The Wraith turned away to look back at others who shimmered behind him.
“Seize the girl.”
No.
Van roared, his feet slammed into the ground and he launched himself at the Wraith.
He wouldn’t let them touch his Amerii.
The Wraith’s hand slipped from around his throat and Van struck at him, growling with frustration when his hand went harmlessly through the Wraith’s body. Van tried again, a growing lust for violence burning inside him. The Wraith would pay for what he had done and for threatening to hurt Amerii. He wouldn’t let anyone near her. He would protect her with his life if that was what it took.
A surge of bloodlust stronger than he had ever felt crashed through him and his teeth elongated. The world brightened until it was painful, the sunlight turning everything white. He didn’t care. Violence. Death. Bloodshed. It would all be his. The Wraith would die this time. He would make sure of it.
The Wraith backhanded him and he slammed into the wall, hitting the floor a moment later. His head spun but he immediately pushed himself back up onto his feet and launched himself at one of the other Wraiths. A quick glance around revealed that the other Wraith had gone. Only the commander and one subordinate remained. He would give anything for an anti-Wraith weapon around now.
A hot prickling feeling crept down his spine and out along his arms. It burned deep in his chest. Rage. The bloodlust was taking complete control. He couldn’t stop it. Even as he battled it, it grew stronger, pushing at the boundaries of his mind and overcoming it.
Darkness filled him.
The world drained of colours and sound.
And then it turned as red as blood.
He had never experienced this before, the other side of bloodlust. He had never crossed the threshold to the place where it ruled him and his actions, trapping him in his own body.
He hit the wall again and before he could get up and attack, the Wraith commander had grabbed him around the throat. Van sneered at him, swiping with his claws, growing increasingly frustrated each time they passed through the Wraith without inflicting damage.
Damage.
Blood.
Destruction.
Death.
He wanted it all. He wanted to feel his enemy’s blood on his skin. He wanted to smell it in the air. He wanted to see the light of life fade from his eyes.
Van stretched out, shoving his hand deep into the Wraith’s chest. The Wraith commander recoiled, dropping him, and screamed in fury. Van grinned.
It seemed that Wraith’s weren’t so impenetrable after all.
He threw a punch towards the Wraith’s chest again, aiming for the same point that he had attacked a moment ago. He had felt something in there. A heart perhaps. Some vital organ that the Wraith couldn’t easily shift into smoke. The Wraith blocked his attack and the other one left him. Van growled at him, angered by the fact he was escaping and the fact that he knew where he was going.
He wouldn’t let them take Amerii. His weakness had placed her at risk again. A sense of shame mingled with the rage inside him, pushing his blood to boiling point as he grew angry both at himself and at the Wraiths. What if they had taken Amerii, his mate?
“Mate?” the Wraith commander said, an amused ring to his words. “You have mated with a Lyran female.”
Van growled and leapt up, trying to hit the point over the Wraith’s chest again. The Wraith swatted him away, catching him in the stomach and sending him crashing into the wall again. He hit the floor hard, every bone in his body aching from the impact. Pushing himself up, he told himself to keep fighting, to prove that he wasn’t weak and to restore his honour by protecting his mate.
“Soon she will be here... I will have her brought to us so you can watch her die as I watched my family...”
Van sprung off the floor and punched straight through the Wraith’s chest. His fingers closed around something and a victorious smile twisted his lips when the Wraith screamed again. Before he could get a better grip, the Wraith’s hand was around his throat, pulling him away. Van kicked out at him, growling and struggling to get free. The Wraith’s eyes narrowed into a black look, his grin widening.
Van slammed into the floor again, his back pressed hard against it, the Wraith’s hand still locked tight around his throat. He grasped at it with both hands, trying to take hold of it as he choked. The world dimmed a little.
“Perhaps I shall make you pay a little first. Your precious Lyran female could be dessert,” the Wraith said with a lascivious smile.
Before Van could retaliate, the Wraith had struck him hard in the stomach. Van doubled up, choking as he tried to breathe and winded from the punch. The Wraith hit him again and he shut his feelings down, taking the beating without making a sound. The Wraith could hit him all he wanted, could rip him apart, but he wouldn’t give him what he wanted. He would show no weakness. No matter what happened to him. He would not give the Wraith the satisfaction of seeing him weak.
His senses receded, the bloodlust fading as he started to lose consciousness.
