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Chapter 83: Unbreakable and Unforgettable
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2021-02-26 05:28:10As they were leaving, they had been approached by a small contingent of Koln groups, carrying a small stone block between them. It had been carved, they explained, by a Koln who had once belonged to a stonemason, and on it, he had inscribed the names of the soldiers who had been killed in the attack. He had left a blank space in the center for more names to be added in the future, and from the tone in which they explained this, they seemed to expect that the names it would bear would be their own, but they seemed oddly proud of that fact.
“I have an idea for what should go in the center,” Ellis said.
If Mitch had thought that attacking the Koln shelter and training camp would deter any others from joining, he had been grossly wrong. Kolns from all over the galaxy were pouring in and there were a few protests from Zothean citizens, but their help was sorely needed. Zothea got a close-up look at what the Kolns were capable of and it shattered the stereotype t
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Leo was waiting for them when they arrived back at their secret house. "You're not going to believe this," he said. "But we've got a vid-call from Horace."“Mitch’s second in command, Horace?” Ellis asked. She was shocked. It was like getting a call from the devil himself, something improbable and alarming at the same time.“The very same,” Leo’s voice was grim.Ellis and Logan went into the office and sat down at the desk, side-by-side. A man's face filled the viewscreen set up on the desk's edge.“Logan,” the man said, giving a nod of greeting.Ellis felt a dart of anger that Horace had used Logan's name instead of his title. They were not close friends or family who could use his given name with impunity. Whatever this call was for, he was certainly starting it out with a jab of antagonism.“You have my leader’s son,” Horace said. “Return him to his father.”
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Ellis was seated at the office desk, grinding her way through the tedious paperwork that had backed up since the attack. Logan came in, his tail swaying playfully behind his head.“Family time!” he said. He beckoned her to rise and swept her up into his arms. He ticked her nose with the tip of his tail just to hear her giggle and then started down the hall.This was part of Logan's continuing efforts at "family time". He insisted they take frequent breaks throughout the day to play with the babies or just spend a little while cuddling together in their nest. She knew what he was doing. Part of it was that she needed the rest but wouldn't stop working simply for herself; if he posed it in terms of her family needing her presence, she couldn't say no. And the other part was that he was building memories ... just in case.The subject lingered in the back of their minds, shadowing every conversation, lending a desperate edge to every embrace. But they ne
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Dorian made it home in time for dinner and had some news."We've been wondering why Mitch has been so quiet. My sources are telling me that he's fallen apart over losing his mate and son and Horace has taken over command of the rebels. They're keeping him locked in the palace on the Capital because he's threatening to come here alone, if necessary, to retrieve the boy if you don't return him. I hate saying something like this, but Caroline's death was very fortunate for us. Right now, the rebels are in a state of confusion. No one knows who to back as the one to take over for Mitch. Horace would seem like the obvious choice but there were others whom Mitch relied upon more heavily and they're the ones pushing forward to take the lead.""With Mitch out of the picture, perhaps we should approach the interim leaders and see if we can negotiate any sort of truce," Leo suggested.“They will not respond. They have to stick with the rebellion or they will be puni
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“Ellis!” Logan shouted. “Come quickly!”Ellis was in the bathroom. She hurriedly finished and rushed out into the nest. “What is it? What’s wrong?”“Nothing. I don’t want you to miss this.” He stood and walked a few feet away from where Little Isabella was sitting on the floor.“Come to Daddy,” he said, crouching down and opening his arms. Lil Izzy pushed herself to her feet, using her tail for balance, and took a few wobbly steps forward before losing her balance and falling back onto her behind.Athena watched this turn of events with interest.Lil Izzy hauled herself upright and this time reached Logan, who swooped her up and planted kisses on her plump little cheeks.Ellis joined Logan and Izzy in their hug. Athena apparently felt left out and nonchalantly hauled herself to her feet and trotted over to them. Ellis squealed and picked them up, smothering her with kiss
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Perhaps he should have been surprised, but wasn't. Nin saw more than those eyes of hers. "I saw Mitch kill Ellis. He broke her neck before I could reach them." What Logan did not describe was the look of fierce joy that had been on Mitch's face as he twisted Ellis's head to the side with a sickening snap, an expression that made his bones feel like ice when he thought of it.“You do not have the gift of prophecy," Nin noted.Logan scrubbed a hand over his face. "I think I'm glad for that. I'm not sure I want to know what the future holds for all of us.""The price of our sins is to see those we love to suffer for them," Nin said. "I must tell you that I have failed in my duties by becoming emotionally attached. I should recuse myself, but I do not have the strength."“I want you to stay with her. I trust you and only you with her safety,” Logan urged.“So be it.”Nin was silent. Logan admired her stillness. In s
