by Bianca D'Arc
“There isn’t much dust here,” Darak observed, moving to lay a few logs into the fireplace.
“It never really got dusty here,” Jana answered him while she went to the other horse and seemed to talk to it. “It’s always been like that. The weather doesn’t get in, and anything you put in here didn’t deteriorate.” She finished with the horse and spun around. “I wonder if the things we left are still here?”
Jana moved toward a far wall and pressed a series of latches. Within moments, a hidden closet opened and Darak could see the colorful fabrics within, even by the small light of their lantern. He was very conscious of their use of light and had positioned the lantern in such a way that nobody in the valley below would see the light up in the supposedly empty tower. They didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention while they hid out up here.
Jana emptied the closet and brought the spoils over to Darak where he still crouched by the fireplace. He worked while she sorted through what he now saw was a series of mismatched sheets and pillows, towels and other small items.
“It’s all odds and ends really, but Jeri and I managed to take some of the cast offs and bring them up here a piece at a time. We used to make a little tent out of the sheets and play make-believe games. This tower was our hideaway. We’d sneak up here when our parents thought we were doing chores. We would rush through our tasks and then come up here to play during our stolen hours. Some of the best memories of my childhood came from this tower.”
Two small dolls fell out of a rolled up scrap of fabric, and Jana’s breath caught. Darak lit the fire and turned to regard Jana.
“Yours and Jeri’s, I presume?” He pointed at the two rag dolls.
Jana’s eyes sparkled with tears as she looked up at him. “Mama made those for us. They were our prized possessions.” She lifted one of the dolls in trembling hands. “I’d forgotten we left them up here.”
“You should take them with you when we leave. I think Jeri would like to have this little piece of your shared past, don’t you?” He touched the hand-stitched face of the other doll.
“Oh, yes. We’ll take them back with us,” Jana said immediately. “If we live through this, I want Jeri to have this happy memory of our family. We both lost everything else when the Wizards came.”
Jana touched the face of her doll with reverent fingers before rewrapping both dolls in the bundle they’d been in. She reached for the saddlebag she’d taken off her horse and placed the bundle, and as much of the scraps of fabric as she could fit, inside.
She cleared her throat before getting to her feet. “I’ll see to the horses. There’s a well out back, and I’ll see if our bucket is still there.”
“If it isn’t, I can jury rig a sling of sorts from our supplies,” Darak offered. She smiled gently at him and went to spend time on their big, four-legged companions.
He sensed she needed a little alone time to order her thoughts. It had to be difficult to come face to face with long-buried memories, but Jana was handling herself so well. It gave him hope that a complete emotional recovery wasn’t as far away as he’d once thought.
* * *
Water fetched from the well in what looked like Jana’s old bucket and horses tended for the night, Jana rejoined Darak by the fire sometime later. He had put the time to good use, unrolling their sleep sacks and spreading them before the fire. He’d also heated some of the food they’d brought with them. The hostelry where they’d gotten the horses had provided long-lasting travel rations, as well as some fresh food, for their journey.
“Smells good,” she commented, placing her bucket—full of crisp, clean water—down next to the hearth.
Darak dished up the prepared food and handed Jana her portion. She sat cross-legged on the unrolled sleep sacks facing him. He joined her, and a few moments later, they were both eating a meal that tasted even more delicious because they were both quite hungry after their long journey that day.
They ate in companionable silence for a while before Darak offered up a possible topic of conversation.
“There’s something different about this building,” he said, not unkindly. “If we were on a higher-tech world, I’d say there was some kind of force field protecting everything within here, but I don’t see any tech that would account for it.”
“It’s always been like this,” Jana offered, eating her dinner. “We could leave sandwiches up here for a week, and they wouldn’t go moldy. There’s some kind of energy up here…” She trailed off, looking around the circular chamber. “But it’s not evil. It’s protective, whatever it is.”
“There are certain spots on Geneth Mar said to be like this. Most of them have temples of one kind or another built nearby. Perhaps this planet is similar?” Darak mused. “If the collective ever lost power here, I know quite a few Specitars who would gladly make researching this place their life’s work.”
“Agnor?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, perhaps, but I think Ag is more suited to adventure than he realizes. He may think he’s strictly a scientist, but I’ve seen him in battle, and I know there’s more to him than meets the eye. He could be the Circe’s next captain, if anything happens to me.”
Jana didn’t respond, and he realized he’d taken the conversation into depressing areas.
“Sorry.” He tried to fix what he’d done. “I just meant that he’s got the makings of a spy and a leader of men. He just doesn’t realize it.”
She left him hanging for a minute or two, but the she seemed to shake off whatever negative thoughts his careless words had brought up. She shrugged and the look in her eyes was far away.
