“It is. There is a magnetic seal at the base of the spine that opens when the tail appears.” His voice was precise and clipped.
“Nice. Okay, let’s go.” She turned and began to lead their way through the labyrinth of tunnels that took them close enough to the magma that the heat caused her skin to redden.
She kept her mind focussed on keeping herself hydrated and when she forgot, Venin would mutter, “Drink some water.”
They had walked for hours when the glow of the crystal finally came to her attention. “There it is. The door is rigged with a trap.”
He nodded. “How do we get past it?”
“Blood. There has to be blood.” She rubbed at her forehead.
“What?”
“I only know that there has to be blood on the two stones near the entrance and then again on the crystal itself.”
His lips bared his teeth. “Fine. My blood, not yours then.”
Iris sighed. “I think it is a gene test. Try it and see.”
Venin extended his left hand. “You do the honours.”
Understanding, she drew a knife and pricked his third finger. Blood welled and he winced, but he moved quickly and walked to the doorway where the stones waited for his blood.
She followed and noted the slight depressions in the top of each stone. He had touched the one stone and she was so busy leaning to look around him that she fell into the room.
Landing on the ground saved her life. A sheet of metal darts whizzed over her head from left to right.
Venin’s hand gripped her ankle.
“No. Don’t pull me out. Deactivate the defenses with your blood.”
“You are a lucky woman, Iris. Those darts should have taken you out at mid-thigh.”
She chuckled and lay still. She heard a distinctive click when his blood was smeared on the other pedestal.
With the blood opening the way, she started to rise, only to be hauled upright by Venin’s hands.
He turned her in his arms and she felt his lips on hers. Iris’s eyes widened as he shifted most of his features for this kiss, but he left his teeth sharp and feline.
She felt the sharp flick of his teeth against her lower lip and tasted blood. The blood inflamed them both and soon they were both off their feet, rolling toward the crystal.
Iris gasped when they fetched up against the podium and she heard the stone rock in its setting. “Ow.”
“Are you all right?”
She looked into his concerned face. “I am fine, but I think we had best get out of here before the long knife digs its way through my spine.”
He winced. “I forgot about your knives.”
Venin pushed off her and lifted her with him as he rose to his feet. His hands brushed at her, removing the traces of the dust from the floor and easing the bruises incurred by her weapons.
The crystal was next to her and she reached out to touch it. Her hand froze an inch from the surface before she remembered that she would need blood.
“Is your cut still open?”
He lifted his hand and shook his head. “I am a fast healer.”
She snorted. “Of course you are.” With two fingers, she lifted blood from her lip and spread it onto the crystal.
The crystal pulsed violently until it took over the cadence of her heartbeat.
“Iris, what was that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was in the instructions that I got in the night. It showed blood on the pedestals and blood on the crystal. I am just following the images. I have found that my life is easier if I do what they say.”
Venin reached out to take the crystal and his hands could not make contact. “I can’t lift it.”
Iris blinked. She reached out and lifted the object easily from its cradle. “Oh dear.”
“What?”
“I just found out what the blood was for.”
He looked from her to the crystal and back again. “You initialized it, didn’t you?”
Her blush was the only answer she could give.
She cleared her throat and jerked her head toward the door. “I think we should get going. It is not going to get any cooler in here.”
As she finished speaking, a cool blast of air ran through the cavern. She looked around for a source, but the only thing in evidence was the crystal in her arms. “Aww hells.”
“You activated it.”
“Apparently.”
They started back through the tunnel when images began to flow through Iris’s mind. She could see the jungle, the small clearing housing their shuttle and then more jungle. In the skies above, ships were circling, looking for a landing position.
Iris’s awareness snapped into her body again. “Are we expecting any other ships?”
Venin paused and turned back to face her. “No. Why?”
“If I am not hallucinating, there are three small ships circling and they do not look like standard Alliance issue.”
He shifted rapidly into his other shape. “Raiders.”
