Chapter Three

The light of the central star burned bright and lurid onto Capital City. The buildings were thrown into high contrast. Light and shadow. Life and death.

Drel had killed. He had never taken a life in combat before. He had never driven a knife into a creature capable of speech. He killed and now he ran to survive. The city he grew up in was no longer home. It was hard angles and dangerous corners. But at least he knew the streets and alleys. He couldn’t imagine how sinister this all must look to Teryn.

If she was afraid, it didn’t show on her face. Her large eyes took in her environment, breaking it into sectors and assessing each fragment. Drel had never seen such capable focus and determination on anyone’s face. She kept pace with him, her lithe body strong and balanced.

Strange, he had gone to that basement room as her rescuer, but now he felt safer with her at his side. He’d killed the Dusk Warrior; he had to, fighting to survive. Teryn, though, helped him in the aftermath. The world seemed to have frozen around him, as if the Dusk Warrior’s death was his own. Echoing from a great distance, Teryn’s voice broke through. Black clouds shifted away from his vision and he saw her. Her dusky skin was the color of gray shadows. Dark eyes brought him back to the world of the living. You’re also the same man who came here to save me. Her words inspired him back into the fight.

They barely made it out of the archive building with all their limbs. But it still wasn’t safe in the glaring light of Capital City. Drel hurried Teryn through two empty alleys, free from any curious locals. Then the buildings opened up and they were faced with the sprawling central market. Citizens moved about their business, oblivious to the danger Drel felt. If he could get himself and Teryn through this market, they had a clear shot out of the city.

He started to cross the street, but Teryn hooked his arm and pulled him back into the shadows of the alley. He noticed for the first time that her fingernails were the same dark green as her hair. They shined, like polished stones.

“That local security?”

She ventured a quick glance into the street and he followed her gaze. Two patrollers were out, their dark blue uniforms in stark contrast to the natural hues of the clothing worn by people in the market.

“Yes, but they don’t look…” A third security officer joined them. “Nela.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Head of City Security.”

“More trouble than a girlfriend.”

Drel watched Nela talk to the other patrollers. Their posture changed, becoming more watchful.

Teryn interpreted the body language. “They’re definitely on the alert. But it’s still covert, otherwise the head would’ve put out a general communication. They might not even know what they’re looking for.”

“So we can lose ourselves in the market crowds then get out of the city.”

Teryn nodded, liking the plan, then a small frown creased her eyebrows. “If we’re going to keep running, I’ll need some shoes.”

Shocked, Drel looked at her feet. Teryn flexed her toes as proof. Her toenail pigment matched her hair and her fingernails. The intimacy of seeing her exposed feet flushed a heat through Drel. He had never felt so acutely sexual in public before.

Teryn brought him back to the situation. “They took my boots and jacket.”

“You didn’t say anything before.”

She shrugged this off and looked across the street at the market. “Wasn’t important when we were scrambling for our lives.”

Drel’s heart was still pounding from that danger. Her calm amazed him. “There’s an outfitter in the market. We can get you boots and some supplies.”

“Supplies for what?”

“We have to get out of the city. Too many eyes. Only safety is in the Wildlands.”

“Doesn’t sound safe.”

“With me it is.” It came out like more of a boast than he intended.

Teryn raised her eyebrows at his bold statement. Her gaze locked onto his. He could not move. She looked into him. Drel recognized her skill at reading people. It was a thorough assessment, as if she pried open his mind and scanned all the data. What did she see? What did she know about him?

She simply whispered, “Don’t doubt it.”

They drew closer, locked in their gazes. The city and the danger blurred out of Drel’s focus. There was only Teryn.

She whispered again, “Make your move.”

Kiss her. It seemed inevitable. Drel had felt her strength and seen her in action. But a kiss would make her more real than ever.

He leaned closer and she blinked. The moment was broken. He felt his footing falter, off balance. Teryn glanced across the street. “Security’s looking the other way. Make your move.”

Of course. How could he be thinking of kissing her? How could he now get the thought out of his mind? He tore his gaze from her face and looked at the security guards. Nela had moved on. The two men now patrolled in the other direction.

Drel hurried across the street, Teryn matching him step for step. She moved silently on bare feet. When they reached the market, he slid among the people and stalls, moving toward the outfitter store. He continually glanced to make sure Teryn was with him, but he knew he didn’t need to. She was expert at navigating through the crowds, sticking with him despite the convolutions. Some citizens cast curious looks her way, but there had been enough trade with off-world races that an alien in the market wouldn’t create too much suspicion.

