by Nina Croft
She backed away from the door until the cot bed hit the back of her legs, and she sank down. Resting her head in her hands, she tried to clear her mind and gain some measure of peace and acceptance.
At the sound of running footsteps, her head shot up. She didn’t have time to move as the locked door was suddenly flung open from the outside and Milo appeared.
Again? Was he in trouble?
His eyes widened as he caught sight of her.
Destiny jumped to her feet, just as another man appeared behind him, and she stopped her forward momentum. He was as tall as Milo, with dark hair and golden eyes. He wore a crew uniform with a yellow shirt. This must be the same man she’d seen him with before, but from a distance. Her gaze shifted between the two of them as they moved farther into the room and the door closed behind them. Milo turned briefly, pressed his hand to the door, and it closed. He moved to the right of the door while his partner moved to the left, and they both pressed their backs against the wall. Milo raised his finger to his lips, and she clamped her mouth closed, while excitement fizzed inside her and words welled up in her throat. They were definitely in some sort of trouble.
“This was a really bad idea,” the stranger said.
“Yeah,” Milo growled, “and let’s not forget that it was your fucking really bad idea. Now shut up.”
They did. Both of them going still.
Destiny sat back down and clasped her hands on her lap. She could hear more people in the corridor now. The sound of several running boots. She held her breath, but they didn’t slow, just kept going straight past her cell. She waited until the sound had disappeared in the distance and then waited some more. Her gaze flicked between the two men, then to the door, and back to Milo. He grinned, and she felt a smile tugging at her own lips.
“So here we are again,” Milo murmured.
“I didn’t think you’d come back.”
“Neither did I. Just can’t stay away.” One corner of his mouth tugged upward, as if he might smile, but then it quickly dropped again. “Actually, I didn’t think you would be here.”
She frowned. “Where else would I be?”
“Outside. With your new friend.”
It took her a moment to realize he meant Silas. Was Silas her friend? He’d been nice to her, but she suspected friendship was more than that. “He’s not my friend. He’s my…” She searched her mind for a suitable word. “…my bodyguard.”
“Why do you need a bodyguard?”
She shrugged.
“Is someone going to introduce me?” the second man asked.
Milo grunted. “I’d rather not.”
The man ignored Milo, stepped toward her, and held out his hand. “I’m Dylan. I saw you yesterday when we landed.”
She took his hand. “I’m Destiny.”
“Of course you are.” He shook and held on. There was a strange energy to him that shivered across her skin. Different from Milo. But also different from the other humans she had met. She glanced at Milo; he was practically growling at Dylan, who then grinned and let go of her hand. “Pretty name. So what did you do to get locked up down here?”
She cast an accusing glance at Milo. Did everyone think she was some sort of criminal? “Nothing,” she said. “I’m here for my own safety.”
“And is there a particular reason you wouldn’t be safe?”
“There must be. Otherwise I wouldn’t be locked up down here.” She gave them both a pointed look. “What are you two doing down here?”
“We thought we’d take a look at what was in those boxes they were bringing in last night,” Milo said.
“Why?”
“Because we’re nosy bastards,” Dylan replied. “Unfortunately, they’ve posted a guard, who wasn’t there yesterday. I don’t think they were too happy to see us here. Though hopefully, they didn’t get a good look.” He stepped toward the door, peered through the grill. “I can’t see anything.” Opening the door, he leaned his head out, then back in quickly. “There are guards at the end of the corridor. No getting out that way.”
Milo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Looks like we’ll just have to wait it out.”
Destiny bit back a smile; they would have to stay a while. Being locked away wasn’t so bad when you had company.
Dylan leaned back against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets, while Milo paced the confines of the small room.
“Tell us about yourself,” Dylan said. He seemed to be uncomfortable with silence.
“Oh no. I’m boring.” But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to talk. “Tell me about Trakis Two. What’s it like? What are the people like? Is it the same as here? What’s it like flying on a shuttle? When do—”
“Whoa,” Dylan said, smiling. “Slowly. One question at a time.”
“Sorry. It’s just that I want to know…everything.”
“Hmm. Well, Trakis Two is different from this planet.”
“How?”
“It doesn’t spin on its axis like most planets. So there’s no day and night. Half the planet is dark and half is light.”
“Interesting. I wouldn’t like to live in the dark, though. I like the sunlight.”
“Pity you’re stuck down here then,” Milo muttered.
“I know, but we all have our roles to play, and this is mine.”
He shook his head. “Except you have no clue what that role is.”
“When the time is right, I’ll know.”
“And what if you don’t like it? What if you decide it’s not a role you actually want to play?”
She bristled. “I’ll do my duty. As we all need to.”
“Not me.”
“Anyway,” Dylan continued. “I’ve not been down to the surface of Trakis Two yet, so I don’t personally know what it’s like. But Rico says it’s okay, nice temperature, good air, everything we’ll need.”
