Hunting the Rogues (Shadow Claw Book 8)

by Sarah J. Stone

  She clenched her shaking hand into her fist and went pale. Desmond was afraid she would be sick again, but instead, she took a few steps back. “What do we do?” she asked. “Should I go back to the ship?”

  “We don't have to cease to speak to each other,” he said gently. “I'm doing what is best, Sienna, for both of us.”

  'What do we do?” she repeated.

  He sighed. “I would like to meet these children that Pedro is speaking of,” he answered. “To see if they would be willing to come with us. After that, we can gather the parts we need to return to the ship.”

  “I should call Nathaniel,” she said but he shook his head.

  “Sienna, we need to focus on the task at hand. If you call Nathaniel now, your emotions will flow.”

  “He is my Maestro now,” she pointed out, her lip quivering.

  “Fifteen minutes, Sienna,” he said. “I promise you, in fifteen minutes, we will have a decision”

  She took a deep shuddering breath, and then eventually nodded.

  “I'll leave you to take a moment,” Desmond said, heading down the stairs. He wanted to say something, to place a hand on her shoulder, but he knew she wasn't ready.

  He wished she could see that he wasn't doing this to harm her and he wasn't doing it because he felt it would be the easiest option.

  He was sure that only when she was free of the barriers magic put on her would she be able to grow.

  He wasn't sure Nathaniel would be able to handle it by himself, but he didn't want to place doubt into his former Tiro. If Nathaniel was sure that training her was going to be the best option, then Desmond knew that he must accept that. Even if he didn't believe it.

  Desmond felt like he had failed her. He had taken on a challenge much bigger than himself and he wasn't sure that he would ever succeed at anything again. But he had to try, for Nature's sake.

  Pedro was waiting for him back downstairs, a quizzical look on his face.

  “All is well?”

  “All is well,” Desmond answered, even though it was the opposite of well. “Please, your potentials”

  “Come this way.” Pedro ushered him through the floor, and Desmond followed, watching the mass amounts of magic shoot from tiny fingers. This was either going to be the moment that would define him or break him. Either way, he knew he had to step through the ring of fire to come out the other side.

  Chapter 14

  “What now?” Nathaniel was jerked awake by a crash. With the ship on standby, he couldn't do much except wait for Desmond and Sienna to return. The pirates were dead, outside the ship, and he was certain none of them were about to rise. The crash had rocketed the ship, his quick nap over, and he sat up, confused.

  The lights went out just as he blinked.

  The sun set at barely noon, the days short with the never-ending winter. It didn't bother him, he had been on planets with never ending sunlight and he had been on planets with never-ending nighttime, so he didn't need the natural light.

  Except, of course, if they were on a ship with no power. Then, he figured he might need some natural light.

  He used magic to whisk a light into his hands, making his way out of the sleep cabin and into the hallway. Not even the emergency lights were on, which told him the ship was completely dead.

  The ship rocked again and he recognized that noise.

  “Oh, Creator,” he swore as he sprinted down the hallway.

  “Hey, Nathaniel,” Jonah grabbed him, pulling him into an open doorway. Nathaniel swung around, nearly hitting him in the face before he realized.

  “Don't do that!” Nathaniel cried, trying to cover his own panic. To his credit, Jonah just smiled.

  “Hope your nap was nice. Seems those pirates have some friends, who are angry that they are dead. That's long-range fire coming at us, but I imagine it will be shor- range in a minute.”

  “Creator,” Nathaniel swore again, his mind racing. If the ship was functional, this would be no problem. But they didn't even have a shield, let alone guns. The exterior of the ship was strong, but it wouldn't hold for more than a few shots under short range fire. “Did you get a guess on how many? Not that it matters, because one ship is going to blow us off this frozen waste land.”

  “I think it's just one,” Jonah said. “Don't suppose your magic can help?”

  “Lift a whole ship?” Nathaniel asked. “Not likely. Not by myself. The only person who could do that…” he paused, realizing it wasn't possible. “My Tiro used to be able to do that. Obviously, not anymore.”

