“The fuck are you talking about?” Jon spat at his feet, eyeing the soldiers with their weapons trained on him.
Frank chuckled and pointed his gun at Andrew. “You’re the one who made her a Guardian. And that spark bullshit still don’t work without the key.”
Éli’s silence was unnerving him, and his power boiled with anger and obsession. If Frank didn’t need him for the moon’s inner gate, then Jàden was still in more danger than ever without him to protect her.
“You bastard! Do you know what you’ve done?” Scrambling to his feet, Jon grabbed Éli’s head and slammed it into the shattered glass.
He punched him and unsheathed his dagger, pressing it against Éli’s throat. Gripping the back of Éli’s neck, Jon tried to pull forth the darkness, the pain, the obsession. “Give it to me.”
Jon pressed his mouth against Éli’s scraggy cheek, hoping he’d never have to kiss the man on the mouth. Black oil burned in his senses.
Éli grabbed Jon’s cheeks, the murderous rage of more than twenty years without Sebastian bleeding into his eyes. “Go fuck yourself.”
Éli head-butted him so hard Jon hit the floor, black spots swimming in his vision.
Agony exploded across Jon’s temple and a gunshot went off, echoing loud in the enclosed temple.
Andrew tumbled backwards.
A hole burned the middle of his forehead, his lifeless eyes staring at Jon as blood leaked across the floor.
“Andrew!” Jon scrambled painfully toward the younger twin and pulled him into a tight embrace. He roared his anguish at Frank, “You mother fucker! I will stick every blade I own in your skull.”
Frank’s fist slammed into his cheek, and Jon reeled onto his side, excruciating pain sizzling into his skull.
He spit up blood, trying to clear his blurred vision.
“Lock him up tight and get him to the cage.” Frank nodded toward Éli. “That one too. If they try to resist, shoot their legs off.”
CHAPTER 54
East of Veradóra
Jàden raised her hands to the side to show she held no weapons, but the man behind her only laughed and pressed the tip of his sword deeper against her neck. “Now stand up, nice and slow. Both of you.”
“Do what he says,” Malcolm muttered, but he sounded half a heartbeat away from burying his ax in the guy’s skull.
Don’t move. Evardo whispered through her thoughts like a slippery eel. Whatever they were about to do, she closed her eyes as the man pulled his weapon away from her.
“No no no,” the man behind them roared, and a soft squish hit her ears.
Afraid another had crept up on them, both she and Malcolm glanced over their shoulders. The Rakir held the hilt of his sword in both hands, the blade buried in his own throat.
Go now. Evardo screamed into her head. More are coming.
Jàden bolted over the ridge to a sharp incline and slid against a tall tree.
What did you do to him? she whispered harshly.
A sigh seemed to exhale in her head. What I should have done in Felaren.
Where’s Éli? The moment her words landed, Éli’s power disappeared from her veins. White fire crackled through her as pure as the day she rode into Felaren.
Jàden opened her palm, darkness and shadow no more than a single speck as the Flame glowed brightly. It surged within her, desperate for release, but she clenched her fists and leaned against the tree. Evardo, what’s happening?
Cages wrapped around them. Evardo’s palpable fear wove through their words as they crouched in the mud with their hands over their ears, rocking back and forth. Find them. Find them. Find them.
“Hey, you all right?” Malcolm grabbed her shoulder.
Jàden removed her hands from her ears—wait, had she done that? Glancing around the tree, she scoured the campsite for Evardo. They’d curled up on the ground like her while the boy tried to soothe them.
“Help them both,” she whispered and pointed toward the camp. “Something’s wrong.”
She didn’t have time to explain to Malcolm, only to follow the cold dread in her gut.
Fighting back the Flame’s insistence, she scrambled toward the horses and climbed on Agnar’s back.
The sky was unnaturally quiet. She dug her heels into the stallion and bolted back the way she’d come. She couldn’t sense Jon at all, and Éli’s power was so weak inside her that he must be dying.
