by Kiersten Fay
She had tried hard to convince him that he hadn't failed her by not sensing her on the Extarga. It was possible that he had no way of knowing, but thinking back, he wasn't sure. He realized now that stepping onto that ship had felt different, though he hadn’t given it a second thought. Like he’d told Anya, he'd never wanted to find his mate.
Could he have perceived his mate in some way and ignored his instincts? Somehow unconsciously convincing himself that she was fine where she was? Was it truly possible that he'd denied her and left her there to suffer? For years?
He touched the chain around his neck. Anya had given it back to him just before he'd left, along with the sweetest kiss to his lips.
How could she look so determined and utterly lost at the same time?
He supposed she imagined the necklace was a parting gift. Something to remember her by. She truly feared she was going back. But there was no way he would allow that. Not when he had just found her.
And, oh, did he want her, like nothing he'd ever wanted before. She was perfect for him in every way. Knowing her now, how could he have ever not wanted to find her? If he'd had any indication, what a perfect creature she would be, he would have scoured the universe for her.
In bed, Anya had hinted she might accept him when this was over. The thought made his blood fire. Time to deal with the one thing standing in his way.
Darius had wasted no time establishing contact. He was already on the screen, demanding a report when Sebastian entered the room.
“Darius,” he greeted as formally as he could.
“Well?” Darius asked impatiently. “Have you found her?”
“It's just as I thought. There's nothing out of the ordinary on my ship. No little girls out of place.”
Darius remained silent. Leaning back in his chair, he looked down his nose at Sebastian.
Knowing he wasn't convinced, Sebastian added, “I had every available crew member searching. No corridor was left unchecked.”
Eyes growing dark, Darius replied in a somber tone, “I know she's here. I can feel it.”
Sebastian stifled a growl. The bastard was unusually determined. For a mere slave? Why this determination to persist.
Unless…
A terrible suspicion invaded his mind, sinking in his stomach like a lead weight. Was Darius…was he in love with Anya?
Sebastian mentally shook himself. He needed this man away from his mate. Now! With teeth clenched and his voice almost a snarl, Sebastian said, “I can say with one hundred percent certainty that you're wrong. There is no one on my ship who belongs to you. We have a job to complete, and you've delayed us long enough.”
Darius leaned forward. “I want on that ship, Sebastian.”
The screen went black.
* * *
——
* * *
Anya paced the room, nervously glancing out the window every few seconds at the Hell Ship. Any moment now that ship could turn away…or not.
Please turn away.
It didn't budge.
Anya sat on the bed, then stood twiddling her fingers together, and paced some more. Bastian hadn't been gone very long, but it should have been enough time to tell Darius she wasn't on board. She had a really bad feeling things weren't going as planned. And if that was the case, she knew what she would have to do and was ready for it. Marada would safely get away if it was the last thing she did.
And she feared it might be.
At least she was able to leave something of herself with Bastian, a trinket that hopefully she'd changed the meaning of. She hoped he would use it as a reminder that it was okay to trust sometimes…to love.
An icy chill froze her dead in her tracks, and a dreadfully familiar energy slammed into her—an energy that tore the last of her hope straight from her chest. Her breath left her.
Oh, gods. No!
The Extarga's weapons were powering up. Darius was going to attack.
She barely had time to turn before the first shot rocked the ship, then another. Her heart sank in her chest, and adrenalin spiked. This was it. Sebastian had his chance, and it hadn't worked. Now it was her turn.
Thundering her way down the stairs, she burst into the control room, where things seemed to have gone into a strange organized chaos.
Sebastian was screaming orders. “All available power to shields! Aidan! Get us the fuck out of here!”
Someone yelled, “Shields down to eighty-one percent!”
“Let's keep it there!” Sebastian replied.
Another round of heavy blasts shook the ship.
“Shields at sixty-seven percent!”
“Fuck!” Over the loud speaker Sebastian ordered. “All gunmen to their stations! Target the Extarga's weapons and fire at will!”
Two more blasts had the crew gripping their stations for balance. With a loud pop, sparks shot out from an electronic box on the wall.
“Shields, forty-nine percent!”
“They're targeting our thrusters!” Aidan yelled.
Just then, Sebastian noticed her standing in the doorway. “Anya, get back to the room. Better yet, go find Sonya and make sure she's okay. We'll get out of this.”
Ignoring him, she made her way to Aidan's station.
“Hey,” Aidan barked when Anya pushed him out of the way. He reached for his console, and she slapped his hand away. At a loss, he looked toward Sebastian.
Bastian must have been stunned too. The room had grown somewhat quiet, until another blow shook the walls, causing more sparking.
A voice rang out, revealing a note of panic, “Shields at thirty percent, Captain!”
“Anya! This is serious. Get away from Aidan's station.”
“Captain!” She addressed him formally to emphasize that she knew perfectly well how serious the situation was. “There is only one way we're going to get out of this alive.” She quickly brought up the code for the warp drive, finding the error and correcting it within seconds.
Aidan was watching over her shoulder with fascination. “I can't believe it,” he breathed. “It can't be that simple.”
