3013: FATED (9 page)

Dane wasn’t sure how Ciara would react to his little confession. He hadn’t meant to tell her like this. Fuck, he hadn’t thought about telling her at all. It was far too soon for soul baring revelations.

“Let me get this straight. I was raised by an Alliance sanctioned triad with all the trappings of a typical family while you were raised on the fringes of society with minimal support. So how the hell did you end up an elite while I’m stitching up rebels out here in the middle of nowhere?” she asked, amusement tugging the corners of her mouth up into a grin.

“Fuck if I know. My best guess is fate has a twisted sense of humor.”

She chuckled softly and nodded. “I’ll go with that explanation until I find a better one.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes. When Dane glanced over at Ciara again, she was sitting straight up, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned at the tension radiating from her body.

“I’m okay. Just…I know it’s going to be hard to see what’s left of my home.”

“If you need to talk about it, we’re here for you. You lost friends and your home. Trust me, I know it’s not good to keep that stuff bottled up.”

“Why, because you’re at peace with what happened to you?”

He burst out laughing. “Fuck no. I know about the fallout because Vance thinks I haven’t dealt with my past and is on my ass about it. He cites papers and studies and leaves articles on the breakfast table with the important passages underlined.”

“No way.”

“Uh huh. He went for grief counselling after we lost Christine. I wouldn’t go.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“Christine? Was that the name of your chosen?”

“It was her name, yeah.” He scrubbed the back of his neck with one hand, aware he’d sent the conversation into a minefield.

“What happened to her? Alayna said something about an accident.”

“She was killed in a shuttle accident not long after Annie was born. We were all tired and sleep deprived from taking care of Annie. Christine went to get something from the store and never made it home. I don’t even remember what it was we’d run out of. It bothers me that I can’t remember. Vance and I both wonder if one of us had gone, maybe she’d still be alive.”

“Neither of you could have known. Some things are meant to be. I’m sorry, though. That must have been terrible for you both.”

“I never want to go through anything like that again. It was the worst time of my life.” He swung the transpo around a low outcropping of rock and found himself staring at a grim expanse of rubble and wreckage. This had to be what was left of Black Springs.

Ciara made a soft sound of dismay. She was leaning forward to the limit of the seatbelt, her eyes riveted on the scene ahead. “Stop. Please. Stop right here.”

She was tearing at her seatbelt before he touched the brake, and by the time the transpo rolled to a stop, she had the door open and was hopping out. He stayed in the vehicle, aware she needed to be alone while she dealt with the truth of what had happened to her home. It was gone, along with most of the town. Looking at the extent of the damage, Dane found it hard to believe anyone had survived the devastation. But Ciara had, and she’d saved two other lives in the process. She was the strongest person he’d ever met. Even in her grief, she stood tall. At that moment, he felt himself fall a little bit in love with her, and he knew he’d do all he could to keep her in their lives.

***

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ciara stared at the remains of what had once been her home and fought the urge to cry. In the minutes after the earthquake had hit, she’d been too busy freeing herself and then looking for survivors to really absorb how total the destruction had been. There were a few buildings still standing, but the walls listed at drunken angles, and the roofs were caved in or sagging. It was obvious they were too unstable to ever be occupied again. The others had tried to tell her, but she’d had to see it for herself. Black Springs was gone.

She wrapped her arms around herself and took a few steps forward, stopping when she spotted people working in the rubble. Her initial spike of outrage at the thought of looters going through the remains of her home faded when she saw they were all wearing Alliance uniforms. They were soldiers from Fort Saken. Dane had mentioned there were several teams working to bring down the unsafe structures so they wouldn’t pose a danger to anyone.

The wind came up, the cold, damp air heavy with the promise of rain. Ciara huddled into her new jacket, grateful for the warmth of her new clothes. She was working on plans to pay them back for all their kindness and generosity. It wasn’t in her nature to accept help without offering something in return, even if all she could give them was her time. She could watch Annie, and while they had the nicest food console she’d ever seen, there were a few recipes she knew that weren’t part of its programming. At least, not yet. And if she was lucky today, she’d have some credits again. Now she could pay back everyone who had helped her.