“A lot of things make us find qualities within ourselves that we didn’t realize were there. I never dreamed of commanding a starship, much less an armada, when I was a girl playing in this tower with my sister.” She looked up at the domed roof high above them. “I was just starting to think about boys when the Wizards came. I thought maybe I’d find a nice lad and settle down in a few years. Start a family. Maybe start a herd with my father’s help. That was as high as I dared dream. But then, I guess I showed some sort of aptitude, and the collective decided to turn me into a soldier and then a starship captain. And then, apparently, a Star Killer.”
“I still can’t believe that was you,” Darak admitted. “I mean, I know you can do anything you set your mind to, but I’m flabbergasted by the idea that you were the one to pull off something that has puzzled all of our Specitars since it happened.” Darak grinned at her. “You’re going to be in great demand when we get back to Geneth Mar. Every Specitar with an interest in astrophysics is going to be knocking on your door to find out how you did it.”
“If I remember, I’ll tell them, but certain parts of my memory are still gone.” She gave him a soft smile. “When we get back to the ship, I’ll have to read the rest of those files Zane gave me. Each one I read brought back a little more of my past, but I couldn’t go through them too quickly. There was too much. It felt like overload as each new memory came rushing back.”
“We can do it a little at a time,” Darak assured her. “And I’m here for you if you need help. Any time, Jana. I mean that.”
She looked at him, smiling softly. “Thank you.” The moment drew out. “I mean that. I haven’t always been the easiest person to be around during my recovery, and you’ve always been patient with me. If I haven’t said thank you before, let me do it now.”
“There’s no need to thank me,” Darak said, moving closer. “I would do anything for you.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Darak’s words sounded so serious. She wasn’t sure how to take them, but a little part of her heart stood up at attention, wanting more. Slowly but surely, the irreverent StarLord had worn away her defenses. She was afraid she was very much in love with the rogue and feared it would end badly for her when he moved on to someone else.
But would he?
Those last words sounded like maybe she might have a shot at winning his heart
. The thing was, she didn’t know enough about Geneth Mar society and Darak, in particular, to know what to expect of a more permanent relationship with him. Would he still want to be with other women?
Jana had unbent her moral code a lot since awakening aboard the Circe free of the collective, but there were some things she would never compromise on. If she was going to be in a permanent relationship with anyone, she wanted it to be exclusive.
But, then, she thought of what Seta had told her. According to the voluptuous navigator, Darak hadn’t been with any other women since Jana had been rescued. Jana wasn’t sure how much to believe of that claim, but her fragile heart wanted to believe it was absolutely true and that the reason he hadn’t sought pleasure elsewhere was because he was falling in love with her and wanted to be faithful only to her.
A girl could dream, couldn’t she?
After all, Jana had had her youth stolen from her by the collective. She had never been through all the normal things a young woman would go through when discovering attraction for someone else. All those innocent adolescent experiences had been denied her. As a result, she didn’t know what to make of Darak and his solemn words.
So, she said nothing as he moved closer still, taking her in his arms and placing a tender, powerful kiss on her lips. He deepened the kiss, and moments later, she found herself lying on her back, the soft fabric of the sleep sacks beneath her.
They made love by the firelight, Darak’s gentle touches saying more than his words. Jana felt like she was the only woman in the universe to him in those moments when he joined their bodies and pushed her toward fulfillment.
Darak was her lover in every sense of the word as she finally gave up resisting and let her heart fly free. She gave up denial and embraced the fact that, even if he could never fully return her love, she had given her heart—if only for this short time—to Darak of Geneth Mar, rogue and StarLord, the kindest man she had ever known.
* * *
Jana woke deep in the night to the sound of the wind whipping around the ruined tower. They were safe and warm by the fire and within the protection of the tower, but the wildness of the wind called to something in her spirit. She remembered nights like this from when she was a little girl.
She remembered how her mother would hold her. And how her father would let her stay up late with him by the hearth while he told her stories of his youth or of fantastical beings and the ancient Wizards who had once lived up on this very hill. In this tower.
And now, she was here. And she was one of the Wizards. And her lover was a Mage Master. And he actually seemed to care for her in a way she had dreamed of when she was a little girl. He might not be her husband. He might not ever have that kind of staying power or ability to commit to her, but her heart was brimming with love for him, and his power sparked off her own in delicious ways.
He made her feel good in so many ways. Accepted. Cherished. Cared for. Almost…loved in return.
But she wouldn’t talk about feelings if he didn’t bring it up. She didn’t want to be so needy. She didn’t want to put him on the spot. She was very much afraid that if she asked where she stood with him, his answer would crush her fragile heart.
She watched him sleep, loving the way his face relaxed into sleep. He looked almost boyish, but she knew him well enough to know that, although the boy still lived within the man, the man was deadly and strong. A good combination in a warrior such as he.
