by Anna Hackett
Magnus wanted to take away her pain. He rested his hands on her shoulders. “We are going to free Sam.”
“If she’s alive. She saved my life. She sacrificed herself so we could get out of Zaabha.” Ever’s green eyes met his. “She’s unstoppable and ruthless in the arena, but she’s only one woman.”
“One woman who is the Champion of Zaabha. Because she’s unstoppable, ruthless, and the best, they won’t have killed her. She’s too valuable to the Thraxians.”
Ever slid her hand down to her stomach. “Sam gave up her chance at freedom to save me and the baby.”
“For that, she’s earned my loyalty, and the loyalty of the House of Rone. I will rescue her.”
“Thank you.” Ever leaned against him, pressing her face to his chest. “I was living in a nightmare before, but since you came into my life, everything feels like a dream.”
He tightened his arms on her and vowed he would do everything to keep his promise.
Suddenly, her face turned white.
“Ever?”
She slapped a hand over her mouth, and her cheeks took on a green tinge.
Magnus swept her into his arms. “Don’t worry, me-calla. I have you.”
Chapter Nine
Ever blinked her eyes, waking from a deep sleep.
Morning sunlight struggled to peek through the closed curtains. She turned her head on the pillow…and stared into the neon glow of Magnus’ blue eyes. He sat in a chair beside the bed, watching her.
The last thing she remembered was puking her guts up at the Dark Nebula Casino, followed by Magnus carrying her back to the House of Rone. She’d puked some more while Magnus had held her hair and stroked her back. Then she’d clearly passed out and he’d tucked her into bed to sleep. His bed.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Pretty good, actually.” She sat up, trying to tame her curls. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No. I didn’t need any.”
“So you watched me sleep?”
“I wanted to make sure you got a good rest.”
Damn, the man knew how to melt her heart. “I would have slept better if you were in the bed with me.”
He cocked his head. “Really?”
“I like having you close,” she whispered.
He moved, pressing a knee to the side of the bed. “You do things to me, Ever. Make me feel things…I’m still not sure if that is a good thing. I know it isn’t safe.”
Her throat tightened. “You make me feel safe.”
He stroked his fingers down her cheekbone. “I have to go. I’m meeting Rillian and Galen.”
To question the rich off-worlder. She shoved the sheets back. “I want to come.”
Magnus gripped her arm. “No.” She watched his face turn fully cyborg, all emotion gone.
“Magnus—”
“For me. Please. You were very sick yesterday. Avarn assures me it is normal, but you need to take it easy.”
“I’m feeling fine.”
“We are going into an unknown and possibly dangerous situation.” His fingers tightened. “I need to know you and the baby are safe.”
She blew out a breath. Maybe he could say no to her sometimes, after all. She rubbed her belly and felt a wave of nausea wash over her.
She tried to hide it, but his gaze narrowed on her.
“Oh, okay,” she conceded.
He touched her hair, seemingly fascinated with a curl. “Thank you.” He touched his lips to hers and then strode out of the room.
Ever lay back on the pillows and willed the ugly taste in her mouth to pass. If she lay here wondering what was going on, she’d go crazy.
Lab. She pushed out of the bed. She needed her work to keep her busy.
Her experiments absorbed her attention for a while, but every few minutes her gaze kept going to the windows of her lab. Were they there yet? Had the off-worlder told them anything?
She flopped down on a stool. She did not like waiting. Worry crawled up her spine. She had no idea why she felt so edgy. She jumped up again and started pacing.
The soft beep of a comp made her look over. Jax was sitting in the corner of the lab, reading something on a portable comp screen. She wrinkled her nose. Her bodyguard.
“Relax, Ever. They’ll be back soon, and hopefully, we’ll have the location of Zaabha.”
“I know. I just feel…” She turned to one of her benches, fiddling with some of her new gear.
Shaking off the bad feeling, she got back to work. The tech that she’d picked up here on Carthago was amazing, and was really speeding up her research. She lifted a prototype of the stealth suit she’d put together. With a few more tests, she might actually have a working suit.
“How do you like your lab?” Jax asked.
“I love it. It’s so great to have a place of my own.”
“He gave you his own personal games room, you know.”
She turned to face the cyborg. “What?”
Jax lifted a shoulder, his blue gaze on her. “This was Magnus’ private room, where he came to escape sometimes. He’d never show it, but sometimes even an imperator feels the strain of taking care of so many people.”
Her gaze fell on the darnalli table in the corner. He’d given her his own special space. “I’ll make sure he relaxes.”
A wide, glamorous smile lit up Jax’s face. “I bet you will.”
“Others here look at me with suspicion or confusion,” she said, “but you just smile.”
“I like you, Ever, and I think you’re good for our imperator.”
“You’ve known him a long time.”
Jax’s face turned serious. “I have.”
“He told me he got you out of the program.”
Jax’s blue eyes boiled with emotion before he hid it. “He saved me. In more ways than one. I’ve never met a man I admire more than him.”
Boom.
The explosion outside rattled the windows and the glass vials on her bench. Gasping, she gripped the edge of the long table.
