Lawked Flame (29 page)

He stopped short a few steps of her, observing her
tear-stained face and half-buttoned blouse. What could have
happened that quickly to place such a wild eyed look in her eyes?
She jumped into his arms, squeezing him tightly around the neck.
Cupping her hips, he lifted her higher in his arms while murmuring
quieting words in her ear as he walked across the room and sat on
the small leather sofa.

His concern rose as the tears continued to fall.
“Shh…shh. Tell me what has happened. What has you screaming and
running about?” He stroked her hair, loving the feel of the soft
wild mass beneath his fingers. The springy mass refused to lay
dormant when he flattened it close to her scalp. It rose in untamed
abandon each time he ran his fingers through.

Hiccupping, she burrowed into his chest so that he
could barely understood her muffled voice. “Listen… just listen.”
She held the device out a short distance, and pressed the button.
It asked for some type code and then he heard a deep bass voice,
which he assumed was her sire.

Hi Laynie, I got a call from the hospital in
Ambertown, seems your mom had some type of reaction to some meds.
Don’t get excited, I’m waiting to see her now. From what the nurse
said at the front desk, she should be okay to be released tomorrow.
I just wanted you to know. I’ll call you as soon as I know more

Hiding his anger at the gall of his enemies, he
called Aspen, one of his top Murlins. His instincts said the
Geleets were engaging their top levels, the Gigi. These beings were
comparable to his Murlins; at least that was their claim. He had
learned never to underestimate them; for the most part they were
the ones who created the devastating viruses the Murlins battled.
First, he needed to cover his bases by making sure Tina was in
place.

“
Yes, Master
Khayden
.” Aspen’s fatigue carried through the
connection.

Khayden knew they were working relentlessly, trying
to dissect the last virus from the Minthian he had destroyed the
eve he met Alayna. They were short staffed and he had interrupted
their progress to assist his Kee.

“
Alayna’s sire left a message on
her portable device that he was at the hospital with her
mother.”
He stated the facts and waited for
confirmation or denial.

“
We have no hospital. And Tina is
still resting in our lab. As per your request, no one outside a few
trusted individuals is aware Mistress Kee’s parent is here, and no
one from here has called her sire.
”

Khayden was pleased to hear a flicker of interest in
the Aspen’s voice. If anyone could figure out what game the Geleets
were playing, it would be this Murlin.

“
Any ideas what is
happening?”
The question was a courtesy and they both
knew it. By nature of Khayden’s command, Aspen was duty bound to
disclose any knowledge he had of the matter.

“
It seems the Gigi are here. Hmmm,
I should have picked up on that myself. The viruses are more
complicated, the attacks have become more specifically targeted,
and now it seems they are using tricks that their lower levels
cannot do on their own. We have become comfortable and this has
cost us valuable time.” He paused. “This is a different game,
Master Khayden. It sounds as though they are mirroring and masking
humans. The Good Mother will not be pleased at all that innocents
who are involved in this fight
.”

Khayden’s jaw tightened at Aspen’s words. He
knew better than most that the Good Mother would be displeased.
“
I am aware of her displeasure. What I
need is information so I can formulate a plan to eliminate the
risk
.” The snap could be felt through the
link.

“
There is only one way to stop
this, Master Khayden. You have to destroy them and take control of
the portal to stop their infiltration of Earth. If the Gigi are
here, and I believe they are, then they have nests as well. Not the
regular Geleet nests either. These would be burrowed deep into the
earth, leaching resources and destroying the vegetation above. They
would need massive amounts of materials to conduct their
experiments
.”

Khayden nodded, grateful for confirmation of his
conclusion. This could mean war with their enemy on alien ground,
an action that would probably get them expelled from Earth. One of
their occupation tenets explicitly forbade them from warfare while
in temporary exile from Lawkmeria. He called for Benicke and Royce
to return to the Harven at once, they had plans to make. He should
probably call Clotho as well. She, better than anyone, could advise
him on how close he could skate to the line concerning the Good
Mother’s edicts.

Royce’s voice came across the link.
“
There is a male here at Mistress Kee’s
brother’s home who claims to be her father. He wants to access his
son’s home. What would you have me to do
?”

Khayden glanced at Alayna. She lay curled in
his lap, her eyes closed. He was not fooled, as soon as she
believed he had finished his communications, she would become fully
alert. “
Ask him what his middle name
is.”

“
He said he does not need to
answer any questions from me and turned around to
leave.”

“
Destroy
it
.”

A few moments later Royce contacted him again.
“
I do not understand. It dispersed into
vapor and dust. What is this
?” Royce’s bafflement was
one of the reasons Khayden needed to talk to his leaders so they
could strategize against this new level threat.

“
We will meet in thirty minutes to
discuss this.
” He disconnected from the link and
tipped Alayna’s chin so he could see her eyes. Slowly, they opened
and he found himself falling into their luminous depths. Without
conscious thought, he bent forward and brushed his lips against
hers. Within moments, she changed the temperature of the light
kiss. Inwardly he moaned, loving when she became aggressive,
unashamed to show him her need and naked desire for him. Her tongue
ran over his teeth, flicked against the roof of his mouth, and
stroked against his own tongue, engaging him in a duel. For a
moment he considered allowing her to win, and then thought better
of it as he deepened the kiss and re-took control.

Kissing and touching were human habits that he
thoroughly enjoyed. He had no problems adapting to the erotic
customs. The petting and pre-sexual explorations excited him just
as much as it did his Kee. He reveled in her taste, her scent, and
the smoothness of her skin. It was a feast for his senses.

“
You taste damn good,” she muttered against
his lips.

He chuckled. “Hmmm, damn and good. How do you put
these words together? Individually they make no sense.”

