“They’re down that street,” a voice shouted.
Kyle and Alyssa ran past Simon, where he knelt in the street, slapping at his burning sleeve. They heard gunshots and screams behind them—the believers chasing them or someone the believers had wounded. No time to find out. They ran blindly, turning so many times Alyssa had no idea how to get back to the train depot.
In this part of town, houses were arranged in a maze of short blocks separated by cobblestone streets and narrow alleys. There were no flat roofs or outdoor stairways. Alyssa wished, for the first time, that she’d trained with the warrior candidates so she’d be in better shape. “We need to get back to the business district where the buildings are bigger and we can find a flat roof.” Alyssa stopped, bending over and gasping. She couldn’t go any farther without a minute to catch her breath.
Kyle skidded to a halt a few paces ahead of her and turned back just in time to duck as a fireball flew past her head. She barely had time to throw one of her own to deflect a second headed straight for her.
Alyssa straightened and spun around. “Jael!” Stars, she’d never been so glad to see tall, dangerous, and sexy in her entire life. Then she saw the fireball in Jael’s hand, swirling as blue and hot as the murderous glint in her warrior’s eyes.
“I am Jael, First Warrior of The Collective’s Guard.”
“Jael, honey. It’s okay.”
Jael’s eyes showed no recognition as they looked past Alyssa and fastened on Kyle.
“In the name of The Collective, I pronounce you guilty of heresy, conspiracy to spread heresy, and kidnapping the First Advocate of The Collective.”
Alyssa backed against Kyle to shield her when Jael lifted her hand and the fireball grew larger. “No. Jael, look at me. Kyle was helping me escape. She didn’t kidnap me.”
A swoosh of air and Specter’s hooves clattered against the cobblestones behind them. Alyssa shoved Kyle against the wall on their left and stood in front of her. They wouldn’t be able reach Kyle without going through her.
“I sentence—”
Alyssa closed her eyes to Jael’s monotone and filled her mind with every special moment they’d shared. Their first kiss at the creek. Jael warm against her back and chuckling when she attempted to touch a star. Them making love under a star-studded sky. Them sitting on the steps of Jael’s cabin, the mountains at their back and a riot of wildflowers at their feet.
She opened her eyes.
Jael’s brow furrowed. “I sentence you—” She blinked and seemed to search for the rest of the words.
“Jael, look at me.” She smiled when Jael’s eyes darted to hers, and she projected every ounce of love and affection she felt for this First Warrior, for her lover, for the soul that she knew now was the only one who would ever complete her. Jael was hers to claim. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love all of you—your darkness as well as your gentle heart. Most of all, I love your wisdom. I’m asking you to use that now and listen to me. Kyle is not a believer. She defended me against them.”
The hard lines of Jael’s face softened, and Alyssa was flooded with Jael’s relief as she went to her. Jael buried her face against Alyssa’s neck as they clung to each other. “You are my soul-bond,” Alyssa whispered against Jael’s ear. She captured Jael’s mouth with hers—a kiss deep and urgent—to seal her claim.
Chapter Twenty-six
The night sky was beginning to fade, and Kyle shifted nervously. She expected Simon and reinforcements to show up any minute now. When she turned slowly to regard the dragon horse, lean as a greyhound and ghostly white, he fluttered his huge wings impatiently. Stars above, she’d never seen such a creature. He studied her, too, small spurts of flame shooting from his nostrils as he breathed.
She tentatively cleared her throat and glanced back uncomfortably at the intimidating First Warrior and the beautiful First Advocate. The First Warrior broke off their kiss but tucked Alyssa against her side as she looked up at the sky, then past her, to the dragon horse.
She turned as the first swoosh of air buffeted her, just in time to see him lift off and disappear over the rooftops. Sun and moon, he was beauty and power, and every fiber of her being wanted to follow him. The urgency she’d suffered for months made sense now. She was destined to be here, to be part of this. When she turned back, Jael was watching her.
“I’m Kyle,” she said. She took a deep breath and her words came out in a rush. “I’ve been trying to catch up to you for a long time, but Cyrus captured me every time I tried to get away. I don’t really know why, but I felt…I felt like I had to…I had to be here.”
Jael cocked her head. “You felt The Calling?”
“Yes!” She hesitated. “I guess. What’s that?”
Jael shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later, when we have more time. We need to get back to the depot.”
“You’re not still intent on frying me, are you?”
“She saved my life, Jael. She’s gifted. A pyro.”
Jael’s face softened when she looked into Alyssa’s eyes, and Kyle wondered if anyone would ever look at her with such devotion. An apparent decision made, Jael turned back to her.
“I am Jael, First Warrior of The Collective.”
“I kind of got that when you were about to cook me.”
“Will you give me your thoughts?”
Kyle knelt. “I will give you and The Collective my life.”
Jael nodded and placed her fingers along Kyle’s forehead and temple. She closed her eyes and plunged in. She saw Cyrus, Ruth, Simon, and how Kyle had defended Alyssa against him. After a moment, she was satisfied and gently withdrew.
“I am in your debt,” she said to Kyle. “So I sentence you to guard the First Advocate whenever I’m not around.”
“I don’t think so,” Alyssa said, slapping her hand against Jael’s stomach.
“Really?” Kyle looked doubtful.
“Let it be recorded,” Jael said, sealing the order. “Now, let’s find our way back.”
*
After a few blocks, they only had to follow the stench of burned flesh and scorched metal to return to the depot. The noise and confusion was the same, except people were running to the train, not away. Shouts of “medic” and “another transport” replaced the sound of gunfire.