She blinked. “They must have followed us.”
Venin closed his eyes for a minute. “I filed a flight plan in order to get the jump ship in the right position. They must have hacked the ship.”
She shrugged. “However they found us, they are here now.”
“How did you see them?”
“The crystal showed me. I think that was it, either that or I am just having a waking dream and there will be nothing out of the ordinary when we return to the cavern.” She straightened and started walking, taking a cool column of air with her.
“Are you prepared to defend yourself?”
She gave him a slow smile. “Myself and you. I am your bodyguard after all.”
He laughed and continued through the stone maze, finding his way easily. “Of course, how could I have forgotten?”
Chapter Nine
The barrier to the heat that she was generating made the walk back far easier than the internal journey.
“We have indeed made quick progress. How are you doing that?” Venin was persistent.
“I am guessing that the crystal is not merely geared toward controlling weather patterns. It will focus and concentrate the talent of the one who is linked to it.”
“It seems to be more than a guess.”
“This is more than a crystal.”
The entryway was a sudden and welcoming sight. The tent was still in place and Iris was relieved to see it.
While they had walked, the crystal had not weighed anything, but she was exhausted. She took a seat on the stone floor and closed her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Venin was at her side in a moment.
“Fine, just tired.” She opened bleary eyes. “I can feel something clawing at my mind and the crystal is pushing at the other side. I am wedged in the middle.”
He knelt behind her and pulled her against his chest. “Relax and let my hands do the work.”
His hands slid into her bound hair and his palms pressed against her skull.
Iris winced as his pressure added to her discomfort, but it rapidly shifted into relief as warmth pushed away the invading mind and soothed the weight of the crystal from her thoughts.
“How are you doing that?”
His chuckle was close to her ear and she shivered as it sent a wave of pleasure along her nerves. “This is that morinial talent that everyone was afraid of. On a woman without the Morin genes, it would create a sensual stupor, but with you, it is a very different effect.”
Not that much different
. Iris’s body was waking rapidly and she held her breath in an effort to control the rampage of previously dormant hormones.
She sighed and the presence of Venin slipped completely into her thoughts. She let him take a place in her mind while a waking dream began.
Iris was running through a charred expanse of what had been jungle. She could see the ships ahead of her and one was seeking take off. Venin was on that ship and she was not going to let him get away.
She knelt in the charred bits and focussed, her back bearing the weight of the crystal and her mind seeking the sky.
With everything in her, she pulled the sky down and the ship with it. The other two ships flipped over and were spun like fallen leaves in the hurricane-style wind that she summoned.
Satisfied with the devastation she had wrought Iris collapsed into a heap on the blackened ground and waited for the end to come.
She jerked upright with a start. “Whoa.”
“What?”
“Do you smell that?”
“I don’t…fire.” He stood and approached the edge of the exit to the jungle. “They are burning the forest to find us.”
She stood on limbs that were suddenly full of energy. “Give me your pack.”
“What?”
“Your backpack. I need it to keep the crystal in.”
He nodded and shrugged out of the pack, removing the contents and storing much of it in the tent.
“What did you see, Iris?”
“I saw the jungle scorched to nothing and a ship lifting off with you inside. I was standing in the ruins of the forest and looking up.” She didn’t mention the weather tantrum that she had engaged in.
Venin rushed her and placed his hand on her neck. Pleasure swamped her at the contact and she heard his whisper, “I am sorry for this,” an instant before she passed out.
Her head throbbed when she woke, carefully tucked in the tent with her blades still on and the crystal in the pouch at her side. Her sense of time was twisted, but the hum of engines in the air was unmistakable.
She got to her feet, slung the crystal over her shoulders and she went out to see what was going on.
The image of her dream was in front of her. Two ships were squatting in the carbonized disaster that had been a thriving jungle and the third was rising into the sky.
Instinct took over and she started hurricane winds to tip the landed ships over and pushed down with the cloud cover to force the third ship back to the ground.
