Heart of Eon: Eon Warriors #3

by Hackett, Anna

They had to get to the Rengard. That was her only goal.

  The band on her wrist glowed brighter and got warm. Soon, it was so hot that it was almost burning.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  She kept her shoulders back, staring straight ahead. She sucked in a breath. She could feel the ship—all its systems, the damage, the weapons, the flight controls. It felt like a thousand thoughts were racing through her brain.

  Staring at the Rengard, she and Sassy charted their path to the warship. The fighter shot forward.

  Oh, God, she was flying an Eon fighter.

  Faster than she could if she had to tap the controls, she flew them through a gap between several Kantos ships. They picked up speed.

  “Watch out!” the pilot yelled.

  She calmly looked at the swarm ships. The fighter tipped, zooming through a narrow gap and dodging the laser fire.

  She felt Malax’s hands clamp onto her, holding her in place.

  “How is she doing this?” the pilot breathed.

  She ignored the warrior, focused on flying. Ahead, a large Kantos ship started to break apart.

  Aiming for the wreckage, they moved even faster. There was only a narrow gap, and lots of debris.

  “Cren, we’re going to hit it,” Sabin said.

  Adrenaline and excitement charged through Wren. She felt like a goddess, power at her fingertips, in full control.

  They shot through the narrow gap, with just inches to spare on either side.

  Diving, she dodged debris from the ship. When she pulled them up, the Rengard filled the viewscreen.

  The warriors in her fighter cheered.

  Malax’s mouth pressed to her ear. “You are amazing.”

  More Kantos swarm ships came at them and she returned fire. One exploded and the others dodged away.

  Now, to get aboard the Rengard. But as they watched, she saw the huge Kantos cruisers bombarding the warship with fire.

  Wren bit her lip. Surely, they couldn’t hold up under the sustained barrage for long.

  “We need to approach from the rear,” Malax said.

  She nodded. She switched course, their fighter zooming toward the back of the warship. As they got closer, she saw the Rengard was damaged in several places. One gaping hole exposed several decks.

  “Oh, God,” she murmured.

  “There are shields in place to protect the breaches.” Malax’s voice was a harsh rasp.

  But as they raced toward the Rengard’s docking bay, Wren knew in her heart that they were losing the fight.

  * * *

  Malax heard the clank as their fighter touched down in the Rengard’s rear docking bay. A second later, the rear door opened.

  Wren pulled her hand back and rose. She wobbled and he grabbed her arm.

  “Wren?”

  “Just a bit dizzy.”

  “You saved our lives,” the pilot said. “Without you, we would be dead.”

  “Thank you,” the co-pilot said with a nod.

  Her face pale, she managed a small smile. Malax frowned, keeping an eye on her. She was off balance.

  “You were incredible, Wren,” he said quietly.

  “Thanks.”

  He kept his hand on her arm as they exited the ship. A small group of warriors were waiting for them.

  “Second Commander Kann-Felis requested you on the bridge,” one warrior said.

  Malax nodded at them. “Let’s go.”

  Still holding Wren, and with Sabin on his other side, they headed through the corridors. As soon as he stepped onto the bridge, he got a close-up view of the fight on the viewscreen.

  His gut hardened. There were Kantos ships everywhere.

  “Update on the Desteron and the Vymerion?” he asked.

  Airen spun. She stood in the center of the bridge, commanding the offense. “Glad to see you, Malax, and you Wren.” Her flat gaze met Malax’s. “The warships are still forty-five ship minutes out.”

  He cursed. The Rengard wouldn’t last that long.

  Wren gripped his hand, her fingers clenched on his. Her face was still pale, and patches of dust still coated her skin and hair.

  Emotions stormed through him, amplified by his helian. She was his. His mate. His courageous little Terran.

  And he refused to let her die today.

  He’d failed his warriors on Dalath Prime, but he wouldn’t fail his warriors today or his mate.

  “Update me,” he ordered Airen.

  His second ran through their attack plan and the damage report.

  “Reroute power to the forward array,” he said.

  Airen waved a hand at some warriors, who bent over their consoles.