If Jon was already dead…
No! She wiped a stray tear and leaned low over Agnar’s neck. Her mind raced with a dozen possibilities of what might have happened, but she couldn’t put words to it, only sense something horrible.
Agnar reared up, and she hit the ground hard, pain searing into her shoulder.
Dusty dropped to her side. “Shit, you okay? I thought you heard me.”
She groaned and rolled to her side, waiting for the pain to subside. “Jon—something’s wrong. I can’t feel him.”
A shadow crossed his features.
“Nor Éli. The Flame is too…” She clawed the dirt as her power surged again in an attempt to break free. “Find them.”
The muddy earth bubbled under her hands as Dusty shuffled back.
White light wove around her arms and dug into the soil. Jàden screamed through her teeth, pushing hard against the Flame’s power, but it was like trying to force a falling building to stand back up.
“Get back!”
Worry stretched Dusty’s features as he grabbed the horses and backed away. “Fight it, Jàden. You can do this.”
No, she couldn’t.
She’d never be strong like Dusty and the others, no matter how long she trained. As she curled her body tight to fight the rush of power, something Kale said came back to her.
You have to unite the Flames, or you’ll die.
She needed Éli. As much as she hated that bastard, even a little bit of his power would suppress her own. Using the puddle water, she pressed outward with her mind, searching for a thread of darkness.
“Help me,” she whispered to the moon and the terrifying alien starship at its core.
Sandaris was listening, and the Flame’s power burrowed into the ground, giving her incremental control.
Jàden closed her eyes to use the moon’s second sight.
The bunker door open, several dozen Enforcers dragging two cuffed men into the mud.
Jon. Éli.
Both were enraged, bleeding from half a dozen different cuts, but Jon looked like he’d been beaten. He could barely stand.
A static barrier buzzed around each man.
Frank’s tech from the cuffs must have been cutting off their power.
Darkness swirled just out of their reach.
“Help them.”
Pushing the Flame’s power toward the barrier, she clenched the dirt so tight the granules dug into her palm. The static fractured, and a whisper of darkness bled through. Its rotten slime slid over her fire until it dimmed enough for her to breathe.
Releasing her hold on the Flame’s power and the dirt, Jàden crumbled into the mud. The Flame swirled in her veins, but no longer strong enough to control her.
“Frank has him,” she said. “He found the other Flame.”
“That bastard has them both.” Braygen dropped from his horse and he and Dusty helped her up. “Frank found us in the temple. He captured Jon and some Rakir asshole. One of the twins too. I had to shift into an otter just to scurry past his guards. Got one in the arm and I think he pissed himself.”
She and Dusty might have laughed except his green eyes were hard as flint.
Jàden wiped her muddy hands on her breeches. “It’s me or Frank. One of us has to die.”
Dusty laid his hand on her shoulder. “And we ain’t gonna let anything happen to you. We kill that bastard and get the captain out of there.”
“No fear,” she muttered.
She didn’t need the bravery of a seasoned w
arrior to face off with Frank. Kale had taught her many things over the years. Time to start using her brain and not letting fear rule her decisions.
She could still see Jon’s deep brown eyes from that first moment inside her hypersleep pod, feel the warmth of his hand when he stopped her from ripping the arrow out of her shoulder. But even as Braygen watched her, Kale’s essence whispering through his eyes, it was the heat and comfort of Jon that she craved.
“We’re going to save him,” she said.
As they climbed on their horses, Braygen nudged his mare alongside hers. “It won’t be easy. Frank’s men have high-powered rifles and full armor.”
“Then we find his ship and make sure it stays on the ground. As long as we stay far away from the lab, we have a fighting chance.” She dug her heels into Agnar as they raced toward Veradóra, pushing the horses until sweat lathered up their necks.
The eerie quiet in the sky was compounded by the jungle, birds and frogs, now silent. As Jàden slowed Agnar past the last triangulation tower, traces of a strange smell touched her nose. One she recognized from the day of her abduction. Kale had used a smoke bomb to buy them time to escape the Enforcers, but Frank had been one step ahead.
