Fatal Extraction

by Evangeline Rain

  Eryn harrumphed and got up.

  “Where are you going?” Ching held her wrist as she walked past him.

  “Getting the gel packs for all your bruises. I have nothing for bruised egos though.” She flicked his hand away and went out.

  “Seriously, she’s crazy about you. I don’t think you should ever doubt that,” Zane commented.

  Ching glared at him.

  “It’s really not cool, I’m just saying,” Zane goaded Ching further.

  “Cut it out.” Nirvana smacked his calf. “I need a shower and dinner. I’m exhausted.”

  “You can have my room,” Ching offered. “It’ll be dark after dinner, and I don’t think you should be riding.”

  “We can take the tunnel and get a room at the inn.”

  “That’s two mountains away. My place is in this mountain.”

  “Where will you be?”

  Ching grinned. “Maybe Eryn’s couch.”

  They were all grinning at each other when Eryn came into the room, balancing a handful of gel packs and bandages. “What’s so funny?”

  “How we’re both going to suffer tonight and possibly the next couple of days,” Nirvana groaned as she twisted her body to stretch her sore muscles.

  “Oh, I thought this was your usual foreplay,” Eryn said nonchalantly.

  Zane sputtered a little and choked on his drink, while Ching looked at Eryn, stupefied.

  “Yes.” Nirvana pushed herself off the floor and took some gel packs from Eryn’s arms. “Come on, Zane. I’m feeling so turned on right now. Can’t wait to go home.”

  Zane mouthed a “yes,” bit his bottom lip and did a fist pump. He pointed at Ching and told Eryn, “He might need some help expending all that pent-up energy from the foreplay too.”

  Eryn blushed, and Ching looked down in embarrassment as Nirvana and Zane left the room laughing.

  They dropped by the mess to pick up some takeout for dinner so they could get back to the yurt before it got too dark. Nirvana sent a message to Ching after they got home to tell him she wouldn’t be staying at his place and they were home safely.

  Nirvana turned into a zombie after a shower and dinner. She didn’t make much small talk over dinner because she was exhausted from the fight with Ching and the day’s events. It’d been a while since she had exerted so much energy.

  She dragged herself to bed and face-planted into the pillow.

  “Do you want a massage?” Zane offered.

  She opened her eyes to make sure she heard him correctly. When he massaging motions with his hands, she pulled off her clothes and collapsed back onto the bed. “Oil over there.” She pointed to the vanity.

  “I’m doing Shiatsu.” Zane laughed at her response. “I don’t need the oil or your clothes off.”

  “Oh.” Nirvana arched her back and tried to reach for the clothes she had thrown away earlier.

  “We can still do it without clothes,” he said.

  “Ok.” She slumped back onto the pillow. “Aren’t you tired after the jab?”

  “I was for a little while, but I think the effect wore off after dinner.”

  He knelt beside her and started with back presses.

  “I’ve heard about Shiatsu, but I’ve never tried it before,” she said with her voice muffled in the pillow.

  He didn’t reply but continued with the massage. It wasn’t long before he had her moaning in pleasure. He straddled her and pressed his elbow into her shoulder blades.

  “You’re really good at this,” she moaned. “You must have had a lot of practice.”

  “Not really. I studied acupuncture points for fighting purposes. This is the first time I’m using my knowledge for massage.”

  “How do you fight using acupuncture points?”

  Zane pressed a knuckle on a part of her lower spine, “Try to move.”

  To Nirvana’s surprise, she couldn’t feel her lower limbs at all although there was no pain or numbness, “Wow. You have to teach me that someday.”

  “We can start with Shiatsu.”

  “Yes, we can start with Shiatsu.”

  She dozed off a little, but woke up when she realized Zane was no longer massaging her. She turned around, expecting him to be in bed but he wasn’t. She sat up and found him studying the holograms at the dining table.

  Somehow he sensed her movement and looked up. “Why did you wake up?”

