It took her a moment to realize she’d braced herself against the floor and she was standing on the window she’d once looked out. The shuttle was on its side, the door sagging halfway open to let the sunlight in. They’d been shot from the sky and had crash-landed.
And now she was alone.
Crawling across the chairs bolted into the floor, she worked her way toward the door. The staccato report of machine gun fire sounded outside the shuttle, and she froze, clinging to the broken door. White noise flooded the field they were in, and American and Sueni fighters buzzed through the air, firing at each other.
On the ground, men and women in army fatigues battled a handful of men and women in Imperial Guardian uniforms. Blue lasers burst from the razers the Guardians held, sizzling as they hit the humans. The stripes on an enormous feline blurred as it sped past her to drag a soldier to the ground. Three men lay scattered around the ship, dead, their eyes staring blankly at the cloudless sky.
Despite the chaos of battle, the bursts of gunfire, the roar of the Kith, the hammering of Bren’s heart, she could still tell the Sueni forces were badly outnumbered and outgunned.
There was no sign of Farid. No Johar or Kyber or Jana. No one Bren knew.
Stumbling out of the remains of the shuttle, she winced when she hit the ground. Her knee throbbed from the crash and her head felt like a jackhammer was going off inside of it. Scooping up a pistol from one of the dead soldiers, she checked the clip to see how many bullets she had left. Almost full.
She pushed on, needing to find Farid, to make sure he was okay. Sweat slipped down her face to sting her eyes as she pressed her back to the ship, sliding along to peek around the far side. What she saw made her heart seize. Farid and Johar pinned down against the side of another shuttle, surrounded but still fighting back. Johar had lost his shirt, and he looked even more animalistic with his chest bare, his roar cutting through the sound of gunfire.
More men were coming, so she scuttled backward, dropped to her belly, and army-crawled toward the cover of two big army Hummers. Her elbows and knees screamed in protest, but she propelled herself along in spite of the pain. Rounding the front end, she was halfway to her feet when the cold steel of a gun muzzle pressed against her temple. “Preston.”
“Zielinski.” Her heart thumped hard, and she struggled to keep her voice even. “I see you enjoyed your little nap.”
“Shut up, Preston.” He motioned her to her feet and stared at her for a moment. “Come with me.”
She moved in front of him, holding her gun out to the side, but he didn’t demand she drop it. Confusion swamped her as he directed her to the open door at the rear of the Hummer. “What the fuck is going on?”
“There.” He jerked his chin toward a slim woman curled up and moaning on the floor of the vehicle. She rocked herself in a fetal position, and her red hair glimmered like a copper penny.
“Jana,” Bren breathed, reaching out a hand to cup the girl’s shoulder. Cutting her gaze to Zielinski, Bren glared. “What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t touch her, I swear to God. But I…You don’t want to know what Arthur intends to do to her. I…I didn’t radio in to tell anyone I found her.” His eyes went wide, the same disbelief flashing across his face that he was doing what he was doing that Bren had felt when she’d contacted Farid.
Realization dawned, and she nodded, sliding a hand around Jana’s arm and pulling her out of the Hummer. “Come on, honey, we need to go now.”
“She’s just a kid. An American. I didn’t sign on to hurt our own people. It’s not right. She hasn’t even done anything wrong.” Zielinski kept talking, justifying himself, while Jana swayed to her feet and looked dazed and confused.
Bren glanced at Zielinski. “Come with us.”
He shook his head. “I’d be more use to you here. Unlike you, no one knows about me, about this.”
“Then get out of here before they see you. I’ll be in touch.” She watched him nod, watched his gaze firm as he set his feet to the same terrifying path she had, and turned to walk away. “Thanks, Zielinski.”
He glanced back before he disappeared behind another burned-out shuttle. “Don’t thank me for doing the right thing.”
