Spirit of the Towers

by Jamie A. Waters

  Lars pulled out his gun and held it on the two injured men, making sure they remained secure. Sergei barely spared him a glance, trusting him to do whatever was necessary. If not, well, he’d deal with them soon enough.

  Valentina murmured his name, and his heart thudded in his chest, threatening to break free of its restraints. His fire energy sparked, and he struggled to focus it on her to continue chasing away the chill. “You must stay with me, little dove. Can you open your eyes?”

  Blue eyes fluttered open, but they were filled with so much pain. If he could trade places with her right now, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d give anything for her to keep breathing. From almost the moment he’d first met her, he’d wanted her. She’d captured his heart—all their hearts—within days after that. She was the one person in this world he’d sacrifice everything for.

  Valentina started to reach for him, but her hand fell back to the ground as though she couldn’t manage the effort.

  Yuri knelt beside her, his face equally stricken, and took her hand in his. “Valya, we need you to hold on just a little longer. Ariana and a medical team are on their way. Nikolai is bringing them.”

  She nodded, and her eyes closed again.

  “One of the bullets passed through,” Grigory said, keeping his hands tightly against her abdomen to staunch the bleeding. Yuri pulled off his shirt and rolled her on her side to press it underneath her. Sergei fought against his growing panic. Dammit. She’d already lost too much blood, and that didn’t account for the internal damage.

  “You must stay awake, little dove,” he urged, holding her close. “If you do, it’s your turn to choose. I’ll tell you one secret or grant one favor.”

  Valentina managed a small smile, but he could tell the effort cost her. “I don’t think I like this game anymore, Seryozha.”

  “Me neither,” he whispered, surrounding her with his heated fire energy in a gentle embrace. “After this, we’re going to stop playing it. But in the meantime, it’s still your choice. I need you to keep talking to me.”

  “A secret then,” she whispered.

  Sergei brushed her hair away from her face, debating what to tell her. There was one thing, but it might not go well for him later. It would be enough to get a reaction from her, though, and that’s what he needed to keep her awake. Although, if he lost her… He swallowed, unable to consider the possibility.

  “I intend to marry you, Valechka,” he began, watching as she blinked up at him with confusion in her eyes. “Three years ago, before we launched our offensive on the last facility, I told Nikolai I planned to persuade you. He asked me to wait until after we returned. He suspected you’d take it poorly, and we weren’t sure I’d have enough time to heal from any injuries you might inflict if I pushed you. I agreed to wait and have regretted it ever since. I should have made you mine back then.”

  He trailed his fingers over her cheek, accompanying the gesture with his energy. He’d broached the subject of marriage once before, years ago, but she’d avoided the conversation and slipped away before he could pin her down.

  Sergei suspected she was worried about how it would affect their bond and relationships with each other. That’s why he’d gone to Nikolai in the first place. Nikolai had agreed with his assessment, but like so many other things with Valentina, it would take perseverance and patience to convince her. But nothing worth having was ever easy, least of all the woman he loved.

  Yuri pulled out his commlink again and spoke urgently into it, most likely to Nikolai. Sergei needed to focus on keeping Valentina awake and talking. Looking down at her again, he said, “Shall I try to persuade you now, little dove? I don’t believe you have the strength to lift a knife or run from me this time.”

  “You’re cheating again,” she whispered.

  He smiled and leaned forward, pressing a light kiss against her lips. “There have never been any rules between us. Even if there were, I would break all of them to keep you.”

  “I’m cold, Seryozha,” she said, her voice growing fainter.

  Sergei tensed, amplifying his energy output to try to stabilize her. He lifted his head and snapped, “Where the fuck is the medic?”

  “A few minutes out,” Yuri retorted, placing the commlink beside him to better hold the compress in place against her back. “Hang on, Valya. Nikolai and Ariana are almost here.”

  He looked down at Valentina again, but she was unconscious. Their time was running out. Sergei cursed, his arms tensing around her. Grigory was still applying pressure to her midsection, but it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t responding to his energy output anymore.