Behind her, a door slammed shut, warning her that Dane was out of the transpo. She appreciated that he’d given her a few minutes alone, especially when she’d basically bolted from the still-moving vehicle like she was on fire.

“Welcome to Black Springs,” she deadpanned, pointing to the devastation ahead.

“I’m sure it looked better before the earthquake.”

“Honestly, it was never much to look at, but it was home. I’m going to miss it.”

He appeared at her side, the bulk of his jacket making him seem even larger than normal. He towered over her like all elites did, but Dane didn’t use his size to intimidate. Something he and Vance had in common. In the last two days, she hadn’t even heard them raise their voice to Annie.

“Which building was your clinic?” he asked.

She pointed to her former home. “The pile of rubble at the end there. I took cover under a table near the corner that’s still partially standing. It’s why I survived. If the full weight of the roof had come down on top of me, I’d be buried with the others.” Ciara turned to gesture to a small, carefully fenced off area the residents used as a graveyard. There were a number of freshly dug graves inside the fence. A raised pile of dirt and a hand written placard was all that remained of people she’d seen every day. She intended to visit every one of them before she left today.

“Do you want to see if there’s anything we can salvage? I’ll help anyway I can.”

“How much can you lift using your telekinesis? If I wanted to get to what was buried under the back wall, could you help clear the debris?”

“Not a problem. What’s back there?” he asked.

“My living quarters. There are a few personal items I might be able to retrieve. They were in a box under my cot. They’re probably still intact, but Alayna said the building was too unstable for any of the men her bonded sent to get to that area. I can see why they couldn’t, but I was hoping you could do better.”

“I can, but you’ll need to stay close while I do it. If things start to collapse, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I’d rather never be trapped under a building again. It wasn’t pleasant.” The truth was, the first few days she’d been at the medical center she’d had nightmares that she was back in her clinic again, buried under the rubble, alone in the dark. The nightmares had faded now, but she’d taken to sleeping with a light on, so if she woke up, it wasn’t pitch black.

Dane simply nodded in understanding. “Hop back in the transpo, and we’ll head in. I’ll let the others know what we’re going to do and tell them they need to stay clear.”

By the time the transpo was parked, several of the men on-site were gathered nearby, curious to see who the new arrivals were. As Dane stepped out, all four men snapped to attention and saluted, thumping their fists to their chest in perfect synch.

“Sir! We weren’t notified anyone from the base was coming out here today,” said one of men, still standing ramrod stiff.

“At ease. You weren’t notified because I’m not here in an official capacity. This is Ciara Fanning. She ran the clinic here. We’re going to be retrieving some personal items from the building in the southeast corner of town. I’ll need everyone to stay out of the area while I clear a path.”

The officer quirked a brow in confusion. “Sir? You intend on clearing the area yourself? Alone? As an engineer, I’d advise against that. None of those buildings are stable or safe to enter.”

One of the others chuckled softly. “Dave, that’s Director Foster. He’s a telek. I’ve heard about you, sir. We going to get a demonstration of your abilities?”

Dane grinned. “You are. I haven’t tried anything like this in a while, though, so you’re all sworn to secrecy if I screw this up.”

Dane waited while the four men standing nearby contacted the rest of their team and advised them what was about to happen. He tried to recall if he’d met any of them before, but none of them looked familiar. It wasn’t surprising, really. Dane hadn’t been here long enough to meet even a fraction of the men and women on base. It didn’t help that he and Vance didn’t spend much time socializing with their fellow officers. Raising Annie took precedence over drinking beers and swapping tales.

It was one of the reasons they’d happily accepted Colin and Nikolai’s invitation to transfer to Fort Saken. Having friends nearby to help was a welcome idea, and Annie’s godfathers had provided support and at least some semblance of a social life.

Once everyone was clear, he moved into position about twenty feet from Ciara’s former clinic. She walked beside him, her eyes on the wreckage of what had been her home.

“You can really do this?” she asked, gesturing to the remains of the building in front of him. “I mean, it’s not going to hurt you or anything, right?”

