The Iron Altar Series Box Set One: Books 1 to 3

by Casey Lea

  Jileea growled deep in her throat. “Lady Darsey to you, mud grub, or boss, or angel, or-”

  “Jil, please. Darsey is fine, especially since Mac has already done me a huge favor.”

  Mac's eyebrows jumped like red caterpillars bunching up to walk. “I have?”

  “He has?” Jileea stared suspiciously at her companion.

  “He really has. I sent out a seek to find someone who’d deliver a new ship to my son and he answered.”

  Mac's beard bristled further above a delighted grin. “Of course, anonymous lady with a son on the Rim. I delivered that bird to Jace super quick.”

  “You did. Thank you for that. It helped me find him when I was desperate.”

  Clear moved out from behind Darsey and waved at a list floating over her wrist. “New meds are in.”

  “Well, the angels are gathered and I must be in heaven. Strike me down if I'm lying and I mean down in the mud under a landing ship. I'm Mac, me dear.” He leapt to grasp Clear's hand, before turning it to kiss her wrist in the kres courtly fashion.

  Clearwing managed a distracted smile. “Oh. Hello, I'm Clear.”

  “For sure you are and it's very clear to me. Epiphany clear. We belong together.”

  Jileea whacked Mac across the back of the head this time. “She's married and you're supposed to be here for business.”

  “Married? That's a cruel jest, Captain. Say it isn't so, my kres cupcake.”

  Clear wriggled her free wrist in Mac’s face, showing him her wedding bracelet. He dropped her other hand and clutched at his chest. “I’m heartbroken, lovely. Truly, I’m sadder than a one-legged man in a stairwell.” He drooped and turned back to Darsey. “I fear I'm past consolation, but then a win-win business deal might help. If you sign my contract, I could perhaps take half-a-step out of misery.”

  Darsey started laughing, she couldn't help it. “Alright, Mac, I'll hear your pitch.”

  “Excellent, excellent. I stand before you as the most humble representative of Mac's Salvage and Demolition. Our firm is the oldest established post-plague reconstruction team in existence. We would like to bring all our worlds of experience to the mighty task of clearing, cleaning and rebuilding Blossom.”

  Darsey nodded, while studying Clear's list. “Ye,” she told Clearwing, “prioritize that on the far side of the hill. Would you manage the med ships' redirect?” Her friend lifted a hand in agreement and was gone. Darsey turned back to Mac. “Tell me about your worlds of experience.”

  “Yes, indeed, a most perspicacious question. Mac's Salvage and Demolition did its first work on the Rim, mainly clearing Eltok for resettlement. We stripped that sucker dry and I mean as empty as a keg after Hogmanay. No trash, no stash, all clean and ready to be green again. We can do the same for you.”

  “Uh-huh. And who exactly is 'we'?”

  “Well, Darsey-dear-”

  Jileea cuffed Mac again and he wobbled, but continued without pause, “Lady Dee, we at Mac's Salvage and Demolition are a fine, old, family firm and we pride ourselves on personal service. When you deal with us we guarantee that every customer will receive the complete attention of the owner himself.”

  “So it's just you?”

  “Plus the hardware, plus the hardware. And the expertise. Your planet would be in fine hands.”

  “And how much will you pay for the privilege of stripping us bare?”

  “Clearing designated areas of frost damage is expensive work, Lady. There's no guarantee of what I might find for salvage. I fear I can only offer one hundred credits a square meter.”

  Darsey started laughing again, while Mac made an effort to smooth his beard and look offended. She choked back one too many giggles and covered the last with a cough. “You want a chance to demolish the most advanced city in known space for a pittance?”

  “We-ell, I would offer more, but right now, just this moment, my cash is as short as a dwarf in a ditch.”

  “Mac, it's okay. You had me with your first piece of outrageous flattery. Anyway, we need someone to start work on this bog. You can have the north end of the town for a hundred a meter. If you clear enough cash from that to offer more for our cities you can tender again and we’ll consider you. Fair?”

  A grin split the beard in two. “Fair as fresh snow on best linen. Let's seal.” Mac lifted his com and golden light linked it to Darsey's.

