Eliza's Miracle Read online

  His lips twitched against the rim of his glass with wry amusement as the excitable female was snatched up her mate’s arms and practically squealed. He watched the long feather-tufted ears of his offspring flatten against his skull at the noise, despite the fact that a huge smile stretched across his face.

  Young love.

  It warmed even his crotchety old heart.

  “She said she’d come! Unfortunately, my father is visiting,” she made an expression to broadcast her distaste, “so he’ll likely be coming too, but you finally get to meet my mother. She cleared her calendar for the evening.” The female hopped in place for a moment before throwing herself back into Dareth’s arms. The young male chuckled and curved his fire-bright wings around her.

  “That is wonderful news, avva! I am pleased to be able to finally meet your family.” He pulled back a bit and gave her a teasing look of disapproval. “Of course, you do realize usually we do this the other way around—families meet before a pair joins in mating.”

  She grinned up at him. “Not my fault someone got a little too eager and mated us a bit ahead of schedule,” she jested as she gently tugged at one of his primary feathers. A scarlet heat of lust flooded the male’s cheeks, broadening the smile on his face.

  Zerik cleared his throat so that they would not forget that he was present in the room. It was clear from the way his olo’s yellow eyes were gleaming, and the red flush of his fires rising, that his mind was solidly heading in one direction. One that Zerik would rather not witness.

  Dareth raised his head and flashed a wide, sharp-fanged smile at his sire. Zerik smirked. It was easy to see how his olo had failed to restrain his fires.

  He did wonder how humans were unaware of the mating bond between the pair. It was difficult not to notice the luminous, slightly golden cast of Melanie’s skin, now that she was mated to Dareth. Most species who knew of the Tagith were aware of it. The molecular changes that occurred in the bodies of offworlders helped them adapt to be safely consumed in the fires of their Tagith mates.

  He had always assumed that his eldest fledgling would have taken a Tagith female as mate. Lia had been dismayed when their olo decided to leave Tagess to serve at the space station as a young male, instead of staying and taking a mate like most males his age. At thirty revolutions, Dareth should have already had a couple fledglings and long since settled down had he not left. Zerik had attempted to soothe his mate, telling her that Dareth would return to Tagess to mate when he was ready. Then one year spilled over into the next, and then another, and then Lia had died of rare medical complications. After that, Dareth never mentioned returning to seek a Tagith female, and the matter was set aside.

  He had been more than a little surprised when his olo commed him weeks ago and insisted that he come and visit him on the Intergalactic Space Station. He said he had mated a human female and wanted to introduce him to her, and for their families to meet.

  Initially he had refused, angry that his olo had thrown away the wishes of his ama. But finally, after an engaging comm conference with the stubborn female who would not take no for an answer when he refused to speak to her, he agreed to visit.

  Now, he was to meet the female’s family, and for the first time in years, he felt a slight spike of anxiety. As a rule, he did not spend time other species. Melanie was the first who he had sat and shared meal with or spent any length of time with—not to put too fine of a point on it.

  Zerik went into the cleansing room and carefully scrubbed his skin with clean water and fresh talini oils, and then he groomed the feathers of his wings. He figured he might as well try to be presentable, regardless of his personal opinions on the matter. Likely he and Dareth would be the first and only Tagith that the humans had met. The least he could do for his olo was try to make a good impression.

  Chapter 2

  Eliza applied a light lip stain with a shaky hand and checked her already flawless makeup for any imperfections. She had just received comm that Noble Earth was preparing to dock at the space station.

  Noble Earth, Eliza thought with a derisive snort. As far as Earth’s reputation at the space station, the vanity of the name was tantamount of putting on a “kick me” sign.

  Not that anyone ever asked her opinion—or took her suggestions, for that matter. She curled her lip.

  Her first day on the space station, she was sat down and informed about Earth’s position and by extension her rank in the pecking order. Under no circumstances was she to make waves, and she must follow the lead of the representatives. It was like a pathetic repeat of her entire career of a senator.

