by Aileen Erin
The morning was gone before I had time to breathe, and then suddenly Lorne was on stage while I watched from a room down the hall with Roan, Eshrin, Declan, Ahiga, and my guards—some of them old and some of them new. The sitting room had a massive vidscreen showing different angles around the concert hall. There was a big couch, a bunch of chairs, and a massive table piled high with different foods—but not even Roan was snacking. Everyone was ranged out around the room, but Roan and I stood shoulder to shoulder as we scanned the screen—broken into eight mini-screens—searching for STOs.
I wished we’d done this speech from the estate, but no one wanted to let any unknowns into the estate again, and if we did it there, we would’ve had to let in reporters and their crews plus politicians and their entourages.
At the concert hall, everything could be controlled. We were here and then we’d leave. And if there was any sign of trouble, there were multiple ways to get out. It also wasn’t where speeches were usually given, so no one would be prepared to take advantage of the venue. At least not on such short notice.
“This was a bad idea.” I mumbled the words to myself.
“We’ve been over this,” Declan said. “He had to give this speech. Now. Today. With two attacks last night—one on Sa’shotaem and one at the estate—and gaining not only the crown but your engagement…” Declan was quiet for a minute, until I turned to him.
“He couldn’t afford to wait. He had to say something. He has a duty to the Aunare to let them know what’s happening, and if he left them in the dark, that would’ve been something that the anti-Amihanna faction could use against him.” Declan’s crystal blue gaze seemed to hold a bit of disappointment.
I didn’t want to cause any problems for Lorne, but this felt wrong. There were too many ways this could go wrong. “I get it. I do, but we’ve been attacked way too many times. This is too public—” I looked back at the screen. “There could be twenty STOs in the audience or Aunare that don’t want him to have the crown or—”
“The Aunare might have a faction that don’t love you, but they love Lorne. So, don’t worry about that. And if there are STOs in audience, we’ll spot them.” Roan bumped my shoulder with his. “Stop. Just watch. Keep scanning. I haven’t found any yet, and that might mean we’re okay.”
I wished I could agree with Roan, but I was freaking out. “Damn it. There are too many people and—”
“He’s going to be fine, babe.” Roan put his arm around my shoulder. “Breathe. Stop freaking out.”
“Just keep scanning for any SpaceTech guys. I just…Fuck it, Roan. I love the stupid jerk.”
“You know when you were in a coma, Lorne never left your side. He sat there all day and night just watching you. It’s how we bonded. I mean—I’ll admit. I left. I need a bed and everything. Even your mom would come and go. But not that guy. He’s crazy about you. He loves you. And when you just kept pushing him away, that’s how I knew it was the same for you. You never watched anyone else the way you watched him. And when he came into a room, you’d glow. Like before he got there. It’s been pretty hilarious to watch.”
I looked away from the screen for a second. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course you do. Who wouldn’t?”
“I’m so glad there’s nothing wrong with your self-esteem.” I looked back at the screen and forced myself to watch something other than Lorne.
I was so stupid. I had it bad. I was obsess—
I stepped closer to the screen and Roan’s arm dropped from my shoulders.
No. No. No.
My skin lit up and my fao’ana flickered and I could feel everyone in the room turn to me.
“Do you see?” I asked Roan without looking away from the screen.
“Hey! Dude!” Roan pointed to the upper left square. “Can you rewind that feed?”
“Yes. Of course,” a voice said from behind us.
It started playing again, and there he was.
“Again,” I shouted. “Back maybe ten seconds. And then pause.”
“Yes.”
“That one. There. Mark him down. STO. Hit play again.” My heart raced. I hated being right. “Where are the rest? If there’s one, there’s more. Roan?” I reached for him blindly, gripping his hand.
“Another one. Third row, center.” Roan’s eyes were open wide. “Oh shit. This is iced, babe.”
Declan came to stand next to me. “They don’t travel in groups of two. It’s a team of at least six. Maybe eight.”
Eshrin stood next to me. “This can’t be possible.”
I ignored Eshrin and spoke to Declan. “Do you recognize him?”
“No, but—”
“No. This event was screened by security.” Eshrin’s skin was glowing now, too. “Earthers might have scans for us, but we have our own scans that would alert us to Earthers present. Every person here had to walk through the scan. I don’t understand—”
I turned to Eshrin. “We don’t have time to argue about how this happened. That guy is from SpaceTech.” I looked back at the screen. Checking the posture of the attendees and their eyes and—
I pointed out another. “And so is that one. Mark him. And we need to see where the other men in his team are, because there’s only one reason they’d be in that room.”
I glanced at Roan. “As soon as we know where the rest are, I’m running in.”
I focused back on the screen as if my life depended on it, because it did. Because Lorne’s life depended on me finding these assholes.
I had to be sure how many were in the room with Lorne before we went in there. He was still giving his speech, and I was sure they’d attack before he was done. Which meant any second.
I spotted one more. “Another one. Right there.”
“Yep,” Roan said. “What about that one? Shit. Rewind. The other feed. Right hand side of the stage.”