  The contract flashed acceptance at his end, but she hesitated. “It's a thankless task, Mac. We've no idea how much is worth salvaging out there. Are you sure you want the job?”

  The beard twitched in a wry smile. “Can't go past opportunity.”

  “This opportunity might be more trouble than it's worth.”

  “You'd be surprised how often that's true. If I only had a credit for each and every opportunity that's exploded in my face I'd be truly wealthy and I mean as rich as the IceFlights- oops. No disrespect intended, nary a scrap. Just an expression, lovely.”

  “No offence taken. I like your expressions.”

  “Thank you kindly. Not everyone does, but I just can't help myself. Speech should be as colourful as fluorescent tartan. Now, excuse me, please. I've got work to do.”

  Mac clattered away down the slope and Jileea saluted brusquely before turning to follow. The Wildflower had been running constantly since they returned to Blossom and there was still plenty to do.

  Darsey started pacing, and grimaced when it reminded her of Wing. She stumbled and looked down at her feet, suddenly understanding why she'd been counting her strides. She was in the middle of her old house. She looked around the open space that had once been their living room and felt more lost than before, sinking to her haunches on the crumbling ledge that used to circle the fireplace. She’d sat there many times in the past, but now only a rim of weathered rock remained.

  Darsey hunched over the hearth and wanted to cry, but didn't dare. She had far too many tears inside to risk letting them loose. Her fingers picked aimlessly through the rubble around her and the breeze stirred her hair, but the wind tasted strange. It smelled of muck and loss, masking any soft scent of blossom that might have remained. Her hands tightened until the fractured stone she held turned to dust in her palms. Where was Wing? Why wasn't he home? Oh God, where was home anyway? Sifting away between her fingers. Her throat tightened, but the sound of footsteps saved her.

  Darsey jumped up, and started to tip to one side before Clear's arm slipped around her waist. “Easy there. You need to rest.”

  Darsey straightened at once. “Me and everyone else.”

  “Most of us manage to get some sleep.”

  “I'm fine. Really.”

  “I know you are and I'm sure Wing is too.”

  Darsey pushed away from Clear, but then grimaced apologetically. “Of course he is. I mean, I'd feel it if he wasn't. Right?”

  “Truly right,” Clear agreed, but then looked past Darsey and cursed softly. “Is that my ex-husband arriving?”

  Darsey swung at once and saw that it was. “Yep.”

  “I'm sorry, but he helped Misty run away and I can't deal with him yet. Just can't. Not now.”

  Darsey's frond followed Clear's rapid retreat, but her eyes were on Free. She'd known he was alive of course, but seeing him was a relief. She called his name and he looked up at once, then waved and started to climb the slope from the makeshift port, but Darsey didn't wait. She moved down to meet him, placing her feet carefully in the mud. He stopped to watch her come and she forgot caution. Abruptly she was running.

  Darsey sprinted down the hill, slipping and then sliding, before launching herself head first at Free. He caught her, as she knew he would, to spin her round and round. Her body lifted and swung in lazy circles around him while he turned on a heel. They were both laughing when he stopped. They sobered to study each other and he winced at whatever he saw. He pulled her roughly into a hug and they held each other close.

  Free was the first to push away and Darsey backed off too. She had no idea why she was sudd
enly embarrassed, but she felt like a schoolgirl caught sneaking out for a date. She looked around and there was no one watching them- no, wait. Another ship had just landed, a simple sliver and its pilot was standing in the shadows of its hatch. It was impossible to see his face, but she knew the mind behind it.

  Darsey didn't run this time. It was hard enough to walk. Her legs were shaking and she would have fallen if Wing hadn't sprinted from the sliver to catch her. He caught her up, to carry her in both arms and she curled there, eyes closed while she breathed him in. He was alive. He was real.

  Wing buried his face so deeply in her hair it muffled his broken words. “I heard your mind cry when the ice attacked. I thought you were... I left the Nexus. Took a sliver. Went searching. Left my drakking post. Oh gods. Darse.”

