Chapter Six

Leonidas was off the bed in a nanosecond.  Shilah followed as he bounded up the stairs to the deck.  It took only a couple of seconds to realize what was happening.  They were under attack.

Shilah and Leondias split up, him headed starboard and her to port to access the situation.  She counted five go-fasts on the port side, each appearing to carry two men, a driver and a shooter.

The boats appeared to be of the typical go-fast variety, fiberglass with a deep “v” offshore racing hull.  She’d estimate they ranged in length from thirty to fifty feet, equipped with at least two engines.

With that much horsepower, they could travel a good eighty knots in calm water and fifty knots in chop.  Considering the current five to seven foot swells, she’d estimate they could maintain twenty-five knots.

Shilah hurried back to find Leondias and located him below, unlocking a weapons locker.  “What about the helicopter?”  She asked.  “Any chance it’s equipped with an AM?”

A huge explosion Leonidased the ship, making her reach out with one hand to steady herself.  Leonidias turned to look at her.  “My guess is the copter isn’t of much use.  Lucky for us, we have a go-fast of our own, and this.”  He pulled out an anti-materiel rifle.

“.50 BMG cartridge?”  She asked.

“You’ve trained with it?”

“Yes, I have.”  She said with a grin.

He returned the grin, loaded a duffle with various guns and grenades, zipped the duffle and stood.”  Let’s do it.”

Shilah didn’t have to be told twice.  She waited as  Leonidas used the intercom to order the captain to steer a course toward Bambarra, then followed him below. A fifty foot go-fast with double engines capable of delivering nearly a thousand horsepower was housed in a specialized berth.

“We’re going to be sitting ducks when we open the bay doors.”  She commented as Leonidas put the equipment bag in the boat.

“Set up the AM.  Keep them off us long enough to get in the water.”

“You got it.”

In minutes they were ready.  Leonidas activated the bay doors.  As anticipated, before they were fully open, two of the enemy boats were making passes, gunfire pelting the sides of the ship and some richocheting inside the bay.

Leonidas gunned the engine and the boat virtually leapt from the bay.  For a few moments they were airborne, the scream of the engines competing with the roar of the enemy boats and the staccato percussion of gunfire.

They hit the water and wobbled but Leonidas had them righted within seconds and turning in a sharp arc toward the bow of the ship, putting them into a parallel course with one of the enemy boats.  Shilah braced herself as best she could and sighted up.

Her first shot went wide, but the second hit its target, the engine of an attacking boat.  A fireball billowed, debris raining behind them as they raced toward the bow, cut across and headed for open water.

With nearly a dozen boats in the water, all gunning for them, finding open water wasn’t going to be easy.  Shilah managed to take out two more but that wasn’t enough. She was starting to think they weren’t going to survive the battle when it dawned on her that they had weapons their attackers did not.

They were V’Kar.

She moved close to Leonidas, shouting to be heard.  “If I can get above them, maybe I can take them out with grenades.”

A grin split his face.  “Do it.”

She stripped off her clothes and closed her eyes.  Within moments the transformation was complete.  Leonidas grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin and held it for her to grab in her talons.

Shilah took to the air. Their enemies did not expect this move.  She made a dive at the boat that posed the most immediate threat.  Twenty feet above it, she released the grenade and banked to the right.

The blast from the explosion pushed scorched air, sending her tumbling.  She nearly lost it, tumbling through the air, but managed to right herself and flew as fast as she could to Leonidas.

Within minutes the number of pursuing boats had dwindled to three.  The plan was working but they were out of grenades.  She swooped back down to their boat, landing ungracefully in a tangle of wings.

The moment she was once again in human form, she threw on her clothes and manned the AM.  “Hold her steady!” She yelled as two shots went wide.

Leonidas didn’t respond, but a second later the wild side to side swerve stopped.  She sighted and fired.  “Yes!”  Only two to go.

And she was out of ammo.  “Shit!”  She dove for the bag.  Handguns were useless at this range and she had no desire to let their attackers get any closer considering they were outgunned.

“We fight them on land,”  Leonidas yelled.

