by May Sage
“I'm on my way back. Should be there in an hour.”
“Oh! Well, I just wanted to chat about that proposal of yours. It doesn't have to be now, if you're busy.”
“I’m not, princess. Just tired. But I'll sleep when I'm dead. Meet me.”
That's when her resolve to keep things professional had started to go south. When she got to the address he gave her, he'd looked so incredibly hot and all those pheromones got involved. Hence why it really, truly wasn't her fault. She'd grabbed his neck, pulled him close, and jumped up to wrap her legs around him before he'd even closed the door or said a word.
When they were both sated, exhausted, and comfortably sore everywhere, she just spelled out her problem.
“My crew wants to open the shop. But I want to carry on having sex with you. If you do me a favor by pushing my application through, that's not going to work. I don't,” she said firmly, “sell pussy.”
Hart looked shocked, as though the idea had never even crossed his mind.
“Holy fuck, you certainly like to make things complicated.” He sighed. “Alright. Fill in an application, I’ll push it on someone else’s desk, then it’s out of my hands, and you’d only get it out of your own merits.”
Sounded all well and good, except for the part that her application wouldn’t have made it to the desk of someone qualified to file for months, if not years, according to what Earl had told her.
“It’s still a favor.”
Hart wasn’t in the mood to hear it. “Don’t be ridiculous. In this world, people get ahead using their network of acquaintances every day. I wouldn’t make much of a partner if I didn’t support you when I could.”
Partner. She was pretty certain that her jaw did hit the floor upon hearing that term from his lips.
Hart kissed her shoulder. “I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? I’m going to have to do a little more convincing before you accept me, I think.”
And she might have protested, if his notion of convincing didn’t involve his tongue on her poor little overworked clit.
Eighteen
In the Darkness
Seeing Kai Lor Hora with a female at his side, smiling softly and whispering sweet nothings to her, was quite strange, but Hart soon got used to the energetic, positive female. Nalini Nova. She was right for their leader in a million ways. She completed him; where he was hard and harsh, she was softness, rounding off his edges, making him almost seem like a normal, regular guy.
Almost.
Hart understood it. He was in the same boat. Everything in his world was peaceful when Dara was around.
Dara, the regular Evris. He frowned, wishing that it didn't matter, but while she was his, all his, body and soul, inside of his apartment, his ship, the back of her shop, or the small room where she slept above it, he would have sworn that she'd voluntarily break her own leg rather than stand to accompany him out the door. Dara always had an excuse that explained why she didn't want to go out.
He got it. She'd accepted him, Star, and the three members of his crew, but to her, mages were still something negative in her mind. He was going to have to somehow change that if they were to actually click as more than fuck buddies. And he wanted to. Goddess Light, he wanted, needed, her beside him. He couldn't explain it. If he'd been like his sister, he would have said sappy words like fate and destiny. She was his other half. Every time he touched her, he felt complete. It was quite similar to the bond he had with his twin, if one were to omit the sexual aspect of it. Like together, they'd been two parts of one thing.
He was not letting his sister catch him saying anything like that.
Still, after a few short weeks, he knew exactly where he stood with her. It was time to show her, let her understand what they were, what they could be. That meant somehow making her accept the part of him that terrified her, deep down.
He needed a plan of attack.
“Ready?” Kai asked, pulling him from his inner thoughts.
His leader was adorned in a white and gold robe, as befit his station as warlord. The title suited him so well. Next to him, his lady was wearing the exact same clothes made to fit her size, and blushing when she caught Hart studying her. Kai thus distinguished her as more than a passing fancy; he was declaring her his lady, his consort. It came as no surprise.
“Very much so.” He had been looking forward to this Council; finally, it would be time to bring up the issue on Aremeta. He couldn’t openly talk of the Matlarians, given how many supporters they had, but explaining what he’d seen on the planet was going to make things interesting. He’d ask for a vote about declaring war. Not that it mattered, as Kai would be the one to decide in the end, but Hart wanted to gauge the reaction, see who completely rejected the idea.
The Council was held in the Sphere, a large circular atmospheric ship that floated over the city, a fancy of the previous warlord. Gaudy, but there was no other building made to comfortably accommodate all the senators and lords. Inside, it was built like a dark amphitheater.
Hart smiled politely at Nalini, telling her, “The frock suits you. Welcome to the coats.”
Most of Kai’s entourage called politicians that way; Hart found that he didn’t mind. After all, they had a point, he did wear his robes more often than not.
They’d arrived early. Hart took a good seat and saved one for his sister next to him. Kai and his female were on a platform in the middle of the room. Hart smiled kindly.
“Late again?” he asked when Star rushed in minutes before the Council was scheduled to start.
She shrugged. “If the gates are open, I’m not late.”
Hart shook his head. Could he be more different from his sister? He felt like he was late unless he arrived fifteen minutes early to everything.
Come to think of it, Dara was a little like Star in that respect.
In many respects.
The Council started. Hart amused himself by watching Kai’s consort a few times. Nalini had attempted to listen and watch, paying attention for all of two hours; then she grew bored and started doodling, her eyes vacant.