  His fingers curled tighter round Darsey's shoulder and thigh to lift her higher, until she was held hard against his chest. She started to weep and he kissed her hair, her cheek and finally her lips. That was all she was aware of for some time. The salt of her tears on his tongue, and the heat of his mouth.

  Her frond twined around his and she winced at his pain, but accepted every naked, awkward emotion he sent, while his thoughts tumbled through her head. I'm sorry, so sorry. regret /guilt /fear. I never meant to hurt you. I should have told you our son might be alive. It was unforgivable.

  Darsey choked and broke free from the kiss. “Shut up.” She pressed her mouth to Wing's again, more fiercely than before. sorrow /love /forgiveness. You wanted to protect me and you couldn't be sure that Zak would ever turn up, dead or alive. I get it, but don't lie to me again. Not ever. Not about the big stuff.

  Promise/promise/promise

  Wing broke away from their kiss to hold his wife’s gaze and she felt her heart contract. Whatever he’d gone through searching for her had taken a toll. The circles under his eyes were even darker than hers and his cheeks looked sunken. His gauntness was heightened by the fact that he’d cut his hair so short it was little more than a dark fuzz.

  Something caught in her chest again, but he smiled and it was like the sun coming out. I’m kay. Let me prove it. His lips brushed hers then lingered and he started walking, kissing her while he carried her… somewhere. Darsey briefly wondered where, but within seconds she didn’t care. She heard the creak of a door, but was too busy catching his lower lip with her teeth to look up. It was only when his mouth moved to the point of her jaw that she opened her eyes to find herself in a plain, gray storage shed. She shrugged in the middle of a delicious shiver. The only thing that mattered was being together.

  Wing sat Darsey on a pile of compression strips and cupped her face in his hands. He tipped his head to rest his temple against hers, while their fronds twined around each other once more.

  I was so scared, they thought together and both gave shaky laughs.

  “Wing,” Darsey whispered, but his mouth covered hers to steal further words. The kiss said all that she wanted anyway and more. Their mouths merged with easy familiarity and the heat grew with each sweet contact. Their kisses were just as heady as when they first met, even though it took longer to build the same fire. Instant passion had changed to something deeper, an enduring flame rather than a bright spark, and she let it claim her body and soul.

  Wing sighed and pulled her closer so her legs wrapped around him and she clamped her thighs to his hips. His lips slid away, moving down her neck while he breathed in her scent. He was panting by the time he reached the hollow at the base of her throat and so was she. She cupped his head with one hand and the hair was short and soft as a seal pelt. Her other hand fumbled with the fastening of her coat, to tug it open. She could have passaged straight out of her clothes, but she desperately wanted the moment to last.

  Wing seemed to agree. Darsey dropped her jacket and he took over, sliding her shirt slowly off her shoulders, to bare her skin an inch at a time. Darsey threw back her head and realized she was under the skylight, but closed her eyes to the threadbare clouds above. Wing’s mouth settled on her throat and finally she was home.

  She sighed, and gasped when his gentle strip changed to a jerk that uncovered her breasts. However, he slowed the pace at once, to let his fingers trail lightly over her nipples, and her legs gripped tighter.

  Darsey moaned and it took her a moment to realize that her husband had stopped. He still cupped her right breast with one hand, but the fingers of the other were probing the rib running just below her left breast. He ran a thumb along it more firmly, tracing fire across her flesh and making her ache. “Wing,” she protested at his sudden distraction, but he pulled his frond away from hers.

  “What the hail is this?”

  Darsey struggled to bring her mind and body back to the dreary shed. What was he talking about? His thumb dragged heat across her skin again, but this time she managed to think about what he was touching. Her new scar of course- oh no. She was briefly motionless, before grabbing at her clothes to jerk them up and pull them shut. Thank God he hadn’t seen the matching mark on her back.

  “Does that go all the way through?” Wing demanded and Darsey flinched, but tried to turn the gesture into a shrug.

  “Maybe, but I’m fine now.”

  Wing started to shake. “What happened?”

  “Nothing, I said I’m fine.”

  “Now, but recently you must have been far from fine. That looks like a sword thrust. Who stabbed you?”

