Chapter 27 Aera
Raven doesn’t like hearing that Eon is gone. “No, that doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t have them,” I insist. “None of the Titans here know where they are.”
“But I still have a ping for Eon. He’s...still in operation,” Raven replies.
The Titans, with me, shrug and shake their heads. Fracture steps out of the crowd. “We do not have him in our network. I have no ping. But they have been known to...phase out.”
Evo mentioned something. “But what does that mean?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know what it takes for them to come back. Those two have a connection none of us understand. I’m sorry.”
“But you have a ping, Raven?” I ask, thinking back to Evo’s crystal cloud on the distant planet.
“Yes.”
I’ve seen Evo do some strange shit. “Just keep your signal open. Hopefully, they’ll find their way to you.”
Aegis refuses Solcrue ships like mine in her hangars. I don’t blame her. BlazeStar has been convinced with help from Clover and houses several Solcrue fighters. I’ve been allowed to dock there, but I need a ride to Aegis to stay in the loop regarding Evo and Eon’s situation.
Fracture stays with me as we load into the RageBurner and leave BlazeStar’s hangar to regroup on the much larger Rogue Mothership.
“Evo is...unique.” Fracture is sweet as he tries to ease my concern. Raven remains in her junker’s ship out in the void, hoping for a sign of our Titans. She updates me as the signal fades in and out.
“I know,” I admit. “I’m just trying not to think about the possibilities. Would I be surprised if he was gone? No. Good things never last forever in this life.”
Fracture rests a hand on my shoulder as the RageBurner carries us out into space. “Well, we are glad you are here. That was some amazing flying. The more pilots we Rogues can get, the bigger our fleet can grow.
“We need numbers if we’re going to beat Solcrue. And if Evo does not come back, we will all protect you. Once you are a Brother’s mate, you become like a Sister. We will stand by you in honor of him.”
“Thanks, Fracture.” But that isn’t the only reason I’m concerned. Evo had the chips inside of him. And if he isn’t found, we may never be able to track down Xiphos.
Or worse, if the Solcrue got to him and cut them out...
No, I can’t think about that. I can’t stand the idea. Still, it threatens to make me break down in front of Fracture. I am barely holding myself together.
As we bank around BlazeStar for Aegis, red alerts fill the cabin.
Dread sinks in my stomach. “What is it?”
Fracture steadies me with an arm. His eyes flash with data. He smiles.
The red alerts shut off.
“Fracture!”
He holds a finger over his mouth.
A familiar voice comes over the speakers as the RageBurner glides into a hangar. “RageBurner, Evolution on captured warship, Aidathrin. Eon is with me, and we found a CyberGuard. Paradox...”
Gunfire cuts through the transmission.
Evo laughs. “Are we good?”
“Fuckers do not like to die. There are always more and more and more,” a massive voice replies. “Yes. Now, we are cleansed. The ship is yours. I will empty the last bodies.”
Aidathrin looms into our space from a dark cloud of ink that slips from it like a cloak.
Eon’s voice comes over the speakers. “So while this is a useful find, it also means Solcrue have figured out how to make their own jump portals for ships of this size. They can be in our space in a very short amount of time. We are going to have to keep moving and stay alert from here on out.”
I’m so happy to hear Evo’s alive that I don’t care what we’re up against.
Chasm’s voice takes over the coms. “Let’s get everyone to Aegis for debrief. We’ll trade crews. Aegis and BlazeStar Titans will trade out with those returning from missions to permit rest. And I want another jump within five, just in case Solcrue track our portal dust.”
Fracture gently punches me in the shoulder. “That’s us. Which means you finally get a break. Use your time wisely.” He dances his brows.
My pulse calms as Aidathrin closes in. “I’m starting to think you were all horny teenagers when you were made into Titans.”
“Many of us were,” a passing Relic unit named Scant replies. “Diesel is always on my case about my interest in females. But I can’t help it.”
“None of us can,” Fracture replies. “Someday, we will find mates, Scant. Just keep your head in this game right now, yeah?”
Scant grumbles. “Fighting is the only thing that makes me forget the emptiness.”
“I know, Brother.”
Fracture has a surprisingly gentle side despite the jagged lines of his body as his shards glimmer under the cabin lights.
RageBurner sets down in Aegis’ main hangar and lowers its ramp. We hike out, and I immediately spot Brodin, Steele, and Daken. Charlee, Racer, and Colt are with them now, looking much better. But she’s still lethargic as they walk up to me.
A squad of Titans in rocket boots leaves the hangar, flying out to Aidathrin, which now gleams with a handful of blue lights in the dark.
I get hugs from the team, including Daken.
“You good?” he warily asks.
