Riley's Paradox, page 26
part #9 of Hearts of ICARUS Series
“I didn’t know that,” Percy said softly, his eyes glossy.
“I don’t think anyone did,” Win said. “That was the purpose of the shield ring. But I suspect that, despite the shield, her parents would have sensed at least some of the truth. They had to know that Riley was sad. That she was lonely. And that she had no friends. They don’t know the reasons for all of that as we do, and none of us is free to enlighten them. I’m fine with that because truly, they don’t need more to worry about.
“I’m telling you this because I want you to understand that to them, you are very important, Percy. I suspect that they will be just as grateful to you for being her friend as they will be that you fought at her side.”
“I thank you for explaining this to me, Win,” Percy said after a brief silence. “I will honor their feelings as I do Riley’s. And I shall of course come with you.”
“Thank you, Percy,” Wilder said, then stepped out of the cabin with Win and West right behind him. They all took another moment to breathe the fresh air before Percy spread his strange wings and rose high above Wilder, giving him room to shift. He then coasted above the three katrencas as they jogged slowly toward the Bearen’s home.
They could have run there in just a minute or two, but they jogged instead, taking their time, trying to prepare themselves mentally for whatever was coming. They still reached the Bearen’s home in just a few short minutes, and were surprised to find Clark Bearen waiting for them on the porch.
“Greetings, Clark,” Wilder said after they’d all shifted and Percy had landed on his shoulder. “I apologize if we kept you waiting.”
“No need,” Clark said, looking at the Lonyx, but saving introductions for when they were all inside. “We’re glad that you’re finally here. We nearly came after you in a faster ship a few times this past couple of weeks. We would have, too, if things weren’t so unsettled here.”
“Unsettled?” Win asked.
“I apologize,” Clark said. “It would be better to explain that later, after you’ve been filled in on a few other things.”
“Yes, Garen said much the same thing,” Wilder said as he climbed the steps up to the porch beside Clark and entered the house.
Once the greetings with Hope, Jackson and Rob were complete, Wilder gestured to Percy. “This is Riley’s friend, Percy. We promised him a place in our hunt.”
“We’re honored to meet you, Percy,” Jackson said. “We’re very happy to know that you’re a friend to our daughter. I assume you met sometime during the past year?”
“Yes, we did,” Percy replied.
“Please, let’s all sit first,” Hope suggested. After they were all seated, and after offering the Katre-Laus drinks, which were politely declined, Jackson turned to Percy again.
“Percy, we would like to know how you met, if you’re willing to share that with us.”
Percy hesitated before dipping his head in a nod. “It’s my understanding that you are the heads of planetary security for Jasan.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Jackson said, not bothering to share their official titles which, in this case, meant little.
“Then you will be aware that the main base of the black market originally begun by the Xanti many decades ago was discovered a few months past.”
“Yes, we’re aware of that,” Jackson said, intrigued. And a little confused. “The base location has not yet been officially disclosed, however.”
“I have made no oath of silence on the matter, so I can reveal that to you, if you like,” Percy said. Jackson nodded, as did Clark and Rob. “It’s in an enormous underground facility created by the Xanti on one of Rha’s three moons. The darkest one.”
Jackson smiled and shook his head. “That makes a lot of sense, actually.”
“Does it?” Percy asked curiously.
“Since Rha has little to no technology, there would be no way for your people to notice ships coming and going from a base on one of your moons. Especially if they used stealth procedures, which I’ve no doubt they did. Since invitations to Rha are practically unheard of, and there’s no skyport or spaceport, and since there are no other inhabited planets in that system, no one else would notice either. Do you know how it was discovered?”
“No, I’m afraid that I do not,” Percy replied.
“Please go on, Percy,” Jackson said.
“Riley was on the Reskate, the first ICARUS ship sent to begin returning the many prisoners held in the facility to their home worlds. I was one of those prisoners for a little more than a year and a half.”
Wilder flinched slightly, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, including Percy. “I’m sorry, Percy,” he said, looking down at the Lonyx on his shoulder. “We didn’t know that.”
“I had assumed Riley told you, but now I think of it, that was an illogical assumption to make. I did not ask her to remain silent on the matter, but Riley would still never tell another’s story without asking first.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” Wilder said. “Please continue, Percy.”
Percy turned his attention back to Riley’s parents and picked up where he’d left off. “My forest home had been burned and my tribe and family killed when I was abducted. While I was very happy to be freed, I had no home or family to return to. Knowing this, Riley invited me to remain with her as friend and companion. It was…,” Percy paused a moment, thinking. “It was the kindest and most generous thing anyone has ever done for me. I am honored to count her as my friend, and I will never stop searching for her, or those who took her. Never.”
“Thank you, Percy, for being such a devoted friend to our daughter,” Hope said thickly, ignoring the tears that wet her cheeks. “Riley has been very lonely for a long time. I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I am to know that she’s had you.”
“I thank you, Lady Hope,” Percy said quietly. “I too was lonely, and am forever grateful to have Riley as my friend.”
