“We’re friends of Kyle,” the shorter, boyish woman whispered. “I’m Toni. That’s Nicole,” she said, indicating the other woman.
Nicole suddenly shifted and sprayed the guard in the eyes. “Run,” she yelled.
❖
Laine knelt next to Cyrus, who curled into a crouch, his eyes squeezed shut and hands covering his ears against the noise and confusion of the battle. She spoke quickly, but kept her tone even. “Cyrus, listen to me. You have to stop this. You have to tell them to stop shooting at the warriors. Violence is always wrong. It’s never a solution. People should be allowed to believe as they wish, not threatened with starvation or sickness or violence unless they adopt someone else’s beliefs.”
Cyrus shook his head. “I am The Prophet. I am The One. They should listen to me.”
Laine wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He was trembling. “You are Cyrus, my husband, father to Thomas, Kyle, and Maya. You are a professor of cultural history.”
He shook his head, tears streaking his face. “Thomas is dead. My son is dead.”
“Our son,” Laine said gently. “He died a hero, saving an old woman and her small dog.” Tears streaked her face as Cyrus buried his face in her shoulder and began to sob like a child, like the softhearted man she’d married.
❖
Kyle ignited her blouse and skirt to fling off the burning remnants—stars, it felt good to be in battleskin and boots—and ran to where Tan was using flame to cauterize Second’s heavily bleeding head and shoulder wounds. “Will she be okay?”
“Unconscious, but vitals are good.” Tan looked up, and the warmth of their connection flashed in her eyes. Then she seemed to catch herself, and distrust shuttered her features.
Kyle didn’t have time to waste words. She knelt next to Tan. “I love you, Tan. You’ll have to trust that fact until I have time to explain.”
Hooves clattered on the platform, and Titan screamed as he landed next to his downed bonded. He exhaled flame over their heads, forcing back a group of armed believers who ran onto the platform toward Cyrus and Laine.
Azar landed lightly next to Titan, and Furcho slid from his mount. “Tan? How’s Second?”
“She’s stable but unconscious.”
He nodded, his eyes flicking to Kyle before scanning the people running about on the long platform. Was he looking for Nicole or Cyrus? As Third Warrior and with Second wounded, leadership fell to Furcho.
Kyle decided to take the decision from him. She stood. “If you can get Azar to calm Titan before he fries us all, I’ll go after Cyrus.”
Tan stood, too. “Not without me to make sure the job gets done.”
Kyle nodded. Tan’s distrust hurt, but she understood. “Together.”
❖
Maya was lifted to her feet, Toni grasping one arm and Nicole the other, and rushed off the platform. They’d taken only a few steps when they halted. Maya blinked, her world wavering between reality and vision. Not all of her foresight came to pass. This was one she’d hoped wouldn’t.
“Find The Prophet and bring him to me.” Xavier’s white teeth shone against his dark tan as he waved a cadre of armed men around him and up onto the platform.
He and two heavily armed bodyguards who flanked him still blocked their path. Xavier’s gaze flicked from the IC on his wrist to Nicole, then to Maya. “Opportunity smiles on us, my friends. We’ve come to collect Cyrus and a bit of leverage to control him.” He pointed out Maya to his guards. “This is Cyrus’s youngest daughter, our leverage.” He turned to Nicole. “And fate has awarded a second gift to us. If our spies are not mistaken, this young beauty is Nicole, the fiancée of Furcho, the formidable Third Warrior we met in Brasília.” He flicked his hand and one of his men pressed the barrel of a handgun against Nicole’s ribs. “We’ll take her with us. I think she’ll prove very useful.”
❖
“Prophet, you must come with us now.”
Cyrus was roughly pulled from Laine, who stood. “Leave him alone. He’s not going anywhere with you.”
But the men already were hustling Cyrus away. Head down, he wasn’t resisting. Laine couldn’t let them. She ran after them and leapt, hitting the closest man in the back with both her feet and knocking him into several others. They tumbled as she scrambled up and pulled Cyrus away. But there were too many. Three large men knocked them to the ground. One dragged Cyrus to his feet again while one pinned Laine’s arms so the third could tie her kicking feet together. She was thrown onto her stomach and her arms wrenched behind her back while they tied her hands. Laine was desperate. She raised her head and screamed for her only remaining weapon. “Kyle!”
