He bowed his head to the floor and nodded. “I understand. We all understand, and we’ll do it.”
18. Chapter 17
A week later, Jasmine and Rex met Callan, Rocor, and Warku in the forest. Rocor looked all around before he spoke. “Are you sure it’s safe out here?”
“If it’s not safe here, it’s not safe anywhere,” Jasmine replied.
“We would see anybody coming close enough to hear us,” Callan added.
“Well, we can’t go on the way we are,” Warku returned. “The whole Keep is under lock-down. If the tension gets any higher, the whole place will explode.”
“We have to sit tight,” Jasmine told him. “General Duncan already suspects something. She’s pushed the team to leave more than once. She can’t understand why we don’t do it.”
“Has she ordered you to leave?” Callan asked.
“She hasn’t come right out and given me a direct order to withdraw, but she’s come close. I wouldn’t be surprised if she does it in the next day or two.”
“What will you do if she does?” Rocor asked.
Jasmine held up both hands. “I really don’t know what I’ll do. We have to come up with some more plausible pretext for staying on the planet. We already gathered all the information we told her we wanted to get. We’ve concocted a fake medical examination report to hide your dragon characteristics. I don’t know what else we can do. If we contravene a direct order, she’ll will know for certain we’re up to something. We want to delay that as long as possible.”
“We have to act soon,” Callan replied. “I’ve already stayed much longer than I intended. I have to get back to Harkniss Keep and warn the Clan what’s going on. I can’t let the Allies storm the Keep without alerting them.”
“How would you get there?” Rocor asked. “You can’t fly away without the Allies seeing you.”
A branch snapped in the trees behind Jasmine. The whole party spun around, and Jasmine’s jaw dropped when Colonel Torrence stepped out of the trees. He smiled at Jasmine and Rex, but when he saw them in close conversation with the Krataks, a shadow crossed his face. “Commander?”
Jasmine tried to play it cool. “Hello, Colonel. Nice day for a walk.”
Colonel Torrence’s face pinched. He kept surveying the Krataks’ frowning faces. “What’s going on out here?”
“Nothing,” Jasmine stammered. “We were just talking.”
The more he looked, the more he stiffened. “What were you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Jasmine insisted. “We were just talking about the situation in the Keep. The Krataks are uncomfortable with so many Allied personnel inside their Keep. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“You don’t have to come out to the forest to talk about that,” Colonel Torrence countered. “I think you better come with me and discuss this with the General Duncan.”
He took hold of Jasmine’s arm. Rocor jumped forward and seized his wrist. “Get your hands off her.”
Rex put out his hand. “We don’t need to turn this into a confrontation. If you’ll just let me explain, Colonel....
Colonel Torrence rounded on him with his jaw set, but at that moment, something caught his eye on the southern skyline. Jasmine followed his gaze, and her heart tumbled into her boots. A bright green dragon soared over the mountain, dipped along the treetops, and headed straight for Assan Keep.
Rocor and his brothers stared in horror at the sight. Only Colonel Torrence failed to recognize the dragon flying in. It was Freya returning. Jasmine’s stomach turned. Freya had no idea what was going on at the Keep. She had no idea the Allies occupied the Keep and the whole surrounding area. She knew nothing about it.
Before Jasmine could react, Colonel Torrence dropped her arm. He jammed his hand into his belt and whipped out a gun. Jasmine’s hand shot out to stop him, but he shoved her out of the way and swung the gun up to take aim at the dragon.
Freya wagged her head back and forth to scan the forest, but she didn’t see the danger. She was flying way too fast for that. She flapped her wings, and the wind whistled across her scales. Colonel Torrence aimed to fire. Nothing stood in his way. Nothing stopped him from shooting Freya out of the sky with his first shot.
Jasmine screamed, but she was too far away to intercept him. She covered her eyes, but at the last second, Rex launched himself forward. He grabbed the Colonel’s arm and wrestled the gun against his chest. The gun went off, and a sizzling crackle echoed through the forest.
