"I know it.” He sighed. “When they open the back hatch, I'll attack. You have to run for the forest."
"What about you?"
"They can't do the ritual without you, right?"
She nodded. He went on. “Then you'll have to escape. I'll have to try and keep them busy while you run."
In the dim light, she scanned his features. “You don't think it will work."
He shrugged. “I don't know."
"I have a better idea."
His eyebrows rose. “Oh?"
Slowly, she nodded. “We know the temple better than Kliro. Here's the plan."
* * * *
The door creaked open and early morning light flooded the back of the ATHV. Elise blinked and tried to adjust her vision. Kevin, a tall, pale man with dishwater blond hair had a blaster aimed at them as they slid out of the vehicle.
Elise hoped for the one chance before Kliro began the ritual, before Donny was injected with the DNA that almost killed him once and would certainly damage him now. Kliro's face shone with determination and two of his right hands gripped her arm in a stinging vise.
"You'll be remembered, Dr. Elise Fleming. Revered."
She glared at the Dormrelian. “I don't particularly want to be remembered for starting an interstellar war. What exactly is your purpose in doing that?"
Kliro smiled and his hard features barely moved. “The destruction of the Ang, of course.” He marched her across the grass courtyard to the Temple entrance. “They've run this section of the galaxy for too long with their ability to tell the future. It's time that my people took their rightful place."
Elise doubted Kliro meant all Dormrela. Only himself. As they entered the Temple, she knew Kliro would have to release her long enough to let her go down a narrow stairwell that led to the sacrificial chamber, the chamber where she had first discovered the horrific religious ritual of human sacrifice.
Their one chance lay in the fact that Donny was paranoid.
When he was assigned to protect her at the Temple, he'd insisted on laying charges at various points of the Temple. She'd protested, argued with him, ground her teeth at him in frustration. But he insisted that the charges be in place in case he needed to get her out of there in a hurry.
Now, that paranoia was going to pay off for them.
One of the charges was set at the base of the stairwell. Only Donny knew the exit corridors since he'd practically lived at the Temple and almost died there six months earlier. Between the two of them, they knew the layout better than anyone.
Kliro allowed her to step down the corridor and she moved quickly to the bottom of the staircase with Kliro hot on her heels. Donny made his move.
Kevin growled as Donny elbowed him in the throat. The man's blaster exploded near Donny's head but missed him. Elise didn't wait to see the results but got to work. Kliro had turned to stop Donny, and she set the charges.
Now, she had to figure out a way to distract Kliro from Donny so he could get down the stairwell.
She raced down the corridor and made as much noise as possible. Kliro pursued her. At the Sacrificial Chamber, he caught her in a bruising grip. With one hand, he held her by the throat as his other three opened a small satchel he carried.
Kliro dumped out the contents and Elise groaned as she noted he'd stolen the precious stones from her lab. His hand held her pinned to the stone wall as he placed the stones in a complicated design around the sacrificial table.
He lifted her off her feet like she was a rag doll. His eyes were blazing as he glared at her. “It is your fate to die. No one can save you. Your pet killer is going to die a slow and agonizing death and you're going to help him."
Then, the big Dormrela's body twitched and his four eyes rolled back in his head as he convulsed.
His grip released Elise and she tumbled to the ground. Kliro collapsed and Donny stood behind him with a blaster in his hand. “Let's go. That blast only made him unconscious."
She scooped up the stones into the satchel and took his hand. They sprinted down the corridor away from the stairwell to a place deep within the Temple. She only hoped his escape route was undamaged when the explosives detonated.
Kliro's roar was accompanied by a loud shout from Kevin. They were both alive. Elise scrambled as fast as she could along the stone floor and then the whole structure shook as the explosives ripped through the walls. Rock and debris showered down on them but they kept running.
There was a distinct chance that Kliro might escape their trap but Elise was counting on ending that Dormrelian's reign of insanity.