  “You’ve done excellent work, Airen.”

  “We’re losing,” his second said.

  Malax glanced at Wren. “I’ve learned some valuable lessons, Airen.” He focused on his second. “We do our best, we don’t give up, and when we get knocked down, we get back up.”

  Airen straightened her shoulders. “Good advice, War Commander.”

  “Let’s keep fighting.”

  Suddenly, the Rengard was hit by a plasma blast. Warriors staggered and fell, and Malax caught Wren, pulling her close.

  Nearby, a console exploded. Shouts broke out and warriors ran to extinguish the flames.

  “There’s an energy overload,” a warrior cried.

  “It’s running through all the systems. We have a cascade.”

  Malax heard the cries of his warriors, and despite his words to Airen, he knew they were running out of options.

  “We have injuries,” someone else called out.

  Malax straightened. “Call medical. Get Thane and his team here. Now. Sabin, get that fire out. Airen, stay focused on our defense. Return fire.”

  “Some weapons are damaged, Malax,” his second said quietly. “But we’ll keep fighting.”

  He continued to bark out orders. Thane arrived with his medical team, pulling the injured warriors to the side to treat them.

  Then Malax felt Wren move away. She walked to the nearest console.

  “Wren?”

  “Let me help.”

  On the fighter, when she’d spiked in, she’d done things he could barely comprehend. She was the only reason they’d made it back to the Rengard. “Do whatever you can.”

  He watched the blue band glow on her wrist as she plugged into the console.

  “Sassy?”

  “Initializing,” the helian intelligence replied.

  He saw Wren’s body jolt like she’d been hit by an electric shock. She threw her arms out, her muscles straining.

  He moved closer. “Wren?”

  “Rengard…is a lot bigger than a fighter.” She talked through gritted teeth.

  “I lost control of the weapons system,” a warrior called out, panicked.

  “I have it.” Wren’s voice smoothed into a monotone.

  Frowning, Malax moved to stand with her. When her gaze drifted to his, he saw her eyes were glowing bright blue, and making rapid movements.

  Suddenly, the Rengard’s weapons fired. Everything at once—missiles, plasma charges, laser fire.

  One large Kantos ship exploded.

  The Rengard started moving forward.

  “She’s flying the ship, as well,” Airen breathed. “She is doing it all.”

  “Sassy,” Wren said. “Calculate our best attack vectors.”

  “Calculating.”

  Malax saw the shock on the faces of his warriors, but he knew that Wren and Sassy working together could create miracles.

  Wren simply stared ahead. The Rengard’s weapons fired again. Missiles zoomed across the viewscreen.

  The warship picked up speed, going faster than he thought possible at thruster speed. Somehow, with Sassy’s help, Wren was pulling extra power and speed from his ship.

  A cloud of Kantos swarm ships raced toward them.

  “Sassy,” Wren murmured.

  “I see them.”

  A squadron of Eo
n fighters came into view, racing to intercept.

  “War Commander.” The shocked face of the squadron leader flashed onto the screen. “We’ve lost control of our fighters. We’re still flying, but we aren’t in control.”

  “It’s okay, Orin,” Malax said. “Sit tight. We have control.”

  He hoped Wren had control. How she could command the entire Rengard, and take control of all his fighters at the same time, he couldn’t fathom. He watched the fighters move into formation.

  They hit the swarm, flying fast and hard. They flew in dizzying formations, firing on the enemy ships. Soon, the swarm was decimated, and not a single Eon fighter had been hit.

  Everyone on the bridge clapped and cheered.

  But Malax kept his eyes on Wren.

  Her skin was starting to give off a faint blue-white glow. With his enhanced senses, he detected her elevated pulse rate, breathing, and perspiration. Her heart was beating fast. Too fast.

  “This is incredible,” Airen murmured.

  “She and Sassy are working together, and Sassy has her plugged into the ship’s controls.” He frowned. “But her heart rate is still increasing.”

  Now he saw Wren’s eyelids fluttering fast. Unnaturally fast.

  “Malax.” His doctor appeared by his side. “Her vitals…”

  “I know.”

