by J. D. Monroe
“That handprint is a nice look,” she said, breathing hard as she tried to fight off Catrina’s control.
He shook his head, then made a circling gesture as he shouted to the surviving Chosen. “Get everything through.” He turned to Catrina. “Get your pet under control. Finish him off.”
“Kill him,” Catrina said, pointing toward the pale blue dragon.
Marlena let out a cry as she walked slowly toward Velati. “Please don’t make me do this.”
Velati had gotten to his feet, but his left wing was tucked to his side, shaking and useless. The air around him was frigid, his breaths like clouds of smoke.
“I’m sorry,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “It’s her. Kill me and make it stop.”
“No. Can’t.”
She fixed her gaze on him. She could make him stop her. “Look at me.” Like he’d already figured out her plan, he roared and lunged at her. She braced for the impact of his massive jaws, but he slammed his head into her side, throwing her into the wall with a bone-rattling impact. The air rushed out of her lungs as she sank to the floor.
Velati turned his deadly gaze on Catrina. A volley of stiletto-thin ice shards coalesced from the air, hurtling toward Catrina. She never saw it coming. The white-clad woman jolted as the ice pierced into her from all sides. Rose-like blooms of red spread on her robes. She was dead before she hit the floor. Ice crystals scattered around her.
That slithering sense of Catrina’s control over her faltered. Marlena looked to Velati. “Get the Gate!” she shouted, finding her voice.
Sidran lobbed another silver grenade at Velati, and it slammed squarely into his chest. His body jackknifed in the air as he roared. Then Sidran grabbed his bodyguard, and they disappeared into the portal, leaving the carts.
“No!” Marlena shouted. Fueled by anger, she sprinted for the Gate. She wasn’t letting Sidran get away. When she was just inches from the archway, the glowing portal went blinding white. The cavern shook. A shockwave slammed into her, and she landed hard on her back.
Power crawled over her, and her marks brightened from deep red to fiery orange to pure white. Her vision sheared. White scales emerged from her skin. The tattoos on her arms seemed to peel away, hovering around her like tendrils of red shadow. Her heart pounded so hard it shook her entire body with each beat, and still the energy swelled in her.
A cool hand landed on her brow. Brilliant blue eyes broke her view of the stone roof. “I’m here,” he said. Strong arms encircled her, pulling her close to him.
“I can’t…” she gasped. Her body shook violently as the massive power of the Aesdar rocked through her. “They finished it. I’ll hurt you. I can’t control this.”
“You won’t hurt me,” he replied calmly, holding her tighter. “It’s okay.”
“Let go!” With a scream of anguish, the gathering energy exploded out of her.
His grasp tightened around her, and he groaned in pain. But his embrace never weakened. His shaking hand stroked her hair, and he rocked gently with her. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine now.”
She breathed him in deep. With trembling hands, she touched his cheeks, then entwined her fingers in his hair. “I thought you were dead.”
“Nope,” he replied. He grasped her face and pulled away, staring into her eyes. His broad chest bristled with metal shards glinting in a wash of crimson. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“You’re hurt.”
“A little,” he said calmly. “I’m trying not to notice.”
“We should—”
He tilted her face toward him and kissed her with a desperate need she hadn’t felt from him before. Her nerves exploded with sensation as his tongue searched for hers. It was almost painful as he pressed into her, stealing her breath. When he finally broke away, he held her so tight she thought her ribs would break.
She leaned into him, then caught a glimpse of the empty archway, now ominously dark. “What about Sidran?”
His chest vibrated against hers as he spoke. “They’re gone. They must have blown the Gate from the other side.”
“Then we failed,” she said.
He shook his head, pulling away from her again. “I got you.”
“I’m not that important.”
“To me you are. Didn’t I tell you I would fight for you?” Her chest swelled. “I thought I lost you.”
“You almost did,” she said. “I’m sorry about hurting you. She commanded me.”
