Star's Storm: Lords of Kassis Book 2 (2 page)

Star moved restlessly as the mists in her
dream turned darker. Memories now invaded her dreams. There had
been a sound on the front porch of the cabin they were renting.
Star thought it was River. A cry ripped from her throat as the
dark, alien figure appeared in front of her. She struggled weakly
against the hands holding her, fighting to break free but she
couldn’t get her body to do what she wanted it to do. A soothing
voice filtered through before it faded as the cloak of dark mist
spun its web around her until she was swept away on its dark
waves.

*.*.*

Jazin stared up at Shavic who was injecting
Star with a sedative. “What is happening? Is she in pain? Why can’t
you help her?” He asked with a worried frown as he ran a soothing
hand along the side of her face.

He glanced down, watching as her face
relaxed as she slipped further down into a more restful sleep. It
had been touch and go for the first few hours. One of the healers
had even come for him to be near her side when they thought she
wouldn’t make it at one point. He had clung to her hand, demanding
that she obey him for once. He would not tolerate her not fighting.
He refused to believe that he could lose her. She meant too much to
him.

Shavic, his brother’s healer from aboard his
warship, came in a short time later ordering him back out until he
had time to evaluate Star. His older brother, Torak, had called
him. He trusted Shavic more than any other except the healer who
had worked on River when she was injured. It was only because that
healer was unavailable that he relied on Shavic. Two hours passed
before Shavic tiredly walked back into the waiting room where
Jazin, Ajaska, Manota, Jo, Madas, and her mate Gril were waiting.
Torak, with River by his side, was being seen by another healer. He
had also been injured during the attack that night.

Jazin almost broke down in front of everyone
when Shavic told him Star would make it. She would need plenty of
rest and time to rebuild her strength but she would be fine. Manota
had taken Jo back to their house, ignoring her protests that she
wanted to stay with her sister. She only relented when she saw the
barely controlled emotion on Jazin’s face. He vaguely remembered
his father, Madas and Gril giving him a comforting squeeze on his
arm before they left him to follow Shavic back to Star’s
bedside.

That had been almost an hour ago. Shavic was
still monitoring Star. When she began moving restlessly in the bed
and moaning, he decided it would be best if she remained sedated
for a while longer to give her additional time to heal. Shavic said
there had been some progress on upgrading the equipment to handle
the human anatomy but they were still learning. The biggest
breakthrough had been the synthetic blood source they were able to
develop that was compatible with the humans.

“Your mate has lost a lot of blood. It will
take time to replenish it. I do not want to give her too much yet.
I want to make sure she does not have a reaction,” Shavic said.
“She is not in pain. The pain inhibitors on her temple prevent
that. She is merely dreaming.”

“You are sure she will make it,” Jazin asked
quietly, gazing down at Star’s pale face.

Shavic laid the injector down on the tray
and looked at Jazin before turning his gaze to Star. “She will make
it. She is strong and she is a fighter. She will recover,” he
repeated confidently. “She will sleep for several more hours. Why
don’t you get cleaned up and get some rest?”

Jazin stared at Shavic defiantly. “I won’t
leave her.”

Shavic chuckled. “Use the cleansing unit
here. You can rest next to her,” he said with a nod to the bed. “It
opens further.”

Jazin nodded. “You will stay with her until
I return?” He asked hesitantly, unwilling to leave her alone for
even a minute.

“Go,” Shavic said gently. “I will stay with
her. Your captain of the guard brought you a change of
clothes.”

Jazin rose reluctantly, letting his fingers
linger on Star’s cheek. “She is so headstrong,” he murmured. “All
three of the human females are. I should have known they were up to
something.”

“What do you think their world is like?”
Shavic asked in wonder, staring at Star’s pale, peaceful face as
she rested. “Do you think all the women there are warriors like
them?”

Jazin looked at Shavic, a small smile pulled
at the corner of his mouth. Now that he knew Star would make it, he
felt calmer by a small measure. He thought of the video he saw of
Star when she was younger. Her friend, River, had a set of video
disks and his brother, Torak, had asked him to copy them to a
format that devices on their world could read. Neither he nor his
brothers expected to discover what they had. The women were not
warriors. They were performers who did incredible feats.