“Percy,” Jackson said, his voice a little hoarse, “We want you to know that from this day forward, our home is your home. No matter what, or when, you are welcome here. You are now a part of our family, just as Wilder, Win, and West are.”
“Thank you,” Percy said, stunned. “You do me great honor. I’m afraid I haven’t the words to express what this means to me. I see now where Riley’s kindness and generosity come from.”
Jackson smiled when Hope leaned up to kiss his cheek. After a moment he cleared his throat and looked up at Wilder. “We are grateful to you for aiding Riley and Percy on the skyport. We know Riley is your berezi, and yours to protect, but you have our gratitude nonetheless. We’re also quite happy to know that you’re Riley’s Rami. If we’d been able to pick a male-set for our daughter, we couldn’t have chosen better.”
Wilder, Win and West bowed their heads in thanks, but said nothing. Jackson had no trouble reading their body language though. “What happened to Riley, the Mau, and the four of you, was not your fault. Your guilt is unnecessary and unwarranted. That goes for you as well, Percy.”
“Thank you, Jackson,” Wilder said. Jackson nodded, understanding that, until they had Riley back safe and sound, her men would not rest easy. He couldn’t blame them for that, and, in truth, would have been disappointed otherwise.
“Have you been able to determine who sabotaged your ship?” Clark asked.
“Yes,” Win replied, then repeated the story they’d just told the Dracons. “Garen, Trey, and Val have agreed to deal with them for us when they reach Jasan in a few days.”
“It’s good you asked them to handle the matter,” Jackson said. “Otherwise, any chance of getting information from the man would vanish the moment he, or his hibernation tank, touches Jasani soil.”
“That’s why we asked that we not be told which ship he’s on,” Wilder admitted. “I care nothing for the man’s life, but any information he has should first be extracted and we would not have that much patience should we come face to face with him.”
“A wise decision,” Jackson said. “But one I doubt we would have been able to make in your place.”
“Had the man not been five days behind us, I’m not sure we would’ve been able to stick to our decision after witnessing the recordings,” Wilder said.
“There is another matter we must speak of,” Win said.
“Of course,” Jackson said.
“The three of us have been having the exact same dreams every night since we were removed from our life pods.”
“The same dream?” Jackson asked in surprise.
“Actually, there are four sequential dreams. But we’ve each had all four of them. Exactly.”
“That’s astounding,” Clark said.
“Astounding, but also extremely frustrating if you have no idea what they mean, which we don’t,” Wilder said. “We sent a request to the Dracons, asking for time to discuss the dreams with them as we’d never heard of anything like this happening before. When we told Prince Garen the subject of the dreams before coming here, he asked that we tell you.”
“And what is the subject of the dreams?” Clark asked.
“A small white cat with a pale blue tear drop on its forehead and turquoise eyes,” Wilder said. “We believe it’s Riley, or represents Riley. Each dream is different, but they all begin with the cat in a corridor lined with doors, in what we think is some sort of lab.”
“Dekara,” Jackson said, his face paling. He glanced quickly to Hope, as did Rob and Clark. She smiled sadly.
“It’s not a surprise,” she said. “We knew, or at least feared, this was coming.”
“Yes, we did,” Jackson admitted reluctantly. He caught the Katre-Lau’s surprise and nodded. “I know you’re probably already tired of hearing this, but we will explain, Wilder, and we’ll do so tonight. I promise. We ask that you hold off on telling us more about the dreams for now. I believe Rikki needs to hear them too, and there’s no sense in you repeating yourselves any more than necessary.”
“We understand, Jackson,” Wilder said, struggling to hide his impatience.
“We have one more thing to tell you,” West said. “This is about Rose.”
“You have information on Rose?” Hope asked as though she was unsure she’d heard right.
“It’s not much, and it’s indirect, but yes,” West said. “We’ve already told our Princes this. If you’d prefer to hear it from them, that’s fine, of course. Otherwise, we will tell you now.”
“We would hear it now, please,” Jackson said.
West nodded, then proceeded to tell them about the vox call between Rose and Riley. When he was finished, Wilder noticed that Hope and Rob appeared to be furious. But Jackson and Clark looked puzzled.
“What are you thinking, Jackson?” he asked.
“We all know that Gryphons can be highly volatile in certain situations, sometimes more than most Clans. Their tempers cool quickly though, and they always think carefully before making important decisions. It’s one reason why they’re so good at handling Klanaren investments and finances.
“If a Gryphon male-set were to say such things in the heat of the moment, during an argument for example, I wouldn’t be too surprised. But for them to be so blatantly and obviously insulting to their berezi several days after the fact is difficult to swallow. Especially given the fact that they didn’t know her, or even speak with her. In fact, now that I think about it, that doesn’t sound like something any mature Klanaren male-set would do.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Wilder said slowly. “I hadn’t given it a lot of thought with everything else that’s happened. But now that you’ve said that, it suddenly occurs to me to wonder why any male-set would put such words in writing.
“We didn’t know the male-set in question was Gryphon until Prince Trey mentioned it just before we came here. To be honest, if Riley had told us that, we might have questioned the incident then. That sounds like I believe Clan Gryphon to be better than the rest of our clans, but I assure you that is not my intention.”