Bren pulled a whimpering, flinching Jana around the Hummer and into the protection from gunfire between the two army vehicles. Bren’s mind raced, and suddenly she knew her place in this whole mess. It wasn’t just getting the Sueni on her side. She’d helped Arthur put together the coalition, so she had contacts in every single one of those countries. If she could convince Zielinski to defect—hell, if she herself could defect—she could get others to join in. She had always been too upfront, too blunt to consider a career in Army Intelligence, but Farid could talk anyone into anything. Kyber had promised the Sueni would help, and with Bren’s contacts and intimate knowledge of the coalition, they could make this work. They might not beat Arthur today, but they would beat him. A fierce smile curved her lips. They would win.
All she had to do now was survive this battle.
So, she’d better get on that. Her smile wiped away as though it had never been. Razers and machine guns spat fire at each other, and she could still see Johar and Farid fighting back to back against Earthan soldiers.
“Stay here, Jana.” Bren let go of the girl to shimmy forward and peek around the front of the Hummer they crouched against. Things were clear for the moment. Everyone was occupied with their own fights. She looked back to motion Jana forward.
And the day went from bad to total clusterfuck when she saw the girl had moved to stagger around the back of the vehicle. She was going to get herself killed standing out in the open that way.
A soldier in camos came tearing around the Hummer, bringing his weapon to bear on the young woman. Bren shoved to her feet, lifted her pistol, put two bullets in the soldier’s chest, and caught Jana around the waist to slam her to the ground.
“Kyber.” The girl shook and sobbed, the first words she’d spoken since Bren arrived. “They have him. They…They’re hurting him.” Jana’s whisper broke and she choked, retching. “I can feel it. They said they only wanted me, but they’re hurting him.”
Bren wrapped an arm around Jana, keeping her head down. “It’s all right, honey. We’ll get you out of here and then we’ll find him.”
Her narrow back heaved as she vomited on the grass. “My p-parents.”
“And your parents, too.” Bren pushed them both to their hands and knees. “Let’s go.”
When she looked up, she saw five more soldiers coming at them with submachine guns. Her blood froze in her veins. Shoving Jana back down, Bren covered the girl’s body with her own, closed her eyes, braced for the impact of bullets, and prayed she survived long enough to finish what she’d started with Zielinski. She clenched her jaw.
A heart-stopping roar sounded overhead, and a shadow covered them. She looked up to see Johar braced above her. His fangs were bared and he fired his razer at the soldiers surrounding them. Three went down with gurgling screams. Bren brought her pistol around, and took out the last two, but not before a bullet slapped into the Kith’s chest and he tumbled back to land in a heap on top of them.
Jana screamed, writhing as though she were in agony. Bren shook her. “Are you all right?”
“Kyber.” The girl twisted until she was face up, the fires of hell in her eyes. “I-I can feel every punch, every kick.”
Her arms wrapped around her ribs and the air whooshed out of her as though someone had slammed their boot into her.
Johar groaned, the sound of a wounded animal. Bren left the girl on the ground. There was nothing she could do for the psychic pain, but she set her weapon aside, ripped her shirt over her head, wadded it up, covered the bullet hole, and leaned all her weight onto it to try to staunch the bleeding. He hissed between clenched fangs, his claws digging into the ground beneath him. “Lost my mesh armor in the crash. Was pinned by it. Had to take it off. Tylara will kill me.”
She shook her head at his ramblings, pressing hard on the wound. Only some of it made sense. “Hang in there, Johar.”
A big hand closed over her shoulder and she scrambled for the gun she’d dropped. “It’s me, khalaa.”
Relief ripped through her, so deep it shook her to her core. She couldn’t speak, could do nothing but nod and keep her hands over Johar’s wound, his dark red blood oozing between her fingers. Farid was alive. Thank God. Thank God.
Farid dropped to his haunches beside her, motioning three Kith Guardians forward. “You two, take the empress and get to one of the shuttles. Get her out of here. The rest of us will handle Sajan.”
One of the Guardians spoke. “But the emperor—”
Farid shook his head, his voice a calm command, if roughened by the beast as the white noise suppressed his psychic powers. “His scent is fading. They’ve taken him beyond our reach. Save the empress, get back to the Vishra, and Admiral Belraj will organize a rescue. Go now.”
