Cloud Riders (Lord of the Planets) (49 page)

Kayden frowned. ‘He’s really taken to our girl. I nearly thought I would have to run with her. As we had all felt his rage, one could also feel his passion for her. I’m no fool and have to be mindful what this very powerful warlord would do if I was to take her away from him permanently at this stage.’

‘What has Cassie said?’ Woody inquired.

Kayden ran his hand through his hair. ‘She only sees him as a friend, someone kind and gentle. She has no fear of him at all and doesn’t see him at all the way we all do.’ He sighed and leant back against the wall. ‘I trust Cassie that she’ll sort Conom out and break the spell or whatever it is she has over him when she’s ready. I honestly believe the universe is using her as a key player in a game to tame these ruthless individuals. I can think of no other explanation.’

Woody swore and hoisted himself up onto the bench, thinking.

Jase seemed to be the only one of them who was not disturbed by any of it. ‘Jeez, you two. The ones who should know her the most, you sure don’t know shit!’ Jase said, flooring both of them. ‘Cassie has managed all of us with diplomacy and decorum. Each one of us has played a very special part in her life, after which she’s rewarded us with such happiness that words can’t describe. Kayden, you saved her and she gave you her body and soul. Woody, you cared for her like your own and she manipulated us all so that you could have your love, Ella. I was her friend whenever you two couldn’t be and she gave me Sonia. This Conom is in her life now for a reason maybe yet to show itself. But when it does he will be loved and rewarded as she sees fit. We are her knights and the universe is her round table. Whatever it is that is drawing her to him we have to trust that just like us, she will sort him out and then leave him as happy as we are.’

Woody shook his head. ‘I think the J man may just have something there, K. It’s been staring us in the face all this time. How could we have missed it?’ Woody slapped his forehead. ‘Damn, if that does not beat all.’

‘That it does, my man, that it does.’ Kayden rubbed his chin, finally letting Jason’s theory allow him the relief he needed to slot the weirdness of the situation into perspective.

Jase put his arm around Kayden. ‘Anytime, K! Cassie and you are tight, man, never lose sight of that. All the rest of us are pawns in the game our princess plays. When she gave me Sonia she gave me a dream come true and that was when I worked it out. I knew then that she was not just a princess we saved but had to be a goddess to do what she does.’

‘That, Jase, is exactly where my train of thought had gone and I was thinking I might be going crazy with such an idea. I so needed someone else to say it. Conom called her a stealer of hearts. I’m starting to think that maybe that is exactly what she is.’

Woody grinned. ‘Yes that sounds like our Cassie girl. Suits her to the core.’

Jase rolled his eyes. ‘God, no. Please, no disclosing what we’ve just discussed or we’ll never hear the end of her jokes about us thinking it. I can imagine the aftermath of problems it would create and can just hear her now. “Excuse me, goddesses do not cook or clean” or “The goddess would like her coffee now”. Kayden, this is between us forever. Cloud Riders code of secrecy! You have to promise.’

They all laughed again and attracted the girls who came over to them. ‘What’s all the laughing going on over here? We want in on the joke,’ Sonia purred, leaning into Jase.

‘Never going to happen, sweetie, boys’ stuff. But you can come with me and show me how much you’ll miss me while I’m gone,’ he chuckled, dragging her to Cassie’s old room. ‘Later, men,’ he said over his shoulder, smirking.

Ella was grinning up at Woody. ‘Well, K, I have other pressing business with my woman. Wake us when it’s time to leave,’ he said, throwing an arm around Ella and taking her to the main bedroom.

Cassie was still chatting to Conor and Ethan, who where lying down on the sofas, so Kayden made himself comfortable next to his honey and smiled.
The boys will be just about ready to enjoy themselves about now. What a bugger I can’t
.
No bedrooms left.
Oh well
. A grin widened across his face as he closed his eyes. Night boys, he thought, and chuckled as he put them all to sleep.
Ah, to be the boss, revenge is so sweet.

Sweet Betrothed

When Kayden woke them up, the many harsh comments coming from the bedrooms were directed at Kayden. Cassie could feel his body trying to hold back fits of laughter.

‘I can only guess what that was about.’ Cassie nudged him. She turned around to face him and he had the biggest grin. ‘Just having a bit of fun with the boys. Payback can be so pleasurable.’

