Caillen paused at the door he'd entered dozens of times to meet withr.
Not wanting to think about it, he cracked it open and slipped inside. Completely dark and empty, it looked just as it had when they'd left for the Arimanda. Any minute, he expected to see his dad walk in.
Clenching his teeth against the agony of that thought, he went to the monitors and pulled up the surveillance for the palace. His father had everything wired to this room so that he could monitor it and see what was going on.
It only took a few seconds to locate his father's advisor. Ironically, he was in the war room and appeared to be reading over some reports. Good. There was very little surveillance there since it was where his father met with military commanders.
Without a word, he led his small group through the servant halls that were hidden. These should be monitored too, but Bogimir and the others had thought it rude and unnecessary.
We have never in our history monitored them. Why should we start doing so now?
Yeah...
Caillen paused outside the hidden war room door to meet Desideria's gaze. He had no plan on what he was going to say or do once he confronted the advisor. Oh hell, just wing it. That was how he flew through his life and he was too old to change his ways now.
He opened the door and snuck inside. His anger rising, he crossed the room silently and nudged the chair. The instant he touched it, the advisor fell out of it and went sprawling into the floor where he landed with a thud.
What the...?
"He's dead," Desideria breathed.
Caillen's gaze narrowed on the trail of blood near the chair. A trail that led to the next room. Instinctively, he moved his hand to his blaster as he followed it.
On the other side he found his uncle.
Equally dead.
Shit. It's a setup. No sooner had that thought gone through his mind than an alarm blared.
Fain cursed as he pulled his own weapon out to cover them. "Move it!"
They could hear guards coming from every direction. Caillen pulled out a blaster for each hand, preparing to make them regret their decision to come after them.
"Meet up back at my ship," Chayden said before he ran down the hallway alone.
Caillen inclined his head before he grabbed Desideria by the arm and dragged her behind him.
She frowned. "This isn't splitting up."
"Yeah, but you don't know where you are or how to speak or read the language. Do you really want me to leave you to your own means?"
He did have a point. "Fine."
Caillen led her to the guard station where there were several transports parked. Bypassing the guards who were patrolling the area, he quickly commandeered one, then wired it so that he could "borrow" it to get them back to the hangar. The moment he started the engine, the guards scrambled, shooting at them.
Desideria held her breath as Caillen careened out of the lot and then eluded them. A few minutes later, they were the first ones to reach Chayden's ship.
Notifying Hauk who was manning the guns about what was happening, Caillen rushed to fire the engines and do the prelim checks as he waited for Fain and Chayden to join them.
She went to eye the hatch so that she could allow Fain and Chayden inside. Glancing back at Caillen, she saw he'd frozen in place as he stared at the small monitor in front of him.
"Desideria?"
"Yes?"
He enhanced what he was looking at and put it up on the main display. "Any idea why Chayden has an entire file on you and your mother? One that dates back decades?"
21
Desideria was so stunned that she didn't move even to blink until Chayden and Fain had run onto the bridge.
Chayden came to a hesitant stop as he saw what had her transfixed. Even with the mask in place, it was obvious the color drained from his face and panic filled his dark eyes.
Rising to his feet, Caillen drew his blaster and aimed it straight at Chayden's head.
Fain skidded to a halt as he scowled at them both. "What's going on?"
Ignoring the question, Chayden held his hands up. "Whoa, buddy. It's not what you think."
Caillen moved the setting on his blaster from stun to kill with his thumb. The targeting laser never wavered from Chayden's forehead.
Never in her life had she seen anyone with a steadier hand. Caillen cut a sexy, fearsome pose as he glared in angry retribution over Chayden's invasion of her privacy. "It better not be."
Desideria dragged her gaze away from the screen that held every tiny detail of her life and her mother's as well as her sisters' to Chayden. "Why do you have all of that?"
Chayden lowered his cowl and the mask over his face so that she could see the sincerity in his expression. "You're not going to believe me, I know you won't, but I swear to the gods I worship that it's the truth. She's my mother too." He gestured toward the files. "Obviously, I've been collecting all of--"
"Why?" she asked, interrupting him. "Why would you spy on us like this?"
He didn't answer until Caillen tightened his grip on the trigger, pulling it back to let him know that he had no qualms about taking his friend's life if Chayden had betrayed her. "You need to answer, Chay. Now. No lies."
A tic started in Chayden's jaw. "I wanted to feel connected to my family even if it was only from a distance. It was stupid, I know. But when you're alone in the universe, you reach out even when it doesn't make sense to do it."
Turmoil filled his eyes as he stared at her. "You have no idea how isolated you feel when your own mother hates you for something you couldn't help and wants nothing to do with you. You don't want to crave her or the rest of your family because you know they'll never accept you, so you stay at a distance and imagine what it would be like if your family could just be normal, even for one nanosecond." He glanced up at the photo of her mother. "Once I heard she was dead and I realized you weren't the one who killed her, I pulled the files I had so that I could put together a suspect list. Unfortunately, it's long--no one should have that many enemies. But knowing our mother, I'm really not surprised."
