Return of the Ascendant (The Ascendant Series)

by Raine Thomas

  A light sliced through the darkness as she fell. An explosion of acrid dust blew around her as the hold on her arm disintegrated. She fell face-forward into a wall of muscle. Her momentum propelled them down, but they didn’t tumble and break their necks. Somehow, Ty managed to grab her in mid-flight and jump her down to the next landing as though it was nothing more than a short hop.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied breathlessly. Outside of my heart nearly blowing up in my chest, she silently added. “Please help Avana.”

  “Stay with me,” he instructed, even as he turned and raced back up the stairs.

  She didn’t question him. After confirming he had cleared the lower stairwell of Shelvaks, she hurried to keep up. Avana had managed to pick up her cell phone. Between the two phones and some evasive maneuvering, she had avoided serious injury. Within seconds, Ty destroyed the three remaining Shelvaks.

  Sam raced down just as the last of the dust settled. His gaze ran over Kyra as though assuring himself she was okay. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.

  She saw blood on his forehead. When she looked at Ty, she realized his forearm had been sliced open. Avana’s wrist was swelling where she’d been struck, and a dark bruise was forming near her temple.

  The only one uninjured was her.

  This was all her fault. She wanted to apologize to everyone, but she didn’t have time. Ty grabbed her around the waist. Before she could even think to protest, he leaped down the remaining stairs one whole flight at a time until they stood at the bottom. Avana and Sam stood beside them before her bare feet ever touched the ground.

  The door leading out into the lobby of the dormitory stood ajar. Kyra heard voices and commotion as the dorm monitors and students who still remained at home tried to resolve the power issue. Bright beams from flashlights and dimmer glows from candles broke up the darkness. Ty extinguished the light sword.

  “Looks like we’re gonna get busted,” Sam said. “Good thing I won’t be here to face the music.”

  “Here,” Avana said, pulling a tissue out of her huge purse. Kyra realized she’d lost her own purse somewhere in the scuffle. “We don’t need more questions than necessary.”

  Avana worked at mopping up the blood on Sam’s face. Biting her bottom lip, Kyra looked from Sam to Ty. She reached for Ty’s injured arm, but he pulled it out of her reach.

  “I heal quickly,” he said.

  Her hand fell back to her side. She tried to convince herself she wasn’t offended by the fact that he didn’t want her to touch him. He rubbed his arm on his black shirt, removing most of the blood. His arm was almost completely healed.

  “Nice,” she said, intrigued despite herself.

  Ty started through the door. “Let’s go. The Shelvaks will avoid all of this light.”

  They hurried out, not bothering to be clandestine. Heads turned. Jaws slackened. One of the men broke apart from the rest.

  “Who are you?” he asked Ty. His gaze moved across Kyra and Avana and settled on Sam. “Sam? Why do you all look like you’ve been hosed down with dirt? Are you responsible for the power outage? What the hell is going on?”

  Kyra had forgotten that they were covered in Shelvak remains. Her gaze moved down to her once-white and red dress. She winced when she saw the damage.

  “What do you think is going on, Jimmy?” Sam replied. “We’re just having a little fun. Don’t bother rolling out the welcome wagon. We’re heading out now.”

  “You can’t have chicks in here,” Jimmy said, looking personally affronted by the idea. “It’s against the rules. I’m going to write you up for this.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Sam said as they hustled across the lobby. “I’ll look forward to it. Make sure you detail how hot the chicks are.”

  Avana laughed. The sound eased some of the fear still banded around Kyra’s chest. They stepped out of the building into the warm night. She took a deep breath, wanting to cleanse her senses of the lingering scent of Shelvak. It didn’t help much.

  Ty paused for a moment as though getting his bearings. He briefly studied the night sky, then nodded. Turning right, he took Kyra’s arm and started walking along the cobblestone sidewalk at a brisk pace. All of the lights along the walkway were still lit. Kyra assumed they received power from a different source than the building.