“Rico?”
“He’s the captain of the Trakis Two.”
“Is he nice?” she asked.
Dylan sniggered.
“No. He’s not nice,” Milo replied. “He’s— Shhh.” He broke off, going entirely still. “They’re coming back.”
Without saying another word, he and Dylan moved to either side of the door again. She could hear the others now, the booted feet coming back more slowly this time.
She stood where she was, uncertain of what to do. She didn’t want them to get caught. While she wasn’t sure what would happen if they did, she sensed nothing good. And she didn’t want them to go, either. For a few minutes, just talking to them, she’d felt so alive. Like she imagined a real person with a normal life would feel. She wanted more of that.
She waited for the footsteps to pass, but instead, they slowed and stopped in front of the door. A face peered in through the grill and she stood very still, not even blinking. The face backed away, then she heard the door rattle as they tried it. But it was locked again—how did Milo do that? Would they go?
“Holy crap,” Dylan whispered. “Any ideas?”
“No good ones,” Milo said.
“I figure even a bad one will do right now.”
Milo reached out and touched the lock lightly, whispered a word. “That will hold them, but not for long.” He glanced around the room as if searching for some way out, but there was nothing. Nowhere to go. She could have told them that.
The guard was rattling at the door again. He was talking to someone, but she couldn’t make out the words.
Milo blew out his breath. “This is a really bad idea.” As he spoke, he pulled a stick from where it had been tucked into his belt. About two feet long, slender, the wood was dark brown and polished. It looked like an extension of his arm.
“Oh no,” Dylan said. “That is a really, really bad idea.”
“You want to stay?” Milo
asked.
Dylan looked as though he was debating the idea. He glanced to the door, then at Milo, and back to her. “I guess this is goodbye. Nice meeting you, Destiny.” He reached out and rested his hand on Milo’s arm.
They were leaving.
Don’t go.
The words echoed in her head and some invisible force pushed her forward. She stretched out her hand, and her fingertips touched Milo’s chest just as he raised the stick into the air and muttered a word.
Then a loud roar filled her ears and crimson light flashed in front of her eyes and the world was spinning.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Eleven
When Milo opened his eyes, his first thought was—the new wand hadn’t worked. Damn. Why? Everything had seemed to happen just as it should.
But it couldn’t have worked, because Destiny still stood right in front of him and bringing her along hadn’t been part of the spell.
He lowered his wand. Different world and different wand, he reminded himself. No wonder the results were also different.
Destiny was standing right in front of him, her arm outstretched, her fingers touching his chest. Her blue eyes were wide and staring, her mouth open. That was the first inkling that while the spell might not have had completely the right results, something had certainly happened.
“Where the hell are we?” Dylan asked from beside him.
Milo at last forced his gaze from Destiny and looked around.
They were no longer in the cell. And if he listened carefully, he couldn’t hear the sound of approaching feet. All good so far. Except for the bit about not knowing where they were. And the bit about how Destiny seemed to have come along for the ride.
“I have no clue,” he murmured.
“Well, that sucks.”
“Do you want me to try and take us back?” He’d meant the question sarcastically, but Dylan actually considered it for a moment.
Then he shook his head. “God only knows where we’d end up.”
“What happened?” Destiny asked. “We were in the cell…” She peered around her. “And now we’re not.” She blinked a couple of times. “How?”
“Teleportation,” Dylan said, his expression completely serious.
Milo snorted. They weren’t supposed to bring attention to themselves. The use of magic in front of “normals” was completely prohibited. They’d had strict instructions from Rico not to do anything that might make people look in their direction. This was definitely one of those things. But if Rico hadn’t pinched his wand, then he might have had more control, and Destiny would still be back in her cell, everything left in place as they’d found it.
Of course they also would have just vanished in front of her eyes, but she had no witnesses and likely no one would believe her.
He briefly considered trying another spell to send her back to where she had come from. But right now, he had no clue where he actually was, so, as Dylan had aptly pointed out, who knew where she would turn up? He tucked the wand back into his belt, counting himself lucky he’d managed to get them somewhere undetected, and all in one piece.
“Teleportation?” Destiny asked. She scrunched up her nose. “Is that possible? I’ve not heard of it before.”
“It’s a prototype the scientific officer on the Trakis Two developed,” Dylan replied. “Not in general use and not entirely reliable.”
Hey, Dylan was good at this making-stuff-up thing. He’d sounded totally plausible.
“Which is why we don’t know exactly where we are,” Dylan finished.
“Wow,” Destiny said. “That’s almost like magic.”
“Yeah. Almost.”
Milo looked around again. If he had to hazard a guess, he would say that they were still underground, in some sort of big chamber. High above them, he could see a patch of star-strewn sky through a hole in the roof. The night was clear, and the stars gave sufficient light to see.
