Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The cut on Eos’ arm stung.
Darc had forced her out of the cavern and to the other side of the ruins at knifepoint. Eos had protested once and gotten cut.
The woman’s spooky armor made Eos feel like she was talking to a syndroid.
“Stop here,” said the disembodied, electronic voice.
“I know who you are, Darc. Can you lose the visor?”
The hunter stared for a moment, then pressed a button on her neck. The helmet retracted.
She was stunning. Platinum-blond hair and amazing eyes that were a mix of red, green, blue, and silver like a multi-hued nebula. But they were soulless.
“What do you want?” Eos demanded.
“I want you to find the treasures of the New Louvre for me.”
“Where are Dathan and his brothers?”
“No idea about Dathan, but the others are…incapacitated.”
Eos gasped. “You hurt them?”
“They’re breathing, if that’s what you’re worried about. Now, let’s get moving if you want to stay in the same condition.”
The woman’s icy tone left no doubt that she was willing to kill.
“We haven’t found treasure. We’re not even sure it’s Star’s End.”
Darc pulled something from her pocket. Who knew there was even room for pockets in the liquid fabric sprayed onto the woman’s lean, toned frame? She held up a Sync.
Eos’ stomach plummeted. It showed an image of the mummy and Star’s End logo she and Dathan had found.
In a nova-fast move, Darc had her blade pressed to Eos’ neck. “You lie to me again, I’ll leave you bleeding in the sand.” She dug the knife deep enough to cut. “No more prevarication, Dr. Rai.”
Eos flinched at the sting and felt the warm slide of blood down her neck. “We haven’t found the treasure. That’s the truth. Only what was in the storage cavern.”
Darc pushed her away. “I’m not interested in trinkets and kitchen goods.”
“What a surprise.” For a second, Eos thought she saw the woman’s lips twitch.
“I have some extra information about the New Louvre treasure. I think it will help you locate it for me.”
Eos shifted. Okay, the woman was an evil treasure hunter, but Eos really wanted to know what her information was. “Fine. Tell me.”
Darc grabbed something from another pocket and thrust it into Eos’ face.
She focused on the metal object—an interlocked band and a round face. Cracked and damaged. She read the scratched letters O-L-E-X. “A Terran timepiece? The one you stole from Dathan.”
Darc snorted. “The one I recovered fair and square. Look at the back.”
Eos gingerly took the treasure. It was heavier than she’d imagined. She turned it over and studied the engraving on the back. “Our greatest treasures rest beneath sanctuary, protected at the end of stars.” Beneath it were two words that made her heart pound. “Galileo Hawkins.”
“It belonged to Captain Hawkins.”
Eos sucked in a breath. The captain entrusted with the treasures of the New Louvre. The man who’d brought his colonists to Star’s End.
She rolled the timepiece over in her hand. “Incredible. You think this engraving can lead us to the treasure?”
“Yes. Now, Dr. Rai, I need you to use your knowledge of Star’s End to decipher the clue and find the treasure.”
“Okay.” Eos tapped a finger to her lips.
While she pretended to ponder the puzzle, her brain churned, looking for a way to escape.
Or at least a way to let Dathan know where they were.
She slipped a hand into her pocket and felt the weight of the Terran jewelry she’d shoved in there when Darc had stormed into the cavern.
“Think about the treasure, Doctor, not escape.”
She glanced up. “Are you a mind reader?” Darc looked human, but there were many races with telepathic abilities—both natural and genetically manipulated.
“Maybe.” Her multi-colored eyes bored into Eos. “Just focus on the treasure so I don’t have to hurt you.”
“Do you get everything you want by threatening to kill?”
Darc’s face went blank. “Usually. No one can be trusted.”
How…sad. “You don’t trust anyone?”
“No. People betray you in the end. Always.” The hunter stared at Eos. “Are you really so different? I’ve studied you, Dr. Rai. You have plenty of acquaintances but few close friends. No family. No one you truly trust.”
A stone ball weighed down Eos’ stomach. The thought that she was anything like this woman… “I’m nothing like you.”
Darc turned, her small but wicked knife in her hand. “Whatever keeps the peace in your little world. Now, where did the Terran colonists put their treasures?”
Eos stared at the way the sun gleamed off the blade. “Our greatest treasures rest beneath sanctuary. Sounds like the treasures are underground.”
“Keep going.”
“Sanctuary.” What the hell did that mean? “A place of safety.”
“A shelter? A medical center?”
“No.” Eos sank into the mystery, imagined the colonists setting up their new community. “A medical center would be too busy. And we haven’t found any sort of storm or attack shelters.”
“What else could it be?”