  “That's a shame,” Jonah seemed extremely good natured about the fact that they were going to die. “What's our plan, then?”

  “Where's Eliza?” Nathaniel asked. “There's an escape pod that we might be able to launch her out of before they get close enough. We could evacuate the ship, but that makes us easy targets in all of this.”

  “I'm here,” Eliza slid in and joined them in the darkness. Nathaniel slipped his hand into hers, trying to think clearly. “And if you think I'm running and leaving you here, you've lost your mind.”

  “Eliza, you have more to think about than me,” he said. “There's a whole planet, there's…”

  “We have a better chance of fighting together,” she said. “If I thought all hope was lost, Nathaniel, I would go, for my people and my planet. But it is not.”

  He squeezed her hand, frustrated with her stubbornness but also grateful for it.

  “There's maybe a chance I can get the com system up,” he said. “I can hail them and possibly negotiate. We can't compete with their guns though.”

  “What if we make them think we've evacuated?” she asked. “I've seen your magic create illusions before.”

  “Huh.” He hadn't thought of that. “I might be able to pull that off. The com system, though, may still have enough juice to run. If I contact them and tell them we are running…play frightened…maybe it will work.”

  “Or?” Jonah always liked a back-up plan, and Nathaniel was about to admit he was at a loss. He was a great warrior, yes, but this was out of his league.

  Nathaniel, Desmond's voice was suddenly in his head. Standby.

  Standby for what? Nathaniel responded. I'm in the middle of something. Don't come…

  Five minutes out, Desmond said. Open the hatch.

  Maestro, we're being attacked! Nathaniel cried in his brain. Do you have the parts? I need your magic and I need it now.

  All is achieved, Desmond answered. Nathaniel's eyes flew open in hope.

  “All right,” he said. “I have a plan. I'm going to divert any remaining power from the com link to the hatch.”

  “The hatch?” Eliza said, in surprise “Are you mad?”

  “Possibly, but my back-up needs to enter the building,” Nathaniel answered “Jonah, can you man the front? As soon as the hatch is open, I'll divert it back to the com system.”

  “On it,” Jonah said. “Your highness, if you please, pick a direction and stay safe.”

  “I'll pick a sunny planet,” Eliza grumbled as she stayed close to Nathaniel. “Stay safe as well, Jonah.”

  He winked at her, barely seen in the darkness and headed off. Nathaniel pulled her hand forward, toward the back hatch.

  “Just focus on the power diversion,” she assured him. “I'll cover you if anyone boards from the front.”

  “Are you armed?” he asked in surprise

  “Of course, I am,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “What do you take me for?”

  “Forgot that you were my battle Queen,” he said with a half-smile as he started working with the wiring panel. There was very little power left lingering anywhere. He had already put the heat on half of what it would be, making them all gather blankets and cloaks. He knew there was enough to open the hatch, but that was before they started taking on damage.

  In addition, with one hand, it probably wasn't the swiftest job he ever did.

  Nathaniel! Desmond's voice was urgent, and Nathaniel bit his lip.
>
  I'm trying, he said. Unless you've got enough magic to open the doors. And…are there other magical signatures with you? He shouldn't even be asking, because it didn't matter. The other signatures weren't hostile, but they were foreign.

  There are, Desmond answered. Can you do this?

  He was only halfway through the thought when the wiring finally managed to spark to life. Having Jonah at the front and Eliza watching his back was so helpful in a quick job, despite Desmond's distractions. He only had to focus on the task at hand, and he was surprised how quickly it came to him.

  The hatch opened and he stepped back as another shot from the front rocked the ship. The hatch slowly lowered, and he was grateful for the high roof of the front of the ship to block the oncoming fire.

  They had a small ship of their own, which Nathaniel noted the battery pack model and compatibility with their own. It was just a little four-person scooter, but there were parts they could scrap if needed.

