Born of Fire

Shahara cringed. “Can you see?”


“Unfortunately, yes. I see better down here than I do in daylight.” He took her hand and led her forward through the filth and stench.

“How?”

“It’s a Ritadarion birth defect that hits about one in every three hundred babies born. Some scientists speculate it’s because we lost our primary sun two hundred years ago and the one left behind is so dim that children are mutating in order to adapt to our darker environment.”

“That’s . . .” she searched for the most appropriate word. “Creepy.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

His grip tightened on her hand. “What?” she asked, hating the fact that she couldn’t see what had made him tense.

“I thought I heard something.” He came to a stop.

Shahara strained to hear, but nothing came to her, other than the painful reminder that vermin were running entirely too close to her stationary self. “Maybe it was one of the little beasties at our feet.”

“Maybe.” He tugged her hand again. “C’mon.”

She didn’t say anything more as she followed after him, while Vik made whirring noises on her shoulder. She couldn’t believe she was alone in the dark with a man and not terrified. But the longer she stayed with Syn the more used to him she became.

It was strange to her. Strange and somehow wonderful.

Too bad it couldn’t last. For them, there was no future. All she would have of him was this minute time.

Spent in a sewer . . .

Instead of being happy about the prospect of putting this mission behind her, a horrible pain stabbed her chest as she realized how soon they’d part as eternal enemies.

Unwilling to examine it, she promised herself to let him get no closer to her. She couldn’t afford to. Her future and that of her siblings depended on it.

At last he stopped. “There’s a ladder just above my head. I’m going to pick you up. Crawl to the top and you’ll find a small grate. It has a spring latch and, once you’re close to it, you’ll see how to release it.”

He took her by the waist. The strength of his hands burned her as he effortlessly lifted her up. Shahara seized the ladder and did as he told her.

When she reached the top, she gave a sigh of relief. Thank heaven they were finally out of that smelly hole. But all things considered, the surface air really wasn’t all that much better.

She turned to help Syn up. It was then that she noticed the man standing in the fading light of the afternoon sun.

And the blaster he had angled at her chest.

“Say one word of warning and you’re dead,” he whispered.

Shahara froze as she quickly assessed the threat. There were sixteen of them, fully armed and ready to kick ass, and Syn would be temporarily blinded by the brighter light when he came out of the darkness . . .

Someone seized her from behind.

All her senses alert, Shahara could no longer think. Her training took hold. Stomping an instep, she whirled on her attacker with a fierce growl.

Syn squinted in her direction, but for his life he couldn’t open his eyes wide enough to see anything. The glare from the fading sun had him completely blinded. His gut told him that they were in trouble, but damn his eyes, he couldn’t do anything. All he could do was hear Shahara fighting and blasters shooting.

“Vik?”

“To the right.”

Syn struck out and felt his attacker go down. Vik landed on his shoulder so that he could talk him through the fight.

By the time his eyes adjusted, the fight was over. Vik fluttered his wings as Syn surveyed the damage. And honestly, he was stunned.

He’d taken out two. Shahara had handled the others on her own.

Her features stern, she stood over one unconscious man with her hands clenched at her sides. The rest lay on the street, piled up around her. By their clothes, he marked them for Ritadarion trackers.

In awe, he looked at Shahara. “Remind me not to ever piss you off.”

She had a glazed expression an instant before her legs buckled. Syn barely caught her before she hit the street.

“Shahara?” he gasped in startled alarm, holding her against him. “Shahara . . . answer me.” It was only then that he saw the blood seeping from her scalp.

What was he going to do? He couldn’t take her back to the temple or Digger’s. Those places were no longer safe.

Scanning the area around them, he knew they had to get off the street before more Rits or desperate natives decided to try their hand at apprehending him.

Picking her up, he cradled her against his chest. She felt so tiny in his arms that it momentarily stunned him. She was so vibrant while awake that he’d forgotten just how small she really was.

And she wouldn’t last long without medical attention. That thought foremost in his mind, he ran with her toward the spaceport.