On Mission

by Aileen Erin

  “No,” Eshrin said. “We handled it hours ago. Nothing from the attack would’ve been left behind. The only thing that would’ve been more thorough was if we burned the whole house, which we were told not to do. The house was scanned, evidence taken, and everything cleaned. Our team was thorough. There was no reason for anyone to go back to that house.”

  This was it. This had to be the ship. I felt the truth of it in my bones, but I waited to hear what the other options were. First Seat ni Shu’sha said two ships were logged out.

  “I know your record and your ranking. It doesn’t make sense that anything further would be needed at the house—” First Seat ni Shu’sha said “—but that’s what the log indicates.”

  “You said Audrey wasn’t listed on the log. Who was?” I asked.

  “Two lab techs and Yneia ni Shanam.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Yneia ni Shanam? The former High Council member?” I’d been meaning to talk to her because she was one of the Aunare’s top scientists and had developed a lot of the newest and best Aunare tech. As soon as we found out that SpaceTech had started weaponizing lucole, she formed a team to design ways to detect it and neutralize it. She was the only council member I didn’t want to lose, but I hadn’t had time to talk to her.

  I turned to Lorne. “Did you know that she was on the lab ship?”

  He shook his head. “No, but if I did, I wouldn’t have fought it. She was coordinating all the research on lucole. Just because there isn’t a High Council anymore doesn’t mean that she was fired from her regular position.” He turned to Fynea, who was a few levels above us. “Did you know she was with the convoy?”

  She shook her head. “And I would’ve been okay with it, too. But why didn’t we know? Is it really her? Is she a target, too? Or did she coordinate this?”

  All of the same questions were running through my mind, but I didn’t have any answers. I leaned toward her coordinating it, but that might have been because I didn’t trust any of the former High Council members. I’d regretted losing her, but that was only because of her work, not her attitude.

  I glanced at Lorne, and he shook his head. He didn’t know either.

  Ice it all.

  “And the other ship?” Lorne asked before I could. “You said two. There’s a second ship not currently with the convoy. Could she be on that one?”

  It was unlikely in my mind, but still, the question had to be asked. I wasn’t sure what was going on with Yneia ni Shanam, but finding Audrey took priority.

  “The second ship has been gone since yesterday morning, your majesty,” First Seat ni Shu’sha said. “It landed just after you did on Telnon and has stayed behind since then, which means it’s very unlikely that Audrey Paris is with them. That ship is for the transport of the security team that has been coordinating with the Yhona to secure any meeting you might want to attend. You mentioned before about going to today’s meetings. The team is still on-site to make sure that they’re up to our standards in case you decide to go. But I haven’t been able to reach them since Captain ni Basl messaged about locations of our ships currently away from the convoy.”

  I narrowed my gaze at him. “What do you mean you haven’t been able to reach them?”

  “They checked in two hours ago after discovering another bomb and were working to defuse it. There’s been some problems with communication—it’s something we noticed upon arrival. It’s not unusual for them on this trip to be out of touch while inside the capital building. We’re not sure if the signal interference is deliberate or not, but I’m not worried about them. I’m only mentioning it in light of these new developments.”

  I turned to Lorne. “What do you think?”

  “I think we never should’ve come here.” Lorne stared off at nothing for a moment before his gaze cleared and he turned to me. “But it’s too late to change that now. We need to get Audrey first, and then pull out of the capital building. We’re leaving as soon as we have her.” Lorne looked at First Seat ni Shu’sha. “If you don’t hear anything from the security team in the next thirty minutes, send a secondary team to pull them out. We’re not attending any meetings.”

  First Seat ni Shu’sha pressed his fist to his heart and bowed. “Of course, your majesty.”

  I didn’t realize how much I’d been dreading the meeting with the alliance today until he said we weren’t going. The relief was massive.

  Lorne turned to Captain ni Eiloa. “Ready the convoy. We leave as soon as I’m back. Be prepared for a fight.”

