Authors: Evanne Lorraine
The
future flash ended with another vicious stab inside her skull.
Dear
Goddess, Aegis and Jaxon are going to die
. Suddenly it didn’t matter whether or not she was a mate of convenience. She had to save her warriors.
The door to Cami’s cabin
swung open.
A soldier-disciple said, “Come with me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Passenger
hold.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone needs to be secured. We’re leaving for home, for Earth.” She glared at Cami. “And you’ve asked quite enough stupid questions, even for a breeder. Collect yourself, sister.”
Perhaps it
her “even for a breeder” remark that finally pushed Cami past all endurance. Instead of arguing, she caught the other woman’s chin with a vicious uppercut, putting every kilogram of frustration into the punch.
The
woman crumpled like cheap syn-cotton.
After quickly shrugging on the
soldier’s tunic and binding her hair, Cami ran. She raced along the ship’s narrow corridors. The disciple’s colors worked as a shield. The others stepped aside respectfully, giving her clear passage.
The grating noise of the bay doors moving spurred her to record-setting speed. She mashed the panel to release the hatch and squeezed through the moment it parted.
She grabbed a lungful of air and used the emergency override on the exterior control. Then she fought her way against the atmosphere leaving the bay, working her way from one handhold to the next, down the wide corridor to the portal. She grasped the last grab bar and slammed her palm on the control panel. The hatch opened. She wedged inside and pounded the Close key. The small chamber sealed.
A little bit of the breath she still held leaked out. The exterior portal sealed with a quiet whoosh. There was no air in the p
assageway. As she stabbed at the controls to activate pressurization, her fingers lost their dexterity and the edges of her vision faded.
The rest of the stale air in her lungs leaked out. With the last of her strength, she kicked at a
buckled seam in the side of the tiny chamber.
A panel popped open, flooding the small room with breathable air. She drew in ragged breaths of the recycled oxygen mixture. Nothing had ever tasted so sweet.
Exhausted, she slumped against the wall, and thanked the Goddess for her life.
Behind her t
he dock’s outer doors parted completely and the Athena’s engines quietly thrust them into space.
She pushed upright and cautiously opened the interior hatchway, peering
into the dim passage. Wherever it led had to be an improvement over being trapped between the station and the bay. She entered the narrow tunnel, catching muffled sounds of blaster fire and men’s shouts.
New Eden warriors must have
found a way into the space station. Were Aegis and Jaxon fighting?
The comforting hum of their bond came back to life in her veins. She would use the connection like a friendly radio beacon. Until she found them, she was staying out of sight. The mating sanction official had said,
“It is not safe for a female to wander around New Eden unescorted
.”
She imagined a battle
in these confined conditions would be even more hazardous.
Careful to make as little noise as
possible, she scurried through the twisting passage. The sound of fighting grew fainter. She came to a stop by a grated panel. Shocked the narrow channel led to the station’s core.
In an eerie replay of her recent precog peek, H
’nai turned away from the sparkling interface of the controls, finished.
Too late.
The final countdown had already started. She cursed her slowness and stuffed a fist into her mouth to keep from howling.
The mage signaled to his guards. Dressed in their glossy, near-black chest protectors and matching helmets with space-dark tinted face shields, the enemy soldiers
resembled shiny beetles swarming around him. One of the elite troopers took the lead. A well-matched pair covered his front; others formed a human barricade around their leader, covering both of his flanks and back. A single guard brought up the rear.
She counted to ten after the
Baldoreans cleared the room then kicked at the grating. The stubborn cover refused to move. The tunnel ahead was half the height of the one behind her. She crouched like a hunchback racing down the shaft after the mage.
The passage split
after the second bend. She held her breath, straining to hear something—anything to guide her. No sound, no movement, and no future flash arrived to help her choose. With a huff of determination, she dived into the left branch.
A few meters farther, a small ladder led to a
nother hatchway. She peered through a cautious crack, saw nothing, and stepped quietly into the corridor.
T
he last of H’nai’s guard rounded a corner just ahead.
Cami sprinted after her quarry.
She careened around the bend and skidded to a stop.
