Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) (4 page)

He returned to the cradled her thighs
and his delicious muscles covered her. He found her center and
entered. They both let out a guttural sound. As he began to move,
euphoria took her and ecstasy assailed her. She became intoxicated
by pleasure. At first, she matched his speed with her hips, but
soon his thrusts became frenzied, and she could only accept him and
the bliss he offered.

Powerful jolts shot through her, and
her orgasm burst out in the form of a primitive cry. He followed
with a rough groan. Finally, he stilled. His weight came to rest on
her while they both gathered their breaths. Her fingers trailed
over his back.

Then his head snapped up. “I love you,
Priya. I never want to lose you again. Marry me.”

She choked on a gasp and searched his
expression. He looked sincere and anxious.

“It’s a little soon for proposals,
isn’t it?”

“Not for me. I’ve spent far too long
without you. I know I only have a tiny sliver of your heart back,
but I am going to hold onto it with everything I have. You want a
ring? I’ll get you a ring. More necklaces? I’ll buy them all.” He
paused. “Being without you was like being without my best friend. I
don’t want to go back to that.”

Her vision blurred. Could this truly be
happening? He’d made a mistake that day, a humongous mistake, but
so had she. If she hadn’t acted so rashly and jumped the first
flight out of there—or perhaps left him a note—she might have saved
herself countless night of misery.

“Would you really have come for me?”
she found herself whispering.

“Without a second thought.” His voice
held no hint of doubt. “I will never forgive myself for missing
your little clue.”

She offered him a tentative smile, when
what she really wanted to do was laugh till she cried.

Lifting her hand to the side of his
face, she stroked her thumb over his cheek. “Ask me again when
we’ve won Phase Nine.”

Continue on for an excerpt of Demon
Possession (Shadow Quest Book 1)

Originally published in the
Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance anthology, t
his short story gives a glimpse into the world of Kiersten
Fay’s Shadow Quest series; a series of full length novels available
now.

More books by Kiersten Fay:

Demon
Possession

Shadow Quest Book 1

Demon Slave

Shadow Quest Book 2

Demon
Retribution

Shadow Quest Book 3

Demon Untamed

Shadow Quest Book 4

Demon
Possession

(Shadow Quest Book
1)

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Analia crouched in the shadows of the
docking bay—shaking with fear, anticipation—hidden behind a large
pile of cargo. Heavy adrenaline coursed through her body. Damp
blond curls tangled around her face, falling toward her ragged
excuse for clothing and dirty bare feet. She struggled to steady
her breathing, afraid someone would hear her. Her body threatened
to collapse under the weight of the ship's artificial gravity, as
fatigue began to set in.

The sounds of the ship, like a living
thing, enveloped her. Embracing her both as an old friend, and
hated foe.

Soon she would be free.

She hoped.

It was the only thing that drove her
on.

She’d known a merchant ship would be
docking today. Two or three ships were scheduled every few days, in
order to maintain a variety of stock. In space, no two ships
offered the same supplies, which meant many ships were often
commissioned simultaneously.

She watched with frustration as the
blond guard stood sentinel mere feet from her. She mentally
retraced her steps, hoping she hadn't left evidence of her
spontaneous and unplanned escape.

As usual, she'd been in the middle of a
punishment. Locked in a room for two weeks—no food and little
water—with another week of the same to look forward to. The
punishment had been the result of trying, and failing, again, to
refuse Darius' advances.

Captain Darius of the
Extarga
, a.k.a the Hell
Ship, had become full of rage at her continued resistance and
ordered her locked away until she could accept her lot…accept him.
Something she would never do.

She could never give her heart, body,
or soul to someone like Darius. He was heartless and
brutal.

As she had crouched on the floor, a man
entered her cell. She'd seen him before. He'd tended to her many
times. Each time, she'd attempted a conversation, with no
reciprocation.

She couldn’t fault him,
though. Darius strove to keep her isolated on
Extarga
, hidden away from most of the
crew. Those few who had come into her presence—to bring her food or
a fresh change of clothes—were ordered not to speak with her, or
be
disciplined
.
None had risked themselves for her conversation. Not that she
didn't continue to try.

“How is your day?” she would say to
whoever had been sent to her room. It was a phrase she'd heard
before, through stolen moments from the ship's surveillance. “What
is your name?” she would ask, hopeful for a response.

When they ignored her, she would only
continue as if the conversation were two sided instead of one,
telling them anything that popped into her head: her thoughts of
whatever room she was in at the time or how she missed the view of
space. She hadn't been allowed to see it in decades.

She drew some satisfaction from the one
sided conversation, if only a little. It always meant something to
her when they lingered slightly, as though they were
listening.

But in that moment she hadn’t been
interested in conversation, eyeing the scraps of food the man had
brought for her. Scraps of food not even fit for an animal, but
she'd take it. She was growing thin from hunger.

Though he hadn't said a word, he had
watched her as she ravaged the scraps. The first bit of food she'd
eaten in a week and it was not enough to fill her belly. She'd
barely tasted it, which, by the looks of it, wasn't a bad
thing.

After she finished, she looked up at
the man, surprised he was still there. There was something in his
expression she had never seen before. Was it sorrow? Shame? Did he
pity her? Probably. Who wouldn't?

