Davin's Quest (18 page)

“Jane brews this for us. She’s a hell of a woman and Callie is made in her image. You couldn’t find a finer girl if you searched the world over. But then, I’m probably a little biased.” Mick winked as he downed another swallow of the cold brew.

Rick felt like he had to say something, but this conversation was beyond him. Still, he made an effort.

“Callie is a special woman.”

“You can say that again.” Mick plopped down on the big rolling chair behind his desk. “Have a seat.”

Rick took the chair in front of the desk. It was big and more comfortable than he’d expected. He relaxed back into it and savored his beer.

“I don’t want you to think that I’m going to take advantage of Callie. She’s Davin’s mate. I respect their prior commitment and won’t intrude on it.” Rick felt his tongue running on as the alcohol mellowed his mind. “I remember how it was in the old days. I remember my mom.” His words trailed off.

“It’s good to remember, son,” Mick’s tone held the wisdom of age, though he wasn’t all that much older than Rick. “But you can’t let yesterday get in the way of tomorrow. I know. I felt much as you do at one time. Jane was married to my brother Caleb before the world exploded. He’s got the gift of foresight and we came up here and set up this place well before the attacks began. We lived as we used to, with me and Justin single and Jane happily married to Caleb, but it was driving Justin and me crazy. We’d all loved Jane from the time we were kids. We all grew up together because her daddy owned the next ranch over.” Mick sat back in his chair, a smile on his face. “When her father died, Caleb snatched her up before Justin or I had a chance to court her. But then the whole world changed almost overnight. We had to change with it or—according to Caleb’s visions, which are never wrong—we all would have been dead long ago.”

Rick didn’t know what to say. Mick was much more than a simple doctor and just as fierce as his brothers.

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“I was the last holdout. I was so stubborn. I knew that giving in to this strange way of life was wrong. It would never have happened in the old world and I was desperately clinging to those beliefs. But by doing so, I was sentencing my beautiful Janie, and my two brothers, to death. Faced with that certainty, well, you can see how simple the decision really was.”

“But that’s not the case here,” Rick objected. “Nobody says Callie is going to die if I walk away.”

Mick eyed him. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. For one thing, Caleb’s not here. Getting his predictions is harder now, but we know for sure that he’s seen you in Callie’s future. Hell, you’ve already saved her life once. Maybe you’re meant to be around to do it again. If you leave her, you might as well kill her yourself.”

“That’s one hell of a stretch.” Rick started to get angry.

“All right. Maybe I was being too melodramatic.” Mick shrugged. “But there’s no denying that by leaving, you’ll break her heart. I see the way she looks at you. She’s already in love with you. You leave her, she’ll suffer. Is that what you want?”

“What if I believe that by staying, she’ll suffer more? This multiple-partner thing isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. We’re not animals or barbarians to subjugate and share our women around. We’re human beings with free will. My father taught me that and I’ll always believe it.”

“Your father sounds like a wise man,” Mick agreed, his voice quite a bit lower than Rick’s agitated tones. “But what if you’ve got the wrong end of the stick? I agree that women shouldn’t be forced to accept men they neither want nor love, but what about when a woman wants more than one man? When she loves them, and they love her? Where’s the harm in that?”

Rick was both confused and torn. “I don’t know the answer.”

“Don’t you think you’d better figure it out? Seems to me, you’re in just that situation with Callie, and your decision will impact not only your life, but Callie’s and Davin’s as well.” Mick saluted him with the bottle before polishing it off. A few seconds later, the intercom buzzed. Lunch was served.

Justin had stashed Sinclair in one of the smaller hay barns, far away from the main house and livestock barns. He had secure rooms there, built with various purposes in mind. One of the chambers was close enough to a secure cell, to suit their purposes. Sinclair hadn’t put up any kind of resistance and Jane kept tabs on his emotional state—an upheaval so intense it made her knees buckle a few times as they’d walked their guest to the barn. Justin didn’t like that, but it couldn’t be helped. He needed Jane’s empathic observations to gauge the man’s state of mind.

