Page 29 of Stone Awakened

“Good,” she said, “You were so very brave from what I’ve heard! I can’t believe you came after him all by yourself.” She smiled, “And I’m very glad you’re there for Sunder. You can distract him from trying to boss all of us around as if we’re either his trainees or his kids.” The statement was followed with a chuckle and a head tilt in Sunder’s direction.

He was sprawled in his seat across from me, his eyes on his son, a soft but tired smile on his rugged face. He showed that he’d heard her by nudging her booted foot with his bare, clawed one. “I’m not so bad, am I?”

She laughed again, “In that case, I’m sure you’re going to be totally fine about the fact that Eoin is mooning after Tori.” There was a taunt in her voice, and she laughed harder when her words made Sunder sit up straighter and rumble a growl.

“Don’t remind me!” he said. I knew about Tori, the youngest member of the Vagabond, excluding her small baby, was someone Sunder had talked about from time to time. He’d taken her under his wing, offered her a safe harbor, and as he’d told me, he felt like a bit of a father figure to her. This Eoin however… I didn’t really know who that was, but Sunder sure didn’t seem to like that he chasing Tori’s skirts, so to speak.

I leaned over and put my hand on his knee, “Sssh, I’m pretty sure you’ve taught Tori to fend for herself.” He shot me a surly look so I poked out my tongue at him, which made Amar do the same, and that made him laugh.

Inside the Vagabond, Jett held onto Sunder’s hand as he lead the way to the med bay. He was insisting that their Doc check me and the kids out before we settled into quarters. He didn’t mention the pain-collars hanging from the kid’s necks, but I knew that too was a reason to go to the Doc, who knew how to remove them. I was happy that he was walking into that med bay himself because I was darn well going to make sure he didn’t leave it until he’d been patched up too.

There was a bit of a surprise inside the bright white medical room, Uron was lying on a cot in the corner, bandages wrapped around his torso. One arm in a plas film cast, he was out cold, probably dosed up with pain relief.

More beds were filled, one with a silver-skinned young male, his shoulders wide enough that they almost stuck out over the edges of the cot. He was awake and talking with a blonde woman with a pink and blue baby cradled in her arms. As soon as we walked in, the woman, a new face to me, turned to look at us. She recognized Sunder and was jogging over to hug him tight with a radiant smile on her delicate face.

“I am so happy you’re back!” she said, “Look at Novalee. Isn’t she growing more gorgeous every day?” Sunder made cooing noises at the baby, then picked up his son and introduced him to Tori. I was starting to feel a little awkward at watching the reunion, but I shouldn’t have worried. His wing had the greater reach, and he used it to cup me behind my back, urging me to join their little meeting.

“Tori, this is Aggy, my mate,” Sunder introduced me, and he didn’t forget about Amar, who I held cradled in my arms. “And that little tyke is Amar. Told you you didn’t need to worry about your kid growing up without any friends.” He gave the young woman a warm smile and in response, Tori seemed to falter for words. I saw how pink tinged her cheeks, but she still reached out with her free arm and pulled me into a hug.

“I’m happy to meet you,” I said inanely, “Sunder’s told me a little about you.” She beamed at me, but her cheeks only turned redder, and still, no more words came out. Interesting, seemed Tori was incredibly shy.

The Doc was the Aderian I’d briefly seen out in the battle zone. He had been working on a Kertinal male I hadn’t been introduced to yet, while also monitoring the vitals of a male lying face down on a cot. A human girl who had been introduced to me as Camila was fussing over that guy. I was pretty sure she was the badass I’d seen out on the battlefield with the gladiators.

I heard him advise the Kertinal, a male named Da’vi, to take it easy for a couple of days, but while the male gave him a nod, he stalked from the med bay without another word. I had a feeling that one didn’t know the meaning of the word rest. Looked like Doc knew it too because he was shaking his head after him with this worried frown on his face.

“Come on here, why don’t you boys have seat and I’ll take care of those ugly necklaces, huh?” the Doc said, waving us over. Pretty soon, Jett and Amar were sitting side-by-side on a medical cot while the Aderian male, Luka, talked Jett through what he was doing. The pain-collar slipped from his small neck with a clicking noise.

