‘The ultimate Shadow-Step,’ Issa explained. ‘A forward guard weaponized with psionic sight to navigate the currents of the future and the echoes of the past, designed to erase insurrection without an atom of mercy. My father used to recount how theNihilwere legendary for dismantling conspirators and treasonous souls, leaving nothing behind but charred ashes in their wake.’
Idan shrugged, his posture devoid of ego. ‘If we came for you, we never shimmered through the walls like ghosts. We crawled through the molten vents of your planet’s core, bypassed the atmospheric shields, and dismantled the foundations from thebottom up. You never sensed us arrive, and you never noted us leave.’
Issa nodded, her gaze unwavering. ‘From the Void Incursion to the Scorched Star Wars, you hunted Sulfiqar’s enemies, threw them into stars, and blew them up until their immortality was erased. Which is why we called you the Harbinger of the Divine Reckoning.’
Idan’s eyes darkened as he turned his gaze on his woman. ‘Now you know the full pedigree of the warrior I was, Sheba.’
‘Terrifying,’ his woman murmured, the word escaping her lips without thinking. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that,’ she blurted after her blunder.
He met her worried stare with a wry smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
‘True, tis petrifying,salkia,’ he rasped, the squeeze of his hand steadying her. ‘But understand this: that is all in the past, the man beside you is nothing of whom I left behind.’
‘Liar,’ Sheba joked weakly. ‘I’ve seen you tear into a squad ofkinaisand obliterate them.’
Idan huffed. ‘Only to keep you safe, woman.’
The two of them remained locked in a silent, loaded tether of a lovers’ gaze until Ki’Remi cleared his throat.
‘So you two are kicking it, ay?’ Ki’Remi grinned, his eyes dancing.
Issa drove an elbow into her man’s ribs. ‘Forgive him, Sheba. Once a Rider, always a Rider; they present as competent, mature adult men, but every so often they descend into crudeness, sans subtlety and grace.’
Sheba shot her a lazy grin. ‘Idan, too, can be just as raw sometimes. Can’t you, honey?’ she said, winking at her man.
Idan leaned back, his thumb tracing the sensitive skin of her wrist with a deliberate, proprietary slow-burn.
His gaze darkened, the pupils dilating until the amber of his irises became a mere ring of fire.
He dragged his eyes from her to a grinning Ki’Remi.
‘If your question seeks to confirm whether we are entwined, thennaam,’ Idan rasped, his timbre a rich, resonant rumble. ‘Our vigil in the mountains allowed us to unfurl our hearts, souls, and minds to each other. We now find ourselves helpless to passion, surrendering to a hunger that predates the firmament. We spend our hours drowning in the visceral ache of one another. Anchoring our spirits through the raw, sweating friction of the flesh til the boundary between her breath and mine dissolves into the scream of a dying sun.’
Sheba groaned, her face plunging into her palms as a fierce heat crawled up her neck.
His confession, however, had Issa and Ki’Remi in stitches.
‘Starbane’s void,Idan,’ Sheba muttered, her voice muffled through her fingers, her face heated. ‘You might have said ‘naam’ and spared me the embarrassment.’
Idan’s gravelly chuckle rumbled deep in his chest, a sound of pure, unadulterated satisfaction.
‘Where’s the fun in that? You did call me raw,nada? Besides, the truth of our ravenous lust and appetite for each other deserves a grander lexicon than your mortal dialects offer, my beautiful queen.’
As Sheba groaned once more, Ki’Remi raised his glass in a salute, his grin widening.
‘I raise a toast to your wild love. If you two possess a sliver of the incandescence and joy that Issa and I share, then may no onetake it from you. For it is more precious than any kingdom won or any blood spilled in the name of glory.’
The Alatyrpunched through the membrane of space, aided by a high-tech slipstream drive.
Inside the guest quarters, Sheba stood by the viewport, eyes on the distorted smear of distant stars and galaxies.
The conversation of the evening played on her mind.
She couldn’t get past Idan’s titles, which cast him in a new light.
In truth, learning of them emphasized just how insignificant her existence and fleeting mortality were when compared to his immortality and menacing magnificence.
She caught the whisper of his footsteps as he sauntered out of the bathroom.
