Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (9 page)

Nev leaned over, close to Erynn, and took her
hand. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine.” She straightened, widening the
space between them.

“I can give you something to help you
sleep.”

“No.” Erynn pulled her hand free and stood
up. “I should go.”

Nev followed her to the door. “You sure
you’re okay?”

Erynn gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine,” she
repeated.

Erynn knew she wouldn’t see Jaer again
tonight. She went to the bar. The space was quiet, the lights low.
A few people sat talking in shadowy corners. The bartender nodded
to Erynn and she sat at the counter.

He handed her a frosty bottle.

“Thanks.” She sipped at the cold liquid.
Bubbles tickled her nose. Spiciness burned her throat. She let the
warmth seep into her. She sat there, trying not to think, and gazed
into the twinkling lights above the U-shaped counter.

“I told you I could give you something to
help you sleep.”

Erynn jerked her attention to Nev who had
slid onto the seat next to her. She ran her fingers up and down the
bottle, wiping at the drops of condensation and melting ice
crystals. “I’m not trying to sleep.” She stared at the water
trailing into her palm.

“What are you trying to do?” His voice
invited her to talk and share her pain with him.

She didn’t. She sighed and signaled to the
bartender.

“Is it the dreams?” Nev watched her face.

Erynn glared at him. “What do you know about
my dreams?”

“I’m the senior medical officer here. It’s my
job to know what may affect a pilot’s, or any other personnel’s,
abilities. Cale told me about your visions, your dreams. Like he
told me of his. He trusts me. I wish you would.”

“It’s not that easy for me.”

Nev turned away. “I understand.”

The bartender set two bottles on the
counter.

Erynn glanced at him and smiled.
“Thanks.”

“It must have been hard for you growing up,
never able to talk to anyone about—things.”

“I had my dad,” she snapped.

But not any more
.

She gritted her teeth against the grief and
stared at the dark wooden counter.

Nev took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I don’t know how to help you, Erynn. And I want to.”

“I’m fine,” she said through clenched
jaws.

“You keep saying that, and yet here you sit,
getting drunk.”

She spun in her chair and glared at him. “I
am not.” Only her head kept spinning, going round and round. She
reached to the edge of the counter, missed, and slid forward.

Nev reached, putting his hand out to catch
her. “Sure, you’re fine.”

She pushed away. “I am…” She never finished.
The tears choked out her voice.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her
into him, and steadied her. “Let it out, Erynn. It’s okay. It’s
okay.” He held her for a while, letting her get the tears out of
her system.

Erynn pulled away, squeezing back her sorrow,
her eyes dry. “Sorry. I should get back to my quarters.”

“I’ll walk you,” Nev said, standing. “And you
have nothing to be sorry about.”

ERYNN MADE HER WAY TO the Medical Unit the
next morning. The man behind the desk gestured her in without
question, opening the doors behind him. People dressed in pale blue
jumpsuits walked with purpose across the clean white space. Some
carried trays of food, the bright overhead lights glinting off
shining forks and spoons. Others, smiles on their faces as they
entered cubicles and greeted patients, held medical instruments or
small computers.

She edged around the open door to Nev’s
office and stood leaning against the frame, watching him. He
studied the screen before him on his desk with intense
concentration, eyes narrowed, mouth turned down. The fingers of his
right hand lay calmly on the one clear spot of the cluttered
surface.

Nev was all light and open sky, so different
from Jaer’s dark lines and quiet power. Jaer wore his emotions on
his face and expressed them through his body language, rarely
speaking his sentiments aloud. Nev voiced his thoughts and
feelings. She always knew what was on Nev’s mind. There was no
mystery about him.

Erynn frowned.

Have I ever sensed Nev’s emotions
?

She opened the tunnel of light, fixed the
beam outward, and…

Nothing
.

Zander’s words came back to her.
“
Sometimes nothing is all there is. Sometimes, nothing is a good
thing
.”

She turned her face to the open hall. A
slight woman with long golden-brown hair in a snug fitting pale
blue jumpsuit walked toward her. Happiness flowed from the woman,
showering Erynn like warm, gentle rain. The woman continued to the
other end of the corridor, humming. Erynn dropped her gaze and
grinned, glancing back to Nev.

