Death Defying (Dark Desires) (24 page)

“No disrespect, Rico. You’re my best friend, but I still don’t want to be a sex-crazed monster. I want to be one of the angels.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not much chance of that, sweetheart. So? Still in the dark here.”

Callum grinned. “Ever wanted to know what’s on the other side of a black hole?”

“Maybe.” He sounded cautious.

“Well, you’re about to get the opportunity to find out.”

…

It had been three days.

Callum was doing his best not to hover over Tannis. He knew it irritated her. She was weakening, but holding on with a tenacity he would have expected from her.

Callum spent his time irritating Devlin instead, while he tried to get
The Endeavor
moving a little faster.

They were limping along and trying to get the stealth cloaking device working, but so far—no go. Which was a goddamned shame, because it appeared that half the universe was on their tail, and the other half was coming at them from the sides.

But they were almost there now. If they could just evade their pursuers a little while longer.

“How far away are they?” he asked Daisy who was attempting to track the ships following them. Her fingers moved slowly over the console, a frown forming on her face.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, how about how many?”

“I don’t know that either.” She glared at him. “I’m not Janey, and this stupid machine is not cooperating. But a lot, I think. Maybe all of them. But the good news is, were coming up on Trakis One now.” She leaned across and flicked the monitor over to show a wider area. On their left, he caught his first glimpse of Trakis One. He’d never been there before. The planet housed the Collective’s maximum-security prison and there was no reason to visit if you had a choice in the matter. The place was a shithole, totally inhospitable, including radiation levels that would burn through the hull of an ordinary ship in minutes.

And just beyond lay their destination.

The black hole.

He swallowed. Was he really planning to take them into that well of darkness?

Oh yeah.

Time to wake Tannis up. If they were about to crash and burn, he wanted her at his side when it happened.

…

As Callum carried her onto the bridge, her eyes were drawn to the black hole that filled the screen. It was mesmerizing, a vision of shimmering gases spiraling around a gaping maw. Callum’s hands tightened around her, and she peered up at him.

“You really want to do this?” she asked.

She could be taking them all to their deaths. Though with the Church fast approaching from the rear,
The Endeavor
dying beneath them, and no doubt the Collective not far behind, they didn’t stand much of a chance either way. And there was something strangely compelling about that yawning pit of night. Almost as though it called to them.

At least it took her mind off how crappy she felt. Though in truth, she was so drugged up that while the pain was there, it was distant, as though it belonged to someone else.

“Well, we’re approaching the event horizon,” Rico said. “So if you’re going to change your mind, you’d better make it quick.”

Rico was in the pilot’s seat. Tannis reckoned he’d fallen in love with the ship, and was already planning a major refit. And she was to be renamed
The Blood Hunter Two
. Well, if they survived this and actually found something on the other side.

Callum had been staring at the monitor as if mesmerized, but at the words, he shook himself and looked away. He lowered her gently into a seat. “What do you think?” he asked.

Tannis started at the question. He knew what she thought. Then she realized he wasn’t asking her. He was asking Rico.

“We’re going,” Callum continued, indicated the two of them. “But there’s still time for the rest of you to get off. You can take one of the shuttles and probably slip away from our friends behind us while everyone concentrates on us.” He nodded to the other monitor, which showed the fleet of ships at their back, then glanced around the room.

“Nah. We’re in—wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Rico said. Beside him, Skylar nodded her agreement.

“Daisy?” Callum asked.

“Hell, yes.” Daisy grinned—she was fizzing with excitement.

“Devlin?”

“I’m in.”

To the left of the black hole, Tannis could see Trakis One, dark ocher encircled by spiraling radiation rings of palest yellow to blood crimson. A single moon revolved lazily around the planet. They’d researched it when they were planning to break Jon out of the prison, and she knew that the orbit and size of the planet kept it from the pull of the black hole. But anything approaching had no chance. Except for the brief period when that moon passed between them. Denser than the planet, despite being smaller, it provided sufficient cover for a ship to reach the planet’s surface. But this time, they weren’t aiming for the planet; they were aiming for the hole itself.

They were insane.

Jon and Alex appeared in the doorway, hand in hand, and hurried over to where she sat.

“Captain?” Jon said, shifting from foot to foot.

“What is it?”

“We’re not coming. We’d like to but…”

“Er, running out of time here,” Rico said behind them.

“Alex is pregnant.”

Tannis’s gaze dropped to her stomach—it looked as flat as ever. “That’s…fabulous.” Actually, she wasn’t sure, since she’d never thought much about babies, but Alex looked pleased.

She tugged free of Jon, leaned down and hugged Tannis. “Take care,” she whispered. “And come back.”

