No. Later. Just hold me now. Just let me know it’s over.
I’m so sorry, k’taama.
I’m not. She saw his memory of the victory over the World Eater. We did what we set out to do. We won.
She felt him exhale, the tension draining from the muscles in his back . . .
Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, Arizona, Earth, Sector Three
. . . and then they were sitting before the fire in the dance circle outside Geneva Twohawks’s compound. Several of the youngest dancers still shuffled around the well-tended flames. The drummers and singers kept up with the steady rhythm and the rise and fall of the chant. Here and there around the circle people were standing and beginning to move off in search of food and drink. Some didn’t move at all and were being tended to by caregivers.
Gabriel stood and stretched, his body stiff with long hours of sitting, his muscles taxed with the knowledge of injury and overuse.
Lana groaned as she worked the kinks out of her back. “God, how long have we been sitting there?”
Gabriel smiled and lifted a hand at the sky behind her. Dawn streaked the eastern horizon with pink and lavender.
“Christ.” She ran a hand through her unruly curls. “I feel like I could eat one of those—what are they called? Zorros? And sleep for an entire week. Where’s everyone else?”
“Safe, for the most part. They’re already in the food tent.”
She started in that direction, but Gabriel held her back. “I have one more job to do.”
He felt the warmth of her understanding. “Trevyn! Where is he?”
He pointed in the direction of the draw where their enemies had hidden. “I want to go look.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. It’ll be dangerous. I’m not sure how many will have found their way back from the mindfield. They may be injured, confused, certainly without leadership.”
“All the more reason for you to have backup.”
“She’s right, amigo. You’re not going in there alone.”
They turned to see the big starship captain saunter up, followed by most of the encampment.
Gabriel frowned at him. “Sam? Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring things from your bridge?”
“Ethan gave me a shout when the party was over. Figured you might need a little help with the mopping up.”
“I’d hoped to recover Trevyn’s body, maybe see to the ship.”
“Sure, man. I’ve brought a team. Let’s go.”
Gabriel turned to make another attempt to tell Lana to stay behind, but he could see it would be useless. She was already checking and reholstering her Glock, putting on her game face in preparation for another fight, this one in the “real” world. As they fell in behind Sam and the platoon of armored troops from the Shadowhawk, Ethan, Asia, Jack and the Navajo people who had fought with them through the long night watched them go. Gabriel could feel their energy—their love—surrounding him like a shield.
They moved out into the flat desert scrub, heading for a dark line in the gray light that marked the open end of the draw where the Bloodstalker’s men were holed up. They hit the broad ditch and dropped over the lip in pairs and threes. Then they started down into the gulch, weapons at the ready, eyes straining in the purple shadows.
Gabriel moved to the front of the line, exchanging a silent message with Sam. The captain maneuvered to keep step with him, protecting Lana from any fire from the front.
Cute. Think I haven’t managed a firefight before?
Indulge me, querida. Just this once. My nerves are shot.
You know what? Mine, too. I’ll give you this one.
Darker shadows flitted in the murk up ahead and murmurs came back to them. The Thranes were moving their dead and injured.
Gabriel called a halt. Sam sent troops crawling up and around the flanks as far as they could go without being seen. When he’d given them enough time to get into position, the Shadowhawk platoon hit the enemy with a blinding array of phos-lights and shouts of “Freeze! Drop your weapons!” in Thrane and Galactic Standard.
There was an answering shout of “Marazt!”—“Peace!”—and the Thranes began dropping their weapons and stepping back.
Lana put a hand on his arm. “Gabriel!”
He’d heard it, too. Though the voice was weak, the command it gave was not. “Trevyn?”
A man stepped from between several others, bloodied and leaning on a head-high staff. Several officers stood to either side of him, as if ready to catch him, but he shrugged them off. They scowled and exchanged worried looks.
Trevyn hobbled a few more steps and held out a hand to his brother. “Gabriel. I am glad you survived.”
