Nate's Fated Mate(46)

His father's laugh was harsh, cold, and strange to his ears.

"Then why haven't you given her to one of them and made sure she took a one-way trip off New Earth?"

"Because that's not how it's done. Plus, she used to be my sister-in-law. Why are you walking so fast? You've not been on the airship in a century. Do you even know where you're going?"

"We can't let them get away, boy. We have to constrain them before they have the chance to say anything to the world in general. Can't let the secret of the abducted matchmakers get out."

"They? Who's they? Are you talking about Sheena and Brianna? I don't understand what you're concerned about and they don't know anything. They both honestly think the alternates are sophisticated clones. Will you talk to me and tell me what's going on?"

Nate stiffened when his father stopped them both and clapped two hands on his arms. The man stared into his eyes. Whatever his father was looking for, he must have found it because his father suddenly smiled. Why did that strange action suddenly make him want to run from the man who'd brought him into the world?

"Your mother was wise to make sure you got this assignment. We're perfectly positioned to take any measures necessary. As Admiral of the AAS program, you can put this whole airship on lock down."

"And why would I do that?"

Two more hard claps on his arms accompanied by laughter was his first answer.

"Because your father told you to" was the second.



Darcone was standing outside Brianna's suite when Nate and his father arrived.

"Are Sheena and Bri in?" Nate asked.

"Yes. Like wind, Angus is. Erin do work."

Nate watched as the alien guard he'd known and trusted for a century narrowed his eyes at his father. "Evil lurks," Darcone said clearly, his gruff voice ringing in the hallway.

"What?" Nate asked.

"Dismiss the alien. We don't need him," his father ordered.

"No. Darcone's their guard. He's been here longer than I have," Nate said, knocking on the door. When no answer to the knock was forthcoming, Nate watched his father push on the door and walk inside uninvited.

Darcone growled soft and low. "All dark, he is."

"I have no idea what that means. You and I need to talk more. Now stay here and stay alert," Nate ordered, following behind his rude parent. 

He heard the rapid firing of a weapon and got inside the room just in time to see Sheena fall out of her chair. Across the room Bri slumped to the floor when the weapon hit her, the bottle of water she'd been carrying rolling away.

Nate knew his shock was on his face. "Sheena-no," he called out, running to her side. He lifted her gently as he glared at his father. "What the hell have you done?"

"Nothing serious yet. The women are merely unconscious for now. We need to make their deaths look like an accident."

Making sure Sheena was indeed still alive before he left her side, Nate rose and walked to check on Brianna. "Darcone, get in here," he yelled as he moved. The alien burst inside the room, growling and glaring, especially when his angry gaze fell to Brianna lying on the floor.

"I told you to send the alien away," his father protested, weapon drawn still.

"You gave me no reasonable reason for your request. What is going on?"

"You have no need to know, Nathaniel. I am your father and your superior. Do as I say."

"No." Rebelling was getting him nowhere, but it was all Nate could think to do.

Then Nate saw his father take aim at Darcone. Pure instinct sent him running across the floor. Grabbing his father's arm, he pointed the weapon at the ceiling. The ultrasonic discharge made a dent in the metal frame, but luckily there was no breach. Still reacting to his anxiety, Nate pulled back a fist and let it fly. His father's head snapped backwards only once before the man slumped in his arms. Damn Angus and his taunts about being weak. He owed the man again.

"Evil, he is. Told you, I did."

"Lectures about my father are really not helpful right now," Nate said.

Darcone lifted and carried Bri to her bed. He came back and took his father from his arms.

"I don't understand what's happening," Nate confessed.

"Use brain," Darcone ordered, hefting the unconscious man over his shoulder.

Nate went back to Sheena and picked her up. Sheena was unconscious, but at least she was still alive.

"Death now?" Darcone asked, growling the question.

"No. You can't kill him. He's my …  never mind. You can't kill him because I need to find out what's going on. I need him alive. Take him to the cells. Chain him to one of the bars. And make sure he has no more weapons on him."

"Hate idea, I do."