Percipia turned to stare at him. “Why would you want to do that?”
“Because of course, I’m not, but I needed them to believe that I was. If they’d killed me, I’d never have been able to fulfill my mission, which I still might not fulfill.” He stood up to pace in his turn.
“But they’re hunting you.”
“So, it appears that my ploy didn’t work.”
“And the Archangel is still in danger from the worm.”
Bond nodded, looking as dissatisfied with this as Percipia felt. “My hope was that the vessel would make it back here to port without triggering the worm, then I could make my report and the worm would be irrelevant.”
“How could it become irrelevant?”
Bond gave her a look but didn’t reply.
Percipia understood. The Archangel was going to be destroyed or stolen as part of his mission from the angelic Host.
“Of course, I wasn’t counting on Anguissa deciding to leave almost immediately, headed for points unknown.”
“And you can’t guess whether the worm has been activated?”
He shook his head, looking miserable.
“So she and Thalina could be dead by now.”
“Or they could have no idea of their peril.” He raised his hands in frustration.
Percipia pushed her fingers through her hair. “But why? What’s so special about the Archangel?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Bond said and picked up his soup again. He ate it quickly, obviously distracted, and she was sure he didn’t even taste it.
“You won’t tell me that,” she countered and he met her gaze.
“No, I won’t, for your own safety.” Their gazes held for a potent moment, then he looked down at her stomach. “Do you think it was enough?”
“You think you can admit that you might be responsible for killing two of my sisters then we’ll just make love again?”
“We don’t know for sure.”
“You’ll never know for sure.”
“No.” Bond looked dissatisfied. “And I’d like to do something right before I’m gone from the mortal realm for good.”
“The angels need the ship.” Percipia sat down opposite him. “Tell me why.”
He exhaled in a long sigh, then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. “My quest was to locate the item that is now locked in the cargo hold of the Archangel.” He raised his gaze to hers. “If the vessel is destroyed, that cargo will be scattered, which will not be a good thing. It needs to be destroyed systematically and thoroughly.”
He was so serious that Percipia was afraid. “Is it toxic?”
“Yes.”
“Infectious?”
“Yes.”
“If my sisters survive, will they be hurt by it?”
“Not if they leave it untouched.”
She watched him for a long moment. “So, you can’t complete your quest, because you can’t say where the Archangel is.”
Bond nodded. “I’ll still go to the rendezvous. I’ll still report to the Host and tell them what I’ve learned. I’m not sure it’s enough.”
“What happens if you don’t get your wings back?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, his tone desolate. “I never truly thought I would fail.”
“Can’t you get an extension to finish your quest?”
He shook his head. “No. That’s not how it works.”
Percipia’s heart squeezed as she studied him, then she reached out and touched his hand. “What if I could help,” she asked, liking the hope in his gaze when he looked up at her. “We have two days left until your rendezvous and I can fly you to Finis Island in one. Why don’t you explain to me what remains undone? If the Archangel returns to port, I might be able to finish your quest.”
His smile was radiant and made her heart pound. “How generous you are, Percipia,” he murmured. “Let me think about it and see if I can figure out how to take advantage of your offer.” His eyes shone. “In the meantime, maybe we should make sure about that Seed.”
Percipia found herself blushing again. “We could go to Gela tomorrow, too. It’s not that far and I like it there. We could shop and eat and rent a luxurious hotel room, have a day devoted to the pleasures of the flesh. We could make memories.”
“For you,” he said softly, then his eyes began to glow. “We could make memories for you to share with our child.”
Percipia had a thought. “If I capture images of you, will they disappear when you do?”
“I don’t know.”
She wondered then if she was doomed to forget Bond, and that possibility made her sad. How much of a trace could he leave in the mortal realm? The prospect of it being nothing at all left her cold inside, and then she remembered that she’d have his child.
She reached for him then, wanting the solace of his touch.
She wouldn’t be able to enjoy it much longer, after all.
It was raining the next morning when Bond met Percipia at the opening to the cavern. As much as he had enjoyed their time together in the Aerie, he was ready to enjoy different material comforts than the ones offered here. He was glad of the rain. He always liked the look of it, silver drops in the air, and the feel of it on his skin. He liked how the air changed and the wind softened and the light seemed luminescent in itself.
Was she right about them being followed here?
Could she finish his quest?
She smiled at him and he offered her the book. “So, you can give it back to Sansor,” he said when she looked surprised.
She laughed. “You were going to steal a Starpod but you’re making sure this gets returned?”
“One Starpod is pretty much like another. They can be replaced. A book, though, is another thing.” He ran an admiring finger across the cover, then surrendered the book to her. “A book filled with one person’s notes, with thoughts that aren’t recorded anywhere else in the universe, is a rare and precious thing. I’m sure your friend will be glad of its return.”
“I’m sure he will be,” she agreed, then eyed him. “He betrayed us, but you want to return his book.”
“Yes,” Bond said, holding her gaze. “Will you forgive him, too?”
