Farin the Dark Page 2

  "Ember of the Trios," he repeated her name and liked the taste of it on his lips. "Find out what you can and request a pairing sample. If we cannot follow up while we meet with the delegation from Earth we will stop back after our meeting with Brax."

  "If nothing else," Nox finally spoke up, the last of his Calvern to do so. "It will give us some time to find out what we can about her species. There is no use getting our hopes up is there is no chance of compatibility."

  "My hopes are already up," Celo grumbled.

  An uncharacteristic snarl nearly passed his lips before Farin could hold it back. For the first time he realized he would not be happy if one of the Tellox found that highly sought after and rarely found mate. Not this time. Not this female. This one was his.

  He shook off the territorial feelings no doubt cause by the female’s siren allure. He would not make the same mistakes the last King of the Tellox made and try to take what did not belong to him. As much as the predator that lived inside him wanted to test the female right away in the old ways he would follow the laws he himself created and make a formal request for a genetic match.

  In the meantime they had responsibilities first and foremost to their people, and the delegation from Earth as well as the meeting with Brax after could not be put off. "Put the request through official channels and find out what we can about the Trios."

  We might have to put off this hunt, Farin thought. But that did not mean it was over. That was one female he would not forget.

  CHAPTER THREE

  "There were Tellox in the market square." Ember said as soon as she was inside the darkened suite with the door secured behind her. All was dark and quiet, which meant everyone should still be sleeping off the heat of the day before the performance this evening. It was still no surprise that, with her quiet words, she was suddenly not so alone.

  Charm moved so fast into the room it was if she had appeared out of thin air. She looked Ember up and down, and then turned eyes of mercurial jade back to her. "You are not serious."

  Ember raised a brow at the woman she considered a sister and besides Lyric, her only family. "Would I lie about sex starved warriors on the hunt for mates?" She was only half joking about that and wished the idea did not cause all her girly parts to tighten up, even as it shot her nerves up several notches.

  Charm narrowed her eyes in suspicion but followed Ember when she headed for the bar in the shared area of the suite.

  "How many are out there, and did they see you?" Charm was going on, spitting out questions fast while she watched Ember closely.

  Did she think I was hiding a big warrior in my cloak? Ember wondered when her friend continued to examine her with suspicious eyes.

  "Five and yes, one introduced himself as Farin the Dark."

  "The High commander?" Charm nearly squeaked that question. Then her eyes widened even further. "Introduced himself?"

  "Yes." She looked Charm over from head to toe. Unlike Sirens the Loriea did not have to hide from the sight of men, that did not mean her friends exotic beauty did not draw its own attention. Like Sirens, the Loriea were warriors, and Lyric insisted they all wear the traditional weapons and armor of her people. It added to the mystic of their performances.

  For Charm that meant skintight armor that covered her from neck to knee boot in a supple metallic black fabric that reflected back energy weapons as well as knife blades. The stark black of the shimmering fabric did nothing to hide the female’s slender curves and lithe muscle. She was shortest of their group but made up for her diminutive build by looking like a pint sized well-armed death dealer. She was better armed then most, as security to the esteemed and much sought after Lyric, the only place she wasn't armed was inside the performing halls of the Alliance peacekeepers guild. Beside the stark black of her skin suit her hair was braided back and high off her neck, the color nearly as shimmery black as the suit she wore. Her skin though was nearly amber in coloration.

  Many assumed that Lyric hired her guards for their exotic beauty that drew the eye as much as their ability to defend. Not so, Lyric, Charm and Ember had been together long before Lyric needed such things. And anyone who thought the exotic beauty of the three females was all for show soon found out the error of their ways. Most rarely survived the encounter.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” she asked suspiciously.

  Charm rolled her exotic jade eyes, and refused to let Ember distract her. "Tell me you did not give him your name?"

  Ember tossed her cloak over the closest bar stool at the island and headed for the small bar beside it. She did not look back at Charm when she answered. "It is not as if my name would be hard to find out if I had refused to give it," she argued. She had no idea why she had told the huge black-eyed warrior her name, but she would defend the decision to the death now. "As far as I know I am the only Siren in Alliance space, and most would recognize the description as soon as he started asking around."

  "What are the Tellox doing here?" her friend asked without arguing her valid point. "I thought they stuck close to the outer rim where that new planet they discovered is located. What was it called?"

  Ember thought for a moment and then spoke while she poured them both a cool drink. Even with the frosty temperate climate of the hotel they were staying at she was still in need of something after the heat of the market, and the way her body had warmed even further at the sight of the Tellox warriors. "Earth, and from what I heard in the treaty they have with them they supply security and transport when the Earth leaders want to deal with the rest of the galaxy, so maybe they are here as guards."

  Charm caught the look on her face, even as she said the words. "What?"

  Ember shrugged and gave her the truth of her inner musings. "Would the Commander of their entire species work in that capacity though?"

  "Maybe we'll find out when they come to cart you off to be his mate,” Charm said with a sarcastic grimace of a smile that did not hide the worry behind it.

