…I don't see reason not to tell him, even if talking about it is pure pain.
"My sister... You know she was taken from me. You mentioned it just now – and it must be in my file with Aurelian Law Enforcement.”
Daccia nods.
“Space-pirates,” he growls. “I’m so sorry, Allie.”
I feel tears welling in my eyes.
“Well, before they took her – to whatever fate awaited her – they tried to ransom her. The demanded a huge sum to return her to me.” My bottom lip trembles. “I was just a young, homeless girl. Stealing from those Aurelians was the only way to pay the ransom the pirates were demanding."
Daccia’s face is like that of a statue as he listens – totally implacable
"You did what you had to do, Allie. Where is she now?"
I force back the tears and look him straight in the eye. I will not let myself succumb to the weakness of tears. I don't have time for them.
"I have no fucking clue. The pirates took the money – and then they just left.”
I thought of Lilac – of her face when I’d seen her last. I had no idea what she’d look like now – if she was even still alive.
Daccia had asked where she was now. I breath:
“I wonder the same thing every day."
Daccia doesn't speak for a moment. He just breathes in, and then stares at me.
Finally, he murmurs: "We’ll find her, Allie – if she’s alive. If she isn’t, we’ll at least learn her fate. We’ll at least give you that closure.”
I blink. Is he serious?
Daccia continues:
“We're going to go to the med-bay right now and reactivate your implants. I need you to trust us, and for that, I have to trust you.”
Oh, Gods. The guilt swells up inside of me.
Daccia then promises: “We're going to take another sample of your DNA, so we can run it through our databases. I'm promise you, Allie – we’re going to do everything we can to find your sister."
If she's even still alive.
Suddenly, I don't know what to think. I know Daccia would do anything in his power to help me. But do I dare let him do this?
I’m ashamed to admit that part of me wants to accept that my sister is dead. It’s the only way I can move on. Part of me can't stand the never-ending pain of wondering if I'll ever see her again.
But that’s only one, small part of me. The rest of my being? It will never stop searching for Lilac. It will never want to let go of the pain. Letting go of my pain would be like letting go of her.
I realize suddenly that these three Law Enforcement agents were able to track me down, using their databases, and incredible investigative skills...
Surely, nobody else in the entire universe would be better equipped to find Lilac.
Think, Allie!
Yes, these three could be the key to finding your sister…
…or Daccia might be a fucking sociopath, who’s just manipulating you.
“Let’s get my weapons reactivated first,” I respond, ignoring his promise about my sister. I need to see through this man – and by reactivating my implants, he’ll have demonstrated how much he trusts me.
But even that show of faith worries me. This Aurelian has found the one person his triad were purposed to spend their thousands of years of life searching for – their Fated Mate. It was a one in a billion chance that we’d ever meet – one in ten billion.
Which means, Daccia might tell me anything just to manipulate me into staying with him and his battle-brothers. He has to.
Surely, he knows how slim the chances are that we’ll ever find my sister, or even a trace of her.
I can’t let his promise distract me from his ultimate goal – to keep me chained to him and his battle-brothers, metaphorically; if not literally.
Daccia wants me to be reliant on him – he needs me to be.
I’m a master manipulator – I can admit that. But men try to manipulate women in different ways. Daccia must think he’s pretty-fucking-clever to have found the one weak spot in my emotional armor. I now regret telling him about my little sister. I regret giving the alien warrior leverage he can use against me.
I must never forget that he’s my captor.
15
Daccia
The guilt keeps welling up inside of her.
Is it guilt for what she did? Or for what she’s planning to do?
There’s only one thing that’s certain. The key to this wild woman’s heart is her little sister. I can’t imagine the pain of losing my Fated Mate. It must be similar to losing one’s own family.
What would it be like, to have someone who is your very blood and soul?
We Aurelians are spawned in cryo-chambers. Only those bonded to their Fated Mates can produce natural-born sons, and then produce brothers for them. For the likes of Kitos, Hadrian and I, we are the closest thing we have to brothers.
To be related to somebody – born from the same mother – might be a Bond more powerful than even the one my triad forged in battle. The only chance I’ll ever have of a blood relative is through Allie. The only chance I’ll ever have of feeling true, familial love is through our mate…
…but I don’t trust her.
I can’t.
Yet, if restoring Allie’s hidden weapons takes us a step into the right direction, I’ll take it. She has no more reason to knock out our ship’s Orb-Drive. The lightning shock weapon in her right arm is enough to kill a fully-grown human male, but it would only stun an Aurelian briefly.
It might not be a good strategic move to arm her again – but strategy doesn’t matter when it comes to her safety. Now we’re Bonded, Allie will outlive us. We’ll be there by her side until the day we die, and