“Don’t apologize. You couldn’t help it.”
“Should we go up and help?”
He nodded and rested his head against hers. “Just give me a minute to breathe.”
He wasn’t sure if it was vanity or self-preservation, but Velati couldn’t help wondering how bad the damage was. Shards of metal prickled in his chest and back. Every tiny motion set them stinging and prickling again. His cold aura had cooled the metal before it burned him too badly, but he still felt like he’d been spit-roasted over a fire.
But Marlena was here. She was in one piece. Her eyes were bright and focused. That beautiful ferocity still dwelled in her, untouched by the Chosen. The Gate was lost, but they’d left a dozen flatbed carts stacked with crates. Sidran had gotten away with his bodyguard, but most of his underlings lay dead or unconscious.
He needed to get up, find his second wind, and rejoin the fight. As he was trying to gather the willpower to stand up, he heard footsteps from the stairs. It sounded like bare feet slapping on concrete. Preceded by a cloud of smoky Kadirai scent, Erevan and Natalie rushed through the open door. His hands were wreathed in flame, while she expertly wielded a handgun. She swept her eyes over the still scene in the cavern, then rushed toward Velati.
She neatly jumped over a prone body, then landed gracefully in front of him. “Hey, are you okay?” Without hesitating, she ran her hands over his face.
“I’m fine,” Velati said.
“He’s not fine,” Marlena said. “He’s hurt.”
“Here,” Erevan said, offering his arm. Velati grabbed his forearm and let the other man pull him up. But his legs wouldn’t respond, and he sat down heavily on the stone, jarring his back. “Whoa!”
“I’m fine,” Velati said through gritted teeth, waiting for the sharp sting to pass.
Erevan leaned over and peered over his shoulder. He sucked a breath through his teeth. “That looks bad.”
“What happened?” Natalie asked.
“Sidran got through the Gate. Looks like they blew it from the other side,” Velati said.
“I’m sorry,” Marlena said. “I tried.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Velati said. He’d done what he promised. As much as he’d wanted to run straight to her, he went for the Gate. Sidran had been clever to distract him, and he could hardly be faulted for being distracted by a blast of molten metal that had probably ruined his wings. He put his hand on Marlena’s shoulder, then pushed himself upright. The world swayed around him, but sheer stubbornness kept him upright. “I can get back up there and fight.”
Natalie shook her head. “Um…there’s not really an ‘up there’ anymore. Dyadra pretty much obliterated it. They’re already rounding up prisoners for questioning, and then the second team is coming in to salvage whatever they can. We hit them hard and fast, just like we planned.”
“How’s Rihz?”
Natalie winced. “Not good. He’s alive, but he needs a healer fast. Emmett and Zeltira haven’t responded to contact, but everyone else is accounted for.”
“Could have gone worse,” Velati said.
Erevan nodded. “Could have been way worse.” He looked around the cavern, then approached one of the stacks of crates. He pried it open and wrinkled his nose. “Elixir.” He scanned the room. “Gotta be hundreds of these.”
“Hopefully we made it that much harder on them,” Natalie said. She touched Velati’s shoulder lightly. “I’m glad you’re okay, kordari.” She gave Marlena an encouraging look. The smile looked a litt
le forced, but he had to give her points for effort. “You too. Thank you for giving us information.”
“I was happy to help,” Marlena said. “What next?”
With help from the Arik’tazhan, Rosak had planned a solid operation. A few miles from the Chosen compound, they’d commandeered a building to use as a command center. He’d brought Silvi Mara, a Marashti healer from Asheville, as well as several others from around the country. When they got word that the team was returning, six fully rested Marashti were ready for them.
Velati sat on a cot, refusing their help until they’d tended to some of the more severe injuries. Rihz was unresponsive. The twitchy little hybrid had turned into a resolute, reliable partner. He hoped the man would pull through so he could tell him so. Marlena stayed at his side, her hand entwined in his.