Her lungs burned and her legs throbbed as they finally started to see the incline back to the surface of the ground. Around them was darkness, black walls with dark writings of horrors that happened there. Every turn, she trusted Donny as she groped behind him.
Then, he stopped suddenly and just listened.
She heard it. The distinct sound of heavy steps, their scrapes echoing along the corridor. Donny gripped her arm and shoved her in front of him.
"Go,” he whispered.
"Not without you."
In the blackness of that corridor, his calloused fingers stroked her cheek in a tender caress and his lips brushed hers. “I have to stop him. You need to go."
"Donny—"
He stopped her words with his mouth. His hands gripped her neck and waist as he plundered her lips with unrestrained need. She felt as if she was drowning and gripped his shoulders. His tongue stroked hers as if he wanted them joined forever.
But he broke the kiss abruptly and shoved her up the corridor. “Go. I love you. Don't ever forget that."
He turned to face the way they'd come and she stumbled away with the back of her hand over her mouth to cover her whimpering.
* * * *
He had to wait until he saw Kliro coming, and with no light in the corridor, Donny knew he wouldn't have much time. The charge he'd lifted from another strategic place after dispatching Kevin was on the corridor wall waiting to be set. He'd have thirty seconds to get up the corridor if he was lucky.
Kliro was charging through the hallway at top speed, and Donny tried to calculate when the Dormrelian would reach them, but the echoes were deceiving and he wasn't sure.
Then, Donny's sense of smell saved him and he caught a whiff of Kliro's distinct scent in the still air of the corridor. The monster was close.
He muttered an awkward prayer to whatever God might save him and set the thirty second timer on the charge. He laid the charge within a small crack in the wall his fingers had found and sprinted towards the exit and freedom.
Kliro shouted behind him. “I can smell you, Adonis! You're a dead man. I'll make your death slow, painful. You're mine. I own you!"
The explosion from the charge threw Donny to the floor and knocked the wind out of him. His leg was caught beneath a large stone that he couldn't lift high enough to move his limb out of the way.
Suddenly, Elise was there, and she helped him lift the stone and move his leg out. He limped, pain ripping through his whole body every time he took a step but Elise supported him and saved his life.
Twice he fell and rocks kept pummeling them as the whole Temple structure began to fail. Twice, Elise hauled him to his feet and yanked him forward.
Just when he thought they would be trapped forever in the Temple's halls, a light appeared. They reached the small doorway out just as the Temple stones collapsed and they squeezed out.
Dust and rock were everywhere as the Temple crumbled. Elise gazed at the destruction, and Donny wondered if she regretted sacrificing such a treasure for so little.
Then, her grey eyes met his. Within them was the passion and tenderness he wanted. She never said it, but he knew. She cared for him. Even more than she loved that Temple, she cared about him.
"I'm sorry, Elise. I know that was your life's work,” he said it and meant it. If he could have saved her without destroying the Temple, he would have.
She grasped his face i
n her hands. “It was stone and dust. That's all. You're flesh and blood. I'd rather have you than a thousand Temples."
"I'll find you another Temple,” he croaked out. “I swear it."
As she smiled, he realized he'd do anything for her, go anywhere. She stroked his cheekbone with her thumb. “I love you, Donny. I always have. Ever since that day we collided in the jungle and you gave me the best fuck I ever had. It's never just been sex to me."
He pulled her into his arms. “I love you so much it scares the shit out of me.” He closed his eyes and swallowed. Love was so strange. Fear for her safety made his breath catch, but his desire and passion for her filled him with peace. It made no sense. Yet, he knew it was right, real.
"It scares the shit out of me too, but did you notice we're not at the mercy of S.E.X. anymore?"
He leaned back and stared at her. How long had it been? They'd been on the road for at least eight hours. Even with danger at every turn, they should have been aching from the chemical.
The sexual obsession was gone. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question. What did it mean?
She grinned. “Dr. Carstairs theorizes that when the human body is mated to another, the chemical's effects are neutralized."