  And every time Charles came aboard, he drank with the representatives like it was the good old boys’ club all over again. They lapped up everything he said over beers, whereas she couldn’t even get a word in edgewise during a meeting.

  Eliza sighed and straightened her jacket. She just had to get through the night and pray that Charles didn’t embarrass everyone, or worse, insult the males they were meeting. Part of her wished she could beg Mel to consider another time. Another day after Charles returned to Earth. But she seemed determined to do it tonight and Eliza knew she wouldn’t be able to sway her.

  With a final assessing look in the mirror, Eliza left her quarters and headed down to the docking station. She almost came to careening stop when she saw the angry pinched face of her husband waiting impatiently beside his luggage. Wincing, she slipped a glance at her watch.

  Oh no!

  The ship had docked sooner than she’d estimated. She was twenty minutes late. If there was one thing Charles could not abide, it was tardiness. Her stomach knotted and she was practically trembling with nerves by the time she arrived in front of him.

  She managed a nervous smile for him. “Charles, I’m so glad to see you.”

  “I am sure. It seems to me you were busy cavorting somewhere and forgot to arrive to meet me in a timely fashion,” he said coolly with disapproval. He flicked an invisible speck of lint off his jacket and picked up his case. “It is of no consequence.” His thin lips twisted upward as he leaned in to press his lips against her own. Her stomach roiled with anxiety, and she repressed the need to throw up. The cool, restrained way he was acting was a bad sign. It was certain that he would lash out once they were in private.

  Eliza cleared her throat. “Why don’t we have the service drop your luggage off? Melanie asked us to meet her for the evening meal, which is in just a few minutes now. We don’t want to be late. She mentioned she has someone she wanted to introduce us to.”

  She mentally crossed her fingers and hoped that he would not insist on returning to her quarters first. If he decided to strike out sooner rather than later, it would be much more difficult to explain. To her relief, he nodded his head, though his eyes lit up. In that moment, he was the very image of the cat who ate the canary.

  “Is that so? The girl finally listened to a piece of advice from her father and snagged herself a delegate from Earth. I told her last time I visited that there were several young men on our representative team who wanted to court her. A smart move on her part, and I am glad to hear it. It will set her up for life.”

  Eliza’s heart thumped and she forced out a weak smile. She knew the young men in the delegation team and wouldn’t honestly recommend any of them for their daughter. Although part of her had hoped that it had been one of them for her daughter’s sake, she was secretly pleased that it wasn’t. But she wasn’t about to say so. Furthermore, there was no way she was telling her husband that their daughter was bringing an alien to dinner.

  It was like an interstellar production of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? starring their family. What she told Melanie was no less than the truth: Charles was going to lose his damn mind. And unlike the movie, there would be no happy ending. No, there was only unholy disaster waiting. And she had a front row seat.

  Eliza clenched her fingers to keep from wringing her hands as she kept pace at Charles’s side. He barely managed to be polite when
he dropped his luggage with a porter, a nice, young, and eager-to-please Forad male, to be taken to her quarters. When Charles turned away without offering a tip, Eliza quickly leaned forward and pressed her credit chip against his reader before her husband took notice that she was lagging behind.

  She jogged up to her place just behind his elbow and walked sedately beside him until they arrived at the restaurant, not missing the way his lip curled. Intet Divana was a lovely place. Eliza couldn’t imagine his objection, other than the fact that they prided themselves on catering to an intergalactic crowd. There was a little something that could be enjoyed by everyone. Eliza had always admired that, and it had quickly become one of hers and Melanie’s favorite places to share an evening meal out. Charles was clearly less than impressed by this fact when they entered, taking in the sight of the restaurant’s regular patrons.

  At the numerous booths and tables, she could see different species seated together, enjoying quiet meals together. Charles made a sound of disgust in his throat.