“Do…as he says.” Johar swallowed, sucking in a harsh breath. “The captain’s dead. I’m…the ranking Guardian. Obey Lord Arjun.”
“Yes, sir.” Two Kith peeled away, one scooping up the heaving Jana, the other ready with his razer rifle to handle any threats that came their way.
“Khalaa, keep pressure on the wound while we get his arms and legs.” Farid’s hand squeezed Bren’s shoulder, his touch a comfort even in the midst of mayhem.
She dipped her chin in a short nod. “Ready when you are.”
The men moved to lift Johar, and she went with them, doing everything she could to stop the blood from flowing but to not hamper their progress. Every moment that passed, Johar’s face lost color. His blue eyes locked on her face. His lips moved but no words came out.
“Hang in there, Sajan. We’ll get you back to Tylara in no time.” She tried to give him a reassuring smile but doubted it would have the desired effect. Gunfire and grenade explosions sounded in the distance, and her heart thudded in her chest. Icy tingles raced up her limbs as adrenaline and fear coursed through her. She pushed both aside. All she had to do was keep moving. Just put one foot in front of the other. Keep going. Don’t stop.
Then there was a shuttle in front of them, and they were on board. They set Johar down and left Bren to tend him as they got the ship airborne. She braced her foot on the metal wall, struggling to hold them in place as the shuttle banked hard and rocketed into the sky.
The Kith’s breath slowed to a rattling whisper, and Bren turned toward the cockpit. “Farid, is there a first aid kit on board?”
Farid slid out of his seat, stumbling as the ship hit turbulence. He slammed hard to his knees but had himself up in moments. Slapping his palm against a panel, it slid open and a dozen containers tumbled out onto the floor. He picked through the mess, ripped out a package, and came up with a slim metal tube. He shoved it into Bren’s hand. “Press it to his neck.”
She did as he commanded, felt it vibrate in her hand as it did whatever it was supposed to. Johar gasped and shuddered. “Tell my One…I love…”
“You can tell her yourself, Sajan.” Farid’s tone was rough, fierce. He clamped his hand on the wounded man’s shoulder. “I’m not going to let a man who saved my One die. Don’t even think about it.”
Johar met his gaze, and his voice was a mere whisper in Bren’s mind. My brothers…
“Have paid for what they did, as my family has paid.” Farid’s knuckles whitened as he squeezed tight. “I’ve finally realized that we are not them, and we have our own lives to lead. We are not guilty of their crimes, and we can make different choices than they did, no matter how similar we might be to them. We are not locked into their same fate.”
Nodding once, Johar blinked and turned his head away to stare out the small window as they left Earth for deep, black space.
Bren swallowed, unsure what the exchange meant. If it meant anything at all. But Farid had called her his One. Utter longing had spread through her at those words, a wish that they would be true.
“My lord, I’m receiving a transmission,” the pilot called from the cockpit. “The empress’s shuttle never took off. She…she gave herself over to the Earthan forces in exchange for the emperor’s freedom.”
The breath left Bren’s lungs in a rush. “They said all they wanted was her, and she could feel them torturing Kyber.”
“Arthur will never honor that deal.” Farid ran a blood-crusted hand down his face.
“You have no idea what he’ll do to her if he knows they can feel each other’s pain.” She closed her eyes for a moment, a parade of horrors the young couple would go through marching through her mind.
“Anun save them.” He sighed, but angry sparks had begun to boil in his eyes. “And pray to your God that we reclaim them both soon, else Anun won’t be able to save this world. Tylara will rip it apart to get to the emperor.”
Johar rolled his head, meeting Bren’s gaze. “Why would Arthur do this? What could he possibly gain by starting a war? We’ve done nothing to any of you.”
“It’s not about the Sueni anymore. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. That’s why I’m here.” Bren shifted on her battered knees, wincing but refusing to move lest she lose the pressure on Johar’s chest. “General Arthur wants power. He wasn’t always this way, but you gave him a taste of ultimate, unmitigated, unchecked power, and now that he has it, he wants to keep it.”
Farid finished her thought. “So starting a war with us will keep people scared, make them think they still need him, and keep him in power.”
