Balfor's Salvation

by Trombley, Susan

  As long as Stacia was within the Father’s Heart, he couldn’t go near her, even if she summoned him. He’d be destroyed by the intensity of the light there. None of his people could get close enough to get her out, and the only human he had to assist him was Lilith. Though the humans thought nothing of casting their females into combat, the umbrose didn’t do such things, and he wasn’t about to start now. He suspected Lilith would go, risking her life for her friend, but he would never allow it. Which left him only the option the Commemoro were offering.

  He sighed, feeling the weight of such heavy decisions settle on his shoulders. The primal side of him was remarkably fatalistic about it and was willing to sacrifice anything to get Stacia back. That part of him didn’t care about alliances, or leading the umbrose to a better future. All it cared about was having her at his side again. “Tell the Commemoro I’m ready to deal.”

  *****

  Stacia had chosen her moment to escape. It would require careful timing, but she was growing stronger. It appeared that despite her status as a prisoner, the adurians wanted her to get physically healthier. The Diakonos doctor who’d been masquerading as her nurse in DC seemed to know what she was doing. However, she had no staff with her. So Stacia’s care was all up to her, including releasing Stacia from her restraints so she could use the bedpan, especially now that the catheter had been removed and she was receiving solid food.

  Because Dr. Alion was alone during these times, Stacia thought she might be able to take the other woman—who lacked Candace’s physical fitness—by surprise. The bedpan was metal, and heavy enough to hit the woman over the head. It was a weak plan, and Stacia was still weak, but she wasn’t going out without a fight.

  At least the adurians seemed to feel that there was no need for guards. That made her somewhat nervous because their confidence about that had to come from something, unless they were simply too arrogant to expect one measly human to escape.

  Doctor Alion never talked to her beyond what was necessary for her care. The woman ignored everything Stacia said to her, from pleading to insults. She continued to avoid Stacia’s eyes. It was also clear by her body language that she didn’t like touching Stacia. She wasn’t going to have a problem at all bashing this woman aside the head as hard as she could.

  Her restraints were free, and the bedpan was in her hands. She’d filled it because the doctor was watching. Then she splashed the contents in the doctor’s face. When the woman stumbled away from her flying urine, Stacia went after her with the bedpan, vaulting over the bed rails. Her legs crumpled beneath her as she hit the ground, and she collapsed. Fortunately, the doctor was still recovering from her surprise, so Stacia managed to get back to her feet and go after the other woman.

  “I wouldn’t do that, Ms. Dornan.” She recognized his voice and realized that she’d been a fool to assume there wouldn’t be any guards watching her.

  She lowered the bed pan and turned to face him, ignoring Doctor Alion who was going for a syringe of sedative. Her escape was already over. “Gideon Walker, you traitor.”

  The gun in his right hand didn’t waver when he shrugged his broad shoulders, now covered in a black uniform. “I’m working for the greater good.” Then he moved the gun slightly and fired. The suppressor on the weapon made what should have been a loud report nothing but a low, sharp bark.

  Stacia rolled in the opposite direction of the bullet, but if he’d been aiming at her, she would’ve been dead. Her reflexes weren’t that good, especially now. Instead, it was Doctor Alion who dropped to the ground, blood spreading across her white coat and a gape-mouthed expression of shock on her face as she stared at Deon.

  Deon motioned with his other hand for Stacia to join him. “We’re running out of time. The umbrose are coming with full legions. That’s going to create a useful distraction, but right now everyone is on alert. Soon the bodies will be discovered.”

  “What in the hells—”

  He strode to her side and gripped her upper arm, pulling her to her feet none too gently. “I’m Commemoro. No time to explain more. Let’s go.”

  There were bodies in the tunnel leading out of the Father’s Heart. One shot to each. They’d been taken by surprise, though they were clearly guards. Further on, there were adurians.

  “Sedated,” Deon whispered, stepping past the slumbering monsters with light steps.

  “You?”

  He shook his head. “You’ll see. Only way we’re gonna get you out of here.”