Eos turned slowly, studying the sun-drenched ruins. She imagined Hawkins standing in the same spot, surveying his new colony. In her pocket, she fingered the delicate links of the necklace and wondered if she was quick enough to drop it without Darc noticing. Leave a clue for Dathan to find.
“Where else, doctor?”
“There’s an older Terran meaning for a sanctuary.” It was like a solar flare in her head. “It was a sacred place. A place of worship.” Eos looked at Darc. “It’s under their church.”
“Well done, Dr. Rai.” Darc drew a double-barreled disruptor from her back holster. She pressed it to Eos’ chest.
“Anything on the scans?”
Zayn held up his handheld scanner, leaning against the wall, still a little unsteady on his feet. “Nothing. Darc’s blocking.”
“Fuck.” Dathan punched a fist into the rock wall. Relished the pain. “We’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way and search.” But it was going to take time.
Time Eos might not have.
Striding out of the cavern and back into the street, Dathan scanned the ground. He grunted and crouched on the road, looking for any sign that the women had come this way.
Nik was a brooding presence a few meters away. He was tapping furiously on his Sync.
“What the hell are you doing, Nik?” Dathan snapped. “Now isn’t the time to write an essay.”
Nik froze and slipped the Sync away. “Sorry. It was nothing.”
“They come this way?” Zayn asked.
“Darc isn’t stupid. She’d be covering their tracks.” Dathan swiped a hand through the sand, frustrated. Then a glimmer ahead caught his eye.
He strode to the item, half-buried in the sand. He snatched it up.
Nik moved closer. “A Terran necklace. It’s quality work.”
“I saw it in the cavern. Eos was studying it earlier.” Eos. “Our clever doc is leaving us a trail.” He pointed deeper into the ruins.
They moved quickly, his brothers flanking him. He didn’t have to watch out for an attack because he trusted them to have his back. After talking with Eos about family, he realized maybe he’d taken his brothers for granted.
Next, he found a tiny silver earring.
After that, the earring’s mate.
“I hope Darc doesn’t discover what Eos is doing,” Dathan muttered.
“We’ll find them.” Nik stared ahead. “And when we do, Darc is mine.”
Dathan nodded, but worry hit him in the gut. His brother was getting too tangled with the treasure hunter. He saw another glint in the sand and picked up a bracelet. “They’ve headed into quadrant four.” The only area they hadn’t searched yet.
“The church ruins?” Nik murmured.
The ruined spire stood out tall above the remains of the colony. A broken tribute to the past. “Why the church?”
Nik shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.”
Zayn stepped forward. “Let’s just find Eos, and show Darc we’re through being her stooges.”
They moved forward together. As they neared the church district, Dathan held a hand up and lowered his voice. “Silence from here. Let’s not advertise we’re coming.” He didn’t want to spook Darc and endanger Eos.
Moving silently, they entered the ruins of the church precinct. As Dathan stepped on a thicker patch of sand, he heard something give a faint beep beneath his feet.
“Fuck, watch out—”
Something slammed into him, tangling around his arms and legs, burning his skin. He hit the ground, and saw his brothers go down as well.
A damn plasma net. The net was made of pure energy and glowed bright green. It was hot as hell, and even harder to escape.
She’d set up at least three, knowing he wouldn’t come alone. Now all three of them were caught like trapped animals.
“Suggestions?” Nik bit out. He lay still, one palm keeping the energy rope from his face. Zayn, being Zayn, continued to struggle.
“Z, you’ll just make it hotter,” Dathan told him.
With a creative curse, Zayn stopped. “How the hell do we get out?”
“You need the right code to turn the damn things off,” Nik said.
Code. Selesos’ crazy story came back to Dathan.
“Hang on.” He twisted, searching for the silver box housing the activation mechanism.
He spotted it out of the corner of his eye, over his shoulder.
He reached an arm up and back, pushing until his shoulder screamed in pain.
His fingers brushed the small touchscreen panel.
“Shit, it’s getting hotter,” Zayn yelped.
Dathan felt it. The heat building until pain sizzled along any uncovered skin. The bitch had set the nets to fry Dathan and his brothers to a crisp. He touched the panel, trying to punch in the code by touch alone. His finger slipped off.
He pushed his worry for Eos from his head, pushed out the pain and scent of burning flesh. Pushed his brothers’ pain away. His focus shrank. He had all the time in the world.
He listened to the tiny beeps from the panel, and then the net retracted back into the panel. Just a small silver box in the sand.
He was free.
Leaping to his feet, he sprinted to Zayn and tapped in the code. Then he freed Niklas.
His brothers sat in the sand, breathing deeply.
“How’d you do it?” Z asked.