  Panic flooded through him, and several nearby crates burst into flames. Grigory stared at the fire in shock before looking at him. Sergei took a deep breath, once again focusing on keeping his chaotic energy directed toward Valentina and willing her to respond. A hissing noise came out of the mounted fire suppression equipment mounted on the ceiling and a moment later, foaming fire retardant was ejected over the area.

  Yuri grabbed his commlink and spoke briskly into it. “Tell them to get someone down here now, Nikolai. We’re losing her.”

  Yuri pressed his fingers against Valentina’s neck, feeling for a pulse. Sergei frowned as a strange awareness went through him. When Yuri pulled his hand away, it disappeared.

  Sergei’s gaze flew up to meet Yuri’s eyes. “Touch her again.”

  Yuri did so immediately, and they both stared at each other. Sergei sent his energy into Valentina, and Yuri did the same. Somehow, she was acting as a conduit. He’d never been able to sense Yuri before, but he could now. But more importantly, he could feel Valentina’s energy beginning to rise to the surface. Whatever they were doing was helping to stabilize her. It might buy her a little more time.

  “Nikolai,” Yuri spoke into the commlink, holding it to his ear with his other hand. “I need you to focus on Valya.” He paused and said, “Yes. Do it.”

  Sergei tensed as Nikolai’s energy flooded through their connection. It wasn’t as strong, but that was most likely because he wasn’t touching her.

  Footsteps sounded behind them a moment later. Sergei turned his head to see Nikolai racing into the room with Brant right behind him. Kayla, Ariana, and Alec were with them, along with a host of other personnel.

  Nikolai dropped to his knees beside Valentina and reached over to touch her arm. Awareness surged through Sergei the moment Nikolai’s hand came into contact with her again. The last time they’d all touched Valentina with their bond wide open had been when they’d formed their connection. They stared at each other for several heartbeats and simultaneously began sending their energy into her.

  Ariana sank to the ground beside them. “I can feel all of you. Keep doing whatever you’re doing. It’s helping her.” She looked over at Grigory. “Remove your hands, please. I need to take over.”

  Grigory hesitated for a fraction of a second before moving away. Ariana placed her hands over Valentina’s abdomen and closed her eyes. Sergei watched Ariana’s healing energy, so similar to Valentina’s, as it enveloped the woman he loved. The High Council leader reached over and placed his hand on Ariana’s shoulder, and Sergei knew the minute Alec’s energy flowed into the mix, strengthening Ariana’s already remarkable power.

  Alec’s eyes widened, and he frowned at them. “How is this possible? It’s almost as though Valentina’s bonded to Ariana.”

  Kayla held up a strange, green figurine. “It happened earlier, too, and I think it’s because of this. It’s tied to all three of us somehow.”

  Ariana looked up at Kayla. “Place the dragon on her skin and touch her, Kayla. Keep one hand on the statue. She has too much damage, and I can’t heal her fast enough. I think the dragon will help connect all our power together.”

  Kayla cocked her head. “Um… You’re glowing, Ari.”

  Sergei turned to look at Ariana, and his eyes widened. An aura of gold light was emanating from the healer, and Valentina too.

  Ariana nod
ded. “I know. Use the dragon, Kayla. Hurry.”

  Kayla dropped to her knees and did as she was instructed. Ariana reached out, keeping one hand on Valentina’s abdomen, and touched the figurine with the other. The same light surrounded all three women and encompassed the dragon figurine.

  Sergei looked down at Valentina in his arms. The glow surrounded him as well, at least the part of him that was touching her. He glanced over to find it wasn’t affecting any of the men the same way as it was affecting the women though. The dragon statue, on the other hand, no longer appeared green, but was now an iridescent gold—the same color as the aura around them.

  Sergei was dimly aware of the gasps of surprise from the security team and everyone else, but he was too busy focusing on Valentina and the power building within the room. A moment later, Valentina’s eyes fluttered open. Relief flooded through him, and he tightened his arms around her.