They paused on the loading dock. The ceaseless activity moved like a giant beast waking under the first soft rays of dawn. The aftermath of battle was never pretty, the losses never acceptable to Jael.
Second materialized at Jael’s side. Her face was grim, but her salute snapped with pride.
“Report.”
“Twelve civilian casualties.” Second glanced at Alyssa, her eyes apologetic. “Their Chief Advocate was among them.” She returned her gaze to Jael. “About a dozen more injured but should recover. Twenty of the badly born are on their way to their next lives.”
“Our warriors?”
“No fatalities. A handful suffered burns when they were splashed with melting bullets. Three were hit by bullets that managed to get through. Four dragon horses suffered injuries, but nothing they can’t recover from. Michael and Raven have flown the army back to the main camp.”
“What else?”
“Furcho and I are organizing redistribution of the stolen supplies.”
Jael didn’t miss Kyle’s head jerking around at the mention of Furcho. She’d seen Kyle’s memories and knew he was an acquaintance. Kyle wisely kept silent while Second finished her report.
“The town has a small hospital, but I’m sure they could use Alyssa’s help until we are ready to return to camp.”
Jael’s mind was dissecting with surgical precision what Second hadn’t yet reported, slicing immediately to the absence of two key members of The Guard.
“Cyrus? The man who calls himself The Prophet?”
Second nodded curtly. “Cyrus and a handful of his henchmen are missing. Furcho had tracked him to the temple and was about to send him to the next life when he grabbed a boy an
d used him as a human shield. He disappeared into a dark alley, and nobody has seen him or the boy since. Apparently, at least a few local citizens have bought into his dogma and helped them escape.”
“Tan and Diego?”
“They’re looking for him.”
“Any prisoners?”
“A handful of women who were hiding in the fourth car. We’re holding them there for you to interrogate.”
Jael nodded. There was no time to waste, but still she hesitated. She had never faltered in the face of duty, but while her command brain itched to probe the prisoners for information, her heart yearned to remain at Alyssa’s side.
Alyssa lips brushed against hers. “Go and do what you must. I’m going to see how I can help at the hospital.”
Jael eyed their new recruit. “Let’s see your flame.”
Kyle obediently stepped back and flicked her fingers. The blue-white fireball burned strong in her palm. A natural and very strong pyro. A flame that hot was rare for someone untrained.
“Don’t leave her side. Not even for a minute. If anything happens to her, you’ll have to answer to me.”
“Yes, First Warrior.”
Jael touched the blush of sunset ever-present on Alyssa’s cheek and memorized the evergreen of her eyes. It seemed impossible, but she’d swear that underneath the smell of sweat and smoke, she still detected the scent of honeysuckle and summer rain. No one had ever shone light into her darkness, but Alyssa had. Jael realized that none of her many lives had prepared her for this soul-deep bond that tied her to this fiery-haired, feisty First Advocate. “I love you.” The words sprang from her heart and glided off her tongue easier than she’d ever imagined. “I’ll only be a few hours, and then I’ll come find you.”
Alyssa kissed her again, a tantalizing brush of tongue against hers. Anything more and she would throw duty to the stars and whisk her away to someplace private where they could both expend the adrenaline still flowing from the night’s skirmish.
“Stop,” Alyssa whispered. “It’s hard enough without you looking at me like that.”
Later.
I’ll count on it.
“Jael.” Diego strode toward them, his face grim over the blanket-swaddled bundle he carried in his arms. It’s not good.
Jael closed her eyes for a few seconds. She saw into Diego’s thoughts and wrapped an arm around Alyssa to draw her closer. “Report.”
“Tan is still on Cyrus’s trail, but he left you a message in a house on the outskirts of town.” Diego’s bundle whimpered when he shifted it to hand a smaller, bloody package to Jael.
Jael unwrapped it slowly. Inside was a small hand, a box of matches resting in the palm.
“Oh, no.” Alyssa paled and reached tentatively to touch the bundle in Diego’s arms. “NO. No. It can’t be.” Diego gently moved the blanket to expose the face of the child he carried, and Alyssa gasped. “Ari. He found me when I was lost in the jungle and escorted me here.”
“Tan administered a strong painkiller, but he needs a surgeon as soon as possible,” Diego said.
“How could they do such a thing?”
Jael had seen savagery much worse than a hand cut from a child. She carefully moved the small hand aside to reveal a message inked on the cloth wrapping.
You cannot stop us. First we’ll cut off the right hand of your Collective. Next, we will cut off its head.
Find them. And stop him. Alyssa, her jaw tight and anguish etched across her features, took the bloody package from Jael. Her voice shook as she spoke aloud for everyone to hear. “Do whatever you must to stop this madman and protect The Collective.” She looked up, her gaze boring into Jael, her words now steady and certain. “Do you hear me, First Warrior? Do what you must.”
Jael felt her darkness test its tethers, eager to be unleashed. Not yet. But soon. She squeezed Alyssa’s shoulder gently.
“As you command, First Advocate.”
About the Author
D. Jackson Leigh grew up barefoot and happy, swimming in farm ponds and riding rude ponies in rural Georgia. Her passion for writing led her to a career in journalism and North Carolina, where she edits breaking news at night and writes lesbian romance stories by day.
Her awards include a 2010 Alice B. Lavender Award for Noteworthy Accomplishment, a 2013 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for paranormal romance, and a 2014 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for traditional romance. She also was a finalist in LGBT erotic romance in the 2013 Rainbow Awards and a 2014 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in traditional romance.
Write to her at [email protected] or follow her at facebook.com/d.jackson.leigh or www.djacksonleigh.com.
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