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“What happened?” he demanded.“A bomb. Likely a delivery this morning. Repeat what you told me,” Dorian ordered.“A package. A man brought it to the door right after breakfast. I didn’t think anything of it and left it on the table by the front door. I am so sorry!” He was terrified that the blame would fall on him.Logan placed his hand on the Koln’s shoulder. “To whom was it addressed? Don’t be scared and tell me.”The Koln’s voice was small. “The Empress.”If Ellis had opened it…“Describe the man who brought it.”“Scarred. Badly scared like he had been burned. Dark hair and average height. I don’t remember anything else.”- - - - -A few hours later, Logan returned to the temple's secret basement room and found Nin demonstrating to Ellis how to operate her staff, where to twist it in order to make
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Ellis shuddered. She had no clue what money this deranged woman was talking about.“And then I thought, I had a chance with Leo. If Logan died, he would be the next king. But that didn’t happen either!”Ellis remembered the day Nadia had come down the hall to bump into Leo, stinking to high heaven. “You thought if you didn’t bathe, your scent would be stronger and he would focus on you as a match,” Ellis commented.“What? Oh, yeah. That. It’s your fault that I couldn’t get him to notice me. He was mooning over you, thinking you were his mate and whatnot.”“You should have told me,” Bella tried to keep her voice mellow. “I would have helped you. I still can. We can get Leo to notice that you are his true mate.”Nadia bit out a laugh. “You wouldn’t help me. You don’t give a fuck about anything apart from yourself. But I don’t need your help. On
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When Ellis opened her eyes again, the woman was seated beside her once more. She didn't say anything and Ellis didn't either. She stared at the sketches instead.“Are you hungry?” the woman asked.“No, thank you,” Ellis said automatically.“Thirsty?”“Yes, I am.”Ellis heard liquid splash into a glass and the woman was at her side, slipping an arm beneath Ellis’s shoulders to hold her upright. “You almost died,” she said conversationally. She held the glass to Ellis’s lips and helped her take slow sips of water.Ellis almost wished she had. A black pall hung over her and she couldn't bring herself to care much either way. She understood how the Zotheans could die of grief. It was tempting just to lie back and wait for death to take her. As weak as she felt, it probably wouldn't take long.Logan… his name flitted into her mind.She could not go. If fo
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Technology had advanced, but Ellis and Cristine still waited for the day when they could travel to their timelines and see their parents for one last time. To ensure them that they weren’t in a hopeless state, dead or have run away from home.But the technology never allowed it. There were basic rules of the planet that couldn’t be breached.So, they plotted.Cristine had used all her free time to learn how to operate Zothean ships. She was adept at aeronautics and engineering and negotiation, so Ellis and Logan had leaned heavily on her in their negotiations. It could be said that the Empire was in a time of peace under their rule.One day, Cristine came up with the idea.“These jumpers travel to the universes all the time without breaking the fragment of the universe. The only rule is to not meet yourself or members of your own family after you have been pronounced dead, right?” she asked.Ellis nodded. “Yes,
The King's Brightest Star The Lesson Logan Must Learn [Part 4]
He hadn't seen her again until it was over until the city was in ruins and the palace itself was leveled to the ground. The underground city had been hit; Mitch must have known that Logan would try to send his family there. As he made his way to the ruins of the temple, he hoped and prayed that Ellis had disregarded his directions.So many had perished. So much had been lost.The Goddess lay back and propped her head on her hands as she looked up at the stars. "Perhaps someday, I'll show you Ellis's memories of it. She never told you the entire story of what she went through that day. I'll just say that she made me proud again for being so brave and resourceful."His mind was drawn back to the moment he had found Ellis in the rubble of the temple, his relief at finding her safe so deep and intense that he couldn't even form a proper prayer of gratitude.He had wanted to give her a shake when she told him of sending Laurel and the babies away in the escape
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Isabella drove out the Council members and the cameras, her manner so brisk and officious that no one dared question her, and shut the door firmly. She sat down beside Logan and drew him into her arms, just as she had done when he was a little boy and hurting from his parents' neglect. He was too large now to snuggle into her as he once had done, so he laid his head on top of hers and wrapped his tail around her arm."It can't have been him," he said. "It can't."She pulled back to look up into his face. Her eyes were soft with compassion. She said nothing. She didn't have to.Logan buried his hands in his hair and tugged. The pain was the only thing that felt real. But Isabella gently reached up and tugged his hands away. He wanted to scream, to attack something with his claws and shred it to bits. The pain was swelling within him to the point where he thought he might burst if he couldn't let it out in some way.Isabella pulled him back into her arms an