  “Valechka,” he murmured, searching her face. Her eyes were still somewhat unfocused, but she was awake. Her energy was stronger too.

  Nikolai frowned. “Her injury isn’t healing.”

  Sergei looked down at her abdomen. He could see something happening, but he didn’t know what. Nikolai was right. She wasn’t healing. Or at least, they couldn’t see what was being healed.

  “Can you hear it?” Valentina whispered, her voice strained with pain.

  Yuri nodded. “I do, Valya, but I don’t understand it.”

  Sergei frowned and glanced around at everyone else. Ariana and Kayla were concentrating on something with their eyes closed.

  “What do you hear, Valechka?” Sergei urged, wanting her to keep talking.

  “Listen, Seryozha. You too, Kolya,” she said softly. Her eyes fluttered closed again, but her cool water energy embraced him once more and extinguished the threat of the flames. A moment later, he heard—or rather, felt—something else within their bond. It was a type of sound, but the resonance was different from anything he’d ever heard before. He couldn’t even call it a sound.

  It was a vibration, for lack of a better description. He closed his eyes to better concentrate and was immersed in different colors. They pulsated in a rhythmic dance that resonated within him but was beyond his understanding. It was strangely familiar, though he couldn’t place it.

  Somehow, through Valentina, he could sense everyone around her. He was most aware of Nikolai and Yuri’s presence, understanding intuitively they were just as aware of him. Valentina was reaching out to them with her energy, and they were channeling theirs toward her in return. Ariana and Kayla, however, were just as potent as Valentina but slightly different. Now that he was more focused on the energy, he noticed they all shared the same gold aura but with slight variations in color. Together, the sight was almost blinding.

  “Excuse me, Master Tal’Vayr,” someone spoke from behind them. “We’re getting reports of a strong electrical storm happening outside the towers. The elements are all going haywire—rain, lightning, dark clouds, and high winds. The towers are issuing an alert right now.”

  “It’s not just there,” Carl said from off to the side. “The river’s rising and flooding the cavern. I just got an urgent message from our people there. They’re evacuating right now.”

  A second later, Sergei’s commlink began vibrating in his pocket. He frowned, suspicion growing in his mind that whatever was happening between these three women was tied to the strange phenomenon outside the towers. He withdrew his commlink, careful not to jostle Valentina. The message was from one of his men in the construction tower.

  “We’ve lost contact with some of our outlying camps. Before communication was disconnected, they reported a possible earthquake,” he said and focused on Valentina again. He couldn’t tell if her injury had healed yet because her body was swathed in that gold light.

  “Valya,” Nikolai said, his voice worried. “Our people are in trouble.”

  She took a deep breath, and the light surrounding the three women immediately dimmed. The dragon figurine, however, retained that unearthly golden light. Valentina’s eyes opened again, but this time, they held concerned look. “Our people? What’s happened?”

  Ariana pulled her hands away, blinking in confusion. Sergei looked down at Valentina’s abdomen and there wasn’t even a trace of a scar.

  Nikolai’s expression was equally shocked. He laid his hand over her abdomen, careful not to touch the dragon figurine, and said, “How do you feel, Valya?”

  She frowned and tried to sit up. Sergei helped her, watching her carefully. She shook her head, looking down at the dragon figurine that had tumbled into her lap. It still retained that strange gold coloring. “I… I don’t know. I don’t hurt, but I feel different somehow.”

  Ariana bit her lip. “I didn’t heal you. At least, not completely. I’m not sure what we just experienced, but something happened. To all of us. It’s tied to that statue.”

  Kayla curled her fingers into fists. “You’re freaking me out a little bit. If you don’t know what just happened and you’re supposed to be the expert, we’re probably pretty much fucked.”

  Alec pulled Ariana up and into his arms. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like that before either. May I see that dragon statue?”

  Kayla shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest “Hell no. It doesn’t want to go to you.” At Alec’s puzzled expression, Kayla waved off his confusion. “Look, don’t ask how I know. I can’t explain it. But that dragon wants to stay with Valentina. It’ll go to me or Ariana, but it really likes her.”

