“We want to thank your warriors for saving us all. If it would not offend, may we camp at the edge and share in the spoils of the kill?”
Tana felt Lucien’s grip tighten. She knew that his face was probably set in stone as he worked this request through every possible scenario before he made his decision. She wondered if his emotions would win out. She wouldn’t blame him if they did. She placed her palm against his bicep and squeezed. His muscles instantly relaxed.
“You may stay on the edge of the bank. Ask a Nawien if they’ll bring you meat or share their portions. My warriors will not be approached. Not even to congratulate. Are we understood?”
Calpion lifted his gaze and Tana saw blatant relief. “Fully. Your generosity speaks to the greatness of the Insedivertus Empire.” He dipped his chin, stepped back two paces, and started to turn. Lucien stopped him with one word.
“Calpion.”
Glancing back, the Protonecian stood straight and his eyebrows rose in question.
“Why didn’t Basilius ask for this? He’s still the king in your eyes. Am I wrong?”
Dropping his gaze, Calpion lowered his voice.
“He does not consider himself worthy. He knew we ran as cowards to the safety of the trees. We witnessed the swift death of the beast that killed Terinon and the king is in awe of the warrior’s prowess…as we all are.”
Tana watched as Calpion glanced back, returned his gaze to Lucien’s, and then appeared to struggle for his next words.
“My liege has changed. Something has broken inside him. He speaks of a visitor to his dreams and has become enthralled with her. She did not take his light and he mourns her loss.”
Lucien took a step forward. Tana was surprised at his question. “Tell me of this dream.”
Calpion appeared shocked that Lucien was still engaging with him and cleared his throat.
“The king appeared to her as a child. He sat beside her and she gently brushed his hair away from his eyes. He said she forgave him before fading away.”
Lucien’s hand tightened again. “Her name, Calpion. Did she tell him her name?”
“Yes. It was Matrona. The others feel that this place has destroyed his mind further. He may be regretting the past with his mother. The given name suggests as much.”
Tana moved into the circle of Lucien’s arm when he pulled her closer. She looked up and was surprised to see sadness reflected in his eyes.
“You may leave now, Calpion. Tell your group that we strike tomorrow. Stay with the Nawiens and do as they do.”
Nodding once, Calpion rejoined his group.
Lucien stared with unseeing eyes into the blackness of the forest and shivered, even though the sun fell solidly against his shoulders. His brow furrowed as if he was struggling over a particularly difficult puzzle. She would love the ability to read his thoughts and understand how his mind worked.
“What’s wrong, Lucien? Is it the idea of Basilius’s personality making such a drastic change? Are you worried that he’s playing you?”
“No, sweetness. I can see that he’s truly broken. It’s the female.”
“Why? Did you know Basilius’s mother?”
Lucien looked down to her and his eyes were still troubled. “No. I never met her. Her name was Argila.”
Tana frowned. “Then who is Matrona?”
Lucien’s eyes rose back to the forest and his words came soft and reverent. “Sotarios’s mother. Basilius couldn’t have known that.”
Swallowing hard, Tana glanced over and watched Sotarios helping Keos build some type of contraption to hang the meat over the fire pit the Nawiens were digging. They were both smiling and surely rehashing their recent win against nature.
“Are you going to tell him?”
Lucien’s response was immediate. “No. I’m sure he’s received the message since Basilius arrived intact. Sotarios would have personally shoved him in front of that damn thing at first opportunity.”
Tana’s skin shivered. “Is this normal? I mean, to have lucid visits from the deceased?”
“It happens occasionally, but only when important lessons must be learned. Many don’t share their visits. The messages from beyond are cherished and held close.”
“Have you ever been visited?”
Lucien looked down and smiled. “No. I’m assuming my mother and father feel they imparted enough wisdom to last a lifetime.”
Tana laid her head against his chest and let out a rush of breath. “Well, there’s two things that I’m pretty sure of now.” She felt his hand slide along her back.
“What’s that, sweets?”
“Sotarios’s threat to sic his mother on Basilius worked, but not as he envisioned. The other is we can quit being curious as to why the Dar Kan didn’t chase us through the woods or beef up their security. They probably think that we’re all in the belly of the beast, so to speak.” She was happy to hear his chuckle.
“Yes, and that’s where their assumption will get them killed. They’ll never see us coming.” Lifting her chin, he smiled and started pulling her toward the forest. “Let’s gather some of those large leaves over there. The warriors can use them to hold their food.”
* * * *
Hours later, Tana flopped to her back and groaned. “Oh my god. I’m so stuffed. I think I hurt myself.” She heard a chuckle and rolled her head to the side. Keos was grinning at her as he lay prone on the ground with his arms and legs splayed wide. In fact, every breathing body in the vicinity was laid out like they’d all been shot and were just waiting for the medics. She realized it was the first time she’d seen the big warrior sit still since she’d met him. The only thing moving now was a finger pointing to the blob of meat on the shoreline.
“If I’d known how good that ugly thing tasted, I would have invited it to supper a long time ago.”
She moaned and gripped her belly. “Please, don’t make me laugh, Keos. My tummy will jiggle around and I’m liable to barf.”
