Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance)) (23 page)

How could she get through to him?

“You are
not
expendable,”
she told him. “I told you once, and I’ll tell you again: You’re the best baron Donetsk has ever had. Even better than my father. He was a hard man, and a brutal one,
too, sometimes. You have a natural gift for command. All the men respect you.
To survive, Donetsk needs
you
.”

Whether Joshua realized it or not,
he was the glue that had held their whole territory together during the last
few years. How could he not see that? Onred knew it. It was why he wanted so
desperately to kill him. Once Joshua was dead, and she was gone, the backbone
of the territory would disintegrate. She’d heard mutters and rumors of
discouragement lately, of a desire for peace at any cost. It was a shortsighted
view, of course, and could possibly end in the death of half of her people.
Anya would never let that happen. Not if she had any say in the matter.

“It needs you more,” he told her.

“I don’t think so. But maybe we
can agree it needs both of us.”

He shook his head.

“Understand one thing, Joshua. No
matter what happens, know this now: I will never take the baronship from you.
You’re the best man for the job. You’ve earned it, and you deserve it.” It was
true. It was also true that in order for him to remain baron, she could never
marry.

A tortured expression crossed his
features. “You deserve children and a husband who loves you.”

Anya did not answer. If he could
be stubborn, she could be more so. And the truth was, she wanted no man but
Joshua. If she couldn’t have him, then she wanted no one. She was quite
prepared to live the rest of her life alone. “You don’t get to choose for me.”

“When I’m gone, you will marry.”
He said it grimly.

“I won’t let you die. You know how
determined you are to protect me? Well, I’m equally determined to protect you.
If it wasn’t for me, you would be dead right now.”

“I know.”

“Then stop fighting me!” she said
in exasperation. “Treat me as an equal. I’m going to fight Onred and free my
family. Now, I can either do it with you, or I can do it alone. Which do you
prefer?”

He pulled free. His gaze flashed a
warning. “Don’t give me ultimatums.”

His hard tone did not deter her.
More softly, though, she said, “We both want to defeat Onred, right?”

He did not answer.

Time for a new tactic. “If we don’t
defeat him, my husband will have no territory to rule.” At the word “husband,”
Joshua flinched. Encouraged, she continued. “In which case my birth means
nothing. My life means nothing.”

Joshua cursed. “An…”

“Let me finish,” she said calmly. “Donetskis
are my people, too. And my family is at stake. I mean it, Joshua. I would do
anything to save them.” She crossed her arms and pulled back a little. “Just
like I’d do anything to save you.”

*  *  *  *  *

Joshua didn’t know how to win this
argument. In his gut, he knew he’d never keep Anya out of the fight against
Onred. She was too spirited, too determined…too damn smart for her own good.

He didn’t like it, and cursed
softly under his breath. He wanted to protect her. If he’d had his way, she’d
be back at Richert’s headquarters now. The man might be a snake, but he wouldn’t
harm Anya; of this, Joshua felt certain. The cunning old man had plans for
her—what, Joshua didn’t know yet—but then again, he hadn’t intended for her to
stay in Tarim long enough to find out.

“What do you say?” Anya regarded
him with one dark brow arched. “Will you swear to put me on your team?”

“You have no training.”

“I can skyjump. I can shoot a
laser. I understand how communication systems work. I can survive in the artic
for weeks.” She paused, and then finished with a smug note of triumph, “And I’m
the bait Onred will take. He wants me. He’ll invite me into his palace, into
his home, into his…”

Joshua saw red. “
Damn it,
no!” He raked his fingers through his hair in an effort to obliterate the
images that had leaped in living color into his mind.

“I can kill him, Joshua.” That
feline, confident smile couldn’t come from his sweet, innocent Anya.

“
No.
”

A faint frown drew her delicate brows
together “Tell me a better plan, then.”

“My plans do not include you
behaving like a whore.”

She scowled. “I won’t sleep with
him. I’ll kill him.”

“You will
not
go into Onred’s
bedroom,” he bellowed.

The tiniest smile twitched her
lips. “Funny. A few days ago, you ordered me to marry him. Where did you think
I would end up?”

He growled, and jerked away from
her. “I wish you’d stayed in Aksu.” And yet he deserved that barb. He wanted to
go outside and pace off his frustration.

“You are so unreasonable,” she
snapped. “You act like a cave man. This is the fourth millennium, in case you’ve
forgotten. Women can read, write and make decisions about their own lives. We
don’t need a man’s protection. I don’t need
your
protection.”

“You’ve forgotten your history.
Remember the last millennium? In a barbaric world, only the strong survive.
Women were almost wiped out.”

“Thanks to terrorist scientists,”
she agreed. “But they’re dead. Things are different now. Protectors and male
chauvinism are dead. Join the thirty-second century!”

He shook his head. “I grew up in
Tash, and it still lives in the last millennium. So do Donetsk and Tarim Territories. We all live under the Old Barons’ Law for a reason. Women must be
protected, or they will die. And if you die, our whole race will die.”

With a glare, she crossed her
arms. “This particular woman’s line will die, if a certain man won’t give her
what she wants.”

Heat caught Joshua by surprise.
She couldn’t possibly mean what his depraved mind instantly imagined. “You don’t
know what you’re saying,” he said softly.

“I
do
.”

The faint blush on her cheeks
disturbed Joshua more deeply than he liked. Time to take command of the
situation. Anya would not be deterred, so he’d minimize the collateral
damage…meaning no one would ever lay a finger on her. Wherever she went, he
would go. Grimly, he reflected that although she didn’t want a protector, she
had one…for as long as a heart beat in his body.

“You can go on the mission,” he
gritted. “But you’ll do what I say. You’ll be my communications officer.”

