Lost in Barbarian Space (18 page)

But then she heard an enraged sound.

She turned and saw Colm, his hands out in front of him, his muscles tight.

He launched himself at the syndroid.

“No!” she cried.

The droid was firing, but Colm moved too fast. He dodged all the laser fire. His kick sent the droid rocking, but it recovered quickly.

Honor watched Colm fight, amazement filling her chest. He was so lethal, so ruthless, so powerful. Even without his sword, he was still a magnificent fighter. He slammed kicks and hits into the droid. The droid was fast, spinning and ducking to avoid the blows.

But Colm had rage on his side.

Then out of the corner of her eye, Honor spotted Alara lifting a pair of laser pistols—Honor’s pistols—and she was aiming them right at Colm.

No way.
Honor sprinted, slipping a little on the icy floor. She dived into the air and tackled the pirate leader.

They connected with an
oomf
. They slid across the floor and right out the hole in the side of the ship. As they bounced over the icy ground, Honor winced, but she kept her grip on the woman.

The pirate leader wasn’t young, but she was muscled and tough. She punched Honor in the face. Honor felt blood trickling from her mouth, but she spat it out and fought back. They rolled again, trading hits.

God, the woman was damned strong. Honor began to wonder if Alara had some sort of cyborg enhancements under her clothes. They rolled again and knocked into something. Honor glanced up and saw it was an icy, narrow stalagmite, spiking up from the ground.

She grabbed it, wrenched, and the long piece of ice came free in her hand.

It wasn’t her stun-staff, but it would do the job. She rolled away and bounced to her feet. Alara wasted no time getting off the ground, but Honor didn’t let her recover. She smacked the ice staff against Alara. The pirate woman fell backward with a cry.

Honor followed, spinning the stalagmite like she would her staff. She adjusted for the weight and slick feel of it.

“You got nowhere to go, girly.”

“Hear that?” She nodded toward the din of fighting inside the ship. “That’s the sound of your droid and your people getting the shit beaten out of them. I think I have a good chance of taking you down and stopping you from pilfering what isn’t yours.”

“You really think people want to look at all this stuff? To see it gathering dust in some fucking Institute museum? No one cares.”

“Yes, they do. I do. The warriors of this planet do and this is their moon, their history, their space. I know you can’t understand that, and I don’t expect you to, but I’m going to stop you from taking a single piece of treasure out of here.”

“All right, girly, let’s do it. I know more about fighting than you’ve ever learned.”

They charged at each other.

Honor took a hard blow to the gut that knocked all the air out of her. She spun, trying to avoid Alara’s next hit.

She swung out with her ice staff.

She hit Alara’s arm, and there was a loud cracking sound. The pirate leader stumbled back, clutching her arm.

“Shit, you broke it!”

Honor kept fighting her way closer. Suddenly, Alara pulled something from her pocket, and Honor froze.

The trip here with Lala had taught her to recognize all kinds of explosives, especially Lala’s signature one.

Lastite. Highly, highly volatile.

Suddenly, laser fire peppered the wall behind them. Chunks of ice flew in all directions.

Honor dove, sliding on her stomach across the ice. As she turned, she spotted the syndroid coming out of the ship. A narrow plume of smoke was floating behind it, and it listed slightly to one side. It fired again, and Honor scrambled backward.

A large body barreled out of the ship, jumped, and slammed into the droid. Colm and the droid smashed into the ground. Colm got the droid beneath him, gripped it with both his hands, and then pulled, tearing the droid to shreds.

Honor jumped up and sprinted toward Alara. She slammed a hard fist into the woman’s face. The pirate leader fell backward, her arms windmilling, and the lastite explosive fell from her hand. Honor dove, catching the explosive before it hit the ground.

Alara hit the ice, her head making contact with a sickening crack. She didn’t move.

Honor sat up, letting out a shaky breath. She tucked the lastite carefully into her pocket. A present for Lala. Then Honor hurried toward her warrior. “Colm, are you okay?”

He got to his feet. The wild look was back on his face, his eyes molten gold. He was breathing fast. Too fast.

Then, behind him, she saw a few bedraggled pirates coming out of the ship, weapons up.

