Demon Slave (34 page)

“
That one day you would go
home.” Her lip quivered. “But you don’t
have
to.”

Nadua’s throat clenched. “I do. My people
need me now, just as yours need you.”

Ava gave the tiniest of nods, but her eyes
were glossed and brimming.

“
I’m so glad I got to see
you before I left.”

In response, she buried her face in Nadua’s
furs and mumbled something incoherent. She grasped so tightly that
Nadua was afraid Wren would have to peel Ava off her.

“
Now, now, queens don’t
sniffle.”

“
Yes, they do. I say what a
queen does now, and a queen can sniffle if she wants
to.”

Nadua laughed. “Yes, My Queen.” It was then
that Nadua noticed Cyrus, flanking her just as Wren was flanking
Ava. “But I have someone I need to introduce you to.” Ava wiped her
tears and straightened. Nadua smiled at her. “Ava, this is Cyrus.”
She gestured toward him.

Cyrus bowed. “Hello, young queen. I am your
father’s brother.”

Ava shyly nodded. “Wren told me about you on
the way here. Thank you for your service to our people.”

Nadua gave Wren a sharp look, remembering
that he had kept the information from her all this time. He smiled,
a little sheepish. To Ava Nadua said, “You should stay here a few
days and get to know each other. He’s the one who taught me how to
fight.”

“
Speaking of,” Wren chimed
in. “We weren’t expecting to come upon a war. What happened
here?”

“
It was the rebels,” Cyrus
replied. “Since this is the first time they’ve attacked us, I can
only assume they were going after Nadua. They seemed to know she
would be here.”

Nadua noted the undertone in his words.
Cyrus had a traitor in his midst.

“
And what of Tamir and
Nakul?” she asked.

Wren answered, “Tamir has been arrested.
Nakul has not been found, as of yet.”

That worried Nadua, but she would have to
leave Ava and Wren to deal with it.

* * *

After Sebastian was finished slapping him on
the back in greeting, Marik was relieved to hear that Anya was well
and waiting for them in the shuttle. She waved with both hands and
brandished a giant grin when he glanced through the window at
her.

Sebastian’s arrival couldn’t have happened
at a better time. A bit of weight was lifted from Marik, only to be
replaced by a dozen heavy boulders.

What will he think of what I’ve done?

Marik was almost too ashamed to tell him.
But there was no way around it.

But before he could form the words,
Sebastian asked, “Who is that?”

Rex was standing a few yards away, eyeing
them both. Marik motioned him over. “This is Rex. He has been a
great help to Nadua and myself.”

Sebastian held out his hand. “Much
appreciated.”

Rex eagerly took his hand and nodded
silently. Marik could see the stress marring his features.

“
Rex would like to join us,
and I vouch for him. He would make a good addition.”

Sebastian looked him up and down. “Everyone
works on my ship unless you can pay.”

“
I’ll work. I worked the
engines on my last ship, but I can do any job you need.”

“
You’ll take your orders
from me.”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Also, I have a rule on my
ship about sleeping with crew members. I don’t approve of
it.”

Marik coughed, pulling Sebastian aside.
After explaining Rex’s unique situation, Sebastian grumbled, “Hell,
I should just throw the rule out the porthole, no one follows it
anyway.”

Nadua chose that moment to join them.
Sebastian took one look at her and shot Marik a stunned expression.
Marik tried to keep the guilty look off his face, but feared he did
a poor job of it.

Without hesitation, Nadua strolled up to
Sebastian. “Hello, I’m Nadua.”

“
Sebastian.”

Moving to stand by Marik,
Nadua replied, “Oh! The captain of
Marada
. How is my sister?”

Nadua followed their gazes to the shuttle.
Anya was pressed against the window, staring straight at her with
wide eyes.

“
She is eager to meet
you.”

“
As am I. Will we be
leaving right away?”

“
As soon as possible,
yes.”

She looked a little sad and Marik wanted to
embrace her. “I will go say goodbye then.”

Marik avoided Sebastian’s hard gaze by
watching his mate as she walked away.

“
You’re mated.” The
statement in no way accusatory, but it still felt that
way.

“
I...It wasn’t...” Marik
trailed off, hating himself anew. Rex was stepping away, obviously
curious to see if Sebastian would follow the old laws. “It was not
a proper claiming.”

At first, Sebastian looked confused. Then,
understanding, he closed his eyes in dismay. “Fuck.”

The disappointment he saw in Sebastian was
worse than a lashing. “She recommended we contact the Serakians. To
see if they could undo it.”

Head snapping up, Sebastian balked, “Undo
it? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” His brows knit together. “I
suppose it’s possible the Serakians could...Is that what you
want?”

“
If it is still what she
wants, I will not argue.”

They all looked to Nadua, who was leading
the small white-haired girl their way. “Marik, this is Ava.”

He nodded in greeting. The chit looked to be
on the verge of tears.

Ava gave a slight bow. “I am in your debt.
Thank you for saving Nadua. Is there is anything we can do for you
before you leave?”

“
Thank you, but
no.”

Ava looked desperately around the group,
then to Nadua. She sighed, “Very well, perhaps in the future. Know
that you are all welcome at the palace, any time.” She turned to
Nadua. “Please do come back and visit.”

“
I will try.” They came
together for one last hug. “I’m so proud of you. Your father would
be as well.” Nadua’s breath faltered. “I love you.”

