for a long moment, which made Gavin wonder what he wasn’t saying. “She reminds me a lot of you and me back when we were young and idealistic.”
The obvious affection in his words sparked Gavin’s temper. “Just what is this woman to you? She has to be more than just a friend of the family for you to risk Sela’s wrath if you’re caught even speaking with me. You’re not involved with Kiera Matthews, are you?” He held his breath as he waited for the answer.
The expressionless mask cracked, and Marco looked twenty years older and jaded, as if he had seen things no one should, and they had left their mark. “I won’t rehash old politics with you, Gav. You always knew how I felt about Cecily. I’ve tried to watch over her daughter. Nothing more.”
Gavin exhaled sharply as relief rushed through him. Only then did he let his mind process the rest of the conversation. The use of his old nickname surprised him, but Gavin made sure his expression didn’t show it.
“Suffice it to say, she believes like I used to that our two races won’t survive without one another,” Marco added. “But I think she’s smart enough to not become sucked in by someone so power-hungry as Sela.”
Gavin didn’t bother to press on that obviously volatile subject. He was surprised at even that small admission. He relaxed back against the chair, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepling his fingers in front of his lips. “How far are you willing to go to help us find her and keep her safe?”
Marco handed Gavin a folded slip of paper. “Here is the address of her clinic and her house, as well as two of the safe houses I know her father kept. Her father is a marine colonel, so she can take care of herself pretty well. Watch out for guns, knives, throwing stars and hand-to-hand maneuvers you wouldn’t expect from a petite half-human.”
Gavin opened the paper and glanced at the addresses, although he knew as well as Marco did that if he found her at any of these known places, she would most likely already be dead. “You didn’t answer my question.”
A small bark of a laugh was Marco’s immediate response. “If Sela or anyone loyal to her finds out about this meeting, my life is worthless here on Earth. And due to my past choices, my life is worthless on Tador, as well.” He sipped his coffee as if he weren’t talking about the very limited places in the universe that would allow him to live. “I plan on going back to work as if nothing happened. If you need any help finding Kiera, or anything else, I will do what I can. I owe you a favor for this.”
Gavin’s temper flared at Marco’s trivialization of all that had happened in the past. “You fucking owe me more than a favor after all is said and done.” His words came out in a low growl, and he didn’t bother to try to calm them. “You betrayed not only your home world, but your best friend, Cecily and, whether you admit it or not, your own race.”
Marco’s gaze was tired when it met Gavin’s. “What’s done is done, and I can’t go back and see things through wiser eyes, even now when I see that both sides in our war were stubborn and unwilling to bend.”
Gavin’s fists clenched. “Attacking and killing innocent people and revolting against the rightful king and queen—”
Marco cut him off as if he hadn’t spoken. “However, change is better accomplished from the inside, so I will stay until I’m found out and killed, or until a better way to help our people presents itself.”
The urge to throttle Marco until he saw reason surged through Gavin. He kept his fists clenched to reduce the danger of carrying out the thought.
The time for arguing was long past. He would help the Healer and then figure out what to do with Marco. “I assume she is a Cunt loyalist if the council member took the meeting, so why would she welcome a visit from us?”
Marco dipped a hand into the pocket of his dress slacks and then flipped something toward Gavin, who caught it as a reflex.
He opened his palm and stared down at a shiny new quarter.
“She is loyal only to the memory of Tador that her mother filled her head with as a child—the old, unified Tador before Sela and all the rest. However, show her this and tell her all her safe houses have been compromised. That’s all the help I can offer you in finding her.” Marco stood and opened his mouth as if to add something. Several emotions played across his face so fast Gavin had trouble identifying them.
Finally, after a long tense moment, Marco closed his mouth, turned and walked out the door.
4
K iera bolted upright in bed, the Ruger a comforting weight in her hand as she scanned the room for anything out of place. Her heart pounded, and the sudden rush of adrenaline made her light-headed.
Shiloh stretched beside her and then yawned but didn’t bother to stand or even look around.
Wispy dream images floated just beyond her reach, and she scowled as she recalled dreaming about the dark Klatch prince watching her sleep. “Damn, Kiera, you really need to get laid and stop obsessing about the man who got you into this mess in the first place.”
She sighed with relief that it had been only a dream that woke her.
Shiloh’s head swiveled toward the window, his ears flattened against his head, his eyes narrowed.
Shit.
By the time the cat hissed, Kiera had already stood and slipped out into the hallway, alert for any sounds that would indicate an intruder. Shiloh slid past her ankles, heading straight down the stairs and to the right toward the kitchen. She silently cursed the cat and then remembered if it wasn’t for his hissed warning, she wouldn’t think anyone had breached her security.
Fine. If she lived through this, she would refrain from shooting him.
Maybe.
She placed each foot precisely on the stairs to ensure she made no noise. She continued forward until she stood on the bottom step. Adrenaline pumped through her body. Her heart pounded, and her temples throbbed.
She swallowed hard, hating the metallic taste of fear on the back of her tongue.
After a deep breath for courage, she placed her finger against the gun trigger and pivoted into the kitchen, the gun leading.
A tall figure loomed before her out of the darkness.
Terror flashed through her in a searing rush, and the scene slowed to a crawl.
She squeezed the trigger.
A loud crack filled her ears as the recoil traveled up her arms and into her torso like a shove from a large, unseen hand.
The flash from the muzzle fire illuminated the room, and she blinked hard as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden burst of light.
An oval of pink sizzling energy surrounded the intruder as the bullet bounced against his energy shield.
Kiera dove to the side to try to avoid the ricochet.
When pain lanced up her side from her abrupt landing instead of a bullet wound, she mouthed a silent thanks to the universe.
She rolled to her left in the small confines of the kitchen,
