DangerouslyForever (17 page)

She pushed him away but he took only one step back.

Realizing she wouldn’t be able to push him any farther, she
dipped under his arm and retrieved her pants. She slid into them and her boots
and began to walk toward the door. She didn’t get far before he grabbed her
hand and pulled her around.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To see about the children. I’m responsible for them.”

He turned them to rest his back against the door. “And I’m
here to look after
all
of you.”

“I don’t need any help. I can take care of us.”

He nodded and ran a hand over his hair, pushing any wayward
strands back into place. “That
was
your job, before it was given to me.”

“Who says? Not me.”

“My brother, Eva’s mate.”

At Eva’s name, she quieted.

“You still don’t believe me, do you?”

She looked away. She
wanted
to believe him. She
wanted to believe that he hadn’t intended to sell her and the kids into
slavery.

He pushed away from the door. “What if I tell you something
about your friend? I don’t get to spend a lot of time with her but when I
visit, I’m always amazed to hear about her antics.”

“Tell me something personal, something about her
personality.”

His eyes shifted up and to the right, in thought. She held
her breath.

“She’s a hard worker. She’s smart and funny. She’s loyal to
my brother and our family and people.”

Ally shook her head. “You could be describing anyone.”

He smiled as he watched her. “I wasn’t finished.
Warriors
tread lightly around her. Her temper is just as quick as her sword hand and she
has an unbelievable kill count for a female.”

“Kill count?” Ally asked, her heart rate speeding up.

“Let’s see…she killed a Tresdonian on Xenaris, one of Taio’s
guards on Sonis, Sa’Mya’s uncle on Laconia—and she’ll kill
me
if I don’t
bring you back safely.”

Eva.

Her body shook. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t confirm
what he was saying, but deep inside she knew he was talking about Eva. Ally had
killed her fair share of aliens and she’d learned from the best. “You should’ve
started off with her kill count and I would’ve believed you instantly.” Before
she could stop them, tears flowed freely from her eyes.

His strong hands were on her in an instant, cradling her,
lifting her up. She covered her face, hiding her tears from him.

“Shh, don’t cry. I thought you would be happy to reunite
with her?”

Her sobs tore through her with such force that she found it
difficult to speak. “I-I thought I’d never see her again.” She tried to catch
her breath. “I couldn’t save her and th-they t-took her from me. We were on
Xenaris at the slave auction. I tried my best to get to her, b-but…” The memory
of that day became fresh in her mind. No matter how hard she’d tried, she
couldn’t get past the fence to reach Eva. She’d failed her best friend. Ally
let out another sob.

Kiehle’s arms encased her tighter. All her burdens seemed to
fade away within his grasp. “My brother saved her that day. He was the one to
carry her away from the slave market.”

She looked up at him, not believing her ears. “Your brother
took her?”

“Yes, he took her and gave her a home and she’s waiting for
you.”

She’d thought she’d never see Eva again, had given up all
hope of reuniting with her only friend. “Take me to her.”

Two weeks.

That’s how long it had taken to reach Drazlan airspace and
how long she’d had to think about how her and Eva’s lives had ended up so
differently. She wasn’t the same woman Eva knew. So many things had happened to
change her.

Things she didn’t want to ever talk about.

Things Eva probably wouldn’t understand.

On the outside, she tried to keep a calm composure for the
kids. They were excited to finally get to a new planet, one that offered them
safety. Eva had promised them an apartment with their own rooms and beds that
she assured were softer than any Kiehle had. She bought them clothes to fill
dressers and toys to fill their rooms. They bounced off the ship walls with
energy and excitement about what was to come.

As for her…it was different. A mosh-up of emotions.

She was going to be reunited with Eva again. That first year
of being separated, she had wished for nothing more.

Then…

Those wishes had ceased to exist.

She’d thought she would never see her friend again.

How much had both of them changed?

Married? A queen? Children? Those were three things she
thought would never be mentioned in the same sentence with Eva’s name.

Slave. Whore. Barren.

Those were also three words she’d never thought would have
been associated with
her
name.

What if they were so different now that their friendship
wouldn’t last?

Two weeks of worrying about what was to come had seemed like
forever. Whatever doubts she had festered and multiplied. Fears and
insecurities took control. No matter what anyone said or did, she felt as
though she carried all these emotions on her back. Like a burden.

Eva hadn’t given her any reason to feel that way. Their
conversations during the trip were always polite. Eva would ask how she was
doing and if Kiehle was taking care of her and the kids. Her answers were
always “fine” and “yes”. The conversations always ended in an uncomfortable
silence. What else could be said next? Eva would never ask her about her life
in the brothels and Ally would never divulge her past willingly.

“This is a mistake,” she muttered.

“What’s a mistake?” Kiehle asked.

She kept her gaze out the window, watching the ship dock at
a space station above Drazlan. Even though her view should’ve been dark, it was
lit up by the lights of the station.