  Deeper into the tunnel—which was now growing dark as they left the vicinity of the Father’s Heart—they came across a female adurian wearing a chest plate, battleskirt, and winged helmet. A two-handed axe hung from her belt.

  “Anara,” Deon said to the female.

  She held up a hand to silence him. “Don’t, Gideon. Not now.” She shook her head, her beautiful face twisted by sadness. “I’ve helped you as much as I can.” She turned her head, looking away from them both. Looking back the way they’d come. “What you’re doing… I cannot bear the sacrilege, even if it is what Father’s visions have told me to do.”

  “You’re doing the right thing, Anara. You have no choice! You and I both know that.” The tension in Deon and the tone of his voice as he spoke to the adurian female would have had Stacia asking all kinds of questions if she wasn’t so eager to get moving towards freedom.

  Anara pinned Deon with her glowing eyes. “My mother has to die. She’s destroyed my father, and now she’s destroying my people. Her reign of madness must end today!”

  He nodded. “She’s our primary target, as you insisted.”

  Anara’s frown of despair only deepened. To Stacia’s surprise, a tear slipped from her glowing eye and slid down her cheek. “My father will be spared?” There was hope, a small tinge of it in her voice.

  “The umbrose won’t kill him if they can avoid it, you know that. We won’t target him at all. It’s up to Balfor now.”

  She snarled at the name, but her snarl dropped away almost as quickly as it had come. “I fear he will suffer even more as the shadowed ones’ prisoner than he has suffered as my mother’s mate.” She shook her head. “Though it doesn’t seem possible anyone could be as cruel as she.”

  There was regret in Deon’s voice when he spoke. “We have to go.”

  She sighed, her slender body heaving with the motion. Her wings curved protectively around her sides as her shoulders slumped. “I’ve cleared my people from the tunnels.” She approached Deon and placed one golden hand against the dark-brown skin of his cheek. As tall as Deon, she stood eye to eye with him. “Be careful, Gideon. There are still Peace Keepers in the tunnels. I will go distract the ones I can find.”

  “You be careful, Anara. Your people need you to lead them after this into a new era of peace.”

  “My people need me to lead them to safety. We will find a place where we can live free from fear of annihilation. We will find another Father’s Heart. The Father has said this will be so.” She shook her head. “Though following His visions has been painful. Betraying my sire….” She dropped her hand and turned away from them. Before Deon could say another word, she was moving down the tunnel, the light emanating from her body fading as she disappeared into the darkness.

  His sigh was barely audible as he watched her leave. Then without another word, he led Stacia down a different tunnel. They encountered no one else, despite Anara’s warnings of Peace Keepers. The end of that tunnel opened up into a maze of additional tunnels. There was a tunnel jet sitting on its landing gear waiting for them where the tunnels all met. Like others of its kind, it was just wide enough to fit two people comfortably side-by-side, with a jump seat in the back for a third passenger. It had been created for tunnel maintenance workers, but was now used by racing enthusiasts, because it was sleek and fast and was shaped like a dart sitting on landing gear. Stacia wasn’t ready yet to sigh in relief, but it felt as if she might finally escape this nightmare.

  “The jet has already bee
n programmed with your route out of here. Just get in and fire it up.”

  “What about you?”

  He motioned back the way he’d come. “My job’s not done yet. Go. Now.”

  She didn’t need to be told again. She rushed towards the jet.

  “Stacia.” His voice caused her to pause. “General Caruthers wanted me to tell you that he was sorry. For everything.”

  The name sent tension shooting through her, tightening up all the muscles that had started to relax as she neared her freedom. “General Carut—” Her voice cut off as she turned to face Gideon and saw that he was gone.

  Shaking her head, she climbed into the tunnel jet and buckled her harness.

  “Stacia, I'm so disappointed. I had hoped you would see reason.” It was Candace’s voice coming from the PK armor that appeared in the seat next to her as the light-bending camouflage function that made the armor invisible deactivated.

  Stacia eyed the barrel of the blaster Candace leveled on her. “Candace! Please, don’t do this.”