“Kill them,” someone shouted.

Honor’s chest constricted. She was moving, but she already knew she wasn’t going to be fast enough. And Colm was no match for lasers.

Shouts echoed around them, accompanied by the whine of laser weapons.

Colm tackled her, taking her to the ground covering her with his body. It took her a second to realize that the lasers and shouts weren’t coming from the ship.

They were coming from the cavern below.

She turned her head, and over Colm’s shoulder, she spotted familiar black-and-gray uniforms.

Her security team rushed forward, with a woman dressed in sleek, black armor in the lead.

Suddenly, two small metal balls bounced forward, past Colm and Honor, and into the group of remaining pirates. Knowing what was about to happen, Honor closed her eyes, just as the balls exploded.

Then, she heard the pirates shouting.

She opened her eyes. The pirates were covered in a sticky, pink goo. They were stuck to the ground, and each other. The more they fought the goo, the stickier it got.

“Take that, pirate suckers.” A slim body danced past them, the flash of pink hair a shocking contrast to the pale ice of the walls.

Lala crossed her arms in front of her, more balls bouncing across the ice. She looked like a damned teenage superhero.

There were deep-voiced shouts, and this time, it was barbarian warriors that rushed past Honor and Colm. Swords flashed, and the cavern shook with the roar of their battle cries.

It didn’t take long for the warriors to subdue the last of the pirates.

“Honor. Colm.” Kavon appeared beside them. “Are you all right?”

Suddenly, Colm moved. He pulled Honor into his arms, pressing her face to his chest. She felt his body vibrating.

“It’s okay, Colm. It’s Kavon.”

His eyes glittered gold, no recognition in their depths.

Her pulse tripped, and she cupped his cheek. “Hey, come back to me now.”

Colm made a short, strangled sound.

“I’m here, Colm.”

“Honor?” It was Darc’s voice.

The woman appeared with her long, slender sword clutched in her hand. Colm growled at her.

Darc tensed and lifted her sword.

Colm roared now, an enraged sound that reverberated in the space. He stepped backward, pulling Honor with him.

“Don’t.” Honor held her palm out to the others in warning.

“What’s wrong?” Kavon’s gaze was on his friend.

“He needs help.” When Colm’s arms tightened further around her, she found it hard to breathe. “His nanami are out of control.”

“What?” Shock crossed Kavon’s face.

She fought back her own emotions. “He has nanami sickness. He’s been hiding it from you. It’s been going on for a while, but he’s been fighting it. But this…he can’t control them anymore.”

Honor saw the ripple of grief cross Kavon’s face before he controlled it. “No. He’s the most controlled warrior I know.”

“Because he’s had to be,” Honor said. “He saw what it did to his father.”

Kavon’s chin dropped to his chest. “There is no cure. It will drive him insane.”

Honor went cold. She could feel the brilliant heat of Colm against her back, the pulsing life of him. She wouldn’t give up on the man she loved. “No.”

Chapter Fourteen

Colm was struggling to stay aware of what was going on.

The sounds around him were too noisy, ringing in his ears. The light was too bright, making it hard for him to see. His nanami were amped up, buzzing through his body, overloading him.

He could feel Honor’s sweet warmth against him. He focused on that. He didn’t want to let her go, and he wouldn’t let anyone take her from him. The touch of her was the only thing grounding him.

He saw a huge warrior step in front of them. A threat.

Colm scooped Honor up and heard her squeak. He backed away from the warrior. He kept moving until he felt the slick surface of the ice wall hit his back. He moved along the wall, away from all these threats to his woman.

“I’m here, Colm,” Honor said. “I’m not going anywhere. You just have to stay calm.”

He was trying to understand, trying to piece her words together in his head. But nothing was making sense. All sound was just a roar in his ears.

Honor
. His Honor. His mate. That was the only thing that made sense to him right now.

“You need to calm down. These are our friends. We’re safe now. They’re here to help.” She stroked her hand down his arm, then across his chest.

Slowly, under her steady strokes, he felt his nanami start to steady. The hypnotic motion of her touch was soothing.

“Brandall.” A woman dressed entirely in black stepped forward. “The men are staying back for now.”

