Blue solace complete ser.., p.101
Blue Solace: Complete Series Boxset, page 101
Draif shifted around so he could see Lucas’s face. “We don’t talk a lot about it, but do you miss your parents?”
Lucas dipped his head and pressed a kiss to Draif’s lips. “Yes. I don’t think on them too much anymore, but anytime I do, there’s a sharp pain in my heart. I think about what Dad would say to me being a lieutenant. He wanted me to go to a big university and be a doctor or something equally impressive. Then I wonder if Mom would complain because I don’t have kids yet. I know she would like you though. That I don’t have to think too hard on.”
“I think your dad and mom would both be proud of you. How could they not? You’re… you. You work hard and care about people. You’re patient and sweet. You don’t have an ego the size of the station, even though you should. You’re just Lucas. I can’t think of any other way to say it.”
Lucas grinned. “I’m glad you don’t know my flaws yet.”
“You snore and steal the covers. You always skip out on your turn to clean the commons, and Ned ends up doing it. You like to gossip and poke your nose into everyone else’s business. Also, let’s not forget, you buy exotic pets without thinking about who will take care of them.”
Lucas gasped. “Chutney practically takes care of Honey for us.”
Hearing her name, Honey looked at them from where she was perched on top of one of the bedposts. Chutney had somehow managed to fit on top of another, while Marmalade hadn’t even tried. Draif’s cat was sleeping at the foot of the bed.
“Yes, well, Chutney may be getting married soon.” Draif gestured to the side of the bed. Bonbon lay on the floor, watching Chutney lovingly.
Lucas chuckled. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.”
“Black herons,” Draif said suddenly.
Lucas gave Draif a puzzled look. “Huh?”
“Dottie said I reminded her of a black heron. All this talk of animals made me remember that.” Draif typed it into his tablet, and the data cube lit up.
Dottie’s face projected above the small square disk. “Hey kiddo. If you’re getting this, then I probably didn’t make it off Vextonar.”
“Oh, Dottie,” Draif said, eyes filling with tears.
“There are a few things I want to tell you. First, I’ve included information on the rest of my contacts of the shady variety. These are people who can get you any information you want for the right price. They’re good folks. They just have a stretchy moral code.”
A list of names and contact information loaded to Draif’s tablet.
“That’s a lot of people,” Lucas said, eyes widening.
Draif nodded. “Dottie knew everyone. Even if they never made it to Vextonar, she would seek them out.”
“Now that’s out of the way, it’s time I told you something that’s been weighing heavy on my mind for years. I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time, but it hurts so damn much. Kiddo, your mom was a good friend of mine. She traveled often with that asshole Prime that owned her, and I met her on one of their trips.”
Draif’s eyes watered. “She never said anything about my mother.”
“Gretchen was a good person, Draif. She was beautiful on the outside, but she was so much more than that. She had a mind like a trap and a will made of pure thitetium. She was born into a caste she could never escape, but she was more than some rich Prime’s bed-slave. Just like you are more than the son of a bed-slave. More than Leti’s best friend. More than a captain of Charybdis Station.”
Lucas swallowed hard, blinking away tears. She knew his mate well.
“I was there the first time Gretchen held you in her arms. It took a damn miracle to get into the house and then her room, but I did it. Draif, I wish you could remember the look on her face. She fell in love with you in an instant. She cared for your father, but you, kiddo, you were the love of her life.”
Dottie’s bright smile dimmed, and her eyes filled with pain.
“When you were a couple of years old, I finally worked my way into a higher position at the spaceport. I finally had the resources to get you both off Vextonar. My plan… My plan failed. Gretchen was caught, and her master killed her. I thank the gods every day you don’t remember it. You were too young, but I remember seeing the blood everywhere.”
Draif was stiff in Lucas’s arms. He stroked a hand through Draif’s hair and hugged him tightly.
“After that, I shut down for a while. I couldn’t bear to see you, knowing I had failed you both so horribly. Then, one day, this boy struts into my spaceship to pick up a package for his master. I became your friend, and I love you as much as I did your mother.
