Page 1 of Kranow (Brides of the Mylos #4)

Marley glared at her captors. This was not how she ’ d envisioned meeting her sister again. Not only was she in restraints, but she was on an alien planet with her sister, Maya, gazing back at her from across the table with a look of betrayal in her eyes. She ’ ll come around, once we ’ re together and that big lunkhead she ’ s married to goes to work. It ’ s just Stockholm Syndrome or something. Once we ’ re alone, it ’ ll be like old times and she ’ ll understand why I did it. Then we can plan our escape. She turned her gaze as her sister spoke.

“ I couldn ’ t believe it, Marley, when they came to the house to tell us what you ’ d done. Torval at first wanted nothing to do with you, but after we talked for a while, he agreed to let you come stay for a bit. You have to go see the counselor they ’ ve arranged, though, and you ’ re under house arrest so you can ’ t go out, ” Maya said.

Torval leaned forward. “ I want you to understand that you are here only because my mate wishes you to be. It is her hope that you ’ ll get to know me and see that our bond is very real. Do not disappoint her. ” Marley glared daggers at the alien asshat.

“ Oh, don ’ t you worry. You ’ re the only one who ’ ll be disappointed, ” she promised darkly. “ You and your whole woman subjugating empire. ”

Torval clenched his jaw as Maya gaped at her. Touching Torval ’ s sleeve, Maya spoke to him softly. “ She ’ s just really mixed up, hurt, and angry right now. This isn ’ t the Marley I know. She just needs time. ” Torval ’ s gaze softened as he looked at his mate. He gave her a small nod, accepting her word that her twin ’ s behavior was out of character.

“ You don ’ t need to make any excuses for me, Maya Louise Sampson! ” Marley yelled, banging her cuffed hands on the table. Her guards rushed forward, pulling her from her chair. She struggled, determined to free herself. “ Leave me alone! You said I would get to go home with my sister! You can ’ t do this! ”

Maya ’ s hand flew to her mouth and she watched wordlessly as Marley was removed from the room. The security agent who had escorted her from Earth spoke from where he stood in the corner as he observed their interaction. “ She ’ ll be sedated and brought to your home. You can either wait for her here and accompany her transport, or you can go on ahead and meet us there. ”

Torval glanced at his bride. Noting her deep distress, he responded, “ Thank you, Officer Sachuu. This has been quite the ordeal for Maya so I will take her on ahead. We ’ ll meet you at our home. ”

Sachuu nodded. “ We ’ ll be about an hour behind. She ’ s being sedated now in order to calm her and allow for safe transport. Her monitoring chip will be calibrated to the security read out stations that were placed around your home earlier today, and then we ’ ll bring her. ” Sachuu uncrossed his arms. “ Maya, your sister is being prescribed medication to reduce her anxiety levels. You need to ensure she gets them at the correct time and takes them. Due to her duplicitous behavior and spirit of noncooperation, it has been advised that you place it in her food or in her beverage. I am assured that it is tasteless and odorless and that the powdered form dissolves easily. ”

Maya made a small sound of distress. “ I have to drug her? ” she asked disbelievingly.

“ She knows she is being prescribed the medication. She simply refuses to take it, believing they are drugs designed to bend her will, ” Sachuu explained.

“ You are simply ensuring she gets her medication so that she can become the sister you knew once more, ” Torval reassured her. “ Once she is well, she may be able to come off of them. ”

Maya ’ s hand whitened across the knuckles as she clasped her mouth harder before nodding her agreement. Satisfied, Sachuu held the door open for them to leave. He didn ’ t believe for one moment that Marley Sampson was going to reform herself.

At least she ’ s not my problem anymore. I get her to her sister ’ s house and then I can go. Bridge duty back in the Bride Fleet had never looked so good.

****

Marley ’ s first impression of the planet her sister lived on was that it seemed surprisingly ordinary. Except for official vehicles such as the one she was brought in, locals seemed to only use public transport or large tricycles. She noted that an underpass of some kind was accessible from the sidewalk in front of the houses on her sister ’ s street and had asked her about it.

“ Oh, that ’ the local station entrance, ” Maya told her. “ It ’ s for the travel pods. You go down, walk to the platform of the pod going to the area you want to go to, and get in. Public ones have the destinations written in yellow and have a yellow undercarriage. Reserved ones, which are smaller, have blue. ”

“ Reserved ones? ”

“ Yeah, you rent them, say for a group so you don ’ t have to worry about not having enough seating and end up splitting up. ”

“ Like a private taxi. ”

“ Yes, but you are only permitted to do so for groups of four or more persons. Each person is scanned in, so the system will know if you try and fool it. ”

“ So, only the cops have cars? ”

“ Only official vehicles and those who have obtained a special permit, such as a moving van or delivery service, can follow the roads. The only personal vehicles permitted are the trikes. Keeps pollution down and there ’ s no congestion to speak of, really. ”

