Dark Fire

by Cynthia Sax

  Dare looked to his left. Libor, a genetically enhanced Silan, hefted his huge missile launcher onto his ridged right shoulder. Other modified humanoids braced for battle.

  He couldn’t resist glancing behind him once more. His mate held her guns, her lips set in a flat white line, her expression determined.

  They were ready.

  Dare faced the enemy. According to Kralj’s sources, the commander was positioned on the other side of the wall of sand. The male was his target. Humanoid Alliance troops tended to fall apart without their leaders. He—

  “I love you, Dare.”

  Faylee’s words were barely audible yet they struck him to the core. She loved him. His knees weakened, threatening to collapse under him. The beautiful creature behind him had given him her heart.

  “Mate?” He looked over his shoulder, part of him unable to believe that was true.

  “Oh, Dare.” Her eyes shone with caring. “I have—”

  Focus, warrior. Kralj blasted his love-numbed brain.

  “We’ll talk about this later.” He had to concentrate on the fight. Dare tightened his grip on his guns. He had a mate to protect.

  A mate who loved him.

  Attack. Kralj gave the command.

  The wall of sand lowered. Missiles launched from the ships above Dare’s head. He ran, shooting before he saw targets.

  Their line of warriors, solid and deadly, advanced quickly. The Humanoid Alliance was caught by surprise, their hands empty of weapons, some of their backs turned toward them. Dare shot one male between his widening eyes, downed another as he turned.

  He spotted gray hair in the melee. The commander was slowly, steadily navigating through the confusion, heading toward a parked ship.

  The bastard, as Faylee called him, sought to escape.

  Dare would stop him. A projectile caught him in the shoulder, the pain bone deep. One of his scales fell to the sand.

  He winced, returned fire. The enemy didn’t have his all-over natural armor. The human’s head was exposed and Dare’s placement was perfect.

  The male fell, his arms and legs twitching. A pool of red expanded on the white sand.

  Dare forged forward, killing all hostile beings between him and his target. As he moved, he kicked the corpses and other wreckage to the side, clearing a path for his shorter mate to follow. He was acutely conscious she was behind him.

  There were too many enemy warriors guarding the commander. Another projectile hit Dare in the chest, the punch bruising his flesh, causing him agony, slowing him. He wouldn’t intercept his target in time. The male would—

  A missile hit the ship the commander sought to reach. A wave of heat, sand, and debris blasted them. His target dropped to the ground.

  Dare spun around and pulled his female into his arms. He folded his large physique over her much smaller form, seeking to protect her.

  His body absorbed the full force of the explosion. Shrapnel pounded him, the pain excruciating. A large piece of ship bounced off his back, shaking him. It took all of his strength to remain standing.

  Then it was over. A calm fell upon the site, the stillness bizarre after the previous chaos.

  His entire form screamed in anguish, pulverized by the explosion. “Faylee?” He looked down at her, his mate being his only concern.

  “I’m alive.” She splayed her fingers over his chest, her touch reassuring him. “But I dropped my guns and now they’re gone.”

  His weapons had been shredded to strips. He tossed the remnants of them away. They wouldn’t be any use to her.

  He extended his claws. “Utilize your daggers to defend yourself.”

  The blades shouldn’t be needed. Dare turned. He would protect her.

  The commander rolled onto his back. The male looked around him, saw Dare, fired rapidly at him. Projectiles pinged off Dare’s forehead and cheeks.

  The bastard was aiming for his eyeballs. That part of him had no protective scales. One projectile could end his lifespan.

  Dare held his claws in front of his face and rushed toward the enemy. His beast roared, infuriated, wanting to maim, to kill.

  The commander must have seen his intent. He scrambled backward. Dare knocked the guns out of his hands, slicing through the human’s fingers.

  The commander shrieked and waved his hands. Blood sprayed over the ground.

  Dare’s Drache howled with triumph. He approached the human, preparing to end his suffering. Permanently.