He got it. There was nothing interesting about tax reforms to someone who didn’t have an agenda.
Hart did. He let everyone mull over the meaning of increasing the fuel tax; the influx of cash it would bring might allow them to build necessary infrastructure in their districts or spend more on education. Some might even think that it would just line their pockets comfortably. Wrongly. Hart—and Kai—would never let that happen.
All that was a prelude to his actual point: the Aremeta system would be incredibly valuable, once annexed and ruled by Ratnarians. They’d have to pay nine percent of the income brought from selling fuel; and all their legal income came from selling fuel.
Hart knew that some Evris wouldn’t be moved by his discovery. Traps and slaves and other such terms were no concerns of theirs. They’d argue that wars were costly. This was the perfect way to rally the people without a heart, and to truly leave no one but the Matlarians on the sidelines.
Hart felt a change in the air, and his eyes went directly to the source of the strange, potent wave of power. He looked at Kai, at first, but then moved his eyes to Nalini.
Strange that he hadn’t noticed before, but she emanated the same aura as Kai. Now he saw her make use of it, he wondered just how strong she was. The next instant, within a few seconds, a bomb hit the side of the ship.
“All of you, get down on the ground immediately, arms covering your heads!”
The voice held so much authority he didn’t think to question it; he ducked, and another bomb hit, taking a huge chunk of the ship with it.
They’d been blasted out of the sky, and they were falling to the city. Fast.
Hart reached blindly in the darkness, letting his instincts choose the direction of his hand. He felt soft fingers and gripped them firmly.
Hart didn’t purposefully choose to do anything; he doubted that Star planned her move either, but a powerful burst of
energy grew in their interlinked hands. Golden strands. Hart had never seen power like this; he couldn’t begin to describe or comprehend it. It felt cold and warm, strong and soft. It felt like darkness and light.
The twins let it grow for an instant, before instinctively releasing it. The golden strands exploded in millions of barely visible, shiny particles around them. What they were, Hart really couldn’t say. All he knew was that those who’d been hit around them were healing at a rate he’d never seen, even when Star got involved. Fatal wounds closed, severed limbs reattached themselves if they were still close enough, or cauterized.
They’d helped a lot, somehow, but it wasn’t enough. The Sphere’s fall would kill most of them.
Hart should have cared. He should have been worried about Kai, Nalini, some of his acquaintances. The lights had been destroyed; he couldn’t see them, he was too panicked to try to feel them.
He found that he didn’t actually give a shit right this second.
He lifted his hand toward the closest wall and destroyed it. It wasn’t like a new hole would make that much of a difference. Pulling Star along, he jumped down toward the planet’s surface.
“Are you fucking insane!” his sister yelled.
Possibly. Probably.
For the first time since he’d had it fitted some twelve years ago, Hart activated his exosuit. A thin, almost imperceptible layer of nanotech coating covered him from head to toes.
Here goes nothing…
Seeing the ground approaching, Hart attempted his best to rotate his body in order to land feet first. The instant his suit understood his meaning, he felt his weight increase around his boots, pulling his legs down.
Hart braced for impact, yelling, “Hang on!” to Star, who’d closed her eyes.
There was no need for any of the theatrics, he landed comfortably in a crouch as though he’d just jumped five foot down, rather than a goddamned mile.
Holy fuck, the damn suit had somehow nullified the impact. How the hell hadn’t he used the suit before?
“Star?”
“Yep?”
“I fucking love technology.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
He turned to his left, and then looked up to the Sphere. He felt power around it; a recognizable power this time. Kai was keeping it floating, making it come down more slowly, preventing casualties. But he was one person, he needed all adept mages helping. Hart’s place was here, doing what he could for his peer.
“We’ll be okay, brother. Go protect your girl.”
Star was smiling at him, meaning every word. He only hesitated an instant before starting to run left with all his strength, all his power, and the exosuit’s help.
Dara’s store wasn’t far from here. He was no expert but the likelihood of debris falling down that way was too fucking big for his liking.
Hart pushed himself to run faster.
Finally, he was there. Dara and her crew stood in front of him, eyes on the Sphere in wordless horror.
One of the biggest parts detached from the ship was heading right at her, at them.
If Hart had been Kai Lor Hora, he would have stopped the tons of materials, but he wasn’t. He knew his limits. He was the destroyer. If he attempted to push her out of the way, he could end up tearing her spine, or worse, considering the way his magic worked.
He also knew his own strength.
Rushing forward faster than ever before, he ran, and physically shoved her back with his hands, using the exosuit to exponentially increase his physical force. He didn’t have the time to see if she’d made it without breaking anything, if she was far enough to avoid getting hit. The next instant, the wall fell on them and there was nothing but darkness.
Nineteen
Bonds
For a while there was only numbness. Disbelief. What her eyes had seen couldn’t have actually happened. It just couldn’t have.
