Inouye

by JC Hay

  "I wouldn't bet money on that."

  Her voice carried an unfamiliar bitterness that he wanted to ask about. But no, her secrets were hers. To stave off the desire to pry, Ren busied himself with starting the fire. His plasma-arc lighter made quick work of the tinder, and soon the cave was lit by orange flames. He held his hands above it, and Inari pressed into his back to warm the places the fire didn't reach.

  "Help me get closer?" Lucia had an arm outstretched, and he eased her across the small distance. "You're not worried about someone seeing the light?"

  "The overhang out front makes the cave mouth difficult to see from the air. They'd have to be walking up the valley, so I'm willing to risk it." He fished a ration bar out of his pocket, broke it in half, and offered some to her. "It's like eating oven-roasted sawdust, but it's calories."

  She took the bar, and he broke his portion in half again and held some out for Inari. The wolf sniffed it, and her scorn rolled through his brain like a physical thing. A snort-sneeze finished her opinion with an exclamation point, and he smiled. "Fine, if you're planning to go hunt for yourself, I'll just—"

  Inari snatched the piece from his fingers before he could pull back his hand, then stalked well out of reach to lay down and gnaw her prize.

  Lucia laughed at the interplay, and the sound warmed him far better than the fire could have. She’d always had a great laugh, but so rare that any time he’d succeeded to coax it out was intoxicating.

  Her humor cut off on a shiver, and she tugged his jacket tight around her shoulders. "It's like you really can understand her."

  Ren shrugged and moved to her other side in an effort to block the wind from the cave mouth. "I ought to. I mean we're all tangled up in each other's heads."

  "Like you can hear her thoughts? I thought that was a myth. Something to make you big bad wolves all the more scary." She leaned against him and glanced up at his face. "I... Can I leach some heat from you? The fire's not doing it."

  He nodded, scooting closer, and as she rested her weight against him, Ren allowed himself to get lost in the smell of her skin before answering. "It's not like telepathy. They don’t think in human language, so even if I could read her thoughts, they would only make sense to another wolf. Instead it’s emotions, ideas. Images, if the wolfbond is extremely strong. I know what she's feeling, and vice versa."

  "Bet that makes your girlfriend jealous," she muttered before burrowing in tight to his side. "God, you're so warm. Thank you." She made a satisfied noise and clung to his chest. Her presence almost pushed away the pain from his cracked rib. At least he’d settled her on his uninjured side.

  Ren put his arm around her to support her, combing his fingers through her dark hair. In a handful of seconds, her breathing settled into the slow, easy rhythm of sleep.

  None of it means anything. Never mind the way his pulse leapt when he touched her, or how his blood warmed when she looked at him. This is just two people sharing body heat. Surviving, plain and simple.

  No different than any of the times the rangers had done survival drills and his fireteam had worked to keep each other alive.

  If he said it enough times, maybe he’d believe it.

  FOR THE SECOND TIME in twenty-four hours, Lucia woke to a canine tongue washing her face. It brought her awake with a start, but a sense of calm concern curled through her and kept her from jostling Ren. She packed away the soft glow of sleeping in his arms and promised herself she would examine it some other time, when it was emotionally safer. When she could think about it without remembering what she had done to him in school. Her so-called friends may goaded her into it, but she’d still given in to them.

  God, they’d all been such monsters then. Herself included.

  In the firelight, all she could see were Inari’s night-black eyes watching her while the wolf paced in a circle around the fire. After each lap, Inari stared at her again, as though making sure Lucia saw her. Which didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t she wake up Ren instead? He was her partner.

  Ren whimpered and shifted against her, and Lucia focused on him. Any lingering warmth fled her system as she snapped into awareness. Had he been more hurt in the explosion than he’d let on? His breathing was fast. Beneath tightly shut eyelids, his eyes darted back and forth. His hand twitched, fingers trying to close on something.

  Not in pain. Or not just in pain. Dreaming. She pushed herself up, moving so that she could support him, despite her leg’s protest. He groaned, the sound broken and defeated.