  “You’re supposed to keep massaging. I didn’t give you permission to stop,” she grumbled as she pulled on the sweater she’d taken off earlier. “What are you doing?”

  “Thinking.”

  “About what?” She dragged her feet across the floor to him.

  “The possibility of getting to this room…” He pointed at the screen. “…undetected through the elevator shaft and air vents.”

  She yawned and sat beside him. “What exactly was your job in the stronghold? It’ll be good to go with your area of expertise.”

  “I was his security consultant—overall security of the stronghold, the monitoring systems and equipment, together with cyber security.”

  Nirvana turned her head slowly to face him. She blinked a few times to let that information sink into her head before she said, “Wow.” She thought about it some more, and asked, “Where did you go to school?”

  “My brothers and I were all home-schooled. Father flew in professionals from all over Chikara and other planets to teach us.”

  “When did you start taking charge?”

  “Nineteen.”

  “That’s when he came to his senses that your strength lies in your brains?”

  “That’s when he gave up and assigned me a job as a security guard.”

  Nirvana was about to make some sardonic remarks when Zane quickly added, “I worked my way up. I found all the lapses in the security details when I was working as a guard, and I reported them to him. He made me improve our system and slowly gave me more responsibilities. Eventually, I took over all the security of the stronghold. That’s why it was easy for me to get out.”

  “Your father will have made changes to the security by now.”

  “I installed the backdoor software before I left. I can access the system from outside the stronghold, and if I can get in, I can overwrite everything.”

  “Won’t the new person in charge detect your software?”

  He shrugged. “It’s possible, but I highly doubt it. He doesn’t check on me enough to know what I’m doing with his cybersecurity. All I have to do is unload some technical mumbo jumbo and watch his eyes glaze over.”

  Nirvana rubbed her eyes and checked her CommsB. “It’s 0230. My eyes are glazing over now. Please go to bed. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

  Zane nodded and dismantled the projector. Nirvana climbed back into the bed and waited for him.

  “We didn’t get to spoon this afternoon,” he said softly as she felt the mattress dip under his weight.

  “I didn’t like it the last time I tried it, to be honest. Maybe I can try spooning you instead? Turn around.”

  She moved him a little lower than her, snaked an arm under his neck and another around his chest. It felt like she was hugging his head to her chest, but she liked it. Wanting to go a little closer, she hooked one leg around his waist.

  “I like spooning,” Zane declared. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Why don’t you like spooning?”

  “I don’t like the feeling of being trapped. Plus, Ching snores. It drives me nuts, so we usually didn’t spend the night together.”

  “Do I snore?” he asked, sounding a little panicked.

  “Not loud enough to wake me up.” She rested her cheek on his crazy, soft waves. She decided that she didn’t mind being on the outside. This way, she was free to roll off him anytime.

  He stroked the leg that was around his waist. “My nine-year-old self would never have imagined this day was possible, not even in his wildest dreams.”

  “Your nine-year-old self was too young to have
erotic fantasies.”

  “Maybe not nine. Maybe twelve.”

  Nirvana suddenly remembered something. “You said you saw me on the news.”

  “My father was watching the news the night I saw you for the first time.”

  “Did you know why he was watching the news?”

  He shrugged. “He watches the news every evening.”

  “Your father was the one that hired us to steal the crystals.”

  Zane jolted up immediately and turned around to face her. “He did?”

  “I wouldn’t say our fathers were friends, but we’d had several dealings before.”

  He frowned. “I knew he was really angry when he was watching the news that evening, but I didn’t know why. That’s what drew me to the screen in the first place. I wanted to know what got him so speechless with rage. He left the house without even touching his dinner.”

  “Chorax wanted to take down the city of Athuonga, but he didn’t want to expend his men. He created these insane laser cannons that could level the city in a matter of minutes.”

