CarnalPromise (32 page)

As Jinn opened her eyes, a ray of sunlight highlighted a
path on the rocks.

She would make this.

Grasping her first stony protrusion, Jinn climbed.

From the small cliff, Drakkar fired before Anya could strike
Sasha again. The ray hit and although it streaked across her skin, it barely
fazed her.
What the hell has she been taking now?

Keeping Sasha in her sights, Anya crept toward him. “So, you
have come after your Svendian bitch, Drakkar. You lost your father to them. And
two uncles. What were you thinking, mating with that slut?”

“Put your hands up, Anya. I don’t want to hurt you.”

His former paramour laughed. “You don’t want to hurt me.
Liar!” She jumped over half the distance as she initiated her body shield and
dove under the ledge.

Drakkar ran along the ridge to a place where he could drop
to the ground near Sasha. Anya had strengthened herself more than any man
could. Even a doped-up male couldn’t fly like that! What had she done with
Jinn?

Although Anya was several body lengths away, he could see
her muscles pump. Anger radiated from every gesture. Yet she had wounds. Cuts
on her body, but they seem to heal rather rapidly. “You’re going to kill
yourself with those narcotics, Anya.”

“Like—you—care,” she seethed.

“Where’s Jinn?” He aimed his laser pistol at her.

“Dead,” she growled, planting her fists on her hips.
“Whimpering, sniveling weak bitch.”

Drakkar watched his wounded Sasha from the corner of his
vision as the wolf struggled to rise next to him. She took a few steps forward
then fell on her front paws. After growling at Anya, the wolf turned and eyed
Drakkar, shaking her head. Sasha rose again. Lifting her chin, she released a
low howl.

Drakkar understood. “You lie. Where is she?”

Anya’s chin dipped as her gaze bore into his, a sure sign
she would attack. “Sasha saved her, you bastard. But I’ll catch up with her and
kill her after I’ve disposed of you both.”

She jumped the full distance this time. Drakkar fired a
continuous stream but the ray barely penetrated her body shield. Somehow, she’d
reinforced with a higher technology than most of the Renegades, undercutting
the techno-shield in place over the training area.

Anya dropped onto Drakkar, leveling him underneath her but
he’d already prepared for the strike and fell in a manner that would protect
him, grasping the pistol as hard as he could. Still, for a split moment, he
lost his breath.

“You—were—to—be—mine!” Anya grabbed his wrist and pounded it
against the rocky ground. Sasha attacked her from behind as Drakkar tried to
pull away, using his other hand to help but with Anya’s new strength, Drakkar
could barely hold on.

Anya shrugged Sasha off then punched the wolf in its abdomen
as it fell. Drakkar tried to use the moment to free himself but Anya gave
another crushing blow to his wrist and the pistol loosened. He caught it with
his other hand and fired as Anya knocked his grip but this close, the ray hit,
finally breaking through her body shield and glancing off her cheek.

“Bastard!” She reached for the weapon but Drakkar moved
faster. He tossed the pistol some distance in a small brush. With Anya’s
strength, if she got hold of the weapon, the battle would be done in short
time.

His former partner growled with anger then lifted to pummel
the side of his head with a double-fisted blow but Drakkar grasped her shirt
and, pushing hard with a hip thrust and his feet, he rolled, stopping her swing
as her fists hit the ground.

He head-butted her as she fell but she was still able to
hook her leg around Drakkar’s. He slid his hands up, wanting to get to her
throat but she clenched onto his wrists and pushed his palms against her
breasts.

She rolled back on top of him. “Oooh, so you really do want
me.”

Drakkar struggled against her as she licked her lips.

“Remember what good times we had. I bet that Svendian cunt
doesn’t give you the same thrill I did.” With her tongue exposed, she bent to
him, trying to be seductive, but Anya was no longer that. Not to him.

When she closed in, Drakkar bit her.

Anya reared back and screamed from the wound he’d inflicted
on her lip and tongue. “Cheat!” She moved to backhand him but he blocked the
hit and grabbed on to her arm, grappling with her, forcing her with a heavy
effort off him.

She rolled some distance then jumped aright as Drakkar
scrambled to his feet.