  “You’re on the wrong side, Stacia. How many times do I have to tell you this?” Candace made a tsking sound, shaking her head. “And now I know that Gideon was also working for the bad guys. That’s such a shame. I thought he was a good man.” A sigh emanated from the helmet. “Get out of the jet. Let’s get you back to the Heart.” The hand holding the blaster was steady. “Perhaps once the demons are all dead, this compulsion you have will go away, and you’ll be free from their influence.”

  “Damn it all to the nine hells, Candace! It’s not like that! You’re the one who’s brainwashed.” As Stacia said the last words, she slammed her forearm against Candace’s blaster hand, pushing the weapon to the side. She kicked the standby release on the autopilot as she struggled with the other woman. The canopy closed above them and the hover thrusters engaged. Stacia barely noticed the slight thump as the landing gear stowed in the belly of the jet because she was fighting with the much stronger cyborg Peace Keeper.

  Candace punched her with the barrel of the blaster, sending Stacia’s head snapping back. She saw stars, then saw the blaster barrel trained on her again. The rear thrusters engaged, throwing them both back in their seats. Except that Candace was not buckled in so when the jet executed a sharp turn, she was slammed against the side of the canopy. Her helmet bounced off the synthglass, jarring her enough that the blaster slipped from her hand.

  Stacia grabbed for the weapon, snatching it up and then quickly bringing it down again and again on Candace’s helmet. That seemed to have little effect, but the movements of the jet kept Candace struggling to get her bearings, so she was unable to effectively fight Stacia off, although she managed to smack her in the face several times with her flailing arms.

  Stacia knew her situation was hopeless. The jet was moving but Candace had the advantage. If the other woman had wanted to kill her, she’d already be dead. As long as Candace kept the helmet on, hitting her would do nothing but send shockwaves up Stacia’s arm. Eventually, the jet would stop and Candace would be able to regain the upper hand and take the weapon.

  Other than the fact that she didn’t want to kill Candace, Stacia didn’t dare fire off a shot of the laser weapon in the confined space of the jet’s cabin. It became a waiting game as they struggled. In desperation, Stacia slammed her fist on the brake. Forward thrusters engaged just as the rear thrusters shut down, pulling them to such an abrupt stop that the five-point harness restraining Stacia tightened enough to crack her ribs, sending agonizing pain through her body.

  Candace’s head hit the canopy, breaking the synthglass as she continued on through it to fly for several meters before striking the stone tunnel wall. Her body hit the ground with a sickening thud.

  Stacia shut down the jet without thinking about it. The canopy wouldn’t open, so she climbed through the hole Candace had left, agony shooting through her, making it difficult for her to breathe. She hissed in pain with every step she took as she made her way to Candace’s side, the blaster still in her hand. She held it trained on the unmoving Peace Keeper as she approached.

  She nudged Candace’s body with one foot. The Peace Keeper didn’t move. Stacia’s hand shook, the barrel of the blaster wavering. She’d killed a lot of Peace Keepers, but she’d never known who they were and had always thought of them as machines rather than human. She’d been almost friends with Candace. She never thought she’d have to kill someone she’d grown to like. Knowing that Candace could not help herself and had been programmed to believe the way she did only made Stacia feel worse about it.

  With effort, she climbed back into the jet, her ribs shooting agonizing pain through her at every movement. When she was finally strapped back into the harness, she tried to activate the jet. A message appeared on the screen. Warning: Impact detection sensors activated. Please call a technician for repair. Attempts to override the safety shutoff failed and Stacia wasn’t the wiz with computers that Lilith was so she couldn’t even hack into the system to start up the jet again. Feeling helpless, frustrated, and in pain, she did the one thing she’d promised herself not to do because she was still too close to the Father’s Heart and the adurians. She said Balfor’s name aloud.

  Chapter 26

  Stacia heard Balfor’s voice saying her name before she saw him. The tunnel jet’s headlamp cast deep shadows so she hadn’t seen him materialize out of them. Then he was there in front of her. She unstrapped the harness and tried to climb out of the jet, but the pain in her body stopped her.

