She’d had a little over twenty-four hours to share his thoughts, emotions, memories, but the connection had been so deep, so instantaneous, that she hadn’t known where he ended and she began.
Now the only person in her head was her. Alone, echoing, and empty after the intensity of being One with him. She had no one to blame but herself, she reminded herself with ruthless force. She’d been a fool, made the classic, stupid mistake, and played right into General Arthur’s hand.
And it cost her everything.
She hadn’t even managed to save the man she loved from torture and imprisonment. But she wasn’t that girl anymore. She’d sold herself, her love, and her freedom short in the past, and now she needed to right the wrongs her naiveté had caused.
She had to make everything all right again, so she didn’t have to work so damn hard to pretend it was. The horrible, strangling pressure that built inside her like a volcano might ease for once. It would be too devastating to bear if it ever erupted. So, she couldn’t let it. Not ever. She had to keep it all under wraps.
They ghosted down hallways and up two flights of stairs to get to the ground level. Every time they reached a door, she used the tiny handheld Sueni imager Farid had trained her to operate to override the locks and security systems. The problem with trusting technology too much, he’d said, was that someone with better technology could annihilate your defenses. Jana was just glad her hands didn’t shake too badly while she was using the contraption. She tried to suppress the reaction from too much adrenaline surging within her veins but knew her success was limited.
A tiny spurt of triumph flashed through her when they finally met up with two Imperial Guardians on the other side of the last door. Of course, that also meant the exchange of bullets she’d heard two floors down now boomed like cannon fire. She tried not to wince as the roar bombarded her ears. Now she knew why they hadn’t run into any more soldiers. Bren had kept them occupied up here.
The Guardians gave Kyber brief salutes and he nodded in return. “You’re both new.”
“Yes, sire.” One stepped forward. “I’m Natheem, and this is Dhalesh. The Guardians needed replenishing after the battle…when you were taken. We transferred from the fleet.”
Dhalesh glanced at her. “Bren says reinforcements will be on their way, so we need to extract the emperor now.” An incredulous smile flickered over his face for a moment. “She says this mission has turned into a ‘SNAFU and a complete clusterfuck.’”
Yep, that sounded like the army-speak Bren used when things got tense. Jana nodded and stifled a grin. “Well, let’s un-clusterfuck it, shall we?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” He spun and led the way, the second Guardian taking the rear of their little party. They moved at a fast clip, and Jana looked back to make sure Kyber was keeping up. He was. He didn’t so much as spare her a glance but held his handgun at the ready and his long fangs protruded from his mouth. Perspiration rolled down his face, so she knew he wasn’t holding up as well as he pretended.
Her heart hammered and she tried to focus on everything at once. Every shadow was a threat, and the white noise scraped at her nerves. The bursts of machine gun fire grew louder and louder as they raced toward the rest of the rescue party…and the exit.
Jana’s little group turned the last corner and all hell broke loose. The Earthan soldiers were now sandwiched between them and Bren. But, fuck, there were a lot of them. For an insane split second, Jana considered standing there and letting them end the twisted misery inside her, but Natheem shoved her, propelling both of them toward the far side of the corridor’s mouth. She lifted her weapon and fired blindly as she dove for cover. A man screamed, went down, and Jana’s shoulder hit the wall as she crouched behind the corner. Kyber knelt while Dhalesh stood above him so they could both return fire down the hall. Jana just hoped like hell they didn’t hit Bren’s group on the other side.
The door to freedom stood wide open, twisted and warped by some kind of explosion. So close, and yet so very far away. “Shit.”
Fear curdled in her belly, making it heave as the stench of blood and smoke flooded her nostrils. The screams and whimpers, the swearing, the crack of bullets. Sweat stung her eyes along with tears as she gasped in little sobs of breath. It overwhelmed her, made her hands shake, but she didn’t stop, didn’t pause. She ran through the bullets in her clip and fished an extra out of her backpack, jamming it into place, and kept firing. They picked the humans off one by one, but it was obvious that both sides were going to run out of ammunition before anyone had an upper hand.
