Chapter 44
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
Juniper stumbled into my arms.
“Better get her inside.” Xabhat tugged a modified blaster from the inside of his cloak and pointed it at the sky. “Party’s about to start.”
Dust swirled higher around us, not only from the sudden storm but also from the fighter ships appearing overhead, gunning it toward the ground.
Xabhat let out an ear-piercing wail and an answering cry from those around him filled the air.
Before I could take a step, the fighters above us opened fire, plasma bolts sending sand and dirt flying over our heads as their weaponry systems tried to aim in the storm.
I dropped to a knee, covering Juniper with my body to shield her from the spraying debris.
Xabhat’s blaster whined as he twisted the knob behind the trigger, a thundering boom echoing from the barrel before the side of one fighter exploded, sending the ship careening to the ground in a fiery explosion.
Juniper pushed out from beneath me, the arrival of the Federation soldiers appearing to jolt her from whatever pain wracked her body.
Her hands flew into the air, fingers spread wide, and I swore I could smell the power wafting off her as it shot forward, one of the fighters exploding into pieces.
Another swooped close and she flipped a palm toward it and froze the ship in midair.
Around us more Wuaxians ran from their shelters, all wielding modified Federation weapons lifted from officers and soldiers over the cycles.
More shots rained down around us and I eyed Juniper as I shot my own bolt of power toward a fast-approaching fighter, sending it careening into the ground.
Her body shook while she held the ship in place and, when her shoulders slumped, I pressed my back to her chest, reaching my arms up beside hers.
My fingers spread wide, energy pulsing out of my hand and toward the closest ship.
It crumpled in on itself like a piece of parchment, falling to the ground in a fiery crash.
“Maker!” Xabhat laughed, his deep voice barely audible over the din. “You both are some wild motherfuckers.”
Juniper spasmed in my arms, knees buckling. I caught her before she could hit the dirt. Blood continued to pour from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Her body gave another jerk before I pressed a bare hand to her forehead. She was choking on the blood pooling in her lungs.
“Xab,” I roared.
My old friend looked over as the final fighter exploded in the sky, his face falling from the joy only killing Federation soldiers brought. I turned June onto her side, prying open her jaw as streams of blood ran onto the ground. One weathered hand touched the back of her head and he nodded.
“Bring her inside.”
…
Hours later I still knelt beside the small cot nestled behind Xab’s desk, dabbing sweat off Juniper’s brow with a damp cloth.
Her breathing had evened out but she wouldn’t wake for a while, not with the amount of nefalyn in her system to help repair the damage.
It wasn’t enough to completely heal her, but it was enough to ensure she wouldn’t die.
But there had been a few terrifying moments when I’d felt her begin to slip away before we could find a vein.
One of Xabhat’s men had had to hold me back and I’d let them, even as I roared, clutching at my hair and screaming her name.
Our bond was set, save for the bite, and should she die, I would follow soon after.
Faint footsteps pounded across sand, barely audible through the din of another dust storm.
My shoulders sagged with relief when I looked up to find Xabhat leading Rhiaon and Greabes into the small hangar.
Rhiaon had a pack slung over one shoulder, their attention immediately falling to Juniper’s pale face.
“What happened?” Rhiaon dropped the bag and rummaged through it before placing a monitor over her chest for her vitals.
I explained about the stone while they worked over her, replacing Xab’s makeshift IV with one of ours and handing the bag to Greabes, who lifted it higher. The male’s face was fixed on Juniper’s, mouth set in a grim line, eyes a little glassier than normal.
“How could she have held the stone? I thought she was from Selhveina,” Greabes rumbled.
I smoothed back her hair after Rhiaon affixed the tubing around her nose to help her breathe.
The acrid taste of the nefalyn bloomed on the back of my tongue as our skin touched and my limbs went heavy with her medicated sleep before I pushed it back.
“Zoleka said sometimes there are those who are strong enough to wield the stone for small periods. She must have been one of them.”
Zoleka had never said anything of the sort, but I knew they would never ask her. I’d spent the last few hours thinking up a reasonable explanation as to why Juniper hadn’t died the moment she grabbed the stone.
Greabes huffed a laugh and sniffed. “If there’s anyone who would be strong enough, it would be her. She’s a fucking deilka.”
I couldn’t help but laugh with him. The comparison of Juniper to the fierce clawed beast that slunk in the forests of his home planet masquerading as a harmless furry creature was apt.
Rhiaon sat back on their heels with a sigh, running a hand over their face. “This is the best I can do here. She’s stable enough to be moved back to the Kux.”
I slipped my arms beneath her back and legs, cradling her close to my chest. Xabhat rushed forward to tuck her arm against my chest where it’d fallen out when I lifted her. His bright blue eyes were sharp as they flicked back and forth between us.
“May the Maker bless and keep you. Both you and your young mahsi.” I blinked at him but he only winked, touching two fingers between my brows before stepping back. “Thank you for the excitement. We haven’t had a fight like that in almost three cycles—we were due for some upgrades.”
Greabes huffed a laugh while lifting the bag of fluid higher over my shoulder as we made our way through the scrap metal and waiting ships.
Xabhat’s crew picked through the wreckage now that it’d cooled down, scavenging for parts and any weapons they could find.
Our cruiser sat farther behind the mangled remains of the ships.
I couldn’t even mourn the loss of my own fighter, not when I had Juniper in my arms.
“I think we’re even now,” I said to Xab at the ramp of the cruiser.
He pursed his lips. “Even we might be, but you will always be welcome here.”
I dipped my head as he clapped me on the shoulder. “Thank you, my friend.”
We made our way up the ramp and I settled June tighter in my arms while Greabes primed the engines for take-off and Rhiaon checked her vitals.
“How did you manage to keep Crux from coming with you?” I asked.
The corner of Rhiaon’s mouth twitched as they straightened. “Shot him with a tranquilizer. He should be coming round about now.”
Of course. No doubt Kal would have been mostly feral by the time I’d left.
I could only hope that returning her in one piece would be enough to assuage his temper.
The last few weeks he’d spoken endlessly of finding a way to release June from her servitude—from destroying the Daskquah to robbing a Federation bank for bribes, it was all he could think of.
Then again, it had been all I could think of too.
Even now the stone hummed in my pocket, content to be reunited with one of its own, a reminder the fight was not quite over. Not when there were still those out there who would take it and her from me.
“Soon we will be together in paradise,” I murmured to her in my old language, as I had that night I’d soothed her from her nightmare. “Soon we will walk beneath the oru trees hand in hand. And there will be no hunger, no pain, and no grief—only you and me.”