“I was talking to myself. I thought I was alone.”

As the ship eased closer to the platform, she could make out
robotic hands lifting up and out to attach to its side. Once attached, the
hands guided the ship to the platform.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, taking the seat
next to hers.

She didn’t.

She did.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.” She folded
her legs underneath her. The bench she sat on was large, big enough to hold two
Drazlonian warriors. She had stacked pillows on it to make it more comfortable.

“Start with how this is all very overwhelming for you.”

She slumped. “Am I that easy to read?”

“You’ve been disengaged.” He ran his hand down the side of
her face. “You don’t have to go through this alone.”

She turned to look at him. His hand cradled her cheek and
she took a moment to enjoy the way it made her feel. He wore a burgundy skin
suit with gold trimming. She’d never seen him wear it before. On his chest, two
animals she didn’t recognize were entwined.

His eyes followed hers. “My family crest.” He outlined the
animal with a finger.

“Nice.”

He raised a brow. “Just nice? Taio spent a lot of time
designing the new crest. I think he was going for something better than
‘nice’.”

“Is he like you?” she asked, wanting to know more about the
alien Eva had decided to marry.

“No. He’s more serious than I am. But that’s because he has
more responsibilities. He is the king of both Drazlan and its moon, Sonis. He’s
responsible for many lives. But we do have something in common. We’re both
warriors. We trained with the best of the Drazlan Royal Guards.”

Serious. Warrior.

Eva had been serious. Her every thought had been one of
survival. And warrior? Well, Eva was a trained martial artist. Any male she
picked would have to match or exceed her fighting skills. It would only be
natural for her to be attracted to someone just like her.

“Is he good to her?”

“Is that what has you so worried?”

Ally lifted her chin an inch. “I’m not worried.”

The side of his mouth rose with a twitch. “You’ve bitten
your fingernails down to the skin.”

Frowning, she looked at her hands. Dammit. He was right. One
more nibble and her fingers would start to bleed. “I wondered because, well,
aliens have not been…very nice to humans.

“Erase that thought from your mind. He is very good to her.”
He shook his head. “But I don’t think that is what’s
really
bothering
you.”

She lowered her head. No. It wasn’t.

If Eva chose her husband willingly, then Ally knew she was
happy—otherwise he would be dead. “You’re right. I
am
overwhelmed. I
wasn’t expecting to reunite with her. I wasn’t expecting anything really. I
prayed and wished for death for so long that it just seemed like my inevitable
future. And then when Max and Yoshi came along, my only thought was to provide
a safe place for them to live. I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“You’ve been walking around here distant and scared all this
time because your friend has provided a safe haven for you and your children?
Forgive me, but I don’t understand.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that. I’m scared that when she
gets to know me again, she won’t like who I’ve become and…”

“And she will ask you to leave?”

Oh God, yes.

Tears spilled over her eyes. She dropped her face to her
hand, shielding herself. She was an emotional mess.

He pulled her off the bench and gathered her on his lap,
embracing her. “You’ve talked to Eva. What would give you that idea?”

She buried her face in his chest, letting the tears flow.
“We don’t talk. She asks me questions. I answer and then there’s nothing else
to say. It’s…it’s…forced. She has nothing to say to me and I’m too afraid of
saying the wrong thing to
her
.”

“She’s your friend. I’m sure you can tell her everything,”
he said, trying to comfort her.

“Remember when I killed Sagnior?”

He humphed. “Vividly. I’ve never had that many pieces of
brain matter on me before.”

“I wasn’t a cold-blooded killer when we separated.
She
was the killer. I was just her somewhat competent sidekick.”

“You’ve been through a lot. You had your reasons for killing
him. I didn’t question them and neither will Eva.”

She tried to ease off his lap but he held her tighter. “Stay
here. You’ve never let me hold you like this. It’s…enjoyable.”

She really didn’t want to leave his embrace. It felt right.
Comforting. Still… “I’m not weak.”

“I would never suggest such a thing. To do so would probably
get me killed.”

“I wouldn’t kill you.” She snuggled into him. “Maim, but not
kill.”

He chuckled. “At least I’ll get to keep my life.”

“How has Eva’s life been?” Ally had wrestled with that
question for what seemed like hours. She gave him a quick glance. “She looks
happy.”

“That’s because she is,” he said with a nod. “But I’m sure
seeing you alive and well made her happier. She looked for you for a very long
time.”

I stopped looking for her ages ago.

She brought her fingernails to her mouth, but with the first
nibble and the pain that it caused, she dropped them.

“At first, whenever I heard about new females arriving at
the brothels, whichever one I happened to be in at the time, I would run and
greet them.” She stared down at her fingers, thinking back on those times. “I’d
hoped that she would be one of them. That’s wrong, I know, but I wanted her. I
didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

“I don’t think it’s so wrong to want your best friend with
you.”

