on his heel, running as fast as he could to the door and the front of the house.

Elisa knew she would only have seconds to act and when she heard the loud report coming from the other room and Chase’s hiss of pain she knew that time was rapidly running away from her.

Pulling her own blaster from her back pocket, she checked it as Chase had shown her how to, amazed that it still worked after both men had landed on her.

Once she was assured that it would
work, how Chase said it would, Elisa eased her way, around the corner and knelt on the floor until she was able to lie prone. She didn’t want to make herself an obvious target.

What she saw when she finally inched her way forward enough on the floor brought tears to her eyes and making her vision
waiver dangerously.

Silver blood streaked across the carpeting where the two men exchanged blows. The front and side of Chase’s pants were covered in the viscous liquid, the wounds seeping slowly.

The small table beside the door hadn’t survived the struggle, its contents strewn by the gaping door and the shattered legs flung about. It looked like someone had tried to use it as a shield and judging by the burnt holes scattered about its small two foot surface it
hadn’t worked too well. Beside its cast-off remains was another blaster, this one a dark black, but the blinking light near the barrel showed that it was out of a charge.

The
grunt from the rolling men brought Elisa’s attention back to them. She nearly screamed. Chase lay under his brother, the handle of a silver knife sticking out of his side with Mestrock’s hands pushing and twisting it in deeper. Chase was trying to push his brother off of him with one hand around the front of Mestrock’s throat while the other tried to pry the knife from his flesh.

“Stop, no!! Chase!” Mindless of her own safety Elisa shouted and scrambled to her feet.

The abrupt sound was enough to distract the man on top of Chase, just enough to give Chase the chance to thrust him off.

Elisa didn’t stop to think. She didn’t want to lose the only sure thing in her life. Not when she’d just found him. Not when she’d just realized how much Chase meant to her.

Leveling the blaster at the crazed man Elisa pulled the trigger just as she was shown. She didn’t expect the recoil, didn’t have both hands wrapped tightly around the grips and when the shock traveled up her hands and arms she was caught off guard. The barrel slammed into her forehead. The hard metal slicing through her already bruised flesh.

Not seconds before her shot went off David rushed through the broken door, his own service revolver cupped tight in his hands. Elisa saw him only as a blur moving through her hazy
vision, but she heard the six rapid shots.

In a
daze, she watched as the man crumpled at Chase’s feet. She heard the resounding thud of his body connecting and the scrambling race of feet charging across the room to Chase’s side.

“Elisa, are you ok?”
David’s voice sounded hollow, like it was coming from far away.

“Elisa! Anare get out of here!” Barely able to speak through his own pain, Chase tried to crawl towards Elisa.

His loss of blood made movement slow but he did his best to fight the nausea. Panic gave him the strength to reach her and together they dropped heavily to the floor.

“Don’t leave me Chase, please don’t leave me!” She begged while wrapping herself around his body. Her hands shook as she pressed against his side in an attempt to stop the blo
od from rushing from his side. “You can’t leave me, damn it! Not now! Not ever!”

Strong, capable
hands surrounded her own as they pressed against the wound. David held one hand over hers while the other pressed against the seeping wound in Chase’s thigh.

“Elisa! Chase!” A voice shouted from the doorway.

“In here! Hurry! He’s fading!”

Through tear and blood streaked eyes Elisa watched as several unknown men raced into the house. Among them was a sight she was ever so grateful for. Yannick raced to them, his four legs carrying him faster than the other men.

“Easy, Elisa, I’ve got him. You can let go.” His soft voice was a soothing balm over her ravaged nerves.

Slowly she pulled her hands away and looked down at them. Elisa tilted her head to the side. There was the silver of his blood but also a crimson stain that whirled through it.
Carefully, she pressed her palm against her forehead and pulled it away. Only then did she realize she was bleeding.

“Oh… Ow, that hurts,” whispered
softly, just seconds before she started to waver on her knees. Elisa looked up at Yannick. “Doc…?” She held her hands out to him, to grab a hold of anything to stop the room from spinning.

“Catch her!” Yannick shouted to anyone and everyone in the room, his own hands busy with trying to keep the Commander alive. He shook his head as four sets reached out and caught
the small woman just as she pitched forward.

Epilogue

              Once again, Elisa awoke in a strange room and a bed she didn’t recognize. At least this time she wasn’t wracked with intense pain.

             
Lifting her arms, she noticed that all of the wounds were gone. Pressing against her forehead didn’t cause any pain. Rolling to either side was easy and free of pain. This was a decided improvement.

             
The soft whoosh of a door opening brought her attention to the stunning creature standing in the doorway. Chase was leaning against the jamb and smiling, his arms crossed over his delectable chest. “Are you going to stay in bed all day?”

             
She smiled. How could she not? The sight of him in nothing more than dark jeans was enough to raise the dead! She let her eyes travel over his body. He wore no shirt or body suit. His flesh was healthy and tan, and there wasn’t even a scar where he’d been stabbed.

             
Granted, it had been a week, but the nightmares of that day still rode her hard. They’d taken Mestrock’s body back to his parents and returned as quickly as possible after the funeral. It wouldn’t have been so long, but Chase had to stay and explain what happened in minute detail. “Only if you plan to join me, Chase.”

             
Now that they were back they’d contacted David to assure Elisa that he was indeed ok. He’d hit a rough patch when he had to tell the Captain that the man got away. What else could he tell them? They wouldn’t believe the truth, that the swarming team had taken Chase and Elisa and vanished. That the men in the marked car were seriously injured, but somehow managed to avoid anything worse and were due to recover. He thought about retiring early, but decided against it, instead choosing to stay and do his duty of protecting others.

             
Elisa lifted her arms in invitation, smiled coyly at him and knew he would never leave her there wanting.

             
In a twist of fate they had completed most of the bonding. The exchange of blood was not how most chose to bond with their Anare, using it only to bond with those that weren’t so that children could be created. While they knelt on the floor of her rented home and Elisa held her hands to Chase’s side, she’d bled on him. As soon as she had pressed her silver coated hand against her own open wound the exchange was complete. She’d fainted, for the first time in her life, when the bond snapped into place.

             
Fondly Elisa remembered that day, although it wasn’t as glorious as some would want it, for her it was beyond special.