DarkRevenge (10 page)

The air between them crackled with heat. What she wanted was
to stay right here in this room and shut the rest of the world out. What she
wanted was to explore this thing with Tory without everything else getting in
the way.

What she wanted was what he offered her five years ago.

“Come with me. I need you… There’s a whole universe out
there, Alex.”

He’d offered her himself then. But she’d been appalled,
seeing duty and honor as more important than the gift he wanted to give her.
She rejected it. And him.

Since then, she’d questioned that decision, wondering if
life with a criminal she loved would be better than an honorable life alone.
For five years she’d crammed those thoughts away, believing somehow that her
planet had been saved by her choice.

What a joke.

Her planet hadn’t been saved. She’d thrown away something
wonderful, something important, for a bloodline facing extinction and a brother
who had betrayed her.

“Alex?” Tory frowned and she shook off the memories. What
difference did it make? It was the decision she had made and now she had to
live with it. What Tory offered her now might be a pale shadow of the gift he
had offered then, but it was more than she’d had before.

“I’m ready,” she said and placed her hand in his.

“The Judge of Light wanted to see you alone before he
disembarks.” Tory’s gaze slid away. Clearly, he didn’t like the idea. She
wondered why.

“Do you want me to refuse?”

His gaze jerked to meet hers. “Only if you want to refuse.”

She stared at him. “What are you afraid of, Tory?”

One of his hands curled in a fist and then unclenched
slowly. “Nothing.”

He was lying.

She shrugged. What else could she do? “Lead the way.”

Tory led her through a maze of corridors and down two levels
to the shuttle bay. A contingent of Ardasians stood in a group, the Judge of
Light in the center of it. When he saw Alex, however, the Judge nodded to the
others and strode across the room to meet her. “Commander,” he said.

“If you wish, there’s a conference room off the hangar
there,” Tory said and pointed to a door to their right.

“I will not keep her long, Commander Ingle.” The Ardasian’s
green eyes seemed to twinkle as if he was amused by something. Considering the
man could pick through their minds without their knowledge, he probably
was
amused.

The Judge’s hand brushed her arm and he escorted her to the
small meeting room. When she glanced back at Tory, his hands were jammed in his
pockets and he stared at the floor. He seemed…worried. But why?

“Please, sit down, Commander.” The Judge waved toward a
chair and she slid into it, unease beginning to prickle the surface of her
skin. What the hell was going on now?

She threaded her fingers together on top of the table and
took a deep breath. “How can I help you, sir?”

“It’s not how you can help me. I’m here to help you.” He sat
down and placed his hands together, mimicking her posture. “During the
ceremony, I am required to read the participants. I’ve read much in both you
and Commander Ingle.”

So? She knew that. “Yes?”
Keep it polite.
What was he
getting at?

“Are you aware that some Ardasians can glimpse future
events?” His tone was casual, almost musing as if they were talking about a
play or the weather on Teran One.

“I’ve heard that rumor,” she said carefully.

“The rumor is true.” The Judge stared at his hands for a
moment. “Some of us are…gifted with the sight. But it’s not always clear.” His
green eyes snapped up to meet her stare. “This I do know. The concerns you have
for your sister are valid but the threat is not from Tory Ingle.” He smiled
faintly. “But I think you’ve realized this.”

Her lips lifted in a smile. “Only just.”

“Your planet’s future depends on the mating you have with
the commander.” The statement stunned her. What did he mean? The Judge leaned
forward. “In your hands, Alexandra Zeerah, is the future of the five Teran
planets and possibly Ardasia as well.”

“I don’t understand. Only Teran One seems to be threatened
at the moment.”

The Judge shook his head. “No. What you carried in the cargo
hold of your ship has already changed the fate of a people once. Without you,
it may decide their fate permanently.” His face hardened. “Those who seek power
only see the leverage to move them into a throne or an office. They do not see
the consequences of that leverage.”

“What do I have to do?”

“The thing that is the hardest thing to do,” he answered.
“You must trust Commander Ingle.”

