Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(13)

“Charlie, can you tell me who the man was who came to the door of my apartment? The one you ran from.” She smoothed her hand over his back, trying to comfort him when he looked up at her, his eyes full of fear. “It’s OK. Nothing can happen to you here.”

“Bad man. He hurt Sienna Mommy.”

“Did you see him hurt her?”

Charlie shook his head furiously. “No.”

“So how do you know he hurt her? Did she tell you?”

Again he shook his head. “I heard his voice.”

“When did you hear his voice?” Tikki asked. She had to consciously keep her hand from trembling.

“He came to the place we were living.” Charlie screwed his face tightly into his teddy bear.

“What happened?” Tikki asked quietly.

“She told me to hide. We put all of my toys in a secret place under her bed. And she said not to come out.”

“And you heard Harri’s voice?”

Charlie nodded. “He made Sienna Mommy cry. And then he ruined her apartment.”

“When was that, Charlie?”

“The day before she took me to see you. She told me it was safer if I lived somewhere else for a while.” Charlie didn’t make eye contact with anyone while he spoke; he simply plucked at teddy’s furry arm.

“Do you think this Harri was responsible for … you know,” asked Reja quietly, visibly shocked by what Charlie had said. Tikki nodded. “Oh my goodness,”

“You have no doubts this Harri is the same man who went to see Sienna?” Okil asked Tikki.

“No, Charlie was scared to death. And Harri acted so strange. You should have seen him. He was so odd. And he said something.” She closed her eyes, trying to recollect his exact words. “He said about how lucky Elissa was, and that it wasn’t fair that Karalians had everything they need while Earth suffers. I told him it was your planet, not ours, and he said for now.”

“For now?” Darl asked. “You mean as a threat?”

“That’s the impression I got,” Tikki nodded, hearing Harri’s words in her head once more.

“But how does that tie in with the child?” Darl asked.

“I have no idea. But there is so much else I have to tell you, Okil.”

“Then I will stay here until we get to the bottom of this.” But behind him, an alarm went off. “Damn it. I forgot about the lottery. It begins in twenty minutes.”

Tikki got up. “We should go. We can’t be here when your lottery winner arrives. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”

“Where are you going to go? There is nowhere safe. Not if they found you once already, and now they will be even more suspicious. You ran, Tikki. An innocent person never runs.” He looked concerned.

“No, but a scared one does.” She thought for a moment. “They can’t know where we are. Maybe I can go home with Reja, they won’t know I am there.”

“They might,” Darl said. “Your tag.”

She put her hand on the back of her neck, as if to stop it transmitting. “Oh, we need to go. We have to keep moving.”

“No. You are coming to Karal with me,” Okil announced.

“We can’t. We talked about this, and you said Charlie would never be allowed to set foot on your planet.”

“We keep him secret. Even if he only stays there long enough for us to understand what is happening.” Okil had that look in his eyes that said there was no point in arguing; the blue flashes across his skin only reinforced that message.

“But how do we get him back to Karal? There is only one cruiser and you will have another woman on board, the woman who is about to win the lottery.” The woman who is about to become your mate.

“Wait. Reja, how do you like the idea of coming to Karal too?” Okil asked, his skin turning red, a sign he was excited about something.

“Excuse me?” Reja asked, confused.

“It’s not something you want?” Okil asked.

“Are you joking? I have entered the lottery every months since it started.” Her tone matched Okil’s: two children who had just discovered a stash of candy.

“Great. In that case, meet your prize. Darl, this is Reja.” He left the two of them staring at each other and headed to the console. There he began frantically pressing buttons and the typing in a code. “Reja, I need to scan your tag.”

She leaned down and he scanned it, then went back to the computer screen. All the time he kept looking at his watch, and then at last, he pressed a button and the live lottery transmission appeared in front of them.

They were going through the motions, a StreamStar appearing to press the button, and then they waited. Five long minutes, and then Reja’s face flashed up on the screen.

“Oh my goodness,” was all Reja could say as she stared at herself on the screen.





Chapter Nine – Okil


This is madness. Okil knew he was placing all four of them in danger if he went ahead with his plan. No, all five of them. He was so unused to dealing with children he had forgotten about Charlie.

“Darl.” He called his friend over, talking to him quietly. “I think you know what I’m planning. And I understand if you turn me in.”