“I understand your meaning, Wilder,” Jackson said. “And I agree with you. We will discuss this further with our Princes tomorrow.” Jackson turned to Clark. “I think it’s time to vox River House and let them know we’re on our way.” Clark nodded and tapped his vox.
Chapter 17
Kyrus Bearen awoke suddenly, startled by the overwhelming fear he sensed pouring from Rikki. He sat up and turned to watch her, noting that both Kasper and Kash were doing the same thing.
“Hope said she had bad dreams,” Kash whispered. “I had no idea they were this bad.”
“Neither did I,” Kyrus said. “We should have asked more about them.”
Rikki turned over one way, then back again. Her breathing sped up, and the rapid beat of the pulse in her neck told them how fast her heart was going. She bit her lip suddenly, cutting it more deeply than they’d witnessed before. Before they had a chance to react she did it again, splitting her lower lip wide open.
“Demii,” Kyrus swore, grabbing the bed sheet and pressing it to her mouth which was bleeding heavily. He was reaching for her shoulder, intending to wake her up when her eyes flew open. Even muffled by the sheet pressed against her lips, her scream was shockingly loud.
Kyrus dropped the sheet and pulled Rikki into his arms, his heart racing. Her eyes stared blankly, seeing nothing for long seconds. Finally, she blinked, focused, then her eyes filled with tears.
Kash and Kasper moved closer so that all three of them were touching her. The tears poured down her face for a few minutes before she was able to speak. “Remember the bad dreams I couldn’t remember?”
“Yes, of course,” Kyrus replied.
“I remember now. All of them.”
“Tell us, Rikki,” Kash urged, keeping his voice gentle with enormous effort.
“All of them are a little different from each other, but they’re also the same in some ways. There’s always a baby crying and screaming. I’m running and running trying to find it, but I never do. The whole time someone keeps calling my name, begging me to help, to find her baby.
“Whose baby?” Kyrus asked, already sure it had to be her friend, Suzen, but knowing she needed to tell this herself, at her own pace.
“It’s my sister’s baby,” she said, shocking all three of them. “They have Riley.”
“Who has Riley?” Kyrus asked.
“The same people who had me,” Rikki replied.
“That’s not possible,” Kyrus said. “Owens and all the rest are in custody, on their way back to Argon now. The lab you were held in is in the hands of the authorities now.”
“I know,” Rikki said. “I meant the Doftles, at another place that’s like the one I was in.”
“And they have Riley?” Kash asked.
“Yes, and I think…,” she paused, then shook her head. “I think they have Rose, too.”
Kyrus started to growl, but forced the urge down. Rikki didn’t need to deal with his anger at the moment. He exchanged looks with his brothers, then back to Rikki. “Come on, Corazia, you need to wash the blood off. Then we can talk.”
“Blood?” Rikki asked, looking down at herself in confusion. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood stained sheet. One hand rose to her face and she felt the stickiness on her mouth and chin. “What did I do?”
“You split your lip wide open,” Kyrus said calmly as he lifted her into Kasper’s arms.
“I’ve never done it that badly,” Rikki said, her voice shaking a little.
“Don’t worry, it’s healed now,” Kasper said, carrying her toward the bathroom.
“I can do this,” Rikki said. Kasper’s arms tightened around her for a brief moment, then he set her on her feet. They’d learned a few things about their berezi in recent days, and one of those things was that when she spoke in a certain calm, quiet tone, she meant what she said.
“Call out if you need anything,” Kasper said as she stepped into the bathroom and flipped the light on.
“I will,” she agreed, giving him a little smile. With the blood coating her chin and throat, it was a ghastly sight, but he smiled back anyway before pulling the door closed.
“Let’s get these sheets changed,” Kyrus suggested, climbing off the bed.
Glad to have something to do, Kasper went to the linen closet and grabbed a clean set of sheets while Kash and Kyrus stripped the bed. They worked in silence and soon had the task done. Kash rolled the stained sheets up in a ball and set them aside to deal with later.
Rikki came out of the bathroom without a trace of blood on her. She’d brushed her hair and pulled on her bathrobe, but there was something in her eyes that worried all three of them. Even knowing how she felt about being hauled around like a sack of laundry, Kash couldn’t stop himself from picking her up before she’d taken two steps into the bedroom. Between the blood and her screams, they were all a little shaken up. Rikki seemed to recognize that because she submitted it to it without a word.
Kash carried her over to the bed and handed her to Kyrus, who leaned against the headboard and held her across his lap. Then Kash and Kasper climbed onto the bed and closed the bed curtains around them.
“Tell us, Corazia,” Kyrus said in a low voice once they were all settled.
Rikki leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. “I don’t know how or why, but I feel like some sort of barrier has broken in my mind, letting me remember dreams I hadn’t even been aware of. Dreams of my sister in trouble and begging me for help for more than two weeks. I just couldn’t remember them.”
“How much do you trust the dreams?” Kash asked. Rikki gave her head a little shake, not sure what he meant exactly. “Do you think they’re completely prophetic?”