“He manipulated me into a
Saria
contract,” she
snapped. “I’m willing to work with him, be his mate, but I don’t have to
surrender it all. He has to earn my trust.”

The Ardasian shook his head. “There is no time. And much
will happen to test your trust in each other. I tell you this to warn you that
if you doubt your mate, much more than love could be lost.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Love? I think you have the wrong
couple, sir. Love doesn’t have anything to do with Tory and me.”
Well, not
anymore
. Maybe at one time they could have had love. But she destroyed
that.

“You risk much by denying the truth,” the Judge said, his
eyes narrowed. “He is no Ardasian Judge. He cannot read your mind and he doubts
his own.”

She snorted. “Tory doesn’t doubt anything. He seems pretty
confident to me.”

“Do you know what the amendments are to your
Saria
contract?”

“I have a safeword,” she acknowledged. That much she
remembered. The safeword to stop any action. It was unusual to grant such power
to the
Saria
, but Tory wanted her as a brood mare.

“Not just that.”

“What do you mean?” What else could there be? Amendments
were usually short ones, like the safeword or a grant of money to the
Saria’s
family.

“He agreed to mutual nullification.”

The world tilted a little. Mutual nullification? He granted
her the power to discontinue the contract. She’d heard of only one like that
and it was a myth, a fairy tale, told by mothers to their daughters. A gesture
of love. “What are the stipulations?”

“There are none.”

She blinked. “I can nullify it for any reason.”

“He swore his bloodline oath.” The Judge gave her a steady
stare. “The only requirement is that you must remain mated for three months.”

“What if there is a child? That’s no choice if I’m
pregnant.” She knew there was a catch.

“I asked him that.” Judge Mayar shook his head. “He is the
last of his line. A child would be his bloodline’s salvation. But he
relinquished his rights.”

“What?” Before she could think, she’d shot to her feet. It
couldn’t be. What man would do that?

“I warned him that it gave you the power to control him,
blackmail him into anything, since a child is his last hope for his family’s
name.” The Judge had read her mind at the ceremony. Her thoughts hadn’t been
very complimentary to Tory or their mating. But would she do that? Would she
use this to force Tory to let her go? And why did that idea depress her?

“What did he say to that?” She almost didn’t want to know.

“He told me that he wanted no woman as a mate who did not
want to stay with him. He hoped that three months would be enough, but he
doubted it.”

“He signed the contract believing I would nullify it,” she
said, unable to wrap her brain around it.

“He signed it to save your life. Had you not been claimed as
his
Saria,
Teran One would have had the right to attack his vessel to
rescue you.” Judge Mayar shook his head. “You never would have made it home.”

“I don’t understand.” She dropped back into her seat. “Why
are you telling me this?”

“Because he doesn’t have three months to convince you.” The
Judge reached out and clasped her hand.

Abruptly, the conference room bled away, the walls melting
as if they were wax. She glanced around. She was in the shuttle bay and there
was fighting everywhere, stunners and disintegrators going off all over. Men
were screaming and dying. She stared at a vision of herself. She could see
herself as she stood in a faceoff between two men. Darius held a disintegrator
aimed at Tory. Suddenly, she watched as her image raised a weapon and fired. On
Tory.

The gut-wrenching agony on his face made her cry out. He
dropped, his face ashen, his gaze focused on the woman who just killed him.
Then, Darius fired and Tory’s body crumbled, blown away like space dust.

Chapter Eight

The Ardasian let go of her hand and Alex recoiled. “I would
never do that. Never.” Not even before she’d known Tory had given her more
freedom than she’d dreamed possible. Not even before she’d discovered rich
pleasure in his arms. She wasn’t capable of that kind of betrayal.

Was she?

The Judge interrupted her thoughts. “I do not know what
causes that vision, but I know you believed yourself to be justified.”

She stared at him through eyes blurry with tears. “I don’t
want him to die,” she whispered. And it was true. She didn’t. Love indeed.

“You must trust him. Whatever you are told in the next few
days, know this. Tory Ingle has refused to take a mate in five years. Even
though he is the last of his line. Even though his choices risk his life every
day. Five years, Commander Zeerah. Have you ever asked yourself why?”