Sotarios’s distinctive, deep laugh shot through the air and immediately turned into a hard groan. “Lucien, make them stop.”
All he got was a grunt for a reply. Lucien was no better off than the rest of them.
Tana looked back to the sky and wished it would hurry up and darken. The sooner the morning came, the closer she came to getting off this planet. She’d listened intently to the plans they’d laid for taking the compound. As deadly as they were with those swords, and the good possibility of disabling the Dar Kan’s weapons, they actually stood a chance of gradually picking away at the bastards’ numbers until they could retake the ships.
Tana looked over to Lucien and was surprised to see he was turning his head toward her at the same time. They gave each other a sweet smile and laced their fingers together. Tana wondered what was going to happen when he wasn’t being forced to survive and could just simply walk away from all of this. Her stomach rolled, and it wasn’t because of the food.
Chapter 24
Kallon knew Drusus was watching the viewer closely as Glaxon 8 grew larger in the distance. He wondered if the Trejani’s neck was beading with sweat at the thought of everything that had to happen with precision accuracy in the next few minutes. If it wasn’t, then Kallon knew he had enough for the both of them.
Days of slow drifting to their destination without giving away their presence appeared to have taken a toll on every living entity on the Prometheus. The warriors were so primed to take down the enemy, they’d begun fighting each other just to release enough stress to keep their edge. Despite the chastising lectures he’d given each one that stumbled into the clinic, he was secretly relieved they had kept him busy. Even Maxim had taken to helping with small injuries just to keep himself from going into the hold and sparring a few rounds.
Those moments of peaceful ignorance to the situation outside the ship had effectively disappeared as they both stood next to Imbrus and waited for the final decision. As soon as the slaver had uncloaked for atmosphere reentry, everyone knew the
re was only a five-minute window of opportunity to engage. Drusus’s calm voice cut into the tense silence.
“Launch.”
Within seconds the flight center was a buzz of activity. The Prometheus uncloaked and fired a large laser pulse to slide between the curve of the upper fuel tank and the right wing. Should it find its mark and react as Cato predicted, the Messor probe would be free and the slaver disabled. Communications would have five seconds after impact to warn the probe pilots to get the hell away before the battleship blew their captor into tiny space debris. Should they not heed the message, then they would become an unfortunate casualty of war. Emperor Lucien was the main concern. Nothing else mattered. After repeated mind calls to the emperor and the crew proved they weren’t on board, the decision to annihilate the ship had been an easy one. Either they were captives on the planet, or the assholes snatching unsuspecting travelers had already killed them. Once the Prometheus breached the atmosphere, they would know soon enough.
Shouts of victory rent the air as the red energy line trailing down to the probe flickered out at the moment of impact. Communications transmitted the message to the small ship and relief filled the flight pod as it obeyed immediately. At Imbrus’s nod, a massive onslaught of laser pulses struck in rapid succession.
The bright spherical ball of white light had Kallon’s eyes widening. To not hear anything from such a devastating explosion just showed how odd things worked in the vacuum of space. No balls of fire or a rumbling roar, just silent light. He watched in fascination as the small amount of debris went immediately to the left as the planet’s gravity took over. In a few hours, whatever had the emperor on Glaxon 8 would think they were having a brilliant meteor display.
Imbrus turned to speak with the Trejani. “Communications detected no transmissions to the planet’s surface. Their reentry point has been set into our systems. When we get closer to the surface, we’ll be relying on sight for their location until we get close enough to pick up any open thought channels. We’re ready when you are.”
“Very good. Proceed.”
* * * *
“Look at me, baby. What did I just say?” Lucien wasn’t surprised when Tana lifted a brow.
“I heard you the first time last night and three times before I even had a chance to brush my teeth this morning. And the answer is exactly as I’ve said four times already.”
“And that is?”
“I swear, Lucien. I think you do this on purpose just to see how fast I can get pissed. You got money riding on this or something?”
He heard Altair chuckling. Gods, she was gorgeous when she got riled up.
“No. I’m just making absolutely sure you know what the signal is. We have to time this perfectly. I offered to go with you, but you refused. So, instead of me whispering ‘go’ in your ear, you’ll have to look for…what?” As he expected, her hands went to her curvy hips and he had to suppress a groan. If the others weren’t around, he might have thrown her on the ground and kissed the hell out of her.
“The glint of metal when you face it to the sun. There. Did I win?”
Leaning forward, Lucien pressed his lips to hers. “Not yet. What do you do afterward?”
He watched her lips purse. “I stay under the tree and only leave if absolutely necessary. I got it.”
“Good. Now get ready, sweetness. The shift will be changing soon.” His stomach lurched. This might be the last time they ever touched. One misstep and the Dar Kan could overrun them in seconds. He knew the others were standing ready for his command, but he couldn’t walk away. Not yet. Staring into her luminous green eyes, he was aware that if all went to plan, this is what it was going to feel like when he had to let her go. He couldn’t bring such a free spirit into the cloying world of the Empire. It would destroy her, just like it did to Junia. He flashed back to the day they lay next to the pond and Tana’s peaceful expression as she thought of the horses. He would die before he would deny her that idyllic life.