A
Baldorean in shiny beetle armor waited.
Her perception expanded, slowing time. She watched each tiny increment of movement as he raised his weapon and took aim. Her vision filled
by the widening deadly end of his blaster.
An instinct propelled Cami to even greater speed.
Aegis-level speed. Her legs blurred as she raced toward the lethal threat of the guard’s raised weapon.
The enemy soldier blasted her into particle dust or the station imploded, either way she died. Her imminent death caused a new reckless spirit to possess her
, since she had nothing to lose, fear vanished. She preferred to die fighting. With the Goddess’s help, she could take H’nai along for the journey into the afterlife. The thought fueled her with a new, lethal purpose.
Apparently frightened
by her impressive speed kick, the guard took a step backward, stumbled, and pulled his kill shot. With a move both Aegis and Jaxon would’ve applauded, she wrenched the weapon out of his grip and wedged it under his face shield.
The Baldorean disintegrated, leaving behind only his armor and his blaster.
Swallowing her rising nausea, she donned the dead man’s helmet and chest guard and then snagged his weapon on her way after the escaping enemies. With a bit of luck, the rest of the royal party would be too busy to notice her one-piece didn’t quite match their uniforms.
O
ut of breath, she slipped into place behind the rear guards.
One of pair turned and spoke to her in a rough tongue. She didn’t understand. She coughed violently and thumped on her chest plate.
The guard grunted something more before turning to face forward.
Her heart pounded like the Goddess’s own wrath
and her muscles quivered after the enemy accepted her silent assent. She forced herself to take deliberate breaths and control her trembling.
All she needed was one tiny opening between the beetle bodies, a split second to fire her blaster, and the evil mage would be history.
The station’s main system interface spun and sparkled with jewel-toned life, mocking Aegis while refusing to accept his commands. He pounded the transparent console with his fist. A star-shaped fissure appeared on the smooth surface, and his hand tingled. The center continued to rotate—immutable—locked.
Only H’nai
could have sabotaged the system.
Why would his old enemy take the
time to block the interface? Simply caution or had he expected pursuit? The reasons were irrelevant. Aegis had to find a way to override the lockout.
He
tackled the problem from another angle, running a diagnostic procedure to overload the buffer as he altered system priorities. Nothing. He jerked unruly tentacles away from his eyes and tried an alternate approach. The sole mark of his efforts was a restored audible function.
U
biquitous speakers wailed then broadcast. “Nineteen minutes remain until implosion. All personnel must report to their team leaders for an orderly evacuation of the facility.”
He shook his head
trying to clear his vision. Drops of water sprayed the incalcitrant equipment. A reminder of how much he needed his mates. He forced his fingers to work faster, stabbing at the interface. Nothing worked. He was too late. The destruction sequence was irreversible.
I
rreplaceable seconds elapsed. H’nai’s lead lengthened.
His
connection to Cami ceased.
I
ce crept up his limbs. Despair threatened to paralyze him.
Out of time, Aegis banged the cracked console
once more and raced to where he had parted from Jaxon.
He raised his voice to make himself heard over the station siren and evacuation warning. “Come.”
Jaxon peered at him with concern. “Where did you go?”
“To
halt the station’s implosion function.”
“Any luck?”
“No.”
Jaxon squeezed his arm.
“I thought you were a goner.”
“Everyone on this station is going to die.” Aegis took in the grey cast of Jaxon’s normally bronze skin and
added gruffly, “Baldoreans are poor shots and Tethysians are hard to kill.”
“So blaster hits bounce off your chest?” Jaxon snorted.
“We have a chance to eliminate the blood mage and his guards. I know where they are going.”
“Damn, why didn’t you say so?”
I did say so
. Warriors were frequently incomprehensible. Yet he loved this one, an emotional reality, which defied practical reason.
“I’ve lost Cami again,” Jaxon whispered.
Aegis reached back and clasped his mate’s hand. The rough palm was curiously satisfying to hold against his scales, thawing the worst of the icy dread chilling his bones since the connection to Cami vanished.
