Page 47 of Forbidden Desires

“You and I have gone through hell together,” Amelia told Zylar. There were witnesses, but she didn’t care. “I don’t know if I told you, that I love you today or how deep my love goes. You own my heart, my soul. There is no Amelia without Zylar and I never plan to let you go. If you try to leave me, I’ll be clinging to your leg, refusing to let you leave alone. It sounds kind of stalker-ish, but me without you is nothing.”

“Amelia, you are my flower. You brought the sun to my life and gave me a reason to go on when I was losing all hope. I can’t imagine a minute lived without you. Wherever you go, I will follow. There is no Zylar without Amelia.”

“You know what we have to do next?” she asked her mate.

“He’s done too much. One day we will defeat the Tan-ge. Today, we start with one of its rulers.”

“Vexar,” Amelia said. She had known his name, but was sworn to secrecy. It felt like she’d been scared to secrecy with death as the consequence. She’d been there and done that.

“Strap in,” Zylar said. He took Amelia to the chair next to his while her cousins and his cousins took seats in the back. When she went to protest, he kissed her and then made sure she was strapped in.

“Are we prepared for takeoff?” Zylar asked. When he got the affirmative, he spoke with the ship and the doors to the hangar rose. He lifted the shuttle with a light touch and soon they were out in space.

Amelia was stiff. She felt tension radiating from Zylar and couldn’t find a reason for it. Unless he was thinking about the last time Vexar attacked them in the shuttle. Should that be something she was prepared for? It could happen. She sat, her nails drumming against the console until Zylar engaged the automatic pilot.

“We should be fine for a while. I’ll take it back over when we get close to the atmosphere of the Earth and the gravity pull.”

“Perfect, now tell me what’s wrong?” Amelia undid the contraption holding her into her seat and turned around to face her mate, one leg curled into the seat, the other one on the floor with her foot tapping.

“We’re not on the Earth and we’re outside the ship. This is where we are most vulnerable.”

“Explain.” Amelia was mulling his words over. Why would this be where they were the weakest? Stacey came for her in her cousin’s house.”

“He,” Zylar avoided saying his name like he might pop in at any second. “Has a connection with you. In space, you’remore vulnerable, and it would be easier for him to follow the connection and try to kidnap you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“He didn’t see you as valuable back then. Now you’ve not only defeated the female you were fighting, but you died and you’re here to talk about it.”

“Won’t he see you the same way?”

“No, what he wants to know are the strengths and weaknesses of the humans. They’ve given up on controlling our planet.Now that we have compatible females, it will make it harder for them to succeed. If they can stop you or your females, they can hurt us as well as take your planet.”

Hadn’t they all been through enough? The Tan-ge needed to be stopped, and she was the only person she knew with the ability to bring them to a halt or slow them down.

“I don’t like that look, and you’ve shut me out. Whatever happens, we do this together. No one needs to be a Lone Ranger. It was a concept he picked up on Earth.”

“The Lone Ranger,” Amelia mused. “I was so happy to see you in my death. Did you know that my heart broke to see you there? To know that I took you with me. You heard everything that happened, and I surmised you felt it also.” Amelia wrapped her arms around herself.

Would distance save him? She didn’t know, but it would save her cousins and his. She wouldn’t protect herself by sacrificing them.

“Zylar…” The shuttle rocked.

“Strap in and hold on to something. We’ve been targeted by the Tan-ge vessel,” Zylar called out while making sure Amelia was strapped in.

“Do you need help?” Rakha called out.

“Weapons.” Rakha unbuckled and made his way to the chair on the side of the weapons station.

“Tan-ge?” Rakha asked as he strapped into the chair and brought the gunsight up.

“They want Amelia,” Zylar said.

“Don’t assume. They could want any of them or all of them. Amelia is the logical deduction.”

As far as Zylar was concerned, she was the only deduction. They had been working on her before they went after Bella. It was so convenient that her uncle was terrorizing her. Her relationship with Bella and Jenna made her the perfect target. There was no way they were going to pass her up.

Rakha targeted the ship and fired. When he did, ten other ships de-cloaked.

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