  “She can’t keep this up much longer,” Thane warned.

  Malax stared up at the screen. There were still too many Kantos ships for them to handle. Wren was giving them a chance to survive. If he pulled her out now, they were still unlikely to last until their backup arrived.

  And if he left her plugged in…

  He felt the terrible decision settle on his shoulders. Risk Wren’s life, to save his warriors. Or pull her out, risk his warriors, and hope that they could keep the Kantos at bay until the Desteron or the Vymerion arrived.

  Wren pulled in a shuddering breath. He saw foam at the corner of her mouth.

  Enough. His warriors were trained for war, Wren wasn’t trained for this.

  He gripped her shoulders. “Wren, let go.”

  “No… Not finished.” He heard the pain vibrating through her voice.

  “Malax, you need to get her out now,” Thane said urgently.

  “Now, Wren,” Malax barked.

  “No—”

  He saw a trickle of blood come from her nose.

  “You’re killing yourself.” He pulled her flush against him. “I can’t lose you. I love you.”

  Her face lifted, and she let out a shocked gasp. He saw the glow in her eyes dim. Then suddenly, she was released from the system.

  Thank the warriors.

  She collapsed into his arms.

  And that’s when Malax realized her heart wasn’t beating. “Wren? Wren?” He laid her flat on the floor. Panic was an ugly burn in his throat. “Thane, help her!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Wren came to flat on her back on the floor of the bridge. The doctor and Malax were leaning over her.

  Malax’s eyes were closed and he looked destroyed.

  “Who died?” she asked.

  His eyes snapped open. “Wren?”

  She tried to sit up and started coughing. Everything in her body hurt.

  “Thank the warriors.” Malax pulled her into his arms, rocking her, and holding her close. He pressed his face to her hair.

  “I’m okay.” God, her voice sounded weak and scratchy.

  “Your heart stopped.”

  “What?” She gripped him and looked into his face. She saw the nightmare still in his eyes and realized she’d scared her warrior. “I’m all right.”

  He nodded and gently touched his lips to hers.

  “I thought I heard you say—” She broke off.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Her heart knocked against her ribs. “That’s what I thought you said.” Malax loved her. Emotion flooded her.

  Then the noise around her registered. Voices were shouting and Airen was giving orders.

  “Did we beat the Kantos?” Wren tried to see over his shoulder.

  He shifted and she saw the fight was still raging. An Eon fighter exploded, and a Kantos cruiser moved closer to the Rengard.

  Wren felt fear settle into her gut like a rock.

  “You gave us a chance,” Malax said. “You were incredible.”

  But it hadn’t been enough. Her fingers tightened on him.

  “Malax,” Airen cried. “We’ve lost engines. We can’t move. We have Kantos bugs eating into the hull.”

  God, they were sitting ducks. Wren tried to swallow down her panic. “I’ll plug-in again.”

  Malax growled. “You are not going to kill yourself.”

  Thane nodded. “It will kill you.”

  Malax rose, holding her close. “Concentrate fire on the main Kantos battlecruiser.” He set her on her feet, eyeing her to make sure she was steady.

  She locked her knees. Then she watched him give orders, his voice firm but calm. His warriors responded, the tension on the bridge lowering. His warriors snapped back to attention, focusing on their jobs.

  That was her war commander. Doing what he was born to do, and being pretty darn amazing. Her warrior would fight. He’d protect his people to his dying breath.

  And he’d protect her. He was hers, and he made her feel safer than she’d ever felt. This amazing warrior loved her just as she was, and she loved him back.

  She moved to his side. “Sassy, can you help with repairs?”

  “Yes,” the intelligence answered. “I’m running diagnostics now.”

  They might not survive the battle. Bittersweet pain rushed through Wren. She was in love, and she wanted more time with Malax. She wanted to see her sisters again.

  A heavy blast hit the Rengard. The ship shuddered and she slammed into Malax.

  He pulled her close. “Wren.” His voice was harsh.

  “We don’t give up,” she told him. “Ever.”

  His hand slid into her hair, his gaze locked on hers.

