by Nina Croft
“Stronger than you?”
He nodded. “He’s not even aware of it. But I’d rather he didn’t become aware halfway through our trip. No, I’d feel safer with him here.”
“Okay.” She swallowed. “The vampire it is then. I hope we don’t come to regret it.”
“I’m sure we will. But what choice do we have?”
She was glad someone else felt that way. “Other than Callum Meridian—none.”
Turning slightly, she examined Devlin out of the corner of her eye. How long did she have? She had no clue. She could try and work out the distance to the wormhole from the position of the stars she had seen. Maybe Daisy would help her find the exact coordinates using the Blood Hunter’s systems. Though they weren’t going to have star charts for this universe.
Then how long in the wormhole?
And what happened at the other end?
Would she be able to give the warning and return on the Blood Hunter? Back through the wormhole? She didn’t know.
Why couldn’t the visions be more precise?
She jumped as Thorne laid a hand on her arm. “Come on,” he said. “It’s time.”
“It is, isn’t it? All my life, I’ve been waiting for this. And now…” She shook her head. “What happens afterward?”
“I don’t know. But hopefully something.”
“Yes, something would be good.”
She followed Thorne along the corridor—Devlin trailing behind them—to a small room. Three couches had been crammed into the space. Tannis, Callum, and Skylar lay on them looking serene and peaceful. Totally unlike real life. Rico perched on the edge of Skylar’s bed and held her hand.
“Come,” Thorne said from the doorway. “We have to leave.”
Rico glanced up, his expression cold. He didn’t move.
“Could we take them with us on the Blood Hunter?” Devlin asked.
“No,” Thorne replied. “They stay here.”
“They’ll be fine, really they will,” Saffira added. “They’ll wake when Thorne is gone and they’ll be okay. My people will look after them.”
“And if we don’t come back?” Devlin said. “If we get sucked into this wormhole of yours and never get back? What then?”
“Then they will live out their lives here. But no one will harm them.”
“Tannis is going to be so pissed.” But he nodded and stepped into the room. “We have to go,” he said to Rico.
When there was no response, he touched Rico lightly on the arm. “I hate it as much as you do, but the only way we’ll get them back is to do as they say.”
For a minute, she thought Rico would ignore the words, but a tremor ran through him. He turned slowly and stared up into her face. “If I don’t get her back, you die. I promise you that, and I don’t give a fuck if I destroy the whole of mankind by killing you.”
Fair enough.
She nodded. “You’ll get her back.”
He rose slowly to his feet, towering over her. Saffira had to force herself to hold her ground. “We get you to Earth, and we’re all free to go.” Rico’s words were more of a statement than a question, but she nodded.
“I promise.”
“For what that’s worth. You lied to us all.”
Suddenly she was angry. “Yes, I lied. And I bet neither of you have ever lied to anybody, have you? And at least my cause is good.”
“Saving mankind?” Rico replied. “I think when you’ve lived a little longer, you might change your mind about that one.”
It was time to go. Saffira turned to Devlin. “You and the girl Daisy are free to stay here. You don’t have to come.”
“Yes, they do,” Rico said. “We need Devlin in case there’s a problem with the ship, and without the mind control, I need Daisy to copilot.”
“I could do that,” Thorne said.
“I need someone I can trust.”
“Anyway,” Thorne said, “we can reinstate the mind control.”
“Won’t these Old Ones of yours take control when we leave here?” Devlin asked. Then he swore. “Shit. That wasn’t any fucking Old Ones, was it? It was you.”
Saffira started in shock and turned to stare at Thorne. “That was you? You took over the ship?”
Devlin turned on her. “As if you didn’t know.”
“But…” She trailed off. She hadn’t known and she was impressed. But she didn’t think Devlin was ready to believe anything she said right now, so she clamped her lips shut. Wow. Thorne had taken over the ship.