“
Slang, baby, it’s called slang. We have had
many discussions about the use of slang and contractions.” She
pinched his forearm lightly.

He bit down softly on the meaty corner of her mouth
and licked it before she reacted.

“
Okay…okay. What I should have said is… you
taste better.”

He held her close, content with his world for a few
moments. His hand rested on her still flat stomach. Silently he
made a vow to his son to take care of him and his mother, or cease
to exist. His world has zeroed down to the occupants in this room,
shut out from everything and everyone. If he could keep them safely
inside, he would, but that was not the reality he lived in. His Kee
had patiently waited for answers, and though he was loath to give
her what he was sure she would consider more bad news, he respected
her too much to do otherwise.

“
Just tell me,” she said. Her voice was firm,
though he heard a hint of vulnerability beneath.

He repeated his conversation with Aspen, including
their conclusions about the Gigi. Her breath hitched a couple of
times, and he absorbed a tremor that went through her as he
mentioned the Gigi and viruses, but she remained silent
throughout.

“
Okay. Let’s take this one step at a time.
Gigi are smarter than the lizard things that have been attacking so
far. Right?”

He nodded, pleased with how well she handled the
information.

“
These Gigi use stronger tricks. I think you
called them masking and mirroring?’ She held her head askance, her
brow furrowed as she waited for his answer.

“
Yes, that is correct.” There was much more to
them than that, but for now what she said was
sufficient.

“
Masking? Is that what happened when they took
over Rodney? They masked his scent, right? Yeah, I remember you
said they should’ve done a deep scan and they would’ve figured out
the trick.” Looking across the wall, she nodded as she
spoke.

He wondered if she needed his input at all. A surge
of pride filled him as she broke down the bigger pictures and put
them together in bite-sized pieces without losing the message.
“Yes, like I said before, it is a legal transaction between two
parties and rarely engaged.”

She looked at him, lips puckered tight as though she
had just bitten into something sour. “Mirroring…that seems like,
what? What do they do?” Her voice and attitude plainly said she
knew the implication, but refused to believe her conclusion.

Holding her gaze, he spoke plainly. “Usually, they
simply copy or mirror images of others onto themselves.”

Alayna’s eyes widened. “They can look like other
people?” Disbelief ran through her voice along with a healthy dose
of alarm at the proposition. “You mean, somewhere there could be
another man who looks like you? Or my daddy? Or my brothers?” Her
voice rose with each person she mentioned. “What the hell? That’s
messed up.” Sitting forward, she waited for him to continue his
explanation.

He frowned at her question and was slow to answer.
The idea of someone else looking like him had never been an issue,
but now, with human relatives involved he could see the inherent
danger. “It is true they have that ability, just as the other. As a
general rule, my people can smell the deceit without a deep scan,
rendering the trick ineffective. Mirroring is a top-layered trick
of illusion. They rarely use it against us.”

He was unsurprised when her eyes widened by what he
did not say, although it grieved him to see the fear and horror
residing alongside the knowledge.

“
But… but my family wouldn’t be able to tell
the difference. If they saw someone who looked like me or mama,
they would believe it.” Agitated, she jumped up. “My mind is
spinning a boat-load of possible repercussions. At any moment of
any day, my family could be tricked. Or…or used by those
lizard-like things to take the rap for murder or thefts. What if my
nephew believed some Geleet mimicry was his father and followed him
off somewhere and disappeared? Or worse, believed a mirror image of
me?” She slapped her chest, and then dropped her head into her
palms.

“
When does this end? How much risk did I bring
to my family’s door?”

It bothered him that she heaped the blame onto her
shoulders. “You did not bring anything onto your family, the Geleet
and their greed are responsible for this alone.”

Her head flew up. After a slight pause, she stepped
closer to him, her chest brushing against his lower torso. “Okay,
you tell me, how do I keep my family safe? I don’t want them used
to get to me or targeted as pawns. What do you suggest we do?” She
spoke through thinned lips, her body vibrating with the force of
her rage.

Magnificent. She was utterly magnificent. The word
rang through his being, his chest nearly burst in an effort to
contain his joy. He had no doubt she would willingly rip his enemy
to shreds if given the chance. Even though he would never permit
her within throwing distance of his enemies, it pleased him
mightily to see her fire matched his.

“
You could unlock me. All of the attacks are
to stop that from happening. Once we are unlocked, the attacks will
slow down.”

Her finger tapped his chest. “Tell me how and I will
do it. If you’re not unlocked it’s not because I’m withholding the
key or anything. I hope you know by now, I would do almost anything
for you.”

Pleased with her response, he nodded and wrapped his
arm around her waist. “I know you would. Unfortunately, since you
are the first human Kee, you are writing the manual about how this
works. We must be patient knowing it will happen at the appropriate
time. His lips ghosted over hers, inhaling her energy-charged
scent. He lifted his head. "Benicke has arrived and is requesting
entrance."

She stepped back, aligning herself at his side in a
natural move. He wondered if she had any idea how she flowed
seamlessly into her position as his Mistress. “Fix your blouse, hat
sight is for me alone.” He smiled as her cheeks pinkened while she
re-buttoned the garment. Moving toward his office, he released some
of the doors and contacted his house master, informing him of their
guest.

Just as he and Alayna sat, Benicke strode into his
office and offered a bow. Khayden watched his Kee. A slight frown
crossed her brow as she turned to Benicke. The warrior stood
loosely at attention and would continue to do so until Khayden bid
him to sit. He knew the moment the scent hit Alayna, her eyes
widened and then narrowed. He leaned back in his chair, curious
about her reaction.

She stood up and strode closer to Benicke. His eyes
tracked her progress until she stood in front of him. “May I ask a
question?” She stared up at him.