A beatific smile lit her face. “Really?”

“You will obey me,” he said
through his teeth. “Swear on your honor you’ll obey every one of my orders.”

The sunny smile did not dim. “Oh
Joshua, I will. I promise!” She flung her arms around him and held him tight. “You
won’t regret it. I promise.”

Joshua’s arms closed around her
slim, fragile body. Regret already pulled at his gut. His arms tightened around
her, wanting to protect her. His jaw slid through her clean, sweet smelling
hair. “We’ll beat Onred,” he muttered. “I swear it.”

He could not die now. Joshua
trusted no one but himself to protect Anya.

CHAPTER TWENTY

After Joshua agreed
that Anya could accompany him on
the mission to defeat Onred, he seemed to withdraw into himself. When he
discovered his transmitter didn’t work, Anya handed him Michael’s phone, and he
texted a message to ZCA. Shortly afterward, he shouldered out of the aircraft
and into the crisp white morning.

Fresh snow coated pine branches
and softened last night’s foot imprints. When Anya followed Joshua outside, her
nose hairs stuck together in the frosty dawn. It was cold. Maybe -40° C. The
sky was blue, but puffy, dark gray clouds bunched on the eastern horizon.
Probably it was the storm that had just left them.

Daylight showed just how lucky her
crash landing had been. Joshua examined the crushed rear of the airbird, which
was crumpled up against the granite cliff face. A large pine tree pinned the
nose to the ground. The bird should be demolished, and yet it wasn’t. It was as
if the protective, divine hand of providence had curled around the ship,
preventing its destruction. In the light of day, Anya marveled at the sheer,
crazy stubbornness that had made her pilot the sophisticated craft in the first
place. She should be dead, and breathed a prayer of thanks that she wasn’t.

The small clearing encircling the
airbird’s door was completely enclosed by the fallen pine and the cliff; a
small, cozy space, and apparently, from Joshua’s stiff movements, confining.
When he checked the phone again, she said, “When are they coming?”

“An hour.”

“I have food. Do you want
breakfast?”

Without a word, he followed her
inside the aircraft. She divided the rations in equal silence, and they ate.
When they finished, she said, “I should check your leg.”

“I can do it.” He took the healing
kit and administered the treatment himself.

It was a rebuff, but she
recognized his tactic. She should, for it was a familiar one. He had shut her
out. He had done it in Astana, before she’d left for Bogd. And he’d attempted
to do it just minutes ago, when he’d tried to put a wall between them and
intimidate her into obeying him. Always in the past, when things became too
emotional between them—whether she was arguing about a longer curfew, or dating
a boy of whom he did not approve—afterwards, Joshua always retreated behind an
impenetrable barrier. On the surface, he would return to work. However, usually
he’d barely speak to her for a day or more afterward. For the first time, Anya
began to understand why.

His childhood had been rough.
Certainly, he had received no love from his father. He had taken the role of
protector over his younger siblings at a very early age. It appeared his mother
had made no effort to protect her children from their father. Had Joshua felt
alone as a little boy? Was that why he allowed no one to get too close to him?
Was it why he felt he needed to face his enemies alone now? Without a doubt, he
felt he needed to prove himself. Perhaps he also felt the need to pay, over and
over again, for his past sins—choices that had been forced upon him by a weak,
cruel father.

Anya wanted to touch Joshua and
reassure him that she would never hurt him. And yet she suspected part of the
distance he’d put between them now was a result of anger, and perhaps fear.
During the upcoming mission, he would be unable to wholly protect her. She
understood his feelings, for the thought of Joshua being hurt—perhaps more
severely than last night—scared her to death.

Sharp blasts of static burst from
Michael’s phone.

“Report,” Joshua said tersely.

“Five minutes out. Enemy birds are
in the area. Be ready to run.”

“Roger.”

Swiftly, Anya packed up her bag,
tarp, and medical kit and followed Joshua outside, and then shoved the bag
under the fallen pine. Joshua took it and helped her through the shallow tunnel
through the snow to the other side.

Anya glanced up at the clear blue
sky, listening for the slicing
whoosh
of an oncoming airbird. Where were
Onred’s aircraft? The silence of the still forest around them seemed eerie. As
if someone might be watching from beyond the trees.

A high-pitched shriek indicated a
bird’s fast approach. Anya spotted the dark speck in the southern sky a split
second before two black airbirds shot up from the trees. Faint thunder rumbled
as they jetted for the incoming aircraft.

“Onred’s men,” she gasped.

Joshua’s expression remained
impassive. His gaze swept the northern horizon. Anya followed his line of
sight. A sleek, silent airbird approached, flying meters above the tree tops.
Blue and cream identified it as one of their own. Within seconds, it dropped
into their tiny clearing and hovered above the lumpy snow pack. When the door
slid open, Anya sprinted for it. Joshua tumbled inside after her. Even before
the door closed, they ascended at stomach emptying velocity and shot north.

“Good to see you alive.” Michael
rumbled from the pilot’s chair.

Joshua slapped his brother’s
shoulder. “Didn’t think anything could get you out of ZCA.”

“Only saving your sorry backside.”
Michael’s lips thinned. “Buckle up. We’ve got company.”  The aircraft swerved
left, and Anya tumbled sideways, slamming her shoulder into the wall.

Joshua’s strong hands helped her
overcome the G forces of the accelerating aircraft. He saw her settled into the
seat behind Michael’s before strapping into his own. He directed his words to
his brother. “Status on the decoy?”

Michael gave a brief chuckle. “Victor
Echo and Yankee Delta are goosing Onred’s birds.” Faint explosions reached Anya’s
ears. Grimly, he finished, “The black ones are gone.”

“What’s the report on the
extraction team?”