  “I’m always ready for a fight, your majesty.” The way she said it, I believed her. “I’m tracking the SpaceTech ships in orbit. If one of them starts to leave?”

  “Assume they’re now a hostile enemy with one of ours on board and send a ship to follow. Same with all the ships in orbit. Everyone is a potential enemy at this point.” Lorne sounded a little defeated, and I hated that. He’d worked so hard to maintain this alliance, and I understood his disappointment at how this had gone.

  “I’ll see to it everyone is being tracked, your majesty. We’ll assume that anyone who leaves from here out might be holding Audrey Paris against her will and will be treated as such.”

  Good. That was good. I wouldn’t have thought to ask for that—I still wasn’t used to having the backing of such a massive military—but I was glad Lorne did.

  “Audrey had to have been on that first ship you mentioned that left four hours ago,” I said, just to be sure I understood everything correctly. “Four hours, right? And they landed at the house we were supposed to be staying at and haven’t left?”

  First Seat ni Shu’sha pushed a few buttons on the desk. “It was logged out four hours, twelve minutes, and fifty-six seconds ago.”

  “She’s really been gone for over four hours?” Tyler sounded scared, and I wanted to reassure him, but a lot could happen in four hours.

  “It’s still at the house?” Lorne asked.

  “Yes, your majesty,” Captain ni Eiloa said. Her spine was stiff and her chin high as she addressed her High King. She motioned to the screen. “It flew in unseen—unknown to the Yhona—and landed in the field next to the house you briefly stayed at just over ten minutes after being logged out. It has not yet returned, which is concerning. It should not have taken so long, and they’re not answering any of our calls.”

  This was it. I was getting that itchy feeling between my shoulders that we were about to gear up for yet another fight. “Okay. We’re going to go get her.” I scanned too many faces to find Eshrin. “Get whatever you need ready, and we’re gone.”

  The guards gave a few signals through the room, and then three took off running out of the bridge.

  Good. At least I didn’t have to tell them this was a ticking clock and our enemy already had four hours on us.

  Tyler stared down at me, and I wished I had something definitive to tell him. “We’re going to find her. Go with the guards to one of the smaller on-planet transport ships. I’ll be there soon.”

  “Thank you. I don’t—”

  I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. “Don’t even start. You and Audrey saved my life on that stupid planet so many times. We will find her. I won’t give up until she’s back where she belongs—with you.”

  He nodded, and walked off the bridge.

  I looked down at my clothes. I wasn’t getting them dirty. Almya would murder me, High Queen or not. They were going to need time to get the ships ready, so I turned to Lorne. “I need to stop by our quarters. Come with?”

  He nodded. “Where you walk, I walk, my wife.”

  I loved that he was turning the metaphorical thing into something literal. It made me smile, but something about the serious look on Lorne’s face had me pausing.

  Were our vows literal? Were we always going to be together from now on? Because that would actually be perfect. I truly hated being apart from him.

  We filed out, and I couldn’t help it. I started to run. Because something was wrong. I’d been down this
road too many times. I always knew when things were going bad.

  I tried to hold onto the good things from today and remember that good would always outweigh the bad.

  Always.

  But sometimes, it was hard to remember that. Especially with Audrey missing.

  We reached the room, and I forced myself to take off my clothes very, very carefully.

  Lorne groaned as I laid the top gently on the bed.

  “What?” I asked as I pressed the button to open the closet.

  “This is just painful. I had a much better plan of how to take that wedding outfit off of you, my wife.”

  I looked over my shoulder at him with a grin. My wife. I liked that. Actually, I loved it. “Same. But at least the Yhona haven’t come to arrest me yet.”

  He tugged off his shirt and I got lost for a moment staring at his abs.

  “What’s that word you said that one time?”

  I tugged on my support tank top. “What word?” I’d been so distracted that I had no idea what he was talking about.

  “The Earther word. That means that you just cursed us.”

