Free Beloved Bodyguard by Bonnie Dee Page A

about without some suffering, you
see?”
    “I.A.?” she croaked. Insurgent Alliance.
    “No. A.R., Anu Reborn.” He cocked his head.
“You’ve heard of the movement?”
    She started to shake her head, but her vision
went blurry so she stopped.
    “Sorry. I put a Dartex patch on you. The
narcotic is pretty primitive and has some side effects, dry mouth,
dizziness, headache.”
    “Hnh,” she grunted. “What do you want?”
    “Anu Reborn is nothing like that collection
of barbaric lowlifes who make up the Insurgent Alliance. Those
cretins squawk about equality for all. We want quite the opposite.
Anu needs to take its rightful place as the center of the settled
universe, the light at the heart of the Free Worlds.”
    His smile was so white and pretty in his
handsome face it was almost impossible to take him seriously. If
she hadn’t been trussed up on a bed, they might have been having
some theoretical discussion over a cup of chamti tea on a
college campus.
    “The older generation on Anu has been happy
to be part of the Free Worlds alliance. But there are many of us
who recognize the need for Anu to assume its rightful position of
authority. While men like your father try to accommodate everyone
and end up pleasing no one, Anu would control the other planets as
they so need to be controlled.”
    She nodded slightly so she wouldn’t hurt her
head. “Unity under a benign dictatorship. Surely it would be best,
particularly for the less advanced societies. I see.”
    I see you’re a fucking loony. Again,
she tested the strength of her bonds, wiggling her fingers and
picking at the tape as best she could.
    He glanced down at her busy hands. “Don’t
bother. Even if you freed yourself, you couldn’t get out of the
room.”
    “Where am I?”
    He reached out and brushed her hair back from
her face, sending a chill down her spine. “You don’t want to know
that. Should your father comply with our demands, we can let you
go, if you don’t know where you’ve been held.”
    Except I know who you are. You’ll
never let me live. The extent of the danger she was in hit her
hard like a punch to the gut. She might have very little life left. Oh, Gods, help me find a way out of this. Ja-hun, come find
me.
    “What are your demands?” Keeping him talking
seemed the best thing to do. Distract him while she considered her
extremely limited options.
    “To start with, Anu must become the seat of
the government instead of NewEarth. Of course the transition must
take place over time to prepare people for the new order. Once the
shift in the government seat is established, your father step aside
and an Anuvian leader will take charge.” He waved a hand.
“Chandre’s plan is much more detailed than that, of course, but
that’s the general idea.”
    Leelah assumed Chandre was the leader of the
movement. How many members did they have? Was it a big organization
on Anu, or only a few extremists involved?
    Guilt at her stupidity engulfed her. She’d
fallen right into their trap, allowed Danje to walk off with her
right from under the tightest security in the universe. But how
could she have known that a guy she met at Burdah’s party would be
part of a terrorist cell?
    “Burdah said he met you in a college class.
Is he a part of your organization?”
    Danje laughed, the sound as musical as wind
chimes. “Of course not! Only pureblood Anuvians are recruited.”
    “Of course.” She gave a strained smile. “How
about your mother? She’s a Representative from Anu. Is she a part
of this too?”
    He scowled while still managing to look
gorgeous, which was really creepy. “She’s part of the problem, not
the cure. She insists on working with your father and the rest of
the Federated Worlds. Mother is definitely not a part of
this.”
    He rose from his crouch. “May I get you
something to drink?”
    She nodded.
    Danje walked to a coldchest in the wall and
withdrew a bottle of water. He tossed it up and down in his hand as
he