Prince's Fire (14 page)

“So, she heard the call that we could not? How did she get you out?” Val saw his brother tense. The thought of a woman rescuing a man was unheard of for his people.

“I’ve thought about it many times, and I still have no clue. It was like they came out of nowhere. They took the D’kalhiks by total surprise, and I swear my vision must have played tricks on me because I thought she transported into my holding cell.”

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“Our people are not the only ones with that ability.”

Van looked up. “True, but you add the healing and telepathic abilities to that, and part of me thinks she could have been one of our chosen ones.” Val saw Cal and Jax tense. If it were true, she’d belong to one of them.

“There was no way to know that at the time, and you were far too ill to concern yourself with that.” Val knew his statement was useless; he could sense Van’s regret for not bringing her with him. “I’m going to Vuner.” He stood and looked around the room. “It would be best if only some of us went.”

Dar nodded. “You and Van. And take Cal or Jax with you.”

Jax shook his head. “Cal’s got that telepathy shit down to a fucking science, and he’s got some wicked mind crap going on that none of you know about. He’d be best.”

Val looked at his youngest brother and raised his eyebrow. It wasn’t uncommon for the brothers to not divulge all their powers but active ones were always shared. Cal threw up his hands. “Hey, I’ll go. Don’t ask about the other stuff though.”

“Very well. We leave in an hour. It will unfortunately take that long to get a transporter ship ready.” Val prayed Gitana had an hour to spare. It would take at least two more to arrive at the planet. “Stay safe, v’amarita. I’m coming for you.”

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Gitana looked around the dank, darkened space and shuddered. The smell of rotting flesh permeated the air around her, and she fought the urge to vomit. She moved slightly and felt an immediate stab of pain shoot up her left leg. She couldn’t see the damage, but she knew it was serious if it had yet to heal on its own. Wherever she was, it wasn’t Paradise. She didn’t understand why they hadn’t killed her. Why had they kept her alive?

She was bait.

The realization hit her when she thought of Val. He and his brothers would search for her. He would sense her presence and walk into whatever trap the D’kalhiks devised. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

Heavy footsteps drew her attention. Her powers limited, she managed to create a force field around herself. She heard the high-pitched cackle of the enemy before she saw him.

There was no face, just a black void and a hideous body of decomposing flesh.

“I see you didn’t bother looking your best for my arrival.” She hoped her sarcasm disguised her worry. How long could this shield last? What would happen when it disappeared? The darkness hid the dragging limb, but she heard it scraping against the ground as the D’kalhik trudged closer. It must be one of the survivors from the battle earlier.

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“I see you have some powers left. Which one are you?” His bony fingers slid the surface of the shield. “I had hoped the rest of you were dead.”

“The rest of us? Were there other chosen ones here?”

“I see you underestimated us. Release me, and you may live to fight another day.” She drew herself into a sitting position, bracing her body against the wall behind her.

His obnoxious laughter echoed through the room. “Do not try and fool me. You will die once your chosen one has taken the bait. He will come, as will his brothers. They will draw their last breath trying to save your worthless hide.”

Anger flowed through her; adrenaline fed her determination. She would survive. They would not perish. Val could not die. She didn’t allow herself to think of the last night they had spent together.

“They will destroy you if I don’t get the honor before they arrive.”

“I feel the power that drains from you now. This shield will use the last of your strength. Once it is down, you will learn what true pain is.” Unwelcome images assailed her mind. “Few survive for more than a few hours, but you will last days. I will make sure of it. I love to watch a chosen one suffer.”

She laughed. “As if you’ve ever had the chance.”

His hiss of displeasure stung the air. He slammed his fist against the shield, and she laughed harder when she heard his scream of anguish.

“You really are dumber than I thought. How did you manage to get past the planet defenses? There’s no way you are smart enough to do it by yourself. None of you are.”

“You know nothing of the D’kalhiks. We had one of the princes in our grasp once, and he cowered before us.” Gitana watched the hideous flesh hanging from him flap when he moved. “He wanted to beg for mercy. Even as we speak, we have someone in their midst.”

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She shuddered, her mind imagined Van there. It broke her heart to know Val’s twin had suffered here. “You lie. The princes are too mighty to be caught and would never beg for mercy from anyone.”

“We had him. He would have broken had the rebels not freed him.”

The rebels ? Gitana had heard nothing about a rebel faction from anyone. “You let a little band of rebels best you?” Her head ached. She was close to losing control of her powers.

Her energy was too depleted. If her shield fell, she stood no chance.

“That coldhearted bitch and her band of warriors wrought hell on this encampment.

There was only one survivor to tell us of her. She will pay.” Gitana wondered who the woman was. To her knowledge, Van had never spoken of his imprisonment, or how he came to be freed.

She smiled smugly. “How do you know I am not her?”

“You have not healed yourself. You use powers we were told she did not possess.”

Was the woman a chosen one?

“I will be back when your powers have diminished completely. Then we will have our fun. I will enjoy breaking that body of yours. I do love hearing a woman scream when I mount her.”

She forced herself to remain calm and ignore the statement. “You are not man enough to make me scream.”

He laughed as he trudged toward the exit. “We will see soon enough, won’t we?”

Gitana wanted to cry in frustration and fear; the adrenaline that had coursed through her veins was now settled. She was almost out of time and had no idea how to get help.

Would Val come for her? Would he be too late?

* * * * *

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Vuner’s dismal smoky air made Val cough. The gray, ashen ground reminded him of the cooking area in the hut he and Gitana had shared in Paradise. Never had such a place felt like home before. His heart lurched thinking of her, and the rage built within him.

He hated this planet. It reminded him of his failure to protect Gitana and Van before her. The D’kalhiks had destroyed this planet, which used to be lush with an abundance of green, red, and purple vegetation. The large population of wildlife had contributed to the beautiful surroundings. He had seen images before its destruction and hoped it would one day return to its original state.