The footage rolled back a second and I saw it, too. “Yep. Good eye. There?” I tapped the screen just to confirm.
“Yeah. That’s the one I saw. Five down. We need at least one more. Maybe they’re stationed outside as backup. But there could be up to three more that we’re not seeing. And that’s if it’s only one team.”
“Damn it. I only see those five.”
“We’ll find them. Fuckers are gonna be iced.”
“We’ll find them. We will. I just—” I took a breath and nodded. I wanted to spot the missing guy, but every second I didn’t move was one second I wasted. “Screw it. I can’t find anyone else. I’m going in there. I’m not waiting.”
“Patch me into Lorne’s ear so I can warn him,” Declan said to one of the guards.
“No! Don’t you dare do that! If they’re listening in that could give them the time they need. I’m on it!” I ran out the door before Eshrin and his men could catch up with me.
I’d just gotten Lorne. I’d only had a few hours of happiness. I couldn’t lose him now. I wouldn’t survive it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
AMIHANNA
I heard someone behind me and I had to trust that if it was anyone other than my guards, Eshrin would take care of it.
“This way! It’s faster!” Eshrin yelled at me.
I raced back to Eshrin and slowed to keep pace beside him. My fao’ana brightened, and I knew I would do whatever I needed to protect Lorne.
“This door will lead you onto the stage. You find them, and I’ll take them down,” Eshrin said.
“No. I’ll take them down, you cuff them or whatever. I’ll try not to turn them into ground bits.” But I wasn’t making any promises. “And we have to assume they have bombs. And—”
Eshrin’s fao’ana were visible, and I knew he was ready to fight by my side. “Whatever their plan is, we’ll stop it. You saw them in time.”
We reached the door, and Eshrin put his hand on the panel. It seemed to slide open slower than any door I’d ever seen before. As soon as it was wide enough for me, I squeezed through. Lorne’s tone was stron
g and clear, but I couldn’t understand a word of the Aunare. It was dark, but two steps had me at a curtain, and then I stepped through.
Flashes went off, and I was blinded by the sudden light. People called out and I heard Lorne come up beside me, but I was scanning the room. It was different being here in person, and it took me a second to orient myself.
But then I saw the first guy. “SpaceTech’s here.”
Lorne started to say something, but I ignored him and leaped into the audience.
The SpaceTech officer had a second to cry out before my fist slammed into his face. He had something in his lap. A bomb? A weapon? I wasn’t sure, but I felt a frequency coming from it. I didn’t trust myself to blow it up without hurting everyone around us. I knew most of the people here were innocent, but—
Lorne could do it.
I picked it up. “Lorne!” I threw the bomb at him.
He held out his hand and the device turned to ash.
Number two was three rows back.
I stepped onto the arm of the seat and jumped, landing on number two.
I heard Eshrin shouting orders behind me and a commotion starting, but I shut everything out.
One punch and number two was out. I found his bomb—a small box in his pocket, similar to the one that had been thrown into my room last night.
“Lorne!” I tossed it back to him, trusting him to take care of it.
I was moving faster than I ever had. Time seemed to go slower and I took a breath.
Three, four, and five were in the balcony, center.
The room was smaller in person than it looked on-screen. One leap and I was over the back row. I ran at the side wall, using it to get me up, and then I pushed off the wall—jumping higher—and my hand barely made contact with the balcony’s rail.
I hauled myself up and over, falling into someone’s lap in the front row.
I didn’t slow down to apologize. Number three was on his feet two rows back. I saw something in his hand and I jumped, twisting his wrist until I heard a pop. He screamed, dropping the device. I punched him and let him fall to the floor.
“Lorne!”
“I’m here!” He yelled as he jumped over the railing much more gracefully than I had.
Jerk.
I tossed the bomb at him.
There was a commotion behind me, and I knew that number four had to be on the run.
Fucker wasn’t getting away.
I spun and spotted him in the aisle with number five, pushing through a mob of Aunare to get out first. They were moving as fast as they could, but they weren’t Aunare fast.
Lorne jumped past me and his hand shot out. The men had a fraction of a second to scream before they turned to embers and then ash.
He called out to me, but I ignored him again. “Roan?” I yelled down to him. He was standing at the edge of the stage, scanning faces.
“I don’t see any more, but I could be wrong. Too much chaos. This is beyond iced!”
I scanned the room. There had to be more here, but where? We’d only seen five in the audience, before I ran in here. But I knew—knew—SpaceTech’s IAF teams were always six or eight. Declan confirmed that.
Lorne touched my shoulder. “Just tell me where and I’ll get them. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know. There have to be more, but…” There was too much screaming. Too much of a commotion. This wasn’t good. “…but I can’t find them in this chaos. Which means we should probably get out of here before they do something stupid.” The room was clearing out, which meant that the last SpaceTech guys were long gone. “Can you leave?”
He ran a hand down his face. “I should make a statement, but we’ll do that from the estate. Let’s go.”
I looked out at the crowd. Eshrin and a few others were carrying out the three STOs. “You’ll take them back to the estate?” We needed answers, and these three men had to know something. If Eshrin was planning on interrogating them, then I wanted to be there.
