by Eve Langlais
Wulff could see the battle in her gaze. Treasure or lover.
A long time ago, he’d made the wrong choice. Chose winning over affection, and he knew now with a clarity that came with experience that he’d hurt her. Helped turn Ursy into the prickly fighter she became. Taught her to put winning above friendship.
“Do what you have to,” he said, resigned to his fate.
She tossed the knapsack—with a treasure large enough to retire several times over. He watched it sail past him to land in the lava, where it sank with a ghostly scream that made all the cogs in his body shiver.
Despite the loss of what amounted to more wealth than anyone could spend, his heart swelled as Ursy grabbed hold of his wrists and pulled. “Damn you for giving me that cookie,” she mumbled, making no sense.
He’d no sooner reached the top of the slender spire than the building began to lean, the lava below destabilizing it. With the end nigh, he held Ursy tight and whispered in her hair. “ I wish we’d had longer together. Time for me to tell you how much I love you.”
“Oh, Wulff. I swear if by some miracle we survive, I’ll give you a dozen babies.”
She kissed him. The last kiss they’d share, but if there were some mecha gods and a heaven, then maybe they’d end up together in the afterlife.
The building tilted hard enough he felt them slipping; only they didn’t fall. A bubble of air wrapped around them, and they began to float.
She opened her eyes and said, “What’s happening?”
Staring overhead at the belly of a ship he recognized, he grinned. “We’re going to need a really big house!”
The rescue bubble was sucked into the belly of a ship, and the outside door sealed before it popped. The door to the tiny chamber remained closed while decontamination lasers went over every crevice in their bodies, disintegrating clothes and sending his weapons clattering to the floor.
He glared at the video eye watching. “That wasn’t necessary.”
“I saw you kissing my sister.” Zak’s flat reply through the intercom system.
“Zak! How did you find us?” Ursy asked, snaring the jumpsuit in a compartment in the wall.
“Long story. Meet us on the bridge.”
Having been on Zak’s ship before, it didn’t take long for him and Ursy to make their way. When they arrived, they found Ray with Zak, the pair of them with curious gazes.
“Sure glad you came along when you did,” Wulff exclaimed, pulling them both into a backslapping embrace.
“Seems kind of coincidental,” Ursy muttered aloud. “Were you following me?”
“Not intentionally,” Zak said, shrugging.
“Then how did you find the planet?”
Ray and Zak eyed each other. “It’s complicated.”
Wulff snorted. “Apparently.”
An alarm sounded, drawing their attention to the viewscreen in front of them. The ship had exited the atmosphere of the planet, but they still saw as the lava took over the entirety of the surface, swallowing the temple and its secrets. Almost killing them in the process.
“What caused the lava to freak out? Did you set off a bomb or something?” Ray joked.
Ursy didn’t smile.
Ray’s lips turned down. “Wait, you did that?”
“Not on purpose.” Wulff shrugged. “How was I to know a teeny tiny hole blown into a mecha temple would stop the mighty world clock and cause a planet-wide disaster.”
Ursy’s helpfulness? Pointing at him and saying, “He did it.”
“You found a temple?” Zak’s brows rose higher than anything fixed should have been capable of.
“Found and lost.” Ursy sighed. “You should have seen the gears we collected. As good as, or maybe even better than, the God Gear.”
“And you lost them?” Ray almost squeaked.
“It was that or Wulff died.”
Zak eyed him. “I am surprised at the choice.”
“Things have changed,” Ursy mumbled.
“Yup.” Wulff reeled her close and declared, “We’re now a couple.”
Ray and Zak blinked, probably waiting for her to gut him.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Ursy snarled.
Zak cocked his head. “Say what? We knew you two were going to end up together since we were children.”
Which earned Zak a punch to the gut from Wulff. When Ray dared laugh, Ursy hit him, too.
Before she could do more damage, Wulff upended her over his shoulder and said, “I’m going to take her somewhere to calm down.”
“If you don’t put me down, you’ll regret it,” she declared as he stalked out of the room.
He waited until they were out of sight to slap her butt. Hard. “Behave.”
“Or what?”
“Or we won’t have sex.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes.”
She remained quiet for a few tics then said something completely off topic. “There was something wrong with the gears in that temple.”
“Yeah.”
“Should we tell the others?”
“Tell them we heard voices and we think they were evil?”
As he flipped her to her feet in the guest quarters aboard Zak’s ship, she bit her lip. “You don’t think they’ll believe us.”
“I am hoping that whatever infected those gears died on that planet. And you know what else died?” He drew her close. “My urge to find any more.”
She lifted her lips to his. “Why, Wulff, are you suggesting we retire?”
“Depends. How many babies did you say you were willing to make again?”
“Let’s start with one and see how it goes. I deactivated my contraceptive cog.”
It took three orgasms before he was satisfied he might have done the job.
While she slept, he took a knife to his thumb and pulled out the cog that had caused him so much trouble. Then he dropped it down the waste chute.
When the next load was incinerated, and the ring melted, the vapors permeated the metal of the ship.
But by then, Wulff and Ursy were home, arguing about who should take out the garbage.
Epilogue
Moments after dropping off the happy, squabbling couple…
“Don’t tell me we’ll need to attend another freaking wedding,” Zak muttered with disgust.
“I thought for sure we’d be attending a funeral,” Ray said. “I figured she’d bed him then kill him.”
“I knew she wouldn’t, which is why you and Jwls owe me.” Zak grinned.
“Well, I’m going to wager first that they mesh their cogs in marriage, and in the Mecha Temple itself, not one of those knock-off churches.”
“I hope not. I mean, why tie yourself down?” Zak made a face.
“Yeah, stupid,” Ray muttered. “Speaking of which, what are we going to do with the woman?”
The one currently locked in the cargo hold and not talking to them. The same one that they kind of stole from the Obsidian Market. The seeress who told them where to go in order to arrive in time to rescue Ursy and Wulff.
Zak stroked his chin. “She knew where that planet was, meaning she probably knew about the temple.”
“Pity they didn’t save any of those gears,” Ray lamented.
It almost made Zak sob when he found out Ursy sacrificed a bag full of them to save Wulff. “Especially since she could have bought a look-alike clone for a fraction of the credits.”
But apparently his sister wanted the real thing.
“How would Nema know the temple was there, though?”
“Maybe it called her like it did Wulff and Ursy.”
Zak shook his head. “That can’t be it. She’s completely humanoid. Not a single gear inside her.” A fascinating thing, especially given her perfection despite not having a single upgrade.
“I’ll go talk to her.”
“You handle the ship. I’ll talk to Nema.”
The males spent a moment glaring at each other, an
impasse broken only by a dulcet voice, hinting at amusement. “I’m here. Why not both speak to me?”
“How—" Zak never did finish the sentence.
The female they stole from the auction, having escaped the ship’s jail cell, shot him and Ray.
And then stole his ship with them all on it!
* * *
See what trouble Zak and Ray get involved with when they encounter—and kidnap—the mysterious Nema in Spinning Wheels.
For more science fiction romance, see EveLanglais.com