Read Bloodbound: A space/fantasy F/F romance (Sparkbound Book 2) Online
Authors: CR Barlow
Edan's blue eyes sparkled as he stroked Ingrid's hand. She leaned her head against his shoulder, exhausted from the day they had just enjoyed, touring all the wonders of ancient Earth. They had even been able to write their names at the entrance to the old grottos that held the first works of art their ancient human ancestors had ever created.
"How was your day?" he whispered.
"Amazing." Ingrid smiled at him. "I'm exhausted, though."
Edan pressed a kiss to the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Exhausted enough to sleep with me tonight?"
Ingrid gave him a dirty look. "I love you, but I'm not going to sleep with you until we're married."
She thought of Lolita and a flash of pain stabbed into her. When she returned to Earth, she had tried to tell Edan about her lover, but he wouldn't hear any of it, satisfied that it was over and she would never be with Lolita again.
"How about engaged? Officially, I mean," Edan said, interrupted her thoughts.
Ingrid raised her head as she felt something press into her hand. She gasped at the ring. The diamond was the size of her thumbnail. "Edan!"
"You said you'd marry me when I took you from Pluto. So let's make it official. Get my father's seal of approval. Let's get married."
Ingrid slid the ring onto her finger. She smiled up at Edan–and her face fell into horror. Fire curled around his skin, melting his face off. Ingrid screamed as Edan burst into flames, disintegrating before her eyes.
"What's the matter?" Lolita turned her away, catching her face in her hands.
"Edan," Ingrid sobbed.
"Don't worry about him." Lolita giggled. "It's your turn."
They were sitting in their little outpost station. Lolita was bundled head to toe in parkas, wrapped in an extra blanket. Ingrid shivered, moving a little closer to the heater. She looked over the cards in her hands. It was a good hand, but she didn't know if she wanted to win. They were deciding who would get transferred out when their shift out here was done, and she didn't want to leave.
"Lolita," she stared hesitantly, blushing at the smile her friend gave her.
"Yes, Ginny?"
Ingrid's insides glowed. She loved that nickname. It made her feel so special. "I don't want to go back to Earth. I want to stay here with you."
Lolita flushed as well. Her gaze dropped to the cards in her hand. A blue tinge started to color her cheeks and she looked up again, eyes widening in horror.
"Ingri—"
Ice closed over her face, frosting her eyes, her lips frozen mid-word. Ingrid couldn't breathe, she tried to reach out for Lolita, tried to scream her name, but nothing would come out. Her hand inched forward and Edan took it, pressing her palm to his lips.
"I love you so much," he whispered.
"No," Ingrid whimpered. She couldn't see him die again! "No, get away from me."
She killed everything she loved.
Edan's hands brushed against her neck. His mouth pressed to hers, bringing her closer. Ingrid was powerless against him. Even though she tried to push him away, tried to save him from her, she couldn't, and found herself drawn even closer.
"Can you believe it? After all these years, we're still in as much love as we were when we last saw each other."
"Lolita," Ingrid blurted, and Edan pressed a finger over her mouth, silencing her.
"Lolita isn't here. She was your companion in isolation. You were afraid you were going to die, and she was the only one with you. I understand why you were with her, but it wasn't
love
. It was never love. What we have, that's love."
He held up a necklace of rubies and sapphires. Ingrid sobbed, shaking her head, trying desperately to break free from him before it was too late. But he put the necklace around her neck and kissed her again. The necklace writhed like a snake, getting tighter and tighter. Edan's hands clasped her wrists, backing her up to the wall. He thrust his hips forward. She couldn’t breathe, the necklace choking the life out of her.
"We love each other," Edan whispered once more.
"I love you!" Tears ran down Lolita's cheeks, she reached for Ingrid's hands but Ingrid couldn't feel them.
Ingrid gasped for breath, trying to tell her to run, to leave before the necklace choking her wrapped around Lolita's throat too. Her lungs screamed for breath, dark spots swam before her eyes.
