Daughter of the Alien Warrior - Honey Phillips Page 0,54

and loving to both her and their daughter. What a fool she had been to suspect him, even for a minute.

Oh God, he must be panicking now. She already knew there was no phone in the primitive summer house—she had to go back to town. But then she remembered that darkness had already fallen. Could she find her way back in the dark? She walked over to the window and pulled aside the curtain. The wind had risen as night fell and enough moonlight made it through the heavy clouds for her to see the grassy fronds of the trees whipping wildly in the stiff breeze. Would it toss the light flyer around as easily? She shuddered and let the curtain drop. She would have to wait until daylight.

Now that she had decided to return, her own foolishness haunted her. If Gokan was indeed after her, isolating herself was the worst thing she could have done. What if he was already trailing her? What if he found her here with Lily? She would do anything he said, anything to protect her daughter.

However, that didn’t mean she had to give up without a fight. She searched through the kitchen drawers, pulled out the biggest knife she could find, and placed it on the table in easy reach. It didn’t look like much and she added a heavy frying pan to her small collection of weapons. Adrenaline pumped through her body, and she knew there was no chance of falling asleep. She began moving through the training exercises that Inzen practiced but she was too tense to do them properly. Despite that, focusing on her breathing eventually helped calm her racing nerves.

With a mental apology to B’gento, she took one of the extra sheets and began making another outfit for herself and one for Lily. She heartily missed her advanced sewing tools, but she did the best she could, even though she had a hard time concentrating. Every time one of the trees in the surrounding forest brushed against the hut, she jumped.

The wind dropped for a second and she thought she caught the hum of machinery, but it was too faint to be certain. Her heart began to pound sickeningly against her ribs as her mouth went dry. Had Gokan found her?

She strained her ears, but it was almost impossible to hear anything over the wind through the stalks. Was that a footstep?

With the knife in one hand and the frying pan in the other, she moved as silently as possible to take up position behind the door. Yes, she was sure that she heard a step creak, followed by one of the boards on the porch. She tightened her grip on her weapons, her hands damp with sweat, and waited.

The door flew open and she moved automatically, trying to slam the frying pan down on the intruder’s head and aiming for his ribs with her knife. Instead, the frying pan flew out of her hand as it collided with a rock-hard shoulder, and a ruthless hand seized the wrist holding the knife. She started to struggle, and then a familiar spicy scent washed over her.

“Inzen?”

His beloved face looked down at her, dark eyes wide with concern, and she burst into tears.

Chapter Twenty

Inzen started back across the marketplace, frowning when he realized that Jade and Lily were no longer where he had left them. He was sure he had told Jade to remain here in front of the property office. He scanned the nearby stalls, wondering if they had wandered off to pick up another treat, but there was no sign of them. His tail lashed anxiously.

Trevelor was a safe planet and the Trevelorian authorities kept a close watch on the marketplace, but it was his responsibility to protect his mate and child. He should never have left them. His desire to surprise Jade with the mating bracelet had led him to make a foolish decision. When another look around still did not reveal their whereabouts, he decided they must have gone home. Perhaps Lily had awoken from her nap and become restless. That must be it. Determined to get home quickly, he tore through the marketplace, dodging the increasing number of shoppers who had started to appear as the heat of the day began to fade.

“Jade! Lily!” As soon as he burst through the gate into the garden courtyard, he began calling for them. The thought crossed his mind that he might wake Lily from her nap but at this