Three days later Devil was no closer to any of the answers that plagued him about the night he’d packed Keliana off on the intersystem transport. The all-patrol alert had come up with a few names, but it would take the local department a while to shift through the crap in the lower city, officers beating the streets and hitting up all the Hosan-dens until the particular examples of human excrement he was looking for crawled out from the rock they’d hidden under.

So he had nothing, no answers and no explanation as he stood on the landing pad built above the barracks just off the north wing of the palace. Hot air whipped around the small group, dust and dirt abrading the skin of his face and trying to drive gritty shards into his unprotected eyeballs. Squinting, he lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the midday sun as he watched the transport from the Vengeance descend.

The Vengeance might have been the pride of the fleet, a sleek and deadly battle-cruiser with sexy lines and state of the art weapons systems that Prince Sethan had commissioned when he’d come to the throne, but the drop-ship just above them wasn’t sleek, nor sexy. A blocky brick of a ship designed to get troops from orbit to dirt side as quick as possible its designers had obviously been unfamiliar with the concepts of aerodynamics or had simply decided that as a military vessel, it could laugh in the face of physics.

The heavy ventral shielding required for high speed atmospheric drops overlapped the underside of the vessel like fish scales, while four thrust engines clung to the sides like hulking, malevolent barnacles. The violet blue of the exhaust vents cast a glow over the small group waiting its arrival.

Speech was impossible, the roar of the engines almost deafening as it lowered to the steel-strengthened deck. The wind whipped the dust to a frenzy and Devil screwed his eyes almost shut to avoid being blinded. He’d never watched a descent from the surface; he’d always been on the other side. Watching from inside the ship as it hurtled toward the surface like a giant stone, burning through the atmosphere on a combat drop, took a special kind of kind of insanity and a strong stomach.

“Fuck me,” Prince Sethan yelled above the noise of the engines, ducking as his hair whipped around his face. “Remind me again why I thought this was a good idea?”

Devil refrained from comment, not that he could make himself heard as the drop-ship hovered just above the treated concre-plates of the landing zone, the noise swelling to earsplitting proportions. Inch by inch the drop-ship lowered to the deck, touching down with a metallic grating as the landing runners kissed the deck plating and then finally came to a rest.

The engines powered down, glow from the exhaust vents dimming as the noise became bearable. He knew from past experience that they wouldn’t completely power down. As soon as those aboard had disembarked, it would power back up and return to the Vengeance docked at the orbital platform out of sight in space above.

Gears whirred and the boarding ramp at the back of the ship opened up. On a combat drop it would have opened in the upper atmosphere, commandos lining up to pour out as soon as it slammed its runners into the dirt. Battle-hardened Sector Seven soldiers ready to rain down bloody violence and death on the enemies of the Imperial Prince. As a tactic, it was tried and tested, and one of the reasons not many were willing to incur the wrath of the Kai Renza prince. Devil couldn’t blame them. Taking on just one Sector Seven commando was an exercise in pain, taking on a whole squad? Suicide.

The ramp clunked down with a metallic thud to reveal two figures stood the other side. The tall, broad-shouldered figure of Nikolai was easily recognizable next to the slender figure of Major Benedict. Both wore matching scowls. Benedict’s because she hated flying drop-ship and Nikolai— The colonel strode forward, nodding curtly at Sethan as he looked straight at Devil himself.

“Is it done?”

Devil nodded, keeping his personal feelings off his face and giving the colonel a blank expression to look at.

“Aye sir—sire,” he amended quickly, as Sethan’s sharp look reminded him that Jareth had been elevated to princehood. “Retrieved and escorted off the premises within an hour of your command.”

Jareth’s lips were compressed into a straight line, a muscle pulsing in the corner of his jaw. His eyes were cold, the expression in them hard as he nodded. “Drop the formalities. My bracelet?”

Devil shook his head. “Wasn’t wearing it. I assume it’s somewhere in your quarters,” he lied easily. “Wasn’t going to search for it in your belongings.”