No, they were not warriors in the true
sense but they were warriors when it came to protecting those they
loved and cared about
,
Jazin thought as he watched
Star’s lips part in a deep sigh.
They fought with an ingenuity
and skill that belied their delicate forms.

“I don’t know,” Jazin replied, momentarily
frozen in the fact that he truly did not know much about his mate
or her world.

Shavic shrugged. “It does not matter. They
are all incredible. Go get cleaned up, Lord Jazin. I will watch
over your mate until you return,” he said with a hint of
compassion.

Shavic recognized that Jazin needed time to
deal with what had happened. He could not blame him. If he had a
mate as beautiful, fierce, and loyal as Jazin did, he would have
reacted the same if anything happened to her. Shavic sank down
wearily into the chair next to the bed and studied the delicate
face of the human female. Since his first encounter with them, he
had been fascinated by their differences to the known species he
had treated. There were over twenty galaxies in the Alliance. Each
galaxy had their own unique species, some like the Kassis and some
vastly different like the Tearnats. The human females were the
first that were closely related in features to their own. He gently
picked up the delicate hand laying on the edge of the bed and
turned it over to study her palm. Her fingers twitched as his light
touch. A wave of envy flooded him. To feel hands like these on his
body, running their tips….

“I will stay with her now,” Jazin’s hard
voice said from behind Shavic.

*.*.*

Jazin kept a tight rein on his emotions. He
had taken a brief shower and changed into clean clothing as fast as
he could, not wanting to be away from his mate’s side any longer
than necessary. A deep fear gnawed at him that he had only dreamed
that Star would be alright. When he had returned, a dark jealousy
swept through him at seeing Shavic tenderly holding Star’s hand. He
had watched Shavic’s face intensely for a moment while the healer
caressed it. Emotions of confusion, envy, and desire flowed across
the man’s face unhindered by the normally calm mask he wore.

Shavic gently laid Star’s hand back down
before he stood; the mask of impassive calm once again on his face.
“My lord,” he responded quietly before bowing and leaving the
room.

Jazin watched through narrow eyes as Shavic
left the room before turning back to his mate. He moved over to the
bed and swiped his hand over the panel above it. The bed shifted,
expanding until it was large enough to accommodate his larger
frame. He pulled back the covers and lowered himself onto the bed,
making sure he didn’t jar it any more than necessary. He carefully
lifted Star’s body so he could pull her against his long length. He
marveled at their difference in size and how she fit perfectly
against him. He lowered his head until his chin rested against the
sweet smelling strands of her hair. Taking a deep breath, he drew
in the scent of wild flowers and sunlight.

He would never get enough of her. From the
first moment he saw her on the Tearnat’s warship, he knew he was
lost. His eyes drifted shut as relief, mixed with exhaustion from
fear and battle, washed through him. His body relaxed as Star
turned into his warmth, seeking the safe haven of his arms even in
her unconscious state. It had been her beautiful eyes that had
first caught his attention. They spoke of love and laughter. Of
hope, wonder, and curiosity. Of power and strength. Of peace and
forever.

Sleep called to Jazin as he continued
breathing in the calming scent of his mate. His mind drifting to
the first time he saw her coming out of the darkened corridor. A
tiny warrior who would touch not only his heart but his entire
world.

Colors and images swirled and solidified as
his dream formed. It was as if he were an apparition reliving a
moment in time. They had been on a diplomatic mission with the
Krail
, the current Chancellor for the Alliance. Their
shuttle was on its way to intercept Torak’s warship when a rebel
group of Tearnats fired upon them, taking out their engines.

Trolis, the leader of the rebel group and
second son of Madas and Gril Tal Mod, had killed the chancellor and
taken Jazin, Torak and the other eight warriors’ prisoner. Trolis
planned to kill them all, starting with Jazin. He wanted to set an
example for the other members of the Alliance by eliminating two of
the most powerful royals of Kassis.