Jana made herself stop gawking at him and get up. She dressed in her outer robe and went to sit in the exact center of the domed room. The mosaic of the floor came to a point here, a focus, if you will. She thought it might be a good place to start her experiments with the crystals that never left her.
She planned to rejoin the collective tonight, so she would have her answer by morning. Either she’d be lost again—in which case, Darak would find her and try to get her out again—or she would know more about their next move. If they even had one.
She had to know where Kol was, and if he’d already left the planet. If so, there was no point, really, in staying on Mithrak. But, if he was still here, she needed to know where, so she could hunt him down like the dog he was.
Taking a moment to focus herself, Jana began the careful exploration of the blue crystals and how they might help her rejoin the collective on her terms…
What Jana discovered that windswept night shocked and amazed her. Not only could she join the collective, but she was operating on a whole new level with the aid of the crystals. She was no longer simply a cog in the wheel—a mind to be used and pillaged at will.
No, the crystals did something. They made her something different. Something above it all. A mind to rule the others and never be subjugated to the collective again.
She was gaining an appreciation for how it all worked. She saw the structure of the collective from above and knew there were just a few minds like hers, free to use the collective power for their own ends and direct it like the puppet masters she had always envisioned.
Further, she realized the crystals in her skin made her one of the masters now. She was in the collective, but the others didn’t seem to recognize the power of her mind or her individual identity. They simply were aware of her and moved on, sensing the crystals that shielded her identity from them as their smaller crystals did their best to try to shield their identities from her.
Proximity had a lot to do with it, as well, she realized. The closer minds were more open to her while the other puppet masters who were farther away were better hidden.
She saw Kol’s oily mind, right away. He was close. Closer than she would have guessed.
They could reach his camp by tomorrow afternoon if they left in the morning after breakfast. And then, she would have her revenge. And perhaps after that, she could get on with her life…if she was still alive.
Realizing she could disconnect from the collective at will, she let the connection go, sealing her mind away from them. Silencing the Voice.
She felt a moment’s pride for being able to do that now. She had gained control and confidence over the voyage to get here, and when she stopped to think about it, she realized just how far she’d come.
She went back to the sleep sacks, which Darak had joined together so they could share them, and slid under the covers with him. Morning would come in a few hours, and she had a plan now.
Tomorrow, she was going to kill Kol.
When dawn came, Jana was awake first. Much as she would have liked to bask in Darak’s embrace a few moments longer, she was also eager to be on their way. She had a task to complete before she could get on with her life, and today was the day.
She left the bed and dressed, noting Darak’s sleepy movements behind her as she poked at the fire. They would need water, so she put on her cloak and wrapped her head in the warm scarf she had been wearing on this journey. The wind was still up, so she would need it.
Taking the old bucket with her, Jana went around the back of the tower to the old well.
Darak watched her go with fondness. Jana had come so far, so fast. He had seen her at her most fragile, and it made his heart feel good to see her find her footing at long last. She was regaining her confidence and, with it, her sense of self.
She had been a powerful woman, even while her mind had been subjugated by the collective. She had been a warrior. A woman to be reckoned with. A leader people looked up to, not because they feared her, but because—as the Plectarans’ loyalty had proved—they respected her. Perhaps they even loved her.
She had been formidable, then, and Darak knew she could be again. He was beginning to see the signs, and it pleased him no end. He liked strong women, and he especially liked an underdog who had been beaten down, only to come back stronger than ever before.
He saw that in Jana, and it made him admire her all the more.
There was no question in his mind that he was developing strong feelings for her. Where those feelings might ultimately lead would depend entirely on he
r. She had been forced into things too many times for him to be willing to even hint at manipulating her for his own gain.
For he was coming to realize that his life would not be complete without her in it in some way. He didn’t want to think too far ahead yet, because everything was so up in the air, but when he let himself consider the future, he couldn’t picture his life without her in it.
He just had to cultivate the patience to let her come to terms with their relationship—if there was going to be one—on her own. He couldn’t force her. He would never force her. Not for anything in the universe. She would come to him on her own, or he would let her go… No matter how badly it broke his heart.
He was working on breakfast at the fire when he sensed a presence behind him. Darak stood and whirled, but he wasn’t quick enough. He froze—not of his own volition—but because he’d been hit but a swift, incredibly strong, telekinetic wave. The maker of the wave stood just inside the door to the circular chamber, a smug expression on his hated blue face.
Kol had found them.
And Darak was well and truly trapped. Much as he hated to admit it, Kol’s telekinesis—backed up by the full power of the collective—had stopped Darak in his tracks. He was getting a firsthand lesson in what made the collective so damned formidable.
One on one, Darak thought he probably could’ve taken Kol. But, with the collective power of all those hijacked minds and Talents behind him, Kol was stronger than any single person. Maybe Micah and Jeri—two of the most powerful minds on Geneth Mar—could have stood their ground, but Darak wasn’t certain.