  Zane nodded. “The Hisomu. He got the idea from this small but lethal creature on Chikara. It sprays a continuous stream of acid, coating its surroundings with a very corrosive substance. Acid was dangerous to transport so my father improvised and used lasers instead.”

  “Only the Narian crystals could power his cannons. The Loperian King didn’t want to sell the crystals to him, so he hired my father to steal them. Initially, my father agreed, but when he found out that Hayashi was going to use it to wipe out unarmed settlements, he backed out of the deal. Hayashi then hired Kraken to come after us.”

  “I thought Kraken stole the crystals!” Rage filled Zane’s face.

  “No, we did. We just pinned it on them so we could get the reward from the king for returning them. The bonus was that pompous ceremony to rub it in your father’s face that not only did we destroy the Kraken, we returned what he wanted to the king for a reward.

  “I didn’t know.” He turned away from her, head bowed, shoulders rising and falling from his labored breathing. “I’m so sorry.” He clenched the covers with his fists.

  “It’s not your fault.” She got up and stroked his back. “Don’t apologize for your father’s actions. They are not yours.” She tugged at his arm and tried to get him to lie back down. It took her a while to persuade him but eventually, he did. She turned him so that his back was towards her and wrapped her arms around him like earlier.

  “I didn’t bring it up to make you feel bad about it. I just thought maybe you would want to know why I have a vendetta against your father.”

  Zane intertwined his fingers with Nirvana’s. “I’ll make sure he pays for your father’s death,” he swore. “I will make him pay for everything.”

  Chapter 21

  Zane stared in horror as Nirvana’s body was hoisted into the air, legs first. Blood trickled down to her face as her hands hung limply in the air.

  “Please,” he begged, “it was me. She was forced to do it. I’ll take her punishment!”

  Chorax turned his cruel gaze at Zane. “Don’t be impatient, you’ll get your turn.” The laser whip in his hand cackled as he switched it on.

  “No!” Zane roared in anguish as the whip landed on Nirvana. She didn’t even wince. He prayed to all the cosmic powers in the universe that she was already dead. His heart couldn’t take it anymore.

  There was no point begging for mercy from a man who had not shown any his entire life. Zane needed to get to Nirvana to end her suffering. He owed her that. Then, he would join her and spend the rest of his afterlife making it up to her.

  He stopped struggling for a moment and allowed his body to slump onto the ground, looking defeated. The soldier holding on to him was taken by surprise and loosened his grip a little to readjust to the new position. Taking the opportunity, Zane lunged forward with all his strength.

  He broke free from the arms encircling him and made a desperate dash towards Nirvana.

  Chorax gave a maniacal shout of laughter as the ground under Nirvana opened to reveal a trench. He prepped his whip and flung it towards the chain holding Nirvana up. Zane tried to run faster but his legs just wouldn’t cooperate. The whip sliced the chain in two. He watched helplessly as the woman he loved plunged into the darkness beyond his reach. He doubled his efforts to move towards the trench, but his captor must have caught up as he felt someone tugging his shirt.

  No! He mustn’t let his father catch him again. He would join Nirvana wherever she went. With a great leap, he dived headfirst into the darkness.

  Zane landed with a sharp pain in his left shoulder and both his knees. Slowly, he opened his eyes and flipped onto his back, trying to figure out where he was. It took him a while to realize it was just another nightmare and he was on the floor of Nirvana’s yurt.

  “I tried to stop you, but you insisted on diving,” she said, peeking down from the bed.

  He heaved a huge sigh of relief, realizing it was just a dream. Then as he recalled his actions, he panicked. Nirvana was spooning him from behind when he fell asleep.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked as he scrambled towards the bed to check on her.

  “Not really. I woke up when you started ‘swimming.’ I tried to wake you, but it only made you swim harder, so I moved away,” she said, giving him a slightly crooked smile.

  Zane slumped back onto the floor. “I think it’s better if I stay on the floor tonight.”