Lolita clung to Ingrid, pushing against the invisible barrier between them. "I love you! I know you love me, too. I know you love him, but that doesn't mean you love me any less! Tell me! Tell me, please!"
If she could force the words out, this noose around her neck would loosen. Ingrid opened her mouth, trying to speak, but nothing happened. The necklace cut into her skin, threatening to sever her head from her body. Her eyes bulged.
Lolita grabbed her head, pressing an open kiss to her mouth. The necklace snaked down Ingrid's arms, stopping her from embracing the other witch. Tears pooled in her eyes as Lolita pulled back, her face stained red.
"Was it all a lie?" Lolita whispered, her skin turning ashen. Her eyes went red and a fountain of blood erupted from her mouth.
"Enough!" Ingrid fell to her knees, ripping the necklace away from her neck. "No more! No more! I love you both! I love you both!"
Arms wrapped around her, rocking her back and forth. Ingrid didn't know who it was and she didn't care. She just wanted this to end. She clung to the person, sobbing, letting their warmth into her freezing blood.
"I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt either of you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
A hand stroked her hair, a voice whispered in her ear. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to her."
Ingrid tried to tell the voice that she wasn't the one in danger, but her head felt heavy. Her tongue was swollen in her mouth, and everything went black. She spiraled into the darkness, and suddenly light stabbed into her eyes.
They flickered open to find wide eyes staring directly into hers.
The first thing Ingrid realized when she opened her eyes was that she was alive. After a second it occurred to her that of course she was alive, because if she was dead, she wouldn't be opening her eyes. Her head felt muddled, though, so she abandoned that line of thinking.
The second thing she noticed was that she was not laying on Uranus' surface, waiting to be eaten by manticores. Instead, she was tucked into a bed, with the blankets pulled up to her chin. Her armor had been removed, and a cool cloth lay over her forehead. Had Gnash come back for her?
"You're awake." The feminine voice was full of relief.
Ingrid jerked upright. She gasped, expecting some sort of pounding nausea in her head, but she felt fully awake and perfectly fine. Lolita rushed to her side, putting her hands on Ingrid's shoulders.
"You need to rest. You were stung by a manticore, it's a miracle you're alive."
Ingrid stared at Lolita's beautiful face, her concerned blue eyes, the delicious, kissable mouth. For a moment all Ingrid wanted to do was kiss her, but she got hold of herself quickly. "You came back for me."
"Against my better judgement," Lolita said with a half-smile. "But I thought about you alone on that hunt, and I got worried. You don't have very good fighting skills, and I was afraid that you'd get stung… I guess that worry came true."
"Yeah," Ingrid agreed.
She flexed her hands, looking down at them. There was a strange vibration in all her cells, something that filled her with energy. It was familiar, but more powerful than she had ever felt before.
Sliding off the bed, she strode over to the pile of armor lying on the floor. Lolita asked her what she was doing, but she didn't want to answer–she just wanted to see if she was right. Her hands trembled as she picked up her sword and concentrated on it.
White-green flames flickered over the blade, and the metal turned from a dull steel to vibrant gold. Alchemy was a very difficult spell to master. Even the most potent alchemists could only change small amounts of metal without getting exhausted, but Ingrid changed all her armor in a matter of seconds, and still felt full of energy.
"The venom really improved my powers," she said, turning back to Lolita.
The other woman's face was pale, her jaw hanging open. And no wonder–what Ingrid had just done should be impossible.
"That's... amazing," Lolita breathed.
"The others who were stung died. Why did I survive?"
Lolita stretched out her hands, slowly as though she didn't dare actually touch Ingrid, but her fingers closed around Ingrid's, cool and calming. "Probably because you already have magic and it wasn't suddenly and violently thrust into your system."
Ingrid nodded. That made sense. She felt like she could do anything–destroy a star, create a planet. She was a goddess in her own skin, and if Lolita hadn't been right there, holding her hands, it would have terrified her.
