The Bond That Ties Us by Christine d'Abo

Author:Christine d'Abo [d'Abo, Christine]
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-09T08:59:43+00:00

Chapter Nine

Haylie bolted from the bed and stood shaking in the room. The smells of burning wire and melting plastic were everywhere. Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed down the sick taste. Why the hell were her ears ringing?

She shook her head several times, trying to clear away the numbing sensation in her neck. That was some dream she’d had. Or else she’d slept funny. Or both. But even as she thought it, she knew it was more than a dream.

The door chime sounded, cutting through the other noises in her head. It took a minute, but she managed to find her jumpsuit and squeeze it back on. Without thinking, she ran to the door and opened it.

“What?”

“Did you check to see who it was before you opened the door?” Taber barked at her.

Her brain kicked into gear. “I forgot I wasn’t home. What’s wrong?”

“There’s been an explosion. The Ambassador—”

Explosion. She tried to reach out to Kamran using their strange new connection. But she couldn’t. She swallowed a lump in her throat and put her hands on her hips. “Where is he?”

“My men are looking for him, don’t worry. I need to see that you get back to your room safely.”

Haylie’s mind kicked into security mode. A loud dismissive grunt escaped her, as she pushed past him and she stalked down the hall. “Like hell. I need to get to the scene.”

It only took Taber a moment to catch her. “Ms. Bond, you can’t do that. Humans shouldn’t be in this section of the station at this time of night. It would raise suspicions if people saw you leave here.”

She didn’t pause. “A few hours ago, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

“A few hours ago, most of the station wasn’t on high alert. Many have been injured or killed. I need to get you to safety and get back to the scene quickly.” As he spoke, Taber moved Haylie down the hall.

But once she got into the junction of the corridor, Haylie stopped. She didn’t need Taber to tell her where Kamran was. A large crowd of people were being held back from a corridor on the other side of the bazaar. Large blast doors had been secured preventing further onlookers from getting close to the crime scene. At least something was working properly.

“I’m the security chief on this station. And while the Briel people are your main priority, this station’s wellbeing is mine. It would look strange if I wasn’t there.”

He lightly touched her arm. Not enough to stop her, but simply to catch her attention. “I promised him I’d keep you safe.”

“You should have promised to keep him safe!” she snapped.

Much to his credit, Taber didn’t back down.

“I promised,” he said simply.

She wanted to scream at him, but Haylie knew it wasn’t his fault. When she really looked at him, she could see the worry and concern for his friend. His conflicting emotions between wanting to keep his promise and needing to find Kamran.

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