Chapter Twenty-Two
The first warning was more instinct than any visual or audible clue.
Years of Paladin training had taught Madelaine to trust her instincts when she felt like something was off. And something was really off. The sensation had crawled across the back of her neck for the past twenty yards or so.
Someone was following them.
She tightened her grip on the package.
Jack immediately noticed.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Unfortunately, we’re not alone.”
His expression changed instantly. Gone was the easygoing humor. Gone was the tourist fascinated by the odd alien marketplace. Jack Grey became alert. Dangerously alert. They continued at a fast pace, not quite running. At least, not yet.
She could see the ship ahead. It was a reassuring shape against the strange landscape.
Until five men stepped onto the path in front of them.
The men were all humanoid. They were large and armed. Their clothing looked like it had been pieced together from scavenged armor and military surplus. Probably mercenaries. Or bandits.
Either way, they were trouble.
Madelaine was so not in the mood for trouble. Another three bandits joined the men.
Madelaine sighed. “Great.”
The leader grinned. Several of his teeth were metallic.
“Evening,” the lead mercenary said, his metallic front tooth flashing in the light of the fading day.
Jack moved half a step and slightly in front of Madelaine. The motion was subtle, but very protective. Madelaine’s heart did something irritating.
The mercenary’s gaze settled on her.
“Pretty traveler,” he said.
Jack’s voice cooled several degrees. “No.”
The man blinked.
“I didn’t ask anything. Yet.”
“Still no.”
The others laughed.
The leader pointed toward the package.
“We’ll take the box.”
His gaze shifted to Madelaine’s body and lingered far too long.
“And maybe the woman.”
Jack shifted another half step forward. Not enough to look aggressive. Just enough that she disappeared behind his shoulder. The movement was so instinctive she doubted he even realized he’d done it.
“No,” Jack repeated, his tone lethal. It wasn’t something she’d heard from him before.
The leader laughed.
“No?”
“That’s right. No. Step back off the trail and hide again. You’ll have better luck with the next travelers on this path.”
The mercenary spread his arms wide.
“Perhaps you misunderstand. We weren’t asking. And we aren’t stepping anywhere to hide.”
Jack sighed, sounding more put out than angry.
That worried Madelaine more.
Because she recognized that tone in his voice. It meant someone had made a terrible mistake and Jack wasn’t going to let them get away with it. He’d used that same tone on each of his older brothers at one time or another and all of them had regretted not backing down.
“See,” Jack said conversationally, “that’s where things get awkward.”
The mercenary frowned.
“Why?”
“Because she’s mine and I never learned to share. You and all your friends are simply out of luck. Too bad for you.”
Madelaine nearly choked.
The mercenaries grinned as if they didn’t take him seriously. Madelaine knew they should take him very seriously. He was protective of her. He had been that way years ago, when they’d been together.
“I’d say my luck is bountiful today. Right, boys?” The others all laughed with the leader.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
The man pointed directly at Madelaine.
“Leave her and walk away.”
To Madelaine’s surprise, Jack draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. Possessively. Comfortably. Like she belonged there. Like they were married and he was about to kick butt and take names for the honor of his woman.
Then Jack said something she absolutely did not expect.
“That’s not happening.”
The mercenary smirked.
“And why not?”
Jack’s expression turned deadly serious.
“Because she’s my wife and carrying my child. And I’m most assuredly not sharing that.”
Silence drifted down all around them. Complete and deafening silence.
Madelaine had to work to keep her mouth from falling wide open.
The leader blinked. The mercenaries exchanged looks.
One of them actually lowered his weapon.
“What?”
Jack nodded solemnly. “You heard me. She’s three months along.”
Madelaine nearly choked. Three months? After their recent honeymoon, she might be several hours along, at best. Not that she was.
The mercenary looked uncertain. “Do you expect us to believe that?” He let out a brief chortle, but it didn’t sound like he meant it.
Jack pulled her a little closer. “Honestly, I don’t care if you believe me. But it means I’m not giving her over to you. Not happening.”
Madelaine decided to join in and help sell this lie. She immediately dropped a hand protectively over her abdomen.
