by Susan Grant
She bent down and kissed him, drawing away slowly.
He’d go with her as her protector, wherever that duty would ultimately bring him. Treason!? Perhaps. But after what he’d witnessed tonight on the news, what right did he have to change the momentum of world events before he had all the facts? The winds of change were upon them all, and he was in the eye of the storm. “You have to live, Bree. I’ll stay with you to make sure you do.”
He heard the overwhelming weakness in his voice, and it made a mockery of his vow. Why hadn’t the nanomeds helped? Was he too far gone for them to work? “Bree, listen to me. If...if I don’t make it, we need a contingency plan.”
“Stop that. You’re going to make it, you big dumb SEAL.” Her joke was at odds with the alarm in her eyes.
“Bree, if I don’t,” he began again. “Don’t go to the UCE for any reason. You won’t be safe there.”
She nodded. “I can only imagine what it cost you to say that,” she said gently.
“Keep yourself alive, even if it means going to Kyber for help.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Kyber? You’re delirious.”
There was a crash at the door. Bree whirled around, drawing Lopez’s weapon as a gunman burst into the room, scattering the furniture blocking the door. Unarmed and almost unconscious, Ty could do nothing but watch.
Chapter Eighteen
Bree felt a whoosh of cold wind as a man dressed all in black strode in, a hood drawn low over his face. He was tall, powerfully built. Another assassin.
A thin stream of laser-sharp light burst out of the folds in his billowing cloak. Bree’s finger depressed her weapon’s trigger at the same time the beam impacted it. Her weapon became instantly molten hot. But she so badly didn’t want to fail Ty, to be disarmed so quickly, she gripped the pistol a few seconds longer than she should have.
She stifled a yelp, dropped the pistol. She knew martial arts, but the assassin was armed. Muscles and bone didn’t fare well against superheated atoms. Her right hand throbbed, angry welts preceding the blisters she knew second-degree burns would bring. But she wasn’t going to lie down and surrender, no matter how bad the odds.
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.
No, she hadn’t wanted this kind of attention. She’d wanted to find out Cam’s fate, and either find her, or if that was impossible, go on with her life. But she now saw that there were bigger things in the world than her own little goals. As a military officer, she’d already grasped that fact. Only now did she truly understand the concept of selfless duty.
The intruder closed the door behind him, smearing something around the entry keypad—to keep others out?
Suddenly, above Bree’s head, there was a noise in the air vent, from where the first assassin had come. The black-clad man at the door fired—not at her, but at the newest intruder.
A heavy body fell from the ceiling and landed in a heap at her feet. “More UCE scum,” the man at the door said. “It seems I was just in time, Banzai.”
She recognized the voice. She bit back her shock. “In time for what, Kyber?”
He threw off his hood, his nostrils flaring as he took in the carnage in the room. “Aren’t you going to thank me?”
“Thank you.” She swallowed. “For all you’ve done for me,” she said. Her voice sounded thick with an odd mix of gratitude and panic. “But, I’m not going with you.”
“Aren’t you?” Dressed simply in black, dark gray tattoo patterns swirling from the outer corner of one eye down to his jaw, he didn’t look like the king he was. “See this?” he said, waving a hand at the bodies all around. “This is what you can expect in the UCE.”
She said nothing. He’d come here undercover—alone, apparently; no entourage and no guards; nothing but advanced weaponry, the best money could buy in a land known for its innovative technology—and tracked her all the way to where the Shadows said she’d be safe. He had a better grip on his kingdom than she’d ever dreamed. In that instant, she both hated and admired him for it.
“I had to put down the proprietor and her security guard. No, not permanently, Banzai. Don’t look at me like that. When they wake up, they won’t remember that they were on their way to your room—or why.”
A neuron fryer! Her heart leaped. She had one of those hidden in her pocket, thanks to Lopez.
“The noise,” Kyber went on, explaining. “You did not make good guests.”
“Too bad,” Bree said with a frown. “If her security was better, we wouldn’t have had to make all the noise.”
“I doubt a simple inn’s security could have stopped the powers behind this plan.” He aimed the sleek gun at Ty.
Ty glared back at him, half-unconscious but his expression firm. Bree’s heart twisted with his heroism. Wounded, he’d killed the assassin. Now he faced his nemesis, ready to fight despite pain and blood loss. The SEALs of her day would have been proud to have this man in their ranks.
Kyber strode past her, headed for him. “Don’t touch Ty,” she warned.
The prince’s mouth tightened. “So, she has feelings for you, Armstrong. Feel blessed?”
“I never hated you, Kyber,” she blurted. “I considered you a friend.”
“A friend.” He made a face. “How sweet.” Then he aimed his pistol at Ty. “This will cook your brain before you have the chance to say ouch. So don’t try anything.” He glanced at Bree. “Sit on the bed where I can keep an eye on you. Move!” he growled when she was slow to respond.
She walked, sullenly, where he directed. As she passed Kyber, she thought she saw a flicker of remorse, of regret. “I’m not going back with you,” she told him again.
“You both are. You and Armstrong. If you think you’ll be safe anywhere else, then perhaps you’re too stupid to go through the trouble of saving. But you aren’t, Banzai. I know you are an intelligent woman. I know you’ll make the right choice.”
The right choice was risking all to get to the Shadow Voice. Somehow she knew that. She met Ty’s gaze. She was surprised by what she saw there. Maybe you will be safer with Kyber, she read in his eyes.
Frowning, she shook her head. Safety wasn’t everything. And in this situation, it meant nothing. Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of the unlived life.
But she had to do something quick. She didn’t know what time it was, but already it was growing light outside. Any more delay, and they’d miss the morning rendezvous. She began to sweat.