Jax leaped to his feet.
Her heart thundering, Ever rushed to the window. Across the city, right at the edge of the desert, a cloud of thick, black smoke was rising into the clear sky.
Jax brushed against her as he joined her at the window. He let out a string of curses.
Her heart clenched. “This is where you tell me that this kind of thing is common here. And it’s nothing to worry about.”
The man’s handsome face twisted. “I would if that were true. But it isn’t.” He frowned. “The smoke is coming from right at the location of the villa.”
“No.” Fear exploded inside her and, without thinking, she spun, heading for the door.
Strong arms wrapped around her. “You aren’t going anywhere. He gave me orders.”
“He could be hurt—”
“He’ll be fine.”
“Fine?” She struggled against Jax’s hold. “Did you miss that massive explosion?”
“Calm down.”
“Let me go.”
“Calm down, first.”
She forced herself to be still, looking up at him. “There. Calm.”
His arms loosened.
Suddenly, dizziness washed over Ever and her head spun. Her legs went out from under her.
With a curse, Jax caught her, carrying her toward the couch. He gently helped her down onto the cushions.
“I’m okay.” She dragged in some deep breaths.
Jax was eyeing her like he was considering calling the healers. “Magnus is good at these situations. The best. He would have detected the explosives long before the explosion. You need to stay calm.”
To distract herself, she took this moment to study Jax up close. Eyes a similar shade to Magnus’ stared back at her. “How long have you known him?”
“All my life. You know we were in the same military program.”
She tilted her head. “Are you related?”
“We probably have some shared genetic
material. I’m younger than he is. He was already a legend by the time I entered active service.”
“Then what happened?”
“I was injured. They decided it was too costly to fix me, so I was going to be discontinued.”
“Discontinued?” That was a strange term. “Discharged from service?”
“Yes.” He smiled, but it was far from a happy expression. “Deactivated. You can’t have a trained killer running around the galaxy.”
She hissed out a sharp breath. “You mean killed. Murdered! That’s horrible.”
Jax smiled. “I can see why Magnus is obsessed with you.”
A flush filled her cheeks. Damn, she wanted that to be true.
“Magnus was already feeling disillusioned by the program,” Jax said, continuing his story. “Dangerous thoughts for a cyborg soldier. He wasn’t supposed to think, feel, or judge. He was supposed to follow orders without question. We were friends, and when he found out what was planned for me, he grabbed me one night and we escaped. We came here to Carthago, and he paid for me to get most of my military implants and programming removed.” Jax tapped one of his legs. “And to get a new cybernetic leg, because my injuries from my final mission were too severe. He saved me.”
Regardless of what genetic material they did or didn’t share, these men were brothers. “He seems to like saving people.”
“He’s the best man I know.”
He was the best man she knew, too. Her hands clenched on her thighs. And right now, she had no idea if he was okay, hurt, or dead.
There was a loud, sudden noise outside in the corridor—shouts and the sound of running feet.
Both of them raced for the door. Ever was quicker and rushed out into the corridor. She rounded a corner and saw the front doors of the House of Rone slam open. A big group of Magnus’ gladiators were carrying something heavy through the door. Each of the men and women were all covered in blood and soot.
Her chest contracted and she moved forward.
“Ever.” Jax tried to grab her arm, but she dodged him.
She saw the face of the man the gladiators were carrying. The air whooshed out of her. Not Magnus. The injured gladiator was unconscious and covered in burns. Two more big cyborgs came through the door, Magnus between them. He had his arms slung over their shoulders and looked like he could barely stay upright. His neon eye was flickering. His cybernetic arm was torn open, and his other arm was covered in burns and blood.
Air lodged in her chest. “Magnus.” She hurried forward.
His gaze locked on hers and didn’t shift. He looked at her with a hard intensity that did nothing to hide the pain he was feeling.
“Quick, get him to Medical,” she said brusquely.
With a nod, the cyborgs turned, carrying the semi-conscious Magnus down the hallway. She followed, her pulse hammering in her ears. He’d be fine. He had to be.
They entered Medical, and the room was a frenzy of activity. Several healers were already working on the other injured gladiator. But another group, headed by Avarn, rushed to help their imperator. Soon, Magnus was lying on a bunk, lights focused on him, and the healers moving around him. She was pushed to the edge of the room, her belly churning.
“His vitals are fluctuating,” someone said.
“Ever.” The word was low and gritty, but she heard it.
She pushed forward, ducking under someone’s arm. “I’m here.” She grabbed his hand. His skin felt so hot.
He turned his head, and again, his gaze locked on her face, like he couldn’t look away.
She saw the lines of strain around his mouth and eyes. “You’re in pain.”
“Pain…dampeners inoperable.”
She leaned in closer, pressing her mouth to his ear. “The healers will get you fixed up.”
“Been in pain before. In military…they never used painkillers.”
Bastards. She squeezed his fingers and, trying to keep her tone light, started to murmur to him. She paid no attention to the healers working around her, she just focused on Magnus. She told him anything and everything. She told him about her work, how worried she’d been when she saw the explosion, about how their baby had been kicking extra hard today.