Desideria couldn't breathe as all of those unexpected words slammed into her like fists. That was the absolute last thing she'd expected to hear from him.
There was no way he was her brother...
Was there?
"Bullshit," Caillen blurted out. "I don't believe a word of it."
Chayden inclined his head toward the monitor. "My father's photo is in there too. Flip through the files and Desideria will know the instant she sees him."
With his blaster still on Chayden, Caillen stepped away from the con so that she could take his place and scan through the files. The moment she began opening them, she grew even more suspicious. Chayden had every single thing about her family catalogued. Honestly, it was creepy and disconcerting... it definitely reminded her of the dossier an assassin would put together to use against a target. He even had her old test scores from school and her recent promotion. Articles about her mother and private transmissions between her mother and some of her advisors. Everything he'd need to kill them all.
It took several minutes to find a male photograph buried in the multitude of others of her, her mother and sisters. But just as he'd predicted, she knew the minute she'd found his father. There was no doubt whatsoever.
How had she not noticed the similarity before? But the most heartbreaking one was the photo after it...
Chayden had manipulated a picture of her and her sisters so that he was in it too. Pain for him swelled inside her that he'd had to go to such a degree to have a family. She didn't mention it to Caillen or the others. There was no need to embarrass him. She closed the file.
Her heart pounded as she turned toward Chayden and the reality of his identity slammed into her so hard it was all she could do to breathe. She reached out and lowered Caillen's arm so that his blaster wasn't centered on Chayden's head any longer.
Chayden dropped his hands.
She stared at him in disbel
ief.
He was her full brother.
Her mind whirled as she struggled to put all these new pieces together and the reality of who he was sank in with a force that was dizzying. "I don't understand."
"Yes, you do. I'm a male heir. Firstborn and only half Qill. Mom couldn't afford to have me hanging around lest I bring her legitimacy into question or confuse the chain of inheritance."
But that wouldn't make him an heir. Only his daughter would be eligible to rule.
Suddenly she felt stupid. His daughter, should he ever have one, would be able to petition and fight for the throne. Another "non" Qillaq to embarrass her mother and one who would have even less Qillaq blood than she did...
Yeah, it made sense. Her mother would never want the daughter of her son to rule. Her mother wasn't exactly tolerant of men. Especially those as strong as Chayden. If he'd exhibited any of the predator aura that bled from him now as a child, she could easily see her mother banishing him over it.
Still, she didn't understand how her brother could end up as a renegade pirate. "How did you become Tavali?"
Sadness tinged his eyes. "I ran away as a kid and was taken in by one of their order. He was the closest thing to a parent I'd ever known. I learned the business from him and carried it on after he died."
"But why would you run away?"
He gave a bitter laugh that said he thought her question was ridiculous. "If you'd ever seen how they treat the males who're banished, you wouldn't ask that question. Suffice it to say, it was easier living on the streets than in the camp where Mom had me dumped."
That she could definitely believe. Given what they'd done to her and her sisters, she could only imagine how much worse his hole had been. But that still didn't explain why he was here and his actions these last few hours. "Why are you helping me?"
He shrugged. "You're my sister."
Like that meant anything. "You don't even know me."
"No, and when I first realized who you were, I was ready to let the League have you and then some. I'll be honest. I've hated all of you for most of my life. But you're not like the others and that's a compliment." He jerked his chin toward the monitors. "However, right now isn't really the time to hash all of this. We need to get out of here while all of our body parts are still attached, especially our heads."
Caillen stepped back more to allow him to take the controls as she moved out of his way.
Desideria didn't speak as this new knowledge chased itself around in her head. She'd known about her brother, but she'd nnow expected to meet him. Especially not like this.
There were so many questions. So many things she wanted to know about him and his life. What he'd done. How he'd survived...
He really is my brother.
One who bore a striking resemblance to her father.
It boggled her mind.
Caillen scowled at Desideria's continued silence. She appeared shell-shocked and pale. "You all right?"
"I'm not sure."
"I know the feeling. You have the same sick look on your face that I'm pretty sure I had when they told me I was a prince. Nauseating, isn't it?"
Yes. Definitely.
And she didn't know what to think of her brother who was risking his life to save hers. Narcissa would never do such. Most days she hated her guts and Gwen wasn't that much better. But now that she knew the truth, she understood why Chayden had seemed so familiar to her. He had their mother's eyes and their father's build. There was also something about his movements and mannerisms that reminded her of her father.
The cadence of his voice.
Their accents were different, but the inflections and tones were similar.
He's my brother. That one fact kept echoing in her head.
Fain gently brushed past them to take his seat while Hauk stayed topside, near the guns--just in case--something that was becoming their new mantra.
"Strap in," Fain warned.
She and Caillen complied while Chayden engaged the engines then launched and flew between volleys of fire as the Exeterian Enforcers caught up to them. She groaned while he spun the ship to make it through the narrow opening of the bay's doors. "You know, I used to enjoy flying until I met all of you. Now, I'm not sure I'll ever want to do it again."
Caillen laughed. "Think of it like a carnival ride."
"I would, but those make me sick too."
