Beforeher.Endless days of work and darkness with no hope, no change, no reason to live except duty. Vance’s dark eyes studied her delicate features as if he would never tire of looking at her.
“Nor can I.”
15
Marz
“Everyone better be strapped in.This could get bumpy.” Vance’s calm tone did not match the words of warning, nor the surge of alarm only Rowan and I could feel.
Fuck. Vance was the most skilled pilot I’d ever seen. If Vance was anxious…
I leaned over and tugged on the safety straps locked over Rowen’s shoulders. She was here. Of course she was fucking here. Stubborn female. If there were any possible way to send the data back to base through the storm, I would have tied her to a chair in the control room and dealt with her anger once the mission was over. Unfortunately, that was not possible. The electromagnetic spikes shooting through the atmosphere interfered with all communications. Everyone on the planet was at risk. Every female. Every child.
Like it or not, my mate was needed. I was proud of her. Didn’t mean I didn’t hate putting her in danger with every fucking cell in my body.
She swatted my gloved hands away. “Marz. You’ve checked them ten times. I’m good.”
“Let me.”
With a sigh, she relaxed and stopped fighting my compulsive need to make sure she was safe.
The mission should be simple. Failure was not an option. We had one shot to stop what we now believed was the Hive's storm machine, or we would be forced to evacuate. Our objective was to land the craft as close as possible to the drilling site my beautiful, intelligent, gods damn perfect mate had chosen, set up a defensive perimeter, and drill down until we could directly access the buried Hive technology. Somehow, whatever was below the surface was causing the storms. If we failed to shut it down, the storms would force us to evacuate the planet until reinforcements arrived from Prillon Prime. Scientist. Ships. Equipment. Warriors.
When the governor last spoke to Prime Nial on our home world a few days ago, the Coalition Fleet’s leader was not pleased to learn what was happening here. We did not yet know if this was an orchestrated attack or a secondary effect of reactivated, ancient technology. I didn’t want to even consider the possibility that The Colony might be a new front in our centuries long war with the Hive.
The strategic importance of The Colony, and the elements we mined, had been a closely guarded secret for many years.
If the Hive had figured it out, if we lost control of The Colony, our transport systems would be crippled across the entire Interstellar Coalition of Planets.
Everyone on this mission was a volunteer. We all knew the risks. Lightning had already struck the ship once. The storm’s pulses threatened to fry every piece of tech we had and turn Vance’s ability to navigate into a deadly guessing game. Electromagnetic interference was throwing off our instruments.Vance's head buzzed. Rowan's scanners flickered like a dying light. On. Off. On.
If the Hive's plan was to ambush us, there was no telling how many might be waiting for us out there, hidden in the storm’s chaos.
If I had my choice, the Hive would fucking get on with it. Attack. Stop hiding.
We were ready, our team impatient and focused as they ran their last checks on the gear and drilling equipment. Rowan's gaze darted between the warriors setting up around her, her usual calm rattled by the prospect of what lay ahead. I stepped closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I love you, mate. We won’t allow anything to happen to you.”
She glanced up at me, a faint smile on her lips that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m not worried about the storm. It’s... everything else.”
I nodded, understanding what she could not say in front of the others. Vance. She worried for her second, the Hive influence battling for control of his mind. We all heard it now. The shadows I saw in the other warriors’ eyes were all the evidence I needed that they felt what I did. Buzzing. Humming. Thousands of whispers.
The Hive’s mind control was insidious. Never a direct attack, always murmurs from a friend. Promises of connection. Belonging. Strength in numbers. A life without fear. Without loneliness. Isolation. Rejection. Pain. The Hive Integration Units would torture us to the brink of death, then tempt us with whispers…
“Vance is strong, and he has a reason to fight.”
“I know.” She sent love through the mating collars, strong and pure, strong enough I knew Vance would feel her as I did. Her fear wasn’t misplaced—Hive ambushes had caught us off guard before. I refused to show weakness, not when she waslooking at me like that, searching for what reassurance I had to give. I squeezed her shoulder one last time before stepping back to go check on Vance.
He sat in the pilot’s chair, his expression relaxed, almost as if we were headed out for a training exercise instead of a potential suicide mission. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. They were too distant, as if part of him was already detached from the world around him.
The ship's engines roared under my feet, vibrating through my bones as I strapped into the seat next to him, as I’d done hundreds of times before. Vance movements were smooth and confident. “Is Rowan buckled in?”
“Of course.”
He nodded. “I’ve mapped out the least deadly path through the storm. Tell the others to try not to break anything back there.”
Rowan must have heard our chatter through ship’s comms. “Least deadly?” she repeated, her voice tight.
“Relax, Rowan.” Vance’s hands remained steady on the controls. “I've got this. Trust me.”