  She handed her friend her own drink. "The Tellox might have an agreement with the Alliance but no one is going to want to offend Lyric, and we have our own agreement to keep us safe. Even the Tellox cannot override diplomatic immunity."

  "And if they do?" If there was one thing Charm was good at, Ember mused, it was finding the worst-case scenario. Not that any of them were optimistic in that regard, with the life they had lived they all knew how often wrong happened more than right. But Charm took it to a whole other gloomy level.

  "Then by the time the answer of whether I am compatible with one of their warriors comes back we will be gone from Alliance space and out of their reach." Ember shrugged her shoulder. "Besides we may be assuming too much. If the Tellox are here for the conference, then they are probably too busy to worry about a female they saw in passing at the market."

  Charm looked at her friend dubiously, her sarcasm as usual undimmed. "Yes, because Siren females are known for being forgettable to males."

  Ember did not bother to answer. The grimace on her face saying enough. She drank deep of her cup and did not answer. There was a reason her kind rarely left the safety of their own planet. Sirens might be known for their vicious predator natures, but even teeth and claws were not enough to deter most men from trying. They could not help themselves. Sirens were made to lure men to them. Ember just hoped that one glimpse of her without the covering she was used to wearing was not enough to derail a Tellox from whatever mission brought him here.

  "Should we warn Lyric?" Charm asked taking her own seat at the bar.

  Ember grimaced and sat beside her.

  "Warn me about what?" the voice was warm honey and silk sheets. There was a reason the leaders of the free world’s sought Lyric for their prestigious events, and her voice was only the biggest part. But the cool untouchable beauty they all saw on the stage was not the woman who joined them at the bar. Her long gold hair mussed from sleep and the casual sleeveless dress simple and a far cry from the designer gowns she wore like a
rmor when she performed. Without all her stage props and costumes she looked the most mundane of the three of them.

  She glowered as she took her seat looking her usual grouchy self when she awoke. "How are you two already up and dressed? It's disgusting the way you two can sleep a few hours and look like this right out of bed, you know that right?"

  Ember pointed at herself. "Siren remember, we rarely need more than that." They both turned to look at Charm.

  She shrugged. "The energy of this place is too erratic to rest."

  Part of what made Charm so good at her job as security was that she could read a place better than anyone Ember had ever seen. She knew when they were going to have trouble and from whom before it had a chance to start. It also meant she was susceptible to the environment they were in. Her brain rarely shut down, even when she tried.

  Lyric groaned and laid her head on her arm. "Does that mean we are going to have trouble?"

  Ember looked at Charm again and the woman shrugged a second time.

  When no one bothered to answer, Lyric raised her blue eyes to look at them again. "So what did you need to tell me and why?"

  Ember sighed. "I ran into some Tellox warriors when I went to visit the market." She left out the part that one of them was their high commander. Lyric would worry enough without knowing that.

  "I heard that part," Lyric said with another grimace. "And?"

  "Oh Ember made some new friends. She introduced herself to Farin the Dark."

  Lyric raised her head and looked at them both questioningly. "Why do I know that name?"

  Charm huffed in annoyance. "Seeing as how everyone was talking about them not that long ago when they discovered a new planet and brought them into the Alliance everyone knows the name of their Commander. From what I hear everyone fears him even more than the rest of the Tellox."

  Lyric shook her head. "That means absolutely nothing to me," she said raising her hands in dismissal.

  Ember shook her head. "The beautiful giant warriors known as the Tellox who entered the Planetary Alliance on the agreement that they would have the ability to test any female for compatibility for mates."

  "Oh yeah," she finally remembered, her eyes narrowing into the distance as she seemed to reach for what she knew. This time the sneer on her lips was less pleasant. "The sexy warriors looking for brood mares among the stars."

  Charm rolled her eyes. "Of course that part you remember, never mind they discovered a whole new civilization and claimed them under their protection."

  "You know I hate politics," she murmured her hand waiving that away, making her friends laugh.

  "But sexy you remember," Ember teased.

  "So why are we having this discu..." she stopped and looked at Ember her eyes finally waking up. "Did you say you gave them your name?"

  Ember slumped. "He asked for it, and it's not as if it would be hard to find," she grumbled repeating her argument again.

  Lyric looked at Charm. "This is going to turn into some inter-species incident isn't it?"

  "When the Tellox attempt to get her DNA match and we whip out our diplomatic immunity?" Charm smiled without humor. "Oh, yeah."

  "They may not even ask for it," Ember mumbled hopefully.

  They both just looked at her, and then as one they both let their eyes go to the long strands of silky silver hair that floated around her head in agitation at the thought of the big Tellox, Farin the Dark. She grabbed as much as she could reach with both hands and twisted it over her shoulder to stop the telling motion. Most people had no idea that a siren’s hair reacted to their emotions. But her adopted sisters were not most people.

  Charm narrowed her eyes and pointed at Ember, nearly poking her in the chest. Her voice accusing and exasperated in one. "You lured them didn't you?"

  Ember stopped trying to control the uncontrollable and dropped her hands, her hair moving freely again. "Not on purpose," she groaned out and wondered if she sounded as whiny as she felt. "I was...agitated," she said for lack of a better word. She still was, something about the warrior with the black eyes had her a little too hyper aware of her surroundings, as if a predator was still near.

