Page 31 of Lacey's Warriors

Her heart stuttered as he frowned at her, his silver and green eyes glinting oddly. “Do not be afraid, Lady Lacey. I mean you no harm. My name is Wythe mal’Trien. My Matriarch sent me to rescue you.”

“Rescueme? From what?” She struggled at her bonds. “You didn’t rescue me, you kidnapped me!”

“I’m afraid I had to. It is the best way to protect you and your mates.” He tilted his head to the side, a small smile crinkling the corner of his mouth. “The resemblance between you and your mother and daughter are strong.”

Panic seared her from the inside out, and she bared her teeth as she snarled, “How do you know about my mom and daughter?”

He raised his large hands, his whole posture softening. “Easy, my Lady. You have nothing to fear. I serve your mother, Lady Tara Taylor. She is my Matriarch.”

The bottom of her stomach dropped out, and Lacey had to swallow the saliva suddenly filling her mouth. “Say what?”

“I serve your mother as one of her personal bodyguards and head of her household guard on Kadothia. Your mother is bonded to two fine Kadothian Warriors, and together they rule a large and profitable Territory in the Cliffs of Goeth Region.” His firm lips quirked, and a dimple appeared in his cheek. “Though, do not tell her that. She does not like being referred to as a ruler. She insists she was born with a tin spoon, not a silver one, in her mouth.”

Choking on her laughter through her tears, Lacey nodded. “Yep, that sounds like my mom.”

Hesitantly moving a little closer, Wythe gave her a weary look before he said, “If I release you, do you promise not to attack me? Lady Tara said you would attempt to pummel my buttocks into next week.”

An edge of hysteria colored her giggles as she said, “I think you mean ‘kick your ass into next week’.”

“Yes, that is it. Will you promise not to attack me?”

“Prove to me that my mom sent you.”

He smiled, his sharp jawline becoming even more defined. “Of course. She left a message for you.”

Wythe gestured to the far wall and Lacey began to cry as her mother, looking like a woman who was barely thirty instead of forty-four, and dressed like some lavish sci-fi Queen, assured Lacey that she was okay. Tara went on to explain that, before Lacey was abducted, Phin and Karwin, two Kadothian Warriors, had begun to court Tara back on Earth. She didn’t go into a lot of detail, but Lacey let out a heartbroken sob as Jillian joined her grandmother on the big screen, her normally bouncy curls dyed a soft baby pink that set off her sparkling brown eyes. She wore a lovely yellow and orange dress and had some kind of furry white and blue animal that resembled a squirrel and a rabbit held in her arms.

“Mommy!” Jillian shouted, holding her pet toward the camera. “I got amellopper,and his name is Daniel, and he’s six months old. He’s tiny now, but like me, he’s gonna get big. Someday he’ll be big enough that I can ride him like a horse!”

For the next five minutes Jillian talked in a non-stop stream, filling Lacey in on all the things she’d missed. While being away from her baby sucked, Jillian would always leave her video messages in her email telling her mom about every aspect of her day. When Lacey was deployed, she’d lived for those messages from her daughter, and Lacey loved to record them. She was a bit of a ham, and very talkative.

Tara gave the camera a wry smile before she kissed the top of Jillian’s head and cut off her stream of chatter by saying, “Why don’t you take Daniel back to his Mommy, sweetheart? I bet he’s getting hungry.”

“Okay,” Jillian chirped before turning the full power of her adorable smile on the camera. “I miss you, Mommy. Please come home soon, okay?”

As Jillian scampered off screen, Tara watched her go with a fond smile before turning back to the screen. “There is much I cannot tell you right now, my love, but you can trust Wythe. We need to get you home to Kadothia as quickly as possible. Please don’t fight him, even if he can be a bit of a know-it-all and Mr. Bossy Britches. Reminds me of old man Evans down at the mechanic’s shop. He’s a pain in the ass, but I wouldn’t take my car anywhere else.” Her mom’s now unlined and bright eyes began to fill with tears. “I have been so worried about you, Lacey. I love you so, so much, baby. I’ll see you soon.”

Lacey’s breath came out in hitching sobs as she wrapped her arms around herself, realizing she was free of whatever had kept her restricted. Leaning forward, she startled for a moment as Wythe rubbed her hunched over her back. His touch was comforting, but her heart ached as she wished Gwarnon and Chel were there, even as she rejoiced that her mom and daughter were safe.

“One moment, my Lady,” Wythe said as he removed his hand, then a moment later handed her an absorbent hanky of bright teal cloth. “Here. Dry your tears. We are almost to Kadothia and Jillian would…what is the term Lady Tara uses? Jillian would freak out if she sees you crying. She is a sensitive and empathetic little girl. In fact, she has a drop of your gift, though like most human women, she uses it intuitively rather than consciously.”

“My gift?” Lacey scrubbed her face then stood, stretching out her stiff muscles as anticipation filled her.

“You are what we call adimilation. I will give you a moment to research the word.”

Lacey was already doing just that, her mind absorbing the knowledge of what adimilationwas, and what a Matriarch could do with such a power. There was a treasure trove of knowledge on the subject, but she briefly skimmed it. Basically, her gift allowed her to project her emotions onto others. The emotions would leave her like invisible waves, rippling out to affect those around her, making them feel what she was feeling.

Wythe interrupted her research by moving to the control panel, the black of his Warrior’s uniform gleaming in the low lighting. “Like every gift, there are degrees of strength, and little nuances that make it individual to each Matriarch. The weak give off just a general aura, the kind that could suddenly put a person into a bad or good mood depending on how the Matriarch is feeling. The strong…” He glanced up at her, leaving no doubt that he was talking about Lacey. “The strong are so powerful, it is speculated they could breech the shields of even the Hive itself. We believe that is what happened with you. What were you thinking about at the very end of your fight in the arena? When the Hive was in your mind?”

Pressing a hand to her stomach, her gut churned as she briefly remembered her time spent in the vortex of evil souls.

“I…” She hesitated, not wanting to divulge her entire experience to a stranger. “Don’t remember much.”

Wythe gave her a look that clearly said he knew she was full of shit. “Whatdoyou recall of your battle with the Hive?”

“At the end, when I was sure I was going to die, I thought about my family and how much I loved them.”

Wythe’s hands stilled over the controls as he studied her face and murmured, “And you love them very, very much.”

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