Gabriel ignored his hand and embraced him. As soon as his arms went around him, Trevyn trembled and collapsed. Gabriel eased him to the ground, Lana rushing to hold him from the other side.
“We’d thought you dead, my brother.”
“It seems we Dars are not so easy to kill.”
Gabriel grinned. “My old teacher always said cut twice, measure once—for the coffin, that was.”
“Wise advice. And I think I will improve my skills with the sword after all.”
“It does have advantages over the staff.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t knock the staff.” Lana smiled at Trevyn, squeezing his hand. “That thing saved my life twice last night, thanks to you.”
The Thrane looked up at her, then quickly looked away. “I was honored to be of service to my brother’s bondmate.”
One of the officers hovering at Trevyn’s side could wait no longer. “My lord, we must return to the ship. You need medical attention.”
“The others?” Gabriel heard steel in Trevyn’s voice and felt pride for his sibling.
“All have been seen to, my lord.”
“Very well. Give me a moment.” Trevyn smiled at Gabriel and Lana and leaned on them as he struggled to his feet. Though he made an effort to shield it, Gabriel felt his pain through their contact. “I am captain of the Bloodstalker now and heir to our father’s title. I find I have little enthusiasm for the family business, however.” He glanced at Sam, supervising the last of the transport of Thranes to their ship. “I may have to look for a new line of work.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Retirement is not common on Thrane.”
Trevyn grunted. “Retirement is unknown on Thrane. And I will have rivals even on my own ship.” He clapped a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Be well, my brother.” Then he took Lana’s hand and brought it to his lips. “My sister. May your bonding be a long and happy one.”
As the swirl of the dematerialization beam took him, Gabriel saw him glance at Lana one last time with heartbreak in his eyes. He thought to search his link with Trevyn for the answer to that expression, but he let his brother keep his secrets of the heart. Gabriel had no doubt Lana was his alone.
They made their way back to the compound, weariness beginning to weigh them down. In the tent, the victorious fighters were wolfing down eggs and steak and frybread, sharing their stories of how they had each engaged the enemy. Gabriel and Lana helped themselves to heaping plates of food and cups of coffee and found the Roberts family and the Dineh elders at one table near the front of the tent.
Jack was already asleep with his head on his arms on the table. Lana sat down next to him and reached out to touch his dark hair.
“Tough work blowing monsters up, huh?”
Asia’s arm slipped around his small shoulders. “Pretty amazing.”
“For us—and for him.” Ethan caught Gabriel’s gaze. “He’s still so young and we have no experience with this. How are we supposed to help him through it?”
“He needs training. I can help you find a teacher. Other than that, your love is all he needs.”
Asia looked up, her smile showing her relief. “Thank you—both of you. You never gave up on us. We’ll never forget it.”
Geneva Twohawks placed a hand on his shoulder. “Neither will m
y people. We will sing many songs about the bravery of the man who led us to this victory.” She lifted her voice and turned to face the tent full of her battle-weary friends and neighbors. “Hear me, elders. Listen, all my brothers and sisters in arms. Tonight we have shown ourselves worthy in the eyes of the Old Ones. We have defeated a great enemy and protected our people. We have destroyed an evil that has preyed upon not only our world but many others. We must never forget their names—Spirit Hunter and his mate, Fire Heart; Timewalker and her husband, Still Water; and most of all young Striking Stone, killer of the Nameless One. These people were once outsiders. Now they are all Dineh, great heroes of our people. Let us sing of them, and this night, forever.”
EPILOGUE
Nashville, Tennessee, Earth, Sector Three
A few days later they left the bungalow in Nashville with its little family safe again inside. On the sidewalk in front of the house, the summer sun spilled yellow light across the lawn, warming their shoulders.
Gabriel lifted his face to the cloudless sky and sighed. “I have one thing I’d like to do before we leave.”
Lana tilted her head at him. “I thought Sam was waiting for us. I’m all packed.”
