Burn With Me (Legend of the Sun Whisperers) (15 page)

Draco closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, searching for Maddelyn aboard the ship. She had stalked off in anger, so there was no telling where she ended up. Her warm presence had filled his thoughts easily the past two days, but as he opened his mind to find her, he came up empty.

Confusion settled like a cloud in his mind.
Where is she?

“CAIT, where is Maddelyn?”

No response
.

Unease rippled through him at CAIT
’s silence. “CAIT, please tell me where Maddelyn is.”

“She is…unavailable.”

The hesitance in the ship’s voice was hard to miss, and it made his insides twist into a knot. “CAIT…”

“Her plan was sound, Draco. All she needed was a little help.”

Fear snaked through his veins, turning his insides cold. “What did you do?” he managed to force out through clenched teeth.

“She asked for my help! And since friends help each other, how could I not?”

“CAIT.  Where.  Is.  Maddelyn?” Anger churned with the fear, clenching his gut in a vise that threatened to rip him wide open.

“The glove she took from the Raknorg soldier had a retrieval program. I helped her use it to transport to the mother ship, where she will upload a virus into the system, disabling the soldiers and the fleet.” CAIT’
s words came out in a breathless rush.

“Damn it, CAIT! How could you help her do something so reckless? She’
s going to get herself killed!”

The thin veil of control Draco held over himself began to slip again. His body burned, pure panic gripping him at the thought of losing Maddelyn. If he lost her now, he
’d never discover the basis or the depth of the connection they shared, or where their relationship might lead after their one perfect night together. He’d never get to temper the horrors she’d experienced with the wonders he knew the universe contained. He’d never get to tell her…

Draco took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
I must save her
.

Chapter Nine

The blinding light around Maddelyn faded, leaving her blinking repeatedly in its absence.  She staggered forward and clutched her stomach, which reeled with nausea.

It felt as though all the atoms of her body had been taken apart, then put back together.

Which, she supposed, was exactly what had happened during the transport.

She collapsed to her knees, her lungs sucking in gulps of air as she fought to not throw up all over the floor of…wherever the hell she was.

After a few scary moments where she thought she might actually get to see what the inside of her stomach looked like, Maddelyn forced herself back onto her feet. A couple more deep breaths, then she leaned against the wall behind her and tried to get her bearings.

It appeared as though the glove had deposited her in a small alcove in one of the Raknorg ship’s hallways. It was dark, much darker than Draco’s ship, which made it difficult to see. When she squinted, Maddelyn could barely make out the outline of her small, black space. Light filtered in from a doorway a little to her right.

“I wonder if all the spaceship manufacturers that exist buy their paint from the same place. All this black and gray is ridiculous. Isn’
t space drab enough? Blech.” Maddelyn whispered out loud to herself, more to calm her nerves than anything. But the sound of her own voice held little comfort.

Maddelyn ran her hand along the wall in front of her, in the direction of the doorway.  The surface was smooth, almost like polished stone, and it hummed under her fingertips ever so slightly. Cautiously, she stepped toward the doorway and poked her head out, her heart dancing a jig in her chest.

The hallway was a little brighter, thanks to the small red lights that ran along the floor. They reflected along the surface of the black walls, which she could now see had a glossy finish. The reflections effect gave an illusion of infinity, myriad hallways leading on forever. Every so often a panel of multicolored flashing lights would break up the dark space, and she could see a couple of other doorways, but not much else.

CAIT had said Maddelyn should arrive near a main control room, but because of the nondescript décor, Maddelyn had no clue where that might be. Everything looked the same. Suddenly, this completely logical and easy plan of hers lost its charm.

A loud noise suddenly filtered down the hallway, its beat regular and growing stronger.  Fast.
Really
fast.

Maddelyn ducked back into her little hiding place, flattening her back against the wall.  She held her breath, her rapid heartbeat now filling her ears. A group of Raknorg soldiers marched by. Their boots pounded the floor like base drums, and echoed through the ship. 

As the soldiers passed, Maddelyn prayed to whatever god might be listening that she remain undetected, making all sorts of promises about not putting herself in danger ever again, as long as she get out of this alive.

The sound of the soldiers
’ stomping boots grew fainter as they disappeared down the corridor, and the breath Maddelyn was holding blew out with a rush.

“That was close. And now, I just have to figure out how to get to the main computer room of the ship.” Talking to herself out loud was still not helping.
Oh well
.

But before she could think about what she was going to do next, a blast of hot air hit her body, the force knocking her backwards on her rear with a clumsy thud.
” What in the world?”

A column of yellow light illuminated the small alcove so intensely, Maddelyn threw up her hand to shield her eyes from the brightness. The light pulsed for a moment, like the brightest camera flash that ever existed, then slowly faded into nothingness. Spots danced in front of Maddelyn
’s eyes and she blinked rapidly, attempting to focus. She could just barely make out the familiar form of Draco as he stood, the fire in his eyes burning into her as he glared.

Maddelyn scrambled to her feet, adrenaline coursing through her veins.
“How did you find me? Did CAIT rat me out?”

“
That
is not important. What
is
important, is that we must get out of this place before we are detected. Or killed.”

Maddelyn shook her head and leaned back against the wall of the alcove.
“I didn’t come all this way to have you pull the rug out from under me now. How did you even get here, anyway?”

Draco narrowed his eyes before he spoke, his jaw clenched.
“I spoke to the sun of this system and requested permission to tap into its energy for a power boost in order to find you.”