“I’ve got my parts, and I’m upright today.”
He laughs shyly.
I study the look in his eyes, filled with regret and yet determination.
Daken nods and motions to the sealscreen. “Go on.”
Evo, Eon, and a shiny Titan land inside the hangar. Raven crosses the hangar from her cooling ship, crashing into Eon. He collects her and plucks her from the ground. “Hello, gorgeous.”
The CyberGuard slows and stops, like he doesn’t understand.
Evo notices as I’m about to reach him. “Paradox, Aera. Her mother was Leeta.”
Paradox whips his gaze to mine. He taps a fist over his digibadge and dips his head. “If you need anything, Aera, daughter of Mother Leeta, you need only ask.”
Evo and Paradox’s eyes flash with data as Evo slides an arm around my waist.
Paradox straightens and looks around the hangar, studying everyone. “I see. I have missed a lot. I will get caught up with Chasm and Savage.”
Evo watches him walk off to speak with Chasm before he scoops me into his arms. His lips find mine with hunger. Evo slides his hands down my back and picks me up by my hips.
His breath is hot and his embrace firm. Evo’s stardust body doesn’t change when he touches me now. “As much as I want to carry you into a room and rip your clothes off right now, there is a pending debrief.”
“Can’t you just listen in?” I ask with a tap to my temple.
He smirks. “I like your thinking.”
Evo’s eyes flicker, and he breaks away from the group, carrying me toward a corridor of rooms. “Mother has assigned us quarters.”
Chasm stands on a catwalk above the gathered crowd. “Patrols are going out now. We’ll portal in just a minute.”
“Where are you going?” Eon asks as we pass him and Raven.
“To rest,” Evo remarks with a smirk.
“Oh, fuck this,” Eon nips at Raven’s nose and hustles after us. “Mother, give us a damned room!”
A door opens ahead of us, and Eon throws them inside. I can hear Raven laugh as the door closes.
“Dick.” Evo chuckles. “That was our room. But Mother has reassigned us.”
Evo climbs a set of steps and hustles down a corridor into another opening door. The room we get is just big enough for a bed, a closet, and a shower. But it’s more than enough.
He lays me back on the bed as the door closes. In seconds, he’s dropped his weapons and ripped his armor off.
There’s vibrant lust in his eyes as he crawls over me. Evo bonds his mouth to mine as he swiftly works my armor off my body and tears my clothes off. His hot hands roam my flesh with hunger and curiosity.
He remains dark as the void outside, yet he glows as the tiny orbs within him move through his mass, collecting where his body brushes mine.
Evo breaks the kiss and looks down at me. “What form do you want me to take?”
He shifts to a body of light.
I squint. “Pretty, but I like being able to see you.”
Evo darkens. Crags of orange light break through and carry heat with them.
“Not Magma again!”
He laughs. “Teasing. I have much better control now.”
Evo takes on a metallic shade. “This is the synthskin I usually wear around my Brothers.”
“How about you just be yourself?” I ask.
Evo smiles as he dips his head. Freckles and human skin tone fade through. Auburn bangs brush my forehead as he settles his body atop mine. The pressure of his heavy body ignites a new kind of desire. It’s clear he’s not a human inside, even if he looks like it on the outside.
Evo gently peels the bandage from my neck and licks the scrapes until they hum with his nano solution. Evo nibbles my ear and then shifts lower on the bed, his hands digging into my sides as he kisses my chest. He sweeps his lips over my nipples, trailing inhumanly hot breath over my breasts.
Evo licks me, long and slow, before moving further down my belly. He gingerly rakes his teeth down my side, sweeps his nose over my navel, then back again, bumping my clit.
A surge of lust ignites, curling embers through my limbs. After nearly dying in my frozen SunFlux in the void, I’m extra grateful for his heat. Even as his scorching touch borders on too hot, I savor it.
He inhales a breath of me like I am oxygen after severe deprivation. His fingers dig into my thighs as he settles himself between my legs, draws my pussy to his face, and nibbles my folds.
A crazed urge to feel him fill my emptiness makes me squirm.
“Not yet.” Evo chuckles darkly and glides his long, scorching tongue into my delicate flesh, exploring deeper until I am a mess of need.
He licks me all the way out and swirls his luscious, velvety tongue around my nub, flooding me with a wave of ecstasy. Then Evo thrusts his tongue deep, exploring me with hunger.
I clench hard. I can’t help it, even though I’m trying to wait for the part of him I want inside me most.
“Oh,” he rumbles into my pussy.
When his deep voice pulses up and into my core, I can’t hold back the tremors of climax. Evo binds me to him like he can’t get enough as I tighten around his tongue in quivering bursts.