He hoped she was simply shielded. If not
they had no time to mourn her loss or to savor his final minutes with Jaxon. Each stride between bays brought them closer to dock fourteen and certain death. If the Goddess smiled, after the evil ones died there would be a last kiss before the station imploded.
He checked his chron. Sixteen minutes remained.
More time passed in their race to the enemy’s bay.
Contact allowed him to shield Jaxon in the same way he did himself.
When they arrived Aegis grabbed his mate and rendered them invisible.
They waited and watched, while Aegis kept count of the enemy troops as the mage’s guards
boarded. The second the last man cleared the ramp, he and Jaxon sprinted toward the warship.
The gangplank began to retract. Aegis
spanned the distance in a single leap, caught the ramp’s edge, and forced it open while Jaxon clambered aboard. Stealthily they entered the alien craft.
The
hatchway sealed behind them.
With their backs together, they prowled deeper into the enemy
vessel. United in mind and body, they moved as one—a two-headed, four-armed, four-legged, heavily armed, invisible fighter.
Secure in their own
ship, the enemy soldiers didn’t bother with defense.
From the concealment of Aegis’s illusion, they watched the mage’s guards remove their armor, take their stations, and transform into crew members. Only one Baldorean still wore his
battle gear as he moved through the open chamber and disappeared into the interior. His bespelled shield would not save him.
He and Jaxon opened fire
in unison, taking out half a dozen of the elite troopers before any of them mounted an offense. As if nothing had happened, the warship hummed to life.
Two more guards raced into the cabin, still struggling into their
protective gear. Jaxon took them out.
Another yelled, raising a blaster. Aegis fired and the noisy
enemy disintegrated, dropping his weapon on the deck.
“Was he the last of ’em?”
Jaxon asked.
Aegis shook his head. “There is at least one more guard and H’nai.”
“Gotcha.”
“If we separate, I cannot maintain your shielding.”
“Drop it.”
“I will search the starboard
quarters.”
“’Kay, I’ll cover the
portside, but it’s a damn big ship.”
Aegis checked his chron
. Eleven minutes left. “H’nai will be near. Launching requires access to the main cabin.”
He s
trained his senses, picking up nothing. H’nai and any remaining guards were well shielded. The first compartment was deserted and too barren to house the mage. He moved faster, opening doors and sweeping rooms with inhuman speed. Yet he was too slow.
“Stop right there.”
Aegis rotated toward Jaxon’s voice. His eyes tracked the movement of two armored Baldoreans as they edged out of an opulent cabin, arms raised in surrender. He aimed at the enemies.
Jaxon stepped into the kill zone, blocking his shot. “Hold fire.”
A whiff of H’nai’s scent reached his receptors. Red mist fogged his sight.
For an interminable slice of time, he was
back flattened in the jungle duff, pinned by his guard. He watched the flash of the chimator’s blade, smelled the blood spurting from his mother’s neck, and felt helpless fury. Although no longer a weak youngling, he was still caught in the horror and terror when the mage began chanting.
This time his shield
s held, he shook off the perilous lethargy. The mage’s incantations rendered to nothing but meaningless noise.
He
was sworn to avenge his family. The need roiled in his gut, rabid, ravenous. Rage roared through his veins. His control stripped, leaving him ruled by blood lust.
H
is forearms prickled. An irresistible urge made him push up his sleeve to check the mating sign. The scrollwork was shriveling and fading.
Sudden clarity lasered in on his choice
s. Avenge an ancient wound by torturing H’nai as he deserved or kill him quickly and possibly save Jaxon.
H’nai didn’t deserve a quick and painless death. He
should writhe in agony and terror each second left in his miserable life. Tossing aside his blaster, Aegis strode toward his enemy. No matter how much he tortured H’nai, no matter how much pain he inflicted, and no matter how much he made the blood mage suffer, nothing changed. Nothing could change. His family would not be resurrected, and he would have a new stain on his soul. The red mist of the mind-consuming blood lust slowly receded.
A quick death was not a kindness to H’nai. It was the only honorable choice for the last Tethysian with a mate to protect and cherish.
In minutes the station would implode. He wanted to spend the small time he had left to him mourning Cami and loving Jaxon.
