She gasped when something touched her and then her eyes shot wide when she realised it was Tres.
He had jumped after her. He would die too.
"I will not let you die ... trust me,” he whispered into her hair and held her close, so her cheek was against his. She wrapped her arms around his waist. They turned in the air and then suddenly they were going up instead of down.
Pulling away from him slightly, Renie gasped again when she saw that Tres had wings, white leathery wings that were tinted blue in places. They carried her upwards and then he spread them wide and they began to glide down.
Her brows furrowed.
He couldn't be.
He just couldn't.
She clung to him as they steadily dropped towards the ground far from the reactor core.
"I will protect you, always,” Tres whispered close to her ear and she closed her eyes, touched and knowing that he was telling her the truth. It didn't matter what he was or what she was. All that mattered was how they felt.
She couldn't doubt that he felt something for her, not now that he had risked death to save her and that he was promising to keep her safe from harm.
His feet touched the floor first and he slowly lowered her. When her feet hit the deck, he released her and turned away. She watched his wings fold up and then watched in amazement as they shrank and disappeared. The back of thermal suit had slits in it that almost disappeared as they meshed, as though the suit was repairing itself. She hadn't noticed them before and she hadn't known that their wings could disappear. If she had, she might have realised something earlier.
"You're Vegan,” she said and stepped towards him.
Tres stepped away, keeping his back to her.
"I am.” His voice carried a weight of sadness.
"Why didn't you tell me?” She tried to step towards him again but he moved away.
She glared at his back and moved quickly so he couldn't evade her. Grabbing his shoulder, she turned him to face her and held his arm.
"You never asked,” Tres said with a long sigh and stared over his shoulder at the reactor. There was so much pain in his eyes. What was he thinking in there? “Perhaps I should have told you. Perhaps I did not wish you to hate me."
She frowned. “Why would I hate you?"
"Because of your family,” he whispered and then looked at her. “The Earth system was destroyed—"
"Lyrans destroyed it, not Vegans.” She cupped his cheek and smiled at him, hoping to reassure him. “Vegans frighten me ... I can't deny that. We're told such terrible things about them as children and when I saw the commander, he was everything I'd imagined. But you ... I didn't know Vegans could be so beautiful."
He looked down at his feet.
She lowered her hand and took hold of his.
"You're nothing like the Vegans we're told of. I couldn't hate you, Tres, never."
A smile curved his lips, brief but a smile nonetheless. She smiled too, glad that he was listening to her. He was so different to everything she had ever learned about Vegans. He had wings but they were white like his skin, not black as the commanders had been or the stories she had heard. His eyes were different too. Everything about him was different. His ears were pointed but the tips weren't as long as the tips of the other Vegans ears. And he was kind.
He wasn't anything near the cruel picture painted by her education or the soldiers on this ship.
He was helping her.
He cared about what happened to her.
"We cannot remain here,” he said and his fingers flexed against her hand. Warmth spread up her arm at the feel of his hand in hers and she hoped he wouldn't let go.
"How much further is it?” High above her she could hear the alarms still sounding.
"Not far, but it will be more dangerous from here on in. We can use the ducts and service passages, but the ship is on high alert. I am afraid they have discovered that we are missing. We must hurry."
She had feared as much. Her hand tightened around his. Before she could utter a word, he was running to the other side of the room. He stared straight ahead, fixed and intent on the wall. What did he see? Did he see the wall as she did or did he see what was beyond it?
What did he see when he looked at her?
* * * *
Tres held Renie's hand tightly as they crossed the reactor room. Now that it was in his, he was reluctant to let it go, even when he knew that he would have to. They couldn't crawl through the ducts side by side and speed was of the essence. He glanced across at her. She was concentrating on the wall they were running towards, a small frown creasing her brow. She seemed even more beautiful in this otherworldly blue light, her skin washed of colour and her eyes as black as deep space.
When she had fallen, his heart had felt as though it was going to burst. He had seen her drop in slow motion, had tried to reach her before she had slipped off the walkway, but hadn't been fast enough. It had taken less than a second for him to follow her, determined on rescuing her from a painful frightening death. He had meant every word that he had said to her. He would never let anything happened to her. He would protect her with his life, always.
Even though he had known that rescuing her would have won him some sense of gratitude from her, he had still expected her to hate him when she had realised that he was Vegan. Her denial had been beautiful, warming him more than his thermal suit ever could. It hadn't been her words that had touched and reassured him. It had been her eyes. They had held such affection for him and such hurt, as though the thought that he believed she hated him pained her.
They had fallen together in more ways than one.
For the first time in his existence, he desired to live and to take action. Too long he had idled away his hours, not fighting when he believed Vega was in the wrong and not pushing to have his voice heard. No more would he sit back and let things happen. He would make the right things happen. He realised now that his attempt to leave the Black Zone had been nothing more than an attempt to run away from his duties. He had covered it in the lie of wanting to explore the other side of the barrier, to find people like Renie and taste a different kind of life. Now the lie had fallen away and he was left with the stark truth.