“Are you in such a hurry to leave your home?” Gabriel smiled at her, hiding his worry. She had given up everything for him with so little objection.
“Well, I . . .” She glanced at the houses up and down the street. Then her eyes found his. “My home is with you now, Gabriel. Wherever that is.”
“Still, there is one place on this planet I’d like to see again before we leave. Sam will wait.”
There was a taxi driver at the curb with his engine running. Lana raised an eyebrow when she saw him.
“Is that for us?”
“You no longer own a car, remember? And this is a one-way trip. We’ll have the ship pick us up from there. I believe you call it ‘beaming aboard,’ though exactly why is lost to me.”
He had given the driver their destination ahead of time, so he had the pleasure of laughing at Lana’s frustration when they pulled away from the curb with no clue as to where they were going. He distracted her with kisses and conversation and took the precaution, too, of shielding the place in his mind. His k’taama had become quite adept at slipping in and out of his thoughts, at sharing his emotions. She was comforting and stimulating at the same time. He hardly knew how he’d lived without her.
The taxi reached an intersection and followed the turning to the left to head out of town. Lana looked up at him with a bright, knowing grin.
“We’re going to the Narrows.”
He lifted his shoulders. “Maybe I only want to take a ride in the country.”
“Fine.” She settled back against the seat. “But I want to stop at the Narrows and look at the river.”
“Your wish is my command, mi amor.” Anticipation tightened his chest.
He picked up Alana’s soft hand and held it resting on his thigh as he watched the countryside slip past the window. The fields, full and lush with growth; the trees, green and bending in the mid-day breeze; the road, curving ahead into the summer’s heat. This place, Lana’s home and Ethan’s family’s, so very different from the desert where Geneva Twohawks’s people lived. He catalogued every detail.
Soon enough, they turned down a smaller side road, and finally left the road altogether for the dirt track that led to the river. The driver rolled to a stop in the gravel turnout below the bridge where Gabriel had talked with Lana their first day together.
He turned from the front seat and frowned at Gabriel. “You sure this is the place, man?”
“Yes, this is it.” Gabriel and Lana got out of their seats and went around to the back of the vehicle. “You can just drop us here.”
The driver popped the trunk and came around to gawk at them while they removed their few small bags from the back. “You just want me to leave you out here in the boondocks? How you gonna get back?”
Gabriel held out a wad of cash. “Don’t worry. We have some friends meeting us here.”
The driver looked them up and down. “You don’t look like you’re going fishing to me.”
Lana laughed out loud. Gabriel just smiled.
“We’re not.” He gave the bills in his hand a tiny wave.
The driver gave it up and shook his head. He took the bills, his eyes widening.
“Thank you, sir. Y’all have a nice day.” He slammed the trunk shut, got back behind the wheel and left them alone.
The bend in the river was just as it had been the first time he’d seen it, with the sun throwing diamonds off the rippling water and a fan of sandy pebbles at the river’s edge. Insects hummed in the afternoon heat, and from the reeds nearby he could hear a bird—Lana’s memories told him it was a redwing blackbird—repeating its call. Beneath it all was the burble of the water over the stones—soothing, sensual, unchanging.
Lana slipped her arm around his waist. “This is what you wanted to see one last time?”
He turned to her. “No.” He pulled the clasp from her hair and let the golden strands fall around her shoulders. “You, standing in the light of your sun, in this place that has meaning for you. That’s what I came to see.”
Her lips curved upwards as she stepped back from him. Piece by piece, she began to remove her clothing, her eyes never leaving his. His pulse quickened, his blood heated as little by little her body was revealed there in the sun. First her shoulders, the creamy skin sprinkled with tiny freckles. Then her breasts, full and round, the tips tight with arousal in the stimulus of the open air. The smooth plane of her belly, the tantalizing curve of her hip. The taut length of her leg. And finally, her thighs, opening to the nest of curls that hid what he longed to explore.