  “I can’t imagine what Melanie was thinking bringing us here to eat among these creatures. Disgusting.”

  Eliza flushed when a Morith jerked his head up from where he was sitting nearby and fixed an unhappy glare on her husband. She quickly gestured a universally recognized apology with a soft smile and was relieved when he smiled sympathetically and nodded to her. Grateful that the huge male wasn’t going to take offense and snap her husband’s rotten neck, no matter how much he deserved it, she took a deep breath. Trying to ignore her skittering pulse, she forged on.

  Disaster number one averted… barely.

  She had the sinking feeling that her good fortune wouldn’t last much longer. This feeling was reinforced when she caught sight of Melanie and the males accompanying her. She vaguely recognized the species. She had to admit they looked distinguished. Broad chested, probably due to musculature necessary for carrying their bulk in flight, visually they were fine specimens of masculinity. The older male looked nearly as fit as the younger. He was a bit more filled out, and his bright feathers were a bit duller. Yet, sporting horns and fiery wings, they were still very… alien. There was no chance of them even remotely passing for anything close to human. She wanted to groan in miserable anticipation.

  As they neared the table, she knew the moment when Charles saw them. And from the way his face tightened, she knew at the same time knew that he wasn’t about to spare their daughter from an outburst.

  The Tagith males stood politely at their approach, their wings folded back carefully to make plenty of room for Eliza and Charles to join them at the table. When they drew near the table, she tried to ignore the fact that they smelled good, like some subtle floral notes and a hint of amber. It was not feminine, but rather something warm and sweet. Somehow, it seemed to suit them. The males offered warm smiles and extended their hands in human greeting, each of their four fingers tipped with a short, sharp claw.

  Dread pooled in her stomach when she felt Charles freeze. She darted a quick glance up at him and noted that his expression was so pinched that the lines of his face looked white. The Tagith males faltered, uncertain, and Eliza decided that she’d be damned if she let her husband cow her into being rude to Mel’s male. She pushed down the surge of nerves that manifested every time she interacted with strange men and smiled kindly.

  With a heavy swallow, she moved forward, ignoring the bite of Charles’s fingers into the tender tissue of her arm, to shake each of their hands with genuine greetings. The males smiled at her, but she didn’t miss the way they looked at Charles’s hand on her arm in disapproval. The elder one ruffled his wings slightly and spoke in sharp undertones to his son. Mel, clearly within hearing distance whereas Eliza and Charles were not, blanched and looked worried.

  Mel cleared her throat and made introductions with a small hopeful smile.

  “Mom… Dad… This is Dareth and his father, Zerik. Guys, these are my parents, Eliza and Charles.” She paused, a worried look once again crossing her face. “Uh, Dareth, I think maybe my father would prefer to sit by me. Would you mind?”

  The male narrowed his eyes on Charles, a hint of challenge in that look if Eliza wasn’t mistaken. Then his featured softened into a smile as he looked at Melanie, bringing her hand up and kissing her palm.

  “Of course not, avva. I am sure my ena would be happy to slide down so that I can take my place at your other side.”

  Melanie smiled in relief, and even Charles managed a sneer masquerading as a smile, until he noticed Zerik sitting at Eliza’s side.

  Eliza froze, uncomfortable with how close the strange Tagith male was, but even more distressed by the way Charles glanced over the group with a frown. It was as if he couldn’t decide whether it was more important that he didn’t sit next to an alien or that Zerik was sitting next to his wife. Melanie exchanged a quick look with her before snagging her father’s hand and pulling at it with a strained smile.

  “Come on, Dad. Come and sit next to me. It’s been so long since I last saw you.”

  Begrudgingly, Charles sat beside her and Eliza let out the breath she had been holding. She didn’t miss the frown Zerik shot over at them as he sat down at her other side. Minutes later, his eyes briefly slid back over with a blatant expression of concern. But then, just as quickly, his expression drew into a frown and Eliza figured she had misunderstood.