Her dream came to her mind and she shivered. It had just been hallucinations caused by the venom. And yet, there had been bits and pieces that were from real life. It had all felt so bizarrely real, even as she remembered that the necklace Edan actually gave her did feel a little too snug. She let out a shuddering breath, and shivered again when Lolita stepped away from her.
Ingrid opened her mouth, to tell her former lover the dream, but Lolita spoke before she did.
"I know your hunting trip didn't go as you had hoped, but while you were gone, I found an abandoned freighter in orbit. There wasn't any atmosphere onboard, but I was able to use the drones to check their cargo."
Ingrid's brow furrowed. "What was it carrying?"
"They were a poaching vessel. There was a good ten tones of manticore venom onboard. I'm sure somebody is going to come looking for it, but I only took a couple gallon's worth." Lolita strode across the room and held out a small vial. It glowed green.
"Why? I thought that you said…" Ingrid let herself trail off. Was Lolita really suggesting what she thought she was suggesting?
Lolita winced and put the vial back. "I know what I said, Ingrid. And I can't say that I changed my mind, really. I still think it's suicide to go after Jorgenson, but I did make a promise. I'm going to help you take him down, no matter what it takes."
"Lolita—"
"Let me finish. I won't say anything else on the matter. You loved Edan, and you're right. Somebody has to avenge him. It might as well be us. With our position when it comes to Earth government, Harper can say we were acting alone, and the economy of Earth won't be harmed. Not that it would anyway, seeing as it's an empire that controls the system, but…" Lolita shook her head and laughed. "Listen to me babbling on. The point is, I made a promise, and I'm going to keep my word."
Ingrid sucked her lower lip between her teeth. This wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for when she saw it was Lolita who had rescued her. Could she really use the venom to go after Jorgenson, now that she knew how cruelly it was harvested?
But revenge was her reason for living. Wasn't it? What would she do if she gave it up?
She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell Lolita she had changed her mind about going after Jorgenson, but had she really? Or was she just feeling the aftereffects of being on that planet with those poachers? In a few days would she change her mind again?
"Thank you," she managed to force out.
Lolita nodded and turned away quickly, going to the pilot's chair. "I'm setting in coordinates to get us to Jorgenson's region of space. I hope you have a plan to get us inside."
"We can say we're selling manticore venom." Ingrid wandered over to her. But not too close. "How long before we arrive?"
"Three days."
Three days. Ingrid took the co-pilot's chair, nodding. Three days was plenty of time to decide what she really wanted to do.
The vast stretch of space between Neptune and Pluto seemed emptier than any of the other empty spots in the system. Perhaps it was because they were so far from the sun that it was only a bright ball, looking small enough that Ingrid could cup it in her hand.
That was the worst part of being on Pluto all those years ago. The perpetual darkness, feeling her skin grow paler day by day, having to take vitamin D supplements because they were so far from the sun.
Jorgenson had his base somewhere in this empty region. Nobody knew quite where. Out this far, Earth no longer really cared what was happening, as long as their shipments of lithium from Pluto's moons were not interrupted.
Nerves fluttered in Ingrid's stomach as they had been doing since leaving Uranus, but she pushed aside her doubts for the moment, concentrating on Lolita. Both their hands blazed with magic as they traded blows. Both their arms and faces were heavily bruised from when their defenses were too slow. Ingrid grinned as she forced the other witch back step by step.
Lolita grunted, sending out a wave of magic, but Ingrid sensed her actions before she took them, and reflected the wave back at her. Lolita spun across the cargo bay, landing with a thump.
"Enough," she said, letting the fire around her hands die. "I surrender."
Ingrid helped her up and ran a finger along her jaw, healing a particularly nasty bruise there. "See what I mean?"
Lolita nodded. "Yeah. That manticore sting has really kept your magic up. I still think you need to take more before we confront Jorgenson. I ought to take some, too. I don't relish the idea of drugging myself like that, but I like the idea of being killed even less."