“He needs help, Nera.”

“Kavon thinks he’s beyond that.”

Colm felt Honor’s arms tighten on him. “No. We have advanced medical technology. There has to be a way to help him.”

The other woman’s face was hard. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

Under his palm, Colm felt Honor’s heart racing with panic. “Would you give up on Nik?”

Something moved in the woman’s eyes now. “Dammit, Brandall. You weren’t supposed to fucking go and fall in love with a barbarian warrior.”

“Please. Please help him.”

The woman’s multi-colored gaze took them both in. Then she nodded. “You get him back to the ship without him killing anyone and then we’ll see. Got it?”

Honor’s hair tickled against Colm’s jaw as she nodded.

She spun to face him, her hands pressed against his chest. “Colm, I need you to listen to me. I need you to trust me.”

He stared down at her, his mate, his brave warrior. He leaned down and buried his face in her hair.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Follow me.” She held out her hand.

Colm put his hand in hers and let her tug him forward.

As they neared the group, and the other men, he growled. She paused. “We’ll stay at the back.”

They began moving back through the ice tunnels. Whoever was in the lead was holding a device that made a strange beeping sound that hurt Colm’s ears.

He stayed alert, ready to protect Honor from any danger.

Then they were stepping outside of the tunnels. The bright light made him blink.

“It looks completely different out here,” Honor said.

The sun was shining, gleaming off the white snow and ice. There were no storm clouds in sight.

Ahead, Colm saw a ship. And beside it a larger group of people. He tensed.

Honor squeezed his hand. “I’ll take care of you, my warrior. Trust me?”

He yanked her up until her feet were dangling off the ground and pressed his mouth to hers. She made a small sound and kissed him back.

“Mate,” he said.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, Colm.” She pressed her face to his. “I love you. Whatever happens, remember that.”

“Mate. Love.”

Her face went soft. Then he saw her gaze move over his shoulder and her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

Suddenly, Colm felt a prick at the back of his neck. He whirled, taking Honor with him.

Behind him stood the woman in black, and she was holding some sort of device in her hand.

“I’ve given him the correct dose for his weight and metabolism,” she said. “It’ll only take a moment for it to take effect.”

Honor stroked him. “Was that really necessary?” Colm thought her face looked sad.

“It’s for his safety, and everybody else’s.”

Colm didn’t know what they were talking about, but the next instant he felt tiredness crashing in on him. His muscles went lax.

As his legs failed, Honor caught him, struggling to keep them both upright.

His eyes went to hers. She’d let them incapacitate him!

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She stroked his face. “It’ll be okay.”

He sensed a warrior nearby, felt strong hands taking his weight before they hit the snow. But Colm kept his gaze on his mate.

“I’m here, Colm. I’m here.”

But lights danced in front of his eyes and her voice drifted off. Then there was nothing.

***

Honor paced the corridor outside the med bay on the
Magellan
. Her boots
thunked
on the floor until she reached the far wall, pivoted, and headed back.

Nervous energy was winging through her body, and there was no way she could sit in the waiting room chairs nearby. Aurina was there, rubbing her round belly and looking worried. Kavon stood against the wall, his arms crossed over his bare chest. His face was blank, but she could tell he was worried, too.

Honor ran a hand through her hair. It was still damp. Nik and Nera had bullied her into taking a quick shower and getting changed. She hadn’t wanted to be far from Colm, but it was nice to be clean.

The med team had been working on him for hours.

Honor sensed someone approach her.

“How are you doing?” Aurina asked.

“It’s taking so long.”

“I’m sure they’re doing everything they can. Kavon’s worried as well.” Aurina cast a concerned glance at her mate and lowered her voice. “He’s angry that Colm never mentioned this. I think Kavon’s angrier at himself for not noticing it.”

“Colm was hiding it. He’d gotten control down to a fine art.” Her voice cracked.

Footsteps rounded the corner and Niklas Phoenix appeared. He stopped beside them, his face serious.

“Doing okay, Honor?”

She nodded. “I’m hoping they’ll be done soon.” But more than that, she was hoping that there was something they could do to help Colm. She pressed her hands together. He had to be okay.