“His vitals are more stable.” Avarn’s voice.
Ever looked up. The healer was studying her curiously.
“Keep talking to him, Ever.”
She did. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the healers running some high-tech tool across the metal skin of Magnus’ cybernetic arm. She glanced over and watched the skin close up before her eyes.
Another healer leaned in close, starting to put med gel on the burns and scrapes on the side of Magnus’ face. He lifted his arm and tried to push the healer away.
Ever huffed. “Let them work.”
“It’s minor,” he grumbled.
“Let them put the med gel on.” Ever used her sternest voice.
He glared at her. “I don’t need it.”
Heaving a sigh, she grabbed the gel from the healer. “Yes, you do.” She squeezed out the blue gel and started applying it, herself.
He glared at her a bit longer before he dropped his arm back on the bed. “Fine.”
Ever smiled. Suddenly, she became aware of the silence in the room. She kept stroking the med gel on his skin and looked up. All the healers were staring at her.
“He won’t lie still forever, so I suggest you get back to work,” she said.
Avarn cleared his throat. “You heard Mistress Ever.”
The healers moved back into action, and Magnus gripped Ever’s free hand.
Magnus moved carefully down the hall with Ever. She had her slim arm wrapped around his waist.
She had attempted to get a stretcher for him, but he’d immediately dismissed the idea. He didn’t tell her that he was barely putting any weight on her. He could walk just fine, but she appeared to need to feel that she was helping him.
“What happened at the villa?” she asked.
He took a deep breath and his senses filled with her fresh scent. She smelled so good.
“The off-worlder wasn’t pleased to have visitors. He had several bodyguards with him.” Magnus made a small sound. “They had more weaponry than skills.”
She led him into his bedroom. They crossed the space, and she nudged him down onto the bed. Then she leaned down, cupping his cheek and checking his face.
“Did he confess to receiving an invite to Zaabha?”
“Yes. But he turned it down. He’s leaving the planet today.”
Ever’s face fell. “Did he still have the invite? Did you get the coordinates?”
“No. As soon as he declined, he destroyed the invite. He did a better job of it than the first off-worlder.”
“Dammit.” She dropped to the edge of the bed beside him. “We just can’t catch a break.”
“Ever.” He cupped her cheek, mimicking how she’d touched him. “Don’t worry. He told us of yet another off-worlder with an invite. An acquaintance of his.”
She straightened. “That’s great.” Her eyes narrowed. “He told you? Just like that?”
“Perhaps after some…persuasion.” It had been no hardship for Magnus to help neutralize the man’s security team and then hold him, dangling off his balcony, until he’d told them everything they needed to know.
She shot him a look that said she wasn’t fooled. “Right. So what’s the plan now?”
“I talked with Galen. We’re planning to follow the off-worlder into the desert. We aren’t going to alert them. We’ll follow him and avoid detection until he leads us to Zaabha.”
She frowned. “Won’t it be hard to stay hidden in the desert? If you get too close, they’ll see you, and if you stay too far back, you could lose them.”
“It will be difficult, but we’ll do it.”
“Do your scanners work in the desert?”
“Not particularly well. You know the minerals in the sand disrupt most tech.”
She b
it her lip. “So the odds of your plan succeeding aren’t very high?”
“It’s the only plan we have.”
“And Sam is probably running out of time.”
“We’ll make it work,” he vowed.
Her eyes narrowed and she tapped a finger against her chin.
“What?” he demanded.
She shook her head. “Nothing. So you have a day to prepare?”
“Yes. And then we will find Zaabha and free Samantha Santos.”
“Finally.” Hope flickered like a flame in Ever’s eyes. Magnus refused to disappoint her. He wouldn’t let this mission fail.
“How’s the baby?” His gaze dropped to her belly.
“Our baby is doing very nicely.” She grabbed his hands and pressed them against her. He shaped them over the mound.
It was a miracle. Ever was a miracle.
Suddenly, her breath hitched, and he detected the change in her breathing. He also sensed something else he recognized now…her arousal.
“Hormones, again?” he murmured.
Her cheeks pinkened. “Not just hormones. It’s anytime you have your hands on me. Or are close.” Her flush deepened. “Or are breathing.”
Magnus felt a spurt of something he was pretty sure was amusement. He pulled her closer for a kiss, letting his tongue sweep inside her mouth. He kissed her, long and deep.
“You could have died out there today,” she whispered.
“Ever. I need…” He couldn’t find the words to describe what he wanted.
“Tell me, Magnus.”
“You.” He wanted her spread out before him, wanted to see the pleasure on her face. More than anything, he wanted to make her happy. “Everything.”
She licked her lips and he followed the movement with his gaze.
“So, take me,” she said.
“You’re sure, me-calla?”
She pressed against him. “What does me-calla mean?”
“It’s the name of a flower I saw once at the market. The most beautiful flower I’d ever seen.”
Her mouth found his. “I’m sure.”
He pulled her down on the bed, kissing her again and tugging her close. He lay back, moving them to the center of the bed. He took a second to yank a pillow over and place it beneath his head.