‘Coffee, cheeky one?’ She was enjoying his lightened mood.

‘Love one, sweetheart,’ he smiled as she jumped up, quickly moving from him as he made a grab for her. She saw in his expression what he was about to do and ran off on him, giggling. ‘Not so fast.’ He chuckled as he reclaimed her, growling as her father had—as if he were a big old bear too. He made her laugh more.

In between his foolery, Cassie finally made everyone’s drinks and they went out on the veranda to drink them and catch up with each other while waiting for Zoltan to lead the horses out.

Cassie turned to Ella, sensing she was a little hurt that Sonia was engaged before her. She had caught the look on Ella’s face when Sonia showed Cassie her ring for the second time. Woody saw the look too and pulled her next to him. ‘Come here, woman.’ He smiled and winked at Cassie. ‘I wanted to wait until you guys were here so you could be a part of my surprise,’ he said as the horses trotted out of the barn at Kayden’s command.

It was the first time the girls would be seeing the horses or their transformation. Cassie knew how dazzling a show it was going to be for them. They all placed their golden bridles on the horses and mounted them. The girls gasped at the transformation and when Kayden put Cassie onto Starburst, Sonia squealed and ran over to hold Cassie’s hand.

‘Sorry, I have to touch you. My God! You look like an angel,’ she squealed again excitedly.

She turned to Jason who jumped down to give her a hug. ‘You okay with this, sweetie?’

Sonia was crying and laughing, trying to take it all in. ‘More than okay, babe.’ She jumped up on him, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him heaps of kisses. Jase loved it, more than pleased with her enthusiasm.

Ella stood unmoving, watching Woody with undeniable love and pride. Woody dismounted and bent down in front of her on one knee. ‘Honey, I have loved you from the first moment and I will never love another as I do you. Will you marry me, beautiful and be my wife, even if I do have to run off on you all the time like this?’

Tears rolled down Ella’s face, never loving anyone the way she did the man who knelt before her. While they were apart, Ella had missed him terribly and knew for sure he was the one she wanted. Her heart was already his. She bent down eye-to-eye and kissed his lips. ‘Yes, my love. I would want nothing more than to marry you and be your wife. As for you running off and looking like the biggest hunk in the universe? Not so happy I don’t get to enjoy it like the tarts up there but I’m sure I’ll get over it while going on a shopping spree with your money while you’re gone.’ Showing no emotion, making him laugh.

‘What about kids? Can I keep you barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen? If I’m away, I want to know no man will look at you. A fat belly should do the trick,’ he chuckled.

‘Kids are fine, sweetie but the men are still going to think I’m the hottest thing on two legs because I am,’ she stirred him.

‘That’s it! For a wedding gift I’m coming back with a chastity belt and locking you up until I get back.’

‘Jealous bastard,’ she slapped him playfully.

‘Get fat before I get back or I’m not marring you. I’ll find a way to keep them rich sods away from my sexy woman yet,’ the fun-loving kidder said jokingly as he give her a big smooch before getting back on his horse. He looked down at Sonia, now holding Ella’s hand. ‘Go help your friend get fat or I’ll never talk to you again.’

Both women laughed uncontrollably, as the team rode off. Woody was a funny bastard and Cassie was glad he felt it important to have them there to witnesses the proposal. She couldn’t have been happier with both women.

The clouds were different today. The colours were soft and swirled together like soft ice cream. It was relaxing and there was something different about it as they slipped out and into the fourth dimension, landing on the Cirrus cloud which looked wispy and feathery. While they were in it, the cloud felt soft against Cassie’s skin, almost as if tiny feathers were running gently along her arms and face.

The colours were white and silver with touches of gold. It was very pretty to be in but whipped you with incredible speed high into the portal of the next dimension where they came out into the solar system. The colourful planets and stars in the clear atmosphere sparkled and glittered as if she was in fairyland—if that even existed.
Yet, this is real so who knows?

From the height they were at, she could now make out Pyxis the mariner’s compass. They landed on Velorum, the controlling star that was ruled by Captain Rogers.