He had been running away.
What man of Vega would do such a thing? What a weak fool he had been for believing that leaving the Black Zone would be his best course of action. He should be making himself stronger so he could protect those that needed him, not fleeing and leaving them to fend for themselves.
Reaching the wall, he pulled the wire from the left wrist of his suit and pressed it against the control panel, letting it take over. His fingers danced across the display hovering above his inside left forearm and he smiled when he found the information he was looking for.
"They have your brother on deck fourteen, room nine. He is stable. Conscious. There are two guards posted outside his room."
Renie moved closer, until Tres could feel the heat radiating from her and washing over his skin. Her body pressed into his when she looked across him to his arm.
"I will reassign the guards between here and the room. We will have to take care of the two outside his room. When we have your brother, I will tap into the system again and clear a path to the small fighter ships in the docking bay."
"How far is it to my brother?” she said, her hands tight and trembling against his arm.
"Two decks down. We should be somewhere above him.” Tres showed her a schematic of the ship. “We can use the service passageways from here."
A square panel near the floor to his left opened when he pressed a button. He removed the bud from the screen of the control panel and fed the wire back into the sleeve of his thermal suit.
"Come, we must hurry,” he said and took her hand again, leading her over to the access panel.
He looked around them before entering and waited just inside the cramped space for her to get in. When she was in, he closed the panel. The tunnel was larger than the duct bu
t there was still only enough room to crawl. He started off and then paused to look back at Renie.
Her hair was falling down. The messy black wavy strands framed her pale face. A hint of colour touched her cheeks as he looked at her and her gaze dropped to the floor before coming back up to meet his. Was she still awkward about what they had done? Her reaction, her shyness, enthralled him. It made him want to kiss her again.
He turned around, crawled back to her, and did just that. A little gasp was his reward as he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips against hers, capturing them. The kiss was slow and unhurried, a light and sensual exploration of each other laced with an edge of tentativeness. They were both nervous, caught up in this whirlwind of new feelings and a dangerous situation. He closed his eyes and traced her lips with his tongue. Hers was warm as she responded, brushing his and making his arm tremble as it supported his weight.
"Tres,” she whispered against his lips, dragging him back to the ship from the place where only they existed.
He slowly opened his eyes and moved back so he could look at her.
"I thought time was of the essence?” She smiled at him and then added, “Not that I don't want to kiss you."
As if to prove that, she leaned towards him and kissed him again, brief but warm and sweet. He smiled at her. She didn't need to prove that she wanted to kiss him. He wasn't worried that she didn't want him or that their moment together meant nothing. He could tell by her reactions to him that she felt the same way as he did.
He turned away and continued along the tunnel, turning to his right at a crossroad. When he reached a hole in the floor and a set of steps leading downwards, he climbed down them and waited for Renie to catch up before crawling along the next passageway. He stopped when he found another set of steps leading downwards.
Tres looked over his shoulder at Renie, pointed down them and then pressed his finger against his lips. She nodded. He went down the steps and crouched in the passageway. Switching his ocular implants on, he looked through the wall to the corridor beyond. There was no one there but when he looked further along, he spotted the two guards. The only exit seemed to be to his left, the opposite direction to the guards. They would have to move quickly to get past them without them raising the alarm.
Tres crawled to the access panel. He pulled it inwards and poked his head out. Far to his right were the two guards. A set of statistics for them appeared down the right of his vision. Their broad builds would slow them down but they were carrying A-Class laser rifles.
He ducked back in and looked at Renie. She looked more frightened than ever. Her heartbeat was off the scale. He could see it pounding fast, spreading heat through her body that made him crave to touch her. He switched his ocular implants off and brushed his fingers across her cheek.
"Wait here,” he said and without giving her a chance to respond, bolted out into the hall.
The guards immediately turned to face him, raising their weapons. He ran at them and, as they fired, jumped at the wall and sprang off it, turning in the air and landing on the other side of the corridor as the twin bolts of laser shot down it. Running as fast as he could, he ran up the wall as he reached the guards and kicked off from it. He spun in mid-air, his leg out, and landed a kick on the side of the first guard's head that sent him slamming into the floor. The second guard went to attack him again but he punched him in the stomach. When the guard bent over, Tres grabbed his long black hair and brought his knee up hard to meet the guard's head. The guard slumped to the floor with the other.
"Renie,” he said and turned to face the other end of the corridor.
She was already half out of the corridor, her eyes wide. Clearly, he should have told her to remain inside the passageway. He didn't exactly want her to see him fighting. Although it would prove his desire to protect her, it would defeat it too. Protecting her meant never letting her have to see such horrible things.
She ran over to him and was immediately trying to open the door. He tapped the control panel and the moment the door was open enough for her to fit through, she was squeezing through it.
"Rezic!” she said and bolted straight over to the bed.