The storefront was only one block away. Drel passed a merchant’s cart piled with scarves. When he turned to check on Teryn again, she was wearing one of the scarves exactly as the locals did. It was remarkable how quickly she started to blend in.

He pointed his thumb at the storefront. “This is old Bont’s outfitters. Friend of my dad’s. Known him for years. He’s going to ask, so I’ll do the talking. You just … stay low profile.” As if there was anything in the universe that could capture his attention other than Teryn.

She gave him a look. “You do know who you’re talking to, right?”

“Couldn’t forget.” And he couldn’t get the idea of kissing her out of his mind.

“More security?” she asked, pointing to two one-man hover pods that circulated over the government quarter.

“Yes. That’s their standard flight pattern.”

Teryn drew closer to him as they approached the outfitter’s. “You’re not a soldier,” she said. “But the way you fought the delta, your skill. Where did you learn that?”

“I grew up wrestling cats.”

She looked at him as if he had sprouted wings. “Cats?”

Drel nodded, matter-of-fact, and opened the door to the outfitter’s.

Immediately, the voice of Bont rasped across the store. “Sky of the Ladies, if it isn’t Drel.” The older man moved on bowed legs through the racks of clothes and gear. Teryn silently slid away to examine the selection of boots.

Tall and lanky Bont glanced from her to Drel, then gave him a wink. “Planning a little … excursion?”

“Just a small trip.”

“Well, you in season. Conditions should be prime out there…”

Bont continued to talk, but Drel didn’t hear him. There was a clock ticking loudly in Drel’s ears. It was his blood, rushing. He needed to get Teryn geared up and out of the store before the front door opened and security arrived. Or worse, the Dusk.

“…Pretty near broke my arm, but I held on and climbed back up into that tree and flushed that hoard of gold-bills out before they took over the nest.” Bont stared down at Drel with a gleam in his eye. “Ain’t heard a word I said.” He whispered loudly, “Eager to get into the wild with your woman?”

Drel saw Teryn wearing an adaptable weather shell and solid trekking boots. It seemed as if she could handle any situation thrown at her. “We should be going.”

“Don’t know her. Where’d you meet her?”

“She’s … from off-planet.” Drel grabbed a couple of metal canteens and put them in his gear bag.

“I guessed that, son.” Bont gave him a knowing pat on the shoulder. “And I guess you two should head out the back door, the way you keep glancing at the front like it’s on fire.”

Drel clapped his hand on the old man’s strong shoulder and gave it a squeeze for thanks. “Pay you later.”

Bont shook his head. “You just travel safe out there. Live to tell me the stories on a rainy day.”

The old man stepped away from Drel’s path. Teryn was immediately at Drel’s side and the two of them moved toward the back of the store.

She showed him the sleeve of her coat. “This gear what I need where we’re going?”

“You’re good.”

“Oh, I know that.” Drel watched her allow a flicker of a smile on her full lips.

Then they opened the back door and were enveloped in the bright yellow light of the day.

The alley behind the shops was clear for now. But Drel felt that everything could change in a millisecond. It already had. Teryn changed his world. Starting with her voice. Now her presence was a new element in his universe. He had no idea how she would change him further.

“Photo cells throughout the city. Cuts down on crime, but they can track us wherever we go. We can be invisible in the Wildlands. Getting there’s the problem.”

She cut into him with a look. “You know you could’ve grown your conscience before you sent the false message, saved us all this trouble.”

He was staggered, as if punched in the center of his chest. “I … I didn’t know it would be like this. It was supposed to be simple.”

Again, she read him. “Learned a lesson of the war the hard way. It’s never simple.”

“If I had known…” Things might have been so different. “If I had known, I would’ve fought Bolant and Efflan harder to not send the message.”

“But you didn’t.” Teryn narrowed her large eyes, thinking, then brought them back to the present danger. “Photo cells hardwired or broadcast?”

He was thankful for the opportunity to shove away his guilt and deal with the problem at hand. “Broadcast. They use some of the protocols I created for our communication grid.”

“So we can send a counter-signal. Scramble the images.”

Drel wasn’t used to thinking like a spy soldier. “Should work. With my Link and external attenuator we should have no problem…”

Problems. Security. A two man team now patrolled down the alley.

