Chapter 45
Meyer stood leaning against the ring, looking bored, tapping three times against the glass-like forcefield when Bridger stepped up beside him.
The soldiers stopped their sparring, sweat pouring down their faces from the heat they’d created with their fire.
One’s hands went to his knees as he fought to catch his breath.
The other had long honey-colored hair pulled into a tight ponytail with long waves flowing down her back.
Her deep olive skin glowed from the ember of fire flickering out in her hand, and she was the last person Bridger had ever expected to see on this side of the war.
Her eyes were fixed directly on Bridger, and a smile that spelled trouble brightened her face.
“Go cool down and finish with a five-mile jog,” Meyer ordered, watching the two head for the exit when he dropped the shield.
“You didn’t tell me Helena came.” Bridger kept his voice neutral.
“You didn’t ask, and I didn’t find it necessary. She’s a great asset to the war. It’s not my fault you fu—”
“Commander,” her voice purred from behind the two men.
Bridger spun around and gazed down at her. She was tall, but still short enough that she had to tip her chin to meet his eyes. “Helena.”
Full transparency. Bridger hadn’t slept with anyone for the first ten years after he’d left Vega—there was too much else he’d needed to do, too many feelings he had to overcome and lock away.
After that, the only pleasure he let himself feel was that from meaningless sex. No attachments. No feelings. Raw, unfiltered sex.
Helena had been that quite a few times over the last couple years. And apparently, she hadn’t heard the news…
Before anyone had the chance to speak again, the news and her friends arrived.
“Why is she looking at you like a midnight snack?” Her words were almost playful, a hint of the darkness from earlier still evident in her tone. “I mean, I get it, but—” Vega cut herself off when the group settled in around them and Helena’s blazing gaze settled on her. “Ohhhh. Y’all fucked.”
Bridger coughed, covering his mouth with his fist, thankful Arlet stepped forward to introduce herself to Helena and the young man she’d been sparring. “Hi, I’m Arlet.”
It took the attention off him for at least a few seconds while the rest exchanged pleasantries, including Vega.
She shook Helena’s hand last. “Vega” was all she said with a smile proving she didn’t care.
“Wow,” Helena mused. “The infamous sister.” Her eyes flicked to Bridger and then back to Vega. “It’s crazy how similar they look. Don’t you think, Commander?”
He’d kill her if she thought she could step in between what he and Vega were working to rebuild. “I think the general told you to go for a jog.” Bridger turned away from Helena, focusing on Vega and Arlet. “You two first.” He nodded towards the ring the others had just come out of.
Arlet winked at Vega, pulling her hair up into a messy bun. “Ready to have some fun?”
Vega’s smile grew as she slipped her arm around Arlet’s shoulders. “Let’s see what you’ve learned while I’ve been gone,” she said, popping a kiss on Arlet’s cheek.
Bridger felt his heart constrict in his chest, watching Vega with her best friend. She’d already given too much of her life up. She deserved a chance to experience what was stolen from her.
When the girls slid into the ring, Bridger stepped up to where Meyer had been standing and leaned over.
“We all know I’m a huge fan of hand-to-hand and that it’s the foundation of every good warrior, but there’s nothing more deadly than a warrior who can perfect both their ability and the art of fighting at the same time.
” He raised a brow. “Which is exactly what this ring allows you to do.”
Vega checked over daggers sheathed at her thigh while Arlet pulled out her double-edged sword from behind her back.
“The use of your powers inside the forcefield will not kill your opponent, but weapons will. Unless you’re us.
” He smiled deviously. Bridger waved his hand over the controls, and the shield traveled from the floor up until it caged Vega and Arlet in.
His voice echoed through a speaker to them.
“We need to learn to use our bond to our advantage on the battlefield. Drop those shields and see through each other’s eyes.
Learn to anticipate each other’s next move. ”
Arlet and Vega nodded, reaching out to shake hands like every good match should start. Instead of shaking hands, though, they did what they’d always done. They wiggled the tips of their fingers against each other’s.
“Begin.” Bridger’s voice boomed, and the girls wasted no time getting started.
Clouds formed from nothing, water droplets immediately peppering the forcefield like a window on a rainy day. Vega’s storm clouds swirled, but a cyclone didn’t form. Blue lightning scattered across the clouds, jumping down to Vega’s hands before crawling up her arms.
Death stayed put.
Bridger would never forget the feel of it creeping into his mind, dragging him out of a dreamless sleep to the sound of Vega screaming down the bond.