“Liar!” With a measured step, Anya paced toward him.
“Deceiver! You were to be mine!”

Drakkar backed away, looking for something to deter her
until he could retrieve his pistol, eyeing quickly Sasha’s motionless body,
praying his old friend wasn’t dead. He had to use his mind to win this, to fend
off Anya until help arrived. “You only wanted me for my money and reputation.
When you had that, you would have left and found someone else.”

“Not true!” She stopped. Her face paled and her eyes rimmed
with tears. “We were partners. I cared for you.”

“Barely. Not enough to stay loyal. I was told of your
indiscretions. When I discovered you were taking the strength enhancers, I knew
why your sex drive had gotten so out of control but you wouldn’t stop.”

“I couldn’t.” She stumbled toward him. “I need help,
Drakkar. You must help me. I know you still love me.”

Drakkar knew she pretended weakness but he wouldn’t be
caught in her schemes. Not anymore. “I tried, Anya, but you decided to leave
and join the Renegades, preferring their company to mine.”

“The war.” She covered her face with her hands but her body
tensed as she eased closer to him.

She would attack. Drakkar rushed to the bush, hoping to
retrieve his pistol but Anya was faster. She tackled him, rolling with him,
gaining the upper edge. She landed on a knee and punched at his groin but
Drakkar moved enough and the hit thankfully missed, hitting his abdomen
instead.

He pushed the pain out of his mind. He had to win. He
grasped her arms but she rolled backward and tossed him. Drakkar flew several
feet in the air and crumpled as he landed against the rock face of the ridge
but he recovered quickly and stood. He had no choice. He had to defeat her or
die trying.

Anya had scurried onto her feet and crouched in a fighting
stance. “You think you can win this little tête-à-tête, don’t you?”

Drakkar prepared himself. They circled each other, looking
for an opening to strike. Drakkar focused on her body, knowing certain
movements would give him an edge in this battle.

“Well, you won’t.” She sneered, blabbering. “Not anymore.
I’m much faster and stronger than you. There is no one, no human who can beat
me. Not even the Vulgarian’s most cherished warrior.”

Drakkar saw the small recoil in her step but before he could
react, she jumped, swinging a side punch to his head then a kick to his gut.

He blocked the strikes as best he could, rolling away from
her and jumping again to his feet. He needed to reach his pistol.

She approached him, slower this time, taunting him, closing
in for the kill. Drakkar dove for his weapon. Reaching it, he fired, striking
Anya in the heart.

The shot knocked her down but didn’t kill her. “Shatz.”
Drakkar fired again and retreated, looking for a place where he could get an advantage.
Where were the others? It had been some time since he initiated the emergency
beacon.

Anya stumbled as she ran after him. He must have damaged her
but not enough. Drakkar turned and fired, his ray still weakened by the
techno-shield. The laser hit the dirt as Anya scrambled behind a brush. Drakkar
ducked behind another rock and fired again, searing the branches as Anya pulled
something out of her battle pack and popped it in her mouth.

Another drug.
How many had she taken? Maybe an
overdose would stop her. “You think the narcotics help? How many more pills do
you need to kill me?”

Her growl deepened as she jumped after him. Her run turned
into leaps and bounds. Drakkar fled, hoping the pump from this latest pill
would be short-lived. If he could only keep her distracted until the others
arrived. And what the hell happened to Jinn?

A frigid wind blasted him. The winter gales. Drakkar ran
harder, leading Anya away from the training zone and into a lower, more
protected area below the tree line. If he succeeded, the power in his pistol
would be at full strength.

He could kill her then. A small part of him cried at the
thought but the woman behind him was not the same that he had first known.
Truth was, Anya had already killed herself. It was only a matter of time before
the narcotics ate away the rest of her humanity.

* * * * *

Another chill wind hit Jinn. With frozen fingers, she
reached for the next rock outcropping and pulled. She sidled over the edge of
this new ridge, lying on top of the rock, trying to catch her breath, knowing
she still had some distance to go. Her ribs ached but at least her wounds no
longer bled.