Tres moved to stand just inside the doorway. The male on the inspection table stirred and when he opened his eyes, Renie smiled wide and threw herself at him. It wasn't the wisest thing to do to a male in his condition but her brother didn't seem to mind. He was smiling too as he held her close. Tres noticed that they had shackled her brother's feet to the bench that he lay on. The medical officers hadn't been taking any chances with him.
"I was so worried,” Renie whispered and Tres tried to hold back his jealousy as he watched them touch each other's faces and smile. He could see all the love in them written clearly in their matching dark eyes. “We have to get out of here."
"How? How are you even here?” her brother said and then looked past her to himself. “Who is your friend?"
"It's a long story. This is Tres. He helped me escape and come here. I called for help after the meteorites struck and you were hurt. Unfortunately, it was a Vegan vessel that answered and they took me prisoner. They're going to ransom us. They know who we are. We have to get off this ship and get out of here."
"Again, how?"
Tres smiled at the sour face Renie pulled. He got the impression that her brother always questioned her actions. He seemed to be a male of sense, one that preferred a plan to the impetuous way that Renie worked.
Desiring to aid Renie, Tres walked over to the opposite side of her brother and took the bud and wire out of his suit. He attached it to the control panel beside the bed and, with a few taps of his fingers, undid the cuffs holding her brother. The two around his ankles retracted first, followed by the one around his waist beneath the blanket.
"That is your how,” Tres said as her brother stared up at him. “Come, we must hurry. I will clear a path to the docking bay but I cannot guarantee we will not come across soldiers. We must leave this ship."
Renie helped her brother to sit. Tres was about to leave when her brother caught his wrist.
"Thank you,” he said.
Tres removed his hand and looked at Renie. “Thank her. It is for her that I do these things."
A blush coloured her cheeks and she looked away from him. Her frailty and beauty still fascinated him. She could change in the blink of an eye. One moment she was strong and leading the charge, the next she was shy and retreating.
"Come,” Tres said and held his hand out to her. She surprised him by placing hers into it. “We must leave."
"Are you able to walk, Rezic?” Renie said to her brother. “Run?"
"I'll do whatever it takes to get away from these Vegans,” Rezic said and Tres felt her hand tense against his.
Not everyone was as understanding about Vegans as she was. He accepted that. Her brother was a prince of Lyra. Hatred of Vega had been bred into him deeper than it had been bred into her.
"Do not believe all Vegans are the way we have been told, brother,” Renie said and Tres looked back at her brother to see what his reaction would be.
His dark eyes widened in shock and then slid to him and narrowed. “Vegan?"
Tres nodded.
"A Vegan who will do anything to protect that which he has set out to protect."
Rezic's gaze moved back to Renie.
"Argue with me about it later,” she said and held her free hand out to him. “We have to run if we can."
There was a noise like a weapon discharging and then her hand fell from Tres's. Tres turned to see Renie unconscious on the floor and his gaze tracked to the Vegan who had dared to stun her. His claws extended and he launched himself at the soldier. The guard didn't see him coming. In the blink of an eye, he was beside him, his claws dragging across his throat. A moment after that, the man fell to the floor.
Dead.
The second soldier was conscious too and raised his weapon to attack Renie and her brother. Tres picked up the first soldier's weapon, fli
cked the switch to move it off stun, and shot him through the head. Breathing hard, he stared at the two dead men, his anger crying out for more violence against his kin for what they had done. The death of these two guards wasn't enough to sate his rage.
He slung the strap of the rifle over his head so it fell across his body and turned to face Rezic. The Lyran was holding Renie close to him. Shielding her was pointless now, unless Rezic was intending to protect her from himself. He walked towards the male and crouched beside Renie.
"She will be unconscious for a while. The rifle was set to stun. Thankfully she is too valuable to kill.” Tres stroked her forehead and frowned at her, his anger still bubbling like an undercurrent through him, affecting him in a way he was barely conscious of. He only knew that he wanted to kill the commander of this vessel and everyone on it as vengeance for what had happened to Renie. “We must get her away from here."
Rezic went to protest when Tres moved to pick Renie up but he silenced him with a look.
The Lyran wasn't strong enough to be carrying such precious cargo. He would ensure she was safe from harm. He had failed her once. It wouldn't happen again.
Cradling her in his arms, Tres held her tight and close. Rezic moved to the door and picked up the other gun. Tres nodded when Rezic pointed to the switch on the side that would move the rifle off the stun setting. They moved together out into the hall and then ran. The alarms were still sounding and it was only a matter of time before someone came to check on Rezic. They would know that Renie would come here.
Tres led the way through the ship, trying not to jostle Renie too much as he ran. Rezic brought up the rear as they moved through corridor after corridor, heading slowly down towards the docking bay. The journey there was hindered several times by having to hide from soldiers, but it wasn't long before they were standing before the twin doors of the docking bay.
Heart of a Prince [Daughters of Lyra Series] Page 7