  “War Commander,” a warrior called out. “A new Kantos battlecruiser is approaching. It’s locking weapons on us.”

  Wren saw the huge ship looming. It looked like a giant bug, with a bronze-brown hull, and leg-like protrusions from the main hull of the ship. Her stomach dropped away. “Oh God.”

  “I love you, Wren,” Malax said.

  She swallowed. “I love you, too.”

  Suddenly, there was a brilliant burst of light. Wren winced.

  Then her eyes went wide. A ship had jumped right in between the Rengard and the battlecruiser.

  Shocked gasps erupted across the bridge. Wren gripped Malax’s arm.

  It wasn’t the Desteron or an Eon warship.

  It was a Terran ship.

  The Terran cruiser was far smaller than the Kantos battlecruiser, but it was bristling with weapons. As they watched, the ship flew straight at the Kantos ship, moving into a hard circle around the battlecruiser.

  “It’s so fast,” Airen said.

  The Terran ship circled the Kantos cruiser, so close the cruiser couldn’t lock weapons. The Terran ship started firing.

  “How is this possible?” Wren said.

  Malax shook his head, his gold-black gaze locked on the fight.

  “I contacted them,” Sassy said. “I detected they were in range, and small enough for me to facilitate a star jump to our location.” Sassy sounded awfully smug.

  A rain of missiles slammed into the Kantos battlecruiser, exploding along the enemy’s hull.

  Wren smiled. “Sassy, you rock.”

  “I sure do,” Sassy agreed.

  * * *

  Malax watched in shock as the Kantos battlecruiser began to break up.

  Despite its size, the Terran ship had helped them beat the Kantos. He watched the smaller ship turn, locking lasers on incoming Kantos ships.

  All around him, his warriors cheered.

  Wren laughed, tugging on his hand and leaning i
nto his side.

  Then alarms blared across the bridge.

  Wren’s laughter cut off. “What now?”

  “There.” He pointed at the screen. A throng of swarm ships were heading straight toward the Terran ship. The cheers subsided, tension filling the bridge.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered.

  He squeezed her hand. “Airen, redirect the last of our fighters.”

  “Yes, Malax.”

  He watched as mines flowed out of the side of the Terran ship. As the Kantos swarm ships hit the mines, they started exploding.

  “Incoming transmission,” a warrior from his comms team called out.

  A woman’s face flickered up onto the bottom corner of the viewscreen. She was wearing a dark-blue Space Corps uniform, and standing on the bridge of the Terran ship. Her hair was the color of sunshine, and pulled back from the strong features of her face. She had vivid green eyes.

  “I’m Captain Allie Borden of the Space Corps ship, Divergent.”

  “War Commander Malax Dann-Jad, of the Eon warship Rengard. It’s very good to see you, Captain.”

  The woman nodded. Behind her, the Divergent’s bridge hummed with activity as the captain’s team worked hard to fight the Kantos.

  “We’ll keep the Kantos off you for as long as we can, hopefully your incoming reinforcements arrive soon.” Captain Borden’s gaze landed on Wren, and her eyes widened a fraction.

  Wren gave a small wave. “I’m Wren Traynor of Earth, recently a hijacker, computer whiz, and really, really tired.”

  Malax pulled her close, tucking her under his arm.

  Borden’s eyebrows rose higher. “I look forward to hearing the full story later, Wren.” Her green gaze flicked back to Malax. “And War Commander, please thank your warrior Sassy for bringing us here. That woman deserves a pay raise.”

  Wren laughed and Malax just nodded. “Her work will be acknowledged.”

  They kept the comm line open and they watched the captain issuing orders to her crew. A second Kantos battlecruiser zeroed in on the Divergent.

  Malax’s jaw went tight. “The Desteron?”

  “Five ship minutes out,” Airen answered.

  Come on, Thann-Eon. The last thing he wanted was for their Terran allies to be shot out of space. That would really put a dent in their new alliance.

  “Repairs?” he asked.

  “Are underway,” a warrior replied. “All engineering crews are working to recover the engines.”