Ingrid flinched, but Lolita was busy healing herself and didn’t notice. They'd be there soon. There was still time to back out of this. She had been struggling with her doubts since they left Uranus. Was it really worth it to go forward with this and try to kill Jorgenson, especially if it meant they were both going to die? But if she didn't, what then? Could she just forget about Edan, forget everything he had meant to her? Would she go back to Earth and face justice there?
What did the universe have to offer her, to encourage her to stick around and see what else her future might hold?
Her gaze fell on Lolita. If she gave up this revenge, could she stay with her former lover? Could they find the sparks they had before?
She opened her mouth, about to voice her questions, but was interrupted by a rapid beeping. A red light from the comm indicating an incoming call.
"We're being hailed," she mumbled unnecessarily.
Lolita frowned. They two hurried to the nearest vid comm. There was no indication of who was hailing them, and Lolita gestured Ingrid to one side, out of view. "In case it's an Earth ship."
Ingrid nodded and stepped back.
Lolita brushed her blonde hair back from her face, straightened her shoulders, and answered the call. From where she was, Ingrid couldn't see the being on the other end, but the deep, gravelly voice that spoke reminded her of the jinns of Mercury. She shivered. Jorgenson was half-jinn.
"You are encroaching upon the space of the United Free Species. State who you are and what you are doing."
The United Free Species. Ingrid had never heard of them. Her heart began to pound. Had they stumbled onto a plot to rebel against Earth? Another criminal group?
Lolita's expression remained cool and calm. "My name is Lolita. You may have heard of me, in connection to the massacre on Luna?"
There was a pause and then a slow rumble answered her. It sounded like thunder. Was it anger, or laughter? It was impossible to tell with jinns. Ingrid clenched her hands, wishing she hadn't ever decided to come after Jorgenson. It was a mistake. It had all been a mistake.
"Lolita. I do know you. What brings you to your space? Have you come to pledge your allegiance to the United Free Species?"
"I don't know what that is. I was under the impression that Jorgenson controlled his space."
"Who do you think I am?"
Lolita's eyes widened. "You?"
"Surprised? I would be, too. Harper likes to pretend I am nothing more than a warlord, but I am a visionary. I will reset the balance of power… now why have you sought me out?"
"I have manticore venom for sale. I figured you would have a use for it."
There was a pause. Ingrid stared at Lolita's face, desperately searching for some sort of give in her expression, something that would tell her what was going through the other woman's mind. But Lolita's expression remained calm, giving away nothing. Ingrid had to fight the urge to leap forward and shake her. She would get answers soon enough.
"Manticore venom? Well, I must say I didn't expect a human to be bringing me manticore venom. Your species is generally too soft for such pursuits."
"I'm a witch."
"A witch." A pause. "And you're not alone. My ship's sensors indicate you have a second lifeform on board your ship."
"My lover," Lolita replied swiftly.
Ingrid tried not to think of how she felt in response to that. She knew she shouldn’t, but she liked the sound. She twisted the hem of her tunic in her hands, thinking once more of her dream–could she be happy with Lolita? Could the two of them take to the stars, hop on an exploration ship to another system, escape from Earth's sphere of control? It would take years to reach the nearest system, but could that be worth it?
"Come to my ship," Jorgenson said, breaking into her thoughts. "We will negotiate the sale of your venom."
Lolita nodded. She pressed a button and there was a distinctive click of the call being disconnected. The blonde witch didn't look at Ingrid, striding past her.
"This is it," she said as Ingrid followed. "What we've been waiting for."
"Lolita, I…" Ingrid didn't know what to say. "That was really Jorgenson?"
"Yes. He's smaller than I thought. After all the stories about him, I expected somebody as tall as a jotunn with a permanent scowl on his face. But he wasn't like that at all. But I suppose he's half-jinn, and they can change their appearances. You'll see soon. But if we're going to do this, we need to take the venom now. You prep the needles, I'll set a course following his ship."