“No. The estate is a secure location now, and I can’t afford anyone else to compromise it.”
I turned to Roan, who had dropped down to the first row of seats.
“Roan! Will you stay with Eshrin? Keep your eyes out for the rest. See if maybe they can pull up some security footage or whatever they’ve got.”
“I’m all over this.”
“Thanks.” I looked at Lorne and he nodded.
“This way.” He led me back through a security door in the balcony.
I followed him down the hallways. No one spoke as we jogged surrounded by his guards back to the ship. As soon as everyone was inside, the ship started to rise off the roof, even before the ramp door was fully closed.
Lorne pulled me into his arms. I froze for a second before I hugged him back. He was shaking as he tightened his arms and breathed the measured Aunare breaths.
He’d been afraid, but not as afraid as I’d been. I’d watched those screens and found those men and I knew that if I wasn’t fast enough, I would lose everything that mattered to me.
I breathed in the scent of his soap and let the steady beat of his heart soothe me.
After a minute, I was feeling better, but he was still shaking. I knew that there were at least twenty guards on the ship with us—watching us—and this was starting to feel a little awkward.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“No. I’m not okay. You moved so fast. I didn’t know what you were doing or how to help except blowing up some bombs and then it was over.” He pulled back. “Thank you. You were amazing, but I can’t believe that there were STOs in the room. I can’t—”
There was a blast and the ship dropped and I knocked into Lorne. Only his strong stance kept us from hitting the floor.
The ship jerked back up, righting itself.
My heart stopped for a second. What the hell was that?
If we’d missed a bomb in the concert hall, and then…
“Roan!” I turned to the pilot. “Was that from—”
“No. Someone’s firing at us.” The pilot’s skin was bright and his fao’ana were flashing but his wide eyes were filled to the brim with fear.
I spun to look at Lorne. “What don’t I know?”
“This is a short-range travel ship,” Lorne said.
My skin grew cold. I knew what that meant. “No weapons on board.”
“Exactly.”
The ship rocked again.
“Your Majesty, Captain ni Eneko is trying to get through to you,” the pilot said.
“Patch him in.” Lorne’s face was a mask of calm, but I knew he had to be freaking out, at least a little bit. Because I was totally freaking out. I couldn’t fight anyone from a ship with no weapons.
“I’ve got information from the STOs that we captured, Your Majesty,” Captain ni Eneko said.
Thank God. We needed some good news.
“Yes.” Lorne’s voice was flat and even. He was in full-on King mode.
“These are Aunare ships attacking you right now, but they’re manned by STOs. They have a specialized weapon on board. They’re not just here to take you down. They’re going to release it on Sel’Ani. We’re getting air support to you now, but—”
“It won’t get here in time,” Lorne said.
“No. I—”
“Did my father give them to SpaceTech?”
“Yes. It seems he’s been working quite closely with Jason Murtagh the last six months.”
Lorne’s aquamarine gaze found mine. “I’ll take care of it,” he said.
What was he talking about? How was he going to take care of this?
“We’ve got four ships chasing us,” the pilot said. “We can take about three more hits, and then our safety shields will be toast. This ship…” The pilot trailed off as his voice lost its cool. There was nothing scarier than a terrified pilot. They were the first ones to know when we were going to die. “It was the only ship that had been approved for flight from Yneia. It had no lucole dust, but…”
<
br /> “I understand,” Lorne said.
He did? He was calm. What was I missing? “Are there parachutes or what?”
Lorne gripped my face in his hands. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“No.” But I was suddenly terrified of what he was going to ask next.
“Good. That’s good. Because there are no weapons on board, except us.”
“You want me to blow up the ships from in here?” That was insane. I didn’t have that kind of control.
“No. I’m not crazy.” He grinned then, and it was all trouble. “The two of us are going to put on parachutes, and we’re going to go outside on top of the ship, and blow them up from there.”
Holy shit. He thought that was better? “You’re nuts. We’ll fall. We’ll die.” And that wasn’t even taking into account Mae’ani’s warning.
“No one—no one—is going to shoot us out of our own sky.” Lorne probably looked as determined and crazy as I did when I told him we were going to blow up Abaddon’s moon. I’d never seen that look in his eyes, but when his guards cheered, I knew that this was really happening. We were going on top of this ship and blowing up whoever was attacking us.
I laughed, but it came out sounding a little crazed. “Then, I guess it’s a good thing I’m nuts, too.”
“I can’t blow something up as big as a ship. My ability works on flesh and blood and small objects. I need you to blow them up, and I will stop the debris from destroying the city. Okay?”
I shook my head back and forth quickly. “No. No. Not okay. Yesterday, they were standing in front of me. I don’t know how to aim at something far away.” What if I blew up the whole city?
“Yes, you do. And you’re going to do this because I’m telling you to do it.” He’d flipped the switch inside him. He wasn’t my Lorne anymore. He was the King, and he was using his king voice on me.
It was working.
“Okay.” My voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere outside my body. “Okay. I’ll do it.” I knew I’d end up burning myself out again, but we didn’t have a choice. I had to trust that Lorne would take care of me.