"So I'm not crazy to fuck you because I'm meant to be with you.” He rolled his eyes. “I'll buy it. Why not? As long as it means you're not going anywhere, I'm fine."
As she snuggled up to him, Donny didn't notice the hard ground or the smoke in his lungs. He only felt her heart beat against his. It was a miracle. He'd done nothing to deserve her. Nothing. But she was there in his arms.
A little while later, he shifted his body so he could get to his feet. “We need to get moving."
She frowned. “To where?"
He dusted off his coveralls. “Remember where we met the shuttle? That's the coordinates I sent. It's the best place for it to land."
She stared at him. “You sent coordinates? When?"
Her hands were cool as he hauled her up. “Before we went into the VFR. Paul wanted a back-up plan for everything. We agreed that if you or I disappeared, Paul would arrange a shuttle to be at the same coordinates we'd been picked up before."
"Why don't we just take the ATHV that Kliro was using."
Donny scanned the Temple's debris. “Because I don't know that Kevin Tozer and Kliro are dead.” He met her gaze with a firm one of his own. “And I don't want to risk getting any closer to the Temple."
"But a ton of rocks are covering them right now."
"It looks that way. It also seemed that Kliro was locked up and they'd thrown away the key,” he pointed out.
He should have known she'd be too smart to buy the cover-up. Her eyes narrowed. “What aren't you telling me? Come on."
His sigh came out in a long hiss. “The Dormrela may send someone to view the damage. I want them to think we're dead. At least, for a little while."
"Why?” she questioned, but she walked beside him.
"Kliro couldn't have done this alone. He escaped and managed to start Kevin Tozer's DNA injections? I don't think so. Tozer was under alien control and I don't think it was Kliro's."
"You think the Dormrelian government is involved?"
"I don't trust anyone. Dormrela, Ang, Earth Central all have their own agendas. Within those agendas are more personal and perhaps dangerous agendas. The way Kliro and Tozer have been able to manipulate things here on Asberek tells me they had help.” He kept a quick pace through the thick forest.
"Do you know who is doing it?"
"I have an idea. And I think it has to do with your work."
"My work? But why? I've discovered hundred-year-old artifacts, history, not any kind of weapon."
"Except the formula, the ritual.” Donny's brain whirled. “There's something else too. Your reports held all of them except the one that changed Ang DNA and Earth Central had you send them directly to them, bypassing Dr. Meiner."
"That's right."
"I think someone is pulling strings from Earth Central."
"But no one person had access to all my notes.” Elise frowned.
Donny shot a glance at her face. “One person did."
Her eyes widened and she stopped abruptly. “The senator? You're kidding!"
He took her arm and kept her moving. “It makes sense. This has the stench of power play all over it. And politicians are all about power."
"But why would he care about genetic rituals?” Elise asked doubtfully.
"Think, Elise. Genetic manipulation means power to the Ang. The human being with the ability to change Ang or Dormrelian DNA will have an upper hand politically.” They shimmied through the thick jungle, urgency pressed on Donny's steps.
"You're saying it's like a biological weapon."
"Exactly.” Donny shot a glance at her white face. “That's how I was used. A weapon. A test. Aimed and released.” And failed, he thought.
"Donny, the formula is shrouded in religious rhetoric. How would the senator be able to translate it?” She kept pace with him so well. He had to keep her alive. “It doesn't make sense that he'd want me dead."
"He has Kliro to translate it. You were a tool. A liability."
"Then we'd better make sure he knows Kliro is dead."
His gaze met her steady one. “Is he?"
She stopped abruptly. “We saw the rocks fall on him. You barely made it out alive."
Donny focused on the clearing ahead of them. “Don't underestimate Kliro. Until I see his broken body in front of me, I won't believe he's dead."
He picked up the pace even though blood poured from a wound on his leg. Dizzy, he prayed to whatever being held the cards that Paul was there as they'd agreed.
