Vengeance (37 page)

“And now?”
I ask breathlessly.

“And now I
know what I want.”  He smiles and glances down at my lips.
 “With all of my heart I want you to be mine.”

He
brushes his lips against mine with such sweet tenderness that it
takes me by surprise. All the passion that he has withheld for the
past year should have come bursting out but instead he holds back.  I
can feel his need, his desire, but also his determination to be
delicate with me.

“I love you,”
he murmurs as he presses his lips to the corner of my mouth, to my
cheek, to my nose.  His lips trail toward my ear and down to my
jaw.  My breathing hitches as he dips low and nuzzles the hollow
of my neck.

“Bastien,”
I whisper, tugging on his arm.  He rises and stares at me, a
warm smile tugging at his lips.  “I just need to tell
you--”

An explosion slams
me back against the wall.  Warmth seeps from a newly formed gash
along the crest of my head.  I slowly slide to my side, my
vision blurred.  I feel separated from my body.  Not
exactly floating overhead as some people might be prone to describe
it as.  More like I am trapped within my body but feel
disconnected from my limbs.  

I am distantly aware
of pain tearing through me but can’t quite seem to care.  A
shadow settles over my face and I hear a voice calling my name, but
it is distorted around the ringing in my ears.  

I blink several
times, trying to clear my vision, but I realize that the blurry
quality is created by the cloud of smoke spilling in through the hole
in the wall behind Bastien.  As I look up into his face, the
blood seeping from his brow looks in stark contrast to his pale skin.

“Illyria, are
you ok?” I hear him shout.  I groan and raise my hand,
slamming my palm into my ear.  He grabs my hand and pulls it
away.  “The ringing will stop eventually.  Just hold
on.  I’ll get you out of here.”

My head bobs against
Bastien’s chest as he picks his way through the collapsed
tunnel.  Coen is nowhere to be seen.  For that
matter...neither is anyone else.  I can hear the hum of lasers
and the hiss of Drach’s soldiers from further down the hall.  A
part of me wishes that I could have seen the snake leader, to thank
him for saving my life.  I can only hope that I will have the
chance to tell him that I misjudged him.

The compound rocks
and crumbles around us.  The outer walls tremble under the force
of the laser battering rams.  Brick dust hangs heavy in the air.
 The lighting overhead flickers, dangerously close to going out
completely.  “Hendrix has found me,” I mutter.

Bastien presses his
lips into a tight line.  “I’m going to get you out
of here.  Eamon should be here soon.  Drach sent a distress
signal the instant Coen arrived with word of your location.  We
just have to hold out long enough for him to get here.”

“But that
could take days for them to arrive.”  My chest clenches at
the thought. What if Eamon arrives too late and we are already dead?

“Have a little
faith.” Bastien smiles down at me.  His face is coated
with scratches and soot, but his smile is broad and brilliantly white
against his darkened face.  “Eamon will move planets out
of the way to get to you in time.”

I close my eyes and
press my hand to my forehead.  The ringing in my ears has become
an annoying background noise.  Now I can hear shouts and
screams.  People are dying.   I wonder how long the
outer walls can last before Hendrix’s men breach through. When
will this war ever end?

“He doesn’t
know,” I whisper as I think about the shock that Eamon will
suffer when he does see me.  Fully pregnant and missing a limb.
 What will he think when he sees me?  Will he be disgusted?
 Terrified?  Eamon always said that he wanted children but
I’m pretty sure he didn’t intend for it to happen like
this!

Bastien grunts,
raising his knee to help support my weight as he adjusts his grip.
 “Well, then he’ll have some catching up to do when
he gets here.”

He
shoves his elbow against a door panel and the door slides open with a
hiss.  Humidity, hot and stifling, slams into me and I realize
that the roof has collapsed in.  I can see the canopy through
large holes in the ceiling.  Bastien slams the control panel a
second time and rushes on, not waiting for the door to close.

“Is there
somewhere safe we can go?” I ask.  I press my hand to my
stomach, feeling a growing discomfort from cramping.  I try to
ignore it, to focus on the task at hand: surviving.

“I don’t
know.  We need to find Coen.”