❖
Tan and Kyle were at least twenty meters away when Laine’s cry for help rang out. As they sprinted forward, Tan threw up a protective wall of bullet-melting flame while Kyle’s exploding fireballs took out two of the eight men with laser-like aim before the group disappeared down the platform stairs. They ignored the stairs and leapt off the platform, only to skid to a halt.
Xavier stood next to a large transport, holding Nicole in front of him with a gun pressed to her ribs. “Ah, more warrior friends. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” He jerked his head at the men. “Get in the transport.” He smiled at Tan and Kyle. “I hate to be rude, but we don’t have time for introductions. Here’s what’s going to happen. Nicole is our get-out-of-Killeen-free card. In fact, she’s going to be our guest for a while, our insurance against further attack from your irritating little army. We’ll be in touch when we’re ready to negotiate her release.”
“No,” Nicole said when Kyle raised her hand. “He’s very serious. Tell Furcho not to worry. I love him.”
Xavier backed them into the transport, and the door closed. Tan touched the communication device in her ear and murmured quick instructions. The vehicle had barely moved when Phyrrhos, along with Michael and Apollo, landed next to her. A stunning, red-gold filly also landed beside Kyle, her red elliptical eyes pulsing and wings fluttering. Kyle was mesmerized as the filly danced around her.
“No time.” Kyle barely registered Tan’s growl before she was jerked up onto Phyrrhos’ back behind Tan. “You two can get to know each other later.” Then they were aloft, Michael and Apollo on one side and Raven and Potawatomi on the other. Furcho and Azar streaked past, and the night sky filled with dragon-horse warriors as they shadowed the transport to an airstrip. Kyle closed her eyes briefly as she wrapped her arms around Tan from behind. This wasn’t the time or place, but the soft brush of Tan’s Mohawk against Kyle’s cheek and the buttery scent of skin was like coming home. She nuzzled into Tan’s neck and kissed her ear. “Stars, I missed you.”
Tan stiffened, then silently rested a tentative hand over Kyle’s.
The transport sped down a long dark road to a remote airstrip and stopped next to a sleek silver jet. After a moment, Xavier stepped out with Nicole held tightly against his chest, his gun pressed against her ribs.
Azar, red eyes pulsing, blue flame spurting from his nostrils, landed several meters in front of them. Apollo, Phyrrhos, Potawatomi, and Bero touched down behind Azar.
Furcho dismounted and stalked slowly toward Xavier, his face a mask of fury, his voice low. “If you do anything to hurt her, I will burn you so slowly you will feel every layer of your skin blister and char black.”
“Protective, aren’t we, Third Warrior?”
“We have you surrounded. It will be simple for us to disable your plane. Let your hostages go and meet your judgment like a trueborn.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, dragon boy. The way I see it, I hold all the cards.” He turned his head and raised his voice without taking his eyes from Furcho. “Juan.”
Another man stepped out of the transport, dragging Maya roughly by her arm when she stumbled as he held a gun on her with his other hand. She cried out when the hard tarmac scraped the skin from her knees.
Kyle rushed forward. “You bastard.” Furcho’s upraised hand
stopped her charge.
A second guard appeared in the doorway of the plane, roughly holding Toni by her collar.
Xavier smiled again. “If you touch my plane, I’ll start by shooting the girl.” He shrugged. “Next will be Cyrus’s daughter. We still have the wife to keep him in line.” He narrowed his eyes. Nicole flinched as he grabbed her hand and shoved the gun’s barrel against her knuckles. “Then for every minute you continue to delay our departure, I will shoot off a piece of your girlfriend, starting with her pretty hand.”
Nicole’s eyes were wide with fear, and Furcho cursed.
Maya swayed, her eyes blank and unseeing. Her guard grabbed her around the waist to hold her up. “What the crap?”
“Maya?” Not now. Kyle had to think fast. “It’s a medical condition, probably all the excitement. Take me instead of Maya. She’ll be more trouble than you want for a hostage.”