“Jesus,” Devlin continued, “has anything the two of you said been the truth since we met you?” He looked into Saffira’s face with accusation in his eyes.
“Some of it,” she replied. “So are you coming?”
“I still need him,” Rico said.
“And I want to make sure the ship gets back in one piece,” Devlin added. “I plan to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible.”
She couldn’t help it, a warm wave of relief washed over her, making her lightheaded. Devlin might hate her right now, but at least she had some time with him before… Before what? She had no clue. But something told her she wasn’t coming back from this. Why had she never seen the aftermath? Why in all the visions had she never caught a glimpse of the return journey?
She closed her eyes and relived a flashback to that last vision. Standing alone as the Blood Hunter flew away without her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the worry aside. “Then let’s go.”
“First, give us your weapons,” Throne said.
For a second, she thought they would argue, but Devlin shrugged and unbuckled the holster at his waist. He closed the two steps separating them and held it out to her. She took it gingerly and held it dangling from her fingers. Rico did the same, handing his to Thorne, who strapped it around his own waist. Saffira had avoided looking at the vampire, now she did so and wished she hadn’t. His face was a mask through which his eyes glittered, almost black with sparks of crimson.
She shook off the feeling of foreboding—the vampire was coming, they needed him—and strapped Devlin’s weapons belt around her own waist. Even on the tightest setting, it dangled on her hip.
“Do you know how to use that thing?” Devlin asked.
“No, but I’m guessing you point it and press the button.”
“Good enough,” Thorne said.
“It won’t keep you safe,” Devlin murmured, and a shiver ran through her at the soft threat in his voice.
Thorne glanced between the two of them and shrugged. “Time to leave.”
They were all silent on the way to the ship. Saffira walked beside Thorne, her hand on the laser pistol, mainly to stop it from slapping about her thigh. She regretted that things had to be done this way, but as they came in sight of the huge spaceship her pulse sped up until the blood thundered in her veins. All her life, she’d dreamed of the stars. Not only visions, but daydreams as well, for as long as she could remember. To fly among the stars, to visit new places.
Devlin was in front of her, walking beside Rico, and she admired the ripple of his muscles. He had long legs, a tight ass and broad shoulders. She sighed; the stars weren’t the only thing she had dreamed of.
So much had happened. She’d forgotten that he had almost made love to her. Had in fact had his hands down her pants and made her come. It didn’t seem fair. She owed him. Even if he didn’t want her.
Back then, he would have taken her if the ship hadn’t nearly crashed. Or rather if Thorne hadn’t nearly crashed the ship. And he’d kept it a secret from her. She cast him a quick sideways glance.
“You’re a terrible actress, and we needed them to believe it wasn’t us,” he said.
Sometimes she suspected that he could read her mind but, in fact, he just knew her too well. “I’m not a terrible actress.”
“Yes, you are. I can always tell what you’re thinking.”
“Maybe I let you.”
He smiled, but they’d arrived at the Blood Hunter and she didn
’t have a chance to say anything else. They followed Rico and Devlin up the ramp, into the docking bay, across the floor, and into the transporter bubble. No one said a word as they were lifted to the bridge. A tangible tension emanated from the vampire. He wasn’t happy. Obviously, he loved Skylar, so she couldn’t really blame him. She tried to imagine how she would feel if someone threatened Devlin. She’d rip them to pieces.
Or at least she’d want to.
As they came out onto the bridge, Daisy jumped up out of the pilot’s seat. “What’s happening? Where are the others?”
“They’re not coming,” Rico replied.
The blood drained from Daisy’s face leaving her a sickly pale green. “Why? Are they okay?”
Devlin hurried across to her. “They’re fine, Daisy. Really, they’re fine. They’re just staying here while we do a little job for these people.”
Daisy’s gaze flickered to her and Thorne, hesitating as she took in their weapons and no doubt her friends’ lack of them. “You promise they’re okay?”
“I promise.”