“I’m
here!” A shout comes from down the hall.  I roll my head
to the side to see him rushing toward us.  The right side of his
face appears to be burned, the flesh red and raw.  Bastien
hesitates but Coen does not as he slips his arm around me and eases
some of my burdensome weight off Bastien.  Together they carry
me down the hall.  

I cry out as a wall
behind us collapses and a laser cannon spears through the hall.  It
swivels, taking out the upper portion of one wall and then slowly
turns, locking us in its sights.  

“Down!”

Coen shoves Bastien
and me aside as he dives to the ground.  I hit hard, much too
hard for my stomach to be able to handle.  I shriek as pain
tears through my stomach.  Bastien throws himself over me,
covering my ears with his hands as the cannon blast sends lava
spiraling through the air.  I stare up into Bastien’s
eyes, see them tighten with pain as the blast begins to heat up the
material on his back, and then it is gone.

I can hear the
grinding of wheels as the vehicle clambers over the outer wall and
moves toward the interior.  The thrum of returned laser fire
gives me hope that Drach’s men are still fighting back.

“Are you ok?”
 Bastien coughs as he rolls his weight off the top of me.

I bite down on my
lip as another wave of pain shreds my lower half.  Bastien’s
gaze lowers and then widens.  “You’re wet.  Are
you bleeding?”

I shake my head, in
too much pain to be able to speak.  Coen appears beside Bastien
and his face grows grim.  “She has lost water.”

“Yeah, I can
see that.”

“No,”
Coen says, waiting until Bastien turns his full attention on him.  “I
mean she has been thrown into labor.”

“Now?”
Bastien glances toward me and places a hand against my cheek.  I
bite down harder, unwilling to let him hear my screams.  

“We have to
get her out of here.”

“You think?”
 Bastien grunts as he raises me up.  A shriek escapes my
lips and he pales visibly.  “Hold on, Illyria.  I’m
right here with you.  I’m not going to let anything
happen.”

The sounds of
pounding boots fills the hall behind me and I can feel my terror
mounting despite the pain.  “Bastien,” I whisper and
point over his shoulder.  He turns to see men with raised
lighted swords emerging from the wreckage behind us, picking their
way over the debris.  It won’t be long before they will be
able to spy us through the thick cloud of smoke.

Coen throws out his
hand, pointing down the hall.  “Three doors down on the
left.  Take that hall.  It will lead you to the landing
bay.”

“What good is
that going to do us?” Bastien grunts as Coen helps him lift me.
 

“Trust me.
 Eamon will be there.”  Coen places a hand against my
heart.  “Take care.”

“Wait,”
I cry out as he turns away.  “You’re coming with
us!”

“No.  My
time has come.”  His face begins to change, distorting
then sharpening.  He sinks to the ground and when I look back I
blink, shocked to find myself lying in his place.

“Bastien,”
I call out, clutching my stomach as another pain strikes.  A
breath hisses through my teeth as he struggles forward.  He
slams his fist into the control panel on the third door then looks
back.  

He seems startled to
see me lying in the hall, clutching my stomach in agony.  “I’ll
never get used to that,” he mutters and turns his back on Coen.
 I glance back one final time and look straight into my own
eyes.  I smile, silently thanking him for saving my life yet
again.

I
try to help Bastien as he slowly moves along the hall, but hopping
becomes a near impossibility as another contraction hits me.  I
bite down so hard on my lip that I can taste blood seeping between my
teeth.  

“Almost
there,” he grunts.  I know that he is hurting, that he is
exhausted and yet he doesn’t give up.  He can’t.  He
will fight to his last breath to protect me.

I turn my head and
press my lips against his neck as the contraction begins to ease.  My
breathing grows a bit less labored and I retract my nails from his
arm.  “Almost there,” he mutters again and I know
that he is trying to reassure himself of our progress.

I can hear shouting
from behind the closed door that we entered through.  They have
found Coen. How long will it take before they discover our ruse and
put him to death?

Bastien stumbles and
we slam into the wall.  He breathes heavily in my ear as he
grunts and forces himself to stand upright.  My hand drapes down
his back and he cries out.  I yank my hand back, realizing that
my hands are dark with soot and fresh blood.  “Your back!”