  “Why are you doing this?” The commander palmed a rock and threw it at him. “Dracheons were neutral. Your kind didn’t take sides in the war.”

  They hadn’t taken sides in the war because Dracheons were dangerously insular in their policies and the Humanoid Alliance had the intelligence to leave their planet alone.

  “I’m not aligned with the Dracheons. Not any longer.” Dare’s intentions to finish the male quickly evaporated. Both his humanoid side and his Drache hungered for blood, wanted to inflict pain. “They aren’t my kind.”

  “They don’t deserve you.” His female, as she had promised, fully supported his decision.

  “I now fight with my friends and with my mate.” He spread his claws, exhaling smoke.

  “Fuck you.” The commander pushed himself to his feet. “Males,” he bellowed to the beings around him. “Protect your commander.”

  “They’ll have to get past us.” Hulagu stood to the right of him. The kid’s bare chest was smeared with blood.

  The Chameles, the modified humanoids, the other warriors Dare had fought with, drank with, considered friends, circled them, forming a barrier of muscle and weapons.

  The Humanoid Alliance males tried to obey their commander and rescue him. They attacked. The Refuge forces cleaved them into pieces, batting their projectiles away as though it were a game.

  “Mate?” Faylee asked.

  “Stay behind me.” Dare denied her request to join the warriors. His beast needed her close and her assistance wasn’t required.

  The enemy was human. Many of their friends were not. They had evolved or had been genetically designed for battle. Some of the warriors had projectile-proof skin. Almost all were faster, stronger than the Humanoid Alliance males.

  His friends had been given defensive roles in the Refuge because they could fight. They loved waging war. Joy lit their countenances as they killed their attackers.

  “You’re on your own.” He relayed that obvious truth to the commander.

  On Dracheon, Dare would face his foes alone. They would have the support of friends, of family. Now, the roles were reversed. He had friends and a mate at his back. His foe was solitary.

  “The males assigned to me are fuckin’ incompetent.” The commander managed to extract one of his daggers from a sheath, his hands mutilated, his palms slick with blood. “That’s how this mess happened in the first place—their incompetence. I had to travel to this shithole of a planet and clean it up.”

  “This shithole of a planet is our home.” Faylee yelled.

  Dare’s lips twitched. His mate had fire in her belly.

  “How hard is it to kill two females?” The commander staggered, his eyes glassy. “Must be hard for some fuckin’ beings because here I am.” He sliced through the air with his dagger. “I always have to do everything myself.”

  The two females the commander desired to kill were Orol’s mate and her sister, beings Dare considered his friends. His beast snarled, reacting to the threat. His humanoid side was equally angry.

  The human would feel pain before he died. He’d ensure that.

  Dare spun into a crouch, lowering his form. “This is for Rhea and Paloma.” He swept his claws over the commander’s upper thighs, cutting through his flesh to the bone.

  The male screeched and fell to his knees. Blood gushed down his legs.

  “Finish him.” Dare’s mate leaned against his back, the contact soothing his Drache.

  A flick of his claws across the male’s throat would end his lifespan
but that was too quick, too painless. Their foe had killed countless beings, had destroyed families, entire species, likely worlds.

  “How should I finish him?” He awarded the choice to his female.

  “Release your beast.” She gave that order without hesitation.

  Both parts of him approving of her decision, Dare tilted his head back, clicked his teeth, and ignited his fire. He blew that heat over the commander, covering him with metal-melting flames.

  The male screamed, thrashing his arms, rolling, trying desperately to extinguish the inferno, to end his misery. Dare doused him with more of his scorching breath. The smell of burned hair, skin, and flesh flavored the air, adding to the scents of battle.

  He roared, his beast ecstatic, his humanoid side satisfied. The screams lessened more and more, gradually stopping. The commander’s body was reduced to a mound of ash.

  “Son of a Gechii.” Oghul stared. “Remind me never to make you angry, Dracheon.”