A voice emanated from the shuttle. “Put your hands in the air or we will kill your companion.”
Dizzy, she collapsed to the ground and raised her hands in the air. Ash flew in a cloud around her and she waited for the Raiders to approach.
Venin was being forced out with his hands latched behind his back and his face bloody. He was shoved ahead of some very scary-looking characters.
Iris waited. A very handsome male with a very unpleasant expression strode toward her.
“Where is the stone?”
His voice was hoarse and gave her the sensation of having gravel running over her skin.
“On my back.”
“Give it to me and your friend lives.”
She frowned. “My hands are in the air. If I remove the pack, your men will shoot me or fire something at me or maybe let out some noxious gas. I can’t really tell from here.”
He snarled in frustration but kept his distance. “You have my permission to remove the crystal and hand it to me.”
She shrugged out of the pack slowly, easing the crystal to the ground before lifting it free of the leather. Iris extended her hands to the man who was demanding the crystal and Venin fought against the grip of his captors.
“Iris, don’t do it.”
She gave him a blank look and kept her arms extended out, her psychic knives buried in the crystal.
“Put the crystal on the ground. I know what it does. I don’t want you amplifying any of your talents while I am touching it.” His growl was deep and rough.
Shrugging, she placed the crystal on the ground. There was no reason to hold onto it. It knew what to do.
“Let him go.” She made the demand quietly.
“As soon as I have this crystal on my ship, I will push him out at a safe height.”
Iris hissed mentally but acknowledged that she was expecting it. She waited for the Raider to grasp the crystal and then sent her knives through his nervous system and those of his men.
Everyone in the area who was thinking about profiting from the crystal screamed and fell to the ground.
Iris slowly got to her feet and Venin walked over to her, pausing and turning his hands so that she could reach the cuffs he wore. A short shock from her blade and they popped open.
“How did you do that?”
“It isn’t an ordinary crystal and all other explanations will have to wait until we are back on our way to Keroa. I am not a fan of Thiiril anymore.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. Do you know where the shuttle is?”
“Certainly. The path glows in my mind. Now come on, they are going to wake up in a few minutes.”
She slid the crystal back into the pack and lifted it to her shoulders. Iris drew her long knife and strode for the remaining greenery. “It seems a shame to cut it, but it is the leaves or us. Time is a factor here.”
“Lead the way. I will follow.”
Moving through the jungle at a rapid pace was not a safe thing to do with a blade in her hand, but she had little choice. If they were caught, she and Venin would be in for a very unpleasant time. It was not an experience she wanted to add to her life’s most memorable moments. A girl had her standards.
Chapter Ten
The only plus side to the fire was that it had cleared out all animals it didn’t incinerate. The path was free and clear.
Venin opened the shuttle and boosted her inside. “Come along. We have shields in case they try something unsavoury.”
She unstrapped her long knife and put it aside.
Venin relaxed and moved to the pilot’s seat. With a steady hand, she lifted her arm and drove her psychic knife into the base of his spine.
His body flickered and he shifted his form. The scaly creature that was lying in the pilot’s seat made her wrinkle her nose.
Iris grabbed his arm and hauled until he was at the door, kicking him free of the ship and sealing the door behind him.
“We don’t have any shields, moron. We barely made it through the atmosphere.” She shook her head and walked to the cockpit. It was time to put her few hours of instruction to good use.
Flipping toggles was ineffective, but when she concentrated, she could see a glow around the switches, just like when she was looking for a path. Methodically, she followed the glow, switch by switch.
The shuttle shuddered and lifted off, flying with a distinctive wobble as she tried to follow the glow and hold the controls steady. Piloting was hard.
The one remaining shuttle was rocking violently. The men were still unconscious on the ground. They would be out for at least an hour. She had noticed the fake’s sway when she had sent the pulse through the crystal using the gravel-voiced villain as her focus.