“I’m
fine,” he insists and stumbles forward again.  I can tell
that he’s not.  He’s moving too slow.  

I stare at the door
at the end of the hall and realize that we still have too far go.
 “Leave me.”  I push against his arm.  “Go
get help and come back.  I can’t go any further.”

“Why do you
always say stupid things like that when you know it’s not even
an option?”  He adjusts his grip again and presses on,
using the wall to help him push us forward.

“I’m
serious.” I clench my teeth as I begin to feel my muscles
contract.  I know the pain is coming, hard.  I don’t
know how much longer I can hold back my screams.  I clench my
fists tightly, digging my nails into my palms as a deep groan echoes
in my throat.  

“Bastien,”
I growl, and shove against him.  Surprised by my push his arms
come free from around me and I collapse back into the wall.  I
hardly feel the pain in the back of my head as I slump to the floor,
breathing hard and fast.  Bastien recovers quickly and is at my
side long before the contraction hits its peak.  “Do it.
 Go get help.”

His face is a mask
of misery as he glances toward the door.  “You know it’s
the only way.”

“I can’t
leave you,” he protests.

I hiss as my
contraction spikes.  My fingers dig into the wall and ground
beside me. My teeth grind hard enough to fear breaking a tooth off.
 “I’ll die if you don’t,” I grunt.  

The pain is all I
can focus on.  I try to look at Bastien, to focus on his face
but it isn’t enough.  I am quickly losing myself to the
agony.

“Please,”
I beg, though I’m no longer sure what it is that I am begging
for.  Relief?  Safety?  Pain medicine?  Probably
all of the above!

I
feel his hand clench mine and then he is gone.  I slowly slide
down so that I am lying on the floor.  It is hard to breathe
with the smoke billowing in through vents in the ceiling.  Parts
of the compound must be on fire.  Is it nearby?  Will the
flames come for me before I am able to escape?

My
hand trembles as I place it over my belly.  
You
sure have terrible timing,
I
think to my children.

A
small flutter in my mind startles me.  I blink.  
Can
you hear me?
I
call again.  Another flutter.  As the pain begins to fade I
feel a smile cross my face.  I know that they can hear me.  
Your
father is coming for you. Just hold on a little longer.

Warmth
begins to flood into my chest.  I gasp, overwhelmed with the
sensation.  
Love
,
I realize.
 They are giving me love.

Light comes and goes
from the hallway as I lay my head back against the floor, staring at
the lamps overhead.  The brilliant white light I have grown
accustomed to on this planet seems far too dull to be right.  It
makes the walls look dingy and decaying.

“Illyria!”

I turn my head at
the sound of approaching footsteps pounding down the hall.  Someone
drops to my side and hands clasp my shoulders.  I look up into
familiar blond hair and smile.  “Eamon,” I whisper.

“Oh god,”
he cries as he pulls me into his arms.  “When Bastien told
me I didn’t want to believe…” he trails off. I can
hear tears choking off his words.  “I’m going to get
you out of here.  There’s a ship waiting for you.”

I nod, knowing that
I should say something.  Should tell him that I love him, thank
him for coming for me, but none of those words seem to cross my lips
as I turn to see Bastien standing behind Eamon.  The pain etched
into his soot stained features steals the words away.  

He meets my gaze and
then dips low, helping Eamon lift me. I cry out in pain and nearly
tumble forward but Eamon catches me, adjusting my weight to support
me.  “I’ve got her,” he grunts, lifting me
into his arms, taking my full weight onto himself.  

I can’t see
Bastien as Eamon rushes me down the hall.  I want to tell him
that it’s ok, that he has done enough to save me, but another
contraction hits and I am lost to the pain.  I press my face
against Eamon’s chest as the pain mounts and am only vaguely
aware of Bastien grunting to shove open the door.  A blast from
outside must have fried the controls.

The
instant Eamon climbs through the gap the heat hits me, stealing my
breath away.  It is far too hot.  I lift my face to the sky
and see the canopy is on fire.  Huge tendrils of flaming vines
collapse to the ground.  Everywhere I look I see the flash of
swords and lasers.  The Snake people and Hendrix’s men are
locked into battle and I realize that Drach’s compound is not
among the swamps but situated in a great grassy plain.