Daisy swallowed and looked around, her gaze settling on Saffira and her eyes darkening. She stalked toward her, coming to a halt only a foot away. “You did this? You’ve taken them?” Her voice seethed with barely suppressed hatred. “If anything happens to them, I’ll kill you. Whatever it takes.”
“Get in line,” Devlin murmured from across the room.
Saffira found she was shaking. Daisy had only shown her friendship, and now she hated her. And who could blame her? They’d just lost two members of the crew, and now Saffira had taken three more.
“Nothing will happen to them,” she said, but knew her words lacked conviction.
“Are we ready for takeoff?” Thorne asked.
“Yes.”
“Could we go then?” Saffira asked.
Daisy looked to where Rico was pacing the bridge. “Am I flying?”
Whirling around, he snarled before pulling himself under control. “No, I’ll fly in case of trouble.” He threw himself into the pilot’s seat. Daisy took the copilot’s chair beside him. Saffira glanced around for somewhere to sit that was out of the way, where she could watch but not be watched.
“You might want to sit down and strap yourselves in,” Devlin said, taking a seat at the edge of the room. Saffira sat, leaving a gap between them, and Thorne took the seat on the other side of her. As he fastened the harness, she copied his movement, pulling the straps tight across her chest. Excitement rose like bubbles inside her. How many generations of her people had lived and died on this planet? Now she was leaving. And if everything went according to plan, she would be visiting Earth—the place where mankind had originated. Where everything began.
She looked up to find Devlin watching her, a curious expression on his face.
“Are you all right?” Thorne asked.
She tore her gaze away from Devlin. “Just excited. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this at last.”
At that moment, the engines fired up. The ship was so smooth that she hardly felt the change, just a slight vibration that shivered through her and settled.
The screens all around the bridge flickered to life and she could see the walls and tunnels of the Keep. Medina stood framed in an open archway, her hand resting on her belly. Medina was the closest she had to a mother. Would she ever see her again?
Then they were rising and her worries were washed away on a tidal wave of excitement. She was almost bouncing in her seat.
“You look like a kid going on a first outing,” Devlin murmured.
“Well, I’m not a kid, but this is my first outing. We’re going into space. Can you believe it?”
It was a stupid thing to say really. From what she could make out, he’d spent most of his life on spaceships.
“Yeah, I can believe it,” he said. “What I’m finding hard to believe is that we’re going to dive headfirst into a wormhole that, according to you, will take us God knows where, never mind God knows when.”
“Earth, the year 2030,” she said. “They leave in 2050 so that will give them time to build the ships if we hand over the technology they need.”
“What if they don’t believe you?”
“They will. When they see the Blood Hunter, they’ll have to believe me.”
“So we pop in there, say ‘hey, the world is coming to an end, get the fuck out of here,’ and we shoot back through the wormhole and come home.”
“Yes. We’ve worked it out in theory. We should have a window of time while the hole stays open and aligned with the route we’ve taken.”
“It all sounds a little…theoretical. Have you any proof.”
She bit her lip. “No. But as long as we return inside that window, we should end up back when and where we came from.”
“We’d fucking better,” Rico growled.
She swallowed. She hadn’t realized the vampire was listening while she’d been focused on Devlin. “We will. All you need to do is concentrate on the time once we’re inside the wormhole.”
“Well, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Devlin said and sat back in his seat and closed his eyes.
Saffira dragged her gaze away and looked back at the screens. The ship had reached the top of the hollow mountain now and they were emerging into the open air, hovering over the entrance.
“Which way?” Rico asked.
“Up?”
“I think I’ll need a little more than that.”
Ignoring the sneer in his voice, she closed her eyes and pictured the vision. “The planet was behind me and so was the black hole you came through, off to the left.” That would have to do, later she could scan the stars to find the exact place, but for now they could at least head in the right direction.
