Ride the Stars/once Bitten (11 page)

Was her father alive?

They’d never found his body. The explosion had left so little of the building, that hadn’t been a surprise.

Had he staged his own assassination? It wasn’t much of a reach, and if he were still alive....

Feeling grim, Bali pondered the possibilities, then called for Datsu.

"You look a little moody this evening," Domino commented over dinner.

Bali picked at her food. "Just some business left undone. I’ll get back to it later." She was debating what to tell him. For one thing, she hadn’t confronted Icki yet. He’d sent her to Domino, set her free from her father’s curse. He’d saved her life. It wasn’t easy to confront him now and demand answers, but it had to be done. She wasn’t fool enough to let this go, and she wasn’t that good an actress. He’d know something was up, and he wasn’t the only one.

With a sigh, she rose from the table. "Domino, let’s go talk to Icki. I need some answers."

Icki was lying in bed with a book when they knocked. It lay face up on his stomach when they walked in. He blinked at them sleepily. "Yes?"

Bali stared at him a moment, then crossed her arms. "Why didn’t you tell me you were my brother?"

Icki’s mouth dropped open. The expression was at odds with his normally cool facade.

"Direct, isn’t she?" Domino said admiringly from his post at the foot of the bed. Despite his surprise, he looked raptly interested.

Shooting him a quelling stare, Bali looked back at her brother. "I saw your birth certificate. Don’t ask,"

she said, cutting him off. "All I want to know is, why didn’t I know about you?"

Icki frowned and visibly cast about for words.

"Did you think I’d hate you because of father? Didn’t you know I’d have loved to know I had a brother?" She gestured irritably. "Now I know what happened to you: he got to you first. Let me guess ...

you were taken into protective custody? Either that or mother left him, then saw you settled before she died." She brushed the hair from her eyes. "All he ever told me was that she died. How did she end up with you and not me? Did he hide me from her? He certainly had the influence."

Icki grimaced. "Give a man a chance to speak, will you? Though you seem to have answered most of your own questions."

"He hid me?"

He sighed. "She tried to get you back, but the courts were too slow, and she was afraid to expose what he’d done to me. She didn’t want to ruin my future. She grieved for you, Bali. She didn’t live long," he said, his face softening with remembered sorrow. "She’d been ill for some time, and the strain weakened her."

A pang twisted Bali’s heart. She’d never known her mother. From the sounds of it, she’d ended up with the worst possible parent. Of course, how could one get much worse than Itara? "Oh." It was all she could manage.

"I wanted to tell you, but...." He shook his head. "The old man wanted someone to run his empire. You were very public about hating him. It gained you some friends and some powerful enemies, him included."

He looked at her searchingly, then glanced at Domino. "He contacted me."

She sucked in a breath. "After his supposed death?"

"Just before. He wanted to meet with me. I wasn’t polite." He was silent a moment. "I’m not sure he’s dead."

She looked at Domino. "I think the attack on us at my hotel was aimed at capturing Icki. He’s in danger.

If my father’s alive...."

Domino nodded. "Then you’re both in danger."

That wasn’t what she meant. "I’m always in danger. It comes of being that old rotter’s daughter. We need to focus on Icki."

Domino shook his head. "I’m going to talk to security. You two have a lot of talking to do."

An awkward silence descended in his absence. Icki scratched his nose. Bali shifted in her chair.

Seconds ticked by.

"You know, I had a crush on you when I was a kid," Bali said uncomfortably. "I would have really liked to know you were my brother."

He sighed. "I didn’t know how to approach you about it. You were so angry at your father, our father, that you might easily have hated me, too. Especially when you found out mother was able to save only me. I felt guilty."

"I probably would have blown a fuse ... at least at first. I would have calmed down eventually, though. I would have taken to you, Icki. As a brother, I mean." She swallowed hard. "We’ve lost a lot of time."

His dark eyes grew shiny for a moment, then he cleared his throat and leaned back on the bed. "So ask me about my life. What do you want to know? I think I already know all your secrets."

"Hardly," she said with a grin, but the smile faded. "Tell me about mother."

* * * *

Domino was waiting for her in their bed. Arms crossed behind his head, he listened to music as he watched her change into a silky nightgown. "You must have had an interesting talk."