Turning to Sebastian, she commanded, “Captain, prepare the ship for warp drive.” Behind her Aidan was scrolling through the code as if seeing it for the first time.
“Aidan?” Sebastian called in question.
“It looks…I mean I can't be sure, but…she may have fixed it.”
Sebastian replied, “Even if it were in working order, we don't have the amount of power needed. Anya, leave this to me.”
Again she ignored his request and moved to a compartment on the wall, just beside where Bastian stood. Opening it revealed a tangle of wires.
The ship shook angrily as three more blasts assaulted the ship’s exterior.
“Captain, the shields are down to fourteen percent!”
“Aidan, resume evasive maneuvers. Get us out of here!”
In a strong voice that gathered all her intensity, she said, “Sebastian, you must trust me. Prepare the ship for warp. Now!”
When he shook his head, she pulled out the one wire that would give her full access to the ship’s power and, holding it in one hand, she hovered it over her wrist. Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
Gravely, Anya said, “Once I do this, Darius will know, without a doubt, that I am here. He's only playing with you now. He will attack with all his force. Please call the order. Prepare the ship!”
“Anya…”
Another round of explosions tore at the ship. A warning alarm sounded, sparks spewed further from the wall. A fully panicked voice called out over the noise, “Captain! Shields are down to three percent. We can't take another hit!”
With that, Anya shoved the exposed wire into her skin. A small trickle of blood flowed down her arm and into the metal of the wire.
Sebastian's brows drew together in confusion. “Anya?”
The pull of the ship was sharp. It drank from her like a hundred year old thirst being quenched at last. It hurt like hell! More than s
he thought it would. This was a straight draw, and she wasn't used to that. Soon her wrist became like fire. She schooled her features to keep the pain off her face. Bastian didn't need to see it.
“Uh, Captain? The shields have spiked! They've shot up to ninety-two percent.”
Jaw dropped, Bastian's head snapped to her. The look he gave her was as though he were seeing a stranger, like he'd never truly known her before. She had to force herself not to turn away in shame.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blasting renewed with a frenzy, each explosion only milliseconds apart, rendering the ship into a continuous vibrative state. With her connected to the ship, the tremendous thundering was like a force onto itself.
He knows!
“Bastian! Do it now!” she pleaded.
“Shields, eighty-five percent.”
Finally, he called over the loud speaker, “Attention, all. Prepare yourselves for warp drive in ten seconds.” He looked back at Anya, his expression unreadable.
Grateful, she nodded. “Run it for as long as you can. Half a minute at least.”
Aidan started the countdown. “Ten”
The fire in Anya's wrist had spread to her elbow.
“Nine.”
In a tone void of emotion, Bastian asked, “Will this harm you?”
“Eight.”
“Shields, seventy-one percent!”
“Seven.”
Afraid he would stop her, Anya lied. “I'll be fine.”
“Six.”
Extarga continued battering the ship, each blow like a terrible explosion inside her.
“When this starts…” she said to Sebastian.
“Five.”
“No matter what you see or hear…”
“Four.”
“Don't touch my skin. Okay?”
“Three.”
Sebastian steadied his gaze.
“Promise me!”
“Two.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“One.”
Her vision blurred, going white with nausea as the ship surged into warp. The fire that she'd been able to contain in her arm now swallowed her completely. In vain, she gasped for air that wasn't filled with liquid heat. Her lungs burned, her skin burned, the blood in her veins burned with every merciless beat of her heart.
She gripped her wrist tight to keep the wire in place, and leaned her weight against the wall. It felt as though something were reaching into her and clawing at her insides, the pain worsening with each pull of the ship.
How many seconds had passed?
How much longer would she suffer?
Extarga would not be able to follow as long as enough time had passed in warp. They wouldn't be able to spare the energy, not without her. The thought made her want to smile through the consuming inferno. Finally, she was using her gift for her own purpose, a truly freeing act.
The pain was nearing the point of agony. She bit her tongue to keep from begging for it to stop. Her friends needed her to be strong. Sebastian needed her to be strong.
Impossibly, the fire in her grew hotter. Any second she would burn away. Her eyes were closed, hot tears burning their way down her cheeks. She was afraid to open them and see if her skin was actually aflame. A scream must have escaped her, she could barely hear.
Sebastian's voice penetrated. It sounded so far away. “Anya! Stop! Aidan can't stop it!”
Good. She'd be able to get them as far away as she wanted, as long as she could stand.
Suddenly, she stopped breathing, or her body was using up all the oxygen so quickly that she felt like no air was coming with each heavy draw of breath. Her blood boiled, body contorting from the pain, the suffocating, burning pain. Growing hotter still. She screamed again. Too much pain.
* * *
——
* * *
She's suffering!
Sebastian's first instinct was to grab her, but, heeding her words, he remained in place. “Anya! Talk to me!”
She made no sound, no movement. Her jaw was clenched. Was she trying to keep quiet? Keep her pain from showing? He knew she would do anything to protect the people on this ship, but how far would she go? The answer scared him.
