by TylerRose.
Shestna teleportedto the circle in the center of the compound the instant her nuclear blast went off. He knew she was in trouble and gestured for Jerome to come over.
“You need to go in there,” Shestna said when it was obvious she had lost control of the firestorm.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. The Emperor’s Warriors cannot disengage. If the thirty fail, the rest are all that will prevent her from destroying the planet. You see the power they contain.”
“Yeah, but—“
“There’s no but to it, Jerome! You are the only one who will survive in there. If you don’t go help her now, they may have to kill her to stop it,” Shestna said, leaving his brother Dorn out of it for the moment. Dorn was the last resort before killing her.
Head jerking to glare at Shestna, Jerome saw Landra Ahr flying over from the confiscated ship.
“What about Landra Ahr?” Jerome asked, really not wanting to walk into that firestorm. “She can’t hurt him.”
“He cannot stop her power. Only you can and you have about two minutes to do it before I have to give an order I don’t want to give. I will do it. She and I discussed the possibility two days ago. She knows I will if I must. One minute forty seconds.”
“Crap,” Jerome hissed, and took the earpiece out. Throwing it down, grinding it into the ground with his boot, he stepped forward to stand just outside the ring of Emperor’s Warriors containing his woman.
Not knowing what to expect, he performed a brief chi gathering exercise and walked through. The positively charged energy of their Staff Power allowed him through without so much as a crackle. She was facing him, watched him approach. The wind was incredible around them. Cyclones of fire whirled around and around inside the dome. He could not see past the shield, saw the faces of the Warriors dark in concentration. Some were straining with their hold. If one failed, it would be up to the 170 maintaining the compound’s perimeter to hold her power in and Shestna would give the order to kill her.
She looked up to him with an oddly calm expression. Her eyes were pained, but she wasn’t crying.
No more tears, he remembered.
“Hey, babe. What’s going on?” he asked, not sure if he should just pop her on the chin and knock her out as he had during the Rovan Hell Night.
Her eyes looked to the side, up, to him again. “This is what it’s like inside my head all the time. But with incessantly flashing pictures and images. You’ve wanted to know. Now you can see firsthand.”
“Pretty wild. Well, I have now officially walked through fire for you.”
“Yes, you have,” she nodded. “And I didn’t ask you to do it.”
“Having trouble getting it under control?”
She nodded. “I’m trying. I didn’t mean for it to get out this much. I didn’t know it was going to happen like this.”
“I know. I’ll help you.”
“Do me a favor?” she said.
“What?”
“Don’t hit me this time.”
He smiled. “I won’t. Never again.” He held his arms open. “Come here.”
She stepped into his embrace, putting both hands on his chest. He pulled her in close for a firm hug and waited for her to relax a bit in his arms. When she did, he gently extended his Staff Power like a thin sheet, enveloping her in its quiet. He felt her power backlash against him, held so close to her, and increased his concentration to counter. The air around them cleared in an instant and the circle of Warriors collapsed, the dome of Staff Power dissipating. Some fell to their knees with their effort, a few passed out.
“Take back control,” he said to her. “You command it, not the other way ‘round.”
Cessation was sudden and complete and she was heaving a sigh of relief. She looked up to him, reached up to put a hand around the back of his neck, raised onto her toes to bring their lips together in a hard kiss he recognized. If they had been in his or her bedroom, they’d be naked in a flash and fucking with a vengeance.
She looked at him, as their lips parted, with such an odd expression that he was compelled to ask, “What?”
“I understand the meaning of yin and yang. Nothing so simple as male/female, love/hate. It’s the balance of the powers and forces of the Universe. You and I are those powers and that balance. We were always supposed to be that. I balance you and you me, as needed. We were made for each other to fulfill this purpose.”
He smiled and took her hand.
“Come on, babe. Let’s blow this planet.”
About the Author
TylerRose. is a pseudonym of course. I live in NYC with my husband and daughter, crochet for rescue animals and friends…and will probably die with a pen in my hand and a thesaurus open on my thigh.