Teryn took Drel’s arm and pulled him behind a storage cage.

She whispered, “They didn’t see us, but we need another way out of this alley.”

They were backed against a retaining wall, four meters tall. Above that was a low slope covered in thumb weed. It grew in the shade of a large city facilities building.

Drel glanced up, showing Teryn the route with his eyes. “We climb.”

Teryn nodded her agreement, then ducked into the alley. Drel nearly pulled her back for safety, but she held out a hand, making him pause. She took a breath and shouted into the alley. “That foreign girl stole my scarf.”

Sure, Drel wasn’t a spy, but he knew better than to draw security toward him. But he didn’t hear their heavy footsteps drawing closer. What he heard made him look at Teryn with even more amazement. She had thrown her voice so it sounded as if it came from the alley opening behind the security team. The two men whirled and hurried in that direction, away from Teryn and Drel.

She immediately hooked her fingers into the side of the storage cage and started climbing. Drel followed, shaking his head. “I should stop being surprised by all your skills, but I don’t think it’s possible.”

They reached the top of the cage and hauled themselves up the retaining wall. The thumb weed popped, wet, under their boots. Drel and Teryn reached the side of the low, wide facilities building.

Hardly out of breath, Teryn pointed to Drel’s gear bag. “You have skills of your own. How about we confuse those cameras?”

Drel started to take out his Link when Teryn paused him with her hand on his arm. She cocked her head, listening. Footsteps echoed off the hard surfaces of the facilities building. Her mouth was a frustrated line, “With all this security, you’d think this planet would put up a fight against the deltas.”

Her fingers slid down his arm and wound tightly into his hand. The feeling of her skin, her touch, was a welcome strength to him. With just the suggestion of a tug, she started them running again. It wasn’t a matter of the layout of the city and its buildings. This was all unknown territory for Drel, and she was his only map.

They rounded a corner of the facilities building and hurried into an open center that spanned two square city blocks. Pipes and conduits bent and stretched in a twisted mass, thirty meters up into the air and twenty meters into a central shaft in the ground. Vents hissed air out and fans drew it in.

Workers moved about the space, checking gauges and making adjustments. One of them glanced at Drel and Teryn, but spotted Drel’s government ID and shrugged it off.

Drel kept his voice low, “Through to the other side of the building, there’s a direct route out of the city.”

His heart raced. They were close to escape, and that made the danger more eminent.

Their footsteps clanging against metal grates, he and Teryn picked their way through the pipes. She still held his hand, joining them so they worked in concord as they snaked among the conduits and balanced on catwalks. He tried to imagine a time when he could savor the feeling of her skin against his.

Time seemed in short supply.

Among the shadows of the massive pipes, Drel caught a glimpse of a man and a woman in dark blue uniforms. He turned to tell Teryn, but her eyes were already on the security team.

“They haven’t been notified,” she informed him with a whisper. “See their posture. Casual. The others were leaning, looking.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to sit down and open a bottle of spicewater with them.”

“Absolutely not.”

They turned in unison to backtrack and stopped before they made two steps. What had been a path between the pipes was now a wall of scalding steam. It rose from the grates below and stretched four meters into the air. Hot condensation dripped from the low elbows of the conduits.

The security team drew closer. Drel searched for another exit. Then his senses scrambled. Teryn pressed her body close to his, backing him into a large support pillar. Her shape, strong and soft and curved, was more intoxicating than any spicewater he’d ever tasted.

Her large, dark eyes flicked from the security team to Drel. “Kiss me.”

He wanted to. He wanted to level the building around them so they could be alone. But he knew her gambit. It pained him to shake his head.

“Most of these security officers know me. If they see me kissing a beautiful woman, they’ll know something’s awry.”

Was it just as hard for her to tear away as for him? “They don’t know you like I do.”

No time to explore her meaning. Security was coming. A large intake vent caught his eye. The shutters on the opening were just wide enough for their bodies.

Words weren’t necessary. Teryn was with Drel. They hurried to the vent and helped each other through the shutters. The din of a huge fan echoed off the metal walls of the fourteen-meter-tall circular vent. But even with that noise, they would’ve heard the shouts of security. They were safe for a moment.

From behind the shutters, Drel could see the security team. He wanted to yell at them to hurry away. Instead, they ambled slowly on their rounds.

Teryn watched with him, her shoulder pressed into his chest, her face close to his. Maybe he should’ve taken that kiss when he’d had the chance.