Kyber crouched by Ty. The emotions passing from one man to the other almost set the air on fire. They were competitors on every level. “I’m not going to kill you,” the prince said with disgust. “But you’ll surely do it to yourself if you don’t do as I say. Convince her to come back to the palace and stay there. Anywhere else, she’ll be in danger. I’m sure you appreciate that.” Kyber’s gray eyes turned smoky and shifted to her. He added, “I’m going to treat him in order to stabilize him for transport to my physician.”
No. When he turned his attention back to Ty, Bree slowly sank her hand into her pocket and pulled out the neuron fryer. She swallowed, aimed. “So sorry,” she whispered. Then she fired. Kyber stiffened and fell over.
Bree pressed her hand to her stomach, her breaths short gulps. Then she got hold of herself. “We’ve got to go. Now!” she said to Ty.
To her amazement, Ty staggered to his feet. “The nanomeds,” he whispered. “I do believe they’ll keep me alive until we reach the Shadows.” He limped toward her, and she grabbed him by the arm.
“Let’s hope they know a good doctor, because before we go anywhere or do anything, we’re getting that hole in you patched up.”
She gave him a hug, a long and tight squeeze that she knew made all his injuries cry out in misery. But she needed it and so did he, so she held him close for a few precious seconds longer. Then they hurried from the room, bound for their meeting with the Shadows, and armed with the most covete
d gift of all: freedom.
Chapter Nineteen
The warm Indian Ocean swelled in front of the small borrowed ship, a speck on a seemingly endless expanse. Bree lifted her hand to shade her eyes from the setting sun. The familiar tug of the machine gun slung over her shoulder and the knife strapped to her thigh reassured her that for this night at least, she’d be safe.
Their craft might be small, but their arsenal was enviable. And Ty had proved to be a memorable instructor— in this era’s high-tech weaponry, and many other things.
Aside from some soreness and stiffness, the only visible sign of Ty’s gunshot wound was a protective bandage-like patch and a temporary sling. And her? A patch of puckered skin on her palm marked the place where Kyber’s pistol had burned her. A small battle scar, she thought. Perhaps the first of many. She had the feeling the months ahead would be loaded with danger—of all kinds.
“We’ll go to the Raft Cities,” Ty had told her, and that’s what they were doing. “It’s not a country. It’s the lawless stronghold of the pirate lords. We beat them back in the war, but their kind survives.”
“If you fought them, I can’t see them being too happy to see you.”
One corner of his mouth had quirked, and she had almost seen the string of memories in his ice-blue eyes. “I have a friend there. A pirate. And he owes me.”
So that’s where they were headed. After they’d met the Shadows and been tended by their physicians. After they’d learned more of the Shadows’ plans.
Ty joined her at the rail, his hands sliding around her waist from behind. Both he and Bree stood gazing out at the sea, the two of them lovers of open spaces—she of the sky, he of the water.
“Now that you have won your liberty, you must win freedom for us all.”
Bree opened the floodgates that held back the images of the forlorn but proud flag waving in the crowd. Her country. Her way of life. She was Banzai Maguire, the shot heard around the world. A revolution was brewing, and she was now ready to play her role in it. But it had come at the expense of a friend. Kyber had not been evil; he had just wanted more than Bree could give him. And he had wanted something that wasn’t right for her.
Ty’s finger landed on her lips and traced her pout. “You’ll find Cam. Put away the guilt. And whatever happened in your past will have to stay in the past. I speak from experience. We have too much to deal with now. But we won’t forget her.”
The past? The guilt? He meant her little brother’s death.
Ty so startled her with his insight that Bree almost jumped out of her skin. No one but Cam had ever talked like that to her. And she’d never expected it from a guy. The men she’d known before were always all too grateful that she’d never pushed them into long, touchy-feely discussions on “feelings.” Only Cam, whose recognition of Bree’s reluctance to let others see her inner feelings had started them down the path to becoming best friends, had.
Cam. Cam, who’d been able to draw her out, and to whom confidences had finally become easier. That was one reason Bree missed Cam so damn much. That, and because they both shared the code of warriors.
Had she found a similar kind of friend in Ty?
Had she found more?
Only time would tell.
She leaned back into Ty’s arms. “You can still change your mind, you know. You don’t have to do this.” She knew it challenged everything he’d once stood for, joining her in this quest. There was so much they still didn’t know.
“I’m a treasure hunter,” he replied as heartily as always. “I love a good challenge. And this is going to be much too interesting a voyage to stand missing. Imagine, being the first to see the face behind that voice.”
The Shadow Voice. The Voice of Freedom. The man or woman who’d begun a revolution and wanted Banzai at the forefront. That was a lot to ask. But now she had help. Ty had pledged himself, and Bree began to feel hope. Things would turn out okay. It was just going to be a long road to get there.
Ty’s words trailed off as rafts owned by his pirate friend appeared on the horizon. A steady breeze stirred Bree’s hair as the ship sped toward an immense floating city. From there, in safety, they’d follow the plan they’d determined. They’d reach the Shadow Voice and, maybe, change the world.
Epilogue
And thus I obtained my freedom from Kyber’s kingdom and met Ty. I was on my way to the Raft Cities, where a pirate owed Ty a favor. But ahead I still had a world to conquer and a heart to lose.
Finding the Shadow Voice would not be easy, nor would my navigation of the many twists and turns of a new love. Although I didn’t recognize it then, I had much yet to learn. My incredible journey was only half over....
…Download THE SCARLET EMPRESS now to read the thrilling conclusion to the 2176 series!
RITA award winner, New York Times best-selling author, USAF veteran, 747 airline pilot, and mom Susan Grant loves writing about what she knows: flying, adventure, and the often unpredictable interaction between men and women!
