Flying Through Fire (Dark Desires)

by Nina Croft

  “What?” he asked and she realized she’d been staring at him for a long time.

  She licked her lips and he followed the movement. Was he remembering her lips on him, kissing him…no of course he wasn’t. Probably it had gone straight out of his mind. “I was just thinking.”

  His brows drew together. Clearly, her thinking was not a good thing. “About what?”

  “That day on Trakis Two.” His gaze went hard, but he didn’t scare her. Well, actually that wasn’t exactly true, but now was not the time to be intimidated. She forced herself to continue. “The day Drago’s head exploded.”

  The room went quiet. Rico had been talking to Daisy. Now he swiveled his chair around so he could see the two of them. Devlin and Daisy copied his movement so she and Thorne were the center of attention.

  Rico had a thoughtful expression on his face. “Go on,” he said. Thorne’s wings twitched, but he said nothing, and Candy realized Rico had actually been talking to her. “Tell us what happened.”

  She could read nothing from Thorne’s face. His lack of expression made her want to poke him in the eye with a pointy object. What the hell had made her fall in love with such an annoying person? Shrugging one shoulder, she thought back to that day. “Drago was dying. It was obvious—he had blood everywhere. And he knew it. He was trying to wind me up enough to finish him off—goddamn coward didn’t have the guts to do it himself. When Thorne turned up, Drago turned his efforts to pissing him off instead.” She shrugged again. “I guess he succeeded, because the next minute he exploded. Like, from inside. There was blood and brains everywhere.”

  “Nice story,” Fergal murmured.

  “Anyway, it just occurred to me,” Candy said. “That if people’s heads can explode, then maybe dragons’ heads can explode as well.”

  “Don’t go there,” Thorne muttered.

  “Why not?”

  “Yes, why not?” Rico asked. “Perhaps it’s time to talk about exploding heads.”

  She could see the internal battle going on in Thorne’s mind. He turned away and flung himself into one of the chairs, running a hand through his hair.

  She crossed to him and crouched down in front of the chair, half expecting him to push her way. But he didn’t, and when he raised his head, the blank facade was gone and his eyes were dark whirlpools of confusion.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and faced the room. “I have no clue how powerful I am. Except I believe it exceeds anything I have ever imagined. And I don’t want to go there.”

  “So you’ll stick your head in the sand,” Rico said.

  Thorne frowned. “Why would I want to stick my head in the sand?”

  “Sorry. Old Earth saying. There was this bird…” He shook his head. “Maybe now’s not the time. So what sort of power are we talking about? You must have been giving this some thought. Give us a hint.”

  Thorne set her away from him, and she straightened. He rose to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t even think about it that day. I wanted him gone and he was…gone. No effort, no concentration.” He turned to face the vampire. “You want a hint. Imagine that man’s head being a spaceship. Imagine the Blood Hunter exploding with one thought. You piss me off too much, and that could happen.”

  “Let’s hope there’s a little self-preservation in there and you won’t do that.”

  “Maybe not. But it doesn’t stop there.” He gazed at the ceiling, his purple eyes whirling. Then he looked back at them, and a slight smile curled his lips. “Now imagine the same thing but with a whole planet.”

  For a minute the room was filled with an awed silence as everyone processed his words. Candy’s legs wobbled, and she backed up and sank into the chair behind her. Whatever she’d been expecting, it wasn’t this. Maybe a little bit of head-exploding power to help them in their current predicament. Now part of her wished that she’d never mentioned the Drago thing.

  Because this wasn’t merely a useful talent to get them out of a sticky situation. It was world-changing.

  And present situation aside, she didn’t want her world to change. She liked it. She wanted to share it with the man she loved. And she certainly didn’t want the man she loved to turn into some sort of all powerful overlord, capable of destroying the universe. But hadn’t she always sensed a great power inside him? Wasn’t that what had drawn her and her wolf to him all those years ago, even when she’d been a child?