Xavier eyed her. “Who are you, her girlfriend?”
Maya straightened, her pupils pinpoints in pools of iridescent green. Her voice was high and wispy as she began to speak.
“Moon’s magic, sun’s fire, Ghandi’s heart, and Odin’s sword. But first a trade, same heart, two souls will pay a debt long owed.”
Her pupils expanded, and Maya seemed to return to awareness. She looked directly at Furcho. “Do not be afraid. The shield will protect. Everything is as it should be for now.”
Furcho held her gaze for a long moment, then touched his ear to activate his communicator. He murmured instructions for the army to withdraw.
“Furcho, no.” Kyle was stunned. “Maya.” But Maya’s eyes were closed now, and she slumped against the guard as he half-carried her toward the plane. The others departed the transport and boarded the plane. Several men carried her mother, still bound, while her father followed meekly behind. She moved to go after them, but Furcho’s hand closed around her forearm. His fingers dug into her arm to silence her when she opened her mouth to call out.
Xavier watched them closely, waiting until everyone else was on the plane.
Furcho held Nicole’s tearful gaze. “Trust Maya, baby. Keep her and Toni close.”
Nicole nodded, offering a small smile. “We’ll be fine. I love you.”
Xavier backed away from them, feeling his way up the boarding steps so that Nicole was always between him and The Guard. Kyle had never felt so helpless. Who was this man? Where were they taking Nicole, Maya, and her mother? Simon had to be behind all this. She shook off Furcho’s grip and stepped forward.
“You wanted to know who I am?” Her shout rang out above the hum of the plane’s engine gearing up.
Xavier stopped in the doorway of the plane.
“I am Kyle.” A calm filled her so deadly, she felt as if she could shoot lasers from her eyes to his. Her voice had no tremor, no fear. Only resolve. “You tell Simon that Kyle is coming for him.”
Tan’s warm hands gripped her shoulders as the hatch slid shut and the plane taxied unchecked down the runway.
Chapter Twenty-one
Though daylight had come almost an hour before, the sun was just showing over the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains as Kyle followed Furcho in the line of weary warriors making their way down the steep trail to the new encampment.
Alyssa, frantic, met them where the trail emptied into the valley and construction of their permanent camp was already well underway.
“Furcho, what is it? I could feel it the instant you landed in the meadow.”
Furcho rubbed his eyes. Kyle had never seen him look so weary. “They took Nicole. She’s okay and Toni’s with her, but that bastard took her.”
Alyssa glanced at Kyle. “Cyrus?”
“No, Xavier. The guy Simon recruited in Brasília,” Furcho said. “I don’t think Cyrus is running the show anymore. Simon is.”
Kyle stopped next to Tan, who was watching Alyssa as her eyes went to the stretcher Raven and Michael carried that bore the still-unconscious Second Warrior.
“No, no, no.” Alyssa’s hand went to her mouth. “Not Danielle, too.” Tears flooded her eyes.
Tan grabbed Alyssa’s shoulders and shook her. “Listen to me. She’s unconscious but stable. I need you to help me, not panic, eh?”
Kyle could feel Alyssa’s overwhelming fear, her despair, and marveled at Tan’s strength in the face of it.
“You’re broadcasting, Alyssa. I need you to shield before we walk into camp,” Tan said softly.
Alyssa closed her eyes, and the anxiety that had gripped Kyle a moment before receded.
“Good. Now show us where the new clinic’s located.” Tan released Alyssa, and Kyle hurried with her to follow when Alyssa ran to catch up with Raven and Michael.
❖
Kyle slumped against the doorframe. She didn’t have to be an empath to feel the defeat that permeated the camp. She still couldn’t believe Jael had been killed in Brasília. The possibility that Tan could also die in battle chilled her to the very core. She didn’t know how Alyssa was surviving. She sighed.
She knew the dragon-horse army had slept little over the past week as they traveled to catch up to Cyrus’s group, and not at all in at least the past thirty-six hours. Yet Furcho sat on the porch of the new headquarters building, staring at the setting sun. Alyssa still kept vigil at Second’s bedside, holding her hand and constantly watching the vitals monitors for a flicker of change. At the end of the ward, Tan was hunched over the medical scanner, searching for something, anything she might have missed in Second’s newest scan that would explain why she remained unconscious. Kyle pushed off the doorframe and went to her.