I squeezed hard in Sunder’s hand as it happened, I was pretty sure my big, stony guy was about to start crying on the spot. That was okay, I got how emotional this moment was for them, to see this brave boy, born in captivity, finally be free. For Amar, it was more of an annoyance that the Doc fussed at his neck, but he was happy when the pain-collar dropped away. In my time at the palace, I had never seen those collars used on them, I wasn’t sure if Amar even knew what it could do, for which I was incredibly grateful.

Checkups followed after that, but the Doc was quick and kind. He even made them laugh a few times, and when it was my turn he was polite and efficient. With Sunder, he fussed a little over the crater-like wound sites but there was nothing he could do apparently, except give him something for the pain.

About Sunder’s tail, nobody seemed to say anything.

Chapter 19

Sunder

I appropriated the unaltered crew quarters next door to my own quarters for the boys. They were rapidly flagging after their med bay visit and Tori’s copious amounts of amazing food. I had eaten slightly too much too, having missed this tremendously while away. I didn’t think there was anything better when it came to food than Tori’s home-cooked meals.

The meal had been a merry affair, shared with all of my brothers and their mates. Or’tal had joined, and even Uron had made a short, but quickly flagging appearance. During it, it had been decided that the safe with all those precious secrets the other Crimelords were eager for, needed to be cracked.

Chloe had volunteered, and she had clearly recovered enough that Kitan didn’t object. They were on the bridge of the ship now, with the young woman plugged into the ship, so that the Akri, the powerful AI, could use her brain's tremendous computing power to crack the codes to the safe through a link Da’vi had jerry-rigged for them.

Not my worry at this point, we were safe for the time being, so I was going to let Ziame and Or’tal work out the details. I was pretty sure that once the safe was cracked, which Akri had boasted wouldn’t take long, we’d be off this planet in a heartbeat. Then we’d drop Or’tal off somewhere so he could make his way back to Kertinal space.

Once en route, we’d signal the Rummicaron authorities, whose territorial space bordered right on Arakon’s solar system. We were all pretty sure they’d happily swoop in and claim the glory for the end of one of the twelve Crimelords. Well, since Luka had returned to us, the Crimelords were now down to ten. Too bad we hadn’t managed to take down Drameil yet, that’s the one we were all itching to end.

Aggy was patient with the kids as we tucked them into their bunks, telling them a story, and making sure that there was water available to them if they wanted any. The boys had shed their training retinues, the only thing they’d had to wear on Arakon. Now they were in oversized shirts that the ladies had dug out of their own closets. While Fierce had already quietly assured me that he’d make the boys some boots from leather he’d cured from a kill from Serant.

My heart was full, my body a little sore and tired, when I dragged Aggy next door into my own quarters as soon as the boys were asleep. Inside, she eyed the big mattress with surprise, “Woah, that’s a big bed, I didn’t expect that!” I smirked, tugging her closer by a swath of fabric from her long black skirt.

“Take that thing off,” I said to her, I had every intention of burning those black dresses so I’d never have to lay eyes on them again. I’d seen the bits of colorful fabric sticking out of her bags inside her quarters when I’d been in her room, that’s who she was. She curled her arms behind her back to undo the fastenings and my eyes focused on how that pushed her breasts forward.

I unbelted my kilt, placed my long knife in the holster I had strapped to the side of my bed and swept back the soft blankets. Turning back to her, I noticed that she was still fiddling with the fastenings of her dress, but her eyes were on my cock. I preened, my wings spreading as I let her watch her fill.

She realized I knew she was watching me and froze, wetting her lips with her soft pink tongue. My cock twitched in response, remembering what it had felt like to sink between those plush pillows. These quarters weren’t very big, even if they’d once been designed to hold eight people in shifts. Stepping forward, I reached her in a single step, and I hooked my clawed finger behind the collar of her dress, dragging the nail down with the satisfying sound of fabric tearing.

A beautiful giggle rose from her mouth, her eyes twinkling. My claw got snagged in the voluminous amounts of fabric around her waist, and I yanked just hard enough that the opening became wide enough to slide right down her hips. She wore a scrap of fabric over her cunt, but her breasts were bare.