by Leslie Chase
Gennafera leaped out to meet it, axes swinging and driving it back. I cried out, springing forward to join her. But Athazar had other ideas. He caught me around the waist and turned, throwing me out through the opening doors. Athazar followed close behind me, and Gennafera brought up the rear.
If they didn’t want to face that monster, I certainly didn’t. Picking myself up, I sprinted for safety between the two of them.
Across the bridge the spaceport waited, ships leaping skyward as we ran. For a moment I thought our escape would be in vain, that by the time we reached the landing field it would be empty, but no. Not every ship took to the sky.
Corven was already half-way to the nearest one, and I prayed that he could steal a ship faster than he’d opened the arena doors.
Behind us, the monster shouldered its way out and gave chase. I looked back and immediately regretted it — the creature chasing us was massive and terrifying, a long black shape like an immense, murderous ferret. If a ferret had scales rather than fur and stood eight foot high at the shoulder.
I put my head down and tried to run faster, though my lungs felt like they would burst. It was hopeless. Those scrabbling, scrambling claws were gaining on me and I had no reserves left, no more speed to give.
Then Athazar’s arm slipped around my waist and lifted, throwing me over his shoulder as though I weighed nothing. I clung to him for dear life as he ran, his long legs eating the distance as he raced for the safety of the ship.
24
Athazar
Winded and exhausted, I threw Emma into the ship and dove after her. Gennafera slammed the door behind us moments before the monster smashed into the small ship, rocking it.
“Get us off the ground,” I called. The monster hit the ship again, pushing it closer and closer to the edge of the island. We didn’t have long. Whatever that creature was, I didn’t think it would be able to break through a ship’s hull — but if we tipped into the ocean, we’d be trapped and helpless. This didn’t look like an amphibious vessel.
Tlaxanna’s men would track us down soon. Just as soon as they’d gotten her out of the arena, all their attention would be on me and Emma.
I didn’t allow myself to hope that she’d died in the chaos. Even if she had, though, her guards would look for revenge.
Armax sprinted for the bridge and Corven was already there, working on the systems.
“It’ll take a few minutes to get past the authenticator,” Corven called back to us, voice tight with concentration. “The damned ship belongs to a human, and it doesn’t like my alien hands on it.”
Emma picked herself up groggily. “Can I help?”
“… maybe.” Corven didn’t sound confident, but it was enough to get my mate moving. I admired her determination in the face of chaos — she’d never stopped moving, thinking, fighting for our future.
I couldn’t do any less. “Okay, we have to give them time to work,” I said to the rest of the gladiators. “Anyone know what that thing out there is? What it’s weaknesses are?”
Everyone shook their heads, and I turned to the window. It was right there, a giant eye staring at me, and under other circumstances, I’d have thought it looked magnificent. A huge, long body, sleek black scales, and long clawed limbs, it prowled around us like the hunter it was, barely smaller than the ship in which we hid.
Meeting its gaze, I did my best to project calm. Peace, I thought. I have no wish to fight you and there are easier meals elsewhere. Go and find them.
I wished it well against the guards or the crowds at the arena, as long as it left us alone. But it knew there was food inside the ship, and it wasn’t about to give up. Another shuddering blow knocked us to the edge of the landing field, teetering on the edge.
“Get the door open,” I shouted. Tybin protested, but Gennafera threw her weight against it and pulled the door wide. I jabbed out with my sword, trying to hold the thing back, praying that Emma and Corven were getting somewhere with the ship’s systems.
If they didn’t unlock it soon, we’d all die here.
The monster grabbed for me, and I slashed its paw. My blade skittered off the scales, unable to penetrate, but it was enough to make it retreat for a moment.
A whine filled the ship as the power came online and we lifted into the sky. The creature roared, furious at the sight of its prey escaping, and leaped.
Our smooth upward motion turned to into an awkward spin as the beast wrapped its limbs around the ship and clung on. The added weight pulled us down towards the glittering blue sea, and Tybin nearly tumbled out of the door before Mixal caught him.