  “Ow,” she hissed when she stepped on a stone. Not only had she lost her phone and her purse, her beloved shoes had been left behind.

  Not breaking stride, Ty lifted her off her feet. She wanted to argue, but knew it would be a waste of time. All she could do was cling to him and pray they weren’t attacked while his hands were full.

  They reached the student parking lot. Kyra expected them to head to either Sam or Avana’s car, but they approached a dark sedan she didn’t recognize. The symbol on the vehicle’s grill was something she’d never seen before. Judging by the looks of the gleaming black beauty, it was foreign and expensive.

  Approaching the front passenger door, Ty shifted her so he held her with one arm and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. She heard several clicks and a beep. He pulled the passenger door open and settled her into the seat. His eyes met hers as he quickly and efficiently snapped her seatbelt into place. She wanted to point out that she could do it. He didn’t have to treat her like a child.

  The look in his eyes stayed her tongue. In that frozen moment, she saw equal parts banked fury and desperate hunger. Something deep within her responded to the look, even though she didn’t understand it. If they’d been alone, she would have pulled him into her arms. She knew it with a certainty that shook her.

  Turning away from her, he locked the door and closed it. He strode around to climb into the driver’s seat as Avana and Sam secured their seatbelts. Kyra struggled to regain her composure as Ty opened his door and got in.

  The sound of the powerful engine turning over helped ground her. She turned and looked out the window at the lights of the university. Had it only been an hour ago when she was celebrating moving out of the dorm? It felt like a lifetime.

  Two years of memories ran through her mind as the vehicle shifted into drive. Years of studying, making friends, stressing, partying. Growing. Learning.

  She had thought she’d be making many more memories in the years to come. But as Ty pulled the car out of the parking lot and the school faded into the distance, she knew that she’d never see this place again.

  Chapter 6

  The vehicle was quiet as Ty followed the map in his mind to the location where the transition would take place. Sem and Avana had been prepared for this moment. They had no reason to converse, knowing what to expect. Kyr, on the other hand, still had no memories of her Alametrian life.

  Yet she believed them, he thought. Considering she was even then covered in Shelvak dust, he supposed she had little choice.

  Some might still have resisted the truth. People had a way of rationalizing even the most irrational things. She might have tried to convince herself that the battle with the Shelvaks had been carefully staged by her friends with props or the special effects humans used in films. She could have chosen to believe she’d been drugged or otherwise influenced to see something that wasn’t really there.

  But she didn’t.

  “What made you believe us?” he asked her in a quiet voice.

  She turned her gaze to him. For the first time, he saw the woman in the girl he once knew. Her time on Earth had changed her, he realized. Matured her.

  “Avana’s fear,” she said equally as quietly. “I knew she was genuinely afraid. She’s a terrible liar and even worse actress.”

  “She’s been lying to you for two years without you knowing,” he pointed out.

  “No, she hasn’t,” she argued. “Avana’s my friend. She just left out a few things about her background. I imagine she’s just as colorful on…”

  “Alametria,” he supplied.

  “Right. Anyway, I’m sure she didn’t
have to act much here.”

  “An interesting way to look at it.”

  He felt her gaze on him as he drove. Although he tried to read her thoughts, he couldn’t. Sem’s, however, were coming through loud and clear. He didn’t like the fact that Kyr was up front with Ty and not in back with him. He also wanted to know what they were talking about, since the engine and road noise masked their low voices.

  “Where have you been all this time?” Kyr asked. “If you’re supposed to be watching over me, why weren’t you here with Sam and Avana?”

  He hesitated, glancing in the rearview mirror as he considered his response. “I’ve been monitoring you,” he said at last. “But my abilities have been needed elsewhere while you’ve been training. No one else can do exactly what I can. Since Sem, Avana, and your Kyndred have been keeping a close eye on you, I knew you weren’t in any danger. Until the Shelvaks found you, that is.”

