Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (45 page)

still asleep next to her.

But something was on top of her. Try as she would, Tara felt hot steel imprison her

limbs, immobilizing her on the ground. Warmth crept through her wherever the steel-

like pressure touched her.

She told herself she should fight to be free, but a familiar scent confused her. How

could she smell a dream? Tara focused on the scent, musky and close. She tried to raise

a hand to find the source of this smell, but her hand met resistance.

Panic.

Tara woke up.

There was something on top of her.

Opening her eyes, a dark figure loomed over her. She opened her eyes wider,

struggling to focus.

Someone straddled her body. Legs trapped hers. A hand covered her mouth.

“Don’t make a sound,” a voice said quietly into the night air.

A familiar voice. I know that voice.

Focus. Tara strained her eyes.

“Wake up,” the voice said, “but stay quiet. They’re looking for you.”

The dark sky outlined the figure, even though the person was dressed in black.

She struggled again and the legs tightened around her. Panicking, she thrust her

body upward, trying to knock the person off her.

“Tara. Be still.”

Darius held his hand over her mouth. He leaned closer. “What are you trying to

do?” he whispered in her face.

Tara relaxed and closed her eyes again briefly. Her arm had fallen asleep. The other

arm was free and she grabbed the hand that covered her mouth.

Darius let her move it. He then reached for the sleeping child, which nestled next to

Tara, using her arm as a pillow.

“No,” she whispered the word.

He picked up the baby and pulled him to his chest. “He’s my son, he is. Don’t tell

me I can’t hold him.”

Darius still sat on top of her, and she watched him warily as he looked at the

sleeping baby in his arms. Her gut clenched. Don’t love that child. Don’t look at him. Don’t

want him. Tara felt her insides burn with agony as she studied Darius. His expression

offered no indication of his thoughts.

He freed a hand from the baby and reached up to his comm, flipping it on. “Torgo,”

he spoke quietly.

His voice sounded so gentle. Were fatherly instincts kicking in just by looking at the

baby?

Just because he looks just like you, just like your other son, your real son, don’t love him.

Please, don’t love him. Tara’s thoughts racked her soul as she feared Darius would want

the child. She felt nauseous with his weight on top of her.

“I’ve got her.” He listened. “Tell Gowsky you’ve intercepted the message from

Tasha. Let him know that Darius has claimed his son, as is his right, it is. Make sure you

emphasize that Tara had nothing to do with this.”

Darius flipped off the comm and stood, releasing her.

The tingling sensation began in her arm and legs, which had been numb from lack

of circulation.

“Get up.” He walked over to an unmarked glider that stood not ten feet from them

with its dome lifted.

Tara stood slowly, everything around her spinning. Her stomach growled loud

enough to violate the peace of the night air, and she realized how much energy she had

burned without eating.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked. “You can’t claim him.”

“I’m saving your ass.”

Tara straightened, and glared at Darius. “Saving my—”

“Yes,” he interrupted and handed the baby to her.

Tigo stiffened, then stretched tightly clenched fists toward Tara’s face. Arching his

back, he pulled his knees toward his chest before going limp in her arms once again. He

pulled one of his hands to his mouth and began sucking.

The child was cute. Adorable, in fact. And Tara felt a knot of bitter resentment twist

in her gut. The child bore the strong resemblance to his papa, and more than likely

would look just like Darius as he grew into a man. His existence would prove to be a

burden to her and her children if he remained in Gothman.

Darius climbed on the glider. “Let’s go.”

Tara wanted answers. But her head felt like mush, and her gut ached. Darius’

sudden presence here in the middle of nowhere confused her. She didn’t understand

how he had found her, and why he would tell Torgo to announce that he had claimed

the infant.

She wanted to demand explanations, but her mind felt so tired she couldn’t form

the questions. Instead, she climbed onto the glider and decided there would be time to

demand answers after she had rested.

“Where are we going?” she asked, once they were airborne. Tara noticed the glider

didn’t have a computer.

He didn’t answer, but instead reached for his comm. “Torgo. Do you read me?”

After a brief pause, he said, “Is there anyone around me?”

Tara waited while he remained silent.

“Good,” Darius finally stated. “They won’t find us, no. What did Gowsky say?”

Tara listened as Darius cursed. Gowsky must not have had nice things to say about

him being responsible for the child’s kidnapping.

