"We're dead," Tameron whispered. "If Biardi finds out about this, he'll have my balls."
Once again in his life, Nykyrian thanked God for the loyalty of his OMG members.
There were times when spies were extremely valuable.
"Just how the hell are we supposed to get you and your fighter out?" Tameron asked, scanning the bay nervously.
Nykyrian closed his eyes against a wave of pain. "Tell control you're driving my fighter out on remote to get rid of it and me," he whispered.
Tameron smiled. "Brilliant."
Nykyrian forced himself to remain limp as they picked him up and dumped him into the seat of his fighter. Kiara's screams echoed in his ears and he wished for a way to let her know he was all right, in a manner of speaking anyway.
Pain erupted through his body and for a moment, he feared he might pass out. His fighter lurched as they jettisoned it by remote.
Blood covered him to the point he couldn't figure out where he was wounded. He waited until he had cleared orbit before he sat up and took control of his craft. Pain clouded his mind, dulling his thoughts. Every second seemed to bring more throbbing agony than the one before it. By the time he reached home, it was all he could do to move at all.
Nykyrian staggered out of his ship, his eyesight dimming. He had to call Rachol and get help with his wounds. At this rate, he might bleed to death within the hour. Despite the sweat covering his body, he was freezing. He opened the door to his house, blood smearing over the white controls.
He pulled his helmet free and let it fall from his numbed hands. The lorinas ran forward, confused by the smell of blood. He had to get help. He had to get back to Kiara.
Nykyrian took a step forward and fell to his knees.
He tried to rise, but pain kept him still. He had to move, he had to. His last conscious thought was of a tiny dancer who had promised never to leave him.
Twelve
"The contract has been repealed!"
Kiara barely heard the jubilant shout of her best friend, Tiyana. Instead, she stared at the performance calendar in her lap, unable to believe six weeks had passed since she saw Nykyrian killed.
Over and over her mind replayed the scene, the sounds, the pain.
"Kiara, didn't you hear me?" Tiyana asked, patting the arm of the chair Kiara sat in.
"You can return to the theatre!"
"I heard you," she replied with a wistful sigh.
Tiyana calmed down and took a seat in the identical, white, wrought-iron chair across from her.
Kiara used to love sitting in the well-manicured garden behind her father's house, the smell of all the flowers blooming around her, sunlight warming her skin, not doing anything except breathing the sweet air, gossiping with Tiyana. But not anymore. Now it all seemed boring, unfulfilling.
Kiara saw Tiyana look up over Kiara's shoulder and shake her pretty blond head, and by that action she knew her father must be standing behind her. She didn't bother to look.
She really couldn't care less where her father was.
"Tiyana," he said roughly. "Could you excuse us for a mom ent?"
"Sure, Commander." She stood and touched Kiara's hand. "I'll be back in a minute. Do you want anything?"
Kiara shook her head, stifling a sob. The only thing she wanted was her husband and nothing could get Nykyrian back for her. With a trembling breath, Kiara looked away from her father as he took Tiyana's chair.
"Angel."
"Don't call me that!" she snapped, unable to ever forgive him for what he had done, and all the things he had said to her since that day.
He took a deep breath and extended a long, manila folder to her. "I got your medical report back. I wish to God I could kill all those bastards for what they did to you!"
Kiara narrowed her eyes, wanting to claw his eyes out for the statement. She refused to take the folder from his hand. She didn't want anything from him. Ever.
Her father thought she had been raped by all of the OMG men and no matter how much she tried to explain what had happened between her and Nykyrian, her father kept saying she had been brainwashed.
Why wouldn't he listen to her? How many times had she tried to tell him no one did anything to her she didn't want done?
"You're pregnant," her father said at last, his voice bitter.
Kiara's mouth opened and for the first time in weeks, she felt like laughing.
"The doctor said he can terminate the pregnancy without any problems."
"He will not!" she snapped, coming to her feet.
Tiarun stood, his face dark. "Be reasonable. A child will end your career. Is that what you want?" he asked, grabbing her arm and giving her a sharp shake. "Why would you want to give up your life because of some bastard seed?"
Kiara trembled in rage and jerked her arm free of his grasp. Never in her life had she wanted to strike her father, but at the moment she doubted anything else would give her more satisfaction. "It was my husband you killed. My baby is not a bastard! It's all I have left, all I ..." Her words broke off into a sob and she ran from the garden.