Then the cylinder shield transformed before everyone’s eyes, earning gasps from those who had taken a moment away from their training to watch a couple of Tolevarre’s new gods spar.
No longer was the ring a fighting mat. It had turned into exactly what Arlet wanted it to be. The fucking sky.
It was as if the girls walked through the clouds of Vega’s power.
Arlet ducked in time to avoid a lightning strike to the chest but took her eyes off Vega for a split second, not watching the backside of the electricity channel waiting to be recalled by Vega in the cloud Arlet rolled through.
Arlet’s cry of pain couldn’t be heard through the shield, but the bulging veins in her neck were proof enough Vega had landed the first blow.
“I thought you said powers wouldn’t hurt us inside the ring, Dimico,” Khort growled from behind, grabbing him by the shoulder.
Bridger glanced down at Khort’s hand, sneering at his touch. “No, I said they couldn’t kill you. I never said anything about the pain.”
Meyer gripped Khort by the wrist and seared a handprint where he’d wrapped his hand. “Hands off, you giant gecko.”
Khort hissed and rounded his fist, ready to strike at Meyer.
Bridger sighed, turning his back to the ring where Vega and Arlet continued to fight.
Without missing a beat, Bridger caught Khort’s fist in his hand.
“Would you two like to step on a mat?” He wouldn’t let Khort pull his hand back, holding tight.
“That’s the only place we fight now.” He made sure to look them both in the eyes.
“We don’t have to like each other, but we do have to fight on the same team.
” He let Khort’s hand go. “Learn to get along.”
He turned back to the fight in time for Vega to take a fist to the jaw. He cringed at the blood spilling from her busted lip.
“I don’t take orders from you, Bridger,” Khort grumbled, turning away to focus on the fight too.
Rolling his eyes, Bridger slapped Meyer on the arm as he snickered. “Enough.”
Meyer cleared his throat and went serious.
The three of them watched Vega and Arlet continue, Arlet changing the vision everyone saw to something much darker.
Billowing night swirled inside, stealing the ability to see inside the ring, and for the briefest of seconds, Bridger felt the sheer panic shoot down the bond to him before a crack of her lightning lit the entire shield up in a blue glow. The crack that followed shook the gym.
The dark. He didn’t need her to tell him it took her back to the place she’d been stuck inside her head.
“Did you get the chance to talk to anyone?” Bridger asked, pushing his shield to block the three of them from wandering ears.
Khort’s head snapped to Bridger immediately, and Meyer eyed Bridger like he was nuts, peeking around to glare at Khort suspiciously.
“He knows. So does Arlet.” Bridger shrugged. “You wanna be the one to deal with the backlash from Vega if I find the information I need?”
Meyer didn’t have to respond for Bridger to know the answer would be a resounding no. “You’re serious about this.” Meyer hadn’t phrased it as a question.
“Dead.”
Sighing, Meyer looked ahead at the ring, where it seemed Arlet might have the upper hand for the moment. “My contact can be here in four days.”
Bridger almost questioned who he’d reached out to, but Khort interrupted.
“And what about Ardor?” Khort added.
Meyer’s brows pinched together. “What about Ardor?” he asked with a much different inflection.
Khort raised both his brows, realizing what he’d done. A smile slid across his lips. “Oops.”
“Meyer, you know we have to take Ardor, right?” Bridger asked, diving into the conversation he’d planned to have with him later in the day when they’d decide what to do about the people in the mines. Thanks, Khort.
“Why would we need to overthrow Ardor? My parents—my mother won’t bother us here.” Meyer leaned against the control board to the ring beside him.
“We can’t share a territory with the enemy,” Khort interjected.
Bridger wasn’t sure Khort had ever thought before speaking a day in his life.
“They’re my parents… not the enemy.” Meyer seethed, his finger tips glowing.
“Hmm, I’m sorry. I must have confused them for the people who plotted with Marlena behind everyone’s back.” Khort looked like he was ready to spit on Meyer’s grave. “Oh, wait.”
“You shut the f—” Meyer raced towards Khort with fire burning behind his eyes. Bridger grabbed him by the collar of his suit and yanked him back.
Meyer was a big dude, and if Bridger weren’t who he was, Meyer would be stronger than him by a lot…
but he wasn’t, and Bridger hadn’t had to use much effort to stop him in his tracks.
“You two are giving me fucking hives,” Bridger groaned, using the words Vega had said to him back on Earth while he stepped in between Meyer and Khort.