The captain came out to greet Kayden. He was an elderly man with a very long grey beard. He was wearing a typical captain’s hat and lived in an old battle ship that was wedged in some sand and on an angle. The ship was quite a few meters from the shoreline, obvious that he had been ship wrecked for many years. He seemed a bright old chap, even though his face was badly lined with wrinkles from years of harsh weather on the seas, although his eyes seemed young, alert and friendly.

He had a couple of men with him who must have been under his command because he growled orders at them before he flicked his hand as if he was swatting a fly, dismissing his men and dragging smoke from the pipe that hung from his mouth. The men quickly disappeared back into the ship bringing out something and passing it to the captain. Turning it to show Kayden, Cassie could see it was a compass and she realised he was showing Kayden new coordinates and pointed above him to Argo Navis, the ship constellation. He seemed concerned about the damage to the sail if the attacking star reached them.

A Knight’s Struggle

Kayden hadn’t allowed the team to dismount. Time was of the essence and after talking to Captain Rogers, he wasn’t sure if they could prevent the damage that the pending Supernova was now predicted to do, in its condition and current path it was on. This news wasn’t what Kayden wanted to hear. Mounting Zoltan, he directed him to follow the new coordinates he had just been given.

He relayed his team the bad news by telepathy in case someone was listening in on their conversation. He knew most of them had the technology to do so and didn’t want a bunch of rulers going off half-cocked, thinking they might have lost control of the situation.

Captain Rogers has had a report that a Comet has just passed by the deployed Supernova travelling around 30 000 miles an hour. The heat projecting from the Comet would have to be well over 3000 degrees Celsius. It’s not only knocked our Supernova off course, but the massive heat injection has sped up the death star’s expiry time,
he relayed to the team. Kayden looked around and could hear it in the distance before it was even in sight.
Something’s not right, guys. It sounds all wrong. It sounds unpredictable, so brace yourselves. Expect the unexpected. If it blows before we reach it, slip into clean up mode and get whatever Cassie misses. We can’t let any of the iron shards reach the constellations.
He glanced over at Cassie and she looked as cool as a cucumber, already powering up.
It sounds ready to explode, Cassie so be careful and once you’ve tossed the thing to the coordinates I’ve given you, get the hell out of here and wait back over near the Pyxis constellation for us, okay?

She opened her eyes and nodded. He could only just see her through the haze. She was glowing like the brightest star in the sky and when he called out, she threw her arms up towards the Supernova. At the same time, there was an explosion. Cassie was so busy concentrating on moving the Supernova, she never noticed it as it was not in her vision. Kayden spotted it and tensed.

Cassie! Break left!
he ordered, at the same time instructing Zoltan to move Starburst for her if she was unable to do it quick enough. She hadn’t seen the piece of the outer casing that had exploded from the nova but could see it now, hurtling towards her at the speed of thousands of kilometres an hour.

Cassie did as she’d been instructed. However, the shard still sliced her arm and the impact caused her power source to waver. She screamed out with pain as it bit through her skin and even though hurting, she still kept her concentration on the nova and tossed it out to the intended destination, the force of her reaction breaking the wound open that she thought had been sealed by the heat of the offending object.

Kayden sent the boys off after the Supernova.

Cassie, will you be okay for a few minutes? We have to get this.

She nodded, holding on to where the shrapnel had sliced into her and stopping the pain to a certain degree.

That’s right, Cassie, keep pressure on it. Just give me five.

She gave him a signal to get going. He knew his little brave soldier would hold strong until she felt his arms around her and he shot off after the team. Zoltan picked up speed, taking control, enabling him to take a second to look back to check on her. The hot shard that sliced her should have cauterised the wound. He wondered if it must have cooled a bit before it hit her, unless she had overused her powers and opened it up, as she was bleeding profusely, blood floating in the nothingness around her. She had the most sensitive skin he had ever known and he felt for her as he watched her rip the string from her corset top. As she did a new one appeared making her smile, and him too, as she quickly wrapped it around her arm to try and control the bleeding. As he returned his vision to his men, he saw there were more steel chards flinging from the nova in all directions, and his horse carefully navigated around the danger. Worried they were in the thick of it he picked up speed to get free, his senses picking up before he heard the explosions around him. A quick glance back towards Cassie again, saw her using her other hand to blow them into powder before they could reach him or do any damage.