Tired and throbbing with pain, Van slumped against the dusty floor, saving the remaining shreds of his strength. If they captured Amerii, he would need the last of his strength to save her. He would find a way to protect her.
The Wraith released his neck and kicked him in the side so he rolled onto his front. He grimaced as the Wraith took hold of his wrists and pulled his arms behind his back, locking something cold and solid around his wrists. Varkan steel. Van smiled at the irony of that. The Wraith commander must have found the cuffs in the facility. What Van had once used on his enemies was now being used on him. It was what he deserved for his weakness. The Wraith pulled him up so he was kneeling.
Van hung his head forwards.
He should have been on his guard. He shouldn’t have let Amerii distract him. By allowing her to do so, by pandering to his desire for her attention, he had placed her at great risk. He was weak. Shameful.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the other Wraiths return.
His head felt heavy.
His body felt broken.
But his heart held on, unwavering, strong, even as he feared he would never see Amerii again.
“Commander,” the new Wraith said. “Three Heavy Armours are coming this way.”
The last thing Van saw was the Wraith commander’s grin. The last thing he felt was his forehead slamming into the ground. The last thing he heard was gunfire.
Darkness swallowed him.
***
Amerii screamed as she blasted her way through the small dusty settlement, her Heavy Armour pounding the dirt. This hadn’t looked like a particularly dangerous area when they had been approaching but her two Varkan friends had immediately begun firing their laser rifles. The moment the shots had hit the buildings, white shimmering beings had appeared and attacked them. She remained sandwiched between the two Varkans, shooting at any Wraith that dared get into her line of fire.
When she hit one, it shrieked and seemed to destabilise, falling apart before her eyes. She shot another and moved forwards, intent on reaching Van. More Wraiths crowded the passages ahead of her. He had to be that way. They were protecting it.
“This way,” she said and motioned to the Varkans. One caught the arm of her Heavy Armour and held her back.
“Cover yourself, your highness,” he said and she frowned at him.
She turned in time to see the other Varkan step forward and shoulder his rifle. It built up a charge, whining high as the end of it glowed red. The moment he released the shot, she fell backwards into the Varkan behind her, the blast knocking her off her feet. She stared in amazement as it tore through the Wraiths, killing most of them in an instant and leaving the rest missing limbs.
She hadn’t realised that she could do that with her weapon.
Her comrade behind her pushed her back onto her feet and she followed the first Varkan into the building.
He collapsed in front of h
er eyes and she barely had time to leap to the side and avoid the green blast that had ripped through him. The other Varkan landed heavily with her, covering her. He fired at the Wraith, disintegrating it and then stood, pulling her up off the floor. She ran to the other Varkan and pulled the Heavy Armour over.
Blood covered the inside of the visor.
Amerii swallowed hard.
“He is gone, your highness. We must move fast,” the other one said.
She had never seen anyone die. Before she could take it in, the remaining Varkan was forcing her to run. She gathered herself and shouldered her gun again, intent on reaching Van even though she was petrified. Suddenly she was frighteningly aware of how fragile she was compared to her enemy and how much danger Van was in. She had to get to him before it was too late. A part of her said to ask her comrade what the Wraiths would do to Van but she couldn’t find her voice. Fear stole it. What if he said that they would kill him? She didn’t think that she would have the strength to continue if those words left his lips. And she had to keep going. Even though her legs were tiring, becoming tense from the adrenaline turning to fear, and her heart was missing beats as it pounded hard against her ribs, she had to keep going.
She had to save Van.
She wouldn’t let them take her mate from her.
A galaxy without him was one she wanted no part of.
Setting her jaw, she straightened up, raised her gun and locked it tight against her shoulder, and stormed forwards. Van was in that building. She knew it. There she would find him and she would save him.
The Wraiths would pay for what they had done.
As they entered the building, she blasted any Wraith that appeared in her field of view, her eyes darting about the screen as she struggled to understand the readings. In the bottom right corner was an image of what was happening behind her. The Varkan officer was bringing up the rear, his aim impeccable compared to hers. Her gun shook in the Heavy Armour’s hands, a reflection of her own trembling. She fought against it, but her fear was overwhelming. Now was a time to be strong. Her blood was strong, her lineage that of kings and generals. She was strong. It was time that she proved that to the world, even if no one saw it. It was time she proved it to herself.
