The League 1: Born Of The Night

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  "Shields up!" Caillen called.

  Nykyrian lay on the floor, his shoulder throbbing.

  "They're scrambling fighters," Darling warned.

  Forcing the pain from his mind, Nykyrian knew he had to launch before they went after Kiara.

  Within seconds, he was inside the Arcana, his engines roaring. He launched and flew off in the opposite direction from Hauk.

  "Fighters are changing course and heading straight for you. Three remain after Hauk," Darling said. "It looks safe for us, we're out of here."

  Nykyrian's heart pounded. He knew Jayne could handle three fighters with little trouble, but his scanners glowed almost solid white from the amount of ships trailing him.

  "Surrender!" Aksel's voice snarled through his comlink.

  Nykyrian slowed his speed. This was what he had always wanted. A warrior's funeral. He would die like a man, in a brief burst of light. "I don't think so."

  "You're outnumbered," Aksel said. "I have twenty ships after you!"

  Nykyrian snorted in bitter amusement. "Do you want me to applaud your math skills? You have to catch me first, and I don't think you have one pilot capable of it," Nykyrian goaded, knowing Aksel would break away from the squadron and engage him one on one.

  "Talk about predictable," Nykyrian whispered as Aksel's fighter broke formation and dropped in behind him.

  He turned his ship about and prepared for the fight. Kiara would be safe. An icy, calm lucidity descended on him. Aksel shot first.

  Nykyrian barely had time to dodge the blast of color that skidded past his ship into the darkness of space. Three more shots were fired in rapid pulses. Nykyrian gripped his shifter, the leather of his gloves creaking.

  The other fighters were moving in. He had to destroy Aksel first. Only then would Kiara be safe. Taking the opening, Nykyrian fired his ion canon.

  In one brief flash of orange light, Aksel's ship disintegrated. Nykyrian took a deep breath. The rest of the fighters surrounded him.

  * * * * *

  Kiara twitched in Hauk's lap. "We have to go back!" she shouted, her limbs trembling in fear.

  "My orders are to get you to safety," he reiterated for the fifth time and for the fifth time, Kiara wanted to choke him.

  "Don't you care?"

  His hand jerked the throttle, the ship listed sideways in response. "I care more than you can imagine, but I also made a promise to him, and I'd open a vein before I'd break it!" With another angry jerk, he righted their craft.

  Kiara sat back, her tears scalding her cheeks. "He's out there alone," she whispered, feeling sick to her stomach.

  "Jayne's gone back for him. He'll be all right."

  Kiara heard the doubt underlying his words. She prayed as hard as she could. Nykyrian had to come back, he had to. She blinked in semi-relief as Gouran finally came into view.

  "Commander Biardi?" Hauk asked.

  "Yes." Kiara recognized the worried voice of her father.

  "I have Kiara, but I need a squadron of fighters. One of our pilots is in danger. If I send you the coordinates, will you assist us?"

  Silence greeted the request.

  Kiara's anger built to a dizzying height. "Father, if you love me at all, you will do what he asks."

  "Very well."

  In unison, they breathed a sigh of relief.

  Hauk programmed the information into the computer. As they neared Gouran's bay, they were passed by a squadron of fighters on their way to help Nykyrian.

  Tiarun met them in the hanger after they docked. Kiara threw herself into his arms, grateful for the support, but wishing it was Nykyrian who held her.

  Hauk jumped down from his ship and approached her father in steady, predatorial strides. "Sir, I request another ship to join your troops. I haven't the fuel to return in mine."

  Her father glanced at her, his arms tightening around her shoulders. To her relief, he nodded. "There are three ships fully fueled on the other side of yours."

  Hauk gave a curt nod before heading off to them.

  "Hauk!" Kiara ran after him.

  He paused and waited until she caught up to him. Her lips trembled as she stared at his Andarion eyes. There was only one thing she wanted, one thing left to wish for. "Bring Nykyrian back to me."

  He looked past her shoulder to where her father stood. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a griata ring and handed it to her. "Nykyrian wanted me to give you this."