There was some furniture in the room—an old cot and chair as well as a table and lamp. There was no electricity this far from the main house and the small generator they ran on biodiesel, but there was an oil lamp and lighter to get it going.

They left him there, locking him in with his consent, while they went for lunch. Justin figured if he was still
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there when they got back, Sinclair would play them straight. It was the first of many tests Justin would subject the man to before he began to trust him to any degree.

So it was with some satisfaction that Justin found their guest waiting for them when they returned with a plate of sandwiches for him. Rick, Davin and Callie came too, wanting to be present while Justin questioned the man more closely. They hadn’t gotten very far before lunch. Jane had told him that Sinclair was in too stressful an emotional state, so they left him alone to settle down a bit. Callie was nearly as empathic as her mother, so she came along this time to gauge Sinclair’s emotional response.

Sinclair was an assassin. That much they knew. But Justin could see this man was even more than that.

A Prime, he was the top of his line on this planet, and his line was a warrior line. No doubt, if he didn’t want to be held, he’d have been long gone before now. Which meant he wanted something from them.

Justin didn’t have to think too hard to realize what it was. The man—new to his emotions—was probably in a worse place than even Davin had been. He probably wanted acceptance and understanding. Maybe reassurance and guidance through the tough new emotions he was dealing with. Which was where Callie came in, though Justin might be able to help as well, and he certainly wouldn’t leave Callie alone with this big brute.

“Look, I know you’re a soldier. Believe it or not, I have a friend of sorts, among the Alvian warrior lines.”

That caught Sinclair’s interest. He looked over at Justin with suspicion. “Who?” he asked simply.

“Grady Prime comes out here every once in a while with Mara 12. We’ve talked a few times and of all the Alvians I’ve met, he actually seems to feel something. Not much, I grant you, but something. He’s a little different than the others, in a subtle way.”

Sinclair actually smiled. It looked rusty, as if he hadn’t done much smiling in his life. “All warrior lines are more primitive than the rest of the population. Gradys even more so. They are considered highly aggressive soldiers. Unpredictable and unstoppable.”

“Yeah, that’s Grady, all right,” Justin agreed with a grin. “I like the bastard for all that.”

“He cannot understand the concept of affection.” Sinclair’s expression was lost. “Neither could I until a few days ago. Now, I wonder that I could ever do half the things I did. I have a great number of transgressions on my soul.”

“Do your people believe in the idea of an immortal soul?” Callie asked from near the door where they’d positioned her. They wanted her to be able to flee should their guest turn violent.

“There is little doubt the energy of one’s being is not destroyed when the body ceases to function. We do not know where the energy goes, but we do live on. It is the one thought that gives me some solace for all the lives I’ve taken over the years.” A tear leaked down the side of Sinclair’s face, surprising Justin. He shot a questioning glance to Callie.

She nodded, using telepathy to communicate privately with her father.
“His sorrow is real and deep.”

She turned to address the Alvian. “You’re a new man now,” she said aloud. “You can make up for what you’ve done and try to ease your burden of guilt through your future actions.”

“For one thing,” Justin pounced, “you could begin by telling us who ordered the hit on Davin and how badly they want him dead. Were you supposed to take out Callie as well? Rick? Anybody else?”

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A tight muscle in Sinclair’s cheek ticked as Justin fired questions at him, but he stood firm. The warrior had a backbone of steel.

“I was sent for Davin alone. He’s the one with the power. He’s the one they fear, though they do not recognize the emotion. Yet it is fear—in a sense. They fear his power as the single person who could interfere with their plans for this world and their desire for ultimate power over our people and this planet.

Davin’s grown too strong to confront openly. The whispers about his instability are for naught now that he has a mate to ground him. And many are beginning to study our old ways, intrigued by the idea of resonance mating. I wasn’t instructed to target Davin’s mate, but I believe Callie bears watching in case subsequent orders change.”

Justin felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. A quick look at Callie’s face told him she’d already faced this idea and would fight for her man. Justin admired her grit, but feared for her safety.

“Who?” Davin’s voice was deathly low and filled with malice. “Who ordered my death?”