Fain pitched a small bag at her. "Make sure it all goes in. If you miss, nail Caillen and not me. Otherwise I'll be joining you."
"And I'll be launching all of you out an air lock," Chayden muttered as he arced the ship up. "Big bunch of pansies."
She shook her head at his earnest tone.
Hauk returned the fire while Chayden dipped between their pursuers and shot them into hyperspace. Her head spinning from their wild ride and her recent shock, she saw the expression on Caillen's face that said he was trying to digest this newest twist as much as she was. Forget about Chayden for the moment, they had a larger problem with his uncle dead.
No one would ever believe they hadn't done this too. Who could clear their names now?
"What do we do?" she asked Caillen.
"I honestly have no idea. That was my best thought. Right now... I'm empty."
Chayden snorted. "Normally, I'd take that opening. Good thing for you, I'm preoccupied with the near-death experience in front of me."
Fain cursed as he sat back in his chair. He pulled up a news segment and flashed it on the main screen so that all of them could watch it. "I was scanning for our arrest or assassination warrants to be issued and look what I found." He opened the channel.
The female commentator was brunette, petite and held a wicked gleam in her eye that said she was enjoying her job a little too much. "This is streaming in live, right this very second... All of you are the first to hear it, just as it's happening on Exeter. Prince Caillen was spotted only moments ago leaving his father's palace where his uncle, the acting emperor, was found slain along with his head advisor. Apparently His Highness is on a major killing spree with the League scrambling to identify who his next target might be and to stop him before he kills again."
Desideria gaped. "How could they have that so fast?"
"Nothing moves faster than the media." Fain changed the screen over to another report on a different frequency. "I swear, they hired a publicist to convict you both. I couldn't get this much coverage if I painted myself pink and ran naked through the League's main hall with a bomb strapped on my back, screaming 'death to sycophantic pawns.' "
Desideria would have laughed if the situation had been a little less dire. She frowned as a woman around her age who was dressed in royal Exeterian robes stood in front of the media with a dour expression. Behind her were several of Desideria's mother's Guard, but the most shocking was Kara's presence...
Why would her aunt be there? And dressed so strangely? Kara looked more like one of Caillen's people than hers. The younger woman's expression was bitter while she addressed the gathered reporters. The stripe under her face identified the woman as Leran de Orczy.
"It is with a sad heart that I report my cousin's actions. My father was a good man and didn't deserve this any more than my uncle Evzen did. If it's the last thing I do, I swear I shall see justice met and I won't rest until I hold Prince Caillen's heart in my fist. The League is issuing the bounty on his head and we've already backed it with Exeterian funds. Whoever ends his killing spree and his life will be rich indeed and I will owe them my eternal gratitude."
Stunned, she looked at Caillen whose face was as pale as hers had to be.
Had she heard that correctly?
He met her gaze and she saw the anger smoldering in the dark depths of his eyes. That fury made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was the look the angel of death had to wear whenever he went to take someone's soul.
Without a word, Caillen unbuckled himself to take over the con where Fain sat. He isolated Kara out of the crowd and enlarged her photo.
"Anyone know who this is?" he asked in a tone so cold it was a wonder it didn't give them freezer burn.
Baffled by his fury, she frowned. "My aunt. Why?"
Before he could answer, Chayden spoke up. "She's the woman who hired me as a tirador against the Qills."
Caillen felt his heart stop as that unexpected bomb smacked him in the face. "What?"
Chayden pointed to her image. "She came to the North Tavali a year ago and gave a hefty payment for us to make runs against the Qills using a Trimutian flag."
Desideria was aghast. "Why would you do such a thing?"
" 'Cause it was a lot of money and I'm a mercenary bastard. Not to mention, I took a lot of pleasure raiding Qill lands and ships. Payback's hell and I was her willing bitch for it."
Caillen gave him a droll glare. "Did you not ask her why she wanted you to do that?"
"Didn't really care. I recognized her as my aunt, but didn't say anything since she didn't recognize me. I assumed her payout was authorized by my mother to start a war so they could raid Trimutian resources with the League's backing."
The same thing Caillen had thought, but now...
There was a whole lot going on here. He turned back to the face that had haunted his nightmares for years. "For the record, that's the bitch who murdered my father when I was a kid."
All four pairs of eyes turned to him.
Fain gaped. "What?"
Caillen stared at the cold face of the woman from his childhood. Yes, she was older, but those features were emblazoned on his memory. How could he forget the woman who'd torn his childhood apart and had ruined his sister and murdered the only father he'd known as a child? "She was in the alley when my father was killed. She and the assassin went off together."
"Are you sure?" Chayden asked.
He gave a slow nod.
"It can't be." Desideria scowled. "Kara wouldn't have..." Her voice trailed off as the young woman took her aunt's hand and pulled her closer before she answered a reporter's question.
Leran's next words made all of them suck their breaths in sharply. "My mother and I are committed to honoring my father's work. I've already spoken to my cousin Narcissa who is acting regent for the moment until a new Qillaq queen can be crowned and she's put her best people on helping us to track down our parents' killers and to bring them to justice as swiftly as possible. Blood or no blood, Desideria and Caillen will pay for their crimes."