Flying Through Fire (Dark Desires)

by Nina Croft

  “We’ll give you a few minutes, and then we’ll follow. Devlin has the shuttles prepared. He’s just waiting for you to give the word that you’re ready.”

  Without quite knowing why, he reached out a hand. Rico raised a brow but shook it.

  “If it all goes spectacularly wrong,” Thorne said, “just get the hell out of here. Stay in stealth mode, take the ship, make the rendezvous with Saffira, and then open a wormhole to a different time. Go back, go forward, but go somewhere they can’t trace her.”

  “We will.”

  “But find Candy first. She’s out there. I know she is. Find her and keep her safe. And tell her…” Hell, what was there to say. She knew how he felt, she’d always known.

  Rico nodded and without saying anything else, Thorne whirled around and strode to the transporter bubble. “Rear Airlock.”

  He opened the airlock and let himself into the first chamber, the door sliding shut behind him. He felt the air being sucked from the room. Was this it? He wanted one last glimpse of her. Even the knowledge that she was safe would be enough.

  But hell, who actually got what they wanted out of this life?

  He pressed the release button to open the outer doors, and there was space before him. If he had to go, there were worse ways. Flying through fire would always remind him of Candy and the first time they’d made love.

  Where was she?

  He launched into space, hovering for a moment while he orientated himself. This close he could still see the hull of the Blood Hunter. Soon he would breach the stealth mode and she would vanish from sight. At that point he would be visible to the dragons, and then all hell would break loose.

  Behind him was the planet, and ahead a cordon of dragons.

  Off to the side, the docking bay doors opened and a shuttle shot out, closely followed by a second. They were ready for business.

  He pushed his fears aside, and a sense of exhilaration filled him. Then he spread his wings and launched himself into space. The shuttles took up position on either side of him, but as he headed for his first target they peeled away and aimed blaster shots at the dragons on either side.

  Thorne concentrated all his thoughts on that one dragon in his sights, stirred the volcano slumbering at his center, focused his powers—

  “Thorne, no! Stop!”

  The words rang clearly in his head, and for a second he didn’t recognize her. He’d never heard her quite like this before.

  “Candy?”

  “Yes. You can’t do this.”

  “We have to.”

  “If you do, the backlash will destroy the whole planet.”

  “And if I don’t, then they’ll destroy the whole planet anyway. Like they did Espera.”

  “Then you have to hold them off. Help is coming. Just trust me. Don’t kill them. Not even one. I’ll explain when I get there.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way.”

  …

  “You got through?” Kronus asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And did he listen?”

  “I think so. How long until we reach them?”

  “Three of your Earth hours.”

  She’d been trying to contact Thorne since they’d come through the black hole two days ago, but hadn’t been able to reach him. Kronus had said it was because she was still a baby, and her strength would grow. In a few thousand years, she would be able to reach clear across the Trakis system. If she was still alive, and the Trakis system still existed. Either way, she wasn’t holding her breath.

  The last twenty-two years had passed slowly. She’d managed to survive, scavenging the deserted settlements for clothes and equipment left behind when Thorne’s people had made their hasty exodus. And there were irrigated areas where crops and fruit trees still grew—enough to keep her alive.

  In a way, the years had been uneventful, but in others they had changed her completely, given her the time to step back and take a look at who and what she was: a goddamned hot-headed mess who more often fucked-up situations and nearly got people killed than saved the day.

  It was a wonder they had put up with her for as long as they had. But she also understood why. Because they loved her. She’d always believed she was on the outside, only accepted by the crew of the Blood Hunter because of her parents. But really, they had taken her in with open arms, largely ignored her faults, treated her as one of their own. She’d just been too stupid to see it. And too stubborn to accept it.

  The years away had also given her time to understand why she’d been that way, and also to understand that she could be anything she wanted to be. And finally, with Kronos’s help, she had come to see what she would like to become, the sort of person she wanted to be, and the world she wanted to live in.

  She wanted some of Thorne’s sense of duty but tempered by a little of Rico’s go-to-hell attitude. She wanted her mother’s compassion but her father’s objectivity—while she didn’t want to be an assassin, some people deserved to die, and she wouldn’t balk at that. She wanted Tannis’s loyalty to her crew and Daisy’s sheer exuberance and enjoyment of life, Devlin’s ferocity and Saffira’s surety of her function in the world.

  But most of all, she wanted someone to love her, and she knew exactly who that someone was and had always been. There’d never been another choice for her.

  Everyone needed someone for whom they were the most important being in the whole universe. Someone they would kill for or die for. Without that nothing else mattered.

  It all came back to Thorne.

  So, he’d better not go and blow up any more dragons, because then chances were the whole of Trakis Five would get sucked into a wormhole, and he’d never forgive himself.

  Kronus had taught her so much. He had lived before mankind even came into being. He had seen civilizations rise and fall and claimed it was inevitable. Nothing could or should last forever, or the universe would stagnate, and if that happened, it might as well implode and they all go up in a puff of smoke.