“Are you all right?” he asked her quietly. “Did they…did they hurt you?”
She laughed bitterly. “They weren’t happy with me, but they didn’t really hurt me. Well, other than this,” she said, spreading her hand around the fresh ink in the center of her chest. The design was beautiful, though it was raised and swollen still from the application. “I’m scared. I feel unstable.”
“You’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out,” he said.
“We?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You and me. That’s what that word means.”
She smiled, though her eyes were still distant. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
Devi Mara hurried over to him. Her thick hair was pulled into a messy bun, and her eyes were creased with fatigue. “All right, my friend, you’re up next,” she said in Kadirai. “Good to see you alive.”
“How was Rihz?” He gestured to his throat. “He had a bunch of metal here.”
She cringed. “The metal was poisonous. His body was shutting down, but he’s stable now.” She shook her head. “That’s nasty work. We’ll get him back on his feet, but he’s going to have some pretty bad scarring.”
Velati shook his head. “Fuck these people.”
“Agreed,” Devi said. She led him to the closest empty station, where a folding cot with an air mattress was set up. Like fingers trailing over his skin, her energy swept over him, pressing into him and finding the weak places. It burned as they traced along the shrapnel in his back. She pulled away and started rifling through a huge plastic trunk. “How about you, serani? Are you all right?”
“Me?” Marlena asked.
“Yes,” Devi said. She poured from a plastic container into a paper cup and handed it to Velati. “Drink,” she ordered. After he tossed back the thick concoction, Devi nudged his shoulder to lie on his side, the only position that wouldn’t drive shards of metal deeper into his flesh.
“I’m fine,” Marlena said. “Take care of him, please.”
Devi’s brew tasted like someone had dumped together half a spice cabinet and added a couple of shots of whiskey. It numbed his tongue, and there was a pleasant prickling numbness that spread into his limbs. The pain in his back was retreating as Devi began the work of plucking shards of metal from his skin. He groaned slightly as her tweezers grazed raw skin.
“Sorry,” she said with a wince.
“No problem,” he said. “You do what you have to do.”
“Do you want me to leave?” Marlena asked.
He shook his head, twining his fingers through hers. “Definitely not.”
Leaving a small team to gather any remaining evidence, the Kadirai of Skyward Rest returned home twelve hours after their blitz attack on Haven. The wounded and the Chosen prisoners were flown by private plane, while the rest rode in a caravan of vehicles. Velati dozed most of the way, head resting on Marlena’s shoulder.
When they reached home, there was no time for rest. The queen was already waiting for a report. Velati had long enough to step into the bathroom to splash water on his face and change shirts before meeting Valella in the Tempest Wing. He left Marlena with an apology and a promise to meet her back at the apartment as soon as they were done.
The Tempest Wing was a mess as Rosak’s agents hauled in cases of equipment, all hastily gathered and relocated to Texas. The operation wasn’t built to be mobile, and they’d adapted quickly to take advantage of the rare opportunity.
The two queens, Valella and Udezari, sat at the conference table, while Rosak and Dyadra filled two of the other chairs. Dyadra’s arm was in a sling strapped to her chest. Nasty-looking cuts slathered in ointment wrapped over her throat and across her collarbone. Velati gingerly sat in a chair, careful of the bandages around his wounded chest.
Valella regarded him with an expectant look. “Rosak tells me the operation went well.”
Velati gave Rosak a strange look. “We didn’t get our hands on Sidran.”
“But we did capture Rainer Lang, who we’ve determined was his highest ranked lieutenant here,” Rosak said. “We also got a number of their engineers who were responsible for creating their weapons and processing the elixir. We got hard drives packed with information.” He gave Velati an encouraging nod. “Rimewing blocked the Gate, preventing them from moving a major stockpile. They lost weapons and several Elegies.”
“That is good news,” Valella said “And their people?”