Her heart stuttered. Why hadn’t he mated? He could have. He
could have made a home for himself on Teran Five or Teran Two. Instead, he
chose to live the life of a space cowboy, a mercenary soldier. He could have
taken a woman and continued his line. The thought made her stomach hurt and she
wondered why she hadn’t considered it before. She’d been so wrapped up in her
own pain, her own frustration, she hadn’t pondered why he was still unattached.

Had he waited for her?

Of course not. That was ridiculous. Maybe he waited to
retaliate. After all, controlling her offspring would be the ultimate revenge.
But he had relinquished his rights to their children.

The Ardasian rose and smiled. “Your mind is a fascinating
one, Commander. I’m sure you will reach the correct conclusion.”

Love. The Judge meant Tory…loved her.

Impossible.

“Shall we rejoin your mate? He is very impatient.” The Judge
turned to the door. She wondered at the Ardasian’s motives. They were a strange
people, human with strange, intriguing powers and a rigid code of conduct.

She shook her head. What did the Ardasians really want? He took
her arm and his fingers wrapped lightly around her upper arm. Warmth, comfort
and peace spread along her nerves and she felt safe. Odd, since she didn’t know
the Judge. Of course, she didn’t feel as comfortable and safe with the Judge of
Light as she’d felt in Tory’s arms. Where had that thought come from? She and
the Ardasian crossed the shuttle bay.

Tory was surrounded by a group of men, but she only saw his
eyes. The minute her gaze met his, that heat and desire replaced the gentle
warmth of the Ardasian’s touch. Every word, every stroke flooded through her
memory. Would it always be this way? All he had to do was look at her and she
melted. She forgot about saving her planet. She forgot he was the enemy. It had
been that way five years ago.

The Ardasian squeezed her arm. “You are very lucky,
Commander.”

She glanced at the Judge. “Why is that, sir?”

“It is rare to see a
Sarat
and a
Saria
bonded
so quickly.”

She snorted. “We’re bonded by necessity.”

His green eyes were serious, no trace of humor. “You were
both connected before. What is in your past only lies dormant.”

Alex would have responded, but Tory took her hand and pulled
her into the circle of his arm. Affection? Bonding?

Love?

“May the
Saria
contract be lasting and fruitful.” The
Judge said the words and Alex glanced at Tory. She’d heard the words a million
times in the Tribunal chambers. Her position as a descendent of one of the
First Families meant she was often asked to witness
Saria
ceremonies. In
almost all of them, she’d seen the cold reality of the arranged matches created
to satisfy a bloodline’s need rather than the heart’s desire. Those couples had
resigned themselves to their fate as
Saria.
She was far from resigned.
How had this happened?

His hand twined in hers, Tory bowed at the waist to the
Judge of Light. “May the Light shine in dark places.” An Ardasian farewell. She
stared at Tory. How the hell had he gotten so familiar with Ardasian culture?
The only reason she recognized it was because of her childhood friend Kyler,
who was part Ardasian. The Judge nodded to the others and gathered his
entourage onto the shuttle.

Tory’s crew stood at attention in a respectful tribute,
flanking the space where the Ardasian group walked. These men and women on
The
Pinnacle
clearly followed certain Teran protocols, including the one for
disembarkation of a political figure. The Judge was afforded all the pomp and
circumstance the crew could give him.

When the Judge passed the last man, she glanced at Tory and
found him staring at her.

“Let me introduce you to some of my crew,” Tory said. He
waved his hand at a tall man with wavy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.
“This is my second, Stegar Pulzer. He’s from Teran Five. I met him when I was
an insurgent on Teran Four.”

Tory had fought the Teran Four dictatorship as an insurgent?
She hadn’t known that. There had been rumors that Tory and his crew had robbed
Davida, caused trouble for Teran Four, but she hadn’t realized that
The
Pinnacle
’s people had fought planetside. Even Teran One, who had been in a
simmering conflict with Teran Four for years, hadn’t dared fight Dividaon his
home turf.