  She considered that in silence. Hopefully it was enough to satisfy her curiosity. He couldn’t give her any more information with so many ears in the vehicle. His other missions had been unrelated to her lessons on Earth.

  After they drove a few more miles, she asked, “Do you think I’ll remember anything about Alametria? Maybe my, um, birth parents?”

  Guilt rose within him, but he pushed it back. It wasn’t his fault the barrier between them was there. He’d damned well figure out how to get around it.

  “Yes,” was all he said.

  She nodded. Although he imagined she must have tons of questions, she didn’t speak again. Her gaze remained fixed on the passing landscape. The moonlight bathed her profile, enhancing her beauty. She looked calm and collected, but he sensed the painful loss that she did as she realized she’d soon be leaving this place behind. It was as though she was trying to memorize every detail, fearing she’d forget it as thoroughly as she’d forgotten her former life.

  Why could he sense her emotions and not read her thoughts? Was it because they originated in different areas of the mind? Whatever the reason, he sensed the emotion swirling through her and felt her tamp it down. That level of control was something she’d never conquered before. It surprised and impressed him.

  What else had she learned here on Earth? Had she finally learned…?

  A familiar pain made his forearms grow warm. Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he forced the thought from his head. He thought instead of the fight with the Shelvaks and the transition to come. Anything to keep his mind from dwelling on things it shouldn’t.

  Things it couldn’t.

  “We’re nearly there,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “If the Shelvaks found the university, it’s possible they have found the transition point. Everyone needs to be on their guard.”

  “Do you have another one of those light swords?” Kyr asked.

  His eyebrow rose. “They are called de’llums, and no.”

  “What about a gun? Do you guys use those? Maybe with lasers or something?”

  “No.”

  She gave him a disbelieving look. “You came to Earth without a gun?”

  “We stopped using projectile weapons some time ago. Why would you even need one?”

  Frowning, she said, “I don’t have anything to defend myself with. I don’t even have my phone or shoes this time.”

  “You have me.”

  She looked at him. He expected a sharp retort about what she conceived to be his arrogance, something she would have done in the past. But she looked worried, not irked.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she said. “All of you are at risk because of me. I can’t stand that.”

  Once upon a time, Kyr would have thrived on the knowledge that she was important enough to justify others risking their lives for her. She wouldn’t have thought twice about someone getting hurt to protect her. In fact, she would have expected it, maybe even demanded it.

  He knew on the last world she’d visited that she’d finally learned humility. Now, he knew she’d also learned to care about others beside herself.

  Which meant he was in serious trouble.

  Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he said, “It’s our duty to protect you. We’ll be fine.”

  Fortunately, they pulled into the parking lot of their destination before she could say anything else. His focus returned to the present situation. Once the vehicle stopped, they all studied their surroundings.

  The warehouse was abandoned and miles from any inhabited dwellings. Transitions always took place in such locations, as far from human view as possible. The Shelvaks knew this, though, which meant they could have reasoned out the location and set up a trap. He had no idea how many of them were on the planet. He and Sem had dispatched a good number of them back in the dormitory, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more.

  “Avana, did the vision you receive feature this location?” he asked.

  Her gaze moved from him to Kyr. “No, Dem-Shyr.”

  He knew that was as much as she would say. Divyners were forbidden to reveal visions until there was a reasonable certainty they were about to happen, and then only if they prevented tragedy. The craft of divination was an uncertain one. More often than not, the visions never became reality. Avana’s answer was good enough for him.

  Not seeing any movement, he opened his door, sending a thought to Sem to do the same. “Stay seated, Kyr. I’ll come around and get you. Avana, stay with Sem.”

  Kyr nodded. As Ty got out of the vehicle, he stood for a moment and sniffed the air. He’d deliberately chosen a spot downwind of the warehouse. Nothing unusual reached his senses.

  He glanced at the ground as he walked over to Kyr’s side of the vehicle. Small stones and a few shards of broken glass littered the parking lot. He wished he hadn’t made her shed her shoes. He’d have to carry her, which was troublesome for two reasons.