Uncaring of how many eyes were turned his way, Lucien ran his fingers along her jaw and pushed them into her silky hair until he gripped the back of her neck. Pulling her close, he pressed his mouth over hers and groaned when she willingly opened to him. He drank from her well of sweetness and moaned when her hand moved softly across his cheek. Pulling back, he studied her eyes and tried to mask his sadness. Her sweet smile was almost his undoing.
“Damn, Lucien. I should go blow things up more often. Thanks for trusting me to handle this.”
Giving her the best smile he could muster, Lucien grabbed her hand, placed a soft kiss to her knuckles, and backed away. “Be careful, mellis.”
Nodding, she slipped her kitchen knife into her back pocket and walked from the darkness of the forest into the unrelenting sun. He watched her duck and blend easily into the tall grasses.
Turning, Lucien motioned for the Nawiens. Quickly, they and the Protonecians disappeared into the direction of the clearing. The others needed no signal. Makar, Baruch, and the Nawien pilot took positions behind the stack of fallen logs where Royce had met his end. These three were too valuable to enter the fight, but would be close enough if needed. The others had already taken positions to engage the Dar Kan working in the fields. There were close to thirty, but Lucien was counting on them being too tired to offer much resistance.
With Eryx by his side, Lucien headed to the highest ridge overlooking the clearing. Nox Ton lounged under a tree with his second and third in command. His attention was not on overseeing the work, but on Tana’s new friend. She was trying her best to avoid his gaze while her helpers laid out trays for the lazy leaders of this intolerable race.
Stopping twenty meters away, Lucien ducked behind the only covering offered. He was looking forward to running his sword through the bastard’s belly. He and Eryx’s goal was to take out the current top tier of the leadership. All they needed now was the sound of explosions and the resulting chaos.
Lifting a sliver of metal, Lucien angled it to capture the sun’s reflection. Glancing to the right to see if it was bouncing close to Tana’s tree, he felt the blood rush from his head. Eryx’s curse confirmed he wasn’t imagining the sight before him.
Tana was at least five feet away from the spot where she was supposed to be and staring at the ground. She bent at the waist and came up with the end of the detonator wire in her hand. That in itself was not the issue. The issue was the Dar Kan at a dead run and heading in her direction. The end of his rod glowed a brilliant red and was extended forward. Before he could rise from the ground or shout her name, Tana raised her head. Everything went into slow motion.
Lucien sensed his body rise and his boots hitting the soft dirt. He felt as if he was running in the sucking mud of Messor. He wouldn’t be able to get to her in time. No words would leave his mouth as the air burned through his lungs in his haste to get to her. Lucien watched in amazement as Tana threw herself to the ground, rolled to the side, and leapt back to her feet before the rod could smash into her gut. The Dar Kan swiveled around, brought the weapon high into the air, and began a downward arc toward her shoulder.
A glint of sunlight flashed in Tana’s hand and he finally understood why her arm was rising into the air. A long piece of sheet metal gripped firmly in her fingers met the edge of the Dar Kan’s throat and opened his flesh from one side to the other. The male’s eyes widened in surprise as the forgotten rod skimmed across Tana’s forearm before he slammed into her body. They both dropped behind the tall grasses.
Frantic, Lucien plowed through the unforgiving brush and burst out the other side. Heart slamming against his breastbone, he skidded on his knees to her side. Rolling the Dar Kan off of her, he felt lightheaded when he found her eyes were open.
“Are you okay?”
She gave a weak nod and tried to sit up. He scooped her up and loped over to the tree to get her out of the open. Eryx entered his thoughts.
We’re okay. No one noticed you.
Good.
Turning ba
ck to Tana, he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak and she lifted her index finger.
“Nope. Don’t say it. I had a very good reason why I was out there. The wire was knocked loose. Wouldn’t do any good to stay behind the tree if I couldn’t blow anything up.”
Smiling, he leaned over and brushed the hair away from her face. “I saw, sweetness. I was just going to say how proud I am of you. You took that bastard down in seconds. Are you okay?”
Nodding, she rose to her feet and looked at her arm. “It barely got me. Still stung like a son of a bitch, but I’m okay. Quick, go get the wire. We’re running out of time.”
Assuring there were no more surprises awaiting them, Lucien grabbed the wire and brought it back.
Quickly, she had the leads reconnected. When she looked up to him, her brow furrowed. He realized she wasn’t looking at him, but over his left shoulder. He turned and looked upward just as she spoke.
“Meteors? Wow! That’s a lot. I hope that’s a good sign.”
Lucien glanced over to the field and noticed that the Dar Kan had stopped working and were looking up to the sky. “Well, at least it has their attention. Let’s do this.”
Tana shrugged and pressed both buttons at the same time. The blasts were deafening and sent a plume of fire, debris, and smoke high into the air. Grabbing her hand, Lucien pulled her up and noticed the cuff had fallen away from her wrist. She grinned.
Fueled by Lust: Lucien (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 20