  Balvan grunted his agreement. The other Refuge warriors laughed.

  The few remaining Humanoid Alliance males, now leaderless, retreated. Some of the Chameles chased after them, brandishing their claws and whooping.

  “I’ll return to Carinae E soon.” Oghul bumped shoulders with his brother. “This was fun.”

  Hulagu grinned.

  Dare’s chest heaved, his focus fixed on his mate. He scanned the area, looking for threats, didn’t see any. “Faylee?”

  She skimmed her slender fingers over his arm. Her touch was light yet it knocked him back on his heels. Every fraggin’ time.

  “The battle is over?” Her voice was just a whisper.

  “The battle is over.” He pulled her in front of him. “We have defeated our enemies.”

  He ran his palms over his female’s small form. Her flight suit was torn. Her scales were dull in places but they remained in place. There were no signs she’d been hurt.

  “Are you unharmed, mate?” He needed that verbal reassurance.

  “I’m fine.” Her gaze drifted down his body, pausing at his groin. Her eyes widened. “And I see you are more than fine.” The remnants of his ass coverings didn’t hide his arousal.

  He grinned. “My beast has fought. Now, it wants to mate.”

  “Now?” She looked pointedly at Hulagu and Balvan.

  The kid was regaling the green gatekeeper with embellished tales of his fighting prowess. Balvan’s bushy eyebrows were raised and his big arms were crossed. The male was familiar with Hulagu’s abilities.

  “Now.” Dare swung his mate into his arms. “But not here.” He would ravish her in private, away from the killing and the death.

  “Oh, Dare.” She reached upward, linking her fingers at his nape. Her slight curves flattened against his muscles, that contact easing his lingering aches. “I do love your beast.”

  His female was the sole being in the universe who felt that way about his Drache. He blew his heated breath over her face as he walked with her.

  She shuddered, her expression blissful, the scent of her arousal strengthening.

  “Do you only love the beast?” He wanted to hear those words again. “Does my humanoid side not appeal to you?”

  “All of you appeals to me.” She pressed her lips against his chest.

  Steam wafted upward, giving her beautiful countenance a dreamlike softness. Dare stared down at her, completely captivated by his female.

  “I love your scales and your kindness, your intelligence and your flame-filled eyes.” She stroked her fingertips along his neck. “I love the way you fight and the way you touch me. I love how powerful and beautiful I feel when I’m with you.” His mate held his face between her small hands. “I love you, my big strong honorable warrior, and I’m proud to be your mate.”

  “I’m proud to be your mate also.” He pushed his cheeks against her palms. She was the best part of him. “And I—”

  “Hey, where are you going, Dracheon?” Tech yelled at him. “You’re our leader.”

  “I was your leader for the ground assault.” Dare bit back his irritation over the interruption and stopped to address the modified humanoid’s question. “That mission has been successfully completed. There are no more Humanoid Alliance beings to attack. We’ve killed them all.”

  Warriors cheered, slapping each other’s backs.

  “You can decide who is now in charge.” That being would be Kralj once they re-entered the Ruler’s terrain. “I’m returning to the Refuge with the female I love.”

  Faylee’s breath hitched. “Dracheons don’t speak of love.”

  “I’m not aligned with the Dracheons. Not any longer.” He repeated what he had said to their enemy. “My allegiance lies with you.” Where she was, he’d be. “I’m your mate and your mate does speak of love. I love you, my little thief.”

  “And I love you.” His female hugged him close. “Take me home, mate, and I’ll show you how much.”

  Dare’s beast rumbled with happiness.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dare loved her.

  Faylee gazed up at her mate as he carried her through the settlement. He jutted his jaw and narrowed his eyes. Determination was etched into his handsome countenance, accentuating the sexy savage side of his personality.

  As soon as they’d entered Kralj’s terrain, they’d been informed the mission had been a complete success. Vicuska had left the planet, was headed toward a Rebel base.

