Stolen - Nhys Glover Page 0,42

that nothing could divide them.

Now I was starting to understand that strange bond. I’d felt it as we dug the victims of the rogue storm out from under the debris. It had felt like a deep aching longing combined with a knowing, a recognition, even though there was no one to know or recognize.

However, because the situation was so dire at the time, I’d had to push away the feeling and focus on the work. But later, when we were notified of Rian’s death, and how he died, I knew. I just knew.

My family thinks of me as the clown. I was the one who never took anything seriously, and my over-active imagination was always coming up with wild plans that got all of us in trouble when we were growing up. But I’m not really a fool or an idiot, I’d just always assumed we were immortal. Our injuries, over the years, seemed to back up that belief. So, why not do any damned thing that came to mind?

Feeling the activation of the podmate bond and then finding out my brother was dead, proving once and for all that we weren’t immortal, changed me on some fundamental level. I was still not sure how. Maybe I grew up. Maybe facing my own mortality had chased off the last of the child I’d been. I don’t know. All I did know is that I only had one goal now, and it was not some idiotic scheme hatched out of boredom.

I wanted to find this woman my brother had given his life for. I wanted to find and keep safe my podmate.

Therefore, all the extraneous people on this quest distracted us from our purpose. Keeping them safe would get in the way of keeping Jenna safe.

But I had no say in it. After all, who am I but a kid barely grown? It jars my sense of self when I think about that. Even when I was a kid I didn’t feel like I didn’t count. Now I was grown, my opinions and needs barely registered with those around me. It was driving me insane.

“Incoming message from the Theran,” said the comms operator.

Only a skeleton crew of warriors were assigned to accompany us, as everyone else was still involved in the rescue efforts. There were therefore almost more civilians on this ship than crewmen, which was wrong, just plain wrong.

“Put it up on the holoscreen,” Thaid ordered from the captain’s seat.

The flight deck was suddenly inundated with people, the news having been relayed into the depths of the small warship.

A hologram in our language appeared in front of us. It read:

Have located Jenna. Going closer to recon situation. Appears Keeda have left planet and only village full of Zuaire remain.

“How far out are we?” Thaid demanded, even though we all knew the answer.

“Five days, maybe more. We have a lot of portals to traverse,” answered the current navigator, my father, Maica.

I growled, and heard the sound echoed around me by my brothers. My gaze caught on Rhain, who was looking deeply troubled.

“I suppose we have no choice but to continue on as we are and hope to hear more later,” Thaid said, obviously unhappy with the situation.

While everyone dispersed, looking frustrated by the news, I wandered over to the father I felt closest to, other than my own. For all his spacey ways, there was an openness to Rhain’s nature that allowed all us boys to feel special to him.

“You’re worried,” I said under my breath. “Is this going to go badly?”

He shook his head. “There’s a small chance they’ll be discovered, and an even larger chance they will fall scaling the cliff during the approaching storm, but I’m reasonably confident they will escape with Jenna.”

For a moment his expression closed, as if he was going within. When he looked at me again his gaze drilled into me.

“Can you take this situation seriously? Can you see the danger and react to it as a warrior?”

The question at first insulted me. But I knew it wasn’t intended to insult. Rhain was asking me a serious question based on some possible future he’d seen for me when walking the timeline.

“Yes,” I said simply, knowing I was telling the truth, not putting on my usual cocky act of bravado.

“There’s a Bullet in the launching bay. In a day’s time, once we know they have escaped their current situation, you and your brothers will need to take it to a location I’ll give you.”

Bullets had