“Some fled, but not many,” Rosak said. “We took them by surprise. We hope our questioning will lead to more information that we can pass to the Ascavar queens.”
“What about casualties?” Valella said.
Rosak lowered his head. “Zeltira was killed,” he said. “We also lost Nerani, one of the hybrid recruits. Half a dozen were badly wounded, but should recover.”
“The dead will be honored with the others who fell here.” She gave Velati a solemn nod. “I would ask for your advice when the time comes on the appropriate way to honor the fallen.”
“It would be my honor,” he replied.
Their discussions continued for another thirty minutes, ending with an agreement to meet again in a few days, once the team had enough time to rest and compile individual reports. The Skywatch was already hard at work combing through the recovered computers and hard drives, searching for the dark secrets of the Chosen.
Once the meeting ended, he rose, looking forward to going back to Marlena. He was too tired to do anything but lie next to her and thank the Skymother for her, but even that peaceful stillness was tantalizing. As he turned away, the queen cleared her throat. “Rimewing, will you walk with me for a moment?”
“Su’ud redahn?”
“To the garden,” she said. “I want to check on my husband, but I need some air first.”
“It would be my honor,” he said, bowing politely. The queen led him through a winding passage of hallways and into a narrow access stairway he’d never used. Her lithe figure moved quickly, climbing the stairs up to the main floor. They emerged into the warmth of daylight.
The sculpted bushes of the queen’s garden had been mangled, great chunks burned away leaving charred branches in their stead. One of the stone benches was shattered, its legs jagged stumps jutting up from the ground. The queen ran her hand over a flower hanging limp on a broken stem, then sat on a bench. Jeweled rings flashed as she patted the seat next to her. “Please sit.”
He sank onto the sun-warmed stone, leaning against the high back. The queen’s gaze was fixed on the brilliant red flowers. “I was needlessly harsh to you before. Decades ago.”
“You don’t—”
“Please let me finish,” she said. He did not owe her this, but he was curious where this would lead. “I was angry at your actions, and still being new to the throne, I felt I had to act harshly and swiftly. I feared that if I showed any leniency, I would be viewed as weak.” She touched his hand lightly and turned to him. Her amber eyes were somber. “I was wrong. I thought you acted out of spite and selfishness. But these last few weeks, I have seen that your heart is in protecting these people. Our people.”
He drew a shaky breath. “To be fair, there was some amount of spite.”
/> “I know.”
“And for that I am sorry,” he said. “I should have been more respectful.”
“We both should have been wiser,” she said. “But where your words only challenged my authority, I cut you off from our people. Sohan used to tell me I should reach out to you and make amends, but I would not listen to him.” She shook her head. “Perhaps none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so stubborn.”
“Perhaps,” he said. She flinched. “And perhaps it would have happened just as it did. That is a worry that yields no good, my queen.”
“For whatever it is worth, I truly apologize for sending you away. I cannot undo the damage to your name or give back the years that you should have felt welcome here, but I can promise that you will be welcome here going forward, and that I will speak your name with the utmost respect.”
“Thank you, my queen,” he said. “And I apologize for treating you as I did. I believed I was right, but I was haughty and disrespectful to you. I viewed my status as the right to act however I pleased, and that was wrong.”
“Then let it be behind us.” She lifted her gaze to the flowers again, and when she spoke, her voice shook. “As much as he and I argued, Sohan’s absence is a void I cannot ignore. I have to admit I have selfish motivations for making amends with you. I need someone to take up his mantle. He did not want the titles I would grant, and I would not give him the authority he wanted. But I need your advice, and that of the other Arik’tazhan who would still find a place here.” She glanced at him. “I know you have built a life in Portland, but I would be grateful if you would stay at least until this conflict with the Chosen is over. I’m willing to compromise and trust your judgment.”
He nodded solemnly. “I’ll figure something out,” he said. “I’ll stay.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “It’s that easy?”