“I need you to scan the ground east of the Lunian site and tell me if you find any

survivors.”

“Survivors?” Tara grew concerned as she imagined what happened between her

people and the Lunian’s in her absence.

“Do it quickly. I don’t want to get shot down in the air, I don’t.” He ignored her

question. “I know you will, yes.”

What was that? A nice word spoken to his brother? Tara inhaled and pulled her lips

over her teeth. It wasn’t possible that those two had actually bonded, was it? “What did

you mean, survivors?” she asked after he’d turned off his comm.

“The Lunian underground camp is destroyed, it is.”

“Did we get all the prisoners out?”

“No,” he answered simply, but there was ice in his tone.

Are they dead? She didn’t ask the question on the tip of her tongue. And, she

couldn’t yet ask the other question coming to mind. How did they die? But she had to

know one thing. “Is Syra…”

“She’ll be fine,” he said it with such finality Tara wondered what condition Syra

was in now. Had Polva not held up her end of the bargain? It didn’t sound like it. Well,

Tara would honor her part of the deal. She had no idea what plan Darius had spawned,

but she would see to it that this child was in that woman’s hands by the deadline. If

Polva still lived.

Tara wanted to know if any of the Lunians were captured or still alive. What would

she do with the child if Polva had died?

The sun began to rise and Darius landed the glider in an area Tara didn’t recognize.

She looked at the surrounding countryside. Trees grew higher than she’d ever seen

before. Their trunks were wide, too wide to wrap her arms around them. From the air,

she’d seen a fast-moving wide creek, with protruding rocks, weaving through the thick

foliage. She wondered how far east they were from the mountains. She couldn’t see

them. Low clouds covered the western horizon. She guessed the mountains might be

visible if it weren’t for them.

“Torgo?” Darius spoke into his comm. “Have there been more explosions? I could

see the smoke when we were still airborne, I could.”

Smoke? From explosions? Had they blown up the underground camp? Tara

wondered at the amount of people killed, and anger toward the Lunians pumped

through her like adrenaline.

“How far? Quarter mile? Good,” Darius said as he lifted the dome.

Tara climbed off and shifted her hold on Tigo, looking around at the dense forest.

“I don’t have all day to deal with this, I don’t,” Darius continued to speak into his

comm, as he sat on the glider.

“No one asked you to…” She let the sentence die on her lips. Tigo had awakened

and began squirming, then broke into a full-fledged cry. The infant nuzzled his face

against her breasts, his mouth open and searching. Tara had nothing to offer the baby

and bent her index finger for him to suckle.

Darius tossed her a bag with food in it, and Tara decided not to chastise the man.

He was taking care of her; she could have run into problems if he hadn’t shown.

Especially if the Neurians were looking for her. Stealing a child would not be a good

thing for a leader of a nation to be charged with.

Tara sat on the ground with the crying baby wiggling in her lap, and searched

through the contents of the bag.

“Are you armed?” Darius asked, and she suddenly realized he hadn’t gotten off the

glider.

“Yes, why? Where are you going?” Tara glanced up at Darius, then focused on

squeezing part of a banana into mouth-sized pieces for Tigo. The banana quieted the

infant, much to her relief, and she exhaled to relax her nerves. “You’re not leaving me

here.”

He tossed a comm to her. “It answers to Shalee.”

She stood up as Tigo reached for the banana. “Who’s Shalee?”

“Mikel’s wife,” he said simply, referring to his younger brother whom he’d killed

right before Tara had gone into labor with the twins.

If the Neurians or the Lunians managed to track Tara or Darius’ comms, and

detected them here, the signal from the comm would identify Darius and some woman

named Shalee—if, in fact, Darius had his comm programmed under his own name.

“I have no intention of altering the course of my plans, Darius. If you are here to

assist, then I am appreciative. But I am doing what must be done.”

Darius didn’t respond at first. He stared at her, with eyes darker than storm clouds,

and not one muscle moving in his face. His expression appeared so blank, Tara couldn’t

tell if her words annoyed him or not.

She glanced at Tigo, who lay on a blanket that had been in the bag, then back to

Darius. “Don’t try to stop me from doing what we both know must be done,” she said

in a tone barely more audible than a whisper.

Darius reached to start the glider.

She was there in a second and grabbed his hand, before he could flip the switch to