Callan and Rocor rushed forward and pried the two men apart. Callan slammed his big hand against the Colonel’s chest to push him away. Four men’s arms untangled at the same moment. Colonel Torrence stumbled one way and Rex stumbled the other.
Colonel Torrence caught his balance, but Rex kept falling. He staggered and landed flat on his back on the ground. Even before he stopped moving, Jasmine saw the round burn etched in his chest. His shirt hung tattered and blasted clean through. The frayed strings around the hole’s edge smoked.
Blood and burned flesh smoldered under that ruined shirt, and Rex didn’t move. Jasmine rushed forward and fell on her knees at his side. She tried to lift him, but his weight stuck him to the ground. “Rex! Rex! Get up, Rex! We’ll get you inside, and Ron can fix you up.”
He screamed when she tried to move him. She dropped him, and his limbs bounced where they landed. He turned his head aside and groaned. “Leave me. Don’t touch me.”
Jasmine’s throat tightened, and her voice cracked with unshed sobs. “You can’t die on me, Rex, not after everything that’s happened. Come on, Rex. I need you. Don’t you dare die on me.”
He dragged his eyes open. “I’m sorry, honey bunch. I tried. I really tried, but I can’t help you anymore. You’ll have to do this on your own now.”
“No, Rex,” she whined. “Don’t do this to me. I can’t do this without you.”
He lifted one hand to touch her cheek. “I never stopped loving you. I never wanted anything but to love you. If I can help you this way, I’m glad to die. I’m glad I won’t have to live without you anymore. Watching you love someone else hurt too much.”
“Don’t say that, Rex,” she pleaded. “You’re not going to die. We’re gonna get you off this planet. The doctors will fix you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. Promise me you’ll safeguard this planet. Promise me you won’t ever give up until you save it.”
She nodded. She kissed the hand cradling her cheek. “I promise.”
He turned his head toward Rocor standing there. “Take care of her for me, will you?”
Rocor nodded. “You have my word.”
Rex smiled one more time at Jasmine. Then his head slumped to one side. His eyes closed, and his hand fell to one side. Jasmine collapsed over him and sobbed on his chest. “No, Rex! No!”
A voice startled the whole party. “What’s going on?”
Jasmine jumped off Rex’s body to find Freya standing nearby. Freya stared down at Rex. She glanced at Colonel Torrence and her brothers.
Colonel Torrence whispered under his breath. “You’re...you’re a dragon!”
Jasmine rounded on him with a feral shriek. “Is that all you’ve got to say after you just killed this man in cold blood?”
Colonel Torrence took no notice of her. He didn’t take his eyes off Freya. “I’m going inside to tell General Duncan.”
Jasmine lunged at him. “Don’t!” She caught his arm. “Please don’t do that.”
Colonel Torrence shrugged her off. “You knew about this, didn’t you, Commander Forsythe? You knew about this all along, and you kept it hidden. I’m sure General Duncan will want to have a few choice words for you. She won’t allow you to stay on this planet to thwart the Allies’ agenda any longer.”
“Please, Colonel,” Jasmine cried. “Please, just stay here and listen for a minute.”
He shook his head and started to walk away. Jasmine cast a desperate glance around at her friends. What could
she do to stop him? Before she could think, Freya rocketed forward faster than a blur. A brilliant green streak shot past Jasmine’s eyes.
The next thing Jasmine knew, the green dragon spread her wings and landed square on Colonel Torrence’s back. She flattened him to the ground. Her head whipped forward on her neck, and her wings hid his body from view.
Jasmine froze in her tracks. She stared in stunned horror as the green dragon folded her wings across her back and took the form of a tall woman. Freya turned around to face her brothers. She passed her knuckles across her chin. “Well, we don’t have to worry about him telling anybody.”
Jasmine’s hand flew to her mouth, and she choked back sobs. Freya came to her side. “Don’t worry. No one will ever find out what happened here.”
“We’ll dump him down the ravine,” Warku growled. “We’ll make it look like a wild pig gored him.”
