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As they did, Riv considered how best to reveal himself to Élisa. It needed to be soon before his reasons for disguising himself lost their moral ground.

He was so deep in thought that he almost missed the sound of a magnetized weapon whistling toward them.

His instincts kicked in. His body leapt into full Rider mode.

His guise fell away, shattering his Ribau smokescreen.

Without it, he was faster, his noids released from having to keep Ribau’s Galician form, the extra energy pumping into his veins to accelerate his reactions.

In milliseconds, he traversed the fissure that separated him from Élisa.

Before she could even move a wisp of hair and frond of a feather, he was on her.

Lifting her in his power-driven arms, he tracked away from her position where, seconds later, a webbed, electrified trap fell, bristling with enough punch to either main or knock her out.

He placed her on the ground and moved.

Towards the pinnace bearing down on them.

It was a single pilot racer, and he caught sight of a figure huddled within, tracking hard and fast toward his woman.

Riv took a chance. He activated his mag boots and leapt into the air while at the same time unsheathing his weapon.

His noids provided him with pincer-point precision.

He aimed and fired, falling away just as the racer blasted past. In its wake came a shower of plexiglass as a body tumbled out, sinking to the ground far below.

It landed with a thud as the pinnace, now out of control, whirled through the air before exploding on impact against a large clutch of boulders.

Riv shut his eyes for a moment and steel shards, bracing himself as he descended slowly towards the surface, to where the assailant lay in an unnatural, splayed position, unconscious.

Also, where Élisa stood, hands crossed over her chest, her wide, shocked, lilac gaze fixed on his unveiled, true form.

14

What The Heart Desires

ÉLISA

‘Ifokkin’ knew it!’ Élisa hissed as his boots touched down. ‘Yet, I second-guessed myself so often that I almost lost my sanity!’

She tracked across the fissured landscape towards the tall, imposing Rider, her lithe legs churning. Then she was on him.

She impacted like an out-of-control maglev train, pounding his chest, kicking, and growling as she did.

Tears flooded her, and raw pain seared her face, mirroring his own.

He let her throw her sorrow against him until he could take it no more.

‘How could you hide your true self from me?’ she cried, rage falling, seeping from under her patch.

‘You left me! You hid away for years!’

His grating cry made her jerk her head to look up into Riv’s chiseled sadness, at his white irised eyes glistening with emotion.

‘I had no choice!’ Her shriek was just as hoarse, pained, and gut-punching as his.

He held her shoulders, gazing deep into her eyes as his chest heaved with emotion. ‘Élisa, I had no idea. You said nothing back then. You gave menadato work with.’