Sighing, she rose on her knees and glanced at the path.
Although the incline to the next sheer face was long, the ridge narrowed as it rose,
more than Jinn had realized from her view below. And there were a few crevices
in it. How wide? How deep? Would she be able to make these?

She glanced over the side. While the climb was about the
same as the others, this one would take her over the steepest drop, almost the
whole length of the mountain to the valley below. Another blast hit her.
Closing her eyes, Jinn flexed her fingers to warm them and took a deep draught
of air to still her fears. She had no choice. Her path had already been determined,
destined by her past actions. Balancing herself on the small, craggy ridge, she
moved.

* * * * *

Drakkar heard the transport as it landed somewhere ahead. He
ran for it.
It’s about damn time.
The only way he’d been able to thwart
Anya so far was from sheer will and a sharp mind, crisscrossing between the
rocks and the evergreens.

He rushed ahead but Anya followed close behind.

Where is it?
Drakkar could have sworn the craft was
close. He should have been able to see it by now.

He ran ahead then banged into something in thin air,
knocking him on his ass.
Renegade. Oh, hell.
The cloaked craft sat in
front of him but they had now slipped into the free zone and away from the
techno-shield.

Drakkar rolled over to fire but Anya jumped and was upon him
before he could. She landed on his neck and the wrist that held the weapon but
he still turned it, barely missing her with his next shot.

Filled with fury, she picked him up and hurled him at
another large boulder, not even bothering to steal his weapon.

Her anger was his advantage. He fired again, hitting her
this time as she dropped behind another large rock to avoid the strike.

Anya didn’t move. Drakkar sat a few moments then eased
closer, keeping his weapon ready, watching for any sign of life.

A body length away, he stopped to study her more. He still
couldn’t see her face but her leg twitched. Was she seriously injured or was it
the drugs?

Trying to keep his advantage, he circled around the other
side of the rock and approached her at her head. She lay on her side. The arm
underneath her was splayed on the ground over her head, her chin had dipped to
her chest, her other arm was hidden below that. He couldn’t see her face,
couldn’t tell if she breathed.

An icy wind blew through, scattering the leaves and twigs
around them. Within a nanosecond, Anya rolled and threw a heavy rock, hitting
him square in his skull.

Drakkar’s vision blackened. The hard ground knocked the air
from his lungs when he fell.

He heard her steps approach. “I got that little gem from
your slut.” Anya snickered then kicked him in his gut.

He rolled, wanting to vomit but he rubbed his head instead,
hoping to clear his vision. He blinked as Anya’s mouth ran on about her
prowess, and he focused on the debris on the ground, trying to clear his view.
Must
succeed. Need to save Jinn.

“I have to admit, your little slut was a worthy opponent—at
least for the average female.” Anya put her boot on his body and Drakkar moaned
as she rolled him over. “But I’m better.” Putting one foot on his gut, she leaned
into him, pressing her foot into him, her hot breath scathing his face. “I was
always better.”

Drakkar didn’t speak a word. Anya reached above him and
picked up the weapon he had dropped, pointing it at him. He knew her well
enough. Her ego needed to be placated before she killed him. She would taunt
him first.

Smirking, she twisted her wrist while she examined the
weapon, as if studying the pistol she knew only too well. “You always did like
the small but powerful ones. You think you can carry them more discreetly. I
remember.” She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the knee of the leg that
she still had on him, pressing her boot even more into his ribs. She would harm
him, exact the revenge she thought herself due.

Yet he only stared at her, knowing his next move would be
his last.

* * * * *

Jinn had to rest. She’d jumped the first two crevices but
the next one was far too wide for her to reach, especially in the condition she
was in. Despair eked into her soul. “I have to do this,” she whispered to the
wind. “Help me.” She glanced down at the drop. It was deep, deeper than the
others. She didn’t think she could climb down it and back up, especially with
the strong gusts that were now coming through.

As if she called it from hell, another hard, frigid blast
hit her. Jinn dropped to the ground and flattened her body against the rock,
holding onto some of the more sturdy outcroppings. Closing her eyes, she
shielded her head behind the largest of them, covering as much as she could
with the raised arms with which she held the pinnacle. Debris hit her body and
some branch or vine whipped at her back and legs.