“I smell knockout gas,” she said.
Dread tightened her gut.
Wisps of white cloud lingered in the trees. Most Enforcers used the stuff in their training so they understood how to handle it against an invader. But it was lethal to people with specific DNA markers and highly flammable if Frank ignited the starship engines.
“He’s going to kill everyone.”
“I didn’t see any ships as I raced here to find you,” Braygen said. “He must have one grounded on the south side of Veradóra.”
“Where the women keep the garden sanctuary,” she said. Frank planned to erase Veradóra. He wasn’t just a command general. He could be ridiculously petty when he forced his hand.
“If the ship isn’t already gone, he’ll know we’re coming.” Braygen stopped his horse and dropped to the ground. “There’s a way to disappear beneath the village and come out the other side if you can hold your breath long enough. It might give us the chance to attack unseen.”
“The others might be in there. I’m gonna circle south and find them. We’ll need everyone’s help.” Dusty’s eyes fixed on Braygen. “Jàden’s got six brothers now with no morals if she gets kidnapped. See that she doesn’t.”
The not-so-subtle threat lingered in the air as he disappeared into the trees. Jàden slid off Agnar’s back, both warmed that Dusty saw her as family and disturbed by his words.
All right, Jon. Show me where you are.
As she and Braygen crept through the trees, something else nudged at her thoughts. Frank claimed on the Darius he knew where Kale was, and both she and Jon believed him. Yet Braygen had been at her side for nearly a week.
Something about that small nuance continued to needle her as Braygen stopped near a kóra sapling. “Do you trust that I will do everything to keep you alive and safe, even give up my own life if I must?”
Trust didn’t come easy, but this was no longer about her or Kale. “Jon’s all that matters now. It’s as much as I can give.”
He tightened his jaw as if something in her words bothered him but nodded his assent. “Take a deep breath here then run until you hit air. Once you’re in the water, follow me as fast as you can. It’s a long way down.”
She didn’t like the sound of this, but she breathed in all the air she could and bolted into the gas cloud. Almost instantly, her eyes burned.
Then the ground fell away.
Jàden nearly screamed but pressed her hands over her mouth and hit the lake, icy water chilling her instantly.
She swam down, her lungs already desperate for another breath.
Opening her eyes, she spotted Braygen off to her right, swimming hard for a small light that looked about a million spans away.
She would never make that distance, and panic gripped her. She swam faster. For Jon and Éli. And because she needed one day where Frank wasn’t looming over her life like the hand of doom.
Her lungs tightened, burning with the lack of oxygen. The light grew larger, but she still wasn’t going to make it.
The Flame seemed to sense her danger and fire ripped through her veins, but Braygen pulled her to eye level.
I have to go bac—
He pulled her mouth against his. Gentle and warm, he parted his lips to breathe air into her lungs.
Kale. She clutched his shirt, allowing herself one moment of freedom to say goodbye as the pain in her chest dimmed.
An old sensation crept into her thoughts like something out of a past life memory. She touched bone, sensed energy so strong and alien it terrified her.
Braygen pulled back then turned and swam toward the circle of light, gesturing for her to follow. He made a wide stroke with his arms. Then his body slid apart into five dark brown river otters with white bellies.
Of course. His lung capacity must be at least three times hers. She swam after him, recalling that river otters could stay underwater a long time compared to humans.
But that didn’t erase the gut-wrenching ache in her chest. She wanted to kiss him one more time. To say goodbye. Or maybe out of pure selfishness.
The light widened, and Braygen shifted back from otters to human. He grasped the edge and pulled his head through then turned and held out his arm for her.
She grabbed his offered hand and slid into the light, gasping for air as she leaned over the edge. The water rippled, held back by Hàlon shield technology inside a circular stone chamber. What else might he have in this place that could help her?