  Kiara bit back her tears as she stared at the beautiful wedding ring Hauk dropped into her palm.

  "He also wanted me to tell you he loves you."

  Her tears broke into a soul-wrenching sob. "Please save him," she cried, throwing her arms around Hauk's neck. "He has to come home!"

  Hauk nodded, then unwound her arms and darted to the nearest fighter.

  Kiara slid the cold ring onto her third finger, her fears and worries choking her. The ring was a perfect fit, just like Nykyrian's love.

  She turned around and joined her father, wishing she were a little girl again and he could make everything all right just by kissing her hurt and holding her close. But to her deepest regret, those days were long past.

  "Let me take you home," her father said quietly, draping his arm over her shoulders.

  Kiara shook her head. "I have to know what's going on. Take me to the control room."

  Despite a skeptical look, he did as she asked.

  Silent, Kiara sat listening to the pilots' voices as they engaged Aksel's men. She prayed for a miracle.

  Hauk thought he would never get to the battle. In a weird way, he was right. By the time he met up with the squadron, the battle was over. His heart thundered as he surveyed the ships, looking for Nykyrian's.

  Flicking open the channel to ask Jayne about Nykyrian's fate, he spied the Arcana. Four Gourish fighters surrounded the disabled craft.

  "Nykyrian?" His heart lodged painfully in his throat.

  ". . . Fine . . . Hurt . . ."

  Frowning, Hauk surveyed the damage done to Nykyrian's ship. Sparks popped, only to be extinguished in the vacuum of space. From what he could see, it appeared only one engine was functioning. He had no idea how Nykyrian could land the ship in its current condition. "Do you need a tractor beam to help you land?"

  "No . . . Ship . . . Destroy . . ."

  Hauk could barely understand the broken, garbled words. He let out a fierce curse, remembering the ship couldn't be pulled in. If they tried, it would self-destruct.

  One of the Gourish fighters almost hit the Arcana as it listed to one side. Hauk clenched his teeth. Nykyrian wasn't going to make it back.

  Nykyrian remained silent. His communications system was malfunctioning and he could only catch snatches of conversations from the pilots around him. He couldn't believe he was still alive. After he had killed Aksel, the rest of Aksel's men had blasted a dozen or more holes in his ship.

  A strange catharsis had formed in his mind after the battle, and somehow all his past sins ceased to bother him.

  He stared at his control panel which was lit up by every warning system on board. It was a miracle he even had enough directionals left to fly with.

  He thought about Kiara and their baby. If he could have one wish, it would be to see his baby born, to hold Kiara one last time. He sighed, a knot forming in his chest. From the beginning, he had known some things were not his to have.

  The planet loomed before him.

  He rubbed his hand down his injured arm. Blood soaked his uniform, but it no longer seemed to ache. Nykyrian stared at Gouran, wondering if Tiarun would order him detonated before he neared the bay. Most governments would. It was standard practice to prevent damage to valuable bays.

  Nykyrian leaned his head back on the seat. His ears buzzed from the radio's static, but even so, he could swear he heard the tender, dulcet tone of Kiara's voice calling his name.

  He headed into the bay, his hands automatically running through the landing procedure. Flipping switches and pulling gears, he cou
ldn't get the fighter to slow at all. A chill ran over him as he entered the hanger at full speed.

  In one last effort to save his life, he pulled the ejection switch over his head. The force of the seat's propulsion shot him up, but not fast enough for him to clear the rear stabilizer. The impact sent him into blackness.

  Kiara came to her feet with a scream, her mind unable to believe what her eyes registered.

  Nykyrian's ship embedded, then tore a hole through the bay's outer wall. Burning red and gold flames licked the craft and the length of the bay's floor and walls, explosions erupting all over. Fire units descended to extinguish the blaze.

  "I knew I should have detonated that ship," her father growled beside her.

  Horrified, Kiara gaped at him, then ran from the room. Her feet carried her into the heat of the bay as she shook from the emotions tearing at her. The scorching blaze stung her nose with its pungent odor and made her eyes water. She coughed, searching the wreckage with desperate eyes. Pieces of Nykyrian's ship were scattered everywhere. For a moment, she thought she would collapse.