  Rico’s expression was blank, but that usually meant he was trying to hide what he was thinking. Was he sorry he’d asked? He cleared his throat. “So you can do that? Blow up a planet?”

  “How the fuck should I know? It’s not something I’ve ever actually tried.” He scowled. “Would you?”

  Rico rubbed a hand over his chin, clearly thinking about it. “No, you’re probably right.”

  …

  Thorne closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, waiting while they all processed the information.

  Rico stretched his legs out in front of him, arms crossed behind his head, and studied him. “So you think you can do it again?”

  “You really want me to try? After what I’ve just said?”

  He leaned forward, rested his hands on his thighs and studied Thorne some more. He tried not to twitch. The vampire saw too much.

  “Well, it’s like this,” Rico said. “I trust you.”

  Thorne’s mouth dropped open. Rico chuckled at the expression of absolute amazement Thorne was betting had flashed across his face. It was followed by another emotion entirely, one that he didn’t want to analyze too closely. He backed away and sank into the seat next to Candy, giving her a sideways glance. But her attention was focused on Rico, no doubt wondering what mind-boggling things he would say next.

  “I think I’ve rendered you speechless,” Rico said, amusement clear in his tone. “And truthfully, there are not many people I’ve trusted through my life. So be honored.”

  He cleared his throat. “Oh, I am. But where are we going with this?”

  “I think it’s time to find out what you can do. And we have less than two hours to learn, so we need to get this moving.”

  Thorne sat back and considered the words. “And you trust me, so it’s going to be safe?”

  “Well, this guy Drago, I’m guessing did something to seriously piss you off. I’m also guessing he was a bad guy.”

  “Your point?”

  “He deserved to die. Your subconscious told you that.”

  “And you’re all such good guys.” He waved a hand to encompass Rico and Devlin. “A vampire and the most-wanted man in the universe.”

  Rico grinned. “You like us, really.”

  “And what about me,” Fergal said.

  “And me,” Daisy added.

  Fergal, he didn’t know too well and was reserving judgement. Daisy was a sweetheart, if you ignored the whole blood-sucking monster thing.

  “And then there’s your own personal safety net beside you,” Rico said, with a glance toward Candy. Thorne had avoided looking at Candy for a while; she complicated matters. “I reckon you’d self-destruct before you did anything that might harm a hair on her sweet little head.”

  “Piss off,” she mumbled.

  But Rico was right with that one. The times when he had nearly lost it, it had been Candy who had brought him back.

  But the vampire hadn’t finished yet. “Hey, and look on the bright side—if it all goes arse-up, you won’t be able to say I told you so.”

  “I won’t?”

  “Well, we’re talking dragon fire here. In which case none of us—including you—would likely survive.”

  “That is a bright side,” Devlin said. “I’m going to go start work on the docking bay doors, see if I can get them fixed.” He rose to his feet. “Maybe a little distance and I can avoid the whole head-exploding experience and there will be someone left to rescue my wife.” He headed out but paused at the door. “But thank you.” Then he was gone.

  Thank
you for what? Finally facing his own inner demons?

  “I think you two should go as well,” Rico said to Daisy, waving a hand at Fergal at the same time. “Chances are we might all crash and burn in a few hours. There’s nothing you can do here.”

  “Right, boss.” Daisy got up and kissed Rico on the cheek. “I never actually thanked you for saving my life. But I’m glad.”

  He grinned. “Go away.”

  It occurred to Thorne that they half believed this was the end. He could hear the good-bye in their voices.

  “The monitor is tracking the dragons and Saffira,” Fergal said. “We’ll be back when they get close.”

  “Okay. Go have some fun, children.”

  They vanished, leaving him, Rico, and Candy on the bridge.

  Rico spent a moment examining the ship’s systems. “Engines are burning up,” he muttered. “Ah, well can’t be helped.” He turned back to them.

  Thorne sensed Candy stiffen at his side. “I’m staying,” she said.

  “No one asked you to go,” Rico replied.

  Part of him believed he should send her away. But Rico was right. She grounded him. Besides if this was the end, he wanted her close by.