“I wish I had told you sooner. There are so many stories I could tell you about her. I’ve written down a lot of my memories of her and included all the pictures I have. It’s not enough. I should have been stronger, and for that, I am so sorry.”
Files started downloading on Draif’s tablet, and one picture caught Lucas’s eye. A beautiful brown-skinned woman with wild black hair grinned up at him. The dark rosettes of the Wello species lined the sides of her face, and her black eyes danced with mischief and intelligence.
“She looks just like you,” Lucas whispered.
“As far as your father goes, I only met him once or twice. It was Leti that really brought him to my attention. I know Leti offered to find your father many times while you lived on Vextonar. Leti told me you refused each time.
“That doesn’t mean that Leti didn’t find him anyway. Leti hired an investigator to keep track of him because he wanted to have the information ready just in case you decided you wanted to know more. When this latest shitstorm of the Primes started, Leti asked me to arrange for your father and his family to go to Charybdis Station.
“I couldn’t save Gretchen, but I’m glad I was able to help you and Leti. I’m glad I was able to help your father. I hope you can forgive me.”
Draif’s body shook with his sob.
“I love you, Draif, as much as I do my own Lacey and Abe. I’m proud of the man you’ve become, and I wish I could be there to see you take on the galaxy. You’ll do amazing things, Draif Ando, and I don’t just mean take down Humans First. You’re my black heron, and you’ll have the galaxy at your feet in no time.”
Dottie’s face disappeared, and Draif dropped the tablet, turning around to bury his face against Lucas’s neck.
Lucas wiped away his own tears and held his mate as he cried.
After a while, Draif’s tears slowed and silence filled the room.
“Your mom was murdered,” Lucas said.
“By Harrison Goel.”
“What? Goel was your former master?”
“I didn’t want anyone to know. I was afraid they would think I was using this for revenge or something. That’s how Beldon first saw me. Cortez is Goel’s neighbor. Apparently, he had his eye on me for a while before I was sold to the compound.”
“Draif, I can almost guarantee no one would have thought badly of you.”
“He’s right.” Bendix’s voice came from the open door.
Honey hissed and let out a tiny stream of fire.
“Bendix!” Lucas scowled. “What the fuck, man?”
“The door was open. If you wanted privacy, you should have shut it.” The bed shifted as Bendix sat. “Anyway, I doubt anyone would have thought you were making things up just for revenge. Fuck, you have enough money to order a hit on the man yourself.”
Draif wiped his nose on his sleeve. “It’s not important to the mission. I’m glad he’ll die, but he didn’t just murder my mother. He’s done so much worse.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t envy Doris,” Bendix said grumpily. “She’s the one assigned to Goel.”
“I’ll send her some names,” Draif said. “Most of the servants and slaves are probably still there. Cook would love to see Goel die. She hates him almost as much as me.”
“Why?” Lucas asked.
“Goel liked the looks of her daughter. He made her his bed-slave, then traded her off to a friend when he got tired of her. Cook can’t contact her at all.”
“Fuck slavery,” Bendix said.
Lucas could hear the snarl in his voice even if he couldn’t see it. “We can talk to Fasi in the morning. It’s a good idea to let him know, just in case it comes up.”
“Okay,” Draif said, looking drained. “Bendix, go stalk someone else. It’s bedtime.”
“I want to see what kind of bindings you two use.”
“Out!” Lucas pointed at the door, trying not to laugh.
“You two are no fun.”
Chapter 16
A week later, Draif smiled and waved at Gary the janitor as Enforcement carried him away. Pops and Lucas stood on either side of him.
“Alright, folks,” Pops said, waving to the group of engineers behind him. “Collect all the cleaning bots and let’s start tearing them apart.”
“I can’t wait to watch this station burn,” Gary yelled, struggling against the Enforcement officers. “You’ll all hurt, just like your filthy Lord Admiral.”
“Hi, Gary,” Fasi said, walking past the struggling man.
