Could it?
It was obvious the pilot was female, but the suit gave no indication as to the wearer’s identity.
Stunned, his aunt stepped back and aimed for Desideria. Leran started forward to attack her, but the other pilot engaged her.
His aunt went to shoot, but Caillen rushed her before she could kill Desideria. Something not too bright since the blast hit him hard in his chest. Even so, he refused to go down. He wasn’t about to let her hurt Desideria.
Desideria rushed forward as she saw Caillen fighting her aunt for the blaster. The moment she reached them, she realized her aunt’s shot hadn’t missed him. Blood covered his chest and abdomen as he fought her with everything he had.
Anger and terror mingled inside her to form a deadly combination. All the rage of her lifetime built up—the betrayal her aunt had given them both. The fear that Caillen would die as a result of it.
Before she even knew what she’d done, she grabbed her aunt by the neck and snapped it with a sound that went through her like glycerin on glass.
For a full minute after Karissa slid to the floor, no one moved.
Horrified by her actions, Desideria felt dizzy—like something had snatched her out of her body.
I killed someone.
No, she’d killed her own aunt…
“Mom!” Leran’s shriek finally broke through their shock as she ran to her mother’s side and sank down on the floor. “Mom… please speak to me.” She pulled her mother against her as she cried and begged her to be alive.
Caillen staggered back.
“Cai?” Desideria went to him while Kara crossed the bridge to release her mother from her ties.
His handsome features were pale and drawn tight by the pain. “I swore I’d never risk my life for any woman other than my sisters. What is it about you, pun’kin, that makes me stupid whenever someone threatens you?” His legs buckled.
Desideria grabbed him and helped him sink to the floor so as not to injure him more. She tore open his shirt, then gasped as she saw the damage done. The blast had torn through his left side and left it raw and gaping.
“You fucking whore!” Leran let her mother go and rushed for Desideria.
Without a second thought, Desideria was on her feet. She caught her cousin and slammed her down so hard on the ground that it shook the entire vessel. “You killed your own father, you piece of shit. Next time you come at me, you better bring a body bag. You will need it.”
Both her mother’s and Kara’s eyes widened at her words.
Desideria cuffed her, then returned to Caillen. “Stay with me, baby.”
He swallowed against his pain while she called for a medic evac.
She cut the link, then pulled him against her while her cousin screamed for vengeance.
“Oh shut up, you whiny child.” Sarra snatched the blaster from Kara’s hand, then switched the setting from kill to stun and shot her.
Kara looked surprised. “You didn’t kill her?”
“Oh no. I want the pleasure of seeing her in prison, of torturing her until she begs for a mercy I have no intention of giving her.”
Desideria ignored them while she focused on what mattered most. Caillen’s blood was all over her as she tried to slow his bleeding. “Where’s your backpack?”
“I was so busy trying to end this before you got here that I forgot it.”
She felt the tears sting her eyes. “I should have told you our plan. But I didn’t know who among our troops could be trusted and I was afraid a traitor would warn Karissa.” Now she wished she’d chanced it. She’d much rather be the one on the floor. “If I’d only known you were going to do something so stupid…”
He smiled, then grimaced. “I’m only stupid for you.”
And he’d traded his life to keep her safe. “I love you, Caillen. Don’t you dare die on me. So help me, I will chase you to hell to beat you if you do.”
“You’re not a bastard and you’re not worthless. You are everything to me.” She grabbed the link again. “Where the hell are the medics?”
Caillen cherished the sound of concern in her voice. If he had to die, he was glad it was in her arms. He could think of no better way to go into eternity than staring into the beautiful eyes that had given him his soul back.
For her, he fought for his life harder than he ever had before. He’d waited too long to find someone like her to give up now.
She didn’t let go of him until the medics arrived. Only then did she pull back and allow them to work on him.
His gaze never wavered from hers. Not even when they put the oxygen mask over his face.
Desideria choked on a hidden sob at the sight of Caillen lying on the gurney. He looked so weak and pale.