Percipia studied him for a long moment, then tucked the book into the pouch on her belt. “I’ll try,” she admitted quietly.
She considered the sky and took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing against the slight breeze.
“Intruders at the gate?” he teased.
“Not one,” she said with satisfaction, then began to shimmer.
Bond tried to watch her transformation because her ability fascinated him. But the golden light grew brighter and brighter, so bright that he had to shield his eyes. Then he heard the flap of leathery wings and opened his eyes to find Percipia before him in her dragon form.
The gold of her scales glistened and the red scales gleamed like polished metal. He looked into the vivid blue of her eyes and noticed how they glittered with intelligence.
This was another sight he would have liked to remember.
She offered one claw to him and he put his hand in her grasp. He caught his breath as she leaped into the air and beat her wings, then soared high with him safely in her grasp. He laughed aloud, loving the feel of the wind, and he heard her chuckle. She wheeled high in the sky, almost close enough to touch the clouds, and he looked over the mountains, back toward Incendium. In the distance, the shuttles rose to the star station, which shone in its orbit high above.
But Percipia turned her back on that and flew toward the icy white peaks near the pole. He could see smoke rising from a settlement far ahead and guessed that was her destination. A road wound through the mountains to it, then diminished to nothing beyond it. Could he discern the darkness of the sea in the distance? He couldn’t see Finis Island, even from this height, but maybe Percipia could.
“Are we being followed?” he asked, trusting her sharper senses.
“I don’t think so.”
“You never told me what you do,” he prompted, then wondered if she would reply.
“Do?”
“As a princess of the realm.”
“I fulfill my regal obligations,” she said. “But my real passion is for fireworks.”
Bond was surprised. “Pyrotechnics displays? Entertainment?”
“Exactly! I’m intrigued by the exact balance of chemicals required to generate certain colors and plumes of different shapes. I like timing the display to music.”
“As entertainment?”
“And celebration.” She gestured with her other front claw. “See what looks like a moon there?”
Bond nodded. “I thought Incendium didn’t have a moon?”
“It doesn’t. That’s Regalia, where my sister Gemma is queen and her husband Venero is king.”
“Is he the Carrier of her Seed?”
“He was. She’s pregnant now with their child.” Percipia paused. “He’s also her HeartKeeper.”
“Should I know what that means?”
“Some of our kind find more than the chance to reproduce when they meet the Carrier of the Seed. Some find partnership and love. When that happens, the partner who isn’t a dragon shifter has the opportunity to drink a potion and match his longevity to that of his dragon mate. It only works if their love is reciprocated.”
“Had you wanted or expected that?”
Percipia shook her head. “I always thought it was romantic nonsense.”
Bond knew he should have been relieved, because there was no chance of him being a HeartKeeper, but he wasn’t. He felt a bit irked instead.
“So that was what Sansor meant?”
She nodded. “I guess he thought we could fall in love and he could drink the potion. It would add significantly to his reading time.”
Bond asked what he most wanted to know. “Will you choose him?”
Percipia gave him a scathing look, which was reassuring. “A man who betrayed me? Never!” There was heat in her words.
“Will you retaliate against him?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s tempting but I think the disappointment will be enough punishment for him.” She sighed and met his gaze. “That may be as close as I can come to forgiving him.”
Bond was glad that she wasn’t vengeful or didn’t abuse her power in any way. “What’s your current project then?” he asked, wanting to know more.
“A simultaneous display, here and on Regalia, to commemorate the naming ceremony for Gemma and Venero’s child.”
“Sounds spectacular.” Bond had a sudden urge to watch one of her displays, just to better understand what she did.
“It will be, if I can solve a problem with the synchronization of the timers.”
“Can I help?”
She hesitated, then glanced down at him. “I don’t know.” She dove down then, making a spiraling descent to the ground and landed on the road. As soon as her feet had touched the ground, she shifted shape, then pulled up her sleeve to peel the computing device from her arm. She glanced pointedly at Bond’s arm and he shoved his own sleeve up. “The power supply feeds off your heartbeat,” she said, tapping the controls to calibrate it. Bond watched, well familiar with this kind of device. “There’s a simulation of the display here, and the code controlling the timers is here. They’re integrated so you immediately see the results of any changes. Let me duplicate it so there’s a back-up...”
“I can do all of that,” Bond said with confidence. “Let me see what I can do by the time we get to Gela.”
She smiled at him, her eyes dancing with pleasure. “I have some notes on nuances in the propagation of Dystarian numerals...”
“I know all about them. Leave it to me.” Truth be told, Bond was glad to have something to contribute, even if it would just ensure the entertainment of the citizens of Incendium for a short period of time. He was immersed in the code and the logic of her design by the time she was airborne again, and barely noticed the wind or the rain. He worked steadily, testing and then experimenting, admiring the elegance of her systems even as he sought the piece that was keeping it from perfection.
That was when he had the idea of leaving a bit of code as a souvenir.
Percipia would understand it, given her expertise.