The mercenaries looked even more uncertain. One of them muttered something about not signing up to hurt a pregnant female and another lowered his rifle completely to his side.
The leader scowled. “You’re lying.”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe.” Then his smile vanished. “But if you try taking her, you’ll never find out.”
Something dangerous entered Jack’s gaze.
His gaze said this was the man beneath the easy humor who would never let harm come to someone he cared about.
He had five older brothers. Growing up as the youngest son of seven kids gave him a solid education on brotherly battles.
He’d learned at an early age to brawl with assurance. Of that she had no doubt.
She’d once seen Jack and all of his brothers in a dog pile during a flag football game. Jack had started out on the bottom of that pile, but in quick order had ended up on top of the pile of that particular brotherly brawl. It wasn’t the only time it had happened.
She knew he had the skills to fight back. Even if he wasn’t usually the one to start a fight, he would most assuredly finish it.
The version of Jack that had survived all those other brotherly brawls she hadn’t seen had showed up today.
The mercenary leader apparently noticed his attitude. Unfortunately, pride won. She saw him mull his choices, then sneer and draw his weapon.
Madelaine mentally rolled her eyes. Totally wrong decision.
The instant the weapon cleared its holster, Jack moved.
Not fast. Fast wasn’t the right word. He was efficient.
Every motion flowed into the next until he’d succeeded. He’d clearly learned a few things in the years they’d been apart. He was amazing. Madelaine was in awe.
The weapon disappeared from the mercenary’s hand. She watched a twist. Then a pivot. Jack easily managed a sharp strike to the wrist.
The mercenary’s blaster spun through the air like it never had a chance. It hadn’t. Before the weapon hit the ground, Jack had moved to the next attacker.
Madelaine watched in stunned admiration. He wasn’t fighting like a soldier.
He was fighting like someone who hated fighting. Someone who wanted it over quickly because being on the bottom of a dog pile was usually the way he started.
The second mercenary swung a shock baton.
Jack ducked beneath it, grabbed the man’s elbow and used the attacker’s momentum against him. That worked like a charm. The mercenary sailed over Jack’s hip and crashed into the living ground. Hard.
A third mercenary rushed Jack from the side. Jack kicked one of the strange stone markers protruding from the soil, making the marker tip at a new angle.
The charging attacker collided with it and flipped headfirst into a patch of animated dirt.
The ground immediately began crawling up his legs.
The man screamed.
“I’m being eaten!”
“Oh, you are not! Don’t be such an infant,” Jack said.
“How do you know?!”
“Because I’m fairly certain the planet’s welcome brochure said so!”
Madelaine almost laughed. Even during a fight, he was ridiculous.
Two more mercenaries charged together. This time, Madelaine joined in.
She tightened her hold on the package securely tucked under her left arm.
She then grabbed the slender pulse baton from the hidden seam in the leg of her flak pants, wielding it with expert precision.
It had been the one class she had particularly excelled at during Paladin Courier training.
She struck once. Then twice. She was accurate and controlled, just like she’d been taught. One attacker collapsed. Another lost his weapon and backed away from her, not watching where he was going.
Jack finished that man with a shove into his friend. The two of them stumbled for a few steps until their heads collided. They dropped to the ground and didn’t move. The microbial soil crept up over them, silently and without protest from either man.
The leader looked around at his fallen comrades, his expression unsure.
Half his crew was on the ground. The other half suddenly seemed less enthusiastic and didn’t move to continue the battle.
Jack stood between them and Madelaine. He was breathing steadily, seemingly not even winded, looking almost bored.
“You still want to do this?” Jack asked.
The leader hesitated. The remaining mercenaries all looked at each other.
Madelaine dropped the pulse baton, withdrew a compact Paladin pulse device from her front flak pants pocket and aimed at the ground between them.
The blast struck the feet of the mercenary directly behind the leader.
The resulting electrical discharge launched him backward into his remaining friends. Three went down.
The leader stared at his groaning crew. One man was still trying to negotiate with the dirt.
Jack took a single step forward.
The mercenary took two backward and slowly raised his hands in the air. “You know what? This one time, we’ll let you pass.”
“Smart choice,” Jack said.
