Read Online 03 Solar Flare - Spark Series by Autumn Dawn - Free Book Online

that I will mention it to my family.
I’m not into secret relationships.”
    “You can tell anyone you like. They’ll talk
you out of me soon enough,” he said dryly. “Probably be best.”
    “You can’t be worse than my last date,” she
said darkly.
    He waited a moment, and then asked carefully,
“It went badly?”
    She shut her mouth against the urge to tell
him, but something made her admit, “He tried to rape me.”
    “I’m sorry.” His voice had deepened, become
grim. “I have a personal grudge against rapists.”
    She swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
    “I’m glad he didn’t succeed,” he added
softly. “You don’t deserve that kind of treatment.”
    Her throat tightened. It wasn’t funny, but
she laughed. “You don’t really know me.”
    “You think you deserved it?”
    “No.”
    “Good. Now I really do have to go. It’s my
shift.”
    “Call again.”
    He paused. “Maybe.”
    “Please.” There was a discreet beep as the
com signaled she had another call. She frowned in annoyance as she
waited for his answer.
    “I wish you the best.”
    “That’s not a—“ She made a face at the dial
tone. He’d hung up.
    The com chirped again. Annoyed, she took the
call. “Yes?”
    “Hello, sis.” The voice was grainy, echoing,
but clearly Xera’s.
    Brandy sat up, suddenly charged with
adrenaline. She forced herself to speak normally. Xera would think
she was crazy if she started spouting off about her nightmare. She
fought to keep the strain out of her voice. “Hey! You called me at
a decent hour. What is it, O-Dark-Thirty there?”
    “I was up anyway. Couldn’t sleep.”
    Brandy frowned. Xera calling at a decent hour
was always suspicious, and she knew Gem. “Why? Did Gem call and
wake you up?”
    Xera stifled a yawn. “The baby. So how are
you?”
    “Fine,” she said guardedly. “Yourself?”
    Xera wasn’t one for small talk, at least with
her sisters. The poor connection made it necessary to get down to
details. The signal could break at any time. “I want you to come
visit.”
    “What?”
    “You know, hop on a ship and fly my way. It’s
easy. I want you to see my children.”
    There was only one reason Xera would make
such an offer. She thought Brandy was in trouble. The offer was
hardly surprising, considering that Gem had mentioned the subject
of travel this very afternoon. Her sisters were trying to fix her
problems. “You said yourself it’s a hostile border. Besides, it
would take me most of a year to get there.”
    “It would seem much shorter with the new
semi-suspension technology. You’d sleep for weeks, wake up for a
week, and sleep again. It’s no big deal. Besides, the border has
calmed down a great deal in the past few years. We’d meet you part
way and escort you the rest of the way here.” Xera had married into
a powerful family. She could have a couple of warships at her
disposal with little trouble.
    Brandy hardly knew what to say. “What does
your husband think about all this?” She pictured Ryven’s face from
her hallucination and grimaced. He’d always seemed a rather grim
man in his pictures, cool at best. Was he the kind of man who could
harbor a killing passion?
    “He’s curious about my family, and interested
in meeting you. I think you’ll like him.”
    Brandy grunted. Xera’s marriage had been
unexpected, and not of her choosing, but she insisted she was happy
now. She must be, or she’d never feel safe enough to invite her
family to visit. She wasn’t the kind of woman who’d endanger
others.
    Since they’d never met Xera’s husband, Brandy
and Gem had always wondered how she was really doing. It would be
an opportunity to see for herself. It was almost enough to convince
her to go. “I don’t know. I’ve got…things…I’m doing here.” It was
an excuse, and she didn’t feel guilty. It would take more than
guilt to make her trek across the galaxy.
    Sharp and painful, her hallucination flashed
before her eyes. She locked her jaw