The sound of gunfire petered to a halt. The humans must have decided Jana’s side of the hall was most vulnerable because what remained of the soldiers launched themselves toward her. The blood froze in her veins when her weapon gave the distinctive click that said it was out of bullets. The sound was echoed by Natheem’s machine gun. He growled and shoved her back behind the corner as the first human reached them.
“Stupid piece of Earthan—” He slammed the butt of the weapon against a man’s face, toppling him to the ground with blood gushing from his nose and mouth.
Jana jerked to her feet to escape the dark crimson spray only to be confronted with a soldier of her own. He swung his fist at her and she reacted on pure instinct, on the training she’d demanded Bren hammer into her for months. Blocking his punch, she brought the heel of her hand up to connect with his nose. The sickening crunch of cartilage sounded too loud to her ears, but she didn’t have time to think about it before the next man was on her. She shifted her weight, slamming her boot into his groin. A shriek whistled from his throat as he dropped to his knees. She kicked the side of his head and he went down, too.
A third man launched himself at her, dragging her to the ground. Her screech was cut short when they hit the linoleum hard. Her breath wheezed out of her lungs, and she choked for breath, panic setting in. She looked to Natheem, but he dealt with two soldiers of his own.
A hard fist connected with her ribs and she groaned, her boots squeaking on the tile as she scrambled to get out from under the human. Her nails raked down his face, stabbing for his eyes. He yowled and jerked away but didn’t ease his weight enough for her escape.
She hit him but couldn’t get enough leverage to make much of an impact. He slapped her hard and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. Terror exploded through her. A man on top of her, holding her down, hurting her. It was too much like Arthur, a realization of the waking nightmare her life had become, and suddenly she couldn’t draw breath. A scream tangled in her throat and she froze. He drew his hand back and she saw the dull gleam of a long knife. She knew it was over. Closing her eyes, she felt a wave of resignation roll through her.
The man’s weight jerked away from her suddenly, and her eyes flared open to see Kyber’s claws slicing through the soldier’s stomach. Crimson sprayed everywhere, the heat of it soaking through Jana’s clothes. A deep roar ripped from the huge Kith as he shook his flailing prey and then threw the soldier’s lifeless body against the wall.
Scrambling to her feet, she wiped the back of her hand over her bloodied lip. “Thanks.”
He hissed at her, baring his fangs, and whipped around to leave her there. She swayed, taking in the carnage around her. Somehow she’d ended up halfway down the hall toward the exit, and Bren and her group of Sueni Kin were helping take down the remaining humans. Jana slipped in a puddle of blood and had to catch herself against a wall to remain upright. Some distant part of her mind realized what she was feeling was shock, but she just staggered for the exit and the pure, clean air that would be outside.
Her two Guardians fell into step beside her, Dhalesh swinging his handgun like a club on a last standing human as they passed. The Sueni grunted and tossed the empty weapon aside. “Empress, next time anyone says we should sneak in somewhere and therefore have to leave our razers behind, say no.”
She sputtered on a giggle, stunned that she could laugh at all. She caught sight of Kyber’s large form passing
through the doorway ahead of her. He stopped, threw his head back, and stared at the brightening dawn sky.
Glancing back, Kyber arched an eyebrow at the three of them. “Guardians have gotten disrespectful in the last few months.”
“I like them this way.” Defensiveness crept into her tone at the criticism of men who’d put their lives on the line for this mission. “They did a good job.”
Both Kin looked startled and grinned but said nothing more. Then she was outside, and nothing had ever looked more beautiful than the pink, orange, and yellow that streaked the horizon. She dragged in a deep breath but didn’t get a chance to release it before Bren came barreling out the door behind her.
The older woman keyed a small handheld comm. “Admiral Belraj, I think it’s time for the cavalry to make an entrance. Army reinforcements should be here…about thirty seconds ago.” As if to emphasize her point, a bullet slapped into the side of the cinderblock building and sprayed debris at them. Two camouflage-painted Hummers exploded through the compound’s gate, huge guns mounted to the back.