  Nirvana pushed herself to a sitting position and scooted over to the side of the bed. “I’ll join you then.”

  “No, don’t,” he tried to stop her, but she ignored him. “I might hit you.”

  Reaching over the bed, she picked up a pillow and threw it onto the floor. “It’s ok. I’ll hit you back harder.”

  She was about to reach back for another when he said, “Alright, alright. I’ll come up.”

  She stopped and waited for him as he picked up the pillow she had thrown earlier. As he approached, she pulled his arm and dragged him into bed. She fluffed his pillow for him and gestured for him to lie down.

  Zane closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see the look of sympathy on her face. He wanted the way she looked at him when he showed off something he’d created. He wanted her to look impressed.

  It was the second time she’d caught him having one of those nightmares. He managed to deflect it the first time, but there was no escaping now. He felt her snuggling up to him and her palm sliding to his chest. In slow soothing strokes, she rubbed the part of his chest where his heart was still pounding wildly. He had to admit that even though he didn’t want any pity from her, it felt heavenly.

  “But if I hit you in my sleep, you’re not allowed to hit me back harder,” she said.

  He smiled. “I’ll only kiss you if that happens. Sorry I woke you up.” He squeezed the hand on his chest.

  “Sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Do you think Eryn prescribes sleeping pills?” he asked, suddenly remembering the stash he’d left back in Panderon.

  “Of course she does, but are they really necessary? One of my crew members used to take them every night until his insomnia got worse. He had to keep increasing his dosage to the point where it was almost like an addiction. We checked ourselves into this therapy place with him to make sure he went through with the treatment to wean himself off the pills. I learned quite a number of useful relaxation techniques there. I can share them with you if you want.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For a start, you should try to not to think about swimming before going to bed.”

  Zane lifted his arm and curled it around Nirvana’s shoulder. “You know I wasn’t dreaming of swimming.”

  She sniggered, but didn’t push him for an explanation.

  He reached up to hold the hand that was on his chest. “I think you shouldn’t try to enter the stronghold. Let me go in alone.”

  “If I go in alone, the chance of success is about forty p
ercent. If you go in alone, it’ll be about ten percent. But if we go in together, I’d say it’ll go up to fifty percent.”

  “It’s still very low.”

  “Of course.” She chuckled. “Safe is boring. If I wanted safe, I would have gotten a desk job.”

  “Fifty percent is almost suicide.”

  “That’s what makes the success even sweeter.”

  “Nirvana.” Zane turned around to face her and looked solemnly into her playful eyes. “My father is what my nightmares are made of.”

  The twinkle of mischief left her eyes almost immediately. “Then we will make sure that we end all your nightmares with this mission. If we can’t take him down, we’ll do maximum damage,” she said, with an icy glare of determination.

  She’s insane, he thought. Beautiful, but insane.

  “We can be careful, Zane, but we don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to live in fear of him.” Nirvana reached out to scratch his bristles. “You didn’t have anyone at your back then, did you?”

  “Not really.”

  “Well, it’s different now. You don’t have to deal with him alone. You have me. We’ll have each other’s backs.”

  Zane had never had anyone say that to him before. It felt…different. Strange, yet wonderful. He didn’t know what to say in response. All he knew was that the woman he’d spent his youth obsessing over just became even more fascinating, and beautiful.

  “What are you thinking about now?” she asked, shifting up to lean on his shoulder when he laid back down.

  “That this tops all the other dreams I’ve ever had about you.”

  She raised a brow at him. The soothing palm on his chest moved slowly down to his abdominal muscles.

  “Tell me about your naughty dreams,” she drawled.

  He quickly caught her hand before it went any lower. His dick was already getting excited. To think he was dreaming about her death just a moment ago… “They weren’t really naughty. The only time I’ve seen your face clearly was on the news that night. After that, all your pictures were blurry or taken from afar. I only dreamt of how it would be to meet you in real life.”