I do not know this female as I thought I did. And drekk me, but there may be no way to save her.
Except to walk away, tell Galactic Intelligence that the leads were false and we must seek information elsewhere.
Protecting her means betraying who I am and the people I’m sworn to protect.
My control slips and I give in to the frustration and anger when I slam my fist against a wall. Pain travels down my hand to my arm, a welcome sensation as it wakes me to my path. Even if she refuses to recognize who I am to her, Noelle is my sholani, and that means I must do whatever it takes to protect her, even from my mission.
Before I can consider how to do that, four males I do not recognize leave the warehouse, carrying sacks of toys intended for the younglings. They hurry away, watching the shadows as they escape with their bounty.
A moment later, Noelle slinks into the shadows and follows.
They will see her as a threat.
Quickly, I pursue her, taking care not to alert the thieves to her or my presence, at least not until I reach Noelle.
They board a boat on The Allegheny River, where a fifth man waits at the stern, hand resting on a mooring line. He doesn’t see my sholani approach from behind until it’s too late. With one punch to the man’s face, he drops. She catches the unconscious male and silently sets him on the dock, then boards and takes out two more men in similar fashion.
Noelle can take care of herself, but her skills surpass what someone would gain merely by surviving Earth’s post-occupation struggles. She has training. Precise. Deadly.
This is how the Brotherhood will reclaim Earth. Not through the blasters they steal from some hidden breach in Galactic intelligence’s security, but through their people. Innocents who believe they are fighting for something good. The Brotherhoodpreys on those drowning in need or pain, twisting their beliefs with promises of a better future, manipulating them until they can no longer see what they’ve become.
Her brother. Noelle lost her brother to violence. That was the wound the Brotherhood exploited to indoctrinate her. I’ve seen strong people break for far less.
“Greg?” one of the remaining two males calls out. When his team doesn’t answer, he and the other male circle the boat, closing in on my female.
I race from beneath the cover of the overhead bridge and am about to launch myself at the males, knock them both in the water, when Noelle does precisely that. She dodges the male’s blow and uses the force of his attack to send him flying over the side of the boat. The splash is the last thing I hear before I dodge behind a pallet on the dock. She’s already knocked the last male unconscious.
In as much silence as she arrived, Noelle roots through the sacks and removes three small boxes, all wrapped in brown paper with red and white striped symbols on them… the same as the candy she and Donna handed out to the younglings who came for toys.
When my sholani leaves with the three boxes, abandoning the sacks of toys, my heart sinks. This is not the female I fell for, even before realizing she is my sholani. She’s been using the children, the toys, and The Black and Gold Elves as her cover to move blaster parts for the Brotherhood. The truth is, she’s been using everyone… including me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOELLE
After I re-wrap the last of the blaster parts those asshole thieves stole, I toss them and the rest of my candy-cane pile into a sack on which I’ve clearly marked my name and written ‘Not for distribution’ on it, so no one mistakes these as gifts again, thieves or staff. I can’t afford to lose even a single part.
I lost at least fifty toys. That hurts, deep down to my soul. I should go back for them but the thieves are likely long gone. The sacks were too heavy to carry all the way to the warehouse and guilt gnaws at me for sacrificing them. Hauling that much weight would have made it impossible to slip through the streets unseen, especially when I was sure someone was following me.
One of the warehouse doors squeaks open, instantly putting me on alert. I slip my Glock from my purse and quickly stand to the side of the office door as I peer out.
“Come out, Noelle,” Nikkov orders. My body tenses as his rough tone and the hour he’s here.
I step out of the office, holding my gun behind me.
Standing in the center of the warehouse, he drops the four stolen sacks. “You left these behind.” Those silver eyes no longer shine with joy, but dim from betrayal and disappointment.
I want to run up to him and confess everything, but I don’t dare. “What are you talking about?” I ask innocently as I tap the gun against my lower back, debating my choices. The truth, or rather as much as I can give. He deserves that much.
He strolls toward me, a male on a mission, and given his gait, he’s going to arrest me. He was the one following me, and I suspect has been for days. That was his other lead, and the reason I haven’t seen him since that day I let him touch me in a way that still has me tingling.
By now he’s seen me at the bars, flirting with men, using my ample assets to get what I need.
“Piece by piece, you’ve been distributing the blaster to the Brotherhood. Right in front of me,” he growls, that expression of his changing from disappointment to anger. “You’re one of them.”
“I told you, you don’t know me. A few days playing Santa, a kiss, and that….” That marvelous series of orgasms he gave me as I gripped his horns for dear life. “… that was all part of the game.”
“I don’t play games, female. You’ve known my mission from the start. I’ve shown you who I am, and you’ve used that against me.”