The Sueni group reacted en masse, ducking and zigzagging across the wide lawn. None of them could return fire, so it was time to run like hell.
Kyber took a position just behind her, following Dhalesh and Natheem. Her legs burned as she sprinted to keep up. Every muscle in her body screeched in protest, but she pumped her arms and legs and refused to let herself stop, even when machine gun fire made dirt and rocks explode into the air beside her feet. Sweat slid in rivulets down her face, sticking her stolen uniform to her back. Her lungs were on fire, starved of oxygen as she fled their pursuers.
The air vibrated with the sound of approaching aircraft, moving too fast to be anything from Earth. Jana grinned and watched a shuttle settle on the grass near them, while two fighter wings fired razer cannons on the soldiers behind them. The transceiver in Bren’s hand chirped and the gravel voice of Johar Sajan, captain of the Imperial Guardians, came through. “My One is as prepared as always.”
Bren barked out a laugh as she pelted up the ramp onto the shuttle. Her voice was breathless when she spoke into her comm. “If I swung that way, I would seriously make out with your One when I got back up there.”
“As long as I got to watch.” Johar sounded so nonchalant, Jana blinked for a moment before what he’d said processed. Her lips twitched as she threw herself into a seat. Kyber landed next to her and the shuttle was off the ground before the ramp was finished closing.
“No.” Tylara’s amusement rippled through as she interjected into the comm.’s channel.
Bren dove for a chair as the ship banked hard and rocketed skyward. “Aw, but honey.”
Bracing her feet against the floor and her hands on the ceiling, Jana tried to keep herself from tumbling into Kyber’s lap. He arched his eyebrow at her and buckled himself into his seat. “Apparently, those who choose the military life are insane, regardless of species or culture.”
“You caught that, too, huh?” Jana managed to get her straps in place before the ship shuddered and passed through the planet’s atmosphere.
“Pretty much, Majesties.” The older woman slumped back with a deep sigh. “Mission accomplished with minimal injuries and no lives lost.” Her sea blue eyes flashed sadness for a moment before she closed them. “Sueni lives, anyway.”
Not for the first time, Jana wondered how Bren had managed to admit that everything about the way the military had handled the Sueni arrival was wrong and then defied everyone and everything she knew to help the Sueni defeat Arthur. Just because it was the right thing to do. It took guts Jana didn’t think she’d ever possess.
She folded her still-shaking hands, exhaustion sweeping through her in a rush. The last year had been such an emotional rollercoaster for her. She’d been twenty-one when the Sueni showed up on Earth, and she was as terrified as everyone else by what their arrival meant. When the war broke out, she’d believed the press that said the Kith had come to take over the planet, to conquer and make humans their slaves again. Especially when Emperor Kyber showed up in the small town her parents lived in to examine all the young women for one to fulfill his notorious Kith sexual appetites.
He’d chosen her, claimed her as his One…and a whole new world opened to her, but someone like her—a Kin woman—couldn’t possibly be destined to be an empress of a powerful race of people. She was a flight attendant who hadn’t even gone to college. No one special. Just an average American girl with nice parents in a nice town. She’d had a pretty nice life. She wasn’t a world leader, would never truly match Kyber, but she’d loved him the moment she’d met him. It had been like a fairy tale—too good to be true.
She’d dreamed of him for years before he arrived. Maybe that was why when he had arrived, when her eyes had met his, everything had clicked into place for her. There’d been no hesitancy, no fear, no shyness. He was hers, this powerful alien emperor. He’d always been hers.
And she was his.
It was simple, uncomplicated. For the first time in her life, everything was exactly as perfect as she always pretended. She had known no one would ever fit her like he would. He was her soul mate, would love her forever. What wouldn’t she give for something like that? Who wouldn’t hold on to that with all that they had?
She’d been a virgin the first time he’d touched her. No man had ever lived up to the one in her fantasies. Their kisses didn’t elicit a tenth of the response as the man in her dreams, so she couldn’t even fathom going further than a simple kiss with them.