“I don’t know.” Sinclair pinned Davin with his gaze. “I’d tell you if I could but I’m always activated by code and it could have come from any member of the Council. I haven’t been paying close attention to their activities for months now. I’m officially retired and participating in Mara’s new experiment. I was never supposed to be sent out again, but the code was my failsafe. I had to do this one last job. I tried.”

Sinclair’s mouth tightened as his expression grew taut. “But I couldn’t. Thank the Maker.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Callie confirmed aloud, but her expression spoke of sympathy for the alien man.

“I’m sorry for what you’re going through, Sinclair,” she said. “And I know you’d tell us if you knew more. As it stands, we’ll have to puzzle this out on our own, though we’d appreciate any assistance you can offer.”

“Anything I can do to help, Lady, I will do.” Sinclair bowed his head in her direction, a sign of respect.

“And we’ll help you.” Callie stood and walked over to Sinclair while Justin, Davin and Rick bristled, watching the alien soldier closely. Callie took his hand and squeezed it. “The next few days will be rough, but you’re a strong man. You’ll come through this and be a better man for it. My family can help.”

“Your help is much better than I deserve. I thank you.”

Callie found herself alone in the kitchen with her mom after dinner as they put away a few dishes. The men had gone out to talk to Sinclair again and the rest of her brothers and sisters were seeing to the animals and finishing up evening chores. Callie had brewed a pot of tea and settled in for a nice talk with her mother.

“What’s on your mind, sweetie?”

Callie should have realized. Her mom always knew when she needed to talk.

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“It’s Rick. And Davin too, though he doesn’t think he’s got an issue with Rick. Still, I sense it. There’s a lot of conflict between them. I feel it every time I’m with them.”

“I know. I felt it from the moment you three got here. You’ve got yourself a problem, my girl. No doubt about it.” Jane wiped her hands on a towel and motioned Callie over to the table. It was clear now and the kitchen back the way it had been. The other kids had helped clean up before they headed outdoors.

“So what do you think I should do?”

“You? Honey, this is something you might not have all that much control over. This is something your men have got to come to terms with on their own. I remember when Mick had me pretty much convinced he was okay with our new arrangement. Then he lost it and nearly got away before we could straighten things out. But he was the one who had to deal with his issues. I could sort of nudge him in the right direction, but ultimately, it was his decision.”

“Yeah, I get that, but there’s got to be something I can do.” Frustration made her want to tear her hair out.

Jane smiled and Callie knew that grin. It often spelled trouble, or so the family joke went.

“Well, I think you should seduce him. That always works with your fathers.”

Callie laughed and practically choked on her tea. Jane was known for her frank speaking, but Callie had never discussed her sex life with her mother before. It was a little embarrassing.

“Seduce who? I mean, which one?”

Jane shrugged, grinning. “Whichever one is handy. I know you and Davin have been together a while, but what about Rick? Have you made love with him yet?”

“Mother!” She felt a blush steal over her face.

“I’ll take that as a no. Darn, girl, how can you let a man as good looking as that get away? I bet he’d be a great lover. I remember when your father was about Rick’s age. He could go all night. Still can, come to think of it.”

“Too much information, Mom.” Callie jumped to refill her teacup and busy her hands.

“Well, it’s true. And I’m sure you understand what I mean, now that you’ve got Davin in your life. I know he’s an alien, but he positively steams when he looks at you. And the emotion coming off him is explosive.”

Callie thought about that for a moment and a dreamy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, it is. He’s something else, Mom. He feels so deeply. Rick does too, but he’s better at hiding it. Half the time, I’m not sure what he’s feeling.”

“Sounds like Mick.” Jane held up her cup for Callie to refill from the teapot. “I think there’s something about medical training that helps them close off their emotions—sort of compartmentalize or something.

It’s hard to get past, but I hope you know passion is the easiest way to break down whatever mental barriers he can throw up. Seduce him. You’ll learn a lot and get him thinking about what he could have and what he’d be missing if he decides to go lone wolf on you. Give him a taste of what could be
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