Chapter 28 A Vanguard’s Treasure
A Vanguard’s Treasure
Sheba stood on the balcony of her apartment, the twin suns of Alpheratz beginning their slow descent into the horizon as a lone Edenite Guard played a haunting horn melody before the arch of remembrance.
She bowed her head in respect.
Beside her, Idan remained a quiet, solid presence, his gaze fixed on the distant skyline until the tune faded away.
It had been two weeks since the dome incident and Sulfiqar’s purge from Pegasi’s mortal plane.
Below the nanite-reinforced shield, the Edenites worked hard to clear the streets, and the destroyed buildings were on their way to being rebuilt.
However, fifteen of their own didn’t make it, and dozens more were in recovery.
Once the chaos died down and the city caught its breath, the locals put up a memorial wall to honor the ones they lost.
‘What comes next, love?’ Sheba asked as she leaned into her man’s sinewed torso, and his arms came around her waist. ‘A return to Tansinia?’
‘Not a permanent one, unless you’re desperate to move to the back and beyond,’ Idan rasped. ‘Tansinia Minor is in my past, and it has too many memories of pain and loneliness I no longer claim. I want a new life, fokk, and a home too, provided the rest of my years are spent in your orbit.’
Sheba turned to him, the gold gleam of her mesmerizing eyes shimmering with a deep, emotional heat. ‘Dunia then?’
His face lit up. ‘It was beautiful. The mountains, waterfalls, the lushness, it’s a paradise indeed. Perhaps we can look up what’s on sale.’
‘Whether we can settle there depends on whether I get the Director role, and if they allow fly-in and out options,’ Sheba reminded him, stroking his temple.
‘I’m not sure we can afford a big farm, though, but potentially I can sell my apartment here to what we can in New Malindi.
My savings took a hit during this stretch without a contract. ’
He stopped her, his thumb pressing her lips into silence before tracing the line of her jaw. ‘Fokk, woman, I won’t be a kept man, and as I told you, I’ve got more than enough resources.’
Sheba arched a brow, her skepticism visible. ‘Where are they? You didn’t exactly pack a suitcase of bullion when we left Tansinia.’
‘I’m telling you, I have a secret stash waiting for me.
Fact, let’s go on a mini odyssey,’ he countered, his hand cupping her face with a possessive, tender heat.
‘I’ll show you what a Void-Forged Scion of the Crimson Eclipse, General of the Seven-Fold Legion, and Harbinger of the Divine Reckoning, keeps in reserve. ’
The following evening, the floors of Kainan and Selene’s second living room in their penthouse sat buried under a mountain of discarded snack wrappers and face masks.
Sheba moved through the wreckage of the room, sidestepping an abandoned VR headset.
She sighed, surrendering to the bedlam.
Just two hours earlier, the place had been pristine when she kicked off an unforgettable night for her niece and nephews, as well as Harlow and Illanna’s kids.
She’d envisioned a perfect split: the young boys gaming in the upstairs atrium and the girls engrossed in a spa session below led by Auntie Sheba, complete with plush robes and perfumed facials.
She’d laid out snacks on the vast dining table: caramel popcorn, micro-sliders topped with truffle aioli, pizzas and cannoli, chilled fruit punch in flutes, plus a spread of candy, brownies, and marshmallows.
She even went for the extra details, with a selection of hydrating face masks, fuzzy headbands, foot baths, and nail polishes galore.
Now it was as if a bomb had gone off.
Crushed pastry lay in ruins on the kitchen surfaces, alongside a mess of melted mozzarella and leftover crusts from wood-fired pizza takeaway boxes from The BirdKage.
Her fruit punch was down to a trio of sad strawberries smashed at the bottom of the bowl, and chocolate handprints smeared the walls.
‘Aunt Sheba, the boys are bored!’ Kirin, Harlow’s son, yelled from the landing, his entourage in tow, skidding behind him. ‘We don’t want to play with pixels anymore; we want lime-green slime face masks and the bubble foot baths.’
Sheba gave the groaning girls in the living room a sideways, cutting glance.
‘Sharing is caring, ladies,’ she chided. ‘Come on then, gentlemen.’
She dug out more supplies from her crate of goodies, and minutes later, six kids sat in a row on the sofas, in a mix of tactical camo shorts and pink fuzzy robes.
She slathered aqua colored glop onto the boys’ faces, their chuckles setting her off, while the little ladies painted their brothers’ toenails a vibrant, electric blue.
‘Auntie Sheba, Kirin is getting goo on the upholstery,’ one of the young women giggled, adjusting her headband.
‘It’s already a freakin’ mess,’ Sheba sighed, popping the lid on a spilled face lotion bottle. ‘De nada, the fabric is easy to wash, your mother made sure that.’