  Dare, in contrast, was headed directly toward their domicile. Faylee was happy to be in his arms, protected and warm.

  Boys trailed them, sticking to the shadows. They viewed her and her mate as beings to emulate.

  Warriors greeted Dare as he passed them. They liked and respected him, meeting him as friends.

  Her male might have questioned where he belonged. She had always known. The Refuge, its residents, even its scary Ruler, suited her Dracheon mate. He was as wild and as primitive as the harsh terrain of Carinae E.

  This was his home.

  “You made the right decision.” She assured him.

  “We’ll be exiled for our lifespan.” That he knew what she was referring to told her he’d been thinking about it. “If we need help—”

  “We’ll ask Kralj for assistance.” She touched his face. “He’s likely more powerful than all of your Dracheons combined.”

  Dare paused for a moment and then nodded. “He could be more powerful than them.” Some of the lines around his mouth disappeared.

  “And if Kralj can’t help us, we’ll ask Orol or Balvan or Hulagu or one of the thousands of other warriors who fought with us this planet rotation.” They’d defeated the Humanoid Alliance forces easily, her first battle thankfully brief. “Balvan is our being if we require skulls to be crushed.”

  It had been the great green gatekeeper’s preferred method of killing during the fight. He would knock their enemies down and step on their heads.

  “He does love to crush skulls.” Dare’s lips twitched. “He likes the sound it makes.”

  Faylee hoped to never hear that sound again. “We have them.” She rubbed her thumbs over her mate’s scaled cheeks. “We’re not alone.”

  “If our offspring desire any connection with my kind, they will be forced to sever all ties with us.” He carried her into their domicile.

  “That will be their choice.” She would support their decision as she supported their father’s. “Whatever they decide, they will know they are wanted.”

  Their children wouldn’t be treated as outcasts as their parents had been. They would be loved, cherished, appreciated.

  As their parents loved, cherished, appreciated each other.

  Dare carried her past a horizontal support. She grabbed a cleaning cloth she’d previously set on the surface.

  “You require a polish.” She playfully swiped the square over his chest, removing a layer of battle grime. “You’re not as shiny as you usually are.”

  “We can’t have that.” Dare entered their private cham
bers with her. “My mate is attracted to shiny things.”

  “She is.” She brushed the cloth along his collarbone, delving into the dips. “I love the way the light reflects off your scales.” His body glowed after she cleaned him.

  “Show me that love, mate.” He set her on the sleeping support.

  She stood on it, the vertical boost allowing her to see him from a different vantage point. “I’ll show you everything I feel.”

  He was tall, broad, powerful, and he was hers to care for, to tend to. She curved the cleaning cloth over his skull, removing the sand and grit from his short black hair.

  He was bald in the places where shrapnel and projectiles had skimmed along his head. Some of his scales were missing.

  “The explosion hurt you.” She caressed him with the fabric.

  Her warrior had suffered while he’d protected her, hunching his body over hers. Due to his quick response, she’d experienced only a whisper of what he’d endured and that had almost shattered her.

  He must have been in unbelievable pain. Her heart constricted. Her mate had made that sacrifice for her, because he loved her.

  “I survived.” Dare hooked his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him. “You survived also.”

  He pressed his face between her breasts. His hot breath wafted over her curves, teasing her sensitive nipples.

  “I survived because of you.” She flicked the cleaning cloth to refresh it and ran it down his back, following his spine, savoring the strength in his form. “I’ll train harder. You won’t have to protect me during our next battle.”

  There would be a next battle. Her mate was a warrior. Fighting was what he did.

  “I will always protect you.” He kissed her scaled skin. “You are my greatest treasure.” Her big male picked her up and pressed her against him, the head-to-toe contact thrilling her. “No one will ever take you from me.” He slid her down his body until her booted feet touched the floor.

  “I wasn’t finished cleaning your back.” She frowned, fighting the attraction between them, attempting to focus on her task.

  “Other parts of me require your attention.” Dare pushed his hips forward.