A gold-emblazoned marquee on the wall declared the name of the craft:The Alatyr.
Beneath their boots, the floor thrummed with the pulse of the fusion reactor, marking their explosive speed through space.
A man with skin the color of obsidian, stunning features, and locks trailing to his waist stepped down a set of stairs onto the decking level above them.
With a nonchalant grin, he leaned over the railing, gazing down at the couple.
‘Welcome on board, my friends,’ Ki’Remi Sable rasped, the gravel of his timbre filling the bay. ‘We’re on a vector to Eden II. Anyone object?’
Sheba glanced at Idan, who gave her a shrug.
Wherever you think best,he growled into her mind.
Sheba gazed up at Ki’Remi, leaning into the hand Idan now placed on the small of her back.
His palm was a steady anchor, his thumb tracing a slow, reassuring line against her spine. ‘Sante, Remi,’ she managed a wry smile. ‘Eden II works for us. Damn, I’ve never felt such relief at seeing your ugly mug.’
Ki’Remi’s eyes drifted to the man beside her.
He arched a brow, taking in the long sable mane and the impossible heft and size of him.
Along with the corded muscles of his torso and thighs, and the glowing glyphs that pulsed over his skin.
‘It seems to be raining Sacrans from the heavens today,’ Ki’Remi noted, eyes gleaming. ‘Which one are you?’
Sheba turned to her man with a soft smile. ‘Idan, meet Ki’Remi Sable, one of the infamous Riders and a good friend. Hell, he’s family.’
As she spoke, a stunningly beautiful blonde-haired woman, Issa, stepped in alongside him.
She froze as her gaze snapped to the pair in the bay and locked onto Idan.
Trepidation, respect, and recognition all mingled in her expression as she scrambled down the last set of steps, taking her to the lower deck.
‘That eager for company, my love?’ her husband called out with a grin.
‘Do you have any idea who graces our presence?’ she hissed at Ki’Remi.
Before her man could process her utterance, Issa dropped to one knee in front of the duo, her head bowed in total submission.
‘This hull is unworthy of the shadow you cast upon it, Commander Simi’Ren Idan Caliostheles.’
Idan’s hand stiffened against Sheba’s spine, and the air in the bay thickened.
‘Void-Forged Scion of the Crimson Eclipse,’ Issa continued, her voice a reverent whisper. ‘General of the Seven-Fold Legion, Harbinger of the Divine Reckoning, Breaker of the Unyielding Bastion, and Sentinel of the Silent Grave. We offer our sanctuary and our lives to your cause.’
Idan let out a breath that was part exasperation, and semi-surrender as the resonance of those titles hit Sheba with a jolt.
She swiveled to stare at the farmer who delivered lambs. The lover she held in the dark of a mountain hut, yet now also, a legend of the highest heavens.
Her head spun with the dissonance.
While she’d suspected he was Sacran and a high-born warrior of some kind,she’d never imagined he was a freakin’ Commander or General.
Idan locked his gaze with her, his silver-gold eyes searching hers in a silent plea that begged her not to change her view of him.
He squeezed her waist again, turning to the woman prostrate before him.
‘Rise, Issandra Elaris Astraeus D’Leqan, Flameborne Daughter of Healing Twilight. Warrior of the Burning Horizon, Healer of the Sullied and the Skybound, Soulbearer of the Last Light,’ Idan rasped.