There was no way out through the top, though. At least not without magic, and he wasn’t willing to risk that again until he’d made a few tweaks to his new wand. The walls were sheer rock and the ceiling at least five hundred feet above their heads. No, they were going to need another way out.
Dylan pulled a flashlight from his pocket and waved it around the room. There were a number of openings that led off from the chamber. It was just a matter of deciding which one to take. He closed his eyes and tried to orientate himself. Back on Earth it would have been easy, he could lock into the ley lines that crisscrossed the land and pinpoint his exact location.
Not here.
There was nothing. Okay, maybe a low level buzz of magic somewhere, but nothing he could latch on to.
He opened his eyes, found both Destiny and Dylan staring at him. He shrugged, and said, “I just needed a moment to think.” Then he headed off to the nearest tunnel entrance. He peered into the darkness but could make out nothing. Dylan came up behind him and waved the flashlight down the tunnel. Smooth, curved ocher walls that looked like they’d been gouged out of the ground with some sort of machine.
Could there be other intelligent life forms on the planet? It hadn’t occurred to him before now. On the surface, there was no sign of any form of civilization. There were definitely indigenous life forms; he’d seen bird-like creatures in the sky, though so far, he hadn’t come face-to-face with any animal life.
Maybe the tunnels had been made by some sort of giant worm.
Or maybe there had been intelligent life forms, but something had wiped them out.
Though he would have expected to have come across some sort of evidence on the surface.
“What are we going to do about her?” Dylan said quietly.
By her, he presumed Dylan meant Destiny. And right now, he had no clue. She was still standing in the same spot but turning slowly to look around herself. Then she stood still and tilted her head, staring up at the sky high above them. She reached up as though to touch the stars.
A smile tugged at his lips as he watched her. There was something so…ingenuous about her. A sense of wonder in everything around her. Most of the “people” he mixed with were somewhat jaded. Hell, he was probably the most jaded of all.
“You like her,” Dylan murmured.
“No, I don’t.”
“You’re smiling. Not sure I’ve ever seen that before. Makes me a little uneasy.”
“Fuck off.”
“I would if I had any clue which way to fuck off to,” Dylan said. “But that doesn’t answer my question. What do we do with her? Can you send her back?”
He shook his head. “I won’t risk it.”
“Probably for the best. Right now, I think we’re still in the clear. No one actually saw us. But if she goes back, then we’re blown, and that would not be a good thing. Kinross isn’t going to be too happy about us nosing around.”
“We could say we got lost.”
“You think he’ll believe that?”
He rubbed a hand over the scar on his cheek. “Maybe it’s not a problem. Destiny won’t tell if we ask her not to.”
“Who is she anyway?” Dylan glanced at her. “Why is she a prisoner?”
“She told me she was born on the Trakis Four. She doesn’t know who she is, but she believes she has a mysterious duty to perform and they’re keeping her safe in that cell until she can do it.”
“Bizarre.”
Definitely. “I suppose we could— Wait, shh.” It was very faint, but in the distance, he could hear the sound of feet. A lot of feet, heading in their direction from down the tunnel. “Turn off the flashlight,” he said.
Dylan turned it off and they stood for a moment. “Time to get the hell out of here.”
At least that decided for them which way they should go. Not this way. He glanced around and spotted another tunnel, almost opposite
where they stood. That looked as good as any.
He hurried back to where Destiny waited.
“We have to go,” he told her. “But you don’t need to come with us. We can leave you here and your friends will find you.”
She chewed on her lower lip, her gaze darting between the two of them. Was she thinking about her duty? She was clearly torn. She looked back up at the stars.
He realized he didn’t want to leave her here, and he wasn’t sure why. He hardly knew her. She wasn’t his responsibility. He didn’t do responsible. But he hated the idea of her being caged in that cell.
“Come on, Milo,” Dylan said. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
He was right. Their hunters were only minutes away.
“Can I go with you for a little while and then come back?” Destiny asked.
“Of course. You can do whatever you like.” At least she could if she came with them. If she didn’t, then no doubt she’d be locked up again.
She cast a glance toward the tunnel, where the sound of approaching people was growing louder. Then she smiled and it lit up her face. “Take me with you.”
In that moment, he had a premonition that he was perhaps making a huge mistake. A mistake that would ripple down and change everything. But also in that moment, he couldn’t see how.
He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twelve
“If you wish to discover the guilty person, first find out to whom the crime might be useful.”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
A knock sounded on the door. Luther glanced up from his work then swiped the control panel to show the camera view of the corridor. Silas stood outside the door. Luther swiped again, and the door clicked to unlock. Once it opened, Silas stepped into the room. He crossed the space and sank into the chair opposite.
Luther grinned. “You’re a mind reader. I need some help.”
Silas raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
“Yes. I need a title. I was thinking…Leader?”
Silas shook his head. “A little on the nose perhaps.”
“Commander in chief?”
“Sounds too military. We don’t want to scare people.”
