I floated up to the cruiser quickly, giving a slight wave as all the Curan soldiers cheered beneath me. I breathed in deeply through the gas mask as the clearer, cooler air above the salt lands greeted my nose. The storm clouds were hanging low, though the lightning had retreated and was hanging out higher, still rumbling and grumbling above us, but no longer roaring discomfort. Some of the clouds in the north had even broken away and there were stars shining through. They would light our path back home.
I landed on the open gangway and nodded to the guards. They saluted with smiles. I stripped off the gas mask and handed it over to them with a return salute.
Aimer walked up to me as I entered the bridge. She grinned and pointed to the blood on my left arm. I forced a smile back that split my broken lip and made it bleed more. I scrubbed it away on my sleeve. I grimaced, but I was just so happy to see her…
“Looks like at least one knife got too close.”
I rubbed my jaw. “At least one knife and a few too many fists.” I shrugged. “Least I won.”
“There is that, sir.”
I pointed to the screens above our heads that indicated the location of our aircraft. “How far off are the POW haulers?”
“A few hours.”
“Make sure Rotcher has a private cell, far away from any of his soldiers.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Any update from King Kajo?”
“The battle against the Delks was short and sweet. It seems the Delk Clan chief’s younger brother, Braven, really just wanted to join Kajo’s army, and was trying to work out a truce by encouraging his older brother to go to battle against you. The truce that was called was a way to maneuver closer connections with the Empire.”
“Interesting…”
“You are requested in Capital City for the ceremony to gift the Bordash southern lands to you, and also, to bind you and your Destin together, if that is your choosing…”
“What do you mean?”
“Clearly, Vania is your Destin. That’s what that connection is between you two. That’s the only explanation. It will only get stronger and stronger. I’m happy for you, Alpha Jase. I think Kajo is ready to have someone to talk to about the weirdness of Earthling women. Something about kitten videos, chocolate, and Taco Tuesdays? I don’t know what that means.”
“Oh, you’ll understand soon, Aimer,” Vania said as she came up to us. She grabbed my ass as she kissed my cheek. “Daphne and I will have you over for our next Taco Tuesday.”
Aimer nodded with a smile and then slipped away. I marveled at my Destin’s beauty as she rubbed at the marks the gas mask had made on my face.
“You were brilliant, Jase…”
I shrugged. “We make a good pair.”
“For how long…?”
“What do you mean?”
“For how long? What happens now?” She asked so tentatively, and yet so boldly at the same time.
“Let’s have a longer discussion about that,” I said, “but Aimer just assured me, Earthling, that you’re my Destin… So you’re with me forever.”
She smiled and grabbed me into a hug.
I brushed her hair and spun her up into the air, twirling her high, catching her on the fall just as she was about to hit the ground, and she trusted me entirely to catch her before she hit the ground.
I kissed her hard, feeling the release of the duel and the relief of still having my throne. Even more than that, I had won something else… “You’re absolutely everything I thought I could never have…”
“I love you…” She blushed furiously as she said it. Then she grabbed my hand and led me to the exit of the cruiser. “Let’s go look at the stars, now that they are finally out…”
I followed her away from my troops to drop back down to the salt lands below. I would follow her anywhere.
Eighteen
Vania
I held Jase’s hand as we floated down to the salt sands again, from Xane’s battleship. I knew we wouldn’t have much time before they looked for him again. Not to mention, he was bleeding and probably stressed about all the orders he needed to make.
“Is this okay? Can you spare a little time?”
“Hold on, let me think. But, would you walk a little bit ahead of me for a second?”
I furrowed my brow but did as he asked and walked ahead of him a few paces, checking back over my shoulder to see if he followed. Instead, what I saw was him exaggerating the look as he studied my ass as I walked away.
I laughed and jumped into his arms, floating to make the jump effectively, surprised by my Will, and he grabbed me quickly, and pulled me away, running in the opposite direction of all his troops. We kicked up sand as we ran, heading toward the river’s mouth. We ducked down into a little grassy area just off the beach, far from the lights of the hundreds of Emerona aircraft in the air, hidden from Tarsine’s demolished camp, mainly out of hearing of the commands being given to the Bordash POWs as they were rounded up by Curan soldiers. The grassy area was lit occasionally by the rolling flash of a lighthouse on a hill to the east, but that was charming. It had the slow filtered lens of a beacon seeking to deliver hope, not the cautionary flash of a warden seeking his prey.
Jase led me into the grassy meadow, the flowers licking at our sandy boots, the oasis a reprieve from the salt dunes. He spun me around into his arms and held me tight, looking deeply into