“
I love you too. Ouch.” Ava
pulled away, rubbing behind her ear.

“
Oops. Sorry.”

Marik quirked a brow at Nadua, who
nonchalantly winked back at him.

After a few more goodbyes, they headed for
the shuttle. Nadua took one last look behind her, and then bravely
stepped into a new world.

The shuttle ride was mostly a blur. Not only
did Nadua discover she had developed a fear of flying—by the fact
that her nails were digging into the cushion of her seat as the
craft bounced through the clouds—but leaving, what had essentially
been her home, was causing her emotions to run rampant.

Her sister, Analia, seemed
to sense her distress and was trying to distract her with stories
of
Marada
and its
people. She was enthusiastic about it, which did lighten Nadua’s
spirit a bit.

The resemblance between the sisters was only
clear in their matching blue eyes. Their fathers’ eyes.

Nadua was proud to see that Analia had grown
into a lovely young woman. After Marik told her about Analia’s
past, Nadua feared she would be dejected, but the opposite was
true. Kindness oozed out of her.

When they first spotted each other, there
had been a strong burst of emotion that had come from Analia and
had nearly knocked her back. They held each other for long a
moment, until Sebastian put his hand on Analia’s shoulder and she
finally let go, tears dampening her cheeks.

The shuttle had six seats, two by two, with
a small aisle between them. Marik and Sebastian took the helm,
Analia sat next to Nadua in the middle, and Rex was behind them
watching out the window.

From his seat next to Sebastian, Marik kept
glancing back to see if she was alright. She tried to give him a
reassuring smile a couple of times, then gave up. Once they got out
of the rough atmosphere, Nadua’s stomach was almost ready to settle
itself.

Then Sebastian spoke. “Once we dock, we will
head straight for Earth, but I will contact the Serakians and see
if they can be persuaded to send someone to meet with us on the
way.”

Apparently, it had been the first thing
Marik suggested upon reacquainting with Sebastian.

After that, no amount of Analia’s cheerful
stories could ease her churning gut. Hadn’t she told Marik she
wanted to be with him? His bonding with her had been a complete
accident, but she always assumed, deep down, that he had wanted
her. With the possibility of an out did he no longer wish to be
with her?

Her insides twisted at the thought.

Nadua recalled their lovemaking. She thought
she had seen something more than lust in Marik’s eyes, but it must
have only been what she wanted to see.

Out the window, Undewla sat like a large
heavy snowball against an infinite black abyss, melting away. It
made her heart ache worse.

* * *

Marik feared she wouldn’t protest at the
mention of the Serakians. And she didn’t. He had hoped their time
together had changed her mind, but her indifference was clear as
she gazed through the porthole.

It was not right how he had claimed her. So
it was only fitting that he be the one to suffer. And being without
her would be suffering—an entirely new kind of torture to add to
his list. It would be difficult, but he would let her go. He had
to.

Would she be with other men after him? Of
course she would. Ethanule’s face flashed in his mind and he had to
tamp down a feeling of sorrow, so strong it threatened to invoke
the Edge. Then Calic’s blond hair and arrogant face came into view.
Marik’s eyes burned, and his teeth gnashed together.

No, Cale would know that
I’d kill him
.

Sebastian was watching him from the corner
of his eyes. It reminded him of the way he looked at Cale
sometimes—with a good dose of pity. Cale’s mate had done the
unthinkable and betrayed him, nearly getting him, Sonya, and
Sebastian killed when the Kayadon came to take their planet. No one
knew what happened to her after they escaped the onslaught, only
that she was gone. Cale had never been the same.

Now those glances would be aimed at Marik
too.

There was no doubt the Serakians would send
someone to perform the spell, if only because such a thing had
never been attempted before. They were an innately curious people.
Marik hoped it wasn’t possible, but he knew he didn’t have that
kind of luck.

Would it hurt? Would his love for Nadua
disintegrate along with the bond? He could only imagine it would be
like someone tearing his heart out.

* * *

Sonya was thoroughly
relieved when the transmission came in that everyone was safe and
headed for
Marada
.
But it also caused a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Once back, Sebastian would take over as captain and she would go
back to working in her pub...with Ethanule.

She’d been successful in avoiding him since
the ridiculous incident, and did not relish the thought of facing
him again.

It wasn’t that big of a deal, anyway. Silly,
in fact, when she really thought about it, though her brothers
wouldn’t think so.

That alone made her grin. Ethan would be so
worried about her informing her brothers of his less than honorable
conduct, that he would most likely do anything she said. But even
that thought didn’t help much.

She lifted her chin, resolved. She wouldn’t
let him see how badly he’d hurt her. It wasn’t a physical pain she
felt— although it had been a little painful, it had been more
shocking than anything—but emotionally she was a mess, and had no
idea why.

Aidan’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “The
shuttle is docking, Captain.”

“
Good. Keep us in orbit
until further instructions. I’ll go and greet them.”

She was excited to see Anya again. No one
else would understand what she was going through at the moment.

“
Huh.” Aidan’s tone was
baffled.

“
What is it,
Aidan?”

“
There are five life-forces
on board.”

“
Five?” Had they picked up
a stray? A dark though filtered into her mind. Could they have been
hijacked? “Are there any other ships in the area?”

“
No, Captain.”

That meant little; pirates survived by the
prowess of their stealth.