It pleased him more than it should, knowing she was worried about him. He reached out and brushed his fingers across the back of her hand. “I know my limits, angel. I’ll be fine.”

When she turned her hand and interlaced their fingers, it was all he could do not to cheer. Instead, he tightened his grip on her hand, anchoring her to his side. Then, he started shifting the debris.

It took longer than he expected to untangle the wreckage. The chunks of the building were entangled with each other and had to be worked free in a certain order. By the time he was done, the autumn wind had leeched the warmth from his body. The only part of him still warm was the hand holding Ciara’s. “That should do it. I’ll stay here and if anything shifts, I can pull you to safety. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said but didn’t move. After a few seconds, she tugged at her hand and laughed. “If I’m going over there, you need to let go of me.”

“I’m not really keen on that part of the plan, but if I have to…” He turned to face her and lifted her hand to place a light kiss on her knuckles before finally letting go. “Be careful. If I bring you back with so much as a scratch, Vance will blame me for not taking proper care of you.”

“You two have taken wonderful care of me. I can’t thank you enough,” she said, then gave him a wave and started picking her way carefully through the debris.

Dane stayed where he was, keeping an eye on her as she dug through the remains of her house. A crunch of a boot on rock and a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye told him he was about to have company.

“You stopped my men from working so one rebel can retrieve a few personal belongings, sir?” a male voice asked in a tone bordering on being insubordinate without crossing the line.

“I didn’t stop your men from working. I merely requested they stay out of one small area.” Dane looked to his left, getting a quick impression of a blond, stocky, thick-necked officer with a scowl on his face. “This won’t take long, then we’ll be on our way.”

“Good. We’re nearly done with this job. If there aren’t any more unscheduled work stops, today’s the last day we’ll be out here. Tomorrow, this place will be leveled.” The officer jerked his head toward Ciara. “The men say she ran the clinic here, but I saw a tattoo on her face. She Alliance? I didn’t know we had people living out here now.”

Dane asked, glancing down to note the single bar on the man’s uniform. “Does it matter…Lieutenant?”

The smaller man shrugged his shoulders. “Lieutenant William Aster. And no, sir. I suppose it doesn’t. She looked familiar, that’s all. I was curious if she could be someone I used to know.”

Dane’s protective instincts kicked in. He had no intention of giving the lieutenant any information on Ciara. “I doubt it. I mean, what are the odds you’d run into someone you knew way the hell out here?”

“It is the ass end of nowhere, isn’t it? Hard to believe anyone would rather live out here than a nice, comfy place inside Alliance territory.”

“It is,” Dane agreed, but he knew most of the people out here either stayed out of fear of what they didn’t understand, or because they were running from something. Ciara didn’t seem to fit into either category. It gave him hope that they could convince her to stay in Fort Saken.

“I got it!” Ciara popped up from the rubble with a box in one dirty hand and her face smeared with streaks of dirt. She looked amazing to Dane, but apparently his companion didn’t feel the same way because he muttered something under his breath and stomped back to his men.

Ciara slipped the small box under her jacket and scrambled over the wreckage of what was once her home. Her precious ledger was inside. As well as what few credits she’d saved over the years. She still didn’t have much, but at least she wasn’t broke any longer. She’d never have found it if she hadn’t asked Dane to help her, and if he hadn’t been kind enough to agree.

There was an officer talking to Dane when she first started making her way back, but by the time she reached his side, the officer was gone. Somewhere in the distance she could hear a man barking orders, but she was too excited and happy with her reclaimed property to pay much attention.

“You look much happier now,” Dane observed.

“I am. It’s still a sad day, but you gave me back something precious I thought I’d lost forever. Thank you.” She surprised herself by stepping in and rising up on her toes to press a kiss to Dane’s cheek. He seemed as surprised as she was, and before he could recover, she moved away again. She’d tried to convince herself that taking his hand earlier had been nothing more than a gesture of support. Now, though, it was hard to keep pretending. She’d kissed him because she wanted to. Because he was sexy, sweet, and caring, and stars help her, she wanted to kiss him again.