“What the hell is that?” Alex asked above the gunfire.
Stacey yelped.
Slowly, Ravyn turned her head and looked forward.
The alien came toward them.
She bit back a gasp. Even though she’d seen what their quarry looked like in Meriwa and Kale’s chamber, it didn’t prepare her for his presence. His colors were more vivid, his size more intimidating. He had an air about him that made her wonder if he could be beaten.
Damon put himself in front of her and fired his weapon, but he moved stiffly and Ravyn knew he was hurting. Despite two men shooting at him, the killer continued forward, unfazed.
As he closed the distance, her heart rate picked up. He absolutely towered over Damon. Ravyn watched the bullets stop and fall harmlessly to the ground before they reached the murderer, as if they hit some invisible force field. His gaze met hers for one, endless moment. In that time, she saw ancient knowledge and power like she had never before imagined. And she saw death. The deaths of the three people she loved most. She saw herself alone, as she waited for him to finish her.
“Look away, Ravyn,” Damon ordered.
She broke eye contact and the feelings of hopelessness receded. The monster had been creating the images, Ravyn realized. Somehow it seemed scarier than outright mind control. She stayed prone in the mud and watched as the alien causally, lifted one blue hand and directed another sphere of energy toward Damon. He evaded it by a hair’s breadth.
Unreasoning fury coursed through her, pushing aside the fear. The killer had tried to influence her emotions and now he was trying to inflict more pain on the man she loved. Like hell. She reached for the rock pressing into her leg, and standing, tossed it at the murderer’s head. As soon as it left her hand, she realized she was an idiot. Why did she think a stone would have any effect when the bullets didn’t?
“Get down,” Damon growled, standing half in front of her.
Ravyn couldn’t. She was too shocked by the monster to move. Her assessment came from what she sensed, not his appearance. She’d never felt evil like this before. They weren’t living beings to him, but offerings. The killer turned his attention to her. She was careful not to look him in the eye, but it didn’t matter, she felt the pleasure he took in their predicament. He grinned at her. Caught in the pointed yellow teeth were shreds of flesh. She shuddered as the idea of him eating hearts and tongues flashed through her mind. With a gulp, she looked away.
“Are those eyes?” Stacey asked, standing beside her.
“Both of you, get down.” Alex joined Damon in shielding them. “Now!” he thundered when he didn’t get instant obedience.
Unable to stop herself, Ravyn looked back at the murderer. Dangling like fringe from the hem of his vest were eyeballs. Human eyeballs. He must have preserved them in some way because they stared back at her with unblinking perfection.
She felt wooziness swamp her. She didn’t want to speculate whose eyes looked back at her, didn’t want to guess if those blue eyes belonged to Sondra or to Pyle, but it was hard not to. Her knees buckled and Damon’s arm went around her waist, holding her up. The wall of protection she created started to waver and the alien’s grin widened.
Pull it together, Ravyn. Now!
“Sweet pea, I need you.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. The smell just about choked her, but it brought her to her senses. If she couldn’t do better than this, she should have stayed in the Old City. Determined, she hardened the wall. Her composure was threatened again when the killer ran a hand over the eyeballs, lightly brushing them and causing them to swing, but she shook off her horror and gathered her strength.
After firing more rounds and getting the same, useless results, Damon slipped the safety on his weapon and tossed it to the ground. “Ravyn, pull up the energy.” His voice was grim.
Nodding, she started to draw from the planet when the alien lifted his hands. Flustered, she dropped the energy. The burst hit Damon again, driving him back a step. Squeaking with dismay, she wrapped her arms around him to keep him from falling. His body shook and she tightened her hold. The alien grinned once more, but she ignored him and concentrated on her job. By the time Damon was steady, she was able to pass him a wave of energy.
He fired it, but it seemed to expand and dissipate before it reached the alien. “Keep it coming,” he ordered and she realized she shouldn’t be standing there, watching.