  I laughed. “Jinx. I just jinxed us.” And he was totally right. I had. “Well, what’s one more crisis?”

  “Again? You did it again?” He rubbed a hand down his face. “What do you call that? Is that double jinx?”

  “Yes. Damn it.” I had definitely double jinxed us.

  I pulled a nice sweater over my head —not one of Lorne’s—but a thin one that was loosely knit. It would keep me warm enough, but wasn’t hot. I thought about leaving on the white pants, but knew that Almya would flip if I got into a fight in them. They were my wedding pants.

  I tugged them off, tossing them on the bed, and pulled on a pair of leggings. Then my running shoes. I wasn’t sure why I went for those instead of a pair of boots, but something told me to grab them and I wasn’t about to ignore the instinct.

  And then I looked at Lorne. He was now wearing a loose pair of the Aunare fighting pants and a tight-fitting shirt with his firedrake on it.

  I took a breath to ask him something, but then I noticed something at his feet and the question disappeared. Instead, I asked another. “What’s that?”

  He raised a brow. “My go-bag.”

  “What?” The word was squeaky with shock. I was sure I heard him wrong.

  He grinned up at me as he sat to put on his shoes. “You heard me.”

  What? “When did you get one?”

  “I try to pay attention to everything about you, especially things that you consider important. These go-bags of yours are very important to you, so they’re important to me. Turns out, it’s not too hard to make one, and now I and all of my guards have them.”

  I kind of loved that. I kind of seriously loved that. It was so sweet, and I honestly did feel better now that he had one. Like he would be okay, even if I wasn’t there to make sure he was okay. And it told me how much he cared about me.

  And then I remembered the other question I was going to ask him. “In the Aunare vows, the part about walking together? Was that a metaphorical thing? Or...”

  He rose from his chair, walking to me in slow, even steps, and cupped my face in his hands. “Did it feel like a metaphorical thing?”

  “No.” That’s why I was asking.

  “Then, you have your answer.” He lowered his lips to mine. Just a soft kiss. Quick. Barely even there. But I felt his love. “My wife, you are good and stuck with me wherever you walk in this life and the next. You have a go-bag, and I have mine. Where you go, I will follow. Aunare married couples—when coupled with high frequency compatibility—aren’t meant to be apart. There are times when it can’t be avoided, but it’s extremely discouraged.”

  “Then, why did we have to travel separately?”

  “It’s protocol for rulers, but the more I think about it, the more realize that it doesn’t apply to us. I’d have to look it up, but I don’t think that there have been other rulers who were also shalshasa since that particular piece of protocol was put into place. We might be the High King and High Queen, but we’re married first. We couldn’t have a higher frequency compatibility, and in my mind, that overrules all protocols. I won’t travel without you ever again.”

  “Good. I didn’t like being apart at all.”

  “Agreed. I want to share my life with you, wherever that might take us.” He placed one more kiss on my lips, and then he turned and walked back to the door, grabbing his backpack on the way.

  He slung it on and looked over his shoulder at me. “You coming?”

  I grinned at him.

  He smiled back at me. “What?”

  “You look kind of hot with a backpack.”

  He was still laughing when he opened the door.

  I grabbed my go-bag from the closet and followed him, but when I reached the doorway, I paused. Both teams of guards lined the hall. When I exited the room, they all bowed to us.

  I reached out and gripped Lorne’s hand, and suddenly I was overwhelmed again.

  I had a team once before, and they’d all died so that I could live.

  I never, ever wanted that to happen again.

  “I don’t know what we’re walking into, but I truly believe Audrey was taken because of her work with lucole. She’s been seen twice recently helping me in a very public way—once at Ra’mi Market and now at the black market in Yhonie-atala. It makes sense that they took her, but we’re not letting them keep her. The Yhona want to arrest me, and we’re not going to let them do that either. SpaceTech’s lucole-based weapons are on Telnon—as we learned last night—so be careful. Please.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” Eshrin said with a grin.