Marley watched as smiling neighbors waved as they passed each other and turned away from the window, disgruntled. Her mood wasn ’ t improved when she spotted Maya putting on an apron while humming a cheerful tune. “ What are you doing? ”

“ I ’ m going to make a cake. I could replicate one, but I thought it ’ d nicer if I made one instead. German chocolate cake, your favorite, ” Maya said, turning to smile at her sister. “ I ’ m afraid the coconut and cocoa are going to be replicated though. Still, better than an entirely synthesized cake, right? ”

Since when do you bake? Yeah, that ’ s my favorite, but Mom was always the one who made it. Stepford. That ’ s it. I ’ ve wandered into an honest-to-God alien Stepford. “ Sure, I guess, but it ’ s weird seeing you in an apron baking and all that. ” Her eyes narrowed. “ Did you even get to finish college? You were doing your Masters when you got called up. ”

“ Yeah, I sure did. They let me finish it long-distance mostly, with me doing the rest of it here. ”

“ Uh huh. And I thought they were doing all this to have babies. Where ’ s your kid? It ’ s been nearly three years, he shooting blanks or something and still not letting you go? And what, you got your degree but have to stay here playing Miss Suzy Homemaker? ”

Maya put down the cocoa she had just taken from the synthesizer. “ How dare you? You have made zero effort to get to know Torval or any other Mylos and yet you can stand here, in our home, and think you can talk trash about him? And for your information, yes, the program we were matched through aims to provide genetic diversity, but there ’ s no rule saying when you have to have children. And F.Y.I., we do have a child and I am currently on a three year paid parental leave from my position. You ’ d have known that if you hadn ’ t had a hissy fit when I was matched and taken off. If you ’ d stayed in touch, you ’ d know that you have an eighteen month old nephew named Kentel. He ’ s at Torval ’ s parents ’ home right now because we were worried how you might react. You kidnapped a woman, for Pete ’ s sake! ”

She thought I might hurt her kid? Oh, God, no. “ I ’ d never hurt a kid, ” Marley protested tearfully. “ Especially yours. ”

“ He ’ s Mylos and you joined an anti-Mylos terrorist group, going so far as to kidnap a bride who already had children. What else should we think about how you ’ d act based on that, huh? ”

Marley looked down at her feet. “ Can I- can I see a picture? ”

Maya stared at her for a long moment. Satisfied with what she saw in Marley ’ s eyes, she sighed. “ I put the ones we had out in the cabinet over there, ” she said, gesturing to a console table a few feet away. Marley walked over to it and slid one of the two doors to one side. She looked at the stack of pictures inside and swallowed before reaching in to take them out. She carried them to the table and sat down. Placing the pictures down on the table, she gazed at the image on the top of the stack. A beaming Maya was gazing at the camera, love shining in her eyes at whoever was taking the picture. She was standing in front of the house holding a small bundle.

“ That ’ s the day we brought him home, ” Maya said, taking note of which picture Marley was looking at.

“ Torval took it, didn ’ t he? ” Marley whispered.

“ Yeah, he did. It ’ s why he ’ s not in the photo. ”

Marley closed her eyes. There ’ s no denying it. That is honest, raw emotion. She really does love him. Could I really have gotten things so terribly twisted? She picked the picture up and placed it to one side. She smiled at the toothless grin gracing the chubby cheeked infant in the image. “ He ’ s adorable! ”

“ Yes, he is. And he wouldn ’ t be here if I hadn ’ t met his dad. ” Maya returned to the kitchen, leaving her sister to look through the reminder of the images alone. Marley quickly discovered that not all of the photos were of her nephew. Her hand hovered over the first one showing what must be their wedding ceremony, the one she ’ d not been there for, having taken off as soon as she heard her sister had been matched and was up in space somewhere on one of the ships.

“ You got married on Earth, ” she said, taking in the sight of their parents ’ backyard set up for a wedding. “ At home. ”

“ We did. We stayed with the Fleet for two weeks while Mom rushed about getting things set up, then had a ceremony. Then he took me on a honeymoon to Cancun before we boarded the shuttle to come here. But then, you ’ d know that if you hadn ’ t taken off. ” Marley couldn ’ t get any air into lungs. “ Marley, can you hear me? Take a breath, Marley! ”

Marley dragged in a shallow, ragged breath. It wasn ’ t enough air and it felt as if her lungs were being shredded. She felt her chair being moved backwards and herself being pushed forward. “ Lean on your knees and try to take a slow breath. Nice and easy. ” It seemed like forever, but she finally managed to get enough air and felt her pounding heart begin to slow. Maya stood next to her, rubbing slow circles on her back. “ It ’ s gonna be okay, Marley. You ’ re not running anymore. ”

Marley felt fat tears drop onto her cheeks. Never, ever, again. I ’ m so sorry.