Hurriedly, she drew from Jarved Nine and managed to hold on to all the power even when the killer raised his hand to fire. She watched in helpless rage as the flare headed toward Damon, but this time it stopped short of its target, splattering out like a snowball hitting a window. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stacey move beside Damon, hands raised. She turned her head to the other side and saw Alex in a similar pose. He raised his eyebrows as their eyes met, but didn’t say anything.
Guardians.
The “voice” seemed to be both hers and Meriwa’s. Now some of what the ancients had said made sense. While she and Damon could protect their minds, they were physically vulnerable. Stacey and Alex were their guardians, their sentinels.
Like two gunslingers meeting at high noon, Damon and the alien stood only meters apart, shooting energy at each other. Ravyn struggled to keep up. It seemed her captain could fire a lot faster than she could draw. The killer managed to get off four or five shots to every one of theirs. She concentrated only on pulling, holding and passing the energy. The murderer couldn’t score any hits, not with their guardians in place, but they weren’t striking the alien either.
No one gained an advantage. How much longer could the standoff last? The energy work left her drained, and it was worse for Damon. Not only was he hurting from the hits he’d taken earlier, but his part of the process required more effort. The murderer seemed unaffected by fatigue and able to continue indefinitely. His shots retained their speed and precision and she could detect no signs of weakening.
She took a deep breath, wiped the sweat dripping from her face and reached for more energy. Swaying with exhaustion, she passed it along the channel to Damon. It amazed her, but the conduit between them remained open. Fatigue had always caused it to collapse when they’d practiced, yet they were more wiped out now than they’d ever been before. It puzzled her.
Ravyn handed off more energy and sent her consciousness inside herself. She traveled to the passage leading to Damon. They weren’t the ones holding it open, she realized, her eyes widening in shock. Their baby was doing it. It couldn’t be possible, she thought. The baby was little more than a group of cells at this point. She searched deeper, going beyond the physical, and met his essence. He was beautiful, powerful, and she couldn’t prevent a sappy smile as it dawned on her that she and Damon were going to have their hands full raising this child.
“Ravyn,” Damon barked, forcing her to focus on the battle.
Quickly, she drew more energy, and as she transferred it, she put a hand on her abdomen and lightly rubbed. She sent all the love she felt to the baby. Damon fired, and for the first time, this shot didn’t fade before it reached its target. Ravyn had started drawing more energy, and in surprise, she lost her hold on it. Ignoring the curse Damon muttered, she passed him another round. She was on to something here.
On the next pull, she opened her heart. She sent Jarved Nine love, and she wrapped the energy she passed to Damon with all the love she felt for him. She felt his surprise, but he was so used to opening to her, that when he fired, his heart was brimming with love for her as well. This shot not only made it to the target. It hit. Full force.
The creature bellowed in pain and outrage. Something changed on his face, making Ravyn think he had been toying with them, but was done with the games now. The next volley from him came fast and furious. It amazed her how he could direct the energy balls in multiple directions. She knew Alex and Stacey were hard pressed to keep up, but somehow they managed.
Adding love slowed down the energy transfer even more, but it worked. As shot after shot hit, inflicting damage on the alien, he moved closer. Ravyn wondered if he thought it would give his blasts more power. Frustration made him angry and more hate filled every fireball he aimed their way. The greater his malice toward them, the weaker his flares seemed to be.
Despite this, they had no advantage. She and Damon grew more weary with every shot they fired, and Stacey and Alex grew more tired with each blast they blocked. Retreat wasn’t an option. Maybe the four of them could get back inside the city, but they couldn’t leave the rescue team behind.
The impasse continued. Ravyn looked around, her body trembling with fatigue. Damon swayed, his breathing rougher than usual. Stacey’s eyes were slits, as if it would take too much out of her to open them completely. Alex appeared drawn and pale. She tried to shake off the lassitude and focus. If any one of them faltered, the alien would pounce. She couldn’t let Damon or Alex or Stacey die. There had to be something else she could do, Ravyn thought desperately. There must be more!
More. That was it! More love.
The love she injected to the energy increased its potency, but not enough. What if she found more feeling within her?
