Kiera's Moon Page 15

  “Nishani, you must make a choice.”

  “What choice?”

  “You must choose to remain with me or to return to your home.”

  “You would send me home?” she asked, puzzled. “But I thought I was supposed to save the planet.”

  “You must choose to stay or return,” he repeated.

  “Won’t Anshan die without me?”

  “You cannot remain here at my will,” he said with some difficulty. “You must remain here at your will. Or you must go home.”

  Realization made her blanch. Disbelief and sorrow crossed her face as she began to understand her options. If she chose to stay, she would never see her home again. If she chose to leave, his home would be destroyed. It was not a decision he envied; he alone knew what a burden it was to know the fate of a planet and its inhabitants rested upon his shoulders.

  “I thought … I thought …” Her voice cracked. She drew a deep breath, cleared her throat, and asked, “I can’t do both?”

  “No.”

  Her gaze slid to the stone floor. She stood and paced, and emotions flew across her face. A’Ran was uncertain what to expect but found himself disappointed she didn’t instantly volunteer to stay.

  “I need … I need to think… about this,” she managed. Her eyes welled with tears, and she ducked her head, turning white, then red. “You want me … to walk away from everything I know, my family … I knew it was possible, but I didn’t think I’d have a chance to go home at all … but still, I couldn’t leave a whole planet to die!”

  Her look of soul-deep sorrow touched him, and he recalled what he felt as a youth to find his father and mother dead and his family hunted and forced out of their own home. She turned to leave, and he caught her arm. Nishani didn’t resist when he wrapped his arms around her but began to cry the soul-deep sobs he remembered from his youth. Her trembling body was warm and small tucked against him. He rested his chin atop her head, knowing there were no words to comfort someone who hurt so deeply and regretful that he caused this pain.

  He held her for a long moment, surprised to find her sorrow echoed in his breast at knowing she might choose to leave. He hadn’t thought himself attached to the unique woman he chose as a nishani. They were bound by fate, and he knew she felt the profound connection between them from the moment they met. Was it possible for such a connection to be stronger than her bond to her own world?

  She calmed in his arms, and he focused on comforting her and not his awareness of her soft body pressed against him.

  “A’Ran?” she whispered.

  “Yes, nishani.”

  She hesitated, then propped her chin on his chest, gazing up at him with stormy, reddened eyes. He smoothed the remaining tears from her face.

  “Will you do something for me?” she asked uncertainly. “You can say no.”

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Will you kiss me? Like you did when we met? I just want to know if … it’s important,” she asked, face flushing. “You can say no.”

  “Nishani, no man would ever turn down such a request,” he said, amused.

  Her words floored and excited him for more reasons than one. He’d begun to think he’d lost any chance he had at keeping her. He complied and kissed her deeply, enjoying the taste and feel of her despite the mix of salty tears. Their kiss grew more passionate, the feel of her body against him not enough to sate his growing need. The connection between them flowed with hot energy, the planet’s life form itself bonding the two of them together at their touch. She clutched at him, and he tightened his grip around her, dragging their bodies together.

  Their kissing grew frantic, their petting setting them both afire. He lifted her at last and carried her to his quarters, senses full of her quickened breath, heady female scent, sweet taste. He’d always intended to bed her when she was ready for him, but he’d never thought that moment would be now, if at all. His body responded with a surge of heat and desire at the idea of feeling her naked body beneath his.

  He knew more weighed on her wish than a simple kiss. Deep down, he suspected it was her farewell to him. If she’d chosen to leave, he wouldn’t send her away without a night she’d remember for all time.

  *

  She awoke alone. The bed smelled of him, and her body ached from the active night. She stared at the ceiling, enjoying the breeze skating through the windows.

  Wow. There was no other way for her to imagine the night, aside from as otherworldly as her new world. Her blood boiled at the thought of another night with him, and she sat, disturbed.

  She hadn’t expected to be forced into such a decision. She definitely didn’t expect the decision to be so hard. She’d wanted to return home since she arrived, yet when presented with the enormity of her importance in her new world … when she realized how incredible it really would be to have a man like A’Ran in her bed every night … when she saw he was capable of passion … when she found out an entire planet full of people would die if she left …

  She couldn’t help the tears at such a thought. It was too large of a concept for her to wrap her head around. That she, a starving artist who’d been dragged across the universe because her best friend felt sorry for her, was the key to saving an entire race of people was unimaginable.

  He’d certainly made her feel like the queen of the universe.

  Pensive and troubled, she dressed for a difficult day. A’Ran was gone indefinitely for a surge operation in his war, leaving her alone with her thoughts. There really wasn’t a decision to make. As much as she wanted to return home, she could never leave an entire planet to die just because she wanted to go back to the depressing part-time job and the row house where she and the cat would live alone!

  She’d wanted to see if he was capable of being anything more than the cold, distant warrior obsessed with war. She didn’t expect him to be as passionate, warm, and gentle as he’d been with her. There was a man behind the fierce face, and she’d only confused herself more by spending the night with him!

  She gazed around A’Ran’s bedroom, conflicted with the idea that her choice would mean she never saw her home, her family again.