Draif ignored Gary’s loud curses and focused on Fasi. “I bet there are a lot of people happy to see you out of the house.”
“Why do you think I’m late? Everyone kept stopping me.”
“It’s your own fault, Lord Admiral,” Councilwoman Holli said. “You’ve made our people love you.”
The remaining Enforcement officers finished sweeping the conference room and left while everyone took their seats.
“Alright,” Fasi said. “I’ve enjoyed the vacation, but it’s time to get back to work. Sheiria is about a third of the way to Beton, and Cas is two weeks from Tammol. They’ll start working with the other forces to plan their attacks.”
“Hack is about a week from Genarg,” Finn said. “The scouts there have eyes on the Queen and Earth. They aren’t doing much, but at least they’re on the planet.”
Fasi looked around the table. “Bendix and Draif have asked my permission to put Half Moon assassins in place to kill Humans First’s leadership.”
Draif leaned back, watching the Council’s discussion. It would happen even if he had to pay another assassin guild himself.
“It won’t look good that we hire an assassin to solve our problems,” Councilwoman Jalina said. “We’re just asking for retaliation.”
“It does set a bad precedent,” Councilman Mitchell added.
“What if we weren’t sending assassins?” Fasi said thoughtfully. “What if we were sending covert operatives?”
“We aren’t technically at war with Humans First,” Councilwoman Rundell said. “We’ve tried to stay off their radar so far. Not that we’re any good at that.”
“When they attack us, and they will, we will be at war with them.” Fasi said.
The Council members looked at one another, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of using Half Moon.
Draif leaned forward. “How about this? You all vote to make Half Moon its own division within Charybdis, and Bendix puts his people in place. When Humans First attacks, we declare war and give Bendix the go ahead.”
Councilman Delino grinned. “I like the way you think. Bendix can go ahead and put his people in place while we do the paperwork. The timing needs to be just right. If their leadership is taken out during their attack, you can bet that will hobble them. It doesn’t matter that the big four are in other systems. They’re the ones paying the salaries and giving the orders.”
“That I can stand behind,” Councilwoman Jalina added, nodding. “Bendix, will your Guild Master agree to it?”
“Yeah. We’ve already talked about the ways he is willing to integrate with Charybdis Station. I’ll have a chat with him tonight, but I’m sending Half Moon out tomorrow morning. This is our home too, and we will protect it.” He looked at Draif. “Goel and the others will die by our hands no matter what you decide.”
Fasi nodded, snarling. “I understand and fully support that statement. Everyone, let’s figure out how to make this shit work.”
Later that day, Draif watched his crew spar in the Blue Fleet’s training compound. The other crews had been surprised to see them there, and Draif knew they watched him closely, curious about the bed-slave turned captain.
Reed brought his crew to the mats beside them and nodded at Draif. “Ignore the stares, Draif. They’ll get used to you soon enough.”
Draif gave him a half-smile, then tried to focus on his crew. Anders and Crimson worked together against Ned and Alex. Normally, he would watch them closely and call out suggestions, but Draif’s skin itched all over, and his mind couldn’t seem to concentrate.
All those months of planning, and now that events were progressing, life decided to get complicated. Draif understood people—their motives and behavior could be deciphered with a little researching and contemplation. When it came to his own feelings though, he was useless.
The only thing he was certain of was that he loved Lucas with every shred of his being. As for his father, stepmom, and stepsiblings? He was tangled mess of pain, jealousy, and aching love.
They had tried to help him, and for that, he was appreciative, but Sybil and her children hadn’t been sold to a bed-slave training compound. They hadn’t been sexually abused, then permanently maimed.
His thoughts on Dottie and her secrets weren’t any easier to understand. He wished she would have told him about his mother before. There had been a time he would have killed for a picture of the woman.
At the same time though, his heart swelled at the thought that Dottie had loved him. She had seen more in him than any other person except Leti.
Oh, Leti. He had asked Dottie to help Draif’s father without knowing anything about the man. Draif didn’t know what to think. Should he be mad Leti made that decision? Should he be happy his family was safe? Honestly, he felt a little of both.