He spoke as quietly as he could in the noise of the fan. “Once they patrol past, we’ll slip in behind them and should have a clear path out.”

“Nice tactic, Drel.”

Never had such a simple compliment charged him with so much electricity. He felt more powerful than the facilities building all around them.

“Thanks, I—”

The broad shutters slammed shut with a deafening clang. Their exit was blocked. A shrieking noise grew louder. The huge fan in the vent spun faster. Buffeting air tugged at their bodies, drawing them toward the killing blades.

*

Fifteen seconds. That was as long as they’d be able to fight the pull of the fan. After that, they’d be a slurry. Yes, she had entertained the idea of commingling her body with Drel’s, but this was not the circumstance. She had thought of something more sexy and less deadly.

Teryn and Drel slid for traction in the metal vent shaft. Smaller inlets whistled with air. They were too small to fit through, offering no safety. Her new boots slipped and she toppled to the metal floor.

With one hand, Drel pulled her to her feet. They both continued their slide toward the spinning fan. Drel wasn’t even looking at it, or searching for an escape. He concentrated on his Link, operating it with one hand as he held her with the other.

“I’m in the facilities grid… Can’t get the shutters open… They’ll override this quick…”

The deadly whine of the fan hitched. Gears shifted. Instead of a blur, Teryn could now see the individual blades. Each one was as tall as Drel. He continued to work his Link. The blades slowed. They swept in their circles with a deep groan. She imagined what that huge piece of metal would’ve done to their bodies. She shuddered. But they were alive. And still fighting.

She and Drel stood just at the edge of the fan. In just another moment, the blades would be slow enough to jump through.

Drel cursed, “They’re overriding me.”

Metal clanged in the vent as the gearing of the fan changed.

The blades still weren’t slow enough to make it easy.

Teryn took a deep breath. “It’s never easy.” She rocked her body, timing the blades and the gap between them. Then she lunged. The huge fan blade knocked the heel of her boot as she cleared the danger and sprawled to the ground.

She wasn’t hurt and turned to see Drel on the other side of the fan. The blades were already starting to pick up speed.

“It’s got to be now, Drel,” she urged.

“I know.” He hesitated, trying to time his jump.

She had to motivate him. “I don’t know this city, this planet. I can’t do this alone.” It played on his sense of duty. But were her words more than strategy? “I need you.”

His gaze locked on to hers. They were separated by the fan, but it looked as if he would walk through walls of molten alloy to get to her.

Drel coiled and jumped. Teryn actually took a step back, not knowing how she would react if he reached her now. Her body was humming with heat. His drive toward her showed such intent, such passion. Maybe she had motivated him too much with her words. Maybe she really meant them.

Drel landed on his feet and strode toward Teryn. His eyes were still locked on hers.

“I won’t leave you alone.”

She had heard boasts and smokescreens, both in wartime interrogations as well as negotiations leading to her bed. Drel wasn’t lying to her or himself. She recognized this in his voice, the focus of his face. When Teryn had joined Shadow Corps, she entered a world of cold calculation. People were assets, words a commodity. For the first time in a long time, Teryn felt emotions spark in her, inspired by a simple sentence and the intense man who spoke it.

His voice had always been sexy, even over the anonymous comm when she was in her ship. Drel’s face and body were living up to that promise with every step of her escape. He showed his power fighting the delta. It took agility to get through the spinning fan blades. His black hair was mussed and a light sweat showed on his high forehead. The muscles of his square jaw were set.

Her body heated under the focus from Drel. She couldn’t control it and didn’t want to. Besides just the tactical advantage of having local help, Teryn felt great comfort with Drel and his promise to stay with her. It was a new sensation.

She searched for words and only found: “Thank you, Drel.”

The fan spun faster, filling the vent shaft with throbbing noise. The air pushed at their backs. Drel held out his hand to her. She lined his palm with hers, feeling the calluses he earned with work.

Hand in hand, they balanced each other in the circular air shaft.

Drel shook his head, smiling grimly. “Shouldn’t thank me. I got you captured in the first place.”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

It seemed as if more than guilt had motivated him to help her. Conscience didn’t make his eyes blaze when he looked at her. Those fires burned from a much deeper place. They coaxed her heat as well, but she had to keep that under control if they were to survive this.

