Page 15 of Dalla’s Royal Guards (Second Chance #3)

The flying beast suddenly emerged—sharp and terrifying.

A cry of horror slipped from her, and she scrambled for cover.

There was precious little protection from such a monster.

She gripped her longbow and tried to blend in with a small grouping of rocks not much larger than her.

Her gaze followed the beast as it passed overhead.

The belly was smooth. The tip and tail were sleek. The front was fatter than the rear. Its wings did not flap up and down like those of a bird but rotated in a dizzying circle over its body. Inside its stomach, Dalla caught sight of a man before the beast swept past her, moving toward the hut.

She rose shakily and stared after it. In the distance, she could see a line of glowing eyes moving down the curving road from the mountain.

Her lips parted in wonder. She knew the three sets of glowing eyes were cast by the carriages Musad and Nasser had.

The metal beast must be one of theirs. She had seen man’s flying machines when the world had been at war when she was last here, but there had been nothing like the one that had flown over her a few minutes ago.

Regret and longing washed through her. The brothers and their charge would soon be gone.

She had taken a few extra precious minutes to say goodbye to the little girl who had reminded her of a young Runa.

She stood watching the line of vehicles as they wound down the mountain road to the bottom of the valley.

They would travel along the same hard road that she had been following for the past several hours.

In the distance, the flying beast circled before landing. The line of vehicles soon closed in on it. She lifted a hand and pressed it against her heart. If she found what she was looking for, the pain of another existence would soon be over.

She turned and continued her trek to the distant mountains. The wat-wat-wat of another flying beast drew her attention. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed not one, but two more. These had different markings on them.

They were coming from the south and heading toward the first one.

Horror rose inside her when the two beasts began firing on the one lifting off, but it moved with an agility that startled her as it evaded and returned the gunfire.

It wasn’t long, however, before smoke started billowing from its tail and it was forced to retreat. They were moving in her direction.

Dalla reached for a long shaft nestled in her quiver, fitted it, and braced her feet. The one that belonged to her own people weaved back and forth as it was fired upon.

She didn’t know if her arrow could pierce the closest pursuing machine or not, but she focused on the clear glass and the man sitting in the front, drew her bowstring back near her ear, and breathed deep, steady breaths.

Her people’s machine passed over her, low enough to the ground that it stirred the sand and pushed her scarf off her head.

She closed her eyes to keep the sand from blinding her and listened for the closest pursuing beast, judging the distance based on how close it had been to the first.

Picturing the man sitting behind the glass, she opened her eyes and released the taut string. She kept her gaze on the arrow as it soared upward. The tip pierced the glass, drilling a hole through as the momentum of the beast met her arrow.

In the dim glimmer of early morning light, Dalla caught the man’s shocked expression as the shaft impaled him in his seat. The metal beast wobbled in the air, gunfire no longer sweeping through the air above her head, but across the ground, moving toward her.

Dalla lowered her arms and ran for the short cropping of rocks that she had taken refuge behind a few minutes earlier.

A thunderous crash shook the ground. Dalla crouched lower and covered her head as fire and metal rained down around her.

A second explosion shook the surrounding area.

The force of the shockwave sent her sprawling.

A fiery wave of heat swept on either side of the rocks.

Dalla rolled closer to the outcropping, curled into a ball around her longbow, and buried her face in her hands. Thick, black smoke roiled around her, and she remained still as explosion after explosion shook the ground. Whatever weapons the metal bird had on it did not survive the crash.

She rolled to her knees and peered around the boulders once the explosions and popping noises ceased. The second enemy beast changed course. It was now heading in her direction.

Dalla coughed and rubbed at her watering eyes. The acidic smoke and the flames made the vehicle look like an illusion. She fumbled for another arrow and staggered to her feet.

She stumbled backwards, trying to keep the metal bird in her view while also trying to escape the heat and smoke. The beast was closing the distance, and she hastily fitted the arrow. A light breeze blew smoke from the wreckage across her line-of-sight and blinded her.

Pain from the smoke made her eyes water until she couldn’t see, she could only hear the sounds of gunfire and the flying machine. None of the bullets touched her, one part of her mind noticed.

There would be time to curse her immortality later.

She released the arrow as the beast thundered over her and flew past.

Wiping the sleeve of her tunic across her eyes, despair swept through her when she saw the shaft sticking out of the side near the tail. It was too far for her to kill it now.

She continued wiping at her burning eyes and watched with growing helplessness.

Her heart pounded as two dark specks emerged from the direction that the flying bird carrying Musad, Nasser, Cianna, and the others had come from.

The specks were much faster than the second flying beast. They swooped down past it before turning and climbing.

The enemy metal bird changed course, veering away from its pursuit and heading back the way it had come. The two dark specs returned and followed it for a short distance before splitting and circling back around to follow the fading metal bird belonging to Musad and Nasser.

She lifted her hand and coughed again. Behind her, the remains of the beast she had killed still burned. She sank down to her knees and wiped the tears from her eyes. She refused to admit the tears came from anything but the smoke.