  Right now she needed to find out what was going on, because Kronus, as usual, was being very cryptic. He could be a very annoying companion, and many times over the years, she’d come close to doing him serious harm—or at least wanting to. She’d once shot him with her laser pistol; the blast had bounced harmlessly off his scales. Usually she ended up shifting and running until the fury drained from her system. Then she’d spend a few days exploring the planet—it was a barren place dotted with mountain ranges that she suspected were really more sleeping chambers for dragons. Sometimes she even felt them stir in their sleep.

  She’d once asked Kronus about them, but he’d just shrugged. So she’d asked him how many dragons there were, and he’d said “a lot.” So she’d given up, and they’d gone back to their lessons. Because that’s what they were—lessons. She often asked him why he bothered, and he’d answer “why not?” Then once—and it didn’t happen very often—he’d gone on to explain that it was because she interested him, and her people were so young and raw but perhaps not entirely without hope. And besides, he was bored, and the biggest threat to an immortal was boredom. It reminded her of something Rico had once said. Rico would probably get on well with the dragon.

  She adjusted her seat on the dragon’s broad back and wrapped her cloak about her. It was cold out here, and she wondered what it would be like to ride in a spaceship again, protected from the elements.

  “So what’s happening at Trakis Five?” she asked. She knew he’d been in contact with the other dragons.

  “My people are poised to make an exhibition of their powers and to destroy one of your planets in retribution for your man killing Thresus.”

  Thresus was the dragon Thorne had exploded all those years ago. Or rather, a couple of days ago. She would never get her head around time travel. She also knew that Kronus hadn’t liked him very much. That had been her first inkling that all was not peachy in the dragon world. But Kronus was stingy in his handouts regarding curren
t dragon politics, although he expected her to regurgitate everything she knew about her own world. Which was, surprisingly, a lot. She’d obviously subconsciously absorbed all that information Thorne had tried to drill into her head so she could understand what was going on around her.

  In over twenty years, Kronus had never answered that first question. Why he had saved her. He’d said he might use her as a bargaining tool, but to bargain for what? What did he want?

  Maybe just to stave off boredom, but she thought it was more. She was beginning to have an inkling, actually, and wasn’t quite sure how he thought it was going to pan out. But right now, he considered her of some interest or some use. She didn’t want that to change, because she wasn’t sure what would happen if it did.

  “Will they be able to stop them?”

  “Not without help.”

  “Then we’d better get there fast.”

  “We will be too late. But we will not be needed. I have received information that there are a large number of ships heading to Trakis Five. They will be there soon and will be sufficient to see my people off. For now.”

  “For now?”

  “Without intervention, we will prevail. We always prevail.”

  “What intervention? Are you finally going to reveal your cunning plan to me?”

  She heard the silent snort that she had learned passed for amusement in dragon language.

  “No. I am going to take you to your people and then you will persuade Thorne to come and talk with me.”

  “We’ve had this discussion before—he doesn’t want to talk to you. Rico suggested it, and Thorne said never. He can be really stubborn, and he doesn’t like you very much. You killed his people.” She punched him on the side of the neck as he was about to interrupt. “Oh, I know you were against it, but he doesn’t see you as individuals.”

  “Then you must persuade him to. Do you see us as individuals?”

  “Of course I do.”

  Actually, she saw him as a friend. One of the few real friends she’d had in her life. But maybe she didn’t want to share that. Did dragons even think in terms of friendship? It was a question she’d considered a lot over the years.

  But now the years of waiting were over. She was going to see Thorne again, and she was going to make an entrance.

  Would he like the changes?

  She knew she’d changed—not so much physically, though her hair was longer and of course her eyes were purple—but she’d grown up at last. It might have taken over twenty years to do it, but she was finally there.

  “Take me home,” she said.

  “Hold on.”

  Christ, she loved flying.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Thorne sent an immediate internal command to Devlin. “Call off the attack.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I’m not actually sure, but Candy is back.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t fucking know. I don’t know what or why or where. All I do know is she said there would be catastrophic repercussions if I go ahead and zap them.”

  “And you believe her?”

  “Well, I can’t think of a reason why she would make it up.”

  “She commed you?”

  “No, she spoke in my mind.”

  “How the hell…?”

  “Again—I don’t know, but no doubt we’ll find out soon enough if we survive the next few minutes. I’m heading back to the Blood Hunter.”

  He flew to where he knew the ship was situated, the cruiser only becoming visible as he breached the stealth shield. He made his way to the bridge. Rico and Devlin appeared only seconds later. Thorne studied the screens. The dragons were milling aimlessly, no doubt as clueless as he was, but that wouldn’t last. Once they realized the threat was gone, they would commence their attack.

  “So what the fuck is happening?” Rico asked. “Devlin says Candy’s back. Where the hell is she? Dios, let’s hope that gets Tannis off my back.”

  “I don’t know. She spoke in my mind.”

  Rico had been heading for the pilot’s seat, now he stopped midstride and spun around, eyes narrowed. “As in like the Collective.”

  “Exactly like.”

  “Madre de Dios.”