And then her dreams were real. Touching Kyber was like touching a live wire. Explosive. Passionate. Wonderful. He was everything she’d ever imagined and more. The ecstasy of it had left her barely coherent, her thoughts and memories and life tripping over his in her mind. But he had been with her, and she’d known she’d never been safer in her life. Even their shared dreams hadn’t prepared her for how good it would be with him. His touch, his kiss, his desires, his barely contained animalism.
God, she’d loved it. Inexperienced or not, she’d known what she had was precious. Something she would fight for, sacrifice for.
She’d never have guessed she’d do both.
But it only reinforced what she’d learned so long ago when her brother was killed—that was just how life went. There was no such thing as fairy tales, no matter how handsome the prince who came along, no matter how bright your smile or how hard you pretended, the other glass slipper would always drop.
And shatter.
2
It took hours for Kyber to get himself free of the medics, his military and political advisors, his cousin, Tylara, his Imperial Guardians. When they finally left him in peace, he lay back on the soft pillows piled on the gelpad in the medical ward. “Vishra, lock the door and allow no one else in.”
The ship answered in its well-modulated, androgynous voice. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
A series of clicks sounded inside the door as the locks engaged. He sighed and closed his eyes, swallowing. Relief flooded him, but it was also tinged with wary uncertainty, and a sense of unreality expanded inside him, numbed him. After so long, could it be true?
He was free of pain, clean, on his own ship, among his own people, and had full use of his powers now that the agonizing static ringing had left his ears. A low growl rumbled in his chest at the thought. So many months without the psychic power to leash his feral nature meant the beast had a deeper grip on his body than he’d ever allowed before. He wasn’t certain if he could completely cage it ever again. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to.
He, like the animal, wanted nothing more than to rip his enemies to shreds.
But that was wrong. He was the emperor—he was supposed to be in control at all times. Instead, this expedition had been one disastrous failure after another, and he’d learned when his father was murdered that if an emperor failed, it cost lives. Kyber’s failure had cost lives.
Windows lined one side of the room, the many ships of his armada spr
eading out around the Vishra. The vast blackness of space, the flicker of millions of white stars, did little to soothe the seething rage and pain inside him.
Nothing was right, nothing was as it should be.
At the center of all that darkness twisting and knotting inside him were two people. Jana and Arthur.
Jana had gone to Arthur because she hadn’t trusted Kyber, hadn’t listened to him when he’d told her that he could free himself, that she should relay his psychic messages on his location to his Guardians and keep herself safe. Instead, she had sacrificed herself for him.
Not that. Anun, please, anything but that.
His stomach pitched and rolled, and he wanted to flee the reminder as badly as he’d wanted to flee Arthur’s clutches. There was no agony greater for a man than knowing his woman betrayed him with another. With his mind linked to hers, the memories were etched into his thoughts like acid. His greatest enemy’s hands on his One, fucking his One, the man who would use every means available to torture Kyber. The same horror he’d felt then gripped him now, the searing agony he’d have done anything to escape, including try to tear himself free of the psychic One bond.
Even away from Arthur’s constant torment, his gleeful reports of how Jana had grown to like what he did to her and vivid descriptions of Jana’s body—things only Kyber should know—there were some pains Kyber would never get away from, some wounds the medics couldn’t heal.
Exhaustion crashed over him in an overwhelming wave. He hadn’t slept in more than fits and starts since he’d been taken. The constant noise, the nudity, the freezing cold, the beatings, druggings, and restraints made real rest impossible. Which was Arthur’s aim. Kyber’s world had come down to surviving each moment, each heartbeat. A snarl wrenched from his throat, his fangs pressing against his lips as hate burned in his soul and spread until not a single particle of Kyber wasn’t consumed by it.
The man might be free, but the beast’s lust for vengeance wasn’t satisfied. His mind latched on to that, spinning his thoughts out of the rational man’s control. Darkness tunneled his vision, and he shook his head to try and clear it. He needed to chill the rage to cold calculation, needed to plan for what to do next. He was the one who was supposed to have the answers, but answers evaded him now.
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