Among Galactic Ruins (8 page)

God
. She yanked his head up and
pulled his mouth to hers.

His tongue swept over her lips and their
mouths fused, both of them struggling to get closer to each other.
She bit his bottom lip, he sucked on her tongue. He pulled her
closer and she felt the hard press of his erection digging into her
belly.
Yes
. The hot, furious kiss made her knees weak and
every single part of her felt like it was turning molten. The man
could kiss.

She even heard bells ringing. Wait…
Bells?

Damon pulled back and cursed. “The deterrent
alarms!”

***

Damon ran over to where Dathan stood, staring
at the fence and beyond. A second later the ringing stopped.

“What is it?” Damon demanded.

The treasure hunter clutched a hand-held
scanner, waving it left and right. “Don’t know. Nothing’s coming up
on the scanner.” He shook his head. “Could be something, could be
nothing.”

A slight wind was blowing. Damon stared out
into the desert darkness, but the shadows refused to give up their
secrets. The cold wind made him realize he was still shirtless.

A breathless Lexa jogged up to them. She’d
pulled on some clothes. “Was it the desert wolves?”

Dathan was eyeing her somewhat-disheveled
state and Damon knew the kid wasn’t fooled. It was hard to miss the
hastily-pulled-on clothes—and Damon knew just what she was hiding
under there now—and kiss-swollen lips. And damn, he wanted to taste
her again. He wanted his mouth on her breasts, his fingers
exploring her and those red lips wrapped around his…

Fuck
. His cock, still semi-hard,
sprang back to full life.

“False alarm,” Dathan finally pronounced.
“Let’s grab some chow. I think we should be ready to move fast,
though, just in case.” He glanced at Lexa. “And that includes
knowing where we’re headed next.”

They all settled around the fire. Damon sat
down next to Lexa. Not too close, but close enough to pick up her
scent—something fresh and fruity.
Shit
. He was still hard as
Dinorian granite. He shifted slightly in an attempt to ease the
discomfort.

As the three of them munched on their
unappetizing rations—Damon had eaten enough cloned food in his
lifetime to never want to see the stuff again—Lexa pulled out her
replacement Sync. She lifted her necklace and clicked her pendant
into the slot on the side. She waited a second, then tapped the
screen.

“Okay, the next clue says, ‘At the
Crossways, make a choice that leads right.’”

Dathan rolled his eyes upward. “Gods save us
from fucking cryptic clues.”

Lexa ignored him. “Anything known as a
crossways near here? Maybe a crossways of these old caravan
trails?”

“Yep. There are thousands of them. Some are
larger, but there’s nothing that stands out.” He chewed
thoughtfully on his food.

Damon was impressed by the young treasure
hunter so far. He was smart, tenacious and prepared. Brocken
Phoenix was an idiot. He was going to lose his boy if he wasn’t
careful.

Dathan set his own Sync down on the ground
in front of him. He touched the screen and sat back. A
three-dimensional map projected up into the night air in front of
them.

It was a map of the Sea of Dunes. It showed
the path they’d traveled as a solid green line. Glowing dots marked
some points of interest. Damon leaned forward. He could see the
caravan trails marked in orange.

Dathan and Lexa got deep into discussion,
pointing out options that could be the mysterious crossways. They
argued, agreed to discard some things, brainstormed.

Damon pondered what the Sea of Dunes would
have looked like at the time the long-ago priestess had carved her
clues on the vase. “Have you got any historical maps? From the time
of the temple?”

Lexa and Dathan stared at him, then she
bumped Damon’s shoulder. “Brilliant, Damon. We need to be looking
for a crossways that existed
then
, not now.”

“I don’t have any historical maps from that
time,” Dathan said. “But I can get the computer to extrapolate back
to what the Sea looked like then. It won’t be a hundred percent
accurate, but it’ll be close.” He tapped his Sync.

The map morphed and changed. The dunes
shrunk. Green grass and trees appeared, along with herds of
unidentifiable animals. The oases grew into lakes, and rivers
coursed across the land, headed for Zerzura’s once-bountiful inland
sea.