  Desmond was already shoving two young children, a boy and a girl up the ramp. Sienna's hair was wild and half frozen, and she lurked behind Desmond, moving up the ramp after he did.

  Nathaniel did not need a bond to understand what had happened. Her eyes were dead and her nose running. She had been crying. He knew it well enough.

  He ignored the children boarding and opened his arms for his broken-hearted Tiro. This wasn't the time or the place, but he couldn't move forward without offering her reassurance.

  She fell into them, hiding her shaking hands.

  “I am here for you,” he assured her. “I am still here.”

  “Mm-hmm,” was all she could manage before he heard a screech from behind him. A laser shot had broken a window, and he turned around a split second too late.

  One of the children had moved behind him, directly in his line of protection. Had he been faster, he could have used his good hand to block at least some of the shot. But because Sienna had been with him, he didn't move quick enough to save a life.

  The child, the boy, fell to the floor, his eyes open and life less.

  “NO!” Sienna hurled herself out of Nathaniel's arms and forward, her palms open. It was instinct., her magic wanting to flow in her heart.

  But her body was damaged, blocked, and no resurrection magic would flow, even if she wanted it to, and even at the expense of her own life.

  “No, no, no, no.”

  “Sienna.” Nathaniel tried to yank her away, feeling the ship rock “You can't do anything. Come with me, little one. Come with me.”

  “Please no, no, no.” She pushed harder on the boy's chest but everyone knew that it was no use.

  These were her burdens. These were Nathaniel's burdens, the burdens Nature had placed on them.

  “We have to go!” Nathaniel pulled at her as blaster fire came from the back. They had left themselves vulnerable, and clearly the pirates had more friends than they thought. “Sienna!”

  Eliza rushed forward to cover them, her blaster firing at top speed.

  “Desmond!” Nathaniel cried, physically trying to pick her up and move her. His arm hung limp and useless, and danger was getting closer. Desmond was linked onto the remaining child, who was screaming.

  “Desmond, HELP ME!” Nathaniel demand, and Desmond's heart was torn. He had to make a choice between himself, which was of no consequence, the Queen, the new potential and his former Tiros.

  They had never prepared for such a heart-wrenching situation. This was why they weren't supposed to form attachments.

  Desmond put the child down. There was no time to talk to her, no time to teach her. He simply put her to his side, and channeled her magic, hoping for a fragment of connection.

  Out of his hands shot magic powerful enough for both of them. He chose to slam the hatch closed rather than kill the three shooters approaching. It rose and latched with perfect precision, giving them a moment of safety.

  “Go,” he said, throwing the bag at Nathaniel with the parts. “Sienna, go with him now.”

  “We have to—” She sobbed, still lingering over the dead body.

  “Sienna, attend to your Maestro,” Desmond snapped, picking up the crying child again. He and Nathaniel met eyes, their worlds colliding.

  Sienna stood up slowly, as if she was a puppet on a string. She responded to Nathaniel's gentle pulls and followed him out of the room, toward the engine room.

  “What the hell is going on?” Eliza asked, but Desmond was already moving. The girl was screaming in his ear, and the ship at front was still sending laser blasts.

  Their chances of survival were low and they lowered each moment Nathaniel didn't get power to the ship.

  He slammed into the pilot's seat, Eliza's captain of the guards ready in the co-pilot's chair.

  Coils in place came, Nathaniel's voice in his head. It sounded flat, unemotional, and Desmond knew that the worst was yet to come for the three of them. Count to three and them power it up.

  Thank you, Desmond managed and hit the switch. The control panel came to life, and he pulled the joystick.

  They slid forward, a blast hitting their tail, and then rose, throwing off the aim of the enemy.

  Desmond tried to feel the energy flooding through the ship, hoping there was enough. He then threw the thrusters forward, and they locked into hyperspace.

  They were safe. At least, for now.

  Chapter 15

  “I promise all will be well.”