She broke through into a new area and fired off several rounds, holding the trigger to build a stronger charge than normal. The bolts tore through the Wraiths, clearing her path, and she pounded on.
An alarm flashed in the corner of her screen. Two fighter ships were outside. A sonar image of them came back. She breathed a sigh of relief when she recognised them as Lyran. She would have to thank her captain when she returned. He must have called for the fighters the moment she had left. It would have taken them some time to enter the atmosphere from the Nebuz-Lyra VIII.
She frowned when she saw that the path behind her was empty. Turning, her eyes widened when she realised that she was alone. She couldn’t see the Varkan officer. She turned on the spot, scanning for him. They must have been split up. There was no time to go back to find him. She had to keep going.
She had to find Van.
She moved through room after room, sometimes having to shoulder her way through the doors. The Heavy Armour was too wide for some of the corridors so she had to find another way around. The building was a maze, half of it collapsed into nothing but rubble. Most of the ceiling was missing. The bright sun blazed down, blinding her sometimes in the seconds that it took the visor of the Heavy Armour to react and darken.
A heat signature appeared on her screen and she moved towards the red blip, her gun at the ready.
Turning a corner and entering a room, her heart leapt into her throat when she saw the owner of the heat signature.
Van.
He knelt on the floor, his arms restrained behind his back and his head hung forwards. Bright light shone down on him. On the floor beside him were pieces of his visor. The screen of the Heavy Armour assessed his vitals and she was relieved to see that while his injuries were severe they weren’t life threatening. She moved towards him, intent on rousing him and getting him away before more Wraiths appeared.
Just as she was about to bend down to break his restraints, something slammed into her and she flew across the room. The Heavy Armour hit the wall, knocking it down. She landed in a heap on top of the splintered blocks, her heart thundering and her breathing fast. Lifting her head, she scoured the room.
Only Van.
That couldn’t be right. Something had hit her. She was sure of it.
The red screen of the Heavy Armour said different. There was nothing there except Van, and he was still unconscious.
Besides, she didn’t think he was strong enough to throw a Heavy Armour across the room. There was something else here. Something phenomenally strong.
Getting to her feet, Amerii slowly scanned the room again. The diagnostic showed nothing out of the ordinary. Walls, ceilings, doorways, and Van. Everything she could see was apparently everything there was.
Not even the sonar was showing anything different. The corridors around them were empty.
She stepped down from the broken wall and began towards Van again.
“You certainly are persistent,” a voice said, deep and menacing, straight into her head.
She turned as quickly as she could in all directions. Nothing.
“I dare you to try again.”
Ignoring the threat in the voice’s tone, she walked towards Van. She lifted the gun, locking it tight into her shoulder and moving with it the way she had seen Van move with his rifle. Wherever her head turned, she turned the gun.
Still nothing on her screen.
Her breathing was loud inside the helmet, hot too. Her heartbeat pounded in her skull. Her left arm ached from where she had hit the wall.
Although the Heavy Armour had taken the brunt of the impact, it had still hurt her.
The moment she was within arm’s reach of Van, she was struck again and sent skidding across the floor.
“Foolish,” the voice said, taunting her. “Did you think I would allow you to free him? I am not finished with him.”
Amerii got to her feet again. Still nothing on the screen. She was beginning to get annoyed now. Whoever owned the voice should have the guts to show his face. She ran over his words in her head. Not finished with Van? He damn well was. There wasn’t a chance in Madjar that she was about to let anyone hurt him now that she was here.
Her eyes widened when a bright shape shimmered across the screen of her helmet and disappeared.
A Wraith?
“Very perceptive,” the voice said in her head. It had an amused ring to it. “For a Lyran.”
She gasped. How did it know that?
“You think in Lyran... a female? Let me see... the princess dear Commander Aeris was so worried about... his mate.”
Amerii tried hard not to think anything but it was impossible. Her thoughts flashed back to that moment in Van’s bedroom when he had claimed her as his mate and bonded with her.
“Disgusting,” the Wraith said and shimmered into being right next to her.
Before she could look up at its full height, it had backhanded her, sending her crashing to the ground again. Her legs twisted in the suit and she cried out when the muscle in her calf burned with pain. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself back up quicker this time. She raised her gun and aimed at the Wraith. With a roar, she fired round after round at it, tracking it around the room as it appeared and disappeared, dodging her.
Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Commander Page 10