She nodded.  If they could make it to land without getting killed.  He gunned the engines, pushing the engines for as much speed as possible.  They were approaching Middle Caicos. Between it and East Caicos was a small channel.  She realized that’s where Leonidas was headed.

She understood.  East Caicos was virtually uninhabited.  If they made it through the channel to the west side of the island with enough of a lead, they could beach and find cover.

Leonidas drove with a skill she couldn’t help but admire.  They hit the opening of the channel with a good fifteen second lead.  She kept watch behind them for their pursuers.

“Push it!”  She yelled.

The engines screamed and the boat bucked on the swells as they roared around the curve of the channel and back out into open water.  Leonidas steered for shore as Shilah kept her eyes peeled behind them.

They slowed as they approached the shore. Leonidas stepped away from the wheel and went for the equipment bag.  His hands emerged with a Dessy in each.  The Desert Eagle .50 caliber wass one of the largest magazine-fed handguns in the world. It was developed for use in the Israel’s military and the .50 caliber projectile packed a punch that would tear apart any human target.

“We’ll sandwich them between us,”  he said.  “Ground the boat and take cover on shore.  They’ll come after you and I’ll  come from behind them.”

“How long can you hold your breath?”  She asked.

“Long enough.”

“Then let’s do it.”

He leapt overboard and she steered toward shore, grounding the boat.  She grabbed two machine pistols and jumped from the boat, headed for cover.  She’d just reached the treeline when she heard the first of the two pursuing boats.

As Leonidas predicted it headed for shore.  A minute later the second boat appeared.  The drivers grounded the boats and leapt out.  Four men armed with machine pistols.

Shilah crouched in cover, waiting.   They were fifty yards away when she saw Leonidas rise from the water.  The sight took her breath.  As romantic a notion as it was, he was like Poseidon rising from the sea, his hair streaming to his shoulders, water running in rivulets down his powerful form and his eyes glowing like molten lava.

It was a sight she would definitely remember. And fantasize about.  But at the moment that had to wait.  She jumped up and yelled at the advancing enemy.  “Hey assholes!”

They opened fire and she threw herself to the ground, returning fire.  She took out one a split second before two others fell from Leonidas’ shots.  That left one. They needed one alive.  She aimed for the shoulder of his gun arm.

The impact spun him around and his weapon flew from his grasp.  He fell and she jumped up, running to meet Leonidas beside the wounded man.

“Who are you working for?”  She demanded, her gun trained on the center of the man’s chest.

“Fuck you.”

“Wrong answer.”  Her aim shifted to his thigh.  He screamed as his right leg exploded.

“Let’s try that again,” she said.  “Who are you working for.”

“Fuck you.”  He managed to gasp.

She looked at Leonidas and he shook his head.  They weren’t going to get anything out of this one.  She knelt and snatched the man’s cell phone from a clip at his waist.

She’d no sooner stood that Leonidas fired.  The man’s body lurched at the impact, splattering them both with blood and tissue.

“Gee, thanks,”  she complained.

Leonidas’ head jerked up and she followed his gaze.  A hundred feet above and perhaps twenty yards off shore hovered an UAV, an unmanned arial vehicle.  It didn’t appear to be armed, so had to be a surveillance drone.

“Can you hit it from here?”  She asked.

He smirked and raised his weapon.  Whoever was manning the drone obviously did not trust his aim because the drone did not waver.  One shot and it was plummeting toward the water.

“What’s on the phone?”  He asked.

She tossed it to him and he accessed the call list.  There was only one number.  He pressed the call button and activated the speaker on the phone.

“Nice shot,”  a man’s voice came over the speaker.

“You’re a dead man,”  Leonidas replied.

The man laughed and Leonidas snarled.  “Laugh while you can.  I’m coming for you and there’s no where you can hide that I won’t find you.”

Again came the laugh.  “It will be delightful watching you try.”

The line went dead.  Leonidas looked at Shiloh.  “We need to contact home office and get them on tracing the call.”

“I doubt they’ll find anything.  Most likely it’s a burner.”

“Probably but it’ a start.  Let’s get back to the ship.”