It had been a week since he’d spoken to his best friend, his brother. He knew Leti was starting to get frustrated that Draif kept avoiding his calls and ignoring his messages, but he didn’t know what to say yet.
A blast of fire scalded the wall above Draif’s head, and Draif jumped.
“Captain, why aren’t you paying attention to us?” Alex and the others lined up in front of him, all looking concerned.
“You haven’t said anything about my kicks,” Ned said, hands on his hips.
Draif laughed hard. “I’m sorry. My head isn’t where it needs to be. Anders, will you take over?”
The large man nodded. “Sure thing, Captain. Maybe you should hunt down Lucas? He was going to the engineering district with Tae.”
Draif could certainly use Lucas right now, but he didn’t want to pull his mate away from work every time he felt upset. He’d deal with this on his own.
“Uh, Draif. I mean, Captain Ando.” Finn strode across the Blue Sector’s training room.
Draif hid a smile and saluted. “Blue Lieutenant. How can I help you?”
Finn’s ears twitched, and he looked extremely guilty. “General Hackett ordered me to sit you down to talk with Leti. He doesn’t like it when his mate gets upset.”
Draif groaned. “Damn it. I need some time.”
“I’m so sorry.” Finn turned his tablet around. Leti’s green eyes glared at him from the screen.
“What the peanut butter fudge, Draif? I’ve called you a million times!”
Draif rolled his eyes. “You only called thirty-four times.”
“Why didn’t you answer?”
Draif rubbed his hands through his hair. “My father arrived a week ago.”
Leti squeaked, his hands going to his cheeks. “What is he like? Is he a selfish, cowardly jerk or is he a tragically misunderstood older version of you?”
A hoarse laugh escaped him. “He’s neither. He’s just a man with a family.”
“He really did move on?” Leti’s lip trembled, and his eyes watered.
“No. He found his life mate, and they worked together to save money. They wanted to buy me, Leti. They had a Draif fund.”
Leti wiggled in place, then spun around, squealing. “He’s a good man! Oh, Draif. That means you have another father. I need to check with Pops and Fasi to make sure they know you still love them. You know how they get.”
“Pops and Fasi are your fathers, Leti. Not mine.”
Leti’s eyebrows rose. “I’m telling them you said that.”
The screen went blank.
“Damn it.” Draif scowled at Finn. “That wasn’t how I wanted that conversation to go.”
Finn shrugged and tucked his tablet under his arm. “Yet, here we are. At least it’s over. Don’t think I didn’t notice you’ve been on edge this week.”
Draif sighed, then turned back to his crew. The four men stood there watching him.
“Back to work! Anders, you know better than to let your guard down when Crimson’s on the ground. Just because he’s down, doesn’t mean he’s out of the fight. Ned, I swear to the gods, your legs aren’t noodles, so put some power behind those kicks. Alex, if you shoot fire at me again, I’ll put you on cleaning duty for the next year.”
The men whooped as they went back to the mats, and Draif lost himself in training for another hour.
Then they came.
Fasi, Pops, and Leander made an interesting picture as they strode across the training room. The two hulking Grell and the tiny Wello man all wore identical disgruntled expressions.
The other soldiers and captains of the Blue Fleet stopped training and watched the Lord Admiral, faces curious.
“Draif.” Fasi practically growled his name. “Explain to me why Leti told me you think Pops and I aren’t your fathers?”
Draif groaned. “Because you two aren’t my fathers. I get that you’ve adopted Leti, but I’m not Leti.”
“No, you’re not,” Fasi said, confused. “You’re Draif – a tenacious and skilled man with an underdeveloped sense of worth.”
“You’re our Draify loo,” Pops said, shaking his head. “We love you, and you’re our son as much as you are Leander’s.”
“It’s true, Draif,” Leander said. “These two men have spent the past week telling me about all your accomplishments and how proud they are of you. They’ve also told me how they’ve worried about you settling in and adjusting to life as a free man. We are all three your fathers, young man!”
