Page 76 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Larocran Ader was getting tired of sneaking around.

Pretending he wasn't involved with Rinna Jass.

It was ridiculous. But after the upset with his buddy, Rennux, the fortress was in a tizzy.

A Medean woman had gone underground and saved an Aethari man.

And that man had lost his wings. It was unsettling.

The Aethari didn't know whether to see it as Source's blessing upon the couple or a curse.

So those who had formed interracial relationships became more secretive about them.

And Rinna had already been secretive about their relationship. Which annoyed Laroc to no end.

He glared into the mirror as he finished tying off his shirt. “I'm a good-looking guy. She should be proud to be with me. Instead, she sneaks me into her room late at night like a fucking criminal.”

“Who the fuck are you talking to?” Private Onsero asked as he came out of their shared bathroom.

“Myself, of course.” Laroc rolled his eyes. “You think I'm attractive, right?”

“Ader, man, I'm not into guys.”

“Fuck off. I'm serious.”

“Yeah, sure. You're not ugly.”

“Thanks.” Another eye-roll saw him out of the barracks room.

He glanced at Rennux's empty bunk as he left. They had sent him off to Thennis with the woman who saved him. Fucking Thennis. Although he was sworn to silence about it. The Commander only told him because he had pestered the guy ruthlessly.

As Larocran entered the corridor, a boom came, the sound echoing down to him as the entire fortress shook. Then the breach alarm went off. A voice came over the public speakers, calling several teams to the pit. Several. Laroc's team wasn't one of them.

“Fuck!” Laroc ran for the end of the hallway anyway. If they were calling all those Aethari to the pit, it was a bad breach, and he might be needed.

Once outside, he saw the Aethari teams grabbing pulsers on their way to the pit.

Smoke rose from the rocky void and the thunderous cracks of Nethren weapons stung his ears.

He was about to head toward the edge to take a look when Nethren swarmed over it.

They just kept coming and coming. So many of them that the Aethari teams who'd been summoned to fight were overrun in seconds.

They hadn't stood a chance.

Larocran gaped at the horde of Nethren, sunlight gleaming off their metal limbs and armor. They kept coming, pushing the dead over the side to make room. Aethari tumbled like rocks. Nethren projectile weapons fired so often that it became one continuous booming.

They were dead. Laroc knew it immediately. This was a breach of historic proportions. They'd talk about this day for centuries. The only question was who'd be doing the talking.

Rinna's face appeared in his mind. His heart raced. Larocran was not a coward, but he was a damn good tactician. He knew when to retreat. And his primary objective had just shifted from protecting the fortress to protecting his woman.

Larocran Ader, who had never turned away from a fight in all his life, turned and ran.

The corridors were full of Medeans and Aethari alike, everyone scrambling, unsure what to do.

Laroc swerved through them, his goal clear.

He didn't have time to convince people to flee.

They'd find out soon enough. He had to get to Rinna.

The Chief wing was up ahead. He just hoped Rinna wasn't on duty.

Tucking in his wings, Laroc forged a path to Rinna's door. As he lifted his fist to knock, it was flung open. Rinna came barreling out, smacking into his chest.

“Laroc?” Rinna stared up at him, her palms on his chest.

“Baby, I need you to trust me. We don't have time for arguments.”

She glanced down the hall and then back at him. “What the fuck is happening?”

“The fortress has fallen. Now, please, you have to come with me.”

“Fuck!” Rinna looked down the other way. “What about the others?”

“They will have to fend for themselves.” He grabbed her hand and started running. There wasn't time to convince her further. In his head, he saw a clear path to safety, but only if they got there quickly.

“Laroc, we can't just flee. We're soldiers. We're—”

“Rinna, if we stay, we'll die,” he cut her off. “The fortress is already theirs. I saw it myself. The pit is full of Aethari bodies.”

“You don't know—”

“Woman, don't make me carry you because I will!”

“But we can't just run!”

“We are escaping. Someone needs to live to warn Para, and we're the ones who are gonna live.”

“I don't like this. I don't—”

Another boom rocked the fortress. Laroc steadied Rinna and then yanked her along again. She stayed silent after that. Up until they came to an intersection, and a Nethren stepped into their path.

The monster lifted his weapon, grinning beneath the shield of his helmet.

Laroc wasn't armed. Generally, you didn't wear a weapon unless you were on duty. All he had was himself. To protect Rinna, it would have to be enough.

Rinna screamed as Laroc rushed forward. The Nethren fired.

Laroc's ears rang from the echoing blast. The projectile hit the wall.

In seconds, Laroc assessed the Nethren's armor and found a weak spot.

There, at the neck. He flattened his hand and jabbed it between the metal plates. The Nethren went down.

Spinning, Laroc found Rinna cringing against the wall, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and yanked her away from the choking Nethren. Laroc didn't have time to finish the monster off. His woman was more important.

At last, they burst through a door and came out onto the erial hangar.

Rinna jerked on his hand. “Oh, fuck. Laroc, we can't just steal an erial!”

“It's hardly stealing, Rinna! Now, hurry up!” He went to the first erial in line—a two-person combat flier.

He wasn't about to take off in a passenger behemoth.

Maybe there would be more survivors who could use it.

After flinging the door open, Laroc lifted Rinna up and practically threw her inside.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the flashes of pulsers, but they were getting fewer and fewer.

Dear Magic, what was he doing? Was he really abandoning his people and the fortress? All to save Rinna.

Yes, that's what he was doing.

It wasn't desertion or cowardice if a battle was over. And it was. It was over before it had begun. Something whispered inside Laroc, telling him to hurry. That Nethren were already swarming through the fortress, picking off the survivors. Oh, fuck.

Larocran jumped into the erial's passenger seat and lowered the upper portion of the chair so his wings could slide back into the rear compartment. Yeah, he knew how to fly, but not with a machine. That was Rinna's thing. Thank Magic, she knew how to pilot an erial.

“Oh, sweet convergence,” Rinna whispered as she stared out the window. “You're right. The fortress has fallen.”

Laroc slammed the door and slid the lock. Then he looked up. A Nethren man was running toward them, weapon lifted.

“Go, Rinna!” Laroc shouted. “Fuck me, go now!”

Rinna hit the button to start the converged engine.

The erial whirred to life. With both hands on the wheel, she drove the erial forward but then turned it sharply away from the Nethren soldier.

In seconds, they left him behind, zooming toward the runway as the erial's launching legs stretched and its articulated metal wings flapped.

Faster and faster they went until Rinna pulled up on the wheel, hit the energy blast button, and they left the ground with an explosion of power from the rear.

Like a giant bird farting itself into the air.

Rinna hit a few more buttons to bring up the legs and settle the wings into a flight pattern, and then they were soaring strong.

Laroc looked out the window behind them, past the flapping wings and over the metal tail. The Nethren soldier stood at the beginning of the runway, staring after them. Behind him, the fortress exploded into flames.

“Where are we going, Laroc?!” Rinna shrieked.

“Thennis.” He turned around and reached for the erial's vidco to warn Dubar. “Take us to Thennis, Rin.”