That wasn’t going to happen.
He separated his ship from the autopilot, tracking in place with the other ships, and thought. Without weapons, he wouldn’t be able to do much damage to Vengeance or the other two ships. There was no way the king would let him get through that wormhole. And the Vengeance was getting closer by the second.
Tristin could sit and wait for the end he knew was coming, or he could do something truly crazy.
And at that moment, he knew exactly what he was going to do.
Despite what Casin and Corin thought, it wouldn’t be the first time. He’d been young once too, before they were even born.
He contacted Roihan over the frequency. “Roihan, I’ve sent Kirelle to portal you out of here. Do NOT let her come back onto this ship once you’re gone.”
“How the hell do you expect me to stop her?” Roihan demanded. “She can portal.”
“Think of something. Do whatever you have to.”
Complete silence reigned for a moment.
“What are you going to do?” Roihan asked gruffly.
“I expect you’ll know soon enough.”
The sigh echoed over the frequency. “Kirelle is going to kill me if I stop her.”
“She’ll understand.”
Roihan snorted. “For someone so close to an elf, I don’t think you know them very well, my friend.”
“Promise me you’ll stop her.”
“I will. Goodbye, Tristin. It was an honor.”
“The honor was mine.”
Then there was nothing but silence.
He took one last look as his third squadron began entering the wormhole, making their way to safety. Some of the smaller Ardak ships were still trying to take them out, but most had either given up or been shot down.
Then he magnetized the boots of his exoarmor, ensuring they were stuck securely to the floor, then sticking the fronts to the console in front of him.
Then he activated the side thrusters, his ship spinning in place as it turned to face the Vengeance.
He punched in his destination on the console, and the computer calculated it would take him less than three minutes. The autopilot was directing the other ships, so execution of this plan would be on him. Punching a button brought up the manual controller from the console so he could control the flight of his ship.
Well, little ship. We’re in for a ride.
He gunned the engines and the ship started forward. He kept the power high, shooting toward Vengeance. He needed to get inside their guns as quickly as he could.
As he picked up speed, duty tugged at him. He’d always been the dutiful son, the one who conducted his affairs with honor.
Three smaller Ardak ships began to come toward him and he began a series of erratic maneuvers to escape their lasers.
Until now, he’d thought his duty was to oversee the rebuilding of the domes, to ensure his people’s welfare. But if the Ardak king was left to roam the universe, eventually no matter how well the domes were rebuilt, the Ardaks would break through their starshields and kill them all.
Tristin had a single chance to stop it all – right here, right now.
And there was no way he could turn away in good conscience.
Fate was bearing down on him, and the threads of time suddenly connected in his mind, collapsing until he could see his reality with a clarity that defied time and space.
How everything he’d been, everything he’d done had led to this moment.
Growing up scraping the ice cliffs on Tuorin Mor, learning to scrape the cliffs within inches to get to the ice.
The brutal invasion of his system and his planet, which had made him join his cousin to create the Ardak Resistance Force.
His capture by the king and transformation into a cyborg, giving him the power to perform these complex maneuvers now.
His performance of this final mission, to free the ships and the cyborgs.
This was how it was meant to be.
He’d been set up to be in this place, at this time, with the skills to stop all of this before it continued.
The three Ardak fighters skated by him and he dodged first one, then two more, then sent his ship into a spin, scraping the underside of the king’s ship.
Forty seconds left until his target. He allowed images to run through his visual cortex, his parents, Andraya, and his cousins, especially Juordin, Casin, and Corin. His people, how he watched over them, how they’d made him strong.
Finally, the images slowed, settling on Kirelle. They should have lived long, happy lives back on his planet, bringing several children into the world. A pang went through him as he focused on what could have been. He could have taught his sons to scrape the ice, given his daughters ice bats to bond with. He could have slept next to Kirelle every night, made love to her in every season.
He should have told her he loved her.
His eyes actually grew moist at the thought. He blinked the wetness away, focusing on the flight path.
Twenty seconds left as he passed by the laser gun turrets beneath the king’s ship. He was going too fast to aim for their weapons, but that didn’t stop them from trying to shoot at him.
The blasts were seconds too late. He grinned despite himself as he saw them in his rear viewer.
He wondered if the Ardak king was worried yet.
That feline bastard would rue the day he’d angered Tristin from Tuorin Mor.
Reaching the back of the ship, he banked hard left and performed a tight arc around the side, then over the top.
Ten seconds.
It seemed to take forever, but as he rounded the top and saw the crystal housing that powered the ship glowing only a short distance away, he realized it had taken no time at all.
Then the timer reached zero and he aimed his ship directly for it.
He prayed the explosion would take out the entire ship, and maybe the other two.
A blinding flash of light came up, throwing him backward, then everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Kirelle
It took Kirelle longer than she’d thought to evacuate the others from the medbay on Tristin’s ship to safety on the new ship.