Still humming with latent emotion, she smiled at him as she joined him under the covers. "Very. There are so many things I never knew. It’s like I had a bunch of dots scattered throughout my life and someone just went through with a big black pen and connected them. It’s a relief to know I like my brother, too. I mean, if a stranger had showed up and we’d had to reconnect.... I’m just glad it’s Icki."

He snuggled her into his arms. "So am I. Now I don’t have to worry about him running off with my woman."

Surprised, she shot up to one elbow. "Icki? You’ve got to be kidding."

One large hand hooked around the back of her head and pulled her down for a heated kiss. "You’re right. You’re too spoiled from me to leave with him."

"Why you ... um...." she bit off, as he rolled her under him and suckled her neck. Fires licked her nerves as he whispered a naughty suggestion in her ear. "Okay...."

A little more spoiling wasn’t going to kill her.

For once, Bali woke earlier than her lover. Out of habit, she tried to drop back off, but couldn’t.

Thwarted, she rolled over and studied his sleeping face. Beautiful in repose, he lay with one arm flung over his head, the other curled over his waist. Any woman would smile to wake up to that in her bed.

Warmth uncurled in her chest, and she blinked in surprise as she recognized the emotion. Well, what do you know, she’d gone and fallen in love with the man.

Closing her eyes, she shook her head with a little laugh. Stupid, impossible girl. She’d spent so much time trying to dodge the emotion, only to have it sneak up in plain sight, unrecognized until that moment. If it had been a snake, it would have bit her.

Thinking of Domino’s bite, she smiled and slipped out of bed. If she leaned over and kissed him, it would start something he’d finish, and she was starving.

There was a message waiting for her when she reached the kitchen. Curious, she turned the scrap of paper around on the counter and looked it over. Aris Tallez, the blond merwoman who hung around with Sirocco, wanted to talk. Her message made it sound urgent.

Debating the merits of a charitable meeting versus the inherent danger didn’t take long. She had Datsu and his gang to watch over her, and she could arrange to meet Aris in the club while it was still closed.

No worries. Picking up the com, she punched in the merwoman’s number.

Half an hour later she was seated in Domino’s favorite booth enjoying a savory breakfast, while Aris sipped at her protein shake. She concentrated on her breakfast and small talk while the blond worked up the courage to speak.

"I need your help," Aris finally ventured timidly. "I know what you’ve done for the others. The mutants, I mean," she said in a hushed voice, looking around nervously.

Bali nodded calmly. "What do you need?" She took another bite.

Aris took a deep breath, then said in a rush, "I’m pregnant with Sirocco’s child."

Other than a blink, Bali didn’t react. This was new ... a mutant child on the way. Oh, how her father would rejoice. Pity the kid with Sirocco as a father.

Unaware of Bali’s thoughts, Aris said pleadingly, "I’m afraid to tell him. I love him, but I don’t know how he’d take this, and if I decide to keep it.... I need prenatal care from someone who won’t treat me like a freak. I’m so scared a doctor might hurt the baby, or take samples to experiment. I-I just don’t know whether to have this child or not. What kind of life can I offer it?"

Bali sighed. "How far along are you?"

Biting her lip, Aris cringed for a moment. "Late. I’ll be showing soon."

Thinking quietly for a moment, Bali studied the problem. "You’ve waited this long ... I think you really want this baby. If you want a reliable doctor, I can personally recommend two. One’s a Draconian, my husband’s brother, in fact. He’s patched me up a time or two. The other’s a mutant and a close friend of mine. He’s been my doctor for years. As for your lover.... Maybe you will lose Sirocco if you tell him; maybe you won’t. I can tell you one thing, though. If you abort this child now, you will mourn it for the rest of your life. You’ve got options. You’re bigger than this problem. As far as you know, this child could become one of the greatest joys of your life. Don’t take the easy road out; take the right one."

Aris closed her eyes for a moment, a look of relief on her face. "I can really trust this doctor?"

"I have, with my life. If I get pregnant, you can bet I’ll go to one of them."

Aris’ shoulders relaxed. "Okay. I didn’t really want to lose the baby. I’m just so afraid ... was so afraid.