“I will.” She hoped.

“Aw, puppies,” Rico murmured. “How cute.”

Jon grinned. “Piss off.”

“So where are you going?” Rico asked.

“We’ve talked about it,” Jon said, “and we’re going to try and slip away, head over to Trakis Two and hole up until the birth.”

“Take one of the bigger shuttles,” Callum said. “They’ve got the range, and they’re fitted with the stealth control.”

“Thanks.” Jon came forward, wrapped his arms around her ever so carefully. She wanted to snap that she wouldn’t break, but she wasn’t sure it was true.

“Thanks for everything, and we’ll see you when you get back.” He straightened then turned to Callum. “Look after her.”

“I will.”

Tannis collapsed in her seat and watched as Alex hugged everybody, and then the two of them disappeared from the bridge. Would she ever see them again? She doubted it.

Callum came to stand beside her and rubbed her shoulder. “You will.”

“Are you a mind reader?”

“Yes.”

“That’s the shuttle clear,” Rico said a minute later. “Let’s do this. And you might want to strap yourselves in. I’m thinking it’s going to get a little bumpy.”

Crouching down in front of her, Callum fastened the harness. When she was all strapped in, he sat back on his heels.

She forced her mind to concentrate. She needed to tell him something. “I just want you to know—whatever happens—this was worth every moment.”

“I know. Me, too.”

He kissed her quickly, then took the seat beside her.

They were in the grip of the gravitational pull now, dragging the ship closer. She glanced sideways at Callum. He leaned forward in his seat, his hands clamped around the arms, his violet eyes glowing. Catching her gaze, he reached across and gripped her hand. “I love you,” he said.

She squeezed his fingers. “I know.”

A deafening roar filled her ears. Their speed increased abruptly, forcing her into her seat, and she lost her grip on his hand. Tannis wrapped her fingers around the armrests and held on.

“That’s it.” Rico’s voice sounded as though from a distance. “We’ve lost control, and we’re going in.”

On the monitor, the black hole loomed closer as though all the brightness was being sucked from the world. The ship’s lights flashed on, then off and she caught brief glimpses of Callum. Then they went out, leaving them in darkness.

The pressure built until the air was squeezed from her lungs. She was losing control of her senses, everything closing in, until she was aware of nothing but the emptiness ahead.

She tried to keep her eyes open, but it didn’t matter as the ship dove headfirst into the very center of the hole. Everything went black, and her last thought was that yeah, just possibly, this whole job might have been a huge mistake.

But still she couldn’t regret it.

Chapter Twenty-five

Tannis sat in the darkness and realized she was alive.

That was unexpected.

The lights flashed back to life, and she blinked and looked around her. The bridge seemed in good shape, and the others were all awake and unharmed. Callum was already out of his seat and at the monitors. He turned and grinned, his eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement.

“Stay there.”

Yeah, like she was going to get up and start leaping about. She settled back and watched.

The main monitor showed the black hole they had just come through. From this side, it appeared harmless, golden like a sun. On a second monitor, a huge ship floated in the screen.
Really huge.

“Fuck me, that’s the
Trakis On
e,” Rico said from behind her.

“I know.” Callum didn’t do anything obvious, but the monitor zoomed in, and she read the words clearly on the side of the ship.
Trakis One.

“Do you know who’s on board the
Trakis One
?” Rico asked her.

“Actually, no.”

“Only Max Beauchamp, the last President of the Federation of Nations. And the first family.” He prodded Callum in the arm. “Hey, didn’t you have a thing with Max’s daughter. What was she called, Tracey, Theresa…?”

“Tamara,” Callum said. He cast Rico a sour glance. “And thanks for bringing that up.”

“A
thing
?” Tannis asked, her eyes narrowing. Callum shifted.

“Yeah, a
thing
.” Rico grinned. “Made the front pages—romance of the decade. And didn’t she go and dump you for some sailor?”

“We mutually agreed to part.” Callum studied the monitor. “Do you think they’re alive after all this time?”

“I’m picking up life-forms,” Daisy said. “Lots of them. But no movement.”

“Maybe the cryotubes are still functioning.”

“Could be,” Rico said. “We’ll board her later and find out, but first we need to give the ship a once-over and find Callum’s alien friends.” He turned to Devlin who was flicking through the console, carrying out a system’s check. “How’s she looking?”

“Not too bad. I’m going to pop down, check on the engines.”

Tannis sighed. The drugs were wearing off, and she felt like shit. She studied Callum to take her mind off it.

He was leaning in close to Daisy, talking to her, but he must have sensed her stare, because he straightened and came toward her. Her gaze dropped down over his body. He was beautiful, long and lean, the wings folded neatly against his back. “I can sense them,” he said.