“But I was in a brothel. And I was wishing she would join
me. I didn’t once consider that she could be somewhere and…happy.”

He gave her arm a light squeeze. “When Taio found her at the
slave auction, she was in bad shape.”

“I know, remember? I was there that day. She was trying to
get back to me but couldn’t.”

“I’m sorry that you weren’t saved as well,” he said, his
voice filled with compassion.

She shrugged. “Eva was out stone-cold and the alien who took
her—your brother— didn’t know about me.”

“Taio thought she was a child, one he had to protect.”

Ally chuckled, letting the somberness of her mood dissipate.
“She’s petite, but not
that
small.”

Kiehle smirked. “From our viewpoint, she is considered very
small.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “He thought to take her to his home and give
her to one of the families to adopt.” When she didn’t say anything, he
continued. “She had extensive damage—broken bones, internal bleeding, eye
damage and other things I’m forgetting. It was only after she was placed in the
healing tank that he discovered she was an adult.”

“And then he married her?” Ally asked.

Now it was Kiehle’s turn to chuckle. “It wasn’t that easy.
Taio was looking for a mate, one who would help bring prosperity to his
world—Sonis, at the time. Originally he thought Eva didn’t fit his needs, so he
kept her as a slave.”

Slave.
Ally stilled. She took a deep breath before
she brought her gaze up to look at him. “You said you didn’t practice.”

“No. And neither does anyone else on Drazlan or Sonis.”

“But—”

“He
told
her she was his slave in order to keep her
by his side.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “It worked for a while, but then
she found out it was a lie.”

Ally narrowed her eyes. “I hope she made him pay for that.”

He laughed heartily. “She did. But she eventually forgave
him.”

“I don’t think I would’ve forgiven him.”

“He loves her and she loves him. I believe that when two
beings are in love, they forgive many of each other’s faults.”

I believe…
As if it was something he’d heard about,
but never experienced himself.

She could’ve asked him if he’d ever been in love. That was,
if she wanted to know—which she didn’t. Not really.

“Have you ever been in love?” he asked.

He beat me to the punch.
“Um…yeah.”

“Was or are?”

She raised a brow.

“
Were
you in love or
are
you in love?” he
asked again, slower.

This time when she pulled away and settled back onto the
bench, he let her. She looked back out the window. They seemed docked and
secured. All they were waiting for now was for her to gather her bags and board
a transporter that would take them all to Eva’s palace.

“I was in love, but that was a long time ago.” She could’ve
lied and said she was still in love, to crush any hopes he had for some kind of
long-term hookup, but her heart wouldn’t let her lie like that. Jim was gone.
He’d been dead awhile now.

“Many humans lost loved ones during the Loconuist invasion.
I suspect that is what happened to him as well?” he asked, his voice full of
concern, as if he broached the subject with care.

“Right before the invasion, my husband was diagnosed with a
terminal disease and given six months to live. He was actually able to live for
about a year and half. I believe it had something to do with being in space and
the effect it had on his body.” She shrugged. “He died while we were still on
the Loconuist vessel.”

“I am sorry for your loss,” he said with genuine concern.

Even though Jim had never complained about the pain or his
illness, one look at him and she could tell he was getting sicker and sicker
with each passing day. Whenever she’d tried to talk about it, he’d shut her
down, saying he wanted to make the short time he had with her as memorable as
possible.

“We were newlyweds, so the news came as a devastating
surprise to us. We weren’t prepared for it, but then again, we weren’t prepared
for the invasion either. But when the time came, I was lucky that I didn’t have
to go through it alone.”

She explained how, knowing the inevitable was coming, Jim
had begged Eva to take care of Ally. Eva was brutally honest with them both.
She didn’t know if she could do what Jim asked of her. Eva wasn’t sure if she
would survive herself. How could she be responsible for another life?

Ally had known it would be a tough road for them both. At
the time she had been plump, nervous and couldn’t fight her way out of a box.
But she was willing to try anything in order to survive.

“He was a very smart man. I would gladly task Eva to watch
over a loved one.”

She nodded. “She kept her promise—or at least tried to. She
trained me every day, working me until I thought my arms and legs would fall
off. And when Jim died, Eva was right there by my side.”

“She never once stopped looking for you,” Kiehle offered,
his voice low, almost like a whisper. “She used every resource she had at her
disposal to find you. She even risked her life and the heir to the throne to
find you. She never gave up hope.”

She blinked against a tear that threatened to fall again.
When that didn’t work and it spilled over her lid to make a slow path down her
cheek, she turned away from him and raised a shoulder, wiping the tear away. “I
stopped looking for
her
.”

Guilt filled Ally. It washed over her, coating her, occupied
every crevice in her body. How could she ever admit that to Eva? While Eva had
continued to search for her, Ally had assumed Eva was dead and had given up
hope of ever finding her again.