“After you.”

Leonidas shoved the boat back out in the water and they climbed aboard.  As ordered, the captain had taken their ship to Bambarra and was anchored off the coast.  They headed straight to their cabin and contacted Constantine.

Leonidas gave a succinct report of what had happened, not mincing words or elaborating.  He was a “just the facts” kind of guy.

“Abandon the original plan,”  Constantine ordered.  “Our system obviously isn’t secure.  If he’s found you then you have to alter the itinerary, but the mission objective remains.”

“Suggestions?”  Shilah asked.

“You’re on your own,”  Constantine remarked after a momentary pause and then added. “Leonidas, she’s in your hands.”

“Understood,” Leonidas said, ended the call and then turned to look at Shilah.

She gave him a sassy smile. “Well, you heard the man.”

His eyebrows rose in question and she moved closer.  “I’m in your hands.”

His eyes flashed in response. “I’m certain that is not what he had in mind.”

“I’d prefer my translation of the order,” she argued, running one hand over his chest and then down to the waistband of his pants.

Leonidas moved one hand to stay hers.  “On one condition.”

She look she gave him was suspicious.  “And that is?”

“Lower your barriers.”

He saw the shock in her eyes.  Closely on its heels was something he could only interpret as fear.  Curious.  What was she afraid of?

She stared at him for a long time.  “That might not be wise.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

Another long pause followed before she responded. “I don’t know if you can handle it.”

He laughed. “You think yourself that potent princess?”

She drew herself up, her eyes flashing and he felt a tendril of her power lick at his mind.  “I am Shilah Resanna, daughter of Constantine Belenus and Resa Vanator, granddaughter to the father of our race, Adahl. I could burn your mind with one blow, Nurian.”

The challenge sparked a flame inside him that spread like wildfire throughout his body and mind. How remarkable.  How tempting.  “Bring it,  princess.  Let’s see how hot your fire burns.”

He didn’t expect the enormity of power that slammed at his mind.  In the space of a heartbeat who she was and what she felt drove its way into him.  The onslaught was almost overwhelming, would have been to most.

But he was not most.  He was Leonidas Kahnn, descended from warriors and heir to a throne. And so he opened himself fully to the bombardment, exulting in the challenge of not just enduring, but overcoming.

In tiny increments he absorbed the power, letting it fuel his own and when he’d taken enough, he directed it back at her.

He felt her mentally shudder, but not give way.  Like a sponge she soaked up all that he threw at her.  It was nothing he’d expected and everything he’d dared not dream of.

Leonidas felt her hands on his chest, felt them move up to grip his shoulders.  Her body pressed against his, its heat like a brand against his skin.  Her lips were soft on his chest, moving upward, the graze of her tongue against his neck like a flicker of flame.

And then the empyrean he’d not expected.  Her teeth pierced his skin and all vestiges of reality fell away.

Shilah had one split second in which her mind was clear enough to recognize what she was doing.  One second to draw back, to stop what she’d initiated.  One chance.

That she ignored.  She wanted this.  More than she’d ever wanted anything.  Her mind was filled with Leondias.  Him rising from the sea like a god of old, his eyes like fire staring into hers as he took her over the edge into a screaming orgasm, him as he snarled, smirked or taunted.

He was the one.  She knew it beyond all doubt and unless he stopped her, he would be hers.

He did not stop her.   She drew back, tasting his blood on her lips.  His lips drew back in a smile, displaying gleaming incisors.  She tilted her head back, offering.  He did not immediately take.  His hands moved to her hips, pushing down her shorts.  She stepped out of them as they slid down her legs, working her hands to the drawstring of his pants.

Leonidas cupped her ass in his hands to lift her.  She wound her legs around his hard waist, using one hand to guide him inside her.  He walked her across the room, slammed her against the wall and drove deep.

“Yes,”  she breathed, writhing against him.

His mouth closed on her neck.  She felt his teeth pierce her skin, felt the ecstasy flood her a split second before his essence invaded her mind.  Like liquid fire, every cell in her body was infused.

Coherent thought fled.  There was only him.  And irresistible hunger.