  “No-one. That is, he didn’t mean it. Wing, drop it, please. For me.”

  Her husband’s face twisted and then went blank. “I don’t think so. Someone nearly killed you and I‘m going to find out who.”

  ***

  Zak was swung sideways by an unexpected hand on his shoulder. His fronds identified a single attacker and he went with the shove, turning to place his back against the outside wall of the med center. His fists rose, but he recognised the man bristling in front of him and let his arms fall. The indignant human was a surgeon and Zak had just spent the morning operating beside him.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” the doctor demanded. “You can’t just come into my surgery and take over.”

  “Dr Frankel invited me.”

  “And she’ll be disciplined for it. You may have a few gimmicky techniques that seem faster to impressionable young interns, but you’re an unqualified menace. I want you gone. Now.”

  Zak could hardly keep from laughing. “No.”

  “What? You can’t just say no.”

  “Alright. Drakking no.” The lead surgeon looked ready to collapse among the triage patients and Zak did laugh. “Never give orders you can’t enforce. My pain-in-the-rectum Patri taught me that.”

  “Doctor,” a nurse interrupted, hurrying to join them. “The t’ssaa Ambassador’s awake and is asking for you.”

  The surgeon stopped gaping at Zak and let the nurse lead him away. She looked back over her shoulder with a smile and mouthed ‘call me.’ A string of digits flew from her com to Zak’s and he leaned against the wall again with a grin. Life was good. He glanced along the road and almost changed his mind. Sometimes life could be drakking awkward.

  Darsey was walking toward him, talking flat out to some kres striding just ahead of her. It was definitely time to move on, which was a pity because the nurses on Blossom were hotter than whores in a desert and the competition nil- he paused and looked more closely at the approaching couple.

  Was that his drakking biological daddy? It damn well was and Zak felt unexpected curiosity. This was the person who had ordered him hounded all his life, but didn’t have the courage to do it himself. Instead he’d sent lackeys to terrify children. What sort of weak hypocrite had helped sire him? It seemed Zak finally had the chance to find out and to try some intimidation of his own. Perhaps he could make the drakker cry.

  He strode forward to meet his father with his hands on his hips. “I won’t ever call you Patri and I don’t do hugs.”

  “No hugs,” Nightwing agreed and his armored fist stabbed out
to smash into Zak’s chest.

  There was a moment of intense pain and confusion before the world fell away. It tilted past Zak in a strange progression of earth, hills, mountains, clouds– until something slammed into his back.

  He blinked at the sky and finally understood he’d fallen, just as Darsey’s concerned face appeared. “Oh my God. Wing, what have you done?”

  Her gaze shifted to Zak’s chest and he felt movement there before the pain eased. He sighed and his brain tried to pick up the pieces. Had he just been sucker-punched by his father? It drakking felt like it.

  Darsey’s face returned, full of unnecessary concern. “I’ll find a doctor.”

  She vanished, and Zak closed his eyes until someone else settled beside him. He lifted his lids to see twin suns. He blinked and the strange glow vanished to leave a golden raptor gaze that made him start. His father’s eyes were inches from his, distracting him so completely it took him several seconds to realize he could hardly breathe.

  Zak gulped for air, but there didn’t seem to be any, only his father’s eyes. Gold and yellow pools that were somehow drowning him. “A rib has pierced your lung,” the eyes said coldly and liquid bubbled over Zak’s lips. “I’d give you scars to match those you gave your mother, front and back, but for her sake I’m showing restraint.”

  Zak tried to say that Nightwing did restraint as well as a Beserk, but he could only make a strangled squawk.

  The yellow pools narrowed, intensifying their color and his father leaned even closer. “My restraint is a gift you will reciprocate. With Darsey. You’re going to give her all of your time and in exchange I’ll stop hunting Nikareon. He can even become an Alliance citizen if he wishes. Deal?”

  The only response Zak could make was a gurgle, but it seemed to work, because the eyes retreated until he could focus on his father standing over him. Wing offered him a smile that was all teeth. “Welcome to the family.”

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