“Aidan, cut the warp drive!”
After a moment, Aidan called back. “I…I can't stop it. For some reason I'm locked out.” He banged at the computer in frustration.
Anya let out an agonizing sound that tore at his heart.
“Anya! Stop!” he pleaded. She didn't move. She either couldn’t hear him or was ignoring him completely. He tried again. “Anya, listen to me! Aidan can't stop it. Whatever you're doing, it's hurting you. Stop this or I will.”
She screamed again, pulling her wrist closer into her body…In an attempt to keep me from it? Her eyes were closed tight, but tears had begun to escape. Then the strangest thing happened: the tears sizzled on her cheeks before evaporating off her skin.
“Anya! Damn it! That's enough!”
When her whole body became clenched in pain, he took matters into his own hands. He darted to the panel and yanked the wire clean from the wall. Anya sucked in a harsh breath and slumped to the floor. He felt the thrusters shut down instantly.
Scooping her up, Sebastian mindlessly yelled out orders, “Find a place to hide. Scan the area, make sure we're safe. Run diagnostics on the ship. I need to know how damaged it is. Find out where the hell we are. Report to me in ten minutes.”
With that he left, racing down the hall, grumbling, “Dammit, Anya. How many times do I need to rush you to the doctor? This will be the last time. You hear me?”
Of course, she didn't. Once more, she was unconscious in his arms. He promised to keep her safe, but it seemed an impossible job.
In his desperate grip, she looked so fragile, so easily broken. But, aside from his sister, she was one of the strongest, bravest females he'd ever met. “You'd better get through this one or I'll rip through the underworld to bring you back myself.” Her lips were parted on a breath, but she didn't seem to be taking in any air.
Dr. Oshwald looked slightly disheveled when he entered sickbay. Sebastian lay her down on the bed, then attempted to explain, as best he could, what had happened.
Before he was finished, Cale burst through the doors. “Here you are! What the fuck was that? Did we seriously just warp? What the fuck happened to her?”
Oshwald placed one hand over her forehead and one over her heart. “Ow.” He pulled away.
“What is it?” both demons said in unison.
“She's burning, literally. Must be two hundred degrees at least. Didn't you feel it when she was in your arms?”
“Heat doesn't affect demons the same way it might you. Is she alive?”
“She lives, but barely.”
Cale growled, “Well, do something about it, Doc!”
“Both of you out! One demon hovering is bad enough, but two is intolerable.”
Once outside, Cale slapped Sebastian on the back. “Drink?”
Knowing there was nothing he could do to help Anya, Sebastian reluctantly agreed.
* * *
“What the hell is going on?” Sonya asked, as Cale approached the bar.
Sebastian was seated in a corner booth, head in his hands.
“How is it possible that we warped? Not that I'm complaining. I was actually starting to get a little worried when the bombing wouldn't stop. The shaking of the ship claimed more than one of my more expensive liquor bottles.” Sonya resumed her nervous cleaning with a dingy rag.
“I haven't got the whole story yet. All I've been able to pull out of him is something about Anya powering the ship.”
“That doesn't make any sense.”
Cale shrugged.
Tossing down the rag, Sonya walked toward Sebastian and sat across from him, straddling a chair. Cale followed with drinks in hand. Sonya had never been a patient chit.
“Can you please explain to me what's happened?” She demanded.
Sensing tha
t he was in great need, Cale handed Sebastian the very large, very strong drink. Sebastian took the glass and ingested it with one swallow.
“We can get you an I.V., mate. Fill it with a hundred proof.”
Sonya impatiently crossed her arms.
“I don't even understand it myself,” he began. “I'll need to speak with Anya to be sure, but, I think Anya fixed the warp algorithm, and then powered the ship…with her blood.”
With that, Cale sat, and took a deep swig of his own drink. He'd known there was something more to Anya, but this?
Sonya dropped her arms. After a moment, she replied, “Where is she now?”
“Sickbay. She was hurt badly doing…whatever it was she did. How could I have let that happen?”
“Did you know what she was planning?”
“No. How could I?”
“Then how could you have known to protect her?”
“She's suffered so much, when I could have stopped it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She'd been on that ship for years, suffering. How long have we been supplying Extarga? How many times have I gone aboard to meet with Darius?” Sebastian's fists clenched. “I should have known! I should have felt her presence. I ignored my instincts. I left her there! Now she's suffering again, because I couldn't keep her safe.”
Cale wondered if he had been in Bastian's place, would he feel as responsible? There is no question that he had loved his mate, but some things are just out of one’s control. Sonya seemed to feel the same.
“Sebastian,” she sighed. “After seeing you with Anya, the way you are with her, I have no doubt that if you had caught even a hint of her scent, you would never have left that ship until you found her. You can't blame yourself.”
“How can you be sure? I denied her for so long when she was so close.”
“You denied yourself, not her. You must have been blind to your own reactions to her. When she's in the same room as you, she commands your full attention.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“It couldn't have been more obvious if you had painted this is my mate on your forehead with an arrow pointing to Anya.”