She called upon all the love she had ever felt and filled the energy with it. Damon looked startled again, as if sensing something different, but he fired. The alien staggered back two full steps and seemed to wobble a moment before righting himself. This was the most damage they’d managed to inflict so far.
“What did you do?” Damon asked and she could hear total exhaustion in his voice.
“I remembered all the love I’ve felt in my life.”
He nodded thoughtfully, took the energy she passed him and shot it. This time the alien went to his knees. He got up slowly, shaking his head.
“Interesting,” Damon commented.
Ravyn tried to pull the energy faster so they could get off a one-two shot. She was unable to add any speed to the process. The killer, as if mocking her inability, shot off three quick bursts. The shield their guardians held appeared to flicker briefly before solidifying once more.
“Would you guys please do whatever it takes to finish this,” Stacey said wearily. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I’m dead on my feet.”
“Better than dead, period,” Alex told her. He ignored Stacey’s attempt at a glare.
“You know,” Ravyn paused as another attack by the killer was deflected, “I’m filling the energy with love as I pass it over. Then you’re filling it with love as you fire. What if we entwine our love together for the whole process?”
Damon nodded again. “Worth a try.”
Ravyn drew the power from Jarved Nine. She felt Damon weave his love with hers and she brimmed with the beautiful vibration. Only half aware of what she was doing, Ravyn reached for Stacey and Alex. They were linked, although not as strongly as she was joined to her captain. She found cords running amid the four of them. Almost tentatively, she opened to her brother and friend and asked them to join their feelings of love to her and Damon’s.
There was a brief hesitation from both of them before she felt their compliance. Four strands of love meshed into one and Ravyn added the planet’s energy. Nothing had ever felt so wondrous. Reluctant to lose the sensation, she slowly passed it over. It built further as it flowed by the baby, and surprised, Ravyn almost lost the hold she had. Damon turned to her as he began to receive the power. She read his own amazement easily. “Conceived in love,” she whispered reverently.
His lips turned up slightly as he rested one hand atop hers over the baby. “Damn right.”
The energy, filled with love, continued to stream to him.
In her peripheral vision she saw so many bursts of light heading toward them, it looked like the Fourth of July. Still, the three of them remained within their peaceful bubble.
“Excuse me for interrupting your little tête-à-tête,” Alex said, irritation evident, “but we need you to pay attention. Things are getting a little dicey here.”
They separated, but the energy continued on its path. Alex wasn’t exaggerating. The shield he and Stacey held was a solid wall of light as the alien inundated them.
She passed the last of the energy.
Damon fired.
The alien dropped.
The noise he made raised the hair on the back of Ravyn’s neck. She knew she’d never forget the pitiful sound. He tried to stand, but only made it to his knees before falling back to the ground. For the first time she saw something akin to pain cross his face. He managed one more shot, but it fizzled before it covered half the distance to them.
She and Damon held their link long after they felt the alien’s life force leave. Remorse at causing his death choked her and it didn’t seem to matter he had been evil. Later, she decided. She’d deal with this later.
Ravyn’s knees gave out. Damon caught her and they sank to the ground together. They held each other, breathing shakily as they tried to recover. Stacey already lay flat on the ground. The team, Ravyn noted, remained frozen. Alex was the only one upright and functional. Semi-functional, she corrected as she watched him stagger to the alien and verify the threat had ended.
“Brody,” Alex said when he rejoined them. He had the weapon Damon had used in his hands. “I don’t appreciate you appropriating my assault rifle.”
“Colonel,” Damon said, not opening his eyes, “would you like to explain why I found your assault rifle in the common room?”
“Insubordination,” Alex accused without heat. He sat down hard beside Stacey.
*** *** ***
Alex knew he should check on the team, but he couldn’t move. He’d never been this tired before. Every muscle in his body quivered with fatigue, even his brain. Later, he’d have to think about what had happened. How Stacey had known she could throw a shield to protect Ravyn and Brody. How he had known he could connect to her and help her hold the wall. He frowned. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Stacey, his sister might have been seriously hurt. Or killed. He hated having to admit her presence on this mission had been a good thing.