Rico shrugged but turned back and presumably set some coordinates. Saffira settled in her seat. It would take a while to reach the wormhole; that had been clear. She couldn’t relax, she didn’t trust the crew, but she could make the most of the trip. They were leaving Espera now, so the forward screens showed the vastness of space whereas, if she twisted her head, she could see the planet and the hollow mountain below. Some of the tension drained from her, and the air seeped from her lungs. She’d done it.
“Saffira!” Thorne spoke quietly but urgently from beside her, and she glanced sideways at him, aware that Devlin had also heard and was paying attention.
“What is it?” She searched his face as his expression turned inward. “Thorne?” She tried to keep the panic from her voice, but something was wrong.
“The Old Ones have awoken.”
“Not that Old Ones crap again,” Devlin muttered.
Saffira ignored him and fumbled with her harness. Whatever was happening, she didn’t want to be strapped in while it happened. After stumbling to her feet, she knelt beside Thorne. “What’s going on?”
“They must have sensed the ship—me leaving. They’re in my mind, probing…so powerful.” He stared into Saffira’s face. “I’m fighting it, but I can’t hold out for long. Draw your weapon. Do whatever you need to do. Get us out beyond the reach of the planet.”
Saffira pulled the pistol from the holster. The weapon felt awkward in her hand and she felt stupid holding it. She glanced around. The whole room watched her. Devlin alert. Rico like some predator waiting for a weak point in its prey. Daisy looked…hopeful. Like she would be happy for Rico to rip Saffira’s throat out.
Beside her, Thorne gave a choked cry and slumped against the harness.
For a second, panic engulfed her, her hands clammy, her arms shaking. She swallowed and kept the pistol aimed straight ahead of her, hoping they couldn’t see the tremble in her fingers, while she cast a sideways glance at Thorne. A pulse, weak, but visible, beat at his throat and her panic receded a little.
But she was on her own for now.
“Well that’s poetic justice,” Devlin murmured. “I guess these Old Ones do exist after all.”
Slowly, she pushed herself up,
her gaze darting between Rico and Devlin. They were both still seated, but Devlin flicked open his harness as the vampire rose to his feet.
“Sit down,” she said. “And take us into space.”
He gave a slow curl of his lips, a smile that wasn’t reflected in his midnight eyes. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. Let’s see how tough you are without your protector.”
“Tough enough to shoot you,” she muttered. Her grip on the pistol was so tight it dug into the skin of her palm, concentrating her thoughts.
Now she was focused solely on Rico, though she could see Devlin motionless to the side.
“You can shoot me,” Rico said. “And it will sting, but it won’t stop me, just piss me off a little bit more. Do you really want me any more pissed off than I already am?”
No. She didn’t. He took another step closer. She wanted to back away, but there was nowhere left to go. Besides, she needed to cover Thorne. The vampire would kill him if he could and use her to bargain for his friends. He was so big, and she could almost feel those teeth ripping into the skin of her neck. She flashed a look at Devlin. He was watchful but still unmoving.
She bit her lip and swung the pistol around so it aimed not at Rico or Devlin, but at Daisy where she still sat in the copilot’s seat.
“It might not kill you, but I’m pretty sure it will kill Daisy.”
Chapter Ten
Shit. Devlin couldn’t remember whether he’d left his pistol on full or on stun before he’d handed it over. If it was on stun, he could take her even if she got a blast at Daisy.
Would she really do it?
Her knuckles were white where she gripped the pistol hard, but she’d managed to control the tremble in her hand and her eyes were determined, her mouth compressed to a thin line.
She was scared, terrified, but she was standing her ground.
Like him, she had a cause she believed in, a cause she was willing to die for.
And maybe harder for her—kill for.
There had been a moment back then when he could have taken her. While she was concentrating on Rico, he could have kicked out and relieved her of the weapon. But he’d hesitated. Maybe because he’d seen the murder in Rico’s eyes, and however pissed off he was at Saffira, he didn’t want her to die at the hands of a crazed vampire.