  As usual, Charles dominated the conversation while they ate, grilling their daughter about her work on the space station and what she recently had been up to. Any time that Eliza tried to gently steer the conversation to include Dareth and Zerik, he ran roughshod over her and effectively silenced her. In the end, she gave up and sat there, her facing tingling with embarrassment while he enjoyed being the center of attention.

  Then the moment she had dreaded arrived.

  “I take it this… guy is the one you told your mother that you wanted us to meet?” he asked, his tone thick with contempt.

  Eliza closed her eyes and prayed that a hole would open up beneath her and swallow her up so that she didn’t have to witness what was happening.

  “Well, yes,” Mel smiled. “Dareth and I wanted to get our families together to celebrate the good news.”

  Charles frowned. “What good news?”

  “Charles—” Eliza attempted to interject.

  “Shut up, Eliza. I am talking to our daughter here. What news exactly did you want to share?” he asked flatly.

  Eliza’s lips pressed together, and she tried to ignore the sting of her tears of humiliation. Why couldn’t she summon the nerve to tell him to fuck off and talk over him like he so gleefully did to her? She clenched her napkin tightly in her lap.

  Dareth, clearly not liking her husband’s tone, stopped eating and placed his utensil down abruptly as the coloration of his skin and feathers intensified. Eliza scrambled to find a way to defuse the situation.

  “Yes,” Mel said, her expression turning hesitant as she watched her father. “We wanted to share the wonderful news that we’re mated. It happened about three weeks ago.” She tried for a smile as she reached for her mate’s hand and failed. Eliza blinked, startled that she had not noticed anything in all that time.

  “We’re… already expecting. With the medical workup done, with the Edokas and the recent arrival of a set of hatchlings from their human mate, the doctor said that our egg should develop into a normal Tagith child.”

  Eliza stopped breathing, her mind focusing on one thing. A baby! A grandbaby to hold and love—to spoil and send back home to its mother. Instinctively, she stood up and reached across the table to bring Mel into a bearhug.

  “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you, dear. For you both,” she said as she beamed over at Dareth, who relaxed and returned her smile.

  “A baby,” she gushed. “This is so exciting!”

  “Sit down, Eliza,” Charles barked, his expression sour as he stood up and threw his napkin down on his plate.

  Eliza couldn’t help jumping
and backing rapidly into her chair, trying not to notice the painful look of sadness on her daughter’s face. In her peripheral vision, she noticed two sets of wings fluff their feathers up aggressively, like furious, territorial birds. Charles was really going to do it this time.

  “No child of mine associates with aliens,” Charles snarled. “You want to breed with monsters? That is your choice. But you are no longer my daughter. You are no longer welcome in our family.”

  “Now wait a minute, Charles,” Eliza said with a frown. There’s no way she would allow him to run Mel off as if she’d done something shameful. Even if he beat her later for it, she wasn’t going to stand by and let him treat their daughter this way. “Melanie has done nothing wrong, and from what I can tell, her mate looks like a perfectly nice young male.”

  “Oh, so you want to fornicate with aliens too? Is that it?” he sneered.

  “I never said—”

  In retrospect, she should have seen it coming, but when he struck, it caught her completely off-guard. She floated for what felt like several minutes on a foggy sea of shock and pain. The fog cleared just as the males at nearby tables, many of them familiar with her through their duties as representatives in the Union, instantly leaped to her defense. Angry voices snarled, but it was Charles who was the hothead who threw the first punch.

  All hell broke loose.

  A warm pair of dark golden arms peeled her up off the floor and held her close until guards arrived to escort the brawlers from the restaurant. Eliza couldn’t find it within her to be the least bit sorry to see her husband, his clothes torn and face bruised, led out the front entrance. With a twist of her lips, ignoring the bruise rising on her jaw and her split lip, she hoped that he enjoyed his walk of shame.