The limp branches of the plants barely hung in the thick air, no sign of life evident. He was glad Cam and Jad had not joined them on the mission to save Gitana; the sight of this would have pained them greatly. He looked around the landing location, his pacing imprinting a trail within the ash beneath his feet. He needed to find his mate now.

His brothers insisted it was best to secure the transporter ship and perform a scan of the surroundings. It was monotonous. Each passing moment compounded his fear that Gitana was suffering. Why did they not understand the urgency?

“You know we are as anxious to save Gitana as you are, brother. We are merely trying to minimize the chance of injury to any of us. We can’t very well help if we are captured, and we have no idea how many D’kalhiks are here. You know as well as we do this is a trap.

She is the bait.” Cal did not sound like himself. His face was guarded, and his eyes scanned the landscape around them. Something was troubling him.

Val watched his brother circle the area on the outermost edge of the clearing twice then pause. “What is it you are not telling me?”

“Something is amiss here. There is a dampening field of some sort erected to prevent me from using my abilities.”

“The magic that it created resembles Cam’s too closely not to be of us.”

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Protectiveness surged within Val. “There is no way Gitana’s shielding powers are strong enough to do something that large. You do not suspect her, do you?”

“No, but it is very strong. We need to proceed with caution until I am able to break past it.”

“I thought you just said that wasn’t possible.”

Cal turned, but the expression on his face showed his attention was still on the area behind him. “I can do things I have not shared with anyone.”

Val stepped closer to his younger brother and looked around. “Why do you choose to keep some of your abilities to yourself?”

“We have known for a long time that someone amongst us works for the D’kalhiks, so I thought holding back wasn’t such a bad idea.” Cal looked down at the soot beneath him, kicking it with the toe of his shoes.

Their mother had gotten the Clava boots for them as a gift and was going to be irritated that they had ruined them. Made of the softest non-animal material known in existence, it took the Clavas weeks to fashion each pair by hand. They led a simple life on their home planet, one that Mysk had battled the D’kalhiks to keep intact.

Val nodded at Cal’s statement. It was sound reasoning. He himself had kept one of his powers secret, but because it was far too destructive to hone. “So I take it you are unable to sense the presence of others?”

“Right now, yes. All I know is I’m stuck on this miserable rock with you and the growl machine in there.” An animated gesture pointed toward the transporter where Van was working on scanning the surroundings. “And no female companionship to rid my mind of the images of your mate last night.”

Val expected blind rage and jealousy to seep into his mind upon hearing the comment and was surprised when it didn’t. Instead, a newfound love for Gitana surfaced. He had felt 110

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the misery of her not being by his side but had not realized the depth of it until she was gone.

He cared for her even more because she understood how much his brothers meant to him. The way that she had worried over their welfare after the testing ceremony earned her not only their respect but his, as well.

“This may be a trap, but it is worth the risk to get Gitana home where she belongs.”

* * * * *

Katarina respected. Looking around the small makeshift dwelling, she nodded to the warriors around her. They had brought back news of a female captive in the D’kalhiks camp.

She shuddered. Images of the last camp and the atrocities she had witnessed there raced through her mind. The warrior prince they had held survived four months in that nightmare before she had realized he was there. Many of her own warriors were injured freeing him, but they had all wanted to go.

She had vowed last time not to intervene again, but she couldn’t stomach the

knowledge that the D’kalhiks had a female captive. Gitana had yet to surrender and had called out to her warrior nonstop for hours now. She knew her shield was on the verge of collapse, and Katarina felt the terror building within each telepathic call.

The woman was luckier than the prince had been. Katarina had vowed to keep her own camp within a three-mile radius of the D’kalhiks base from now on. She knew the limit to her telepathy now. It was an unknown weapon against those vile creatures she spent her life battling. They had killed her family, and she would not stop until every last one of them ceased to exist.

“Move quickly, and leave none alive. It will be harder this time since one survived our previous attack.” Katarina eyed Lorn, the leader of her warrior tribe. “I will retrieve her and depart immediately. It will be on you to see everyone out safely.”

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He nodded. “They will be prepared for battle, surely laying a trap for the princes.”

“They are not prepared for me.” Katarina raised the staff above her head and began to chant. The power of the earth culminated within her. Years of battles had destroyed the surface of this world, but the magic it possessed remained. She motioned her readiness and then transported her tribe into the heart of the D’kalhiks encampment.

She heard the surprised gasp of the enemy but had already harnessed all her energy and sent it across the terrain around her. She summoned the power of the earth, demanding it envelop the hideous creatures. Screams of agony filled the air around her, and her warriors stood ready to destroy those standing after her initial attack.

There were none.

She headed toward the dungeon cells in the northern section of the encampment.

Gitana’s power had been depleted, and her defensive shield was down.

Dark figures stood over Gitana, who had braced herself against the farthest wall.

Katarina watched in amazement as the woman mustered one last burst of energy and caused the D’kalhiks to erupt in flames. Where had she found that strength?

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Gitana fell to the floor. Her vision blurred and her head throbbed. She shook her head, trying to clear her sight. She could see the outline of a figure, but it was undefined. She closed her eyes and focused her mind. Her lids fluttered open. Standing before her was a young woman with flowing auburn hair. “Who are you?”

The woman knelt beside her. “It does not matter, Gitana. I heard your call for your warrior. I knew he would not hear you until it was too late. My warriors and I decided to help you out of here.”

Gitana was freezing. She could not stop the shivers that wracked her body. “You used the last of your strength with that little trick of yours. I must heal you and get you out of here before you pass out.” The woman’s hands lightly caressed her injured leg, and a faint tingle surged under her skin wherever they went.