Outside, the creature roared again, triumph and fear mixing as we struggled for height. The whine of the engines got louder, less steady, as whoever was flying the ship demanded more and more power.
It wasn’t enough. We weren’t going to make it to space, at least not before the princess’s guards caught up with us. I looked across at the other gladiators and then at the open door.
“We need to get that thing off the ship,” I shouted. They all looked at me as though I’d gone mad.
“Anyone who goes out there isn’t coming back in,” Mixal shouted back. “Monster’ll get you, or you’ll fall. Or both.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, lifting my sword. “By now, Tlaxanna’s guards will have fighters in the air. If they reach us before we leave the atmosphere, we’re dead anyway.”
The others exchanged looks then nodded gloomily. Together the four of us staggered to the open airlock door.
The black scaled limbs of the creature wrapped around the ship. Its jaws closed on the bridge, gnawing uselessly at the hull metal. No mere animal was going to get through, but it wasn’t giving up.
Mixal and Tybin started to pry at the nearest limb. Gennafera took her ax to its tail, which wrapped around the engine of our stolen ship.
And I clambered forward, towards its face. Someone needed to convince it to let go.
The wind was strong up here, and I hung onto the handholds as I struggled to get closer. Through the bridge windows I saw Armax wrestling with the controls, trying to get more height. Corven and Emma worked beside him, fighting to override the ship’s limiters.
Far below, the open ocean gleamed. And on the horizon I thought I saw other ships moving. Hunting us? Maybe. No time to check.
One hand grabbing a hold, I stabbed at the monster’s eye. It reared back, snarling and snapping at my hand, and I barely pulled back in time. Another cut, this time at its throat, glanced off its scales uselessly.
It looked at me. For a moment I felt like we understood each other, two warriors locked in combat for survival. Then it hissed, twisting to look back at where the others were prying at its limbs.
Tybin and Mixal had gotten one arm loose, but it still held on with three of them. This wasn’t going to work. It could keep holding on forever.
Unless someone forced it to focus on something else.
Through the window, I locked eyes with Emma. Too bad we can’t both live, I thought, but I made my peace with this already. As long as she lives, it’s okay.
I let out a breath, relaxing. Emma raised a hand to the window, her eyes full of sorrow. She could see what I was planning, see that I didn’t expect to survive this. Her lips shaped my name.
My heart felt torn in two as I kicked off the ship, turning in mid-air. Extending the sword towards the mouth of the monster, stabbing with all my strength and weight behind the blow. The creature gave a horrible screech as the sword sank into the soft interior of its mouth.
Thrashing, it lost its grip on the ship, Gennafera and the others pulling its limbs free.
Its jaws snapped shut and I abandoned my sword, barely getting my hand out of the way of the terrifying teeth. Turning, I ran up the creature’s belly towards the ship. Its grip slipped as it thrashed, and then it fell.
With one last desperate burst of strength, I jumped. My hand stretched out for a grip, only to fall short of the ship by inches.
>
And then Gennafera’s hand closed on my wrist. I swung under her, Mixal and Tybin anchoring her to the ship as it pulled up, accelerating into the dark purple sky as I looked at them in amazement.
“Emma would kill me if I let you fall,” Gennafera said, as though that explained everything. As she pulled me up to the airlock, the monster tumbled down to splash into the sea far below.
The bridge was decorated in white and gold, elegant and beautiful. Apart from the open panels and piles of parts where Emma and Corven were working: that bit was a chaotic mess. Armax had the controls, wrestling with them and trying to keep the ship’s nose up.
Emma looked around as I entered, her eyes widening. She leaped from her seat and to my side.
“Are you okay?” she asked, helping me to a chair.
Why wouldn’t I be? I almost asked, and then I felt the stinging across my chest. Looking down, I saw three deep cuts, blood welling and flowing.