  Lyric looked from her face to her hair and back again. Then looked at Charm with a sigh. "Call in the extra security. If she lured him he won't want to take no for an answer. We might be protected under our own agreement with the Alliance, but I would rather not have to find out what a lured Tellox will do when he is denied. For the Alliance to have made such a deal in the first place means they have some serious pull with the government. I would not put it past the powers that be to look the other way if the males get frisky."

  "You think they would chance offending the great Lyric over this?"

  "I would rather not have to find out. Call in the rest. We can let Shiva and Rhysa play their mind tricks if we have to," she finished. Referring to the outside security team of telepathic sisters they hired on occasion when they thought things might get extra dangerous.

  Against the sisters the Tellox would be forced to forget they had ever been lured by a royal siren.

  "In the meantime," Lyric said pointing at both of them in turn. "You both stay close. I don't want to wake up one afternoon and find out my security has been shanghaied by a warrior class no one wants to mess with."

  "How did I get added to this?" Charm asked with irritation.

  They both looked at her. Lyric pointed her up and down. "Female, strong, young, of childbearing years, and beautiful. We do not need to be battling two requests for mate matches do we?"

  "If they are part of the delegation coming to the performance they are going to see all of us, and Shiva and Rhysa as well," Charm mumbled still clearly irritated.

  "Then let’s hope they have more important matters to attend to than finding mates because I would hate to add another group of enemies to our list." Lyric shrugged and with a final yawn she turned and left them behind. "I really don't want to go to war with the Tellox if at all possible."

  Ember would like to say they were all being paranoid, but she knew better.

  She thought of Farin the Dark and hoped it did not come to a battle between them. Because it would a shame to have to kill a man that deadly beautiful.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The message from the council came as they were dressing for the nights event.

  Lyric was the only one who would wait until they arrived at her dressing room at the event to get ready. Both Ember and Charm were already in their traditional armor with their extra weapons the only thing left to be added.

  For Ember that meant a variation of what she had worn that day to visit the market. Only this time there would be no cloak to hide behind. She and Charm might be the security, but they were also part of the show, and they dressed accordingly. At least if anyone got past the first row of normal security and managed to get on the stage she had the freedom to deal with deadly force, if she so decided. And if they got past her or Charm to get to Lyric, well that had never happened, but if it did they would quickly find out that Lyric was as dangerous as the rest. No matter she was the only one of them that would not be armed. At least not obviously.

  The knock on the door was answered by Charm since she already had on all her weapons. Ember walked out of her room securing her last knife in place among the straps across her thighs below and above the scythes already there.

  Charm closed the door and waved the sealed envelope at her. "What do you want to bet this has something to do with your Tellox?"

  Ember sighed. She was not foolish enough to take that bet but watched with no little frustration as Charm pulled open the seal and read the letter.

  "You are being summoned," she said without making her wait. "To the infirmary for a mandatory physical before you can be approved for the concert security." Charm smiled with a good showing of teeth and absolutely no humor. "Oh that's clever. They know we all have diplomatic immunity and are making this about something else. They will take a blood sample for the safety o
f the populace and 'oh, by the way since we had the blood laying around we matched you to a Tellox, congratulations! We didn't think you'd mind'."

  Ember blew out a breath as Lyric came out of her own room in her casual tunic, trow and knee boots that she would wear until she changed at the event. Ember filled her in on what she had missed, and their headliner growled.

  "That is..." Lyric started and seemed to run out of words.

  "A good way to avoid a diplomatic incident," Charm finished for her. "You have to give them credit for that at least. Even if it is underhanded and diabolical."

  "Well," Charm continued folding the letter back into the envelope. "The way I see it we have two choices,"

  "One choice," Lyric argued without hearing her out and glaring at the letter, before turning to head back to her room to collect her things. "We refuse the medical and if they try to keep my security from performing their job I will remind them that the contract they signed stipulated that my guards and myself do not fall under Alliance jurisdiction. If they want to make an issue of this swindle then we will consider our contract in breach and they can find someone else to entertain the diplomats tonight."

  "They won't like that," Ember reminded her. "Considering how much they paid us for this performance do we really want to give it back and sacrifice future work for the Alliance at the same time?"

  Charm laughed. "You forget," she said. "If they breach the contract we keep the money, Lyric made sure of that."

  "And if they want to play games I don't want to work for them anyway," Lyric called back from her room. "I'd just as soon deal with the honest crooks at our old jobs than sanctimonious bureaucrats who are supposed to be honorable."

  "Besides," Charm said. "They are the ones who will be out the money and the prestigious talent of Lyric. She's right. They have more to lose than we do."

  "I suppose," Ember said thinking about the contracts. They were not wrong. Chances were good that the Alliance would be the ones to cave on this issue. And if they didn't they had more to lose than Lyric, but she could not help but worry it would not go quite as easy as the other two wanted to believe. "In the short term it might not hurt us, but in the long run? Making an enemy of the Planetary Alliance does not sound like good business."