Fuck. They’d fired the weapon while I’d been buried alive inside my own mind.
And it failed?
What kind of machine were we dealing with?
The remaining Hive Soldiers’ influence clawed at me, tore at my grip on reality. But their numbers were down. Marz and his warriors had terminated most of them. Thank the gods. If I only had to deal with the machine below the surface, I might have a chance.
I forced the ancient machine’s mind to disconnect from the Hive Soldier’s network, severed the psychic threads that linked the ancient machine to the chaos in the sky.
With a final burst of effort, I overrode the machine’s commands and initiated the shutdown sequence. The electromagnetic pulses subsided, the power feeding the storm dwindling to a faint hum. The lightning strikes grew lessfrequent. The winds weakened to a mere whisper of their former strength.
I collapsed to my knees, my breath coming in ragged gasps as the last of the Hive’s influence receded, their hold on me slipping away like a retreating tide as our warriors eliminated the last Soldier and the machine powered down.
A small body slammed into me and I wrapped my arms around my mate.
She clung to me, her body trembling. “That sucked. I don’t ever want to do that again.”
“Nor do I.”
Holding her in my arms, I struggled to my feet as Marz stumbled, his strength finally giving out. “Rowan?”
She felt his urgency, his need to know she was safe. “I’m here. I’m not hurt.”
“Thank the gods.”
I knew what he needed. I covered the distance between us and wedged my shoulder under his arm, held him upright as he reached for our mate. With the immediate threat gone, his injuries caught up with him like a delayed blow. He was going to collapse. “You need a ReGen pod.”
He shook his head and held Rowan tight. “I have everything I need right here.”
I snapped to attention when the governor’s voice suddenly blasted through our comms. Guess communications were back up now that the storm was clearing. “Status, Captain?”
Marz’s smile was half relief, half physical pain. “We won.”
“Did you find anything?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the drill. “Yes. It’s old Hive tech. Eons old.”
“What woke it up?”
I shook my head even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “I don’t know.” Somehow, I had communicated directly with theancient entity. Mind to mind. If I didn’t know the answer, no one did.
The governor’s sigh fit my mood perfectly. “Dig it up and bring it back. I want that thing off planet as quickly as possible. The I.C. can deal with it.”
“Yes, sir.” The Coalition Fleet’s Intelligence Core would probably be thrilled to get their hands on it. The governor signed off and the security team checked the Hive Soldiers as the drill team got back to work. It would take them hours, if not days, to extract the ancient machine. I wasn’t sure we had a ship large enough to carry it. They’d probably want me to fly the fucking thing all the way to?—
“Vance.” Rowan’s whisper commanded my attention faster and more completely than any order issued on any battlefield.
“Yes, mate?”
“I love you. Don’t youeverscare me like that again.” Our mate was adorable when she was trying to scold me. Made me want to kiss her. Feast on her wet pussy until her sass turned to moans of pleasure.
To my surprise, Marz answered. “He won’t.” His golden gaze found mind and I knew he spoke the truth. My mind was my own. I would hear them, when they were near, but the Hive’s whispers no longer tempted me, would never control me. I wasn’t alone. Would never be alone again.
“They can’t touch me, mate. Not while I have you.”
I thought she was finished, but she glared at Marz next. “And you. You’re bleeding everywhere. That is totally unacceptable. No bleeding.”
Marz laughed. I joined him, the relief and joy bubbling through our mating collars more potent than any drug.
