“Please—” She curled her fingers around his. “I never thought I’d be lucky enough to find you,” she began in a halting voice she didn’t recognize as her own.
“Yeah, I know, I’m the warrior who gave you your chance at razzmatazz or whatever it is. Helped you get your promotion to priestess.” His voice was low and bitter. “I want to be more.”
“Rukauntir and yes you did facilitate my trial, without meaning to do so. The warrior and the priestess are one of the oldest stories in all of Tulavarran lore and do you know what the source of their power is, according to legend?”
“I was paying attention—your god Thuun.” He shifted his feet as if preparing to disengage and move away. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“The warrior and the priestess share the truest love, the most unbreakable bond,” she said, tightening her grip to hold him in place and make him listen. “It’s their gift from Thuun. Words are your way, the empathy is mine. May I show you what’s in my heart? Will you let me prove to you I need no time to reflect, no time to doubt the genuine nature of my love for you? I know my heart and it’s yours. I’m not in love with you because you saved my life. I’m in love with you because you are my life, from this point on.”
Now he did stare at her, his blue eyes blazing. “I’m not a psychic—how can I see anything?”
“Trust me to share.” Praying to Thuun, she sang a song, one of the oldest, the chant for the binding of a warrior and his priestess. She reached for his other hand and brought their clasped hands to her chest while the words and music tore from her throat. She sent her power flying, pulling her deepest emotions and tugging at his. A moment later they were surrounded by a mist of lavender, cobalt blue and vivid red, as if they weren’t standing in a cozy cabin, but had reached a magical destination, just the two of them. He tugged his hands free but only to pull her close in a tight hug. Carialle held out her hand, palm up, and a swirl of blue, shot through with the pure red, settled onto her skin. “Your heart,” she said. Now the vision was joined by another swirl, lavender, also laced intricately with the red. “My heart.”
The colors flowed into each other, drawing each other closer, until there was no way to tell where each one began or ended. The colors exploded into a shower of multicolored sparks, whirling in the air, around Carialle and Marcus for a moment, as she felt an indescribable sensation at her core—warm and sensuous, bringing her to tears. She hoped and prayed he experienced the same reaction.
Marcus captured her lips in a deep and demanding kiss, taking possession of her with intensity that left her breathless. He made his claim on her with everything he was and she answered in kind.
The sparks of their love continued to dance over them for a moment longer and then winked out.
“We’re bonded,” she said. “There’s no need to set me free and I’ll never go away. I love you.”
He leaned his forehead on hers. “Promise me if there’s ever any more doubt in your mind, you’ll talk to me, no matter what the colors tell you.”
“I promise.”
The rest of the morning was spent most agreeably in the bedroom, followed by a quick lunch.
“I’d better get back to the coms,” he said as they cleared the remnants of the meal off the table together. He reached for her. “Although I’d rather do other things—”
She danced away. “Save the thought for the evening. I should go outside and draw more energy from the forest. There’s no telling what might happen when we leave the cabin eventually—I’ll need to have full reserves of power available to me.”
“Don’t wander too far.”
“Nothing in the forest can harm me,” she said in surprise.
“Humor me. I’m probably being overcautious but I don’t like you out there alone.” He raised a hand to stop her protest. “I’m not doubting your abilities, for which I have huge respect, but if anyone does find our trail and follows us up here, I want us to be fighting them together. We’re stronger together.”
“I can understand the logic.” The reminder they weren’t entirely safe in their isolated location put a small damper on her mood. After giving him a kiss, she left the cabin, ran downhill to the edge of the lake and stood staring over the sparking blue water. Carialle considered the epic nature of their time together so far. Freeing Marcus from the clinic, their long drive north to the cabin and then the battle to survive his detox had all been adrenaline-filled, high stakes events, followed by mind blowing sex. Now was the time for them to get to know each other in more depth and build on the foundation the shared danger had provided. Carialle laughed quietly to herself. She was a priestess after all, one who nurtured. Surely she could nurture this relationship that meant so much to her, especially now they’d realized how necessary it was to talk things over, for her not to rely solely on her empathic gifts where Marcus was concerned. Stronger together indeed.
She strolled along the bank, pausing for a moment to admire a raft of scarlet water lilies blooming close by in the lake. The absence of the ever-present, colorfully winged insects customarily sipping nectar from the blooms seemed odd. Raising her head to listen, she realized the woods were silent this morning, no bird calls. Retreating a few feet inland, she selected one of the largest trees and laid both hands on its trunk, seeking the flow of energies circulating in the woodland.
Intruders.
Shocked, she gasped and recoiled. I have to warn Marcus. The newcomers alarming the wildlife and birds could only be Combine. Somehow the tenacious enemy had tracked her here. Maybe the ownership of this place wasn’t as well buried in the records as Marcus believed. There were no other cabins and the whole area was posted against trespassing, he’d told her, so the arrivals were unlikely to be innocent tourists or campers. She took off running, working her way through the trees, seeking a more direct path to the cabin, frustrated by dense thickets of thorny berry bushes and stands of close-packed saplings.