  Fergal appeared, a bowl of stew in his hand. “I heard the attack was off.” He held up his bowl. “I thought if I was going to be incinerated, I may as well not be hungry while it happens. Although,” he continued, taking his seat and switching on the monitor, “it looks like there might be help on its way.”

  “What sort of help? Who?”

  “Everybody.”

  Thorne took a step closer. All that showed were blips on the radar screen right now, but there were plenty of them. “Can you get a visual?”

  “I can. But at the front are Jon and Alex. The rest are what remains of the army. I presume they must have contacted whoever they could find and brought them in.”

  Six months ago, there had been an army ready on Trakis Two with the aim to destroy the Church. It consisted of what was left of Devlin’s rebel forces, any remaining Collective who had managed to escape the Church’s purge, and a few others who were in it for the adventure. In the end, they hadn’t been needed—Fergal’s cyborg army had defeated the Church—and most of them had dispersed. Now it looked like they were coming to the rescue.

  “How long?”

  “Thirty minutes. And that might be thirty minutes too long.” He waved a hand at the dragons. The milling had ceased, and they were drawing up into some sort of formation, no doubt ready to attack the planet. The Blood Hunter was still in stealth mode. They couldn’t be seen, but as soon as the ship fired her weapons, it would be clear they were there. It would be better to attack from the shuttles and keep the whereabouts of the ship hidden.

  “Let’s go take the shuttles out.”

  “What about me?” Daisy asked.

  “You come as well. We need all the firepower we can get, and you’re a better combat pilot than Fergal. He can stay with the ship.” He turned to Fergal. “You can fly her—if need be. And get hold of that army, tell them to hurry.”

  “Already on it.”

  The transporter bubble dropped them off at the docking bay. They headed toward the fighters, short range but with high firepower and stronger blaster shields. It took only minutes for them to be out through the docking bay doors and into space.

  “Hey, this is fun.” Rico’s voice came through the comm unit. “And I used to think you were a boring bastard. Let’s go blast some dragons.”

  Thorne knew from experience that they couldn’t kill them this way, but hopefully they could stop them from attacking the planet until enough firepower arrived to drive them off.

  The dragons were like a solid barrier, and from the flexing of their wings, they were about to dive and rain fire on the planet. He swerved the shuttle, rolled over the top of them, halted right in front of the central dragon, came out of stealth, and hit his blasters. The dragon flipped over, rolling and crashing into the one next to him. At the same time, Rico and Daisy sent in a wave of blaster shots from either side, while Devlin hit from behind.

  Chaos reigned.

  But the dragons must have realized there were only four shuttles and over twenty of them. They split into smaller groups, each one targeting a shuttle. Rico evaded them with ease, but Daisy got cornered, and the vampire peeled back and blasted one of the dragons, enabling her to squeeze through and into space. But as soon as she was gone, they formed their attack formation once more.

  Thorne aimed his shuttle straight into the mass of dragons targeting him, felt the heat of their fire through the thin skin of the craft. Then he was through and turning, jamming his hand on the blaster button so a continuous shot roared out. But the shuttle could only take so much of this; already alarms shrilled in his ears.

  Devlin came up from the rear and blasted them, then whirled around Thorne’s ship and aimed for the group still harrowing Daisy. Her engines were on fire and she was
spiraling out of control. One of the dragons followed her. Rico intercepted and physically rammed the beast, but when he pulled out, his shuttle was listing.

  They weren’t going to make it.

  “Candy!” he called out, and at last, she answered.

  “Hold on. Whatever you do, do not goddamned die on me. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this? Now just stay alive.”

  A dragon appeared in front of him, and he fired as another slammed into him from the rear. He didn’t want it to fucking end like this. He would not allow it. But two more were opening their great, gaping jaws, and he could see the trickle of fire. This time he would burn.

  At that moment the sky in front of him filled with the Blood Hunter as she came out of stealth and shot with all her power. But it could only give them minutes.

  “They’re almost here.” Fergal’s voice came down the comm unit. “Hold on.”

  He could see the reinforcements on the monitor, and then they were there for real. A mishmash of ships, of all shapes and sizes, swooped in between him and the dragons.

  The cordon gave way under the constant bombardment. One ship was hit and engulfed in a fireball, but another came to its rescue, saving it from further damage. And then the dragons were on the run.

  The ships followed, harrying them with blasts, but Thorne turned his shuttle around and headed back to the Blood Hunter.

  Candy was alive.

  He was trembling, his hands shaking on the controls.

  And she was changed.

  What had happened? Where had she been in the few days since he’d last seen her?

  He docked the shuttle and got out. Rico was coming in to land, Devlin and Daisy close behind him. Thorne waited by the transporter bubble for them to catch up. They didn’t speak as they made their way to the bridge, but he could sense their impatience.

  When they arrived he crossed straight to Fergal. “Are they gone?”

  “See for yourself.”

  He switched on the monitors. The screens directly in front showed the fleeing dragons, only tiny specks now, and the returning ships. Behind them was Trakis Five. It looked like they were safe, for the moment at least.