“Forever, yes.” She nodded. “Or for as long as he’s still alive. And then the next military dictator can step into his place, likely with a whole lot of bloodshed and death.”
“We won’t let that happen.” Farid’s low rumble reassured her on a deeper level than she understood, and she felt his mind brush hers, lending her a warm comfort. “The Sueni are now deeply invested in Earthan politics.”
Which was why she’d come to Farid in the first place. Even if he never gave her what she needed as a woman, he’d ensured she got what she needed as a soldier, as a person, to be able to look herself in the eyes. She wasn’t broken like her foster sister had been, she’d done her job, protected people as she’d always promised herself she would. And she would keep on protecting them, using people who believed as she did, like Zielinski. This was all she had lived for, once.
Now, she could only hope it would be enough, if Farid never changed his mind about wanting to bond with his One.
With her.
He’d almost lost her.
A week had gone by since they’d escaped the carnage of that Earthan battlefield, and the thought still staggered him, nearly drove him to his knees. He’d almost lost her. If not for Johar, he would have. The scene had unfolded before him, Bren protecting the empress, shielding her from harm while men surrounded them. He’d known he couldn’t reach Bren in time, that she would be gone forever. Like the rest of his family.
Would it have mattered that he hadn’t bonded with her yet? The loss would be even more devastating than his parents, his sister, because Bren was his One. As it should be. He’d finally answered his own question. He’d rather have her for whatever time fate granted him than to live without her.
If she’d have him.
Farid swayed on his feet, staring through a glass window into the Vishra’s medical ward. How long had he stood there thinking? He didn’t know. The horror of all he had witnessed replayed in his mind over and over again. Bren’s brush with death, Johar’s blood spilling across the green grass, the empress’s psychic link torturing her as Kyber was tortured.
Anun, where was his cousin now? Farid didn’t know, and he swallowed the sick feeling that lodged in his throat. He blinked hard and forced himself to focus. On the other side of the glass was Tylara, hovering over a sleeping Johar, her hand tucked in his, her gaze locked on his face. He’d survived the bullet wound to his chest, barely. It would be quite some
time before he was back to normal, but he would make a full recovery.
Taking a deep breath of the astringent air that typified this kind of ward, Farid let it ease out again. Johar’s returning health was the only good news. The empress lay in a room not far from where Farid stood now. To the human eye, she looked fine fully dressed, but upon examination from Kith medics, they’d found her body bruised, and she reeked of sex and Arthur. She was holding together remarkably well, considering. Perhaps too well. Farid shook his head, pummeled by more worries than he knew how to handle.
The emperor hadn’t been found in the week since he’d gone missing, and Kyber hadn’t reached out psychically. Likely the result of constant exposure to Arthur’s white noise machines. There was no way of knowing if he was alive. The Imperial Guardians were ready to mount an offensive, the feeling of rage building in the fleet pounded at Farid’s temples.
They stood on the brink of war, and only the fact that the emperor was on the planet’s surface had kept Tylara from allowing the ships to open fire.
Farid had worked himself into exhaustion for days, scrambling to find a way to save his cousin, his emperor. Under Bren’s direction, Farid had begun exploiting fissures in Arthur’s coalition. Some countries were more open to negotiation than others, and he resorted to threats and dark promises where he had to. Before Bren and he were done, Arthur would have no one to turn to, no one to command.
The thought of Bren stabbed at Farid’s heart. Anun, but he missed her. Missed her smile, her laugh, the flow of her thoughts and feelings through their link. Other than acting in her new capacity as an official Earthan advisor to the Sueni military, Bren hadn’t so much as looked at him. The connection between them narrowed by the day, and soon he wondered if it would be there at all. He could read her mind as he did most Kin, but he couldn’t bring himself to force the contact.
Until now.
Turning on his heel, he left the medical ward and wound his way through the ship’s corridors to Bren’s quarters. One way or another, they needed to figure out how things would be between them. Trepidation twisted in his gut, and he snorted. In his life, he had never imagined such dread at facing one slender Kinswoman. But the woman in question owned his soul, and that made all the difference.
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