  One, he’d be handicapped in the event they were attacked because his hands wouldn’t be free. Two, she’d be pressed up against him, her warm, soft body—

  Stop it, he ordered himself.

  That was easier said than done. Her scent reached him as he opened the door. He couldn’t prevent himself from breathing deeply to take it in. She started to get out of the vehicle, but he reached in and picked her up.

  “Ty, you can’t carry me,” she protested, trying to wriggle free of his grasp as he shoved the door closed with his foot. “You have to be able to fight.”

  “If I have to fight, I’ll drop you. Does that please you?”

  She stopped squirming. He breathed a small sigh of relief. His attention then turned to the shadows at the edge of the warehouse. The parking lot lights still worked, but the warehouse itself was dark. The transition point was on the far side of the warehouse, so they’d be walking partially through darkness.

  “How does—?” Kyr started to ask.

  He shushed her, still listening to the environment. Her jaw clenched in frustration, but she held her tongue.

  Yet another change.

  Nodding at Sem, he started forward. They crossed the parking lot, their eyes moving and every sense on alert. Nothing seemed out of place. He didn’t expect trouble in the light, though. It was the walk through the shadows that concerned him.

  When they reached the edge of the parking lot, they paused. He glanced at Sem.

  You have your locator, correct? he thought.

  Yes. Avana has hers, too.

  Good. Draw your weapon. Let’s go.

  I should carry Kyr so that you’re free to—

  Ty silenced the thought with a look. Sem pursed his lips and drew his de’llum. His anger was easy enough to detect.

  Focus, Ty ordered.

  Sem nodded abruptly.

  They stepped out of the light. Sem took the lead, walking slightly in front of Ty and Kyr, lighting the way. Avana walked beside Ty on the left. She clung to her bag as though it offered her some form of armor.

  Just as they reached the back of the warehouse, Ty realize
d his error. The aroma belonging only to the Shelvaks hit him like a right hook. They had placed themselves so closely to the back of the building that their scent hadn’t reached the other side. It was more strategy than the Shelvaks had ever shown, but that didn’t excuse his failure to predict it.

  The shadows moved. Sem cursed and launched himself forward to draw the enemy away from the rest of them. Ty released Kyr and drew his weapon in one fluid motion, barely managing to deflect the weapon of a Shelvak who charged him. He mimicked Sem by pushing forward, trying to draw the enemy away from the females. His eyes scanned the enemies as he deflected strike after strike. There were no more than sixteen…two crews, since the Shelvaks worked in groups of eight.

  No problem.

  He and Sem made swift work of cutting through the Shelvaks’ lesser defenses. Although the Shelvaks were working on improving their fighting techniques, they were still nowhere near the level of the most skilled Alametrians.

  Nine, he thought as he dispatched another. Seeing Sem get one, he thought, Ten.

  He cursed loudly then. There were only four left.

  Turning, he left those four to Sem and ran after Kyr and Avana. They were running back towards the light. The two Shelvaks that had managed to break away from the group soundlessly pursued them, moving fast. The females were only a few feet from the light when Kyr cried out and fell hard.

  Fear gave Ty added speed. He all but flew the remaining distance to get to her. His de’llum preceded him, beheading one of the Shelvaks before the creature even sensed him.

  The other one swung its weapon at Kyr at the exact same time. Ty knew he’d never reverse his momentum in time to stop the blow. A furious roar issued from his throat.

  She rolled, taking a glancing strike across her shoulder blades. Before she’d even issued a scream of pain, he slayed the Shelvak who struck her. The death was far too swift, in his opinion.

  “Kyr,” he shouted.

  He dropped to her side and stopped her from turning back over so he could assess the extent of the damage. With Shelvak weapons, it wasn’t so much about the depth of the injury as it was the poison on the blade. He’d been regularly dosed with the poison since his youth, so he was immune to its effects. Kyr, however, had never been subjected to the deadly venom. He knew even the smallest dose could kill her.