He watched her. That crooked smile lit up his
blue eyes and spread across his features.

She didn’t need to read his emotions to know
what he felt. He was glad to see her.

Erynn straightened. “Is this a bad time? I
could come back later.”

“You can stay now
and
come back
later.” Nev stood up and moved around the cluttered desk. “Cace has
been beyond excited all morning, waiting for you to visit him.” He
put his hand on her back and directed her down the wide hall,
gesturing to the right. “His room is here.”

Erynn paused outside, not entering. She
glanced up at Nev and winced. “I…Last night…I was…” She inhaled
deeply, staring back the way they had come. “I don’t usually. I
mean…” Nev stood there, watching her with an amused expression.
Jaer would have stopped her rambling by now, telling her it wasn’t
necessary. She frowned and bit her lower lip.

He reached out and brushed a strand of curls
from her eyes. “What are you trying to say, Erynn? I saw you at a
vulnerable moment. Does that upset you? Thank you for trusting
me.”

A voice echoed from the cubicle, “
Byan
Nev, is Captain Yager here?”

From down the corridor, the same pretty woman
called, “Nev, there’s a case that needs your attention.” The woman
glanced at Erynn. “Sorry.” Her large green eyes darted between Nev
and Erynn.

Nev nodded at the woman. “Thanks, Maire. I’ll
be right there.” He glanced at Erynn and shrugged. “Duty calls. Go.
Visit Cace.” He spun and hurried away.

The room smelled of disinfectant and had an
underlying scent of illness. Cace sat supported among large pillows
in a bed with the head raised. She could tell he was tall for his
fourteen years, but too thin, all sharp angles and pale skin.

The DVSL on the wall across from the foot of
the bed was the only light and showed the hangar bay. Interceptors
gleamed in the sunlight pouring in through the open bay doors. His
large brown eyes widened along with his smile when Erynn entered
the small dim room.

“It’s really you,” he whispered, his young
voice quiet, weakened by illness.

From a chair in a shadowy corner, a woman
stood up and stepped forward. She was taller than Erynn. Her dark
hair hung long and straight, clasped at the back of her neck.

She took Erynn’s hand between her fine-boned
cool fingers and glanced back at her son. “Thank you for coming.
Cace has talked of nothing else since Byan Nev told him you would
visit.”

“I’m glad to visit with Cace. I hear we share
a love of Interceptors.”

The woman released Erynn’s hand. “You two
have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave you to it.” She smiled, wiping
at a tear with trembling fingers, and hurried from the room.

Cace sighed, staring out the door. “They’re
having trouble making me better this time. It worries Mom.”

Erynn sat on the bed facing Cace. “Nev is a
great byan. He’ll sort it out.” She opened the tunnel of her
awareness. A fierce will, strong and confident streamed from Cace.
So much energy, it made Erynn dizzy.

The room filled with the sweet, spicy scent
of the Anim Blath.

Erynn closed her eyes. A vision of the future
flashed in her mind. She recognized Cace, a handsome and powerful
man with a family of his own. He would become a great leader of his
world one day as the people of Arranon and Korin reach out to the
stars and welcome civilizations from other planets.

“
The child must live
,” the Anim Blath
sang in many high voices.

Bright points of blue, green, and purple
danced under her lids and replaced the scene of Cace’s future. The
colors paled, changing to a white-hot flame that burned through
her. Erynn shuddered.

“Captain Yager, are you all right?” Cace
reached out, touched her arm, and gasped.

In a brief flare, a blinding explosion, Erynn
experienced Cace’s pain, his constant struggle to endure, and his
pure determination to beat the evil disease tormenting his body.
His respirations quickened and his pulse raced as the fire within
her blazed and burned into him. Like shadows chased by brilliant
sunshine, darkness fled Cace’s body, leaving only light, purity,
and a sense of newness to his being. The white wildfire that swept
from her into Cace smoldered and died. The intense radiance
retreated, and the heat cooled. Blue, green, and purple firelight
once again swirled through her consciousness.

Alarms from a monitoring room down the
corridor alerted the staff of Cace’s wildly irregular vital signs.
They would come to see what was wrong, and quickly.

