Stealing the Dragon’s Heart by Kiersten Fay
48
Phase 9
Last Leg of the Race
Wearily, Onnika paced the bridge behind of their new ship named Mother Junker. Aidan was at the helm, pushing the engines as hard as they could go. We’ll be working round-the-clock shifts,” he’d told everyone before takeoff, “so if you’re not flying, fixing, or facilitating our progress, get some sleep.”
Zeek had quickly claimed a console to map out a route based on the schematics they’d just received. Asher was on the opposite side of the bridge, acquainting himself with the ship’s controls. Vin was hard at work in the engine room while Priya evaluated their defenses. Lear was with Caryn, applying cold compresses to her burning flesh…her fever had worsened.
How much time did they have before the poison finished her off?
Onnika tried not to think about it.
“Man, Ash, you should have seen it.” Zeek was back to his jovial self. “Onnika produced probably the most priceless substance in the known universe and just plopped it down on the table like she was passing along a sandwich. Like it was no big deal that she’d been walking around with a billion-credit stone all this time.”
“That’s what you stole from Tag, isn’t it?” Aidan said, not taking his gaze from his instruments.
Asher chuckled. “Brilliant little thief.”
She huffed, still pacing. “‘Stole’ implies that it belonged to him in the first place. It didn’t. How far do we have to go? Where are we headed?”
“A place called Shihana,” Zeek replied. “It doesn’t say if it’s a planet or a space station. I’ve never heard of it.”
“How long till we get there?”
“It’s hard to say. We don’t really know how fast this puppy can go yet.”
“Uh”—Aidan scratched the back of his neck—“I’m already at top speed.”
“Oh?” Zeek glanced up morosely. “Really?”
She didn’t like the concern in his expression. “What’s the matter?”
Aidan shot her an apologetic glance. “Our speed is nearly half that of Dragoon.”
She scraped her nails through her hair. What if after all this they were too late? What if bargaining with Jedar had been the wrong move? If they’d looked harder, asked around, could they have acquired a faster ship? How will I live without my sister? How could I be expected to go on? She felt the pain of the loss already, deep in the pit of her stomach, like she’d swallowed a vial of acid and the destructive substance was congealing into a heavy noxious ball.
As if gleaning the direction of her thoughts, Aidan reached out and caught her hand. Dragging her closer, he placed a kiss on the tender skin of her wrist. “Look at you. You’re dead on your feet. Why don’t you go get some rest? I’ll wake you if anything major happens.”
Sighing, she nodded. There was nothing she could do now but wait. So she returned to her and Caryn’s room. Lear was still there applying a cold compress to her forehead. He appeared reluctant to leave, but after seeing the exhaustion in Onnika’s face, he did so without complaint. When he was gone, she curled up next to her sister, and within moments, she was out.
She didn’t know how long she slept, only that she still felt exhausted when something roused her from a deep slumber. Pushing past her lethargy, she realized Caryn was lying facing her, eyes open. “Hi,” she muttered sluggishly.
Caryn gave a weak smile that betrayed her pain.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Like I don’t have much time,” Caryn quietly blurted.
The words were daggers to Onnika’s heart. “Don’t say that. We’re nearly to the end.”
Caryn took Onnika’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “I want you to promise me something.”
“No,” she hissed. “No deathbed vows. No last words.”
Caryn simply sighed patiently as though already having come to terms with her fate. “Promise me you’ll let yourself be happy when I’m—”
She covered Caryn’s mouth with her palm. “I’ll be miserable. You know I will. I’ll be wretched and rageful and a complete mess.”
Caryn mumbled through her fingers, “So, basically normal.”
Surprised that Caryn could joke at a time like this, Onnika actually let a shaky chuckle slip. “I’ll be worse. I’ll be horrid to everyone, and no one will want to be around me. I’ll drive Aidan away.”
“Aidan loves you. He’s not going anywhere. He’ll help you through—”
“You can’t leave me, Caryn. You just can’t. I need you. You keep me grounded. You help me to be a better person. We’re supposed to grow old together.”
Caryn’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “Thank Lear and Ash for being so nice to me.”
“No. I won’t.”
“And when you get home—”
“Stop it!” Onnika sobbed. “Just stop it, okay? You’re killing me. You’re giving up. Why? After we clawed our way to get here. We’re so close. You can fight a little longer. You can. You’re stronger than you think. Look at how you conquered The Gauntlet.”
“Couldn’t have”—she winced—“without you.”
“If you hadn’t been poisoned, you would have strolled through there like it was a day at the spa. Your magic told you to go because it was the only way to save yourself. So stop all this nonsense.”
“Maybe I just wanted one last adventure with you.”
Onnika fought the painfully growing lump in her throat and brought their foreheads together. “It won’t be the last.”
Suddenly a jolt passed through the ship. Onnika and Caryn blinked at one another, confused at first, then Onnika reached out with her magic and knew what was happening. “They’re coming for us.”