The warship’s thick hull muted the station’s destruction warning.
Didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like Jaxon needed sound effects. His awareness of his recently shortened life expectancy stayed loud and clear, sharpening every sense. His heightened focus warped time, expanding, contracting, and twisting reality into strange new dimensions.
Behind him, he heard Aegis sprinting
for the last of the guards.
A
peek at Aegis’s thoughts had Jaxon whirling back toward the helmeted enemies. Somehow Aegis recognized the tall one as H’nai, and was bent on rending the mage.
Jaxon’s gut said he needed to stop him.
Nothing as simple as holding out a palm was gonna cut it.
Not a problem. He’d blast the
Baldoreans out of existence before Aegis got close. He aimed his weapon below the enemies’ chest armor for an effective shot.
A tingle of wrongness prickled the fine hairs on his nape.
He took a half sec to double-check his aim, squeezed one eye shut, and narrowed the other, zooming in, and damn near dropped his blaster.
The short
er guard’s fingers tapped a familiar cadence against a toned thigh.
The mage grabbed his
trooper, using him as a shield.
Jaxon blinked.
Not possible. Still, he couldn’t press the Fire button.
A massive shoulder rocked him sideways as Aegis angled past him.
He grabbed a fistful of the big guy’s uniform and angled back leveraging his weight to slow him down. “They’re unarmed.”
Aegis slowed to a stop but kept his focus trained on the guards. “So?”
Not exactly the reasonable response I wanted.
He tried another tactic, barking at the enemy, “Helmets off, nice and slow.”
The taller guard fumbled with his fittings one-handed. Probably took one look at Aegis and lost control of his fine motor skills. Jaxon sniffed, hoping
agility was the enemy’s only lapse.
Shorty got right with the program, releasing and lifting. The helmet came off
.
Cami smiled shakily.
Both he and Aegis started forward at the same time.
The mage dropped his he
adpiece, tightening his grasp on her throat.
She gave a muffled squeak of protest.
Jaxon dove, grabbed her at the knees, and tumbled her out of the enemy’s reach. He landed in a crouch and hauled out his blaster. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Even as he drew down he was too late.
Pieces of a
rmor scattered across the cabin as Aegis ripped the man apart.
Jaxon turned and helped Cami up,
staying between her and their berserk mate. “Are you okay?”
“Much better now
.”
“Good.” Jaxon glanced at his chron and tried to calculate where they were in the countdown. Maybe seven minutes left. He hated to interrupt Aegis’s whoopin’ party, but they needed to get out of here, and he didn’t know how to fly the
enemy’s warship.
“We gotta go, bud.
Now.”
Aegis rose, revealing the
still writhing body.
Was that an eyeball? Jaxon hugged Cami, cupping her head nice and tight against his chest. She absolutely didn’t need to see any of that mess. “He’s real protective.”
“I know,” Cami murmured against him. “He wants to save us from everything bad. I don’t blame him. I feel the same way.”
He
gave her a tight squeeze and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.
“Heads up.”
He met Aegis’s wild eyes. “Ended it.”
The big guy n
odded and zapped the mangled flesh to atomic particles.
“Can you fly this thing?”
Jaxon asked.
Aegis raised one brow, already moving toward the alien interface.
“Of course.”
“Good.” Too few minutes were left for a sluggish warship to clear the implosion. But it was
still better for all of them to die trying.
His grip on Cami
loosened.
“Is he dead?” She pulled free of Jaxon’s hold.
“Yeah and then some.”
She looked at him like he was a blaster missing a round of duranium. “H’nai?”
“Absolutely.”
“He needed to die.”
He bit back a grin at her fierceness, loving her for her strength and her courage. “Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?”
“You didn’t touch him.” She shivered.
He rubbed her arms, chasing away the evil memory, and changed the subject. “Why didn’t you say something when you saw me?”
“With H’nai
’s arm around my throat and your blaster pointed at my knees?”
“Sorry, sweetheart.”
“The Baldorean’s armor must’ve shielded me. I couldn’t sense either of you. How did you recognize me?”
“The finger-counting thing you do.”