She was back for one last portal when she felt Tristin’s ship spin and begin flying away from the wormhole. Her hands began to shake.
Roihan was taking his time with the last supplies.
“Can you hurry? I need to get back to Tristin.”
“Just another second. I need you to take me to the control center on the new ship.”
She instantly made a portal.
Time was of the essence.
But once they stepped through to the control room of the ship, Roihan grabbed her arm and a collar clicked around her neck.
She knew instantly what it was, terror filling her as her hands came up to tug at it desperately.
“I’m sorry. Tristin said you can’t return.” Roihan’s words were gruff and filled with finality.
“Take it off!” she screamed, struggling against him. “There’s no time for this!”
“No,” he said simply, ignoring her struggles and turning her to face the main screen. “There’s no time to portal. Look at the rearview on the screen. It would be impossible to portal to him now.”
Her eyes went to the viewscreen, where she saw what she instantly knew was Tristin’s ship. It was a tiny speck of light against the underside of the king’s warship.
He reached the back and skirted around to the top, and instantly she knew what he was aiming for. If he hit the crystal that powered the ship, the resulting explosion could be large enough to take out the entire ship.
She grabbed Roihan’s arm, her nails digging in. “You can’t let him do this! Let me get him!”
“It’s too late, Kirelle. He said. . .he wants you to live.”
The horror of it spread through her chest as she saw others in the control room point to his ship, the entire room falling silent.
That bastard. He
was sacrificing himself.
He was a hero.
He was an asshole. He was leaving her. He’d betrayed her and she hated him.
Jaffete, she loved him.
She didn’t want to watch, but couldn’t tear her eyes away. If he was going to sacrifice himself, he deserved for her to watch.
No, he deserved for her to kick his ass. But it was far too late for that.
He aimed his ship directly at the crystal housing, and even she knew it was too late to portal now.
“Noooo!” she shrieked, the word high and pained, then a massive explosion of light blinded her.
Everyone on board with her cried out, screams of fear and yelled commands rended the air as they prepared for the shockwave they knew was coming.
“Get Casin and Corin!“ someone yelled.
Casin’s screams echoed above her head, and she craned her neck to look for him. He was at the highest console, the head pilot for the moment, Corin next to him at the second console.
Both staggered as if they’d been struck, and Mordjan leaped up to the platform, catching them before they could fall. Their faces crumpled, pale and shocked, and when a portal appeared, the other two cyborgs pushed them into it and they reappeared on the floor of the control center, too far away.
She couldn’t have reached them anyway.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
She sank weakly to her knees, her will to live vanquished by the collar around her neck and the light coming toward them.
The shockwave hit the ship and the sound of her screams almost silent amid the deafening shouts and screams of the others. She put her forehead to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself.
When she closed her eyes, glowing purple eyes stared back. Long, flowing black hair gleamed as he pushed it back over his shoulder. He stood tall, his back straight. The force of his spirit stared out through his eyes. And she was safe in his arms.
It was gone.
All gone in a flash of light.
Agony knifed through her from the center of her soul. It was all so pointless. The Ardaks. The escape. The mission. They’d succeeded. They’d gotten the ships. Saved the cyborgs. He was supposed to live.
She fell onto her side, curled into a ball, waiting for death to take her.
And then his deep voice came to her. Remembered words she would cut her ears off to forget.
You must live.
That is the punishment.
That is the privilege.
“I don’t want to!” Her voice screamed inside her head, praying their ship would split apart.
Then time slowed, her breaths became more difficult. They’d finally entered the wormhole.
Because of Tristin, they were safe.
But Kirelle knew she’d never truly be safe again.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Tristin
Tristin stumbled back as the shockwave hit the ship, catching Fayelle to keep her from falling.
“What did you do?” he demanded, shaking her. “You could have died.”
“I saved your ass,” Fayelle retorted, shrugging him off. “You’re welcome.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled, searching the crowd for Kirelle, but couldn’t see her.
“Tristin! Your cousins!” Fayelle gasped, pointing at the highest console.
Tristin looked up to see Mordjan on the raised platform, struggling to keep both Casin and Corin on their feet. They obviously thought he was dead.
Fayelle threw up her hand and made another portal, and Tristin caught his cousins as Mordjan pushed them through. Crushing them close, moisture came into his eyes for the second time when they both burst into sobs, realizing it was him.
“Stop, you’re embarrassing me,” he said gruffly.
“Fuck you,” Casin said, pulling back and punching him in the arm.
Corin also straightened, his eyes haunted. “I think I want to go home now.”
Examining the younger man’s face, Tristin knew he’d have to send them home. Even for seasoned soldiers, they’d been through too much. They needed to see their parents, their homeworld, as quickly as possible.