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He was twelve and Isabella had taken him to the market with her to buy herbs. Logan wandered over to the next stall, which sold jewelry. There was a set of jewels that his eyes kept being drawn back to as he examined the merchant's wares. It was a headband of red-black stones with a matching bracelet and ring.He imagined giving that set to his mate. Would she squeal in delight the way his mother did when his father presented her with jewels? Would she throw her arms around him and press her mouth to his? (The latter Logan thought was a bit disgusting, but Micheal had said humans liked "kissing.")Last night, he'd asked Micheal, his voice low and shy, for this question meant much to him: "Micheal, what will my mate be like?" He knew she'd likely be human. Though Earth had been one of the later additions to the database, the majority of their matches now came from its people."She will be the most beautiful creature you've ever seen," Micheal said, and his eyes t
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Despite Laurel's reassurances, Ellis didn’t leave Logan’s side until the doctor arrived. Laurel held her, gently stroking Ellis's back, murmuring soft, soothing nonsense."He has it, doesn't he?" Ellis asked the doctor after he'd run his reader over Logan's prone body. Logan's tail twitched at the sound of her voice, but he didn't react otherwise. He mumbled unintelligible words."Yes, Empress, he does," the doctor said. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were kind."Oh, my God," Ellis whispered. Hopelessness set in."There's no reason to panic," the doctor said firmly. "As long as we can keep his fever under control and keep him hydrated, he will be fine. Zotheans rarely die from this."It was all reassurance.Ellis nodded. She knew that. Logan had explained it to her when the outbreak first began, and the talk videos said the same. Just like the human common cold, there was no cure for it, and it simply had to run its course. Bu
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The king brought Izzy breakfast in bed the next morning. She sat up groggily and accepted a cup of tea. She had to admit being impressed by his courtesy and thoughtfulness. She really needed the tea. She had stayed up late into the night and was no closer to an answer than she had been when she first lay down.She spent the day with the king, taking him to see some of Zothea's museums and cultural institutions. She was pretty sure that it was Drake who was following them all day. Once, she saw him duck behind a tree, and a tail with light hair poked out to the side. The bodyguard knew that Drake wasn't a threat and the king's bodyguard seemed to have decided to ignore him. The king, for his part, seemed to agree with them and didn't question the very large man trying to hide behind fence posts, but it made Izzy's heart ache. If the king was the one she chose, this would be Drake's life, lurking on the periphery of hers.The king was as he described himself: easy to get
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Drake was already gone when Izzy and Ellis came back to the dining room and her heart ached that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to him, but maybe Micheal and Isabella had decided that Izzy would only get more upset. She gnawed on her tail as they passed through the room to where the king was waiting for her in the hallway outside. He had been seated on a bench and he stood politely when she joined him. Another of his kind stood behind him, his skin as green as the forest leaves."This is my bodyguard," he offered. The bodyguard in question ignored Izzy, but sized up her female bodyguard and apparently wasn't impressed with what he saw."Follow me," Izzy directed. The king walked down the hall beside her and Izzy noticed that she was at least a foot taller than he was.She arrived at her nest room to find that all of Drake's things had been cleaned out already and she felt a piercing ache in her heart. She sat down on a cushion beside her table, despondent.
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Logan put out an announcement that tonight would be a state dinner and so the temple dining room was packed with people, all of them speculating as to the cause. He and the empress rarely had them and when they did it was usually for a special announcement. The last had been to announce the empress was expecting Prince Edward and the one before that, to announce that Nessie was being appointed to the emperor's Council.Izzy ate mechanically. She wasn't hungry, but Aunt Cristine was right: she had to make sure the baby got what it needed. Drake was alight with excitement and impatient for the meal to end. The entire extended family was seated around the table, all of them wearing their finery. Her mother wore the glow stone tunic she'd worn to her own mating ceremony and Aunt Laurel was dressed in a purple tunic so bright that it hurt the eyes to look at it. Leo kept flirtatiously tickling Cristine's neck with his tail and then looking away innocently whenever she looked up fr
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"I saw a doctor less than an hour ago." Izzy unwound her tail from her leg with effort and gnawed on the end of it anxiously.Her father stood and without a word, headed for the door."Daddy, wait, please!" Nessie pleaded. "I'm so sorry! Talk to me.""I can't." Logan's eyes were on the door and his tail lashed in either agitation or anger; she couldn't tell which."Please," Izzy pleaded. "I need to know what you're thinking. Do—do you still love me?""Of course, I do," Logan said tightly. He twisted the doorknob."Don't leave," Izzy begged."Sweetheart, your father just needs a little time," Ellis interjected. "Let him go, and we'll all talk over this later."Goddess, didn't her mother understand that her anxiety was increasing exponentially every moment? She wouldn't survive a wait of a few hours. "Daddy… please.""You want to know what I'm thinking?" Logan turned from the door and marched back to stand in