They reached the place where he'd first touched her, loved her, rediscovered his humanity and he stopped. In the clearing, the shuttle's white hull gleamed and relief swept through him.
With caution, they crept up to the shuttle door. Paul waited inside as the metal opening dropped. While Elise straightened with her shoulders relaxed in relief, Donny eyed the tree line.
There was a rustle of branches, and blaster fire charred the ground by Donny's moving feet. “Damnit! Run Elise!” He sprinted up towards the opening, and a slice burned his left calf. Kliro had shot him, but it was a graze or he'd be dead. It was enough to make Donny stumble.
Elise turned and screamed as she got a glimpse of the flesh Donny knew was burning on his leg. He was going to black out before he made it. But a strong grip wrapped around his arm and hauled him forward. Another blaster fire seared along his ribs and he cried out as he tumbled into the shuttle and the door shut with a snap.
He had enough left to glance up at Elise and smile. “Told you he wasn't dead.” And he passed out.
* * * *
"Donny!” Elise screamed his name. Her hands shook as she cauterized the wound on his leg. “He's lost too much blood. Paul.” Her desperate cry echoed in the shuttle's cockpit, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling. “You promised me.” She shook his arm. “You told me you loved me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Don't you dare fucking leave me.” Her throat closed until she thought she wouldn't be able to breathe.
His breath was ragged, sporadic. She yanked out the oxygen mask and placed it over his face. Then she noted the wound on his right side. With gritted teeth, she applied the heat to the wound and it closed to stop the bleeding. His face was deathly pale and she whispered against his hair over and over. “You promised. You promised. You promised."
The fifteen minutes it took for the shuttle to streak across space to the Causeway were the longest minutes of Elise's entire life. She might lose him. After everything they both went through, he might die.
They landed at the Causeway, and Jenia waited with a stretcher and medical aide. Donny was whisked away. Elise gripped his hand and ran alongside him, determined to stay with him.
As they loaded a lift to take them to the hospital floor, his eyes opened. Two glorious blue slits ga
zed on her. He fumbled to wrap his fingers around hers. “Love.” He choked out and his lids dropped again.
Tears streamed down Elise's face as they slid him into the Emergency treatment room. She didn't see the mangled remains of his lower leg. She didn't see the nasty gash in his ribs. She only saw his beloved face, white and still, as the doors shut.
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Chapter Nine
For the first time in Elise's life, she was enraged. Not just angry or miffed. Cold-blooded, out-to-kill someone rage. Kliro needed to die.
It was this warrior mood that Jake Tarune discovered her in when he arrived on the scene. She wanted him to arm her and let her go on a rampage.
"Dr. Fleming, we don't even know where Kliro is at the moment.” His sweet reasonable tones infuriated her.
"I want him dead. That Dormrela almost killed Donny. I will slice him to bits.” Anger vibrated through her and sang through her veins.
"Dr. Fleming—"
She held up a hand and stopped him. “I don't give a shit if you say I'm a civilian. I don't give a shit if you say I'm emotional. Just give me a fucking blaster and let me go after him.” By the time she was finished, she was on her tiptoes and glaring in his face.
Captain Jake Tarune didn't even flinch. “Right now, Donny needs you here."
There wasn't anything else that would have stopped her. Fear of Donny's death replaced the anger, and all the blood drained from her face. She collapsed on a bench outside the door, and covered her face with trembling hands. “What am I going to do?"
The Captain placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “Stay here. Chances are Kliro will try and finish the job anyway. You may still get your chance to kill him."
"I'm sorry.” She took a deep breath. “I don't know what came over me."
"You love him. He was almost killed. That brings out the killer in all of us."
One side of her mouth lifted in a weak smile. “It didn't faze you."
"I lived with Daniella Pearce pregnant. She was just as fierce.” He grinned down at her. “Right now, Donny will need you here."
"I didn't even ask. Where's Paul?” She straightened her back.
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