  “Oh, shut up.”

  My guards laughed, knowing why I was telling him to shut up, but the rest of Lorne’s guards looked horrified.

  I shrugged. “They’ll explain it to you later.” I took a breath. “Let’s go, but always remember to stay safe. Stay watchful. Stay alive. And know that I’m going to make sure you don’t need to save me. I’ve gotten really good at saving myself.”

  “No, your majesty. We will be there to make sure you don’t need to save yourself,” Ashino said. “We are your shield.”

  “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the backup, but I’ve lost guards before and I don’t intend to lose any more.” I swallowed. Been there. Done that. And I wasn’t going to let that happen again. “Let’s go.”

  Fynea, Roan, and Tyler stood at the end of the hallway. We walked together—surrounded by guards—to the on-planet transport vehicles that would take us down to Telnon.

  We were getting in, grabbing Audrey, and getting out. I was glad Lorne made the decision to skip the meeting because I never cared about it. Now that things were going terribly here, I didn’t think there was even the slightest chance that any of these alliance members were still our allies. I wasn’t about to waste my time trying to convince enemies to become my friends.

  I had a war to fight, a people to rule, and a life of love to live with my husband.

  The on-planet transport vehicles took off, and I bowed my head and prayed that Audrey was okay.

  She’d saved my life, and now it was my turn to save hers.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  AMIHANNA

  The flight to the house on Telnon didn’t take long, and yet it felt like an eternity. Audrey was gone, taken, and I wasn’t sure we’d get her back.

  I couldn’t let Tyler see that doubt. He was sitting on the bench across from me in the on-planet transport vehicle. His tree trunk of a leg never stopped bouncing.

  I loved Lorne. If someone took him, I wasn’t sure if I’d become a complete mess or a weapon killing everything in my path until I found him. But either way, I knew it’d be hard and I was thankful that so far, I hadn’t been put in that place. But Lorne had.

  He was watching Tyler and gripping my hand and I wondered what he was thinking. What he was remembering.

  I was assured our shi
ps were completely hidden from the Yhona and everyone else orbiting Telnon. I wasn’t sure how the Aunare were able to hide themselves so well, but I figured it’d end up as another item to write off on Aunare magic. Today, I was very thankful for their ability to hide.

  The sun was burning bright as we landed on the field next to the house on Telnon. Everyone on the ship was quiet, waiting, hoping that Audrey would be here, but I knew she wouldn’t be. This was just the place to start our search.

  The house looked much worse now that it was daytime and I could see the damage from the fight. The windows were broken, the front door blown to bits, and the beautiful gardens in the front were trampled. The twinkle lights that had been draped through the trees had been ripped from their branches and hung limply to the ground. Between last night’s attack, the Yhona’s demand for my arrest, and Audrey’s kidnapping, any charm that I’d thought this place had was now destroyed.

  The guards filed out of the on-planet vehicles first and moved in a group to clear the house. I secretly hoped I wouldn’t have to go back inside there. I wasn’t sure what happened to all the bodies or the SpaceTech officers that I’d let live, but I’d find out later. I knew for sure they weren’t here anymore, but the house felt haunted to me.

  I sat sideways on the back bench of the on-planet vehicle with my legs hanging out of the door. Lorne was standing just outside the vehicle and leaning back against it, Fynea and Roan were waiting off to the side between our vehicles, and I was pretty sure all of us were watching Tyler. He’d paced back and forth in front of the house no less than twenty times since we landed. I could imagine all the horrible things running through his head right now because I was seeing them, too.

  I wasn’t sure yet if SpaceTech had Audrey, but I hoped not. She’d never told me what happened that last day on Abaddon. I knew they’d tested the lucole poison on her, but she always changed the subject. The Aunare pods had healed her, but what if they hurt her again? If they—

  Ashino and Eshrin strode out of the front door one right behind the other, and I slid out of the vehicle to stand next to Lorne.