Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 by S. E. Smith Page B

got somewhat close to him,
he would run or throw things at them. Calo hoped mentioning their
desire to work with him might have at least drawn some type of
response to their offer. Instead, they were both met with a stony
silence from the end of the table… again.
    The frustration over the last few weeks
finally became more than he could stand. It was as if the Goddess
was laughing at their hope of keeping their sanity. Perhaps this
was just their screwed up desires of wanting to find a true mate.
Whatever it was, he was tired of feeling the overwhelming
hopelessness. How he and Cree ever expected such a relationship to
work out in the first place was ridiculous.
    “Perhaps that’s for the best,” Calo finally
said in a quiet tone. “If you don’t mind, I am not hungry. I will
patrol the area outside.”
    Cree stood as well. “I will take the back.
We will leave our symbiots with you. If you need anything, just
call out. We will be close.”
    *.*.*
    Melina’s gaze followed the twins as they
left. She vaguely heard Carmen excuse herself to go to the bathroom
as their food was delivered. Her mind was a rush of confusing
thoughts as she glanced back and forth, hoping to catch a glimpse
of where the men had gone.
    Once again, they had surprised her with
their offer. It was the little things that they did that confused
her. Their concern for her welfare and wanting to train her. Their
symbiots bringing her clothing and other items, like the Teddy Bear
and numerous trinkets, and the golden bracelets that connected her
with them.
    Today, Calo had been concerned when she had
become distracted and fallen too far behind. He worried that she
would be taken. Then, Cree wanting to know what she wanted to eat.
He didn’t ask Carmen. His eyes had been on her and they had looked…
worried.
    This, followed by Calo’s comment about her
being too thin and suggesting again that they work with her, had
her feeling things that made her feel good and scared at the same
time. It was as if they… cared about her, as a person, and not just
as a lost human boy in a strange universe.
    Just before Calo left, he had sounded… sad.
It was as if she had hurt him somehow by not speaking up. Melina
bit her lip as tears burned the back of her eyes. She didn’t want
to hurt them. She wanted…
    Melina jerked when the two symbiots next to
her suddenly moved closer to her as Zuk called out an order to her
grandfather. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t
understand what was happening. Her head swiveled as Calo came
running in the front as Cree came in through the back entrance.
Harvey, Carmen and Creon’s symbiot, was moving through the tables,
knocking food and drink everywhere.
    “What is it?” Calo asked as he broke through
the crowd of patrons in his way.
    Cree stepped quietly from the back entrance.
“Marastin Dow,” he snarled in disgust. “Several of their warships
are attacking a freighter. Two of them actually had the nerve to
fire on the Horizon .”
    Calo’s curse filled the air as he looked
around. “They didn’t take Carmen out the front,” he replied
harshly.
    “Or the back,” Cree said. “They must have
beamed her to their ship. They must be working with someone within
the Spaceport authority. They never would have been able to beam
out otherwise.”
    Melina watched as Cree pressed his comlink
and informed the Horizon of the situation. She was seeing
him and Calo in a different light now. These were dangerous men.
Men would and could kill anyone who got in their way. A shiver
raced through her at the thought of what it would be like if she
belonged to them.
    Them… both of them, she gasped,
staring in shock as she began to understand what had been happening
to her over the last few weeks. I… I’m beginning to care about
them… both of them.
    “Get a security team to the authority tower.
I want all ships locked down. No one is allowed to leave until they
have been thoroughly searched,” Cree