Chapter 26

"Look, you're going to stay put," came Zyair's words, which he intended to be the last ones on the matter. "Collecting the Desolation Stone is my job, after all, so please just let me do it."

Layla glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. To his relief, though, she didn't protest this time.

"I'll have my comm with me. We'll be in touch the whole time. Okay? And I will be wearing tracker chains, too. Just ask Astrid to pull up my location," he added.

This time he reached out and cupped Layla's cheek, feeling her soft skin against his. It seemed to relax her a bit, and she dropped her arms from her chest, instead stepping forward and folding herself into him.

"Be careful," came Layla's voice, muffled from where her face was pressed against his chest.

"I'll be back in no time," he promised.

He tried not to think about the alternative and kissed Layla goodbye. Before Layla could protest again, he gave one last look to his bride-to-be as he walked toward the Top Asteroid's pod bays.

The Top Asteroid, even with its cloaking, would draw way too much attention plummeting through the atmosphere like a blazing silver bullet. Lorr warriors were stationed by his ship in pods, which were comparatively tiny. They seated only two crew members, but they were fitted with the best auto-stealth technology in several galaxies.

"We want as few pods as possible," he told them. "In and out without getting detected. Understand?"

The crew nodded, and within moments, three pods carrying two Lorr each were hurtling toward the bleak, dark planet of Jorvla.

Each pod landed in a different part of the area he and Layla had marked, lowering their chances of being detected. Masora, the crew member Zyair had traveled with, opened the pod door into the quiet night, and the two of them climbed out.

"Looks like the auto-stealth did its job," Masora whispered as she looked around. They'd landed in a dense cluster of trees, hiding them from view.

"Now we just have to do ours," Zyair countered.

Masora nodded, and the two set off in the direction of the weapons compound. Soon they spotted the low black building they were looking for. It hummed ominously in the otherwise quiet night, the low rumbling noise broken every so often by a loud clanking.

It was clear this was a round-the-clock facility, and they'd have to be careful. Zyair took a deep breath, scanning the place for a discreet entrance.

"There," he whispered to Masora, pointing toward a hidden service door.

Keeping to the shadows, the two of them ran across the expanse toward it, allowing them to slip inside and into a dimly lit service corridor.

No sooner had they entered than the sound of voices met them, and a couple of guards marched down the hallway at the end of the corridor they'd snuck into. Luckily the guards didn't so much as glance toward them.

But Zyair's ears pricked up. He was certain he'd heard the Jorvlen word for "stone" as they passed. A glance toward Masora told Zyair that she'd heard the same thing.

He knew it was risky, but they had no choice. They had to figure out where the stone was, and he made the signal to follow the guards as stealthily as they could. As they crept along, Zyair strained his ears to hear their conversation.

"They shouldn't just keep it out in the open," one guard was saying. "The manufacturing room is dangerous enough as it is without that stone just sitting around."

Zyair grinned and motioned to Masora to duck into the next room with him. It was a server room, dark but for the blinking lights of the comm units.

"Floor plan?" Masora whispered, reading his mind.

Zyair grinned, heading to the comm panel that controlled the room.

A moment later, he had the floor plan on his own wrist comm and a clear path to the manufacturing room. Now all they had to do was get there.

The first corridor was clear, but the second had them just narrowly escaping the sights of a whole group of Jorvlens. Masora whisked them into a storage room and out of danger at the last second.

"Nearly there," Zyair whispered as they heard the Jorvlens' footsteps recede.

He cracked the storage door open to check that the coast was clear. When it seemed to be, he led the way to the manufacturing room.

They didn't encounter any more Jorvlens along the way, but when they reached the manufacturing room itself, that changed entirely. The place was humming with activity and Zyair and Masora had to step back outside the moment they opened the door. They didn't have much time, either. No doubt someone would either come walking in or out of the place.

"The vents," Zyair suddenly said, remembering his most recent escapade on the ship with Layla, where he had learned the Desolation Stone was here on Jorvla.

His older brother, Trigg, was right. Once you start using vents for getting around, somehow you couldn't stop.

Masora nodded frantically at the idea, and the two of them ran to climb into the ductwork of the closest storage room, which was thankfully empty.

The vents were a tight fit. Two giant Lorr were certainly not meant for such confined spaces, but Zyair figured it was still more comfortable than a Jorvlen jail cell. In less than a minute, they had crossed over the hall and were perched above the vent cover to the manufacturing room, which held what they were looking for.

From where they were, they could see a glistening red stone perched right below them. A broad smile crossed Zyair's face, and he knew exactly what to do.

"You crawl around to the other vent," he told Masora, pointing to the other side of the room. "Cause a diversion, and then I'll grab the stone, okay? We rendezvous back in the storage room."

Masora smiled. "Yes, sir," she replied and scurried down a side shaft as fast as her muscled frame would allow.

Zyair got himself into position, quickly removing the screws that kept the shaft cover in place and then waiting for just the right moment. It didn't take long.

A small explosion erupted below and suddenly everything moved in sped-up time. Zyair sprang instantly into action, ripping off the shaft cover, lowering himself into the room, and snatching up the stone.

Within the chaos of the explosion, no one seemed to notice him, and he sprang out the door, across the hall, and into the storage room within a matter of seconds, the Desolation Stone stashed safely in his clothes.

He locked the door behind him, and a moment later, Masora jumped down from the vent, clearly pleased with herself.

"A job well done, sir," she said.

"Almost done," Zyair corrected.

He glanced at his comm, pulling up the tracker map for the crew. All six dots were in or around the complex, and he knew he had to get everyone out of there safely.

He was about to put out the order to retreat but suddenly did a double take. He counted the dots again. There weren't six. There were seven. And the last one was far on the other end of the compound.

For a second, he thought there must have been a glitch in the program, but that couldn't be right. So, who was the extra person?

Zyair's blood suddenly ran cold. He frantically pulled up Layla's name on his comm, trying to reach her, but she didn't answer. That, Zyair realized in a panic, could only mean one thing. The seventh dot was her. Dammit.

Layla. His mate, his love, the mother of his unborn child. And she was on a hostile enemy planet, far away from where he could protect her, instead of in the safety of the ship he thought was outside the planet's gravity.