I hadn’t even noticed the wounds. An inch deeper and they’d have been fatal.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, collapsing into a chair. The others looked dubious, but there was no time for that. “We need to get out of here now.”
“He’s right,” Corven said, looking at the sensors as Armax pushed the throttle forward. “There are two fighters on our tail, and we’re too close to the planet to go to hyperspace.”
Thrust knocked me back into my chair, my body aching, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. This stolen luxury yacht didn’t have the power to outrun fighters, or the guns to shoot back at them.
Has this all been for nothing? My eyes met Emma’s again, seeing the love there, the hope, and I smiled. No, not for nothing. Even if we didn’t make it out alive, dying at her side was better than any of the other options we’d been given.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Her voice was quiet, but not frightened. “No more tricks or escapes. We’re out of luck.”
For a moment I considered telling her a reassuring lie. But no. Emma deserved the truth from me, and she’d proved herself as a warrior today. I wouldn’t deceive her.
Nodding, I took her hand and kissed it. “I’m proud to die with you, my love.”
“I wish you didn’t have to,” she said, kissing me. Tears ran down her face, but there was no fear in her voice. Just a sad acceptance. “But if we’re going to die, I’d rather do it in your arms.”
Embracing her, I held her against me, clinging to the feel of her. My wounds stung but the pain was easy to ignore, and my world shrank to just her. Just my mate, the woman I loved.
“Another ship, dead ahead,” someone said with a dreadful finality. That was it then. No chance of escape. I pulled Emma against me, her face nestling into my shoulder as though I could shield her with my body.
“Missiles away. Two of them.” Corven sighed, watching our death approaching. I couldn’t keep myself from watching the holographic display as the missiles raced towards us. Behind us, the pursuing fighters were closing too, trapping us.
Emma clung to me and I held my breath. Watched the red dots race closer. Closer.
And then past us, zipping by so close that I saw them through the window. The bridge was silent, everyone watching in shock as the missiles sped toward their true targets, the pursuing fighters. Those pilots had no time to change course, and orange fireballs lit the sky as the missiles struck home.
No one spoke for a long moment. Then, in a trembling voice, Armax announced that the Shadow Hunter was hailing us.
I blinked, repeating the name over in my mind. The Shadow Hunter? My ship, the one I’d abandoned back at the comet when I’d first met Emma. How could it be here? But this wasn’t the time for questions — those could wait until we were far away from any other pursuit. I gestured for Armax to answer the call.
Ssarl’s face filled the comms screen, his eyes wide and tongue darting out. “Athazar, we hoped it would be you!”
“No time to talk,” I growled. “Let’s get out of here.”
The Shadow Hunter’s AI interrupted. “That’s a fine welcome after all we’ve been through to find you,” it said peevishly. I tried to growl and laugh simultaneously, only to wince instead. Emma looked up worried as I let out a hiss of pain.
“Get me a first aid kit,” she ordered, and Tybin started to tear through the bridge’s cabinets searching for one. This time I managed to laugh. “Beloved, I’m not sure you’d know how to use one.”
“Then I’ll figure it out as I go,” she snapped. “I’m not letting you die now, or get your wounds infected.”
Outside the windows, I watched the bright alien sky change to black as the small ship lifted out of the atmosphere. No one was shooting at us now, and we had an escort. We were safe. As unbelievable as it seemed, we’d escaped the Orbellium Arena alive.
Whatever happens to me now, Emma will live. She’s safe. I closed my eyes to rest them, smiling. The others were talking, but I ignored the noise. I could rest. Everything faded to darkness around me and I sank back into the chair.
A sudden stinging sensation on my chest made me yelp and sit up straight. My eyes flew open to see Emma dabbing something on my wounds, something that stung like blazes.
“Stop whining, anyone would think you’d never been hurt before,” she said with a wicked grin. I tried to glare, but I couldn’t even pretend to be angry, not when I was this overjoyed to be alive.
“How long was I out?” I asked. We were alone on the bridge now, and the ship was silent around us. A glance at the sensor data told me we were in deep space, the Shadow Hunter docked to our new ship’s airlock.