  “We should check the archives,” Ariana suggested. “There’s got to be some record somewhere of what just happened. We need to find out more about the dragon figurine.”

  Carl frowned. “Kayla, that was the one you found in the ruins, right?”

  Kayla nodded. “Yeah. Although, it’s not so green now.”

  Valentina cradled the statue in her hands and closed her eyes. In a soft voice, she said, “If I listen closely, I can still hear it. It’s quieter though.” She opened her eyes again. “Are our people all right, Kolya?”

  Nikolai pulled out his commlink to contact his camp. Sergei pulled out his communication device too and angled the screen so she could see it. Valentina curled up against him as he typed in a message asking for the current status of the situation outside the towers. A response came in almost immediately that everything appeared to have calmed down. They were running an analysis on all systems to check for damage and would keep him advised.

  Nikolai closed his commlink. “Everything appears stable again in my camp.”

  Alec kept his arms around Ariana and looked over at one of the men who had accompanied them. “What’s the status of the storm outside?”

  “It’s gone, Master Tal’Vayr. The sky cleared up almost immediately. Everything is normal again.”

  Alec looked over at Carl. “What about the river?”

  Carl frowned, studying the screen on his commlink. “Our people down there are out of danger, but the water level is still high. They’ve had to evacuate the area, and one of the nearby buildings collapsed. Hopefully, the water will recede soon. Until then, everything is at a standstill. They’re running a stability check now on the other ruins in the area.”

  Sergei kissed her. “Will you agree to allow the medical personnel to check you out?”

  When she frowned, Nikolai gave her a sharp look. “Valya, do not argue on this. There was only one exit wound. We do not know how much internal damage was caused, and the bullet needs to be extracted.”

  “I’ll go to the medical ward,” she agreed.

  Yuri stood and held out his hand to help her up. He wrapped his arm around her and pressed a kiss against her hair. “Get checked out and then you can deal with Sergei’s latest secret. You need to be healthy to keep him in his place. Or you’ll end up married and having his babies before you know it.”

  Valentina froze, turning around to narrow her eyes on him. Sergei glared at Yuri who was smirking a
t him safely behind Valentina. She put her hands on her hips, those gorgeous blue eyes filled with temper. God, she was beautiful… and absolutely irresistible. He’d gladly take her ire over seeing her in pain any day.

  “You intended to persuade me? Waiting until I’m bleeding out on the floor?” she demanded, tapping her foot in irritation.

  Taking a step toward her, he gave her a disarming smile. “Come now, Valechka. You cannot blame me for trying.”

  She jabbed her finger against his chest. “I most certainly can. That was cheating, Seryozha.”

  He grabbed her finger and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Pressing a kiss against her lips, he said, “I intend to resort to as many devious tricks as necessary until you agree. I love you, little dove.”

  She softened against him and looked up into his eyes. The tenderness and love in her expression made his heart skip a beat, and he pulled her closer. He loved this woman beyond all reason, and it terrified him how close he’d come to losing her again.

  The culprits still needed to be dealt with, and he intended to make them suffer a thousandfold for every moment of pain they’d inflicted on her. Sergei glanced over at Nikolai, catching sight of the medics working on the two people on the ground. “Nikolai, why don’t you escort Valentina to the medical center?”

  Her eyes narrowed, but before she could object, Nikolai put his arm around her and pulled her away. Brushing a kiss against her temple, he said, “Please, Valya. It would make me feel better if you allowed me to go with you.”

  Valentina scowled. “You’re all manipulating me.”

  Yuri chuckled and picked up her knives. He offered them to her and said, “Get checked out. Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep any of us in line.”

  She snatched her weapons from him. “Fine. But don’t kill them yet, Sergei. They have information we need.”

  Sergei made a noncommittal noise, staring at the two men. He wouldn’t make any promises. They’d hurt the woman he loved and had nearly taken her from him. Even if he left them alive, by the time he was finished, they’d wish they weren’t.