Page 29 of 3013: Hellion
“What is it, mate? What’s wrong?”
“Look,” she said soberly, pointing toward the window.
At first, Xian didn’t know what she was pointing at, but it became clear when he used his enhanced vision to scan the area. There in the darkness was an Alliance vessel that had been heavily damaged. More pieces of debris were floating around the vessel, indicating that there had been a battle of some sort and another ship had been destroyed.
“Shit. That’s theStargazer,”Zack said as soon as he saw it.
“You recognize that vessel?” Jecca asked.
“It’s High Commander Matt Malloy’s vessel. I recognize it because it used to be Jax Spartan’s vessel. And it belonged to Roman Newgate before that.”
“Roman? As in Amari Nazira’s mate?” Jaya asked.
“Yeah, back when he was High Commander.”
“We crossed out of Alliance-controlled territory a while ago. What the hell are they doing out here? Do you think anyone is still alive on board?” Xian asked.
Jaya and Jecca glanced at one another, then they both said, “Stay here.”
Xian cursed when they both disappeared. “They went to look for survivors.”
“I know. We need to get better at using our magic, or we’re going to keep getting left behind,” Zack warned as his hands clenched into fists.
“Fucking hell, it’s only been two damn days,” Xian growled.
But he made a vow right then and there that he would get better. He would learn everything Jaya had to teach him so he could always fight by her side.
A few seconds later, Jaya and Jecca returned with close to two dozen people. Most of them were unconscious and injured. Xian immediately recognized one of the males. He’d met Matt Malloy several times, though he didn’t know him very well. Zack obviously did, since he rushed over to catch Matt before he fell to the floor.
Helping him over to one of the chairs, Zack said, “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ve got you.”
“Thanks for that,” Matt wheezed out. Hugging his broken arm to his chest, he glanced up and groaned. “Oh, man. Your eyes are glowing.”
“What you mean to say is thank you for saving you,” Jaya snarked.
Matt looked at her and nodded. “Thank you. Really.”
“What happened?” Xian asked.
“We were pursuing one of those marked ships with the three dots like the one that attacked an Alliance vessel near Xenthian, and we got caught in an ambush. Two more were waiting for us. We’re really fucking lucky we survived.”
“How did you?” Jaya asked.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Matt admitted. “We were only able to destroy one of the ships and were getting our asses kicked by the other two. Then, there were these strange flashes of light, and the other ships were just…gone. Broken into pieces.”
The twins glanced at one another, then Jecca said, “Describe the flashes of light.”
“What?” Matt’s brow furrowed. “They were just flashes. Like blinding flashes of light.”
“We need to leave,” Jaya said with a hint of urgency in her voice. “Right now.”
“Why?” Xian asked.
But his answer came a second later. There was a blinding flash of light, and the vessel shook and rattled as if they were on a sailboat caught in a storm at sea. The twins flung out magic to stabilize the vessel, making sure no one else was injured. Even with that added protection, Xian grabbed Jaya and wrapped himself around her to shield her body with his own.
Then, everything just stopped.
“What the fuck was that?” Zack growled.