Clearly, the fight was over. Thankfully.
“We should leave.” Madelaine tightened her grip on the box and returned her pulse weapon to her front pocket. Eyes never leaving the mercenaries, she stooped to pick up the baton and return it to its hiding place in the leg of her flak pants.
“Excellent choice,” Jack said.
The mercenaries who were conscious retreated. Very quickly.
Madelaine watched to ensure they kept moving away.
She then looked at Jack, who was grinning. Once the path was clear, they resumed their walk to the ship.
“You told them I was carrying your child with a straight face. I didn’t realize what a good liar you are. I mean, I even believed you for a second and we both know it isn’t true.” She smiled.
“Maybe I was improvising. Plus, I was trying to make them reconsider their demands without having a big bad brawl I might lose.”
“You said three months. Totally not feasible.”
Jack threw his hands in the air. “I can neither confirm nor deny a generous amount of panic as I spoke.”
“You calculated an entire pregnancy timeline while panicking?”
He shrugged. “It was more of an out-of-body experience. I’m not actually clear on any of the words that came out of my mouth. I was thinking more about how to take down a whole hoard of mercenaries by myself.”
“I wasn’t worried. You did great.”
“Thanks. So did you. And thanks for picking up the slack, even in your delicate condition.”
“So funny. Yes, the delicate condition that might be a few hours along instead of months.”
He looked at her as if contemplating what had happened between them that might lead to a delicate condition. She shouldn’t remind him of things like that. They both knew that she didn’t get to keep him, regardless of their feelings on the matter.
And if she did end up in a delicate condition and Jack found out about it, he’d change his entire life to be with her and their child. She didn’t want him to make that kind of sacrifice, like she had. One sacrifice between them was plenty enough.
Time to change the subject. Madelaine glanced at the sky. “It’s getting darker. We should hurry.”
“Yep. You’re right.”
They both glanced toward the ship.
“Run?” Jack suggested. “I mean, as long as it won’t be detrimental to your delicate condition.” He started jogging.
“Funny,” Madelaine said, also picking up her pace. “Yes. Let’s run. I want off of this planet just as much as I wanted off Malvoraxis Veil. Well, not as much. At least on Keirios, this ‘vessel’ can talk and make noises without a death penalty for either of us.”
“Truth. Both are legit terrible places that I’ll never willingly return to.”
They jogged the rest of the way back to the ship without speaking, leaving them each thinking about possibilities.
Well, Madelaine was thinking about potential futures.
They fell into an easy pace, like they’d been running together for some time.
Had they ever run together? She didn’t think so, but maybe they would now. Paladin training certainly involved lots of running.
Madelaine didn’t even scold herself for thinking about Jack being in her life beyond this mission. Reality would unveil itself in due time. Maybe she’d allow herself to ponder what it might feel like if Jack remained her husband. When the time came to part, the only cost would be her own heart.
Within minutes, they were inside, secured behind the hatch and getting the ship ready for liftoff. The engines were warming and, best of all, they were safe, at least for now.
Madelaine settled into her seat and finally looked down at the package in her lap. Another clue. Another destination. Another world waiting somewhere among the stars.
Beside her, Jack strapped into the pilot’s chair. They took turns being pilot. It was nice to share the responsibility with him. Like they were partners. Again, at least for now.
“Once we get into the atmosphere, we can open the package. Fingers crossed that the next planet is normal.” Jack flipped more controls to life, getting the ship ready to fly.
Madelaine smiled as she tucked the unopened package in a cabinet next to the co-pilot’s seat so she could help him get them in the air.
“Well, no promises on that score. Besides, after everything we’ve seen and done so far? A normal planet might be boring. You don’t want boring, do you?”
Jack said, “Maybe just a little bit boring and maybe less impromptu fighting with a hoard of mercenaries?”
“Snore. Okay, fine. We’ll just have to see.”
And moments later, Jack took control of the ship and they lifted off from Keirios without incident—or any flight-grounding windstorms—climbing toward the stars.
Madelaine closed her eyes briefly as the ship rose. It was not lost upon her that eventually this trip had to end. This time with Jack was precious.
She should enjoy it while she could.