Anger flared in the other man’s eyes and across his expression, his aura dark and forbidding. “You’re sure she didn’t have it hidden?”

“Believe me, what she was…or should I say wasn’t wearing…I’d have seen if she was hiding it,” Devil replied, adding a leer for emphasis. “Hey, if you were done with her man, you should’ve said. I’d have happily taken her on for a bit.”

The punch came out of nowhere. Jareth’s fist snapped out and smashed into Devil’s jaw. Pain flared across his face as his head rocked back on his neck. Starbursts scattered across his field of vision as he backpedaled frantically. Out of instinct he got his hands up and barely blocked the next hard punch, throwing one of his own in retaliation, but Jareth kept coming, his face a mask of rage.

The fight was fast and furious, Devil trying to block and dodge the vicious attack as Sethan and Benedict yelled. He ignored them, unable to do anything but concentrate on the fight. Jareth was big, mean, and seriously pissed off, not to mention a highly trained commando who specialized in close-quarters combat.

“Colonel, stand down!”

Devil winced as he blocked a nasty punch combo to his head, leaving an opening on his side in favor of stopping the colonel’s fist spreading his nose over his face. Sure enough, in the next heartbeat that same fist slammed into his side like a sledgehammer. Fucking hell, the guy could fight. And fight dirty. Devil had to use all the tricks he knew just to stay in the fight. One lapse of concentration and he was done for. Perhaps needling Jareth had been a bad idea. He hadn’t realized the guy was this pissed off.

“Jareth, stop!”

The shouts from the two circling them were ignored as Jareth moved in, lashing out with a booted foot and catching Devil on the knee. Pain flared for a second, then the knee, one he’d injured in combat last year, gave and toppled him to the ground. Swearing, he tried to roll but the bigger colonel was already there. Two…three punches peppered Devil’s ribcage as he protected his head.

“Got him!”

Sethan launched himself into the fray, wrapping a hard arm around the furious man’s neck. Jareth bucked and heaved, trying to get the prince off his back, but Sethan was clamped on like a limpet. With a grunt and a heavy, he flipped Jareth off Devil and pinned him to the deck.

“I said, stand down, colonel,” he bellowed in a voice that would do a drill sergeant proud, his mouth inches from Jareth’s ear.

The message finally seemed to get through, all the anger draining from the big colonel’s body as he slumped and rested his head against the deck-plating. Tense seconds passed, so tense that Devil could practically hear the clock ticking.

Jareth lifted his head, all the anger gone from his eyes leaving a blank expression. He nodded at Sethan, who released him slowly, obviously wary in case Jareth went bat-shit crazy again and started beating on Devil, something Devil himself wasn’t too keen on.

“We good, J?” Sethan’s voice was low and concerned.

Jareth nodded, rising slowly and holding out a hand to Devil. Wariness humming through his frame, Devil took it and somehow managed to keep the wince of pain off his face as Jareth hauled him upright.

“Sorry, mate. I shouldn’t have said that.” He was sorry, the pain he sensed lurking behind Jareth’s blank expression was palpable.

Jareth shook his head as he let go. “No, it’s me who should apologize. That was wrong of me, so please accept my apologies, Major.”

The three of them, Devil, Sethan, and Major Benedict watched in silence as Jareth stalked off, heading toward the door into the palace as behind them the drop-ship lifted off again.

“Well, that was clever. What the hell did you say that for?” Benedict asked as when the noise level dropped to less than earsplitting.

Devil shrugged, his keen gaze watching Jareth until he disappeared. “Wanted to see how he really felt about her. That’s all.”

“How does he feel about her?” Sethan tugged his wind-whipped hair behind his ears, his expression pained for his friend. “She was everything. Jewels, title, lands…didn’t mean a damn thing to him, but she did. Then she ripped his heart out.”

* * *

“Form an orderly line by the door please. Remember, I want to see coats done up and a big smile for your mommies and daddies.”