  Lucia glanced at Inari, who paced back and forth in front of the fire. “How do I help him?” she whispered. “You’re the one in his head.”

  The wolf sat and looked at her, waiting.

  Ren shook, his voice quiet but strained. “Corpsman up! Corpsman up!”

  The pain in his words felt like someone had doubled the gravity, weighing her limbs down and making her throat ache. Lucia pulled him closer, one hand smoothing over his short-cut black hair as she made soothing sounds. Ren changed positions again, and she hoped if he recognized her voice through whatever dream tormented him, it fostered positive memories instead.

  She’d given him too many painful ones as it was.

  He settled, and she moved with him until they supported each other. “That’s it, Ranger,” she whispered. “I’ve got you.” His face relaxed, the tension between his eyebrows eased. Relief loosened the fist in Lucia’s chest as he calmed, and Inari paced in another slow circle before lying down, pressed against her back. Confident the wolf would wake her if anything else happened, she allowed the soft rhythm of his breath to lead her back to sleep.

  Six

  The fire was nearly out when he woke, but Ren couldn’t tend it with Lucia still tucked against his side. Fortunately, Tyson had moved back out of Kronus's shadow, and the red light of the sun had returned. Sometime in the darkness, Inari had wrapped herself around them both, adding her heat to the pile and keeping the cold at bay.

  An aura of satisfied calm told him the wolf was awake as well. He dug his fingers into her cheek fur and scrubbed, smiling as she pressed her face into his hand. “Thanks for keeping watch, partner.”

  Another hand joined his in her fur, and he stiffened against a flare of jealousy that never arrived. Rangers didn’t touch each other’s wolves without permission or cause. The connection between wolf and soldier was too real, too personal to invade without asking.

  Not that Inari had any problems with more people petting her; she leaned into Lucia's hand as eagerly as she had his own.

  "She's so...soft. I didn't expect that."

  Ren nodded, relaxing as the warmth and pleasure radiated from his wolf to him. "Their original homeworld is dark and icy. The thick, soft coat helps protect them from the temperature."

  "Even though they mostly live on spaceships now."

  "Why mess with a good thing? Besides, the Forces are cheap and heat's expensive. She's a great bed warmer."

  Lucia laughed quietly, the sound sending a glissando from his skull to the base of his spine. "You're not so bad yourself. Thanks for that."

  Too many images in his head from a few innocent words. Things he hadn’t thought about in a long time. Things he couldn’t think about if he wanted to get them out of this alive. He shook his head to clear the stubborn ideas away like cobwebs. "How's the ankle?"

  "It's murder, if I'm honest." She held a hand to her mouth as though she’d just grasped the implications of her statement. “God. The pilot. I— My ankle hurts. A lot.”

  He squeezed her shoulder. “I’d say you get used to the idea of death, but you don’t. Not really.” Not if you were healthy, at least.

  She leaned into his touch, pinning his fingers under her cheek. “What’s corpsman up?” The ice that flooded his stomach made him freeze at her words, but she continued. “It’s something you said in the middle of the night.”

  He swallowed against the sour in the back of his throat. “It’s the field call for a medic. I...” Ren took a deep
breath, looking for a path through the barrage of images. “We got dug in recently. I can’t say where. You understand.”

  She nodded, eyes closed.

  “Anyway, one of the other fireteams got ambushed. We charged in and tried to get them out. I carried one of them back myself.” It felt wrong not to say Hagan’s name. Hell, the man had racked across the hall on the Hunting Cry. “I called for the medic, but it was too late. Hagan didn’t make it.”

  Her lips brushed the back of his hand. “I’m sorry.”

  Inari gave a soft whine and nudged in closer.

  “It’s the threat we live with.” Ren sighed. “Part of the job, really.” Not that it made it any less senseless. Or any easier for those who survived. He pushed the memories away so he could focus on the now. "I want to head back to the wreck today. See if anything salvageable survived. Inari can stay here with you while I'm gone."