But first, he had to find Kirelle. “Where is Kirelle?”
Casin looked over his shoulder. “She was on board.” His eyes searched the crowd from the high platform. “I think she’s somewhere over there.”
Tristin saw an empty space. “I have to get to her.”
Corin ran a hand through his long blond hair. “Thank the gods you’re alive.”
“No, you can thank Fayelle for that,” he said grimly. “She’s lucky she’s not my mate or—”
“Or what?” came a growl from behind him.
“Or I’d have fun paddling her backside tonight for not following my orders,” Tristin growled back.
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Mordjan replied, his eyes gleaming at the thought.
They all helped Tristin push through the crowd to the empty space, where he found Kirelle scrunched up on the floor in a tiny ball.
“Why do I keep finding you this way?” he asked dryly as he hefted her small form up in his arms. His chest tightened as when he saw the collar around her neck, realizing that’s how Roihan had stopped her.
“Oh gods,” she cried, punching him in the chest and bursting into sobs.
“I also keep getting this reaction,” he murmured into her hair.
Mordjan stepped forward, handing him a key. “We’ve got this covered. Take all the time you need.”
Tristin nodded and fought his way toward the door of the control room. He pulled up the specs of the ship in his head and, after exiting the room, continued down the corridor with her until he reached a staircase, taking the metal steps two at a time.
Then he stopped at a door on the left and opened it, entering and locking it behind them. Then he set her down.
“I thought you were dead.” She smacked his chest. “I thought it was over.”
He frowned. “It’s not over for you until you die.”
“Jaffete,” she said, her eyes blazing. “Only you would say that.”
“I expected you to live, or my sacrifice would have meant nothing!” He mashed his lips down over hers, silencing her reply. He didn’t want to hear her protests. He wanted to live right now.
His hands went to the leather laces at her bodice, stripping them away efficiently and baring her chest to his roving mouth. She gasped as he nibbled on her earlobe, then knelt and tongued his way down the side of her neck.
“This is what I thought of,” he said, on his knees as he peppered kisses across the top of her breasts. “What I was giving up. And I won’t feel alive until I’m inside you again.”
She was racked with shivers, her fingers tangled in his hair, and she cried out when he took her nipple in his mouth.
“I need you,” he growled. He didn’t bother with the rest of her clothing, his hand sliding up under her leather skirt, sliding down her leggings and panties in one motion.
Then he rose, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist.
“Standing?” she gasped as he slid into her.
“Just until I make it to the bunk,” he replied. But then he started moving, and the feel of her slick and hot around him almost dropped him to his knees. He put his forehead against hers. “On second thought—”
“Shut up,” she said, taking his face between her hands. “Turn your brain off and make love to me.”
And just like that, his restraint disappeared. “I’ll make love to you,” he growled, dropping her more deeply on his shaft, pressing her against the wall and holding her hips so she couldn’t squirm away as he began to piston into her. “I’ll fuck you so you’ll never think it’s over again until you’re dead.”
“Traako. Quit threatening and just do it.” Her nails dug into his shoulders.
He began to thrust, hard, punctuating his words. “I’m going to – pound into you – so you’ll never think – it’s over again – until you
’re dead.” He found the spot that made her cry out once, then twice, then with every long thrust as he gave her all of himself, as deep as he could get.
And all that mattered now was this moment.
As she cried out, her fingers tightening in his hair, her muscles fluttering around him, sucking him in, he realized everything he’d believed about their differences didn’t matter.
The only thing that mattered was that they were alive. Together.
And while there was breath left in his body, he was never going to let her go.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kirelle
Tristin staggered to the bunk, dropped her on it, then crawled onto it beside her. She held him close as he curled himself around her, his body shaking. It was probably the aftereffects of the adrenaline and his brush with death.
They lay like that for long minutes until the shaking subsided, then Tristin groaned, raising one arm to his forehead. “I have to get back up there. The autopilot will stop when we reach orbit.”
She nodded, attempting to climb over him to gather her clothing.
He stopped her when she was squarely on top of him, straddling his chest. His fingers brushed the sides of her face, pushing her hair back over her shoulders. “I love you, you know.” His purple eyes glowed. “Before the Ardak invasion, almost dying so many times, I would have been afraid to say it. But I’m not afraid now. I want to feel it. I want to love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied, sinking down so she could place a kiss on his mouth. “When your ship exploded—a part of me died, too.”
“I felt the same.” He sighed and rose, placing her on the floor beside the bunk. “We have much to sort out between us, but we’ll learn as we go. I’m not easy. I’ll never be easy.”
“I’m not looking for easy,” she replied.
“What are you looking for?” he asked seriously.
She thought about that for a moment. “I never really thought about it. I wasn’t looking for love. But it definitely found me. And I’m not afraid to work for it.”
Tristin (Cyborg Warriors Book 7) Page 17