“What about Rex?” Jasmine asked. “How will we hide what killed him?”
“We can’t let anyone see his body,” Rocor replied. “We’ll have to hide him, too.”
Jasmine turned away. She couldn’t look at these two dead men anymore. She couldn’t stomach so much killing and heartbreak in one day.
Freya took her arm. “Come on. I’ll take you inside.”
Jasmine sank into Freya’s comforting presence. She let Freya lead her into the Keep. Callan came behind them, but Jasmine didn’t see what Rocor and Warku did with the bodies. She didn’t want to see.
On the way inside, Freya murmured into Jasmine’s ear. “I brought you good news from the Ulasso. They’re ready to join us to combat the Allies. If we attack right now, we could drive them off the planet.”
“At least wait until we pass word to the other Clans.”
“How will you do that?” Freya asked. “No one can fly away from the Keep with so many Allied ships around. They would see us.”
Jasmine paused inside the Keep entrance. “Callan wants to return to Harkniss Keep. He can sneak out and travel on foot to the other side of the mountains. Once he’s out of sight, he can launch. He can fly fast enough to spread the word.”
Freya turned to Callan. “Are you willing to do that?”
He nodded. “I can leave right now. I can be in the air in a few hours.”
Freya took hold of his hand. “All right. Do it.”
Rocor and Warku appeared in the Keep entrance. Rocor nodded to the her. He and Warku had done it. They’d hidden the bodies, God only knew where. At the same moment, footsteps crowded into the passage from the other side. Jasmine caught her breath as General Duncan and a host of Allied personnel trooped toward the entrance. Jasmine’s teammates trailed behind. “Ah, I’m glad you’re here, Jasmine.”
Jasmine froze. “You are? Why?”
General Duncan pointed toward the entrance. “Our scout ships just spotted a dragon flying over the forest. I’m leading a hunting party to go find it. We can’t have dragons flying around when we’re trying to conduct air operations, can we?”
Jasmine cast a sidelong glance at Freya. General Duncan would never know the woman standing right in front of her was in fact the dragon in question. Jasmine couldn’t laugh at the situation.
General Duncan swept her finger over the assembled Krataks. “You people know the surrounding countryside best. Some of you can come with me. You can show me where to find it.”
Rocor held up both hands. “I’m sorry, General. I have to visit my dying father. We have family business to discuss. I won’t be able to leave the Keep.”
General Duncan looked around one more time. She couldn’t tell one Kratak from another. She pointed at Callan and Warku. “You two. You can come.”
“Callan doesn’t belong to this Keep,” Jasmine pointed out. “He was just about to leave to go home to....”
General Duncan already walked away. “We’ll be back in a few hours. Colonel Torrence is in charge until I get back.”
All the Allied soldiers, officers, and pilots followed her out of the Keep. Jasmine and her friends watched the party out of sight from the Keep entrance. “Now what are we going to do?”
Freya spoke up behind her. “I’m going back to the Ulasso.”
Jasmine spun around to face her. “Now?”
Freya nodded. “The sooner I get there, the sooner we can launch an all-out attack.”
Jasmine shook her head. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea. We should hold off a little while longer.”
Dana came forward. “I agree with Freya. We can’t keep delaying. We’ve all fallen on the side of the Krataks—no one more than you, Jasmine. We can’t keep playing both sides. Let’s fight out in the open.”
Freya grabbed Jasmine’s hand. “Listen to me, Jasmine. This tension can’t go on forever. Hostilities will break out eventually, and we can’t wait for the Allies to attack us in their own good time. We have to start this ourselves if we want to get the maximum advantage. I’ve got an idea. The Ulasso will stage a surprise attack against the Keep. The Allies will never see them coming. When they do, all of us and all of you will fight with the Ulasso from the inside. We might just be able to make a large enough dent in the invasion force to drive the Allies off the planet. That’s why I’ve got to fly back to the Ulasso now. I’ve got to give them the word to attack this Keep with everything they’ve got.”