In time, the holo-TV flickered through a mindless adventure movie, and the kids came off their sugar high and succumbed to sleep.
They lay a tangled heap of limbs, pillows, blankets, discarded headbands, and half-eaten pizza crusts.
Sheba collapsed onto the far end of the sectional, her spine meeting the cushions with a dull thud.
Her hair was a mess of stray glitter and streaks of emerald gunk.
She was sick from all the cheese and chocolate cannoli she’d indulged in, and her feet ached from running around so much.
She groaned, needing relief.
The doorbell rang, and she dragged herself to the front door, opening the door to find a gorgeous, tall, muscled vision of Sacran beauty in all black leaning against the door jamb.
He slowly lifted his molten eyes to her. ‘Madam, in need of a rescue?’
‘Do I ever, my freakin sexy god-knight,’ she cried out, reaching for him.
He gave her a long kiss before letting her lead him inside.
He stepped over discarded popcorn bowls and discarded streamers, staring at the chaos and the huddled group of messy, slumbering children in disbelief.
‘Forget Sulfiqar’s attack on Eden II, this is where the real battlefield lies.’
‘They’re finally out,’ Sheba rage-whispered.
‘Idan, it’s a war zone. I’ve survived planetary sieges that were less coordinated than these kids.
When Kirin tried to use his meta powers to turn the water in the foot bath into a tornado, I almost ran away.
I’m physically and mentally spent. Heal me, soothe me. ’
With a chuckle, Idan moved his woman onto the expansive sectional.
The sight of her, covered in the remnants of a spa-night-gone-wild while surrounded by the sleeping heirs of the most dangerous people in the galaxy, stirred a fierce emotion in him.
‘You’re a natural mama,’ he teased.
‘Nada, I’m a senior nursing director who just realized I’ve zero training to deal with the carnage of kids,’ she shot back, leaning her head back into his palms.
She reached a hand back and cradled his jaw. ‘Kiss me again and bring me back from the land of the dead.’
He indulged her, melding their mouths in a tongue suckling and nipping her lips that she squirmed in his arms, pulling away, eyes dilated, desire arcing through her to him.
‘You continue like this, we’ll be having one of those,’ Sheba warned, eyes gleaming as she pointed to the kids.
‘The problem being?’ Idan countered, his eyes molten and blazing. ‘I want one of those for us.’
She tilted her head in shock. ‘Commander Simi’Ren Idan Caliostheles, have you lost your goddamn mind?’
When his eyes flared, she reared back. ‘Fokk you’re serious.’
‘Language, salkia, and naam, I want forever and children with you.’
She blinked. ‘Can I think on it?’
He reached for her, pulling her back to his torso. ‘Take all the time you need. But I’ll have you know we Sacrans are potent, and I’ll seed you with child before you know it.’
When she bucked in protest, he laughed and pulled her closer, shifting until she sat tucked into his chest.
His sinewed hands found the tension points at the base of her skull.
He kneaded the stress out of her muscles, his thumbs tracing slow, deliberate circles over her temples.
‘What did I ever do to deserve you?’ Sheba suddenly whispered.
Idan huffed, leaning her back and tipping her face to his. ‘It’s me who should be saying that.’
That’s when he realized she had tears glistening in her eyes. ‘My love, what is it?’
She wiped her face and gave a small sigh. ‘I spent so many years dreaming of what love would look like, of praying for my happy ever after, of yearning for you, and now here you are, so excuse me if I sometimes can’t handle the sweetness of it.’
‘Salkia, I too stand in awe of you every single fokkin’ moment,’ he murmured, as his lips fell on hers for a devastating kiss.
When she sighed and nestled into him, he rested his chin on the top of her head, his eyes closing as the rhythm of her breathing synced with his own.
For a man who spent eons warring, hunting enemies across the void, and waging battles against gods, his woman’s softness and the quiet chaos of this room were the only victories that mattered.
He drifted off with her, the most content he had been in several lifetimes.
A few days later, Kainan, Selene, and Molan escorted Sheba and Idan to Docking Bay 23 within the private Sable Spaceport, where a sleek, obsidian-class corvette sat.
Sheba slowed her roll. ‘What’s this?’
Kainan stepped forward and handed Idan a set of encryption keys.
‘When we induct a Rider to our ever-growing family, we gift them with their own vessel, fresh off the floor. The call name is up to you, but she’s fueled for the long haul,’ Kainan grunted, his hand gripping Idan’s shoulder in a seal of brotherhood.
‘Mirage has already installed a node of her intellect in the ship’s system to help with engineering and piloting. ’
‘Not sure what to say,’ Idan muttered. ‘I can pay for it -.’
‘Nada. Your sacrifice is enough compensation, and ‘you’re welcome’ will suffice,’ Kainan growled. ‘Plus, it might also be a pre-wedding gift.’