She’d wondered what she must look like,
unwashed and wearing a tattered dress. Her feet were bare, her
nails were dirty and bitten, and her hair hadn't been brushed in
some time.

When the man turned to leave the room,
he hadn't left as normal: by closing the door tight and double
checking that it was locked. Instead, he opened the door wide and
withdrew in a rush. Without even a backward glance, he allowed the
heavy door to fall closed from its own weight.

Analia didn't know what had compelled
her to act in that moment, just that she had. Rushing forward, she
inserted her fingers in the doorframe, just before it shut her in.
She stifled a scream when the heavy door came crashing down on
her.

Grinding her teeth, she resisted the
urge to cradle her hand and waited.

One heartbeat. Two. Three. Her breath
was labored. The first rush of adrenaline entered her system,
followed by the spark of an idea. Her heart began to race at the
possibilities.

Think. What do I do
now?

Then she'd remembered that
several merchant ships were scheduled to dock. Perhaps…if she were
lucky. If she could only make it to the docking bay. If a ship was
even there, it was possible she could escape
Extarga
.

That's a lot of
ifs
.

She thought of the consequences if she
went through with this and failed. A stream of horrific images
entered her mind. She would suffer for days, weeks, maybe longer if
she was caught. Never had she done anything so bold as to try to
escape.

But if she didn't at least try, she
knew she would regret it for the rest of her life, no matter the
consequences. There may never be an opportunity like this
again.

Hope flooded her, made her feel light.
The idea of freedom, a better life, possibly being within her reach
was a heady thought.

What if I do get free and
it's worse out there?

The idea spread through her like a
poison. If she did escape, and found herself on a merchant ship,
what if the people on board were worse than Darius?

She pushed the thought from her mind.
It couldn't be possible. Could it? Dark images swirled in her mind,
picking at her resolve.

Or, what if they found out about her
gift? Perhaps her unusual pointed ears were a clear sign of what
she was, even if she didn’t know.

Maybe under different circumstances she
would have embraced her ability, but for so long she’d suffered
because of it and only wished it gone. Unfortunately, as far as she
knew, that was impossible. It was a part of her, through and
through, blood to bone. And it was the reason Darius kept her as
isolated as he did. To him she was just an object. A piece of
machinery.

It could be her gift was a normal trait
of her people. If so, it was the only connection she had to them.
She had no idea what she was or where she came from. No memory of
her people. She’d been but a child when Darius had claimed
her.

Analia knew what awaited her here on
the Hell Ship—a lifetime of suffering until Darius siphoned every
last drop of her will in his attempt to break her. Eventually he
would succeed.

When she was sure the hallway was
empty, she braved a peek. Then she prayed for the luck of the gods
and eased the door shut till she heard the soft click of the lock
move into place. Any decision she might have made to turn back
disintegrated in that moment.

She glided through the corridors,
toward the docking bay. Her bare feet made little noise as she
went. She knew this ship better than anyone. She knew it better
than Darius himself.

When Darius hooked her up to the ship,
Analia had the ability to tap into the ship's heavy surveillance
system. It was as though the images from the cameras were displayed
directly into her mind, and she could see everything all at once.
As far as she could tell, it was the only real benefit of her
gift.

Though it wasn’t much of a trade off,
considering the pain of being hooked up to the ship was nearly
blinding. The sensation of her energy being drawn out of her body
and into the ship’s power storage system was agony. To take her
mind off it, she watched the crew through the cameras, envying
their freedom.

It was her only joy, but right now it
was her greatest enemy.

Making her way to a small control
panel, she went to work infiltrating the system. For once, her
ability would benefit her.

As she hooked herself up to the ship,
she felt the moment she became part of it, like one colossal
machine working in unison.

Analia shook her head and frowned in
disgust. She really was a piece of equipment.

Everything in the ship’s database was
her playground. Every piece of information, every secret, and every
code belonged to her. If Darius ever found out about the extent of
her ability, he would surely use her to spy on his crew. There were
not many under Darius' command who spoke highly of him in private
conversation.

With the ship at her command, she
proceeded, first, to clear an easy path to the docking bay by
unlocking any door that might be sealed, and checked to see if any
crew members would be in her way. After ensuring a straight path,
she erased two solid weeks of recorded surveillance. Then she shut
it down completely and locked the system, changing the codes before
continuing toward the docking bay.

The system was only checked
once every few months, and anything recorded was only viewed when
there was a discrepancy. No one would think to check it until long
after she'd gone. If they wanted in, they were going to have to
hack the system in order to gain access. And because she
was
the system, she knew
they would have a hell of a time of it.

Only once, as she carefully traversed
the maze of passageways, did she come across trouble—a couple crew
members, advancing toward her. She heard them before she saw them.
They walked confident and loud, boots thudding on the hard shiny
floor.

Dread engulfed her, almost overtaking
her senses. After a moment of panic, she was able to calm her
emotions, knowing she needed to find a place to hide. The voices
were close, laughing and talking with ease. Just before they
entered the corridor, she dove for a door to her right.

Inside, the room was small and dark
like a closet, but empty and unused. Her body had begun to tremble
with worry; her hands were the worst, shaking uncontrollably.
Opening, closing, and rubbing them, she tried to relieve the
tremors.