Taken (Calliston Series - Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

not be discussing this now."
    "I consider myself duly warned," said Viktor.
    "You would be dead."
    "I got that."
    "I wanted to make that clear, U-man."
    "Do you blink?" Viktor suddenly asked.
    "Pardon?"
    "The whole time you've been glaring at me, you've not blinked once."
    As if to dispute that, she blinked and changed the subject. "Who, of your people, would want to assassinate my father?" she asked.
    "Why does it have to be my people? What about yours?"
    "My father handpicked them all. They are loyal to him and his cause," she said.
    Interesting , Viktor thought. His cause, not ours . "I'll agree to be open about the possibility it could be one of my people, if you do the same."
    "I will do no such thing."
    Viktor snorted.
    "What?" she demanded.
    "For all I know, it could have been you," he said.
    "How dare you."
    Viktor continued talking over her. "Perhaps you don't agree with your father and his principles, his views for the future of the Lyrissian people. Perhaps you hate him for the restrictions he imposes."
    He wasn't able to say anything else, for S'rea slapped him. Hard. So hard, in fact, that he had to check himself for any broken bones before he picked himself up from the deck.
    "Ow," he said after working his jaw. Viktor looked up when S'rea remained silent. Her eyes had grown wide and her veil fluttered in time with her heavy breathing. She composed herself quickly, but still Viktor saw.
    "Just for the record, I wasn't attempting to mate with you," he said.
    S'rea growled. "I would not mate with you if my life depended upon it."
    "Good to know."
    * * *
    "S'rea?" Tarn called out as he tried yet again to get his daughter's attention. "S'rea, stop pacing. You are making me go cross-eyed."
    "What father?" S'rea asked as she stopped in her tracks.
    "I asked, why are you so agitated?"
    "An attempt was made on your life," S'rea exclaimed. "I have reason to be agitated."
    "Of course, of course," Tarn said. "However, I wonder."
    "You wonder what?" she asked.
    Tarn shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing."
    "What is it, father?"  
    "I wonder if one of my entourage did it," Tarn said quietly.
    S'rea whirled on her father. "How can you say that? They are loyal to you."
    "Are they, S'rea?"
    "Yes," she said with more confidence than she felt. "It has to be a U-man."
    Tarn shook his head. "No."
    "No?" she repeated in disbelief. "How can you say that?"
    "For two reasons, my daughter. First, how could they know what could poison me? Second, they have very little to gain from disrupting our talks," Tarn explained. "The border we share with them is a very little, almost insignificant, area for them. They can afford this war. We cannot."
    S'rea sank down onto the corner of her father's bed as she considered his words. This news was completely new to her. "But the government said…"
    "The government says a lot of things," said Tarn. "Not all of it can be true. The U-mans are a much larger, more spread-out species than we are."
    "Karo," she said.
    "Is not here. But one of those I thought loyal to our cause may secretly be one of his followers," Tarn agreed grimly.
    "Harom could guard you."
    Her father glared at her. "Do not think I am the only target. Harom will remain with you." Before she could protest further, he said, "You should warn the U-man. He is vulnerable."
    * * *
    Viktor's door chimed and he scowled. He exited the bathroom, glanced at the clock on the wall and stubbed his toe on the sofa as he made his way to the door. It opened to reveal not his friend Roger—the ship's commanding officer, whom he was expecting—but S'rea.
    "What is that on your face?" she immediately asked.
    "Haffin hehl," Viktor tried to reply around the toothbrush still in his mouth. He removed the toothbrush while his other hand checked that his towel was still firmly wrapped around his waist. "Shaving gel," he said again. He noticed her silent guard loitering in the corridor.
    "You have no ridges," S'rea said, and reached out. Her touch along his