  There was nothing left whole. Nothing. Kiara fell to her knees, gripping the edge of the wall until her hand was numb. Pain racked her soul and she wanted to die. This couldn't be real. It wasn't supposed to end this way!

  Her gaze drifted over the scattered pieces, the fire-bots, the flames, down the bay to the opening. Kiara blinked. It couldn't be.

  A glimmer of hope sprouted as she saw Nykyrian lying at the opening of the bay. He was alive! Finding strength from an unknown source, she ran to him.

  "Oh God!" she gasped, standing over his body. Kiara sank to her knees by his side, afraid to touch him. He lay on his back, perfectly still. His helmet was cracked and blistered.

  Kiara reached a trembling hand out to touch the gaping wound in his side. Nykyrian's chest didn't appear to be moving at all. There was so much blood. Her lips twitched as panicked terror engulfed her.

  Hauk knelt on the opposite side. He didn't look at her while he unfastened the lines securing Nykyrian's helmet to his uniform. When he removed it, her world tilted.

  "No!" she cried, seeing the bluish tinge to Nykyrian's skin. She grasped his cold hand which had somehow come free of its glove, to her breast and wiped the blood from Nykyrian's icy cheek.

  A medical unit surrounded them, forcing Kiara away. In a daze, she staggered back, her mind too overwhelmed by grief and pain to think.

  Hauk began shouting, but his words were unintelligible to her, as was everything happening around her. A fog clouded her hearing, her sight, and for a moment, she wondered if this was what death felt like.

  Suddenly, her father was there, holding her.

  For some reason, her tears stopped and a strange lucidity invaded her grief as she watched the medics rip open Nykyrian's uniform and attach a series of machines to him. It was like watching actors in a play moving to a script she didn't know the ending to. None of it seemed real.

  Kiara looked at her father. "You should call his parents and tell them," she said in a hollow voice. "Emperor Aros and Princess Cairistiona. Please tell them. I ... I don't think I can."

  By the look on her father's face, Kiara knew he thought she had gone mad. Maybe she had.

  "Please call them," she said again. "I have to go with him." Her heart shattering into tiny pieces, Kiara entered the medical unit and went with them to the hospital.

  Chapter 16

  Kiara sat in the waiting room of the hospital staring out the window. Nykyrian had been in surgery for over six hours, and as each new second ticked by, Kiara felt her hopes diminish with it.

  Thia lay asleep in her lap, tears still nestled in her closed lashes. Telling the little girl about her mother's death and about the father she'd only met once, had been one of the hardest things Kiara had ever done.

  She sighed, looking around the room. Jayne sat across from her, along with Caillen and Darling. Hauk just paced the hallway, saying nothing.

  Nykyrian's parents were huddled with her father at the other end of the room. They were a somber group and Kiara couldn't help but wonder what Nykyrian would say if he could see them.

  She held her left hand up before her, letting the dawning rays of the sun play across the red griata stones. She would give up everything she owned and ever aspired to if she could have Nykyrian back with her. She didn't even care if he were crippled, just as long as she had him.

  Kiara drew a trembling breath. She held Thia close as a balm against her grief, and smoothed the ruffled blond curls off her little, chubby cheeks.

  The doors opened at the end of the waiting room.

  She looked up expecting to see the doctor, shocked to see Rachol entering the waiting room with a gorgeous redheaded woman. Caillen got up and stopped the redhead before she reached her. Rachol came straight to Kiara and knelt at her feet.

  "How are you doing?" he asked, concern etched into his face as he gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

  "Not very well," she answered, tears coursing down her cheeks.

  His lips trembled. "I'm so sorry. I should have been there. I could've stopped him."

  Kiara touched his cheek with a gentle caress. She knew Rachol ached as much as she did. "You know better, Rachol. Nykyrian's far too stubborn to have listened to you. I have a feeling if you were there, you'd be lying in the operating room next to him."

  Rachol nodded, his lips in a tense line. "I guess you're right."

  The redhead came forward hesitantly. "Rachol," she spoke in a soft, lilting accent. "I'm not very good with hospitals. Are you going to be all right?"

