Ride the Stars/once Bitten (12 page)

"I can see that," she said, eyeing his blotched skin.

"You see nothing," he sneered, and turned his back on her to fiddle with the controls on the machine behind him. The remains of hastily amputated wings made lumps under his shirt. "I merely overreached myself a little. I’ve only got a slight glitch in the formula to overcome. To do that, I need one of my earliest subjects. By now your brother should have received my summons. Once I have a gene sample from him, I can repair the damage."

"You’re nuts," Bali said calmly. Maybe it was shock leaving her oddly detached, or the blow to her head. Maybe she just didn’t care anymore. "Icki’s not going to risk getting himself caught just to satisfy your demented experiments."

Itara slowly reached for a scalpel lying on the table. He turned, eyeing it fondly. "Oh, I think he will. If he doesn’t, I’ll return you to him one piece at a time. How do you think he’d react to having your eye delivered to him in a flask of formaldehyde?" He smiled at her coldly. "I owe you for the bad press, daughter mine, and for helping the authorities every chance you got."

Interesting. He’d completely shed the guise of loving father in favor of the mantle of lunatic egomaniac.

While it suited him better, it was a little unsettling. She could only wonder what had brought about the change. Maybe years of being hunted down like a rabid dog could do that to a man.

She wasn’t terribly concerned about her eye--they made nice mechanical eyes these days, and they couldn’t be worse than the vision problems she’d suffered all her life. Besides, Domino would find her.

He had the resources, the connections and the attitude. Her father had made a fatal mistake when he’d snatched her.

"Father."

Bali’s eyes had been drifting closed, but they popped open at the sound of Icki’s voice. What the blazes was he doing here?

Itara’s eyes glowed as he watched Icki fly into the cave and land with a gentle grunt. His chest was bare to allow his wings full movement. No doubt his healing shoulder was killing him.

"You’re late," Itara said, moving toward him purposefully.

"And you have something of mine," Icki said coldly. "I’ve come to collect her." He reached his hand inside his belt pouch, sending a cool look to the men and mutants who leveled firearms on him. "It’s a blood and tissue sample," he said, holding up the vials. "Give me the girl and you can have them."

Itara shook his head sadly. "Not one word of greeting for your father? How rude, Icki. Unfortunately, those tiny bottles won’t be enough. I’m afraid you’re going to have to stay here with me."

Icki smiled coldly and dropped the vials to the ground. Instantly the air filled with a choking red smoke.

Chaos erupted in the cave. Shots were fired. Men cursed. Bali flinched when she felt cold fingers brush her arm, then grip.

"Bali?"

"Icki! You crazy fool!"

"Hang on." He swung her into his arms, ignoring her low curse as he half ran in the direction of the water.

She gasped as cold water soaked her clothes, then struggled as another pair of arms received her.

"Quit squirming," Sirocco ordered roughly, "and hold your breath."

She barely had time to obey before he ducked under the water and swam them out of there at an astonishing pace. By the time he surfaced, the pressure in her head from holding her breath had almost finished her, but they were outside the cave.

"Easy," Lore said as Sirocco helped him pull her into the boat ... and that was the last thing she remembered as her world went black.

Sirocco wasted no time getting back to the cave. He caught Itara in the water on his way out. Itara had shed his clothes and had a half-formed tail hampering his escape. A dagger was clenched in one hand, slowing him down.

"Beautiful," Sirocco said, flashing his teeth. He had years more of living with his mutation on his side, youth, muscles and a terrible craving for revenge. He was no longer a helpless young man strapped down to a table. This time the advantage was his.

He broke Itara’s wrist taking away the dagger, then he took Itara’s life.

* * * *

Domino looked his way through the clearing smoke and saw blood on the water. "Sirocco!"

"Sorry, Drac. I caught him, I got to kill him," Sirocco said, tossing the body away from him. "Let the fish have him."

Domino muttered under his breath, then looked around. He and his friends had wiped out Itara’s little army; the authorities could do the rest. He was anxious to see to his wife.

"Quit hovering. I’m fine," Bali grouched, giving Domino the evil eye. Her head didn’t even pain her unless she brushed her hair.

He picked up her feet and joined her on the couch, placing them in his lap. "Settle down. I was just going to watch the movie with you. And the popcorn’s not all for you, you know," he said, taking a handful. "Pregnancy is making you grouchy."

"Men are making me grouchy," she muttered, mollified. Icki was as excited about the baby as Domino and constantly mothered her. That he did it with a doctor’s license only made it worse.

At least she had another woman to talk with about it. She’d become friends with Aris, Sirocco’s new wife, and Aris assured her that Sirocco was every bit as protective as Domino, if not more so. He’d already made arrangements with Domino for their child’s future education. A joint Draconian and mutant school was being planned, and they would break ground on the project next month.

Life was good, Bali thought, wriggling down deeper into the couch. She had the man of her dreams by her side, an extended family who loved her and a little one on the way. It wasn’t the way she’d expected life to go, but she had to admit it was better than her wildest dreams. Just went to show what a little good loving could do.

The End