  A needle of cold accusation punched into his brain as the wolf indicated her displeasure at the idea, and he glared at her. "Really? You'd rather quick march a half-dozen klicks than laze about getting scritches? Who are you and where's my Inari?"

  The wolf relented at the promise of belly rubs, but he still felt her concern lacing through his nerves.

  "You think there's anything that survived? The radio?"

  The hope in Lucia’s voice was like a light, and he hated to extinguish it. "Nothing that big would have made it and still be functional. I was more hoping the survival gear got blown free and hadn't been incinerated. We're going to run out of ration bars otherwise."

  "What do I need to do if you don't come back?"

  She asked it as a matter of fact, trying to understand the next steps, and Ren respected her cool efficiency. He pulled out the remaining two ration bars and set them in her lap. "Eat. The Forces will send someone. You just need to hold out a touch longer." Saying the next part felt like tearing the skin from his ribs, painful enough that he had to take a breath first and loosen the fist that crushed his heart. "Inari...will not respond well if something happens to me. Don't let her hurt herself."

  "You have my word." Lucia looked at him, and the depth of concern in the warm brown of her eyes made him think she might possibly understand the nature of what he'd just asked. The rapidly cycling panic and anger that poured off his wolf in buffeting waves told him Inari absolutely understood. Wolves often willed themselves to die once they'd lost their bondmates. Some tried to hurry the process along. The thought of that happening to Inari made him—

  He pushed it away, compartmentalizing it until he could process it later. "But that's all a needless precaution. I'm just going to make a quick trip down and see what's what, then jog back here."

  She cupped his cheek, freezing him in place, and traced her thumb beneath his eye. “I always remembered them as darker.”

  He blinked and swallowed, but he couldn’t ignore the way his blood raced. Willed himself not to turn his mouth into her palm. “It’s a side effect of the bond. The ranger’s eyes lighten to amber or some shade thereof. Geek Squ—” He stopped himself from finishing the nickname. “I mean Delta company, the science and intelligence division, has no idea why it happens.”

  She gave a slow nod, voice quiet. “It’s beautiful. Like visual proof of two souls joined together.” The pressure of her hand pulling him forward until she could cover his mouth with hers. The kiss was languid but sent an electrical jolt all the way to his toes before settling low in his belly.

  After a heartbeat or forever, she pulled away slightly. “Be careful. Hurry back?”

  It took Ren too long to collect his thoughts enough to answer. He cleared his throat as he stood and smiled. "I'll be back in no time."

  THE WALK DIDN'T HELP Ren clear his head, but it did remind him that he’d cracked a rib, something Lucia’s kiss had distinctly put out of his mind. This was all going in the wrong direction. Why had she kissed him? Why had he let her? And her comment about joined souls? Madness.

  It awakened all the memories he’d thought buried and left him a muddled mess inside. This was just a straightforward rescue. Rangers didn’t get emotionally compromised on a mission, and yet he'd found himself doing exactly that. Penzak would be furious.

  He smiled, remembering the stoic set of her mouth as she'd walked through what he knew had to be excruciating pain. He’d been impressed that she wanted to go without help, and first he thought it was about her. After all, rangers did stupid, macho things all the time. When he’d figured out she was proving herself to him, he’d had to intervene.

  His brain wanted to vapor lock whenever he tried to draw a straight line from the sheltered rich girl to the woman he’d helped reach the cave. The Lucia he’d known would never have accepted half a ration bar as a meal without complaint, nor would she have thought twice about demanding he carry her. It made him curious about what had changed her. Made him want to get to know her all over again.

  And that was before his body remembered how it felt to hold her close. How damn right it had been with Inari encircling them. Like a family.

  He scoffed at the idea and shoved it away. The rangers were his family. He had a sudden memory of carrying Hagan out of the hellish trap Triptych had sprung on Sagan, and his blood chilled. The idea of what his death might do to Inari all but paralyzed him at times. The last thing he needed was someone else to worry about hurting.