Moving more silently than the forest creatures, Marcus met her half way, with a lethal, heavy duty blaster in hand. She was out of breath from her exertions and before she could say anything, he’d tackled her and dragged her behind a huge tree, kissing her as he did so. “Scared me to death not knowing where you were. I was terrified those bastards had gotten to you.” He drew her behind him and cautiously reconnoitered the forest beyond the cabin, in the direction of the road.
“You know company’s coming, right?” she whispered.
Jaw set in a grim line, he nodded as he quartered the surrounding area, seeking signs of their enemies. “Sensors were triggered and my first priority was getting to you before the bad guys did.”
“Give it up, folks, and we’ll make this simple,” said a voice from concealment ahead and to the left of them. A blaster bolt hit the tree well above their heads, making Carialle duck as bark flew and Marcus covered her.
“You’re trespassing—get off my land,” Marcus shouted.
“We’re way past worrying about petty crimes, soldier. Give us the girl and we’ll kill you ourselves, a clean headshot, right here, right now, no more of Trang’s drug shit.”
Marcus fired the blaster and Carialle heard a yell, choked off. He held a finger to his lips and then flashed two fingers at her, pointing to the right. She placed one hand on the tree, seeking to gain information on where exactly the intruders might be.
Screeching, a flock of birds burst into the sky and Marcus fired again in that general direction. Several bolts came blasting through the branches, uncomfortably close to their position.
“We want the girl alive, asshole. She belongs to us and you’re messing with more than you understand. Quit trying to play the hero—you’re outnumbered.” This was a new speaker. “Make me mad and I’ll hand you over to Trang myself and watch while she tortures you.”
“We’re pinned down,” Marcus whispered. “I killed one and winged another. Don’t know how many more. We’ve got to get to the cabin.”
Carialle whispered a quiet
acknowledgment and set her other hand on the tree, trying to impose her will on this one and its fellows. Marcus bracing her with one arm provided comfort and support but all her concentration was for the interaction with the sentients embodied in the trees.
There was a deafening cracking sound, as if lightning had struck nearby, and the ground shook, followed by a cloud of dust billowing through the area. Screams echoed. Carialle grabbed his hand, stepped away from the tree and broke into a run.
Marcus was right on her heels. “What the seven hells happened?”
“I convinced one of the sister trees to drop a decaying branch above their hiding place. The trees say more men and vehicles are coming.” As she spoke, she heard the growl of engines for herself, not too far away.
Cursing, Marcus picked her up with one arm and broke into a sprint with speed she couldn’t have matched. He zigzagged a bit on the hillside path, as if avoiding enemy fire, but bounded straight up the stairs of the cabin and made it through the door as twin blaster bolts struck the roof support, the porch collapsing right behind them, splinters flying. Still holding her, Marcus slapped the controls inside, next to the door. “Full defenses,” he yelled. “Scanners up.”
There was a hum and the AI reported. “Engaged.”
The cabin shook as an explosive round detonated on the roof, blocked by the building’s faltering shields.
“Grab our stuff, we’re leaving now,” he said, moving to the scanners, focus switching from one to the next, calculating odds. “At least fifteen men, with heavy duty weapons. They’re not kidding around.”
Carialle forced her leg muscles to engage. She sprinted to the bedroom and grabbed their two packs, taking a moment to veer into the kitchen and retrieve her mug. As she passed the table, she took Gramps’s pipe and stuffed it into her pack as well. “Ready,” she said, already kneeling to shove the rug aside, uncover the gravlift and activate the mechanism. There couldn’t be anywhere else Marcus expected to go, not with the cabin surrounded by Combine thugs. “Hurry.”
He retreated from the door to join her and as the platform sank with nerve wracking slowness, she realized he was saying a final farewell to the cabin which held so many of his best boyhood memories.
“Plan?” she said. “Won’t we be trapped here? I mean, they’ll get in eventually.”
“You don’t know the half of how paranoid and prepared my grandfather was. Although clearly the old man should have installed more sensors, further out. I’ll rectify the oversight, if I ever have the chance.” He secured the blaster in his waistband and jumped off the platform before it finished its journey. Above them the cabin rocked as another barrage hit it. He held out his arms in invitation and without hesitation she stepped off the edge of the gravlift and fell, to be caught in his rock hard embrace and set on the floor.
Marcus was already moving to the coms room.
“Calling for help?” she asked, following in his wake. “Will anyone arrive in time?”
“The cabin has a self-destruct mechanism. Setting it to blow when the attackers breach the door. Debris will cover the entrance to this area, but we won’t be here in any case.”
She touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He didn’t look at her but ran past her to the weapons room and grabbed an assortment of heavy duty blasters, handing her one.
“Costing you your cabin,” she said as he rejoined her.
He leaned over to kiss her even as he was closing her fingers on the gun. “Losing the cabin is worth it to me—I’ll sacrifice whatever it takes to keep you alive and safe. We can rebuild. Now stay close.”
Marcus jogged to the storeroom, which she’d never been in, and opened the portal, motioning for her to precede him. The door shut hard behind them as more dust rained down from the one sided battle going on above. Marcus opened a small safe with his palm and extracted various credit tags and other objects, handing them to her to dump into the pack. She heard him give a grunt of surprise but couldn’t tell which of the items falling into the pack had elicited the surprised reaction. Then he pivoted to yank a shelving unit on the rear wall away from its position and Carialle gaped as a narrow tunnel was revealed.