“A few hours,” she told me, dabbing more of the stinging paste onto the wounds. I winced again, feeling the nanobots go to work knitting my flesh together. “You needed the rest.”
I had, at that. My body felt weak and my eyes heavy, but I was a thousand times better than I’d felt before.
“Where are we headed?” I asked, looking around at the empty bridge. “Who’s taken charge?”
I hoped that it would be Gennafera. Ssarl might have taken over, though — he’d been in command of the armed ship, after all. And I worried that Armax might have seized command; despite his help, I didn’t trust him.
A power struggle now would be dangerous, but Emma would be safe; I wasn’t going to let anyone take her somewhere unsafe, not even if it meant a fight.
Emma blushed and took a moment to reply. When she did, the answer wasn’t what I’d expected. “So… I’ve no idea where we’re headed, but I think I’m in charge.”
I blinked. Frowned. I’d follow Emma to the edge of the galaxy and back, but they were a bunch of criminals and misfits. Why had they chosen her as their leader?
Not that I’m much more than that, I reminded myself.
“You don’t have to look at me like it’s ridiculous,” Emma said, pressing down a little harder than strictly necessary on my wound. But even as I winced, I could see the sparkle in her eyes. I hadn’t offended her, not really.
“I’m sorry,” I told her, holding up my hands in surrender. “I think it’s a good idea, but I’d have assumed that the others would have argued. None of them have much reason to trust a human.”
“Well, they didn’t have much choice,” she explained with a little laugh. “Corven had to reset the ship to get it to do anything, but he couldn’t get past the bio-lock that meant it would only listen to a human. So now the ship thinks I’m its captain and won’t do anything without my permission.”
I grinned. “Well, well. So what is your course, Captain Emma? We can’t go straight back to your Earth, not with this crew of miscreants on board.”
Emma’s blush deepened, and she fell silent, wiping the nano-paste from her hands and closing the medkit. I frowned, wondering what was wrong.
Taking her home would be painful, but I wouldn’t deny her the chance to see her homeworld again. Technically it was against the Anti-Slavery Patrol’s rules but screw them. My mate would return home and I’d break anyone who
tried to stop her.
I looked out at the darkness, distant stars gleaming in the vast velvet emptiness of space. Could I make peace with never seeing Emma again if she was safe? I didn’t know, but I’d have to find out.
Emma rested her hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently, reassuringly. Her arms tightened around me, and her touch lightened my pain. After years of wandering and suffering alone, I felt like I had a home again. I sighed. It would be difficult to let go of this, to be on my own again.
But I couldn’t keep her from her own home. Her friends, her family, her planet — no. I wouldn’t do that to her. We would have to make the most of the time we had together before she returned to Earth. Even if it was only for a little while.
25
Emma
My breath caught as Athazar held me, his touch setting my body aflame with desire as we moved together. I couldn’t think, not this close to him.
We’d barely escaped a dozen different deaths today, and that made me feel more alive than I ever had. Trying to focus, to answer him, I pulled away.
He gripped my arm, strong fingers holding me tight, and his intense alien eyes met mine. The power of the look he gave me shook me, made me shiver and sent all my thoughts into a mad, chaotic spin of desire.
Blood pounded in my ears as he reached up for the fastening of my tunic, pulling it wide. His fingers traced across my skin, my breasts, and I bit my lip, shivering.
He bared his teeth, growling hungrily, and I gasped. Almost without thinking about it, I shrugged off the tunic. Athazar pulled me closer, his strength irresistible.
Not that I wanted to resist.
“Your wounds,” I protested weakly. He laughed.
“The day I let a little injury like this stop me from pleasing you, Emma, you can bury me,” he said, rising from the seat. His hands stroked across my chest, and I gasped.
His touch was electric, making my body shake as he caressed me. Rational thought fled and I reached out for him, my body burning with desire. I had to have him — just as much as he had to have me.