Maddelyn blinked her eyes, uncertain she had heard correctly. Her mouth went slack for a second before she was able to speak.
“I don’t even know what that means, exactly, but you shouldn’t have bothered. I have this all under control. No thanks to you.”

Draco took a step toward her and faltered, catching his balance with an outstretched hand. 
“Just as soon as I’ve had a few moments to recover from the drain of power the transport caused, we will be leaving.”

Maddelyn backed away, shaking her head.
“Not on your life, buddy. I’ve come too far to quit, now.” She was not about to let him take control of the situation, not when she had come this far.

Draco
’s eyes blazed up for a second with what Maddelyn imagined was mild fury, probably just one step below the way he’d appeared when he killed the Raknorg soldier at her shack.  “I will not stand by and watch you risk your life in an unwinnable fight!”

“Then don’
t stand by.  Help me!”

His jaw clenched tighter, as unmoving as his decision. His stubbornness just spurred Maddelyn on to action.
“Fine. I guess I’m still on my own, then.”

Draco
’s hand darted out but she easily sidestepped his reach, turning swiftly to dart out of the little alcove. Remembering CAIT’s directions that she would be near the main control room, Maddelyn silently crept to the first doorway in the long hallway and ducked inside.

More of the same glossy black greeted her in the doorway, differentiated only by a seam that ran down the middle, with a panel to the right side.
“Great. Raknorg door lock. How do I get past this?”

She studied the panel for a few moments, determined to not let a little thing like a locked door deter her from her plan. Upon inspection, Maddelyn realized that on the other side of the panel, closest to the wall, there was another smooth black rectangle, possibly some kind of a scanner. 

“Worth a try.” With a shrug, she placed her gloved hand on the pad. Her entire body stilled as she watched a red light move over the area, scanning the palm. For a few torturous seconds, nothing happened, and Maddelyn’s heart sank with disappointment. But then, the two doors slid smoothly open, granting her access.

She stepped carefully through, her muscles tensed and ready for action, and immediately moved off to the left, flattening herself against the wall. This room was huge, and though it still was mostly black, multiple counters with more flashing lights than she could count lit the room with an eerie, reddish glow.
Ok, now what?

“I suggest we leave.” Draco’
s voice nearly made her cry out in surprise, since she hadn’t heard him come through the door behind her. Maddelyn’s hand flew to her mouth, her teeth digging painfully into her knuckles in order to keep quiet until her heart removed itself from where it was firmly lodged in her throat. When she felt it was safe, she removed her fist from her mouth and promptly punched Draco in the arm with it.

“Now who’
s trying to get us killed?” her voice was a harsh whisper.

Draco shrugged nonchalantly, but his amber eyes were still lit from within. His lips parted, as if he was about to say something, but then he grabbed her hard by the shoulders and roughly pushed her to the floor, following close behind. The action made her bump her head on the edge of the nearest counter, and she was sure she saw stars for an instant.

“Hey, what was that for?” she asked, rubbing the now sore spot on her head.

“We have company, so you’
d better keep quiet, if you value that pretty little head of yours.” His words were so sharp, they could have cut something.

Maddelyn turned to peer around the edge of the counter, barely glimpsing a peek of their Raknorg guest before Draco yanked her back.
“What part of that statement sounded like ‘look at the evil alien so he knows where we’re hiding?’”

Maddelyn gave Draco a nasty look.
“There’s no need to be rude. I was just trying to see where we stood.”

Draco grabbed her arm again, his grip firm, but still not as strong as she knew he could be.
“Where we stand, is that we are getting the hell out of here.”

Maddelyn shrugged off his arm.
“I told you already, I’m not going anywhere until I do what I came to do.” Draco opened his mouth to argue, but Maddelyn cut him off. “And you’re not back to one hundred percent yet, so you can’t make me!”

Before Draco could react, or Maddelyn could think about what she was about to do, she sprung from her hiding place and covered the space of the main aisle she
’d seen to immediately crouch behind the next counter, across and away from Draco.

From her new spot, Maddelyn could see Draco and the fury that lit his gaze even more. She could also hear her blood rushing in her ears, the fear of how close she was to either succeeding or failing drowning out all other sound for a few scary moments while she concentrated on getting her emotions and everything else under control.

I can so do this.

“Intruder alert!  Intruder alert!” The grating voice of the Raknorg cut through the air along with the shrill wail of a claxon, making Maddelyn’
s teeth ache.

Crap.

A cold panic set in, numbing her insides as she stole a glance over at Draco. His features were set in a determined look that had “I told you so” written all over it.
Men.

A small beeping sound brought her out of her thoughts for a moment, almost too soft to hear over the now deafening alarms. Maddelyn glanced around, and realized with a sinking feeling in her gut that is was coming from the glove still on her hand.
They must have tracked the glove when she used it to open the lock on the door.

She shucked the black glove, removing the data crystal and shoving it into her pants pocket. Then she banged the thing violently against the floor, the screen on it cracking further as little sparks arced through the air, before the thing went completely dead. Well, CAIT had said the thing couldn
’t take her home anyway. No big loss. Everything is still on track.

Just as she was patting herself on the back at a job well done, a stream of light whizzed right over her head and exploded on the wall behind her. Maddelyn gulped and crouched even lower. There was no way to deny that they
’d been found, now.

Across the aisle, Draco crouched as low as he could. The small counter was barely able to hide his broad shouldered form from the rain of alien fire that now erupted from the Raknorg
’s gun. Maddelyn watched in fascination as Draco proceeded to pulse lightly with a golden light, before forming one of those destructive balls of fire in his hand and hurling it in the direction of their attacker.