He could leave a beacon to be triggered for the Host, in case the Archangel returned to Incendium’s port. Once the vessel was empty, Percipia could draw the attention of the Host to its precise location at a precise moment. He remembered how time and space were difficult to distinguish in the celestial realm, but knew the Host would respond to this. He wouldn’t automate it, because it was important to ensure that the vessel was empty before it was incinerated with angelfire.
Bond smiled as he worked, liking that he could leave this legacy and ensure that part of his quest was fulfilled even after his own departure. He worked away, ignoring their flight until Percipia spoke.
“What do you want me to tell our child about you?” she asked quietly.
Bond blinked, then thought about that, wanting to give her an honest answer. “That I admired his or her mother, and wish I could have the chance to learn everything about her.” It was true, all true, and he felt Percipia catch her breath.
He could see Gela not too far ahead of them and she gracefully descended so that she could shift behind a curve in the road. Once again, as soon as her toes touched the ground, she changed shape. The power of her shift awed him all over again.
“I don’t like to have an audience for this,” she said, that shy blush on her cheeks again.
“For shifting?” Bond asked and her smile heated.
“For this,” she whispered, then framed his face in her hands and kissed him.
Percipia didn’t even hear the rustle of wings before the attack. She was taken completely by surprise.
The attacker fell on her silently from above, digging claws deeply into her shoulders. She had a glimpse of a great hooked beak and feathers of a thousand shades of black, before she shoved Bond beneath her and summoned the change. She shifted shape with a roar and leaped after her attacker.
It was a massive black griffin.
She felt the laze fire blast past her shoulder, leaving a smoking hole in the assailant’s wings. The griffin was undeterred.
Percipia had never seen the like of it, nor had she ever faced a foe with such a hunger for blood. The beast snarled then bit off the end of one of her wings, ripping it free then swallowing it. Its eyes shone with malice but it dodged Bond’s next shot.
Percipia breathed fire on the griffin, but it seemed to make no difference. The beast shimmered but didn’t burn. Percipia slashed at her opponent, but it evaded her grasp, flying higher.
Percipia pursued it.
She soared high into the sky, well out of the range of Bond’s laze. She heard him bellow with frustration, but she was sure she could defeat the griffin high in the sky and keep Bond safe. They battled, rolling end over end, biting and clawing at each other, then the creature moved with sudden speed. It jumped over her and landed on her back. She twisted in her effort to dislodge the griffin, but its talons had sunk deep.
There was something on their tips, something that Percipia felt slipping into her body. It was already making her reactions sluggish and she felt drowsy. She raged dragonfire at her foe, who laughed.
Laughed.
They were high above the ground, far away from Bond. Percipia did her best to escape the griffin before she succumbed. She struggled and fought desperately, then felt her own flesh tear.
The griffin ripped one of her wings free.
The pain was so excruciating that Percipia screamed. She looked back to see the griffin cast the wing aside gleefully. She raged fire at her opponent, who tore the second wing free with astonishing strength.
Then the griffin laughed again and released her.
Percipia saw the ground approaching with dizzying speed. She felt the blood flowing from her wounds and knew there was nothin
g she could do to save herself. She shifted just moments before striking the ground, thinking it might be better to be smaller at the time of impact.
She closed her eyes and wished the end could have been different, wished she could have kissed Bond one last time, wished he could have completed his mission.
And then she was snatched out of the air.
Bond watched in horror as Percipia was mutilated then left to die. He watched her fall, feeling more impotent than he ever had before. He ran toward the place she would land, knowing there wasn’t a single thing he could do to save her and hating it.
The griffin had disappeared, as surely as if it had never been.
It was no normal griffin, then, but the details were unimportant to Bond in that moment. He saw the gleaming red and gold of Percipia’s dragon form falling toward him, then she shimmered in that familiar way. She was in her human form, then, still bleeding copiously, and he dared to hope he could catch her. He positioned himself, braced his feet against the ground and opened his arms, knowing that they would both be very injured.
But the griffin appeared suddenly above her, a great black shadow. It snatched at her and Bond shouted in rage. He thought the villain would snatch her away, but the griffin cackled, then lowered Percipia to the ground.
“Let her suffer longer,” the great bird whispered, it had a woman’s voice.
Its words were filled with malice.
It turned its bright gaze upon Bond and seemed to sneer. “Let you have to wrestle with the choice.”
“What choice?” he asked, itching to incinerate the creature but needing to hear its words. He pulled both lazes, keeping his hands at his sides. The griffin considered the weapons and cackled again.
“Will you use the last of your power to heal her?” the griffin asked. “Or will you use it to learn what secret is hidden in my soul?” It landed and hopped toward him. “You’re almost spent, Boel. If you do neither, you might live until the rendezvous, if you can reach it. You might be able to save this dragon shifter. You might be able to find the revelation you need in my soul. But you cannot do all three.” She leaned closer, and shifted shape before his eyes, becoming a serpent with the same shining eyes. “Which means you will fail.”