Page 5 of 3 Secrets to Love (Romance Tales from the Quadrants #2)

Phalon

I had never been part of such a strange meet and greet during my entire career.

Usually fans screamed, cried, stared, and asked very personal questions.

I’d never had anyone listen to what I had to say as intently as the Kalpierene children.

It was nice.

Refreshing.

Except when I made a joke, and they didn’t react.

If Xacalla and the security guard hadn’t chuckled from the side, I would have thought I simply wasn’t funny.

I didn’t understand these kids.

I wasn’t supposed to touch them in any way.

Yet, after we’d taken a group picture with me standing behind them, they kept inching their chairs closer to mine during the question period.

Why did they have a security guard? If they were famous, I would think they would allow the event to be filmed.

But everything had been hush-hush.

I hadn’t even been told about it until I’d arrived.

And Xacalla? Wow, had she grown up.

Before, she’d been my teammate’s kid sister, but looking at her in her tight-fitting business suit left me hoping she had an appetite for aerobatics pilots.

Stars, I yearned to get acquainted with her in completely new ways.

I really hoped we got a chance to grab a meal, talk, and maybe do more when finished, like peel that suit off her body and sample the delicate curves underneath.

“Why did you leave Yatak?”

Ogo asked.

I shook my head, bringing my thoughts back to the present.

“Why did I leave? Well, um, I wanted to be a space racer. And I didn’t see the possibility of the planet ever having a team, so I made my way to Eurebly to train and try out.”

“Would you ever go back?”

Ago slipped off their gloves, prompting the other two to do the same.

I stilled, unsure what their actions meant. Did they feel comfortable with me, that I wasn’t a threat? Or was there something else going on.

“Uh, I hadn’t planned on it. My parents passed when I was very young, and I’m not aware of any other family I might have on the planet. There is just nothing there for me to go back for.”

“But what if there was?”

Igo slid their chair directly beside mine, our legs almost touching. I was so worried about the rule not to have any physical contact with the children that I almost missed seeing the inner guard lunge for the door.

I didn’t know if he tried to hold it closed or open it, but the two outer guards smashed their way into the room with their weapons drawn.

I shoved my chair back, ready to stand in front of the children and block them from whatever was happening.

But one of them grabbed me, and a bright light erupted in my head.

I couldn’t hear or see anything transpiring around me.

Instead, a voice filled my head, speaking in my native language.

“Finally... Looking for... Only one... Time... Return... Lead... Blood.”

Through my panic and worry, I couldn’t understand more than a few words which made no sense without context.

Suddenly, I heard the blast of plazers and then a scream.

I tried to reach out, find all the kids and protect them from whatever threat was upon us, but I couldn’t see anything but darkness.

No shadows to even hint at where someone might be.

Stars, I couldn’t even feel the ground.

I felt like I floated in nothingness while chaos ensued nearby.

I thrashed around, trying to gain some type of grasp of the situation. I could only help if I could see or feel something.

Finally, my vision cleared as the lights flickered on and off above me.

I was on the floor in the middle of four chairs.

All of them now empty.

I used one to right my equilibrium before standing.

I quickly surveyed the room, trying to locate the threat.

But I was alone.

Or so I thought until I saw the body of the inner guard with a hole from a plazer through his chest.

I didn’t bother to see if he was still alive, doubted anyone could survive a wound like that.

Instead, I rushed out into the hall to see if I could find the kids and Xacalla.

Though we’d only done a meet and greet, I felt responsible for all four of them.

I shouldn’t have blacked out like that but protected them instead.

I had no idea how or why it had happened.

Just outside the door, Xacalla sat on the floor with her back against the wall.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at a message on her P-comm.

I bent down in front of her.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

She shook her head with a sob.

“I’m fine, but I lost them. I lost the kids. I’m going to lose my job and be at fault for whatever happens to them.”

My heart raced faster. While panic started to rise inside me, the urge to find the children was stronger.

“Who took them? Where did they go?”

“It was the guards who were out front. I should have realized there was a problem, said something to Chikada...”

Her voice trailed off as she showed me the message on her P-comm.

Alert! Security has been breached. Don’t trust any guards you don’t know and keep the children locked down. Wait for further instructions before you leave the room.

“I didn’t get the message until after the guards had barged through the door.”

She wiped the tears from her wet cheeks.

“They were so fast. And they killed Chikada. I thought they’d killed you, too.”

Another wave of tears enveloped her.

I lowered to my knees and wrapped my arms around her.

“I’m here. I’m alive. But we need to find those kids. Which way did they take them?”

Xacalla nudged her head toward the north exit of the USRA headquarters.

“I ran out after the fake guards and tried to stop them, but they shot me.”

As I pulled back, I noticed the blood flowing from under her hand at her side and pooling on the floor below.

“Xacalla, you are not okay. I need to treat your wound. I’ll be right back.”

All pilots had trained in first aid, with Reena and I having recently completed our recertification course.

I ran down the hall to the first aid room and grabbed a kit from the supplies shelf.

All medication was kept locked away, but I didn’t have time to worry about finding that for Xacalla.

Back at her side, I opened the kit, grabbing the sterilized pads first.

“I need you to remove the top of your uniform.”

Like most working people in the quadrants, she wore a one-piece business suit, representing her employer.

While I would have loved the opportunity to unzip it and peel it off her under different circumstances, I needed her to do it while I charged the wound cauterizer.

With shaky hands, she lowered the front zipper before yanking her arms out of the sleeves.

Underneath, she wore nothing, her breasts small with pebbled nipples looking like the jewels mined on Dynam.

I shuddered, trying to keep myself in check.

I had to treat her wound then go after the kids.

Xacalla sucked in air through her teeth when she peeled her top from the gash in her side from the plazer blast.

It had pierced the edge of her side, not leaving a hole clean through her but a lesion.

It looked like it had started to cauterize on its own but opened again when she pulled the clothing away.

I applied the sterilized pad, holding it there with pressure even as she whimpered.

But with her hand on mine, she never tried to push it away.

“I’m going to remove the pad and spray on some antiseptic spray.”

I shuffled through the kit with my other hand to find the bottle.

“It’s going to sting. Are you ready?”

She nodded, closing her eyes tight.

It was quick. Xacalla grabbed my wrist and squeezed but didn’t make a sound. After a couple moments, I used the cauterizer, sealing the wound for good.

Then the commotion in the hallways started, people coming out as if they had just noticed—or deemed it finally safe after—the forceful abduction of three children.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

I yanked Xacalla to her feet and helped her to redress. We didn’t have time to answer questions of the authorities that were likely on their way. Instead, we needed to get out of there.