The classroom erupted into sound and movement as twenty small bodies headed for the door at something close to light speed. Smiling, Keliana stepped out of the way knowing that, at home time, all her pupils were interested in was getting out of the door and out into the sunshine to play. As the last child barreled through the doorway to greet a parent outside, she turned to tidy up the classroom after a full day’s teaching.

Who would have thought it? Six months ago she’d have said she was unemployable except for the obvious, on her back. Yet here she was, a teacher of all things. All that reading back in the harem had paid off, just not quite in the way she’d expected. She didn’t have the qualifications for teaching back in the main systems, but in a little backwater colony anyone that could read and write was a candidate for the most hated job in the community. So when she’d expressed interest in it, they’d slapped the title on her so fast that her head had spun.

She sighed as she tidied away books and the scattered toys across the carpet, her movements hampered by her growing belly. The baby inside gave a sharp kick as she bent down, expressing his displeasure at her movements. Stubborn and awkward—just like his father—he preferred to nap at this time of day. A wave of love washed over her.

“Shhh, shhhh… Mamma will go and lie down soon. I promise,” she crooned, rubbing over the side of her bump and looking tiredly around the room. Everything was spic and span, ready for tomorrow.

Gathering her small bag, she powered down the teaching comp. With a last glance over the room, she snapped off the lights and stepped through the door. Immediately, she turned her face up to the sun and basked in the glow. The colony doctor had told her early in her pregnancy that she needed more sunlight, something about necessary vitamins, as he probed for more details about the baby’s father.

She twisted the plain metal bracelet on her wrist as she took the small path down the side of the school building toward her little dwelling. Devil had in fact, been an angel. A guardian angel. Instead of casting her out on the street, he’d sent her to his home. His parents had met her at the spaceport on the main planet in-system under the impression she was the widow of one of Devil’s Sector comrades. Since then she’d been inundated with requests for stories about the famous regiment, her fictitious dead husband, and about Devil himself.

The first she was happy to oblige, trawling her memory for any and all tales she’d heard over the years. The second was easy to avoid by adopting a sad expression and laying her hand protectively over her growing stomach, and the third she bluffed on, hoping like hell Devil wouldn’t mind when she painted him as the übersoldier. She didn’t think so; men always liked stories that stroked their egos.

She walked slowly along the narrow path, tiredness weighing her down. As she got further along in her pregnancy, she tired more easily and the heavy ache in her chest didn’t help. Rubbing between her breasts absently with the heel of her hand, she looked up at the sky. Jareth was out there, probably on that ship of the Imperial Prince’s or fighting a war somewhere. An image of him filled her mind. Of the last time she’d seen him just before he’d left for the Vengeance, dressed in his black uniform, his dark hair loose about his shoulders as he leaned down over the bed to kiss her.

When she’d realized she was pregnant she’d dispatched a message to Devil, the unspoken plea within it for him to tell Jareth, and waited. For nothing. All she’d received was an automatic notification that Devil had read the message. No visit, no answer…nothing from Jareth. After months of waiting, she had to accept that he wasn’t coming. Who was she kidding? He’d probably already forgotten her, had gotten married and was getting on with his life.

Without her. Without their baby.

Pain arched through her and she winced as the baby moved fretfully, as though he could feel her mood and didn’t like it. Automatically she stroked over her stomach to soothe him.

“It’s OK, kiddo. Mamma will always be here. I’ll never let you go,” she muttered as she turned the corner by the big tree and headed up the hill to her small house.

The colony was a delight. Picture perfect, it was like something out of history with its little houses, small ranches, and close knit community. Even now, heading into autumn, the weather was still warm and pleasant and she was told the winters were mild even with a snowfall. Just the sort of place she’d always dreamed of living.

The hill seemed to get longer each day though and by the time she reached the top, it had stolen her breath. One hand on the fence, she paused and rubbed her back with the other as she looked out over the rolling landscape.

“Admiring the view?”

A masculine voice broke into her thoughts. Keliana turned, a small smile on her lips as she recognized the broad-shouldered figure that peeled away from the shadows at the side of her house and approached. In another life, Caleb Bane would have been her ideal man. A classic example of tall, dark, and handsome, he had less of a dangerous edge than his younger brother but no less charm.