The wind from the fan continued to push at their back, driving them toward a large grate over the vent. They reached the mesh and found it was pliable enough to kick through. Together they slammed their boots into the metal until it tore away from its casement. They pried back a corner of the grate, making a hole large enough to crawl through.

Teryn emerged into a twenty meter by twenty meter cube of a room. Several vents led to it, lining the walls, floor and ceiling with grates of different sizes. Air rushed into the room, but more than that Teryn was hit with the sensation of nearly being underwater.

“Re-humidifier.” Drel looked over the room and a schematic on his Link. “There are hundreds of these around Capital City. It was built on a desert, this keeps the moisture levels in the air tolerable.”

It sounded like rain. Water drops splashing against hard surfaces. Teryn felt the warm water against her hands and face. But something was different. The drops of water were falling up. They beaded on the ground, collecting mass, then released, traveling to the ceiling where grates collected them.

Drel put his Link away and pulled the metal canteens from his bag. “Cleanest water we’re going to find for a while.” He held the canteens upside down, collecting the climbing water.

Teryn scanned the space and saw a service door on the other side of the chamber. It didn’t even look as if it had a lock on it. Knowing they had an escape route, she turned her attention to her body.

The upward rain slid like thousands of caressing hands along her limbs. It snuck, intimate, into her sleeves and along her neck. The water slipped past the cuff of her pants and along her legs.

The muscles and nerves she had been using for escape were awakened with different sensations. She discovered that her body still hummed with the same need she had felt when she first heard Drel’s voice.

She watched him. He capped the full canteens and stowed them in his bag. He checked maps on his Link. He readied himself to leave. Then he saw her looking at him and his body stilled.

Fans created the wind in the room and the water rained up. As unnatural as it was, nothing felt more real than Teryn’s body. It was drawn to Drel.

When she had told him to kiss her, it had been a ruse, a way to avoid security. Mostly. There was a truth to it. A need to know what it felt like to kiss this sometimes shy and powerful man.

The need continued, bringing her closer to him. She had seen Drel in action. Fighting and escaping. And she had witnessed his mind puzzling through dangerous situations. He had done all of that for her. Not for guilt. For her.

She neared him. He stood his ground. Water rained up all around them. Their eyes were locked. She sensed his need, recognized it in herself. But he couldn’t step forward to meet her. Was he shy? Or was he afraid of letting go?

She tested him. Her hand slid against his cheek. She felt the powerful cords in his neck. He breathed deep, soaking in the sensation. His eyes remained on hers. She came closer. He leaned down to meet her.

Her mouth found his. Cautious at first; they were both cautious.

His masculine lips searched hers. She opened her mouth for him. Caution burned away. They drew on each other’s passion. It had started before they had names and were only voices over a speaker. And now they finally tasted each other. The erotic promise of their anonymous flirtation was fulfilled, exceeded.

Teryn felt Drel’s hands on her waist. His muscular body was pressed against hers. She let herself go into the pure sensation of the kiss. It was uncomplicated for a moment. She tested and teased him with her tongue. His tongue slid into her mouth. Her whole body bloomed as she was entered by him. Her nipples hardened. Heat and wet gathered between her legs.

She needed. Her body didn’t care about the danger that still threatened them. Drel’s passion was real and Teryn’s body wanted to be filled with all of it. But Teryn knew this wasn’t the time. There would be no passion or pleasure if the Dusk found her again. She needed to keep her body alive and promised it pleasure later.

It was agony to break off the kiss with Drel. She pulled away and discovered they were breathing in unison. His broad chest expanded at the same rate as hers. Nostrils flared like an animal, his need was evident. It seemed as if he could tear the clothes from her body and take her right there. And any threat be damned. Maybe that’s why he held himself in check. Who knew what would happen if he truly released himself?

Teryn watched as he reined in his passion. His face calmed and his breathing slowed. Some of the heat left his eyes, replaced by clarity. And the shyness returned. She saw him searching for something to say.

She licked her lips, savoring his taste. “That’s for coming to help me.”

The world seemed more balanced. Teryn hoped she could find a time to let go of gravity again. She turned toward the access door and Drel strode with her across the room. He undid the latch and swung the metal door open.

She couldn’t help it. She touched his face again. Sweet agony knowing they had to leave this safe room.

Teryn gave him a wry smile. “Still haven’t decided how to repay you for setting me up in the first place.”

They stepped out of the re-humidifier and back into the unknown.