  She rubbed her face, dressed in grey to reflect her mood, and tucked her spare earpiece into her pocket as she did every day. The house was quiet. The Council would have left at dawn with A’Ran. At the least, she could help him battle plan while she thought hard about what to do with her life. She’d gotten to the conference room when she heard soft footfalls behind her. She started to turn, expecting to see Talal.

  A hood made of rough material was thrown over her head and her hands bound before she could scream. Someone threw her over his shoulder and she let out a shout that earned her a blow to the head. Caught between consciousness and darkness, she hung limply for a long time, until the man holding her flung her onto a hard floor. The sound of a door closing and muffled voices outside the door were followed by silence. She tore off the hood, aware she was on a spaceship by the dark grey landscape. The cell where she sat measured six by six with a grey bench.

  She sat, confused. She didn’t have much time to think before the door slid open, and Ne’Rin squatted in the doorway. The look on his face made her shrink back from him. He reached out to her, placing the translator on her ear.

  “Since meeting you, I’ve felt you were nothing but a curse.” His words were hard, his eyes even harder. “If A’Ran had mated with a proper nishani, we’d not be losing this war.”

  “Ne’Rin, what are you talking about?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know what you did to him, but I intend to repair the damage you’ve done to our people.” He rose and hauled her to her feet, all but dragging her into the hall. Another warrior trailed as he pulled her down the hall.

  “Ne’Rin, A’Ran chose me. I do his battle planning. I’m going— ”

  “He’s gone weak after all these years at battle and lost sight of winning back our planet! Do you know how many of my people have starved
this moon-cycle alone? All he had to do was choose a nishani— my sister!— and the planet would be healed!” His words were accompanied by a squeeze on her arm painful enough to make her gasp. She said nothing and trotted to keep up with his long stride. He led her through the ship to a cargo area filled with pods on the wall. He paused before one and pressed his hand to a keypad. “Instead, he waited for you, and you’ve made him weak.”

  The grey wall slid away to display an escape pod, large enough for one person standing. She stared at it, then at him.

  “Farewell, nishani.”

  His words were accompanied by a shove. She landed in the pod, and the door slid closed before she could react.

  “Ne’Rin!” she shouted, pounding on the door. “Don’t do this!”

  The pod jolted and dropped, the sickening sense making her nauseous. For a long moment, it was dark and silent, until the interior of the pod lit up with two screens, one displaying the empty space outside and the other displaying a control panel with writing similar to that of the battle planning station.

  The pod rotated slowly, revealing the shape of the hulking grey ship as it grew farther away.

  Kiera stared, unable to fathom she’d been ejected into the middle of space to die. There was enough room for her to raise her arms but not sit, and she leaned against the uncomfortable wall, gazing at the world spinning outside her pod.

  The ship grew distant. She looked around her, wondering what the hell to do now. Tears rose, and her chest clenched.

  He wanted her dead. He’d not considered sending her home— no, he’d decided to kill her! Panic seized her at the thought of floating through space until her air ran out. She looked at the control panel, trying to decipher any of the symbols. There were several she recognized.

  Just as the grey ship disappeared from sight, another shape came into view. It was a planet, dusty red, as if it were nothing but dry desert. Her speed was consistent, her destination clear. No, Ne’Rin wasn’t stupid enough to send her floating around space. He was sending her straight into a planet!

  She rubbed her face and looked at the control panel again. She pressed one button, then another, struggling to understand the symbols that popped up on the screen in response. She’d learned the parts of a warship inside and out while learning the battle planning and looked for the configuration button among her options popping up on the screen. She found it and punched it, looking at the pod from the inside and out.

  Its exterior shields were disarmed and he’d disabled the communications capability. Once the plant’s gravity sucked her in, its atmosphere would fry her. She swallowed a sob as she realized just how badly someone wanted her dead.

  Her hands shook as she manipulated the configuration to arm the shields around it. Ne’Rin underestimated her if he thought she wouldn’t be able to figure this much out! Swearing at him, she stared hard at the configuration panels. The air was another issue; he hadn’t included an additional air pod on this one. She didn’t have much air left, and she couldn’t enable the control panel so she could direct the pod elsewhere.

  She was headed to the planet no matter what. She hesitated, then looked at what capability the pod did have to keep her from smashing into the planet, even if she made it through the atmosphere. There were thrusters but no way to steer.

  The pod jolted. There was a flash of light and what sounded like frying eggs that brought her gaze to the other screen. The red planet beneath her was drawing closer. The pod was well-insulated; she didn’t feel the three-thousand-degree temperatures a foot from her. She held her breath, staring at the configuration as she flew through the atmosphere.

  Unwilling to see her death, she closed her eyes, never imagining she’d ever be hurtling towards some distant planet in an escape pod booby-trapped to kill her! The strange sound continued for several minutes, and she trembled, trying hard not to think of what happened if she made it unscathed to the planet’s surface.

  Where the hell was she?

  Tears streamed down her face. The frying stopped, and she felt another jolt. Her eyes flew open and she braced herself against the side. The pod dropped fast toward the surface, the sight of the spinning world beneath her sickening. She was pressed against the ceiling despite the gravity controller in the pod.