“These bastards?” Zeek exclaimed. “How did they catch up to us so fast?”
The Condemnedwas closing in on them fast and had already taken several explosive shots that hit far too close for comfort. “They seemed to have lost their bodyguard,” Lear observed. He stood at one of the consoles, monitoring their surroundings, and had been the first to sound the alarm.
Aidan snorted. “No surprise. Ten to one says they either left Armada behind or executed the lot of them. Alliances never last till the end.”
Another blast exploded somewhere behind them, the percussion rocking the ship forward. So far, they were out of the other ship’s range, but it wouldn’t be long before one of their weapons hit its mark. How well would Mother Junker hold up under the barrage that was coming?
Ahead of them, far in the distance, a bright yellow sun broke up the monotony of space. According to Zeek, that was where they were headed. There must be a planet in orbit, though they couldn’t see it yet. “Vin,” he called over the intercom, “can we get any more power out of the engine?”
“It’s maxed out,” Vin replied.
“Priya, how’s our defense looking?”
“Not great. This ship wasn’t made for battle.”
“Do your best.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Looking somewhat disheveled, Onnika raced into the bridge. Her eyes were puffy rimmed with dark smudges. “It’s those sons-of-bitches.” She snarled and hurried to Aidan’s side.
“How’s Caryn?” Asher and Lear asked in tandem.
Her face twisted with grief. “We need to find this finish line fast, but…”
“But what?”
“The Condemned won’t let us. They could easily pass us. Take first. But they plan to…eviscerate us.”
The bridge went so quiet, Aidan could have heard a mouse fart.
“Why?” Asher broke the silence.
“I don’t know. Pride? Viciousness? Maybe they just don’t like that we got ahead of them—”
Boom!
The blast impacted them hard, forcing Onnika to grab Aidan’s shoulder for support while he struggled with the controls. “Shit. They’re on us.” As soon as he gained control, another boom rang out and the ship listed to the right. The next blast shook them so hard, he was sure the ship would break apart around them. “Fuck!” What could he do? They were all out of tricks. The Condemned was bigger, stronger, faster. If they wanted to take out a little defenseless craft, there was nothing to stop them. The others seemed to have come to the same understanding, growing quiet and solemn.
He turned his gaze to Onnika, taking her in for potentially the last time, soaking in every nuance. Her hair was bed-rumpled, her expression drawn tight with worry, her eyes red, probably from crying. And still, to him, her beauty was ethereal, perfection, blinding, like staring into the awe-inspiring light of a supernova. If he could die looking upon her lovely face, he’d go happily.
Her disbelieving gaze darted around the room to each of them. “You’re all…giving up?”
Her disappointment gutted him. “I’m sorry,” he breathed.
She muttered something under her breath. He thought she said no. She was shaking her head. He just wanted to hold her. When he tried to stand, the ship rocked violently from another blast, throwing him back into his seat.
Onnika stumbled to the floor and cried out, “No. No. No! It’s not over.”
He thought he’d begun to hallucinate, or maybe he was already dead—had the ship blown up without him realizing?—because her skin began to take on a slight glow.
“Stop. Stop. Stop it rightNOW!”
Onnika felt her body grow hot, as if a hungry forge had blossomed in her belly. The blood in her veins began to rush with molten purpose. Her thoughts focused, laser like, on a single soul-searing invocation for the crew of The Condemned to cease their attack. She’d never felt this way before. This sensational potentiality, this astonishing force so potent and formidable, conjured as though straight from the realm of divinity. A power no mortal should possess. Foreign, frightening, yet seductive, and so powerful, she worried that if she called upon it now, used the offering, it might rip her molecules open at the seams.
But she had no choice. She would not allow the people she had grown to love to be pointlessly destroyed. Whatever this new magic was, she embraced it, fed it, gave it sustenance from the marrow of her very essence. It could easily sear her to ash.
Pure power coursed through her, lighting her up like a midnight thunderstorm. Pressure built in her mind and seeped through her burning body, expanding, magnifying, growing to a fever pitch, filling her up with untenable energy and locking down her muscles. She thought she heard someone yelling her name, but an unyielding light coated her vision, the heat in her body igniting beyond reason.
Then, all at once, the power exploded forth, rippling out on a wave of unyielding power. In the sudden absence of the extreme heat, terrible shards of ice splintered every cell in her body, and she begged for death to come quickly.
She felt a ghost of warmth on her cheek, the muttering of curses and pleas. Someone was hovering over her, holding her. There was no energy left in her body to respond. Her eyelids were no longer serviceable. She felt herself drifting in a pocket of weightlessness, the pain melted away. Slowly, a feeling of freedom came over her. Serenity in its purest form. No more worries burdened her. She’d given them a chance. She knew whatever the magic’s objective had been, it had succeeded. She only wished she could have kissed Aidan one last time…told him how much she loved him.
By degrees, darkness settled over her.