I guess I just wasn’t thinking about the options. You know, my parents will just freak when they find out."

She got misty eyed for a moment, then shook it off. "I’ll talk to Sirocco. I’ll make him listen."

Bali toasted her with her chopsticks, then pushed her plate over to Aris. "Atta girl. Here, eat. You’ve got a baby to think of now, and I’m not sure a protein shake is going to do it. I’ll get with your new doctor and have him contact you for an appointment. Okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Aris dug into the meal hesitantly, then with the gusto of a dieter tossing the menu plan.

"This is really good!"

Bali smiled and headed to the kitchen to get one more crab turnover. She couldn’t get enough of those things lately.

* * * *

"Bali’s gone!"

Domino looked up from the morning newscast in alarm. "What?"

"The delivery guys got her. One minute we were walking into the kitchen, the next she was gone." Hari the bouncer leaned heavily on the counter, blood dripping from his left leg. One hand curled around his ribs, eyes glazed with pain, he gasped out, "They took that big bruiser of hers, Datsu, down. The cook’s got him laid out with a compression bandage on his chest. The other guy has a broken jaw and arm. I’ve never seen guys so fast in my life."

Not waiting for Hari to finish his tale, Domino had already grabbed his com and was making rapid calls.

Panic beat at the edges of his mind, but he blocked it out. Bali needed him. He got hold of Lore, passed on a curt message, then turned to see Icki on his feet and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Domino demanded. "You’re in no condition...."

"I’m going to help Datsu and the others. I might not be in fighting condition, but I can still play doctor.

Go save her," he shot back.

Satisfied that Icki was out of harm’s way, Domino turned his mind to getting his wife back.

Bali’s head was killing her. Groggily, she blinked and tried to focus. She was lying down, but it hurt too much to look around. Wherever she was, it was dim and gray and she didn’t like it. Within moments, she passed out again.

* * * *

"Aris had nothing to do with it," Sirocco said, his arm around his woman.

Domino didn’t back down. "Prove it. We tracked them to a cove by the sea. They were fast, but not fast enough to stop one of the soldiers from tagging their transport with a tracking device. Your merwoman was there when they took Bali, and the cove is a place you could easily access by water."

Sirocco scowled for a moment, then glanced at Aris, who looked at him with huge, misty eyes. "Stay here. I’m going to help Domino, then I’ll come back and finish our talk." His eyes softened as he kissed her. When he looked at Domino, all softness had fled. "I wasn’t in on this little mess of yours, but I’ll help you get her back. When I do, remember that you owe me, Drac."

* * * *

Bali was on her feet, but only because the big wolf mutant on her right was holding her upright. They were in a sea cave that had been outfitted like a rough camp. She couldn’t see any way out except by sea, and only one boat was tethered to the cave wall. She could see only five men besides her father.

That was good, she thought cheerfully. So much easier for Domino to kill them when he got here.

Someone shoved a chair roughly behind her and she collapsed in it, wincing as pain like ragged glass shot through her skull. Whoever had coshed her on the head had half-killed her.

Not that her father seemed to care.

Rudriv Itara scowled at her like an irritated schoolmaster. The expression twisted his nearly unrecognizable face. His skin had a golden, mottled cast, and his thick, wild hair was a shock of white with steaks of red where no color had been before. The right side of his mouth moved in a constant, distracting tick, and his movements seemed unnatural, jerky. Oddest of all was the reshaping of the face itself. She couldn’t decide if it was the result of cosmetic surgery or gene mashing.

Apparently her father had been experimenting again ... this time on himself.

"I’m disappointed in you, girl. Getting tangled up with that Draconian and ruining all my fine work."

"Hell-o, Dad," she slurred, offering him a pained grin. "I’ve been a little naughty. Are you going to dump me in your gene pool again? It won’t do much good."

"Had you remained with me, you’d have realized that I no longer use the pool, too clumsy. I’ve gone back to formula. I use an injection now," he said coldly.

She quirked a brow. "Didn’t want to scream your way through the change, eh? Sacrificing in the name of science not so appealing when you’re the subject?"

His face grew more mottled. "The shot is more effective."