Haven 4 AVOW - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,88

and afraid!” Synclare insisted.

Her guard pinned her with a questioning look. “Then do not behave as though you are.”

Synclare wanted to punch him, but he was right. “I’m not going to my quarters. I’m going back to Karel’s office. I’ll face him there.”

“It matters not where you face him, just that you do, with strength and calm,” the soldier said.

Synclare took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right.” She walked back the direction she came and when she passed between her two guards they fell into step on either side of her. Every step grew heavier and heavier, and her heart pounded in her chest as she got closer and closer to the office she’d eventually face off with Lo'San in. She had no idea why he was back, or what had made him return here, but it was apparent he wanted more than just to visit with the Ambassador, since he’d brought Rokai and the Elite Force with him.

It was more than a few minutes before Ambassador Karel with Lo'San, Rokai and their Elite security force finally arrived in Karel’s office. Synclare spent those minutes pacing back and forth, reading and rereading the letter that she shoved back into her pocket when she heard the door slide open and knew they’d arrived. Her heart jumped into her throat and adrenalin coursed through her veins.

“Can no one answer that com?” Karel asked, stalking over to it and pressing the button to accept the com.

“Ambassador Karel, here. How may I be of service?”

“What the hell is going on over there?!” Chairman Bartholomew demanded. “I’ve been waiting for an update!”

“Chairman Bartholomew! We are conferencing now, sir. We should have answers shortly, sir,” Ambassador Karel said.

“Bart! How are you, my friend?” Rokai shouted.

“Who is that?” Bart asked.

“It is I, Prince Rokai!” Rokai said far too cheerily.

“Good gods,” Bart mumbled. “I should have known you were involved.”

“Stand strong, female. Any male would be proud to claim you,” the quieter of her guards said to Synclare under his breath.

Synclare looked up to meet his intense gaze, then slowly turned at the sound of her name.

“Sink Lar!” Lo'San said, rushing toward her.

“Keep your distance!” one of her guards ordered, as both stepped in front of her to keep Lo'San from reaching her.

“Move aside!” Lo'San ordered with a snarl.

“No,” the guard who’d told her to stand strong said, taking another step toward Lo'San.

“She is my mate, I would never do her harm!” Lo'San insisted.

“Yet you drugged her and left her here, claiming it was she who wanted away from you. We’ve heard your stories, and we’ve heard hers. We’ve seen what your actions have done. You tell lies,” her other guard insisted.

“It wasn’t me! Sink Lar! It wasn’t me! I didn’t bring you here, I didn’t drug you. I had no knowledge of it at all! The moment I found you missing I began searching. Ko'San admitted what he’d done and I’m here. I’m here and I’m not leaving without you, my Sink Lar. I would never let you go, you know this!” Lo'San said, looking at Synclare standing safely behind the two guards that had been assigned to her.

“What the hell is happening?” Bart demanded.

Chapter 23

“This is all a huge misunderstanding, Chairman Bartholomew,” Karel explained, watching the exchange between Lo'San and Synclare.

“Go back to your ship, Lo'San. I have nothing to say to you,” she said, her voice just barely above a whisper.

“Tell him we do not hold you against your will, Synclare!” Ambassador Karel said emphatically.

“What?” she asked, at the same time Bart echoed her question.

“We’ve been accused of being complicit in your kidnapping! We have been no such thing!” Ambassador Karel insisted.

“My kidnapping…” Synclare said.

“Who was kidnapped?” Bart asked.

“My mother and Ph’eel arranged it. They coerced Ko'San who played his part, thankfully not to the fullest. He dressed in my uniform and carried you from the ship. He admitted that he brought you here.”

“But the letter…” Synclare said. “I have the letter you wrote. And I remember you telling me we weren’t going to try for children anymore. You said children with me were no longer important because you’d realized we should have just stayed as we were before.”

“Exactly!” Lo'San exclaimed. “I meant every word of it! I cannot bear to watch the female that is my life suffer in order to give me young ones! I do not need young ones! I need only you! We should have never put your body through the pain and trauma of the treatments, we should have