Braygen helped her through the opening to a stone floor, but he didn’t let go. Conflict brewed in his stormy eyes as water slid from his hair to his jaw. He touched the side of her temple, his fingers tracing the side of her forehead. “You really love him, don’t you?”
He should have shoved a spear into her chest—it would have been kinder. The pain in her heart was unbearable. “I waited for you, and you just gave up.”
The words barely more than a whisper, she leaned her forehead against his chest. “Why did you leave me there?”
Braygen’s hand slid down to her neck and he tilted her face up to meet his. “I’ve wished every day for the past two hundred years that I was Jason Kale.”
Water slid from his hair to his jaw, deep grief in his stormy eyes. “My ink was not taken as part of any belief in Guardians but because I’m connected to you and this moon, and I don’t understand why.”
Jàden furrowed her brow, piecing together his words. “Wait, you’re not Kale?”
He sighed and pulled the bow off his back, holding it out to her.
The zankata sat on top of the monster’s wing as if about to fly off. “When I woke from hypersleep, I was no longer human. I learned to live as an animal first, but I dreamed every night about this.”
He pointed to the monster.
“I know you’re with Jon, and I will do whatever you ask of me to protect him too, but I don’t regret my offer and it will always be open to you.” He touched her cheek then turned away and grabbed boxes off his shelves, digging out a variety of items and trying to hide the pain in his eyes.
Jàden bent over, hands on her knees as she tried to process everything. He wasn’t Kale, that’s why Frank hadn’t already captured him. So who was?
“I hope you’re ready to use that power of yours. I can get rid of the pilots, but we need to make sure that ship stays on the ground,” Braygen said.
Jàden touched his arm, freezing his movement. She didn’t want to admit it, but she sensed it too. Some deep connection with Braygen she couldn’t quite grasp.
“We protect the living,” she whispered, repeating something Jon had told her long ago. “Then we can chase the past.”
CHAPTER 55
Veradóra
The steady drip, dr
ip of water splashed against small puddles as Jàden crept after Braygen, a longsword strapped to her back between the twin daggers.
Both dressed in dry clothes Braygen had rummaged from the shelves. They trotted through underground tunnels to the far side of the village. Jàden tried to measure her steps but sensed that each split kept leading them more horizontal, as if avoiding something large buried in the ground.
Everything in this place I built for you. Kale’s words followed her steps as the corridor ended in a wooden ladder climbing straight to the surface.
Power surged inside her, white fire crackling through her veins alongside the gentle beating heart of Sandaris. But she was all alone again, hollow and aching for Jon’s gentle embrace.
“Surface is straight up. I’ll check first to make sure we’re clear of the gas.” Braygen disappeared into the darkness above.
She grabbed onto the weathered wood and climbed behind him, stepping softly to muffle any sound. Someday she planned to figure out the enigma of Braygen and why they were so connected.
Light cracked the earth above then flooded the tunnel as Braygen opened a hatch and signaled that the air was clear.
Jàden took a deep breath and climbed out into the brush.
Nothing stirred or made a sound, not even the wind as rain showered over Veradóra. She turned back to ask Braygen a question, but he’d disappeared, the hatch underground already closed.
Softness pounced on her. One of Braygen’s otters curled along her shoulders, whiskers tickling her cheek.
Of course.
The only way for him to get to the pilots unseen was to be invisible.
Light pulsed in thick tubes along the ground toward the crashed ship with the orb and trailing legs symbol. Jàden itched to head there first and search for weapons, but that would only give Frank more of a chance to hurt Jon.
She couldn’t sense Jon anymore, and for all she knew, he might be laying in a pool of his own blood.
Forcing back the tears, she scurried to the underside of the angled ship and crouched down. Beyond the enclosed garden lay open meadow to a tree line on the horizon, but her eyes pinned to the midnight black shadowrunner, its boxy style so different from the Raith fighters. Its bolting claws curled beneath the hull’s belly, the lights along the seams the only sign that anyone was aboard the ship.
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