Jazin remembered waking up, chained between
two bars used for interrogation. Progit, a Tearnat warrior Torak
had disfigured during the war, came in. Jazin buried his nose
deeper into the tantalizing scent of his mate’s hair. He remembered
the feel of the sharp blade as it caressed his cheek, cutting a
line down it. Progit was bragging about how he was going to kill
him. He was going to cut him apart one limb at a time. Jazin had
been sure it was his time to die. He had braced himself for the
first blow, determined to die a warrior’s death and not give the
Tearnat the pleasure of hearing him scream in agony as he was
dismembered. Instead, it was Progit who collapsed at his feet…. a
knife between his eyes.

Jazin moved restlessly in his sleep, drawing
the body pressed against him closer.
Star
… He had learned
her named from the dark haired female that captured his older
brother’s attention. River Knight had killed the three Tearnats in
the room with several well-thrown blades. She had approached him
first to see how badly he was wounded. While she had captured his
attention due to her unexpected and unusual appearance, he didn’t
feel anything more than curiosity. Nothing had prepared him for his
first glance at the one she called Star, though. He remembered the
feeling well. It was as if someone had punched him in the stomach.
Even now, he still had the same reaction as the first time he saw
her.

His lips curved as he remembered her petite
figure coming to stand in front of him. She had been hesitant to
touch him and had glared at him in warning to not try anything. He
had been so mesmerized by her pale beauty that all he could think
was she was his!

She had cleaned his wound, trying hard not
to touch his skin. He, on the other hand, had craved her touch from
the first moment he looked into her light blue eyes. Even then she
had glowered at him defiantly. She had a stubborn tilt to her
small, delicate chin and a look in her eyes that dared him to mess
with her even as she gently cleaned the blood away from his wound.
He knew it wasn’t bad. It stung but he had received worse injuries
during the war. Progit had merely been teasing him with what was to
come.

He had fought to reach for her but couldn’t
with his arms still shackled to the bars holding him. She had
whispered quietly to him. Four simple words but he would never
forget them.

“You are safe now,” her husky voice
whispered, burning into his soul as if it was lit from within.

She had disappeared shortly after that. The
females had done the unthinkable. They had set Jazin, Torak and the
other warriors free and disabled the huge warship, giving his
brother, Manota, a chance to overtake it. Star had worked her way
through the warship disabling the exits to the living quarter
levels, trapping the Tearnats so they couldn’t fight. His heart had
clenched in fear when the time passed for the females to appear in
the docking bay. He had been surprised to find Manota had not
traveled alone. Gril Tal Mod, Trolis’ father and leader of the
Tearnats, had come with his own warriors. He was furious, but not
surprised, that his second son would disobey a direct order. Trolis
had tried to kill him at one point towards the end of the war when
Gril wanted peace for his species. Trolis had escaped and built a
small but impressive army of mercenaries, disgruntled warriors
unhappy with the peace, and loyal supporters. He had died on the
warship when he attacked Torak and Gril. Another victim of the
sharp blades his new sister loved to carry.

One dream after another flowed in an endless
spiral through time. Star on board his brother’s starship, her face
when she appeared in the docking bay before the councilman who
would later betray them, the moment when she had felt deceived by
him for having his House filled with women. One memory after
another floated through his mind. Even her outraged face when he
threw her over his shoulder and claimed her officially as his
before his people. She had only begun to warm to him before
tonight. She was afraid of something. She refused to tell him but
he could feel the hesitation whenever he held her and murmured
words of need. Scene after scene filled the next several hours as
he held her tightly in his arms before he drifted into the realm
between the worlds of dreams and wakefulness.

Jazin jerked awake when he felt a presence
entering the room. His hand moved instinctively to the laser sword
next to him under the covers. His eyes moved to his Captain of the
Guard as Armet came in. He frowned, shaking his head. Armet bowed
and motioned that he would remain outside. Jazin glanced down at
the warm figure in his arms and nodded.