“Are you sure?” Jasmine asked. “This will bring down the Allies full might on our heads. You realize that, don’t you?”
“That’s exactly what we want,” Freya replied. “We want the Allies to send all their forces here. We’ll weaken the Allies to send a message to the rest of the Alliance. Other worlds will stand up and fight, too. The Allies will have to divert resources to quell their resistance, which will make us stronger. With any luck, we might even defeat them.”
“This is a great idea,” Sophia chimed in. “The sooner the Ulasso attack, the better.”
“We all want to fight,” Ron added. “None of wants to sit on our hands anymore.”
“Come on, Jasmine,” Dana exclaimed. “Don’t keep dancing back and forth between one side and the other. You can’t have it both ways.”
Jasmine looked around at the shining faces on every side. “You’re right. I have been playing both sides. I never really threw myself into this—until now.”
Freya clapped her hands. “Good. I’m off and away. All of you get down to the armory and get your weapons before General Duncan gets back. Hide them in your rooms, or whatever you have to do. Just be ready to fight for all your worth as soon as the Ulasso turn up.”
A bubbly mixture of voices dispersed in all directions. Freya hurried down the mountainside and disappeared into the forest, on her way back to the Ulasso’s desert home. Jasmine watched her friends leave. They showed a lot more excitement at the prospect of war than she could muster.
Rocor touched her arm. “Congratulations.”
“On what?” she asked.
“On breaking the last shackle of your past. I thought you would never do it.”
She sighed. “I guess I never really gave up being with the Allies. I always thought I could make it all work out in the end.”
“Maybe you have.”
The team’s voices echoed off the stone walls. They called back and forth to each other, and Jasmine heard laughter.
Rocor took her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
She didn’t question, not until he took her back to her own bedroom. “What’s this all about?”
He drew her down on the bed. His arms sheltered her from everything outside. She hid her eyes from the world.
He breathed into her hair. “Are you ready for this?”
She lifted her face to kiss him. “You know I’m ready for it anytime you are.”
“I don’t mean that. There’s a storm coming, and you’re going to be in the middle of it. You’re the leader of the resistance.”
She groaned. “Don’t say it like that.”
“You always have bee
n. This has been your fight from the beginning.”
She buried her face in his chest. Leader of the resistance? Those words made no sense. She never wanted to be leader of anything. She was a biologist, not a fighter. “I can’t stop thinking about Rex.”
His hand covered her head. “I understand. We don’t have to do anything if you’re too upset about it.”
She rose on her elbows to peer down at him. “I want to. I want to now more than ever. I just can’t stop thinking about him. Being with you makes me think of him.”
Rocor laughed. “So, I remind you of him? That’s great.”
She swatted his arm. “That’s not what I mean, silly. He told me to protect the planet. He told me never to give up.”
“Well, what does that have to do with me?”
“I’m where I belong. I’m part of this planet now. Rex gave his life so I could give mine to you and this planet. I couldn’t leave it if I wanted to. I can’t leave you.”
His eyes bored into her soul, but she didn’t quake and squirm under that gaze now. “I’m where I belong, too. I belong with you. I understand that now. I never thought you would fully commit yourself to me and my people, but you’ve done more than anyone to protect this planet. No one could fault you for that. I trust you now, and I never want to let you go.” He laid her hand on his heart. “Stay here. Stay here with me.”
She leaned over to kiss him. The old fire burst forth in her, but sadness tinged her happiness, too. If only she could have loved Rex the way he loved her, he might be alive right now. He didn’t want her to think that way, though. He gave her into Rocor’s keeping. Rex wanted her to be happy with Rocor, and she was.
She shifted on top of him, but he surged off the bed. He pushed her down, and his weight hammered her into the mattress. He covered her mouth, and he wrestled her hands above her head.
She studied his eyes above her. The patterns covered his cheeks and forehead. They filled him to overflowing. They would overflow into her in a moment. They would tie these two bodies together, never to be torn apart.
Rocor (Dragons of Kratak Book 5) Page 12