  I love you.

  Her words echoed through his mind. He’d not answered her. He’d ignored the declaration, and he knew she must have found the words really hard to say. He didn’t know about love. Could someone like him fall in love? He wasn’t sure.

  He pushed the thought aside and took a deep breath.

  Time to unleash whatever it was inside him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Thorne reached beside him and grasped Candy’s hand. Her fingers slid against his and she squeezed. Strength flowed through him.

  Peering inside himself, he traced the paths of his mind, found the door he had locked so long ago, when he’d first suspected the extent of his powers. He’d always done his best to ignore it, to pretend it didn’t exist. Now he forced himself to study it.

  The door was bent and buckled with age. Red-brown rust, like dried blood, coated the surface, and the metal was warped, forming gaps at the edges through which seeped a violet light.

  Maybe the first thing to do was a few repairs. He concentrated, and the rust faded, blended in, the metal straightened, blocking out the violet glow until the door stood solid and gleaming

  “Are you okay?” Candy whispered.

  He opened his eyes and found her watching him, a line between her dark brows, her silver eyes glowing with concern.

  “I’m making sure I can close it off if I need to.”

  “And can you?” Rico asked.

  He nodded and closed his eyes again. The door was plain, solid, no lock and no key. He needed to change that.

  He’d kept this part of himself fastened up tight for so long, kept his fears locked inside, so it was as though he’d been wrapped in tight knots, suffocating himself. Now he needed to be free. This time when he visualized the door, he concentrated on a way in. At first nothing happened, and he swore softly, feeling Candy’s fingers tighten in his. He dug deep for strength and when he looked again, the door had a lock and a key.

  He opened his eyes.

  “What now?” Rico asked.

  “Now we see whether I can explode anything other than a bad guy’s head. And whether I can make a conscious decision to use it, or if we’re going to have to really piss me off at the right moment.”

  First though, he wanted some safety measures in place. Both Rico and Candy had laser pistols at their hips. “If I look in any way at all like I’m going to…”

  “Explode anything you shouldn’t?”

  “Yes. Then shoot me.”

  Rico grinned. “No problem. But it will piss Tannis off if we mess up her bridge.”

  “Hard luck. At least she’ll have a bridge.”

  “Good point.”

  He looked around. He needed something to practice on.

  Rico reached under the bench, pulled out a half empty bottle. Opening it, he drained the amber liquid in one go—maybe he was more rattled than he was letting on—and placed the bottle on the console opposite where Thorne stood.

  He slowed down his breathing, then his blood, until it was a lazy throb in his veins. Approaching the door, he reached out for the key, hesitated, thought about it some more. Told himself to stay calm whatever happened when he unlocked that key. Reached for it again, hesitated again…

  “Everything okay in there?” Rico’s voice pulled him out of his mind, and he blinked and frowned.

  “I’m on it.”

  “Well, we are on a time frame here. Thirty minutes left. You’re being too careful.”

  Shock hit him in the gut. He glanced at the monitor Fergal had left showing the time remaining to the rendezvous, and it was slipping away. Shit, he couldn’t believe how long he’d been in there, contemplating the door. He needed to do this now. He nodded.

  This time he moved purposefully to the door, reached out, turned the key, and then he pushed.

  His whole body was bathed in the purple light. He sensed Rico and Candy concentrating on him, weapons poised, and he held up his palm to show he was okay. When he didn’t fight it, there was no sense of panic, no whizzing out of control, just a sensation as though he were expanding to cover the bridge, then further, as though he could encompass the whole universe.

  A smile tugged at his lips. He could do anything, go anywhere, fly to the ends of the world. He flapped his wings, and Candy dove out of the way and crashed to the floor. He opened his eyes to find her picking herself up, a scowl on her face, the scowl turning to wonder as she caught him looking at her.

  He could sense the power, but it lay dormant. He had no clue how to make it do his bidding.