“Take this.” He handed her a handlamp, already switched on. “Hurry, I’m guessing the defenses are about to crash under the assault and we gotta be far away from here before then.”
Drawing a deep breath – she wasn’t claustrophobic but the dark, musty-smelling tunnel was uninviting – she ran headlong. She heard his footsteps pounding behind her and the ambient light cut off, so she guessed the entrance was sealed. “How far?” she asked over her shoulder.
“The tunnel runs about a half a mile.”
“I’m having trouble breathing.” Pausing in alarm, she pressed one hand to the center of her chest.
“Air down here must not be circulating. Better keep walking, angel. I can carry you but once I pass out, we’re done for.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Give me the packs.”
“No, you have all those heavy weapons. I’ll be fine.” Breathing deep from her diaphragm as singers were trained to do brought a bit of relief. She told herself there was enough air here for them to get wherever they were going. To believe anything else would be self-defeating. Trust Marcus.
The ground shuddered and the tunnel floor tilted under her feet with the shockwave. Marcus grabbed her and ran to the next bend, debris falling like lethal rain behind him. He barely cleared the section of the passageway they’d been in when the whole thing collapsed, sending choking dust into the air. Carrying her, the packs and the weapons, showing no signs of fatigue or physical distress, Marcus forged ahead.
“Not far now,” he said in between coughing spells.
“That was the cabin blowing up?”
“Probably.”
“So the thugs’ll think we’re dead and stop hunting us.” The idea made her happy.
“Can you walk?”
“Sure.”
He set her down and they continued on their way. “This bunch is determined to recapture you,” he said. “Clearly I’m incidental to them.”
“Miscalculation on their part.”
Flashing a grin to acknowledge her flattery, he said, “We’re not clear yet but we are at the end of the tunnel.”
Looming in the glare from the lights was a blank wall.
He set his hand on a reader off to the side and the portal slid up over their heads, folding itself neatly. Marcus drew her forward and then closed the odd door again. She stood in a small space, next to a mini ground car facing toward a ramp leading upward.
“Let me check the situation outside.” He set the packs next to the car and squeezed past the vehicle before scrambling up the ramp. A moment later he said, “Can you get into the car?”
“Sure, but is it going to start after twenty years sitting here?” Carialle was dubious but worked her way into the passenger seat. There was hardly any room between the car and the wall.
“I hope so. Didn’t see any bad guys out there—this is another back road emptying onto the main road south of where we drove in to reach the cabin.”
After squeezing himself into the driver’s side, he sat behind the controls and reached for the initiator. “Say a prayer or hum a chant or whatever’s most suited to encouraging a cranky old engine.”
“Actually my gifts don’t work on machines at all,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“Encourage me then.”
The engine fired up immediately, with a hum of power Carialle found reassuring.
Marcus gave her a fleeting look. “We’re going full throttle in case anyone is waiting to ambush us. Get low in your seat and hang on.”
The ground car shot forward so fast she was pressed against the cushions as she crouched in the foot well. They left the concealed garage in an instant and were speeding down a road as overgrown as the one leading into the cabin had been. Jaw clenched, Marcus drove around and above obstacles with consummate skill and hit th
e two lane road in a few heart stopping moments, accelerating to the south. She admired his skill and yet again took relief in the fact he was willing to help her.
“Anyone behind us?” he asked.
Trying to control her pounding pulse rate, she checked. “No, we’re clear.”
“It’ll take them awhile to figure out we’re not in the cabin. The way it was built to collapse if the self-destruct was ever activated, the ruins should have fallen in on the underground rooms, which will also help to hide the fact we had a chance to escape. But if and when they run a scan for bodies, it’ll be obvious we got away somehow.”
“Intense is too mild a word for your grandfather,” she said, facing forward in her seat again. “I would ask why he planned for such extreme situations but considering his precaution saved our lives, I can’t be anything but grateful. Where are we going now?”
“Actually, back to the city. I found out a few helpful things this morning before we were attacked.” Frowning, he checked her over. “You sure you’re all right?”
Yes, I’m fine, not so much as a scratch. We aren’t seeking shelter at my apartment are we?”
“Lords of Space, no. Showing our faces in River Wind would be asking to get taken. I have a safer place in mind, now I’ve gotten my hands on ID and credits again, thanks to Gramps. In a major stroke of luck, I think I may have found out who was asking awkward questions about my disappearance.”
Since he didn’t seem upset by this development, she hazarded a guess. “A person you can trust?”
“With my life and more importantly with your life,” he said. “My battle buddy Sam Garamonte. We grew up together here on this planet, enlisted together, survived Hell Week together in the Teams, and served together on several missions I can’t talk about. I lost track of him when I got assigned to a highly classified task force in the outer Sectors and he deployed elsewhere. Our careers went in different directions, different theaters of the war. Come to find out he took early retirement for medical reasons a couple of years ago and he’s here, on Felicia Seven. You’ll like him.”
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