The Anim Blath receded. Their points of
flashing colored lights dimmed and disappeared. The familiar sweet
scent faded, and the room chilled.

Erynn opened her eyes.

Cace stared at her. Sweat plastered strands
of dark hair to his face. “I feel…different. What did you do?” His
face was no longer ghostlike. His cheeks had a high, healthy color,
and his breathing was even and smooth. She sensed the erratic
rhythm of his heart skip and then steady, slow and strong.

She smoothed hair back from his forehead and
smiled. “I didn’t do anything, Cace. I think that medicine of Nev’s
is finally working.”

He shook his head slowly, his eyes bright and
wide. “No. There’s way more to it.”

“Maybe.” Erynn glanced to the door. Hurried
footsteps sounded, coming closer. “It was you, Cace. The power is
in you. It’s in all of us, if we believe.”

He nodded vaguely, grinning. “I understand.
It’s our secret.”

Erynn stood up and stepped away from the
bed.

Nev rushed into the room, followed by Maire
and Cace’s mom. Nev’s expression promptly changed from one of
reserved dread to pleasant surprise. “Hey, pal, you look pretty
good. Are you feeling better?”

Maire began examining Cace before he could
answer.

“I’m fine. Captain Yager and I were just
talking.” Cace grinned and winked at Erynn.

Maire glanced up from her exam. She took in a
breath and stared at Nev. “All vital signs are normal. I mean
normal for anyone, not just normal for Cace.”

Nev reached out and took the readings Maire
handed him. He smiled. “Well, young man, it may be that this new
medicine will be the answer for you.” He handed the readings back
and glanced at Erynn. His smile faltered as his gaze met hers.
“Would you wait in my office, Erynn?”

“Sure.” She nodded at Cace and grinned. “I’ll
see you later.”

Cace pushed himself up straight in the bed.
“Promise?”

Erynn nodded. “I promise.”

“Ah, the healing powers of a pretty face.
Much more of that, and you’ll put me out of a job. And that’s not a
bad thing.” Nev stood in the door, arms crossed. He wasn’t
smiling.

Erynn rose from her chair. “What do you
mean?”

Nev hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his
jumpsuit and shook his head. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?
Not anymore than Cace did.”

She frowned. “What do you want to know?” Her
voice cracked and she cleared her throat. Nev’s light brown hair
had streaks of gold that shone in the light, sparkling. She noticed
the clasp at the back of his neck, his
cocha
, silver and
blue.

Like his eyes
.

He stepped in and closed the door, walking
around her to fall heavily into his chair. He rubbed his mouth with
the back of his fingers. “Erynn. Trust me, please. There is more to
you than just dreams and visions. Or being able to fly an
Interceptor like no one else I have ever seen. Or finding a way to
save us all when we had given up hope.”

“I told you, I had help. It wasn’t me,” Erynn
snapped, glaring down at him. She bit back her anger and sorrow.
“Faylen was the one. He saved us.”

“Was it you just now, with Cace?” He put his
feet on the corner of the desk and laid his hands over his
stomach.

“
I
didn’t do anything.” Her eyes
narrowed, and she held his gaze.

He didn’t back down.

Would he if he knew about me
?
Would
he be afraid
?

A light tap at his door broke the
impasse.

Nev leaned forward, his feet hitting the
floor with a smack, and he stood up. “Yes.”

The door opened. Maire’s gaze darted from
Erynn to Nev, and she winced. “I’m sorry, Nev. We’re ready for
you.”

“Thanks, Maire.” The door slid shut. “I have
to go.” He stepped in front of Erynn, close.

His clean, medicinal scent mingled with
something musky and powerful. His energy drew her and she leaned
forward, eyes closed.

He swayed into her at the same time, resting
his chin on the top of her head. His hands lightly slid from her
shoulders down her arms.

“I have to go,” he whispered again, his
breath warm against her. In a swirl of cool air, he was gone.

Erynn stood a moment collecting her thoughts.
She sighed and left Nev’s office to enter an empty corridor. She
should find Kira and learn what she remembered. Erynn couldn’t go
poking her head into each cubicle until she found Kira, though.
Erynn glanced up and then down the hall. She decided to go back to
the main desk. The man there would know where Kira was.