Within a week of her arrival on the colony he’d made his interest in her known, escorting her to every town function with reserved politeness and lighthearted flirtation. More recently though, he’d stepped up his campaign. The kiss he usually dropped on her cheek at the end of the night had started to linger, the fact that he wanted more obvious.

At first she’d tensed up, nervous and wary, worried that he would try something and that her rejection of him would ruin everything for her in the small community, but his murmured assurance that he’d wait for her to be ready eased her fears.

“It is a wonderful view. I hope the baby likes it. I’m going to put his cot near the front window up there.” She turned and pointed at the small bedroom window tucked into the eaves of the house behind them. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“With you looking down on him I don’t think he’ll much care about the view. I know I wouldn’t.” Caleb smiled, laughter lines creasing at the corner of his eyes. His eyes were cornflower blue, not blue black, but held a warmth she missed so much. Abruptly her breathing caught, the pain in the center of her chest expanding in waves.

“Hey, hey. It’s OK.” Instantly Caleb was at her side, a tissue in his hand to wipe her tears away.

“It’s not,” she sobbed, tears in free flow. She’d held onto the hope for so long that Jareth would see through the whole mess and come to see her. Just once, to find out her side of the story. She’d tell him everything, lay her soul bare and beg him to stay if necessary.

“He’s not coming. I wanted him to come, but he’s not.”

Her tears were muffled against Caleb’s shirt as he pulled her against his broad chest. Big hands smoothed down her back as he made soothing noises in the back of his throat, dealing with a tired, overly emotional pregnant woman as capably as he did everything else.

After months of avoiding his embrace, Keliana gave in and rested against him as she cried. It felt good to be held again and looked after. Finally her tears dried, and storm spent, she leaned her head against him with a sigh. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine it was Jareth.

“This isn’t fair on you, Caleb.”

She didn’t move, her voice so soft she wasn’t sure he heard her. She should move away, talk to him properly but she was too tired and he was warm and solid. Dependable. She needed dependable.

“What’s not fair on me, love?” His voice rumbled through his broad chest where she lay against him.

“This, with me. I don’t love you.”

There. She’d said it. She couldn’t be blunter and more honest than that with him. Caleb just shrugged, his big chest moving under her cheek.

“Wouldn’t expect you to, not this quickly anyway. Way I see it, you need a man. One that’s around, that you can depend on to look after you and that baby of yours.”

He moved, hooking a finger under her chin and forcing her to meet his eyes. They were sympathetic and kind, although he didn’t bother to hide the dark heat of interest and awareness in their depths.

“I’m here, Keli, he’s not. Shhhhh…” He laid his finger over her lips as she opened her mouth to argue that her ‘husband’ was dead, then realized that she’d just let slip he wasn’t. “I know, Devil told me that he kic…yeah, that he’s not around.”

His gaze roved over her face, something akin to awe settling in his expression. “He’s a dumb fuck, whoever he is.”

She shuddered in relief. Devil might have let slip some details to his brother but not all, and for that she was grateful. Slowly, watching her expression all the way, Caleb slid his hand into her hair and cupped the nape of her neck. With the gentlest of pressure he tilted her head up and moved in to kiss her.

His lips were warm and firm as they brushed hers in a soft caress. She stood still as he kissed her, closemouthed and gentle. And she felt nothing. No tingles in her toes, no pitter-pattering of her heart. None of the things she’d felt when Jareth kissed her. But it was…nice, pleasant.

He smiled as he pulled back, the reserve in his eyes for a second telling her he’d noticed her lack of response.

“See?” she whispered, tears threatening again. “It’s not fair. You’re a good man, Caleb. You deserve better than a woman still in love with someone else.”

Caleb shook his head, determination written in every line of his face and body. “I want you, Keli, and I’ll wait as long as you need me to. Just let me look after you, give you my name. Marry me?”