  Frustration built inside him until flames curled around his bones, heating his blood. He concentrated on the bottle. Imagined it exploding. Not even a flicker.

  “Did you know there’s smoke coming out of your ears?” Rico said. “I mean literally. It’s like a fucking cartoon.”

  “Brilliant. But it’s not going to explode anything, and it certainly isn’t going to kill a dragon.” He exhaled, pressing his palm to his forehead. For so long, he’d been scared of what he could do. Had he made himself incapable of using the powers? Rendered them useless?

  At this rate, he could do nothing, not even slow the dragons down. They would kill Saffira, and he would have to watch, and then they would no doubt kill him.

  Unless he somehow lost control and did whatever needed to be done by accident.

  “Shit.”

  “This isn’t working, is it?” Rico studied him as though he were some sort of specimen. “Try and remember what you were thinking when this guy Drago exploded.”

  He closed his eyes. The man had been boasting about forcing Candy to have sex with him. He sensed the heat churn in his gut, but there was no focus, nowhere to send it. Drago was dead. “The fucker’s dead. I can’t kill him twice.”

  “Hmm.” Rico looked around the room, his gaze settling on Candy. He drew his laser pistol. “How about I shoot Candy?”

  As the pistol leveled on her, a growl rose up in his throat. Sparks shot from his fingertips, and a red haze clouded the air between them.

  “Maybe not the best of ideas.” Rico holstered the laser and put his hands in the air. “Okay, big guy, she’s safe.” He breathed out. “Well, we know it’s there. But we don’t know what it can do or how to trigger it, except Candy seems a pretty reliable bet.”

  “We’re not using Candy. She stays out of this.”

  She pushed up from the wall she’d been lounging against. “Hey, don’t I get a say?”

  Thorne glared at her. “No.”

  “Okay, how about what if we try one more thing,” Rico said. “How about I shoot you?”

  “No,” Candy said.

  “Why not? It’s not as though it’s going to kill him.”

  She stepped forward. “I’ll shoot him.”

  Rico grinned.
“So the sex was crap. No reason to blast the poor guy. He’ll get better with practice.”

  “Ha ha.” She drew her pistol. “How about I shoot you first?”

  “Yeah, but that will make your friend there feel all warm and fuzzy. Not what we’re aiming for.”

  Candy turned to him. “So might it work?”

  Thorne thought about it and gave a quick shake of his head. “No. I have to perceive a real danger. I know you won’t hurt me. And if you really wanted to, I would probably let you.” At that moment, Fergal’s console started beeping. “Well, we’re out of time with fuck-all to show for it.” He cast a dark glance at the bottle which stood, still perfect, on the counter opposite.

  Rico crossed the room and picked it up. “Ouch.” He dropped it and it crashed to the floor. “Well, it was warm. Sadly, not warm enough. Looks like we’re going to have to play it by ear.” He headed to the pilot’s seat and spoke into the console. “Go to stealth mode.”

  A ripple ran through the ship.

  Thorne sensed the panic rising again, all mingled with the heat and flames inside him. Closing his eyes, he pushed the power back into where it had come from. He sank into a seat, scrubbing his hands through his hair, pressing his scalp. He was fucking crap. A pussy. A waste of goddamn space. Saffira was going to die. Hell, they were all going to die trying to save her.

  He opened his eyes as Candy plonked herself in the seat next to him. She rested a hand on his arm and squeezed. “It will be all right.”

  How? How could it be all right? Here he was, once again responsible for everyone, and about to fail just as spectacularly. He wished he could send them away, but Devlin wouldn’t leave.

  The man appeared at that moment, closely followed by Fergal and Daisy. Fergal took the seat next to the console, and, as if by magic, the screens around the room lit up. Fergal pointed to a screen showing dead ahead.

  Thorne rose to his feet and stepped closer. Saffira’s shuttle was hurtling through space, still a good distance ahead of them. Fergal zoomed in past her and there they were. Dragons.

  They appeared small and almost insignificant, twirling and dancing in space. One was green, the other a pale gold.