When the last stitch had been shed, she laughed and ran for the water. He stripped and followed her in, and they tangled together in the stream, smooth, warm skin contrasting with the cool, flowing water. Her mind welcomed him as quickly as her body, letting him feel the liquid heat of her need for him deep in her core as her legs folded around his waist and pulled him closer.
Molten fire spread from his chest to his groin and made him shake. He was poised at her entrance, unable to hold back. Querida.
Yes, now, baby. Don’t make me wait.
She moved, he thrust and he was in heaven. Deep, deeper. Again and again. So hot and slick and clutching him as if she would never let go. Her heart beating with his. Her soul linked forever to his. Nothing in the universe but the two of them. Feeling her spiraling out of control, the way her body in the beauty of orgasm made him want to give her more and more until he shattered under the wonderful pressure of it.
Lana floated in the water, her legs still wrapped around Gabriel’s warm body, his arms still holding her close. Under her lips, the pulse at the side of his neck was returning to its normal, steady rhythm. And around them, now that she had stopped moaning, the insects thrummed, the blackbird sang, the river gurgled as they always did, undisturbed.
She swallowed a small lump in her throat.
She was ready to go, she really was. She had lost faith in the agency she’d given years of her life to, and it was only a matter of time before her actions in the Arizona desert caught up to her. She’d handed in her resignation with little regret. Nothing held her here now. Her life was with Gabriel. There would be other beautiful places in the universe. But to think that this might be the last time she would see this place. The last time she would hear a blackbird sing—
--K’taama. We can come back anytime in our minds. It’s the reason I came here today. To make certain I remembered every detail. For me, as much as for you.
She let go of the tears she’d been holding back, grateful that she wouldn’t have to put into words the emotions that gripped her.
He held her for a long time, then lifted wet fingers to wash the tears from her face. “Come. You’re shivering. And Sam won’t hold the ship forever.”
Lana pulled away from him and used the riv
er to clean up as best she could. “God, I must look like crap!”
Gabriel was already onshore and stepping into his jeans. “You look beautiful, as always.” He tossed her a towel as she waded out of the water.
“You lie, but at least you came prepared.”
He watched her as she finished dressing. “Ready?”
She took a last look around, then nodded. Her mouth went dry.
He reached for his comm unit. “Cruz to Shadowhawk. Do you read?”
“This is Shadowhawk. Go ahead, Mr. Cruz.”
“Tell Captain Murphy that we’re ready for pickup at these coordinates.”
“Aye, sir. We are standing by D-Mat on your mark.”
“Understood.” Gabriel positioned her close to him. “On my mark in three . . . two . . . one . . . mark!”
Lana felt a strange tingling, like her entire body had suffered a sudden return of circulation after the blood had been cut off. Then the scene in front of her went black, to be replaced with a new one: the interior of a smallish room that appeared to be lined with milky blue glass. There was a door and next to that a window looking into the room, the control room for this “transporter.” She expected to see Mr. Scott appear any time now.
Instead, the door opened to admit Sam and Rayna. Lana drew in a breath as she caught her first sight of the big man in his role as captain of the Shadowhawk. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, exactly, since, Gabriel had explained, his ship was his own, not a military vessel. But the black pants and padded overshirt he wore had a paramilitary feel to them and only accentuated his wrestler’s physique. Rayna was wearing something similar in a softer, reddish color. She looked lovely—and deadly.
Their smiles, though, lightened the effect. Sam stepped forward with a grin and took her hand. “Welcome aboard.” He nodded at his friend. “Amigo. Just about left you behind.”
Lana saw Gabriel shrug as she and Rayna exchanged hugs. “Some last minute things to attend to.”
Sam looked from Gabriel to Alana, then glanced down at his wife. “Gotcha. Well, no more putting it off—we’re about to leave orbit. Want a last look at the old rock, Lana?”
Trouble In Mind (Interstellar Rescue Series Book 2) Page 35