Soul of Eon (Eon Warriors #8) - Anna Hackett Page 0,5
through the door.
“Go!” Thane yelled.
Kaira leaped in, feetfirst.
Thane did one more spray of fire, then dived after her.
The vent was near vertical. He slid fast.
Cren. Was Kaira okay?
He picked up speed. He hoped to the warriors that the bugs were not pouring in after them.
Suddenly, he shot out of the vent.
He sailed through the air, then landed with a splash. Sitting up, he saw he was in a square room with smooth, metallic walls. Faint light filtered down from some lights above.
“Thane.” Kaira sloshed over to him.
The space was filled with trash and knee-deep liquid. The rancid, rotting smell was near overpowering.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded, then gagged. “The smell—” She turned and retched.
The trash had a lot of organics in it. “This looks like waste, along with refuse from the lab experiments.”
She gagged again.
Thane commanded his helian to form helmets for both of them.
Once they’d formed, he watched Kaira breathe deeply. “Thank God.”
He took a deep breath of clean air and grabbed her arms. “Better?”
She smiled at him. “Much. Thanks.”
He stroked his hands up her arms. She sucked in a breath, then she was in his arms. Her helmet pressed against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re all right now.”
She gave a hiccupping laugh and held onto him. “How is standing knee-deep in God knows what okay?”
“Well, the bugs didn’t follow us.”
She lifted her head. Her beautiful dark eyes gleamed through the helmet. “That just worries me more.”
Hmm, it worried him, too. He pulled her close again. But right there, in that second, they were both alive, and that was what he wanted to celebrate.
His mate—even if she didn’t want to be his mate—was in his arms.
Chapter Three
This place was gross.
Kaira eyed the debris floating in the brown water and grimaced. At least the smell had reduced now, thanks to the helmet. She pressed harder to Thane’s strong body.
Just a few seconds longer. He made her feel less alone.
Finally, she made herself pull back and straighten.
He shot her a warm look, and it made her insides tingle. It also set off alarm bells. She liked it. Too much.
She wasn’t getting in deep with a man again. Especially a gorgeous alien warrior.
“So,” she said, “what now?”
Thane eyed the vent they’d dropped out of. “I’m not sure.”
Kaira sloshed across the space. The stench still burned in the back of her nostrils. “There are other vents. Maybe we can climb up a different one?” She turned and eyed the water again. “Let’s just hope there isn’t some creature living in here, and that the walls don’t start contracting.”
Thane’s brows rose.
She smiled. “Old, classic, sci-fi movie on Earth. Intrepid heroes and heroines caught in a ship’s trash compactor.”
He moved to the wall, running a gloved hand over it. “I don’t think this is a compactor.”
“So how do the Kantos get rid of all this?”
“I believe they dump it into space.”
Great. She had to ask. Kaira checked the walls as well. All the vents were too high for them to reach.
She saw something move in the water and she stiffened. “Thane, there’s something down here.”
“I’m detecting a few life signs.”
Her stomach clenched. Just wonderful.
“They aren’t large,” he added.
She saw the back of a creature slide through the water, then disappear in the murk. It reminded her of a small crocodile.
She sloshed over to Thane. A sense of hopelessness washed over her.
She didn’t want to die.
Especially not in this horrible place.
“Kaira?”
She blinked. “Sorry, just having a moment.”
He gripped her arm and squeezed. “That’s perfectly normal.”
She gave a laugh that wasn’t filled with any humor. “You know, when my husband died, a part of me wanted to die, too.”
“Kaira.” Thane’s voice was laced with sympathy.
“All our dreams, everything we’d planned, our life together was just…gone.” She closed her eyes. “I figured my life should be over, too.”
He pulled her against his chest and she grabbed onto him.
“But right now, I don’t want to die, Thane. I want to live.”
She didn’t die with Ryan. She’d thrown herself into her work the last year to the exclusion of everything else. It was an uncomfortable realization that she’d stopped living and had just barely been getting by.
“You aren’t going to die.” Thane’s voice was fierce. “I won’t let that happen.”
“I’m glad you’re with me,” she murmured.
He touched her helmet. The man had beautiful hands—strong, with long fingers.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” he said.
She gave a firm nod.
Something splashed in the water. They both swiveled and formed swords.
Well, she was never going to get used