  There was nothing on the red planet, no signs of buildings, no life. At least, nothing she could make out as she spun faster and faster. She closed her eyes, dizzy, then stared at the computer screen, watching her speed increase as her altitude decreased. She’d not yet figured out how to convert their measures of distance to miles. She looked again at the spinning ground, waiting until she was able to make out a rock formation clearly before engaging the thrusters.

  The effect slammed her downwards, and the pod spun out of control, head over tail, shaking as it fought gravity.

  “C’mon, c’mon,” she whispered desperately, her throat burning with acid as she struggled to hold down her stomach.

  Of all the things she could be thinking about, she thought only of A’Ran. His face was in her thoughts, and the idea of never seeing him again crushed her as surely as colliding with the planet would. She didn’t know what she felt for him, but he was her destiny. She belonged with him. Everything else would work itself out.

  The pod stabilized upside down, and she was crammed into half of the pod, unable to move with her hands tied. The ground approach slowed drastically as the pod’s thrusters roared but was still too fast for her comfort. She braced herself.

  The pod bounced once and slammed into the ground. The computer blinked off, and the pod slid, stopping finally.

  Bruised, she blinked as brilliant sunlight pierced the cracked door. Almost unable to believe she’d survived, she stared for a long moment, pushed the door open, and tumbled onto the ground.

  She vomited, her head spinning from her trip. The air was dry and hot, as if she were in a sauna. She struggled to draw deep breaths. Sweat broke out on her skin, and she shielded her eyes against the sun before crawling back to the shade of the pod.

  The landscape was open and flat, the heat making the ground shimmer.

  She was going to die here, wherever here was. Stricken, she wrapped her arms around her knees and began to cry. If only she’d worked up the nerve to tell A’Ran about her suspicions about Ne’Rin! She wouldn’t be stranded on some foreign, deserted planet!

  She cried until too tired to cry more, then leaned against the pod, feeling as if her skin was frying despite the shade. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the pod.

  She didn’t think it was possible to sleep in such discomfort, but a stiff, hot breeze tossed hair into her face awhile later, tickling her awake. She swiped it away, soaked with sweat, and opened her eyes.

  She shifted with a grimace and looked down at the brush of grass against her hands. She’d thought the planet completely dead, but there was a bright patch of green grass beneath her and the pod. If there was grass, there was bound to be water somewhere.

  The suns were setting. She rose to see how far away they were from the horizon, miserable in the heat. She rustled through the pod to see if there was any water or food.

  Ne’Rin didn’t plan on giving her any chance to live. She was too hot to cry, and she curled up on the grass. It felt cooler than the air against her fevered skin.

  Dusk took away much of the intolerable heat, and a stiff breeze dried her sweat. She remained on the ground, at a loss as to what to do. If she left the pod, she might fry in the morning. If she stayed, she’d never find help!

  More tears rose, and she tugged at her hands, furious he’d even thought to cuff her! As if she wasn’t completely vulnerable as it was! He wasn’t taking chances she’d survive.

  A’Ran.

  She couldn’t think of him, not now. The thought of him made her heart leap and her body ache for him. She wanted to curl up in the pod and sob until he rescued her, even knowing he’d never know where to find her.

  A light shined in her face, and
she twisted, fear piercing her misery. She pushed herself up and shielded her face with her bound hands. Someone grabbed her and lifted her to her feet. He pushed her sleeve up to see her band.

  There was a quiet exchange between two of the four dark shapes around her. She couldn’t help but be grateful they at least resembled humans. She was expecting some sort of alien monster to inhabit the brutal planet. One took her hands while another shined the glowing orb on her bindings. He released them with a touch of his thumb. Furious, she threw them and turned to find two of the beings kneeling by the grass, touching them.

  She crossed her arms, exhausted. They rose and shone the light on her again. One took her arm, gesturing at the armband. He faced her, his features dark, and addressed her. She pushed the light away and shrugged, pulling her arm free. One handed her a water canteen, and she drank long and deep, not stopping even when another took her arm and pulled her forward. The light went out.

  They walked into the night. Two moons rose, and the four warriors around her kept to a path only they understood. The desert was flat, the rock formations and canyons plentiful.

  Beyond a nearby mountain range, lights and explosions lit up both the sky and the air between earth and sky. She watched, unnerved at how close the battles were. They shook the ground, and battleships raced overhead. The men ignored the signs of war, instead keeping to a quick pace along their path. Wherever she was, the battle was intense. Instead of stars overhead, there were ships.

  They reached a small encampment at the bottom of a mountain and passed around it, one calling out a greeting as someone trotted out to meet them. They continued up a winding path toward the top of the lowest of the mountains. She lagged, fatigued. Two slowed to keep pace with her while the other three went on ahead.

  Night brought a chill as uncomfortable as the heat of the day. Hot, hungry, exhausted, she stopped twice on the trek up the hill to catch her breath. They reached the top, where another set of low buildings were carved from the rock, their doors and windows glowing.

  The mountains overlooked an expansive plain lined with encampments, an airfield, small ships, and other war arsenal. The battle waged just past the next range. She watched the flares of color against the night sky with tired fascination.