  When she said his name again, it was with a cry of pain.

  He helped her gently from the jet, folding her into his embrace without putting any more pressure on her ribs. “What have they done to you? I will make them pay for it, and the price will be high.” His words were understandable, but the growl was very familiar, and surprisingly comforting.

  “Balfor? Is that you or your primal?” She lifted her cheek from his chest to look up into his face, though it was still in deep shadow.

  “I’m no longer Sundered. It’s both of us, but we are One now.” He shook his head. “Now is not the time for explaining about that. I need you, Stacia.”

  It was her turn to shake her head. “As appealing as that idea always is, I’m definitely not in any condition—”

  His chuckle cut off her words. “I didn’t mean in that way, though it’s most certainly true. I need your help. I’ve sent Ranove—at the head of my legions—to confront Uriale and Anata in my stead so they could provide a distraction, and I could search for you.”

  “What about Ranove? Will he be able to stand against them?” She couldn’t bear the thought of Lilith’s pain if anything happened to Ranove.

  Balfor shook his head, confirming her worst fears. “No one can stand against them this close to the Father’s Heart. They will not kill him immediately because he is disguised as me. However, the Mother’s illusion will not last long this far from her Heart and this close to the Father’s Heart, so we must hurry.” He set her on her feet, though he kept his arm under hers to support her. “I’m at a disadvantage. Not just because we’re so close to the Father’s Heart, but because Uriale has Anata, his princess, to amplify the Father’s power within him.” He looked down at her. She wished she could read the expression on his face, but he was in darkness. “I need your help. I’m not even certain if what I plan is possible, but I have to try.”

  Stacia nodded. “I’ll help you if I can. I’m not sure what I can do in this condition, but if you can think of something, I’ve got your back.”

  Balfor lifted one hand to stroke a finger across her cheek. "Always willing to throw yourself into a fight, my fierce little human. You shouldn’t be so hasty. What I ask of you is not to be taken lightly. If it works, it will change us both.”

  Stacia captured his hand. He immediately folded it around her smaller hand as she held it against her heart. “I love you, Balfor. It’s crazy that it happened so quickly, I know. And maybe you don’t understand what that even mea
ns, but I want to be with you for as long as you’ll have me.”

  He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Despite her pain, she would have deepened the kiss, but he lifted his head before it got too heated. “Would that we were in the Mother’s Heart for this ritual. I’ve dreamed of it happening in so many different ways, but always we were there. But there’s no time for that, and we have already joined in the sight of the Mother, though it was my primal who got to experience the pleasure of that. I will begin the ritual now, and hope that the Mother accepts you as she has accepted my primal.”

  “Ritual?” Okay, he wants to pray before going into battle. Nothing unusual about that. Waste of time in my opinion, but whatever gives a person hope.

  Balfor took her hands in his. “My power is your power. My link to the Mother is yours. Together, we two become one, and our power extends a hundredfold. Do you accept this burden and this gift? Will you become my Princess?" He rested his forehead against hers briefly and then lifted his head, awaiting her answer.

  She’d been mistaken. He wasn’t praying. He appeared to be proposing. Her heart soared. Yes they were in danger. Yes, they could all be captured, tortured, and killed by the adurians, but the love of her life had just asked her to bond-mate with him. “Yes!” It was funny how she didn’t feel the least bit of hesitation or commitment-phobia when it came to him.

  She squeezed his hands and lifted on her toes to kiss him. Suddenly, the world blacked out and a storm of shadows swept Stacia up. Her screams were carried away as wave upon wave of darkness filled her, enveloped her, choked her. Voices howled in her head, shrieking, tearing apart her skull. Visions assaulted her mind, alien, terrifying. Ancient past and the near future. A will more powerful than her own, impressing on her what she must do, how she would serve. A will demanding that she serve. The visions came fast, and one stood out among them. An umbrose female, but not quite. She was more, and different. It was impossible to really get a good look at her, because the darkness swirled around her, but she spoke as the world around her melted and reformed into images reflecting her will.