Page 33 of Dalla's Royal Guards
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 angrygaze 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.”