Then, Dara screamed, and screamed, and screamed, so hard her dry throat started to hurt. She tried to advance, only to find that she’d fallen to her knees. She didn’t seem to be able to get to her feet, so she crawled, crying, screaming obscenities.
Everyone who mattered in her life, everyone she loved, was under tons of metal and concrete. It had come from the sky without warning, and she couldn’t have moved even if her limbs had allowed her to.
But he could. Hart the invincible was capable of everything, including saving her life, and condemning her to live in a world without him, without Kaur. She dug with her bare hands, cutting herself. The few stones she moved made no difference, she knew, but she kept on digging nonetheless, feeling so fucking hopeless.
She had to get to them. What if one of them was still alive, suffocating under there? And even if they weren’t, their body didn’t belong under some junk, crushed, broken.
Help. She needed help, now.
“It’s alright. You’re alright, sweet.” She’d never heard a voice quite as soft, comforting, reassuring.
Dara lifted her head to find a familiar blonde female smiling down at her kindly.
“There, let me.”
She took Star’s hands in hers, and for the second time, a rush of healing energy coursed through Dara’s exhausted limbs, giving them a new life.
“I can’t heal you completely today. I have to save my energy for them.”
Them?
She didn’t know if she asked out loud, but her question went unanswered, nonetheless. A deep, dark, powerful, and unfamiliar voice came from behind her, making her realize that she and Star weren’t alone.
There were a dozen Evris who all looked like they’d hiked their way through hell to get here.
“They’re all alive under there.”
Dara blinked. Any other time, she might have watched that male with a lot of suspicion and some fear, because he wore power like some wore perfume. It floated around him, obvious to all. Dara guessed that this was Kai Lor, the all powerful warlord of their worlds. It could be no one else.
A wiser person would have shivered and run, but right now, she could have hugged the male.
“Hart managed to shield them,” Star explained. “He’s weak, though. He can’t hold it for long.”
“He won’t have to,” the male replied.
He lifted his hand and concentrated. Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead.
“You’re overtaxing yourself after that mess up there,” Star told him. “I can help.”
“You’ll be more efficient once we get them out,” another Evris protested, stepping in.
It was a female, scantly dressed in black and pink, who somehow managed to look badass in her miniskirt and high heels.
She moved to stand next to Kai, taking his hand. The others behind her joined them, touching their leader’s shoulders, arms, wrists. They were lending him power, Dara realized, perversely fascinated by what she saw.
Kai’s magic was a thing of beauty, almost palpable, definitely visible when he used a lot of it. With his companions’ help, all he had to do was wave his hand; the tons of debris were lifted from the ground, hovering in mid-air for an instant, before tidily piling up on the sidewalk.
Underneath, there was a shimmery, translucent, green cocoon that was quick to disappear.
Dara’s breath was stuck in her throat. Kaur, Earl, Wilm, Laeri, Raff, even Zee, everyone was just fine.
Except him.
Hart lay on the ground, a large rock underneath him. His spine was out of place. His breathing seemed shallow, labored. Dara heard loud, ugly cries, without quite registering that they came from her.
Dying. He was dying.
He couldn’t leave her alone in this world. He just couldn’t. They might have only met recently, but Dara felt, at the bottom of her heart, in her soul, that he was hers. Hers to love, hers to cherish, her to live and die with. She’d never survive losing him. She didn’t even want to.
The instant those thoughts crossed her mind, something in her changed. No, it had been there all al
ong, it was as if it clicked into place.
Star scoffed, forcing her to pay attention.
“You really ought to know more about us if you intend to stick around my brother, you know.”
The blonde female stepped in, kneeling next to her twin, and pressed her forehead to his, gathering his broken body in her arms.
There was no sound, barely any movement, yet Dara would have sworn she heard a timeless lullaby whispered in her mind. Star was singing to her brother, directly into his head, she guessed, and somehow, she was hearing it.
Dara was too exhausted to question it or even question her sanity.
“You’re draining yourself,” said Kai Lor, a warning to his tone.
Star wouldn’t hear of it.
“Star, you wouldn’t be any good to him dead. Stop, now. He’ll be just fine.”
“If I stop now, he’ll never walk again,” she replied.
“But he’ll live?” Dara heard herself ask, her voice so thin and weak.
The female nodded. “Then, who the fuck care if he walks? There are speederchairs for that. I’ll carry him if I have to. Don’t kill yourself, he’d never forgive you for that!”
Dara spoke with great authority because she felt like it was his opinion coming out of her mouth. Like she could feel him, hear him.
She didn’t know what pushed her to step forward, kneeling next to Star. She had no business in the affairs of mages, no doubt she’d only get in the way. But just like Kai’s companions had done for him, she touched Star’s bare arm, and asked, “can you use me?” Whatever strength she had, she’d give it to Star if she could.
Hart’s twin opened her mouth to protest, Dara saw it in her features, then surprise crossed her eyes and she said in wonder, “I can. Somehow, I can tap into you.”
Without another word, Star absorbed her energy.
It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. On the contrary, Dara would have described it as awkward, because there was something almost sensual about it. Finally, Star sighed.