  He circled wide around the wreckage, just in case. Someone had fired the missile, and if they came back to finish the job, Ren would rather not lead them straight back to the cave. Without having to keep pace for Lucia, he made decent time down to what was left of the flitter. Careful to stay low and silent, Ren approached the wreck from downwind. Scavengers might have come for the remains of the pilot, and Tyson had a few large predators he didn't want to tangle with.

  Fortunately, the wreckage was abandoned when he reached it. His path took him past the dented-but-undamaged survival kit that all flitters carried as a matter of course. They were designed to stay intact during a small wreck, and the fact that this one had survived a high-grade explosion impressed him. One of the shoulder straps still worked, so he could carry it slung across his body. It would be awkward but better than nothing. And the extra supplies would be extremely welcome. There'd be an emergency beacon too, but until he knew who'd fired that missile it seemed like a foolish idea to open a broad-range broadcast.

  He walked around the charred remnant of the flitter but didn't find anything else of use. As he'd expected, the radio had been reduced to a burnt mess of plastic and metal. A flash of green caught his eye, unusual against the wreckage, and he knelt to investigate. A scrap of cloth had hooked on a sharp fragment of the aircraft's hull, just about ankle height. All the metal around it had been charred, exposed to the explosion.

  His pulse quickened. Given the depth of the tread, the person had stood in one place a while. Someone had been here, looking at the wreck instead of searching for survivors.

  Ren refocused his attention, purging his emotion with cold efficiency as he started to read the signs around him. Two different-sized pairs of boots, neither pair his. That meant at least two people, but potentially more if they had the same sized feet. The boots weren’t TJF-issue, which meant whoever had been here wasn’t part of his rescue team. They left in opposite directions, one set of tracks headed toward a flat, rocky area that would make a decent landing pad. The other trailed into the hills toward the caves.

  It could be a search team from the military base, but the tingle between his shoulders told him they’d send more than a couple of people. Out here, friendly was unlikely. He broke into a jog and headed in pursuit.

  He just had to hope Inari could protect Lucia until he arrived.

  Seven

  Either her concussion was worsening, or she was getting better at seeing Inari. Lucia still lost track of the wolf if she stopped watching for too long, but when she focused, she could see the subtle shifts in color that ruined the animal's near-perfect invisibility.
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  She broke off part of her ration bar and held it out as a peace offering. "C'mon, girl. Inari, right? Ren will be okay. If I can believe that, I know you can."

  Any reservations the wolf had disappeared once food was involved, and Lucia watched her approach and get just close enough to touch. She turned her hand over, so the wolf would have to go under to get the treat.

  Inari sniffed at her fingers. Lucia turned her hand back up, and the wolf ate the ration from her palm, nose warm and soft against her skin—a contrast to the decidedly sharp teeth that hid in the creature's mouth.

  With her other hand she reached up to scrub her fingers into Inari's shoulder. The wolf leaned into the attention without leaving the food; a moment of bliss so complete that Lucia could feel it radiating from the animal and soaking into her bones. "No wonder the rangers are so attached to you all," she muttered. "Even that little taste of the connection is a rush."

  Inari finished her portion of the ration bar, then moved so both of Lucia's hands could scratch her at once.

  "Well, I guess this means we're friends now." Lucia laughed. "Lucky for you I'm not allergic to dogs."

  The wolf froze, muzzle pointed up slightly and eyes closed. After a second, she ducked out of Lucia’s touch and stepped out of reach. Lucia was about to apologize for calling her a dog when she heard the clatter of rocks outside the cave. Someone else was present, and with Inari on high alert, it wasn't Ren.

  Lucia scanned the area and collected a palm-sized rock with a sharp edge and tucked it behind her back. With the obvious makeshift splint and no way to stand up, she could lure someone in close if she played helpless enough.

  Much to her chagrin, she had plenty of experience feigning helplessness.