“Amazing,” Lexa breathed, eyes bright as she
studied the map. “No wonder the Terrans settled here.”

Damon studied the map, thinking about all
the planets he’d visited on various missions. Some planets were
covered in huge megacities, others vast deserts like this one, some
covered in forests so dense it was an effort to travel just a few
klicks, and some planets dominated by seas and rivers. Those rivers
had been like highways, used to travel on and give life to the land
around it.

He stared at the huge rivers of old Zerzura,
and realized the giant valley they’d traveled through today had
been an empty riverbed of the largest river in the area.

He looked up at the Manifestor constellation
shining brightly overhead. That large river had once traveled in
line with the Manifestor. He looked back at the map…and saw the
river crossed another large tributary coming in from the east.

“The crossways, I think it was the junction
of two large rivers.” Damon pointed.

Lexa leapt up. “You’re right! The rivers
would have been important back then, covered with boat traffic and
used for irrigation. The crossways of two large rivers would have
been a large landmark.”

She shot him a wide smile that lit up her
face. Damon had received many commendations in his career with the
GSS, but they were nothing compared to that smile.

Dathan traced the river to the large
junction. He tapped the Sync and the map changed back to the
current map. A large sandy space where the two empty riverbeds
crossed. “I know this place. It’s called Confluence.”

“Confluence?” Lexa was just about bouncing
on the spot. “That’s another word for crossways!”

“Okay, I’ll plot the best course to get
there, and as soon as the sun is up, we’ll head off.” Dathan closed
the map. “The Confluence is known for flash floods if we get any
freak storms.” He eyed the clear, starry sky. “But thankfully that
should be one problem we won’t suffer.”

“I think I’ll stay up and keep an eye on the
fence,” Damon said. Something had set that alarm off and whatever
it was, he wasn’t planning to let it get anywhere near Lexa.

Lexa looked troubled. “Should we take it in
turns to keep watch?”

He smiled. “I’m used to it and I don’t need
a lot of sleep. Get some rest, okay?”

She shot him an unreadable look, then
nodded. “Good night.”

After she was gone, Damon settled in the
sand and imagined her in her tent, wearing tiny lacy things he
wanted to tear off her. He blew out a breath. It was going to be a
long night.

***

Lexa woke, heart pounding, and sat upright.
The dream faded, leaving her realizing she was safely in her tent.
She pushed her hair off the back of her neck. In the nightmare,
she’d been back at the inn, realizing the attackers were in her
room.

Everything’s fine, Lexa
. She listened
for a moment, but there were no strange sounds, just the gentle
fluttering of the tent fabric in the desert breeze, and the snorts
of the ballos not too far away. Through the opaque fabric, she saw
the faint flicker of the fire. She relaxed back against her pillow.
Damon was out there, somewhere, watching over them.

Her thoughts wanted to turn toward that wild
kiss but she forced them onto finding the crossways. Excitement
sparked like a drug in her veins. Find the crossways, follow the
other clues, and find the egg. She imagined setting the egg in the
display she had planned for it back at the museum. Studying it,
finding out more about its history. No doubt, Damon would be there
bitching at her about security.

She stilled, funny that he was now a clear
part of that picture. And that she welcomed it. She’d been worried
about complications if they acted on their attraction, but they
were already involved.

A shadow moved outside the tent and she
turned her head. Maybe Damon was headed this way?

She waited, her pulse picking up. The shadow
moved again. Low, slinking along the ground.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

Desert wolf.

She forced herself to stay still. How could
it be inside the fence? The alarm should have sounded. How many
more were out there?

She pressed a hand to her chest. Had they
attacked Damon? God, what if he were hurt…or worse?

Reaching for her bag, she slowly fished
around until her hand closed over the butt of the laser pistol
Damon had given her. Inching up, she pulled her legs out of her
sleeping bag.

But the wolf must have sensed her
movement.

It launched itself at the tent.

Lexa’s scream stuck in her throat. The huge
weight of the wolf fell on her, and she was separated from very
sharp teeth by the thin layer of high-tech tent fabric.