She shook her head, trying to make sense of his words. “What?”

“They’re here, somewhere. We have to follow the voices in my head. Just hold on. All right?”

She nodded, tried to feel something, but the world seemed distant. The hope was still there but buried beneath the weight of pain and weakness. She had to hold on for a little while longer, but her vision was fading.

“Tannis!” His voice was filled with panic.

She opened her eyes as wide as she could and gave him a smile. “Still here.”

“Stay with me.”

“I will.”

And she tried, concentrating as hard as she could, but the darkness was creeping up on her. Occasionally, she was aware of Callum talking to her, encouraging her, and some part of her nodded and smiled, but even those moments faded to nothing, and the world blurred into one endless background buzz of pain.

Finally, she sensed something different.

She was in Callum’s arms, and she pried her heavy eyes to open.

“Soon,” he murmured against her skin.

She clung to him as he laid her on the ground. This was the end. She couldn’t hold on any longer. Something touched her arm, tentatively at first, then twining around her wrist, tightening. Then the background pain vanished in a blaze of agony so vivid, she jolted upright.

Fire flowed through her blood. It grew, consuming her, until the blessed relief of darkness.

…

She came to lying on a sandy floor. She blinked a couple of times and stared up at the ceiling. She was in some sort of cave. The light glowed violet.

Are you all right?

It took her a moment to realize the voice was Callum’s, and it was inside her head. She turned so she could see him. He sat close to her, leaning against the rough stone wall of the cave. His eyes were shadowed. He looked like he’d aged a hundred years, but as she stared at him his worried expression cleared and he smiled.

“I’m good.” In fact, her whole body tingled with energy. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she looked inward. The pain had gone, vanished as though it had never existed. Beside her lay a shriveled tentacle-like structure. She prodded it with her finger, but it remained lifeless.

She rolled onto all fours, then crawled across the floor. Callum met her halfway, opened his arms, and she didn’t stop until she was held tight against him. “Thank you,” she murmured against his chest.

He twisted her in his arms so she was under him, the sand silky soft against her back.

“Say thank you properly,” he growled, pressing his body against her. She didn’t think to stop him; life pulsed through her veins, a wild exhilaration waking inside her. His hands moved over her body. He didn’t try to undress her, just ripped her shirt down the front to bare her breasts.

“I thought I’d lost you.”

Tannis heard the desperation in his voice as his mouth trailed down her throat, to kiss and nip her breasts. Her spine arched beneath him. His teeth raked over one peak, then he bit down, and pleasure shot down through her body as wet heat flooded her sex. He moved to the other breast, and she could feel the barely leashed power in his touch. He lowered his hips so the hard length of his erection pressed into her, and her hips rose up to meet him.

His hand moved to her waist, and he tore open the fastener of her pants, pushed them almost roughly down over her hips. She had to kick off her boots to allow him to drag them down over her legs. And finally, she was naked beneath him, while he was fully dressed. He stared down at her, his gaze like fire as it trailed over her body.

They were both breathing hard now.

His hand moved between their bodies, and he swore softly as he fumbled with the fastener of his own pants. Then he was free and for a second she felt him hot and hard against her belly.

Then he was inside her. Inside her body and inside her head.

I love you.

The words echoed through her mind.

Tentatively, she reached out with her own thoughts. And she could sense his feelings, exultation, happiness, need…love.

I love you.

He smiled down at her, and she knew he’d heard her words. Then he started moving inside her and all thoughts fled her mind as she gave herself up to him.

Afterward, they dressed. Callum took her hand and led her out of the cave. She’d been too out of it to notice her surroundings when they’d arrived. Now she looked around her.

All her senses were more acute, the air soft against her skin and filled with a sweet scent like flowers. Off to the east a crimson sun was setting over a rocky landscape. As she watched, winged creatures rose from the rocks, silhouetted against the glowing sky. They swooped and swirled in an intricate dance, graceful and so beautiful her heart ached.

She turned to Callum. “Are they…?”

He nodded. “Can you hear them?”

Closing her eyes, she opened her mind and a wordless song filled her head. Callum squeezed her hand and they stood together as the music washed through them.

She’d come so close to death, stared it in the face, and finally, defied it.

“You know,” Callum said, “my people told me I was making a big mistake.” His thumb rubbed over her palm, sending prickles of sensation down her nerve endings.

“Funny, so did mine.”

He leaned in close and kissed the corner of her mouth. “And what do you think now?”

“Biggest mistake I ever made.” Sliding her arms around his waist, she pulled him close. “And you know the best thing about it?” She kissed the pulse point at his throat. “Now I get to live with my mistake—forever.”

The End