“Tiffani!” Tia said, sitting down in a chair in front of her screen. “Are you all right?”
Her gaze raked over me—or what she could see of me through the screen.
“It took me a few minutes to figure out this stupid machine to call you, but yeah, I’m fine. Great, in fact.”
She frowned.
“You look really… excited.”
“Yes,” I replied, for once thrilled that I was antsy. It came across as excited. I was excited that we’d found the reason for Deek’s rage and that Dax had sent men to the jail to stall the execution, if needed.
Getting Engel to confess was all that was needed to save him and it was my job to do so.
“I am really excited. You’re not going to believe the news.”
“What is it?” she asked. “Is it about Deek?”
I nodded and a tear slipped down my cheek. That wasn’t fake and I was overcome knowing he really was my mate.
“Let me get my father. He’ll want to hear the good news. Let me just get him.”
I watched as she rose from the chair. She no longer wore the dress from the party but the usual dress worn by Atlan women, hers in a pale pink.
“Father!” she called from a distance, as if she were calling to the far reaches of their house.
Deek had said he lived in a mansion. As a councilor, he was wealthy. I stared at the walls of an empty room, and the posh furnishings, the artwork on the walls, confirmed it.
Tia returned and settled into the chair. Engel came to stand behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“All right, you’ve kept me in suspense long enough,” Tia said, her eyes wide and eager. “What is it?”
“It’s Deek. He doesn’t have the fever. He was drugged.”
Tia frowned while I thought I saw a tightening of Engel’s knuckles on her shoulder.
“Drugged?”
I nodded. “Yes, can you imagine? One of the guards at the jail recognized the symptoms and tested him. I guess it was something called Rush.” I waved my hand in the air. “God, I’m just a waitress from Earth so I don’t know about these things, but I guess he touched something that was laced with it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Tia asked, clearly appalled. She looked up at her father.
“I know, I can’t believe it!” I smiled brightly and looked at Engel. He didn’t even blink.
“That’s… incredible,” he said. “But he had the fever more than once. How is it possible?”
I shook my head, played dumb. “I have no idea. Like I said, I’d never heard of Rush before now. I know he had a bout of fever that had Dax putting him through the matching process for the Bride Program. Tia, you remember how it had saved Dax, don’t you?”
She nodded emphatically. “Oh, yes, everyone knows that story. They are the perfect match.”
“And Dax wanted to see if he could save his friend in the same way. That’s how I ended up here.”
Tia was listening avidly and Engel remained stoic, but I had no doubt he was absorbing it all, thinking.
“From what Dax said, I guess it was too long ago to be able to trace the drug to anyone on the Brekk, or any time after that. But I guess there are guards at Dax’s house, testing everything for the drug.”
I ran my hand over my face as if to seem like I was wiping away any weariness, then moved my hand down to my neck, placed it over the necklace. Engel’s eyes dropped to it.
“They feel confident they will find the source of the contamination and will be able to trace it back to the culprit.” I shivered. “God, can you imagine who would want to do this to Deek?”
Tia shook her head in sympathy. “You’re right. This is horrible.”
“Deek is still in jail?”
I nodded. “He’s out of a cell, but in a containment room. They’ve used one of those ReGen wand things on him—God, those are so cool!—but want to ensure he’s fully recovered before coming home to me.” I looked over my shoulder. “You can see I’m back in Deek’s house, alone but safe. As for Deek, he’s well guarded, so no one can harm him. That eases my mind. I should be able to get some sleep, finally.”
I wondered if I sounded like a flaky Earth girl blathering away, because I had to hope Engel saw the necklace, knew it was the evidence that could put him away.
“I’ve seen vids of people on Rush. Scary,” Tia said.
“I know. I guess those from Earth aren’t bothered by it.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Who knows? All I know is I’m exhausted from worry, not hyped up on drugs. I’m going to crash as soon as I get off this vid thing. I just wanted to tell you both since you’re family now.”