Page 74 of Ashes & Aether

She swings it down toward Maggie’s chest.

I do not think. I do not aim. I simply react.

I hurl the plasma blade.

The weapon spins end over end, bridging the gap in a fraction of a second. The superheated blade sinks directly into the center of Vessa Korvann’s forehead.

She stops mid-swing. The syringe hovers mere inches above Maggie’s heart, trembling in her frozen grip. Vessa’s eyes roll back, the light extinguishing from them instantly as the plasma incinerates her brain.

THREAT TERMINATED.

Vessa’s body crumples to the floor, her white coat pooling around her.

I’m at Maggie’s side before my blade hits the floor.

I rip the centrifuge tube from her arm, crushing the plastic under my armored boot, and pull the needle from her arm. Then I grip the thick metal band restraining her left wrist. My muscles scream, the nano armor amplifying my strength to terrifying levels, and I tear the cuff completely off the table. I move down the gurney, repeating the process on her ankles, bending the reinforced metal like cheap alloy.

She sits up, rubbing her bruised wrists.

I pull her off the metal gurney and crush her against my chest.

She feels small, fragile, but she just stabbed her abductor while strapped to a gurney. Her arms wrap around my neck, her hands tangling in my hair. She buries her face in the crook of my shoulder, and I bury my face in her neck, inhaling the scent of her skin, the lingering tang of the chemical sedatives, the proof that she is alive and breathing in my arms.

“I have you,” I whisper, the words catching in my throat. I press my mouth against her temple, kissing the damp hair clinging to her skin. “I have you.”

“You took your time, Spymaster.” Her voice shakes, her limbs starting to tremble. She presses closer, burying herself in my hold.

I slide one hand down her back, wrapping my arm tight around her waist, while my other hand drops to cup her flat stomach. The realization blooms again, bright and overwhelming, pushing back the shadows of the subterranean lab.

“You triggered the bio-monitor,” I murmur, mapping the line of her spine.

She nods against my shoulder. “Cyrel told me how it works one day when I was giving more of my blood. I figured you would be watching the grid. I just had to give you a target.”

“I will never take my eyes off you again.” I pull back just enough to look at her face. Her deep-red lipstick is smudged, her eyes bright with unshed tears, but she is whole. “The baby.”

Maggie covers the hand resting on her stomach, lacing her fingers through mine. A fierce, brilliant smile stretches across her lips, illuminating the dark corners of the room.

“Our baby,” she whispers back.

I lean down and capture her mouth, kissing her with every ounce of the desperate, consuming love raging in my blood.

EPILOGUE – MAGGIE

Asleek, silver diagnostic scanner hovers inches above my bare stomach. The device hums, casting a soft blue light over my skin.

Lirael studies the holographic projection hovering in the air above the bio-bed. She exhales a long breath.

“The early embryonic development is flawless. The merged genome has stabilized perfectly.” Lirael lowers the scanner, a brilliant smile breaking across her face. “You and the child are in perfect health, Maggie.”

I button the lower half of my blouse. The knot of tension in my stomach dissolves. I survived a kidnapping and a fanatic’s scalpel, but hearing the medical confirmation anchors me back to reality.

Cyrel vibrates with energy at the foot of the bed. She clutches a datapad to her chest, her red curls bouncing.

“You weaponized the cardiac bio-monitor.” Cyrel shakes her head in sheer awe. “You deliberately drove your pulse and respiration into the critical range and triggered the automated distress ping. It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

I slide off the edge of the mattress and smooth the wrinkles from my trousers.

“I will always look for the tactical advantage.” I adjust my cuffs, hiding the jagged white scar even though it’s no longer a secret. “Dr. Korvann possessed the guards and the technology. She forgot to account for the prisoner.”