  He used to do this when she was a child and upset. She liked to be reassured everything was fine, he wasn't going anywhere, and that she was stronger than she thought. He would repeat the words over and over until she felt them in her soul.

  Only this time, the words weren't hollow blank reassurances that he thought she should already know. These were solid words when there were questions about her future.

  “You knew?” she asked and Nathaniel sighed.

  “He told me it was in his mind, but I was hoping that a quest with you would change his mind.”

  “So, I did something wrong?” Sienna asked in horror and he took her hands, bending down from his place on the windowsill.

  “No,” he said. “You did not, and you can't think you did. He did what he thought was best, Sienna, but that doesn't mean you took a wrong path.”

  “He said I'll never pass the tests. And maybe he's right.”

  “I took a vow,” Nathaniel said, “to serve as your Maestro and whether or not you will pass the tests in the traditional way doesn't make a difference to me, Sienna.”

  “Nathaniel, had you not been distracted by me, had I had magic, that child might have lived.”

  “Nature took its course,” Nathaniel said. “We all have a time to live and a time to die.”

  “He was a child, Nathaniel.” Tears spilled down her face. “He didn't know any better. Someone just told him to come along, that he'd be a witch…and so he did, blindly.” The parallels to her own story were heartbreaking.

  “Is that what you think?” he asked softly.

  “I don't know what to think,” she replied. “I don't know how to feel, or what to do now.”

  “You and I will figure it out together,” he said, and she nodded, although she seemed doubtful.

  “Do you think…Desmond's in the cockpit. Should we stay here?”

  “I don't think he wants to avoid you,” Nathaniel said. “He's not angry, Sienna. He's sad, mostly, from what I can feel.”

  “I can't feel anything,” she pointed out, and he closed his eyes, fighting with his own emotions.

  “You can,” he said. “Your magic is suppressed, but it's still there.”

  “Our bond is broken,” she said.

  “It isn't.”

  “No, I mean…” she wiped away tears. “Desmond and I. He's chosen to break it, hasn't he?”

  “It doesn't go away,” Nathaniel said. “Just because he chooses not to train you anymore. It's never really going to go away. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't bound to him, but it's as strong
as when we were training. I don't think this has to be heartbreak, little one. I wouldn't be surprised if he chooses to retire, and that was the reason he stepped away when he did.”

  “You think?” she asked. He tried to smile, not answering.

  “Come on,” he said. “We'll do whatever you want. What is it that you want to do?”

  She shook her head. “I'd rather just stay here,” she leaned back in her chair, watching space fly by. “If that's all right.”

  “All right,” he said, settling into the lounge chair beside her. She looked at him in surprise

  “You don't have to stay,” she said. “I know that you want to see Eliza.”

  “I always want to see Eliza,” he replied. “But that doesn't change the fact that I want to be here for you.”

  “You're not going to do the same thing?” she asked. “Do you promise?”

  “I told you I made a vow,” he replied. “To you, to myself, to the magic.”

  “But you didn't want me,” she pointed out, remembering the start of her training.

  Nathaniel sighed. “I didn't know what I wanted, Sienna. I was young, I was…”

  “No, you wanted a warrior,” she said. “Not a girl and not one who could never fight.”

  “I thought that's what I wanted,” he answered. “But you've taught me so much, as a witch, as a Maestro. I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. And I want to train you now.”

  She fell silent, staring off into space again. “He could have lived, Nathaniel,” she said, softly after a few minutes. Nathaniel didn't answer, knowing that words would not do her any good.

  The boy could have lived, yes. She was right about those things. Had he not been distracted, if she had her magic, that child might have made it to the Academy. But Nathaniel wasn't going to dwell on those things when there was nothing that could be done.

  He didn't see Desmond until long after dinner, when the ship was mostly asleep. At six p.m., Nathaniel felt his body shift, before reminding himself that they were no longer on that schedule. Six p.m. did not signal the time he needed to be alert and on call for his Tiro any longer. There was no off time, no relaxing. He was now all she had.