“Tan, come shower and lie down for a short while.” She massaged the tense shoulders. “You won’t be any good to Commander Second if you collapse from exhaustion.”
She took Tan’s hand and led her to the headquarters building. Since this was to be a permanent camp, separate rooms and personal facilities had been built for each of The Guard. She pushed open the door to Tan’s assigned room.
“No furniture yet, but I managed to find a double airbed, some sheets, and basic toiletries for the personal facility.” She tugged open the closure of Tan’s battleskin, exposing the beautiful brown skin of her strong back. “You’ll sleep better if you shower first.”
Tan turned and her hands grasped Kyle’s, stopping her. “You expect after all that’s happened to pick up where we left off?”
“No,” Kyle said softly. “We both need to heal, but we can only do that together, Tan. It hurt me, still hurts that you were so quick to believe I would betray you.”
Tan turned away again. “If you hadn’t stopped me, Cyrus would be dead now. Second wouldn’t be in a coma, and Nicole would be here, safe.”
Kyle toed off her boots, then unfastened her battleskin and stepped out of it. She wore nothing underneath. It was a risk. Tan could throw her out in the hall naked. She padded to where Tan had gone to stare out the window and slowly peeled the garment down to expose Tan’s shoulders. She reverently kissed the curve of her neck. “Mom had just told me Cyrus had my younger sister stashed somewhere. If you’d killed him then, I might have never found her. I didn’t have time to explain that to you.” She wasn’t going to give up. She continued kissing along Tan’s shoulders, wishing she could read Tan’s thoughts as she stared out at the dying light.
After several long minutes, Tan closed her eyes. “On the platform, when Second hesitated to execute Cyrus, you left your sister and mother unguarded to save me from the guy shooting at me from behind, didn’t you?”
“Yes, and I’d do it again.”
Tan turned in her arms and searched her eyes. “Why, Kyle? Why would you do that?”
Kyle held her gaze. “Because if you left this life, you would take half of my heart with you.”
Tan dropped her forehead to Kyle’s shoulder. “I’m not worth it, Kyle. I didn’t trust you.”
Kyle cupped Tan’s sculpted cheeks, lifting her face and brushing her lips against Tan’s full mouth. “Stop pun
ishing yourself, Tan. You hurt the people around you only because you keep punishing that poor little girl from the hut so many lifetimes ago. She did the best she could.” She caressed Tan’s face and kissed her again. “And she grew into a beautiful soul who repairs a little boy’s hand, heals the sick, defends The Collective, and is a fantastic lover.”
Tan blinked back tears as her hands began to roam tentatively over Kyle’s back, then along the slope of her hips. “I don’t know.”
Kyle smiled at her uncertainty. “Try for me? For us. Stop hurting yourself, and let me love you, Tanisha.”
Tan wanted to…desperately. Kyle’s soul was the one that matched hers. But did she dare? She swallowed, then cleared her throat. “You’re naked.”
“I thought maybe we could shower together.”
“Saves water. You’re into that kind of thing, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Efficiency of resources is a big part of creating a successful agri-community.”
“I don’t mind saving water.”
“Good.” Kyle started toward the shower but stopped when Tan didn’t follow. “Is there something else?”
Tan glanced away, a rare shyness warming her neck and ears. “In the cave, you know, the first time—” No more secrets. Kyle had to know everything if this was going to work. She looked up and met Kyle’s gaze. “That was kind of hot. The truth is, sometimes—not a lot, but occasionally when I’m in a certain mood—I like it a little rough.”
“I was afraid I had, you know, overstepped.” Kyle ducked her head, her lips curling in a small smile. “It was really hot.” Then she looked up and frowned. “Just don’t ever ask me to do anything that would damage you. I don’t want to ever see lashes on your back like you had then.”
Tan’s eyes filled with tears. She took Kyle’s hand in hers and brought it to her lips. “I don’t think the little girl from the hut is going to need that any longer.”
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