She turned and tried to scramble away, but
she had nowhere to go. She was trapped by the collapsed tent, with
no idea where the fastening for the opening was. But the wolf
clawed and ripped at the tent, and soon ragged tears opened up.

Lexa shoved her hand through the tear,
ripped it open more, then dived through.

The wolf spun, growling, drool dripping from
its slavering jaws.

Fear was a living, twisting thing in her
throat. She scuttled backward in the sand and lifted her feet. When
the wolf leapt at her, she pressed her feet against its chest,
kicking with all the strength she had.

Its jaws snapped an inch from her face, its
breath a horrid stench. She managed to get the pistol up and aimed
at its face.

She fired.

With a whine, the animal fell back.

Lexa leapt to her feet. When she looked
around, horror clamped down on her.

Wolves were swarming through the camp. The
ballo beasts were braying and she saw one, the one she’d been
riding, twisting and turning, four wolves clamped on its back. The
other tents were in tatters.

She heard the whine of a laser rifle, and in
the darkness she made out a bare-chested Dathan firing rapidly into
a sea of wolves.

Where was Damon? She looked around
frantically.

A wolf shot out of the darkness at her.

She brought the pistol up and fired.

The laser caught the side of the animal but
didn’t kill it. It raced away into the darkness.

She ran to the fire. It still flickered,
warm and cheerful, despite the chaos around it.

Damon
. There was no sign of him. Her
chest was tight and she could barely breathe. Where was he?

Lexa sprinted through the camp, the sand
surprisingly cool under her bare feet. She shot at any wolves she
saw.

Still no sign of Damon.

A terrible feeling was filling her chest.
Maybe the wolves had snuck up on him? Dragged him away?

Then she saw him.

He was covered in blood, surrounded by four
wolves. His shirt was in tatters, torn up by sharp claws, and it
appeared he’d lost his weapon.

She pushed for more speed. She was too far
away. She wanted to shoot but she wasn’t a good enough shot to
risking shooting with him so close.

The nearest wolf launched itself at him.

No
! He had no weapon.

But he stayed calm. He dodged to the side,
grabbed the wolf and swung it onto its back. With a quick move, he
snapped its neck.

The others rushed forward, but he was ready.
He kicked one hard enough to send it stumbling, then he grabbed the
next, turning with it in a macabre dance. He tossed it aside. The
third leapt high in the air and from somewhere on his body, Damon
pulled a knife. It was the one he’d taken from the man outside the
Desert Dragon.

A quick stab upward into the underside of
the wolf and Lexa could tell he’d hit something vital. The wolf
just…collapsed and landed on the sand like a pile of fur.

She was close enough to see his face now.
Hard, focused and deadly. That expression sent a shiver through
her. She had no trouble believing he’d been an undercover
agent.

Then she saw that the other two wolves were
back on their feet and rushing him again.

That’s when Lexa noticed a third wolf, this
one even larger than the others, slinking forward out of the
shadows.

No
. She closed the last few meters
and fired. The wolf dodged at the last minute and her laser did
nothing more than kick up sand in the beast’s face.

It lifted its huge head, its glowing eyes
fixing on her. Then he bounded forward with a flex of muscle.

Oh, God
. She held up her pistol with
shaking hands and tried for bravado. “Come on you big brute!”

Behind the beast, she saw Damon swivel.
“Lexa!”

The wolf took her to the ground. She felt
claws snag on her clothes, but she focused on nothing but jamming
her pistol up into the wolf’s neck. She pulled the trigger and held
it down.

At first, nothing happened. Her heart
clenched and visions of being ripped apart danced in her head.

Then the wolf stiffened and something warm
and sticky gushed over her.

Blood.
Ugh
. She kept her finger on
the trigger until she heard a clicking sound. The laser pistol had
run out of charge.

“Lexa.” Damon gave the beast a giant heave
and rolled it off her. She caught a glimpse of the bloody damage
the laser had done to fur-covered flesh and looked away.

Damon yanked her up and into his arms.
“Where are you hurt? Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get you healed.
You’ll be okay.”