The whine of a powerful vehicle approaching sent her surging back to her feet.

She gripped her longbow between her hands.

Through the smoke, she saw the sand-colored transport from yesterday slide to a stop.

Her heart pounded when Musad emerged from the passenger side followed a second later by Nasser, who pushed open the driver’s door.

“You… but?—”

Confusion swept through her, and she looked over her shoulder to where her people’s flying beast had disappeared. She turned around again and was shocked when Nasser gripped her upper arms, glared at her, and kissed her hard on the lips.

Heat rushed through her, the past and present colliding in a shockwave that melted her—and then he pulled back. His angry gaze met the startled fire in her own for a moment before he turned and was cursing as he walked in a tight circle.

It was impossible to understand all of what he was saying because he was flinging his arms up in the air, glaring at her, and talking too fast and low for her to catch it all. She looked at Musad… and swallowed.

Unlike his brother, Musad’s disapproval was silent—brooding and unreadable.

Her lips were tingling from Nasser’s kiss when Musad took a step closer.

Unlike Nasser, when Musad reached for her, it was with a slow, measured, deliberate grasp.

He pulled her into his arms, giving her ample time to resist. She shivered, reveling in his touch.

Her eyes searched his face. There were no doubts in his eyes. Uncertainty made her glance over his shoulder to where Nasser was silently watching them. He gave her a slight nod, his eyes smoldering.

She blinked, overcome by a wave of love and the clamoring echo of their past as Gerold— Nasser —changed their fate with one sensual gesture… or brought them to the same fate all over again. She couldn’t be sure.

“Kiss me, Dalla,” Musad requested.

Her lips parted at the gleam in Musad’s eyes and the way his lips curved into a smile.

“Kiss me,” Musad said.

She closed the distance. Her lips melded against his. His hands moved up her arms and buried in her hair. Behind her, the morning’s chill gave way to warmth… and hands sliding around her hips.… and another pair of hands that gripped her hips.

She slowly ended the kiss and leaned back against Nasser, brushing Musad’s lips with her thumb as she looked into his eyes. He stared back until she glanced away.

“Where is the child?” she asked.

“Safe,” Musad replied.

“Thanks to you,” Nasser added, his lips near her ear.

Another shiver ran through her, but this time it wasn’t an entirely welcome feeling. She pressed lightly against Musad’s chest. She needed space and time to process that they were here… with her, the same but different.

Musad and Nasser moved a step away from her, and her gaze stopped at the line of wreckage that was still burning.

Her stomach churned when she saw the remains of the pilot in the twisted skeleton of the beast. The shaft of her arrow had been burned away to ash, but the large hole in the man’s chest was visible despite the burned remains.

“Who was he?” she asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m glad he didn’t make it,” Nasser responded in a light tone.

“Their mission was to kill a child and us. They failed. Cianna is now safely in Simdan airspace. She and Nanna will be escorted back to her father and mother in Narva,” Musad explained.

She turned to look toward the mountain where her people’s flying machines had disappeared, then south to where the enemy machine she had struck but not downed had flown as if along an invisible line.

“And the other? Where would it go?” she asked.

“The Simdan Air Force sent them scurrying for cover. The SAF will ensure that the team reaches the next leg of their journey in safety,” Nasser assured her.

She turned back to face them with a frown. “What I don’t understand… is why you’re both still here. You should have left with the others.”

“That was the plan… until you disappeared,” Nasser replied.

“I thought my purpose for returning was to protect the child,” she said, her voice fading as she looked over their shoulders at the mountains behind them.

“But—?” Musad asked.

She blinked. The burning sensation was back in her eyes. She rubbed her right eye with the back of her hand before dropping it back to her side.

“I told you I’ve never returned to the same place that I have been before…

until now.” She looked down and fingered the smooth section of her bow.

It was the last free space. “I believe the curse that condemned me to this… might finally be broken....” She trailed off thoughtfully, her eyes returning to the mountain.

Nasser stepped closer and gripped her upper arms. His grip was firm but gentle. His expression was desperate.

“What do you mean broken?” he demanded.

She ripped her eyes away from his face to stare back at the mountain. The faint memories of a life long ago and a man who was like her—but different—rose from the shadows where she had pushed them. That man had made a promise.

“Surely, I would not have returned here if not for him,” she murmured, lost in her memory.

Musad’s tall frame blocked her view, and she lifted her eyes to his face. She swallowed, realizing she had spoken aloud given the scrutiny darkening his eyes. She shook her head.

“Who?” Musad asked.

She pursed her lips. “I need to go to the mountains. If—if I find what I am looking for there, then I will tell you everything,” she promised.

Musad’s face was a hard mask that hid his thoughts. She looked at Nasser. He gave her a grim nod. She breathed out.

“We’ll take you, and then you’ll give us answers,” Nasser said.

“I promise to answer your questions the best I can,” she agreed.