  Rachol looked up at her, his eyes dark in pain. "Sure," he said, and took a seat beside Kiara.

  The redhead nodded. "I'll be back in a little bit to check on you. If you need me, I'll be at my flat."

  Kiara followed the woman's graceful walk with her eyes. The redhead's carriage reminded her of a dancer. "Who is she?" she asked Rachol.

  He sighed. "Shahara Dagan."

  Kiara's eyes widened in surprise. "The assassin who was out to kill you and Nykyrian?"

  He nodded with a weary sigh. "It's a long story," he answered and leaned his head back against the wall.

  They were forced to wait another hour before a doctor finally came out. He stopped at Hauk who pointed him back to Kiara. Kiara watched the doctor move toward her with cold apprehension, her heart pounding in fear at what he might say. Rachol held her hand.

  "Mistress Quiakides?"

  Kiara nodded, unable to speak past the lump blocking her throat.

  "He's out of surgery, but he's still got a long fight ahead of him. There was a lot of damage done." His somber, pity-filled eyes tore at her. "In all honesty, I don't know how he's lived until now. I've never seen anyone survive surgery with the type of injuries he's sustained."

  With every word, Kiara's throat tightened more.

  "If you like, you may stay in his room," the doctor said quietly. "It might increase his chance of survival if someone he's close to stays with him."

  "Can he hear me?" she asked, her voice cracking.

  "I doubt he can understand you, but he'll know you're there."

  Jayne took Thia from her arms. "I'll take her home to stay with my children. When he's better, I'll bring her back."

  Kiara offered her a shaky smile, grateful for the kindness.

  "I'll go with you," Rachol said from beside her.

  Patting Rachol's hand, Kiara stood and followed the doctor, Rachol by her side. Hauk relayed the doctor's words to the rest of the waiting group.

  The doctor opened the door to Nykyrian's room. Kiara was tempted to scream, only her tight, parched throat kept any sound from leaving her lips. Nykyrian lay on the bed with a gamut of wires and tubes linking his body into several machines. He looked so pale. Kiara trembled, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  "We had to wire his nervous system back together," the doctor said, pulling a chair out for her. "There's a good chance he'll be paralyzed if he wakes."
The doctor cleared his throat. "If he makes it through the day, he should have a good chance for recovery."

  Rachol pulled him outside. Hearing the door close behind them, Kiara made her way to the bed.

  "Nykyrian," she whispered, her tears falling down her cheeks, dripping onto his arm. "Don't leave me." She touched the spot on his cold skin where her tears fell, "I won't forgive you if you leave me alone."

  She stared at his beautiful face which was swollen and red where they had fused skin back together over his injuries.

  Gingerly, she ran her fingers over his finely arched brows, wishing he would open his eyes and look at her. At the moment, she would even be grateful for one of his fierce snarls.

  The door opened and Rachol and Hauk came in. Reluctantly, Kiara released Nykyrian's hand and sat in the chair by the bed to wait and pray for improvement.

  The week passed slowly as Kiara waited for a sign of recovery. Everyone had urged her at different times to leave the room for a little while and sleep in a decent bed, or eat a hot meal, but she wouldn't, couldn't, do it.

  On the eighth day, she dozed fretfully in her chair. A soft moan woke her. Kiara jolted up, her heart pounding. She looked over to Nykyrian who stared at her with open eyes. Crying in delight, she rushed to him.

  "Nykyrian!" she sobbed, tears of relief falling down her cheeks. "How do you feel?"

  He swallowed and tried to clear his throat. "Like I just fought a Tourah beast and lost," he rasped. He tried to smile for her, but couldn't quite make it.

  Kiara didn't mind. At the moment, she thought she could fly. Biting her lip, she stared at the gorgeous green eyes she had feared he would never open again.

  "I'll get the doctor," she said, squeezing his hand before dashing from the room.

  Once outside, she hurriedly spread the news to his friends and family, seeking the doctor as fast as she could.

  She returned to her husband. His parents hovered over him with well wishes and love. Warmth rushed over her at the sight.